A/n This is my first time on fairytale writing so tell me if it sucks.
Based on Beauty and the Beast, Medieval times. Please R/R
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This is my story. You can take it or leave it. It doesn't matter either way. I doubt that the truth will someday be known. Pretend I'm a lady; pretend that I was a beautiful blue blood noble who was swept off her feet into the realm of extraordinary. Ignore my past; ignore the fact that I was simply a pretty wrench who got lucky.
I was 16 when it happened. The year it all happened. A dreamy faced, misty- eyed twit who was still young enough to believe in those fairy tales where Prince Charming would whisk the fair maiden off to a wedding. I was a fool back then, a fool to even think that love was like that- all glory and radiance without the passion and fiery hate that comes with the lust.
They call me Belle. The Belle of the ball. I laugh when they call me that, laugh because I would think back to that day when I was still young. Smile and remember the day it started. My 16th birthday.
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I had lived with my sisters as far back as I could recall. Father was a merchant, a man of power and wealth who divided his time making money and traveling as far away from his estates as possible. He was the kings merchant and was therefore considered practically noble. He was tall and imposing with dark tanned skin and dark blue eyes and black hair specked with grey. He had married twice, the first to Elaine's mother, second to Jewel's mother. My mother had been a prostitute who had conceived me with father, or so I've heard.
Elaine was horrible, fat and overweight. She had frizzy orange hair and watery blue eyes. She did not speak much, but it was not because she was obtuse. It was because she had a dreadful short of cunning about her, a deep mean streak that seemed to characterize our family. Inheriting Fathers sense of economics, she was the stingiest women alive, and Father's favorite.
Jewel. Beautiful and superficial. She had crinkled blond hair and deep midnight eyes, sweet rosebud lips the color of blood, and tanned skin. She was color, and music, and festivities to the males who flocked to court her. Jewel entertained her swoons shamelessly, endearing the poor buffoons to come back for more. More than one fellow has had his heart and funds broken by her laughing ways. Yet for all her flirting, and sly courting, she was a dumb as our cow Maisy, and she treated me like I didn't exist, like I was a coat stand. Besides her beauty was trivial to Silvia's Midnight charm.
Sister Witch. My sister Silvia, the witch. Abused by the entire household, for since her 16th birthday she had been mute. She had hair so blonde it was white and she looked like an albino child with her translucent skin, but for her black eyes, eyes so dark that when you looked into them it was like looking into a whirlpool, a void of darkness. I knew that she was not mute, that she saw her silence as a refugee from the world. Jewel and Elaine were scared of her, and in their cruelness they locked her up in the attic with rats and mice for company. I would go up there, and hear the whirling and clicking of what I was sure was a loom.
Last, and least comes me, Charmaine. Father barely remembered I existed. Elaine hated me because I was smarter than her and Jewel often thought I was a servant. I loved reading, and most of my time I spent in the library reading books, curled up on a leather couch.
Many beautiful ladies in court feel the need to pretend that they are not beautiful, and to pretend that they do not know that they are lovely to charm a man. I have never seen the point in this. I was pretty, if not beautiful, and I've never felt the need to pretend I didn't know I was good looking. Pages and Squires chased after me and wooed me, but none of them kept my interest for too long. I was always too caught up in my fairy tales.
I had ruddy golden hair and strange purple eyes that I didn't really like the color of. I had pale skin dotted lightly with freckles on my cheekbones and I was the biggest klutz. I was always tripping over things and I couldn't hold onto something long enough before it would crash down on the ground. The males I turned down called me conceited and stuck up, but they all had the same brain size as a monkey. Ona, our cook and my favorite person in the entire household said I walked around with my head in the clouds.
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On my 16th birthday we received 'terrible' news. Father had lost favor with the king. The King had for months been a shadow after the disappearance of his son, and for months had been dreaming up conspiracies against all of court. He had executed his brother and his entire households of nobles for 'treason' to the crown, but never had we imagined he would turn on us. Father was the crowns merchant after all and much of the Royal Treasury's Treasures had come form his skills in Business Making.
The King had invited us to prove our loyalty by giving expensive presents consisting of practically our entire fortune.
Elaine went mad, and Jewel much the same too. They went around the house raving madly.
'Oh what shall we do? We have barely enough money for the servants!'
'My beautiful dresses. What shall I do without my beautiful new dresses?'
None of this worried me too much. The king wasn't interested in books and so the library was safe. Oney had been in the family for too long, and besides she worked for nothing except her lodging so she would not be sent away. That was really all I cared about.. Fashion didn't interest me and in my opinion, the fewer servants we had the better. I mean, I had 3 handmaidens to help me dress each more for god's sake!
I went to sleep with a clear head and my only disappointment being that the cake Ona baked for my birthday didn't have chocolate in it. I should have been more worried, I see that now.
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I woke up to hear a dreadful commotion.
There was screaming going on, and I threw on a coat and went downstairs to see what it was about. Elaine's face was the same color as a squashed tomato and she was so angry I swear I saw steam coming out her ears. She was pointing at someone and shouting at them. Spittle flew out of her lips. Jewel was sitting down, her hair up in rollers muttering something like. 'Oh, my poor head,' over and over again.
She was shouting at Silvia who was standing defiantly, her hands holding long stems of some sort of grass. I'd never seen someone look so hatred filled and defiant as she was then. Her black eyes had a strange light in them and her pale lips were pressed together firmly.
'Witch! Witch! Collecting herbs for your evil spells! This is all your fault! I'll have the Crown's Justice for this!'
Silvia laughed, a cold evil laugh that sent shivers down my spine.
Elaine's eyes popped.
'YOU! You dare not bow down to me, your guardian! Bow down to me and beg for forgiveness!'
Silvia laughed again.
Elaine narrowed her eyes and whispered in a voice so chilling that even Jewel shut up about her head.
'Guards! Take this miserable witch wrench out of my sight! Hang her tomorrow morning with the King's permission of course. Tell him that this is the cause of his demise.'
The guards came and took Silvia away, who was still laughing that same cold laugh.
I cried out, a stifled little sob. It was not right! Silvia was still my half sister, and she could not die by the orders of Elaine, who was breathing heavily and her face flashing pale and ruddy.
She whirled around and glared at me.
Her mouth was twisted into an unpleasant smirk and her eyes were triumphant.
'You! Take off your nightgown! From now on, you serve your sister and me! Dress in servant rags. You are now no longer a lady. Report to Oney, first thing in the morning. Now get up to the Attic. You'll be sleeping there from now on.'
I spun around my heel and ran up the stairs, determined not to cry. It's not that I don't like girls who cry, it's just that if cried over every sad thing in my life, I'd never have time to smile.
I changed from my pretty nightgown into the plain brown tunic dress of a servant and sat down on my lumpy mattress, my eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness.
In the corner there was a dark shape. I lit a small candle and looked at it, and gasped. It was a loom! So Silvia had been working on it! Next to it were 7 small bundles.
I looked at them closely and stood, stunned.
They were robes, hard springy ones at that too. They were woven out of the same plant that I had seen Silvia hold just ten minutes ago! I frowned. What was going on?
At that moment, the small window blew open. Curls of darkness snaked out snatched the robes. It wanted the one robe I held in my hands too, but I wasn't going to give it that. I could tell that the darkness was bad, and I can never tell what I did too make it go away. I think I worked some magic of my own that stopped it from getting the robe. At any rate, I was left holding a grass robe in my hands.
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This is my story. You can take it or leave it. It doesn't matter either way. I doubt that the truth will someday be known. Pretend I'm a lady; pretend that I was a beautiful blue blood noble who was swept off her feet into the realm of extraordinary. Ignore my past; ignore the fact that I was simply a pretty wrench who got lucky.
I was 16 when it happened. The year it all happened. A dreamy faced, misty- eyed twit who was still young enough to believe in those fairy tales where Prince Charming would whisk the fair maiden off to a wedding. I was a fool back then, a fool to even think that love was like that- all glory and radiance without the passion and fiery hate that comes with the lust.
They call me Belle. The Belle of the ball. I laugh when they call me that, laugh because I would think back to that day when I was still young. Smile and remember the day it started. My 16th birthday.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~
I had lived with my sisters as far back as I could recall. Father was a merchant, a man of power and wealth who divided his time making money and traveling as far away from his estates as possible. He was the kings merchant and was therefore considered practically noble. He was tall and imposing with dark tanned skin and dark blue eyes and black hair specked with grey. He had married twice, the first to Elaine's mother, second to Jewel's mother. My mother had been a prostitute who had conceived me with father, or so I've heard.
Elaine was horrible, fat and overweight. She had frizzy orange hair and watery blue eyes. She did not speak much, but it was not because she was obtuse. It was because she had a dreadful short of cunning about her, a deep mean streak that seemed to characterize our family. Inheriting Fathers sense of economics, she was the stingiest women alive, and Father's favorite.
Jewel. Beautiful and superficial. She had crinkled blond hair and deep midnight eyes, sweet rosebud lips the color of blood, and tanned skin. She was color, and music, and festivities to the males who flocked to court her. Jewel entertained her swoons shamelessly, endearing the poor buffoons to come back for more. More than one fellow has had his heart and funds broken by her laughing ways. Yet for all her flirting, and sly courting, she was a dumb as our cow Maisy, and she treated me like I didn't exist, like I was a coat stand. Besides her beauty was trivial to Silvia's Midnight charm.
Sister Witch. My sister Silvia, the witch. Abused by the entire household, for since her 16th birthday she had been mute. She had hair so blonde it was white and she looked like an albino child with her translucent skin, but for her black eyes, eyes so dark that when you looked into them it was like looking into a whirlpool, a void of darkness. I knew that she was not mute, that she saw her silence as a refugee from the world. Jewel and Elaine were scared of her, and in their cruelness they locked her up in the attic with rats and mice for company. I would go up there, and hear the whirling and clicking of what I was sure was a loom.
Last, and least comes me, Charmaine. Father barely remembered I existed. Elaine hated me because I was smarter than her and Jewel often thought I was a servant. I loved reading, and most of my time I spent in the library reading books, curled up on a leather couch.
Many beautiful ladies in court feel the need to pretend that they are not beautiful, and to pretend that they do not know that they are lovely to charm a man. I have never seen the point in this. I was pretty, if not beautiful, and I've never felt the need to pretend I didn't know I was good looking. Pages and Squires chased after me and wooed me, but none of them kept my interest for too long. I was always too caught up in my fairy tales.
I had ruddy golden hair and strange purple eyes that I didn't really like the color of. I had pale skin dotted lightly with freckles on my cheekbones and I was the biggest klutz. I was always tripping over things and I couldn't hold onto something long enough before it would crash down on the ground. The males I turned down called me conceited and stuck up, but they all had the same brain size as a monkey. Ona, our cook and my favorite person in the entire household said I walked around with my head in the clouds.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~
On my 16th birthday we received 'terrible' news. Father had lost favor with the king. The King had for months been a shadow after the disappearance of his son, and for months had been dreaming up conspiracies against all of court. He had executed his brother and his entire households of nobles for 'treason' to the crown, but never had we imagined he would turn on us. Father was the crowns merchant after all and much of the Royal Treasury's Treasures had come form his skills in Business Making.
The King had invited us to prove our loyalty by giving expensive presents consisting of practically our entire fortune.
Elaine went mad, and Jewel much the same too. They went around the house raving madly.
'Oh what shall we do? We have barely enough money for the servants!'
'My beautiful dresses. What shall I do without my beautiful new dresses?'
None of this worried me too much. The king wasn't interested in books and so the library was safe. Oney had been in the family for too long, and besides she worked for nothing except her lodging so she would not be sent away. That was really all I cared about.. Fashion didn't interest me and in my opinion, the fewer servants we had the better. I mean, I had 3 handmaidens to help me dress each more for god's sake!
I went to sleep with a clear head and my only disappointment being that the cake Ona baked for my birthday didn't have chocolate in it. I should have been more worried, I see that now.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~
I woke up to hear a dreadful commotion.
There was screaming going on, and I threw on a coat and went downstairs to see what it was about. Elaine's face was the same color as a squashed tomato and she was so angry I swear I saw steam coming out her ears. She was pointing at someone and shouting at them. Spittle flew out of her lips. Jewel was sitting down, her hair up in rollers muttering something like. 'Oh, my poor head,' over and over again.
She was shouting at Silvia who was standing defiantly, her hands holding long stems of some sort of grass. I'd never seen someone look so hatred filled and defiant as she was then. Her black eyes had a strange light in them and her pale lips were pressed together firmly.
'Witch! Witch! Collecting herbs for your evil spells! This is all your fault! I'll have the Crown's Justice for this!'
Silvia laughed, a cold evil laugh that sent shivers down my spine.
Elaine's eyes popped.
'YOU! You dare not bow down to me, your guardian! Bow down to me and beg for forgiveness!'
Silvia laughed again.
Elaine narrowed her eyes and whispered in a voice so chilling that even Jewel shut up about her head.
'Guards! Take this miserable witch wrench out of my sight! Hang her tomorrow morning with the King's permission of course. Tell him that this is the cause of his demise.'
The guards came and took Silvia away, who was still laughing that same cold laugh.
I cried out, a stifled little sob. It was not right! Silvia was still my half sister, and she could not die by the orders of Elaine, who was breathing heavily and her face flashing pale and ruddy.
She whirled around and glared at me.
Her mouth was twisted into an unpleasant smirk and her eyes were triumphant.
'You! Take off your nightgown! From now on, you serve your sister and me! Dress in servant rags. You are now no longer a lady. Report to Oney, first thing in the morning. Now get up to the Attic. You'll be sleeping there from now on.'
I spun around my heel and ran up the stairs, determined not to cry. It's not that I don't like girls who cry, it's just that if cried over every sad thing in my life, I'd never have time to smile.
I changed from my pretty nightgown into the plain brown tunic dress of a servant and sat down on my lumpy mattress, my eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness.
In the corner there was a dark shape. I lit a small candle and looked at it, and gasped. It was a loom! So Silvia had been working on it! Next to it were 7 small bundles.
I looked at them closely and stood, stunned.
They were robes, hard springy ones at that too. They were woven out of the same plant that I had seen Silvia hold just ten minutes ago! I frowned. What was going on?
At that moment, the small window blew open. Curls of darkness snaked out snatched the robes. It wanted the one robe I held in my hands too, but I wasn't going to give it that. I could tell that the darkness was bad, and I can never tell what I did too make it go away. I think I worked some magic of my own that stopped it from getting the robe. At any rate, I was left holding a grass robe in my hands.
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