Disclaimer: Characters and places that you recognize from Ella Enchanted are Gail Carson Levine's. The rest are mine!

Chapter 5: His Royal Highness & Lady Mya

Caelys turned the page of the large book, leaning over closely to read the small print. She had been allowed to spend time in the palace library after Ella had insisted that Caelys get fitted for clothes for her trip—the only clothes Caelys had had was the torn, dirty frock she had been wearing when Arion had found her in the woods.

Ella had shown Caelys where the royal library was afterwards, helping her find the information on The Agreement that she was interested in learning more about. Although she had only known Ella for a short period of time, Caelys had already taken a great liking to the Queen of Kyrria. She possessed a certain charm, with her kind, understanding demeanor and the constant mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

The Queen, therefore, was nothing like her son. Caelys had been startled when Ella had introduced Arion. She had thought he had been a knight ever since they'd first met. The fact that he was a prince, however, explained the aristocratic mannerisms he possessed. Yet, Caelys couldn't understand—how could such a wonderful Queen have such an imbecilic son? The world certainly wasn't fair.

She focused her attention back on the dusty tome in front of her and the excerpt on The Agreement:

"The Agreement, a pact drawn by the kingdoms of Kyrria, Ayortha, Lascar, and Pruse 300 years prior to the New Age of Light Magick, resulted from the Two Bloods who combined their magick for destruction. The pact decried the use of Big Magick and banned the appointment of sorcerers in kingdom courts. The Two Bloods were tried and convicted of…"

Two Bloods? What did that mean? Before Caelys could read further, she heard a giggle and a period of suppressed silence before another fit of happiness erupted. Caelys raised her head and her eyes landed on a mop of tawny curls peeking over the edge of the table. It ducked quickly under, paused, before slowly peering over again, a large familiar green eye meeting Caelys' gaze.

Caelys smiled. "Who's hiding from me?"

There was another fit of giggles, before a body appeared with the head and walked up to Caelys. It was a small girl of an age no greater than seven, pretty in her messy pink dress and flushed cheeks to match.

She smiled gleefully up at Caelys. "I was hiding from you! I'm Ariel. What's your name?"

"Caelys." Caelys marveled at the happy youth, suddenly feeling old and motherly.

"Want to play with me, Caelys?" Ariel began skipping around Caelys in circles, lifting her skirt to reveal bare feet.

Caelys couldn't help but let out a laugh, her first in what seemed like eternity. "I would love to."

"Then catch me!" With an excited squeal, Ariel took off down the aisle between two rows of books, her bare feet pattering against the rugs.

Caelys began to run after the little girl, watching Ariel's curls stream after her. She followed her behind another row of bookcases, painfully aware of how much this was like the game Vance and her used to play. How long ago had it been? No more than several days—but she felt so much older now…

A sob that she didn't know she had been suppressing rose in Caelys throat, and she halted in her steps, hearing Ariel also stop and curiously turn to look at her newfound, and suddenly weeping, playmate. Caelys couldn't suppress the angry tears that suddenly flowed down her cheeks as she slid onto the floor, her body trembling with more sobs that fought to escape.

She barely felt the small chubby hand touch her shoulder. "Caelys."

Caelys looked up through blurry eyes at Ariel's innocent face.

"Don't cry. I didn't meant to run so fast."

Caelys gave a weak smile, hugging the small girl and wishing that that were really the reason she had been crying. "It's alright."

"Ariel!" A male voice at the end of the bookcase called down to where Ariel stood and Caelys sat.

"Uh-oh," Ariel whispered. "I have to go back to my reading. My brother's going to be angry." She placed a kiss on Caelys' tear-stained cheek.

"Thank you for playing with me, Ariel." Caelys watched the little girl skip away in the direction of the voice and raised her eyes to glance at the caller. Her stomach turned when she saw the brother who was waiting for the little girl.

The brilliant flash of green met Caelys' gaze and stayed on her face, grazing the wet cheeks and pink, swollen lips. She paused mid-breath and raised her chin as imperiously as possible, now feeling angry that he had caught her in a vulnerable state. Emerald met russet, and each dared the other to look away.

Arion only broke the gaze when Ariel tugged on his hand.


"There's a small village farther up that we'll stop at for a night's rest." James told Arion and Caelys, pointing east.

Caelys' eyes followed the direction of his arm, only to see a path that led through more trees. She urged the horse she rode on to increase its speed, looking forward to stopping for rest. She wasn't willing to admit to James and especially to Arion, but she was tired from the day of riding. Yet, she was too proud to let them see her weak.

James, Arion, and herself had been on the road since early morning when they had first left Frell with provisions and the royal family's good wishes. Caelys had not spoken a word to Arion since the day before in Ella's study. James, however, she'd quickly befriended and through their day's worth of conversations, had gleaned much about the history of the kingdoms. James had most likely noticed the tense silence between the prince and Caelys, but had wisely kept his mouth closed on the matter, only hoping the three-day trip would be a quick one.

"We've arrived!" James called behind his shoulder to Caelys and Arion half an hour later. He cantered forward through the trees that opened into the village. Caelys and Arion quickly followed, but stopped abruptly at James' side when they noticed he had stopped at the entrance.

"Oh Gods above…" James breathed out, gazing before him. Caelys followed suit and opened her mouth in horror.

The entire village was deserted.


"Quickly now! We must hurry!"

Caelys nudged her horse, willing it to go faster. She could barely make out the outline of James in front of her and could hear the steady hoofbeats of Arion following closely from behind.

Her stomach was in a twist of knots from coming upon a deserted village so much like Rochelle. She wanted to vomit, to rest, to sleep and to wake up to find everything a dream—but there was no time and this was far from fantasy…

The group had been horrified when they saw the deserted village. James had offered to quickly ride to Bollington, the capital of Lascar, while Arion accompanied Caelys to a place to sleep and rest. Yet, Caelys had refused, unwilling to stop. So now the three galloped at full speed toward the capital in the dead of night, all feeling a sense of helpless dread.

Sleep beckoned. Caelys was beginning to feel as though she was detached from her body, as she felt herself slowly fade into a dream-like state. Suddenly, her horse seemed to give away from beneath her and she barely heard it whinny before she hit the ground.

The grass cushioned her fall, and she gasped, more in shock at the accident than in pain. She saw a dark figure fly towards her from his horse and offer her a hand. She numbly took it and allowed him to lift her onto his horse, feeling him get on behind her.

James, in front, who had realized the hoofbeats behind him had stopped, rode back in the darkness. "Caelys? Rion? Are you two alright?"

"We're fine." Arion's voice was loud as he called out from behind her.

Caelys felt him pull her closer to him as his arm wrapped firmly around her waist to keep her from risking another fall if she fell asleep again. They were near enough that she could feel the warmth emanating from his firm chest and his steady heartbeat that seemed to be in time with the hoofbeats as his horse resumed its gallop.

Caelys was only dimly aware that Arion's heart must have been beating awfully fast to be in time with the hoofbeats, before she allowed darkness to wash over her.


Caelys woke just as the sun rose over the treetops, and she blinked, hearing the steady beat beneath her and feeling the security of her place on the horse.

For a moment, she was lost, and it took a second for her to remember what had happened before she had fallen asleep. She had fallen off her horse…and Arion had allowed her to ride with him.

She voiced the first thought that appeared in her head. "What happened to my horse?"

There was a pause, and Caelys imagined the prince of Kyrria looking down at her head with surprise and disdain. "He'll find his way back to Frell," he finally replied.

Feeling refreshed from her sleep, Caelys began to feel the uncomfortableness of her situation. She squirmed in her seat on the horse and put on the hood of her riding cloak, before accepting her fate and settling to silently cursing herself for her stupidity. She continued berating herself for awhile longer until she suddenly noticed that James was starting to slow down in front. Caelys looked further ahead and saw the large slabs of gray stone looming in the distance.

"Is that," Caelys spoke, her curiosity causing her to forget for the moment that she still disliked Arion, "Bollington?"

"Yes." Arion's voice was gruff, and she noticed the traces of fatigue that laced his voice. "You're a native of Lascar. Shouldn't you know?" His added remark was snide and mocking.

Caelys stiffened. "I'm only a naïve farmer's daughter, aren't I? How would I know of anything about the outside world? I depend on men like you, dear prince, to save the day."

"Well, you were the one who fell off their damn horse," Arion snapped back, the edge apparent in his voice.

She made a move to stop the horse and jump down, but Arion's grip only tightened around her waist. "You—" She stopped abruptly as their horse neared James' at the top of the hill and shut her mouth reluctantly, resuming to sitting straighter on the horse.

"We've arrived." James nodded down at the tall, gray stone wall that surrounded the fortress city. Guards could be seen at the gated entrance, and Caelys shivered, an ominous feeling at the pit of her stomach.

They began their descent down the hill, leaving the forest and approaching the gates that would open into Bollington. There were at least six guards at the gate, and they immediately surrounded the group as it reached the bottom.

"What's your business here?" A large and rather nasty looking man glared at them through one eye, his other permanently half-lidded.

"We're here to see the king about important business." Arion spoke out imperatively.

"From?"

"Kyrria."

It was then, after Arion had answered, that James, Caelys, and himself noticed the strange blue and silver of the guards' uniforms. There was something amiss… In a flash of realization that was too late, the guards lunged at the threesome, quickly dragging them from atop their horses.

Caelys screamed as the half-lidded brute pulled her arms behind her, trying to kick him as his hands reached to grope inside her riding cloak. "Let me go!" He only sniggered in response.

She continued to struggle against the man as he and several other guards brought their newly captured prisoners within the walls of Bollington and towards the palace, gasping as she saw the high number of blue-and-silver uniformed men around them.

James, Arion, and Caelys were quickly brought into the palace, past curious onlookers and several grand entrances before they were rushed past a final door. The guards who had the stronghold on the three stopped abruptly and Caelys hesitantly raised her head, her eyes peering from under her hooded cloak, unsure if she wanted to know what she might see.

The room they had entered was intimidating, with a looming, marble column at each of the four corners. Marble inlaids arranged geometrically in the center of the room lay directly below the large circular glass dome in the ceiling, allowing the morning's sun to pour in its light. In this room, however, the sunlight seemed daunting and oppressive.

Caelys' eyes landed on the lone figure sitting atop the throne at the far end of the room, a fair young man dressed extravagantly in gold and silver. She could make out his slightly upturned mouth, in the shape of a smirk that adorned his lips as he gazed at the newly entered group.

He stepped lazily from his seat and approached them slowly, stopping several feet away. "Ralph, who are my visitors?" He drawled out the question, as though his words were dripping with the same riches that adorned his body. A slender hand dressed in jewels rose to his chin as he studied the party before him.

The guard who roughly held Caelys replied. "They say they are from Kyrria, Your Highness."

Your Highness?

Caelys peeked at the mysterious man from under her hood, noting his blonde hair, his high cheekbones and handsome face, and the piercing blue eyes that flickered coldly from James to Arion, before landing on her hooded self.

"Kyrria? Our enemy, Kyrria? How…interesting." He paused, and the silence sent a cold shiver down Caelys' spine.

Caelys resisted the urge to squirm as she felt his appraisal of herself. What did all of this mean? Who was this man to dress so lavishly and these people in blue and silver? Why did they act so roughly towards Caelys and the rest? Surely the Lascarians would not treat the Kyrrians so?

"Remove that hood," the blonde man barked, and the guard who held Caelys quickly obeyed, pulling off the hood that covered her face before Caelys had the time to register that the man had been referring to her. She felt strangely exposed as the cloth fell from her head, exposing her face and her dark, rich brown curls.

She raised her face proudly towards the Highness, refusing to show him the fear that wracked her body. His icy blues pierced her own brown eyes, and held her gaze. Caelys was confused by the recognition that she beheld in his.

She was further bewildered when he breathed in amazement, "Lady Mya?"


A/N: Hm…who's this sexy, blonde royalty? And who's Lady Mya? Dun dun dun…

(Grins proudly) I updated a lot faster! I was happy to receive reviews and know that people are still reading this story—thank you! You guys mean so much.

Thanks to wayretro (haha I love that name), Kat (I'll be updating AM soon! Just some more kinks I have to figure out), sealednectar (Caelys is pronounced "Ky-lis" and Cael, Vance's nickname for her, is pronounced "Ky-el." Thank you for reading my story also!), alphamelodygirl (thank you!), slickchick650 (hey! I haven't talked to you in a long time!), Moosie (I agree, Rion's definitely not the happy-go-lucky prince. He just might go through some change as the story develops—you'll have to keep reading!), watrfairie (I agree—who needs school?), dark silhouette (thank you!), littlelambug (haha, I agree, snobbishness needs stopping—I'll see what I can do to get Caelys to make Arion learn), Belle Quest (awww, you're so sweet! I know what you mean about keeping in touch with people. I still keep in touch with Annie—I actually went to visit her last summer!), Eclectus (Yep! I have the main plot planned out. Of course, I'm leaving room just in case I come up with some crazy twists :) ), and flammingirl (haha thank you!).