The Merchant's Daughters
Chapter One
Louis Bissette meandered through his humble house, drifting silently from room to room as he restlessly checked on each of his children. Louis, a merchant by trade, was a devoted father and he worried endlessly for their wellbeing. This nightly vigil was his routine. Each night, a few moments after midnight, he carefully left his bed and looked into each of his daughters' bedrooms. Although he'd never had a son, he'd been blessed with three beautiful daughters, each of them charming in their own unique way. The eldest daughter, Helene was fiery and curious to a fault. Sometimes, they hadn't the foggiest idea where she was. When she returned she would have grand tales of adventure to tell at dinner. Everyone always looked forward to her stories, even if half of it was made up. The middle daughter, Cecile, was witty and practical to the point of insanity. She always had to be doing something useful, even if it wasn't at all necessary. One spring in particular, she brought it on herself to make each of the women in the family a new dress, despite the fact that Louis had many, higher quality gowns that he could have simply given them. Renee, the youngest of the three, was meek and studious. She spent much of her time reading and pouring through classic tales, the histories of distant lands and philosophy alike. As a result, she was as sharp as a tack and could engage any scholar in brilliant debate.
Louis sighed with relief each time he saw their innocent, sleeping faces, blissfully unaware of how troubled his own sleep was. Louis battled a lifelong night terror that woke him into fits of screaming nearly nightly. In the dream, he was running down a stone stair case. The path before him was lit, but blackness rushed at him from behind. It reached for him with sharp claws, ready to tear him apart. Once his children were born, they replaced him in the nightmare. Now it was his daughters that the darkness reached for. They who it wished to devour.
He stood a moment in the silent shadows of Renee's room, smiling as he pet her mahogany curls. It was silly really, his believing that a monster would come and take his children from him. They were always quite fine and they lived a simple life. They certainly weren't in any danger from monsters. He had told himself this many a night, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that the dream was a bad omen. Perhaps it was a warning that misfortune was to befall them. That hungry darkness could very well be a metaphor for death. He shuttered at the very thought of having to burry one his girls. There was little doubt in his mind that he wouldn't survive such a loss.
"Father?" Louis heard Cecile's strong voice. He turned slightly to find her standing in the doorway, her hands on her hips as she frowned at him. "What are you doing? You should be in bed. You know you must rise early in the morning."
Louis smiled at his middle daughter, feeling like he was being scolded by his mother. His wife had died several years prior, when the girls were very young. Usually, it was the eldest that stepped up as a motherly figure for the younger children, but that was certainly not the case in his household. Helene was too restless to bother with mothering, so it was the dutiful Cecile that filled those shoes. "I was merely checking on all of you. You know how I worry." He said. Leaving, his youngest's bedside, he followed Cecile back out into the hall.
"I haven't the foggiest idea what you think will happen to us. Are the pillows going to spring to life and try to smother us?" asked Cecile, impatiently batting away a knot of curls that didn't want to stay out of her face.
"You'll understand once you have your own children, Cecile. Everything worries you, even those suspicious pillows." The old man chuckled.
Cecile stopped by the door of her bedroom. Her shoulders slumped and a long breath escaped her lips with a sigh. "Was it the dream again?" She asked. Unlike her other sisters, Cecile was a light sleeper and had long ago noticed her father's frantic screams in the night and his fright driven vigil. Many a night she had laid in her bed, pretending to be fast asleep while her father pet her hair and leant over her to be sure she was still breathing.
"You know about the dream." Louis smirked. He should have known that one of them would figure it out eventually. Though admittedly, he had always believed that it would be Renee who would bring it up first, she being the most intelligent of the girls.
Cecile nodded, "I've begun to have nightmares too. Renee and Helene have complained of it as well. I believe all three of us are having the exact same dream."
Louis' eyes widened in surprise. His hands balled into fists at his sides. The thought of his children suffering through such terror made his stomach twist painfully. "Are you running down a stair case, being chased by a living darkness?" He asked, wondering if it were not all of them that were sharing the dream.
"No," she shook her head sadly, her dark blue eyes watching him almost sheepishly. It was not an expression that Louis was used to seeing on Cecile's face. "It is not us that are being chased. It's you." She said. There was a long pause as if she were considering whether or not to continue. "And you do not escape. The darkness always devours you at the end and we all wake up crying in grief."
Louis mulled over this in his mind. In his own dream, the darkness never touched the girls. They run and they scream in terror, but the shadows never grab them, never even come close. Yet, in the girls' dreams it is he that is being chased and it ends with his demise. Perhaps the dream was a warning of his death, rather than that of one of his children. Death will come for him and grief will threaten to devour all that he leaves behind, but in the end they will escape its clutches and get on with their lives. As sad and horrible as it was, Louis felt somehow relieved. It was natural for a parent to die before their children not the other way around. The death of a young person, who had not yet truly lived, was always far sadder.
"We do not all have it nightly, like you do. It comes to us in rounds. It first comes to Helene, then to me and finally Renee. Tonight was my turn, thus why I am awake. Tomorrow, it will be Renee that wakes with tears running down her face." Cecile groaned in exasperation as more tears rolled down each cheek. She wiped them away hurriedly on the sleeve of her nightdress. "What do you think it means, Father? Is something terrible going to happen?"
"I wish I knew, Cecile." He said calmly. He gently took her in his arms and hugged her. She clutched at the soft fabric of his robe and, feeling like a silly child, wiped her eyes on his shoulder. "Do not fret, child. It was only a dream. Dreams don't always mean anything. And even if it is a bad omen, you are all strong enough to get through whatever hardship comes."
"We're scared of losing you, Father." Cecile muttered into his shoulder.
Louis felt tears threatening to come. They stung his eyes and welled upon his lashes. He pet his daughter's hair soothingly, gently running his fingers through her messy dark auburn curls. "I'm afraid to lose you too." He said quietly.
The family went about the following day as usual. Cecile and her father's discussion seemed to be wholly forgotten. The Bissette patriarch sat before the warm hearth, busily going through some important paper work. He was preparing for another long trading venture in which he would be traveling to several port towns to the east of them. He would be gone for at least three weeks and there were several things that needed to be put in order before he left, not the least of which were his taxes.
"Renee, put that book away. Help me with the dishes. You can read later." Cecile ordered her younger sister. Even at such an early hour, Cecile looked as flustered as a mother with eight children. She had already swept the floors of all the rooms, mended Helene's stockings, cooked a hardy breakfast for them all and was half way through a pile of dishes. Her feverish hands showed no signs of stilling any time soon. They wouldn't stop until her head hit the pillow that night.
Renee did not argue with her sister. She admired Cecile's remarkable work ethic, but worried about her overdoing it. She half expected her to drop dead of exhaustion one of these days. She marked her place in her poetry book with a pretty blue ribbon and set it aside. Then she rolled up her sleeves and joined Cecile at the sink. Renee and Cecile were a remarkable contrast to one another both in looks and disposition. Renee was arguably the prettiest sister. She had very fair skin, silvery eyes and very dark brown hair that curled in soft ringlets about her angular face and cascaded down her back, clear past her waist. A real pity it was that she usually wore it pulled up simply. She was very quiet and had a peaceful air about her. It took a great deal to get any sort of reaction out of her. The same could not be said for Cecile who made a point of speaking her mind when something displeased her, even at the cost of being rude. Cecile was not as delicately framed as Renee. Her build was more sturdy and strong from years of laboring around the house. She was very pretty with her strong jaw, dark blue eyes and bow shaped lips. However, Cecile paid little mind to her appearance. Her hair was usually twisted into a long braid and she hid its lovely reddish-brown color beneath a handkerchief most days while she cleaned.
"Where is Helene?" asked Cecile as she handed a bowl to Renee to dry.
"Why are you asking me?" replied Renee with a shrug. "You know I have no clue. Helene never tells anyone what she's doing."
Cecile shook her head angrily. "I swear that is the laziest girl I've ever met in my life. She's always gallivanting about, having fun while we're slaving away. Is it too much to ask that she help from time to time?"
"I know." Renee couldn't help but laugh. They had this same conversation every day. "It's horribly unfair. I know how deeply you want to go racing with the Aristae boys. It must fill you with envy watching Helene chase after them on her stallion with her dress hiked up and hair flying wild. I can just imagine you doing the same. I'm sure you'd love it."
"Sarcasm does not befit a lady, little sister." Cecile smirked and bonked Renee on her head with a freshly washed wooden spoon.
Renee laughed as she wiped soap from her hair with a fresh towel. "But Cecile, what in the world would you do if you allowed yourself to have free time? Books bore you and you're certainly not going to go adventuring with Helene."
Cecile blushed slightly, "I could…sew or something."
"That's your problem. You're always working. Even your hobby is a form of work." She pat her older sister's hand reassuringly. "Face it dear, you have a problem." Her pretty grey eyes twinkled as she grinned. "Perhaps Helene should introduce you to one of her male friends. That could very well get your mind off of chores."
Cecile splashed Renee with soapy water, soaking the front of her dress and making her squeal. "Don't be absurd. What use do I have for a husband when I have you and Helene to raise?"
Renee pat at her dress with her towel in an attempt to dry it. She was still smiling. The fierce blushing that had spread over Cecile's face had betrayed her. "Helene and I can manage ourselves. Don't you want to be married?"
"Not especially, no. Whether I do or whether I don't makes little difference to me. I'm happy with the way things are. I'm in no rush to change it. What about you?" Cecile asked, occupying herself with the dishes once more.
Renee's pale cheeks turned rosy. She shyly brushed at a loose curl, tucking it behind her ear. "I'd love to be married." She admitted. "I've read so many stories about romance, about loves that endure great trials and even overcome death. I envy the people in those stories. They make it seem so easy to fall in love."
"Have a man in mind?" Cecile bumped Renee's shoulder playfully. She was a little concerned. Cecile was only fifteen and in her mind was still much too young to be thinking of such things. Still, she wasn't about to squash her innocent musings of a fairy tale prince.
Renee's blush darkened. "Oh no! No one!" She assured her. "Ideally, I'd like to my husband to be someone who loves reading and learning as much as I do and who admires my ability. Most men aren't like that though." She had often tried to talk about literature and philosophy with the men that attended the soirées that their father often threw. Usually they either laughed at her or tuned her out while they admired her cleavage.
"Well, I'm sure that you'll meet the right person someday." Cecile kissed the top of her head. "Don't be in too much of a rush."
Renee and Cecile smiled lovingly at one another. "I won't be. Unlike you and Helene, I know how to be patient." Renee lightly laughed as she dried another bowl and put it in its rightful place.
Helene could smell dinner being prepared when she returned home. She'd been gone all day, racing horses and picking wild berries up in the hills with the Aristae boys. Mud splattered the hem of her dress and caked her sensible shoes. There was grass stuck in her windblown honey brown hair. Dirt was smudged on her porcelain cheek. She looked like those boys had dragged her behind the horse.
"I'm back!" Helene announced as she tromped into the house. Poor Cecile, who was still on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor, growled with dismay at the tracks she left behind on her clean floor.
"Wash up. Dinner's almost ready." said Renee. Cecile had grown impatient with her and had put her on cooking duty while she finished cleaning. Now she sat on a stool by a boiling pot with her nose once again in her poetry book.
Helene kicked off her shoes, tossed her shawl over the back of a chair and skipped towards her father. Cecile glowered at her from the kitchen floor and Renee hurried back to her side to calm her down before she threw something heavy at their eldest sister.
Helene of course was completely oblivious. She hugged her father and sat next to him on the couch. "I beat Jean in our race today!" She exclaimed proudly. She was so excited. Jean Aristae was the fastest rider she knew and she had never beaten him before.
"That's marvelous, Helene!" Louis congratulated her. "What did Jean have to say about that?"
"Oh, he wasn't happy at all." Helene laughed. "He kept saying I cheated and he used a lot of very naughty words. I've never heard him talk like that, but apparently he can curse like a sailor."
Louis laughed heartily. He'd never heard the boy talk like that either, but he supposed he had tried his best to put up a proper illusion of himself whenever they spoke, since he was currently trying to get Louis' permission to marry Helene. Helene had all three brothers pining for her hand, but she hadn't seemed to have noticed their affections quite yet. For her, their relationship hadn't changed a bit since they were toddlers. She still saw them as little scabby kneed boys, rather than the strapping young men that they were.
"He challenged me to another race tomorrow afternoon and I'm going to beat him again then too." Helene boasted, grinning from ear to ear.
"Helene, come help us clean this floor before I strangle you!" Celene shouted from the kitchen.
Helene apologized over and over again while Celene kept shouting at her and Renee tried her best to pacify her. All the while, their father sat and watched them, content with his life and hopeful that he would have many more years to enjoy it.
The family gathered that night around the table to enjoy one last meal as a family before Louis left for his trip. They ate happily as they listened to Helene's story about her victory over Jean. She of course flourished it a bit. She claimed that Jean led most the race and that she had won by commanding her horse to leap over him. It was rubbish and everyone knew it, but it was still a thoroughly entertaining tale.
"Is there anything you would like me to bring you from my trip?" asked Louis once the meal began to draw to a close. He usually made a point to buying gifts for them during his trading journeys. It was his way of compensating them for not killing each other while he was away. "Helene, what would you like?" He turned to his wild child.
"Just hurry back. I'm sure I'll have lots of stories to tell you when you return." Helene replied through a full mouth of bread.
"Cecile?" He asked his most stubborn daughter what she would like. "Don't worry about presents, father. We want you home safely as soon as possible. You're not as young and fit as you once were, you know."
"Certainly you must have a gift in mind, Renee." He looked to his little scholar. "Perhaps a new book? I think you've read everything we own three times by now."
"I have all the books I need for now." She replied softly. "All we ask is that you will travel safely." Most girls would jump at the chance to receive a gift, but in truth the three girls had no heart to ask for anything as they looked across the table at their elderly father. Their nights were now plagued with dreams of his loss and that night it would be Renee's turn to watch him be swallowed up. With the image of her father drowning in that inky presence still fresh in her mind, neither she nor any of the others had any heart to ask for trinkets. All they wanted was one more day with him there smiling and laughing with them.
Author's Note: I hope that you are enjoying this story so far. In the original tale of Beauty and the Beast, the sisters were described as very selfish and envious of Beauty and were never nice to her. However, I know of very few siblings who would hate each other to such an extreme. I have a brother myself. Yes, you may fight, but you still love your brother or sister unconditionally. The sisters, I think got a bad rap, so I aim to remedy that. In this story, it won't be clear (At least I hope not) who the "Beauty" character actually is. And if all goes well, you won't discover it until the last couple of chapters. As you may or may not already know, I have tons of stories already going on, so if you'd like to read more of "The Merchant's Daughters", please leave some encouragements in a review or PM. Please let me know which sister you are favoring at the moment. It may help in my selection of the true "Beauty." Think of it as a Beauty and the Beast version of the Bachelor!
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or would simply like to discuss anything that happens in the story.