Chapter Thirteen

Mandy and I reached the border of Jenn. It was already the fifth day. When we reached the border, Mandy and I rested for a while on a meadow. Mandy slept. The poor old lady. The journey must have drained her energy! I just sat there, wondering whether Char still thinks of me, imagining Hattie's rage when Char came back for me, dreaming about my stepfamily's deprivation of Mandy's cooking… Mum Olga and her spawn must be desolate without Mandy.

Mandy and I have endured hunger. Stomach eating hunger and it is not a good feeling. My head spins everytime I think of Mandy's delicious delicacies. I have to stop myself from thinking! My stomach grumbles my guts. I would have eaten the grass surrounding me right now just to ease the pain. But who knows whether those grass were tainted with cattle manure!

To pass the time and to take my mind away from food and Mandy's snoring, I opened my carpetbag and extracted my magic book. I hope it has a new story for me. An illustration of Char. A letter. A journal entry. Anything to keep my mind from the oblivion of hunger. I opened my magic book and luck found me! Inside was a journal entry from Char! There was no illustration but I am happy that I can see his precious handwriting and intimate thoughts once more.

I have been writing the same thing for five straight days. Anyone reading this might be bored. But then, no one is reading this but me.

I couldn't help but ponder about the incident five days ago. Ella. Sirs Stephan and Aubrey were not fools. I was. I was a fool enough to believe Ella was the same. If she were the same, then she wouldn't lie to me. If she were the same, she would still be writing to me. If she were the same, she might have been loving me. But she wasn't. She changed. She changed. I thought she was another person because I didn't feel the happiness in her. I didn't feel the coolness everytime I'm with her. But when she touched my hand, I recognized it. Our hands knew each other. She might have still be the same in the flesh but I swore I thought she was not Ella but another maiden.

I tried everything to speak to her. I tried to force it out of her. But she had a strong reason. So strong that she was convinced to conceal it from me. I came back and she was horrified. She thought I was a murderer, ready to kill her. I'm not sure if this indeed is true but it showed in her eyes and in her whole face.

Speaking of face, I have mentioned that she hasn't changed one bit in the flesh, well, the littlest details were not very obvious. Her skin was paler. Her eyes downcast without the laughter and the mischief that charmed me. Or maybe, she was like that because she saw me.

Ella ran away from me. It hurts. When, she left, Hattie demanded me to tell her. I didn't. I was sovereign and she was not. I am still the prince. And I didn't want to tell her. That was the only reason that came up that moment. And I am positively sure that Hattie would be infuriated with Ella if she found out about everything.

I came to Ella to clear things up. But it just gave new questions. Why wasn't she married? Why does she avoid me? Why was she different?

I considered looking for Ella when she ran away. But what was the use? I was a fool to come there. And I would be a bigger fool to risk all just to find a girl, who I know, has changed forever.

I thought I will find out about Ella's mystery. But when I came to her manor, the visit just clouded my thoughts and my mind is more confused than before.

I'm so sorry Char. If only I could tell you. But if you don't know about the curse…you'll never understand.

I turned the page. It was a letter from Mum Olga to Father.

My adoring husband, Sir Peter of Frell,

I am sad to say that our daughter, Eleanor, ran away. Up till now, we don't have a reason. We have been treating her well. But we knew that Prince Charmont is part of it. He visited us and Eleanor avoided him. A very rude behavior infront a prince. When he came back to talk to her, Eleanor, ran away.

Mandy, our wonderful cook, went with her. I am desolate! And so is Hattie! Olive…she is far from desolate. She is miserably inconsolable now that there is no white cake every meal. It must have been a shock to her; Olive never reacts to anything unless it is something to bother.

I ask you to find us a cook. A far better cook than Mandy. But I suppose the chances are slim. But no matter, I know you will do it for me, Hattie and Olive.

We are trying to find Eleanor. We are doing our best but we don't know where she is going!

I am extremely desolate without you my love.

Next is a poem she made herself. I couldn't bear to read it so  I flipped the pages. Next was a story about a princess and a pea. It was a new kind. In there, it wasn't the pea that the princess felt. It was a hump on the mattress directly under her. I laughed a little. Because it said that when the queen looked under the many mattresses, she found not a pea, but a squished one. It was a good story and it took my mind away from things.

I closed my book, placed it in my bag and started to do the same thing Mandy is doing: sleeping. But before my head hit the soft green carpet of grass, I heard the bleating of the sheep grazing nearby. I didn't get it at the moment; I thought it was a wolf. But then, realization came. Just like before, the sheep were bleating on the way to Jenn. Because of ogres.

I saw them.

They saw us.

I felt fear rising.

There are ogres coming for us!                                                                                              

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS(okay)*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

-Thanks to Little Comet, a girl writing fiction, Cherry Lee and Dragon Queen. And of course to Ironic Paradise who reviewed for six times already! Seven if you add my poem! Oh, and Ironic Paradise, why do you have to stop writing! MY summer vacation is coming up and you will stop writing? If you do that, the suspense would have killed me and I can't read the next chapters!

 And I also have a new story. It's a short story but I only wrote chapter one. It's real life this time. The title is Shoplifting. Ok, ok, it's not bad influence. It's the story of Sienna who was wrongly accused. Read and review please! Appreciate it! And I changed the title of "The Princess and The Pea". It's called "The Real Princess" now! Did the heart appear? I did one out of asterisks. I don't know if it'll show…

-Nayie

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Ella's Heart Which Is Full of Char's LOVE

For Her