On a cold winter's night in a magnificent chateau atop a hill, a baby girl was born. Her parents were Lord and Lady Tremaine, of low rank but well loved amongst their family and friends. Unfortunately, while the couple was overjoyed over the arrival of their beautiful golden haired daughter, such joy was not to last, for Lady Marie Tremaine was quickly slipping away. Her husband held her and their daughter in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably as she breathed her last breath.
Consumed by grief and anguish, Lord Tremaine was briefly tempted to take the poor infant into the forest neighboring his estate, leaving her to the wolves. However, he quickly changed his mind, hating himself for even thinking such a horrible thing. That was not what his wife would have wanted; he knew that she would ask him to love and cherish their child no matter what, making sure she wanted for nothing. So, putting aside his grief, that is exactly what he did for the first ten years of the girl's life, whom he named Eleanora.
On her tenth birthday, however, Lord Tremaine decided to give her a gift that would change her life forever. He brought home his new wife, Lady Clarisse, and her two daughters Anastasia and Drisella, who were just Eleanora's age. For nearly a year, they were very happy, and the three girls became inseparable. Tragically, Eleanora's father suddenly took ill and died, leaving his grief-stricken family utterly destitute. Angry at the fate that her husband had left them to, and jealous of Eleanora's beauty, grace, and innocence, Lady Clarisse took it all out on the poor girl.
She dismissed the staff and sold whatever belongings she could, most of which was Eleanora's. Finally, she forced her stepdaughter to move into the attic and become a servant. Unfortunately, that meant that she and her beloved sisters could no longer interact, at least, not in the way they had before. Lady Clarisse made certain that her daughters treated Eleanora with nothing but contempt, ordering her around as though she was nothing but an object to submit to their every need.
Eleanora was devastated, and did not understand why she suddenly was cast aside when her entire stepfamily had shown her nothing but love and kindness when her father was alive. Still, she submitted to her fate and did what she was asked. For the next five years, Eleanora worked tirelessly day and night, eager to please her family in the hopes that they might just love her the way they had so long ago. Indeed, Anastasia and Drisella still regarded her as their beloved sister, and always showed Eleanora that they meant it, but never in the presence of their horrid mother. No, whenever they were within earshot of Lady Clarisse, the girls were as cruel to Eleanora as she was.
Despite all of that, Eleanora remained kind, obedient, and utterly determined to one day escape the clutches of her stepmother. Unbeknownst to her, that day would come very soon.