Ella

Ella was wandering about the woods when she heard a noise. Panic rushed through her body as she slowly turned around to see what it was. Ella has had bad anxiety due to the fact that her stepmother, Angela, and her stepsister, Bree, tried poisoning her husband. When Ella turned around, she saw a fawn walking by the bushes. She laughed in relief seeing that she was not in any danger, but she headed back home anyway.

Louis, Ella’s husband, greeted her when she arrived home, as well as her father, King Harald. Ella embraced her father and said, “What brings you here?”

King Harald replied, “I just have missed you, my dear. Things have been getting out of hand back home with Angela and Bree.”

Ella shook her head in dismay knowing how awful those two were. King Harald then went on to explain how vile the two had been acting towards everyone. Ella, Louis, and King Harald sighed knowing there was nothing they could do. All three of them ate supper together and then King Harald went back home.

Ella and Louis went to bed shortly after, but during the night Louis got up and went to his secret lair. As soon as the lights flickered on you could see the room was full of pictures of Angela and Bree as well as various attack plans.

Louis had been plotting his revenge on Angela and Bree for three years now. He had motives to do this. The most obvious one is that they tried to kill him. His other motive is that the two had made his wife’s and father-in-law’s lives miserable.

Louis wanted revenge but wasn’t sure how to get it. He didn’t want to involve anyone, but he had thought about involving King Harald. He pondered this option for a while and eventually decided that he would figure out his plan before talking with King Harald. Louis stared intensely at the map on the wall in front of him. After hours of thinking he returned to bed with Ella, who was sound asleep.

The next morning Ella and Louis woke up to knocking sounds. When Ella opened the door, her father was in distress.

Ella said, “What has happened now, Father?”

“Angela and Bree have dismissed my best servant for stealing but I know that he would never do such a thing.” King Harald wept.

In that moment Louis knew exactly what to do but he needed help with his plan. He waited until Ella and King Harald were finished talking before pulling him aside.

Louis said to King Harald, “Meet me downstairs in ten minutes. Tell Ella that you had to use the restroom.” King Harald could tell by the look on Louis’ face and tone of his voice that this was an important matter.

King Harald met Louis downstairs and Louis said, “What you see may be overwhelming, but let explain before you say anything.” Louis opened the door revealing the criminal map he had made.

He then went on, “I have a plan to get revenge on Angela and Bree. I just need your help.”

King Harald replied, “I’ll do whatever you need. What is the plan?”

Louis explained the plan and agreed to meet up later that night. They both returned upstairs to Ella and continued on about their day. Later that night, Louis and King Harald spent four hours perfecting their plan of revenge and decided to do it on the night of December 3^rd. King Harald suggested that they all hide out on his private island until they were in the clear.

A couple of weeks passed and it was now the night of December 3^rd. King Louis returned home and made Angela and Bree their nighttime tea, but this time he added a special ingredient, the poison Angela used on Louis. King Harald and Louis decided that it would be easier for King Harald to do this himself rather than sneak Louis in without anyone seeing.

King Harald walked into the room where Angela and Bree were. Bree shifted uncomfortably and Angela placed something into her desk drawer before greeting her husband. He handed them their cups of tea and watched as they drank it. As soon as they both set their cups down, Angela and Bree fell to the floor.

King Harald called Louis. “The deed is done.”

Louis replied, “Good. Hide the cups and call the police.”

King Harald called the police and told them a made-up story of how he walked into the room and saw them passed out on the floor. The police then gave the case to the FBI for further investigation.

When Louis got off the phone, he told Ella that her father found Angela and Bree dead, and Ella cried tears of joy.

Louis then said, “We should go to the private island where we first met and stay there for however long we want. We can even invite your father.”

Ella replied, “That sounds lovely, let’s do it.” Both of them packed their bags and left the next morning.

It was now January, and King Harald had decided not to go to the island so there wouldn’t be suspicion. King Harald was thinking about how stress-free his life had been when there was sudden knocking on the door. He opened it revealing two FBI agents.

Blake said, “Hi, my name is Blake, and this is my partner, Jane. We have a few questions regarding the investigation of your late wife and stepdaughter.”

“Come in, please,” King Harald replied.

The three sat down on the couch and Jane went on, “Where was your daughter, Ella, the night of December 3^rd?”

King Harald responded, “She was at home with her husband.”

Blake then said, “We have reason to believe that Ella was responsible for the murder of Angela and Bree. We found a picture of Ella circled in red in Angela’s desk drawer.”

Author’s Note: I read the story of The Green Knight. The story was of a princess, Cinderella, whose mother had died. She met a widow who had a daughter and they became friends, even though the mother and daughter were wicked. Cinderella begged her father to marry the widow so they wouldn't have to go. Cinderella gained a stepmother and stepsister, but they were mean to her. Her father sent her to an island that they had so she could be happy. She fell in love with the Green Knight, but the stepmother poisoned him. Cinderella learned that she could cure him and she did.

In the original story Cinderella is pretty naïve, and the king had promised his late wife that he would keep Cinderella happy. In my story Ella is pretty much the same. She’s just more cautious. I made the king and the Green Knight protagonists and left the stepmother and stepsister as antagonists. I wanted to leave their characteristics the same because they were perfect for my story. Since the Green Knight was affected the most by the stepmother and the stepsister, I wanted to give him a bigger part in the story.

Bibliography: Svendt Grundtvig, Danish Fairy Tales, translated by J. Grant Cramer. Story Source.

Image Source: Princess at SnappyGoat