A/N: I do not own any of the stories that are related to Beauty and the Beast or Beauty and the Beast itself. Please read and review.
The next day the old man returned to his chosen log and eased himself down with a sigh. He had slept in a barn the night before and spent his morning doing chores as payment for food and a blanket the farmer let him borrow. Pascal knew he was getting to old for this, but he did not know what else to do. People scorned him for his chosen lifestyle and did not want to give him a safe harbor.
Basking in the afternoon sun, he was glad to see the figure of a little girl walking towards him down the street. She was coming back. What surprised him was the little boy walking next to her with sandy colored hair and wide eyed curiosity covering his face. She brought a guest.
Walking up with a smile on her face, Adéle greeted the old man politely, as if he was any other elder and member of society to be respected. "Bonjour Monsieur Pascal. This is my brother, Claude. I told him of your story and he wished to come and hear the rest himself. Would you mind Monsieur?"
"Bonjour Monsieur Pascal." The boy appeared to be shy, but not shy enough to keep him away from such an interesting tale.
The old man smiled. He had not been treated so well in a while. He had always been fond of children, their openness and innocence. It was the parents that taught them fear and disrespect. These children though had not been spoiled yet. They could still see something other than danger in an old traveler and believe in magic.
"Very well Monsieur Claude. If you do not mind a seat in the dirt or to listen to an old vagabond, my story is for you as well."
The two children grinned from ear to ear and sat down quickly.
"Now, the enchantress hurried off to her favorite corner of her little world to read the book her father gave her. In the far corner of the garden were several trees that made the hedge surrounding the garden seem to become a part of the forest. Here she felt less trapped and more a part the world. As she nestled herself between the roots of the trees to enjoy her new novel, her animal friends slowly gathered around. She read allowed, enjoying the story even more.
While the enchantress was growing up in her walled off paradise and longing for freedom, another person of power was being raised: the Prince of France, Luc.
Prince Luc, however, was everything Adéle was not. Where she was sweet smiles and understanding, he was frowns and impatience. When Prince Luc was just a young child the palace staff learned to fear his wrath. His tantrums and tricks had them plugging their ears and checking their beds at night for snakes.
Unable to keep him under control, the King and Queen soon gave up trying. As their second son, he was not heir to the thrown. Growing desperate for a way to manage his temper, the King and Queen finally decided the only thing they could do to keep their son and remain fair rulers of their country would be to banish Prince Luc to a castle in a far province. They believed if he were raised away from court life and given some responsibility he might show his true potential as a leader rather than a terror.
Prince Luc was sent with a nanny and a full staff to a castle in the far corner of France at the age of twelve. As he grew, he treated everyone with complete disdain. He spent his days pouting, snarling, and hunting in the forest surrounding his castle. He ignored the village he was supposed to be ruling so completely they forgot even his castle existed.
When Prince Luc grew to be a young man of courtly age, the King and Queen decided he was best left at his palace in the woods. He was not even invited to the coronation when his father stepped down and his brother assumed the thrown.
Confined in a prison of his own making, the prince became more and more restless. He gradually wandered deeper and deeper into the forest.
One day while riding his horse, Prince Luc came upon a hedge of enormous proportions. Wondering what a well cared for boundary was doing in the middle of an untamed forest, the prince decided to ride along the hedge until he found an entrance. After riding for a very short time, Prince Luc was surprised to hear music. The most heavenly voice he ever heard wafted to him in a magical tune. it seemed as if even the birds were singing along. Immediately entranced, he followed the sound as far as he could. Finding no way of getting beyond the hedge, Prince Luc finally decided to just sit and listen.
The prince returned to that hedge every day after that, only to listen to what he almost believed to be an angel sing. He could never see her for the shrubbery was to dense, but he was certain of her beauty. Little did he know his angel was none other than the Enchantress Adéle. He did not truly care who she was. All he knew was that her song made the darkness inside him lighten slightly. For the first time in years, he smiled.
After a full month of returning to the hedge hidden deep within the forest every day, Prince Luc returned once to hear no song. The forest was silent. Stricken with the fear that something had happened to the angelic voice, that it might not sing again, he galloped along the hedge hoping for a hint of a song hanging somewhere in the air.
Reaching a corner of the hedge he had not realized existed, the prince paused to consider what to do next. Over the huffing of his tired horse, he heard someone talking. He dismounted and walked over to the hedge, pressing his ear up to the foliage in the hopes of hearing better.
The same voice that bewitched him in song was speaking gently, as if telling a story. Prince Luc sat down and listened with great interest. Always one to neglect his studies, he had not learned to read. This unnamed voice seemed to find such pleasure in telling a tale of magic and honor. More than ever the prince desired to meet the maiden who could entrance him so easily.
As he sat there listening, a small deer walked quietly up to the hedge right by him and disappeared inside. Barely able to believe his luck, the prince snuck over to where the deer had been swallowed by the hedge and found a small, barely noticeable animal trail.
At last, he found a way beyond the impenetrable wall of green."