Giles kicked his horse in the ribs, urging it on. "Stupid animal, move!" The chestnut gelding whinnied its discontent and trudged on through the woods.

The deadly, cursed woods, Giles thought. Not very deadly looking, that's certain.

Giles had went to a neighboring village a few day's journey off, to see if the gypsies had stopped their caravan there, but the journey had been for nothing. They had been delayed by some trouble on the road, and he'd had to turn right around, seeing as their was no reason for staying.

Now he was on his way back home, using the forest as a shortcut.

On his way home to his new wife. Giles smirked triumphantly. Their wedding, only a few days ago, was perfect. Elizabeth had all the looks of an angel, with her soft, curling blonde hair that fell to her waist, large blue eyes, and perfectly shaped pink mouth. Her figure was perfect, and her white wedding dress fit her like a glove.

But as for Elizabeth herself… well, she was just too open-minded, too defiant. A wife should obey the husband without question, Giles thought arrogantly. And as for the books! Books, who reads books? Not his wife, he'd make sure of that! A women's duty was to cook, make him fine clothing, clean the house, and bear him healthy sons. Besides, a women reading was…strange. It wasn't right.

He pictured his angelic wife. Beautiful enough. He wouldn't settle for any one else. The wife of Giles should be as perfect as he himself was.

Giles frowned and raked his fingers through his sandy-blonde hair. Never a good thing, travel. It always mussed hi hair. He sat up straighter on his mount and scanned the woods with his hazel eyes, looking for a sign of the village. He saw nothing but the endless stretch of ancient, gray trees. Dead leaves crunched under his feet.

Unusually cold for autumn. Giles sighed. He should have brought a warmer coat.

The horse stopped without warning, jolting Giles. Wandering what the problem was this time, Giles looked around. His hazel eyes widened in shock.

He was looking at a wall, but it was a far greater than he had ever seen. It seemed to reach up to the sky, made of grey stone. It was hard to tell what it was made of at first, though, because the entire thing was covered by roses, with thorns as long as his finger. That was why he'd missed it, at first. Any one could've, had they not bee paying attention. The roses trailed down to the ground, with gigantic, beautiful red blooms, the size of a person's open hand. Hypnotized, Giles dismounted and followed the wall on foot. He continued that way for a while, trailing the horse along with him, the reigns hanging half-forgotten in his hand.

Eventually, he came to a patch that the roses hadn't quite managed to cover. Looking closer, Giles saw the iron handle of a door. Without thinking, he grasped the handle and pulled., rusty hinges screeching. Rose vines that that had grown around the door ripped free and fell to the ground.

Giles pushed away a green and red curtain of roses and stepped into the garden of the Noirmort castle.

The faery prince danced around the frozen man, who looked at the faery's leaf-green skin in horror.

Once you've tried your fate

Twice it's been to late:

Thrice you now dissolve into night's black gate

As the faery prince chanted his short song, the human faded away into the night sky, never to be seen by any-thing again, save for the demon of the night.

Elizabeth yawned and rubbed her eyes, sore from too many hours of reading. It must be almost midnight, now, she thought to herself as she stretch her cramped legs. I wonder when Giles will be returning… she grinned at the thought of the faery prince from the story coming and making him disappear.

Bad things may come in threes, mother, but I'm afraid that would be a blessing.

She went to one of the house's empty rooms. This was were she'd hidden all her books after the wedding. There was a large wooden box in one corner, and she stashed them in there. They were the only things keeping her from running away from her dull, horrible new life as Giles' wife. Well that, and the fact she would have no-where to run to.

Jocelyn, true to her promise, had sent a letter from Paris. She had gotten a job in an Opera house as a seamstress, sewing costumes for the performers. The work, she had written, was hard but very fun. She picked up on all the latest gossip as the dancers were fitted for their outfits. The ballet there was just as good as the signing.

Elizabeth had written her back, congratulating her on her new job, because she knew how talented Jocelyn was at sewing. She had also included the details of her new marriage. All she had had to write was that she was now a victim of an arranged marriage, and her husband was Giles Gemme. She knew the reaction that would get when Jocelyn read it over. Giles may have been famous for being the most handsome man in the village, as well as the richest, but Jocelyn and Elizabeth had always snickered about him behind his back, about how he never seemed to go anywhere without a comb, how he could be stuck in front of any reflective surface for hours at a time, and things such as that.

"I'd give anything to be with you and Pierre in Paris, Jocelyn," she sighed to the empty room.

She twirled around in a circle, her dress swirling around her. "Faeries, faeries, if you can hear me, come and take me to a place where'd I'd want to be," she sang.

"You'll be going with the bloody faeries, alright, " a voice grumbled from behind her. She stooped and turned around to face Giles.

"Giles! What happened to you?" she gasped. His clothes were torn, his hair full of twigs and leaves, and crimson blood splattered across his shirt.

"Don't talk, we're leaving, you're leaving, now!"

"Tell me what's going on! What happened!" Elizabeth's voice reached to almost a shriek.

"Fine, you want to know what happened, I'll tell you what happened!" Giles grabbed her roughly by her wrist and dragged her to their living room, shoving her onto the couch. Elizabeth rubbed her wrist; she bruised easily. Giles paced back and forth and began to tell what had happened after he went though the door into the Noirmort's property.

"I-I just went in, I was curious, there were rose everywhere…such beautiful, red roses…I saw a castle. It was a very big castle…huge. I…I went into it." Giles paused and swallowed. "In the entrance room, paintings…on the walls, the floor, the ceiling, everywhere. Paintings of rose vines. All the vines connected to a gigantic blood-red rose in full bloom in the center of the floor. I thought I saw the shadows move, and then…then a monster! A creature, a beast, a hideous animal!" Giles stopped pacing and sat right where he was on the floor, hands trembling. "It growled and…we fought. I injured it, with my sword…but then the monster broke it. He was going to kill me!" His voice escalated into a yell, then he calmed himself down. "I said…I said that I would give him anything if he spared me. The monster ignored me, then I said I'd give him…" He trailed off and looked at the floor. " I told him that I would give him you."

Elizabeth's mouth dropped open in shock. Then her surprise was replaced by anger. "You IDIOT! Coward, you gave me away, like a slave! Merde, merde, merde!" she swore. Regaining her calm, she went on in a cold, dangerous voice. "I do not care what you said. I'm not going to that castle. And, furthermore, I am breaking off this marriage. I will get my things and go home."

Giles looked at her. "You can't. The monster said that...that if you did not go, he would…oh, maudis! He said he'd kill me!" Now Giles was trembling, fear clearly showing in his eyes.

Elizabeth frowned. As much as a coward and a fop as Giles was, she wouldn't do anything that would cause another's death. That was one of the most selfish and foolish thing she could do, making another to sacrifice his life so she could be free. "Very well, " she said, standing up. She was proud that her voice didn't tremble, and that her dress hid her quaking legs.

"I will go."

"Shhhh, steady, Star, we'll be there soon," Elizabeth whispered. She held the reigns in one hand as she drew the forest-green hood of her cloak further over her head. Her hair was bound from her face with a simple blue ribbon, and she'd changed from her dressy outfit from earlier into a much more simple and comfortable outfit of a whiter blouse and pale blue skirt.

Now she wished she hadn't. The bright colors made her stand out like a torch in the dreary woods. She was grateful that her cloak hid most of her clothing, though.

A monster, Giles said. I'm going to the castle of a monster.

If bad things come in threes, then this is the third thing.

All too soon for Elizabeth, she came to the wall, and the half-hidden door. No turning back now, she told herself firmly. She nudged Star through the door then dismounted, taking a firm hold of the reigns, in case she should bolt.

Their was a garden, full of roses, as Giles told her, but she couldn't see much of it. The darkness covered everything, like black ink spilled over parchment. It looked empty, though. Empty and abandoned. Odd about the roses, though. This was autumn. Roses weren't in full bloom during autumn...

"Ok, girl, let's find a place to put you," she murmured comfortingly to her horse. Exploring the gardens, she found a stable a little ways off, at the side of the castle. The stable was lit by numerous lanterns, all made of black metal, all embossed with twisting roses, Elizabeth discovered when she examined them.

"Here we go Star." She lead Star into a stall at the back and untacked her. Looking for a place to put the saddle, blanket, and reigns, she saw there were hooks on the outside of the stable, and a saddle rack at the end. Hanging the reins on the hook, she closed the stall door, then lugged the saddle and blanket to the saddle racks. I hope Star will be ok, she thought then decided she would be. The stalls were all well-kept, filled with clean straw, water, and food for the horses.

Star will be fine, but what about me?

"Au revoir, mon ami. Wish me luck." Star whinnied from her stall as if she really were wishing her luck.

I'm going to need it.

Elizabeth spun slowly around in a circle. It really is true! There are roses everywhere The painted rose-vines looked so real she thought that if the went over and touched one, she would prick her finger. And in the center of the floor, where she was standing, a brilliant red rose spread its petals. The artist had even added drops of crystalline rain on it!

The entrance room was dimly lit, though, and the only light shone directly down on her, from a magnificent chandelier. The rest of the room was in shadows.

Breaking her gaze away from the rose, she noticed a small patch of red, marring the tiles.

Blood.

…we fought. I injured it, with my sword…

What if…

..what if the monster had died? What if Giles had mortally wounded it, and it died after he left?

"Stop that, stop that now!" she scolded herself. "No matter what the monster is, it's not right to wish death upon it!"

"Thank you, milady," A soft, growling voice said from the shadows.