Author's Note: Hello everyone! Or as we say in the South, "Hey, ya'll!" I saw that I had more views and visitors than I thought I would. Thank you so much for reading. I hope you stay with the story to see how it turns out. I write it as scenarios pop in my head, plus Joe Hisaishi music helps me get the creative juices flowing. Great music! Thinking about purchasing it to play in my future classroom.
Thank you, Matan1998 for commenting on the story. If any of you see a mistake (grammatically or otherwise) please let me know. I try to proof read, but things slip through the cracks.
Some of the events, dialogue, and situations will be slightly different from the book because we have invented characters thrown into the world of Frell. Naturally, this will change some interactions.
Again: The only characters that belong to me are Leigh and Asa, Jack and Ivan. I will be using some of the book dialogue in this chapter. That is it. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Ogres!
After talking for a couple of hours, I discovered that Asa, Prince Asyn, only stole from the wealthy. He didn't do it to be greedy, he justified it as surviving. He explained that they would work as farmhands from time to time, and preyed on the very wealthy to have some extra money. He stressed that they never took from the common people, though.
"Why not? Stealing is a crime no matter how you to justify it."
"Well, think of it like this. A noble is born into wealth and opportunity. They have access to education, clothes, food. That is, if they managed their estates soundly. Ella's father is a merchant. He is adding to his wealth, unless he makes some bad deals. What does your father do?"
"We own a huge apple orchard and vineyard. The largest in Frell, Jenn, and Bast. We sell the apples and grapes at markets and make wine to sell, too. Father is also at court often. I suppose he promotes the orchards and vineyard there."
"Your father, it sounds, manages his estate very well." He got back to his point. "But, he has a vast amount of wealth and property. He does work to add to his wealth, but he was born into money. We simply take some of their valuables or money off their hands and use it to feed and clothe ourselves. Maybe spend it at a tavern every so often. We never still from common people. They toil long and hard for their food and make their own clothes. It would be disrespectful to take from them."
I sat there eyeing him. Sounded silly to me. Stealing was wrong, no matter what reason someone provided. Maybe if it was food, I would think differently. He made some sense, but maybe he just liked scaring the stuffiness out of the rich.
The longer we talked, the sleepier I became. He must have noticed my nodding off, because he stood up abruptly and announced that he was taking me back to bed.
"No, I was really interested in what you were talking about. I am very interested in the Sings of Ayortha. I can stay up some more." No I couldn't, because I was nodding off while saying the very sentence. I was so sleepy that my head settled on his shoulder.
He gently placed one arm behind my back and one arm under my legs. He was obviously strong because he picked me up as if I weighed as much as child. I was slightly embarrassed. I had only just met him and he hadn't shown himself this friendly earlier during the day. Maybe he found a kindred spirit in me. "What in heaven's name are you doing?"
"I am taking you back to your hammock. You're out of you mind if you think I believe that you're not tired."
He deposited me into my hammock very gently and placed the blanket over me. I caught his hand as he turned to leave. "Asa?" I whispered.
He leaned down to hear me. I could see his piercing green eyes inches from my face, even in the dark. "What is it, Leigh?"
"We are friends now, so your secret is safe with me."
He smiled softly and gave my hand a small squeeze before he climbed into the hammock hanging in the opposite tree. And I drifted off dreaming.
Early dappled sunlight broke through the canopy of leaves. I sat up and rubbed my eyes while I stretched. Ella was out of her hammock already and was talking to one of the Elves. Jack and Ivan were sleepily pulling on their boots and began to follow Ella and the Elf. I looked at the hammock across from mine to see Asa sleeping peacefully.
His nose had a light scattering of faint freckles even though he was tan from the sun. I thought it was funny that his mouth hung open slighty. His jaw and chin showed signs of stubble growing back from his shave and his long dark curls fell across his face as he breathed steadily in and out. I reached over the hammock to sweep his hair back like a mother would her child. His hair felt soft on my fingers and with his hair off his face I could see his lashes resting on his cheeks. He was very rugged and manly but I was envious of those long and perfectly fanned dark lashes. I was startled from my reverie when I noticed he was staring at me. I'm sure I turned every shade of red there was.
"What in Kyrria's name are you doing?" He was wide awake now and kept eyeing me down.
I had to think quickly so I made it into a joke. Something I thought Ella would do. "Nothing! Just wondering if you could breathe under all that hair! There's a ton of it!"
He gave me one of his smirks. "I wouldn't say anything about amounts of hair for if we plunged into the depths of yours, I am sure we would find all sorts of lost treasures."
I stuck my tongue out as he picked up his boots and started walking. "Come. We need to get ready to leave for this Giant wedding you two are so anxious to get to."
Two hours later we had set out again. The Elves always loved when Asa and his friends came to visit. They talked about his kindness and how he helped them from time to time. They loved Ella too, but distrusted her father. Between Ella and the Elves, my opinion of him was the highest on. Since the Elves liked them, they loaned us a pony and a small cart of food to last us until we reached Uaaxee. They knew exactly where that was and gave us specific directions. We set out to our destination clean and revived.
Ella rode in the back of the cart consuming the writings in her book. I had looked in there one time at school. She was in the garden with Areida and I wanted something to read. When I opened the book, it showed me Father talking with King Jerrold and Prince Char. I turned the page to see what was next and it showed Hattie looking into a mirror with her wig on its stand. I was taken by surprise that this fairytale book had shown me people I knew. The only explanation was that it was Elven or some sort of Fairy enchantment. She was reading it, regardless of our environment.
I walked behind Asa and Jack and Ivan walked leading the pony. We made camp for the night and settled in for some rest.
The next morning I woke up with an Ogre looming over me and another poking Ella with a stick. I was shocked to see eight of them surrounding Ella and me. I skimmed the area again to see that Asa, Jack, and Ivan were no where to be found.
Oh, Kyrria! They must have been eaten!
"Wake up breakfast," said the poker.
Ella and I both saw a pile of bones on the ground next to the cart and instantly realized it was the remains of the pony. I began to gag, Ella threw up. One Ogre said something in Ogrese, but I had no clue what it was. Ella said it meant: "It will taste bad for hours." I threw up too so I could bide as much time that was possible to stay alive.
The Ogres started to talk back and forth to each other and soon began to fight. Ella and I saw it as our chance to quietly make our escape.
"The food is escaping!" cried a small one.
"Stop!" the leader commanded. I kept running. I looked behind me to see Ella frozen in place. They had to resort to their persuasive way of talking for me.
They allowed us to take our bags and we set out on the road. As we were walking in silence, I scanned the area for signs of our three companions. It was if they had disappeared into thin air. The whole reason I hired them was for safety. This was coming out of their pay if we ever got out of this situation.
We stopped after a while and we ate some of the food the Elves had provided. Ella was talking to them in their language. She must have said something funny because she had them all laughing.
The youngest spoke to us and persuaded us to go to sleep. "Don't run off," he said.
I woke up in the middle of the night to Ella nudging me. She whispered for me to get my things and follow her. We had to pick our way carefully over the sleeping Ogres.
We made it beyond them and I started to pick up my pace, but soon noticed that Ella was not beside me. Again, she was in the middle of the field turning in circles on her knees. I watched her as she called back toward the Ogress and stopped. She got to her knees and started crawling again, but soon stopped. She tried again, but instead of running toward me, she ran toward the Ogres! What was she doing?
It hit me. Don't run off. A command! It was the same with Hattie, Olive, and the teachers at school! She had to obey any commands given to her. She obviously couldn't refuse for a curse or spell had been put on her!
I jogged back to where she sat. I couldn't leave her and I couldn't do a battle of commands with the Ogres. They would surely find out about the curse and use it to their advantage. When I approached, I saw her whispering Ogrese to herself. She kept doing it until we fell asleep.
We woke up to Ogre faces again. They began conversing with each other which soon developed into an altercation when one grabbed Ella.
However, the fight was short lived when Ella began to speak. Her voice sounded like honey and oil. I realized what she was doing. She was using their tricks against them. I tried to focus on the ground so I wouldn't hear what she was saying. Pretty soon she nudged me and motioned for me to look. Eight sleeping Ogres were in front of us. I hugged her tightly. Not only was she my friend, but she became my best friend in that moment.
A twig snapped behind us. As we turned we saw six knights carrying rope. Their leader was a tall young man. They got closer and motioned for us to keep quiet. The young man saluted Ella and began to bind the Ogre leader.
The leader woke and started talking to the young man, but the lad continued tightening the rope. The young man and the knights didn't pay attention to the Ogres no matter how much they tried their persuasion. They gagged all of them which was a smart choice.
"Ella, how did you tame the ogres?" the young man almost yelled.
"I'm skilled at tongues-"
"I can't hear you. Oh!" He pulled beeswax from his ears. "Once we see the Ogres, we put the beeswax in so we don't fall into a snare." He turned to me and bowed. "Who is your friend?"
"This is Leigh of Bast. Leigh this is Char."
"Prince Charmont?" I couldn't believe this. I was standing in front of the prince. Asa's brother!
"Please, call me Char. Any friend of Ella's is a friend of mine."
Char and Ella talked about her sudden triumph with the Ogres. I was in awe honestly. Ella was truly talented at picking up languages. "How did they come upon you two?"
"We ran away from finishing school. The Ogres found us after we left the Elves."
"Was finishing school so bad that you ran away by yourselves?"
"We were traveling with three men, but they disappeared. I hope the Ogres didn't do something to them."
"Three men? What were their names?"
Oh no. "Ivan, Jack, and Asa." Darn! Char's eyes got huge when she said Asa's name.
She noticed this, too. "Did you know them?"
"I know Asa. You said they disappeared?" Char said with a hard swallow.
"We woke up to Ogres in our faces. The only bones I saw were that of the pony he had. I didn't see any others. Hopefully, they are alright, but I can't understand why they would abandon us to Ogres." I wanted to think they wouldn't do such a thing. Asa certainly didn't seem that way.
Char changed the subject back to finishing school etiquette. Ella pantomimed how to sit and eat at a formal dinner. They talked back and forth, obviously in love with each other whether they had realized it or not. He grinned and laughed at Ella's antics and I grinned too. Secretly thought, my heart ached at the possibility of Asa and his two friends being killed by the Ogres.
Char introduced us to his knights and began to discuss the best way to transport the Ogres. Then, promised us one of his knights to escort us to Uaaxxee's farm. Ella and Char exchanged fond farewells and I curtsied to him. As I turned to mount the horse, Char caught me by the arm.
"Ella mentioned that this Asa you met had disappeared. What did he look like?"
Asa said Char knew he was alive so I concluded Char was concerned for the fate of his older brother. "He was tall and tan. Slightly taller than you. He had serious looking green eyes and long, thick, black curly hair. He wore a ring with the royal family crest on a rope around his neck. Sound like the Asa you know?"
Char nodded. "He's my-"
"Older brother?"He nodded again. "So, he wasn't lying. Find him and make sure he is alright and if he is, tell him Leigh of Bast will kill him for feeding her to the Ogres."
Char chuckled and bid me farewell.
We were off to Uaaxxee's farm at last.