Chapter Text
The winter in Norway was always cold, but this winter was even colder than usual. Raquel had to do the exhausting work her stepmother, who owned the village were she lived, had given her. After her father’s dead she had to live with her father’s wife and her stepsister. Or as it might be better described, she was more of a slave.
And there she was, with a small bucket full of dusty sheets. She knew, her so-called family was making fun of her right now, but it didn’t even bother her anymore. Unlike a few years ago, when she was a teenager. But now she was a grown woman, ready to take her life into her own hands if only her stepmother would let her.
Of course she also knew that this was impossible without a man. Sometimes she might wish she lived in a world where women were independent and not just to be married and have children. It annoyed her being some kind of object.
The king and the queen were due to arrived soon and everyone was very busy, Raquel too, so she made her way to the kitchen. The king and the queen were always very generous and it was really nice that they paid a visit to their village. And there was their son, the prince. His name was Sergio, and he was really handsome.
But now she was in the kitchen. There she saw Anibal, the kitchen-boy, trying to quickly pick up the pieces from a broken plate. She put the basket on the floor and knelt beside him.
“Wait I’ll help you.” She gathered the pieces and saw her stepmother and Laura in the corner of her eye.
“Thank you, Raquel.” Anibal whispered. In the next moment her stepmother came.
“Who did this?” She screamed angrily.
“I did it, mother.” Raquel’s gaze fell on the floor.
“I’m sorry.”
Of course her stepmom wouldn’t hurt her physically, that’s because she takes the blame for Anibal’s mistake. How she always does. But she hurt her mentally. To her Raquel was nothing more than a unwelcomed stranger. It had become a habit that she was humiliated by her mother and she always pretended to understand her anger.
She got up, went back to her basket and wanted to continue her work.
Her mother spoke to her. “Why are you doing this? In defiance? Because you can't bear that I'm the mistress here and you are just a simple maid? The days when your father let you ride, when you hunted with him and only did things that boys did, are over now.”
She wasn’t finished yet. “Hm well…like father like daugh-“
Raquel interrupted her. “Don’t talk about father like that ever again!” She snaps back.
“What did you say?”
Raquel froze. Fuck. Why did she say that?
Her mom turned to her stepsister. “Did you hear how naughty she speaks to me?”
Laura just smiled and then her stepmother walked over to her, took the lentil bowl that was on the table and poured the lentils into the bucket of ash by the stove.
“Until tonight there won't be a single lens in there. Do you hear me?”
“Yes mother” She answered.
…
It was almost afternoon, she was in one of the chambers so as not to disturb the people downstairs. She still had so much work to do. She emptied the bucket and ran her finger through the mixture of ash and lentils. She was lost in her thoughts when she noticed a soft knock on the window. A flock of white doves were outside of the window. She got up, opened the window and let the doves in. One of the doves landed on Raquel’s hand and she stroked it lightly.
“You want to help me?” She smiled happily. “The lentils in the bowl and the ashes in the bucket. Okay?” She wiped a tear from her cheek.
They came to help her.
So they started separating the lenses from the ashes. “Thank you dears.” She said and left with a smile on her lips. Now that she had time, she went to her horse for a ride.
She was in the stable now and went to the last box. There stood her horse, which her father had given her once.
She caressed it. “Oh Nikolaus, you’re the only one who understand me.”
…
By the time the king and the queen arrived at the village. They were pleasant received, except Raquel, after she was forbidden by her stepmother. She wanted to use the opportunity to introduce her daughter Laura, after she found out that the prince was about to get married soon.
“It is a honor to have you here.” They bowed.
“The pleasure is mine.” The king responded.
“This is my daughter Laura.” She said with a toxic smile, but the king seemed less interested.
They talked and ate a lot. Even if Raquel’s stepmother and Laura were a bit disappointed that the prince wasn’t there.
…
Raquel used the distraction to slip away with her horse, and enjoy the wintry forest. She loved these lonely rides through the woods. It was snowing and a snowflake landed right on the tip of raquel's nose. She looked around dreamily when she heard something that brought her back to reality.
It was the Prince. He was hunting with his companions.
Sergio spotted a doe. “This time I’ll catch it.” He was aiming but then the Prince’s crossbow shot was foiled by a snowball.
Andres and Martin came to him and looked at him in surprise. “What was that?” Andres asked.
Sergio was confused. “I don’t know, maybe…” He let his gaze wander through the forest and spotted Raquel’s tiny figure behind a large brend of a fir tree.
Sergio saw that the girl was running away so he shouted “After her!” The three of them ran quickly after her. She was very fast and soon the Prince lost sight of her.
Raquel let out a sigh of relief when she managed to flee. That was a close one. She thought.
“We need to split up.” Sergio said to Martin and Andres and they agreed. After that they went their separate ways.
Her heart was beating faster with every step, until she realized that the Prince was standing right in front of her. She looked him directly in his eyes.
Was he mad at her? What if he was? What would he do? But then something unexpected happened. He smiled
“Well thrown. Respect.” There was no anger or annoyance in his eyes. He was just nice.
“Thank you.” She chuckled. “I just couldn’t have borne it if you shot that innocent doe.”
“I understand. But if you couldn’t stand it, why don’t you just look away?” He teased.
She laughed softly. “Seriously?”
“What? It was just an idea.” He said and looked at her smiling. “You uhm... you have something on your cheek. May I?” He pointed at her cheek, which still had some ash on it. “Sure.” She smiled.
He was about to explode when she allowed him to touch her. His hand slowly went to her face and then... his thumb touched her cheek. Wow. Her skin was so soft and despite the cold, comfortably warm. He rubbed his thumb several times across her cheek until the ash was gone. “Thank you.” Raquel said dreamily
“You’re the Prince, don’t you?” She asked. “I guess so.” Sergio looked around shyly. Raquel smiled. Everyone described him as a cold and rough person, but she couldn’t agree with that at all. He was really nice and gentle towards her.
“Shouldn’t you be then with the king and queen?” Raquel was curious.
“Yeah, I suppose so.”
“Why are you not with them?”
Sergio looked over her as they slowly walked trough the woods. “To be honest…” he pauses. “ I think I’m not ready to be a king anytime soon.” He looked at the ground.
They talked a little longer but it didn’t took long until Sergio spotted Martin and Andres and ran towards them. “Hey guys, I’ve found her!” He turned around and was about to introduce them to each other, when he noticed she was gone.