The Room of Mirrors

With the Beast's henchman gone (and my maid staring wistfully after him) to take my reply to his master, I was now free to explore the castle at my will. Or, not completely at my will and freedom, as the witch seemed to want to stay rather close by me. I had the feeling that she was almost a sort of spy for my captor, then I realized, of course, everyone in the castle would be reporting to him. Of course she was a spy. As would be my maid, the henchman, and my strange, talking furniture. I resigned myself to a life that no longer held the great luxury of privacy.

I sank into a couch by the fireplace, staring desolately into the embers in the grate. The witch surveyed me.

"What are you doing, Beauty? What are you thinking of?"

I smiled grimly. "I'm wallowing in self-pity, I am," I replied.

"Would you not like to see your home?"

Home. I laughed inwardly. This could never be home. Especially if the Beast was going to eat me at eight o'clock tonight. The witch took my sour silence as an answer.

"Beauty," she began in a commanding voice, "you are not going to sit here like a useless little doll."

I glanced up at her. "Fine. What do you suggest I do?" I was almost surprised at the amount of bitterness in my voice. She was not the one responsible for my predicament, and yet. . .

The witch, however, smiled at me. "I recommend the Room of Mirrors," she said mysteriously.

My curiosity got the better of me. "What's that?"

"Big room? Lots of mirrors?" my maid suggested unhelpfully.

"Well, how do we get there?" I asked, rising from my seat.

The witch stepped toward me, taking my arm. "Close your eyes," she said in her mysterious, ethereal voice.

I did as she said, feeling rather foolish. She gripped my arm rather tightly and began to chant, "To the East of the sun, to the West of the moon, carry us to our chosen room!"

The chant picked up, seeming to be echoed by a hundred more voices. The floor beneath my feet swayed suddenly, tipped, jerking from side to side. I reached out and grabbed onto the witch's arm as tightly as she held mine. The air around me swirled quickly, picking up my hair and flicking it all around. More than once did I feel the stinging of it as it struck my face, and I vowed if I survived this strange sensation to crop it short. I kept my eyes tightly sealed, afraid of what was happening around me. I couldn't hear much above the chanting, but a raw feeling in my throat told me that I was yelling.

Suddenly it all stopped. Everything was still, very still and silent. The floor was solid once again, my hair lay gently against my shoulders and back, and the witch relinquished her grip on me. I, too, let go of her arm, regretting this decision as I did so. My knees gave out and I fell, rather ungracefully, to the floor. My eyes were still clamped shut.

"Are we done?" I ventured, once I was sure my stomach had stopped pitching.

The witch chuckled not unkindly above me. "The Room of Mirrors!" she said, in a welcoming sort of way.

I blinked once, then stared discourteously at my surroundings.

I was sitting in the center of a vast room. I was sure my father hadn't had the chance to see this room while he was in the castle, for he would have surely told us in great detail about it. Every surface seemed to be covered in a reflective glass of some sort, although I was sure that it was not all mirror. I had never seen mirrors in such an array of colors, either. A soft glow, appearing to come from the room itself, was reflecting, bouncing across the walls and ceiling, giving a sort of sparkling, glittering effect to the magnificent room.

Although the walls and ceilings were covered with mirrors, I could not always see myself in them. This was of a certain relief to me, I would have found it rather disconcerting to be looking at thousands of copies of myself contained in a single room. My dress, however, was reflected in many of the mirrors, the deep, beautiful blue catching and showing in brief spots all over the room. I couldn't have dreamed of something so wonderful and marvelous and beautiful as this room.

My instant displeasure at the means of travel within the castle was immediately forgotten as I stood and turned in a slow circle, admiring the ever-shifting light.

"This is beautiful," I murmured, almost unaware of myself. The witch stood back a few paces, watching me closely. She suddenly snapped her fingers and the mirrors themselves began to move.

It was not in a dizzying way, as one would expect, but more of a slow dance as if the mirrors on the walls were courtesans, performing before a royal monarch. I watched delightedly as the mirrors, silently, made their ways around the room, ever shifting, ever changing. As one mirror would swirl carefully around another mirror, a different mirror would move forward to take its place. The effect was purely magical as the light bounced and reflected off the changing mirrors. The witch snapped her fingers again and the mirrors, after one last rotation, slowed to a stand-still.

"Did the Beast make this place?" I asked.

The witch watched me carefully. "Yes," she replied slowly.

I continued to gaze in wonder at the now motionless mirrors. How could something so terrible and frightening as the Beast have created such beauty? I did not understand it. As I opened my mouth to ask this of the witch, she took hold of my wrist again.

"Come, Beauty," she said as she took me to a corner, where a few of the largest mirrors rested. "What do you see?"

I hesitated before looking into the mirror before me. I could see myself, but there was something different about me. . . I looked slightly fuzzy around the edges, I could not see the image properly. The figure in the mirror gazed back calmly at me.

"What do you see?" the witch asked me again.

"I see. . . me," I said slowly, "but at the same time. . . I can't. . . quite. . ." As I strained to look at the image, it suddenly darkened, and the mirror version of myself swirled into a deep fury, seeming to cry out and clutch at her heart. At the same time, a swift pain in my chest welled up and I gasped. I was flooded with memories of my mother dying, my father's sad expression as he cried after me on the Beast's horse, my brothers pained faces, my terrifying escape to the castle -

"Breathe, Beauty!" a voice above me cried out as I sank to my knees, my head in my hands. "Think, breathe, think of the light!"

I shut down on the feelings of misery and forced them from my mind. The light, I told myself, the light.

The witch was kneeling beside me. I looked up at her, gasping for breath as the last of the pained memories rushed away. "What was that?"

She frowned. "The Mirror of Hearts," she said simply. "It shows what is deepest in your heart."

I did not understand this, how could a mirror have such a great effect on me? I stood shakily, wanting to get away from the mirror and turned.

Something that wasn't quite the reflection of light from the mirrors glinted at me from the opposite corner.

"What is that?" I asked the witch, nodding towards the glint. She gestured for me to go to it, and with a nervous glance back at the Mirror of Hearts, I crossed to it.

It was a locket. I picked it up. "Should I – " I began, but was interrupted by the witch.

"We must go now, Beauty." She grabbed my arm again, and this time I was prepared for the awful sensation of the traveling and closed my eyes again.

She had taken me back to my room. I hadn't really understood the purpose of the trip to the Room of Mirrors, and I was certain there was one, but I wasn't ready to ask such things of the witch. I sat on my bed, gazing curiously at the locket when the maid burst back into my room, giggling. Right behind her was the Beast's henchman.

I stared at them suspiciously. "Where have you two been?"

My maid giggled. The henchman grinned and answered for her. "Exploring."

I looked at the pair of them. My maid was still tittering but avoiding eye contact, so I let it go.

"Look at this," I said, holding up the locket for her to see.

"Lovely locket! What's inside?" she asked.

I prised it open. "An inscription. . ." I said, squinting to get a better look.

See with more than your eyes.

I looked at my maid, who was still giggling and flirting with the henchman, then to the witch. "What does it mean?"

Before she could answer, the clock chimed eight times.

"It's eight o'clock," the witch said.

Somewhere, deep within the castle, a rumbling voice called my name.

I was finally going to meet the Beast.

A/N: Apologies, apologies! I'm so so sorry! I know I took a super long time to update, but I had final exams, and then I went to Hungary and then I had my tonsils removed and have been recovering. I haven't had TIME to work on this! Sorry, I've kept Beauty from meeting the Beast for thirteen chapters, but I absolutely guarantee that they will finally come face to face next chapter. Which I will hopefully update soon.

Thanks to Night-Fury1 for giving me the wake-up call I needed.

Thanks to everyone who keeps on reading!

Again, my offer stands to anyone who would like to Beta-Read for this story, please contact me via review or personal message. Apparently, I really need one.

Baci!

~HealthyShadeOfGreen