Disclaimer: Plot is mine, anything you recognize belongs to someone else, I don't claim it, blah, blah, blah.

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! You guys blow me away with the amount of them every time a post a new chapter. Sorry for taking this long (again). You deserve an author who posts more often, but this is the best I can do.

Oh, and I've upped the rating to PG-13 because of increasingly adult themes.

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 Six: Shadow And A Silhouette

I don't mind falling down and scraping up my knees

Scars and stitches always fade and only strengthen me

But with my eyes as wide as pearls

My only centerpiece

Is taken like a dead man's urn and tossed into the sea

Write me like a letter

And dot your I's and cross you T's

Nothing was everything to me

Under the monsters claws and in between his teeth

Was the shadow and a silhouette of what I'd thought I'd be?

- Guster – Scars and Stitches

I went to the shoemakers at half past noon to meet Gareth, as promised. I found him behind the counter pounding at something with a mallet. He must have noticed my presence without seeing me, because he stopped working and looked up at me.

"Hello," he said, grinning widely.

"Hello," I said, just as amicably.

He reached behind his back, untied his working apron, and hung it up on a peg on the wall. He cleaned his hands off with a rag and hung that on another peg.

"Where did you want to take me?" he asked.

"Have you ever been to the Magical Menagerie?"

He shook his head. "Is it nice?"

I nodded. "I grew up going there countless times. With my mother and with-" Char, I added silently. "-Mandy."

He'd noticed my hesitation, but said nothing and smiled again.

"We don't have to be gone long, if you need to get back here."

"Oh, he won't notice I'm gone," Gareth said. "We can spend as much time as we want."

"Good," I said. "If you've never been there before, I have a lot to show you."

The walk to the menagerie was short. We small talked in the minutes it took to get there, and once we arrived I led him to Simon and the birds.

"Ella!" Simon exclaimed upon seeing me. He bowed and I curtsied. "Long time since I saw you last."

"I've been busy," I explained. "I've missed coming here."

"The birds have missed you as well," Simon said. "I trust Mandy gave you that bird I was sent?"

"Yes," I said, smiling. "Thank you so much for your kindness."

"Oh, lass, it was nothing," Simon returned.

"Say, Ella," Gareth said, stealing my attention the moment he spoke. "Do you know what this one speaking? I can't pick up a word he's saying."

"It's a 'she'," I said. I listened. "And she's speaking Abdegi, language of the-"

"I know Abdegi is giant language," he interrupted. "What do you take me for – someone who's been living under a rock?"

"Perhaps."

"Wretch."

Simon moved away from us as other visitors came and Gareth spoke again.

"Mandy tells me you're good with tongues," he commented.

I nodded, forgetting the modesty Manners Mistress had taught me. "I've got a knack for them." I paused, thinking. "When were you talking to Mandy?"

"Yesterday, when you were out getting water or something."

"Why?"

"I was looking for you," he said simply.

"Did Mandy mention anything else about me?" I wondered.

"She told me you ruined Dame Olga's dinner last week be putting sugar in the food instead of salt. Mandy had to make the entire meal over."

I groaned. Mandy had been quite angry at that.

Gareth laughed. "You shouldn't have changed it. It would have been funny to see the woman's face when she ate it."

"And then have Mandy fired," I pointed out. "And where would I be?"

"You'd come live with me," Gareth said, as if repeating it from memory. "And I hear Sir Richard is looking for a cook, so Mandy could find a situation there."

I raised my eyebrows. "You seem to have this all planned out."

"I do."

"But it wouldn't work. My father would insist I stay at the manor, and it would only be the worse for me without Mandy there."

"Who says you have to do what your father tells you?" Gareth stated. "We'll run away – you and me, and Mandy if she's up to it – and go somewhere far. Maybe Ayorthia."

I could see Areida! I thought. Wait. No, I couldn't. The curse would make me hurt her.

"It's a nice idea," I said. "I'll have to think about it."

"I'll be ready to leave in five minutes if you ever want to go," he said. I couldn't tell if he was serious. "Just send word."

I grinned at him. "I shall keep it in mind."

The weeks following my brief interlude with Char passed quickly. Father left on another trading expedition a few days after he'd returned, causing Dame Olga to spend a fair amount of time locked away in her room pitying herself and only having the breath to shout out orders to me if ever Hattie commanded me to walk past her mother's door.

"It makes her feel better, Ella, seeing that someone is so much worse off than she is," Hattie explained.

"Anything to make Dame Olga feel better," I'd replied acerbically. Hattie didn't pick up on the tone.

It had been four months since the ball and ten since Char's final letter to me. Although the pain of losing him had been resurfaced just over a month ago at Dame Olga's dinner, it was starting to ease up again. I still checked my magic book every night for anything from him, but it had been ages since I'd found anything. It was true that I longed for some word from him (even if it wasn't directed at me), but I was coming to realize that I would have to learn to live without him somehow, and I may as well attempt to start that life now.

Gareth was a help. He didn't make me forget Char – that would be an impossible feat – but he eased the ache immensely. The time I spent around him was a weight lifted off my shoulders.

"Sorry I'm late," I cried as I rushed towards the stream. As I approached I realized that he wasn't in sight. I had been late dozens of times, but he was always here when I arrived, leaning against a tree or sitting with his pants rolled up and his feet in the stream. I felt a pang of disappointment at not seeing him.

"Gareth?" I called. "Are you here?"

I walked a short distance in both directions, searching behind the tree and bushes. I tiptoed across the log stretched across the stream to cross it and didn't see him. I crossed back and frowned. I'd done this to him far too many times for my discontent to be validated, but I was unhappy nonetheless.

I decided to sit against the tree and wait a bit for him. Perhaps he'd come. I sat down and smoothed out my dress, leaning backwards and feeling knots on the tree dig into my back. How did he always manage to sit like this and look so utterly –

"Hello." Someone grabbed my shoulders and I jumped as I emitted an uncharacteristic shriek. I turned and saw Gareth, grinning cockily at my fright.

"Hello," I greeted him, regaining my calm and hitting him lightly on the shoulder as he laughed. "You shouldn't have scared me like that!"

"I could not resist, my Lady," he said, standing and bowing. "I truly apologize for any discomfort or-"

"Shut it," I retorted.

He grinned hopefully. "It's good to see you."

"You say that every day," I told him.

"Well, every day it's true," he said.

I was shocked for a moment by his sincerity but regained composure quickly. "I can't stay long. There's a guest for dinner tonight and Mandy's cooking something special."

"No matter," Gareth said, moving his hands as if brushing it off. "I should probably get back early as well. My sister's in town."

"Your sister's here? And you left her to see me?"

"Well, yes," Gareth said, looking shifty. "She's rather irritating, at that. Can't stand the woman. And she insists I spend the next few days in her stench-ridden presence."

I laughed. "Is she older?"

"Yes, much. I don't see why she bothers with me. She never used to."

"Well, you only lived with her until you were eight," I pointed out. "I don't blame her. Then again, you can hardly blame her now, can you? I should know, I put up with you every day."

He smirked. "That's a good point, I suppose. She was fifteen when I was born and married to a butcher's son when I was three."

"So you must not even remember her."

He shrugged. "She lived nearby. I hated her visits."

"And after you ran away, how did she hear you were here in Frell?"

He shrugged again and threw a pebble into the stream. I was surprised at how alone he looked. "I'm not sure. I never tried to keep in contact with my family. They were rotten, the lot of them. But my sister came to visit two years ago; I made her promise not to tell anyone where I was. Hope she kept it."

I hoped so too, for his sake. I glanced at the sun – it was nearly one in the afternoon. "I'd better get back to help Mandy."

He nodded, not quite looking at me. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes," I said. "Hopefully Dame Olga's guest won't keep me."

"And Ella?" he added as I turned to leave. "If I'm not here, I'll be at the shop, being strangled by my sister. So you know where to find me."

I smiled and nodded. "I'll be sure to rescue you from her if I don't see you here."

"You'll be my knight in shining armor, then?" Gareth asked, fluttering his eyelashes and putting his hand to his heart.

I bowed. "Of course, fair Lady."

I could hear him laughing as I left. I was laughing too.

"Mum says hurry up." It was Olive. She stared at me with wide eyes.

"Of course, madam," Mandy said. "But the guest has yet to-"

"A man just got here. Hurry up, Ella."

I wanted to slap her. I'd spent too much time with Gareth earlier and I was hurrying enough as it was, and now her order would make me have to go faster.

"Tell Dame Olga we're nearly ready to serve it," I said, using a cloth to wipe sweat off my brow that was part from exertion, part from the heat of standing beside the oven on a warm day in March.

Olive shot us a scowl that would have done her mother and sisters proud and left us.

"I should have asked who the guest is," I muttered to Mandy after Olive was gone.

"Probably another man she'd like to court Hattie, is all." She finished stirring a pudding and put it into a finer bowl for serving.

"Or perhaps to court Olive," I put in.

"No," Mandy said. "Dame Olga wouldn't let plain Olive be married before her Hattie was. Here, give this to Nancy to bring to the table."

I took the bowl of pudding and nearly ran into Nancy just outside the kitchen door. I thrust the bowl into her hands quickly to stop my head from hurting at not obeying. She wobbled a little and I noticed she was already carrying four things.

"You take it," she said, holding her arm out so I could relieve her. I took it and walked to the dining room, albeit nervously. What if the guest was vile and ordered me to do things I'd rather not do?

The moment I entered the room Dame Olga stood up, to my immense surprise. She made a strangled sort of noise and waved her arm to tell me to get out. Nancy followed into the dining room right behind me, shooting me a curious look as I let her pass. When she came back out, she had a message for me.

"Dame Olga sends her anger," Nancy relayed. "She is wondering why you are not at the table with them."

I must have looked puzzled, because she elaborated. "Your father has invited a certain Sir Giles to come and-"

"That loathsome-" I began

"-you were supposed to get the message to dress for the occasion. He is here for you."

I wanted to leave the manor, find my father, and kill him. How dare he try to match me up with Sir Giles! He knew I hated him!

Nancy interrupted my thoughts. "You'd best get readied quickly. Dame Olga already looks like she's on the warpath. I imagine it took a lot for your father to convince her to have a man over here for you."

"I wish he hadn't bothered," I said agitatedly.

"Go get ready," Nancy said, probably unaware she was ordering me. "It will be worse for you if you don't. I'll cover for you what I can."

I put a hand to my stomach because of the queasy feeling I was getting from standing there, then went to do Nancy's bidding. I only bothered to wash my face with some water and a cloth, then used my fingers to brush my hair. Only then I realized that I had nothing fine to wear, so I changed into my only clean dress. It was hardly something Dame Olga would want at her table, but I had no choice. I couldn't wear something of Hattie's without having to pay dearly later (even if it had once been mine) and she always kept her door locked when she wasn't inside, at any rate.

I entered the dining room smiling curtly and smoothing my dress. Dame Olga looked murderous.

"I'll have another wine, please," Sir Giles said to me.

Dame Olga let out a fluttery laugh. "You're too funny, Sir Giles. This is Eleanor, my stepdaughter. Sit next to Sir Giles, Eleanor."

"Of course," I said graciously to her as she glared.

"Ah, I remember you," Sir Giles said. His face was red. Perhaps he'd already had too much wine to be irritated at my dress. "The lovely lass from Sir Peter's dinner all those weeks ago."

I nodded tightly and jumped a bit as I felt a hand on my knee. I edged away from him, but he closed the space.

"Lovely Eleanor," he leered.

"Have you seen my new necklace?" Hattie interrupted. She was trying to get his attention to herself. Was she mad? He must be richer than I'd thought.

Still, he ignored her in favor of attempting to grope my thigh. I tried to move further from his wandering hand.

"Stop squirming, Eleanor," Dame Olga ordered. I stopped reluctantly and Sir Giles grinned.

Luckily, Nancy brought out more food at that time and his attention was taken from me for a moment as he asked Nancy to pour him more wine. She shot me a sympathetic look and left. There was nothing she could do for me without losing her place.

I didn't speak unless spoken to the entire dinner.

When the meal was over, I complained of a bad stomachache and was allowed to retreat to the safety of the kitchens. Mandy was there, scrubbing at the silverware, and I ran to her and gave her a hug. She seemed to sense what was wrong, as she always did, and I didn't have to explain. I refused to cry.

"Shh, Lady," Mandy murmured. "It's alright."

I shook my head into her shoulder as she rubbed my back. Eventually, her calming tones soothed me, and I refused as she insisted that I go so sleep in favor of helping her clean the rest of the kitchen. After, I went to my room, put on nightclothes, and pulled out my magic book.

I skimmed through it looking for something that caught my eye, and settled on a story called The Goose Girl when I found nothing to do with Char. I couldn't focus on the tale. My mind was too taken over by dinner, Sir Giles's itinerant hand and foul breath, and worry over what my father would have in store for me next.

My sleep that night was uneasy, and I woke the next morning unrested and dreading tomorrow.

The day after dinner with Sir Giles, Dame Olga called me to her room. After procrastinating as much as possible, I went.

"I am appalled," she said as I entered. "Close the door," she added as an afterthought. I closed one but not the other, and it took a minute until both were closed to her liking.

"That you could behave so rudely in front of me and embarrass me so. You know very well that you do not deserve the kindness I show you. You don't show me nearly enough gratitude."

This is nonsense, I thought. She's bound to stop the accusatory sentiments and start ordering me soon. "To show up to a dinner at my table wearing nothing but your filthy maid's garb? Disgusting."

"She has nothing else, Mama." It was then that I first noticed Hattie sitting on the other side of the room, gazing at herself in the mirror as she tried on her mother's jewels. "We should pity her."

Dame Olga smiled at her eldest daughter. "Always the kindhearted one, Hattie," she said. I laughed derisively but no one seemed to notice.

She turned back to me, her face hardening. "Ella, I expect no less than perfect behavior from you. From now on, you will not leave the manor. You will not go outside unless specifically asked to by Hattie or me. In this way, you will become more disciplined," she explained, as though I were a child and not nearly seventeen. I tried to keep from crying out at the unfairness of it.

"And," Hattie added. "You will be given one dress to wear for dinners, so that you do not disgrace our table as much as you did last night. Do not dirty it."

"You may need it often," Dame Olga said, her large nose pointed upwards. "Sir Peter is considering Sir Giles's request to court you."

I blanched. Now I really would kill my father. If I was ever able to leave the manor again, that was.

"Go now," Dame Olga finished, walking over to Hattie. I left as they were both staring at themselves in the mirror, gloating. Quite the double act, those two. It took nearly all of my strength to keep from slamming the door and kicking it shut on my way out.

In an almost shocked state, I went downstairs and told Mandy the news.

"How am I going to get out of this?" I said despairingly.

"I don't know yet, Lady," she replied. "But we'll think of something."

"They're the only ones that can command me to leave. And the chance of them doing that is very slight."

"There's still a chance," Mandy said. "And there has to be another way to get out of it."

I looked at the sky outside. It was noon. I should be meeting Gareth, but instead I was stuck inside, wishing for a better life.

For the next several weeks, I watched spring bloom through the kitchen windows. It was mid-May and I had been outside only a handful of times, usually to get water. The curse forced me not to linger. I felt myself becoming pale.

The worst hours were at noon, when I stared at the sun, wishing I could be meeting Gareth instead of being cooped up inside. There was always the small hope that he'd somehow get to the kitchens to see me, but Dame Olga had placed her footmen at the entrance to the manor, telling them not to let anyone suspicious looking inside.

The worst days were the days when Sir Giles visited, and I was forced to sit at his right side, not talking, not eating, and having to let him breath down my neck and rest his hands on my legs because Dame Olga would order be not to move away. Some of those days I'd cry silently, and brush away the tears before anyone could see them. They mustn't see me weak.

The worst nights were the nights when I looked in my magic book to find no comforting image of Char's face, no soothing message written by his hand. Those nights, I slept restlessly and woke up with dark patches underneath my eyes. Those nights were most nights.

Mandy constantly told me things would get better soon, but they didn't. She'd tried ordering me to go outside, but it didn't work. I could only go out when Dame Olga or Hattie ordered me to.

I had never felt as alone as I felt during those weeks. I had Mandy, yes, but for the first time I felt like having Mandy with her small magic and kind words wasn't enough.

"Nathan's just gone in to town," Mandy told me one morning. "The mail carrier has just arrived."

"Perhaps a letter from Father."

Mandy nodded. "I wouldn't normally like to say it, but it would be good if he came home. He could stop this order."

"I can hope."

Nathan came back an hour later, carrying two letters. He brought them both straight to Dame Olga before saying anything to anyone. After delivering them, be came back down and entered the kitchen.

He tapped me on the shoulder. "Here," he said. "From Sir Peter. I didn't think Dame Olga would want to see it."

I smiled and thanked him, then opened it and gave it to Mandy to read first, for fear of him ordering me through the letter.

Mandy read it quickly, her eyes darting down the page. She looked at the parchment in distain, then crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the fire.

I looked at Mandy in alarm. "What did it say?"

She went back to her stirring. "Your father," she huffed. "Is not a good man, no matter what Lady used to say."

A/N: Thanks everyone for being so patient in waiting for this chapter. Sorry for leaving you with a cliffhanger and for making it so short, but it seemed like a good place to end it.

Thanks to Babyjayy, EllaFreak, awaiting impatient person, Carissa, Tempest Dragon, Leigh A. Sumpter, Tindomiel-PA, Armadrieclya, Lady Emma, Samwise809, LOTR-nutcase, illilac, independen-and-happy81017, Indil Elondili, 896976, jkjkk, princessofhearts, not telling so stop asking, Star Fighter Heart, ShoppingChick, arientindomerel, singinstrawberri, Nightswift, The Queen of the Pugs, kkroonie, RoseGodess9, Arwen Veancawen, LMDGlUVR4EVA, Swishy Willow Wand, kittykatekat, and Tiennan for the reviews.

super sycoh: Half naked Gareth? That may have just given me some ideas for future chapters...

Turwen: Take Gareth for yourself? Not if I take him first. ;)

fantasyfan: Yeah, I'd wanted more to happen at the dinner, but I ended up cutting about five pages of it that I decided to use later on. As for using both directions...I don't know. But I might write another story that stems from the idea I'm not using.

Lady Emma: Thanks, I needed it. :)

Rosina: Oh, I see what you mean. I must have misinterpreted your last review. I've been meaning to do that for a while, but it never fit in. Probably next chapter.

Dulcis Caelum: lol, I'd definitely join if you started that FAWNU thing you were talking about. Just send me the badge.

Also, a million thanks to everyone who sent me get well soon type stuff. I appreciate it. After a month and a half of some sort of illness (they never told me exactly what), I'm healthy again. :)

Next Chapter: clears throat Umm, I'm going to be away at Duke for the next two weeks, so I won't be able to post. avoids large tomatoes that are thrown at her But it's a writing camp, so hopefully I'll have time to write the chapter so I can type and post it once I get home.

Next chapter you'll find out what was on the letter, and a few ideas made just in passing may become more than what they'd seemed. And perhaps an appearance from an old character.