Ella Enchanted Newsletter

Editorial

Ella Enchanted is a fictional novel written by Gail Carson Levine and published in 1997. The main theme of the story is “Never let others dictate the things you do”.

Summary

This is the story of young Ella, who is given the gift of obedience at birth by a young fairy named Lucinda. Unfortunately, Ella must obey any orders she is given. After her beloved mother passes away, she is cared for by her thoughtless and greedy father, Sir Peter the merchant. He later remarries Dame Olga, the wealthy woman with two selfish daughters. This is a modern-day retelling of the Cinderella story, featuring fairies, ogres and elves. It also features Prince Charmont whom Ella falls in love with. Unlike Cinderella, Ella must depend on herself and her wit to get her through her troubles and find Lucinda in order for her curse to be broken.

Prince Charmont

It was the day of Lady Eleanor’s funeral. I stood outside beside the biggest tree in the graveyard, a weeping willow. I had been reading the tombstone of a cousin of mine which I never liked. I had been crying for I liked Lady Eleanor, she made me laugh. I heard Ella, her daughter crying behind me. I turned around to look at her. She was sitting up; her gown had changed from black silk to brown dirt. Although she was only two years younger than I, she was much shorter. She looked just like her mother, her hair was black and her eyes were green. “Cousin of mine”, I said, gesturing at the tombstone. “Never liked him. I liked your mother.” I started walking back towards the tomb. With room enough or a carriage to pass between us, she walked by my side. I moved closer. “You can call me Char,” I told her suddenly. “Everyone else does.” We walked in silence. “My father calls me Char too,” I added. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you, Char,” I corrected. "Your mother used to make me laugh. Once, at a banquet, Chancellor Thomas was making a speech. While he talked, your mother moved her napkin around. I saw it before your father crumpled it up. She had arranged the edge in the shape of the chancellor's profile, with the mouth open and the chin stuck out. It would have looked exactly like him if he were the color of a blue napkin. I had to leave without dinner so I could go outside and laugh." We were halfway back. It was starting to rain. ”Where did everyone go?” Ella asked me. "They all left before I came to find you," I said. "Did you want them to wait?" I was worried; perhaps, I should have made them stay. “No, I didn’t want any of them to wait,” Ella answered. "I know all about you," I announced after we'd taken a few more steps. "You do? How could you?" "Your cook and our cook meet at the market. She talks about you." I looked sideways at her. "Do you know much about me?" "No. What do you know?" "I know you can imitate people just as Lady Eleanor could. Once you imitated your manservant to his face, and he wasn't sure whether he was the servant or you were. You make up your own fairy tales and you drop things and trip over things. I know you once broke a whole set of dishes." "I slipped on ice!" "Ice chips you spilled before you slipped on them." I laughed. It wasn't a ridiculing laugh; it was a happy laugh at a good joke. "An accident," she protested, smiling.

We reached Sir Peter, who bowed. "Thank you, Highness, for accompanying my daughter." I returned the bow. "Come, Eleanor," he said "Ella. I'm Ella," she said. "Ella, then. Come, Ella." He bowed to me and climbed into the carriage. I handed Ella in. I wound up with the middle of her arm and she had to grasp the side of the carriage with the other hand for balance. When I closed the door, I caught her skirt, and there was a loud ripping sound. Sir Peter winced. I was laughing again. The following morning, outside in the garden of my old father’s palace, I saw Ella again. I saw her walking quietly past the dragon, towards a centaur which stood near the moat, gazing at her. I held out an apple for her. “Here,” I said, offering an apple. “Thank you,” she said. Holding out her hand, she edged closer to the moat. The centaur's nostrils flared and he trotted toward her. She tossed the apple. Two other centaurs galloped over, but Ella’s caught the treat and started eating, crunching loudly. "I always expect them to thank me or to say, `How dare you stare?' "She said. “They’re not smart enough to talk. See how blank their eyes are." I pointed, teaching her. It was a princely duty to explain matters to my subjects. "If they had words," She said, "they wouldn't be able to think of anything to say." A surprised silence followed. Then I laughed. "That's funny! You're funny, as the Lady Eleanor was." I was stricken. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to remind you." "I think of her often," she said. We walked along the edge of the moat. "Would you like an apple too?" I held out another one. She pawed the ground with her right foot and tossed her head as though she had a mane. Opening her eyes as wide as they'd go, she stared at me and took the apple. I think she was trying to make me laugh. I did laugh. Then I made an announcement. "I like you. I'm quite taken with you." I took a third apple for myself out of the pocket of my cape. I think she liked me too. I was trying to be as nice as possible towards her, and the least like High Chancellor Thomas was. All the Kyrrians bowed when we passed, and the visiting elves and gnomes did too. Ella seemed like she didn't know how to respond, but I raised my arm each time, bent at the elbow in the customary royal salute. It was habit, natural to me as teaching. She seemed to decide on a deep nod. We came to the parrot cages. The birds spoke all the languages of the earth: human foreign tongues and the exotic tongues of Gnomic, Elfian, Ogrese, and Abdegi (the language of the giants). When Simon, their keeper saw me, he bowed low. Then he returned to feeding an orange bird. "This one's new," he said. "Speaks Gnomic and doesn't shut up." ",fwthchor evtoogh brzzay eerth ymmadboech evtoogh brzzaY" the parrot said. ",fwthchor evtoogh brzzay eerth ymmadboech evtoogh brzzaY" Ella repeated. "You speak Gnomic!" I said. "I like to make the sounds. I only know what a few words mean." "She does it just right, doesn't she, your Highness?" "Fawithkor evtuk brizzay..." I gave up. "It sounded better when you did it." ",achoed dh eejh aphchuZ uochludwaacH" the parrot squawked. "Do you know what he said?" Ella asked Simon, who was able to translate occasionally. Simon shook his head. "Do you know, sir?" "No. It sounds like gargling." Other visitors claimed Simon's attention. "Excuse me," he said. I watched while Ella said farewell to each bird. "Good-bye," she called. Simon waved. They seemed to be friends. Lest they be frightened out of their feathers, a garden separated the birds from the ogres. We passed beds of flowers while Ella tried to teach me a few of the words I'd just heard. My memory was good, but my accent was unalterably Kyrrian. "If they heard me, the elves would never let me stand under a tree again." "The gnomes would hit you over the head with a shovel." "Would the ogres decide I was unworthy of consumption?” We neared their hut. Even though they were locked in, soldiers were posted within arrow range. An ogre glared at us through a window. Ogres weren't dangerous only because of their size and their cruelty. They knew your secrets just by looking at you, and they used their knowledge. When they wanted to be, they were irresistibly persuasive. By the end of an ogre's first sentence in Kyrrian, you forgot his pointy teeth, the dried blood under his fingernails, and the coarse black hair that grew on his face in clumps. He became handsome in your eyes, and you thought him your best friend. By the end of the second sentence, you were so won over that he could do whatever he wanted with you, drop you in a pot to cook, or, if he was in a hurry, eat you raw. ",pwich aooyeh zchoaK" a soft, lisping voice said. "Did you hear that?" Ella asked. "Doesn't sound like an ogre. Where did it come from?" ",pwich aooyeh zchoaK" the voice repeated, this time with a hint of tears in its tones. A toddler gnome poked his head out of an aqueduct only a few feet from the hut. I saw him at the same moment the ogre did. He could reach the child through the unglazed window! Ella started for the boy, but I was quicker. I snatched him up just before the ogre's arm shot out. I backed away, holding the youngster, who squirmed to get out of my grasp. "Give him to me," Ella said. I handed him over. "szEE frah myNN," the ogre hissed, glaring at me. "myNN SSyng szEE. myNN thOOsh forns." Then he turned to Ella and his expression changed. He started laughing. "mmeu ngah suSS hijyNN eMMong. myNN whadz szEE uiv. szEE AAh ohrth hahj ethSSif szEE." Tears of mirth streaked down his cheeks, leaving trails on his filthy face. Then he said in Kyrrian, not bothering to make his voice persuasive, "Come to me and bring the child." Ella’s knees began to tremble. She squeezed the little gnome, and he yelped and twisted in her arms. The ogre continued to laugh. Then he spoke again. "Obey me this instant. Come. Now.” She took a step, then stopped and the trembling started again. Another step. And another. Where are you going?" I cried. I could see where she was going. "I must," she said. "Stop! I command you to stop." She stopped and stood shaking, while soldiers crowded around the hut. Their swords pointed at the ogre, who glared at her, then turned his back and retreated into the dim interior. "Why did you listen to him?" I asked. She was still having trouble with the child. He was pulling his little beard and wriggling to escape. ",pwich azzoogh fraecH" he cried. Ella used his distress to avoid answering the question. "He's frightened." But I wasn't distracted. "Why did you listen to him, Ella?" "His eyes, something about them. I had to do what he wanted." "Have they found a new way to bewitch us?" I was alarmed. "I must tell my father." The gnome child wailed, thrashing at the air. Ella spoke the parrot’s words".fwthchor evtoogh brzzay eerth ymmadboech evtoogh brzzaY" The child's face cleared, and he smiled, showing pearly baby teeth. ",fwthchor evtoogh brzzay eerth ymmadboech evtoogh brzzaY" he repeated. There was a dimple in the folds of wrinkles and baby fat. Ella put him down, and he took my hand and Ella’s. "His parents must be worried," Ella said. We didn't know how to ask him where they were, and he was probably too young to answer. They weren't by the ferocious beasts or by the grazing animals. At last, we spied an ancient female gnome sitting on the ground near the pond. Her head was between her knees, an image of defeat. Other gnomes searched the reeds and hedges or questioned passersby. "!fraechramM" the little gnome called, pulling at Ella and me. The old gnome looked up, her face wet with tears. "!zhulpH" She grabbed him in a tight hug and covered his face and beard with kisses. Then she peered at us and recognized me. "Highness, thank you for the return of my grandson." I coughed, feeling embarrassed. "We're glad to bring him back, madam," I said. "He was almost an ogre's lunch." "Char -- Prince Charmont -- saved him," Ella said. And saved me too. "You have the gratitude of the gnomes." The gnome bowed her head. "I am zhatapH." Hardly taller than Ella, she was much wider -- not stout, but wide, which is the direction gnomes grow after they reach adulthood. Her wrinkles had wrinkles, small folds in deeper folds of leathery skin. Her eyes were deep set and their copper color was clouded. Ella curtsied, and wobbled. "I'm Ella," she said. More gnomes came, and we were surrounded. "How did you persuade him to come with you?" zhatapH asked. "He would not go with most humans." "Ella spoke to him," I said. I was proud of Ella "What did you say?" Ella hesitated. ",fwthchor evtoogh brzzay eerth ymmadboech evtoogh brzzaY" she said finally. "No wonder he came with you," zhatapH said. "!fraecH" zhulpH cried joyously. He squirmed in her arms. A younger gnome woman took the child. "Where did you learn to speak Gnomic?" she asked. "I am zhulpH's mother." Ella explained about the parrots. "What did I say to zhulpH?" "It is an expression. We say it as a greeting," zhatapH said. "In Kyrrian it is 'Digging is good for the wealth and good for the health.' " She held her hand out to Ella. "zhulpH is not the only one you will save. I see it." "Can you see what's ahead for me?" "Gnomes do not see detail. What you will wear tomorrow, what you will say, are mysteries. I see outlines only." "What are they?" "Danger, a quest, three figures. They are close to you, but they are not your friends." She let my hand go. "Beware of them!" On our way out of the menagerie, I said, "Tonight I shall triple the guard around the ogres. And soon I shall catch a centaur and give it to you." That night, I called three of the soldiers who had been at the ogres’ guard at the menagerie to the castle. When they arrived, I ordered them to triple the guard around the ogres as I had previously said earlier that morning. The following day I went to visit Ella to give her the centaur colt I had promised to give her. When I asked where she was, Mandy, her cook answered saying that she was away from home. I asked her where had Ella gone and when would she be back. When Mandy told me that she was at finishing school I was indignant. I demanded to know why she needed to be finished since there was nothing wrong with her to start with. Mandy didn’t have an answer, but she did tell me that they had nowhere to keep a growing centaur. “He’s a little beauty, but where can I keep him?” said Mandy. I said that I’d raise him for Ella. I also asked Mandy to tell Ella the colt’s name, Apple, and then Mandy gave him his name before he left with me. Three months later, there was a cotillion held in the palace and I was there. The company was thin because my father was away. That night I wrote a letter to my father. Dear Father, I hope this finds you safe and well. My mother and my sister and brothers are in good health, as am I. Since I received instructions to join you, I have been filled with gratitude for your confidence in me. The knights you have chosen to follow me are stout fellows and bear the command of a stripling with good humor. My mother worries, but I tell her they will not let harm befall me. In truth, Father, I am so stirred up by the thought of my first military duty --even if it is only reviewing border troops -- that I hardly hear my good mother. Who knows? Perhaps the ogres will raid and there will be a skirmish. I do not fear injury, only that I may not acquit myself well. Skirmishes with ogres! How could there not be danger? I continued to describe the visit of a trade delegation and the ball. I am training a centaur colt for a lass I know. Her mother was the late Lady Eleanor. I admire the daughter, Ella, but she has gone to finishing school, where I fear she will be made less admirable. What do they teach in such places? Sewing and curtsying? It is a great distance to go to learn such paltry tricks. Nine days later, one of the knights, acting as a scout, reported that a band of ogres was about to eat a maiden when she talked them to sleep. I was wondering about how she did it. I got six knights prepared to leave Frell with me to save the maiden. However, we departed Frell late. The cart of a fruit-and-vegetable seller had overturned in the road ahead of us. When the seller began screeching that everyone would trample his precious tomatoes and melons and lettuces, I had the knights right the cart; then I spent the better part of an hour on his hands and knees, rescuing vegetables. [pic 1]Finally, we departed from Frell. Once we saw the ogres, we put beeswax in our ears, as we always do; the danger is being caught unawares. I spotted Ella on the ground, sobbing while ogres slept in front of her. I came closer, saluted her, but my eyes were on the ogres. Uncoiling a length of rope, I knelt over an ogre and began to bind his ankles. He looked like we was roaring, but I couldn’t hear it, then he calmed down when he saw me. He said something, then reached down and loosened the rope. I pushed his hands aside and tightened the rope again. The knights had begun to bind the other ogres, who were also stirring. I saw the ogre saw something again, but I paid no attention. Suddenly, the ogre’s feet lashed out. I reeled back, losing my grip on the rope. The ogre rose and kicked the tether away. The knights hadn’t made much progress with their binding either. Everywhere, they were doing battle. An ogre knelt over one fallen knight, about to sink teeth into his shoulder. The knight twisted away, gaining a few seconds, but the ogre was turning toward him. I regained my feet and drew my sword. I and the ogre faced each other warily. I spoke to Ella. "Can you tame them again, Ella? If not, run and save yourself." Ella started to speak, but I still couldn’t hear her. The ogres stopped clawing and biting and pounding and lunging and kicking and looked at Ella trustfully. She said something again and the ogre I was holding replied. She said something again and they all smiled beatifically. Ella said spoke again and all of them sat down and held out their arms and legs. Only one that looked younger, about Ella’s age remained standing, looking dazed. The older ogre, which I was holding said something. The younger one sat down, the tying and gagging was completed quickly. Then the ogres were bound together, treatment that they endured cheerfully. "Ella..." I swept a deep bow. "How did you tame the ogres?" She started to speak, but again I couldn’t hear her. "I can't hear you. Oh, I forgot." I extracted the beeswax from my ears. "That's why the ogres' magic had no effect on you." "Once we sight ogres, we always put the wax in. The danger is being caught unawares." I said that one of the knights, acting as a scout, had seen me. "He reported that a band of ogres was about to eat a maiden when she talked them to sleep. How did you do it?" "I told them about finishing school, and they began to snore." "Truly?" I stared at Ella, and then laughed. She always surprised me "How did you really do it?" I persisted. "I spoke to them in Ogrese, and I imitated their oily way of talking. I didn't know if I would succeed. They had already parceled me up. I knew which one was going to eat every bit of me. SEEf -- that one -- wanted my leg." I moved my right leg. "How did they come upon you?" She told him me that she had run away from finishing school. "They caught me when I left the elves. They ate the pony the elves gave me." She shuddered. "Was finishing school so wearisome that you had to run away?" I asked. "Very wearisome, and see what it's done to me. I can no longer break a set of dishes by accident. Now I can balance all of them on my head and stroll through Frell without dropping a single one. I have many accomplishments." "Are you proud of them?" I was alarmed. She nodded solemnly. "Would you like to know more?" I shrugged, disliking the topic. She went on anyway. "To begin with, I could teach these boorish ogres how to eat properly." She seated herself on a large rock. "Observe." She plucked an imaginary napkin out of the air, shook it twice, and placed it on her lap. "Very ladylike," I said politely. "I shake the napkin twice. That's important." "Why?" "Mice." I smiled. "There are no mice in our court napkins. You are thinking of spiders." "The prince contradicts a lady!" she picked up an imaginary fork and began to saw at imaginary food. "Your meat is tough. You have a low regard for our cooks." "Not at all. It should be tough. Don't you know why?" "Tell me." "It is mutton. Am I not using a mutton fork? Our Manners Mistress will believe you're an impostor if you don't recognize a mutton fork when..." "When I don't see one." I was laughing. "It could only be a mutton fork!" "How so?" "See how my fingers are bunched together at the top of the stem." she reached up and caught my hand. She extended her index finger. "My finger is the fork. You grasp it so." she arranged my fingers around hers. "That's the only correct way to hold a mutton fork. A trout fork is managed differently." She turned my hand over to demonstrate. She noticed the angry red welts that ran across my palm. "The rope burned you!" I pulled my hand away. "It's nothing. One of the knights is a healer. What else did your Manners Mistress teach you?" It seemed that she wanted to examine the burn more closely, but she continued. "Manners Mistress knew your father's opinion about everything. She said he would exile any subject who ate blancmange from a soup bowl. As a result of her instruction, I can never make such a mistake." "Does my father have a special spoon for raspberries and one for blueberries?" "Certainly." "Why wasn't I informed?" "You should hire Manners Mistress. She would die of delight to serve a prince." She went on to describe all their mistresses. "Writing Mistress was the only one who taught anything worth knowing," she concluded, "although it is helpful to know the proper way to behave, so one can decide whether or not to be proper." On the word "proper," I started. "I should have introduced you long ago to my knights." I called to them. "Friends -- John, Aubrey, Bertram, Percival, Martin, Stephan -- meet our ogre tamer. She's the lass I told you about, the one who speaks Gnomic." she curtsied. "We wondered when you would remember your manners," Stephan said. SEEf made a garbled noise through his gag. I went to the ogres, and Ella followed. "So much as you are our friends, so much are we your friends," he said. "But we won't kill you unless you force us to." For an instant, SEEf looked dumbstruck. Then he began to struggle violently against his bonds. The other ogres did likewise, and shrieked through their gags as well. The ropes held, and they quieted slowly. SEEf glared at Ella with such rage and hate that she fell back a step. She held his gaze, however. Ella spoke to him in Orgese, something which I couldn’t understand. She looked delighted. Ella smiled at me, and I blushed. While Ella and I addressed the ogres, the knights were busy setting out lunch for all of us. When we were seated, all delayed their first bite until I began to eat. It was so natural to me that I hardly even notice. Over traveler's bread, cheese, dried meats, and sweet cider, I told Ella about his mission to help King Jerrold. "The king will be glad to see this lot. Eight ogres and no injury to us." Sir Stephan nodded at the ogres, who were struggling anew at the sight of our meal. "He'll be interested to learn that humans can use their magic against them," I said. "At least Ella can." "Whenever he finds out." Sir Bertram frowned. "How will we convey them to King Jerrold?" "No need for your melancholy, Sir Bert," Sir John said. "With this maid's help, we just caught eight ogres. Six knights never did that before." "We'll think of something," I said. "They'll have to be fed." Sir Bertram reached for the bread. "And you're the best hunter we have, Sir Bert," I said, and the knight's expression lightened. "Ogres can move quickly," Sir Martin said. "It shouldn't take too long to reach the king." "I've been told they can outrun a horse," Sir Stephan added. "A centaur too. Even a hart." I and the knights discussed ogre transport, "We'll have to drag them. And how can we do that?" Sir Bertram said. "The young lady can tell them to go wherever we say," Sir Aubrey said. "She can come with us and keep them biddable." "Let the prince tell us what to do," Sir Stephan said. "He knows." I spoke confidently. "You, Stephan, will escort the Lady Ella to her destination, wherever that is. Martin and Percival will ride to my father for assistance. Sir Bert, Aubrey, John, and I shall take turns hunting and guarding the ogres. We'll put the wax back in our ears when we are within earshot of them in case their gags slip." "I'd rather stay with you, lad," Sir Martin said. "You and Percival are our best scouts. We'll depend on you to get through quickly." Sir Martin nodded. "The maiden will be safe with me," Sir Stephan vowed. "I'll--" "Unless he talks her to death," Sir Aubrey interrupted. "You don't know him, lady. His speech stops only when the stars shine green in a yellow sky." "He'll be a better companion than ogres," I said. "But, Ella, why didn't you go back to Frell when you left finishing school?" "My father is trading at a giant's farm, where a wedding will take place soon. He wrote that giants' weddings are interesting. I thought I'd join him there." I marveled. "You put yourself in such danger in order to see a wedding?" She was a fool. Sir Bertram spoke. "It's fortunate that all the maidens in Kyrria do not decide to travel by themselves. We have work enough without having to rescue them." "If all the maids in Kyrria could tame ogres," I said, "we would have much less to do." Perhaps not such a fool, after all. After lunch Sir Stephan mounted his horse, and I lifted Ella behind him. "I don't like to leave you in danger," she said. "Go with Sir Stephan," I said. "We won't come to harm." It was an order.  I caught the horse's bridle. "Will you soon be in Frell again?" "If Father doesn't send me back to finishing school and if he doesn't want me to travel with him. Why do you ask?" I didn't answer directly. "I should be back shortly. These maneuvers never last long." I spoke as though I'd been on thousands. "Perhaps I'll see you soon then, and you can tell me about the other ogres you catch." "Perhaps you can teach me how to tame an ogre." "ahthOOn SSyng!" she said. "That's farewell." "It sounds evil." "It is," she answered, and we parted. Sir Stephan returned two weeks later, saying that he left Ella in large, good hands. I spent the next two weeks chasing ogres, and we returned on the morning that Sir Peter was to be married to Dame Olga. I just wanted to see Ella, and to make sure she arrived home safely. I arrived just in time to watch Ella dash upstairs in the old castle before the wedding ball started, and I followed her upstairs. The stair rail was an open spiral, perfect for sliding. I heard what must have been Ella opening a door then closing it. I opened a door and stepped into a dark corridor. Ella was laying down, leaning against the door, her feet stretched out on marble tiles. When I opened the door she tumbled down and I found myself staring down at her. "Are you well?" I asked anxiously, kneeling next to her. She sat up and grabbed my sleeve, scrambling back into the hallway and pulling me with her. I shut the door behind us. "I'm fine." "Good." I stood up, grinning. I think she was grinning too, but she may have been scowling. The corridor was too dim to tell. I was trying to explain her behavior, thinking to myself. Why was she hiding? "I thought you were still patrolling the border. I didn't notice you at the wedding." "We returned this morning. I arrived here just in time to watch you dash up the stairs." I paused, waiting for her to explain. She didn't, but I was too polite to ask. "My father spent his boyhood here," I went on, "before the new palace was built. He says there's a secret passage somewhere. It's rumored to start in one of the rooms on this story." "Where does it lead?" "Supposedly to a tunnel under the moat. Father used to search for it." "Shall we look?" "Would you like to?" I was eager. "If you don't mind missing the ball." "I'd love to miss the ball." She opened one of the doors in the corridor. Light flooded in, and I saw that Ella couldn't have been scowling. She was smiling so happily that she reminded me of Apple. We were in a bedroom with an empty wardrobe and two large windows. We knocked on the walls, listening for a telltale hollow sound; we felt for hidden seams. We tested the floorboards, guessing at who might have used the passage and for what reasons. "To warn Frell of danger," I suggested. "To escape a mad fairy." "To flee punishment." "To leave a boring cotillion." "That was it," I agreed. But whatever the reason for flight, the means remained hidden. We investigated each room less thoroughly than the one before, until our search became a stroll. We moved along the corridor, opening doors and poking our heads in. If any feature seemed promising, we investigated further. "You've guessed why I shut myself up here," Ella said. "I have no idea." I opened a door. Nothing worth examining. "To avoid temptation.” "What temptation?" I grinned, anticipating a joke. I was used to her. I knew she would surprise me. "Can't you guess?" I shook my head. "The temptation to slide down the stair rail, of course." I laughed, surprised as usual. "And why were you lying down?" "I wasn't lying down. I was sitting." "Pray tell why you were sitting." "To pretend I was sliding down the stair rail." I laughed again. "You should have done it. I would have caught you at the bottom." The strains of an orchestra wafted up to us, a slow allemande. The corridor we were in ended in a back stair, surrounded by doors that opened on more corridors, all more or less alike. "If we're not careful, we'll go down this one again," I said. "They're all the same." "Hansel and Gretel had pebbles and bread crumbs to show them the way. We have nothing." "We have more than they did. They were impoverished. There must be something...." I looked down at myself, and then tugged at an ivory button on his doublet until it came off in his hand. A bit of striped silk undergarment peeked out. Ella watched in amazement as I placed the button on the tiles a foot within the hallway we had just left. "That will mark our progress." I chuckled. "I'm destroying my dignity without sliding down anything." After we investigated six corridors without finding the secret passage, and after all of my buttons were gone, we climbed the back staircase. It ended in an outdoor passage to a tower. We rushed across, facing into a bitter wind. The tower room had once been an indoor garden, with small trees in wooden pots. Ella perched on a stone bench. It was chilly, but we were out of the wind. "Do the king's gardeners come here?" She asked. "Are the trees dead?" "I don't know." I said, staring at the bench. "Stand up." I obeyed, of course. I pushed at the seat with my foot, and it moved. "This lifts off," I exclaimed. "Probably only garden tools," She said, while we lifted it together. Ella was right, but not entirely. We found a spade, a pail, and a small rake. And cobwebs, and evidence of mice, although how they got in and out I couldn't tell. And a leather apron. And two things more. I twitched the apron aside and found gloves and a pair of slippers. The gloves were stained and riddled with holes, but the slippers sparkled as though newly made. I lifted them out carefully. "I think they're made of glass! Here." I meant for her to take them both, but she didn't seem to understand. She only reached for one, and the other fell. In the moment before the crash, I mourned the loss of such a beautiful thing. But there was no crash. The slipper didn't break. Ella picked it up and tapped on it. The sound was of a fingernail on glass. "Try them on." They fit exactly. Ella held her feet out for me to see. "Stand up." "They'll crack for certain if I do." "Perhaps not." Ella stood. She took a step. The slippers bent with her. She turned to me in wonder. Then she suddenly stopped and we were aware again of the sounds of the orchestra far below. She took a gliding step. She twirled. I bowed. "The young lady must not dance alone." I put my hand on her waist, and I felt her heart began to pound, a rougher rhythm than the music. She held her skirt. Our free hands met. Her face had mixed expressions, as though she felt, warm, comfortable, unsettled and bewildered-- all at once. Then we were off, I was naming each dance: a gavotte, a slow sarabande, a courante, an allemande. We danced as long as the orchestra played. Once, between dances, I asked if she wanted to return to the celebration. "Won't they be looking for you?" "Perhaps. Do you want to?" "No. I only came to see you." I added, "To be sure you arrived home safely." "Quite safely. Sir Stephan guarded me well, and the giants took excellent care of me. Did you catch more ogres?" "szah, suSS fyng mOOng psySSahbuSS." ("Yes, and they were delicious.") She laughed. My accent was atrocious. I shrugged ruefully. "They laughed too and never listened to me. Bertram was the best; they obeyed him half the time." The music started again, a stately pavane. We could still talk while performing the steps. "A fairy gave my father and my new mother an unusual gift." She said it was a gift to always love each other no matter what. "What do you think of such a present?" "I shouldn't like to be under a spell to love someone." "Sometimes people are forced into wedlock. If they must marry, perhaps it's better if they must love." I frowned. "Do you think so? I don't think so” She spoke inconsiderately. "It doesn't matter for you. You can marry anyone." "And you cannot?" She blushed. "I suppose I can," she muttered. "We're both too young to marry, in any case." "Are we?" I grinned. "I'm older than you are." "I am then," she said defiantly. "And the fairy's gift was horrid. I would hate to have to love someone." "I agree. Love shouldn't be dictated." "Nothing should be dictated!" I answered seriously. "As little as possible." When the orchestra finished, we sat together on the bench and watched the sky darken slowly. Sometimes we talked, and sometimes we were silent. I told her more about hunting for ogres. Then I said I was leaving again in two days to spend a year in the court of Ayortha. "A year!" The future rulers of Ayortha and Kyrria always spent long periods in each other's courts. The practice had preserved peace for two hundred years. I smiled at her dismay. "Father says it's time. I'll write to you. You shall know all my doings. Will you write to me in return?" "Yes, but I'll have no doings, or few. I shall invent, and you'll have to decide what is real." The noise of horses and carnage wheels reached us from below, signifying the end of the celebration. Ella went to a window and looked down. Father and Mum "The fairy's still here," she said. "Standing at the bride's side.” I joined Ella.  I saw Sir Peter standing with Ella’s stepsisters and the fairy stood by Dame Olga’s side. "Perhaps she means to monitor the effects of her gift." "Would she? Do you think so?" "I don't know." I saw her face. "I can tell her to go. She would hardly like a prince for an enemy." "Don't! Let's just watch." After several more guests departed, Lucinda kissed Sir Peter and Dame Olga on the forehead. Then she raised her arms and lifted her head to the twilight sky. She just smiled a [pic 2]dazzling smile -- and vanished. I gasped. Ella sighed, a long release. "We'd better go down," Ella said. "Soon they'll look for me in earnest." There was just enough light to see by. In a few minutes we stood on the landing above the hall. "No one is here," I said. "You need resist temptation no longer." "Only if you slide too." "I'll go first so I can catch you at the bottom." I flew down so incautiously; since I had years of practice in my castle. It was Ella’s turn. I saw her slide as she neared me. I caught her and spun her around. "Again!" I cried. We raced up. Behind her I said, "Wait till you try the banister at home. Here I go." I was off. Ella followed. She was almost to the bottom when the door opened, but I didn’t and couldn’t look at who it was. Ella sailed into my arms, I still couldn’t see who it was, and twirled her as before, until I got halfway round. Then I set her gently on the floor and bowed at Sir Peter and Dame Olga, who seemed to observe everything that happened, stunned along with Ella’s stepsisters, my buttonless doublet flapping. I was laughing so hard I couldn't speak. Sir Peter grinned. Dame Olga smiled uncertainly. Ella’s younger stepsister wore her puzzled frown. The older one glowered. Ella used their distraction to conceal the glass slippers in the folds of my skirt. "Thank you for the honor of your presence," Sir Peter said, giving me time to collect myself. But not time enough. "You have..." Burst of laughter. "...my best wishes for your felicity..." Laughter. "Which is assured...." Peals of laughter. "Forgive me. I'm not laughing..." Laughter. "...at you. Please understand..." I trailed off. He chuckled. Ella laughed helplessly, holding the stair rail for support. After a final awkward bow, I left them. The night before I set off to Ayortha, I wrote in my journal what had happened that day and the day before it. “Ella is avoiding me. Twice I visited her house, only to be told she was out calling. On both days her stepsister Hattie said Ella would return shortly, so I waited for hours, but she never came. When I gave up yesterday, I looked back for a last glimpse of her manor, since I couldn't have a last glimpse of her. But there she was, standing at an upstairs window. I should have returned immediately and insisted on seeing her, but I was too confused. Why was she there? Was she hiding from me? Was she angry? If she was, she should have come into the drawing room and told me. I thought her forthright enough to do so. I resolved to visit again in the evening and demand to see her. But when I got home, Mother had a surprise family party waiting to bid me farewell and I couldn't leave. This morning I would have gone too, but Father was impatient to be off, and there was no delaying him. Perhaps she's embarrassed about sliding down the stair rail and blames me for encouraging her. Perhaps her father and his new wife were displeased. I had wanted to tell her about the afternoon I spent flying down the stair rails at home, never noticing the gradual shredding of my breeches. That would have made her laugh. She makes me laugh so easily, I always wish to return the favor. Instead, I had to listen while Hattie chattered endlessly. I don't know how she managed to pour the words out while smiling so hard, revealing the largest teeth I've ever seen. She must be excellent at cracking nuts. This is unkind of me. Her teeth are on the large side, nothing exceptional. The younger stepsister, Olive, said little, but the little was astonishing. She wanted to know whether people had to give me their wealth if I told them to. When I asked her why I'd want to take my subjects' money, she was surprised "To become richer," she said as though stating the obvious. All this I endured while Ella hid. And now I won't see her again for a year. Ten days after I left Frell, the manservant said that he found a letter directed to the royal family in Ayortha. I started reading the letter.