A.N. Ok! So sorry for updating so late, but at least I did! :P Ok so yeahh thanks to everyone again for reading, reviewing, alerting and favouriting! Here is Chapter 4! ^.^
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight (haha I just had to since a lot of people do this) But I DO own that song/poem, Happily Ever After. I wrote it, therefore I own it && so does one of my besties cuz she wrote the music to it && yeahh just so my other bestie doesn't feel left out of this little disclamier, RAWWR! && Die With A Friend cuz imma blow yer freaking head off Thayym less than 3
So yeahh these author notes are getting longer and longer haha ;) Please Enjoy P.S. I LOVE LILACS.
This was it, the day that I've been waiting for since a year ago. It's all I could talk about for the past month and it's been driving Edward and the rest of the castle crazy. My birthday. To be honest, I didn't care at all about the presents or getting older, this was the only day that Mother and Father took time off of their busy schedule to spend the day with me. Today, Mother and Father promised to spend the whole day with me doing what ever I wished, which was to have all their attention on me. I couldn't wait.
"Princess?" a high-pitched voice whispered. One of the maids came into my room to see if I was ready for breakfast. "Are you awake yet, Princess?" It was Alice, Carlisle's daughter. She had short, spiky black hair that flipped at the ends and big, round eyes. She was tiny and slim and when she smiled, it reminded me of what I thought a pixie should look like. She wore a tight-fitting black dress that ended at her knees, and matching black shoes. Alice was like my big sister, my best friend and was one of my most favourite people in the world, like most of Carlisle's family. I even liked Alice's mother, Esme, her brother Emmett and her adopted brother, Jasper. Her adopted sister, Rosalie, was another story though.
"Yes of course Alice! Why wouldn't I be? Today is going to be splendid! Oh Alice, I'm so excited!" I hopped out of my bed and stood up, arms in the air. Almost every morning, Alice would come wake me up and get me dressed. She of course would pick out what I would wear. Alice came over and took off my night gown. Then, she grabbed a blue frilly dress and pulled it over my head. She turned me around and tied the red ribbon on the back of my dress. Taking a step back, she told me to spin around so she could get a good look at me. As I twirled about, I giggled.
Giggling with me, she said, "Looks like someone's in a good mood today. Here, sit down and I'll brush your hair." I sat down on a chair in front of a mirror and watched Alice fix my hair. It didn't take too long for me to get excited again.
"Mother and father promised to spend the entire day with me today. I can't wait anymore, Alice! Please hurry up and let me go," I pleaded. She laughed and said, "Please calm down Princess, I'll never be able to fix this tangled mess of hair if you keep moving like this!"
"I'm sorry, I- I just can't wait!" Alice laughed her lighthearted laugh and leaning in closer to me, she put her hands on my shoulders. Looking at her in the mirror, I watched as she whispered, "Happy Birthday, Princess." I stood up and Alice bowed, I flashed her a brilliant smile and sprinted off to Mother and Father's room. As I left, I heard Alice sigh.
I knocked loudly on their door. "Mother! Father! Wake up!" I yelled. There was no answer. I looked at the clock. It was already ten o'clock. 'They're probably having their breakfast,' I thought, and I skipped happily towards the kitchen. As I approached the kitchen, I heard plates clattering together and dishes being washed. As I got closer, I could smell the scent of sausages and bacon sizzling, and muffins cooling off. My favourite!
I pushed the doors open and called excitedly, "Mother! Father!" Silence. The whole room literally froze and went quiet. Only the sound of the food being cooked was heard. Some people looked at each other anxiously, but no one moved.
"Happy Birthday, Princess!" Esme greeted.
"Yes, yes, happy birthday Princess," the rest of the room applauded, then began talking in harsh whispers.
"We made your favourites, Princess, just like your Mother and Father told us to!" Esme said cheerfully. A little too cheerfully. I let my eyes wonder, searching for my parents.
"Well?" I insisted, "Where are they?"
"You see Princess," Esme began, "The King and Queen, your parents, are- are awfully busy and-"
"Where are they Esme?" I implored, raising my voice.
"Now, now Princess," Jasper said in attempt to calm me down, "Please sit down and eat. Esme and the other kitchen workers have spent a great deal preparing your meal. If you don't eat it, you might hurt their feelings. The King and Queen have both been called down for duty somewhere in town. They are very sorry and promised that they would come back as soon as they can. They said to tell you that you should eat, keep yourself busy and that they will take you out as soon as they come home. Look, they even left you a present!"
"What do you take me for? A fool? They'll come back at night, when I'm fast asleep and wish not to speak to them. I should have known. This day was too good to be true. too great to last. Please excuse me everyone, I'm not very hungry. Please help yourself though," I excused myself and dashed outside. I ran to the swing Edward made me and started swinging.
'I knew it,' I thought, 'I can't blame them. I'm just a kid and they have much more important things to do. They are the King and Queen anyway. It's not like I could be more important than anything else they did.' I let my bangs cover my eyes and started weeping.
A few minutes later, I heard several footsteps coming from behind me.
"Princess?" a velvety voice mumbled.
"What do you want Edward?" I asked without looking.
"It's just that, Princess, your parents took time and spend quite a lot of money buying you a gift. I heard them pacing at night, muttering, 'what's good enough to buy our little girl for her eighth birthday?' and, you wouldn't want their efforts go to waste, would you?"
I sighed, "What do you really want, Edward?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, your present ate some of the Royal carrots from the garden so I decided to bring him to you so you two could get acquainted," he muffled a laugh.
I was confused. 'My gift...ate carrots?' Finally turning around, I saw a huge white horse with blue eyes, and Edward holding its rope leader. I gasped.
"What do you think, Princess?" he chuckled.
I jumped off of the swing and shuffled my way towards the horse.
"Look Princess, I know that you're upset, but your parents are honestly sorry. I saw some people having to drag the out this morning because they refused to go away from the castle. They didn't want to break their promise and upset you, that was the last thing on their mind. Please don't be mad at them anymore," Edward said. We both sat down beside the horse.
"This is the fourth birthday they're missed. I should have known better not to count on them to be free for one day. I should have known that they couldn't keep their word," I sobbed quietly.
"Princess, you must understand that they tried," Edward reassured me. We continued to sit together.
"So what's his name?" he asked, breaking the silence.
"Pardon me?" I asked.
"Your horse. What's his name?" I thought
a second and quickly said, "Jeluby!" Edward snickered.
"What kind of name is that?" he demanded through his laughter.
"A different name. Hey, quit laughing at him! It's my horse, I can name him anything I want," I said, miffed.
Sobering up, he agreed. "Yes, very...unique." Suddenly he stood up. Lending me a hand, he said, "Come on, I'd like to show you something." He pulled me up and then helped me get on Jeluby. Then, grabbing the rope, he lead Jeluby and I into the forest that surrounded the castle. As we got deeper and deeper into the forest, Edward told me to close my eyes. When we finally stopped, he helped me off of Jeluby and sat me down.
"You can open your eyes now, Princess," he said. I obeyed and opened my eyes. I looked around. We were in a meadow. It was stunning. The trees were all bent and twisted in different ways, yet all looked so symmetrical. Thin, green grass swayed with the light breeze as sunlight shined through the tree canopies. To the east, I could hear a stream bubbling quietly. Wildflowers covered most of the area, and there was a scent of lilacs in the air.
"Edward, this place, it's...it's amazing!"
"Yeah, I thought so too. I found it a while before I started living in the castle. I used to come here all the time to think. I just thought that you would appreciate its beauty as much as I do. I'm glad you like it," he added.
"Like it? I love it! Does anyone else know about this place?" I asked.
"Not that I know of. Let's just keep this place to ourselves, our meadow," he said in a hushed tone.
"Our meadow," I repeated and smiled.
"Oh yeah! I forgot," Edward said, abruptly digging through his pockets. He took out a folded piece of paper and handed it to me. "This is for you. Happy birthday!" he smiled.
I unfolded the piece of paper. It was a drawing of me, swinging on the swing. The lines made the picture seem so real, you could see the emotion. It was brilliant. "Edward," I gasped, "Did you draw this?" He nodded.
"It was the only thing I could give you that I thought you would want. It's nothing, really," he shrugged.
"I love it Edward!" I cried and gave him a hug. He blushed. "Thank you so much. You made me look so pretty-"
"You are pretty, Princess. Sometimes I don't think you see yourself clearly." It was my turn to blush.
"How did you learn to draw like this, Edward?" I asked.
"My...my mother taught me how..." he said softly.
"I'm sorry..." I said, ashamed. I made Edward sad again.
"Don't be," he said shaking it off, "I loved my mother. Go ahead, ask whatever you want."
"How... what happened before you came to the castle? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I've known you for months now, and I consider you my friend... and you still haven't told me," I said quickly.
"What happened before the castle? That's a lot," he chuckled. "This is a long story, ok, so no interruptions." I nodded and he continued.
"My father died when I was really young, my mother got very ill and remarried because she was worried that she would die too. She didn't want to leave me all by myself if she were to die. The man she married loved my mother a lot, he hated me. He thought that I was the one coming in between his relationship with mother. When mother died about two years ago, the man died inside too. He still kept me under his house, but became even more horrible and started beating me. One day, he came after me with a broken bottle of alcohol. He slashed at me and, that's where I got this," he said, pointing to the gash under his right eye.
"I was terrified and ran away. That's when I found the town. I lived on the streets for a while and stole a bunch of food that lasted me a few days. Then I ran out of food and went back to the town, but all of the towns' people recognized me and chased me away. That's when I found the palace, and the garden. It's just that I hadn't eaten in so long, and then I saw those apples and I just had to take one...of course I did and the rest is history," he finished his story.
"Are you crying?" he asked, alarmed. I hadn't noticed that I had tears streaming down my face. Poor Edward. The man hurt him so much that he had to leave to start a new life.
"I'm so sorry, Edward," I said. We sat in silence.
"Many of the other servants told me that you could sing... would you mind singing for me? My mother used to sing me to bed. It would mean a lot to me," he looked at me, beseechingly.
"I'm not much of a singer, Edward, but of course I will," I took a deep breath and started to sing, "My Happily Ever After"
"No Super Hero to sweep me off my feet
Or Peter Pan to teach me to fly
This type of love just doesn't exist
Because who ever I love says goodbye
So where is my fairytale ending?
Where is my Romeo?
Where is happily ever after?
Perhaps I'll never know
No Prince charming to wake me with a kiss
Or Edward who'll love me for my soul
Is there no one to cradle my lonely heart?
And fill it's empty hole
So where is my fairytale ending?
Where is my Romeo?
Where is happily ever after?
Perhaps I'll never know
I don't live in some kind of fairytale
Filled with Happy Ever After
In fact my life is memories
My dreams are an echo of laughter
So where is my fairytale ending?
Where is my Romeo?
Where is happily ever after?
Perhaps I'll never know
So where is my fairytale ending?
Where is my Romeo?
Where is happily ever after?
Perhaps I'll never know
So where is my fairytale ending?
Where is my Romeo?
Where is happily ever after?
Perhaps I'll never know..." I finished my song.
"Thank you Princess, you sing beautifully," Edward winked. "Now let's head back before everyone starts getting worried. I'm sure your parents are back now." Helping me back on Jeluby, Edward and I walked back home.
"Happy Birthday, Bella," he whispered.