When we arrived back at the manor, Hattie didn't punish me as I had expected. Instead she told me to get dressed in my nightgown and bring the gown I had been wearing straight up to her room.

I tried not to, but the curse pulled me onward. I put on my nightcap and headed up the staircase as I was told to do.

Hattie was brushing her wig when I entered. It was still on her horrible head as she she did so, and I frowned. She was such a fake, hiding behind those false curls. "Ella, dear!" she exclaimed, sounding as false as her hair. "Do sit down!" She guestured to the small flowered stool beside her and the curse forced me down into it.

She placed her brush on the table and turned to face me. "You have such beautiful hair, dearest. Let me brush it." Of course, I had no choice so she picked up the brush once more and ran it through my hair after removing my cap. "My, how silky it is, Ella. How do you get it this way?"

I did not answer, but turned around and confronted her, "Hattie why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" she asked innocently. Her little act didn't fool me for a moment.

"You're never kind to me," I stated. "Why are you giving me all these compliments? If you're trying to get something out of me, I suggest you do it now. It would be easier."

Hattie glared at me. "Why do you always have the good ideas? Why does Charmont know YOU better than he knows me? Why does he LIKE you better than he does me?"

I recalled the time in the garden at finishing school when Hattie sniffed bogweed. She then told me that she was jealous of me. It must of boiled over and was now spilling out. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Charmont likes you! He gasped when he heard your name as if... as if he LOVED you!" She pursed her lips.

I had no idea what had come over Hattie. She had never acted like this before. She never asked me questions of personal matters or admit things out loud to me that she thought about.

"Tell me why you lied to him," she commanded.

I sighed. I couldn't avoid it now. "I didn't want him knowing I was still living with you."

"WHY?" she demanded. When I didn't answer, she screamed, "ANSWER ME!"

"Because I told him I was married to an old bachelor!" I was telling her the truth, little by little, as little as the curse would allow.

"Why? Answer every question I ask you."

"Because I didn't want to..." I tried to resist. I tried to keep Hattie from knowing that Char proposed to me. I tried to keep her from knowing that we had been corresponding for months. I tried to keep her from knowing that he loved me and I, him. The curse wouldn't let me. "I didn't want to marry him."

Hattie was shocked to silence. For once in the time I knew her, she was quiet. No orders flew at me, no insults, no questions. Silence. Then after moments of her thinking, she said quietly, "He... proposed to you?"

"Yes," I said truthfully without resisting.

"When?"

"In a letter."

"He's been writing you letters?!" Hattie jumped from her seat.

I stayed where I was and stared at the carpet. "Yes."

"Have you been writing him back?"

"I haven't been since a long time before the ball."

"How long?"

"Six months."

Hattie glared at me still. "How long were you writing him?"

"Since he left."

"YOU WERE WRITING HIM FOR SIX MONTHS, AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?"

"I didn't want to."

"WHY?"

"You would have commanded me to stop."

"I w--" Hattie paused. "Yes, I would have, you little liar."

I jumped from my chair and faced her. "I am not a liar."

"Then how did you get the letters in?"

I didn't want to tell her, of course I didn't, but she had commanded me to answer every question she asked me. "A friend brought them to me."

"Who?"

No, no, no, no. I wasn't going to give Mandy away like that. If I told Hattie that Mandy had snuck the letters in by saying she was in love, then she would surely be dismissed, no matter how good her cooking was.

"Ella!" The door burst open.

Mandy? No. The person holding the candle was Mum Olga. "I keep hearing screaming and I am trying to get my beauty rest."

"But, mother!" Hattie protested. "I'm asking her questions."

"They'll be no more questions tonight, Hattie." Mum Olga kissed her on the forehead. She advanced on me. "Don't answer any more questions, Ella. Go to bed."

I followed her order. No more answering questions, no more Hattie. Not tonight, anyway. I took a detour to Mandy's room.

Mandy was asleep in her bed. I took the candle Mum Olga had given me and held it close to her face to wake her up. "Mandy," I whispered, "tell me not to go to bed."

"Do not go to bed, sweet," she muttered in her sleep.

"Wake up, Mandy! Please." Mandy sat up and squinted in my direction.

"What are you doing this late at night?"

I opened my mouth to answer her, but found that I couldn't. Oh, no. Mum Olga had ordered me not to answer anymore questions. "I'll tell you, just tell me to answer your question."

"Answer me."

"Hattie kept me up asking questions. She knows that Char proposed and that I was writing letters to him."

Mandy woke up all the way. "Child, did you tell her how you were writing to him?"

"No, I just told her that a friend brought the letters everyday." I teared up.

Mandy held me close to her in a tight hug. "Oh, Ella, I'm so sorry she knows. What do you think she'll do?"

"Nothing, of course!" I sniffed. "She knows that if Char knew I wasn't married, he would marry me instead of the princess or her."

Mandy pulled me away from her and held me by the shoulders. "Not if she thinks about it enough."

"What are you talking about, Mandy?"

"She could figure out that if he is definately marrying the princess, she has no chance. And that would lead to figuring out to the fact that if she told him you were here, she would be stepsister to royalty."

I gasped, then sobbed harder. "I hate this curse. If I didn't have this curse, she wouldn't know about it and I wouldn't have to marry Char."

"Sweet, if you didn't have this curse you would be married to Char."

********

hehehehehe oh wasn't that fun? strange how my mind works, isnt it?

dude someone said they were gail carson levine (i dont know if its true) when they were reviewing me other story (pirate lingo, all right!) and they said that they were writing a sequel to ella enchanted. if it was gail, oh no! it may sound fabulous to have a sequel to the best book ever written, but in my opinion, you NEVER write a sequel to a happily ever after. i mean, fan fiction is fun cuz its just ideas put into writing, but if a book was actually published about what happened afterwards.... ::shudder:: it would be good, but cheesey. ella enchanted is better left alone..... or something... i dont know what im talking about. :D

have a great day and PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!