Free Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine Page A

you have chosen to follow me are stout fellows and bear the command of a stripling with good humor. My mother worries, but I tell her they will not let harm befall me.
    In truth, Father, I am so stirred up by the thought of my first military duty — even if it is only reviewing border troops — that I hardly hear my good mother. Who knows? Perhaps the ogres will raid and there will be a skirmish. I do not fear injury, only that I may not acquit myself well._
    Skirmishes with ogres! How could there not be danger?
    Char continued to describe the visit of a trade delegation and the same ball that Dame Olga had attended, although he didn’t mention what he had worn.
    Near the bottom of the page, my name appeared.
    I am training a centaur colt for a lass I know. Her mother was the late Lady Eleanor. I admire the daughter, Ella, but she has gone to finishing school, where I fear she will be made less admirable. What do they teach in such places? Sewing and curtsying? It is a great distance to go to learn such paltry tricks.
    Would he stop liking me now that I was no longer clumsy? I had never enjoyed being a small elephant and hadn’t mourned the loss till now.
    Would he even be alive to stop liking me, or would he be an ogre’s lunch?
    The next page was a letter from Father to his bailiff.
    _Dear James,
    The post coach comes rarely to the elves’ Forest, but it came today. I am still with the greenies. The trading has been disappointing. They have not so much as showed me an Agulen no matter what I bring out to tempt them. Their chief trader, Slannen, knows little about bargaining. He gave me three vases in exchange for a gnomish copper stewpot, and the same for a simple wooden flute._
    Below were three pages of trades and sales. He closed with his intentions.
    I am making for Uaaxee’s farm. You may remember Uaaxee, the giantess who entrusted her turnip harvest to me last year. On October 15, she will marry off her daughter and I shall be there. I should like to see a giant’s wedding. The ritual is said to be peculiar. Moreover, several fairies are likely to be present. They say hardly a wedding or birth takes place without at least one in attendance. If I can persuade a few to reveal themseves, I may be able to pick up some fairy-made trifles.
    I swallowed. My mouth had gone dry. Mandy had never told me that fairies liked to go to weddings and births. But she and Lucinda had both been present when I was born.
    Perhaps Lucinda would go to the giants. It was the first time I’d ever known a definite place where she might be — where I might be too, if I could get there. She might even be in a generous frame of mind, especially if she had just cast a well-meant, horrible spell. Perhaps she’d be so pleased that she’d release me from mine if I begged her to.
    I hadn’t promised Father I would stay at finishing school, only that I would go. I could leave whenever I wanted. And by leaving, I’d never have to take another order from Hattie. Areida would still think I was her friend. And if I succeeded with Lucinda, I still could be.
    How late was it? How much of the night was left for travel? I stood up, then sat down again. How far was Uaaxee’s farm? The wedding was less than two weeks off Could I get there in time?
    Frantically, I riffled the pages of my book, hoping to be vouchsafed a map. There. But it was the same one I’d looked at in the carriage on the way to finishing school — of Frell, and no use to me now.
    No matter. I’d get directions somehow.
    In five minutes, my carpetbag was packed with a few essentials: Tonic, my magic book, my dictionary, a shawl, and little else. After a long look at Areida’s sleeping form, I left.
    I paused before the door to the Daisy Room, then went in. With quiet steps, I approached Hattie’s bed. She frowned in her sleep and mumbled. I understood only one word: “royal.”
    Her wig was askew. Neat-fingered as I had become, I was able to lift it off without waking her.