Chapter 1

Bast

Bast did not have orange coaches.

The sweeping hills of the countryside were something Ella didn't think she'd easily find herself becoming accustomed to. Standing proudly over spacious fields were the largest trees she had seen, save those during the Giant wedding she had attended. They were a testament to the age of the old city, where architecture and customs had paused while the world around them changed and adapted. Everything was so…different. Beautiful, true, just different. It would be a constant reminder to her that she had left home. Nothing about it held the same comfort and familiarity as Frell had.

Two hours in the city and already Ella was sick with heartbreak. Not just for leaving the man she loved, but for things such as the market, her tiny little room at Dame Olga's, and especially Apple. The journey had been long, granted, but she could already feel herself shrinking away with the knowledge that she would now be without everything that made her happy. Mandy was the only one who brought her any solace.

In Frell, no one would have declined Mandy's services. Her reputation had spread farther than Ella realized, though Bast was such a long distance away that although there were few who recognized the name. No one would give the wayworn and desperate pair a chance. Caution prevented Mandy from calling on old friends or writing letters for a name they could trust, and no respectable family would offer the strange woman a job lest they wind up poisoned. House after house turned them away, refusing to even taste a meal from the frazzled old woman. It seemed that Bast was far less trusting than where Ella had originated from.

Their last stop was at an inn at the edge of the city. Pride had kept Mandy from asking before, but hunger and sleep deprivation demanded that she stoop to asking the establishment for a position. Taking a deep breath, she pushed her way inside and prepared for the worst.

The two were greeted by a plump woman with unkempt orange hair and a smattering of freckles on her nose. Her too-broad grin knocked Mandy off of the offensive and left her grasping for the words she had initially meant to use. Finally she responded with a tiny smile of her own while Ella remained expressionless.

"Hello, there," the woman spoke with an accent indigenous to the area. "Can I help you with a room?"

"No, thank you," Mandy replied. "We were curious to see if you might be in need of a cook and helper."

The woman regarded the two in silence, her eyes scraping over each appraisingly. Times were tough and the people had grown hard. First impressions always amounted to something. This was Bast, not some fairy tale land where everyone held hands and played with ponies. "My husband currently runs the kitchens. However, business has picked up since the opening of the university, We might be willing accept two extra sets of hands in the kitchens. What are your terms?"

Mandy threw Ella a triumphant grin, in which she nodded in response. Once she was sure there was no opposition, the kitchen fairy continued on confidently. "Meals, lodging, and an extra coin or two when you decide we've earned it."

The woman's laugh was contagious. Even Ella found herself smiling. "Alright, then. You've got a deal. If Harry can't use you, then I'm afraid there isn't much else I can do. However, you both look fairly capable."

Mandy refrained from smirking. Capable was an understatement. She was all too aware of her own abilities.

♣

Connected to the inn was a small building meant to house the few who worked full time. Wanda, the woman who had welcomed them so openly into her establishment, and her husband Harry occupied the largest quarters, which still didn't compare to what one could buy for a few KJs at the inn. Mandy and Ella were each given a separate room on the second story—not much larger than a noblewoman's closet, but better than what Ella had received while living at Dame Olga's.

Her carpet bag only held within it two spare changes of clothing, and after she had bathed, she slipped into a clean tunic and began to unpack. The task only required five minutes of her time—she didn't have much. It was the first spare moment she had had to herself since fleeing Frell, and no matter how badly she itched to open her magic book, it was only then that she could find the time.

Exhaling slowly and drawing up the last of her courage, she opened the heavy cover and peered down at the familiar form painted on the first piece of parchment.

The pads of her fingers traced the slumped form of Char, who sat with his head in hands outside of her old home. It had been almost two weeks since she had left, and still…he waited for her. Had he come back to see if she had returned? Brows furrowing in worry, she turned the page.

Ella is gone.

I've come every day, every single day since she left. She isn't going to return, and…and no one seems to care. Where is her father? Why do her step-sisters gloat at her absence? Her step-mother seems annoyed, though it seems more so by the fleeing of her cook than Ella.

I've sent two of my most loyal men to find her whereabouts. Surely they can track her. What will I do if she is found? I don't know. I don't intend on forcing her to return. I don't even know if I have the right to demand answers.

I want to hate her, I truly do. How can I hate the woman I love? Even when I thought she had deceived me, I couldn't hate her. I'm cursed to love that woman til I die.

A single tear stained the page she was reading, though the ink didn't smear. In that moment, she wished they had never met. Then at least he could live his life without the pain she had inflicted on it.

The loud knocking from the hallway forced Ella out of her thoughts, and immediately she scrubbed away her tears with the back of her hand. Closing her book and shoving it underneath her bed, Ella cleared her throat and rose to answer the door.

"Hello?" she hesitantly peered out of her bedroom.

A boy, close to her own age she suspected, stood at the entrance with a cheeky smile and a plate of food. Ella arched an eyebrow slowly, but opened the door further to allow him entrance. Without hesitation he entered, a bounce in his step.

"So I've heard you haven't eaten in awhile. I brought you some leftovers from dinner. Your aunt Mandy said you might be hungry." Placing the plate on the bedside table, he regarded her with another smile before collapsing back on her bed. Ella stared at him wearily as he made himself comfortable.

"Have a seat, then," she offered tersely and closed the door behind him. She couldn't be too annoyed. He had brought her a meal, after all.

"The name is Jack. My mother was the one who hired you," he commented before stealing a grape off of her plate. He popped it into his mouth with an impish grin.

"My name is…" Ella paused. It would be imprudent for both she and Mandy to go by their names, especially in a city she had mentioned to Char during the balls. Still, an alias would just be confusing and most likely she'd slip up in the long run. "My name is Eleanor."

There was no Ella anymore. She would stay in Frell, locked away in the hearts of the few who remembered her fondly. It was strange how much she resembled her own mother now—older, wiser, slightly reckless and unhappy. Fate had a strange way of playing out.

"Eleanor. So you're a cook in the making, eh? Fantastic. I adore white cake," Jack said as he inspected his fingernails out of sheer boredom. Ella, who had been reaching for the bread roll on her plate, blanched in response. One glance at her expression sent the boy into a fit of laughter.

"Oh, that was priceless! Your friend told me to come and ask you for cake. I thought she was just teasing me," he sat up with the same bold grin as his mother, softened by youth. Ella found herself smiling slightly in response.

"I used to work for a mistress who asked for white cake at every meal. I think I'd rather waste my life away shoveling horse droppings then make it again," she finally took a seat and bit into the bread. Mmm, the food was nothing compared to Mandy's, but it was warm and filling. Good enough.

The boy still smiled, but there was something unrecognizable in his eyes. After a short pause, he responded. "Well, stable work isn't the ideal, but it's not all that bad. Besides, I like horses, and I get to take them out for exercise occasionally."

Ella felt like a dolt. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be offensive."

Jack shrugged and then returned to grinning. "It's fine. I feel the same way about cooking, so it's fair game. I'm just glad to have someone around here over the age of thirty. This place can get pretty boring, and the patrons are usually far too stuck up to associate with someone like me."

"Well, it's good then that I don't have standards," Ella replied with a laugh.

Jack chuckled in response, and tossed a grape in her direction, which she artfully dodged. The two shared her dinner and amiably chatted until it was bedtime, which both went to in a much better mood to. It was good to have a potential friend around.

Hey everyone. I know this is a bit of a short update, but I just didn't want to leave everyone hanging. Yes, I'm still writing this fic, I just came down with a terrible case of strep throat that left me unable to do pretty much anything for three weeks. I'm better now, though, so expect quicker and longer updates. Please review and let me know if you like it so far!