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The Princess & The Pheasant
::The Beginning::

Okay, so what if boys come from all over the world to ask for my hand in marriage? I can't help it if I was blessed with a pretty face and a body most girls would die for. I am a princess after all, and as I princess, I can't help but have people admire me from afar. Just don't blame me if your suitor steals a glance at my midnight hair and dark chocolate eyes and falls for me. I can't help that fact, and I can't possible help you either.

"Ella!"

That was my mother calling. She is Queen of Dreamland, the name of our kingdom, which is known for its exotic places. People come from all over the world to view the lush, green forest with animals of all shapes and sizes, to the waterfall gardens, a place filled with so many vivid flowers, and all of them existing only here in my kingdom.

"Ella!"

I gave an irritated growl. "Yes, Mother?"

"Get dressed and come down here this instant. Prince Charming is here."

Another boring prince comes to call! I showed my face in the mirror, noticing everything was still in place, and gave a deep sigh; did it have to be Prince Charming? Of course, don't ask me about his name, "Charming." I have no idea what kind of parents would name their boy Charming. Prince Charming was not charming at all, but an immature boy who loved to play jokes on sweet little princesses, such as me.

"I'm coming," I called back to her, getting into my summer gown, a pale yellow dress that was fluffy around the shoulders.

I would have stomped my feet, but I figured it was useless since no one is around to witness it. Besides, they always said it was past time for me to grow up. I am sixteen, but I'm not ready to grow up yet. I don't have to grow up, after all; I'm a princess. I don't want to grow up so I'm not going to grow up. I'm not saying I don't ever get what I want. I'm saying I always get whatever I want, and what I want is to stay home, and I would have, if not for the fact that I need a prince to marry.

The man, or rather, old boy, who waited for me at the bottom of the stairs was grinning widely at me as I made my way towards him. I had my nose in the air and slowly walked towards him, careful not to disturb my careful pose. It had taken me years to walk this perfectly, with shoulders straight and chin high.

"Good afternoon, Princess." He bowed, forgetting to put one arm behind himself, the way a prince should bow.

"Good afternoon, Prince Charming." I put on my fake, princess smile and gave him a perfect princess curtsy that would have put all my other friends to shame. They never knew how to curtsy like I did, and I know that for a fact because I was always the one getting complimented by Mrs. Reeda, not them.

"Are you ready for our afternoon ride?"

I didn't want to go, but I nodded my head and said in my ladylike voice, "Yes, I am excited. What are you going to show me today?"

"The town, " he said. "We're going into town today."

"Why?" I asked. I didn't want to face those dirty commoners. A princess never associates with peasants. I never did when I was young, and I am not going to start now. "Is there something wrong in town?"

"No, the villagers are holding a small festival, and invited me."

"But they didn't invite me," I told him, pretending to be shy. I didn't want to go, but I just can't blurt it out. It was very unprincesslike.

"I am allowed to bring a very special friend along."

I rolled my eyes, but pretended instead, to glance away. Am I supposed to feel gratitude?

"I didn't even know I was a very special friend of yours," I giggled, covering my mouth, as a princess should. Why couldn't we have gone shopping, or better yet, his parents were holding a ball, why couldn't we go there instead?

"I'm sure the townspeople would really like to see their princess for once," he took my arm and led me outside and into the warmest weather ever. Even my summer dress couldn't have prepared me for this! The sun was blazing, and the air was just thick. What made it worse was that there were no gentle breezes to help with this weather.

He helped me up into the carriage, and I couldn't help but comment, "You are such a gentleman."

He missed my sarcastic tone as he smiled at me. "Thank you."

"All right, take it from here, John," Charming told the young lad who was sitting in front of the carriage as he seated himself next to me. "I hope the weather isn't too warm for you."

Are you kidding I wanted to scream at him. I was sweating like a pig already, and I hate pigs! Thankfully the bugs weren't out yet or I would have screamed right then and there. "It's just right," I gave him a smile.

It didn't take us long to reach town, but I didn't noticed. The sun beat on me that me so dreadfully that the back of my neck was already sticky, but my problem grew worse as I noticed my summer dress already had a stain on it. It's going to take days for that dumb maid of mine to wash it off, and I can't wait that long.

"Is something amiss?" Prince Charming turned to give me a worried look.

I batted my eyes at him, despite my thoughts, "Yes, I'm all right."

"There it is," he said, pointing ahead. "That's the town."

I almost gasped as I saw more kids than I had ever seen in my entire life run up along beside me. They seemed to have come from the town up ahead and scampered towards us when they saw us. They were all covered in dirt, in the most disgusted places: on the hands, on the arms, even on the face, and one little kid even had dirt on her mouth, as if she had been eating it rather than playing with it!

I shuddered away from them as they smiled brightly up at me, reaching out their hands to touch me.

"Ella?" Prince Charming looked confused at the way I was acting.

I smiled at him, trying not to let him know how I was feeling. "Yes?"

"You don't look well."

"Of course, I've been sitting in a carriage." I pretended to laugh. "Of course I wouldn't look well. I need to walk, to get some exercise."

"Very well." The prince tapped young John on the shoulder, and he stopped in front of the village. I was aghast! We weren't going to go in there, were we? I can't be seen going in there or my friends will laugh at me forever!

"Why are we stopping?" I asked him, trying to shoo the little girl with dirt on her mouth away from me.

"This is what I wanted to show you." He told me. "Come, let's go talk to Mr. Bread and his wife."

I looked stunned. "You mingle with these…these…commoners?"

Luckily, he didn't see my expression or he would have turned and fled, but he did hear the horror in my voice.

"Of course, Ella. Why wouldn't I?" He answered, already tromping away from me. "This is your kingdom, after all. You're supposed to take care of it. If you don't who will?"

"My parents," I reply indignantly as another kid raised her arms up at me. I wasn't sure what to do so I scowled at it. "Go away."

"Princess so beautiful," the young girl giggled. "Hold me."

I will not. If I touch anyone of them, the smell of this place would never wear off me for weeks! I look around, trying to find a way to escape, only to be surrounded again by dirty, smelling kids and realizing I was alone with them. Prince Charming was no longer in sight. He seemed to have forgotten about me. Of course, he would never abandon me…he just forgot about me…I hope.

"Charming?" I called out.

"He's gone. Princess" A girl a little younger than me smiled at me. "He didn't look back."

"What kind of nonsense is this?" I sputtered. I have never been so shocked in my entire life! To be left behind, to be mingling with the commoners, to—to—

"Sarah, come back in here," a male voice replied from one of the open doorways. "Mother's sick again. Stay here while I go fetch a doctor."

The young girl who was talking to me didn't bother to curtsy as she whirled around and ran inside the house. How disrespectful!

"I suppose you're the princess," the same male voice now had a face with it; a very pleasant face that was staring at me as if he couldn't stand the sight of me. I raised my chin in the air as if I wanted to look at him too!

"Princess Ella," I told him. "Don't you know how to act in the presence of royalty?"

He gave a slow, hard smile, "A snob, that's what you are."

I couldn't believe what he just called me. "I am not a snob!"

"A very self-centered snob," he finally bowed. I don't know whether he had just been insulted me or acknowledged me. "Why don't you go back to that little castle of yours and entertain yourself with all those little toys and clothes? We have never seen our little princess, and we won't start now."

"Excuse me, Sir, but do you know who I am?" I applaud myself, glad that despite my anger, I still managed to act decently. "You commoners don't know respect at all, do you?"

"And you royalty don't know suffering at all, do you?" he countered, and I couldn't answer him.

"Excuse me, " he bowed.

The small talk seemed to have attracted a lot of attention, I notice, as I looked around, nervously. People of all ages were suddenly coming out of their homes to see what was going on. I didn't want to stay in this place any longer!

"I want to leave," I shouted silently to myself as I stomped my foot. This was ridiculous. If I hadn't agreed to that stupid carriage ride, I wouldn't even be here in the first place!

"Lookie here, folks!" An old man said as he came towards me. "She's finally come! Our little princess has finally decided to check up on us."

Okay, this was it. Anywhere else was better than here! "Mister!"

He didn't hear me, and I ran towards him. "Mister!"

The mister was just getting onto his wagon when he finally heard me. He suddenly had that hard look on his face again, but I didn't care. I needed to get home, and Prince Charming was nowhere in sight, and of course, I was not doing deeper into that smelly dirty town of theirs!

"What now?" He demanded, irritated that I had interrupted him.

"I need a ride back to the castle, if you—"

"I can't take you," he interrupted before I could finish. "This seat can only fit one person, and I'm not about to let you have that honor."

I am the princess, I thought, but I gave him my compromising smile. "But who else am I going to find to take me home."

He gave me a very cynical smile. "You're the princess."

I wanted to stomp my foot, but for some reason, I didn't want him to think I was so childish, so I asked him again. "Please. I need to get home."

He started to shake his head, but he saw the wagon, and an evil smile appeared on that pleasant face of his, which made him look even more pleasant. "All right, you can get on, but you'll have to get onto the wagon."

I look at the wagon. There was hay in it. I also noticed the dirt, and the flies, and the smell! "No! I absolutely refused to get on—"

"Very well, suit yourself," he turned to get the reign on his horse. "Giddy—"

"Mister! Wait!" I ran after him as he started moving. "Wait! I'll come with you!"

He stopped the wagon and turned to look at me. "Get in the back."

I cringed. Do I really have to?

"Now," he barked, and I jumped.

I held my breath and stopped at the back of the wagon and waited.

"Well?"

"You're supposed to help me get on," I snapped angrily at him.

He took one surprised look at me and then started laughing.

"What so funny?" I demanded. "Why are you laughing?"

"I'm not coming back there to help you, Princess," he said as his laugh quieted down to a chuckle. "You've got to learn that in the real world you have to help yourself. I'm doing this out of pity, not out of generosity, Princess."

Princess…that word irritated me now. "Stop calling me Princess."

"You are the princess," he grinned, showing me his cynical side again as he pulled out a hat from nowhere and settle it on his head.

"But I have a name," I snapped at him. "Ella."

"Derek," He shrugged his shoulders at me. "Hurry up or I'm gonna leave you behind."

I wanted to do something bad to him, for the first time in my life, and with my bare hands, but I held my mouth shut and took a deep breath. How do I get on this…thing without getting dirty? I took a deep breath and decided there was no helping it so I put my hands on both sides of the wagon and struggled to get on while trying to keep my pride intact. It wasn't that high, but I was having trouble.

I heard a chuckle as I tried again and finally gave up. I took a step back and glared at him.

"Would ya look at that," he snickered. "The great princess doesn't even know how to get onto a wagon."

Okay, that hurt! That really did hurt, but I refused to let him know. Instead, I pushed the hair from my eyes and glared at him.

"Why don't you try jumping?" he suggested and turned back to the front. "I'm leaving."

I gave a frustrated growl before taking his advice and jumped.

And landed on my face in a pile of hay, my arms spread out beside me.

So, I didn't land the way I thought I was supposed to, I thought as I pulled myself together and sat up slowly, but did he have to laugh? Did Derek have to laugh at me like that? I spit out hay that had somehow made its way into my mouth and once again glared at him.

"Next time, don't take my advice." He smiled, his eyes twinkling at me. "And don't take life so seriously."

Before I could think of a nasty reply, he already had his back towards me, and the wagon was already moving.

"You might want to hang on back there." He looked over his shoulder at me. "It's gonna get rough from here on out."

I ignored him, pretending I was riding in a real carriage and not in some smelly wagon with hay stuck to my dress and a swarm of flies all around me. It was bad enough that the heat was making me sweat, but I had to smell, too! Mother was going to get it now! If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have been here in the first place!

"So, why have you finally decided to come out of your hiding place?" he asked, making a fast turn along the path.

I caught myself before I could hit the side of the wagon. "That's none of your business."

"You're right, and our business is none of your business, too, right?"

I opened my mouth to tell him that I was a princess so it was my right to get into people's business, but I didn't want him taunting me again so I kept it shut.

We remained that way for the rest of the ride, at least for almost the rest of the ride because about halfway to the castle, he made a sharp turn again, and I went flipping. Sufficient to say, I wasn't the only one, though, because Derek also went flying, landing a couple of feet away from me.

"Damn!"

I pretended I didn't hear him as he stood up and brushed the dirt off himsel. "Stupid wagon. I knew it was getting old."

"Well then," I brushed some leaves from my hair and sat up, "Why didn't you get a replacement then?"

He didn't answer me as I sat up and looked around. We were in the middle of nowhere, but the scenery was beautiful. As far as I could see, the grass went on forever, and the hills made U shapes that I had never noticed before. Even the sun wasn't as bad as I thought it had been earlier as I snuggled my toe into the cold, hard dirt. My shoe had fallen off somewhere, but I didn't care, they never managed to stay on anyway.

"What are you doing?" He turned to look at me once he had his wagon back into standing position.

I blinked, forgetting the fact that he was still there and that I was still on my knees wiggling my toes in the dirt.

He gave me a weird look as I continued to sit there, acting as if I had no clue whatsoever what he was saying to me.

"Nothing," I quickly answered, forgetting the fact that I was a princess, and I had gotten my summer dress dirty, and my toes were also dirty.

"The wheel's broken, Princess." He sighed. "Looks like we'll have to walk from here."

"W—w—walk?" I sputtered. "But I have never done that in my entire life!"

Again, he gave me another weird look. "You never walked in your life?"

"Not this far," I corrected. "I walked from room to room in the castle."

"You have a long way to go then, Princess." He unhooked the rope that was attached to his horse and slapped the horse on the butt. "Go on home, Boy. I'll catch up to you later."

He waited until the horse disappeared in the distance before turning to face me again. "Whatsa matter? You never seen a horse get slapped before?"

I blinked and sniffed, "You could have saved that horse for me."

"Stop your cryin', Princess. That horse ain't made to be ride on." He settled his hat back into place glance at me. "Your choice. I'm not waiting for you, and I ain't a gonna carry you either."

"I don't want your filthy hands on me," I told him, angrily standing up and brushing the dirt from my beautiful dress. I gave a sad sigh as more stains continued to show up. Now my dress was beyond washable. I'd have no choice now but to throw it away.

"I wouldn't touch you if you were the last person on earth," he told me. "I'd rather carry a pig."

Unsure if I had just been compared to a pig or not, I walked past him. I had walked a couple of steps when I turned back to look to see if he was following and realized he was still standing in the same place with his arms crossed.

"Well?" I snapped at him. "What are you waiting for? Are you coming or not?"

He turned his head and smiled charmingly at me. "I don't know…I thought you wanted to go home."

"I am!" I answered him.

"You're going the wrong way." He chuckled before he turned his back on me and started to walk.

I refused to let him get to me so I raised my chin up into the air and followed him.

_:: MyComments ::_
We'll be right back with the story, but until then...

Whew, what can I say... man oh man, I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, because this is all I have on this story. Like I said before, it's a short story that is meant to teach people a lesson...well, the baka sister in the story a lesson anyway, and so... heh... what do you guys think?

Right now, I want you guys to close your eyes and write think about the princess' attitude for a moment... now, when you have an image of the princess' attitude in your brain, on a piece of paper, I want you guys to write down what you guys think will happen at the end of this story...com'on, you know you want to... .

What I mean by what will happen at the end of the story is that do you guys think she will change (and oh yeah... heh... is there anything between these two at all? Can you guys feel the tension? Man oh man... was it love at first sight for the two of them!). Well, enough of that, I didn't even mention a single thing about them being together anyway, you gotta be able to pick up the vibes by yourself...
Back to where I was, okay, just write down whether you guys think she is going to change or now... and let me know at the end of the story (if you choose to review) whether or not you are right about her... I'm just curious about what you guys think...com'on, you guys know you want to... :)
In fact, I won't even speak, in fact, I'll give you guys a moment of silence...

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...waiting... ...

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All right, you guys have it all figure out? Hehehee... let me know if you guys did the activity by reviewing before clicking onto the ending... thanks again! Anything else? Just put it up and I'll read your review and answer your questions ASAIC (as soon as I can... )

Well, if your ready, you can click on review or you can click on the next chapter... our choice...

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