A Tale of Beauty and Beast

by Melanie Cellier

  That scamp! Gilda sounded flustered. I hope he hasn’t taken to hiding from you now, Your Highness. I’ll be sure to give him a piece of my mind when I see him next.

  “Oh goodness, please don’t do so on my account,” I smiled in her direction. “I dare say I gave him the morning off and then forgot all about it. He has been extremely diligent, I assure you.”

  Oh. Well then. In that case, I’m glad to hear it. He’s a well-meaning lad, with a good heart, but he can be mighty thoughtless at times.

  He’s probably out regaling the stable boys yet again with the story of your fight with the wolves. I could almost hear Tara’s eye roll. He’s been getting excellent credit off that one.

  Gilda sighed. Those boys! They’re nothing but a bad influence. But I can hardly keep him away, not when they’re the only lads his own age.

  “No, indeed,” I agreed. “It seems quite wrong to keep a child of his age locked up in a kitchen.”

  It was a fortunate day for us all when you arrived Princess Sophie, said Gilda, apparently overcome by my sentiment. A fortunate day, indeed.

  “Well thank you.” I laughed. “But you all seem to have been managing tolerably well without me, so I dare say you would have continued to do so.”

  Aye, for now, said a voice I vaguely recognized. But time’s running out, isn’t it?

  You hold your tongue, Connor! snapped Gilda, allowing me to place the voice—the surly footman who we all agreed would not do for Lottie.

  Tara quickly jumped in. We can help you, Princess Sophie. With whatever you wanted Gordon for.

  Oh yes, of course! said Lottie.

  I agreed, figuring I would have a better chance of getting an explanation for Connor’s strange comment if I interrogated them alone rather than in a kitchen full of servants. As we all made our way out of the room, I stole a sticky bun from a nearby tray, calling out a thank you to the general hubbub since the staff seemed to have taken my exit as a cue to resume their usual chaos.

  I munched as I walked along, following Tara and Lottie’s voices as they debated which part of the castle to show me next. They eventually decided on the theater, and we started off down one of the wings. I licked the last of the sweet icing off my fingers, as I tried to come up with a strategy. No brilliant ideas presented themselves.

  “What did Connor mean? About running out of time?” I asked eventually, hoping to surprise them into an answer.

  But from their silence, I guessed they had been expecting it.

  What does Connor ever mean? said Tara after a long pause. He’s always looking for a reason to be sour.

  Her attempt at prevarication was so blatant that I could see there was no point in pursuing the matter directly. “What were you both doing in the kitchens?” I asked instead. “I didn’t know you spent much time there, Lottie.”

  Tara giggled. She didn’t used to. But then I let her know that Samuel always spends his mornings there if he isn’t on duty. I dragged her along with me because I have this brilliant plan to—

  Embarrass me. Lottie sounded glum. You know that’s all that’s going to happen, right?

  Don’t be so pessimistic! You’re nice and you’re pretty, too. I’m sure Samuel would like you if you gave him the chance.

  “And if he doesn’t, he’ll have to answer to me.”

  I peered around in confusion. “Is this the right way?”

  Oh, no, sorry we were supposed to take that corridor back there. Tara’s voice was moving away, so I followed it.

  “You know I should make you both carry a candle or something, so I know where I’m going,” I said.

  That’s a good idea! said Lottie. Two candles detached themselves from the nearest sconce and floated to a spot just ahead of me. One of them dropped slightly and then moved away from the other.

  We started off again, and I watched the bobbing candles in fascination. “This really is one of the strangest things I’ve ever done.”

  Only one of? Tara sounded amused. If this castle isn’t the strangest thing you’ve ever encountered, your Arcadia must be a very odd place indeed!

  “You’re forgetting that competing in the Princess Tourney was what got me here in the first place. And I don’t know if anything could top some of the things that happened there.”

  What was it like?

  It must have been terrifying!

  I shrugged. “I had my sister with me which helped. As for what it was like…” I looked down. “We’re forbidden to talk about it.”

  We know what that feels like. Lottie’s quiet words sounded sad.

  I bit my lip. It wasn’t really fair of me to be trying to coax the servants into talking about something that might get them into trouble. But I was helpless, lost in the dark without information, and I didn’t know how else to get it.

  I cast around for something I could say to brighten the mood. “You know, something has just occurred to me. When you carry candles, or bowls or blankets, I can see them, floating through the air. Why can’t I see your clothes?” My eyes grew wide. “Please, please tell me you’re not all naked in this other realm?”

  What?

  No!

  Tara dissolved into giggles. Oh, can you imagine! She drew a deep breath and then went off into another round of laughter.

  Definitely not, said Lottie in a more dignified tone. Our personal possessions, like our animals, came with us. Only the communal items belonging to the castle remain with you, able to be touched by either of us.

  “It was a rather ingenious solution,” I murmured quietly to myself.

  Solution, Your Highness?

  “Never mind. Are we nearly at the theater?”

  Yes, it’s just here. Both candles stopped outside a nearby door, and then the door itself swung open. Stepping inside, I saw a reasonably sized room with several rows of tiered seats. A small platform at the front of the room was framed by red velvet curtains, and gilt statues lined the edge of the room.

  “Goodness!” I blinked several times.

  It is a little gaudy, isn’t it? said Tara.

  It’s certainly not much fun to dust.

  “What use is there for such a room in a castle that hosts so few guests?”

  Oh, that’s just Prince Dominic. Apparently, some crown princes in the past used to like to bring large groups of nobles down here with them. They would have readings and recitations, and even small plays on occasion.

  I certainly could not imagine Dominic sitting in one of the spindly chairs. It would probably collapse beneath him. I walked down the series of broad, shallow steps and stood on the platform facing the chairs. I tried to imagine them full of brightly dressed nobles and had to blink again. If the room was overwhelming now…

  Still. “It seems a pity for the room to sit unused.”

  Oh, it isn’t unused, said Lottie. The servants use it all the time. Some of the maids can recite beautifully, and the pastry chef can sing the most incredible opera. Even the stable boys sometimes put together humorous routines. I must have looked shocked because she hurried to reassure me. Only on our half days off, of course. Usually we all have different days off, spread across the week. But once a month we have an extra half day all together. The kitchen leaves out a cold meal for the prince, and they clean up the scraps the next morning. I suppose you would have missed it since the last one happened while the prince was ill. Naturally the medical staff would not have considered taking time off in such a situation.

  “How considerate of Prince Dominic.”

  Oh yes, agreed Tara. Several of the maids started out working in the capital, and they said they never got an extra day like that there. But it’s been the way here for several years.

  “But he always seems so…well…”

  Terrifying, you mean? asked Lottie.

  I nodded, but my mind flew back to the time when Dominic had been ill in bed. I had wondered then if despite his brusque behavior to them, the servants had a reason to be grateful to him.

  His ill-h
umor was bad enough before…well, you know, before, said Tara. I’m sure I couldn’t speak to him without my knees knocking together. But he always makes a point to set up systems for his staff that are more than fair.

  Lottie murmured her agreement. As long as you stay out of notice, you don’t get roared at, and then he’s an excellent master.

  “What was he like before?” I asked, following Tara’s lead in not mentioning the curse. “I can’t imagine it.”

  Well…Usually Lottie was the cautious one, so Tara’s hesitation made me dread what was coming next. He was a little less angry, I suppose.

  I stared in their vague direction. “That’s it? A little less angry? His parents die, his kingdom is cursed, and he’s transformed into a beast, and he only becomes a little angrier? What in the kingdoms was he like before?”

  Tara giggled. When you put it like that…

  It’s true that he was angry and proud and rude before the curse, said Lottie, surprising me with her honest speaking. But he wasn’t nearly so bad. My family has worked at this castle for generations, and they told me about the good years here after King Nicolas was crowned. After he became king, Queen Ruby used to come down here alone, except for the children, for long visits to work on her rose garden.

  None of us servant children were allowed to play with them, but they used to have a merry enough time together apparently. The prince never minded playing with his sister, even though she was four years younger. My older brother said he sometimes used to spy on them, and the prince always let his sister win when they played games together.

  Only they stopped coming after a few years. And then His Highness grew old enough to come alone. As the years passed, he came more and more frequently, and he seemed more and more ill-tempered. She hesitated. I know it is none of my business, but I’ve always felt as if he came here to escape the capital. And whatever it was he wished to escape, it was having a bad influence on him. I’m glad I have never had to live in the capital.

  The portrait of Dominic’s father loomed in my mind. I would have attempted to escape such a man, too. I only wished I knew what had happened to Princess Adelaide. I could no longer imagine Dominic would have done anything to harm her.

  I wandered over to one of the chairs and sat. The last time I had spoken to my sister, Lily had called Dominic a monster. And I had even agreed with her—mostly. In the weeks since then I had started to question that assumption. But then something would happen to cause him to revert back to his beastly self—like he had the night before.

  Each time it happened, I was forcefully reminded of the trials and terrors of the Princess Tourney, a competition shaped by his twisted nature. And of the way he had ordered me here alone, without the least consideration, and proceeded to treat me contemptuously.

  And yet then I heard stories like this from the servants, which confirmed the picture of him I had started to build in my mind. A picture of a man who was more prince than monster. But was I fooling myself? What was the truth?

  I wished desperately that I had some way to discern his true nature. I would have called my godmother and begged her to tell me, but she had yet to respond to either Lily or me in these lands. Apparently, the brief but earth-shattering appearance of the godmothers in Palinar had not opened a door to their return.

  I had come to the conclusion that our godmother had already gifted us in preparation for these adventures, knowing she would not be able to reach us here. But, then, perhaps Lily had been more successful in Marin since I had left. After all, they had defeated the darkness there already, and done so with the assistance of a godmother.

  If I could only discover why Dominic had been made into a beast. What evil had he committed to deserve such a fate?

  Would you like to continue the tour? Tara’s question interrupted my musings, and I agreed to move on, knowing the answers I needed didn’t lie in my own head.

  “What happens to you all when the prince travels to the capital?” I asked them as we made our way through a series of unused guest chambers. “Do most of you travel with him?”

  Back to the capital? Tara sounded confused. The prince never travels back to the capital.

  “Surely he does not stay here all year round? He must make at least short trips back now that he is the only remaining royal.”

  But he cannot.

  Tara! Lottie whispered, warningly.

  I stopped. “What do you mean he cannot?” Both girls remained silent. “Tell me!”

  Lottie sighed. Prince Dominic cannot leave the castle grounds, or he will die. It is part of the enchantment, and why he nearly died after he went out after you.

  I leaned against a nearby wall, my head spinning. So that was why his injuries had resulted in such a severe illness, and why it had progressed so strangely. He had not merely responded to the attacking wolves in the heat of the moment. He had left his sanctuary alone to come find me, knowing there was a good chance he would die.

  Chapter 20

  I returned to my chamber before the evening meal, wanting a bit of space to process my thoughts. I asked the girls to be back in time to help me dress, but when they returned it was with a large tray. Steam drifted off the various plates of food, and my heart sank.

  “Don’t tell me I’m free to eat on my own this evening?” I asked, pretending to them and myself that I was glad to eat alone.

  His Highness must have been exhausted by his ride, said Lottie, but she sounded uncomfortable. Everyone knew the prince was back to full strength.

  I looked away, hiding a flush. It stung a little to have a whole castle full of people witness my rejection. When I had regained my composure, I turned back to them with a smile. “I think I’ll take the opportunity to have an early night. If one of you can unlace me now, you can both take the rest of the evening off.”

  But my early bedtime led to a disturbed night of fitful sleep. I kept dreaming I was back in the woods with the wolves and woke up countless times to the sound of howls.

  When I got up in the morning, I felt tired and out of sorts. I missed my sister and the rest of my family, and the various activities that had made my life productive at home. And I was sick of invisible people and strange magic…and a beastly man who did nothing but confuse my emotions.

  After being abandoned the day before, I had no intention of showing up for our usual garden stroll. But my decision to visit Chestnut led me through the entrance hall only twenty minutes later than our usual meeting time.

  To my surprise, the prince waited there, one foot propped up on the stones in front of the fireplace as he stared blindly into the unlit cavity. At my entrance, he started and looked up.

  You came. I had almost concluded there was no point waiting any longer.

  I bit my lip; I felt too tired for a fight.

  He cleared his throat, and I frowned at how uncomfortable he looked. I’m sorry for yesterday. I needed space and a chance to clear my head, but I should not have gone riding without first informing you of my change of plans.

  I stared at him, temporarily robbed of words. Had the Beast just…apologized for something?

  He grimaced, as if embarrassed by the justice of my shock. I would like to make it up to you, with a surprise of sorts.

  “A surprise?”

  He held out his arm. I promise it is a pleasant one—or at least I have tried to make it so.

  I shook my head, still in shock, but placed my hand on his arm. Today had taken an unexpected turn, and my emotions were scrambling to catch up. As Dominic led us through the castle, he talked casually of his pleasure at riding again and of Spitfire’s excellent condition. Every now and then he glanced at me, concern lurking in his eyes, as if he feared I might take offense at the topic.

  I responded as minimally as politeness would allow, trying to work out from our path where he might be taking me. But we seemed to be moving deeper into one of the few parts of the castle I had yet to explore.

  Finally, he pulled me to a stop in front of a
double wooden door, arched and carved with flowers and woodland animals. I eyed it. What lay behind such a door?

  Will you close your eyes? I’ll lead you in. The anxious uncertainty in Dominic’s eyes seemed out of proportion to the seriousness of the question. Looking up at him, I realized he was asking something deeper. He was asking me to trust him.

  My breathing hitched and then sped up as I considered the question. Could I trust someone with such wild swings of emotion and behavior? But his earlier apology still echoed in my mind. After the past month, I knew how big a step that had been for him and, somehow, I couldn’t bear to reject him immediately afterwards.

  “Of course.” I closed my eyes, keeping them shut even when he moved away from me.

  I heard the doors creak open, and then he returned and took my hand. A small shiver shook me. It felt far more intimate than my hand in the crook of his arm. Or perhaps it was just because my eyes were closed.

  He pulled on my hand, and I stepped tentatively forward, resisting the urge to stretch out my other hand to feel for obstacles. We walked forward several steps before he stopped and dropped my hand. You can open your eyes now.

  I opened them and looked around. For several seconds, I couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing. I appeared to be looking down on a wonderland—an internal garden that mimicked the one outside. For a delirious moment, I couldn’t determine if it grew flowers or books. Then I blinked and the scene came into clarity. I stood inside the doorway, at the top of a small flight of stairs, looking down on the most unique library I had ever seen. Wooden bookshelves formed spiral passageways that wound around each other into a distant center. And every one was filled with books. Tall arched windows flooded the space with light, and chairs nestled within the curves, carved in the same patterns as the door.

  It would have been a beautiful room just from its design and contents, but someone had transformed it into something magical by covering the entire room with roses. They wound around the chairs, covered the book shelves and had even been stuck between the books themselves.