Ever After: A Cinderello Story

Ever After: Part III - Catalonia-

The magnificent banners floated in the calm winds above Catalonia. Daniel ran wildly up the road, but stopped a little bit before the entrance to gasp at the sight of the castle. The white marble walls reflected the afternoon sun and the pale blue towers stretched far into the sky. It was easily the loveliest place she had ever seen. Daniel drew in his breath and thought for a moment before moving onward. Remember that you are nobility. You do not run. You must float to the gates. He raised his chin and walked gracefully to the magnificent front gates. Surrounding the gates was a group of peasants that were being fought off by the two castle guards. The guards noticed him and he felt fear strangle her throat. They noted him, then motioned the peasants to stand aside.
"Stand aside for the gentleman! Move!" Before she knew it, Daniel was inside Catalonia. He had never realized how utterly gorgeous the chateau was until this moment. He stood on the white, gravel path that lay between two perfectly manicured gardens. Ahead of him was the actual entrance to the castle, draped with the royal banner.

The gardens and the path were filled with gorgeously dressed people talking, laughing and just enjoying themselves.
Suddenly, Daniel found her eyes alight on a sight he knew he had to see.
Marcia was being forced into a wagon filled with other servants bound for the Americas. Daniel took a deep breath. "God give me strength."
He hurried down and intercepted the wagon. He took hold of the horse's reigns so the driver was forced to stop. He held up the bag of coins and shouted to the wagon master, sitting beside the driver. "That woman is my servant and I am here to pay the debt against her." His voice was confident and haughty and he prayed that Marcia wouldn't give her away; his face was utterly confounded.

The wagon master gave him a toothless smile. "Too late." He shook his head. "Bought and paid for."
Daniel saw the recognition appear on Marcia's face and he tried to beg him with his eyes to keep quiet. He was sure he realized what she was trying to do. He mustered his haughtiest voice. "I can pay you twenty gold francs."
The wagon master let out a bellow of laughter. "Maestro, you can have ME for twenty gold francs!" He gestured to the driver. "Drive on!"
Daniel's knees were shaking. He did not believe he had the money and he absolutely had to get Marcia back to the Manor. He held the horse's reigns harder. "I demand that you release her at once or I'll . . .I'll take this matter to the queen!"
The wagon master was now annoyed. "The queen's the one who sold her. She's now the property of Cartier."
This was far too much for Daniel to bear; hearing her friend called property.
"He's not property at all, you ill-mannered tub of guts!" The entire crowd gasped and Daniel realized he had an audience. He continued, nonetheless. "Do you honestly think it right to chain people like chattel? I demand that you release her at once!"

The wagon master lost his temper. "Get out of my way!" He fell silent as a deep, baritone voice came out of the crowd.
"You dare raise your voice to a man, señor?" Daniel looked to see who his savioress was and quickly lowered his head. His heart was pounding so hard he was sure it could be heard from the towers.
Henriqua had been riding up to Catalonia surrounded by guards, just in case she tried to run away again. As she reached the main gate, she heard shouting from below. She had motioned for Captain Laura to follow her as they rode down there. She found herself seeing an extraordinarily lovely boy arguing with one of the wagon masters that was in charge of sending men to the Americas. The boy looked like a courtier, with his white- and-gold brocaded doublet and jeweled hat. Henriqua found that he was furious when the wagon master screamed at him. She interfered and saw the boy look down, embarrassed. The wagon master was beside himself.