Ella Enchanted - By Gail Carson Levine Page 0,67

secure, certain, gaining strength. In that moment I found a power beyond any I'd had before, a will and a determination I would never have needed if not for Lucinda, a fortitude I hadn't been able to find for a lesser cause. And I found my voice.

"No," I shouted. "I won't marry you. I won't do it. No one can force me!" I swallowed and wiped my mouth on my filthy sleeve. I leaped up, ready to defy anyone.

"Who would force you?" Char sounded shocked.

"No matter who. I won't, I won't. They can't make me, no one can make me. I won't marry you."

Olive said, "She'll marry you. You told her to. She has to listen." She laughed.

"Marry him and give me your money."

"I won't! Stop ordering me to!" I was still shouting, invigorated. I wanted to march, waving banners. Char would not die because of me. Char would live.

Live and prosper.

"She doesn't have to marry me," he said.

"Hush, Olive," Hattie said. "Ella, go to your room. His Majesty can have no further need of you."

Char said, "I have great need of her."

"Hush, Hattie!" I said, intoxicated with my success. "I don't want to go to my room. Everyone must know I shan't marry the prince." I ran to the door to our street, opened it, and called out into the night, "I shan't marry the prince." I turned back into the hall and ran to Char and threw my arms about his neck. "I shan't marry you." I kissed his cheek. He was safe from me.

He turned my head and kissed me on the mouth. The kiss swept through me, and I clung to him, trembling.

From behind me, Hattie shrilled, "Go to your room this instant. I command you."

I ignored her, but Char pulled away.

"Why won't you marry me? Why not, if you love me?"

"I'm cursed. You wouldn't be safe if I were your wife." What was I saying? I hadn't told anyone about the curse since I was eight. Mother had forbidden it.

Had someone told me to?

No one had. Then why...

My thoughts wouldn't settle.

I wasn't going to marry Char, that was certain. He looked so handsome, smiling from our kiss, then frowning in confusion, a smudge of my soot on his nose. I wiped it off. Saving him made him more mine than ever.

Could my refusal mean the spell was broken? Could it? I took stock of myself. I did feel different: larger, fuller, more complete, no longer divided against myself -- compulsion to comply against wish to refuse. Larger, but lighter, much lighter -- a burden shed. A massive burden.

I'd defied Olive's command as well as Char's. And Hattie had sent me to my room, but I was still here. I had told my secret, but I felt no dizziness, no pain.

"You're free. The curse is over, love." Mandy was at my side, hugging me. "You rescued yourself when you rescued the prince. I'm that proud and glad, sweet, I could shout."

I had been able to break the curse myself. I'd had to have reason enough, love enough to do it, to find the will and the strength. My safety from the ogres hadn't been enough; zhulpH's rescue hadn't been enough, especially not with guards about; my slavery to Mum Olga hadn't been enough. Kyrria was enough.

Char was enough.

Now it was over. Ended forever. I was made anew. Ella. Just Ella. Not Ella, the slave. Not a scullery maid. Not Lela. Not Eleanor. Ella. Myself unto myself.

One. Me.

I tore off the rag that covered my hair. Then I curtsied to Char.

"When you asked for my hand a few minutes ago, I was still too young to marry." I looked up at him and saw a smile start. "I'm older now, so much older that not only can I marry, but I can beg you to marry me." I knelt and took his hand.

He didn't let me kneel before him. He pulled me up and kissed me again. I took that to signify his consent.

EPILOGUE

IN A MONTH we married. For the ceremony I wore my first new gown in a year and Mother's necklace, which I reclaimed from Hattie. After my deception had been explained to them, King Jerrold and Queen Daria welcomed me joyously into the royal family.

My stepfamily was not invited to the wedding and had to celebrate, if they wished, in the streets with the rest of Frell. Father was invited, but he was traveling and didn't receive the invitation until it was too late.

Areida did attend. We renewed our friendship and swore to visit each other often, an oath we've kept faithfully.

All the exotic peoples, except ogres, were represented at the ceremony.

Slannen gave us a new pottery piece by Agulen, an elf child embracing a tree.

zhatapH and zhulpH were there, zhulpH still a toddler, since gnomes grow more slowly than humans. Uaaxee came too and was responsible for keeping our animal guest, Apple, from galloping the length of the palace hall.

Although we didn't invite Lucinda, she arrived anyway -- with a gift.

"No need," Char and I chimed together.

"Remember when you were a squirrel," Mandy said.

But the gift was what Father would have called a fairy trifle. It was a box, no larger than my thumbnail, which grew or shrank to accommodate whatever it was called upon to hold. Wonderfully useful and not harmful at all. We thanked Lucinda enthusiastically until she glowed with pleasure.

In time Hattie became reconciled to our marriage and used her connection to us to her best advantage. She never married, but Olive did. A garrulous widower fell in love with her unwavering attention. When she'd demand that he talk to her, he'd tell her about his triumphs, his enemies, his opinions on everything. She wasn't anxious to wed; in exchange for her consent, he paid her twenty KJs every day and served a white cake with every meal.

Father and Mum Olga continued to love at a distance. After my marriage, he became successful again, trading on the respect commanded by the royal family. Char watched over him and intervened when necessary to save him or his victims from the consequences of his chicanery.

Mandy lived with us as cook and godmother of our children -- and secret performer of small magic to protect us from colds, broken crockery, and the sundry inconveniences of a royal household. Nancy lived at the palace too, and commanded a legion of servants, several of whom were in charge of polishing stair rails for their sliding monarchs.

I refused to become a princess but adopted the titles of Court Linguist and Cook's Helper. I also refused to stay at home when Char traveled, and learned every language and dialect that came our way. When we left the children behind, my magic book kept us informed of their doings.

Decisions were a delight after the curse. I loved having the power to say yes or no, and refusing anything was a special pleasure. My contrariness kept Char laughing, and his goodness kept me in love.

And so, with laughter and love, we lived happily ever after.

THE END

Author's New Book

Coming in October 1999

Get ready to be enchanted by another stunning new novel by Gail Carson Levine

Dave at Night

The year is 1926. Dave's father is dead and his stepmother doesn't want him.

Only the HHB will take him -- the Hebrew Home for Boys. But Dave soon finds out that it was the last place anyone should have called a Home, the last place for kids to live.

This incredible novel takes Dave from the poverty of the Lower East Side of New York City to the misery of the HHB on the Upper West Side, to the hope and magic of Harlem at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. It's about terrible losses and hard-won gains, cruel relations and kind strangers, great poverty and great wealth. Most of all, though, it's about the power of friendship.