Author's Note: this is my very first fanfic, so please read and review, don't be too harsh on me…
Plot: a Beauty and the Beast twist
"come on, one more bottle! You, boy, pass me that bottle of wine…" the well-dressed merchant gulped down the bottle of wine that a serving boy had passed him, and peered blurrily at the cards he held in his hand. He grinned at his opponent, a young man dressed in even better clothes than his, and showed his cards. That young man smiled a smile that would normally have alerted the merchant to the fact that something was not right, had the merchant not been so deep in his cups. The young man had won again. The merchant was now bankrupt. "one more game! I don't believe you'll beat me again…" The young man smiled that smile again as he set up for another game.
"What do you have left to bet?"
"You can have whatever you want…just deal the cards!"
"Very well…"
One short game later, which the merchant lost, the young man got up to leave. He signaled to a very well-built man standing near the fireplace. That man came over, and picked up the unconscious merchant, dragging him up to a room in the inn. The young man smiled the smile as he wrote a short note to the aging merchant. He called an attractive serving wench over, and she simpered and curtsied lower than she had to as she ran up to him. "Remember that old drunk merchant I was gambling with? Well, in the morning, pass the old gaffer this note. Can you remember that? Good." He winked at the girl, who nearly swooned at the attention from that handsome young nobleman. She curtsied lower than she had to, tucked the note and the money he handed her into her bodice, and swayed back to her duties.
The next morning, the merchant woke up in an unfamiliar bed with a terrible headache. He groaned as he sat up and looked around him. He was still wearing the clothes he had been in the night before, but they were very wrinkled by now. He staggered out the door and down the stairs that were in front of him. He found himself in a room with a fireplace and a few round tables surrounded by chairs. Now he remembered. Last night, he had dropped by for a drink or two, and he had been unable to resist playing a game or two along with his drinks. He vaguely remembered playing with some rich young nobleman, but he wasn't to sure what had happened. He sat down at a table and called for some food. A young wench came over with some bread and sausages, a hot drink, and a note for him from the man he'd gambled with the night before. He was hungry, so he turned his attention to the food before him before reading the note, which was just as well, because when he finally got round to reading the note, he promptly lost his appetite.
To: the Duke of La Maison dans la Rose
Last night, you gambled your entire fortune and lost it all to me. In a drunken attempt to recoup your losses, you allowed me to choose any one of your few remaining possessions. Unfortunately for you, you lose again, and I claim my win. I choose to have your youngest daughter as my personal slave for as long as I choose. You have three months to move out of your house with what few personal belongings you can carry without the help of anyone.
signed,
the Prince of Beaumont
***I know it's kinda short, I'll try and get more chapters up as soon as I have the time