I don't own any of the characters in this story; they belong to Gail Carson Levine.
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Char woke up from a particularly nice dream; he looked to his side and discovered that that side of the bed was empty. He patted it, frantically looking around the room as well. He tried in the closet, in the window niche, everywhere, even under the bed (Ella was always up to new heights, trying to make him laugh by doing odd things-like hiding under the bed). Ella was nowhere to be found.
Char decided to go down to the kitchen to see if Ella was there. No. He went to the stables. All the horses were in their stalls, and no Ella. He went to the study, the library, the fields. No Ella. Finally, he stopped by Mandy's cabin, which was near the palace.
"Mandy," he panted out, "Have you seen Ella anywhere?"
"No, Sir, I haven't seen her since the banquet last night," Mandy replied groggily. She had been up before dawn making some cinnamon rolls, and they were just starting to smell good. Char took a deep intake of the cinnamon air-it felt so good.
This worried him. The banquet last night was held in honor of some Ayorthaian delegates that had come to Frell.
Char began to flashback to the banquet.
*He and Ella were announced as heirs to the throne of Frell, and they sat near the head of the table, near the King and Queen of Frell, Char's parents. Then the Ayorthaian delegates were announced and they came to sit at the expansive table, opposite of Ella and him. The first course was a Frellan meal, partridge, soaked in a red wine with herbs. The second was an Ayorthaian meal, a pasta-like dish, with berries, and basil. And on the meal went. Char remembered that it was painfully quiet and Ella and he were doing things to pass the time, not paying much attention to anything else. Ella was making the napkins into the shapes of each of the delegates' faces. Char could barely suppress his laughter.
"Your mother used to do that," he mentioned to her quietly. "The last time she did that, I had to leave the hall, I was laughing so hard, except I got punished severely for being so insolent, but…" Char trailed off.
Ella had a subdued look on her face from the mention of her mother. She was still sensitive whenever someone mentioned her. "I know she did," she replied, almost so quietly that Char couldn't hear.
"I didn't mean to mention her, I just..."
Ella wasn't paying attention to him, she had made the profile of the Ayorthaian right in front of them. It was particularly funny since he had a very prominent chin, and forehead.
Char glanced down at it, then at the delegate across the table, then back at the napkin. His chest started to heave up and down, and his breathing came in short spurts. He couldn't suppress his laughter any longer; he put his hand up to his mouth and pretended to cough, except it didn't sound like a cough. It was a full-fledged laugh. He realized this immediately and disguised it as a cough.
The King gave him a sharp look, that suggested daggers, and Char straightened up at once and his face grew serious.
Ella, felt bad and whispered into his ear, "Sorry," and then she kissed his lightly behind his ear.
That sent lovely shivers down his spine.
A servant came to Ella with a cup to replace the one that she had while she was kissing Char. And now Ella was about to toast the delegates. She stood up and said, "To the Ayorthaians and Frellans friendship forever through everything." And everyone raised their glasses and took a sip. She took one too, not noticing the little specks of white powder lining the inside of the glass.
Later on, during the dessert, Ella had to leave because she was feeling faint. She looked pale too, and it was terribly noticeable. *
And then Char's brain clicked. He left Mandy's cabin in a flash and at lightning fast speed, he ran into the kitchen where the scullery maids were still doing last night's dishes. "The cups," he thought frantically, "The cups, the cups, the cups! Where are they?????" In a moment he found them, and he found the one that Ella had had replaced. The wine was still in it and he saw the white powder lining the inside of the glass. He took his finger and swiped it across the inside, taking up some of the powder. He lifted his finger to his nose and sniffed a little: no smell. He took his finger to his lips and tasted a little off of his finger-ever so slightly.
"SHIT!" he shouted. It was poison. Ella had been poisoned the night before, and…and…now she wasn't here, and… and…she had to have been kidnapped!
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Hey! I want you all to review this and tell me what you think, cuz if you don't then I don't think I'll write it anymore. But there's gonna be so much more action in the next chapters-PROMISE!!