Mina awoke in a room built in her least favourite colour-red. It reminded her of blood. It was like the whole room was bleeding. Or someone had been shot in it, or something.

She sighed. She missed her father. He had only been trying to get her a rose. And then he had been imprisoned. It was her fault, if you thought about it. If she had just wanted diamonds, or rubies, or silk, or a puppy. Something that anyone could easily get. But…

She got out of bed. She didn't miss her sisters a whole lot, really. They were both older than her, and they didn't have much in common either. They were into money, clothes and jewels. Whereas she liked animals, horse riding and time not spent with her boyfriend.

Her boyfriend was called Preston and was a real jerk. She didn't like him at all, and didn't know why she referred to him as her boyfriend because all he ever did was look at her in a leery way, and give her a peck on the cheek when his friends were looking. Occasionally he'd put his arm in its sweat stained sleeve over her shoulder. She only went out with him because he threatened the things she loved when she didn't.

There were dresses, shoes, shirts and trousers left out, seemingly for her, but it was a bit of a joke. Because only men wore trousers, right?

She got dressed and went downstairs. The monster that lived in the castle was sitting in a dining room, shovelling food into himself as fast as he could go. Unfortunately, Teague seemed to have inherited his eating habits from his father rather than his mother.

She watched him, silently, until he noticed her.

"Ah," he said in a curt voice. "Up now, are we?"

"Why did you want me to come to your castle?" she asked.

"What is your name?"

"DO YOU UNDER-STAND ENG-LISH? Why do you want me here and when can I go home?" She was in a bad mood and decided to vent on the beast.

Teague scowled. She was just as infuriating now as she ever was. "Tell you what. I ask a question, you answer. Then you ask a question and I'll answer."

She sighed dramatically. "Fine. But I asked first. Why did you want me to come to your castle?"

"Um…" Teague faltered. "Why do you think you did?"

"Answer my question!"

"I will. But why did you think that you had to come here?"

"Well, my father took a rose from the garden - I'd asked for one, you see, and they're in short supply – and then you got all ratty with him and demanded he stayed at the castle. Then I said that I would, because I was the one who'd wanted the rose in the first place. Then you said that I had to stay here…"

"Well…" Teague was going to have to remember this all. Sadly, he seemed to be the villain in the story. "You're exactly right. Think of this as a jail sentence, as a punishment. Now my question! What is your name?"

"And why is this relevant?"

"Just answer."

"My name is Belle."

Teague's eyes softened a little. Belle. It meant beautiful in French.

"Belle" coughed. "I asked, what is your name?"

"What? Oh, right. Em…my name is…W…Wilhelm!"

WTF. Out of all the names he could have picked…

Mina raised an eyebrow. "Oh, right." This had gotten boring. He was actually starving.

Teague said no more and sighed, but platters appeared on the long oak table containing bacon, sausages, black pudding, cooked ham, salami and duck. Mina blinked and then blinked again.

She didn't make a move. "What's wrong?"

"I don't eat meat. I'm a vegetarian."

Teague sighed again, louder this time, and made fruit appear in the kitchen. He had forgotten that she didn't know he was Fae. He motioned towards it, and she walked in. A few minutes later she came out, holding a lot of what had been in there. She dumped it all on the table.

"What is this?" she asked, holding up a kiwi. Teague almost laughed. What time zone did she think she was in? "And what's this?" holding up a durian. "And.."

"That's a banana."

She snorted. "Obviously. But how do you peel them?"

He stared at her incredulously. "You don't know how to peel a banana?"

She looked shy and a little sad when she said "My father always did it for me."

He took it from her and skinned it.

"Thank you!" and then she smiled. Her smile had not changed at all. It lit up her face. He saw genuine gratitude in her eyes. He shivered.

The moment was ruined when Jared said "This is the bit where you say YOU'RE WELCOME."

"Oh no, not you AGAIN."

"You're right. It's me. I'm back to haunt you."

"Shut up."

Her smile had slipped. "Well, I'll just go to my room, then."

"Eh…y-yes, you do that."

Teague was tired of her company anyway. He walked away from the table and tried to go out the front door. This time he was able to, but he couldn't get past the front gate. He'd try again some other time. It wasn't bad in here anyway. There was a big muddy garden perfect for dirt bike racing, and-

"WTF HAPPENED TO MY GARDEN?" he shrieked as he ran around in figure of eights. There were gorgeous rose bushes everywhere, blooming with blossoms of every colour. The nicest looking were the red ones. They started out crimson, and then darkened to burgundy. They were unlike any roses ever seen on the human plane.

He ran inside and up to his bedroom to put on his work clothes – this was going to be a tough job – but stopped when he caught a fleeting glimpse of his reflection in a mirror.

His eyes were green.