Ella And The Prince (The Diary series, Book 1)

Chapter Two: Ella

Chapter two: Ella

I awoke early the next morning with something running through my head. How had my mother met Alfred? I knew that my mother corresponded regularly with her friends, but never once had I seen a letter come from Alfred. And since I had only taken her to town about once every six months, it seemed unlikely that they had been courting for some time before my mother mentioned something. I knew that Alfred was cruel, but was he cruel enough to force my mother to marry him? And if he did, what did we have that he was so interested in?

"There is a mystery here for sure!" I told myself, and with a new motive to get me going, I quickly got up and dressed before hurrying downstairs. My aim: find out more about my family line.

Obviously, there was something about my mother and I that Alfred wanted, but what was it? My mother had never spoken overly much about anyone in our extended family except my father, so I didn't know my lineage very well. I wandered the halls for a while, wondering where to get started when I suddenly found my parent's room, where they were discussing something. It sounded important, so I tiptoed up to the door, and listened at the keyhole. Alfred was talking.

"But my daughters are used to a life of leisure, and your daughter is used to work. And besides, it will only be until our hired help arrives. It only makes sense, with your health the way it is, and I promise that we won't overwork her." He was saying.

After a few moments, my mother heaved a great sigh, then quietly agreed. So, Alfred must not really need me for whatever it is that he is plotting, but that doesn't make any sense. What does he want from my mother? I asked myself. I walked on past their room, wondering how I would ever find out the answer, when suddenly I got an idea. I quickly found Alexa.

"Do you know where I could find the closest library?" I asked her. "Ew, why would you want to go to a library? All they have there are... Books!" She shuddered in revulsion, and I rolled my eyes. "It's for personal reasons, and if you don't tell me, I will make you come with me," I told her, using her fear of books against her.

She took a step away from me as if she actually believed that I might drag her off to a library.

"It is two miles to the east, following the main road." She told me quickly before hurrying off. I left the mansion to go to the library then, wondering and hoping if I would be able to find something about my mother's lineage. As I walked along the main road, I whistled a song to myself, and waved at the passing farmers and other people that I met along the way. When I arrived in town an hour later, I quickly made my way to the library, trying to ignore the market stalls with abundances of wonderful foods and other items from around the world.

"Do you know where I may find your library?" I asked an old woman who sat outside her house, knitting socks. "Yes, my dear, you are quite close! Just continue the way that you are going, and at the end of the street, turn left." She told me. I thanked her, then continued walking. I found the library shortly after that and went inside. What I saw amazed me. There were three floors of bookcases, all filled to brimming with books of every possible shape, size, and color.

"May I help you?" An older gentleman asked. "I don't know. Do you have any books that track lineage or family lines?" I asked him. "I believe we do... Right this way, I think." He said, leading me farther into the library.

Twenty minutes later, I exited the library loaded down with six tomes. I wanted to be able to read through the large books without Alfred or my step-sisters seeing them, and then questioning me, so when I got close to the mansion, I stepped off the main road and began weaving through the trees that grew on a large portion of Alfred's property, hoping to find somewhere to quietly read. After about an hour, my arms were close to giving out under the weight of the books, and I was about to give up my search for the 'perfect' place to read when suddenly I came upon a small clearing of sorts. I looked around taking in the delicate beauty of the clearing. There were many different varieties of trees, and from where I had entered the clearing, I was standing directly beneath a tall, old Weeping Willow.

The little flowers at the edge of the pond clearing stood like little soldiers on guard, as if they were keeping the rest of the world at bay. In the clear water of the pond, little goldfish swam around, and chased each other back and forth, almost the same way that young children do. I'm not sure how long I stood, just gazing at it all, but finally, I sat down beneath the weeping willow to begin my search for answers to the mystery concerning my mother and Alfred. I set the tomes down beside me and opened the front cover of the top book. Just inside the cover, almost faded enough to make you think it was just an ink stain, was a note, written in very small, squiggly handwriting, and it read...

To my dear daughter, Princess Elizabeth Alexandra on the day of her first birthday:

This world is full of hurting people, but all it takes is someone as kind and
loving as you to give someone hope. Please remember that. I love you very much, my precious Ella.

~A

After reading the note, I carefully shut the cover. Who was this Princess Elizabeth, also called Ella? And who was A? I didn't think that the note was a reference to myself, as many girls were called Ella for short of... Well, just about anything. And I had asked my mother when I was younger if I was called Ella as a nickname. She didn't answer me, so I took it as a no, and I still believed that I was just plain Ella. But still, this was so mysterious. I opened the book again and started flipping through, but quickly realized that this wasn't a book tracing someone's lineage... This was a diary.