"Sister, child, grown tall, remember me? I remember you," Char sang to the crowds of Kyrrians. The room thundered in applause when Char let the last note go. Blushing Char left the stage and pushed pass the congratulatory guests to where I stood. He had sounded so amazing while he sung. I could feel my love for him bubbling up inside of me.
"How was I?" Char asked when he reached my side.
"You sounded amazing, Your Majesty," I replied with a curtsy. Char quickly pulled me up out of it. "It's Char remember."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I mean yes, Char," I said. He smiled at me. I wanted to kiss him. The clock sounded- one strike. The guests were all starting to file out. It was growing late. My final moments with Char were coming to the end.
"I'm afraid I must be going soon," I told Char. Disappointment flashed through his face. He was sad to see me go. I was happy to know he would miss me, but I found myself jealous of my fake persona Lela. After all, if she was real, she would be free to love the prince.
"I wish you didn't have to," Char replied. He kissed my hand. "Will you keep your promise? May I visit you if ever I come to Bast and will you visit if ever you are in Frell again?
"Yes," I lied. I didn't have the heart to tell Char that Lela was not real. That it would never be possible for him to see her again. Instead he would wander to Bast only to discover that no one had ever heard of a Lady Lela. Perhaps, he would think of me as a spirit who had descended temporarily upon the night of the balls.
"Farewell Char," I said as I swooped into one final curtsy before him. He need not know just yet that we should never meet again. He said farewell in response and as I turned away from him, I could feel the tears start to descend down my face. I was glad that I had my mask to hide them.
The walk back to the manor was a blur although my eyes did catch a discarded pumpkin along the lines of carriages. That was good. It would only aid in the belief that I had only been a spirit who had descended upon the balls for a few dances amongst mortals. Farewell, Char. I cried.
The days spun together, but in my head I counted them. Sixty days three hours and seven minutes. Sixty two day five hours twenty minutes. In my heart I knew I would forever be counting. Occasionally, I'd catch a glimpse of him in the distance as I ran errands for Mum Olga, and my counting would restart back at zero. He never noticed me, but I knew exactly how much time went by since I had last seen him, and I always kept track of how much time passed since I had last spoken with him at the balls.
During that time, Father spent most of his time away on business, but during the few times he did come home he shot me glances as though it was becoming more and more evident to him that I was of marrying age. It had been eighty-one days since the balls and only five days since I had caught a glimpse of him in the market when Father came home from one of his trips.
I knew something was up the moment he came through the door. He only had to cast a quick look at me before he ordered Mandy to take me somewhere and make me presentable.
"I'm worried, Lady," Mandy said as she attended to me in the bath. The warm water felt good around my coarse dirty skin and I had been so busy soaking up on this rare comfort that I had allowed myself to forget the cause.
"Me too," I replied. Mandy began massaging shampoo in my scalp. "He has to have something planned."
"My bet is he has found you another suitor," Mandy said. She began to rinse out my hair.
"I hope not. I never want to marry," I replied. Mandy just smiled sadly upon me.
"I know Lady, but unfortunately we're not in a world where we can always get what we want. Your Father is bound to marry you off, and I'm afraid for the moment there is nothing we can do about it."
Mandy went to finishing helping me bathe and from there we went to my room to find some form of suitable clothing. We debated on having me wear one of Mother's old dresses, but we thought it would be better not to drag Hattie or Mum Olga's notice of them. After all, Hattie had already stolen Mother's necklace did I really want her stealing the dresses too. As a result, I found myself borrowing a gown for Hattie. It was Father's solution when Mandy asked him what I was to wear.
The dress was voluminous. The sleeves puffed out at least a foot and the gown had ruffle upon ruffle. When I put it on, I felt like a cream puff. It was obvious that Hattie had chosen her least favorite gown for me to wear. It didn't matter, however, for if the reason I needed to dress up in the first place was because Father wanted to marry me off then I hardly wanted to dress to impress.
When at last I was presentable, it was time for dinner where I had learned I was expected to be present. Mandy had already left me hours before hand to prepare the meal, and it was becoming more and more evident that Father had something up his sleeve.
I took a deep breath before heading for the dining room. I knew it was going to be a rough night, but I reminded myself the only way things could be worse is if Father's mystery guest was Char. I knew from my magic book, however, that Char was away fighting ogres. While I worried about his safety, I was relieved to know that it meant it was impossible for him to be our dinner guests.
I arrived in the dining hall to find Father, Dame Olga, Hattie, Olive and a man who appeared to be in his mid thirties. I had never seen the man before. He had straight dark black hair that he had sleeked back, brown eyes, and a built that implied he had a good many hours of training in sword fighting.
"Eleanor, I would like you to meet Sir Conner of Elcyca although he is originally from Frell," Father introduced us.
I swept into a perfect finishing school curtsy while he offered me a slight bow.
"How do you do?" I asked. Manners Mistress would be proud. When I first came into the dining room, I had thought about being rude and impudent, but I realized it would be pointless. Father would find a way to marry me off in some fashion or another. Besides this man appeared to be younger than what I would expect Father to marry me off to. Better looking as well. I could even catch Hattie attempting make sheep's eyes at him while Father introduced us.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Lady Eleanor," Sir Conner said. "Your Father has told me much about you." He offered me a smile.
I smiled back. "All good stuff I hope."
His smile widened, "Oh, it has all been quite interesting. He has spoken volumes on your beauty and it is nice to see that it was not merely a Father's flattery."
Hattie huffed now and it was obviously jealous of Sir Conner's attentions. I wished I could open my mouth to tell her she was welcome to him, but I decided I preferred to take revenge on her for all the torture she had put me through, so I flirted with him constantly throughout supper. By the end of the night I had thought that Hattie was going to take the poker from the fireplace and ram it through me. I knew she would have her revenge once he was gone, but at least for a change I could get back at her. There were a few times when she tried to act like a concerned sister and order me to my room because I looked tired, but Father always counter acted the orders without realizing it. He was pleased that Sir Conner had taken a liking to me and in his head, he was already hearing wedding bells. His delight only increased tenfold when at the end of the night Sir Conner requested a private moment alone with me before he left. Father was only too happy to comply.
"I have had a pleasant evening," he told me as he swept a strand of hair behind my ear. For some reason despite having flirted with him all night his touch gave me shivers and the thought of a wolf in sheep's clothing flitted into my mind. I quickly let it go.
"So have I," I replied. After all, it was partly true. Tormenting Hattie had given me immense pleasure.
"I know it is sudden," Sir Conner said. "But my feelings already quite strong. I had already felt like I knew you from all of your Father's talk about you. In fact, a part of me had already fallen in love with you. It is early but will you do me the favor of becoming my wife?"
He had phrased it as a question and I sighed in relief. I looked into his brown eyes. He seemed so earnest. I felt guilty about having given him false hope through flirting with him.
"I'm sorry," I replied. "I have consented to never marry."
His facial expression quickly darkened. He grabbed tightly onto my arms.
"I think you misunderstood me Lady Eleanor this is not a request. I order you to marry me," his voice said a thousand times harsher than the tone he had used previously in the night. "I had hoped to achieve your consent amicably, but I see now that won't be the case. I did not want to force you my dear, but I see now I have no choice. You will marry me Ella whether you want to or not."
He then grabbed roughly onto my face and forced me into a kiss.
"Goodnight my love," he said. "I look forward to our wedding day. Tell no one of what happened here with the exception of the fact that we are now betrothed." With those final words he departed.
I sunk into a heap on the fall. I could feel the tears begin to streak my face. I thought I heard a door slam upstairs and a part of me wondered if Hattie had been spying. I didn't care. She was probably relishing in the way Sir Conner had just treated me. I just curled up into the fetal position and cried. If I wasn't cursed then I wouldn't have to marry Sir Conner. Hell, if I wasn't cursed I could marry Char. At the thought of Char, the tears just came harder.
After a short time Mandy entered the hall. Finding me in my state she shook her head and took me into her arms.
"Oh Lady, what's the matter?" she asked in a soothing voice.
I looked up at her through my tear streaked face. How I wanted to tell her the true cause of my tears. Of how, Sir Conner had manhandled me, but I couldn't. The curse forbid me to do so. So I merely told her the one thing I was permitted to.
"I am to marry Sir Conner," I told her and I began crying harder.
"Oh Lady," she replied and she soothingly ran her hands through my hair.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
So, I hope you guys like the rewritten version so far. When I started writing the original version, I was fourteen and in the eighth grade. It was also my first ever fanfiction. Thus, with seven years going by many things have changed since I first began this story. While I was happy to have finally ended it last summer, I felt as though I wasn't truly done with Ella. The final product seemed patchy and I wasn't really happy with the way the plot lines developed. Also I wanted to give it a more mature darker aspect. I hope so far I'm succeeding in doing so, and I'm hoping old and new readers alike will enjoy this revised version. I am going to attempt to be good and update regularly, but I won't make too many promises. Upside is I have the original already written and I can use it as a guide. I want to mind old readers that while this will maintain the original plotlines it is an essence a new story as well, however, because I aim to tell it in a new way. I merely hope that people will see this as an improvement upon the original. Happy Reading!~ Angel of Despair