A/N- ok, here's chapter five. I'm doing pretty good with the updating, eh? I hope I'll be able to update everyday. If I don't, it's either because I have a hangover or am out kidnapping my b/f (long story). So, anyways, on with the chapter!
"Is she awake?"
"Shhhh, you're too loud!"
"Well, now she's awake, good going!"
Elizabeth yawned and sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes. "Who's there?" she mumbled. For a moment, she thought she was back in the own house.
Then she opened her eyes.
The room she was in was even more breath-taking than when she had first seen it. It was twice the size of her and her father's small cottage. Instead of the customary roses that covered what parts of the castle she had seen, the walls were painted with delicate blue and purple morning glories. In the center of each, small yellow diamonds the size of pinheads glittered. . The ceiling was painted to mimic the sky itself, with gauzy white clouds. Her bed was triple the size of her old one, and had a canopy of soft blue silk. She rested on soft goose-feather pillows and clean blue sheets. Elizabeth felt out of place, like she had stepped into one of her faery tales.
Pushing the glamour of the room out of her mind, she found the source of the voices that had woken her. Three girls, each with ivory-pale skin and braided green hair, stared back at her from the foot of her bed. Which was much further away than she was accustomed to. "Um, bonjour," she greeted the strange-looking girls. Their faces and style of clothing looked familiar, as did their green hair, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it…
"Bonjour, Lady Elizabeth!" the one on the left replied cheerfully. "We've brought you your breakfast!" The girl in the center held up a silver tray.
"Oh, uh, merci." Then it struck her. "Pardon, but you're not faeries, are you?"
The one on the right grinned. "Very true, Lady Elizabeth!"
The faerie holding her tray added "We've been hired to look after your needs and bring you your meals!"
"Oh, that's nice." The faerie set the tray down on the foot of her bed. "By whom, may I ask?"
"We received a letter, but it didn't have a signature," the left faerie said.
"Yes, it only said to care for the Lady Elizabeth, who was in the East Wing of the deserted Noirmort castle."
The right faery nodded her head in conformation.
"Wait a minute," Elizabeth said in confusion, holding up her hands. "This castle isn't actually deserted, is it?"
The center faery nodded 'yes'. "Nobody has lived in this castle since 1859, when the Noirmort family just disappeared."
"1859...but that was thirteen years ago! How can a castle remain deserted for that long! And what about the mons--Gabriel?"
"Gabriel? As in Gabriel Noirmort?" the left faery asked.
"I'm not sure."
The right faery looked confused. "Well, Gabriel Noirmort disappeared the same night as his family did. No-one has seen him since."
Elizabeth just shook her head, all mixed-up. All she knew was that there was that creature that said his name was Gabriel. Obviously the three faeries knew nothing about him. "Never mind. Thank you for the food, but I'd like to eat it in quiet, if it's alright. I have a lot to think about."
"Of course! We'll be back at noon with your lunch."
"And if it's not to much trouble, what are your names?"
"I'm Fraya," the faery on the right said. "and that's Ellansey, or Ella," she pointed to the center faery. "And that's Mirei." The left faery.
"Alright. It' was very nice to meet you all," Elizabeth said. "Thanks again!"
The three nodded happily then vanished into thin air.
Elizabeth stretched to reach the food tray and brought it to her. "It's a good thing I was so used to faeries before I met them, or else this might've been odd," she mumbled to herself, glad that at least some of her reading would pay off.
The breakfast consisted of thick, soft bread, a pot of dark honey to spread on it, a pitcher of water, and a fried egg. Surprised to realize that she was hungry enough to eat Star, she wolfed down the meal in record timing, examining the room closer as she did so. The floor was covered in a soft blue carpet. There was a desk made of white marble, where she could read or write, a long, low couch, made of the same blue velvet as her canopy, against one of the walls, a wardrobe that stood exactly her height, and, a the end of the room, two wrought-iron doors. Where did they lead to? she wondered. A closet?
Setting aside the now-empty tray, she dragged herself out of the comfortable bed and walked over to the doors. She dimly noted that she was still in the clothes form yesterday. Would there be spare clothing in the wardrobe?
She grabbed both handles on the twin doors and pulled, squinting at the bright sun. It was a balcony, overlooking the part of the castle grounds. The balcony itself was made of smooth grey stone, with a waist-high railing. Morning glories that were the exact match to the ones painted on the walls twined around the railing and trailed onto the balcony floor. The whole things was about the size of her old bedroom. And the view! The grounds that she could see appeared to be just open field. Even though it was autumn, the grass was lush and green, but very overgrown. The sun was rising directly over the field, painting the wisps of clouds above it fiery red and deep orange. The castle wall in to distance reminded her that this was actually an enclosed space.
Content with just staring off the balcony, she remained frozen that way for a while, until distant chords of music woke her from her daze.
That's odd. I wonder where it could be coming from? She abandoned her spot and crossed her spacious room, exiting it regretfully. From there, she decided to follow the red thorns back to the entrance hall. This took about five minutes. She figured out last night that the castle was much larger than she'd first thought.
The music, she guessed, was coming from a door next to the stair case, that led to… was it the North Wing? She struggled to remember. Yes, probably that. She walked over to the door, listening to the soft clack of her shoes mix with the piano music. It was perfect, she thought, better than any playing she'd ever heard in the village. Then again, music wasn't a popular hobby there. It was everyone's one goal to settle down and raise a family. Why this was, she really had no idea. Who would want to settle down with children at an early age? It would end your life before you really got a chance to start it! Smiling to herself, she grabbed to doorknob and twisted it, pulling the door towards her before a hand gloved in black leather grabbed the doorknob on the other side and yanked the door shut with a slam. She almost fell backwards in shock, not noticing the music had stopped playing. "Hello?" Elizabeth called though the door.
"I am very sorry if I startled you, Mademoiselle." It was Gabriel's voice. The monster's voice.
"Oh, no, it's ok. Was that you, playing?"
"Yes."
"It was very nice," she complimented, feeling childish.
"Thank you, Mademoiselle." He waited a beat, the said "I'm sorry for slamming the door. I was just...startled."
"I see." Startled? How could she startle him? "Could I come in now?"
"No!" Gabriel yelled in a panicked voice. "I mean, you would regret doing so, Mademoiselle Elizabeth. Truly."
"Alright…" she sighed, failing to keep the disappointment out of her voice. If she was going to be stuck with this "Gabriel" for-well, God knows how long!- then she would at least like to see who it was she was staying with.
"But later, perhaps," he hurried on, "I could show you around the castle. I take it your probably a bit curious."
"Oui, the would be great!"
"Then we will do so in…would about fifteen minutes sit well with you, Elizabeth?"
"That would be fine." Now she was grinning like an idiot. Elizabeth could have cared less, though. This was her first time being in a castle, or any building this big, for that matter. And Gabriel was sounding like an alright person.
So far, anyways.
"There are clothes in your wardrobe, if you would like to change," Gabriel said after a beat of silence.
"Ok. I'll go get changed, then. Au revoir, for now."
"Alright."
Elizabeth turned and went back to the red-thorned vine, following it closely to her room.
Fifteen minutes later, she emerged form her room, dressed in an elegant green gown. Though simple for a lady of the court, it seemed something one would wear to a ball to Elizabeth, who was used to much plainer clothes. "Gabriel?" she called out, not sure she would get a reply. She certainly didn't see him…
"You are ready, Mademoiselle Elizabeth?" The shadows at the beginning of the hall, a good distance away, shifted.
"Yes…is that you, down there?"
"Who else would it be?" his voice carried a good sense of humor.
"This tour won't be a game of hide-and-seek, will it?" she asked wryly, walking down the hall.
"No, milady." He stepped out of the shadows, and Elizabeth had to crane her neck up. He was tall! Extremely tall! She wouldn't even reach his collar bone! It was his height that she noticed first about him. Then she was confused. Elizabeth had expected what Giles and Gabriel himself had told her: a monster.
He was dressed in loose black pants, a black silk shirt, a black dress coat ,and a pair of boots that matched his black leather gloves. He wore an enormous black velvet cape, with a hood that covered his entire head, casting any parts of his face she might've been able so see into shadow.
Well, if he was a monster, she definitely couldn't see it.
"Of course, it depends on your definition of hide-and-seek," she joked, to hide her slight shock of seeing what appeared to be a very tall man. "You seem to be in the habit of remaining hidden, in some way or another."
"You could say it is a habit of mine. Now, where would you like to start?"
"How about right here, in the East Wing?"
"Of course." Gabriel started off at a slow pace to match hers, because of his much longer legs. His voice came from the depths of his hood, calm and ordinary, except for the growling undertone she'd noticed.
"Now, this wing continues on for about a quarter of a mile. On the right, there is the…" he indicated doors, and explained what was behind them.
Elizabeth drank in the rich surroundings of the castle, a small, dark part of her brain wondering what was so bad about Gabriel's appearance that he himself loathed it.