Anastasia's POV 

I flushed heavily and tried to straighten myself, but only got more tangled.

"I'm so sorry, your majesty!" I panicked even more. Suddenly, I heard cheerful laughter.

"You look like you need some help," Queen Samantah said, her mouth upturned in a warm smile. "Don't be so nervous! I'm not going to harm you." looked at the queen who stood up and helped me. In a few quick strokes, I was back on my own two feet and in front of a friendly queen.

"Let's start over, shall we?" She suggested, plopping back down in the other couch from before. "Go on, sit down. The couch won't bite," she teased when I stayed standing. I obeyed her suggestion and sat down primly. Queen Samantah was completely different from the first time I met her. 

"Okay..., I'm Queen Samantha, but you already know that, yes? And you are Miss Anastasia, daughter of Lady Tremaine, am I right? Of course I'm right," she said brightly, all in one breath. I stared at her in surprise and shock. Was this the real queen when she was behind the scenes?

"Ah yes..." I said, not knowing what to say. Every little detail my mother had drilled into my mind (about talking to the queen and king) left, and I was in a complete verbal mess.

"First, I want to thank you sincerely for helping my little boy, Edward," she said a little more seriously. "As a queen and a mother, I am always worried about my boys even when they're on palace grounds."

"I-it was no trouble at all!" I stuttered. "I just happened to see him when I...sneaked in illegally." I let my last words end in a whisper.

"It's all good," Samantah responded. "After all, who knows how long it may have been before Edward would have been found unconscious." 

"Ah..." I didn't know what else there was to say. 

"Which brings me to my next point," Samantah said. "I want to know why you sneaked in here with consent or permission." 

"Well," I began when the words got stuck in my throat. What could I say to make her believe me? 

I shut my mouth and looked down at my clasped hands. 

"Take it easy, don't worry about what I think," Samantha encouraged me gently. "I'll listen to what you have to say all the way to the end." I guess I was still nervous, so the queen gave me more advice. "Take nice deep breaths until you've calm down. Take your time, I'm not going anywhere." 

I took her suggestion, waited several minutes to gather my thoughts and raised my head to look at the queen. "I'm ready." 

"Good," the queen said, her face showing sincere approval. Not the fake ones from my own mother when she thought what I just accomplished was absolutely ridiculous. "Let's hear it." 

So I did. Basically, I told her how after the third night of the ball, I was starting to feel regret and remorse after treating Cinderella in a such a horrid way. I hid it, though, and just acted like normal until we all went to the palace when Prince Arthur was going to introduce Cinderella into the royal family. At first, I was jealous and went with my mother's plan of throwing Cinderella out the carriage, but when I had actually seen my stepsister walk through the gate with horribly injured legs that even had blood crusted all over, I wanted to vomit. She was seriously injured, but I didn't even care until I had seen the result of my actions. 

I had treated her that way because I was jealous of what she had: a family's love. I wanted that so much, but never got it from my sister or my mother. My father had left us, my sister looked as though everything revolved around her, and my mother literally dominated me. 

Long story short, I decided to make up with my stepsister, even though I knew that she probably wouldn't accept me. I spent all night practicing what I was going to say, and even wrote a speech to memorize. Then, after hitching a ride with a kind merchant, I sneaked past the guards with a little difficulty, and bam! I spotted the younger prince collaspe. 

At the end of my story, I was in tears, and the queen was silent. After I had calmed down, she asked me, "Would you like to reconcile with your sister and makes things right?"