Soft morning light diffused into the room through purple curtains hanging at tall windows. Hope drowsily awoke in comfortable, soft bedding. But something felt wrong. For a moment, she lay unmoving; confused. She wasn't sure where she was. Claire hadn't come to wake her, which was odd. Even more peculiar was the total silence, save for the song of some bird outside her window. In her house the servants always chattered away like a flock of chickadees and if it wasn't Claire that woke her it was usually the noise.
Opening her eyes to look around the room, Hope suddenly remembered where she was and a cold fear settled in her stomach. Images of the Wolf flickered through her mind: the sharp fangs, the cruel claws, his fierce eyes; the immensity of his beastly body. Hope shivered as she remembered his harsh words, "Consider this my mercy. I could do far worse to you…"
Mercy? She thought. How can imprisonment be mercy?
Suddenly her bedroom door burst open and Hope screamed, bolting upright. There was no one there, but the door had clearly been opened and not by any vagrant breeze. Instantly Hope remembered that the servants in this house were strangely both invisible and incapable of speech or even making much sound. Irrationally annoyed Hope cried, "Don't do that!" in the direction of the presumed intruder. "The least you could do is knock or make some kind of noise to let me know you're coming. This house is much too quiet, and it doesn't help at all that you're invisible!"
A muffled apology came out of the air and confirmed to Hope that she had been right to assume a servant had entered her room.
"Sorry," Hope said suddenly feeling remorseful, "I'm just not used to the silence of this house yet."
The servant seemed to understand and dismissed the incident. Instead she started fussing with the enchanted wardrobe to pick out a decent day dress.
Reminded of the conversation shared with the beast last night, Hope asked the servant, "Are you Maria?"
The answering whisper was affirmative.
"Is there any way you and I can talk to better understand each other?"
Off of a dresser Maria removed a pad of paper and pencil.
"Ah, that makes sense," Hope said.
Maria quickly scribbled on the pad and handed it to Hope. Her writing read, "There's a pad like this in every room of the house. Master placed them to better communicate with us."
"Master…" Hope repeated quietly to no one in particular. "Is your master – the beast – is he hard to work for?"
Maria quickly wrote as if angry, "My master is not a beast! He is one of the greatest men I have ever had the privilege to know."
"Man?" Hope asked astounded. "He is no man! He's a wolf creature, a monster even!"
"You do not know him yet. He is much more than he appears."
"Then why doesn't he act like something more?"
"I'll admit he has a temper, and what he did to you was rash – after all you had no idea – but it's not his fault! In a way he had no choice."
"What! No choice? This is completely his fault! I did nothing wrong!" Hope stated horrified.
"You plucked one of the forbidden roses," Maria stated firmly.
"Forbidden? Why are they forbidden," Hope was suddenly very much curious.
"I'm sorry but I am not in a position to give you that information," Maria wrote very seriously. To quickly change subjects she then wrote, "Now, breakfast will be served in about an hour's time. Would my lady like to take a bath?"
Reluctantly Hope said, "Oh I suppose that would be nice, thank you."
"Then please follow me." Maria set aside the pad and pencil, picked up the day's selected outfit, and handed Hope a dressing robe.
In a well lit marble-tiled bathroom, just a few doors down from Hope's room, they found that a warm bath was in the process of being drawn. Fresh towels were sitting on a bench along with an assortment of shampoos, perfumes, and soaps. The water felt luxurious to Hope and she instantly relaxed into day dreams. Images of her home back in France flickered behind her closed eyelids. Silently she prayed that there might be some way she could get home before spring and see her well loved flowers bloom in the garden and greenhouse. She felt it was weird to see the flowers blooming here. It wasn't the right season at all. The plants should be dead. The ground should be covered in snow, not green grass.
A loud knocking at the door broke her thoughts. "Come in," she said.
Maria opened the door and picked up the pad and pen found above the sink. She wrote, "Time to get out. Breakfast will be served soon."
"What's the rush?" Hope asked. "Will the Wolf be there or something?"
"No, he will meet you shortly afterwards, but he is expecting you all the same. Please let's not make him wait."
Although Hope feared what the beast might do if she were terribly late, she also didn't feel like hurrying to see him. So she took as much time as she dared to get dressed and fix her hair in a simple yet extremely neat pony-tail. Maria led her back to the great dining hall where delicious smells coming from silver trays on the table already awaited her. Hope noticed that this time there was only one place set up, not even a glass at the other end. Most noticeably, though, a few wooden leaves had been removed to make the table drastically shorter.
Hope did her best to ignore these changes as she sat down to eat her breakfast served by an invisible wait staff. As covers to trays were removed, Hope found a generous spread of eggs, bacon, sausages, ham, porridge, rolls, and even crêpes before her. She was surprised to see crêpes outside of France but delighted all the same. Crêpes were her favorite and after tasting every dish, she helped herself to more of these French specialties.
A wheeled cart came to remove the dishes as she finished. Hope heard a rather loud click, almost as if there were two simultaneous clicks, as the doors to the kitchen closed behind the retreating cart. Thinking she was alone, she started terrified by a nervous cough behind her. She turned to glare at the Wolf.
"I'm sorry," he quickly said, "I didn't mean to startle you, Esperanza."
"Well you did!" Hope snapped. "You're just as bad as your servants; always sneaking up on me. Couldn't you let me know when you approach like a real gentleman would do?"
Wolf's pride felt hurt by this last line, and he shot back, "Well if you'd pay more attention you would have heard me open the door. And besides, I was just about to introduce my presence, so that's your fault!"
Realizing that he was right but not wanting to give up the fight just yet, Hope complained, "Well you probably entered in sequence with the kitchen doors so I couldn't hear you."
The beast loomed angrily over Hope, and she suddenly had a great fear that he was going to lash out and hit her. But a cloud seemed to pass over his eyes and Wolf straightened out the chain that held a red cloak to his broad grey furred shoulders as he regained his composure. "Esperanza, I did not come here to argue. In fact, I came to see how you were doing this morning. I know yesterday was not easy at all for you."
"You're one to talk!" Hope rolled her eyes, and turned her back on him.
"Esperanza, please," Wolf pleaded, seeming truly sincere, "I do not wish to argue."
Seeing that her belligerence was getting her nowhere, Hope faced the Wolf said, "I feel much better this morning, thank you. Besides being quiet, you servants have been extremely nice and hospitable."
"Yes, the silence can be trying at times, but I'm glad to hear that you appreciate their efforts. They're all very excited that you are here. It's been awhile since they had anyone else to wait on. Speaking of which, how was your breakfast?"
"Wonderful," Hope said, "I really enjoyed the crêpes. I was surprised to see them, but they tasted absolutely delicious. They were filled with raspberries; a treat you don't usually find in the middle of February."
"Splendid!" Wolf said, ignoring the stress that she had emphasized the month with. "It certainly is nice to have such a wonderful chef on hand. He was trained in Paris, you know."
"That would explain his skill then," Hope agreed.
"Yes, he is excited to finally get the chance to cook many of the French dishes he learned."
Hope found it interesting that the Wolf spoke in such a friendly manner. It was such an extreme change from last night and even from just a few minutes ago. She quickly recalculated in her mind the character of the creature standing before her. He clearly was much more complicated than she had first assumed. Instead of being completely brutish, he had a more congenial side it seemed, and Hope almost longed to get to know this side of him better, but a fear and indignation at her imposed capture lingered in the back of her mind. Still she wished to continue talking, so she carefully prompted, "About that tour you offered yesterday, tell me more."
"Ah yes," Wolf said. "If you would still be willing to come with me, I would gladly take you on a tour of my house and lands."
"Of course I would, especially since it seems I will be here for a while," Hope smiled at the Wolf. He smiled back, which looked extremely foolish on his muzzled face, but he quickly regained his more serious countenance. Hope thought the smile was oddly cute.
"Let us begin then," Wolf said. "This mansion was built fifty years ago. Of course the barony was established close to two-hundred years ago, but there have been several Manor houses. This is the most recent one."
"Where is the baron?" Hope asked.
"He died and his son disappeared," Wolf replied simply.
"Oh my goodness," Hope recoiled from the thought of such a tragedy. "When did this happen?"
"Several years ago."
"Wow that's informative," Hope said sourly, not even noticing the warning hint of ice in Wolf's voice. "And just how long have you been here?"
"Five years," Wolf said shortly. "And if you don't mind, Esperanza, I do not appreciate questions of this nature, so I think it would be best if we just continued with the tour." He sharply turned on one paw and left the dining hall.
Not wanting to enrage the beast further, Hope meekly followed. The rapid changes in Wolf's moods thoroughly confused her. She did have to admit to herself that her own moods were rather fickle, but for good reason usually. The Wolf seemed totally different. It was as if any and all questions angered him. This didn't make very much sense. Either he just simply hated questions, or he was hiding something big. Hope had an apprehensive feeling that it was the second of the two cases, and that somehow she was now tied up in all of it.
Breaking her thoughts, Wolf spoke up and said, "The baron who had this mansion built, Señor Ricardo, wanted to make a statement among the neighboring baronies. He hired only the best builders and craftsmen to design and complete this house." They walked down the hall back towards the main foyer.
"Consequently," he continued, "not everything here was made in Spain. For example the stained glass window here in the atrium ceiling was made in Venice." They moved into the multihued light to better appreciate its beauty.
"It is incredibly beautiful," Hope said.
"Indeed," Wolf said softly.
It was then Hope realized that Wolf was staring at her and not the window. Feeling extremely nervous under his intense gaze and from the close proximity of his beastly body, she tried to hide her emotions in saying, "Shall we continue the tour?"
"I suppose," Wolf said off-handedly, giving Hope a sudden sinking feeling that she had only barely escaped something, though she didn't know what. "Are you in a hurry?"
"No, I just find this house very interesting, and would like to know more," she said truthfully.
"As you wish then." Wolf turned his eyes from Hope, and she felt instantly better. She couldn't bear to have Wolf stare at her for very long. Something about his gaze unnerved her. It just seemed so… so… human.
There were many rooms and halls to go through on just the first floor alone making Hope quickly lose track. Some of the rooms did stand out to her, like the sitting room she came to on her first day, and others that she had previously looked into. In some ways she knew all of that had happened only yesterday, but in other ways it felt like a year had already gone by.
Another room in particular stood out to her. It had large windows in yellow painted walls that faced the front garden and cliff with a baby grand piano positioned as the center of attention of several deeply cushioned chairs and couches.
When she mentioned that she liked the room, Wolf said, "They used to hold grand parties in this house. This room was designed for the chamber musicians that the Baron would hire from all over Europe. It's been silent in here for several years, though."
Wolf seemed profoundly sad, but Hope couldn't resist the curiosity. "What happened to the last baron's son? It's just I'm surprised that the Duke, or really anyone else in Spain, hasn't tried to find him."
"This is a very small barony," Wolf said. "And it's unimportant in the eyes of others."
"An entire barony unimportant?" Hope scoffed at the idea. "I just don't see that the good Duke would ever ignore any of his associates in this way."
"The Duke doesn't know. To the outside it seems like there's nothing wrong," Wolf said clearly not telling everything that he could.
"But how could the barony function without someone in charge? And doesn't the Duke expect reports to be made? I can't imagine that absolutely no one would notice."
Wolf sighed, "My dear Esperanza, you are a very difficult woman to deal with. I was honestly not expecting you to have such a well versed intellect."
Hope took great offense at that. "Is it too much of a problem for you that I happen to be well educated as my father wished?"
"No, not at all," Wolf quickly said. "I have a very deep respect for intelligent women." Hope rolled her eyes. "It just means that you expect answers to your questions unlike most of the women out there who would be satisfied with only half replies. But as much as I find that aspect of you to be truly refreshing, and I really would like to tell you all that you want to know, I simply cannot."
"Why? I bet it's more like you won't rather than you can't."
"No, Esperanza, I promise you I would if I could, but I am not allowed." Wolf genuinely seemed distressed at this, but Hope ignored the sorrow in his eyes.
"Not allowed?" she said. "What could possibly be stopping you besides yourself?"
"I can't tell you that either. Please, Esperanza, I simply can't. I'm sorry." Wolf's eyes begged for Hope to understand.
Seeing this, Hope took a deep breath, and did her best to calm her anger. "Well, I don't see why you can't, but I will just have to accept it for now I guess. However, I will warn you," Hope's eyes flashed competitively as she said this, "now that you have only given me more questions, I am determined to find all of the answers whether you tell them to me or not."
"So be it," Wolf said. There was a solemn glint in his eyes, and Hope couldn't tell from them if he was disappointed or pleased with what she had just said.
"Now," Wolf went on, "Let us continue the tour. There is much still to be seen."
Honestly curious, Hope followed Wolf as he took her down the hall. She soon realized that for the most part the house was built symmetrically. The entrance hall was set in the middle and to either side stretched almost identical wings. At the far end of the wing they had just left, lay the kitchens and dining hall, so Hope deduced that this hall must have a similarly large room at its terminus. This made it no surprise when Wolf brought her before a set of double doors.
"I mentioned earlier how music and parties were always a big to do around here, but the greatest pride of this barony has always been its book collection. When this Manor was built, Señor Ricardo ordered the largest library as of yet to be constructed. It lies behind these doors. Would you like to see it?" Wolf asked.
"Would I ever! I absolutely love books," Hope exclaimed.
Pleased to see her take interest, Wolf opened the doors of the library for Hope. She gasped at the immensity of the collection that lay before her. The main room was at least the size of the dining hall and main kitchens combined. Almost every inch of wall space was dedicated to shelves of books, broken only by grand, floor-to-ceiling windows that allowed in ample amounts of light. Filling most of the room was free standing shelves carved to echo arches of Spanish cathedrals. Small arched doorways in the far wall showed into alcoves stocked with yet more books and furnished as study rooms, with deeply cushioned couches and writing desks.
Overwhelmed by the size of the library and amount of books, Hope simply began browsing the shelves to get a feel for what was available. She found that the shelves were all neatly divided into categories by genre of novels and function of other resources, such as maps, scrolls, letters, musical scores, and more.
"This is incredible," Hope said. "I can't believe I didn't find this room before."
"You have only been here one day," Wolf reminded her. "Why else would we be taking this tour?"
Hope laughed and smiled deeply at the Wolf. He felt his heart skip, missing a beat and catching in his throat. Sunlight illuminated Hope's clear, pale skin and Wolf longed to reach forward and run a finger along her cheek, but he feared how she would react, so he restrained himself. His discomfort was quickly relieved as Hope moved away into the grand library to examine the books more closely.
Her eyes had been caught by a shelf labeled "Fables." She selected a rather thick volume bound with embossed leather and entitled: The Arabian Nights.
"These were my favorites growing up," Hope reminisced. "I read my copy so much the binding started to come apart."
"Then take my copy to replace yours," Wolf said, moving to stand beside her.
"Oh, I couldn't," Hope said, taking a step back. "This book belongs here in the library where anyone can read it."
"If that is what you wish, Esperanza. Though, I can assure you no one has come to read these books in many years."
"That's a shame," Hope said absently looking around her. "Maybe that'll change soon… I don't know; I just can't imagine people not wanting to come and see this place. A collection like this would draw hundreds of avid readers. I can't believe I haven't heard about this collection before. Though I must admit, even if I had known about this place sooner I probably couldn't read half of these books if I spent the rest of my life here."
"I wish you would," Wolf said cryptically, staring into Hope's soft, yet puzzled eyes.
Suddenly feeling awkward and wary of the beast, Hope stepped further away and moved to another shelf, the book of Middle Eastern fables still clutched to her chest. She browsed silently for a while, and Wolf respectfully kept his distance not wanting to make her feel any more uncomfortable. The silence still felt awkward, though, and just to break it, Hope stopped and looked to the Wolf. "Well, I can always come back and continue looking later. I think I'll just stick with this book for right now," Hope said indicating the beloved volume in her hands.
"An excellent book to start with," Wolf said, also happy to end the silence. "Shall we continue the tour, then?" Wolf asked expectantly.
"Yes," Hope said, "where to, might I ask?"
"Well, I suppose that's up to you," Wolf said. "There's not much more to see here in the house besides all of the living spaces, most of the attractions are here on the first floor. Or we could go out and see the gardens."
Hope shook her head. "I don't think I'd like to return to that garden. I don't want to get into any more trouble. "
Wolf smiled. "Not that garden, Esperanza. There is a decently large stretch of gardens behind the house hidden from the view of the cliff. You may find them enjoyable to explore, and I promise none of the flowers there will cause you any strife."
"I see," Hope said, thinking over the choices. "Well I've already seen a good portion of the second floor, so unless there is something else you'd really like to show me, or take me back to… I'd love to look at the gardens." She looked hopefully at the Wolf, wondering if he would pick up on her hint and tell her more about the abandoned wing that housed the looking glass.
He didn't, however, or simply he ignored the hint. Instead, he said, "Splendid, I will show you the gardens then! There's a door that leads right to them from this library if you will please follow me, Esperanza."
Outside the air was clear and crisp, typical of a late winter's afternoon. But here at the Wolf's mansion, it was as if the plants did not know the season. Every plant seemed in a tizzy of growth; budding, flowering, or bearing fruit. There was no sense to the growth as everything seemed to be alive all at once with no clear progression of life cycles. The one stage that was very clearly missing was death. Dormancy did not exist among these plants.
At a glance, Hope could see that the gardens were much larger than Wolf had led her to believe. They spanned the entire length of the house and other buildings before them and ran several acres back into the wooden hills. They were meticulously laid out in a gird-like system. Flower beds were easily accessible by the many different paths that wandered through. Well spaced statues, fountains, and an intricate rock garden broke up the vastness of the sea of green and other vibrant colors. Two stately gazebos of widely different architecture stood guarding an open swath of lawn set in the center-front of the gardens.
Wolf began to lead Hope through the nearest patch of flowers when he suddenly stopped, inclining his head as if to listen to some barely audible sound.
"What is it?" Hope asked.
Her answer came as a stern hush from the Wolf. Then faintly she heard a string of whispers. The day spent with the beast had nearly driven the idea of invisible and silent servants out of her mind. Now they seemed copiously at the fore front of her thoughts. How many had she passed today without even knowing they were there? How many were looking on right now? She had no way to tell. Unconsciously she looked around, but of course there was nothing to see.
"Sorry," Wolf said, turning to look at Hope after a moment. "I did not mean to seem rude. I was merely trying to hear him as best I could."
"Who was that?" Hope said accepting the apology.
"This is the head of my house hold staff, Antonio," Wolf said indicating that the servant still stood by. "He has informed me that lunch is ready to be served wherever we so desire. How about eating out here in one of the gazebos?"
"Sure," Hope said, "it certainly is a nice enough day."
"Splendid then! Antonio, we will be served here," Wolf said turning to the unseen servant. Hope felt a soft rush of air as Antonio moved passed her and back into the house. Wolf looked to Hope again and said, "If you don't mind, Esperanza, we will continue the tour after lunch. For now let us retire to yonder gazebo," he said pointing to the nearest of the two structures which was still a goodly distance away.
Hope said, "Of course, lunch would be a welcomed break indeed."
As they sat around a wicker table and had their food served to them in the cool, but nice shade of the gazebo, Hope wondered why her stomach was attempting to tie itself in knots. She suddenly realized that this was the first meal she would actually be sharing with the beast, and she was nervous. She asked herself why he hadn't eaten with her before, but could come up with no clear answer. As the food was set before her and they began to eat, a possible answer entered her mind.
Hope was served a light salad that had shrimp in a vinaigrette dressing, then a delicately spiced soup with ingredients that she couldn't fully recognize, but which tasted delicious. Wolf was given a steak that seemed to have hardly touched the grill; it was so rare. He did his best to eat it with a fork and knife and some measure of dignity, but his paw-like hands found the utensils clumsy, and he quickly looked very sloppy with beef juice dripping into his fur. Hope suddenly had the impression that he most likely never used forks and knives, instead preferring to resort to eating with his hands like an animal. Noting his obvious pride, this could be one reason as to why he had never eaten with her before. Hope then felt bad that she had earlier accused his absence as being out of mischievousness and spite.
Wolf noticed Hope studying him intently and suddenly felt ashamed of his inability to use simple, everyday utensils. He silently chastised himself for not practicing more often. Of course before Hope had arrived there had been no need to be civil as he had largely eaten alone with only Antonio in attendance. Now he regretted that decision.
"This food is really delicious," Hope suddenly said, demurely looking down at her plate. "I'd like to send my compliments to the chef."
"Indeed," Wolf replied, grateful that she had chosen not to say anything awkward. "I'll make sure that he knows your sentiments. Antonio, if you would please do so," Wolf spoke to the invisible man who had been standing by quietly as they ate.
The swish of the air told Hope he had left. "Thank you," she called after him.
"You're starting to become more aware of where they are, aren't you?" Wolf observed referencing his servants.
"Only when they move," Hope replied. "There's a certain 'swish' in the air…"
"Indeed," Wolf agreed. "Soon you'll probably be able to tell when they're just standing around too. It feels intensely like someone's watching you, which is probably true now that I think about it," he laughed.
Hope didn't say anything to that, mainly because she didn't know what to say. So Wolf changed subjects and asked, "Would you like to continue our tour soon?"
"I suppose," Hope said, not sure what else to say. "What all is there left to see?"
"Well, there is rest of the gardens, and I don't believe I've showed you the ballroom yet, but that's mostly it. Everywhere else is pretty much self explanatory."
This last comment made Hope deeply tempted to ask about the abandoned odd wing, but she managed to restrain her tongue and instead said, "I would certainly like to see the ballroom. I absolutely love dancing. And the gardens aren't going to go anywhere so I can always come and explore more of them later, if that's alright with you. No point in seeing everything all in one day, you know."
"Of course," Wolf said. "Let us then go to the ballroom, and then I think I will take leave of your presence for the rest of the day, that is if it's alright with you."
"Of course," Hope replied, her eyes searching his for why he had asked that question as if his freedom depended on her instead of the other way around.
They waited patiently until the table had been cleared. Then walking aimlessly, they meandered back towards the house. From behind, Hope realized that the building was not quite as symmetric as she had originally thought. There was a curious third wing that from a bird's eye view made the mansion look like a giant "T", but the leg of the "T" was off center, seemingly pushed aside by an great cube that obviously enclosed a enormous room. This made Hope think that the third wing had been added on as an afterthought of necessity and not design.
Doors to the large cubical room perched atop stairs that led grandly up from the gardens. To these they ascended and entered an ornately decorated ballroom.
Hope had never seen a room so lavishly decorated with gold gilding and painted designs. Countless tall windows in three of the four walls made the room seem very airy. Hope instantly liked the place. From a grand platform in the far corner she could just imagine music pouring out over crowds of dancers. She wished that there was music here now and the room wasn't so completely empty. Vaguely she noticed that instead there was an eerie silence and a thick coating of dust dulled the parquet hardwood floor. But oh how she just wanted to dance! Experimentally, she twirled around into the center of the room, wishing she was wearing a better dress with a fuller skirt.
Wolf stood off near the doors they had come through, smiling as he watched her dance. She was so beautiful! He'd give anything to hold her and dance along.
Hope noticed his eyes on her and felt embarrassed. She stopped spinning. "Sorry," she said, "I just love to dance."
"I can tell," Wolf said still smiling. "Maybe I'll have my house musicians dust off their instruments sometime and we could dance together."
"Maybe," Hope said quietly, thinking it would be extremely awkward to dance with the beast.
"Well," Wolf said striding across the hall towards another set of doors. "That's pretty much all I wanted to show you on our tour today." They exited the ballroom into the main entryway of the house, and Hope realized that these were the doors in the atrium, behind the stairs that she had wanted to investigate yesterday.
"What do you think?" Wolf asked turning to look at his Esperanza.
"It's an absolutely gorgeous house," Hope said. "I must admit I like it, even if it is to be my prison." She said this last line without really intending to and instantly regretted it.
Wolf looked hurt and said, "I really wish you wouldn't think of it like that. I want you to be happy here."
"Then why did you make me a prisoner?" Hope asked with all honesty.
"I had no choice, Esperanza. It's difficult to explain…" his voice lamely trailed off.
"I wish you would," Hope insisted. "My father's probably worried sick over me. Don't you think you should let me at least contact him? I wouldn't even have to leave. All I'd have to do is write a letter."
"I'm sorry, Esperanza, but I won't allow anyone to know where you are right now. They might try and come to take you away from me."
"I guarantee you, if you don't let my father know that I am safe he will come looking for me, and he will never stop until he has found me," Hope said glaring dangerously and with indignation.
"I will take your words into consideration," Wolf said mildly, ignoring her glare. "It may be as you say, but I doubt your father would be able to find you anyway, unless he knew where to look. We are fairly well hidden here, and I would like to keep it that way."
His words sounded with a certainty that scared Hope. What kind of place was this? She briefly thought and looked warily up at the beast's viscous looking face.
Wolf went on oblivious, "Still, it might not be a bad idea to slow him down with a calming letter. I don't know; I'll have to think about it," Wolf said.
"Why am I so important to you?" Hope asked, fearful of the finality in the beast's words that had further sealed her imprisonment.
"Because I… I think you're special," Wolf quickly looked away in an attempt to avoid Hope's piercing gaze.
"That's doesn't make any sense!" Hope protested.
"Well it's all I can tell you!" Wolf said. "Can't you just accept that for once Esperanza?"
"No!" Hope snapped. "I won't be satisfied until I have an answer. I will find out what's going on here!"
"Fine!" Wolf snapped back. "But I'm not telling you anything more. There are certain things I just won't do; it's too risky."
"Risky?" Hope recoiled, shocked. "What could possibly be risky about telling me why in God's name you have imprisoned me?" She raged, not even caring that cursing was highly unladylike.
"Esperanza! I will not tolerate that tone of voice from you!" Wolf scolded her. "I am in charge here and what I say goes!"
"Fine then," Hope abated, more out of fear than good manners. "But if my captor doesn't mind, I wish to retire to my rooms now." She turned on her heal and stormed up the marble stairs, not waiting for an answer.
Wolf hurled himself at the opposite side of the double staircase, muttering angrily under his breath. He bounded up the steps taking several at a time. For a moment Hope froze, fearing that he meant to cut her off. Instead he turned down the hall away from her, disappearing around the corner into the dark hallway that led to the mirror. Hope heard a door slam and then after a few moments, another. She was almost tempted to follow. Then remembering that she was supposed to be mad at the beast, she turned and went to her own room, slamming the door for good measure.
AN: Updated version of chapter 10, only slight adjustments. I must apologize that it took me two years to get this chapter published.
As always, please feel free to leave comments and critiques as I highly value both! Enjoy!