They awoke at dawn the next day. Thorix took his time as he packed up their campsite and destroying evidence of their being there. Arabella, on the other hand, was more jumpy. They were going to enter the Kingdom of Beauties. For all of her life she had longed to be among the beautiful and wise, but she now only wanted to destroy their perfect lives for everything they'd done; for her mother, for Keeble, for the water nymphs, for the Beasts, but more importantly, for herself.
With a sigh, Arabella walked further back into the forest. She was feeling impatient, waiting for Thorix to do his daily routine without wanting her help. She glanced back at the Beast for a moment before returning her eyes to her front. They landed right on a squirrel. It crouched a few feet away from her, carelessly eating a walnut. Just behind her, she could feel the wolf staring her down, watching her every move. Arabella slowly closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. When her eyes flew back open, they were wide and flashing.
She lunged at the squirrel. Swift and silent, the squirrel barely had time to wink as Arabella grabbed it in her hands. Or were they now claws? She couldn't tell as her nails dug into the rodent, killing it quickly. After a pause, Arabella's heart suddenly fluttered at her success. She then took a large chunk out of it with her fangs and chewed happily.
Turning around, she made eye contact with the wolf, and if Arabella hadn't known better, she would have sworn he was smile exactly like Thorix; dark, twisted, and incredibly pleased.
Thorix pounded on the gates of the Kingdom. It took a moment before a small flap opened up and a yawning guard poked his head out. Looking down, it took him a moment before he realized what he was staring at. His eyes grew huge in fear.
"Do not call for anyone," Thorix ordered calmly, "for I am not here to hurt anyone. I just want to speak to the king."
The guard swallowed. "Y-you'd have to be bloody mad if you think I'd ever l-let you in. If you don't go back to w-where you came from, I'll... I'll..."
"Call the guards on me?" Thorix finished, "I thought you were supposed to be that." There was a pause as Arabella glanced nervously at Thorix before he spoke. "I'm going to ask you to let me in so I may speak to the king."
"Get back!" the guard called, "Get back Beast!"
Thorix chuckled icily. "Wouldn't it be a shame for everyone to learn that the only reason they never saw Arabella again was because some stupid guard wouldn't let her inside?"
The guard's mouth practically dropped open. "Arabella?" he could barely pronounce the name as he now shifted his eyes onto her, "But she's just a myth! Just a fairytale!"
"If she was, would she be standing right in front of you?"
The guard hesitated, trying to think much too hard for the early morning. "What was your mother's name?" he finally demanded.
Arabella glanced at Thorix, who nodded at her to answer. Stepping forward slightly, she replied anxiously, "Leola. My mother's name was Leola. She was a Beauty, with blonde hair and blue eyes and a round face, and she gave birth to me; Arabella; a mixed-blood."
"Bloody hell," the guard murmured, his pale face beginning to sweat.
Thorax raised his voice, "Now if you don't let us into the kingdom, I will call on every Beast in the forest to attack. All they need is one roar, my roar, to know where to go and believe me, it shouldn't take more than a few hours."
Arabella stiffened. She knew Thorix was lying, and she hoped that with her being so nervous, she wouldn't give it away. Looking up at the guard again, she realized he believed every word. The guard suddenly disappeared, and after a moment, the gates began to creak open. Arabella could hardly breathe as she follow Thorix and his wolf into the Kingdom of Beauties.
It was full of clean looking, double-floored houses. The Kingdom was absolutely silent, causing Arabella to shiver. "Quiet place you've got here," Thorix pointed out to the guard, who stood, terrified as he watched these three things enter his home.
"King Roo's birthday last night," he answer after some thought, "there was a large celebration that ended only just a few hours ago. I suppose everyone is still sleeping."
Arabella took a long look at the guard. A Beauty he was, with sandy blonde hair and grey eyes that sparkled even in the dim morning light. But he was a young Beauty, young and naive and clearly unsure of what he should be doing in this scenario. Arabella supposed he was only put as a guard at this time of day because the Kingdom expected that they would be safe from any harm.
"It must have been quite a celebration," Thorix continued, "and I'm sorry I missed it. Turning eighty must be a thrill for King Roo."
The guard suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to speak. At last, he managed to ask, "How do you know how old King Roo is? You're just a Beast."
"Because I know everything," Thorix replied coolly, a disturbing grin spreading across his face, "I'm Thorix." He then made eye contact with Arabella. "Let's go before he wakes up the whole kingdom."
Unsure of what he meant, Arabella looked behind her. The guard looked like he was about to faint as he bolted back to the gates and picked up what looked like a large trumpet. He then blew loudly into the instrument, and its sound rang throughout the whole kingdom. It echoed off of the surrounding buildings, causing Arabella to feel dizzy.
"What's going on?" she was just about to ask, but quickly stopped herself. Behind the noise of the trumpet, she could hear shuffling from inside the buildings. Muffled voices and creaking floorboards beneath footsteps were sounds of Beauties awakening. The guard was announcing their arrival.
Arabella's anxiousness grew into what she described as fear, and so strong that fear was, she hardly noticed as she and Thorix approached the castle. The Beast burst through the palace's front doors with Arabella close in tow. The interior walls of the palace were decorated with a mosaic design, made out of glittering jewels. Originally, Arabella would have been disgusted at the Beauties for hogging so many jewels just to decorate the walls of some building, but she was much too scared to truly notice.
To Arabella's shock, the wolf suddenly howled. She then jumped at the sound of Thorix's voice as it boomed, "King Roo. Where is King Roo? I demand to speak to him this instance!" The wolf howled again, and Arabella's eyes lifted to the ceiling as she heard footsteps running above.
Suddenly, down the long hallway, appeared two guards. They ran quickly towards them, holding long swords in their hands. Thorix only smirked at this sight. "Pathetic Beauties," he muttered to Arabella, "always having to use some created thing for battle."
Then, without warning, the wolf bolted to the closest guard. He tackled him to the ground and bit deeply into his shoulder. The other guard looked like he had practically run into Thorix's arms, who smacked the sword out from his grasped and picked him up by the shoulders. He chucked the Beauty across the room, and he smacked head-first into the wall.
Arabella let out a scream, but Thorix did not notice as he approached the guard pinned to the ground. "Where is King Roo?" he demanded from the whimpering guard. After a pause, he then sneered, "You Beauties have disappointed me. This has been much too easy, and all because your Kingdom is too tired from some celebration to wake up.
"I forbid you to talk about my kingdom like that," a man suddenly spoke as he descended the stairs. He had a strong voice, but his appearance did not seem to match. Approaching them was a hunched man with a face covered by a long, snow-white beard. What could be seen of his face was thin, wrinkled skin that looked like it would tear as easily as paper. And yet, behind his blue eyes was a fiery glare as he spoke. "Thorix," he said lowly.
Thorix smirked. "Hope I didn't wake you, King Roo."
King Roo did not find the Beast amusing in the least. "Get out of my kingdom this instant," he hissed.
"I'm only here to talk," Thorix answered calmly, "and I know you will want to hear what I have to say." He paused, angling his body so that King Roo's eyes now landed on Arabella. "I would like to introduce you to someone. I don't believe you've met, have you?"
King Roo's scowl slowly melted away into a terrified expression the longer he stared at the creature in front of him. Arabella stared directly back at him, but there was something eerily familiar about his blue eyes that made her uneasy. A chill ran through her body and she took a small step backwards.
"Thorix..." she began to say.
"I could never forget eyes as green as those," King Roo spoke in astonishment. He began to walk towards her, arms wide open as if he wanted to embrace her. "Oh Arabella," he whispered, eyes brimming with tears.
"Don't touch me!" she screamed, cowering, "Don't come near me!"
"I thought you would never return. Oh Arabella, I have prayed and prayed for this day." He turned towards Thorix. "Where did you find her? Where's her mother?"
"None of that matters," Thorix responded dryly, "The only important thing for me is whether or not you want her or not. If you do, then I will trade her for control of you and your Kingdom."
King Roo's eyes grew wide. "I refuse!" he shouted. Something flashed through Thorix's face, almost as if this was exactly what he had wanted him to say. With a small laugh, he then said, "And if you do not want her, then she is no use to me and I will kill her right now."
Arabella could hardly breathe. The blood in her veins felt like ice and she trembled as she spoke. "Thorix, Thorix what are you saying. Thorix I don't understand. What does this all mean?"
"My dear girl," King Roo began, but she quickly cut him off.
"Don't you dare speak!" she screamed at him, "Thorix, just tell me what is going on!"
There was a long pause as the three creatures stood in a thick silence. Both the Beauty and the Beast stared at the mixed-blood with very different expressions on their faces. At last, Thorix sighed and suggested, "Perhaps we should show her a painting."
With a nod of the head, King Roo told them to follow him. Arabella hesitated before she trailed after Thorix. They were led down a long, thin hall filled with paintings. Some paintings contained animals or the palace, while others contained other Beauties. Arabella noticed a painting of a much younger looking King Roo.
"That was my wife," King Roo explained as he pointed a knobby finger at another painting, "the Queen of Beauties. She died quite a few years ago. This one here is my eldest child, my son Rhys. And next to him is my daughter."
They stopped here, allowing Arabella to stare at the portrait more closely. The female beauty was stunning, even for her young age. Her blonde hair had been piled up on top of her head and her milky skin made her blue eyes sparkle. On her lips was a small, quaint smile, a smile that Arabella could never forget.
She began to shake her head. "No," she whispered.
"My daughter's name was Leola."
"No. No, no, no," she began to shake her head faster, "Your daughter's name is not Leola because my mother's name is Leola. And this... this can't be my mother."
King Roo nodded slowly. "It is, dear Arabella."
"But if this is my mother then she... then I..." Arabella began to choke on her words. She didn't want to believe, she couldn't believe. But glancing between the king and Thorix, she knew it was.
"Your mother," King Roo told her softly, "was my daughter. You are my granddaughter. That means you are not just Arabella."
Thorix chuckled darkly. "Welcome home, Princess Arabella."