Disclaimer, one word: FANFICTION!!
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For the Sake of Honour
"I'm sorry my dear daughter." Fayre's father's words hit her like a ton of bricks. She dropped her brush and sat down slowly. Her father Duke William watched as the news sank in slowly.
Fayre thought about this, then she nodded. She had to save her father's honour.
Duke William had been travelling for the past few months, on the night he was returning, he chanced upon a beautiful castle. He made the mistake of taking the owner's precious roses and now William had to bring him his youngest daughter to marry him.
Fayre picked up her brush after her father left her alone. She was the youngest of three girls. Their mother had died when Fayre was only three. Although her name meant "beautiful", in her opinion she was the least beautiful. She didn't have Leila's blue eyes or blond hair, nor Mira's dark hair and sweet brown eyes. Her hair was an impossible tangle of long red curls and her eyes were greyish. She wouldn't stop growing, and she tried to use cosmetics to cover her freckles. Nothing could make her beautiful. To make up for her beauty though, she loved reading and riding.
The day came when Fayre was leaving for the castle. She was sad to leave her family, but wasn't really sad at her betrothal. I would never get betrothed otherwise with my ugliness, she thought.
Fayre rode alone to the beautiful castle in the woods that her father described. It was more magnificent than she'd imagined. It must belong to a prince! There were more turrets and towers than she could count. The grey stones shone in the afternoon light. But the most beautiful was the garden. There were flowers of all shapes and sizes and not one flower was out of place.
After settling her horse in the stable, Fayre walked tentatively into the foyer of the castle. The door slammed behind her and set off an echo, making the young girl jump. The castle seemed to be empty.
"Hello? Is anybody there?" she called. No one answered.
Fayre took a couple of hesitant steps, her boots clicked on the marble floor. She wondered whether this was all a big joke. Then she looked up and gasped. The inside of the castle was more beautiful than the outside. In front of her was a grand staircase lined with carpet. Along the walls were tapestries depicting scenes of court life, each was woven intricately. A chandelier hung in the middle of the hall and there were golden candleholders lining the walls.
Fayre was so caught up looking at the castle that she did not hear someone approaching. She jumped when a deep male voice behind her said: "Beautiful isn't it?"
The girl turned around and almost screamed, but she caught herself just in time. The speaker was a hideous man. He must've been very tall, for he was taller than Fayre despite his slightly hunched back, though he was not much older. His dark hair was thick and hid his eyes, and his face was quite grotesque.
"How do you do?" said the deep voice.
Fayre realised she was staring. She looked away quickly. "I'm fine," she mumbled.
"You must be Fayre, the girl I asked for," the man continued, "My name is Bryden."
"Are you the owner of this castle?" asked Fayre.
He nodded, "Please excuse my appearance, I hope we will get along well. Come." Bryden led a blushing Fayre to the dining room. Her eyes widened at the sight of so many dishes of food.
In the middle of the meal, Fayre remembered her manners and that she was here to save her father's honour.
"I'm sorry for earlier, I was most rude," Bryden nodded in understanding. She continued, "I'm also sorry if you are disappointed by me. I'm not as fair as my name suggests."
Bryden shook his head, "Beauty is not important here. You will see no mirrors in this castle. And I promise the no harm would come to you while you are here."
Fayre nodded, but she was still wary of him. What if he is angry because he expected a beauty and I'm not beautiful? She told herself that he promised no harm and he looked honourable enough that he would keep his promise.
After dinner, Bryden showed Fayre her room. She wondered why her father would betroth her to someone so hideous. I'ld rather never marry in my life than marry him. Why did I even agree? Then she reminded herself, Oh yeah, because of honour. I'd rather be beautiful than honourable. Fayre fell asleep wondering why no one else was in the castle.
Fayre spend her days reading in the library and wandering in the castle. She hadn't seen another living being except for Bryden, and she only saw him at dinnertime. Fayre started to call him "Beast" when he wasn't around. The thought of him disgusted her, she couldn't imagine being married to such a hideous man.
Her life in the castle was quite boring. The only things she enjoyed were riding her horse and reading in the library tower. The library was her shelter. It had shelves and shelves full of books.
One day when Fayre was reading in her favourite chair beside the window, Bryden came in.
"Hello Fayre," he sat down beside her.
Fayre looked up, "Oh hello Bea – " she caught herself just in time, "Bryden."
To her surprise and horror, he laughed. "I know you call me Beast." Fayre turned away and blushed in shame and embarrassment. Bryden put a big hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, you can call me whatever you wish."
Fayre didn't answer. "Do you love me?" asked Bryden.
She stared at him, the horror, shock and disgust was evident on her face. Bryden cleared his throat and decided to change the subject.
"Can I read with you?" Fayre nodded reluctantly, she was rude enough to him already.
So they spend the afternoon reading by the window. Bryden was very good at reading aloud. Fayre didn't even realise that he put his arm around her.
It had been two months since Fayre came to the castle. Bryden read with her everyday in the library. It seemed to him that she was starting to like him.
One day Bryden found Fayre crying late at night in the library. He went over and asked her what was the matter.
"Why did you have to pick me? I'm not beautiful," she sobbed.
"But you are beautiful Fayre," said Bryden.
"No I'm not. So you don't want to marry me," she said.
"Is that it, you don't want to marry me?"
Fayre nodded slowly, hoping that he would not be too mad. When Bryden didn't answer, she began to get worried.
"What do you have against me?" he asked finally, "Is it because I'm ugly?" Fayre didn't answer; she didn't want to hurt him. She didn't know herself why she hated him, maybe it was because of his appearance, or maybe it was because he took her away from her family.
He never understood why beauty was so important to her, so he asked carefully.
"Because I'm a disappointment to my family," she answered quietly.
"So am I," Bryden whispered, more to himself than to Fayre. "I was born a prince. My family had reputation to be beautiful, but I grew to be ugly. Nobody wanted to have anything to do with me. They left, even most of the servants," he said quietly, "I was shunned. Please don't you shun me too," Bryden looked pleadingly. Fayre could not bring herself to look at him.
"Good night," she said, and quickly went back to her room.
After that incident in the library, Fayre found that she could not face Bryden. She even started to miss him. Without his company, Fayre began to miss her family even more. So she decided to ask permission to visit home.
"Do you promise to come back?" asked Bryden.
Fayre nodded, "I promise on my honour." Bryden nodded and let her leave, "You have exactly one week. I can't live without you," he added.
The next morning, Fayre went on her way home. Deep down, she knew she would come back, she knew that she too, could not live without him.
It had been seven days since Fayre left, the sun was setting, ready to end the seventh day. Bryden lay on the window seat in the library, staring out into the distance. There was no sign of her. She will be back, she promised, Bryden thought weakly. Fayre's last words echoed in his mind faintly as he grew weaker. She promised.
Fayre rode as fast as she could toward the castle. She stayed away for too long. She had meant to come back the day before, but she missed her family so much that she wanted to spend time with them a bit longer. Her family was no more eager for her to leave. She would've stayed too, if it weren't for the thought of Bryden. I can't live without you, Bryden had said. Fayre promised on her honour and she would keep that promise. Now that she thought about it, she was glad to go back, for there would be nobody to make her conscious of her appearance. Her sisters grew even more beautiful and admirers flocked them all the time. Even though she may not want to admit it, she loved Bryden. He did not care what she looked like; but he cared about her, as a person. So she would do the same for him, she would not shun him for his appearance.
When she arrived at the castle, the sun was only a sliver above the horizon. She knew she had to race against time. The girl bolted into the castle.
"Hello?" she called out. There was no answer. She ran through the corridors, getting herself lost in the maze of hallways. She still could not find him. Fayre stopped and thought about a logical place for him to be. She searched the dining room and his room without avail. There was one other place that he could be.
Fayre ran up the flights of stairs to the library tower, ignoring the pain in her legs. It seemed to go on forever. She pushed open the door and saw Bryden's humped figure lying on the window seat. He was not moving.
Oh no, what have I done? Fayre approached him slowly, afraid of what she would find.
"Bryden?" she reached out tentatively and touched his shoulder. At her touch, Bryden opened his eyes and sat up with difficulty.
"Fayre," he said huskily, "You are back."
She nodded, her eyes filled with tears of relief. "I'm back Bryden." Then she sat beside him and gently lifted his hair so she could see his eyes. They were surprisingly blue, beautiful and clear, and full of passion.
"I love you Bryden."
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do you like it? i know i should be working on my other stories, but this is for english class, we have to write a short story on the theme of beauty and beast. i like it so i decided to post it.