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

Chapter Four: Ella

I had read through the first and second entries, feeling like as if I was intruding on someone's personal life. Well, I guess I am. I thought to myself. But that didn’t stop me from continuing on. The entries included things about A’s kingdom, and the many different people that she encountered as she went about her daily life. Then, in one entry, she spoke of a man she had met that day when she visited the peasants that lived just outside the castle.

January 3rd

I managed to escape the dreariness of castle life today by sneaking out. It took a lot of effort, as mother wanted me to have a dress fitting today. I asked my mother’s lady's maid if she knew where I could get my hands on a hooded cloak. I do believe she assumed I needed it for my horse riding lessons, as the rain season is now upon us, so she did not ask any questions, only had a cloak made up for me quickly. As soon as that cloak was placed in my hands, I immediately escaped. I snuck down the servant corridors, and then out the kitchen, breathing in the nice, cool spring air. Then I visited the market, hoping to find something that I could purchase for my mother, as an apology gift for when I returned. As I was going through the market, I found the cutest little cart that was selling beautiful and intricate carvings of everything from small animals to large buildings, and all of them made out of the most gorgeous Honduran Mahogany. I was picking them up and studying them, when suddenly a young man about my own age walked up to the cart. Do you like any of them? He asked me. I asked him if he had made them, and he said yes. It was almost more than I could imagine! A young man who not only looks good, but also works hard. I pointed out a group of animals that I was particularly interested in, and he agreed that they were good choices. I bought them from him, and then decided that I had been gone long enough. He asked if I needed help carrying them, but I told him no, even though the carvings were heavy. I didn’t want him to know that I was the princess, because no one had ever spoken with me so casually before. Everyone who knows that I am a princess treats me like I am a porcelain doll, something that should be up on a shelf, safe and away from anything and everything that could harm it. Because of that, it is probably a good thing that father does not know that I am taking sword lessons. He would probably lock me up in my room if he knew. Anyways, that is all for now. I just hope that I meet that young man again. There is something so intriguing about him.

After reading this entry, I felt sure that my father must have been in acquaintance with the young man that A met. From all my mother had told me, my father had also had a stall where he sold his creations in a market just outside the castle, and my mother told me that that was where she had met him the first time, at my father’s stall. But even though I refused to believe that the man could be anything more than an acquaintance of my father’s, I was still getting the odd feeling that there was something that I was missing.

January 20th

When I got back to the castle after my escape, I found out that mother had known the entire time. And although she was upset with me, she was slightly less so after I presented the wooden animals that I bought from the cart in the market. I told her all about the handsome young man who carved such beautiful things, and after examining the animals that I had given to her, she immediately wanted to meet him herself. When he arrived to court the following morning, I found out that his name is Benjamin Harrington. Isn’t that just a lovely name?

At that, I stopped reading again. I now had even more questions than answers. How was it that the young man from A’s diary not only had the same name as my father, but also the same profession? And I still did not know who A was. At this point, I knew for sure that A was a princess, and at some point must have become queen, because in the note in the front of the diary, she refers to her daughter as ‘princess’. But that was about all I knew, and I wasn’t getting any further. Suddenly I heard what sounded like a gunshot, and jerked upright from my reading position, looking around. Was there someone in the woods hunting wildlife? Was it someone  Alfred had sent after me, seeing as I had been gone so long?

I didn’t know but kept looking around. As I was glancing around, I noticed something directly across from me, just beyond the clearing. It was something green and brown in coloring. Then I realized that it was a person, standing as still as a statue. What was this person doing, standing there just staring at me? Was it a thief, searching for something to steal, or was it someone from one of the adjoining properties? I waited to see if they would do something, and finally, they did. The person entered the clearing and I saw that it was a young man who looked to be close to the same age as myself. He was tall, with wide shoulders and an athletic build.

He had brown-blonde hair, piercing blue eyes and when he grinned nervously at me, I saw that he had perfect teeth. He wore a green shirt, and brown pants, as I had been able to make out before he stepped into the clearing. He stood there, shifting from foot to foot for a minute or two before he said something.

“Um… Hello…” I sighed and closed the cover to A’s diary before I answered him.

“Hello to you too. Do you own this part of the property? I only just recently moved into Alfred's mansion, after he married my mother, so I don’t really know the property lines very well.” He gave me an odd look before saying,

“I didn’t know that Sir Alfred had remarried. I was only aware of him and his two daughters, although I have never actually met any of them,” He told me. “Yeah, they are… Well, they have rough exteriors, but I am sure that they really are good people on the inside.,” I answered.

He seemed unsure of what to say to that, so just answered my previous question,

“Well, anyways, this is part of my family's property, although I am the only person who knows about it so far. I was hoping to keep it that way, but I guess nothing stays the same forever.” I hurriedly stood and picked up the tomes that I had borrowed from the library.

“Well, I am truly sorry for trespassing. I promise that it won’t happen again.” I told him.

“Oh, no, please don’t feel like you can never come back again just because of me. It will be nice to have company here with someone so beautiful.” As soon as he said that, he blushed, and I could tell that he felt embarrassed by what he had said.

“Well, thank you for the invitation. I might just take you up on it, and come here more often.” He smiled at my words before he groaned and smacked himself in the face.

I raised my eyebrows at him, and he explained.

“My mother would be devastated if she knew that I had spoken with someone this long without introducing myself. Here, let me start over…” He spun around and stayed facing away from me for a moment before turning back around and walking right up to me, holding out his hand, “Greetings, fair maiden of the Weeping Willow Hideaway. I am Caspian, the ruler of these fair woods, and all that lies within.” he took one of my hands and kissed it lightly before backing up a step and bowing deeply before righting himself. At that point, I was laughing so hard that I could barely breathe. “Now your turn!” He said. Still laughing, I set down the tomes and then curtsied before saying,

“And I, good sir, am Ella, queen of the ‘Weeping Willow Hideaway’, at your service, your highness.”

At that point, he too was laughing. When we finally calmed ourselves, we just stood there, smiling at one another. Our trance was broken when I heard Alfred bellowing at me from his mansion to come back.

“Oh no, I completely lost track of time! I have to be going now, Caspian, but I dearly hope that we might see each other again soon,” I told him. He answered much the same, and we parted ways. I picked the tomes off the ground again, and hurried back the way I had come, hoping that Alfrid wouldn’t question me too much if he saw me coming into the mansion with the tomes.