Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young queen lived in a shining castle.
Although she had everything her heart desired, the queen was spoiled, selfish, and unkind.
But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered her a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the queen sneered at the gift, and turned the old woman away. But she warned her not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when she dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress.
The queen tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in her heart. And as punishment, she transformed her into a hideous echo of her former self, and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there.
Ashamed of her hideous form, the queen concealed herself inside her castle, with a magic mirror as her only window to the outside world.
The rose she had been offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom for many years. If she could learn to love another, and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken.
If not, she would be doomed to remain cursed for all time.
As the years passed, she fell into despair, and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love someone so hideous and cruel? Who could ever learn to love...a beast?
This will contain characters from both Doctor Who and Torchwood, and is a fun standalone AU for a favourite secondary couple in my main DW fic series (because obscure femslash is what I'm all about). But Gaston is just Gaston because you don't mess with that level of perfection.
If you love Esther and/or femslash, you'll probably enjoy this.