Author's Note: Thank you all for your kind reviews! Keep 'em coming!
Recollections
The château had not changed much. Christine would have been surprised if it had. The turrets still stood high against the sky, the slate of the roof contrasting with the bright blue heavens. The limestone walls were still as intimidating as ever, but exuded a sense of safety for all who dwelled within them.
Christine was flooded with memories. Her whole trip to Paris flashed before her eyes - the sights, the sounds, the food, the people. She was not only looking forward to her two week long stay in the château, but also to exploring the near-by city of Rennes more thoroughly.
Christine checked in and was led to the same room at the top of the back turret. She decided to forego the tour this time, though. But before she left the room, she looked at her left hand. After a moment's hesitation, she pulled off Raoul's wedding ring.
'Why wear it while I'm here? Technically, I'm still single.'
This rationale, however faulty it was, was enough for Christine. Sheleft the room with a smile on her face and began to make her way down to the stables. She wanted to see if the filly she made friends with so long ago was still alive.
XOX
'I'm a fool for coming out here,' Erik thought. 'Ten years I've visited this stable. For ten years, I've traveled this disgusting underground corridor, hiding from the sun. I have yet to miss a day. But what do I come here for?'
'You expect to see her again, do you not?' came a scathing remark from the darker, more sinister part of his mind. 'She will never return. And if she did, why would she want to see a monster like you? No, you scared her enough the first time you saw her. Why would you want to scar an angel like her further?' It continued to talk, gentler now. 'Give it up. You have no one now. You never will. Leave. Go back into the castle, to your piano, to your books. For those are your true friends.'
Glaring into the stable from his roost in the loft one last time, Erik swung down, landed with cat-like silence, and entered the passage hidden in an abandoned stall.
He did not take his usual care to silently close the door. It swung down with a loud thud, causing the girl who had just entered the stable to jump a mile high.
XOX
"Hello?" Christine asked timidly. She thought she was alone in the stable. When she heard the thud, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Hello?" she ventured again, stronger this time. "Is anyone there?"
'Guess not,' she thought, and turned to look at the horses.
She was happy to see that Fraise was still at the stable. But instead of a filly, the ten years had turned Fraise into a beautiful, but old, horse. Prepared this time, Christine held our a few sugar cubes to the horse and stroked her gray-tinted nose.
"You are getting older, aren't you?" Christine teased. The horse nickered in reply, and Christine smiled. "Let's see who else is here," she said.
She walked around the barn, seeing four new carriage horses. She did not see Drôle and figured that his time had come, as it was surely coming for Fraise.
"There are two more horses out in the paddock, miss," said a voice from the back of the barn. Christine looked over and saw a stable boy of about 16 organizing bridles on the back wall.
"You are welcome to look at them, if you like."
He handed her a carrot and a few more sugar cubes.
"You can feed the light gray speckled one. Her name is Nacre. I wouldn't go near the black one, though."
"Why not?" Christine inquired.
"A couple reasons. One: he's the master's horse. And the master doesn't take too kindly to strangers touching his things. Second: Lance is a stallion. Third: even for a stallion, his temper is awful."
"Thanks for the warning," said Christine, heading outside.
"De rien. Have a good day, miss."
She walked towards the paddocks and immediately spotted Lance. The black stallion was indeed impressive, and very intimidating. He stood at least seven feet tall and looked heavy. He was munching on some grass when he spotted Christine approaching. He lifted his head and regarded her steadily with one eye. She stopped for a moment, then continued on her path to get a closer look at him. Christine expected the great stallion to spook, neigh, or maybe even charge her. What she did not expect was exactly what happened: Lance took a few steps closer to the thin fence separating them and resumed eating without giving her a second glance.
'He doesn't seem that unfriendly.'
Christine heard a nicker from the paddock to her right.
"Nacre," she said aloud. The horse pricked up her ears and walked to the fence to greet Christine.
"'Mother-of-pearl', a very appropriate name." The horse tossed her head, as if agreeing whole-heartedly with Christine's obvious observation. She fed the mare the carrot and the sugar the stable boy had given her, bid both horses farewell, and headed inside for dinner.
She looked back over her shoulder to see both horses staring at her retreating figure. She decided that tomorrow she would go for a ride.
XOX
Christine was once more delighted by the wonderful French meal provided for her by the château. One of the unique aspects of the château was that there was no such thing as room service. If one wanted food, one had to come down to the dining room and eat. It was advisable to eat during the planned meal times as well; the cooks were not too keen to fire up their stoves once they had finished cooking. Also, instead of separate tables, one big table was placed in the center of the dining room. All the guests had to eat together, which encouraged conversation.
She looked around the table. At one end sat two older men, probably in their 50's and gay by the look of it. A few chairs down from them sat a honeymooning couple. Next to them sat the guide, a much older Mme. DesChanels. Christine was afraid she would be recognized, but as she sat down across from the guide, she realized she had nothing to worry about. Mme. DesChanels had probably seen more people than Christine ever would. The chances of her remembering a silly girl from 10 years ago was very slim.
The guide looked at Christine and smiled, initiating small talk while food was being served. Her flight, her school, her family, and the weather were some of the topics of interest. Conversation then turned to the château.
"I did not see you on the tour this morning," the guide remarked.
"Oh, no. I went to the stables instead. I've been here before, so I know the history."
"There is more to the tour than just the history of the château now," she replied in a slightly condescending tone. "New rules have recently been put in to place."
This caught all of Christine's attention and she listened intently to what they were so she could better formulate plans to get around them.
"First, not wandering the castle at night, while not necessarily a rule, is very strongly stressed. A few incidents have occurred that have been cause for some concern. It's nothing to worry about, of course," she said quickly, mistaking Christine's curious expression for one of fear. "It's just that more people have reported seeing a strange figure roaming about the house. It's more for liability purposes than anything else."
"Number two: the south-west wing of the castle is off-limits to all guests. That particular wing is inhabited by the master of the Château de Hac and he is loathe to lose his privacy. It is clearly marked as well, so there will be no mistakes."
"And lastly, transportation. We have a few taxis that run to and from the city from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Later than that, you will have to stay in town or walk. Luckily, it is only about a 15 minute walk, which is not bad at all."
"Thank you," said Christine. 'I'll have to be much more careful now,' she thought. But before she could lose herself in her musings, she remembered to ask how exactly how she should go about scheduling a ride tomorrow.
XOX
Before she retired, Christine kept her promise of calling Raoul. More than anything, she just wanted to crawl into bed, but at the same time, did not want to risk Raoul's anger at her. When she called, he at first sounded relieved that she had called, then annoyed that she was keeping him so long. Christine heard a voice in the background, the voice of a female, and asked who was at the house.
"Oh, it's only Mother," Raoul said.
Christine's face was filled with skepticism, but she voiced no question to Raoul about it. A few minutes later, they exchanged a short good-bye. Her conversation with Raoul left something to be desired, but she decided she was not going to dwell on the possibility of his lying.
'He's never lied to me before,' she reasoned. 'Or not that I know of, at least...'
With this uneasy thought in her head, she tried to sleep. After tossing and turning for a bit, she softly turned on some classical music - her guaranteed remedy for insomnia. It worked like a charm. Christine drifted off to sleep in no time to the beautiful music of age's past.