I own nothing but the plot…. Well… I own some stuff…. But the characters (most of them anyways) belong to Gail Carson Levine…. Otherwise… well, Char would be right here with me now…. Lol -
Ella stared, wide-eyed at the stranger as she turned around.
A woman no older than Ella stood atop the pillows behind her, almost as if she were floating… The woman had a haughty look on her face, her eyes ice blue and filled with distaste. She had a slender body, her frame slim and willowy. She was of middle height and her head was connected to a long, delicate neck that looked as if it were porcelain. Her tiny nose was slightly pointed and beneath that was a pair of lips, sparkling like twin rubies. Though her most enthralling feature was her hair. Golden with a slight wave to it, her hair cascaded to her corseting waist, catching every ray of light within her tresses and sending back a reflection that made her look as if she had a glowing halo about her. Her dress was simple; blue to match her eyes, lace up in the back with a satin ribbon. The blue fabric trailed down to her fact and over the pillows. "Are you done gaping now?" she asked, an annoyed tone in her voice.
Ella looked up into the woman's harsh eyes, hardening her own. "How dare you speak to me like that! And how dare you keep me locked up in here!" she said loudly.
The woman frowned, "Hush up. I'm not deaf – you needn't scream. Now – what on earth were you making that racket on the door for? Honestly. We're not at your every beck and call like at your palace," derisiveness was creeping back into her voice as she arched an eyebrow.
Fury was building inside Ella, but she kept it under control and pointedly replied in softer voice, "I want you to release me. Now. As part of the royal family, I have certain powers that must be obeyed and… I believe you have to obey them too." She worried as she felt a shakiness develop in her voice, though she tried to hide it as well and stood there, amidst the pillows, her arms akimbo, looking fiercely up at the woman.
"Temper… Temper…" the woman said to herself, shaking her head a little and laughing. "You know what? I don't believe I fall under your powers, for you no longer are dwelling in your kingdom," The last two words were said in such a mocking voice that Ella couldn't stop herself from glaring at her. "But… I do believe that you'll hall under my power." The woman let out another laugh as she looked down at Ella before closing her eyes and taking a sharp intake of air, a smile on her face the entire time.
The moment she opened her eyes, they were in a jungle. Though still encased in the room, the two had gone from the sea of pillow to a sticky and rather dark room full of trees and animals.
Ella's breathing quickened, as she looked at her surroundings frantically and saw no sign of the woman. From above, whistle came and Ella's head jerked up to find the golden haired woman sitting comfortably on a tree limb. Ella squinted her eyes as she saw the woman grow farther and farther away. She didn't know what was happening until she looked down and saw herself rapidly being consumed into a pool of quicksand. Her soft blue eyes flicked around, desperately trying to find a vine, a rope, a branch…. Something to grab onto. Nothing.
Instead the only6 thing she found was malicious laughter from above her, the sound sprinkling down like rain all around her. Ella looked up again at the woman, panic very evident in her eyes as she realized she was waist-deep in the stickiness and going further. She knew flailing about like she had done with the pillows would only make matters worse, so she tried to flip onto her back to do the dead-man's float and slow down the sinking process. She only managed to quicken it and was now in past her chest and neck. Breathing was becoming difficult as she felt the sand closing in on her, not letting her expand her lungs at all. "Please! Get me out of here! Help me!" She pleaded to the woman in the tree, who just sat there, looking very amused. "Please…" Ella tilted her head back and felt her ears get covered. "Please…"
The woman rolled her eyes and muttered, "Oh all right…" under her breath and closed her eyes again, taking a deep breath.
Upon opening her eyes, both of them were brought into a stark with room with a scary looking wooden chair in the center. Ella found herself strapped into the chair, unable to move, though clean of any quicksand as if it had never happened. She was caught in a confused daze and quietly asked, "What is this?"
A chuckle came from behind her and she tried to turn but found she couldn't. "What is this? What is this?" said a mock child's voice behind her. "My… you've got a lot of requests. How he ever chose you is beyond me…"
"Who? What're you talking about?"
"And slow on the uptake as well…."
Ella's head came up slowly, as if in realization, "Char…" she said quietly.
"Mmhmm…." The woman cooed from behind her.
"Leave him out of this," strength was returning to her voice.
"I'm afraid that's just not possible," the woman said, coming around the wooden chair to face Ella and kneel to her level; to condescend upon her. "See… that's the reason you're here. You have what I want. And that for the time being is Char – as you so fondly call him," her voice was condescending as well now.
"He won't come to you."
A look of assuredness came over the woman's face. "He will. I know he will…. And so do you. I his precious little Ella is on the line, he'll come."
That sinking feeling from the quicksand came back, only now it was in the pit of her stomach – he would come… He would battle anything that came between them and he would stop at nothing to be assured of her safety. "Who… Who are you?" she asked, her voice growing shaky again.
"Why should I tell you?" the woman said, getting up and turning her back on Ella, walking towards the door with the grace of a dancer.
Ella frowned slightly, her eyes narrowing intently on the woman. That back… that body… that stature… that hair…
Suddenly Ella knew where she had seen her…
A/N: Hey!! Yeah… a big cliffie!! Oh well…. I made it so that you… yes, you, the readers (or fans or whatever you want to call yourselves… ;) maybe like… freaders…. As in fan-readers…. Ok… sorry…. - I've had WAY too much Dr. Pepper this morning….) can figure out who this rather scary woman is. You just have to be creative and look in the book…. - But yeah. So a couple thoughts from me actually…. One is that I didn't know the color of Ella's eyes, so I went by the cover of the book (even though it is wrong by the way…. Her hair is supposed to be black, not brown… ) and made them blue. Yes, lazy me… didn't want to have to read the entire book last night and then write the chapter… Because well…. I wanted to listen to the radio too and finish my drawing…. Lol….. But yeah… and this woman… is really about the same age as Ella, and I'm sorry for calling her "the woman" or "the golden haired woman" but I didn't want to give her a name yet…. To add to the mystery of her identity…. All right… so I hope you guys have had a happy summer so far… Mine's not been all that well… but meh… I guess I'll just have to deal with it…. -
Cheers!
Tati Bloom aka Elf Girl 4
PS: I realized that chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5 are like…. The SAME. I'm sorry…. I'll be deleting chapter 4 soon unless you guys think I should do otherwise…. Since the same thing happens in the next chapter. -
PPS: Any suggestions? Email me… check my bio!
PPS: Like what you read here? Want more? Go and check out my other stories and review for those too!!! -
AN AWESOME AND APPRECIATED THANKS TO: (Yes…. I'm going to do it from now on…. So if you don't like it… I'm sorry….. too bad. And I'm doing this in the order that I receive them… so don't feel bad if you're last or first… it's just how I do it… -)
Chriss- Thank you! And yeah, I hate cliffhangers too…. But somehow the way I write makes them come out in every chapter… lol… I hope you keep reading!
Chaucer- I like the name…. Reminds me of Paul Bettany from "A Knight's Tale"… (He played Chaucer in the movie… -) Thanks! I'm glad you liked it… hope you liked this chapter too!
jelie36- Thank you very much…. And yes, if you go and skim the book, you've seen her a couple of times…. But yeah…. Keep reading…. And review again to tell me who ya think it is! -
stargirl- Kay! Well, here's the next chapter… hope you liked it, keep reading!
Legolas-Aragorn-r-hot- Mmm…. Love, love, love the name…. I totally agree… I'm writing a LOTR ficlet too, so I hope you go and check that out sometime when I get it posted! Thank you!!! I'm so happy you like it, and I really hope you liked this chapter too!
Pirate-Jazzy- Here ya go…. More. - I'll be bringing some more later…. So keep reading…. Lol
Tempest Dragon- OH NO! Yet ANOTHER cliffhanger! Gahh…. It's turning into a very bad habit in my writing… lol…. Thanks much, I'll try and update as soon as I can!
Mage Light- Thank you very much! I'm glad that you think so!!! I really hope that you liked this chapter, keep reading and reviewing… Tell me how I'm doing!!