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Just Ella
Just Ella
Just Ella
Ebook171 pages2 hours

Just Ella

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this ebook

Being a princess isn't all that....

You've heard the fairytale: a glass slipper, Prince Charming, happily ever after...
     Welcome to reality: royal genealogy lessons, needlepoint, acting like "a proper lady," and -- worst of all -- a prince who is not the least bit interesting, and certainly not charming.
     As soon-to-be princess Ella deals with her newfound status, she comes to realize she is not "your majesty" material. But breaking off a royal engagement is no easy feat, especially when you're crushing on another boy in the palace.... For Ella to escape, it will take intelligence, determination, and spunk -- and no ladylike behavior allowed.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 14, 2012
ISBN9781439115411
Author

Margaret Peterson Haddix

Margaret Peterson Haddix grew up on a farm in Ohio. As a kid, she knew two girls who had the exact same first, middle, and last names and shared the same birthday—only one year apart—and she always thought that was bizarre. As an adult, Haddix worked as a newspaper reporter and copy editor in Indiana before her first book, Running Out of Time, was published. She has since written more than forty books for kids and teens, including the Greystone Secrets series, the Shadow Children series, the Missing series, the Children of Exile series, and lots of stand-alones. Haddix and her husband, Doug, now live in Columbus, Ohio, where they raised their two kids. You can learn more about her at haddixbooks.com.

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Reviews for Just Ella

Rating: 3.6318252090483614 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I have always loved different versions of Cinderella, and thought this would be a fun series to read since I heard it followed Ella after the wedding. However; I heard wrong. This actually follows Ella before the wedding, and I just did not love it! At all. I did not like the dark turns it took. Normally I would, but I guess I was expecting something so different from this that it took away from my enjoyment. If you ever wondered what happened after the Happily Ever After, you may like this. Let me know if I should continue with the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A cute Re-telling. Slightly frustrating at points, and gross at others. But I liked the way everything was off from the usual story. I also loved that she showed that Happily ever after doesn't come from not knowing people.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    this book stinks!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Good book!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I liked this book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My very favorite Cinderella book. Strong, beautiful heroine, expected and sweet coupling.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    What is next, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, or the lion king? Please stop.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    My favorite Cinderella retelling. (Although Ella Enchanted runs a very close second---considering it's more of a departure, I can say Just Ella is my favorite without diminishing the great Ella Enchanted.)

    I thought the entire royal household was hilarious, several key scenes stick out--the conclusion was satisfying, romantic and clever! A Really enjoyable book.

    Cinderella after the marriage. Interesting, a little quirky.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    bad
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I really wanted to like this. I love tales that are based on or twist fairy tales and Margaret Peterson Haddix is such a prolific teen author, but alot of the time I just felt frustrated when I read it. To me a lot of the characters felt like stereotypes, like they were never fully fleshed out. None of the characters ever did anything surprising, I could figure out what was going to happen based on their archetype.

    ***Spoiler***
    I was also a little bothered by the ending. If Jed continues working for the Charmings, how are him and Ella supposed to end up together. I understand that it's important to stop the war; and a big part of the theme of the book was taking responsibility and doing something to change your situation not just being impassive but if felt like the author was setting up an impossible road block for them.
    ***End Spoiler***

    However it wasn't all bad, I did like the way the Charmings chose to handle Cinderella's disapearance. I thought it was funny and I do hope that everyone involved got what they deserve out of the relationship.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Muuuuuy bueno. Para nada cursi, final no extraño pero tampoco
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There were some pretty mature themes here, including the difference between love and lust. The war is a topic for conversation to the court, nothing more. There are questions of priorities and sacrifices - for example why is Madame Bisset so very perfectly mannered, and what are Ella and Jed willing to risk to have the life that matters to them?
    It's a book you don't want to read lightly, as if you're 10, but rather read more carefully, when you're at least 14.

    (I should rewrite this review some day for coherence, sorry I'm fuzzy-brained today.)

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    An attempt at a more realistic Cinderella story. After all, the new Princess would have to get used to court and her newfound power, and is it really possible to fall in love at first sight? Unfortunately, Haddix is not the person to address these questions. Everything is wildly simplified. I think if I'd read this as a preteen, I'd have liked it more--but there are some oddly dark and adult moments in here; Ella is threatened with rape on a daily basis for a stretch of the book, for instance.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It's kinda what you'd expect for the premise. It was a bit predictable and not at all original. The writing was beneath what I'm used to for Haddix, but it was a nice one to just shut your brain down for.The explicit and implicit mentions of rape make this book entirely unsuitable for middle schoolers or elementary students, yet the juvenile tone and style of the book make it unsuitable for all but low level high schoolers. It's just not that great for any demographic.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In an exciting Cinderella twist, this story takes off after the royal ball/engagement. The book takes a little while to get into, and it's definitely not your classic Cinderella fairy tale, but it quickly becomes a page-turner. Readers will love seeing Ella take charge of her own life time after time even when faced with adversity. It's an incredible story of finding love and happiness while sticking it to the man. I couldn't put this book down, and it was so refreshing to read a fairy tale with a strong female lead that isn't dependent upon a prince charming.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What happens after the glass slipper fits and Cinderella is whisked away to Prince Charming's palace? In this story, "happily ever after" doesn't seem to be in the cards. Ella, having spent so much time as a servant, is having trouble adjusting to the tight-laced bureaucracy of palace life. Worse, her regular meetings with Prince Charming are stilted and awkward, with no one showing any interest in her beyond her beauty. I liked this one. I liked Ella's determination and practicality. I liked the lack of a fairy godmother or any other magical elements. Definitely one to pick up if you like fairy tale retellings.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Honestly, I genuinely liked this. It kind of had a "Mulan" feel to it. Can I say that? Is that such a thing? Anyway, it's a retelling of the Cinderella story we all grew up with, in that CInderella has to come to terms with the fact that her Prince Charming... Not so charming. Instead, he's kind of a sluggish lark who does whatever his parents tell him to do. Unintelligent. Meek. Lame-o. Anyway, Ella defies the odds. She bucks the system. No fairy Godmother required. This is a very quick read but a nice respite of a read. It's simple storytelling at its best. It's not life-changing by any means but it is a good afternoon. And we all need that sometimes.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Ella is the luckiest girl in the kingdom so why is she so unhappy?Her prince is handsome but boring, and the castle has every comfort but she feels imprisoned. This book presents Cinderella as smart, adventurous girl who isn't satisfied with life inside a fairy tale.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I like the premise of this story: an exploration of what "happily ever after" would actually mean. However, the inhabitants of the royal castle were more than usually rigid and cruel, I would say, and the average former peasant girl would have a better idea of forming alliances and leveraging royal favor. That wouldn't have been condusive to the story, of course, and the author was trying to contrast idealistic infatuation to someone with perfect looks against a real, personal attraction to someone you've actually gotten to know. I think she got that point across, and I especially like the resourceful, dirty escape that "Ella" has to make, but the ending left me hanging, thinking that a great many things could still go wrong before the heroine was united to her sweetheart.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    While I've always loved fairy tales, especially by the Brother's Grimm, this is my first fairy tale retelling I've ever read. Margaret Peterson Haddix took the story of Cinderella and shows what really happens ever after. And "happy" is not part of it. Taking off where the traditional fairy tale ends this was a fluffy book focusing on Cinder Ella who's now trying to adapt to life in the castle and looking forward to getting married with Prince Charming. Unfortunately he's rather boring (or shall I say stupid) behind his good looks, so she decides she wants out. But this isn't quite that simple. I have to say this has been a light and lovely read, but certainly not all too deep despite its (slightly) feministic approach. I really liked Ella's snappy attitude and had to chuckle every now and again about her thoughts. The book also tells how the fairy tale "really" happend especially the whole ball-glass-slippers scenario. And I must say, I really enjoyed the ending, which is certainly different for a fairy tale, but works real well here.In short: A fairy tale without Prince Charming but ... real love of course!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is written by one of my favourite authors Margaret Peterson Haddix. Just Ella is a Cinderella fairy tale without the magic, there is no fairy godmother to give her the glass slippers or magically send her to the ball. I think the title indicates that it was just Ella not the magical Ella from the fairy tale version and I knew it was going to be interesting before I even opened the book. The plot twists, wit, drama and Ella’s personality, a very strong and powerful woman really makes the book unique to other books/movies telling Cinderella’s story. I found it really interesting that the author made all the things that happened in the book very real and accurate. For example, the announcer at the ball said Cinderella instead of Cinders-Ella her nickname. I am a little disappointed about the ending. I wanted an epilogue, even though the story inferred that it was a happy ending for some reason I still wanted to know about their children, their marriage, their successes and if and when Jed came back. I learned that “Happiness was (is) like beauty—in the eye of the beholder.”
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great book!!! I loved it! Girly and full of adventure!!!! She gets us into the book and changes us into the charecters.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book was pretty cute. I wouldn't say I really liked it, but I did like it. It was a very quick read (even for young adult) but it had an interesting plot. I really enjoyed Haddix's Running Out of Time when I was younger so I figured this was worth a shot. I'm really in the mood for some fairytale retelling and this was like an appetizer rather than the main course :] (which I intend to get to soon!)A lot of the information in the book was neat, like the depiction of court life, the activities Prince Charming participated in (hunting etc.) all were very accurate. It was also interesting to hear how Cinderella (or Cinders-Ella) would have pulled off the whole attending the ball, glass slippers scenario without a fairy godmother. This is the case in this story and although it isn't as enchanting it was a bit refreshing.It's certainly no Ella Enchanted, but it was worth a read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Muppets used to have “Fractured Fairy Tales”. I almost see this as one of those. It is the “real” story of Cinderella as told by her as she goes to the ball and falls in love with the prince. But, before the wedding takes place she realizes she really isn’t in love with the prince and when she refuses to marry him she is put in the dungeon. She manages to escape and find her true love, but during the 6 month wait to give him an answer to his proposal, he realizes that his duty to end the war really has to come before their own personal happiness. I read the “Palace of Mirrors” earlier this spring, and Ella appears in it, but there seems to be a piece missing at the end of the story and a gap between her story and the story of Celia. Overall I liked the book, but I would have ended it differently (or maybe I’ll need to go back and reread Celia’s story and see what happened to Ella).
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I have always enjoyed the Cinderella tales - never wanted to be her, but liked the story. This is an interesting take on the classic as Ella isn't the normal simpering princess type. This Ella was a strong female who wasn't afraid of hard work and wasn't afraid to make use of her brain.There were several interesting characters introduced such as Mary, a young servant (reminds me of the mice in the original) and her instructor's son, Jed. I don't want to give the storyline away, but this version of happily-ever-after is much more satisfying to me because Ella gets her head straight and stands up for herself. It's a good, quick read with a much better message for young girls - you don't have to wait for a Prince to save you - do it yourself!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Happily never after. Or so it seems at first. Just Ella is a rewritten take on the famous fairy tale Cinderella. Only in this story Ella takes herself to the ball, evading a wicked stepmother and sweeping Prince Charming off his feet without any outside help of the magical or furry little creature kind. Once she gets everything she has ever dreamed of, through hard work, cunning and ingenuity it is just to discover that she is just another naive princess after all. The fairy tale she’s worked so hard to achieve is not what it’s cracked up to be.Just Ella is a great fairy tale showing a heroine who lives the adventure of a prince using quick thinking, problem solving, sly tricks, bravery and sheer nerve to get out of a series of binds in the quest for her happily ever after. Never once does she settle, even when it becomes dangerous to not do so.I even thought the bit of metaing thrown in was well done, where she actually talks about her situation and the misapprehension everyone is under that she only was able to get there with outside help. She doesn't understand why people would not only think that, no matter how improbable a fairy godmother or talking creatures might be, but that they would prefer it to the reality of an independent female able to achieve her dreams all by herself. This novel tells the more probable story of a female that does just that.Favorite Quote:"And yet, I felt a surge of exhilaration just thinking about that night. Not just because I'd met the prince and fallen in love and started on my course toward happiness ever after, but because I'd made something happen. I'd done something everybody had told me I couldn't. I'd changed my life all by myself. Having a fairy godmother would have ruined everything." -Ella
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A more realistic look at what becomes of Cinderella than the traditional "happily ever after". But I like the happily ever after!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    very interesting twist on the cinderella story...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I figure that the working title for Just Ella was Cinderella: The Day After, because that is pretty much what the story is about. Ella is a plucky orphan living under her step-parents' thumb who makes her own dress and sneaks to Prince Charming's ball where the prince falls in love with her, tracks her down, and whisks her away to the palace to be his fairy tale bride. At that point, this book begins.Ella finds out that transforming from an active commoner into one of the idle nobility (actually, one of the idle female nobility, male nobles seem to be allowed to do things every now and then). She chafes at the enforced inactivity, the needlepoint, the etiquette lessons, and the religious instruction, looking forward only to her brief and boring visits with Prince Charming. At least until her aged religious instructor falls ill and has to be replaced by his far more interesting son. Over the course of much of the book, Ella comes to realize that her fairy tale ending isn't what she truly wanted. Eventually, she tries to break away, but learns that one simply cannot break a royal engagement - some fairly unpleasant pressure is brought to bear on her to relent and agree to marry Charming anyway. That doesn't deter our plucky girl though, she just shoulders on, saving herself from her predicament right up until the ambiguously happy ending.The story is little more than modern revisionism applied to a traditional fairy tale, but it is reaonably well done revisionism. The only real problem with the book is that Ella is to a certain extent a little too perfect - she is beautiful AND an industrious worker AND improbably well-educated for a sullery maid AND extraordinarily compassionate and on and on. Her list of extensive virtues is coupled with no discernable faults resulting in a character that stretches credulity. On the other hand, this is a book aimed at younger readers, and one that built upon a fairy tale foundation, so this is probably to be expected to a certain extent.As a side note, even though this is properly tagged "fantasy" (taking place in an undefined alternate world of princes, princesses, castles, carriages and royal balls), there isn't anything magical or fantastical about the story itself. Ella makes her own dress, finagles herself some glass slippers, gets to the ball herself, and has to leave by midnight for an entirely mundane reason. But while there is no direct magical elements to the story, most of the characters around Ella behave as if there should be, and behave with a kind of fairy tale sensibility.In the end, the central message of the book - that one should be independent and judge others according to their character - is one that is fundamentally benign. This, coupled with decent storytelling makes this a perfect book to hand to a young girl interested in reading about plucky, independent, admirable heroines.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A backwards cinderella story

Book preview

Just Ella - Margaret Peterson Haddix

1

The fire had gone out, and I didn’t know what to do.

I was covered with a king’s ransom of silk-sewn comforters and surrounded by six warming pans, so I was still mostly warm. But my nose was exposed and freezing, and I heard no friendly crackling from the direction of the hearth. For some reason the chambermaid in charge of keeping my fire going had overslept or forgotten me. Or perhaps I had awakened too early, before it was time for her to come on duty. I hadn’t figured out the palace work schedule yet.

The last time I awoke to freezing air and a dead fire, I simply got up and restarted it myself. Ella, I lectured myself, you’re no stranger to tending fireplaces. Just because they put a crown on your head doesn’t mean your hands forgot how to work. Still, I had to force myself to leave the bed’s warmth, tiptoe across the icy flagstones, and search for a tinderbox and poker. For a while I feared none of that was in my room—did they think princesses or almost-princesses were too delicate even to see the instruments that kept them warm? But then I found a compartment in the wall by the great fireplace and dragged out equipment bigger and grander than I’d ever used before. Reviving the fire was a struggle, for my hands were clumsy after two weeks of idleness. (I hardly count needlepoint as work.)

At the end, when I was finally able to warm my numb fingers over ever-growing flames, I felt a strange surge of pride. I wanted to brag to someone about accomplishing a chore I’d done hundreds of times in my old life without thinking. But there was no one to tell. Charm wouldn’t be interested, even if I saw him, in between his endless hunts and contests. The king was even more remote, and I’d endured enough blank stares from the queen to know I shouldn’t confide anything in her. Then there were all my ladies-in-waiting and maidservants and my instructors (one for decorum, one for dancing, one for palace protocol, one for needlepoint, one for painting, and two or three whose purposes I had yet to figure out). But all of them looked at me with such horror whenever I let something slip about my former life. (What? You had no one to do your laundry? one of the silliest of my waiting girls, Simprianna, had asked when I’d carelessly mentioned rinsing out my stockings after the ball.) Even after just two weeks, I knew better than to brag to anyone in the castle about doing something that dirtied my hands.

And so I thought I’d keep my fire-building secret. Then I overheard two of my maidservants gossiping later that day about my chambermaid.

She was found still in her bed, and it was already past five o’clock, the one said to the other, fluffing my pillows with a dainty thump. (In the castle, even the maids pretend to be dainty.)

No, the other gasped. So she was—

Beaten within an inch of her life and dismissed, the first said, sounding as self-satisfied as rabble cheering an execution. Thrown out the palace gate by six.

Lazy slugabed got exactly what she deserved, then, the second said, even as she gently placed a single rose on my pillow. But the fire—

They both fell silent and glanced my way. I lowered my eyes and pretended to be intent on the watercolor I was copying over in the afternoon light struggling through the western window. I don’t know why I cared what maids thought, or why I acted as though restarting a fire to heat my own room was something to be ashamed of. After a moment, one said, Humph, and the other echoed her, and they left. I sighed, glad to be alone, but then Madame Bisset, my decorum instructor, arrived in a flurry.

If it had been someone else, I would have said she was disheveled and flustered, but, of course, Madame Bisset never allowed herself to be anything but absolutely perfect in bearing and dress. Every gleaming silver hair was in place, every one of the fifty-two tiny mother-of-pearl buttons that marched up her dress was precisely fastened in its loop. But she looked as though she’d given thought to appearing disheveled, as though circumstances might warrant it from anyone else.

Princess Cynthiana Eleanora, she said sternly as she sat down, discreetly arranging the yards and yards of fabric in her skirt so she would be comfortable on the sofa. I have heard a rumor.

The unfamiliar name and title jarred, as always. I had only recently managed to stop myself from looking around when people addressed me like that. A princess? Where? Oh, that’s right. Me. Sort of.

Madame? A rumor? I murmured, trying to get the pronunciation of Madame exactly right. The day before, Madame Bisset had chided me for how—she lowered her voice to whisper the horrifying phrase—common my French sounded. This Madame evidently passed muster, because Madame Bisset’s frown didn’t deepen immediately. So I worried instead that I was breaking some rule against echoing another speaker’s words. But no, it was my father who had opposed that. I could hear his dry voice: I’d prefer to hear an original thought, if you have one. I couldn’t imagine Madame Bisset caring about my thoughts, original or otherwise.

A rumor, she said firmly. "Now, normally, a cultured woman does not listen to rumors or gossip. Au contraire, one must hold oneself above such—such crudity. But this rumor is so appalling, it must be dealt with. And since I am the person responsible for instilling you with a sense of etiquette, I must not shirk."

She sniffed daintily and dramatically, fully conveying both her dedication to her responsibilities and her distaste for the subject she was about to discuss. In my first few days in the palace, when I still dared, I would have joked, You mean, it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it? But I’d learned.

Now, the servants are saying— Her inflection on servants carried the full weight of her disgust at being put in a position of having to quote servants. The servants are saying you lit your own fire this morning.

I did, I said in a small voice.

Madame Bisset gasped and went pale. She leaned back against the sofa. I wondered if I was going to have to call for smelling salts.

You must never do that again, she said in a surprisingly firm voice. Never.

A proper young lady would have bowed her head in shame and murmured, Yes, Madame Bisset. But no one had thought of training me to be proper until two weeks earlier, so my instincts were all wrong.

Why? I asked, truly curious.

Madame Bisset gasped again, as if I were beyond hope if I had to ask. She took a deep breath—as deep as her corsets allowed, anyway.

You have no idea why you should not light your own fire.

It was a question without being a question—a trick. I’d be rude to answer it, perhaps interrupting her next thought. But I’d be more rude not to answer, if she was waiting for a reply. These were the games I had to play now.

No, I ventured. Or—I’m not really as stupid as you think. I mean, I know princesses usually don’t do things like that. But I was cold, and—

You were cold, Madame Bisset said. A lesser woman would have rolled her eyes. Not Madame Bisset, of course, but the muscles around her eyelids twitched ever so slightly, as if they knew what was possible. "You were cold. Did you perchance remember that you have a bell to call your servants? Did you remember that it was their job to tend your fire?"

Yes, but— I looked down, knowing that if I kept looking at Madame Bisset, she’d see that I suddenly wanted to cry. I almost whispered, But I didn’t want to disturb anyone.

I looked up in time to see Madame Bisset holding back an explosion. The color in her face rose like a thermometer, first deathly white, then fiery red, clear up to the roots of her curled-back hair.

You must never, ever hesitate to disturb a servant, she said, shooting off each word like an arrow, precise and cruel. That’s what they’re there for. They exist solely to serve us.

She closed her eyes, then opened them slowly.

You may think you’re being kind, she said, the strain of trying to sound understanding weighing in her voice. "But servants know their place. They like to serve. They are hurt if you make them feel useless. Purposeless. And they cannot respect a member of the nobility who lowers herself to their level, to their work."

She said work like it was a curse word.

I clenched my teeth—an ugly habit, I’d been told again and again. But if I opened my mouth, I knew the angry words would spill out. What did Madame Bisset know about how servants felt and thought? Why did she think anyone would get any pleasure out of serving lazy, selfish, self-centered people like her? I knew. I’d been there—not a servant, quite, but close enough. I’d had no respect for the ones I waited on, to begin with. If they’d so much as raised a finger to help me, the question was, would I have been able to stop hating them?

Do you understand? Madame Bisset asked, the way you’d ask a simpleton.

I lowered my eyes and made a stab at propriety.

Yes, Madame Bisset. I looked up, unable to resist another question. The maidservant—I heard she was dismissed. If I’d thought to ring for her, would she still have been—

Madame Bisset sniffed.

Of course. She overslept.

So now, cold again, I dared not get up. I couldn’t start my own fire or ring for the maid, and risk getting another girl fired. I could only pray that she woke on her own, and crept down here without being discovered. I willed her to awaken, as if I could send my thoughts up three flights of narrow, winding stairs to shake her awake. I listened for the distinctive creak of my door, the one I so often pretended to sleep through, because I didn’t know what to say to people doing work for me that I was perfectly capable of doing myself. But the door didn’t open. I got colder.

This wasn’t what I’d imagined at the ball, the stars wheeling above me as I danced with the prince. Truthfully, I didn’t imagine anything. Just being at the ball was beyond my wildest dreams. And then everything happened so fast—the prince seeking me for his bended-knee proposal, everyone making wedding plans, me returning to the castle to stay, for good. I remembered an old neighbor woman cackling as I rode by, astonished, in the prince’s carriage: Now, there’s one who will live happily ever after.

I was cold. I was lonely. I was engaged to be married in two short months to the most handsome man I’d ever seen—the prince of the land, the heir to the throne. But I had never felt so alone in all my life, not even shivering in rags in my garret the day they came to say my father was dead.

This was happiness?

2

I must have fallen back asleep, because when I opened my eyes again, there was a weak fire throwing shadows on the wall. Sunlight streamed in through the one high, narrow window, doing its best to brighten the dark room. I hadn’t known this, having stepped foot in a castle only once before I came to stay for good, but castles are dim, gloomy places, full of shadows even at noon on the brightest day. My eyes had not adjusted. As a child, I had lived more out of doors than in, until my father taught me to read just to keep me in the house. And even then, I’d sneak his books outside and read them under the shade of the hazel tree, or while dangling my bare feet in the creek behind our house.

And now, I hadn’t been outside the castle walls once since I arrived. Aren’t princesses supposed to know horsemanship or anything like that? Shouldn’t someone be giving me some sort of lessons outside? I resolved to ask. The thought cheered me so much, I sprang out of bed and began scrubbing my face with vigor.

Four hours later I was on my third lesson of the morning, and I still hadn’t

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