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

Chapter Seventeen: Ella

More than two hours later, I finally arrived at the castle and was greeted by none other than Caspian himself.

“What are you doing here?” He asked cheerfully, but his smile faded when he saw that I had been crying. I held the letter out to him.

“I can't go back to the mansion,” I said. His face had turned grim as he read the letter, and he quietly agreed.

“My parents need to see this. Please, come in.” He guided me inside, through the castle and into the royal living quarters. When we arrived at the office of the king, Caspian knocked quietly, then walked inside. I followed him and saw that the king and queen were there, chatting about something.

“Hello, son. Who is this?” The king asked.

“This is Ella, the maiden that I have chosen for my bride,” His mother’s face lit up at that, but before she could speak, Caspian continued,

“But we do not have time to chat about my marital status right now. Mother, father, you need to read this. It has some disturbing news about Sir Alfred.” Caspian handed my letter over to his parents. They read it together, and after several minutes, the king finally spoke.

“Sir Alfred has committed a grave injustice indeed, Princess Ella, and it shall be remedied immediately. Is there anything else we may do for you?” He asked.

“Well, I suppose that my grandparents are probably not aware of the death of their only child. Are you on friendly terms with Aestoria?” I asked.

“We are indeed. I will send a messenger right away. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, both of you.” And with that, I was escorted to a guest bedroom, where I was bathed, and given a real dress. After freshening up, I lay down on my bed, and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how things would go from here. Only a few minutes later, though, I dropped off to sleep and did not awake again till the next morning.

For awhile, it felt like I was in a dream. I wore clean, fresh clothing every day, and I had a lady's maid who styled my hair for me. I ate alone for breakfast’ and lunches, but had dinner with Caspian and his parents every night. On one such evening, the king finally brought up the subject that I had been avoiding for a long time.

“Well, Alfred and his daughters have been banished. I wish that there was a lighter penalty for Alfrid’s two girls, but the one girl, Alexa I think it was, made it known that Alfred often spoke to them about his devious plan, and that they did nothing to report him. I don’t blame them, they were probably scared of his reaction to that, but the law is the law.” He told me. I was barely able to swallow the bite that I had been chewing, so I just nodded.

“I have also heard back from your grandparents, just today actually, and they would like to come here to meet you. What do you say to that?” He asked me.

“I would really like to meet them, your highness.” I told him. He nodded to himself.

“Well, I will arrange for them to come in two weeks. That should give them enough time to pack before they come. That will also give you time to continue getting used to your new life.” He told me. I agreed, and was thankful that he had said it would be a few weeks. I had enjoyed life in the castle, but it could get wearing after awhile. Thankfully, Caspian had been really supportive to me, and was constantly encouraging me as I finally had a chance to live for myself. Things had definitely changed for the better, though.