1 Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
A/N: Again I thank you for all the great reviews. It surprised me to have so many in such a short time. Well lets see what happened last time, Curtis told about his trip, he lied about what happened at the castle, Ebony was sent on her way, we ran into Henry again, Henry had his speech, he sent Ebony on her way, Ebony made it to the castle and entered. That is where we continue our story…
Chapter 4- The Truth
As Ebony walked down the hall her father talked about she noticed that it was not as dark as he made it out to be. When she got to the room at the end of the hall, it was again filled with all different types of food. The table was so full that Ebony wondered how it could continue to stay on its legs without breaking. She went to the only chair at the table and sat to wait for someone to arrive to tell her what the plan was. Ebony could smell all of the wonderful food and her stomach started to talk to her, reminding her that she had not eaten all day. When a good hour had pasted and no one arrived she could not hold back any longer. It was when Ebony took her first bite of a dish that she became amazed to find out that it was still warm to her astonishment and delight all the food on the table was still warm. After she had eaten her fill, she noticed a door behind her that was open slightly. Through the crack she could see a light; she also thought that she heard two male voices.
"What do you mean she's here?"
"She is sitting in the dinning hall right as we speak."
Ebony realized then that they were talking about her. She started to open the door some more so that she could see who was talking about her when they continued with the conversation.
"Hey, but you said that there was no way her father would send the light of his life here to live out the rest of her life with me."
Ebony was taken back when she heard these words because she did not believe that her father would ever, not even if his life depended on it, call her the light of his life.
"Maybe she loves her father so much that she willingly took his place or he could have lied to us."
"Still if he lied to us why would he send his daughter to live with a beast such as me?"
At this point, Ebony made a small sound because she could not imagine that the beast, the monster that she had been sent to would sound so cultured and refined. It took her a second to realize that the voices had stopped. As she slowly backed away from the door it was slammed open with such force that the door was ripped off its hinges. All Ebony could do was stare at the beast that now filled the door. She stared until the beast started to yell.
"What do you think you are doing listening in on a private conversation?" the beast all but roared to Ebony.
At this point Ebony turned as white as a freshly washed sheet and fainted. When the beast saw this, he let out a heavy sigh and walked over to her. It was then that the silver winged falcon flew out of the room and landed on top of the beast's head. With one sharp peck to the beast's head the falcon said, "Now look at what you have done. How do you expect her to stay when you go and frighten her, not five minutes after the two of you meet."
"This is truly not the time to irritate me you stupid little bird for as you know I have not had my dinner yet."
The beast picked Ebony up and carried her to the door. After a few seconds he opened the door and walked down a hall that led to a bedroom. In the bedroom the beast laid Ebony down on a big four poster bed, that sat under a wall of windows in the room. He than stood there watching her for a few minutes. It fascinated him how the sun played on her hair and on her skin. The beast did not see the falcon fly in and land on top of one of the bedposts. When he turned and spotted the falcon he said, "When she awakens tell her that she is to eat with me from now on. She is free to roam the castle and the garden but she is not to go past the gates. Also tell her that her father is safe." With that the beast walked out of the room.
After about an hour Ebony started to wake up. When she sat up, she saw that she was in the most beautiful room that she had ever seen. The whole bedroom had a soft warm feeling to it. The bed that she was on had a combination of both peach and cream colored linens on it. Those colors were then carried throughout the entire scheme of the room. At the far end of the wall of windows there was a door that led to a balcony. Which over looked the most beautiful rose garden that Ebony had ever seen. When she then turned to take a closer look at what was in the bedroom she noticed a silver winged falcon sitting on the top of one of the bedposts.
"You should really stay there until after I finish talking."
With a start Ebony looked around the bedroom trying to find out who was speaking. She could not find anyone. "Who said that?" Ebony asked with a quiver in her voice.
"Now don't faint on me, but look up at the top of the bedpost."
"You're telling me that you are the silver winged falcon on the bedpost."
"What manners you must think I have. I am the faithful servant and friend to both you and the master of this place. My dear lady Ebony my name is Sir Eric."
Ebony sat with her mouth wide open as the falcon talked, actually talked, to her. Then she remembered the beast and what was said in the room off of the dinning room. "Wait hold on you were the one in the room with the beast, right."
"Yes, about that…"
"No, you don't understand there has to be something wrong with what you guys were talking about. You kept saying that I was the light of my father's life when I'm not. That is the furthest thing from the truth. It is more like I'm the blight on his and my sister's lives."
"Your father said that you are the light… wait you have sisters? Your father said nothing about sisters."
"My father told me that the beast locked him in the dungeon and that he showed no interest in them, but that when my father told the beast about me the beast stopped and listened. It was when my father was finished that the beast told him that to save his life he would have to send me to live here for the rest of my life. Even though I'm in love with Henry."
"You are in love?"
"Yes, with the most handsome, gentlest, caring, wonderful…"
"I get the point. What made you faint in the dinning room earlier?"
Ebony stopped and thought about the question. After a few minutes she turned to Eric and said, "I don't think it was totally because of how he looked, that was more of a surprise than anything else, I think the main reason was the fact that he frightened me when he started yelling. Also, I was still in shock from listening to what you two were saying and how wrong it all was."
"I can't explain about what you over heard and which is the truth, but I might be able to explain a little about why the beast is the way he is."
"Really, please if I'm to live the rest of my life here, it might help to know what happened to both you and the beast."
"Okay this story starts many years ago. The beast and I have been friends for as long as I can remember. I can tell you that the beast would never back down from a dare. This was the one thing that was forever getting us into trouble, because I wouldn't let him do any dare without me. One day we were playing at the edge of the woods with some boys that were visiting the castle with their parents. The boys had heard about how there was supposed to be a great and powerful sorcerer that lived in the middle of the woods. That was when they made the dare. They dared Di…I mean the beast that he could not go into the forest, find the sorcerer, and return with proof that he exists. Well he them immediately took the dare. In a heartbeat he had started into the woods with me following right behind him.
"It took the rest of the day to make it to where the sorcerer lived. The sun was just setting when we came upon a large clearing with what turned out to be an altar in the center. There was no one around so we decided to have a look around to see if this was truly the place were the sorcerer lived. We had been looking for maybe five minutes when there was suddenly a flash of lighting and a crash of thunder. When we turned around to look at what was happening, the sorcerer was standing next to the altar staring at us. Suddenly there was another crash of thunder and the two of us were tied up with vines and sitting next to the altar.
"It was then that the sorcerer picked the beast up and sat him on the altar. Now you have to realize that the beast is not a person that shows fear, and the sorcerer loved when things would quiver with fear. When the sorcerer noticed that the beast did not quiver, not even a small shiver, he got extremely enraged. The sorcerer started to tell the beast all the things that were going to happen to him, and let me tell you I was about ready to pee my pants. Still the beast just sat there looking the sorcerer in the eyes not batting an eyelash at the horrible things that the sorcerer was going to do to him. When the sorcerer realized that nothing he said was going to trouble the beast he stopped and started to think. After about five minutes of silence the sorcerer said, 'You are not afraid of anything, little boy? Not torture and death, not even of the monsters of the forest.'
"When the beast said no, the sorcerer continued, 'All right then I have the perfect punishment for you. For the crime of trespassing on my property you are cursed to live out your life as a beast until true love finds you and sets you free.' Then there was another flash of lighting and crash of thunder and there the beast was laying unconscious in the form that you have seen today.
"It was then that the sorcerer turned to me and said that he was going to let me go with no punishment. I started to cry for my friend and begged the sorcerer to change me as well so that I could stay with my friend. The sorcerer thought that this was a strange request, but when he saw that I was serious he said, 'Only a true and faithful friend would be willing to do this and I well grant you this favor. Take care of him until the time arrives that he finds his true love and continue to be his friend.' There was the lighting and the thunder and then I passed out.
"I was the first to wake up and when I looked at myself I was in this body. The beast slowly started to wake and when he noticed how he looked he roared for a good ten minutes. When he stopped, he noticed that I had been changed also and started to cry. It was then that I told him that I did it willingly because I was his friend and would not leave him. We then started to walk around to see if we could find a place to live and came across this castle. It always gives us what we need and I have a feeling that the sorcerer made it so we could live. Now all we have to do is wait until the beast finds his true love."
After Eric finished his story Ebony did not know what to think or say. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes thinking about the past and the future. It was then that Eric decided that it was time to leave, and let Ebony get some rest before dinner.
Eric then turned to Ebony, before he went out the door, and said, "The beast said to tell you that you are to eat dinner with him. Also, that you are free to wander around anywhere in the castle you like and on the grounds, but don't try to leave."
With that Eric flew out the door; that magically opened and shut for him. Ebony sat on the bed thinking about what Eric had told her and how she now understood why the beast was mad when he found her listening at the door. It was then that she decided that when dinner came along she was going to apologize to the beast.
A/N: Again I thank you for all the great reviews. It surprised me to have so many in such a short time. Well lets see what happened last time, Curtis told about his trip, he lied about what happened at the castle, Ebony was sent on her way, we ran into Henry again, Henry had his speech, he sent Ebony on her way, Ebony made it to the castle and entered. That is where we continue our story…
Chapter 4- The Truth
As Ebony walked down the hall her father talked about she noticed that it was not as dark as he made it out to be. When she got to the room at the end of the hall, it was again filled with all different types of food. The table was so full that Ebony wondered how it could continue to stay on its legs without breaking. She went to the only chair at the table and sat to wait for someone to arrive to tell her what the plan was. Ebony could smell all of the wonderful food and her stomach started to talk to her, reminding her that she had not eaten all day. When a good hour had pasted and no one arrived she could not hold back any longer. It was when Ebony took her first bite of a dish that she became amazed to find out that it was still warm to her astonishment and delight all the food on the table was still warm. After she had eaten her fill, she noticed a door behind her that was open slightly. Through the crack she could see a light; she also thought that she heard two male voices.
"What do you mean she's here?"
"She is sitting in the dinning hall right as we speak."
Ebony realized then that they were talking about her. She started to open the door some more so that she could see who was talking about her when they continued with the conversation.
"Hey, but you said that there was no way her father would send the light of his life here to live out the rest of her life with me."
Ebony was taken back when she heard these words because she did not believe that her father would ever, not even if his life depended on it, call her the light of his life.
"Maybe she loves her father so much that she willingly took his place or he could have lied to us."
"Still if he lied to us why would he send his daughter to live with a beast such as me?"
At this point, Ebony made a small sound because she could not imagine that the beast, the monster that she had been sent to would sound so cultured and refined. It took her a second to realize that the voices had stopped. As she slowly backed away from the door it was slammed open with such force that the door was ripped off its hinges. All Ebony could do was stare at the beast that now filled the door. She stared until the beast started to yell.
"What do you think you are doing listening in on a private conversation?" the beast all but roared to Ebony.
At this point Ebony turned as white as a freshly washed sheet and fainted. When the beast saw this, he let out a heavy sigh and walked over to her. It was then that the silver winged falcon flew out of the room and landed on top of the beast's head. With one sharp peck to the beast's head the falcon said, "Now look at what you have done. How do you expect her to stay when you go and frighten her, not five minutes after the two of you meet."
"This is truly not the time to irritate me you stupid little bird for as you know I have not had my dinner yet."
The beast picked Ebony up and carried her to the door. After a few seconds he opened the door and walked down a hall that led to a bedroom. In the bedroom the beast laid Ebony down on a big four poster bed, that sat under a wall of windows in the room. He than stood there watching her for a few minutes. It fascinated him how the sun played on her hair and on her skin. The beast did not see the falcon fly in and land on top of one of the bedposts. When he turned and spotted the falcon he said, "When she awakens tell her that she is to eat with me from now on. She is free to roam the castle and the garden but she is not to go past the gates. Also tell her that her father is safe." With that the beast walked out of the room.
After about an hour Ebony started to wake up. When she sat up, she saw that she was in the most beautiful room that she had ever seen. The whole bedroom had a soft warm feeling to it. The bed that she was on had a combination of both peach and cream colored linens on it. Those colors were then carried throughout the entire scheme of the room. At the far end of the wall of windows there was a door that led to a balcony. Which over looked the most beautiful rose garden that Ebony had ever seen. When she then turned to take a closer look at what was in the bedroom she noticed a silver winged falcon sitting on the top of one of the bedposts.
"You should really stay there until after I finish talking."
With a start Ebony looked around the bedroom trying to find out who was speaking. She could not find anyone. "Who said that?" Ebony asked with a quiver in her voice.
"Now don't faint on me, but look up at the top of the bedpost."
"You're telling me that you are the silver winged falcon on the bedpost."
"What manners you must think I have. I am the faithful servant and friend to both you and the master of this place. My dear lady Ebony my name is Sir Eric."
Ebony sat with her mouth wide open as the falcon talked, actually talked, to her. Then she remembered the beast and what was said in the room off of the dinning room. "Wait hold on you were the one in the room with the beast, right."
"Yes, about that…"
"No, you don't understand there has to be something wrong with what you guys were talking about. You kept saying that I was the light of my father's life when I'm not. That is the furthest thing from the truth. It is more like I'm the blight on his and my sister's lives."
"Your father said that you are the light… wait you have sisters? Your father said nothing about sisters."
"My father told me that the beast locked him in the dungeon and that he showed no interest in them, but that when my father told the beast about me the beast stopped and listened. It was when my father was finished that the beast told him that to save his life he would have to send me to live here for the rest of my life. Even though I'm in love with Henry."
"You are in love?"
"Yes, with the most handsome, gentlest, caring, wonderful…"
"I get the point. What made you faint in the dinning room earlier?"
Ebony stopped and thought about the question. After a few minutes she turned to Eric and said, "I don't think it was totally because of how he looked, that was more of a surprise than anything else, I think the main reason was the fact that he frightened me when he started yelling. Also, I was still in shock from listening to what you two were saying and how wrong it all was."
"I can't explain about what you over heard and which is the truth, but I might be able to explain a little about why the beast is the way he is."
"Really, please if I'm to live the rest of my life here, it might help to know what happened to both you and the beast."
"Okay this story starts many years ago. The beast and I have been friends for as long as I can remember. I can tell you that the beast would never back down from a dare. This was the one thing that was forever getting us into trouble, because I wouldn't let him do any dare without me. One day we were playing at the edge of the woods with some boys that were visiting the castle with their parents. The boys had heard about how there was supposed to be a great and powerful sorcerer that lived in the middle of the woods. That was when they made the dare. They dared Di…I mean the beast that he could not go into the forest, find the sorcerer, and return with proof that he exists. Well he them immediately took the dare. In a heartbeat he had started into the woods with me following right behind him.
"It took the rest of the day to make it to where the sorcerer lived. The sun was just setting when we came upon a large clearing with what turned out to be an altar in the center. There was no one around so we decided to have a look around to see if this was truly the place were the sorcerer lived. We had been looking for maybe five minutes when there was suddenly a flash of lighting and a crash of thunder. When we turned around to look at what was happening, the sorcerer was standing next to the altar staring at us. Suddenly there was another crash of thunder and the two of us were tied up with vines and sitting next to the altar.
"It was then that the sorcerer picked the beast up and sat him on the altar. Now you have to realize that the beast is not a person that shows fear, and the sorcerer loved when things would quiver with fear. When the sorcerer noticed that the beast did not quiver, not even a small shiver, he got extremely enraged. The sorcerer started to tell the beast all the things that were going to happen to him, and let me tell you I was about ready to pee my pants. Still the beast just sat there looking the sorcerer in the eyes not batting an eyelash at the horrible things that the sorcerer was going to do to him. When the sorcerer realized that nothing he said was going to trouble the beast he stopped and started to think. After about five minutes of silence the sorcerer said, 'You are not afraid of anything, little boy? Not torture and death, not even of the monsters of the forest.'
"When the beast said no, the sorcerer continued, 'All right then I have the perfect punishment for you. For the crime of trespassing on my property you are cursed to live out your life as a beast until true love finds you and sets you free.' Then there was another flash of lighting and crash of thunder and there the beast was laying unconscious in the form that you have seen today.
"It was then that the sorcerer turned to me and said that he was going to let me go with no punishment. I started to cry for my friend and begged the sorcerer to change me as well so that I could stay with my friend. The sorcerer thought that this was a strange request, but when he saw that I was serious he said, 'Only a true and faithful friend would be willing to do this and I well grant you this favor. Take care of him until the time arrives that he finds his true love and continue to be his friend.' There was the lighting and the thunder and then I passed out.
"I was the first to wake up and when I looked at myself I was in this body. The beast slowly started to wake and when he noticed how he looked he roared for a good ten minutes. When he stopped, he noticed that I had been changed also and started to cry. It was then that I told him that I did it willingly because I was his friend and would not leave him. We then started to walk around to see if we could find a place to live and came across this castle. It always gives us what we need and I have a feeling that the sorcerer made it so we could live. Now all we have to do is wait until the beast finds his true love."
After Eric finished his story Ebony did not know what to think or say. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes thinking about the past and the future. It was then that Eric decided that it was time to leave, and let Ebony get some rest before dinner.
Eric then turned to Ebony, before he went out the door, and said, "The beast said to tell you that you are to eat dinner with him. Also, that you are free to wander around anywhere in the castle you like and on the grounds, but don't try to leave."
With that Eric flew out the door; that magically opened and shut for him. Ebony sat on the bed thinking about what Eric had told her and how she now understood why the beast was mad when he found her listening at the door. It was then that she decided that when dinner came along she was going to apologize to the beast.