The High Chancellor Thomas was orating a long funeral speech for my mother,
but I didn't want to listen to it. It was mostly about the royal family,
anyway. I briefly thought of pepperoni pizza. Then I looked at the coffin.
Tears streamed out of my eyes, and soon my face was wet. This was so
sudden! Why did my mother, my friend, die? Now we could never talk again,
or laugh together. Or swim in the River Lucarno. Or slide down the banister
or play tricks on out servant, Bertha. Or a million things. It didn't seem
real. It was a nightmare, and in the morning I would talk to my mother and
everything would be all right. But it was real.
Soon, my mother was lowered into the ground. It seemed like she was being packed away in a box. Some people stayed to mingle, but my father told to go away and come back only when I could stop crying. I was glad to get away. I ran. My tall black shoes made me lose my balance and fall, but before anybody could help me, I was off again, my knee and hand stinging.
I saw a weeping willow and ran under it. I collapsed on the grass, sobbing. I knew my black dress would soon be dirty, but I didn't care.
I sat there, under the tree, for a long time. When I felt a little better, I peeked outside of the tree. Charles was standing only a few feet away, reading a gravestone. He looked different than he did at school. More serious, like his father, the King.
He saw me emerge from the tree. "Cousin of mine," he said, gesturing at the tombstone. "Never liked him. I liked your mother."
Did he know my mother well?
He started walking back to the parking lot. Should I follow him? I wasn't sure, so I walked next to him, only a great distance away. He came closer. It looked as if he had been crying, only he was not as obvious as I was about it.
"You can call be Char," he said abruptly. "Everyone else does." I had heard his friends at school call him Char occasionally. I thought it was a strange nickname for Charles.
After a silence, he added, "My father calls me Char too."
The King! "I wasn't sure what to say, so I just said, "Thank you." I was glad that he wasn't mentioning the incident at the lunch line. He did talk about my mother a little, however. He also told me how he knew all about me, since our cooks talk in the market. If I had known that I would have never confronted him at lunch. Why had I done that? Especially to a prince.
"Do you know anything about me?" he asked with a sideways glance.
"No," I honestly replied. "What do you know about me?"
"I know that you can imitate people just as your mother could. Once you imitated a servant to his face, and he wasn't sure whether he was the servant or you were. You make up stories and you drop things and trip over things. I know you once broke a whole set of dishes."
"I slipped on ice!"
"Ice cubes that you spilled before you slipped on them!" He laughed. It was a happy laugh, not a ridiculing one. I smiled, it felt good after so much crying.
Soon, we reached my father, who was standing near our limo. You would imagine that I would have a close relationship with my father, especially since my mother had just passed away. This was not the case. My father was always away on business. He owned a large factory, and he was always trying to sell his products to other stores. He actually did pretty well.
"Come, Eleanor," he said.
"Dad! My name is Ella, not Eleanor!" I protested.
"Okay, Ella. Please come Ella." He bowed to the prince and got into the car.
Char tried to hand me into the car. I didn't know whether he wanted my hand or my elbow, so he ended up grabbing my somewhere in the middle of my arm, and I ended up sort of falling into the limo. Char closed the door, but my skirt got caught, and there was a loud ripping sound. My father winced. I looked out the window. Char was laughing again. I looked at my skirt, and found a gash near the bottom. Bertha, our head maid, would never be able to make it smooth.
I arranged myself as far from my dad as possible. He was staring out the window.
"A fine affair. All of Frell came, everyone who counts anyway," he said, as though my mom's funeral had been a dance or a party.
"It wasn't fine. It was terrible," I said. How could Mom's funeral be fine?
"The prince was nice to you."
"He liked Mother."
"Your mother was beautiful." His voice was sad and regretful. "I'm sorry she's dead."
Nathan started the ignition, and the car began to move.
.:~*~:.
Thanks for your reviews! A lot of you want Ella to still have the curse, but I really can't do that. Can you imagine you or one of your friends having a fairy's curse of obedience? I'm sorry that I copied so many passages directly from the book, I will try not to do that in future chapters. I hope you like this! Next chapter it starts to get interesting, Hattie and Olive are coming!
Soon, my mother was lowered into the ground. It seemed like she was being packed away in a box. Some people stayed to mingle, but my father told to go away and come back only when I could stop crying. I was glad to get away. I ran. My tall black shoes made me lose my balance and fall, but before anybody could help me, I was off again, my knee and hand stinging.
I saw a weeping willow and ran under it. I collapsed on the grass, sobbing. I knew my black dress would soon be dirty, but I didn't care.
I sat there, under the tree, for a long time. When I felt a little better, I peeked outside of the tree. Charles was standing only a few feet away, reading a gravestone. He looked different than he did at school. More serious, like his father, the King.
He saw me emerge from the tree. "Cousin of mine," he said, gesturing at the tombstone. "Never liked him. I liked your mother."
Did he know my mother well?
He started walking back to the parking lot. Should I follow him? I wasn't sure, so I walked next to him, only a great distance away. He came closer. It looked as if he had been crying, only he was not as obvious as I was about it.
"You can call be Char," he said abruptly. "Everyone else does." I had heard his friends at school call him Char occasionally. I thought it was a strange nickname for Charles.
After a silence, he added, "My father calls me Char too."
The King! "I wasn't sure what to say, so I just said, "Thank you." I was glad that he wasn't mentioning the incident at the lunch line. He did talk about my mother a little, however. He also told me how he knew all about me, since our cooks talk in the market. If I had known that I would have never confronted him at lunch. Why had I done that? Especially to a prince.
"Do you know anything about me?" he asked with a sideways glance.
"No," I honestly replied. "What do you know about me?"
"I know that you can imitate people just as your mother could. Once you imitated a servant to his face, and he wasn't sure whether he was the servant or you were. You make up stories and you drop things and trip over things. I know you once broke a whole set of dishes."
"I slipped on ice!"
"Ice cubes that you spilled before you slipped on them!" He laughed. It was a happy laugh, not a ridiculing one. I smiled, it felt good after so much crying.
Soon, we reached my father, who was standing near our limo. You would imagine that I would have a close relationship with my father, especially since my mother had just passed away. This was not the case. My father was always away on business. He owned a large factory, and he was always trying to sell his products to other stores. He actually did pretty well.
"Come, Eleanor," he said.
"Dad! My name is Ella, not Eleanor!" I protested.
"Okay, Ella. Please come Ella." He bowed to the prince and got into the car.
Char tried to hand me into the car. I didn't know whether he wanted my hand or my elbow, so he ended up grabbing my somewhere in the middle of my arm, and I ended up sort of falling into the limo. Char closed the door, but my skirt got caught, and there was a loud ripping sound. My father winced. I looked out the window. Char was laughing again. I looked at my skirt, and found a gash near the bottom. Bertha, our head maid, would never be able to make it smooth.
I arranged myself as far from my dad as possible. He was staring out the window.
"A fine affair. All of Frell came, everyone who counts anyway," he said, as though my mom's funeral had been a dance or a party.
"It wasn't fine. It was terrible," I said. How could Mom's funeral be fine?
"The prince was nice to you."
"He liked Mother."
"Your mother was beautiful." His voice was sad and regretful. "I'm sorry she's dead."
Nathan started the ignition, and the car began to move.
.:~*~:.
Thanks for your reviews! A lot of you want Ella to still have the curse, but I really can't do that. Can you imagine you or one of your friends having a fairy's curse of obedience? I'm sorry that I copied so many passages directly from the book, I will try not to do that in future chapters. I hope you like this! Next chapter it starts to get interesting, Hattie and Olive are coming!
