A/N- So I know I'm updating pretty quickly. Trust me; I want to know what happens next as much as the rest of you because I'm basically writing whatever pops into my head.
Ella fell on a forest floor with a thud. For a tiny girl, she made a surprisingly loud noise. Her guitar, suddenly back in its case, landed with a thud on her lap.
"Oh, hell! What have I done now?" Ella looked around. She had no idea where she was, or where she was going. But someone, or something, was telling her to run. So she kept her pocketknife close and she ran. She noticed her hair smelled terrible. At least she had the red lipstick on. The forest smelled like grass and flowers, and sunlight just barely poked through the leaves on the trees, lighting her path. She immediately slowed down when she ran into someone.
"Oy! Watch where you're going!" Ella scrambled up to see who was yelling at her. It was a boy. Oh, no. Not a boy. Ella hated talking to boys more than anything. Especially when the boy was as handsome as the one she had run into.
"Who are you?" Ella demanded.
"I'm King Edmund, and I would like to know what you're doing running through the forest like a madwoman!"
"What fool decided to make you a king?" Ella scoffed. Her heart was pounding. The boy was much taller than her with dark hair. Fantastic. Now she had gotten into an argument with an almost six-foot-tall king.
"I did." A thundering voice said behind her. Ella turned around to see a huge talking lion behind her.
"Oh, well, um, then I'm sure he deserves it. You seem like a very wise man, I mean, lion, so I'll trust your opinion. Now if you'll just excuse me…"
"Not so fast." Edmund grabbed Ella as she proceeded to run into him again. "Now, I'll ask you two questions: One, how did you get here? And two, why does your hair smell as if you haven't bathed for a week?" Edmund made a face.
"Well, before I decide if I want to answer your questions, I'll introduce myself. I'm Ella. Now, I'm not sure how I got here, and, to answer your second question, you're right. I haven't washed my hair in exactly 5 days."
"Aslan, what shall we do with her? She's a bit smelly, and I would like to find out exactly how she ended up in Narnia." Edmund looked to the huge talking lion for guidance.
"Well, Edmund, I suppose we must take her back to the castle. I'm sure if she was transported here to Narnia she must be here for a reason. Come now, Ella. Stop being so stubborn and tell us a bit about yourself."
Before Ella knew it, she was at the most beautiful castle she had ever seen. Well, it was the first castle she had ever seen, but it was beautiful anyway. Aslan the lion and Edmund the stuck-up stupid king had taken her somewhere, although Ella wasn't exactly sure where they had taken her.
"Now you see, Ella, there are 3 other people of royalty here in Narnia besides Edmund. There is High King Peter and the Queens Susan and Lucy. I look over these four kings and queens and help them when they need me."
"Yeah, they're my siblings. We came to Narnia a while ago. Now hurry up, I'm sure Lucy will just love meeting a new person."
"Peter! Susan! Lucy! Someone's here!" Edmund yelled in a very un king-like way.
Ella heard the sound of feet racing down the stairs, and a young girl ran toward her and gave her a hug. "Hello there! My name's Lucy! What's your name?"
"Hi, Lucy. My name is Ella. And before you ask, I have no idea how I got here."
"Now hold on, everyone," Peter said, taking charge. "Let us all go around and say our names and how old we are. My name is Peter. I'm eighteen years old."
"Hello, dear. My name is Susan and I'm seventeen." The older sister said with a polite smile.
Edmund just glared at her. "You already know me. I'm sixteen."
Lucy gave Ella a huge smile. "I've already told you my name, and I'm fourteen years old!" The girl seemed so young and innocent despite her age.
"How nice to meet you all. Now that we've been introduced, I should be going on my way. I have things to attend to." Ella turned on her heel but came to a screeching halt when she heard Lucy's sad little voice.
"Ella, you're already leaving? But won't you be lost?" the youngest sibling sniffled.
"That is absolutely unheard of, Ella. You'll be staying with us, of course. Now, where should she stay?" Ella somehow understood she shouldn't protest after Susan had made her decision.
Susan and Lucy led Ella up a long staircase. "Your home is lovely. May I ask if it has a name?"
"Cair Paravel! Isn't it the loveliest place in the world?" Lucy almost tripped up the stairs with enthusiasm.
"This is your room, Ella. You also have your own bathroom. I mean no offense, but you should really wash your hair." Susan wrinkled her nose.
Ella observed her lovely room in awe. There was an armoire and a vanity and a bed with a canopy…and the most beautiful glass doors leading to a beautiful balcony. She couldn't believe she was going to be staying in such an amazing place. The two sisters left her to unpack. She put her extra clothes in the armoire and went to go see the bathroom. There was a mirror and she observed her hair. It really was terrible. She locked the door behind her and proceeded to wash her hair vigorously. When she was done she looked at her face in the mirror. She was shocked at her appearance. She had never looked better. Her red lipstick has stayed intact after her washing and her hair was so clean. She gave her reflection a winning smile and went to go change her clothes. She noticed something bunched up in the small heap of clothes at the bottom of the armoire. A dress? She didn't even know she owned a dress. She could tell it was from the other world, because it wasn't as regal as Susan and Lucy's dresses. She put on the dress and her royal blue cardigan, surprisingly clean, and went to go speak to the siblings.
"Oh, Edmund, you shouldn't be so –" Susan was cut off when she saw lovely Ella, actually clean, at the bottom of the stairs. "Ella, dear, you look so much prettier! Now come eat something. You're far too tiny for a girl with such a strong personality."
Ella ate a roll of bread and drank a large goblet of wine but refused to eat any more. She didn't want to feel like she was intruding where she shouldn't be. After all, she was already staying in their home.
"So, Susan, where did you decide to put the stubborn waif?" Edmund looked at his sister.
"Oh, Edmund, it's none of your business! Give the thing some privacy." Susan avoided his question.
"Oh, no you didn't give her the room down the hall from mine! Susan, I need my privacy!" Edmund was shocked. He disliked the girl already, and now he was being forced to be neighbors with her?
Ella glared at Edmund. When he looked back at her he almost blushed. Susan was right; she looked much better when she didn't look homeless. But he couldn't think of that. He hated her, didn't he?
"Well, Edmund, maybe you won't be so cranky if you make a friend." Peter spoke to him like a child.
No one had noticed Ella has crept back upstairs. Peter and Susan and Lucy were so kind, but she couldn't stand being around Edmund for more than a few moments. She decided to look around the castle a bit. The shiny satin polka dots on her dress reflected light onto the walls. There were portraits of a few people and a few locked doors. Ella suddenly came across a rather large door and opened it. She found a vast library that smelled like leather inside.
"You seem to get lost everywhere, don't you?" Ella turned around to see Edmund behind her. They narrowed their eyes at each other.
"I'm a guest here. You shouldn't be so rude. So, whose idea was it to have such a large library? Surely it wasn't yours. You're a fool."
"Actually, I'm the one who uses this room most. Maybe you shouldn't speak before you know all of the facts."
"Oh, whatever. If you're going to be so rude I don't even want to talk to you." Ella went to go see more of the rooms.
"You know, Ed, you shouldn't be so mean to her." Lucy looked through the shelves for a book. When she found what she was looking for, she sat down in an
armchair and read aloud, "Did you know that 'Ella' is an English name that means 'beautiful fairy woman'?" she raised her eyebrows at her brother, who proceeded to blush a bit.
Edmund went to go apologize to Ella.
A/N: Whew! That was a bit longer than the first chapter. So, what should happen next? We don't want anything to happen too fast, do we? Unless if you guys really want the sappy romance stuff really soon, I might another chapter or two to have anything happen between our squabbling, moody 16-year-olds.