Disclaimer: Based on Ella Enchanted which was written by Gail Carson Levine. Also a little based on Beauty and the beast the fairy tale, and a little bit of the movie. A lot of this is mine though.

IV

The months passed, seasons changed, and town gossips came daily to our humble abode to see if there was anything odd about us.
Well, not daily, but often enough that it drove me insane, especially when Ceciii Hanak called. She thought she was a queen. She looked the part too, as her family owned all of the metal works in town, and that was the town's main export. They were richer than we would have been at our highest peak, rich enough that traders such as Sir Peter of Frell had come to town.

I got a look at him once on the way to the bookstore. It was difficult to believe that the man was the father of our new princess, or rather, our new Cook's Helper and Court Linguist. I wish I could meet her, she sounded like a very amusing person.

I still didn't understand much of the royal family in Granat. I knew that Queen Matilda had more power than her husband, as she was the one who inherited the throne, and that they had several children around my age. I also knew their eldest son had died mysteriously, and that they had never found his body.

I knew that because the castle which they discovered he was missing is only a day's journey from our little town, and a lot of the teenage boys dared to break in, as the royal family abandoned it after he was declared dead. None of the boys ever had enough courage to break in though, which is a good thing, I believe.

I couldn't imagine what it must have been like to lose a loved one. It was a terrifying concept to me, as the only people I had ever lost were ones that were old and that I didn't know very well. I was still sad, but it wasn't as terrifying of a loss to me as if I lost someone I saw every day. It was also a weird thought that I was almost the same age as the prince when he died. I couldn't imagine dying at so young an age. I spent every evening thinking these sort of thoughts, crouched next to the window, looking at the twilight sky, as Patience and Vonandar laughed uproariously outside. They practiced with wooden weapons every day, and Patience was actually better than Vonandar, something he cursed about every time she beat him. It was nice to see something good happening in the world, when my thoughts were so complicated.

Serenity still disliked him, but I had a feeling he wouldn't be gone from our family any time soon. Plus, I liked the fellow, even if he did have mismatched eyes, he was still quite handsome, and a good match for Patience.

He could calm her angriest moments with a few soothing words, and all would be right with the world. My parents were very grateful for his presence as Patience's tantrums were happening less and less.

Vonandar also got father a job with the local merchants, for something money related. I never understood what his new job was, but as long as we could afford food, I wasn't going to complain. Mother was very delighted that Vonandar got Father a job and promised him that he could marry any one of us, which made Serenity and Patience scowl. Serenity at the thought of being married to him, and Patience at the thought of being forced to marry him.

The only problems with Vonandar were his friends. Zyslai Grat was the most obnoxious, egotistical, stupid man I had ever met. It didn't help that the whole town let him act that way because they believed him to a hero of some sort, just because he was a good hunter. I hated him. I couldn't stand the sight of him. Every time he tried to rope me into conversation I tried to get out of it as politely as I could, which was difficult since he followed me like a puppy. Vonandar laughed at my expression of disgust and pointed out that every other girl in the village, excluding Patience, but including Serenity, would love to be in my position. I snarled at him before asking Patience to beat him up extra hard at that day's practice.

She did for me. That is what sisters do after all.

Vonandar's other friend Jennadar was not as bad, but all of my sisters hated to see his appearance our house. He was very flirtatious and half in love with all of us, just because we were new to the village.

It wasn't just him though. Half the village boys seemed to be enamored of us, which was quite amusing to me. It was also quite helpful as we did not need to carry as many packages as we might have had to without their help. So I appreciated the novelty our appearance was to them, because otherwise I would have had a problem carrying that bookshelf back to Rose Cottage.

It seemed that Vonandar was lying when he said he knew the origin of the name. He shrugged when I pestered him about it, "I was just curious to see who the new folks were, that's all, Beauty."

I unconsciously pouted a little, "Please Vonandar, don't you know anything about this place. I feel like my parents chose it for a reason."

Vonandar shrugged again, as he tousled his light brown hair, "All I know is that it has been empty for over twenty years, even though someone has owned it the whole time."

My eyes alighted. So there was a mystery. "Does anyone know who it belonged to."

He yawned, trying to divert my attention. I ignored it, as my eyes bored into his, "No one knows anything Beauty. Just leave it alone."

But I could not leave it alone. I had to research every little thing about it. What else was I going to do with my time? Learn etiquette?

I went to the local bookstore, and smiled contentedly at the old bookseller Quori. He sighed as he looked down on my eager face, "So Beauty, what do you want me to lend you this time?"

I blushed, Quori knew how much I loved to read and research, but he also knew that I was rather poor, and unable to pay him anything. So he lent me books in exchange for company and some help in the store. But it still was embarrassing for someone to know that I was so dependent on their charity.

"Quori, could I borrow anything about the history of this area?" I asked, my voice a tad high in anticipation.

He chuckled softly, as his leathery hands pulled out a copy of Siax: A History, which was I was hoping for.

"Oh! Thank you so much Quori!!" I said breathlessly, "When do you want me to help you out?"

He smiled, "Oh next Saturday would be nice. I need to re-categorize the fiction section, some new books are coming in."

My interest peaked, "Really? Err, would I be able to browse through some of them, as I categorize everything."

He chuckled, "Sure thing Beauty, as long as everything is categorized by the end of the day."

I beamed at him, before thanking him and running home to read my book. I ran right into my good, and only friend Faerani.

"Beauty, you really need to work on not running into people," she groused, as helped me up from the dusty ground.

I laughed, still happy about the book, "Oh I will work on it later, right after etiquette lessons." I snorted, unladylike as I attempted a curtsy.

Faerani rolled her eyes, "Well, Beauty, maybe your parents should of named you something like Grace, so that you wouldn't run into people."

I snorted, again, "That may have sort of worked for Serenity, but it didn't work for Patience and me."

Faerani threw her arms in the air, "My goodness, Beauty, when will you ever learn that you are very beautiful. I am the ugly one, Beauty," she said her hazel eyes boring into mine.

She was too. It was horrible as her friend to think that, but it was true. But her personality made people forget the unattractive face and just enjoy her company.

"Faerani. . ." I said quietly, feeling ashamed of myself.

She ignored me, "Now listen, I must get to work on Ceciii's dress for this town's winter ball, so I must dash, tell Serenity that her dress will be ready in a week or so!"

I watched her walk into her store that she owned. Although she was only four years older than me, she was already a self-sufficient seamstress. I knew she was happy making dresses for other women, and being a part of this town, but I couldn't imagine such a life for me. I shuddered at the thought of making dresses for people like Ceciii. But, she was a t least making money. I sighed, before moving on home.

It didn't take me long to reach Rose Cottage. Vonandar had showed me and Patience lots of shortcuts between our home and the village so that we could cut the travel time in half. Vonandar was like the big brother I never had, and I was very glad that he was planning on proposing to Pat soon, so he could be my brother.

I grinned at the thought of Pat being proposed to in a romantic atmosphere. Knowing her, she would rather him dare her to marry him. Hmm, that might just work for her.

It would infuriate Serenity that Pat got married first, which would make the whole thing a lot more amusing. But that could make Serenity start pressuring her little squire to marry her, and then he might get very upset, and that relationship could end! My thoughts were on a rampage exploring every dark corner of the consequences of Vonandar and Pat marrying.

It wasn't until I smelled smoke that I awoke from my daydreams.

(A/N) So thats the end of Chapter four, it was more of a filler, and more of a here's a lot of information for you to absorb. These characters that have been mentioned in this chapter will make an appearance soon. And just what was that smoke all about ; )

Please Review!! Oh and tell me if you think I should do a Beast pov. Cause I am still torn in two about that, and the two reviewers that responded in my last chapter (Thank you so much guys!! 3333 Virtual Cookies for both of you!) were of two differing opinions. So I am trying to figure it out myself, but it would help to hear some opinions from you guys!! So please review and critique! You can get Virtual Cookies too lol.