Looks Like We're in Heaven
Kelley Christensen
~-~
A/N: This is an Ella Enchanted fanfic that takes place about a hundred years after the events take place. Thus, we have here the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of our beloved Ella and Char, now gone and deceased and legends. So now everybody in this story looks up to them as if they were gods or something, like the English look up to Queen Elizabeth.
And my modes of inspiration for this story is the song 'Heaven' by DJ Sammy & Yanou (I watched the music video ^_~), but it was just a song, and what really shows up in the story is its backbone, the manga Cinderella Express. It's really a great read, and I thought, hey, Ella Enchanted and Cinderella Express have a lot in common (Cinderella, duh), so there you go, that's how the story was made.
=+++=
One ~ The Fairy Book
The bells chorused a peel of jubilation in the towers above, and the picture panned downwards to include the cheering crowd below. Streams of brightly colored paper fluttered to earth as the people shouted and bowed to the newly-wedded royals passing by.
The king was still young; he had barely been in his twenties when his father, the late King Alexis, passed away. And now, four months after he had been sworn in to take on the duties of King, he married. And his bride looked younger than he, yet she looked so beautiful in her snow wedding dress, the veil drawn over her head, accenting her blushing face and blond curls.
A roar of delight washed over the multitude as the king turned to his wife and kissed her. The large bouquet of roses brushed coolly against their chins, bathing them in organic fragrance. They drew away, smiling and gazing at each other.
Everywhere around them, the people bowed or curtsied as they passed, creating a wave of rippling heads. There was no end to the number in the crowd, it seemed. The queen had never been so happy; she wasn't used to this new treatment, and she hoped the long walk to the carriage a distance away wouldn't be too long. She hadn't anticipated this small stately parade would continue for so long. All she wanted was time with her husband. Meanwhile, she put on a warm face and waved shyly to the people on the sides.
The picture today showed such a joyful scene.
Murmuring in contentment, I turned the page. I almost felt like I knew that girl, her face was so friendly. On the next page I expected another picture, but instead was a copy of a brief flyer, hastily written and printed. It read:
Breaking news from Frell, capital city of Kyrria:
Today marks the marriage of Kyrria's young and noble king, Edward, and
of his beautiful queen! Queen Janelle, whose story compares with the
Honorable Court Linguist Eleanor, is only sixteen years old! Although
the queen is not of noble blood, she is very bright and kind! More
later when details are available. This is the Early Herald reporting
the marriage of His Majesty, the king of Kyrria. The Herald: always
the first to bring you the latest news.
I gasped out loud. I read it again. And again. No, it wasn't possible. Simply impossible! Flipping back the page, I saw the picture again, this time of the newlyweds getting into a sleek, white carriage with six beautiful, white stallions. Once inside, the two of them looked out of the same window and waved back at the crowd, and I once again saw the girl's face. There could be no mistake - this was the same Sharn.
"Mother!" I frantically called. "Oh the fairies, Mother!" I rubbed my hand roughly across the page, patting the words. Oh, how I was excited!
Mother rushed to me in a flash.
"What is it, Mari baby?! Are you hurt?"
I brushed it away impatiently. "No, but there's something I have to show you!" Shoving the book around, I gave it to Mother, who took it up quizzically and read.
After seconds of skimming, eyes darting back and forth, they froze. Her brown eyes widened in amazement and disbelief, then retraced to the beginning to read more attentively. After a moment, she put the book back down on my bed.
"This is the fairy book, isn't it?"
I nodded in the affirmative.
"You shouldn't use it too much; it's very old."
I sighed. It was old, but I liked it. It was fun to play with.
"If it wasn't for the fairy book," I explained, "then we wouldn't have known about Sharn - I mean - Queen Janelle's marriage," I corrected myself. It would be hard to get used to Sharn's real name, including her new title. And that was when I realized that so much had happened since the last time we saw each other.
Mother rubbed her forehead and looked at me under her brows. "Yes, but do you know how rare this type of thing is? Only several exist in this world - and only one that belonged to the legendary Ella of Frell! So this is the most important thing that resides in this house. Only it's worth more than the house and the inn put together. Is that understood?"
I looked away from Mother. She had a point, there, but I could never, ever, give up that book. I had to change the subject back around. I turned back wearing silly grin on my face.
"But still!" I said, "Sharn's a queen!"
I began to sing joyously and hopped off the bed and galloped around, twirling, dancing on my toes. Mother sighed, but watched my antics, entertained. I belted out a traditional song of celebration, a song that was sung when the men came home from war. Therefore, it had a marching beat to it, and all I had to do was replace some words like 'troop' for 'Sharn' and I turned the song into a slightly comical tune. Since I didn't know the dance, I made up steps of my own.
I poured out my soul into the song. From where I come from, we sing a lot. And for any occasion - weddings, parties, funerals - even when drinking, we sang. There was a song for everything you could think of - from rolling out dough for pastries to tinkling in the bushes. It was crazy, but it was traditional. My voice was lovely, as would years of voice training would do to you. But I'm not bragging. All of Ayortha sings.
My mother, who watched on the side, soon joined in and skipped in circles with me while we chanted, "Queen, Queen, Queen! Long live the Queen!"
=+++=
I strode leisurely into the kitchen to find my mother working laboriously over a meat pie. But I just came in to check up on her, so yawning, I turned back towards the door. But Mother's sharp voice blocked me.
"Marika! Just because you've finished your chores doesn't mean 'do nothing else'! You're already fifteen, yet you don't even have a boyfriend!"
I was about to make a comeback when I froze. I always freeze up when it comes to boys, even talking about them. For me, it's a touchy subject.
She raved on. "Queen Janelle is only a year older than you, yet she's already married to a king! You're nothing compared to her!"
I stomped out of the kitchen and back outside. Her words had stung me where it hurts.
'You're nothing compared to her!'
"Hmph," I kicked at some grass furiously. "That's right, Mother. And I'll bet it's genetic!"
Ever since Sharn turned into Queen Janelle, Mother put even more pressure on me to get married. She said that Marika was just as good of a person as Sharn had been, and that if I tried, I would be married to a decent man within the next year. Of course, it also meant that her daughter would be out of the house and it meant one less mouth to feed. Money was short in my family, and since it wasn't the time of year for travel, very few people had been stopping at the little inn we ran.
Historically, the inn is a landmark in our tiny town, Areeb. My great- grandmother's name was Lady Areida, who was at first a poor Ayorthaian commoner. Then she made friends with the Lady Ella of Frell, and when Ella married the prince, Areida was made a lady. Although Lady Areida was one of the more powerful women of the Kyrrian court, she couldn't stand to leave her home for long, so after a few years she left court and stayed home, thus becoming known as "The Lady who Sits like a Commoner". It was also known that Lady Areida and Court Linguist Ella (for Ella had not liked the title of Queen) had been very tight. So tight, in fact, that there were rumors of a secret transaction that had been made between them, but it was a well-kept secret kept even from the Kyrrian royal family. Only one very select family kept the secret alive.
I rounded the corner to the front of the inn. From there you can see the road. On one end, it led to the center of town where most travelers stopped by to replenish their stores. On the other end, the road stretched out into a vast expanse of farms and wilderness. And this is where I stopped curiously, a horse was galloping my way from the countryside. Aha! Perhaps this was a long-awaited customer!
I waited for the rider to catch up while fidgeting. Behind, a trail of dust rose up and into the cloudless sky. As the rider was riding directly for me, I could only see him from the front, and there was an illusion that he wasn't making any progress up the road at all. But slowly the figure became larger, then he pulled up beside me. He dismounted with a grace and ease that I admired in him and strode up to me. His clothes were foreign, yet he was well-dressed. Perhaps he had come from the court of Kyrria! My heart leapt. Maybe he had news from Sharn!
The rider caught my attention with a bow and a swish of his dusty, but rich cape. "Are you Marika of Areeb?"
I nodded with quick anticipation.
"Ah. I bear a message. The Queen Janelle wishes you to visit. She was hopeful you would come." He spoke with as few words as possible, so that each word he said was important. The messenger studied my appearance. Apparently he was doubtful that a friend of the beautiful queen would be so plain and timid-looking.
"Oh...oh! Sharn - I mean - Queen Janelle! I...I would love...oh...er," I stumbled over my words in excitement. I hadn't spoken Kyrrian for a while. "Er, let me ask my parents...first." And I dashed off, rounding the corner to the back again, reaching the kitchen.
"Mother! Mother, Queen Janelle asked me if I could visit her! Can I?!"
Mother straightened up from crouching over the fire, tending to the roasting of the pork on a spit. She pulled the sweaty hair out of her eyes and looked at me.
"Oh, Mari. That's wonderful. But -"
I didn't let her finish the sentence. I was afraid to let her finish it, because I knew what she would say. "Oh, hold on, Mother - I left the guy who told me standing in front. I have to bring him in."
I ran out on her. Poor Mother. Around the corner was the messenger, still waiting patiently, albeit it was wearing thin. I timidly tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around, his expression I couldn't read.
"You can come in if you like; stay a free night, too. You could talk with my parents, and if I can go, then we'll be off no later than noon tomorrow," I said confidently. Bet he couldn't tell I had practiced before I came up front. "Oh, and...uh...I'll take your horse." That was smooth.
After I had untacked the horse - the saddle was surprisingly light - I joined the man inside and gave him a key to a room. But before he left, he handed me a letter.
"Queen Janelle wrote this. It explains everything in detail." And then he climbed the stairs.
Once I heard the door upstairs click shut, I hurried over to the fireside. An old man sat in one of the chairs, asleep, so I took a chair across from him and looked at the envelope.
It was a fancy thing; the envelope was constructed of fine parchment and the seal in back was indigo with a coat of arms. It was Kyrria's royal insignia. I carefully peeled the seal off - I wanted to save it - and shook out a letter also of parchment. With trembling fingers, I opened it up and read.
Dear Mari,
I assume you already know of my marriage to the King of Kyrria.
If you don't, forgive me, for it was all so sudden that I didn't have
time to tell you.
But now I'm hoping that you can spend time with me, and that's
why I sent a courier to ask you. His name is Hammond, but he doesn't
speak unless he has to, and when he does, he says so little. So
please forgive him, he has nothing against you.
Life at the palace is wonderful, yet (here there was a long
scratch out) it isn't the same without you. Please, if you will come,
let Hammond know and he will be ready to leave as soon as you are. If
you can't come, then I hope to see you again sometime. If money is a
problem, tell your parents that I will pay for the expenses.
Love,
Sharn
I looked up. The lead weight in my stomach had lifted; the feelings of guilt and regret fled. With Sharn paying for the expenses, it was impossible for my parents to say no.
That night, when my parents were both inside serving dinner to the guests, I approached them.
"Mother, Father, may I visit Queen Janelle in Kyrria?"
They looked at me.
"Pleeeeeaaase??"
My father spoke. "Honey, I think with our situation right now..." He broke off and exchanged worried glances with my mother.
"No! You don't understand. Queen Janelle will pay!" I showed them the letter.
Mother said, "But it's impolite to let others pay for you. Maybe if you work really hard..."
"Mother!" I yelled, exasperated. "She's a queen! Expenses like these are nothing to her now!"
"But even so, it's money, and what's more, you're making Kyrria pay for it, not Queen Janelle. Her money now comes from their taxes," she explained.
"Haaarrrggghh!!"
Now Hammond, who was sitting a couple seats away, turned in his seat and said, "Queen Janelle was hoping for Marika to go. She said she would gladly pay."
Mother and Father looked at each other for a long moment. Sometimes, I suspect they are reading each other's thoughts when they do that. Then Father smiled at me.
"You may go, Marika. But take care and behave."
He lengthened that last word, but I understood. The reputation of the family and of Ayortha was resting on my shoulders. You could count on me to behave.
That evening when I was leaving the dining room, my mother caught my arm as I was on my way out. She whispered, "Don't forget what I told you this morning," and winked. It took me until I had reached the hallway connecting the inn to our house when I realized what she had meant. I covered my face in embarrassment.
Kelley Christensen
~-~
A/N: This is an Ella Enchanted fanfic that takes place about a hundred years after the events take place. Thus, we have here the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of our beloved Ella and Char, now gone and deceased and legends. So now everybody in this story looks up to them as if they were gods or something, like the English look up to Queen Elizabeth.
And my modes of inspiration for this story is the song 'Heaven' by DJ Sammy & Yanou (I watched the music video ^_~), but it was just a song, and what really shows up in the story is its backbone, the manga Cinderella Express. It's really a great read, and I thought, hey, Ella Enchanted and Cinderella Express have a lot in common (Cinderella, duh), so there you go, that's how the story was made.
=+++=
One ~ The Fairy Book
The bells chorused a peel of jubilation in the towers above, and the picture panned downwards to include the cheering crowd below. Streams of brightly colored paper fluttered to earth as the people shouted and bowed to the newly-wedded royals passing by.
The king was still young; he had barely been in his twenties when his father, the late King Alexis, passed away. And now, four months after he had been sworn in to take on the duties of King, he married. And his bride looked younger than he, yet she looked so beautiful in her snow wedding dress, the veil drawn over her head, accenting her blushing face and blond curls.
A roar of delight washed over the multitude as the king turned to his wife and kissed her. The large bouquet of roses brushed coolly against their chins, bathing them in organic fragrance. They drew away, smiling and gazing at each other.
Everywhere around them, the people bowed or curtsied as they passed, creating a wave of rippling heads. There was no end to the number in the crowd, it seemed. The queen had never been so happy; she wasn't used to this new treatment, and she hoped the long walk to the carriage a distance away wouldn't be too long. She hadn't anticipated this small stately parade would continue for so long. All she wanted was time with her husband. Meanwhile, she put on a warm face and waved shyly to the people on the sides.
The picture today showed such a joyful scene.
Murmuring in contentment, I turned the page. I almost felt like I knew that girl, her face was so friendly. On the next page I expected another picture, but instead was a copy of a brief flyer, hastily written and printed. It read:
Breaking news from Frell, capital city of Kyrria:
Today marks the marriage of Kyrria's young and noble king, Edward, and
of his beautiful queen! Queen Janelle, whose story compares with the
Honorable Court Linguist Eleanor, is only sixteen years old! Although
the queen is not of noble blood, she is very bright and kind! More
later when details are available. This is the Early Herald reporting
the marriage of His Majesty, the king of Kyrria. The Herald: always
the first to bring you the latest news.
I gasped out loud. I read it again. And again. No, it wasn't possible. Simply impossible! Flipping back the page, I saw the picture again, this time of the newlyweds getting into a sleek, white carriage with six beautiful, white stallions. Once inside, the two of them looked out of the same window and waved back at the crowd, and I once again saw the girl's face. There could be no mistake - this was the same Sharn.
"Mother!" I frantically called. "Oh the fairies, Mother!" I rubbed my hand roughly across the page, patting the words. Oh, how I was excited!
Mother rushed to me in a flash.
"What is it, Mari baby?! Are you hurt?"
I brushed it away impatiently. "No, but there's something I have to show you!" Shoving the book around, I gave it to Mother, who took it up quizzically and read.
After seconds of skimming, eyes darting back and forth, they froze. Her brown eyes widened in amazement and disbelief, then retraced to the beginning to read more attentively. After a moment, she put the book back down on my bed.
"This is the fairy book, isn't it?"
I nodded in the affirmative.
"You shouldn't use it too much; it's very old."
I sighed. It was old, but I liked it. It was fun to play with.
"If it wasn't for the fairy book," I explained, "then we wouldn't have known about Sharn - I mean - Queen Janelle's marriage," I corrected myself. It would be hard to get used to Sharn's real name, including her new title. And that was when I realized that so much had happened since the last time we saw each other.
Mother rubbed her forehead and looked at me under her brows. "Yes, but do you know how rare this type of thing is? Only several exist in this world - and only one that belonged to the legendary Ella of Frell! So this is the most important thing that resides in this house. Only it's worth more than the house and the inn put together. Is that understood?"
I looked away from Mother. She had a point, there, but I could never, ever, give up that book. I had to change the subject back around. I turned back wearing silly grin on my face.
"But still!" I said, "Sharn's a queen!"
I began to sing joyously and hopped off the bed and galloped around, twirling, dancing on my toes. Mother sighed, but watched my antics, entertained. I belted out a traditional song of celebration, a song that was sung when the men came home from war. Therefore, it had a marching beat to it, and all I had to do was replace some words like 'troop' for 'Sharn' and I turned the song into a slightly comical tune. Since I didn't know the dance, I made up steps of my own.
I poured out my soul into the song. From where I come from, we sing a lot. And for any occasion - weddings, parties, funerals - even when drinking, we sang. There was a song for everything you could think of - from rolling out dough for pastries to tinkling in the bushes. It was crazy, but it was traditional. My voice was lovely, as would years of voice training would do to you. But I'm not bragging. All of Ayortha sings.
My mother, who watched on the side, soon joined in and skipped in circles with me while we chanted, "Queen, Queen, Queen! Long live the Queen!"
=+++=
I strode leisurely into the kitchen to find my mother working laboriously over a meat pie. But I just came in to check up on her, so yawning, I turned back towards the door. But Mother's sharp voice blocked me.
"Marika! Just because you've finished your chores doesn't mean 'do nothing else'! You're already fifteen, yet you don't even have a boyfriend!"
I was about to make a comeback when I froze. I always freeze up when it comes to boys, even talking about them. For me, it's a touchy subject.
She raved on. "Queen Janelle is only a year older than you, yet she's already married to a king! You're nothing compared to her!"
I stomped out of the kitchen and back outside. Her words had stung me where it hurts.
'You're nothing compared to her!'
"Hmph," I kicked at some grass furiously. "That's right, Mother. And I'll bet it's genetic!"
Ever since Sharn turned into Queen Janelle, Mother put even more pressure on me to get married. She said that Marika was just as good of a person as Sharn had been, and that if I tried, I would be married to a decent man within the next year. Of course, it also meant that her daughter would be out of the house and it meant one less mouth to feed. Money was short in my family, and since it wasn't the time of year for travel, very few people had been stopping at the little inn we ran.
Historically, the inn is a landmark in our tiny town, Areeb. My great- grandmother's name was Lady Areida, who was at first a poor Ayorthaian commoner. Then she made friends with the Lady Ella of Frell, and when Ella married the prince, Areida was made a lady. Although Lady Areida was one of the more powerful women of the Kyrrian court, she couldn't stand to leave her home for long, so after a few years she left court and stayed home, thus becoming known as "The Lady who Sits like a Commoner". It was also known that Lady Areida and Court Linguist Ella (for Ella had not liked the title of Queen) had been very tight. So tight, in fact, that there were rumors of a secret transaction that had been made between them, but it was a well-kept secret kept even from the Kyrrian royal family. Only one very select family kept the secret alive.
I rounded the corner to the front of the inn. From there you can see the road. On one end, it led to the center of town where most travelers stopped by to replenish their stores. On the other end, the road stretched out into a vast expanse of farms and wilderness. And this is where I stopped curiously, a horse was galloping my way from the countryside. Aha! Perhaps this was a long-awaited customer!
I waited for the rider to catch up while fidgeting. Behind, a trail of dust rose up and into the cloudless sky. As the rider was riding directly for me, I could only see him from the front, and there was an illusion that he wasn't making any progress up the road at all. But slowly the figure became larger, then he pulled up beside me. He dismounted with a grace and ease that I admired in him and strode up to me. His clothes were foreign, yet he was well-dressed. Perhaps he had come from the court of Kyrria! My heart leapt. Maybe he had news from Sharn!
The rider caught my attention with a bow and a swish of his dusty, but rich cape. "Are you Marika of Areeb?"
I nodded with quick anticipation.
"Ah. I bear a message. The Queen Janelle wishes you to visit. She was hopeful you would come." He spoke with as few words as possible, so that each word he said was important. The messenger studied my appearance. Apparently he was doubtful that a friend of the beautiful queen would be so plain and timid-looking.
"Oh...oh! Sharn - I mean - Queen Janelle! I...I would love...oh...er," I stumbled over my words in excitement. I hadn't spoken Kyrrian for a while. "Er, let me ask my parents...first." And I dashed off, rounding the corner to the back again, reaching the kitchen.
"Mother! Mother, Queen Janelle asked me if I could visit her! Can I?!"
Mother straightened up from crouching over the fire, tending to the roasting of the pork on a spit. She pulled the sweaty hair out of her eyes and looked at me.
"Oh, Mari. That's wonderful. But -"
I didn't let her finish the sentence. I was afraid to let her finish it, because I knew what she would say. "Oh, hold on, Mother - I left the guy who told me standing in front. I have to bring him in."
I ran out on her. Poor Mother. Around the corner was the messenger, still waiting patiently, albeit it was wearing thin. I timidly tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around, his expression I couldn't read.
"You can come in if you like; stay a free night, too. You could talk with my parents, and if I can go, then we'll be off no later than noon tomorrow," I said confidently. Bet he couldn't tell I had practiced before I came up front. "Oh, and...uh...I'll take your horse." That was smooth.
After I had untacked the horse - the saddle was surprisingly light - I joined the man inside and gave him a key to a room. But before he left, he handed me a letter.
"Queen Janelle wrote this. It explains everything in detail." And then he climbed the stairs.
Once I heard the door upstairs click shut, I hurried over to the fireside. An old man sat in one of the chairs, asleep, so I took a chair across from him and looked at the envelope.
It was a fancy thing; the envelope was constructed of fine parchment and the seal in back was indigo with a coat of arms. It was Kyrria's royal insignia. I carefully peeled the seal off - I wanted to save it - and shook out a letter also of parchment. With trembling fingers, I opened it up and read.
Dear Mari,
I assume you already know of my marriage to the King of Kyrria.
If you don't, forgive me, for it was all so sudden that I didn't have
time to tell you.
But now I'm hoping that you can spend time with me, and that's
why I sent a courier to ask you. His name is Hammond, but he doesn't
speak unless he has to, and when he does, he says so little. So
please forgive him, he has nothing against you.
Life at the palace is wonderful, yet (here there was a long
scratch out) it isn't the same without you. Please, if you will come,
let Hammond know and he will be ready to leave as soon as you are. If
you can't come, then I hope to see you again sometime. If money is a
problem, tell your parents that I will pay for the expenses.
Love,
Sharn
I looked up. The lead weight in my stomach had lifted; the feelings of guilt and regret fled. With Sharn paying for the expenses, it was impossible for my parents to say no.
That night, when my parents were both inside serving dinner to the guests, I approached them.
"Mother, Father, may I visit Queen Janelle in Kyrria?"
They looked at me.
"Pleeeeeaaase??"
My father spoke. "Honey, I think with our situation right now..." He broke off and exchanged worried glances with my mother.
"No! You don't understand. Queen Janelle will pay!" I showed them the letter.
Mother said, "But it's impolite to let others pay for you. Maybe if you work really hard..."
"Mother!" I yelled, exasperated. "She's a queen! Expenses like these are nothing to her now!"
"But even so, it's money, and what's more, you're making Kyrria pay for it, not Queen Janelle. Her money now comes from their taxes," she explained.
"Haaarrrggghh!!"
Now Hammond, who was sitting a couple seats away, turned in his seat and said, "Queen Janelle was hoping for Marika to go. She said she would gladly pay."
Mother and Father looked at each other for a long moment. Sometimes, I suspect they are reading each other's thoughts when they do that. Then Father smiled at me.
"You may go, Marika. But take care and behave."
He lengthened that last word, but I understood. The reputation of the family and of Ayortha was resting on my shoulders. You could count on me to behave.
That evening when I was leaving the dining room, my mother caught my arm as I was on my way out. She whispered, "Don't forget what I told you this morning," and winked. It took me until I had reached the hallway connecting the inn to our house when I realized what she had meant. I covered my face in embarrassment.