A young girl no older than 7 played alone by the creek. Her hair was unkempt and her clothes dirty. She looked like a very happy child as she splashed around the creek without a care in the world.. it was hot out and the sun had been beaming all day and her father had made her clean the stables. The girl just meant to cool off for a second. She knew if she got caught her father would not be pleased with her. He was never pleased with her though.
She stepped out the creek and began gathering her things when she heard footsteps approaching. She jump and turned to see her elder sister. She was dressed so elegantly and her black hair was perfectly in place.
" I went to the stables for my lessons expecting u to be cleaning them like father told you to only to find you no longer there. Father won't be happy when he hears this" the elder sister said with a sickening grin.
"please don't tell papa. Please gina please. You know what will happen." the little girl cried and her sisters smile grew even bigger.
"I know exactly what will happen" she said as she turned to walk away back towards the castle as she left her little sister sobbing by the creek.
The little girl waited outside her fathers throne room for him to call her in for her punishment. She knew her father hated her. Her mother had died giving birth to her and her father had always blamed her for it. No matter what she did her father could always find something to punish her for.
"ISABELLE!" she heard her father scream and she gulped down her fear as she entered. She said nothing as she entered and gave him a curtsy never making eye contact. She knew he was angry.
" YOU DISOBEYED ME AND LEFT YOUR WORK TO GO PLAY IS THAT RIGHT GIRL?" he asked. She couldn't do anything but nod her head. "10 LASHES AND A WEEK IN THE DUNGEON" he bellowed as he nodded to one of the guards to take her away.
Two guards escorted her to the dungeon and they put her in the chains that hung from the ceiling and floor so she couldn't move when they beat her. She never tried to move or get away though never fought back just took her punishment. One of the guards pulled out a long whip and began lashing away at her back. Isabelle cried out when the whip hit her back with a loud crack. She could already feel blood dripping down her back as her older wounds were opened back up. The guard cracked the whip nine more times before releasing her from the chains and tossing her into the dungeon like trash. Tears streaked her face and blood soaked her back as she lay on the cold dungeon floor curled in a ball. She prayed every night that she could be free of her father and sister and their cruelty. She prayed that she would get far away and never return she wanted to see the world and go on an adventure and be brave, and one day hopefully find love. She hoped that one day this place would just be a distant memory. Those were her thoughts as she cried herself to sleep that night.
12 years later
Isabelle awoke on the dungeon floor. It had become her permanent residence over the years. Every night she had prayed and hoped for the same things, that someone would take her away from there and she would be free but no one ever came. It was always the same thing everyday over and over again. But this morning was different. When she woke she lifted her head to see her father standing over her. "get up girl come with me" he said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet and dragged out the door and up the steps. He took her to where her room had been when she was just a wee little child and stopped out side the door. " It seems that our kingdom has become very poor the past few years. Your sister will be queen one day and I wont have her running a broke kingdom. I've made a deal with the dark one. He will make this the wealthiest kingdom in all the land. His gold for my child. He believes he is getting Regina but I will never allow that. He never specified in the deal which child so he will have to settle for you. The maids will be in in a minute to bathe and dress you to look appropriate for when he arrives. I will return in an hour to escort you to the main hall where he will be waiting for you. Do not mess this up for me do you understand?" Isabelle just nodded and walked into the room. A few moments later two maids walked in and began filling the large tub with water. Isabelle quickly stripped out of her worn dirty clothes and stepped into the bathtub. The women quickly washed her and combed her hair out in the tub before drying her off and putting her new dress on. When the women were finally done she turned to look in the mirror for the first time in at least 5 years. She didn't recognize the woman standing in front of her. The woman she saw looked beautiful and elegant and.. and a woman.. underneath all the dirt and grime lay a beautiful woman. She had creamy porcelain skin, radiant blue eyes, soft brown curls, perfect ruby red lips, and curves she never even knew she had. The dress she was wearing was something like the things she had seen Regina wear before she was sentenced to a life in the dungeons.
Isabelle walked slowly over to her old bed and ran her hands over the soft fabric of the blanket remembering a time when things weren't quite as bad. She could remember when she was just a little girl no older than four or five how Regina and she would play with their dolls. They had been close at one point and she never really knew why her sister had started to had her. She hoped that one day her sister would love her again like she did when she was just a little girl.
The two maids quietly exited the room and left Isabelle to her thoughts. She sat down on the edge of the bed as her head spun with thoughts. " the dark one" she thought. She remembered the stories she was told as a child about the magical deal maker. The beast the monster they would call him. He was said to be the cruelest man in all the land. Isabelle wondered what he would do to her. Would he beat her and keep her locked away like her father had done or worse? Would he force himself upon her or maybe even torture her with his magic? All sorts of horrible things were running through her mind. She wondered what use the dark one could possibly get from her. He could magic anything he wanted why would he agree to take her and in exchange give her fathers kingdom wealth.
She jumped when she heard a knock at the door and her father entered. He paused for a moment when he saw her but quickly regained himself.
" come with me" he said grabbing her arm "he's here". She took one last look at the room that use to be hers, it was simple with just a small bed a wardrobe with a mirror and a door that led to the bathroom. Her father led her back down a flight of stairs to the main floor and let her towards his throne room. He pushed the large doors open and walked in pulling Isabelle close behind him. As they entered she saw a small man with his back towards them facing the large fireplace. From what she could tell he had curly brown hair and dressed very finely. The man heard them approaching and slowly turned to face them. It was him she quickly noticed. The dark one. His skin was a golden green color, he had long sharp talons. He was different looking but he wasn't the hideous beast that had been described in the stories from when she was a child. She had expected him to be much larger and scarier, he was the dark one after all.
"ahhh this must be her" he hissed. As he looked at her he could see something different about her. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but he would figure it out. He did love a good puzzle. He couldn't help but notice that she was also very beautiful. He was glad he was getting this one instead of regina. He would have ended up turning her into a snail the first night. He smirked at the thought. But this one, this one was different. She didn't seem disgusted by the sight of him like most were in fact she looked at him with curiosity. " I am in need of a caretaker for my rather large estate." he said looking at her. "your father has offered you to me for gold to save his little kingdom" he giggled. " but you must also agree to the deal for it to be final." she was quiet for a moment and she knew she couldn't say no because if she did her father would do far worse to her than the dark one would. She looked at her father and then back to the imp. All she could do was nod. "speak up dearie I can't hear you. You must say it and remember it's forever dearie." he was so close to her now.
" I, I will go with you, forever." she said still looking directly at him. He had expected this to go differently. He was expecting her to beg and plead for a different deal, but she didn't she had just agreed without much hesitation. The thing that baffled him the most was the fact that she didn't really seem to be that frightened by him. Most people would look away in disgust or fear of him but this girl looked at him with only curiosity with her bright blue eyes that never left his.
"deal" he giggled his high pitch giggle.
"what about my gold where's it at?" maurice asked.
" your greedy little heart will get what you desire the second we leave your estate, and if she runs or tries to escape our deal will be broken and your kingdom will be in ruins."
" she won't she will be obedient, I promise you" he said giving her a stern look.
" very well then we should be on our way, wouldn't want to keep you from spending your gold." he said as he grabbed isabelle by the arm and spun her around so gracefully and walked out the door. She never once looked back at the place that would be her prison no more and they disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.
