Chapter 11: Chapter 11

“My lady.”

Ella put down her book and turned to face the maid who was standing at her door.

“The prince is here, and he requests that you accompany him to the royal palace.”

[argh what does this stubborn prince want from me?!]

“Thank you Matildah, I’ll be right down.”

When Ella reached the dining area she saw William and prince Nathan chatting and drinking wine like they were old buddies.

“Ella, come here, Prince Nathan has invited you to the royal palace to join him for lunch, isn’t that wonderful?”

.....

[so this guy decided to ride for thirty minutes just to ask me out to lunch? Couldn’t he send a raven so I could pretend to not make it or something?]

*That’s precisely why I decided to come and get you myself beautiful Ella*

Ella gasped when she heard Nathan’s voice in her head, when she looked up at him she saw a faint smirk crossing his face.

“I’ll come clean lady Ella.” Nathan spoke as he stood up. “I’ve taken a liking to you, and if you would allow me, I would love it if you gave me the opportunity to get to know you more.”

Nathan bowed slightly at the girl.

*Are you really going to turn down an offer from the crowned prince? In front of your brother?*

[You’re insufferable]

“Well Ella? You’re not going to leave him hanging are you?” William questioned his sister with expectant eyes.

Ella sighed and forced a smile. “It would be my honor your grace.”

Prince Nathan walked up to Ella, took her hand and kissed it. “I’m very happy to hear you say that, please, this way.” The young man led Ella out the door towards the royal carriage.

He turned to William and waved at him.

“I promise to have her home before dark William!”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Nathan helped Ella into the carriage and closed the door when he was seated across from her.

“In all my days of traveling around Meria in a carriage, I’ve never seen a site quite as beautiful as this one.” Nathan spoke as he looked at the girl in front of him.

Ella shot Nathan a disapproving look but forced a smile as she responded. “I’m flattered your grace.”

“I told you Ella, you can call me Nathan.”

*

About twenty minutes had gone by and Ella and the prince were slowly approaching the royal palace, even at a distance, one could stare in awe of the beautiful intricately designed structure.

“Before we arrive.” Prince Nathan spoke to the girl. “I just want to let you know that I asked for you to join me at the palace because there are some things I wish to discuss with you.”

The sudden seriousness in Nathan’s voice drew Ella’s attention. “And what thing are those?”

“I wish to discuss you Ella Morrell, about your life in general.” Nathan responded.

“There’s nothing much to tell.” Ella responded. “I’m an only daughter, grew up with everything that I wanted and I keep to myself because I don’t like people MINDING MY BUSINESS.”

Prince Nathan smiled at the girl, ah she was a feisty one, he liked that.

“I already know all that.” Nathan responded.

“Then why do you question me if you already know about me?”

Nathan inched closer to Ella and looked right onto her eyes. “It’s your other lives I’m interested in hearing about.”

Ella almost jumped from her seat.

“O- other lives?”

How did he know? Had she slipped up at some point and he’d read her mind?

“I.. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ella responded jittery, she didn’t expect Nathan to ask her anything like that.

Ella had lived many lives, so many that she’d lost track. In the beginning, she thought it was deja vu but after being reborn a number of times over, she knew something strange was going on. She had visited many witches and sorcerers in an attempt to find out why all this was happening but to no avail. She had eventually come to the conclusion that she had been cursed by the gods, because living endlessly and watching the people you love die and moving forward without them was in no way a blessing.

“From your reaction I’m going to assume you do know what I’m talking about.” Nathan spoke in a whisper.

He cupped Ella’s hands in his and uttered his words calmly and carefully. “Ella, I’m cursed too. You and I, we’re the same.”

As the carriage halted to a stop so did Ella’s heart. He was cursed too? How could that be? Had he also lived many lives? Did he know why it was happening to them?

Ella had so many questions.

A guard opened the carriage door to let the prince and his guest out, after which, prince Nathan stepped out and stretched his hand towards Ella so he could help her down. With shaking hands, Ella took Nathan’s hand and they both walked towards the palace entrance.

*calm down, you’ll make people think I did something to you.*

Ella took a deep breath and composed herself as they entered the palace where the queen was waiting to greet them.

The timid woman looked shaky and scared as she saw the two walk towards her and it made Ella uneasy. Did the queen know?

“Good morning mother.” Prince Nathan spoke. “Today I’ll be having lunch with lady Ella Morrell, please do tell father that I will not join you at the table. I’d like to dine privately with her in the gardens.”

“Of course darling.” The queen responded. She clapped her hands and a well dressed butler came rushing to her side.

“Tell the cooks to prepare a meal for my son and his guest.” The queen spoke. “Have them set it up in the garden.”

“Of course your majesty.”

“We’ll be up in my chamber in the meantime.” Nathan added on. “No one is to disturb us till our meal is ready.”

“Of course darling.”

Ella couldn’t help but notice the hint of fear in the queen’s voice, what in the world was going on? Why was this woman looking so petrified?

Prince Nathan Aldos’ chambers were clean and well organized, they had a beautiful wooden floor and high walls. His bed and furniture were a deep grey in color and there was a bear rug near a flickering fireplace that brought the whole room together.

“Do you like it?” Nathan questioned as he stood over the rug. “I killed it myself.”

“I’m not a fan of having remains of dead animals on my room.” Ella responded.

Nathan chuckled and sat down, pointing at a chair across from him so Ella could sit down.

The prince’s happy mood suddenly turned serious when the girl settled down in front of him. “I know you have many questions for me, the same way I have many questions for you.”

Nathan leaned back on his chair and took a deep breath. “Since I am a gentleman, and I like you, I’ll allow you to go first.”

Ella blinked wildly at the young man in front of her, where to start? She knew if she started asking him questions, she would have even more questions. But she knew she might never get an opportunity like this again, she had to know what prince Nathan knew of this curse of immortality.

“How did you know that you and I were alike?”

“I didn’t.” Nathan responded. “I felt a very strange familiarity to you when we first met, after that I could hear your thoughts. In all my lives that has never happened before, so I assumed you were a jumper as well.”

“A jumper?”

“Oh.” Nathan chuckled sheepishly. “That’s what I started calling myself when I noticed that my soul kept jumping from one body to another every time I died.”

“I see.” Ella nodded her head, she’d never thought giving herself a name like that before. “Do you know why this is happening? Why can’t we die?”

Nathan’s look turned solemn. “Unfortunately I don’t have an answer to that. I have spent many life times trying to get rid of this curse. Potions, witches, quests, you name it, but nothing seemed to work. No one knew of anything like this.”

He prince inched closer to Ella and took her hands in his. “And then I met you, and my once lost hope was restored. Ella, you and I were meant to meet, we were meant to break this curse together.”

Ella looked at the prince’s face, he looked so hopeful and excited. His honey brown eyes glistened with joy and his entire face lit up, from this angle, the prince actually looked really handsome.

[argh Ella stop it!]n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“What is it? What do you want to stop.” Nathan questioned the girl curiously

“It’s nothing.” Ella responded, a faint blush tinting her cheeks.

“Fine I’ll work with you..”

“Wonderful!”

“..on one condition.” Ella added on.

“Anything.” Nathan responded instantly.

“Stop reading my thoughts it’s very rude!”

Nathan smiled at the girl, she looked so beautiful when she was fired up like this, her lips were puckered up and her lovely blue eyes shined. Heck if he wasn’t such a gentleman, he would have kissed her right there and then.

“I’m not sure I know how to stop it..” Nathan explained. “But I will do my best.”

.....

“Good.” Ella responded. “So, where do we start?”

“I need you to tell me about your past lives, all the ones you can remember.” Nathan spoke. “Don’t leave anything out, maybe we can find some sort of pattern.”

Ella searched her mind and nodded. “Alright.”