DISCLAIMER: I now own the book Ella Enchanted, or at least a copy of it! My good friend, Rambling Thestral, gave it to me for my birthday! But no, I do not own the rights to it.

ABBY'S NOTE: Yes, that last chapter sucked, I know. I really am sorry about that, but I think this chapter will be a bit more satisfactory. It really shows Ella's spunky, and interesting, personality. These last couple of chapters had her too sad and depressed, so I decided to brighten things up a bit. I hope you like it!

Poll of the Chapter:

How old are you and what grade are you in?

Riddle of the Chapter:

If I named my son something, what would it be? (Hint: It's somewhere in my profile)

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Chapter 8

Ella snapped the book shut. This was no time for her to question what she was made of. Ella needed to go after the Princess. This whole house was stifling her as much as the order to not show her emotions!

Ella got off her bed, and went to the table. After writing something down, she stomped back to the kitchen. Upon seeing that the evil Simone had indeed left, she plopped back down at the table.

"Marian," she whispered, turning to the quiet girl. "I need you to do something for me. Will you?"

"Of course," Marian replied, though she looked a bit scared.

"It isn't anything hard; I just need you to read a speech to me, so I can hear it. I wrote it, and I need to know how it sounds. Here." Ella handed over a piece of paper.

Marian unfolded it, looked at Ella again, and began to read aloud:

"No one should have to work in horrible conditions. Every person should be free, no matter what their masters think. If every person that was ever downtrodden would just stand up and fight, no one would ever be able to put them down," Marian's voice became stronger with each word.

"It's all about morale! If you just do what you think is right, you will set yourself free. Don't let someone take over your life! You can do what you want! When somebody tells you to be a nobody, you can still be a somebody! Show your emotions if you want to! You don't have to be a stony faced individual just because an older, or seemingly stronger, person tells you to be. You have a personality, and don't let ANYBODY make you hide it!"

Marian finished breathlessly. Ella sighed a breath of relief. She could be herself now. Her plan to vanquish the order to mask her feelings had been successful. She opened her eyes to see Mashelia sitting with her mouth open, her chubby chin resting on her hands. She closed it with the sound of a goldfish.

Marian turned to Ella, and asked the question that couldn't help coming to her mind: "Ella, why did you write this? Was it for us to hear? Do you mean these things that you have written. Because, if you do, I agree."

Ella nodded. She hadn't only wanted to remove her own orders, she had hoped that she could inspire those who were being stamped into the ground to fight back.

"Here's the thing, Marian... I want you to read this short little speech to the household... And to maybe a larger audience."

"What do you mean by a larger audience?" Marian asked, though her fear had slowly begun to seep away.

"There will be a group of servants and slaves out back in three hours. Can you compose yourself enough to speak then?"

Once Marian had nodded and rushed off to practice, Ella turned to Mashelia. She surveyed the pudgy girl that was sitting directly across from her.

"I need you to gather all of the servants in this house, as well as in all of the houses that are right near here, alright?"

"Okay, but what are you going to do?"

"I have all of the other houses to go to. Just do me a favor, and try to cover up for me if the Mistress asks for me, okay?"

And with that, Ella swept out of the room and out the door.

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Knock, Knock, Knock–— Knock, Knock, Knock–— Knock, Knock, Knock–—

For over two hours, Ella went to each house to rally all of the slaves and servants together. Her feet barely made a sound as she moved between homes. She spoke in less than a whisper as she gave the others the information.

She returned to her mistress' home to find over eighty other people in the backyard, deathly silent.

Marian saw her immediately and rushed to her. "What am I going to do?" she whispered. "I can't speak to this many people. You do it."

"I won't. You are going to do this in two minutes, alright? Go up that tree so everyone can see you. I'll be right there for moral support, I promise."

Marian looked sick to her stomach, but she did as she was told.

Ella was just about to follow her when she was stopped by two of the people that she would never have expected to be there.

"Ella!" Gin and Tem whispered excitedly.

"I knew you had to be behind all of this," Gin whispered.

"How would you know that?" Ella asked.

"Well... It would just be like you, Ella," Gin replied, though he seemed to be hiding something.

"I have to go help Marian right now, but I'll meet you two by the tree stump that looks like a head down the road when this is done."

Ella dashed off to hear Marian give her speech in a quiet, yet commanding voice. She did a superb job, even though she was shaking like mad.

The address had just been finished with much excited muttering among the listeners when a loud voice was heard from the house.

"Mrs. Evola!" came the shriek. "There is a crowd of slaves out back planning a rebellion! Come quickly!"

It was Simone.