Ella wearily lifted her head from her pillow. She had not seen anyone for several days, remaining locked in the attic ever since her stepmother had stolen Kit's letter from her. Lady Tremaine had visited her only once more, in order to silently grab her by the hair and cut off a long lock, deaf to Ella's pleas and begging. Food and water had been shoved through the door once or twice a day, but that had now ceased. Two days ago, she had watched from the window as a carriage took her stepmother and stepsisters away, and they had not yet returned. The house was deathly quiet.
At least her friends still kept her company. The mice had done their best to supply her with food and water, but the thimblefuls of liquid they could carry up the long stairs and the crumbs of bread they brought could no longer sustain her. Ella had spent most of one day examining the door to see if she could find any way to break it down, but the lock and hinges were sturdy and she did not have any tools to attempt to force the lock. Then she had opened the window, but there was a sheer drop to the ground – far too great a risk. She might have tried to fashion some kind of rope to break the fall, or attempt to climb around the tower to the lower roof, but dehydration and hunger had robbed her of all her strength, and she knew that if she tried it, she would fall. She had even tried calling out to attract someone's attention, but the house was too secluded – no one would hear her. In her heart, Ella knew she was close to death.
Despair pricked at her. Whatever else she had done or not done in her life, she did not think she deserved to be abandoned to die in this attic. This was cruel indeed. She did not know what Lady Tremaine had done with Kit's letter and her hair, but she could make an educated guess. Kit would no doubt be told she was dead, and soon enough it would be true.
"Oh Gus Gus, Jacqueline – how have I ended up here?" she asked her friends sadly. The four mice pricked up their ears to listen. "It doesn't seem fair. I tried so hard to be good, to keep my promises to mother and father. But it has all been for nothing now."
She sank back to her pillow, too tired and weak to stay upright. The mice retreated to the windowsill and held a squeaked conference. They were joined from the outside by Mr and Mrs Bluebird, who had fluttered over to see what the commotion was about, and twittered with worry as they saw their lovely human friend lying in the cold draughty attic all alone.
The four mice looked at each other, nodding in agreement at the plan they had formulated. Jacqueline was the first to jump up to the window handle, followed by Teddy, Matilda, and last of all Gus Gus, and the window swung open to admit the birds. Ella, who had fallen into a light sleep, was gently woken by their twittering inquiries, and she smiled as they came to land on her finger.
"Oh, it's good to see you, my little friends. Thank you for keeping me company." But the mice and birds were acting rather oddly, hopping and leaping about to get her attention. Finally she looked over, and saw Gus Gus and Matilda dragging a stub of pencil and a tiny scrap of paper towards her.
"What…? Oh," and she saw with clarity what they were proposing. "You would do that for me?" she asked the two birds, and they nodded their little heads vigorously.
Sitting up slowly, she took the pencil and paper from the mice and scratched out a few words, then rolled up the paper into a small scroll. Mr Bluebird took it firmly in his claws and looked at her.
"I need you to take it to the palace, my friend. The big building across the valley. You must try to find a young man with dark hair and bright blue eyes, who wears fine clothes and is addressed as 'Your Majesty'. I know it's an awfully long way to fly, but he is my only hope."
The two birds fluttered towards the window immediately, and Ella looked after them, whispering, "Do be careful," and feeling just a tiny bit more hopeful than before.
Kit was sitting in the rose garden. The letter with Ella's hair was in the breast pocket of his waistcoat – he kept it with him always now. He was utterly despondent. After the initial shock of the news had passed, he had wanted to visit Ella's house, attend her funeral or at least visit her grave. But the Grand Duke, having been told of what had transpired, had advised strongly against it; any such visit would have to wait until his father's funeral and mourning period was over. It just wouldn't do, the Grand Duke said, for the king to be seen mourning a commoner at the same time as he was supposed to be in mourning for his own father.
Kit had, reluctantly, agreed to remain at the palace until after the funeral at least, but it pained him that he could not bring flowers to the graveside of the woman he had come to love deeply, despite their short acquaintance. He had decided that tomorrow he would defy the Grand Duke's advice and ride over to the village with Lieutenant James, to visit her house and see where Ella had come to rest for himself. He knew that he would never be able to accept her loss until he saw with his own eyes that she was gone.
The whole thing felt horribly wrong to him, but he hadn't had any time to contemplate the situation properly. His father's funeral had taken place two days previously, and the arrangements for that had been remarkably complex. Then he'd had to spend all his time greeting guests, royalty from abroad and mourners from all over the land. The palace had been a hive of activity, leaving Kit no room to deal with any of his grief, or even to think much about any of what had happened. Finally, today, the last guests had departed, and he had escaped to the secret garden to be alone.
The day had brought an even less pleasant conversation with the Grand Duke. Despite his sympathy for Kit's loss, his advisor had made it very clear that, now that Kit's favoured choice of wife had sadly become unavailable, the king must now consider another bride for the good of the kingdom. Princess Chelina had been present at the funeral, and the Grand Duke was clearly eager to arrange their union. Kit could not bear the thought of another woman at his side so soon, but he knew that he would not be able to put the Grand Duke's proposal off forever.
It was a summer's day, but the first touch of autumn coolness was in the air and he was glad of his warm coat. He swung back and forward, trying not to think of how he had planned to bring Ella here. It was hopeless; she was all he could think of, and he allowed himself for a moment to imagine the look of delight that he knew would have graced her beautiful face when she saw the garden.
It was too painful; he rose abruptly, paced for a moment and then flopped onto his back on the grass. Above him, two little bluebirds were circling; he watched them as they flew back and forward across the palace gardens. It was almost, he thought, as though they were looking for something.
The next moment, he held his breath and sat up as both birds fluttered down and sat on the swing next to him. They twittered to each other, eyeing him with bright black button eyes and looking him up and down critically. It was the most odd behaviour.
"Hello?" he said, thinking himself rather foolish as he did so.
Then, to his astonishment, one of them flew towards him, sat on his palm for a moment, and took off again. He looked down to find a tiny scroll of paper in his hand.
"What on earth…?" he murmured, looking at the two birds, who were now hopping up and down and jutting their beaks in the direction of the little scrap of paper with what was unmistakably a sense of urgency. He unrolled it and read the few words, scratched faintly in tiny writing.
Dearest Kit, I am trapped in my house all alone. Please come. Your Ella.
He shot bolt upright, startling the two birds into the air. "No, wait!" he called out before he knew what he was saying, and they came back down to their perch. It seemed absurd to think that they understood him, but suddenly he remembered that Ella had told him that the geese and mice were her friends. Perhaps she also counted bluebirds among her acquaintances. He squatted down to their level.
"Is Ella alive?" he asked, and hope filled his heart as they twittered and fluttered about in response. He needed no other incentive, but got up and raced towards the palace, calling loudly to the nearest guard to find the Captain and Lieutenant James immediately and meet him at the stables with a detachment of men. As he ran towards the stable yard, he prayed that Ella's message had found him in time.
AN: Poor Ella. When I started this story I had no idea I was going to end up putting her through the wringer like this. Never fear though, Kit is on his way!
