A few more days went bye, each day Benoit made an effort to get to know Adaleigh, she in return would ether ignore him or revert back on all fours and hunch over like a dog that was kicked for disobeying or not pleasing it's master.
it was tough for them, Benoit crouch down to her level. " Hey" he whispered to her " it's ok, I'm not going to hurt you.. Or scald you with hot water" he joked, that got a small chuckled from the beast, he looked around , the castle was so big and not enough light filled the halls " let's go out side" he suggested.
Meals were spent together while Benoit would eat Adaleigh.. well she clearly forgot hot to eat like a proper person and her face was in the bowl a she snarled while eating. but with a little encouragement she begun to eat with the silverware, it was not perfect but it was a start.
...
As they walked outside Adaleigh held on his arm as they walked, she still wasn't used to walking on two legs like a human, it was like forgot memories, each step she took she just wanted to go back on all fours since that was easy. Benoit chuckled as he pulled a small pouch form his pocket , the beast looked at the pouch curious as to what was inside, the young man reached in and pulled out what looked like seeds.
Adaleigh was confused, why seeds? thats when Benoit took a step back and left her to stand all by herself, she quickly spread her arms out to get balance as she watches the young man hold out his hand with the seeds, a bird flew over to him and started to eat from his hand.
Adaleigh remembered something familar with the way the birds were being fed.
Young Adaleigh watched a woman dressed in a golden gown, she had long dark hair and blue eyes, she watched as the woman let a bid fly into her hand, Adaleigh as a child tried to reach out to the touch the bird but the bird quickly flew away. The woman chuckled
" Be patient my dear" she said stroking the child's long brunet hair " you can't force the bird into your hand"
" Force?" the child ask " what's force?"
" It mean to make something do opposite of what others want" the lady explained. Adaleigh tried to process all of this " like how Papa makes us stay outside the library, or wear these itchy cloths" she said tugging on her dress sleeve.
" Yes..." the woman's face frown" exactly that" her voice sounding remorseful . she brough the child into her lap " But Adaleigh I'll never force you to do anything you don't want alright"
" I don't wanna eat broccoli" the little girl stated, the woman smiled and chuckled at that statement.
...
Adaleigh remembered the lady in the golden dress being her mother, it was the last memory she had of her mother , after that her mother was sent away and then she received the news she died.
She was so lost in her thought that she did not notice that Benoit had taken her paw, filled her paw with seeds and watched as a bird landed eating from her pw, the beast smiled in delight seeing the bird eat from her paw. with her other paw she hesitated but with index finger she gently reached out to pet the little bird, the bird didn't fly away and allowed her to pet it's soft feathers.
Benoit smiled watching Adaleigh enjoying the bird, he started to see their was something about the beast that was innocent, pure and... He was interrupted with a snow ball thrown at his face, looking around Adaleigh was giggling as she prepared another snow ball, the little bird was on her shoulder. Benoit smirked as he ducked out of the way as she threw it at him, missing he came over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist swinging her around, the beast laughed in delight.
...
After being outside , Benoit and Adaleigh were in the library, a fire was lit as the two took a spot on the floor, Her tail poked out wagging happily as Bennoit came over with a book in his hand.
" It's been so long since I've had any one read to me" she stated. He was confused, wait did Adaleigh ever learn to read.
" I'm sure you've read book in your spare time right? he asked, her ears dropped as her tail went back under her skirt.
" Well.. no" she admitted " reading was strictly forbidden acording to my father" she sighed " My mother used to read to me but she was told to stop as well then after that I should ask a servant to read to me but they were so busy" she clutched the sleeves of her dress " after that I was ignored by every one".
" Sorry" Benoit opened the book " I can teach you to read if you like" he offered, the beast ears perked up , he scooted closer to her on the floor " here let me show you how my father taught me" he ran his index finger across the page.
"I lost my father at a young age" he explain " he died at sea but he made sure I knew how to read as well as my mother"
" Oh" Adaleigh now felt terrible for treating His mother like that. his only family he had left and now she's ashamed for banning her from the castle.
" Here" Benoit placed the book in Adaleigh lap " let start at the begining" as he said each word, Adaleigh repeated the words after him. her tail poked out from her dress wagging in delight as she was learning to read.
so yeah the lady in the goldren dress, you guessed it, Adaleigh's late mother, and yeah I used bel's dress from the move as a dress her mother would wear.
What happen to her mother? Let say Her parents weren't the most " loving people" in the world, and yes she sentenced to death.
as for Benoit's father, still don't have a name but if anything maybe his name will be mentioned by Marie.
Next chapter, you guess it, it's the ball room scene.