Disclaimer: I don't own Ella Enchanted or any of the characters, places, etc.
My name is Daria. I was born the daughter of a servant. And servant I was to become. A servant in a noble's household. My story begins when I was sixteen years of age, when the family I served lived in a large mansion out in the country, soon to move into the city of Frell. It was a beautiful summer day, but the hustle and bustle of getting carriages and wagons packed allowed for no one to enjoy the sunshine, especially me. I had just finished another load of laundry and was passing by Madame's room when I heard a loud shriek.
"Daria!" the shrill voice shrieked again. I leaned over my basket of laundry and peered into the room before going in. A lady stood with her back towards me, bent over a trunk of fancy dresses.
"Yes, milady?" I asked, stepping inside the room. The woman slammed the lid of the trunk closed and whirled around to face me, her mouth set in a thin line. With her golden hair and brilliant blue eyes, even I had to agree that Madame was lovely. Everyone thought so, despite the fact that she rarely smiled anymore.
"You are to come faster when I call you!" Madame barked at me, "Take this trunk out to the carriage. Now!" She dumped the trunk on the ground in front of me.
I set the basket on top the trunk and picked them both up. Backing out of the room I heard Madame's last order before she slammed the door shut, "And be quick!"
I sighed, going as quickly as I could with the heavy trunk down the hall, stopping in front of another door. Setting my burden down, I knocked loudly.
"It's Daria," I called, opening the door and stepping inside. Before I could bring the basket of clothing inside a girl rushed at me, her face filled with worry.
"Dari, thank goodness! I desperately need your help!" Eleanor cried. I sighed and set down the basket, closing the door with my foot.
"Calm down, Eleanor, and then tell me what the matter is," I said, persuading her to sit down on her bed.
"Calm down...I can't...I must go...have to warn..." Eleanor said franticly, trying to get up. I held onto her arm, pulling her back down again. Noticing that Eleanor was clutching a bundle of parchment, I gently pried it from her grasp.
"What's this?" I asked, looking down at the papers, all of which seemed to be letters.
"They're letters," Eleanor told me, confirming my guess. A dreamy look crossed Eleanor's face and she calmed down almost immediately, "From Peter..." She added, trailing off.
"Oh," I said. That explained everything. Madame had threatened to lock Eleanor in her room if she caught Eleanor with Peter ever again. Although she was Madame's daughter, no one was more afraid of Madame then Eleanor. And Madame didn't like any proper daughter of hers to fall in love with a poor merchant's son.
"Mother's been getting suspicious. I just know she's used moving as an excuse to have Olga search every one of my trunks for anything that might prove I've been seeing him. All Olga's been doing is personally taking my trunks out to the carriage one at a time. She'll find these! And when she does..." Eleanor broke down and began to cry. I sighed and rolled the letters up, stuffing them in my apron pocket.
"There, see all gone," I said, holding up my empty hands, "I'll keep your letters safe until we get to the new house in Frell."
"Oh thank you!" Eleanor cried, hugging me tightly, "I don't know what I'd do without you Fey."
"Maybe you'd grow a little more of a spine and stand up to your mother for once. Instead of having to make me find a way out for you." I said, only half kidding. Sometimes it seemed like Eleanor relied on me to help her out of any situation that could get her in trouble.
Eleanor laughed, her usual good humor returning, and went back to packing. I put the clean laundry away and turned to leave. Before I opened the door Eleanor said to me, "Don't let Mandy see them either. I know she would never tell mother but it would still be best to keep Mandy from knowing."
"Seeing as Mandy doesn't approve of Peter either, huh?" I said, smiling. Eleanor grimaced and nodded, looking down. Laughing, I opened the door, picked up the trunk along with my empty basket, and headed outside towards the carriages. I had just finished heaving Madame's trunk onto the roof of the carriage when I heard someone else calling my name. I spun around and came face to face with Jonathan, the manservant.
"Hello Miss Daria. Fancy seeing you here," he said, smiling down at me.
"Yes, fancy that." I said, "Now if you'll excuse me." I pushed passed him. Although all the other serving girls and even the occasional young lady who came to call on Eleanor claimed that Jon was dashingly handsome with his sand colored hair and clear blue eyes, to me he was nothing but annoying, vain and stuck on himself. Jon was always strutting around and acting above his station. Eleanor thought it was hilarious that out of all his admirers, it was I who Jon had taken a fancy to.
"Mandy sent me to find you. She's in the kitchen," Jon called after me as I strode away.
I met Mandy in the kitchen where she was packing her many pots and pans into wooden crates that would be loaded into the wagons.
"You had Jon come find me?" I asked her, sitting down on a stool.
"Yes, I did," Mandy said absently, busy with her work. I waited for her to finish before asking her why she wanted me in the first place.
"I need you to warn Eleanor for me. Olga has been searching every one of Eleanor's trunks..." Mandy began.
"Eleanor isn't stupid," I interrupted, "She figured that out for herself." I waved the packet of letters in front of Mandy, "She gave me these for safekeeping." Mandy sighed, shaking her head.
"I hate to admit it. But Lady is right on this, Eleanor should not be seeing Peter." Mandy said.
"Both you and Madame are wrong then. Just because the poor boy doesn't have a lot of money to shower Eleanor with gifts doesn't mean he is a bad person." I argued.
"It's not that he's poor," Mandy protested, "It's just..."
"Whatever your excuse is, I can't listen to it right now. I've got work to do. Sorry, Mandy." I said and walked out of the kitchen. Mandy was extremely nice, but she was getting rather old and probably didn't remember what it was like to have a courtier. No matter what Madame or Mandy said, Eleanor was never going to stop seeing Peter.
"Daria!" A shrill voice called from the top of the spiral staircase. I sighed and trudged back up it to Madame's room.
"Yes milady?" I asked, my face passive, the picture of servitude.
"This is the last trunk," Madame said, shoving the trunk at me, "Take it to the carriage and then tell Eleanor that it's time to leave."
"Yes milady." I said, nodding and walked out of the room. Eleanor came out of her room at the same time and rushed at me, a worried look on her face.
"You still have them...they're safe?" She whispered to me. I nodded. Smiling with relief, Eleanor walked over to the stair rail and slid her hand along it. She looked back up at me, smiling.
"This is my last time in this house...do you think..." She said, trailing off.
I stared at her. Then suddenly understood, "We shouldn't! We couldn't!" I protested.
"Oh, come on!" Eleanor said, laughing. She hiked up her skirts, swung one leg over the rail and slid all the way down to the bottom. I set down the heavy trunk and followed, landing in a heap at the bottom where we both sat on the floor, laughing.
"Again!" Eleanor cried, racing back up the stairs with me close behind. I didn't notice that she had stopped until I got to the top of the stairs. Eleanor had come face to face with none other than Madame. A very stern and angry looking Madame. I began to slowly back down the stairs, my laughter and good mood dying away.
"What...what do you think you were doing, Eleanor!" I heard Madame cry. By then I had made it to the bottom of the stairs and was getting ready to make a run for it. I couldn't hear Eleanor's feeble answer as I ran into the kitchen, right into none other than Jon. He held both my arms, pulling me closer to him.
"In trouble are we?" He asked, smiling, "Should I call for Madame?" I glared at him and yanked away from his grasp. I dashed past him and out the kitchen door. I felt bad for leaving Eleanor to deal with her mother but if Madame had seen me too she wouldn't have hesitated to slap me across the face. Madame wouldn't even think of hitting Eleanor. I could hear Jon following me but I didn't stop walking until he grabbed a hold of my wrist and spun me around.
"Why are you always walking away from me!" He asked exasperated. I ignored him and turned back around.
"You are awfully stubborn, you know that." He said, smiling at me again.
I climbed into the servant's wagon that we were all to ride in and faced him. "And you are an incredibly annoying, stuck up, persistent boy." He sighed and leapt up onto the wagon to sit across from me. We sat in silence until the other servants arrived and we were ready to go. The old man who tended the horses climbed into the driver's seat and our wagon started off down the road, following Madame's carriage. I couldn't help but feel excited, despite the fact that I was leaving the only home I'd ever known. I couldn't wait to see what the city was like. All my life I had lived in the country, in this house. And now my life was drastically changing.
I had no idea just how drastic that change would be.