Chapter 7: The Ride to Ayortha

The weeks after our wedding passed by quickly. Char had gotten to read the letters that I wrote him, and for that he said that he was happy that he had still been able to share that section of our lives together, even though we did not talk.

Char and I remained in the palace much of the time, assisting the Queen and King on political matters, and helping Mandy. Char became quite a good cook, which was quite surprising to him, as he had never cooked anything before Mandy and I came to the palace.

One of the times we were in the kitchen, Char, Mandy, and I made Roly-Poly Pudding, a specialty of both mine and Mandy. It was Char's first time making this, and something amusing happened.

Char was preparing the ingredients for our pudding, and instead of getting three-quarters of a cup of sugar, Char accidentally put salt in it! When it was served to the King and Queen, they both gagged. Char was horrified. He later realized what he had done and laughed about it. He made me laugh too.

About a month after our wedding day, Char and I went to see Jerrold and Daria, both who were like parents to me now. Char had something that he wanted to ask them that I didn't know about.

We walked into the dining room and sat across from Jerrold and Daria. Under the table, we held hands, but today Char seemed tense.

"Mother, Father, there is something that I must ask you," Char told them both.

"What is it, son?"

Char looked at me and then at his parents. "I would like to go to Ayortha again, if that is alright."

I looked at Char confusedly. I looked at his parents and saw that they were confused as well. "Why Ayortha? You just came back from a year there," Daria said.

"Yes, but that was nearly a half a year ago. I want to show Ella the beautiful sights there. I want her to see the Ayorthan court. And this time, it won't be nearly as boring, for I will have my love there."

I smiled at Char. I had always wanted to go to Ayortha, and it seemed like I would now have my chance.

Both Jerrold and Daria smiled at us. "If that is your wish, I will see to it that you can stay at the Ayorthan palace. I will get messengers to go there at once, telling your request."

"Thank you mother and father," Char said. We both stood up at the same time and walked out of the room together.

The week passed quickly. Luckily, we were able to stay at the palace in Ayortha, although we would not be there for a year like Char was before. We planned to stay for about a month to take a journey around the country.

On the day of our departure, Char and I both woke up very early. Our bags were already packed, thank goodness. Daria and Jerrold were waiting for us outside by the carriage when we stepped out. They were beaming at us, which made me and Char laugh. We walked over to them and gave them both a hug goodbye, and got into the carriage. Our luggage had already been put on the top of the carriage. I looked b behind us and saw the guard that was escorting us in case of an ogre attack. It consisted of Char's closest knight friends, including John, Aubrey, Bertram, Percival, Martin, and Stephan. I smiled to myself. It was definitely going to be an interesting trip.

Char looked at me. "I've made arrangements to stay at Areida's inn just across the border for tomorrow. We should be there by then,"

I smiled at him. "Did you really? Great! Now I can keep my promise to visit her often!" I said to him.

We traveled to Bast, the town that I had said I was from when I was Lela. It was a beautiful place, and to my surprise, there were some orange carriages. I asked Char about this later when we were settled in an inn.

"After the citizens of Bast heard that Lela of Bast was Ella of Frell and she had an orange carriage, those who were rich had their carriages painted orange," he explained.

I was awed. It was an amazing sight, seeing orange carriages mix with black carriages.

We stayed in a wonderful inn that night, where the head of the inn tried to give us the best room, the best food, and the best bedding he had to offer. Char and I declined and gave the room instead to a family that was in the inn. The family had just come into the inn, and looked like they had not enjoyed a good night's sleep for years. There was a mother, a father, and three children, all boys, and they were dirty and tired. They had stopped in the inn for a quick drink. When we offered the room to them, they all started crying. The mother explained that her family was forced out of their home by raiders and that they had been roaming all of Kyrria, hoping to find work somewhere. Char asked what her family could do, and when she said that she could cook and rest of her family could clean and serve, the head of the inn hired them immediately. He explained that he had been looking for work for awhile now. In exchange for service, they would receive pay and a new home. We gave them our fine room that night and Char and I slept in the carriage. It was a lot more comfortable than it seemed.

That night I checked in my magic book that Mandy had given me and found a note from Mandy herself.

Dear Ella,

I hope this letter finds you and Prince Char well. This morning I baked scones for the Royal family, and they enjoyed them as much as you and Prince Char do. I was delighted.

I miss you dearly, but this time I know that you are in good hands that that you are coming back as you were. I no longer have to worry about the wretched curse either.

White I was baking today, Princess Cecilia came to visit me. She begged me to teach her how to cook. I spent the whole afternoon with her, instructing her. It was an adventure, but a fun one at that. She learned quickly and by nightfall she was cooking as good as his Highness does. She was great company, and made me laugh often.

I hope that you are enjoying your journey to Ayortha. I will write to you again later on this week and tell you of things that are happening in the palace.

Missing you,

Mandy

I smiled to myself after I read that. I missed Mandy too. I turned to Char's sleeping form on the carriage seat next to me. He was snoring, but it was a gentle snore. I kissed him on the cheek and went to sleep.

The next day, we said goodbye to the family and the innkeeper, and resumed our journey to Ayortha. It was a pretty uneventful ride, but it was nice nonetheless. I saw sights that I had never seen before: beautiful mountain ranges, the touch of the Kyrrian Sea, and even beautiful villages. We traveled for a few hours. When we finally reached Ayortha, one of the first sights that I saw was an inn. That was Areida's inn!

We walked into it with and we saw Areida right away. We ran to each other and gave each other a hug.

"It's great to see you again!" I told her. She nodded, and we hugged each other again. We were both began laughing.

"Prince Charmont, it is a pleasure to see you again," Areida when we broke. She curtsied.

"Please, call me Char. It's not necessary to be formal either," he said. We both giggled.

Arieda brought us to the back of her inn, where I met her family. They looked extremely busy and like they did not have enough hands, so Char and I helped them cook.

Emitte, Arieda's sister, was very funny. She always kept me guessing at what she was going to say next. Char later told me that she reminded him of me. I was flattered by the compliment.

When I was cooking, would stare at me in wonder. When the cooking and cleaning were done, Areida's family thanked me and Char several times. We said that it was no problem, and we were treated to a large dinner and a wonderful dessert.

That night, Areida and Emitte told Char and I that they would take us on a tour of the border of Ayortha the next day and show us their favourite sights. I was excited; I would finally be able to see the country that I had always wanted to see.

Author's Note:

Hello! I am SO sorry that I did not update in so long. I had excessive amounts of homework, and I was unable to write that much. I also apologize for that first part; I had my sister help me and she said that it was cute, but I'm not sure. Thank you for all the lovely reviews!

KgR-R1/2IC-IyR- Thanks! I'm glad that you like it that much! That is so awesome!

Clavel- I'm glad that you think this is a really nice story! Thanks for the review!

EllaFreak- Yeah! I put the events in right! It was hard to incorporate all of them into the story! :-) I'm glad that you liked it! Thanks for reviewing!

Rasielle- Thanks for all the nice compliments! I'm so glad that I keep the character's personalities, as I wasn't sure that I was staying all-the-way faithful to the book. Thanks for the encouragement!

Sucker for Stargazing- I'm glad that I kept their personalitites; I wasn't sure if I was doing that. Thank you so much for reviewing!

Rojay- Thanks! Glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing!

Master Duelist Imposter Kaiba- Thanks for all the compliments! Your name is long, but I really like it. I like Shadi too, as he is definitely an interesting character. Have you seen YGO: The Movie? It's really good; there's lots of Egyptian mythology, which I find rather fascinating. . I'll keep updating, I promise!

Ahhhh- I'll keep updating if you keep reviewing! ;-) Thanks for the review!

Tempest Dragon- Yay! Their first adventure! I hope that you like where they are going! ;-) Sorry about not updating soon! Hopefully my next update will be sooner.

Anywien- The soundtrack is great; you should get it if you get the chance. I'm glad that you liked this chapter. :-) LOL, sorry for confusing you! Thanks for reviewing!

The next chapter will be the adventures they go on with Areida and Emitte. It will definitely be interesting! I hoped that you all like the part with Areida. Well, as usual, I'm not asking for any specific amount of reviews. Just please review if you read this, please! :-) I'll update as soon as I finish this next chapter, and I'll try my best to finish it in a timely manner. Thanks for reading this! :-)