Disclaimer: Ella Enchanted be not mine. She be thee property of Gail Carson Levine. Elly however, IS mine.

(A/N) To everyone… I'm extremely sorry for not updating sooner! Really! I've been so busy with softball lately. I'm soooo sorry!

Okay… nice short authors note again.

Here's your chapter…

Forever Elly

Chapter 8

"Excuse me, Miss Eleanor."

I shook myself out of my morning fog and looked up at the maidservant addressing me.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Your father has requested your presence. He arrived during the night. Please meet him in the library in half an hour."

I was in shock, but politely told her, "Thank you."

She curtseyed swiftly and exited.

I was having trouble comprehending what she had told me. Mumbling about how I hated the mornings, I went to take a bath to wake myself up.

After my bath, I felt better. More awake.

Thinking back on what my father's messenger had said, I realized that I had only 10 minutes before I was supposed to meet him in the library.

No time to do my hair, I thought, as I quickly ran a brush through it and left it hanging, wet, down my back.

Lucky I know where the library is, I thought with a laugh. I still had no idea where a lot of the doors in the castle led to. There were just so many.

One of the first days after I was finally allowed to walk, I had gone exploring in the castle, but had gotten horribly lost. I never would have found my way back to my room, or even anywhere else remotely familiar. I had found myself in an olive grove, at last, and there, on a large rock, had sat Bree, whom I had rarely seen since that day at the waterfall. His job working for the castle made him extraordinarily busy. He unfortunately was assigned work outside most of the time, as well, so he could not visit me near my chambers or in the library. That day, however, he had been the only reason I had found my way back.

On the other hand, I knew exactly where the library was. I had made the servants bring me there almost every day when I wasn't allowed to be walking around. They had carried on an odd type of chair that had bent backwards so I could relax. Though why and how I would relax when I was being jerked around in the air, I have not yet figured out.

I would go to the library everyday and spend hours just reading books. And not on any specific subject. I would read philosophy, history, bibliographies, and occasionally a book for fun, like a romance. But those were only read on the occasional times.

I had, however, met an extraordinary servant. His name was Reviere. He was quite a handsome fellow who was approximately my parent's age. He often helped me on my outside experiences, when I got lost in the castle, and every so often, he would recommend a book, which I would always immediately read (and love). I enjoyed spending time with him, mostly because he didn't act like an actual servant, but treated me equally.

I wondered how things would be around him with my father home, and I sincerely hoped they would not change.

As I began my trek to the library, I wondered why my father had come home now, of all times. When I had gotten here two months ago, I had been informed that my father was due to return in a few weeks. Well that seemed to have turned into a few months. Better yet, I was wondering why he hadn't come home before. What had detained him from seeing his only child for the first time?

Well I was going to find out soon…

As I arrived at the library, it appeared empty.

The only light was from the torches on the walls. They cast long shadows that made me step back in a moment of panic.

A shadow appeared on my left, and I slowly turned to meet it.

Reviere was standing there. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"Elly," he whispered. "Your father is waiting in the back, by the northern entrance. Come." He beckoned me forward with a gesture of his hand.

I followed him to a section towards the back of the library.

A man stood with his back to me. He was silently observing the portraits of all the old kings that currently adorned the northern wall.

Reviere cleared his throat softly, glancing at me. "Sir, allow me to present Miss Eleanor, princess of Frell." He bowed and backed out of sight.

The world suddenly was in slow motion as the man turned, increasingly slowly, towards her. An ear appeared. Then a nose. Then she could see his chin. It was all reflected in the flickering light from the torches. And suddenly, there he was in front of her. Her father.

"So you are Eleanor."

"Elly." I replied. I hated it when people called me Eleanor. Unless I was being announced or something.

"Eleanor," he said, with a final tone that was obviously used to being obeyed, "I will arrange for lessons to prepare you to be a real princess. There will be no more gallivanting around outside or among commoners. You will act royal and noble, as the blood in your veins is, and you will be required to do as I say without discussion."

I gaped. Who did he think he was? I had never even met him before, and his greeting was to inform me that I would be turned into one of the snobby princesses I had always scoffed at. I was not going to take this.

"I think not, Father. The point of being a princess is to help those in your kingdom. Not be snobby and ignore their problems." I retorted at his earlier words.

Smackkkkkkkk.

His hand ripped across my face and I fell back, crashing into a bookcase behind me and bringing it down with me as I fell.

Looking up at him in disbelief, I could see the anger and fury blazing in his eyes.

"YOU WILL NOT DISRESPECT WHAT I SAY! I AM THE KING OF FRELL AND ALL MUST OBEY ME!"

He turned away and back to the portraits. He looked exactly as he had when I'd come in earlier.

"Go to your room."

The command was firm, and I was not willing to be abused again.

Turning on my heel I sent a glare in his direction.

After quickly exiting the library, I set out for my room. I knew that the tears in my eyes were about to overflow. My father was not what I had expected. He was not what I had expected at all.

The drops started to fall and I wiped them away viciously. I hated to cry. It was in me to avoid it whenever possible. I would not cry. I would not cry. I would not cry.

I chanted my mantra in my head over and over again, but it was no use, as I could feel the tears coming down in a flood anyway. I began running blindly in the direction I thought my room was.

In my upset state, however, I failed to notice two things.

One; I was going the wrong direction, and was about to step through the doors to the courtyard.

And two; I suppose my reaction time was delayed due to my current state, and therefore did not notice I had crashed into someone until I landed on my bottom with a thump.

"Ooomph!" I exclaimed, still crying.

I could make out a figure standing before me, but the tears were like a mask. I couldn't see anything through them.

Curling into a ball, I hid my face in between my knees. My father was an evil dictator who didn't care about me at all. My mother was dead, and she was the only one who might have cared about me, besides Mandy.

Strong arms slid around my body.

Wiping an eye, I turned to find Bree, sprawled on the ground, hugging me.

"It's okay, Elly. Everything will work out. Calm down. It's okay."

He soothed me for a while, rocking me in his arms.

When my sobs finally quieted down, and I was hiccupping instead, I looked up at him. He was staring down at me with a steady gaze, concern in his eyes.

I was sitting in his lap now, after having somehow shifted while I was crying.

I smiled a watery smile at his face, and hugged him, grateful for him being there for me.

Perhaps I had been wrong. Maybe Bree cared for me as well.

(A/N) Hope you liked it… Note… This chapter likely has a TON of typos and mistakes because I wrote it really quickly just to get something out because I'm feeling really guilty about not updating often… Therefore… feel free to point out my errors so I can change them… and there must be a lot of errors and parts that don't make sense because I'm feeling to lazy to even just read over it again… Oh and it's VERY likely that I will rewrite this chapter, adding MUCH more elaboration… I'm quite unsatisfied with how it is now… Oh well.

Reviewers…

C.I. – Since you would be okay with a backstabbing wench… just kidding. Or am I? Hmmm… I'll have to think on that one. evil smile actually I sort of like that idea… light bulb Hehehehehe. I have an idea. dances around to evil music Okay no more, I'll end up giving something away. I wish I was back in elementary school too. It was so much easier. When you're there you take it for granted… my sister used to come home last year and be like, "I have sooooo much homework." I'd look at what she had and be like, "I have 10 times more." (she was in 5th grade at the time). On the story… I am such a hopeless romantic… I swear. But I won't have too much fluff in my story… It always makes stories… not as good as they could be. So there will be some sap later (no choice in the matter), but my story will NOT be total fluff. Ever. I fixed the slip up with his eye color… I forget what color I've made it officially now… whatever it is in the story. I had to stick the waterfall scene in… it was like… the trademark part of my story. A lot will revolve around that waterfall… good and bad. In answer to your questions… I believe I said that while Ella was unconscious, Mandy transported her to the palace… so BECAUSE she was unconscious, Mandy was able to do so. I think you misinterpreted it or something. About the eating thing… I was a bit evasive, but I just figured that people would assume that if she was able to eat, then she could drink… Plus, Mandy, the fairy, was the one who was also giving her drinks. And I believe that what I meant by the potion not working was that she was already too sick for a potion to help her get better. Like her mother had been when she died. So even if Mandy could have given her the potion through her magical ways, it wouldn't have worked. And it's no bother to me that you interrogate and make up problems. Please do so in fact. I want everything to be clear and precise. So if anything seems out of place, please feel free to ask. And no worries, even if you can't come up with any questions, I'll still update the story… even if it takes me a long time (which I'm extremely sorry about). So thanks! R&R!

Yaukira – Have you read the story lately? (If not then I may unpurposely spoil it for you…)Now they're even more screwed… Jack and Sarah… now I'm not mad at them… but I'm mad at the author! How could she kill off Jack?!! He better come back…

Awaiting Impatient Person –Thank you! Here's an update… sorry it wasn't very soon…

Babyjayy – Thanks! Sorry it took so long…

Me – Thanks a lot! And sorry it wasn't a very quick update. Yes it will be a romance… and don't worry, the romance part will be descriptive. I'm glad you like the plot. R&R!

Mystified – Thanks! And your suggestion on the separate authors notes and chapters… sad as it is (jk) is actually a pretty good one. But I swear, I'm trying to cut down! Another obsessed Ella fan… but I probably have read it more (no offense) seeing as how I read it like 4 times a week minimum… heh ;). Well... 4 times a week if it's not an extremely busy week that is. I mean, sometimes I only get a chance to read it twice a week! (Preposterous, right?)

Firepixie0071 – Yes… very happy moment. I clapped too… which was kind of difficult, seeing as I was trying to clap and write at the same time… As for your story… a two day break is nothing… look at my two week break or so… I feel really bad. And I still have to update my other story…

Dragonfirechick – It sucks #1 about your back, and #2 about your computer… Both back to normal now? I hope so… anyway, YES, BREE IS BACK! YAY! I'M SO GLAD!! ;) really I am though. Aren't I sad… Me, who is in complete control of what happens in this story, is ecstatic when one of my characters comes back. Now I just have to think up twists and turns and scrapes and burns. (Don't ask, it rhymed.) Anyway… I couldn't keep him away for long! New topic… Your dad sounds cool… My dad doesn't have the slightest idea on internet stuff… And my mom is pretty bad as well. They're always asking me to find things for them. And my dad's password was the easiest thing to guess (heh), so it made changing my controls VERY simple. He doesn't even use his screenname… And to think… If I deleted it I could have 5 instead of 4 (hehehahaha… don't ask). Okay I think I'm way off topic now, and I'm not quite sure I'm even making sense anymore. At my school we have never had a bomb threat, gun threat, or even a false fire alarm… I think. Well, at least, not while I've been there. It's actually quite funny with the fire alarms…

Story Time!! (hehe) I remember in middle school, the alarms would go "Rrrrrrannnnttt, rrrrrrrannnnnttt, rrrrrannnnntttt, rrrrrrannnnttt." You know… that really annoying sound… Well in our high school, they go, flash of light flash of light flash of light "May I have your attention please. May I have your attention please. An alarm has been activated in the building. Please use the nearest stairway to exit the building. Do not use the elevators." flash of light flash of lightflash of light siren siren siren …and then this repeats over and over again… It's so stupid though, for a few reasons…

Reason #1: You can't even hear the person talking. They just speak… not loud or anything. If you have a really loud class, the only thing that would let you know that the alarm was going off would be the flashes of light. (They do the same thing with announcements… they don't want to interrupt classes, so they wait until passing time, when the hallways are loud and crowded to announce important information that you can't hear. And the announcement during homeroom are soooo low, that you can barely hear them when your class isn't talking… Back to my reasons…)

Reason #2: If you have the lights on you can't even see the flashes of light… Only barely. The only time my class even realized there was a fire alarm last time was because we had the lights off since we were watching a movie.

Reason #3: They tell you when there will be a fire alarm. Either your teacher will get an email about it, and then tell the class, "There's going to be a fire alarm this period, so it's pretty pointless to do any work… So we can just sit here and talk until it goes off." OR… The last fire alarm we had, was during passing time… During the last 5 minutes of period 4, this announcement comes on… "Attention students… We are going to have a fire drill at the end of this period. It will be during passing time, so everyone should exit at the front of the building and go to the parking lot. Continue to your class until the alarm goes off, and then you should exit the building." Pshhh… Yeah right. Me and my friend were like… hmmm… go to period 5, or leave the building. What would you pick? (We chose the latter). And we were like already halfway out the doors (along with the rest of the school) and the alarm goes off. (We had to really strain our ears to hear it, so who knows, it could have been going off already for all we knew.)

Our school was never in the paper though… Oh actually, we were… We got in the paper in the beginning of the year when a bunch of us had a sort of sit in protest/rally type thing in our lobby. But the paper made us sound so bad in it. They made it sound like we were making unreasonable demands and being unthankful for our 'wonderful new school.' That kind of crap (which was NOT TRUE). It was not cool. But oh well. I think this is long enough now… R&R!

TaRe-ChiBi – I'm so glad you like it! And that you read it, even though you don't often read EE fics. Thanks! There's your update…

Okay, I'm really really sorry about this, but next week there is almost no chance I will update… I have 4 games, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (and then a school dance later on Friday). So I will not be updating until way later… Sorry! I'll try to update over the weekend…

Thanks, R&R!

Lauren