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Ella ran a fast as she could through the palace gardens, back up the steps, weaving past the dancers and onlookers in the ballroom and up the grand staircase before coming to an abrupt halt as she stumbled into the king.
“Oh, Your Majesty,” she lowered into a deep curtsey, “I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, think nothing of it my dear,” replied the King.
Ella could not believe her luck - getting to see Kit again only to find out that he’s the prince and then to run into his father, the King! She started to make her exit, the ever persistent echo of midnight reminding her that her time for the night was ever so limited but, then again, so was the King’s according to Kit. With a burst of courage, she turned around and faced the King.
“I wanted to say, Your Majesty,” she said breathlessly, although whether it was from the running, excitement or nerves was hard to say, “your son Kit is the most lovely person I’ve ever met. So good and brave.” She paused and took a few quick breaths, trying to blink away the spots that flittered across her vision like little butterflies. “I hope you know how much he loves you.” Oh how she hoped that the king didn’t hear her heart racing out of her chest. “Ex-excuse me.” Ella gathered up her skirts and went to turn away from the monarch but she couldn’t help but notice the hazy butterflies growing bigger as she hurried to catch her breath.
The king looked at Ella in wonder - he could see how his son had fallen smitten by this lovely creature, not only in looks but in the way in which she spoke. He was about to stop her retreat and inquire about her identity when he saw her eyes lose their focus and her limbs lose their strength. He drew near, catching her as she fell to the floor.
Kit ran up the grand staircase, reaching the summit just as his father was gently laying her down. “Father!” Kit quickly knelt next to her and gently lifted her head to rest on his lap. “What happened?”
“She fainted. Where is her escort, she seemed in a rush to leave.”
“I don’t know who her escort is, she never had a chance to reveal where she’s from.”
“Well then…let us first deal with the immediate issue.” The king turned to one of the footmen. “Send for Doctor Jennings and tell him to come to the blue room.” Turning back to Kit he said, “Will I be able to persuade you to let the Captain carry her there?”
“If it’s because you think I cannot do so then I’d be insulted Father,” quipped Kit with a smirk before his face shifted back to a more serious look. “And if it’s for propriety's sake then you know I will refuse.”
“And if I commanded you?” Kit said nothing, but his eyes challenged the King to disagree with him. Were it anyone but his boy, the display of disobedience wouldn’t stand; but the king gave a soft smile and motioned with his head. “Come on then, let’s get her out of this stuffy ballroom.”
*DING*
Ella felt an odd feeling of weightlessness. ‘Perhaps this is how butterflies feel when they’re flying,’ she thought.
*DING*
She blinked rapidly as she fought to open her eyes, realizing that she was moving without any effort on her part.
*DING*
Her eyes opened to see familiar silver embroidery threading from ice blue to snow white. “Kit?”
*DING*
“You’re awake,” breathed Kit, “thank goodness. You fainted in the ballroom.”
*DING*
Ella’s eyes widened. “Oh no…” She must have fainted right after her brief conversation with the king.
*DING*
“Please, I’m all right, I must leave though.” She struggled to find a way out of the prince’s arms, but she found her strength was slow in returning.
*DING*
Kit held on even tighter. “Don’t worry, it’s alright, you can leave once you take some time to rest and catch your breath.”
*DING*
“No, you don’t understand, I must leave now.”
*DING*
Kit swept into the blue room and quickly set her down on the bed. He knelt before her and took her hands in his, firmly, yet gently, pressing down to prevent her from bolting from the room. “Please, do not be alarmed, we are just concerned for your health.”
*DING*
“I am perfectly well, I promise you---”
“Then I beg forgiveness for this intrusion,” interjected Kit, “and insist that you at least let the doctor look you over. For my own peace of mind.”
*DING*
“I’m sorry,” whispered Ella, knowing that even if she were to escape at this point she wouldn’t have enough time to leave the palace grounds let alone this room, “please forgive me.”
“I don’t understand.”
*DING*
The experience of a spell being broken was quite unlike the one during which the spell was cast. With the last echo of the last bell the blue gown burst into tiny butterflies and left Ella in her mother’s pink gown, rips des les Tremaines and all. The only reminders that magic had occurred were the glass slippers that still resided on her feet and the fact that Ella was sitting in the presence of the royal family in the palace. Ella caught a glimpse of her appearance in one of the many looking glasses that littered the room and quickly drew her hands out of the princes now lax grip. “I’m so sorry, I should go.” Ella stood up and took a step towards the door only to see the king standing before her.
“There’s no need to rush my dear,” he said, “I can see that there must be quite a story behind those shoes and all that accompanied them; would you be so kind as to grace us with it as we wait for the doctor to arrive?” He took her gently by the elbow and led her to sit back down on the bed. “Why don’t you start with who you are and who your family is.”
“I…” Ella looked down at her hands, the calluses and imperfections so glaringly obvious surrounded by royalty and the standards of royalty. A hand reached out to cover hers and Ella looked up to see Kit looking at her, still with wonder reflecting in his crystal eyes only this time with a bit of confusion coloring the edges. Ella took a deep breath. ‘Have courage Ella.’ “I am sorry if you mistook me as a princess, Your Majesties. My name is Ella, I have no parents and the only people who I’d be able to call family is the Lady Tremaine and her daughters. They are my stepmother and stepsisters.”
“Yet you did not arrive with them?”
“They…” ‘And be kind.’ “...they wished to spare me the embarrassment of arriving in a ruined dress,” she whispered.
The king continued to softly ask Ella questions as Kit looked on quietly. He remembered the Tremaines, the mother in some high fashion gown and the daughters in their unforgettable attire, and yet here she was in what might have been a wonderful dress at one time, now in tatters, hanging off of Ella’s thin frame. How could they afford their gowns and not another for Ella? The stark difference in appearance - the sisters well-rounded in nourishment and Ella alarmingly light- could not be shaken from his mind. Kit did not make a habit of lifting pretty women, but he felt as if he carried more dress than girl from the ballroom.
“They treat me as well as they are able.” She seemed to say those words so earnestly. His hand tightened over Ella’s and she turned to look at him questioningly when the door opened and the Doctor walked in.
“Ah, Jennings,” welcomed the king, “I have a patient for you.”
“Not you I hope, Your Majesty.”
“Not at all, Jennings, not at all. This young lady fainted and my son and I would be greatly reassured if you took a look at her.”
“There really is no need, Your Majesty, Your Highness,” protested Ella.
“Please,” Kit spoke up for the first time in a while, “for at least my peace of mind.” He stood and bowed to her and the doctor. “We’ll be waiting outside if you need anything.”
“I must say,” said his father as they left the room, “your choice of lady is not dull in any sense of the word.” The king paused and looked at his son closely. “What’s wrong my boy?”
Kit gently leaned his head against the door after shutting it closed. “How can she still be so good, so kind, so trusting of the world after enduring living as a servant in her own home?...That is more magical than her dress changing in front of my eyes. I want her to be away from that life.”
“Kit,” the king placed his hand on the prince’s shoulder, “she is but a common girl, a beauty and an intriguing one but a commoner nonetheless. You are a prince. You must marry a princess, that’s the way it’s done. It is not just about what you want but what the kingdom needs.”
Kit smirked. “Just because it’s what’s done doesn’t mean it’s what should be done.” He sobered his features and looked at the king directly. “And I would like to marry for love, as you married mother. Perhaps it’s selfish for me to chase my desires but I also believe that we need not look past our borders for strength Father. We can find it in our own kingdom for we need only to have courage and be kind.”
The door opened and Doctor Jennings walked out and gently closed the door behind him. “She will be fine, however she is alarmingly malnourished. With Your Majesty’s permission, I would have her rest and be given something substantial to eat.”
“Just inform the servants of whatever she needs Jennings,” said Kit.
“Then, with Your Majesty’s leave, I will get to work,” said the doctor with a bow. “Perhaps you could wait until a ladies’ maid comes to make her more comfortable before going in to see her.”
The royal pair nodded their heads and the doctor went with a servant to disperse his instructions.
Mary entered the blue room, curious as to who this princess must be to be waited on by the king and prince outside her door. She was surprised to see a young woman in a tattered pink dress resting against the headboard of the bed. Mary placed the bowl of soup on the side table and draped the simple white gown she was instructed to bring, over the back of a nearby chair. “Excuse me, Miss…” she said softly, trying to gently wake her up.
Ella opened her eyes and drew in a short breath when she saw the maid. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to drift off.”
“Not at all Miss,” reassured Mary. “I’m just here to help you change into something to rest in.”
Ella’s eyes widened. “Oh, you mustn’t, there really is no need…”
“But the prince and king insist, Miss…”
“Ella, my name is Ella. And you are…?”
“My name is Mary, Miss Ella, and truly it is no trouble.” Mary sat down next to Ella and gently brushed away her blonde curls in order to start unlacing the corset which didn’t seem to be helping her with breathing evenly. After taking off everything other than her shift, Mary went to retrieve the nightgown from the chair. “I hope you don’t mind, Miss Ella, I know it’s quite simple.”
“Why would I mind? It’s a lovely gown.”
Mary gave a small smile. “Even if it’s nothing but a servant’s spare?”
Ella responded with a smile of her own. “Even better, for kindness makes it everything.”
Mary blinked at Ella, startled, before giving her a genuine smile, an interesting princess indeed. “Quite so…” After assisting Ella into the nightgown, Mary placed the tray of soup on her lap and settled behind her, hairbrush in hand. She gently brushed through Ella’s golden curls, gently working through the knots and tangles, and was reminded of the times that she would brush her younger sisters’ hair, singing nursery rhymes and lullabies. Softly, she began to hum, hoping to relax her temporary mistress. “Mmmm hmm hmm hmmm, dilly dilly, mmmm hmm hmm hmmm. Mmmm hmm hmm hmmm, dilly dilly, mmmm hmm hmm hmmm. Lavender blue, dilly dilly, lavenders green. If you are King, dilly dilly, I will be queen.”
Ella’s grip on the spoon tightened, tears welling up in her eyes as the maid brushed her hair. How long it had been since she had someone singing to her as they brushed her hair.
Mary noticed Ella’s shoulders trembling and paused in her task. “Miss Ella? Are you alright?” She set down the brush and resituated herself to look at her mistress’s face, startled by the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “What’s wrong? Is something ailing you?”
Ella hurriedly shook her head. “I was just reminded of my mother,” she murmured softly, “she used to sing that to me all the time. I didn’t realize others knew of it.”
“It was my sisters and my favorite lullaby. I’m sorry if it upset you.”
“Not at all,” reassured Ella. “You have a wonderful voice.”
Mary continued with her previous task, preparing Miss Ella’s hair for sleep and keeping a close eye as her charge slowly drank her soup.
Once she was satisfied that her mistress was comfortably situated and well fed, Mary left the chamber, curtseying to the prince who still waited in the hall. He bowed his head in response before entering the room and was greeted with the sight of Ella - oh to finally know her name! - lying peacefully on the bed, dressed in white with blonde hair braided and draped over her shoulder. He pulled a chair to her bedside and gently lifted one of her hands and held it in his, his fingers tracing the scars and calluses that wanted to shout the stories of their mistress; his eyebrows knitting together as he took in just how frail and tiny her fingers looked when resting in his palm. His eyes traveled up her arm, drawn to the sharpness of her shoulders before continuing to the ridges of her cheekbones. Kit was glad to see that her face had regained a more healthy color but he could not help the fury that built in him at the thought of what must have happened for Ella to reach this state. Pressing a kiss to her fingertips, he settled in his chair, content to watch over her until she awoke and every moment afterwards.