I rested at Mum Olga's manor, but left before the sun had risen. I didn't want Hattie or Olive to see me, so I exited through the kitchen door and walked around the house. When I arrived at the palace gates, I was stopped by an ugly guard who grabbed my arm.

"Lady Eleanor," he said in a deep voice, "You are hereby and forthwith banned from the palace or any of its grounds."

I gaped at him. "Why?"

"You are now a Lady, not a princess, and on commands of the queen you are banished from the palace."

"I have to talk to Ch--to the prince." I stammared, trying to get him to let me in.

"I'm afraid I can't let you, Miss," he swiftly replied.

"What about my things? I can't stand by and let them stay in the palace!" I shreiked.

"They will be sent to Madam Olga's manor by carriage this afternoon," said the guard. "Good day." He nodded to two other hideous guards and they led me from the square.

I walked mournfully away from the busy square, not knowing where I was headed or why. I thought about staying away from the manor until my things got there, but then I realized that when Hattie found out I was moving back in, she would sabotage my things and steal the necklace again.

I hurried back to the manor as fast as my sorrowful body would carry me, and entered through the kitchen door.

Mandy looked up from a pot of carrot stew she was stirring and gasped. "Lady, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be saving Char from a horrible death!"

I slumped in a chair and frowned at her. "I'm not the princess any more, and I'm not allowed inside the palace." Tears pricked at my eyes and threatened to overflow.

"Would you give up at just that, child?" Mandy asked, obviously not at all fazed at my news, although angered by it. "Would you stand by, letting a little obstacle like that stand in your way of telling Char what's going on?"

"How else am I to tell Char?" I snapped, pushing Mandy's hand off my shoulder, which she had put there.

Mandy stood there with her hands at her side and said simply, "Hattie."

"What about the wench?"

"Once you tell her Char is single again--"

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "She'll go for the chance to invite him to our manor immediately and I can tell him then!" I put my arms around mandy, giving her a hug. "Thank you, Mandy, you're a genius!"

***

"Hattie, dearest, the prince is here!" Mum Olga popped her fat head in the room as I did up Hattie's corsette.

"Oh goodie!" Hattie squirmed a little, making it even harder for me to button up the corsette around her enormous middle. She turned around and smirked. "I told you he liked me better than you. He won't even allow you on the palace GROUNDS any more! What do you think of that?"

I blushed furiously, but kept my head down. I was filled with rage, and I wanted to cause emotional harm to Hattie in every possible way, but instead I said, "I think you're right, and I think I'm done. Go to your prince."

Hattie gaped at me for a moment, but at another call from her mother, she practically skipped from the room and down the stairs.

I sat on her bed and thought about when the right moment was to talk to Char. I couldn't just walk in on them and say, "Excuse me, Char, but I really do love you, and you're in danger of assassination at every moment. Will you please have me?"

I thought about all I went through very first to win Char in the end, and came up with a plan to get Char and I together. Alone.

***

"Excuse me, Hattie, but a note has come for you from the Earl of Penson. It's in the front hall," I announced to Hattie in the parlor. Char avoided my gaze, and I, his.

Hattie jumped from her chair and raced out the door. The Earl was a wealthy man, and young for his status. He was handsome, and Hattie loved him.

This left me alone in the room with the only man I ever loved.

"Char," I began.

"Don't," he muttered. The way his voice cracked when he said it ripped my heart apart. A lump rose in my throat, and I fought to talk against it.

"Don't what?"

He looked straight into my eyes and rose from his chair. I shrank back, expecting one of his tempers, but I was surprised. His eyes were red from sorrow, and he wasn't standing up straight as usual.

"Don't tell me how sorry you are for all this and come running back to me. I expect this Berret of yours left without a word and now you have nowhere to go. You have no idea how much pain I have gone through in the past week. It was because of you. I don't want you to cause me any more."

Somewhere in the house, Hattie screamed. My plan was working pefectly. The Hattie part, anyway. She would have arrived in the front hall and saw no note for her, and at that precise moment, Mandy would be walking past with a jug of wine. She would accidentally on purpose drop the jug, causing the deep purple to seep into Hattie's dress. This would buy me at least ten minutes while Hattie changed her gown.

"Char, I'm sorry, but this isn't what you think--"

"Isn't it? You're the one who told me."

"I lied."

He shook his head. "I don't want to listen to this, Ella. I just don't."

"Char, I--"

"NO, Ella."

I stamped my foot. "I listened to your description of pain, now listen to mine." when he didn't reply, I went on. "I have been fighting several emotions as I tried to save my own life and had no idea how to save yours. Now I do. I came to you with divorce because Berret was going to assassinate the entire royal family and he told me to get out of it or he would kill me too. So I got out of it, not thinking about warning you. Well now I have. And I'll stop talking now so you can get back to your palace and find another princess."

Char gaped at me, and I felt a wave of tears. I didn't want him to see me cry so I fled the room.