by Walleye
She held up the book so he could read the writing on its spine. “The History of the Roman Empire.” He started. It was nothing like he expected.
“What else have you found of interest?” Maryellen held up another book and he read. “The Tempest by William Shakespeare.” She picked up another and held it out. “The King James Bible.”
He smiled at her as he scratched his head. She was turning out to be quite a surprise as most women read only the Bible. “You are a very widely read young woman. I will be interested in chatting with you later about your choice of books.” She smiled and nodded her acceptance
“Enjoy your reading.” He told her before he hurried out the door.
In the meantime the merchant, Thomas Fontaine, who had made the promise to the Beast had returned home with his stolen bouquet of roses and the presents he had promised his other two daughters. They ran to meet him at the gate and his three daughters, Gwen, Ella and Belle greeted him with cries of joy and heart-felt hugs on seeing their beloved father safely returned to them.
He distributed the presents he’d promised them as a reward for all the suffering they had undergone after King Ronaldo had kidnapped them, thinking that his daughters could spin straw into gold. It had taken three weeks of terror and the magic of Rumpelstiltskin and the wizards June and Beckman and the help of a leprechaun to free them.
Rumpelstiltskin had become a close friend to Gwen and so had the wizard Beckman with Ella. Both men were off doing their individual things and had promised to return when they got done. For now the sisters were on their own.
Now Thomas had a new problem to burden his daughters with. He gathered all three of his blond-haired daughters around him and told them. “When I was almost home I realized that I had not gotten Belle her roses. Since I was staying at a castle and they had a huge rose garden I thought they wouldn’t miss just a few and so I took some of them.”
“Father.” Gwen the oldest said in shock. “You stole the roses?” Gwen took after her mother in that she always called him to task on his behavior. Of all his daughters she looked the most like their dearly missed mother.
He couldn’t meet their eyes as all three stared at him, awaiting his answer. Finally he shamefully admitted. “I knew it was wrong to steal the roses but strangely I felt compelled by something to do it. It was like someone using magic took over my soul. I was also compelled to say that Belle is a princess.”
The three young women looked at each other before they nodded their heads in agreement. It was Ella the second oldest who voiced their common thought. “Magic again, just like three weeks ago when you were compelled by magic to brag in that village tavern that we could spin straw into gold”
Gwen sighed. “That induced that greedy king to kidnap us so that we could spin straw into gold so that he could fill his treasury.”
“Did you have to pay a fine for stealing that bunch of roses?” Ella asked. She was prettier than Gwen but not quite as tall. She had a higher amount of intelligence and was very good with mathematics which meant that she kept the accounts for the shipping business and made sure that all of his bills were paid on time.
He couldn’t meet their eyes as he stared at the ground. “The master of the castle who had been magically transformed into a beast of horrifying appearances wanted to kill me. He acted like his roses were his children and I had molested them. In order to satisfy him I had to promise that Belle would stay at the castle with him for a year.”
“You didn’t.” Gwen gasped in disbelief. She put her arm around her sister Belle’s shoulders as if somehow she could protect her. “How could you, Father?”
“Father, what does he think we women are? That we are your slaves to be bought and sold to pay off debts.” Ella protested. “We are so much more than that.”
Belle said softly. “It’s only a year. I can bear that.”
Ella took her hand. “No, sister. Don’t do it. We’ll find another way.”
“Put the thought out of your head.” Gwen urged her. “We’ll petition the Queen herself for relief.”
“I’m afraid that won’t do any good.” Their father replied sadly. “As the Beast is her first-born son.”
A silence fell as the three sisters considered the implications. There would be no help from the Queen and she might even insist that their sister go over their protests.
Belle raised her head and said firmly. “It looks like we have no choice. I’ll do it as it is my family duty.”
“Belle, no.” Gwen pleaded. “You can’t go there and be alone with a man. It’s just not done. Think of your reputation.”
“I’m sure there will be others there.” Belle protested. “I’m sure I’ll be quite safe.”
Gwen and Ella looked at each other and a silent communication passed between them. They both knew that their little sister was sometimes too brave and submissive to their father for her own good. She needed their support.
Gwen declared. “Then Ella and I will go too and we will be your chaperones and protect your honor.”
“What?” Cried their father. “No. I don’t want to lose all three of you again.”
“You won’t lose us as you’ll be coming with us as the supervising parent.” Gwen retorted. “We won’t do this without you.”
Their father swallowed hard. At his heart he was weak which was why he had done poorly as a merchant and had gotten them in trouble by suggesting they could spin straw into gold. Any man willing to surrender his daughter to pay a debt for a few flowers was not strong.
Now in the face of losing all of them he finally found some courage and declared. “You’re right. We will all go.”
The three sisters all applauded him and kissed his cheeks. The two older sisters declared they would sell the gifts that he had brought them as they would need all the funds they could pull together so that they could present their sister Belle to the prince.
When this was declared by the observing fairies to her, the Superintendent fairy realized that not one giddy girl but three determined young women were going to descend in mass on the Beast’s court. At this point the fairy Superintendent Lark started banging her head against a tree trunk in frustration. First a mermaid from another fairytale and now this. Belle was supposed to go alone.
‘What else could go wrong with this tale?’ Lark wondered. The two older sisters were supposed to be selfish and conceited as they had been modeled on Cinderella’s stepsisters and like them they were supposed to be shrews and to be people who thought only of themselves and not of their younger sister.
They were supposed to be jealous of her beauty and sweetness and to not be supportive and kind to her. In other words they were supposed to be stereotype sisters and stepsisters in all the fairytales and they weren’t.
In fact these three sisters were acting more like sisters did in the real world. Sisters in most families stuck together just like these three were doing. In good families the sisters united against the world.
The poor Superintendent had no way of knowing it but these three sisters had had a very shattering experience on being kidnapped and imprisoned by the gold-hungry king in Rumpelstiltskin fairytale. The three sisters after being imprisoned had learned a bitter lesson there about sticking together or sinking alone.
As a result of this resolve the next day the whole household packed up and moved in mass to the Beast’s castle. They took four carts with each girl and their father driving one.
They left behind an empty house and gossips who had enough juicy materials to keep them busy until Christmas. Some declared Belle and her sisters were going to entertain an entire castle of beasts. Others said their father had sold them all into slavery. They had been told the truth, but like gossips everywhere the truth wasn’t as much fun as the tall tales they could make up and to tell each other for entertainment.
At the Beast’s castle Stanley the Gate Keeper was almost falling asleep as it had been a boring day so far. That soon changed as the four carts approached acro
ss the drawbridge with a clattering rumble of steel-sheathed wheel rims. Stanley jerked awake immediately and called on one of the guardroom troopers to go on the run to inform Marshal Falk and the man was gone by the time the first cart had reached the gate house.
“Who is it seeking entry?” Stanley asked as his eyes drifted down to the small loaded crossbow that he kept on the table near his right hand.
The middle-aged man with the grey mustache and the slightly protruding stomach declared from his seat on the cart. “I’m merchant Thomas Fontaine. I promised your master that my youngest daughter Belle would come and live here with him for a year.” He indicated with a thumb over his shoulder. “She’s in the cart behind me.”
“What is this, Stanley?” Marshal Falk asked as he arrived and strode over to the first cart.
After an explanation had been repeated by the merchant Marshal Falk frowned. “You were only supposed to bring only one of your daughters.” He turned and took in Belle, Gwen and Ella who were now standing there with their arms folded staring right back at him. “Not the whole brood.”
Gwen stepped forward and tossed her blond hair back before she declared. “If your master expects my sister to come to a strange man’s place and to stay there unaccompanied, then he has another think coming, prince or no prince.”
Marshal Falk realized he had a problem he didn’t want to even try and resolve. He turned to one of the guards standing behind him. “Lars, fetch the Prince immediately.”
He turned back to face the three women who again all had their arms crossed. “The Prince will be with us shortly. We’ll straighten this out.”
“You bet we will.” The three blonds chorused, causing him to wince. He’d faced trolls and orcs in battle and right now he wished he was in one of those skirmishes. There he at least had known what to do. These determined and strong women left him uncertain.
A few minutes later Prince Johnathan arrived, hastily pulling on his red jacket and fastening up the buttons. He had been tending to his roses when summoned and as a result he was extremely irritated.
“What in blazes is going on here?” He bellowed. Behind him Cousin Elliot could be seen arriving hurrying up, wearing her practice jacket as she had been training.
“So that’s the beast.” Belle whispered to her two sisters.
“Well I think he certainly looks the part.” Gwen whispered back.
“He’s definitely a beast with those fangs, horns and fur.” Ella replied in an aside.
“I don’t know why I do, but I think he’s handsome.” Belle finished as Marshal Falk made to answer his prince’s question.
Marshal Falk faced his Prince without flinching. “The merchant whom you told to bring his youngest and prettiest daughter here to stay for a year has brought her all right as you ordered, Sire. However her sisters are also here and they say that they are her chaperones and they’re staying here too and so is their Father.”
“What? I won’t allow it!” Johnathan yelled in Falk’s unflinching face. “Throw the old man and his two other daughters out by force if you have to.”
Marshal Falk glanced over at the three sisters who were glaring angrily at them before he turned back to face the angry prince. This ordered action was overstepping all bounds of propriety. The chaperone demand was not even a demand; by all the customs of polite society and the rules of etiquette it was a requirement.
“No. I won’t.” He growled back. “She needs to be chaperoned.”
“What? How dare you defy me! I’m the prince here and not you!” Johnathan roared as the beast in him surged to the fore.
He raised a hairy fist but Falk didn’t even blink as he replied. “You are indeed my prince and I am bound to obey you, but not when you are wrong as you are now. If you insist on this, I’ll tender my resignation.”
The two stared at each other frozen in position until a voice interrupted.
“Cousin, you are indeed the prince but one who still has his reputation to maintain.” Cousin Elliot interjected sternly.
As he whirled around to face her, the sweaty woman in her practice leathers stabbed a finger into his chest. “What will be left of your reputation if it gets around that you confine a young virgin woman in a room in your castle without a chaperone?”
She finished with a sneer. “Do you want your history to be treasured by people everywhere or only read in the back streets behind brothels?”
Johnathan wanted to yell and scream that he could do what he wanted but then he remembered that no prince ever existed in a vacuum as he always had his reputation and his honor to consider. Sometimes when the beast came to the fore he forgot things that would matter very much later.
He stiffly turned back to face the three women. “One chaperone only.” He declared. He started to turn away when one of the women said icily. “Two and my father or no deal.”
He whirled on her. “Who are you?”
She didn’t smile but sketched a very slight bow. “My name is Belle, your highness. My family will be my chaperones or else.”
“Or else what?” He growled getting in her face.
“Or else we all leave with your precious reputation in tatters.” She said sweetly. Belle too had been changed by her experience with the gold-hungry king. Once she would have taken the Beast’s orders with a demure smile. This was no longer true and if he thought he could boss her around, then he had another think coming.
As she finished saying this Gwen and Ella stepped up beside her and stood there with folded arms supporting their sister. Their father slid down from his seat and joined them. “Well?” Belle asked the Beast with a smile.
Johnathan wanted to scream and roar in her face but he knew when he was licked. “Fine.” He growled. “Your whole damned family can stay.”
He started to turn away when Elliot said in a whisper. “Cousin, show some good manners. Invite them to dinner.”
“I’d rather invite a family of cobras.” He whispered back. She frowned and he sighed. He knew he’d lost again. He looked back over at his shoulder at the three women. “Of course you will all join me for dinner.”
“Only if you say please.” Belle sternly informed him. Her two sisters nodded.
He wanted to throw her in the moat but realized that he couldn’t get away with it. “Fine.” He growled. “Please. Join me for dinner.” At the three nods he stormed off trying to maintain what dignity that he had left.
From a window overlooking the gate the fairy and Maryellen had been watching. “Well.” The fairy said sadly. “I see the competition has arrived.”
Maryellen put a hand to her throat as she swallowed hard. She had not one but three potential competitors of great beauty. How could she hope to prevail over such odds when she couldn’t even talk?
Then she remembered the sword she’d been given. She knew she would never use the sword on any of her competitors as that would be without honor, but she’d been given it for a reason and that didn’t mean it was a decorative bauble for her to tote around.
It was a weapon of war. It had a purpose and to use it as such she had to be trained.
She went back to her room and changed into a training garment similar to the one that Sir Elliot wore. She then headed to the training yard with the sword strapped to her waist.
A very concerned fairy followed her. The wizard Toby had warned her that the magic sword would be necessary and she was very worried about her friend. She wanted to protect her but her power was limited and Maryellen would have to do things in her own way.
The Games Begin
While everyone was occupied with the show going on at the front gate, Sir Rathbone sent a carrier pigeon off bearing his report for his master. He knew this report would send his master into a paroxysm of rage and he wished he could be there to watch it happen.
He then returned to the practice fields and was just picking up his sword when the blond-haired mute woman stepped into the training circle and lifted her unsheathed sword in challenge.
Sir Henry Rathbone would have told her weeks ago back at the master’s castle ‘to get lost.’ But after encountering Sir Elliot, the lady knight, and having her match him move for move in the practice ring he now had a respect for what women could do if they put their minds to it.
He smiled at her. “So, you want to practice, Milady?”
She nodded her head and went into a guard position.
He nodded approvingly. “Your stance is almost correct. You’re mimicking my stance too much. I’m taller and heavier. You should have your feet spread less apart so that the spacing between them is the same as your shoulders. That will give you more balance and enable you to respond and strike quicker.”
Maryellen looked down and nodded that he was right. He smiled when he saw her make the adjustments. In some ways it was like she had never practiced with her feet before because she still looked awkward.
“Look.” He said patiently. “Keep your posture straight and lean forward slightly with your chest. In that way you keep your balance and can respond to attacks.”
She nodded and did as he told her. Just by those little adjustments he saw an immediate transformation from unsure novice to a dangerous opponent. This was very strange. Who learned to fight with a sword without using their lower body?
Maryellen suddenly felt comfortable standing on her feet and holding her sword with her elbows bent just like her father’s sword instructor had taught her. She gave Sir Rathbone a smile and nodded her head to show that they should begin.
They exchanged touches of the blades, testing each other’s defenses and attack skills.
Sir Rathbone nodded knowingly. He thought he had her measure now. He made a quick feint and then brought his blade up to try and catch her guard piece and disarm her. Her sword responded so fast that it was like it was driven by invisible forces.
A clash of metal on metal threw his blade back and then her blade was running over his and he barely deflected it from touching his neck. “Very good.” He exclaimed. “But let’s see how you handle this.”