Hello everyone! This is the revised – and hopefully improved – version of What If. Chapters will be updated weekly. Enjoy!
'Ella!' Hattie shrieked.
Char gasped, 'Ella?'
I broke away from him and ran, stumbling down the palace steps, through the wrought iron gates and into the darkness. How can I have done this again? I berated myself in a panic. I had endangered Kyrria, and Char, again! I ran faster, ignoring my slowly burning lungs and legs. Beyond the sound of my panting, I thought I could hear Hattie and Char – it sounded like Char had, for once, abandoned his princely manners and snapped angrily at her. Understandable, in my opinion.
My ball gown was burdening me. As I was running I tore at it, and it eventually fell off me, leaving only my simple cotton shift underneath. I had no time to mourn the loss of the beautiful garment. I had problems of my own.
Unburdened by my dress, I made it out of the gates, but could hear rapid footsteps behind me. I was being chased.
Char was much more athletic than I was, and he would probably catch me in a moment. I changed direction, running for the woods. I knew my way round them, and it was the perfect way to lose him, the part of me desperate to be caught warring with my nobler side.
My morality won, and I made a break for the trees, but could hear him coming closer, shouting my name. Afraid my resolve would break, I didn't turn to look at him, even when he was less than ten feet away. I made it inside the cover of the pines, knowing I couldn't outrun him now. I could feel his breath on the back of my neck, and pushed my protesting legs harder.
A hand seized my wrist, jerking me to a stop with a yelp so fiercely that I would have fallen to the ground if Char hadn't caught me and held me against him. I looked away, striving pointlessly to break free. We were like that for seconds, or minutes, or hours until I gradually stopped struggling and went still in his warm arms as he gathered me closer to his chest.
'Ella?' he whispered at last. I said nothing. 'Ella, talk to me, please.' An order. It was pointless fighting.
'Hello, Char.' I murmured, my face still turned away – though at this closeness the only thing I could do was rest my cheek against his heartbeat. One arm cautiously released my waist, raised to my chin and turned my face to look at him. I stared into his face – how could I give him up again? He didn't speak for a few minutes. Maybe he had nothing to say. Then,
'Why were you at the ball?'
Ah, questions, questions. As we could neither get married nor be friends without hurting him in some way, dishonesty was really the only policy available to me. I racked my brains for a suitable excuse. I settled on the simplest one.
'I wanted to see you.'
'Why?'
'We're friends." I said lamely. "Aren't we?' I couldn't help asking. Were we still friends? His expression was unreadable.
'Did my letter reach you?' He asked abruptly, his face suddenly hard, quite unlike him.
'I'm sorry?' I played for time.
'My, ah, latest letter, did it get to you?' It looked as though he was blushing, and my heart went out to him, so flustered and ill at ease.
'Erm, the latest one?' I asked, though it hurt.
'You ... you didn't get it?' His eyes widened, and dropped other arm seemingly unconsciously. I felt cold without him close.
'I didn't get anything unusual,' I lied through my teeth.
'Oh . . .' He trailed off, lost for words. I realized that, if I was going to pull this off, I was going to have to act more like me.
'Why? What did you send? Was it something important?' I asked, my words sounding desperate, even to myself. He just looked at me, unable to frame a comprehensible sentence. Eventually he pulled himself together, taking a few deep breaths and studied his boots. He opened his mouth to speak.
That was when I took my chance. I bolted, hurtling myself into the forest so quickly that I could hide before Char caught up with me. I was concealed in a hollowed out log, my head and feet tucked in as far as they could go, but I could still see out of a tear in the rotting wood. Char ran past me, spinning around in circles, his hand pulling at his hair.
'Ella, come back!' he cried, his longing voice echoing through the forest. 'Ella!'
After a few minutes, his fruitless search carried him out of earshot, but I waited longer still before I cautiously wriggled out of my log and ran. I reached the house, but stopped, just undercover of the trees that bordered it. I could see them.
Char and three of his knights were at the house. How was I supposed to pack now? After all, if there was anything I was sure of, it was that I did need to pack. I couldn't stay here. I'd thought about it, while in the log (a surprisingly good ruminating aid). I would try to find Areida, and hopefully she would help me get along until I could find my own work. Once I was earning, I could tuck myself away in a quiet cottage, away from anyone I could hurt. I'd have a cow that gave me milk, a few chickens to give me eggs, and I'd grow my own vegetables. I smiled bitterly to myself, and settled down, cross-legged in the grass, to wait for them to leave.
Most left a few hours later, but I didn't see Char leave and two knights remained out in the garden; Aubrey and Bertram. As far as I could tell, Stephan and Char were still at the house.
When it was about three in the morning, Audrey and Bertram headed off and I knew it was about time to make my move. I snuck in through the back door, and let myself in to the servant's quarters. When I arrived at my room's corridor, I stopped dead. Char was right outside the room! Asleep, thank goodness. I couldn't have gotten in to my room without waking him up, as he was leaning against the door. But, most unusually and fortuitously, I had one last trick up my sleeve.
My room was connected to Nancy's next door by a cupboard in the corner of her room. I had discovered this when Mum Olga had insisted, to Hattie's delight, that I clean and tidy all the servants' rooms. I had opened the cupboard to stash some of Nancy's (considerable) mess, and in doing so, had accidentally knocked out one of the wide, rotting boards at the back. I had propped it up again, but it would be almost easy to enter in that way – the hole was big enough to fit me, just about.
I quietly let myself into Nancy's room, taking care not to wake her, though the care probably wasn't needed as she was snoring so loudly that it would have taken an ogre to wake her. I crept towards the cupboard and opened it, wincing at every creak it made. Sneaking inside, I removed the loose board and crawled into my room. I grabbed my leather satchel and crammed clean clothes, my fairy-made book, ink, paper and quill pen into it.
I also packed my boots, removing my slippers; I didn't notice until I took them off that they had rubbed my skin raw while I was running. I slipped out of Nancy's room and crept over Char, hesitating. Then, after a moment of deliberation, I placed the slippers next to him and left.
I knew when Char woke up. I was just out of the gardens when a yell sounded out from the house. I brushed a few tears out of my eyes, and ran.
Thanks for reading! Please review; next chapter up same time next week.
Rune x
