I hope this spacing is a little better for everyone to read! To be
honest, I was getting very frustrated with my computer when I put Chapter
One up. That's the main reason why it isn't as nice. Thank you for the tip,
singinstrawberri! Now on to the third chapter.
Searching High and Feeling Woe
Char kept an extremely tight grip on Ella's arm. Ella wasn't known for fainting, but their child was missing! She could use a little support right now. In fact, he could do with a little comforting of his own.
"We must be careful with this information. If people find out that Mari is missing.well, you know the gist of it." Char tried to keep his voice steady. He, Ella, Mandy, Lady Sarah, and his Advisor, Merric, were the only ones in the exquisite throne room. They had needed a private place to discuss this new crisis. First ogres, now this.
"That is precisely what I was going to say." Merric replied eagerly. He looked past his shoulder, making positively sure they were alone. Lady Sarah nodded enthusiastically.
"But we certainly won't do nothing!" Ella hissed, trying to make Char loosen his grip a little.
"Of course. It pains my heart not knowing where she is. The most horrid thoughts have just flashed through my mind in the last ten minutes." Char tried hard to swallow. Ella patted him with the limb she did have control over. "You are not alone in your pain." Ella whispered. Char smiled down at her. It was good to have someone who knew what it was like. Knew the pain of a lost child, of the worrying, of the guilt. No matter what happened, they were going to have to walk through this together.
"No one out of the palace must mention Mari's absence. We'll have to send out secret search parties. I'll make sure they investigate any and every clue! In the mean time, we'll have to guard the children more carefully." Char stated.
"Humph! No need for that." Mandy's voice trembled. "Mari vanishing without my knowing.I'll personally make sure that the other dears stay safe. The least I can do."
"And I!" Lady Sarah soothed Mandy. Merric cleared his throat.
"I'll see to the business that has been decided." He bowed to the Majesties and left. Lady Sarah and Mandy also excused themselves after assuring Ella that they were fine. Wife and husband turned to each other. Ella buried her head in Char's chest.
"Oh darling! Please, don't cry." Char held her firmly, afraid she might actually faint this time.
"Think of it, Char! Stolen under my very eyes by who knows what! And the ogres! I know Mari thinks she can handle herself, but against ogres?!" Ella wailed.
"Look at me, Ella!" Char stared at her squarely. "I am here now. We will find Mari, and she will be unharmed. Understand?"
"How do you know? How can we be sure?" Ella's voice was near breaking again.
"I know, because there is nothing we can not do. There is so much we have already done. We will find her." Char said, realizing he wasn't just saying this to calm Ella. With her beside him, he really could do anything.
"You're right. I believe in what we have. I believe in us." Ella smiled up at him. Tears were still glistening on her cheeks. Char couldn't help but smile back. The two began to head out of the throne room, hand in hand.
"Besides, Mari, ogres or no, is nothing to take lightly." Char joked.
* * *
Mari bit Teal's finger sharply. She held until Teal tried to bang her head against the bars of her cell. Mari pulled away, wiped the disgusting taste out of her mouth, and smirked.
"Oh you little brat! HOW DARE YOU!!" Teal stared in amazement at her bleeding finger. That turkey-brain child had bitten her. Her, Teal Maziolle!
"That's what you get when you threaten people, and shake your finger at them." Mari simply replied. A little while before, the blue-haired fairy had told Mari that she would never see daylight again. Mari, loving the outdoors, had protested.
"You'll pay for this! Yes, you will." Teal said savagely from a distance.
"What of you? You really think you'll get away with this? Kidnapping me and trying to give me unnatural body odor! It won't belong before I'm found." Mari crowed, rattling the metal bars that confined her.
"We'll see about that. No, I think you'll die at my hands. The last name you'll know is mine: Teal, the fairy!" Teal snickered with glee, and left the dungeon.
Teal lived in a three-story house that many people never knew existed. This was mainly because it was located in a deep forest behind the palace. The house was invisible to everyone who had the magic but couldn't use it. So, of course, Teal was the only one who could see it. Her house had a main floor, an attic, and the dungeon that Mari was hidden in. Teal was ascending the stairs leading onto the main floor, when a humanlike figure with wings flew past her. The new object of interest crashed into the stove, and caused the tumble of a few wall hanging pots. The figure moaned in anguish.
"Norman!" Teal shrieked and helped her son up. He too, at the age of 13, was having trouble with his magic. His wing maneuvering was the key failure at present. "Are you all right?!" "I'm fine, Mom. I was just practicing." Norman Maziolle rubbed his neck gently.
"In the house?!" Teal slapped him on the head. "No wonder you hurt yourself!"
"Where else can I practice?! You never let me outside!" Norman argued.
"Oh! Speaking of that, you're going to have to be extra careful starting here and now." Teal began timidly. Her son wouldn't be too happy that she had committed a crime.
"What have you done now?!" Norman demanded warily, his gray eyes going wide.
"I kind of tried to curse the Princess; when that didn't work I brought her back here." Teal blabbered. Norman was speechless.
"You-you didn't. You COULDN'T." Norman swallowed. "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US EXECUTED?!"
"Hush Normie, turtledove! She'll hear you!" Even without Norman's father, Teal could usually keep Norman disciplined. However, when she acted the child, what was to be expected?
"GOOD. I'm going down there this instant!" Norman strolled to the basement stairs. "First, that monkey incident, now this!"
"I guess I could begin breakfast." Teal stuttered. Her suggestion was answered by the basement door's slam. Teal hurried to clean up the pots. Little Normie's throwing a tantrum.
* * *
Mari had been trying to interpret the conversation from above. It was Teal and a young man she could tell. Other than that, it was too difficult to decipher. The next thing she knew, someone was coming down for a visit. He had blue green hair like Teal, and looked to be about her age. He surveyed her questionably.
"Are you to be the prison guard?" Mari tried to sound aloof.
"No, I'm the crazy woman's son, Norman." The boy explained. Mari laughed at the too true description of Teal.
"If you think she's crazy, then surely you'll agree with me. Locking me up is to no avail." Mari implored.
"I do." Norman sounded hesitant.
"What?" The girl tried to hide her dread.
"I can't free you. They'll hang my mother. Even if she is off her rocker, she's still my mom." Norman wouldn't meet her gaze. Mari tried to understand, but the growing like she had for him was shrinking.
"You would leave me here to rot? Or to be found, and have both of you killed?" She inquired.
"I don't wish for either. I'm not sure what to do yet. I just wanted to make sure you weren't hurt." Norman finally looked at her, pleading in those clear gray eyes. Why had her heart just seized up in her chest? She didn't like this boy! He was the son of her captor, for goodness sake!
"You.are very wishy washy." Mari said, keeping her cool.
"Well.did you ever think it might be safer that way?" Norman asked.
"Safer or cowardly?" Mari bit out.
"Probably a little bit of both." Norman grinned. Mari ignored the fact he looked very charming when he smiled. Instead, she shook her head in frustration as he headed back upstairs.
"I'll make sure you get some breakfast." He promised, and shut the door, quietly, behind him.
"What AM I going to do?" Mari sighed. The silence was her only answer.
Searching High and Feeling Woe
Char kept an extremely tight grip on Ella's arm. Ella wasn't known for fainting, but their child was missing! She could use a little support right now. In fact, he could do with a little comforting of his own.
"We must be careful with this information. If people find out that Mari is missing.well, you know the gist of it." Char tried to keep his voice steady. He, Ella, Mandy, Lady Sarah, and his Advisor, Merric, were the only ones in the exquisite throne room. They had needed a private place to discuss this new crisis. First ogres, now this.
"That is precisely what I was going to say." Merric replied eagerly. He looked past his shoulder, making positively sure they were alone. Lady Sarah nodded enthusiastically.
"But we certainly won't do nothing!" Ella hissed, trying to make Char loosen his grip a little.
"Of course. It pains my heart not knowing where she is. The most horrid thoughts have just flashed through my mind in the last ten minutes." Char tried hard to swallow. Ella patted him with the limb she did have control over. "You are not alone in your pain." Ella whispered. Char smiled down at her. It was good to have someone who knew what it was like. Knew the pain of a lost child, of the worrying, of the guilt. No matter what happened, they were going to have to walk through this together.
"No one out of the palace must mention Mari's absence. We'll have to send out secret search parties. I'll make sure they investigate any and every clue! In the mean time, we'll have to guard the children more carefully." Char stated.
"Humph! No need for that." Mandy's voice trembled. "Mari vanishing without my knowing.I'll personally make sure that the other dears stay safe. The least I can do."
"And I!" Lady Sarah soothed Mandy. Merric cleared his throat.
"I'll see to the business that has been decided." He bowed to the Majesties and left. Lady Sarah and Mandy also excused themselves after assuring Ella that they were fine. Wife and husband turned to each other. Ella buried her head in Char's chest.
"Oh darling! Please, don't cry." Char held her firmly, afraid she might actually faint this time.
"Think of it, Char! Stolen under my very eyes by who knows what! And the ogres! I know Mari thinks she can handle herself, but against ogres?!" Ella wailed.
"Look at me, Ella!" Char stared at her squarely. "I am here now. We will find Mari, and she will be unharmed. Understand?"
"How do you know? How can we be sure?" Ella's voice was near breaking again.
"I know, because there is nothing we can not do. There is so much we have already done. We will find her." Char said, realizing he wasn't just saying this to calm Ella. With her beside him, he really could do anything.
"You're right. I believe in what we have. I believe in us." Ella smiled up at him. Tears were still glistening on her cheeks. Char couldn't help but smile back. The two began to head out of the throne room, hand in hand.
"Besides, Mari, ogres or no, is nothing to take lightly." Char joked.
* * *
Mari bit Teal's finger sharply. She held until Teal tried to bang her head against the bars of her cell. Mari pulled away, wiped the disgusting taste out of her mouth, and smirked.
"Oh you little brat! HOW DARE YOU!!" Teal stared in amazement at her bleeding finger. That turkey-brain child had bitten her. Her, Teal Maziolle!
"That's what you get when you threaten people, and shake your finger at them." Mari simply replied. A little while before, the blue-haired fairy had told Mari that she would never see daylight again. Mari, loving the outdoors, had protested.
"You'll pay for this! Yes, you will." Teal said savagely from a distance.
"What of you? You really think you'll get away with this? Kidnapping me and trying to give me unnatural body odor! It won't belong before I'm found." Mari crowed, rattling the metal bars that confined her.
"We'll see about that. No, I think you'll die at my hands. The last name you'll know is mine: Teal, the fairy!" Teal snickered with glee, and left the dungeon.
Teal lived in a three-story house that many people never knew existed. This was mainly because it was located in a deep forest behind the palace. The house was invisible to everyone who had the magic but couldn't use it. So, of course, Teal was the only one who could see it. Her house had a main floor, an attic, and the dungeon that Mari was hidden in. Teal was ascending the stairs leading onto the main floor, when a humanlike figure with wings flew past her. The new object of interest crashed into the stove, and caused the tumble of a few wall hanging pots. The figure moaned in anguish.
"Norman!" Teal shrieked and helped her son up. He too, at the age of 13, was having trouble with his magic. His wing maneuvering was the key failure at present. "Are you all right?!" "I'm fine, Mom. I was just practicing." Norman Maziolle rubbed his neck gently.
"In the house?!" Teal slapped him on the head. "No wonder you hurt yourself!"
"Where else can I practice?! You never let me outside!" Norman argued.
"Oh! Speaking of that, you're going to have to be extra careful starting here and now." Teal began timidly. Her son wouldn't be too happy that she had committed a crime.
"What have you done now?!" Norman demanded warily, his gray eyes going wide.
"I kind of tried to curse the Princess; when that didn't work I brought her back here." Teal blabbered. Norman was speechless.
"You-you didn't. You COULDN'T." Norman swallowed. "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US EXECUTED?!"
"Hush Normie, turtledove! She'll hear you!" Even without Norman's father, Teal could usually keep Norman disciplined. However, when she acted the child, what was to be expected?
"GOOD. I'm going down there this instant!" Norman strolled to the basement stairs. "First, that monkey incident, now this!"
"I guess I could begin breakfast." Teal stuttered. Her suggestion was answered by the basement door's slam. Teal hurried to clean up the pots. Little Normie's throwing a tantrum.
* * *
Mari had been trying to interpret the conversation from above. It was Teal and a young man she could tell. Other than that, it was too difficult to decipher. The next thing she knew, someone was coming down for a visit. He had blue green hair like Teal, and looked to be about her age. He surveyed her questionably.
"Are you to be the prison guard?" Mari tried to sound aloof.
"No, I'm the crazy woman's son, Norman." The boy explained. Mari laughed at the too true description of Teal.
"If you think she's crazy, then surely you'll agree with me. Locking me up is to no avail." Mari implored.
"I do." Norman sounded hesitant.
"What?" The girl tried to hide her dread.
"I can't free you. They'll hang my mother. Even if she is off her rocker, she's still my mom." Norman wouldn't meet her gaze. Mari tried to understand, but the growing like she had for him was shrinking.
"You would leave me here to rot? Or to be found, and have both of you killed?" She inquired.
"I don't wish for either. I'm not sure what to do yet. I just wanted to make sure you weren't hurt." Norman finally looked at her, pleading in those clear gray eyes. Why had her heart just seized up in her chest? She didn't like this boy! He was the son of her captor, for goodness sake!
"You.are very wishy washy." Mari said, keeping her cool.
"Well.did you ever think it might be safer that way?" Norman asked.
"Safer or cowardly?" Mari bit out.
"Probably a little bit of both." Norman grinned. Mari ignored the fact he looked very charming when he smiled. Instead, she shook her head in frustration as he headed back upstairs.
"I'll make sure you get some breakfast." He promised, and shut the door, quietly, behind him.
"What AM I going to do?" Mari sighed. The silence was her only answer.