A/N: sorry guys, the story got kind of weird again, so I had to change a few facts... I changed some scenes in chapters: 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 16, mostly scenes with Leopold in it. Thanks! Don't forget to review!
Chapter Thirteen
Mario looked up at Catarina, who was sitting across him. "You must go, my daughter. Be brave and save your father from his fate."
Catarina's eyes widened in surprise. "Me? Why me, father? Why can't Charites go? After all, she asked for the rose." Catarina pouted and glared pointedly at Aglaia.
"Don't you want to save your papa from the beast? You are my daughter. Don't you care about your papa?," Mario snapped.
"But..." Catarina looked away. She didn't want to die, even if it was because of saving her father.
"Perhaps the beast will give you many riches and treat you well." Mario said unconvincingly, trying to comfort his favorite daughter. Adela was looking at him with a strange expression. He knew that she was wondering the same thing that everyone in the room was wondering. Why did he choose Catarina instead of Charites?
Mario shook his head, dismissing the topic. "The beast will be waiting in a fortnight for us. I will go with you there, but I must leave after. We shall leave tomorrow to get there in time."
Alessia had enough energy to clear her dry throat and say, "How will you get there? You did say that you just got lost."
"I had the map to Kirmal. I marked where I stopped for the night, I'll know where the castle is." With that said, Mario stood up and left the room.
After Mario left, everyone in the room was silent. Finally, Adela stood up and ushered everyone upstairs.
~~~
"What are we to do? Thais is getting more and more irritable from Akakios' persistence." A fairy whispered urgently. An icy blast of wind blew past the group of fairies, making them shiver.
"Let him be irritable! It does not matter." Another replied defiantly.
The fairy beside him shook his head. "It matters because he is getting suspicious and he is the king's personal servant. He may tell Akakios. We know what Akakios might do to us."
A shudder ran through the tight circle of fairies. They had all seen what their leader was capable of. They had all seen it in their wars with the gnomes, the specters, even in the wars with the elves. Akakios fought and punished without pity, or even restraint. He did not believe in justice. One little thing and he wanted to go to war. It was as if he craved for it.
"Phaedrus?" The fairy asked their appointed leader. "What do you think? What shall we do?"
Phaedrus sighed. "Let us tell Thais that we have found maidens, but none of them with beauty fit for our king enough to be his wife. That should keep them satisfied for a while. We must hurry on with our plan. I shall talk to the queen mother about the king tomorrow."
"But what if she supports her son's ways? What will we do then? How are we to know if she will not kill us?" A frightened fairy spoke up.
"We have no other choice. We cannot keep this up for very long and we need someone who can persuade the fairies to revolt. We need someone who is loved and that is the queen mother. She was kind to everyone in her time. The fairies love her, they will listen to her."
The same fairy shook his head. "But if she is allied with her son and she discovers that we are plotting to overthrow him then those connections with the fairies will be the cause of our downfall. She could very well convince the fairies that Akakios is a kind fairy and that we are plotting for his downfall."
Phaedrus looked at the fairy with grim, tired eyes. "She has proven herself otherwise. When she ruled us, she was kind and gentle. If her intentions are really malicious, then why didn't she do anything when she ruled the kingdom?"
"Perhaps her intentions were never malicious. Perhaps it is just an act of a mother protecting her son. Her love for Akakios would persuade her to protect him or be blind to his actions." The fairy's frightened eyes stared back at Phaedrus.
"We have no other choice. We have suffered under this tyrant long enough."
~~~
Aglaia stared at the ceiling as she shifted her position in bed. Why did Mario choose Catarina when he obviously doted on her more than he did with Alessia? Why didn't he just choose to give Aglaia, or rather, Charites to the beast? He hated her. Why wouldn't he want to get rid of her? After all, he had the excuse that she was the one who asked for the rose. He could've told everyone that the beast demanded for the one who asked for the rose.
It didn't make sense. Why Catarina? Aglaia tried to think of an explanation but nothing came to her mind. Just then she heard someone knocking on her door softly. Aglaia got up to answer the door, not surprised to find Alessia there.
"It doesn't make sense." Alessia said as she walked into the room. They had gotten closer for the past few months that she stayed there and started meeting at night to talk about things. Alessia jumped onto the bed and frowned. "Why did papa choose Catarina? She is the last person that I expected him to choose."
"Maybe the beast asked for his eldest daughter. But he didn't mention anything about that. Surely he would look for an excuse for letting Catarina go." Alessia looked at Aglaia's response.
Aglaia sat on the bed. "I don't know. If he was given a choice. Why didn't he pick me? I'm a burden to him. I am another mouth to feed, and I take up this room. Some of the men in the village are even pestering him for my hand in marriage."
Alessia shook her head. "You aren't a burden to us Charites, you know that right? Maybe to papa and Catarina, but not to us. Besides, we are not really having a hard time with you around, there's plenty of food to go around. And nobody uses this room anyway. And I don't think that papa is feeling 'pestered' by the men. Most of them are very rich and influential people, just what papa needs as friends to—"
"What is it?"
Alessia didn't answer, frowning. "I think I know why papa didn't choose you. He needed you. He needed you to gain a position in society. To gain influential friends that may help him with money. Catarina has the least suitors of the three of us, which is why she is the one he chose, even if she was his daughter and he did love her the most."
Aglaia stared at Alessia. She thought that Mario was not much of a gentleman but she never suspected that he would do anything this...horrendous to his daughter just to be richer. Well she didn't want to give him that satisfaction. Besides, she really needed to leave. The longer she stayed with them, the more dangerous it would be for them if Akakios found her here. Aglaia looked at Alessia, the one true friend she had ever since she came in the human world.
"I'm leaving in Catarina's place."
Chapter Thirteen
Mario looked up at Catarina, who was sitting across him. "You must go, my daughter. Be brave and save your father from his fate."
Catarina's eyes widened in surprise. "Me? Why me, father? Why can't Charites go? After all, she asked for the rose." Catarina pouted and glared pointedly at Aglaia.
"Don't you want to save your papa from the beast? You are my daughter. Don't you care about your papa?," Mario snapped.
"But..." Catarina looked away. She didn't want to die, even if it was because of saving her father.
"Perhaps the beast will give you many riches and treat you well." Mario said unconvincingly, trying to comfort his favorite daughter. Adela was looking at him with a strange expression. He knew that she was wondering the same thing that everyone in the room was wondering. Why did he choose Catarina instead of Charites?
Mario shook his head, dismissing the topic. "The beast will be waiting in a fortnight for us. I will go with you there, but I must leave after. We shall leave tomorrow to get there in time."
Alessia had enough energy to clear her dry throat and say, "How will you get there? You did say that you just got lost."
"I had the map to Kirmal. I marked where I stopped for the night, I'll know where the castle is." With that said, Mario stood up and left the room.
After Mario left, everyone in the room was silent. Finally, Adela stood up and ushered everyone upstairs.
~~~
"What are we to do? Thais is getting more and more irritable from Akakios' persistence." A fairy whispered urgently. An icy blast of wind blew past the group of fairies, making them shiver.
"Let him be irritable! It does not matter." Another replied defiantly.
The fairy beside him shook his head. "It matters because he is getting suspicious and he is the king's personal servant. He may tell Akakios. We know what Akakios might do to us."
A shudder ran through the tight circle of fairies. They had all seen what their leader was capable of. They had all seen it in their wars with the gnomes, the specters, even in the wars with the elves. Akakios fought and punished without pity, or even restraint. He did not believe in justice. One little thing and he wanted to go to war. It was as if he craved for it.
"Phaedrus?" The fairy asked their appointed leader. "What do you think? What shall we do?"
Phaedrus sighed. "Let us tell Thais that we have found maidens, but none of them with beauty fit for our king enough to be his wife. That should keep them satisfied for a while. We must hurry on with our plan. I shall talk to the queen mother about the king tomorrow."
"But what if she supports her son's ways? What will we do then? How are we to know if she will not kill us?" A frightened fairy spoke up.
"We have no other choice. We cannot keep this up for very long and we need someone who can persuade the fairies to revolt. We need someone who is loved and that is the queen mother. She was kind to everyone in her time. The fairies love her, they will listen to her."
The same fairy shook his head. "But if she is allied with her son and she discovers that we are plotting to overthrow him then those connections with the fairies will be the cause of our downfall. She could very well convince the fairies that Akakios is a kind fairy and that we are plotting for his downfall."
Phaedrus looked at the fairy with grim, tired eyes. "She has proven herself otherwise. When she ruled us, she was kind and gentle. If her intentions are really malicious, then why didn't she do anything when she ruled the kingdom?"
"Perhaps her intentions were never malicious. Perhaps it is just an act of a mother protecting her son. Her love for Akakios would persuade her to protect him or be blind to his actions." The fairy's frightened eyes stared back at Phaedrus.
"We have no other choice. We have suffered under this tyrant long enough."
~~~
Aglaia stared at the ceiling as she shifted her position in bed. Why did Mario choose Catarina when he obviously doted on her more than he did with Alessia? Why didn't he just choose to give Aglaia, or rather, Charites to the beast? He hated her. Why wouldn't he want to get rid of her? After all, he had the excuse that she was the one who asked for the rose. He could've told everyone that the beast demanded for the one who asked for the rose.
It didn't make sense. Why Catarina? Aglaia tried to think of an explanation but nothing came to her mind. Just then she heard someone knocking on her door softly. Aglaia got up to answer the door, not surprised to find Alessia there.
"It doesn't make sense." Alessia said as she walked into the room. They had gotten closer for the past few months that she stayed there and started meeting at night to talk about things. Alessia jumped onto the bed and frowned. "Why did papa choose Catarina? She is the last person that I expected him to choose."
"Maybe the beast asked for his eldest daughter. But he didn't mention anything about that. Surely he would look for an excuse for letting Catarina go." Alessia looked at Aglaia's response.
Aglaia sat on the bed. "I don't know. If he was given a choice. Why didn't he pick me? I'm a burden to him. I am another mouth to feed, and I take up this room. Some of the men in the village are even pestering him for my hand in marriage."
Alessia shook her head. "You aren't a burden to us Charites, you know that right? Maybe to papa and Catarina, but not to us. Besides, we are not really having a hard time with you around, there's plenty of food to go around. And nobody uses this room anyway. And I don't think that papa is feeling 'pestered' by the men. Most of them are very rich and influential people, just what papa needs as friends to—"
"What is it?"
Alessia didn't answer, frowning. "I think I know why papa didn't choose you. He needed you. He needed you to gain a position in society. To gain influential friends that may help him with money. Catarina has the least suitors of the three of us, which is why she is the one he chose, even if she was his daughter and he did love her the most."
Aglaia stared at Alessia. She thought that Mario was not much of a gentleman but she never suspected that he would do anything this...horrendous to his daughter just to be richer. Well she didn't want to give him that satisfaction. Besides, she really needed to leave. The longer she stayed with them, the more dangerous it would be for them if Akakios found her here. Aglaia looked at Alessia, the one true friend she had ever since she came in the human world.
"I'm leaving in Catarina's place."