Chapter 6: After the Wedding

As we walked into the ballroom, I was in awe. Mandy, Uaaxee, Slannen, Areida, and many of the servants in the castle had finished decorating it. It was beautiful; flowers where everywhere, and vines of flowers framed every window and doorway, and the dance floor was just cleaned. The same Ayorthan singers from the wedding were there, as well as an orchestra to play songs for the dances. The orchestra started playing and the singers began singing, so we began the first dance. It was a slow dance that was beautiful.

"When did the Ayorthan singers come to the palace?" I asked Char after the dance had finished.

"Just this morning. I planned it out quite carefully. I sent for them when the messenger went to Areida's inn." He smiled at me.

"It was a wonderful surprise," I told him. "The whole wedding was wonderful, for my husband is wonderful." He leaned over and kissed me.

We had began walking to the doors, for we were trying to escape all the guests for a little while. I had taken my veil off so that it was easier to walk around.

We walked around the castle for a little while, still trying to find the secret passage that Char had told me about on my father's wedding day. We looked everywhere, but still we could not find it. We went out to the gardens and sat there for awhile on the same bench that Char had found my glass slippers. There we sat and enjoyed each other's presence for a few minutes.

Then we were aware again of the sounds of the orchestra far below. I stood up and twirled.

Char bowed. "The lady must not dance alone."He put his hand on my waist, and my hear began to pound, a rougher rhythm than the music. He held my long skirt, hoping not to trip over my train. Our free hands met. His felt warm and comforting and unsettling and bewildering–all at once.

Then we were off, Char naming each dance: a gavotte, a slow sarabande, a courante, an allemande.

We danced as long as the orchestra played. Once, between dances, he asked if I wanted to return to the celebration. "Do you think that they will be looking for us?"

"Perhaps." I thought that the royal family would be looking for us, and perhaps a few other people. "Do you want to?"

"No. I only want to be with you," Char said. The music started again, a stately pavane. We didn't stop dancing until the orchestra took a short break.

We walked back to the ballroom together, hand-in-hand, for we thought that we should be with our guests for awhile. When we got there, Slannen was waiting for us. He gave us a new pottery piece by Agulen, an elf child embracing a tree. It was simply beautiful. Char and I thanked him several times.

Then we saw a sight that we did not necessarily want to see. Although we didn't invite Lucinda, she arrived anyway–with a gift.

"No need," Char and I chimed together.

"Remember when you were a squirrel," Mandy said cautiously.

But the gift was what Father would have called a fairy trifle. It was a box, no larger than my thumbnail, which grew or shrank to accommodate whatever it was called upon to hold. Wonderfully useful and not harmful at all. We thanked Lucinda enthusiastically until she glowed with pleasure.

I then reached into a little sachet that was tied onto my wrist. I took out pieces of parchment paper and gave them to Char. He looked at them confusedly. I smiled at him.

"After I sent you that rubbish letter, I kept writing to you nearly everyday. I wanted to give these letters to you when my curse was gone. I had wanted to give them to you the day that I came into the palace, but I thought that they would be more meaningful to give them to you at our wedding." I began crying silent tears again. A tear coursed down my cheek.

Char brought his finger up to my face and wiped the tear off. "They would be meaningful no matter when you gave them to me." He looked in my eyes. His own eyes were gleaming. I reached up and kissed him. When we broke, he began chuckling.

"Ella, you always surprise me!" he said. I smiled at him.

The celebration of our wedding continued on the streets of Frell after the party was over. It had been a long day, and very eventful.

During the party, after I had given Char the letters, Queen Daria and King Jerrold pulled us to the side away from the crowd. There, they told of their intentions to have me crowned princess in just a few hours.

"I do not wish to be princess,"I told them. "I do not want the power. If I ever need to be princess in the future, then I will be crowned. But now the need is not necessary." Both the King and the Queen looked at me in shock, but then smiled.

"We understand. You are unlike anybody we have ever known, except perhaps your mother." They walked away and rejoined the crowd.

I beamed at the compliment. Char smiled and took my hand as we walked into the crowd, dancing. We danced and conversed the rest of the night, even after the party was over.

Author's Note:

I hope that you enjoyed that! Sorry it took me so long to get it up, but I was having computer troubles. Thank you to all that reviewed! I will use your ideas to start Chapter 7, which will hopefully be up soon.

Master Duelist Imposter Kaiba - Thank you so much! That is so kind. Thank you so much for all of the wonderful ideas. I plan to use some of them (I won't tell which ones right now). I'll keep updating as long as you keep reviewing. :-) By the way, I like your pen name! Kaiba's one of my favourite characters in Yu-Gi-Oh. Thanks so much again!

Melissa Black13 -I'm so glad that you liked the chapter and you thought it was sweet! I loved writing it. Thanks for the review!

Tempest Dragon -Well, this chapter didn't start their adventures. I had to throw Lucinda in there some time, and I had to put a part where she refused the crown. Sorry! But, next chapter I will definitely have the beginning of their first adventure! Thanks so much for the idea!

Kayla- Thank you so much! That is so nice! I'm glad that you like it so much! Thanks for reviewing!

Anywien- I'm so glad that you liked the vows! That was one of the hardest parts to write. If you have the Ella Enchanted Movie Soundtrack, I put a quote from "If You Believe" in Ella's vows. I love that song! I'm happy that you like the story as well! Thanks for reviewing!

I won't ask for a specific amount of reviews, but if you do read this, please review! The more reviews that I do get, the faster I will be able to update. Thank you!