Disclaimer: I do not know Gail Carson Levine nor am I Gail Carson Levine. Many of the settings and some of the characters used in this story are hers.
A/N: Er, righhht. I changed my name. Yep, I did it. I thought I'd be satisfied with daydream, but then I stumbled upon the word whimsicality and absolutely loved it because it's totally me. I wanted the same name for both ff.net and fictionpress.com anyway cuz daydream was already taken over there. :( And because it sounds awesome. Lol yeah… But feel free to call me w/e—daydream, jasmine, jaz, crazy kid, She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (Because if I'm named, I have the annoying tendency to want to change it, so it'd be best if I just wasn't named. lol, yes, I've still got Harry Potter on my mind) whimsicality, whim, whimsi, himsical…you get the point.
Anyway, here's el chaptero eighto, and because I don't feel like writing a long author's note right here, I'll save my messages to my fellow reviewers at the bottom! How exciting.
Oh YEAH! I finally realized, with major help by some of you very cool reviewers, that I got the name "Portia" from Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar". We read it in English so I guess I must've gotten quite a deep impression of it or something…
Aria's Melody
Chapter Eight: Second Impressions of an Ayorthaian Prince
Forcing herself to resist the urge to do something very, very awful to Jessalyn, Aria watched as the blonde girl dragged Terence away. Of course I should have expected this, she thought irritably.
The prince of Kyrria gave an apologetic glance at Aria over his shoulder as Jessalyn led him farther down the field, chatting happily as though she'd never rudely pulled him away in the first place.
Aria shrugged, knowing it was Terence's "princely duty" to be polite. She heaved a helpless sigh and turned to look at Frederick.
"Well, I best be getting home. My governess might actually start worrying by now." With a tiny smile and a wave, Aria turned and began trudging towards the palace, forcing herself not to turn around and look for Terence and Jessalyn together wandering out somewhere in the fields.
"Wait! Aria."
Aria stopped mid-trudge and waited as Frederick hurried towards her. "Hm?"
Shoving his hands into his pockets, the prince stopped next to her. "I talked to my father."
Aria raised her eyes up to Frederick, startled. She had almost lost all hope he would speak to the king. Maybe he wasn't as cowardly as she had thought… "You did?"
Frederick nodded, looking down at his shoes. "Yes. He…he refused."
Aria's shoulders fell. "I'll talk to him then."
Frederick drew his gaze from his shoes and raised his head, his brown eyes meeting Aria's blue ones. "Aria, no. He's angry. He won't listen—"
"But I have to! These laws—"
"Aria!" Frederick grabbed the girl's shoulders, his movement and urgency of voice stopping her mid-sentence to stare at him in surprise.
"You don't know what he could do if you angered him. Please, I—" Frederick hesitated, before continuing. "I don't want to see you hurt, or worse," he finished, color creeping into his cheeks.
Aria swallowed and stared at the prince, unsure of what to say and unsure of what to think. She was finding herself seeing him in a, well, somewhat different light.
Frederick pulled his hands from Aria's shoulders as though embarrassed and shoved them back into his pockets.
"Well," she said finally, breaking their gaze and starting to walk again, "what do you expect we do? I can't just…just sit and wait. It's not like me, and I won't be able to do it."
"Please, at least wait a little while. Until he's cooled down a bit. Promise, please?"
Aria hesitated, but nodded. Before she could speak however, a familiar voice called out.
"Aria!"
The two turned to find a tall man coming towards them from the direction of the palace.
Aria's eyes lit up. "Father!" Then realization hit. He was bound to ask where she had been.
Nevertheless, she hurried to give him a hug. How long had it been since she'd last seen him? Five months? Six months? No matter, she thought, I'm just glad he's finally home.
"Aria!" The lord picked her up as though she was a little girl again and spun her around before setting her back down on the ground and studying her. "I leave you here as a girl, and six months later, I come back and I hardly recognize you anymore!"
"Father!" Aria said, embarrassed. She gave an inconspicuous look behind her to signal to her father that there was company.
Lord Maxmilien looked behind his daughter to find Frederick standing a little awkwardly by himself. "Prince Frederick!" he said with surprise, giving a low bow, which Frederick returned. "A pleasure to see Your Majesty again."
"As I may say the same."
Lord Maxmilien turned back to Aria, a stern look on his face. "Where have you been? Portia told me that you did not come home last night. I was quite worried—I even asked the king if he had heard anything when I went to see him a minute ago."
Aria thought fast. "I came home last night, but when I got there, she was already asleep. And this morning…I got up early. I left her a note. She must have missed it."
Her father raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And where were you?"
She didn't want to tell him where she had really been. Not only did she want to keep the trips still a secret, but Amonta had always been a town that the lord had never seemed to like and refused to talk about, though Aria had never been sure why.
Aria thought hard. "Um.."
"With me," Frederick supplied. Both the lord and Aria turned to the prince, surprised—but for different reasons.
Lord Maxmilien raised another eyebrow, but Aria could tell he was pleased. She shot Frederick a grateful look.
"Well then, I thank Your Majesty for taking care of my daughter." Aria's father said graciously. He turned to Aria and replaced his smile with another stern look. "And next time, please make sure we know your whereabouts."
Aria nodded. "Alright." A promise that will probably never be kept, she thought to herself.
* * *
"How was your trip this time Father?" Aria asked a few minutes later as the two of them walked home. Her father had spent several long moments heaping praise upon Frederick and thanking him for his kindness towards his daughter while Aria squirmed with embarrassment.
"Very successful," Lord Maxmilien said proudly. "I traded a dozen hand-woven Bastian rugs for several extremely valuable elven pottery objects with a man named Sir Peter. Supposedly he's the father of the queen of Kyrria."
"Oh?" Aria made a mental note to ask Terence later. "What are the elven pottery objects like?" She asked with interest, looking up at her father next to her. "I've never seen one before."
"Well, there was one of a white miniature castle, with half a dozen tiny towers that ended in miniscule candle holders. If you looked closely, you could see clothing hanging in the tiny porcelain windows. And when the candles were lit, it was lovely."
Aria's eyes widened. "Ohhh! That sounds beautiful. May I see it?"
"I gave the pottery to King Randall already… But I am sure if you asked him tonight at dinner—"
"Dinner?" Aria interrupted.
Lord Maxmilien brightened. "Yes! Dinner! I completely forgot! The king was so delighted—well, as delighted as he gets nowadays—with my trade on this trip that he's requested us to have supper with him."
Aria felt a flutter of hope. This was her chance! Her chance to ask King Randall about the laws… But as quickly as her happiness came, it drained away. She'd already promised Frederick she'd wait…
"I am sure you will have a pleasant time," the lord said when Aria did not utter a word. "Especially," he added, "as it's highly likely Prince Frederick will be joining us."
Aria remained silent.
"The prince seemed awfully nice to you." Lord Maxmilien tried again.
Aria sighed and finally spoke. "Father, if you're going to say what I think it is you're trying to say, then let me tell you—you're wasting your time."
"You're sixteen Aria. Sooner or later I'm going to have to find you a—"
"You don't need to," Aria insisted stubbornly. "I'll be fine. Really."
Lord Maxmilien chuckled, but said nothing.
As the two approached the gates, Aria glanced unenthusiastically up at the U-shaped east wing of the palace, where the royalty lived.
This was going to be an interesting evening indeed… And boy, was she going to have a lot to tell Emily…
A/N: *Hides face* I know! I know! Short chapter, but…but…the next one will be longer! Really! R/R!!!
Now to reviewers (I'm going from chapter six and up):
Mary jane-VERY perceptive observation! But I can't say yet if there is a relationship or not ;) TallemeraRane-Thank you!!! *smiles* :) :) :) Stuntwoman-Yeah the prince appearing WAS kind of predictable and there's absolutely no excuse for it except that I like the whole idea of a prince-saves-the-day sorta thing. Yeah, yeah, stupid romantic…lol Ginnyfanatic92-Thanks! I'm glad you like this story. Ginny-Hahaha, I don't think I could ever spend all my time writing, my parents would kill me for spending so much time typing away on the computer. But I'll keep writing as much as I can, lol. Slickchick650-Yeah, I know what you mean. It's like, DIE, JESSALYN, DIE! Ahem. Anyway, thank you, and you better update soon too! Pidget0-Just like slickchick, YOU better do some quick updating also! Cheler-Lol, there is a connection, but you'll have to read and find out! ;) I know, I wish they'd've kissed too.. Alqualyne-Yes, good grammar, huh? Haha, and you better GET BACK SOON! Mooky-Did you finish Harry Potter yet? Yeah, probably. WASN'T IT THE BEST BOOK?! Thanks for helping me with the Portia thing! Dang, how many Portia's were in his plays, anyway???! Ryolli-Gracias!!! Glad you like it :) French Poodle (Becker)-Yeah, Jessalyn is really annoying. Thank you, and I really like your story too! Nobody-Thank you! Gracias! Merci! Xie Xie! Er…how else do you say thanks? It doesn't have anymore languages on that M&M's package… Crazy Angelic Devil-Yeah I felt bad about Portia too. Hehe, yeah I think Freddy does like her.. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm seriously thinking about that, IF he doesn't die in the end… Wongie-THANK YOU! That Portia thing was really bothering me. I think I've analyzed Julius Caesar too many times or something…
I don't think I forgot anyone but if I did, feel free to yell at me. But not too harshly. Thanks :)