Anne combed her long, brunette hair while she watched herself in the mirror. She thought over the past few weeks, weeks that she would never forget. She knew that just a month ago, if she had been told that soon she would be sitting here, in the Queen's Chamber, she would have laughed out loud and not believed a word of it. Yet, here she was. Her face was no longer darkened by ashes that came by the fire which she once tended. Her fingers were no longer blistered and burnt, though they were scarred. Her hair was now long and beautiful, not unwashed and cropped.
Now, instead of wearing her step-sisters' old dresses, that were really closer to rags, Anne wore a magnificent ruby red gown, which complimented her pale skin tone perfectly. She knew that her story was one that every girl dreamed of having. She knew how lucky she was.
"Anne! Come here! You have to help dress me well today. I'm going to be visited by Sir Charles, today!" This was how Anne had been awakened on that bright, fateful morning when everything had begun. She sat up and yawned fully before standing up and slipping on her stained shoes.
"Anne! Where in heavens name are you?" called her step-mother. Anne sighed; she knew better than not to respond.
"Here I am, Marylind. I'm coming now." Anne called up the stairs as she walked towards the kitchen to grab a small piece of toast which would be her breakfast.
"Were you sleeping in, today? You wicked child. Make sure that you bring up the girls and my breakfast. And make sure that the porridge is piping hot, or you shall bring us up more." Anne knew that this was punishment for when Anne had been sick last week. Her poor step-mother had to actually dress herself and get her own breakfast. Imagine that!
As Anne stepped through the doors that led to the kitchen, she waved good-morning to the cook. "Hello Rosa. How are you today?" she asked as she picked up the tray that had been set out for Anne to deliver.
"Oh, I'm fine, child. I just worry about you. A child should not be worked as you are. You don't have any time to be a child." Rosa smiled at her. "Once you're done dressing her, come back down here and we'll have some tea and a little piece of toast, okay?" Anne nodded as she walked through the door. "Good luck!"
Anne approached her step-mother's door apprehensively. If there was any way that she could, Anne would have turned around and walked out the door instead of going into this room where she knew that she would be mocked and punished. But, she knew that there was no way that she could just walk away. Since her father's death, the woman behind this door was her only provider, how ever scant these provisions were.
With a small sigh, Anne pushed open the door and immediately regretted it.
"There you are! It is about time! I have been waiting nearly a quarter of an hour to be dressed," scolded Maria, the older of her step-sisters. "You do know that later today, I am to be honored with the presence of Sir Charles himself. I do dare say that after today, he will be a regular visitor here, no doubt."
"And then soon after, his brother shall court me!" chimed in her other step-sister, Cortia. "Put down that breakfast tray. I am quite hungry!"
"How can you be hungry? Sir Charles is going to visit me today!"
Anne groaned as her step-sisters began to fight. They were always fighting and it quickly got tiring. She set down the tray on the small table and turned towards her step-mother, who had been quiet, which was rare for her.
"Ma'am, whom should I dress first?" Anne asked, hoping that the answer would not be Maria. She was beyond silly with her puppy dog devotion to Sir Charles, who would obviously never return her affections. The only reason that he was even visiting today was because of their mother's planning.
"Dress Maria, first. I do want her looking her best. This will be, after all, a day that we will all look back on with pride. The day that my Maria was first visited by her future husband." Anne had to stifle back a groan.
"Yes, ma'am." Anne stepped over to Maria, who was still arguing with her sister. Anne wished that their mother would say something to them, but in her eyes, the two could do nothing wrong. "Maria, are you ready to be dressed, or would you like to eat first?"
"I think that I'll be dressed, since I am so excited that I could not eat a bite of that food." Anne nodded and began to tighten Maria's stays. "I should think that I want to wear my pink day dress for his visit. Mother, wouldn't you agree?"
"Oh, yes my dear. You are most becoming in that dress." Anne began to fall into her routine of each morning and soon each of the three were dressed. She left quietly for the kitchen, before they could think of some new chore for her to do.
"Hello, Rosa," said Anne as she sat down at the small kitchen where tea and toast were waiting for her. "I hope that you didn't wait for me to eat. Maria was being impossible today. She had to try on every piece of jewelry that is in this house and I had to arrange her hair in three different ways, before she was satisfied."
"Of course I waited for you, dove. Now let's eat." The two ate their meager meal in silence. Anne already wished that she could go back to sleep and as she finished her tea, she had to hold back a yawn. "Did you have to tend the fire last night?" asked Rosa with concern on her familiar face. Anne nodded. "That's bad for you, inhaling all that smoke as you fall asleep. And you don't get a proper night's sleep nether, when you constantly have to wake to keep it burning."
Anne was grateful for her concern. It was the closest thing that she had to a mother's concern. "I got plenty of sleep."
"Posh, but it's not that I blame you, dear. No wonder that you slept in so late this morning. Now, you and I had better start working, or we'll hear about it later. You probably have plenty to do with Sir Charles' visit so quickly approaching. Now move it!" As Rosa passed her, Rosa quickly patted her cheek. "I'll get Steven to watch the fire tonight. Then you can get plenty of sleep."
Anne smiled and left the room. Steven was Rosa's son. He was about seven years old and always happy to do anything to help his mother or Anne. As she began to walk up the steps to find out her chores, she heard a carriage approaching. Anne looked out the window. Sir Charles had arrived.