Disclaimer: I do not own the fantastic Ella Enchanted…

A/N: Well, I got my ten reviews! (17 total) Sorry if I confused anyone…what I meant by 10 reviews was that I wanted 10 for Chapter 2; I'd already had 7 from Chapter 1. Thanks to all of my reviewers! Oh, by the way, I (finally) saw Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban!! It was sooooooo good and I have to say that Potter is getting to be quite the cutie!! Anyhoo, on with the story…

Ella Forever Enchanted?

Chapter Three

Silence. The three of us sat in silence at the table, waiting for Char to come back from wherever he was. King Jerrold sat at the head of the table, between Queen Daria and the empty seat that was supposed to be Char, staring impatiently at the wall in front of him. Queen Daria was looking down at her hands in her lap, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

We'd already talked about my family, which had been a very short topic, how I liked my room and clothes, where Char might have been, and a thousand other short-lived topics. Char was about fifteen minutes late now, and we had run out of things to say.

I was looking around the room at various objects, unconsciously rapping my knuckles on the table. I then heard Manners Mistress's voice in my head, "Don't rap your knuckles on the table, Ella. The king would be ashamed of you." I immediately stopped and looked at the king who, by the small smile on his face, seemed to be somewhat amused by me. Not so ashamed after all, Manners Mistress.

"Well, I don't know what's keeping him. He's never this late for anything…" Queen Daria said, breaking the silence.

King Jerrold's smile then disappeared again. He sighed and called a servant over, whispering something in his ear. All that I heard was "thank you" as the servant hurried away into the kitchen. "I won't wait for him any longer," he said.

This was now officially the most uncomfortable situation I'd ever been in. Is Char that upset with me because of how I acted last night? I hoped not, but was almost certain that that was why he wasn't there. And why he had left without trying to wake me up earlier.

I sighed loudly and King Jerrold and Queen Daria looked at me suddenly. This is horrible, I thought.

Just then Char came into the room. Just in time. His hair was messy, he seemed short of breath, and his face was slightly red (all I assumed to be from running).

"Sorry, I was…fixing something…" Fixing what? I eyed him suspiciously. He gave me a look and grinned at me. He'd been up to something…

"Well, it took you long enough." King Jerrold said as Char kissed his mother lightly on the cheek.

"Sorry again," he said as he did the same to me and took his seat.

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"Don't you want to know why I was late to brunch earlier?" Char asked me as we walked through the garden.

"Yes, and I was hoping I wouldn't have to ask."

"I figured. Well, I was actually setting up a surprise for you."

"Why, Highness! A surprise? For me?" I said playfully. Char laughed.

"Yes, for you. Come on." He took my hand and we almost ran to our destination.

We stopped at the stables, where a man was holding a horse by the reigns, brushing its coat.

"And here's your surprise! It's your horse. If you want her."

"Oh, she's perfect!" A horse. I'd always wanted a horse, just like this one—cream colored with brown spots.

"Her name's Buttercup. I bought her just a few weeks ago."

By the time he'd finished, I was petting Buttercup who was nuzzling her head against my arm.

"She likes you," Char said.

"And I like her." I turned quickly around and gave hugged him tightly. "Thank you." I said.

"You wanna ride?" I nodded and he helped me onto my horse. He then quickly got onto his, which had been in the stables. He rode up next to me and said, "I have something else to show you."

I rode next to him until we reached a fenced clearing. At first I'd seen nothing, but then I saw him, galloping towards us: Apple, my centaur. I hadn't seen him since Char'd brought him for me more than a year before. I stopped my horse and jumped off, still holding her by the reigns as I went to a nearby apple tree and threw it by him for a treat. Before I knew it, Char was next to me.

"I was so angry when I found out you were at finishing school. You hadn't needed to be 'finished'."

I'd of course known about that because of Mandy's letter. I said nothing.

A little while after Char and I had gotten back on our horses he started up conversation again.

"Cecelia, my younger sister, took great care of him while I was gone." He'd been talking about Apple.

"Why didn't I meet her earlier today at brunch?"

"Actually, she and I don't usually join my parents for brunch. Neither do my brothers. We only did today because they wanted a chance to get to know you better. You'll meet her later."

"Ella, I um…" He stopped.

"What?"

"Nothing."

It was then that I remembered. Char had written in his journal entry that he wanted to ask me why I'd seemed so upset the day before. I completely forgot about it, I thought. I then remembered Mandy. I forgot about Mandy! I punished myself mentally for having forgotten. It'd all seemed so perfect that I hadn't even thought about my curse the entire day. How stupid I'd been!

But it had been perfect and I hadn't been ordered to do much of anything. Why would I ask Mandy to ruin a life like this one? Maybe now I can live happily with Char and forget completely about my curse. No one has to know about it…

That was it! No one had to know about it. Right?

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After my ride with Char, I made sure to call for Mandy. She would be a cook in the palace, whether Dame Olga liked it or not, and I would again be her helper, whether father liked it or not.

After the two of us had become reacquainted and I'd told her all about my new horse and Apple, I told her my new thoughts about what my curse. To my surprise, she hadn't said anything, but I could tell that there was something on her mind.

"What?"

She shook her head.

"Don't you see? No one has to know about it. I won't tell, and you won't tell. Dame Olga, Hattie, and Olive won't either as long as they're getting what they want out me. I can be happy. Char can be happy."

She nodded, but still said nothing.

Fairies! I thought as I finished cutting the carrot that was in front of me and walked out of the kitchen.

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Oooooookay, let's be honest here: this chapter wasn't that good. Okay, okay, so it was HORRIBLE. And I have to apologize for the drawn out dialogue… But next chapter will be much better, I promise!

Next chap, we'll jump ahead to after Char and Ella are married. (Things need to pick up a bit…)

Let's try to get up to 30 (total) this time? Please? That'll be 13 reviews for this chapter. We'll see tho…if I get 10 again and I don't get the other three for a while, I might just update. We'll see, k?

Oh, By The Way: It says somewhere in the book that Char has brothers, right? Well, I actually don't remember that part, and I've been looking for it for a few hours now and can't find it! If you could help me out and tell me how many (if it says) and whatever other stuff it says about them in an email or review or whatever, that'd be great. Please and thank you!

Thanks for reading! Bye now!

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EvelynC.O