I don't own any of the characters in this story; they belong to Gail Carson Levine.
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Ella awoke groggily to the sound of wheels and the bouncing of a carriage. Her eyes opened very slowly and she was plunged into a sea of black nothingness, as if her eyes were still shut. "Good god, have I gone blind?" she thought, a huge worry building up inside of her. She closed her eyes again, trying to accept the inevitable that she may be blind. Then she felt a feeling of coarseness sweep across her eyelids; she hadn't gone blind-it was only a blindfold. She scolded herself for being so ready to believe things like that.
Her head was swimming with dizziness and it hurt to think, but she was so unsure of where she was, or what was happening, or well, just about anything.
Ella figured that Char was playing some stupid joke on her. He always did, he tried to make her laugh-just as she made him laugh, but just wasn't as good at it. At least when he tried to-when it was spur of the moment things, then she would laugh for long periods of time; otherwise, she would giggle just out of mock pity at his sense of humor.
But this, this was strange-he usually didn't do things like this, and why was her head spinning with dizziness? Finally she decided to speak up and ask him what he was doing.
"Char? Are you there? What is this? I admit it was somewhat funny at first," she started-it wasn't funny though-but she continued, "But now it's a little old. Plus, this blindfold is really itchy-could you take it off now please? And where are we going? You know that your parents will be miffed if we aren't in the castle to be with the delegates-no matter how boring they are…"
There was no answer. Except for the clicking of hooves and the carriage on the road, silence came from all around her. This was starting to worry her-what was Char doing that would make him not answer her? She knew that he knew his parents would explode if they weren't there to be with the delegates, and yet he was ignoring her! The insolence of him! She hadn't known him to disobey his parents like this. Well, they had done things in the past, but this, this was the future of their country and their foreign relations. He would just go out for a pleasure ride through the country. And if it was just a pleasure ride, then why was she blindfolded, and why wouldn't he answer her? Today wasn't a special occasion either, which made her wonder where he was taking her, and why would he do one of his little "I love you" getaways in an important time like this-which brought her back to the fact that the delegates were here in Frell.
Ella thought about this for quite some time and was always brought back to the fact that the delegates were there in Frell…
Finally the carriage stopped moving and the horses stopped clicking their hooves on the road. The carriage door opened and a man (or what sounded like a man by his heavy breathing) stepped in. He took Ella and lifted her up.
Ella could tell that it wasn't Char-Char had picked her up thousands of times, and although this man was gentle, he wasn't Char. This worried her and she wouldn't stand to be picked up by some strange man when she was in a blindfold.
"Put me down this instant! Who are you and where are you taking me? You! Listen to me!" He wasn't listening. Finally she tried to wriggle out of his arms and she realized that she was tied at the wrists! She struggled more and he only suppressed her more. Now she was screaming into his ears.
"PUT. ME. DOWN. OR. YOU.WILL. PAY."
He was trying to shy away from her raging mouth, while at the same time holding her very tightly as she wriggled around.
From a tower in the castle that he was walking towards, two shadow loomed, both laughing evilly.
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Ok- I really wanted to thank all the reviewers out there who reviewed and liked –or in some cases, loved- it!!! I LOVED ALL THE REVIEWS, and I hope that I get some more (I'm like a review addict now…lol)
I hope that all of you liked this chapter-not much action, but I'll try to put some into the next chapter.
A little taste of the next chapter…Char sets out to find Ella!!!
Cheers and lots of love to you all!!!
Elf Girl!!!
PS: I was wondering what you avid fans think I should do to the story. Should I make it R material in later chapters, or should I keep it PG-13? If I do do it R, how "R-ish" do you think I should make it? If anyone has any suggestions to make towards the rating or the plot/ story, PLEASE write them into your reviews, or email me. Thanks a bunch! J xox