Disclaimer: Does my writing even resemble Gail Carson Levine's? I think not. Unfortunately, most stuff belongs to Ms. Levine except the plot and the major characters (as well as anything you do not recognize). So please don't sue me (I own nothing valuable anyway)!
Summary: When Sarah, Ella's daughter, is kidnapped on the night of her debutante ball she at first has no idea what is in store for her: a quest, magic, a prince in disguies...
And Sarah had originally thought that she would lead an ordinary life.
Author's Note: I know, I know. I haven't updated for ages. I am aiming to get this fic finished in the near future so don't worry about me abandoning it! I loved all the reviews I received and give me any constructive criticism!
This story is not the greatest and seeing as I am doing this late at night, there will be lots of typos so please excuse them if there are any. I really do not like this chapter. I have gone over it dozens of times and I still am not satisfied with it.
It is also pretty short so the next one is going to be a lot longer.
Chapter 13
The Voice Within
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Sarah hugged her mother's still body.
"You can't be dead. You just can't!" she cried over and over again.
Tears streamed down her face. She loved her mother so much and now she was gone.
Christian took hold of Sarah's arms and hoisted her from Ella.
"She is not dead." He told her firmly.
"What do you mean she is not dead? Look at her!"
"She is still breathing. Look." He pointed at Ella's chest and sure enough, it was slightly moving up and down. "She's just unconscious."
Sarah did not know whether to be elated or in despair. Her mother was not dead but that did not mean she was going survive. But she had to survive, she just had to. She was Ella, her mother. What would she do without her?
Sarah wiped her brow, trying to think. "Go get the Palace Doctor." She ordered.
"Sarah, I'm sorry-" Christian started to say but Sarah did not let him finish.
"Just go."
Christian scrambled out the door to do her bidding.
The man who entered the room was short and portly. He carried and a black leather bag that made him lean to one side. His greying hair was combed back away from his receding hairline.
It was obvious to Sarah that he was the doctor – though she had only ever seen him once at a distance.
He leant over Ella and felt her forehead. He then pressed his ear against her head.
"Her fever has worsened." He stated. "Here." He gave Sarah a bottle of some sort of tonic. "Rub this onto her back and forehead every five hours or so. I wish I could stay here and do it myself but there are also other people who I must see. I do not know if you have heard, but it seems as if the Grey Death has not been defeated (A/N: It was the deadly plague in The Two Princesses Of Bamarre). I will be back to check on how she is going every so often. She will live. She is strong-willed."
"Thank you, sir." Sarah said.
"No thanks needed, Princess Sarah."
"How do you know who I am?" Sarah asked.
"News travels fast here, and it is not hard to see that you are Ella's daughter." The doctor told Sarah gently before leaving the room.
Sarah stayed up all night by her mother's side and followed the doctor's instructions exactly. She hated hearing her mother whimper in pain whenever she applied to lotion to her body but she knew that she had to do it. Sarah rarely saw Christian at all. He seemed to avoid Sarah.
"That's nothing knew." She murmured to herself.
Sarah could not believe what he had done to her. He had kissed her and then used her like she was nothing. Like she was trash or something. Sarah clenched her hands – which was really starting to hate that man.
Sarah tried to think about something else – and that is when her thoughts would turn to Tom.
She wondered what he was doing at the moment. She wondered if he looked forward to their lessons as much as she did.
She wondered whether they would dance together at the upcoming ball.
And then her thoughts would shift back to her mother and the feeling of guilt would surge once again.
She was thinking about things like balls when her mother was lying sick beside her.
Sarah shook her head and tried to concentrate on the task at hand.
Ella moaned.
She opened her eyes and saw Sarah asleep, her head resting on the bed.
"Sarah." She croaked.
Sarah stirred and woke up.
"Ma!" she cried. Ella's fever had broken.
She hugged her mother but then quickly let go when she heard Ella whimper in pain.
She sent a servant to get the doctor. He arrived a few minutes later.
"Well she certainly is a lot better but we still must be careful. Your mother is to stay and bed for the rest of the week." He said to Sarah.
She was not worried though – the only thing that mattered at the moment was that Ella was going to recover. Sarah wept with relief. Her mother was going to be all right. That was all that mattered.
Sarah and Christian spent the next few days watching Ella recover. Christian had a difficult time pretending to be Sarah's servant and the two were still not speaking much to each other. There was an awkward silence between them whenever they were alone together, which was a situation that Sarah liked to avoid as much as possible.
At night she could not help thinking about that kiss. She would place her fingers over her lips, lingering, as she remembered the emotions that had filled her lithe body as Christian placed his mouth on hers.
And then she remembered his reaction afterwards.
"Insufferable git." she thought.
She felt like calling him something much worse when he told her that they had to return to Linnarch.
Sarah looked downcast as he told her the news and this cause Christian to say, "Why are you looking so sad? Are you going to miss having Pierre always following after you like a puppy dog?"
"Jealous, your highness?" Sarah raised one eyebrow. She could be cocky too.
Christian snorted and made no reply.
Sarah could not bear to part with her family and friends but in the end she had to leave.
Her friend, Isi, had pushed into her hand a small leather pouch.
"Keep this with you at all times." She urged. Sarah opened the pouch and saw that there was a small pearl inside.
"What is it?"
"It's a stone of life. You will know when to use it."
"But what exactly is that?" Sarah had never heard of such a stone.
"You will know when to use it." Isi repeated.
And now, a few hours later, Sarah could still not forget Isi's words.
"Christian." She called. The prince was riding a few metres ahead of her.
"Christian." She tried again. "CHRISTIAN!" she bellowed.
The target of her words nearly fell off his horse.
"What the blazes! What the devil is the matter with you?"
"Have you ever heard of the stone of life?"
"No. Maybe you should ask lover-boy Tom."
Sarah blushed.
"That is not fair and you know it."
Christian grunted.
"Can you at least try to be civil to me?" Sarah complained.
"Let me think," he paused for a few seconds. "No."
Sarah had to stop herself from attacking him.
They continued travelling and Sarah had grown weary. She felt like they had been riding for an eternity. Her head throbbed and her bones creaked whenever she shifted on her horse. She wondered how much longer it would take them to get to Linnarch. They had travelled into more rough terrain. They were moving along the edge of a cliff. Sarah could not help grinning to herself maliciously when she saw Christian swallow heavily at how high up they were.
She started to hum a tune that her mother used to sing to her.
"Young girl, don't cry
I'll be right here when your world starts to fall
Young girl, it's all right
Your tears will dry, you'll soon be free to fly
When you're safe inside your room you tend to dream
Of a place where nothing's harder than it seems
No one ever wants or bothers to explain
Of the heartache life can bring and what it means
When there's no one else
Look inside yourself
Like your oldest friend
Just trust the voice within
Then you'll find the strength
That will guide your way
If you will learn to begin
To trust the voice within."
She stopped abruptly when she noticed that Christian was humming along with her.
He stopped too.
"Why did you stop?" he asked.
She never got the chance to reply as something hit her head.
She thought to herself, "Oh no, not again."
She was then rendered unconscious.
A/N: Whew! Finally, another chapter. I hopefully won't takes as long to write the next one – and I promise you all that I will complete this fic. It took me a while to get motivated so I'm sorry.
Thanks to all my reviewers. 165 reviews! I never thought that I could get that much.
A lot of you were worried that I would kill off Ella and I hope that you were glad with what I have done with the plot there. I just looooooovvvve to write cliffies.
Tempestates: I think that Christian and Sarah would make a great couple if they sort out their differences – however, I'm not saying anything just as yet about what is going to happen there…I'm glad you are liking the story though!
Paisley, alcapacien, lexi22, C.I, Alli Kat, devilducky, Who really cares?, Cailin Sheary, TexasKH, Shortyst1, angel-kiss7, PrettyGal1212, babyjayy, a fan on the book, smat, Emma, Sara, chriss, Evo422, Ells, Shima and Tempis: Sorry I took so long to update. Thanks so much for your reviews and I hope you all liked this chapter. It is not exactly my best but I'm working on it!
Liz: Thanks for the review and there will be some more affectionate scenes – though this wasn't one of them. But I promise there will be.
Mizz Monkey: I will fix the huge spaces (though I haven't already). Thank for the advice!
Naughty Little Munchkin: Thanks so much for your reviews – they are really encouraging. I haven't been on fanfiction on a while so that is why I haven't review your fic lately. I can't wait to see what happens though! I hope the whole Ella might be dead, might not be thing has been cleared up. The whole Christian thing is supposed to be confusing but there is a reason for why Christian is the way he is (though this will be revealed later…)
Ooh, by the way, the song that Sarah hums is actually part of the song by Christina Aguilera, "The Voice Within" (I really love the Stripped album).
Well, I am going to try to update soon. Any feedback is welcome (I just love reading reviews)!
Luv,
marina eyes.