In the light of the moon, Ella could see the Prince's jaw clench and unclench as he lifted his sister to mount his favorite horse, White.
Ella wished she could reach out to touch him and say everything will be okay but the Prince was out of bounds to her. He was like a tantalizing treasure that was forbidden.
Why was she when thinking about him when she had several critical things to ponder over. Ben, that cursed step-father of hers, Courtney, Star, Emerald, Theresa, Mabel... What would Brian do now? Hog the throne all to himself? Obviously that's what he wanted, the sick bastard.
Eric chuckled beside her. "I never knew you could whip up a curse word."
Ella pursed her lips, watching him lead out another horse. "I'm sorry for my inappropriate words."
Prince Eric saddled the horse for Ella. "I'm not complaining in the least."
Ella was glad he didn't judge her.
"May I ask where we're going, brother?" Charity asked, peering down at her brother, holding White's bridle and steadying the fidgety horse.
"I'll come up with a plan. For now let's focus on getting out of here." Eric extended his hand out to help Ella. She stared at his pale white hands and up at his face.
"I think I can manage on my own, thanks." She climbed onto the horse and held the bridle waiting for Eric to climb behind his sister.
Ella covered her hair with the cloak Charity lended her. One glance at Eric and he nodded. It was time to leave.
~~~~~~~~•••~~~~~~~~
The three young people rode in silence until they had put a reasonable distance between them and the castle. It was approaching the early hours of morning when they alighted from their horses and allowed the animals drink from the brook they stopped at.
"You okay?" Eric asked, observing the way Ella plopped down on the protruding root of a tree.
"Yes, I'm perfectly okay."
Charity yawned, eyeing her brother and positioning herself beside Ella. "So, have you any concrete plans in mind." She asked her brother. He just finished tying the horses to tree trunks and then he joined their seating position.
Even if Princess Charity acted as a wall between the two of them, Ella couldn't deny the fluttery feeling emanating from seating close to a Prince. A very handsome one at that. Now wasn't the time for stupid feelings. Ella shoved her thoughts away.
"I've decided that we should go to Arthur's." Prince Eric glanced at Ella over his sister's shoulder and noticed the cloud of confusion on her face. "Arthur's my best friend." He added for Ella's sake.
Ella nodded. Any place away from the palace is welcome for now.
"Are we going to talk about what happened?" Charity demanded.
Typical Charity, always straight to business. Ella noted. She had hoped discussion about the unfortunate attack would be deferred to later.
"If only I had believed Ella, all this wouldn't have happened." Prince Eric cradled his head in his hands, his fair locks falling over his eyes as he stared down at the brown earth.
Charity laid a hand on his shoulder. "What do you mean?" Then her eyes trailed to Ella who averted her gaze expecting Eric to reply.
"Brian was responsible for the attack. Ella warned me but I refused to listen."
Charity's gaze strayed to Ella again. "I've always had a strong dislike for Courtney, now I know why."
"And Ella's her step-sister." Eric added.
The princess blinked and gaped at Ella.
Ella chuckled. "You know it's not proper to gape."
Charity rolled her eyes. "To hell with blasted propriety." She spat, still seething with hatred for Brian's craftiness in infiltrating their lives with Courtney.
"Ria," Prince Eric chided his sister.
"Yeah, whatever. Acting like the mature brother aren't you?"
Prince Eric chuckled and touched his sister's hair, a habit of his that always irritated her. Charity swatted his hand away and pulled at his own hair.
Ella watched the siblings play. She was happy that despite the tension, they still had time to laugh. But on the inside she was wishing she had a sibling. Someone to share all her secrets to.
"See, you've scared Ella." Charity said, watching how the initial lonely look on Ella's face cleared away to be replaced by a blush.
Soon enough, they completed the second lap of the journey to Arthur's place in Charlesbury.
"Wow, this is lovely." Ella said, taking in the structure of the house they were at.
"Tell that to Arthur." Prince Eric mumbled under his breath earning a queer look from Princess Charity before they alighted from their horses.
Two servants spotted them and hurried over bowing when they were closer.
"Your highnesses. Lord Arthur said we should let you in at once."
Lord? Ella questioned.
Princess Charity offered a sweet smile. "Thank you Callil, Sam."
Some other servant led the horses to the stables while Callil and Sam showed them in.
Ella was stunned at the majesty of the interior of the house. True it befitted a Lord. A Lord. She was in the house of a Lord.
"Where's Arthur? Tell him that I'll drag him down myself if he doesn't appear right away." Princess Charity spoke to Callil who only chuckled.
"Still the violent Princess are you?"
Ella's head whipped in the direction of the foreign voice. There she saw a handsome young man descend from the golden spiral stairway.
Courtney would possibly have a fit if she were here. Not that Ella fancied him a bit but then, the effect, the aura he transmitted was too intense to be ignored.
"Your highnesses, I'm pleased to have in my abode this fair morning." Arthur said with a low bow, his eyes never leaving Ella.
"Quit the formality, Arthur." Prince Eric said, amusement dripping in his eyes and words. When he noticed how Arthur's eyes never left Ella, he frowned a bit.
"Meet Ella, a... well someone special. Ella meet Lord Arthur, my childhood best friend."
Warmth surged into Ella's body at Eric's stealthy manoeuvring of her personality. She caught Princess Charity smirking at her while the two friends conversed.
"Ella, I'm pleased to meet you." Arthur reached out for her hand and kissed the top of it.
"I'm pleased to meet you too, Lord Arthur." Ella curtseyed.
Arthur smiled. "It's Arthur. Come along with me. I sense you have news." He turned around and urged them to follow him into a large sitting space.
"Tell me what happened." Arthur demanded as soon as they were comfortably seated.
"The palace was invaded."
Every trace of humor in Arthur's face dissolved to be replaced with a grave countenance. Ella wondered how he could manage to swing from one mood to another.
"A rebel attack?" Arthur asked.
"Well, something like that. Only it's a single person that orchestrated the whole thing." Princess Charity replied before Eric could.
Arthur smiled smugly. "Well, aren't all rebel attacks?" He had intended to tease the princess but she took his joke the wrong way.
"Are you insinuating that I'm..."
Arthur held up his hand when Charity's face turned a deep shade of red. "Sorry, okay? You know you're one of the most clever girls in Aria."
Prince Eric rolled his eyes and glanced over at Ella who had remained possibly battling with her thoughts. He hoped to speak to her later, alone. "Will you two quit your shameless flirting and let's bounce back to business?"
Arthur got off the sofa he was on and rubbed his hands together. "Now, I think that's not a good idea. Why don't we just have a good breakfast together and talk about this later."
"You've never been serious about anything since I've known you." Prince Eric replied with a grin and hung his arms over the back of his sofa.
Arthur shrugged. "Overly serious is overrated, you know that."
~~~~~~~~•••~~~~~~~~
Don't you just love our latest addition to the story? Arthur, he's just a darling...
*Sighs* I was kinda bored when I wrote this chapter. I hope I didn't screw it up. Thoughts please.