Sorry it took me so long to update, guys! I kind of went off the story for a little while (okay, a LONG while) but hopefully this will satiate your hunger. (Mwahaha! Whatever.) This is kind of a pointless chapter and really exceedingly stupid, but oh well! I'll try to update more.
Chapter 14
"Two weeks is a long time, master."
"Aye."
"Much can happen in two weeks."
"Aye."
"Things can be forgot …"
"She will not forget, Tovu! Do not listen to him, master. Piper will not forget you. She is not that kind of a person."
"No, she is not."
"Master, you look exhausted. Let me help you to bed. Things always look better in the morning."
"Indeed, Mrs. Lamphrey."
"It is two weeks …"
"Hush, Tovu! Please do not worry, master. It is only the first day. She has not forgotten."
"Of course. Piper will not forget."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
To describe the looks on Veronica's and Jeanine's faces when their supposedly 'long lost' sister came walking into their father's bedroom is impossible. They were speechless for a full five minutes—a definite feat when considering their personalities. They could have been described as happy to see her but that would be only because Piper was a natural healer and the faster their father got better, the quicker they could return to life as they knew it.
Theywere pleasant to Piper. Curiosity was one of the big reasons. They wanted to know why their little sister looked so lovely, why she was less timid, why she had returned—and what the castle was like. They waited a few days, and when Piper didn't volunteer any information, took it upon themselves to pry it out of her.
"I'm sure we have nothing so fine here as at your castle, Piper," Jeanine said, lifting a silver knife to delicately cut her meat. Piper smiled a little.
"It is not my castle, but yes, it is very fine," she said.
"Even with the beast?"
Piper stiffened. "I do not know what you are talking about," she said, her voice strained.
Veronica looked surprised. "Why, the beast at the castle! The wolf-man Papa saw. Surely he treats you monstrously. However did you manage to escape?"
"He is no beast and he treats me better than any man I have ever known. I did not escape; he let me go."
Jeanine raised her eyebrows. "Papa said he was cruel."
"He was, at the beginning. But then he changed." Piper's voice softened and her eyes became distant and gentle, as if gazing upon a quietly sleeping baby. Her sisters exchanged glances.
"I see you have changed a little yourself," Veronica said, breaking the silence. Piper blushed a little.
"Yes, I have."
"You look lovely."
"Thank you."
"Perhaps you should come to a little ball tonight with us," Jeanine offered. "I'm sure it would do us all a ton of good to be out of the house for a few hours."
"I don't think Papa should be left alone."
"Oh come now, Piper, 'tis the first ball after Christmas! And then you must attend the Queen's masquerade in three weeks' time—"
"I cannot. I promised that I would be back in two weeks."
Jeanine laughed. "You can break a promise to a beast, Piper! Besides, it is not as if he would be counting the days till you returned."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
A week, thought Raoul. A week since he had last seen Piper, a week since he had touched her face, a week since she had kissed him, sealing her promise upon his lips. A minute did not go by that he didn't think of her, and he was eagerly anticipating when he would see her again. He would tell her he loved her then, because he knew he could not live with her not knowing. He wanted to be able to experience her joys, her pains, her sorrows, her life—all those things that could be shared in love.
To take his mind off the wait, he had begun to paint again, to portray Piper in a burst of color on the canvas of his life's story. It was soothing to watch her develop under his watchful eye into an almost living, breathing version of his Piper.
His Piper. He wanted to see her so badly it made his body ache. He wanted to kiss her again and hold her and laugh with her. He had never before felt such an agonizing wait.
At least she would return in seven days.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
They filled her days with parties and her nights with dancing, trying to make her forget. They would not let her stop moving because they didn't want her to return when she had so much to tell and their dear father to make better. So they forced her to move and prevented her from talking about the beast in hopes that she would forget.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Thirteen days. She would return tomorrow, bringing her world of hope and light and joy to the gloominess of his heart. Raoul rushed around the castle, even helping the servants clean and wash and polish because he knew it would make her happy. He tidied her room, his fingers running slowly across the neat bedspread where she had slept. He gently touched the green ball gown that she had given to Mrs. Lamphrey before leaving, remembering when he had danced with her. He walked through the library, touching books and reminiscing about when they had sat together by the fire and she had read to him, her clear sweet voice ringing through the library and his heart.
She comes tomorrow, he thought happily.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
He waited all the next day for her but she didn't come. The snow fell hard and fast but she didn't emerge from the maelstorm, her eyes aglow and hair sparkling with the flakes. He sat in the library, staring out into the tumult, hoping against hope that the next shadow would be her.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
They wouldn't let her leave. Piper tried but they physically forced her to stay. She made it out the door twice but they dragged her back inside, to a party or ball or something horrible where they laughed away her pain, claiming that such a beast would not care. He was probably grateful she had left, so he could get back to terrorizing innocent fathers.
Piper knew it was not so. Her heart wrenched as each day passed and her sisters threw her into their social circles so she couldn't escape. She knew her absence was tearing him apart inside and she cried at night when they locked her in her room. She was desperate to see him again and to tell him that she had not forgotten him, that she remembered her promise.
That she loved him.
