Ella and the Panther's Quest

by Lisa Anne Nisula

  I barely heard Nathaniel’s words — I didn’t think anyone was supposed to — but that did not seem to bother to Sagessa.

  “No, I could not. It’s part of a curse, you know; if I was too clear, the curse would shift, and its weakness would change.”

  Nathaniel did not look at her for a few moments, letting the words pass. I could tell he knew she was right. Then he said, “But why curse Feste?”

  “Feste was not cursed. He asked to go with you.”

  Nathaniel and I both turned to the little man, but Feste became very interested in the state of his nails.

  Nathaniel opened his mouth to speak, but Feste shook his head, so Nathaniel merely said, “My friend.” Nathaniel turned back to Sagessa. “Why a footstool, though? Why not a dog or a…” I saw Nathaniel’s eyes dart to the little man again, “or a tiger?”

  Feste smiled a little.

  “After all, inanimate objects are harder than animals.”

  Sagessa raised an eyebrow, but did not answer.

  I thought about Sagessa’s words. “No blood. A footstool cannot spill blood. If Feste were an animal too, Crawa couldn’t be certain he wouldn’t wound himself trying to free Nathaniel and be hurt badly enough to make Nathaniel cry.”

  Sagessa smiled.

  Nathaniel held out his hand to me. I took it and let Nathaniel help me to my feet. “Sagessa, may I present Ella, the hero who helped me in my quest.”

  Sagessa smiled at me, and then turned to Nathaniel. “You show good sense in your choice. I am impressed.” She took my hand and squeezed it gently.

  “I wish I could take credit for it.”

  Sagessa smiled again. “You are learning. Have you any other questions?”

  Nathaniel shook his head.

  “You will. Perhaps I will come back in a few weeks and ask you again. Now I will leave you with one more gift.” She waved her arm and the room glowed silver, the light so bright I could not see anything, but it didn’t hurt my eyes. In fact, it felt cool and pleasant all over my skin, like fine cotton.

  It only lasted an instant. When the light cleared, Sagessa was gone and there was a large round table in the middle of the room with three chairs, three place settings, and plates and plates of food.

  Nathaniel drew my arm through his and escorted me over to the table. “Come, Feste.” He gestured toward one of the chairs. Nathaniel pulled out another chair, then smiled at me.

  I sat down. Nathaniel stared at Feste until Feste took the other chair. Nathaniel took a carafe of wine and poured for us, then filled his own glass and sat down. He took bread from the basket which was closest to him, then started passing around the other serving plates.

  I needed no encouragement to fill my plate. Feste seemed reluctant, but Nathaniel piled his friend’s plate with the best bits from the plate of almond chicken with fragrant cinnamon carrots and plenty of fresh salad until it became too tempting and Feste started to eat too.

  I had finished half of what was on my plate when I heard the sound of horses, then there were people talking and laughing. Nathaniel heard them too. He sprang up from the table and ran to the window. “They’re starting to come home.”

  I put down my knife and fork, my appetite slipping away. I had thought I’d have a little time before the staff came back. Negotiating with the troll should have taken longer by itself. And then there was the journey to the house. Nathaniel had been so sure they would not be whisked over. as I had suggested. I was not looking forward to the reunion, even though it was making Nathaniel so happy. The last time, the only time, the servants had seen me, I had been the traveling companion of the panther they’d believed killed their master; then I had helped the monster escape. They would not be happy to see me again.

  Chapter 30

  I joined Nathaniel at the window, watching the new arrivals. We were too far away for me to recognize anyone. All I could see was a group of people walking through the gate and across the courtyard. As the group of servants started to disappear through the main doors, I considered leaving and giving Nathaniel a chance to talk to his staff before they saw me. But I didn’t know where I could go, or what I would say to Nathaniel. And there were already footsteps on the stairs.

  Mistress Leone was the first one through the door, with Grigsby, Mrs. Boswell and McNair not far behind. Mistress Leone went pale as she saw us standing by the window. “Master! You have been returned to us!”

  “Hello, Mistress Leone. It’s nice to see you again.” Nathaniel went forward and caught her hand, shaking it as if she had greeted him normally instead of acting like she’d seen a ghost. She probably thought she had.

  Over Nathaniel’s shoulder, McNair spotted me. I could feel his eyes boring into me, even when I turned away. Feste came up behind me and put a friendly hand on my shoulder. My gaze drifted to Mistress Leone, who glared at me, then to Mrs. Boswell, who turned away without meeting my eyes, and finally Grigsby, who very pointedly focused all of his attention on his liege. I had been right. Not one of them was pleased to see me. I caught a glimpse of Clara in the back of the crowd. Clara risked a small wave, barely more than a wiggle of her fingers, only to be jabbed in the side by the girl next to her.

  Nathaniel pulled me forward and kept his hand on my arm as he said, “Allow me to properly present Ella Peterson. She has accompanied me on my journey and without her, I never would have broken the curse.”

  “Oh.” Mistress Leone was still glaring but made a great effort to be polite as Nathaniel watched the greetings. “Hello, my dear.”

  Mrs. Boswell smiled with her lips and looked at a spot just above my shoulder. “It is good to see you again, my dear.” She obviously wanted Nathaniel to ask where we had met before.

  Grigsby gave me a very formal bow.

  McNair kept staring at Nathaniel. “My liege, you will have to tell us of your adventures.”

  Nathaniel smiled. “I will, as will Feste if you ask, in great detail no doubt. But it has been a long journey, and we need to wash and rest. Suffice to say Crawa did not kill me, only gave me the form of a panther, a great beast, and imprisoned me in a cage, until Ella freed me.”

  I think every jaw in the crowd dropped at that news. I tried to get a glimpse of Clara, to gauge how much of the truth she had suspected, but Jane was standing in front of her, so I could only see Clara’s very unexpressive shoulder. Nathaniel pretended not to notice the effect his quiet words had had on the crowd. Then everyone seemed to recover at once.

  “Your highness, if we’d known,” Grigsby gasped.

  “We are sincerely … ” Mistress Leone started to say.

  Nathaniel shook his head and held up a hand for silence.

  The servants turned to me instead, trying to shower the concern they felt for their master on a target he would approve of, but not quite sure how to do it after their cold welcome. It was Mrs. Boswell who broke the silence. “We are glad to see you, my lady.” This time her smile reached her eyes.

  Mistress Leone was also smiling. “John, Phoebe, we must prepare rooms for his highness and his guest. Come along, there is much to do.” Mistress Leone swept out of the room, followed by most of the servants.

  Mrs. Boswell put her arm around Feste’s shoulders. “Come now, we need to get you a proper meal.”

  Feste did not protest or mention the meal he had just been eating, but let her guide him out. I watched them leave, then turned to Nathaniel. He smiled at me. “I know them well.”

  I smiled back, but his smile was becoming shaky. Now that Mrs. Boswell had bustled Feste off and the rest of the staff had left to their tasks, I saw Nathaniel’s shoulders slump. I was reminded of that sad panther I‘d glimpsed in the cage. “Tired?”

  Nathaniel nodded. “Don’t tell me you’re not thinking of your bed.”

  “Not as much as a bath.”

  Nathaniel smiled. “They’ll be ready for us in a few minutes. Let’s finish some more of Sagessa’s excellent feast.” He motioned me back to my seat and sat across from me.


  I yawned and managed a few bites of food. “What about Feste?”

  Nathaniel looked up, barely taking his head off of his hand. “Mrs. Boswell will take good care of him. And Feste will be more comfortable there. He won’t feel like he has to be on call.” Nathaniel rested his head on his hand again, picking at his food.

  I didn’t want to bother Nathaniel as he rested his eyes, and my ankle was starting to twinge. I didn’t speak as I finished the chicken and salad left on my plate. I was wondering if I felt up to some dessert when I saw Nathaniel straighten up. I quickly put my knife and fork down.

  “Whenever you are ready to retire, Your Highness.”

  “Thank you, Mistress Leone. Are you ready, Ella?”

  I nodded and stood up at the same time, keeping my weight on my left foot as much as possible. Nathaniel gestured toward the door and I followed Mistress Leone.

  As we went into the hall, I let Nathaniel get ahead of me. I wasn’t sure my long skirt was covering my limp as much as I would have liked, especially with the side all torn, and I didn’t feel up to faking it right now. “Just a little longer,” I kept telling myself, even though it didn’t make walking seem any easier. At least the adrenaline of the battle had kept me going long enough to fight Crawa. Surely I could hold out long enough to make it to bed.

  At the staircase, I waited until Nathaniel had started up, then let myself rest for a moment, gripping the banister to take some weight off my ankle. I got my right foot on the step and paused to try my weight on it.

  “Allow me.” Nathaniel came back down to the foot of the staircase beside me. Before I knew what was happening, Nathaniel swept me into his arms. I was so startled, I grabbed his shirt front, one hand brushing his chest. I started to protest, to tell him I knew he was exhausted and I could manage by myself, but Nathaniel was grinning at me, and that was not helping my tired brain work. He glanced at my hands on his chest, just a flick of his eyes, but it was enough to start me blushing furiously and tie my tongue in knots. I looked down and moved my hands to a more traditional position around his neck, trying not to focus on the fact that my hands were sliding along his shirt. I told myself that it was no different than stroking him in his panther form, but even my scrambled wits were clear enough to know that that wasn’t true.

  Nathaniel waited until I was settled in his arms, then climbed the stairs easily, no sign of the tiredness that had gripped him in the throne room. On the first landing I said, “I can walk from here.”

  “I’m sure you can.” But he made no move to put me down. I considered protesting again, but I realized I was comfortable where I was, so I merely said, “If you’re certain.” He shifted his arms a bit and somehow my head ended up on his shoulder, with his hair brushing my cheek. He ignored that too.

  Nathaniel carried me up two flights of stairs and through a door into a hallway, which, from the more familial pictures decorating the walls, I supposed marked the beginning of the living quarters. He put me down outside a closed door at the front of the hall and kept his arm around me until I was steady on my feet.

  “I trust you’ll have a good night.” He bowed and disappeared down the hallway.

  “Good night,” I called after him and tried to curtsy, but it ended up being more of a stumble with my bad ankle and I hoped he hadn’t noticed.

  I let myself into the room. It was easily as large as the one I’d had at the manor house, but far grander, with furniture of dark mahogany carved with incredible detail, thick rugs on the floor, and embroidery on every bit of fabric. Phoebe was waiting by the bed, smoothing the sleeve of a soft cotton nightgown draped across the footboard. Then I saw the door to the bath and decided the rest of the room could wait.

  *

  The next morning I found my own clothes, those which had been left at the manor house, cleaned and pressed and draped over a chair waiting for me. It seemed I was supposed to wear them. I enjoyed being able to dress without needing someone to do up laces or hold skirts in place. I had walked back and forth from the bed to the closet several times before I realized that my ankle did not hurt. My arm felt better too, and I was tempted to remove the dressing and see how it was healing, but decided against it. Nathaniel’s burn had still looked painful the day before, so Mistress Leone’s salve didn’t work that fast. It could have been Sagessa’s magic making me feel better, but I didn’t want to interfere with whatever healing was going on by disturbing the bandages.

  Outside my door, the castle was coming back to life. The hallway was filled with maids dusting and sweeping and footmen fetching and carrying. They were all eager and willing to show me the way to breakfast.

  Nathaniel was not in the small, sunny room I was directed to, and apparently not expected, since I was led to the only place setting. Mistress Leone came through twice, asking if the room was to my liking the first time, and how I had found the clothes the second. Mrs. Boswell came in to see if the food was acceptable. Grigsby stood at attention through most of the meal, handling the serving of the meal himself and trying to anticipate anything I might need.

  I had almost finished my food when Nathaniel arrived, now dressed in deep blue velvet and soft brown boots. His dark hair had been pulled smoothly back and was held in place by a bit of leather. Somewhere in the back of my mind the thought flickered that I liked this new human Nathaniel very much.

  Nathaniel bowed to me. “I wanted to thank you formally for your assistance.” He straightened and smiled at me. “I expect you want to go home now.”

  I hadn’t thought of that. I did want to go home of course, but I didn’t want to leave the newly human Nathaniel just yet Not before I saw the castle, I told myself, and almost believed it until I saw his long fingers push his hair out of his eyes.

  “I don’t know how long the remaining magic will last. Things have been shifting and changing all morning. I think the mirror will still work, but I don’t know. I want to get you back there just in case.”

  That decided me. I stood up at once, all thoughts of seconds of toast or cinnamon rolls vanishing. “I’m ready.”

  “Excellent, I’ll send for the carriage.” And Nathaniel left again.

  As Nathaniel was going out, Feste came in with my knitting bag. “You’re leaving, then?”

  I nodded.

  “I will miss you, my lady.”

  “I’ll miss you too.” I hugged Feste as I took the bag from him. “You’ll look out for him?”

  “Of course, my lady. Don’t worry about him.”

  Feste stopped speaking abruptly. I looked over his shoulder and saw that Nathaniel had returned. He was standing quietly in the doorway, watching Feste’s goodbyes. When Feste stopped speaking, Nathaniel entered the room.

  “The carriage is here.” Nathaniel ran his hand through his hair, messing it up completely. “I think they’re all ready.”

  I wondered how many people it took to get a carriage ready for me. “All?”

  Nathaniel smiled wryly. “I think you’d better see for yourself.” Nathaniel bowed to me, his right arm held out, gesturing to the door. I swung my bag on my shoulder and went into the hallway.

  Chapter 31

  I stepped out of the dining room onto the stairs leading to the main hall and into a sea of bodies. The entire staff seemed to be gathered there, well over a hundred people. I would have believed a thousand easily, even though I knew that was impossible. Or maybe there seemed to be more now that all the black clothes were gone. The footmen were dressed in dark blue velvet coats over gray knee breeches, the kitchen maids in blue and gray striped dresses under their white aprons, the upstairs maids in navy, the gardeners in blue trousers and gray work shirts. No one was in mourning now.

  Mistress Leone, Grigsby, Mrs. Boswell, and McNair were standing on the bottom step, and the familiar faces were almost restful to look at. Mistress Leone spoke first. “Prince Nathaniel has told us of your adventures and everything you have done on our behalf. We wished to thank you properly.” She dropped a d
eep curtsy.

  “And I wanted to thank you for your hospitality at the manor house.”

  Grigsby bowed. “My lady, it was an honor to have served you.”

  “How is your ankle?”

  “Much better, my lady. Almost perfect, in fact.”

  Mrs. Boswell curtsied next. “My lady.”

  “Thank you for the cooking lessons.”

  “My pleasure, my lady.”

  McNair bowed but said nothing.

  I remembered what Nathaniel had told me about him and what must have happened with the troll, and made myself smile, determined to try and like him. “Pleased to meet you at last.” I held out my hand.

  McNair shook my hand, still half bowing.

  Then it was time to leave. To do that, I would have to cross to the main doors. I stepped down into the sea of people. They parted before me and closed behind me, bowing and curtsying and murmuring their thanks. I shook the hands that were held out, trying to murmur responses to their words, even though I couldn’t make out who was saying what. In the press, I lost track of the doors, lost track of everything, even the individual faces that made up the blur that was swirling around me.

  Just when the blind panic was bubbling up inside of me, I felt a hand on my lower back. I looked over my shoulder and saw Nathaniel behind me. He bent forward and whispered, his lips barely moving, “You’re doing well. They understand you need to leave quickly.”

  With Nathaniel’s hand on my back, everything fell into place. I was able to weave my way to the door, smiling and nodding at as many people as I could.

  And then we were at the door. Clive held the door to the entry hall, and John had the outside door. I thanked them both by name, and then I was outside.

  The carriage was not what I was expecting. Not a coach driven by a coachman with a crest on the side, but a small open landau with no driver, being held by one of the boys from the stable.

  Nathaniel went to the side of the carriage, pulling on what I assumed were his driving gloves. He handed me up and I was tempted to stroke the soft suede covering his gentle hands. He held my hand for an extra moment while I settled into the seat, then went to the other side and swung up beside me. The stable boy handed the reins to Nathaniel and bowed before going inside.