Lady of Lies

Chapter 6

"Hello, Ellia," he said to Ellia, his eyes shocked and his mouth still in that familiar grin. "Long time, no see."

"No," she repeated, as she turned on my heel and rushed out the door. "I'm- I'm sorry- I can't." Queen Regina walked after Ellia, and met her in the hallway. She kept walking, and eventually turned a corner and sank to the floor.

"What do you mean, you can't? Can't what?" she asked, a strange expression on her face. Ellia couldn't tell if it was concern, or something else.

"I can't do anything. Not with him!"

"Why? You could do much worse."

"Let's just say... we have a history." Ellia remembered the last time they had spoken as her lip trembled. It still hurt.

"Well, you're going to have a future, too. I don't care about whatever happened in the past, he is the future king. You are lucky to be with him. He's the most eligible man in the kingdom, with girls lining up to marry him. He will be a great king, and you will put your differences aside and deal with him. Do you understand?" The queen's glare looked as if it could cut through diamonds.

Ellia had never seen this side of the queen. Apparently she wasn't as bubbly as she seemed. "Yes, Your Highness."

"Good," Regina sniffed, satisfied. "Now, you are going to go get ready for dinner, where you will apologize and say how horrible your behavior was." And off they went, back to the salon, to get dressed up for the last person in the world Ellia wanted to dress up for.

~~~

"Are you ready, miss?" a servant asked her as Ellia glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Queen Regina had had quite a hard time getting Ellia to get dressed. Every dress she suggested Ellia immediately shot down with, "I am not wearing that." Finally, they had settled on a very simple gown  that was royal blue, sleeveless, an had a heart-shaped neckline of jewels.

"Yes, let's go." They walked down the hall, Ellia fuming in silence, to where the queen met up with them.

"Ellia, dear, you look gorgeous!" the queen said as they walked to the dining room, trying to make up for how harsh she was earlier. But Ellia just scowled, saying nothing. Deciding that that tactic wasn't going to work, the queen said more strict, "Now remember what you're going to say."

"I know, I know, I'm going to apologize and say what a mistake I made. We'll all know it's not true," she added under her breath.

"What was that, Ellia?" Regina asked.

"Nothing," she replied.

"That's what I thought." They walked on in silence until they reached the huge dining room. They stood out in the hall, listening to the sound of voices chattering inside, until the same voice as earlier announced, "Introducing Queen Regina and Princess Ellia."

The two walked in, and all voices stopped. Simultaneously, everyone rose from their chairs and bowed. Ellia did a quick glance across the room, and realized with relief that he wasn't there yet. The king, however, was there sitting at the head of the main table. On one side of him was an empty chair, and on the other side was a man Ellia knew too well.

"Ah, there you two are!" the king exclaimed. "We were just talking about you. Here, Regina, come sit by me. Ellia, you sit over there," he added, pointing to the chair at the end of the table.

"Yes, Your Highness," Ellia said with a quick bow. She sat down at the end of the table, next to an empty chair, right as the voice started to speak again.