***Disclaimer: I do not own Beauty and the Beast or its characters. Credit goes to Disney.***
Author's Note: I know I have my "A Belated Confession" story still in progress, but inspiration hit to tell the story told in the movie from the perspective of the Enchantress. So that means I now have two stories in progress.
Some people have said that I am evil. That I shouldn't have placed a curse on the Prince and those in his castle. I admit, some things may have been a bit rash. I made some choices I might not make if I were able to go back and start over. But I actually did have very good intentions that night. Let me tell you my side of the story.
I had heard about how cruel the Prince was. He had been orphaned, and left in the care of the servants. Unfortunately, by the time he was eleven years old, the staff had spoiled him, and he knew not the concept of consequences. I spent time observing him -- no one knew I was in the castle, as I kept myself invisible. He was just a couple years or so shy of starting the process to go from being a boy to being a man. And I quickly ascertained that something needed to be done, and soon, or else he would only get worse, and would one day be beyond any help.
So I formulated a plan. Since he seemed to be concerned only with outer appearances, and failed to see that true beauty came from within, I would give him one chance to accept someone of terrible appearance into the castle. I'd hoped he would pass the test, but should he fail, I would turn him into a hideous beast, giving him an exterior to match his interior. I would reduce his servants to objects -- after all, they had helped to make him the person he was, so they couldn't get off the hook. Household objects seemed appropriate, as that's how he treated them. The shining castle they lived in would become dark and foreboding.
I would give ten years for him to break the spell. A rose would serve as an hourglass, blooming until his twenty-first year. At that time it would begin to wilt, and its petals would start to fall off. He would have to learn to love a woman from the outside, and earn her love before the last petal fell, in order for he and his servants to once again be human in a majestic castle. Otherwise, the curse would become permanent. I could think of no other way to teach him to be kind on the inside, and to judge people on what was inside, instead of their outward appearances.
And so it was, that on that cold winter's night, I went to the castle disguised as an old beggar woman. My face was wrinkled, my hands were gnarled. I was crooked and wore rags for clothing. The only thing esthetically pleasing about me was the rose that I held in my hand.
I knocked at the door, and asked the servant who answered for the master of the castle. When the Prince arrived, I asked him with my weak and creaky voice for shelter from the bitter cold for the night. I held out the rose, offering it as payment.
Just as I feared, he turned me away. I warned him not to be deceived by outward appearances, for true beauty was found within. But he wouldn't listen, and tried to slam the door in my face. That's when I revealed who I really was, my power blowing the door wide open as my ugly appearance melted to reveal the beautiful Enchantress that I was. The Prince tried to apologize, but I knew he needed a drastic wake up call if there was any hope he would change. So a Beast he became, and his servants became objects. The castle became dark and gloomy as I explained the terms of the curse. I produced a table for the rose to hover over, and a bell jar to protect the rose. Next to the bell jar I placed a mirror that would reveal to the Beast anything he wished to see. With a wave of my hand, the table made its way to the Beast's chamber in the West Wing. I made sure he understood what was explained to him, and then left.
I'd like to explain something before going further. As I said, the servants became objects because, first, they had to have something happen to them since they helped make the Prince who he was, and secondly, they were treated like objects. But many people have wondered something, about the children, like Chip and his siblings, and the little dog who became a footstool. After all, they did nothing to spoil their master. This, I'll admit, was perhaps a bit rash. The children and the dog would be the only parties I would probably handle differently if I could do it over. I learn something with every enchantment that I place. And believe me, the children and the dog being cursed as well were not my worst mistakes.
I will never forget the first curse that I placed. It wasn't exactly the same as this, but it, like all of my curses, had one thing in common. A rose served as an hourglass. I simply cast the spell and did nothing to help to provide a chance of it being broken. And it never was, as the opportunity to fulfill my requirements never presented itself. Any enchantment after that I tried to discretely help, to at least make sure the opportunity arose, but I always seemed to mess things up. Before the Prince I made a Beast, none of my spells had been broken.
I desperately wanted this one to be different. While an Enchantress is allowed to have three active curses at once...active meaning ones whose outcome was not yet determined, not ones that had been broken or become permanent, I decided that this would be my only active curse. That way, I could make it my pet project, devoting my time solely to trying to see it broken. My next task would be to find a girl that would be capable of teaching him to love, and who would also be capable of learning to love a Beast.
No doubt, I had my work cut out for me.