Ella Enchanted

chapter 6

THE NEXT MORNING, I woke with my fingers curled around Mother's necklace.

The clock in King Jerrold's palace was just striking six. Perfect. I wanted to rise early and spend the day saying good-bye to the places I loved best.

I put my gown over the necklace and crept down to the pantry, where I found a tray of freshly baked scones. They were hot, so I tossed two in the air and caught them in my skirt, pulling it out to make a basket. Then, looking down at my breakfast, I ran to the front of the house and right into Father.

He was in the entranceway, waiting for Nathan to bring the carriage around.

"I don't have time for you now, Eleanor. Run off and bang into somebody else.

And tell Mandy I'll be back with the bailiff. We'll need lunch."

As instructed, I ran off. Aside from its dangerous aspects, the curse often made a fool of me and was partly the reason I seemed so clumsy. Now I had to bang into someone.

Bertha was carrying wet laundry. When I bumped into her, she dropped her basket. My gowns and stockings and undergarments tumbled onto the tiles. I helped her pick them up, but she was going to have to wash everything over again.

"Little mistress, it's hard enough getting your things ready so quick without having to do it twice," she scolded.

After I apologized, and after I delivered Father's message to Mandy, and after she made me sit down and eat breakfast on a plate, I started for the royal menagerie just outside the walls of the king's palace.

My favorite exhibits were the talking birds and the exotic animals. Except for the hydra in her swamp and the baby dragon, the exotics -- the unicorn, the herd of centaurs, and the gryphon family -- lived on an island meadow surrounded by an extension of the castle moat.

The dragon was kept in an iron cage. He was beautiful in his tiny ferocity and seemed happiest when flaming, his ruby eyes gleaming evilly.

I bought a morsel of yellow cheese from the stand next to the cage and toasted it in the fire, which was a tricky business, getting close enough for cooking but not so close that the dragon got the treat.

I wondered what King Jerrold planned to do with him when he grew up. I wondered also whether I would be home to learn his fate.

Beyond the dragon, a centaur stood near the moat, gazing at me. Did centaurs like cheese? I walked toward him quietly, hoping he wouldn't gallop off.

"Here," a voice said.

I turned. It was Prince Charmont, offering me an apple.

"Thank you."

Holding out my hand, I edged closer to the moat. The centaur's nostrils flared and he trotted toward me. I tossed the apple. Two other centaurs galloped over, but mine caught the treat and started eating, crunching loudly.

"I always expect them to thank me or to say, `How dare you stare?' " I said.

"They're not smart enough to talk. See how blank their eyes are." He pointed, teaching me.

I knew all that, but perhaps it was a princely duty to explain matters to one's subjects.

"If they had words," I said, "they wouldn't be able to think of anything to say."

A surprised silence followed. Then Char laughed. "That's funny! You're funny. As the Lady Eleanor was." He looked stricken. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to remind you."

"I think of her often," I said. Most of the time.

We walked along the edge of the moat.

"Would you like an apple too?" He held out another one.

I wanted to make him laugh again. I pawed the ground with my right foot and tossed my head as though I had a mane. Opening my eyes as wide as they'd go, I stared stupidly at Char and took the apple.

He did laugh. Then he made an announcement. "I like you. I'm quite taken with you." He took a third apple for himself out of the pocket of his cape.

I liked him too. He wasn't haughty or disdainful, or stuffy, as High Chancellor Thomas was.

All the Kyrrians bowed when we passed, and the visiting elves and gnomes did too. I didn't know how to respond, but Char raised his arm each time, bent at the elbow in the customary royal salute. It was habit, natural to him as teaching. I decided on a deep nod. Curtsies often tipped me over.

We came to the parrot cages, my other favorite place. The birds spoke all the languages of the earth: human foreign tongues and the exotic tongues of Gnomic, Elfian, Ogrese, and Abdegi (the language of the giants). I loved to imitate them, even though I didn't know what they were saying.

Simon, their keeper, was my friend. When he saw Char, he bowed low. Then he returned to feeding an orange bird.

"This one's new," he said. "Speaks Gnomic and doesn't shut up."

",fwthchor evtoogh brzzay eerth ymmadboech evtoogh brzzaY" the parrot said.

",fwthchor evtoogh brzzay eerth ymmadboech evtoogh brzzaY" I repeated.

"You speak Gnomic!" Char said.

"I like to make the sounds. I only know what a few words mean."

"She does it just right, doesn't she, your Highness?"

"Fawithkor evtuk brizzay..." Char gave up. "It sounded better when you did it."

",achoed dh eejh aphchuZ uochludwaacH" the parrot squawked.

"Do you know what he said?" I asked Simon, who was able to translate occasionally.

Simon shook his head. "Do you know, sir?"

"No. It sounds like gargling."

Other visitors claimed Simon's attention. "Excuse me," he said.

Char watched while I said farewell to each bird.

".iqkwo pwach brzzay ufedjeE" That was Gnomic for "Until we dig again."

"ahthOOn SSyng!" Ogrese for "Much eating!"

"Aiiiee ooo (howl) bek aaau!" Abdegi for "I miss you already!"

"Porr of pess waddo." Elfian for "Walk in the shade."

I memorized the sight of the birds and Simon. "Good-bye," I called. He waved.

Lest they be frightened out of their feathers, a garden separated the birds from the ogres. We passed beds of flowers while I tried to teach Char a few of the words he'd just heard. His memory was good, but his accent was unalterably Kyrrian.

"If they heard me, the elves would never let me stand under a tree again."

"The gnomes would hit you over the head with a shovel."

"Would the ogres decide I was unworthy of consumption?"

We neared their hut. Even though they were locked in, soldiers were posted within arrow range. An ogre glared at us through a window.

Ogres weren't dangerous only because of their size and their cruelty. They knew your secrets just by looking at you, and they used their knowledge. When they wanted to be, they were irresistibly persuasive. By the end of an ogre's first sentence in Kyrrian, you forgot his pointy teeth, the dried blood under his fingernails, and the coarse black hair that grew on his face in clumps. He became handsome in your eyes, and you thought him your best friend. By the end of the second sentence, you were so won over that he could do whatever he wanted with you, drop you in a pot to cook, or, if he was in a hurry, eat you raw.

",pwich aooyeh zchoaK" a soft, lisping voice said.

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

"Doesn't sound like an ogre. Where did it come from?"

",pwich aooyeh zchoaK" the voice repeated, this time with a hint of tears in its tones.

A toddler gnome poked his head out of an aqueduct only a few feet from the hut. I saw him at the same moment the ogre did.

He could reach the child through the unglazed window! I started for the boy, but Char was quicker. He snatched him up just before the ogre's arm shot out.

Char backed away, holding the youngster, who squirmed to get out of his grasp.

"Give him to me," I said, thinking I might be able to quiet him.

Char handed him over.

"szEE frah myNN," the ogre hissed, glaring at Char. "myNN SSyng szEE. myNN

thOOsh forns." Then he turned to me and his expression changed. He started laughing. "mmeu ngah suSS hijyNN eMMong. myNN whadz szEE uiv. szEE AAh ohrth hahj ethSSif szEE." Tears of mirth streaked down his cheeks, leaving trails on his filthy face.

Then he said in Kyrrian, not bothering to make his voice persuasive, "Come to me and bring the child."

I stood my ground. Now I had to break the curse. My life and another's depended on it.

My knees began to tremble from the need to walk. I held back, and my muscles cramped, shooting pain through my calves. I squeezed the little gnome in my effort to resist, and he yelped and twisted in my arms.

The ogre continued to laugh. Then he spoke again. "Obey me this instant.

Come. Now."

Against my will I took a step. I stopped, and the trembling started again.

Another step. And another. I saw nothing, except that leering face, looming closer and closer.