Disclaimer: Plot is mine, anything you recognize belongs to someone else, I
don't claim it, blah, blah, blah.
A/N: All those long reviews blew me away. I love you guys. Keep reading and reviewing, it makes me very happy.
Summary: On the night of the third ball, everything went according to plan. She plans to forget Char and go on living with her curse as a maid in Dame Olga's house. But first loves always die hard.
~~~~~
~ Call it a Gift
~ By Blackberry Ink
~ Chapter Four: A Song to Sing
~~~~~
Goodbye four leaf clovers.
Hello gone awry
Don't cry the fight ain't over
Unless you let it pass you by
I'm looking for a song to sing,
Looking for a friend to borrow.
I'm looking for my radio.
So I might find a heart to follow.
- Hanson – A Song to Sing
~~~~~
Another week and I came to the realization that I was enjoying my meetings with Gareth. At first it was startling, but I was beginning to feel for him the same friendship I felt for Areida. I felt comfortable around him. I liked talking with him. He was the second male I'd ever felt friendship towards, Char being the first, of course. But Char was out of reach. And I doubted I could ever love anyone in the way I loved Char.
Mandy had sent me to market that day to fetch some apples (Hattie was craving them).
"Ella!" came a familiar voice from not to far away. I turned to see Gareth in his shoemaker's apron. His wiped his hands on the apron, leaving long smudges on it.
"Hello, Gareth," I said. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"Nice surprise, isn't it?"
I gave him a weary sigh. But, in truth, I was glad to have company.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Coming to see me? Couldn't wait until noon, could you?"
"I'm buying apples for Hattie," I said. "I live only to serve her."
He laughed. It was good to make someone laugh again, but I'd rather it be Char.
"What were you doing?" I asked. "Aren't you working?"
"Yes," Gareth said. "But he won't notice if I'm gone. I can work extra hard when I return."
We reached the apple stand, and I bought several for a good price.
As we neared the shoemaker's, I said, "Shouldn't you get back to work? I wouldn't want you in trouble because of me."
He grinned. "Why, I didn't know you cared, Ella."
I let out a weary sigh. "Well, we can keep walking if you feel so inclined."
"I do," he said. "Unless you tire of me already. Don't think seeing me now will get you away from seeing me at noon, too."
I gave an unladylike shrug. "It matters not."
"Good. Then we'll walk."
"No, you won't."
We turned, startled, to see Ms. Stevenson, the shoemaker, standing in front of us with a fed-up expression on his face.
"You slack enough as it is, Gareth. I don't care how good you are at your craft, you're still not as good as me. I let you go over an hour a day to frolic with this lass and you think it'll be okay to take more time? I tell you-"
I stopped listening to him, and so, apparently, did Gareth. Turning to leave, Gareth touched my arm and leaned close to whisper, "See you at noon," then left to subdue Mr. Stevenson and get back to work. He waved as he disappeared around the corner.
His closeness had reminded me of Char, somehow (Though it was not surprising, as nearly everything could make me think of Char). I recalled the first time Char had been that near to me, and I recalled the way I had felt the touch travel throughout my body and make me think of nothing but him. It was reassuring to know that Gareth's touch had made me feel nothing of the sort.
~~~~~
"Talk to me."
It was Olive, and she was in the kitchen again. She hadn't been there in a while, probably because I had been gone with Gareth and had missed her arrivals. Perhaps it had finally occurred to her to come a bit earlier.
"What about?" I glanced out the window at the sun, which was out of sight. But the lack of shadows told me that it was noon, or near. Gareth hadn't ordered I meet him at noon, so I didn't feel the tug to obey. It seemed I would be stuck with Olive. I groaned.
"Tell me something about when you were little. Tell me about a time you lost money."
A time I lost money? I couldn't recall money ever being something I thought very much about as a child. I'd have to lie, and hopefully the curse would accept it.
"Once, when I was eight," I began. "I...was given twenty gold KJs."
"Why?" Olive wanted to know, her voice so flat I could barely register that it was a question.
"It was my birthday."
"Alright."
As I went on to tell a story of how I'd foolishly lost half the money, then had the other half taken away by my father because he thought I couldn't handle the responsibility of money, I heard a tap on the window. Olive, apparently in some sort of trance, didn't notice. I chanced a look at the window and saw Gareth standing there, tapping on it with his knuckles. I waved my arm at him to tell him to wait, but Olive finally noticed.
"Who is that?" she asked.
"Who?" I lied.
"That man at the window," Olive said. "I saw a man."
"I didn't," I said. "Perhaps you were seeing things."
"I wasn't," she said. "I saw a man."
"I didn't see him, so I don't know. I don't know why a man would want to be at this window for."
"I think he was the man that Mandy is courting." Olive laughed a hollow laugh, and I nearly laughed as well at the idea of Gareth and Mandy courting.
"Maybe,' I said. "I'm really very busy here, Olive. How about you let me work."
"You can work and talk at the same time."
"Not as well. Don't you want your food to be good?"
The mention of food seemed to consider leaving, and about a minute later, she did. I hurried to the door and opened it to find Gareth, leaning against the wall with his hair in his face. I think he did it because he thought it made him look dashing.
"Hello," I said.
"Who was that? Was that Hattie?"
"No, her sister, Olive. She's dumber, so she's slightly less insufferable."
"I see."
"Do you want to come into the kitchen? I've got all those apples from this morning. It turned out that Hattie didn't want them."
Gareth nodded, and I threw an apple to him from across the kitchen and he caught it deftly as he entered.
"Did your mother actually give you all that money for your birthday?" he asked me.
"You heard? And no, she didn't. What did I want with money when I was that young?"
He leaned against the wall again as he ate. "I would have wanted it."
"Well, you and I are quite different people."
"Are we?"
"Yes. I mean, look at our backgrounds. You grew up...well..."
"Poor?"
"Yes, but also differently. You grew a different mentality. You take whatever you can get."
"And you are defiant, yet always do what other people tell you to."
"I don't always do what other people tell me to," I lied.
He took another bite of his apple. "Yes, you do. Maybe not directly, but in some way you always do what exactly what people tell you to."
How could he have caught on? He barely ever ordered me to do anything.
"Give me an example."
"Just now," Gareth said. "You told that story to Olive, just because she told you to."
"I work for Olive," I said, and it sounded strange coming from my tongue. "She could throw me out on the streets if I was disrespectful to her."
"She couldn't throw you out. Your father wouldn't allow it."
He had a point. But he couldn't find out about the curse. I trusted him enough to know that he wouldn't exploit me, but I didn't want him to treat me like glass, either.
"My father is never home. She could throw me out just after he left and it would be too late by the time he returned."
He considered it. I could see him opening his mouth to make another point, but I gave him a look that told him to drop this topic. I was glad when he did.
"Well, I still think he are alike in some ways."
"And I still think we're completely different. What does it matter?"
"Here, let me give you another example." He thought. "Have you ever been in love?"
I paused, and tried to keep my eyes from filling with tears as I thought of Char. "Yes," I murmured.
Gareth looked slightly surprised at both my answer and my apparent sadness. But he pushed on.
"With whom, might I ask?"
"I don't see why it's any of your business," I said, a bit too roughly.
"Oh, come on Ella," he said, not picking up on my tone. "Tell me."
"Do I have to?" I said, before I could stop myself.
He looked startled. "Well, no, I suppose you don't have to tell me."
"Tell me not to," I said through clenched teeth. The curse was making my head throb from not obeying.
Now he looked even more confused. "Er, don't tell me who you were in love with?"
My complaints were gone. I straightened and wiped a stray tear from my eye before he saw it. Then I decided to turn the tables.
"What about you, then?"
"No," Gareth said. "Never."
"You must be older than I am," I said, reminding myself of Char and mine's old joke.
"I'm eighteen," he said.
"Another difference between us, then," I said. "I'm a year younger."
He grinned at seeing me back to normal.
"We both have small feet," he said.
"What makes you think I have small feet?"
"I've spent a lot of time around your shoes."
I laughed. "That's true."
"Let me see you're feet, then," he said. "I'll wager ours are the same size."
"They won't be," I said. "My feet are unnaturally small."
"As are mine," he said. "It runs in the family."
Warily, I lifted my dress slightly and slipped my foot out of its shoe as Gareth took off his own shoe. He moved closer to me and put his foot next to mine. They were exactly the same size. My eyes widened.
"But your shoes-" I began.
"I stuff them," he said. "So it doesn't look so strange."
"You say this runs in your family?" It wasn't possible that he was a fairy, was it? No, he would have known I was a Friend of the Fairies and wouldn't have let me know who he was. And he couldn't be a Friend as well – Mandy had told me that I was the only one left in Kyrria. Or had she meant the only one in my line? Perhaps there was more than one line of Friends in Kyrria? Or perhaps Mandy had meant there was only one left in the Eleanor line?
"Yes," he said. "I can't explain why, but all our men have small feet."
I slid my shoe back on. "You still haven't proven your point. The same foot size doesn't make us alike."
"No," he agreed. "But it's something."
~~~~~
In the days ahead the bizarre size of Gareth's foot slipped from my mind while I was forced to immerse myself in work. Dame Olga had received word from Father that he would be coming home earlier than expected and a large dinner had been planned to welcome him home. Everyone who was anyone in Frell and many outside our town had been invited; partially because their curse made Dame Olga miss Father dreadfully and partially because she wanted to show off the new fireplace that had been built in the dining hall. It had only been a month since he'd gone, so I thought the news strange. He usually stayed out on his trips for two months at the least. Although in recent times my servitude had made me glad (at least partially) to have him home, I was disappointed this time because it kept me from visiting Gareth.
Still, there was a silver lining to the otherwise dreary cloud: I had less time to spend thinking of Char.
I cooked and cleaned for what seemed like days on end, barely having time to sleep and no time at all to bathe myself. One night, when I had managed to finish in time to go to sleep at a reasonable hour, Hattie called me into her chambers.
"Be a dear and untie my corset, Ella," she commanded. I was too tired not to obey immediately.
"Our grand dinner is tomorrow night," she said, as if this was the first time I had heard the fact. "Although I feel you are not yet ready to be present at a social gathering as important as this, my mother insists that you attend." Do that Sir Peter won't be able to prove your servitude, was the unsaid addendum.
"I can hardly wait," I said in a monotone.
"Do try to keep from making a complete fool of yourself, Ella," she said.
"I'll try."
"The prince will be there."
I dropped the strings I had been holding and near sank to the floor.
"Char?" I whispered, before I could stop myself.
Hattie gave me an odd look in the mirror. "Yes. Charmont. But I'm sure he will not pay much attention to your presence, so you needn't worry."
I needn't worry? Oh, what would I do if he chose to confront me? I didn't think I would be able to keep from telling him I loved him. And what if he commanded me? How would I keep myself from gazing at him throughout the entire dinner?
"Charmont very nearly was unable to attend," Hattie said. "But I am sure that the prospect of seeing me drew him away from his journey to capture ogres."
For the moment, I had forgotten he was out incarcerating ogres with his knights. I wondered what had been the true cause of his early return.
"You may go," Hattie said after I had clumsily untied her corset. I left her room in a trance, thinking of nothing and no one but Char.
He was coming. Tomorrow night. I was going to see him. Perhaps I would even dance with him. Explain my problem and beg his forgiveness and make him laugh until he cried and –
No. I would ignore him. I would pretend to be the haughty girl I had written of in my letters to him. I would keep Kyrria safe. I would keep him safe from me.
~~~~~
I finally managed to get out of work the next day a bit before lunch and went to see Gareth.
"And her majesty finally decides to show up, does she?" he said upon my arrival, pushing a dark blond lock away from his face.
"I'm sorry, Gareth, I-"
"No, it's quite alright," he said, face brightening considerably. "I know you've been busy. You look a mess, by the way."
"Thank you," I said. If I looked anything close to the way I felt, he was right.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. Yes. A bit," I told him.
He raised his eyebrows, inviting me to elaborate.
"There's a dinner tonight," I explained. "A very important one. Nearly every stuffy and inept person of social standing will be there."
"Then you'll be right at home, won't you?"
I took no notice of his easy insult. I merely continued to look worried.
"Ella, there's no need to be nervous. I'm sure if you nod and smile no one will think any less of you. Perhaps it will even be fun. Maybe the prince himself will come and whisk you off your feet on his gleaming white horse and make you his queen."
He'd already tried that, and to no avail. I was sure he'd never make another stab at it, and if he did, I'd have to parry again.
"The prince is coming," I said.
"Truly?" Gareth said in wonderment. "I didn't think Dame Olga was that popular."
"She is," I said. "She has many friends in high places. Or people who pretend to be her friend, at the very least."
He laughed. "Well, then me idea of the prince making you his queen is possible, then."
I sat and hugged my knees to my chest. "Don't say that, Gareth."
He sat beside me. "You're not alright. Something else is troubling you."
"It's nothing," I said. "It's not important."
Skeptical, he said, "Are you sure?"
I hesitated, but nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. I'm fine."
"Then I suggest you get back to help Mandy and spruce yourself up for this dinner. You look like you haven't bathed in months."
"Not properly, no," I admitted. "Shall I meet you here tomorrow?"
"Certainly," he said, touching his hat in farewell. I must have looked somewhat frightened, or anxious, because he reached out and squeezed my hand for reassurance.
And as I left, I couldn't help but think that it was good to have a friend.
~~~~~
"Something wrong, sweet?" Mandy asked as I dropped a copper stewpot. She righted it. "You haven't been yourself today."
"I always drop things," I said. "You know how clumsy I am."
"You haven't been this clumsy since you got back from finishing school."
"Char's coming," I blurted. I had been holding it in all day and I felt some relief at saying it. "He's coming to the manor tonight. For Dame Olga's dinner."
"Oh, Lady," Mandy whispered, coming over to hug me. "You need not go. We can say that you've fallen ill and are unable to attend."
A part of me knew that was the best solution, but an exceedingly large part was longing to see Char again, even if his notice of me would most likely be only to glare.
"No," I said. "I should go. I don't want Father to worry." I didn't care if Father worried, but admitting to Mandy that I just wanted to be in the presence of Char again would surely stop her from allowing me to attend.
Mandy held me at arms length. "Your father won't worry if I tell him it's not much of an illness."
"But if it's not much of an illness he'll ask me to attend," I responded. "He cares not for my discomfort."
"I suppose you're right, sweet. But I don't like you going through this. Going to those balls was dangerous enough."
I dropped her arms gently from around me. I stood at full height, becoming determined.
"I'm going," I said. "I'll seat myself far from him, out of his sight if possible, and I'll stay away from him the entire time."
Mandy must have been able to see that I was adamant, so she nodded.
"You should go then, love, and get ready. You wouldn't want to look like a scullery maid in the presence of your father."
I smiled a wavering smile and left the kitchens to wash myself. After all, I looked a mess.
~~~~~
A/N: Sorry for the short-ish chapter. I didn't want to drag it out and I had to end it before the dinner began. I know I didn't exactly hold true to the chapter thing I wrote at the end of chapter three, but there was a slight change of plans. But you could say that meeting Char in a situation like this was something she'd been dreading (and looking forward to, I suppose) and finding a friend in Gareth was something she didn't expect. Or you could just say that I added more things in that I wasn't intending and what I said would happen in this chapter will happen later on instead.
Thanks to Swishy Willow Wand, awaiting impatient person, jess131346, babyjayy, Tempest Dragon, soccerstarz, Leigh M. Sumpter, Tokyobabe2040, Coral, cc, LOTR-nutcase, Alex, singinstrawberri, RoseGodess9, and monkiibijinesu for reviewing! At the risk of sounding repetitive – you guys are amazing.
RoseGodess9: Thank you so much! Your compliments seem hard to come by (as I've read your reviews of other stories) and all that praise really made my day!
singinstrawberri: Happy belated birthday! I'm so glad your enjoying my story.
Tokyobabe2040: While neither of your predictions is completely right, you have guessed a thing or two (possibly more) about where this story is headed. I'd tell you more, but...I don't want to give it away. ;)
Next chapter: Sir Peter returns and Dame Olga gets to show off her new fireplace. Will Ella be able to keep up the pretense that she's married, rich, and happy because of her wealth while in Char's presence? Probably won't be posted as soon as these recent chapters have been. Spring break ends today and I'll have to put schoolwork first. :(
A/N: All those long reviews blew me away. I love you guys. Keep reading and reviewing, it makes me very happy.
Summary: On the night of the third ball, everything went according to plan. She plans to forget Char and go on living with her curse as a maid in Dame Olga's house. But first loves always die hard.
~~~~~
~ Call it a Gift
~ By Blackberry Ink
~ Chapter Four: A Song to Sing
~~~~~
Goodbye four leaf clovers.
Hello gone awry
Don't cry the fight ain't over
Unless you let it pass you by
I'm looking for a song to sing,
Looking for a friend to borrow.
I'm looking for my radio.
So I might find a heart to follow.
- Hanson – A Song to Sing
~~~~~
Another week and I came to the realization that I was enjoying my meetings with Gareth. At first it was startling, but I was beginning to feel for him the same friendship I felt for Areida. I felt comfortable around him. I liked talking with him. He was the second male I'd ever felt friendship towards, Char being the first, of course. But Char was out of reach. And I doubted I could ever love anyone in the way I loved Char.
Mandy had sent me to market that day to fetch some apples (Hattie was craving them).
"Ella!" came a familiar voice from not to far away. I turned to see Gareth in his shoemaker's apron. His wiped his hands on the apron, leaving long smudges on it.
"Hello, Gareth," I said. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"Nice surprise, isn't it?"
I gave him a weary sigh. But, in truth, I was glad to have company.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Coming to see me? Couldn't wait until noon, could you?"
"I'm buying apples for Hattie," I said. "I live only to serve her."
He laughed. It was good to make someone laugh again, but I'd rather it be Char.
"What were you doing?" I asked. "Aren't you working?"
"Yes," Gareth said. "But he won't notice if I'm gone. I can work extra hard when I return."
We reached the apple stand, and I bought several for a good price.
As we neared the shoemaker's, I said, "Shouldn't you get back to work? I wouldn't want you in trouble because of me."
He grinned. "Why, I didn't know you cared, Ella."
I let out a weary sigh. "Well, we can keep walking if you feel so inclined."
"I do," he said. "Unless you tire of me already. Don't think seeing me now will get you away from seeing me at noon, too."
I gave an unladylike shrug. "It matters not."
"Good. Then we'll walk."
"No, you won't."
We turned, startled, to see Ms. Stevenson, the shoemaker, standing in front of us with a fed-up expression on his face.
"You slack enough as it is, Gareth. I don't care how good you are at your craft, you're still not as good as me. I let you go over an hour a day to frolic with this lass and you think it'll be okay to take more time? I tell you-"
I stopped listening to him, and so, apparently, did Gareth. Turning to leave, Gareth touched my arm and leaned close to whisper, "See you at noon," then left to subdue Mr. Stevenson and get back to work. He waved as he disappeared around the corner.
His closeness had reminded me of Char, somehow (Though it was not surprising, as nearly everything could make me think of Char). I recalled the first time Char had been that near to me, and I recalled the way I had felt the touch travel throughout my body and make me think of nothing but him. It was reassuring to know that Gareth's touch had made me feel nothing of the sort.
~~~~~
"Talk to me."
It was Olive, and she was in the kitchen again. She hadn't been there in a while, probably because I had been gone with Gareth and had missed her arrivals. Perhaps it had finally occurred to her to come a bit earlier.
"What about?" I glanced out the window at the sun, which was out of sight. But the lack of shadows told me that it was noon, or near. Gareth hadn't ordered I meet him at noon, so I didn't feel the tug to obey. It seemed I would be stuck with Olive. I groaned.
"Tell me something about when you were little. Tell me about a time you lost money."
A time I lost money? I couldn't recall money ever being something I thought very much about as a child. I'd have to lie, and hopefully the curse would accept it.
"Once, when I was eight," I began. "I...was given twenty gold KJs."
"Why?" Olive wanted to know, her voice so flat I could barely register that it was a question.
"It was my birthday."
"Alright."
As I went on to tell a story of how I'd foolishly lost half the money, then had the other half taken away by my father because he thought I couldn't handle the responsibility of money, I heard a tap on the window. Olive, apparently in some sort of trance, didn't notice. I chanced a look at the window and saw Gareth standing there, tapping on it with his knuckles. I waved my arm at him to tell him to wait, but Olive finally noticed.
"Who is that?" she asked.
"Who?" I lied.
"That man at the window," Olive said. "I saw a man."
"I didn't," I said. "Perhaps you were seeing things."
"I wasn't," she said. "I saw a man."
"I didn't see him, so I don't know. I don't know why a man would want to be at this window for."
"I think he was the man that Mandy is courting." Olive laughed a hollow laugh, and I nearly laughed as well at the idea of Gareth and Mandy courting.
"Maybe,' I said. "I'm really very busy here, Olive. How about you let me work."
"You can work and talk at the same time."
"Not as well. Don't you want your food to be good?"
The mention of food seemed to consider leaving, and about a minute later, she did. I hurried to the door and opened it to find Gareth, leaning against the wall with his hair in his face. I think he did it because he thought it made him look dashing.
"Hello," I said.
"Who was that? Was that Hattie?"
"No, her sister, Olive. She's dumber, so she's slightly less insufferable."
"I see."
"Do you want to come into the kitchen? I've got all those apples from this morning. It turned out that Hattie didn't want them."
Gareth nodded, and I threw an apple to him from across the kitchen and he caught it deftly as he entered.
"Did your mother actually give you all that money for your birthday?" he asked me.
"You heard? And no, she didn't. What did I want with money when I was that young?"
He leaned against the wall again as he ate. "I would have wanted it."
"Well, you and I are quite different people."
"Are we?"
"Yes. I mean, look at our backgrounds. You grew up...well..."
"Poor?"
"Yes, but also differently. You grew a different mentality. You take whatever you can get."
"And you are defiant, yet always do what other people tell you to."
"I don't always do what other people tell me to," I lied.
He took another bite of his apple. "Yes, you do. Maybe not directly, but in some way you always do what exactly what people tell you to."
How could he have caught on? He barely ever ordered me to do anything.
"Give me an example."
"Just now," Gareth said. "You told that story to Olive, just because she told you to."
"I work for Olive," I said, and it sounded strange coming from my tongue. "She could throw me out on the streets if I was disrespectful to her."
"She couldn't throw you out. Your father wouldn't allow it."
He had a point. But he couldn't find out about the curse. I trusted him enough to know that he wouldn't exploit me, but I didn't want him to treat me like glass, either.
"My father is never home. She could throw me out just after he left and it would be too late by the time he returned."
He considered it. I could see him opening his mouth to make another point, but I gave him a look that told him to drop this topic. I was glad when he did.
"Well, I still think he are alike in some ways."
"And I still think we're completely different. What does it matter?"
"Here, let me give you another example." He thought. "Have you ever been in love?"
I paused, and tried to keep my eyes from filling with tears as I thought of Char. "Yes," I murmured.
Gareth looked slightly surprised at both my answer and my apparent sadness. But he pushed on.
"With whom, might I ask?"
"I don't see why it's any of your business," I said, a bit too roughly.
"Oh, come on Ella," he said, not picking up on my tone. "Tell me."
"Do I have to?" I said, before I could stop myself.
He looked startled. "Well, no, I suppose you don't have to tell me."
"Tell me not to," I said through clenched teeth. The curse was making my head throb from not obeying.
Now he looked even more confused. "Er, don't tell me who you were in love with?"
My complaints were gone. I straightened and wiped a stray tear from my eye before he saw it. Then I decided to turn the tables.
"What about you, then?"
"No," Gareth said. "Never."
"You must be older than I am," I said, reminding myself of Char and mine's old joke.
"I'm eighteen," he said.
"Another difference between us, then," I said. "I'm a year younger."
He grinned at seeing me back to normal.
"We both have small feet," he said.
"What makes you think I have small feet?"
"I've spent a lot of time around your shoes."
I laughed. "That's true."
"Let me see you're feet, then," he said. "I'll wager ours are the same size."
"They won't be," I said. "My feet are unnaturally small."
"As are mine," he said. "It runs in the family."
Warily, I lifted my dress slightly and slipped my foot out of its shoe as Gareth took off his own shoe. He moved closer to me and put his foot next to mine. They were exactly the same size. My eyes widened.
"But your shoes-" I began.
"I stuff them," he said. "So it doesn't look so strange."
"You say this runs in your family?" It wasn't possible that he was a fairy, was it? No, he would have known I was a Friend of the Fairies and wouldn't have let me know who he was. And he couldn't be a Friend as well – Mandy had told me that I was the only one left in Kyrria. Or had she meant the only one in my line? Perhaps there was more than one line of Friends in Kyrria? Or perhaps Mandy had meant there was only one left in the Eleanor line?
"Yes," he said. "I can't explain why, but all our men have small feet."
I slid my shoe back on. "You still haven't proven your point. The same foot size doesn't make us alike."
"No," he agreed. "But it's something."
~~~~~
In the days ahead the bizarre size of Gareth's foot slipped from my mind while I was forced to immerse myself in work. Dame Olga had received word from Father that he would be coming home earlier than expected and a large dinner had been planned to welcome him home. Everyone who was anyone in Frell and many outside our town had been invited; partially because their curse made Dame Olga miss Father dreadfully and partially because she wanted to show off the new fireplace that had been built in the dining hall. It had only been a month since he'd gone, so I thought the news strange. He usually stayed out on his trips for two months at the least. Although in recent times my servitude had made me glad (at least partially) to have him home, I was disappointed this time because it kept me from visiting Gareth.
Still, there was a silver lining to the otherwise dreary cloud: I had less time to spend thinking of Char.
I cooked and cleaned for what seemed like days on end, barely having time to sleep and no time at all to bathe myself. One night, when I had managed to finish in time to go to sleep at a reasonable hour, Hattie called me into her chambers.
"Be a dear and untie my corset, Ella," she commanded. I was too tired not to obey immediately.
"Our grand dinner is tomorrow night," she said, as if this was the first time I had heard the fact. "Although I feel you are not yet ready to be present at a social gathering as important as this, my mother insists that you attend." Do that Sir Peter won't be able to prove your servitude, was the unsaid addendum.
"I can hardly wait," I said in a monotone.
"Do try to keep from making a complete fool of yourself, Ella," she said.
"I'll try."
"The prince will be there."
I dropped the strings I had been holding and near sank to the floor.
"Char?" I whispered, before I could stop myself.
Hattie gave me an odd look in the mirror. "Yes. Charmont. But I'm sure he will not pay much attention to your presence, so you needn't worry."
I needn't worry? Oh, what would I do if he chose to confront me? I didn't think I would be able to keep from telling him I loved him. And what if he commanded me? How would I keep myself from gazing at him throughout the entire dinner?
"Charmont very nearly was unable to attend," Hattie said. "But I am sure that the prospect of seeing me drew him away from his journey to capture ogres."
For the moment, I had forgotten he was out incarcerating ogres with his knights. I wondered what had been the true cause of his early return.
"You may go," Hattie said after I had clumsily untied her corset. I left her room in a trance, thinking of nothing and no one but Char.
He was coming. Tomorrow night. I was going to see him. Perhaps I would even dance with him. Explain my problem and beg his forgiveness and make him laugh until he cried and –
No. I would ignore him. I would pretend to be the haughty girl I had written of in my letters to him. I would keep Kyrria safe. I would keep him safe from me.
~~~~~
I finally managed to get out of work the next day a bit before lunch and went to see Gareth.
"And her majesty finally decides to show up, does she?" he said upon my arrival, pushing a dark blond lock away from his face.
"I'm sorry, Gareth, I-"
"No, it's quite alright," he said, face brightening considerably. "I know you've been busy. You look a mess, by the way."
"Thank you," I said. If I looked anything close to the way I felt, he was right.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. Yes. A bit," I told him.
He raised his eyebrows, inviting me to elaborate.
"There's a dinner tonight," I explained. "A very important one. Nearly every stuffy and inept person of social standing will be there."
"Then you'll be right at home, won't you?"
I took no notice of his easy insult. I merely continued to look worried.
"Ella, there's no need to be nervous. I'm sure if you nod and smile no one will think any less of you. Perhaps it will even be fun. Maybe the prince himself will come and whisk you off your feet on his gleaming white horse and make you his queen."
He'd already tried that, and to no avail. I was sure he'd never make another stab at it, and if he did, I'd have to parry again.
"The prince is coming," I said.
"Truly?" Gareth said in wonderment. "I didn't think Dame Olga was that popular."
"She is," I said. "She has many friends in high places. Or people who pretend to be her friend, at the very least."
He laughed. "Well, then me idea of the prince making you his queen is possible, then."
I sat and hugged my knees to my chest. "Don't say that, Gareth."
He sat beside me. "You're not alright. Something else is troubling you."
"It's nothing," I said. "It's not important."
Skeptical, he said, "Are you sure?"
I hesitated, but nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. I'm fine."
"Then I suggest you get back to help Mandy and spruce yourself up for this dinner. You look like you haven't bathed in months."
"Not properly, no," I admitted. "Shall I meet you here tomorrow?"
"Certainly," he said, touching his hat in farewell. I must have looked somewhat frightened, or anxious, because he reached out and squeezed my hand for reassurance.
And as I left, I couldn't help but think that it was good to have a friend.
~~~~~
"Something wrong, sweet?" Mandy asked as I dropped a copper stewpot. She righted it. "You haven't been yourself today."
"I always drop things," I said. "You know how clumsy I am."
"You haven't been this clumsy since you got back from finishing school."
"Char's coming," I blurted. I had been holding it in all day and I felt some relief at saying it. "He's coming to the manor tonight. For Dame Olga's dinner."
"Oh, Lady," Mandy whispered, coming over to hug me. "You need not go. We can say that you've fallen ill and are unable to attend."
A part of me knew that was the best solution, but an exceedingly large part was longing to see Char again, even if his notice of me would most likely be only to glare.
"No," I said. "I should go. I don't want Father to worry." I didn't care if Father worried, but admitting to Mandy that I just wanted to be in the presence of Char again would surely stop her from allowing me to attend.
Mandy held me at arms length. "Your father won't worry if I tell him it's not much of an illness."
"But if it's not much of an illness he'll ask me to attend," I responded. "He cares not for my discomfort."
"I suppose you're right, sweet. But I don't like you going through this. Going to those balls was dangerous enough."
I dropped her arms gently from around me. I stood at full height, becoming determined.
"I'm going," I said. "I'll seat myself far from him, out of his sight if possible, and I'll stay away from him the entire time."
Mandy must have been able to see that I was adamant, so she nodded.
"You should go then, love, and get ready. You wouldn't want to look like a scullery maid in the presence of your father."
I smiled a wavering smile and left the kitchens to wash myself. After all, I looked a mess.
~~~~~
A/N: Sorry for the short-ish chapter. I didn't want to drag it out and I had to end it before the dinner began. I know I didn't exactly hold true to the chapter thing I wrote at the end of chapter three, but there was a slight change of plans. But you could say that meeting Char in a situation like this was something she'd been dreading (and looking forward to, I suppose) and finding a friend in Gareth was something she didn't expect. Or you could just say that I added more things in that I wasn't intending and what I said would happen in this chapter will happen later on instead.
Thanks to Swishy Willow Wand, awaiting impatient person, jess131346, babyjayy, Tempest Dragon, soccerstarz, Leigh M. Sumpter, Tokyobabe2040, Coral, cc, LOTR-nutcase, Alex, singinstrawberri, RoseGodess9, and monkiibijinesu for reviewing! At the risk of sounding repetitive – you guys are amazing.
RoseGodess9: Thank you so much! Your compliments seem hard to come by (as I've read your reviews of other stories) and all that praise really made my day!
singinstrawberri: Happy belated birthday! I'm so glad your enjoying my story.
Tokyobabe2040: While neither of your predictions is completely right, you have guessed a thing or two (possibly more) about where this story is headed. I'd tell you more, but...I don't want to give it away. ;)
Next chapter: Sir Peter returns and Dame Olga gets to show off her new fireplace. Will Ella be able to keep up the pretense that she's married, rich, and happy because of her wealth while in Char's presence? Probably won't be posted as soon as these recent chapters have been. Spring break ends today and I'll have to put schoolwork first. :(