More Than a Servant (Cinderella AU)

Chapter 1

"Astrid! Wake up! Make some food this instant! Do you want me and your sisters to starve?"

Astrid gave a small groan and sat up. Despite the stable being far from the house, she could hear her stepfather clearly enough as if he were standing right outside the door. She stretched and leaned against Smokey with a sigh. It was a bit chilly outside but the Monstrous Nightmare's warm skin made her feel warm. As badly as she wanted to just ignore Alvin and snuggle against her dragon and her blanket, she knew he was probably going to storm into the stable and pull her out by her hair.

Astrid dressed quickly into the rags she had to wear for cleaning the house, a simple old grey dress with an apron, and slipped her feet into her worn out boots and wrapped an old shawl around her tightly before hurrying out of the stables. Outside was cold, at least cold enough to leave a small layer of frost on the grass and on the flowers of the house's garden. Astrid made a mental note to herself to water the plants and check to see if the vegetables had grown once her indoor chores were finished.

Once inside the house, Astrid hurried into the kitchen and began to prepare the food for her stepfather and sisters. While she worked, she hummed softly to herself, taking care not to drop any egg shells into the eggs, lest one got into her sister's food and Alvin punished her for it. She managed to finish their meals, placed them on a tray with a pot of warm tea before she quickly hurried up the stairs to find her family already seated at the table waiting.

"Took you long enough." Alvin grunted in annoyance as Astrid placed his plate in front of him before moving onto his daughters. "There better not be any shells in my eggs this time!"

"There isn't I promise." Astrid assured him in a patient tone.

"I think shells give the eggs a bit of...flavor." Said Heather quietly as Astrid placed a plate in front of her.

"It's nasty, and probably fattening." Alvin sneered as Astrid placed Ruffnut's plate in front of her. "Now go do your chores Astrid."

"But she hasn't had any breakfast yet, at least let her eat dad!" Ruffnut protested. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, without it we can't even function right!"

"She can have her breakfast after her chores, the house ain't cleaning itself!"

Astrid narrowed her eyes at the back of her stepfather's head before giving her stepsisters a sympathetic smile before hurrying back to the kitchen to clean up whatever messes she made and to feed the dragons outside. Alvin may had been the cruel one of the family, but Heather and Ruffnut were always trying to be kind to Astrid when their father wasn't watching. They always tried mending their own clothes to lighten her ever-growing load, made sure to practically lick their plates clean so she wouldn't have to have a hard time washing the food off and avoided dragging dirt into the house to not leave the floors so dirty for her. Heather even taught her some tricks when cooking to avoid burning anything to avoid getting in trouble while Ruffnut would slip Astrid old clothes that her father declared too "out of fashion" for her to use to keep warm or to mend and turn into something nicer.

Once her outside chores were done, Astrid hurried back inside and began to mop and sweep the foyer near the doors. She could hear the girls doing their music lessons, something Alvin had insisted they take up in hoping to impress anyone interested in marrying them. Heather had taken up playing the panpipes recently and actually wasn't too bad at them, but Ruffnut was awful at her music. She kept hitting all the notes wrong and her voice kept falling and rising at the wrong times. It was a big surprise to Astrid and Heather that none of the windows had broken and the birds and small dragons outside hadn't dropped from shock.

As Astrid mopped the floor, she hummed her own song to herself. It was one that her mother had taught her and was one of her favorites. She remembered her playing it on the old piano Alvin had thrown out a few weeks after she died, which angered Astrid. Her stepsisters used to love gathering around it with her and listen to her mother play joyful little tunes when Alvin wasn't in the house. When she had fallen ill, Astrid had taken up playing this specific song just for her mother to bring a smile to her face as she and Heather and Ruffnut tried to sing it in unison.

I'll swim and sail on savage seas
With ne'er fear of drowning
And gladly ride the waves of life
If you will marry me
No scorching sun
Nor freezing cold
Will stop me on my journey
If you will promise me your heart

And love me for eternity
My dearest one
My darling dear
Your mighty words astound me
But I've no need for mighty deeds
When I feel your arms around me

But I would bring you rings of gold
I'd even sing you poetry
And I would keep you from all harm
If you would stay beside me

I have no use for rings of gold
I care not for your poetry
I only want your hand to hold
I only want you near me

To love, to kiss, to sweetly hold
For the dancing and the dreaming
Through all my sorrows and delights
I'll keep your love beside me
I'll swim and sail on savage seas
With ne'er fear of drowning
And gladly ride the waves of life
If you will marry me

Astrid was so lost in thought at the old cheerful memories when she was brought right out of them when she heard a loud crash from the stairs. Startled, she looked up and and she turned to see that Ruffnut had tripped over the bucket of soapy water she had left to mop the stairs and it had spilled all over the floor.

"Oh gods are you alright?" Astrid asked in panic, hurrying over to help her sister up from the floor.

"I'm fine Astrid, really! I wasn't looking where I was going." Ruffnut said reassuringly. "Just a little clumsy today!"

"No it's my fault, and you best hurry and get something else on before your father sees you. I need to mop up everything now." Astrid says pushing her up the stairs.

Once Ruffnut disappeared up the stairs, Astrid grabbed her mop and began to clean up the spill. As she was cleaning, she heard a knocking. Who was it this time? Astrid hurried to the door and when she opened it, she was surprised to see a royal messenger.

"May I help you?" She asked, wondering why someone as important as a royal messenger was doing on their steps. Had Alvin done something wrong?

"I am here to deliver a letter madame, an invitation for every household. There is to be a ball tonight for the prince and every lady in the land has a chance to meet him and win his heart." The messenger stated, handing her a scroll that had the royal seal of the Haddock family on it. And with a bow, he left Astrid standing at the door starting at the invitation in amazement.

A chance to meet Prince Harold and win his hand? What an honor! Astrid couldn't stop feeling giddy and excited as she hurried up the stairs with the scroll in her hand. Oh Ruffnut and Heather were going to love this news!