Poor Phillip spent the morning drawing after Cyan woke up him in the middle of the night. It was also a poor night for Bella because Cyan woke her up too. The redhead wanted Phillip to draw her prince again after she said he was in her dream, but the strongman didn't want to draw in the dark and told her to go back to bed. However his friend was very persistent and help telling him she would take over his cooking duty for tomorrow if he drew her prince. Phillip already had her doing his chores for a week for the sketch he did that morning. He was beginning to wonder if Cyan hit her head because she never offered to do anyone's chores. On the other hand, Phillip didn't want to cook lunch. So he agreed to draw this prince in the morning.
Phillip regretted his decision as soon as Cyan gave him some paper and pencils. The poor strongman went through six pieces of paper and four pencils from Cyan constantly telling him that the prince's nose wasn't that pointy, his eyes weren't that big, or there wasn't a strand of hair over his forehead. It drove the poor man crazy at her nitpicking every detail. By his seventh try, the storyteller was more than pleased with his masterpiece and allowed him to finally rest. Phillip was supposed to escort Bella and Jacque into the village while they did their errands for the day. The dainty dancer wanted to buy new dresses and Jacque refused to give his answer when he saw Rebecca was outside near hearing range. If Bella pestered him about it, Jacque would mutter it was something important then scurry her along the path going into town. Phillip didn't understand what was going on so he ran after them and left Rebecca and Cyan alone with the cooking.
Today's lunch was a vegetable stew with pork meat. Satin Sally had managed to buy the meat cheaply so the troop was looking forward to the meal. Unfortunately, everyone was almost dreading lunch time when they learn Cyan was prepping the food. Seven of the members went to the village's church to pray to God for a "safe meal" while the rest went either to the barn or the woods to stay away and practice until it was safe to eat Cyan's cooking. Rebecca was going to hang up the laundry so she was going to make sure Cyan didn't burn the food again. Both of the girls had the vegetables brewed and cut up into the cooking cauldron before Rebecca started on the laundry.
"Too late to be known as John the First. He's sure to be known as John the Worst, a pox on the phony king of England!" Rebecca sang to herself as she pulled out a white blanket from the basket.
"La da dee...la da dee.." Cyan softly hummed to herself while she stirred the pot. She was looking over the sketch Phillip drew. Once again, Phillip had managed to capture Adam's essence in it.
Phillip only drew Adam's shoulders and his head; if Cyan asked Phillip to draw the body, he would have quit after the seventeenth time she had him erase an imperfection. For now, she was satisfied with the face because it would match the 'clown' version Phillip drew yesterday morning. Adam did look a whole lot better without the makeup, the white wig, and the fake mole on the left side of his lip. He had the face angels could have carved before he became flesh and blood on earth. God has blessed him with these looks, but he acts like the Devil cursed him with that foul temper of his. It is a match made in a bittersweet story.
'A bittersweet story that the immortal Bard himself could write. Am I living in it?' Cyan mulled it over and over in her head. Prince Adam was indeed handsome and she was just a stranger in his own home. If this was one of William Shakespeare's works of literature, their ending would be a tragedy or a comedy. It felt like a cruel comedy because her mind plagues her of the upcoming ball. Cyan can not carry through a formal dance without stepping on her partner's foot or slipping on the floor. She will be a laughing stock of the ball if she didn't execute this carefully. But if Adam manages to find her in the crowd, was she even ready to meet him without the mask? Why was she even thinking about how he would think of her when she finally unmasked?
"Hey Cyan, how's the cooking coming along? I'm starting to get hungry!" Rebecca called from the laundry rack.
No answer.
"Cyan, are you even listening?" Rebecca looked back to see Cyan staring off into nothing. "HEY!"
"Did you say something, Rebecca?" Cyan jumped at her friend's loud voice and looked over at her fast.
"Ah, forget about it. You're probably thinking about someone with broad shoulders and a pretty face. And you're smelling the fresh air and his musky cologne." Rebecca explained and batted her eyes toward her friend.
It wasn't fresh air and musky cologne when Rebecca took a deep breathe. All she could smell was something burning and it made both girls wrinkle their nose in disgust. Rebecca started coughing immediately when black smoke came toward her when she turned toward where Cyan was. All she see besides Cyan was smoke emitting from the cauldron. It was soon followed by a loud bubbling noise that was far too familiar for the girls. They turned their attention toward the cauldron to find it was bubbling over black substance over the sides.
"Woah, it's boiling over!" Cyan exclaimed and tried to pick up the side of the cauldron. It was too hot for her to touch with her bare hands so right away she had to let go.
"You're burning the food!" Rebecca grabbed one of the white shirts out of the basket and quickly ran over.
"I'm sorry!"
"How can you burn stew!? Everything is in water!" Rebecca screeches as she uses the shirt to grab the edges of the pot and carry it off the fire pit.
Cyan grabs a small cloth on the ground then helps Rebecca fan the black smoke away from them. Luckily for them, the wind was blowing away from the camp and the village so no one would have to smell the putrid stench. Time was something they didn't have, in order to save what was left of the vegetables they used in the stew. Just about everything Cyan tries to cook always get burnt if she wasn't paying attention and the stench alone could clean out a person's nose, erasing the nose hairs; not to mention the smell would linger in their clothes. Smoke was like a distress call from the food for someone to save them from their torturer named Cyan. Burnt food wasn't just Cyan's specialty; she has tried to cook meat in a short time so she could be done and the meat would still be raw on the inside. Fish and some beef was alright partly cooked, but pork and chicken was different. So it was no wonder the circus members didn't look forward to lunch or dinner if Cyan was the cook.
"Can we try and salvage the veggies?" Cyan asked sheepishly.
"We can try. But I don't believe the others can stomach this." Rebecca took a look at the ruined stew once they finally got the smoke down.
"I think it's edible." Cyan suggested and got a small spoonful of it.
It didn't take very long for her to start gagging. The flavor wasn't exactly something that helped her to keep the food down. The strew was burnt beyond recognition, the tomatoes were like charcoal, celery was too tough to chew on, broth tasted like smoke, and the other vegetables and spices they put into the stew somehow turned into a black mush. Potatoes' texture wasn't so bad, but the starch had absorbed the bad flavors. Cyan's body was trying to reject the food in her mouth while she tried to swallow it. Rebecca only stood by and watched her friend go through agony before the storyteller finally threw up the food behind the log she used as her seat.
"We cannot...eat this slop.."
"I'm glad I didn't eat that!" Rebecca laughed.
"Thank you so much for your concern." Cyan remarked sarcastically.
"So what were you looking at while you burnt our lunch?"
Cyan froze when Rebecca picked the sketch off the log. She was afraid of her friend ripping it or bending the paper while she looked at it. Although Rebecca is used to being rough with the circus' tigers, she knew better than to ruin something of Cyan's. She just wanted to look at it real quick. None of the girls realized someone was watching them. Agathe was making her way down toward the circus' camp when Bella and the boys told her she was welcomed to join them for lunch. The beggar woman had became a welcomed guest ever since Cyan's birthday surprise and the members always stop to say good morning or have a good day to Agathe when they see her in the village. She was hiding behind the tree near the left side of the barn. It was amusing to watch the two girls interact as Cyan tried to retrieve the paper from the tiger tamer's hands. Rebecca was a few inches taller than her so it was a waste of energy to try and reach.
"I asked Phillip to draw the prince again in exchange of preparing our lunch." Cyan explained.
"Now I know who to thank for that." Rebecca rolled her eyes before handing the paper to Cyan. "I will admit he did a really great job on this drawing. This prince looks better without all that makeup from the last drawing."
"He does, doesn't he? I pity whoever falls for him." The storyteller shook her head at the thought of Adam even having a wife. Poor woman would have to deal with that horrid temper of his.
"It looks like you're the only one that's falling for him, Cyan." Rebecca said, getting a bucket of water over.
"Rebecca, this is just someone in my dream."
"I bet he exists somewhere. Anyone who wears that much makeup is sure easy to remember. Just stop mopping around and go look for the guy."
The tiger tamer was pouring water into the ruined cauldron to try and wash out the burnt stew. They still had a few fresh vegetables left over and they could try and use the pork. Rebecca was going to cook the stew this time so Cyan didn't burn the next batch. First she has to clean out the cauldron before she can even put the ingredients in or else everything would just have bits and pieces of burnt food in each bite. Burnt food was hard to clean out of a pot. It was hard to scrub off and she started to think maybe they could still use the food for lunch if they can tone down the charcoal taste. A little seasoning might help with some more water and a few carrots. If not, they have to start from scratch and lunch would be postpone another few hours.
"I'm not exactly wealthy or have a worthy status to even be near a prince." Cyan explained as she looked at the sketch. "I thought it all through and it just wouldn't work out. Besides what do I have to offer him?"
"Well, for one thing you can't cook." Rebecca gestured toward their cauldron full of burnt stew.
"I'm being serious, Rebecca! There's no way a man of royalty will want a outcast like me."
"So the man's got class. So what?" Rebecca shrugged it off.
Rebecca didn't understand society as much as the older members of the circus; to her, titles were just names and it shouldn't mean a lot to a person. She doesn't understand that those titles heavily separate people just because they are poor or rich. Rich parents want their children to marry to a person of high status so they could continue their linage and allow the parents to live out their golden years in the comfort of their child's home. They don't want to see their children with the poorer class and be a disgrace so they have to make sure their child doesn't see their 'love' again. Love doesn't always play out the way someone would hope it to. Money and power can twist affection and drive a wedge into another person's life when they face the blunt of it. Cyan wasn't entitled to anything after she was sold to the circus so she doesn't actually have a chance with being near royalty. She was now twenty years old and she didn't have much options as she gets older.
There wasn't anyone in the circus or Villeneuve that interested Cyan. Jacque was too goofy and his affections was for another woman. Everyone knew he had a crush on Rebecca ever since he joined the circus and Rebecca was too dense to realize that. Phillip and Bella already had a romance with each other and it looked like nothing would faze him away from her. He thought Bella was gorgeous despite her burnt left eye likewise the small dancer thought Phillip was her knight in shining armor. Tom, Dick, and Stanley wasn't exactly husband material since they tease the circus members sometimes at the tavern. Jacque hasn't forgiven them for putting him in that barrel of wine. So the only available men in town were Gaston and LeFou. LeFou would have been a blessing if he had interests in women. Him and Cyan has a mutual friendship. So far Gaston was the only man who asked Cyan for her hand in marriage. The Bimbettes scorn Cyan even more when they heard the brute asked a 'funny' girl to be his bride. She didn't ask for this; she didn't want to marry Gaston anyway! He would be the last person Cyan would want to marry.
"I'm just saying that I don't have much options at this point. I could chase someone that may never want anything to do with me or let a local bully take me as his little wife." Cyan called at her friend. She hung up a couple pair of pants onto the clothes rack and then some socks.
"I doubt you will even go to Gaston for a husband."
"Ew! I wish he would stop insisting that we're perfect for each other."
"It sounds like a match made in a brothel." Rebecca snickered.
"You haven't exhausted all your options, my dear." Agathe spoke from behind Cyan.
Cyan gave a startled scream then tripped over the laundry basket and fell on her right side. Rebecca immediately laughed hard and hugged her sides. Agathe only gave the faintest of smiles at the young girls reactions as Cyan clenched the upper part of her dress. The girls were quick to realize that Agathe had a habit of sneaking behind without her target knowing. They didn't understand why she does this or when she even got there so it made her a scary woman sometimes. Cyan remembered how Gaston called Agathe a spinster that never married; none of the villagers knew who Agathe really was or when she even came to the village. She just showed up one day and everyone just seems to remember her always living in Villeneuve. None of the members wanted to ask where she came from or who her family was just in case if it was too painful for the beggar woman to talk about.
"AGATHE! When did you get here!?" Cyan finally found her voice after calming down.
"I just arrived." Agathe meekly says.
"Agathe's got you once again! You have to teach me how to do that." Rebecca cackled and walked over toward the women.
"It's all about timing and arriving at the right place at the right time." Agathe explains and flinches when the tiger tamer roughly pats her on the back.
"What do we do owe the honor?" Cyan slowly got herself up and dusted the grass off her favorite bluish green dress.
"One of your dancers invited me over for lunch. She mentioned you were having stew." The beggar woman explained. She made her way toward the pot and got a spoonful from the cauldron.
"No, no, no! Agathe, don't eat that!" Cyan and Rebecca cries urgently.
It was too late. Agathe put the spoon in her mouth and the girls braced themselves for her to gag. Immediately she began to have a coughing fit; however, she managed to swallow the small morsel. Cyan ran over toward her to make sure she was okay while Rebecca stayed by the laundry just in case Agathe gets mad. The poor woman had tears running down her cheeks and her body was shaking a little. Cyan kept asking if she was okay before she got her a cup of cold water.
"I'm really sorry, Agathe! I ruined the lunch.." Cyan quickly explains as she helps the beggar woman sit down on a nearby log.
"No. You made sure it was cooked." Agathe reassured her and gladly took the cup. "A good quality for a wife."
"Pfft, please don't make me laugh. I would scare any suitor with my cooking."
"It hasn't stopped Gaston."
"I wish it did. I do not like him, Agathe.."
"He seems to be perfect for you." Agathe sipped from her cup.
"No, he is not! Gaston is nothing but a bully! Ever since we arrived in this village, he has done nothing but belittle my family and try and change me. When I first talked to him outside of the village, he told me I should get dressed before he takes me to the village because my dress wasn't appropriate enough! I refuse to marry a man who controls a woman; to try to make her be what she doesn't have to be! I will not throw myself to a man who will try to cage me!" Cyan seethed with anger when she thought of all the things Gaston had done.
Agathe only took another sip from her cup. Yes, Gaston wasn't exactly a gentleman by all means. He wasn't shy about what he did in the war nor hold back on what he was good at. The beggar woman had heard Gaston was a gifted hunter and was able to catch any animal in his sight. Everyone in Villeneuve adored him and any girl would do anything to be in his arms. Everyone except Cyan. She was a little more peculiar and creative than the young ladies in the village. She wasn't afraid of wearing short dresses which was indecent to the older women. She wanted to express herself and the stories she made up were fun to listen to.
"I don't want to be with a man like that, Agathe. I just want to be me.." Cyan whispered as she looked down at the ground.
"Cadence..you're not done searching. There maybe a person who's waiting for you." Agathe solemnly answered.
Her words sent shivers down Cyan. For some reason, Agathe sounded almost eerie and Cyan didn't know why. She glanced up at the beggar and noticed she didn't have the rings around her eyes anymore as she drank from the cup. Cyan was about to ask what she meant when they heard a loud neigh from behind. A brown horse was running toward the camp and from the looks of it, it was trying to run toward anyone who will listen to it.
"Is that one of your horses?"
"Yes. That's Grandpa Apple's horse Ludwig. But where's his rider and Valjean?" Cyan quickly got up and ran over toward the horse.
Ludwig started freaking out when he saw Cyan and tried to back up from her. She kept shushing him gently before pulling on his harness and rubbed his snout in an attempt to calm him down. It only took a few minutes for the brown horse to recognize Cyan before he could slowly steady himself and let her look him over. There was claw marks on his sides and his back, a wet hand-drawn map stuck in his right front hoof, and he was missing his saddle. Cyan glanced behind the horse to see if Poppy and the men were there, but she saw nothing.
"Ludwig, what happened to Valjean and Grandpa?" Cyan asked the horse. Of course, horses couldn't talk but Ludwig only gave a huff as a response.
Whatever had happened, the map must have something to do with it. Cyan guided Ludwig toward the house before she ran inside and toward Cole's room. The young boy was playing with some of Cyan's toy soldiers and he hadnt asked for permission to play with them. So when his older sister came into his room, Cole was afraid of her getting mad at him for taking her toys. Instead, she completely ignored him and climbed up to her room. The peacock chick was napping on her bed when she tossed a small satchel on it. It jumped up from its spot to watch its 'unwilling' human mother throw five sets of clothes, her nightdress, a decent dress, her Prince Ali doll, a book, and a small bag of food into the satchel. The chick eyed the berries and quickly went in to eat it.
"Oh no, you are not coming with me." Cyan stated and quickly got him out of the bag. "This will be my food rations until I find where Valjean and Grandpa Apple are. I'll follow this map and see where they are and bring them home. None of which you understand...because you are a baby peacock chick."
Cyan set the chick off to the side of the bed and closed up her satchel. She quickly ran toward the ladder, climbed down, and zoomed out of Cole's room. She ignored her brother calling for her to come back and barged out the door. Steven McFallen, one of the acrobats, always kept a spare saddle near the house just in case one of the horses lost theirs. She quickly put fastened it around Ludwig, mounted on him, and they rode away from the camp and into the open fields.
"Let's go Ludwig!"
Another chapter has been updated! Now we see Cyan messing up lunch. I know how she feels because I messed up on making dinner a few weeks ago. At least my mistake was edible!
For those who know me, I love to use references from previous Disney movies and also from other movies that are not from Disney. I wonder what references are found in this one. We have two more chapters waiting to be checked over so if we are lucky maybe I can post them today!
Special thanks to my beta reader RabbitonSteroids!
Beauty and the Beast belongs to Disney.
I only own Cyan, Rebecca, and the circus.
If there is a grammar error or spelling error, please PM me and I will fix it!
Please no mean comments or flames!
Also: thank you for those who have been commenting on my chapters! It's always sweet to read them when I'm trying to think of what to write!