Disclaimer: everything you recognize from Ella Enchanted belongs to Gail Carson Levine. I own only my own characters. And also, if your fic has a character named Benjamin, I did not "steal" the name. I just really like that certain one. Thank you.
Author's note: please R&R. Any sort of criticism welcome. I'm not the best writer, so it's not my fault if this totally stinks. Have fun, I hope you like it.
Tarra
Chapter 1
I awoke to a little sliver of light shining through my curtains and into my eyes. I sat up and yawned. Getting out of bed, I walked to my window and opened the curtains. The sun shone brightly on my face. I smiled at the sun stricken meadow outside. I could not wait to go and greet the morning.
My door creaked open, producing my chambermaid, who walked in happily.
"Good morning, Princess Tarra," she said brightly, curtsying. I shook my head.
"Maria, you know very well that I act everything but princess like. I do notsee why I should be called that." Maria went on about her preperations, not even fazed by my opinion.
"Because, Princess Tarra, you're a princess by blood. You cannot change that." she smiled at me.
I walked back to my bed and threw myself on it. I stared at the ceiling, contemplating ways to prove her wrong.
By the time I was sitting up, she was looking into my dresser for something for me to wear.
"I know I get, well, a little out of hand sometimes, but it is only because I am trying to make my own life. I will never be queen; my life is just supposed to be of luxury and learning. But that is so boring!"
Maria turned around,with a surpirsed look on her face.
"But Princess Tarra, I thought you said just yesterday that you where glad that you have a brother and two sisters before you; you said it meant that you do not have to worry about becoming queen. Have you changed your mind already?"
I shook my head. "Oh no. I still do not want to be queen, it is just... If I were to be queen someday, I might at least get to do something that is more interesting than learning to curtsy and how to hold a fork correctly."
Maria laughed. "Oh princess, you will never change."
"I dare hope not!"
She smiled and pulled out a pink frilly dress with roses sewn all over the front from the bottom of my dresser. I frowned.
"Maria, you know that Idespise pink! Please do not make me wear that!"
She giggled.
"And what, pray tell, would you want to wear?"
I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a plain yellow dress, which had no design on it what so ever and had much less "stuffing" Underneath its skirts.
Maria winced. "That old thing? Your mother will not be pleased, Princess Tarra."
"I don't care if mother doesn't approve. I like it. And today I am going to go see Sirus. I just can't run through the fields in anything else."
She frowned. "You are not supposed to be running through the fields. It is-"
"Un ladylike, I know, I know."
She sighed. "Just promise me you won't fall into any holes, or jump into a lake, or decide to fall out of a tree."
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, yes, as you wish."
I smiled at myself. She did not say that I could not jump into a hole, fall into a lake, or jump out of a tree.
'Oh, Maria, you really do need to figure out that no matter what you tell me, I will always find a way to have my fun.' But Maria did not notice the smile on my lips. She just absent-mindedly beganundressing me.
I walked down the stairs for breakfast. Looking at the stair rail, I smiled in remembrance of the times my parents had been caught sliding down its shiny banister. Mark, the eldest sibling, once told me that the staircase was specifically made for that use only. I shuddered to think what other structures where made for only their amusement! But a small flame of admiration still grew in my heart, and it was fed continuously by the want to be just as flamboyant and adventurous as they seemed to have been at one time.
I walked into the dining hall. Mother was already there.
"Good morning, Tarra! please don't tell me you aregoing out in the fields to go see that old man again. You always come home so dirty, I would think he threw you into the bushes himself!"
I smiled. "Good morning, mother." she hugged me.
"I do mean it, though. Please, at least try not to get terribly dirty. The duke of... Oh, I forget where he's from, let me think." I giggled.
"While you think, mother, I am going to go see Mandy." Before she could object, or say anything else, I was of running to the kitchen. Queen Ella smiled. How energetic her third daughter was. Just like she used to be.
"Good morning, Mandy!" I said, walking into the kitchen. She smiled.
"Why, hello, love. Did you sleep well?"
I nodded. She handed me a bowl. Once I looked in it, I smiled.
"Mandy, you never forget that oatmeal cinnamon is my forever favorite."
She smiled, but said nothing. I sat down on a stool and ate my breakfast. I needed to stay on Mandy's good side if I where to get from her what I acquired. She looked at me for a long minute and then spoke up.
"All right, Tarra, what is it you want from me?" a smile plaid her lips. I looked down. She saw right through me. Then I looked up innocently. Maybe this would work after all.
"Oh, nothing." I gave her my best puppy eyes. She turned back around to clean the dishes.
"Dear me, I'm sure it's far from nothing." she looked back at me. Finally I gave in.
"Oh, Mandy, I want to visit Sirus. I haven't seen him in a while, and, well... I do believehe misses the company." She smiled.
"I thought so from looking at that dress you are wearing. You always wear it when you go to visit him." I looked at the dress. So that was how mother knew that I wanted to visit him.
"You never do stop caring for that old man."
I nodded.
"All right, princess, I will give you a small lunch for your journey."
I rolled my eyes, but smiled. Mandy made it sound as if I was going far away, where as I was just going over two fields. All in all a fifteen-minute trip if I did not stop, which I knew I would. I grinned while she packed my lunch. I would never be allowed to visit Sirus if the fileds he lived on and took care of did not belong to the castle grounds. I was glad to have time to myself as I walked the fields, but a part my me wished that I could go somewhere past my parents consent. I pushed the thought from my mind. It was going to be a fun day. What was to come of it, I would never had emagined.
What do you think? I really like this fic. I hope you do. Flames are welcome, just review!