Disclaimer: I wish that I could say that I was Gail Carson Levine but unfortunately, I'm not. I don't own anything related with Ella Enchanted…so no suing!
A/N: Wow! I got 48 reviews for the last chapter, so thank you to everyone who reviewed. I'm still in shock!
Chapter 18:
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Combat Training and Picnics-
Sarah tightly gripped the spear that Christian had tossed at her and nervously watched her instructor as he circled around her.
Christian looked intimidating and Sarah could not help feeling a shiver of fear run down her back.
She forced herself to concentrate as he began barking instructions at her.
"You hold the spear like this – not like how you have got it." He scolded.
Sarah flushed as she corrected her mistake.
"Now, lets see what you have been taught." Christian told her and without any warning, lifted his spear and thrust it towards her, aiming for her heart.
He really does things without giving you a moments warning. Sarah looked startled at him for a split second and then dodged away from the spear at the last moment before it could pierce her.
"Are you insane? You could have killed me!" she exclaimed.
Christian rolled his eyes. "As if I would have killed you. And you were not supposed to move away from the spear but block it." He let out a groan of frustration. "I have so much to teach you and so little time."
He thrust the spear at her a second time but more slowly, and instructed Sarah on how to block it. "Bring your spear down over mine. Just like that." Christian looked satisfied for a second. "We can make a warrior out of you yet."
Sarah tried to hide the fact that she was blushing at the compliment that he had just given her. Stop blushing! He doesn't like you, not like that anyway. Not in the way you like him. She told herself.
Then Christian all of a sudden took a violent swing at her with his spear and continued to attack her, with Sarah nervously trying to defend herself.
He aimed a blow to her head, which she shakily stopped, but before she could draw breath he had already aimed another blow to her chest, and Sarah scrambled with her spear to block Christian again.
This continued on in a similar fashion for a few minutes, with Sarah swearing under her breath and Christian all the while acting like he was on a mad rampage and trying to kill her.
Eventually he stopped, and Sarah collapsed onto the ground, out of breath.
"Well, that was not so bad. I could have only killed you about a dozen times or so." Christian stated smugly.
Sarah narrowed her eyes and said in a deadpan voice, "Are you always this violent?"
"I will choose to ignore that. Get up quickly now, we have got more work to do."
Sarah unsteadily got to her feet and blocked Christian's spear for the hundredth time as he jabbed at her again.
"We really need to practice everyday." He told her. Sarah felt like screaming. She could not stand going through the same torture over and over again each day.
She charged at Christian and was secretly pleased at herself when she caused him to stumble and he fell back onto the ground. He glared at her and stood up, muttering something that sounded like, "females" under his breath.
Christian then proceeded to tell her some fighting techniques with the spear and they practised those for a while.
Soon enough, one hour had passed and Christian gave a satisfied nod.
Sarah assumed that the training session was over and began to leave when Christian asked her just what exactly was she doing.
"I'm leaving, what does it look like?"
"We've only finished practising with spears. We still haven't done swords or daggers yet. And then perhaps later I could start instructing you about combat with somebody while mounted on a horse." Christian looked at her, clearly amused.
Sarah stomped back over to Christian. "I am tired, sweaty and quite possibly close to fainting and you are telling me that we have not finished yet?!"
"Yes." He said calmly, which seemed to enrage Sarah even more.
"Fine, lets have it your way. Lets continue training. Don't blame me if I die from exhaustion!" she shouted.
"What on earth is all this shouting about?" asked a quiet voice.
Sarah squinted in the bright sunlight and saw that it was Scarlet. Sarah wondered what she was doing here, wasn't Scarlet angry with her because of Tom?
Scarlet, however, smiled at Sarah as she greeted her, and as if reading her thoughts, told her, "I was looking for you. King Malcolm told me that you would be here. I wanted to talk to you but I see that you are busy at the moment."
Before Christian could say anything, Sarah quickly said, "No, we are not busy at all. In fact, we had just about finished."
Christian raised one eyebrow, "Oh really?" He looked like he was about to yell at her but he changed his mind, realising that it would be better not to make a scene in front of Scarlet.
Sarah grinned winsomely. She could stop doing combat training and she had gotten away with it, well for the moment anyway. She knew however, that Christian would not let her get away with it and that he would get revenge.
Sarah turned to Scarlet. "Shall we go somewhere private?"
Scarlet nodded.
They walked off but Sarah was annoyed to find that Christian was walking right beside them.
"Christian, what are you doing? Scarlet and I want to have a private conversation." Sarah unsubtly hinted.
"You seem to have forgotten that I am your bodyguard, and as such, I cannot leave you alone, unless of course you are doing your lessons with Tom but that is different." He explained.
"But Scarlet and I need to talk privately, and that does not include you."
"Well I'm sorry but I simply cannot let you out of my sight." He insisted.
Sarah clenched her fists in an attempt to stop herself from hitting him. "Can't you at least stay a few metres away from us while we talk?"
Christian gave in. "Fine, but don't try anything foolish like trying to run away."
"Now why would I do that?" Sarah sarcastically muttered.
Scarlet and Sarah waited as Christian walked away and sat on a small bench in the courtyard, a wounded look on his face.
"Scarlet…I'm sorry." Sarah began.
"No, I am sorry. It was not your fault that Tom kissed you. I could clearly see that you did not encourage it. And even if you had, how were you to know that I like him?" Scarlet looked apologetic.
"But-" Sarah persisted but was cut off by Scarlet.
"No buts, I realise that I was being stupid by saying what I did. I just hope that you can forgive me." Scarlet said.
"Well of course I can forgive you." Sarah said incredulously and the two girls smiled at each other. Sarah somehow knew that everything was going to be all right.
They walked back over to Christian, who had evidently been trying to hear their conversation.
They made their way out of the courtyard and had almost reached the palace when whom should they see but an attractive blonde woman running up to them, her cheeks flushed as she reached them. It was Vivien.
"Vivien, how pleasant it is to see you." Sarah said insincerely.
The other girl ignored her and only had eyes for Christian.
"Chrissy darling," here Sarah snorted loudly. Chrissy? Vivien began again. "Chrissy darling, how are you? It has been ages since we have had some time alone together."
Sarah's face grew stony. Alone? What exactly did they do together when they were alone?
Vivien batted her eyelashes coquettishly at Christian and swooned. Christian caught her easily and looked startled at Vivien's sleeping form lying in his arms.
Sarah and Scarlet both looked at each other and laughed. So Scarlet has noticed Vivien's designs on Christian too.
Then miraculously, Vivien recovered from "fainting" and blushed self-consciously as she straightened up. "I am so sorry, but it was just the sight of your handsome face that made me go weak at the knees."
It was at that point that Sarah could not control herself and burst out laughing. She continued doing so until there were tears in her eyes.
Vivien turned to look at Sarah, disgust written on her face.
Sarah however continued laughing, Scarlet looking on with a grin and Christian with an unreadable expression on his face.
Sarah eventually stopped. "I'm sorry." She apologised sheepishly, trying to keep a straight face.
Vivien glared at her and leaned into Christian, placing one hand protectively on his shoulder.
"Chrissy, the reason I wanted to see you was to invite you on a picnic with me tomorrow. We have not done so in a while, and I remember that the last one we went on together was rather fun…" Vivien spoke suggestively, running one hand down the front of his chest as she spoke. Sarah did not know whether to hit Vivien or perhaps laugh again.
Christian cleared his throat and glanced at Sarah before he spoke. "Sure, it will be fun. Sarah and I would love to go."
Sarah's mouth was open in horror. I will have to spend time with Vivien? I don't think so.
But the look Christian gave her silenced her. She knew that as her bodyguard he had to stay with her at all times. Sarah sighed resignedly.
Vivien however did not try to hide her annoyance. "But Chrissy darling, I only invited you, just for old times sake."
"I know, but as my fiancée, it would be more appropriate for Sarah was to also come along as well." He reasoned.
Vivien pouted but then smiled secretively. "Fine, I will invite Damon also so there will be four of us." She looked at Sarah. "I am sure that Damon and Sarah will get on very well…"
There was something about the tone of Vivien's voice that made Sarah feel uneasy. Was it possible that she knew that Damon had kissed her? Sarah tried to ignore the queasy feeling, telling herself that she was just imagining things.
But the feeling that Sarah had about tomorrow seemed more than just a hunch, but perhaps a part of "her gift" that enabled her to see the future...
It was later in the day and Christian was practically dragging Sarah to the library for her training session with Tom. Sarah was reluctant to face Tom and there was an awkward silence between the two when Christian left them.
They looked at each other, neither saying a word.
"Well, I guess we had better start your lesson then." He stuttered.
Sarah tried to concentrate on the lesson, she honestly did, but she found that she just couldn't, as her thoughts kept on flying back to the night of The Annual King's Ball.
It seemed that Tom could not concentrate either. He did not notice Sarah's feeble attempts at magic and did not notice that she was not doing anything properly.
Finally Tom gained enough courage to speak. "I'm sorry I- well, you know- I'm sorry I did that. I don't know what I was think of at the time."
"Its okay. I understand. Its just that well, I like you as a person, and there was a time when I wanted to be more than just friends with you-" Sarah hushed Tom before he said anything and continued talking. "-But I am afraid that while I like you as a friend, I do not think that we could be anything more." Sarah swallowed and cautiously watched Tom to see his reaction.
Tom nodded to show that he understood.
"I do know that there is somebody else who would like very much to be more than just friends with you." Sarah said gently.
"You mean Scarlet?"
"Yes."
"She's nice but then again, she is not exactly you is she?" Tom looked sadly at her.
"Tom-" she began.
"It's alright, I understand. Christian is a very lucky man."
"Tom, the engagement is a fake." Sarah tried to explain.
"I know, the King told me shortly after the ball."
"But then what do you mean?" she asked, confused.
Tom weakly smiled. "If you don't know then I am not going to tell you." He then paused. "Sarah, for old times sake, can I kiss you just one last time?"
Sarah nodded, feeling sorry for him.
She leaned in as he gently pressed his lips to hers.
And it was at that moment Christian decided to walk in.
They both sprung away and Sarah tried not to feel guilty – she had not really done anything wrong.
Christian surveyed Sarah and Tom coldly. "So this is what you get up to during your lessons. I should have known."
"It's not what you think." Tom started.
Christian brought back his right arm and punched him square on the nose.
Blood poured from his face and Sarah came between Tom and Christian, preventing the latter from taking further action. It was lucky that the library was practically empty and so there was nobody there to watch the spectacle.
"Get out of my way." Christian said dangerously.
"No. I will not."
"Don't want me to hurt dear Tom do you? You are nothing but a cheap temptress." He raged.
"It is not what you think. It was just a goodbye kiss, for old times sake. Why should you care anyway?" Sarah breathed heavily as she watched Christian's face soften in confusion.
"I-don't." he said uncertainly, searching Sarah's eyes with his own, looking like he had just realised something. "Sarah…" he reached out to her and before he could stop himself, he caressed the back of her neck.
Sarah's heart stopped beating. She wanted nothing more than for him to kiss her. Then and there. Now and forever. His face moved slowly closer to hers, the painful gap between their lips was getting smaller and smaller.
Then a cry of pain came from Tom and Christian shook his head, as if trying to shake away what had come over him.
"I don't care about you. I just care about Scarlet and how upset she would be if she knew. I would tell her but it would simply hurt her too much." He informed her.
Sarah inhaled quickly, hurt.
Christian refused to look at Sarah and instead focused his attention on Tom. If Sarah could have seen his face properly she would have been shocked. His usual mask was gone and instead his emotions were clearly shown on his face.
"He doesn't deserve you." Christian said slowly.
Sarah was going to ask what he meant but he brushed past her walked towards the door, waiting for her to follow.
"I'll send a nurse to look after Tom." He told her and then left the library, leaving Sarah to follow him.
The next morning Sarah woke up with a huge yawn. She was content for a moment, listening to the sound of birds chirping outside, but soon the memory of the events of yesterday flooded back in and her smile faded. She and Christian had not talked since then, but nobody had noticed. Sarah hid her thoughts and feelings from everybody. She would not show Christian that she was hurt.
She was even more depressed when she realised that she would be going on the picnic today with Christian, Vivien and Damon.
Sarah looked over to where Christian was sleeping. She realised with a pang then and there just how much she was in love with him. It hit her with a violent force.
"Well here goes another day." She said aloud to no one in particular and tried to ignore the bad premonition that she kept on having
It was a few hours later and Sarah, Christian, Vivien and Damon had set off on their walk to the woods.
They were walking along a narrow pathway, which conveniently meant that Vivien, Christian and Damon could walk side-by-side but Sarah had to trail behind.
They soon came to the forest and decided on a spot to sit. Nobody asked for Sarah's opinion and so Sarah did not give it.
If that is how they are going to be, then let them. I simply don't care anymore. She thought.
They sat down, with Damon on Sarah's left and Vivien on her right. Damon sneered at Sarah, who tried to not let it bother her.
"So Princess, what is on your mind?" he interrogated.
"Nothing."
"But you are so quiet. Surely you must be thinking about something. Or don't you have a brain at all?" Vivien laughed irritatingly.
Sarah ignored the comment and looked solemnly at Christian, whose face mirrored her own expression.
"Well, it seems like the cat has got your tongue. Do talk to us when you can." Vivien snidely commented. Her face then suddenly brightened as though she had come up with an excellent idea. "Why don't we go for a walk and see if we can find any wild strawberries. We used to do it often together when we were younger."
Christian and Damon agreed but Sarah was uncertain. She had a bad feeling about this.
They walked deep into the forest. Sarah trudged on ahead, mostly to keep away from Damon whose favourite hobby, it seemed, was to torment her. He had made half a dozen rude comments to her in just the last five minutes, and Sarah was even more upset when Christian did not defend her.
Fine, be that way. I don't need you defend me anyway. She thought angrily.
Sarah looked for any wild strawberries and was pleased to find a whole patch of them. She called out to the others to show her discovery but when she heard no answer, she looked around and saw that they were gone.
Sarah's breathing quickened. Don't panic. You will find them. But another part of her was thinking, so much for Christian being my bodyguard.
She walked slowly in the direction in which she thought that she had come when she heard noises.
She turned to where the noises were coming from and called out, "Christian, Vivien, Damon, where are you?"
No answer.
The sounds grew louder and Sarah felt just a little afraid.
"Look, this isn't funny. Come out wherever you are, will you?" she shouted.
As if in response, a huge creature then burst out from behind the trees where the noises were coming from and Sarah's jaw dropped. It was a sprite. It was dark, menacing and seemed to radiate evil.
Sarah backed away from it but it closed in on her. She turned around and ran for her life, the sprite following closely behind.
It roared loudly and Sarah almost wet herself. She didn't want to die. Not like this.
And where were the others anyway?
Sarah continued running but the sprite soon cornered her up against a tree. It towered over her and she could smell its foul breath. She tried to think in desperation just what exactly she should do when she heard Christian shout, "Sarah!" and then the sprite burst into flame and was no more.
The last thing that she remembered before she closed her eyes was Christian cradling her small body and whispering, "Sarah, please be all right. I need you..."
And then she gave herself into the growing darkness and slumped safely in Christian's strong arms.
A/N: Nope, Sarah is not dead. More explanations next chapter about the sprite for those of you who have questions – all will be explained.
Anyway, I know what you are thinking. A month and a half for this? Well, hope it wasn't too bad. Anyway, I have a whole lot of replies for my many reviewers – thanks so much!
Replies:
Naughty Little Munchkin: Hey, thanks for your review. Damon was pretty much just being a sleaze and tried to take advantage of Sarah. You will have more of an insight into his character in upcoming chapters.
Paisley: Sorry I took so long! Pease don't hurt me : ) Thanks for your many reviews.
watrfairie: Thanks, that's one of the nicest things that anybody has ever said to me!
Shima and Tempis: You will find out more about Leena…you will just have to wait and see. Oh before I forget, I have been meaning to ask you this for a while now – how did you come up with your name? Anyway, thanks for the review.
Rhandi: Damon does like Sarah's looks but he is pretty stupid, and a bit of a sleaze (I think we all know people like that – or heard of them anyway)! Thanks heaps for your review. I am really random in my updating – sometimes two weeks but if school is really hectic then it can take like, two months! I am going to try and update as quickly as possible from now on.
Kittycat: Thanks for your constructive criticism, I have gone back and edited some of the chapters with that in mind so thanks.
short and proud: Its fine being confused, you're kind of supposed to be. Basically, the queen needed an heir so she pretended that Christian was her child instead. It will feature more greatly in later chapters. Tell me if you don't understand or anything like that! I am more than happy to reply to my reviewers.
This may seem like a stupid question – but are you really short?
Iica: Thanks for the review and the advice. I love constructive criticism.
Anyway, thanks all.
Luv,
marina eyes.