YAY! In the first chapter we met Will Herondale and the other amazing characters as the curse is cast upon them. In this one, "Belle" (Tessa Gray) will be introduced.
Hope you enjoy! Happy reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the TID or Beauty and the Beast characters, nor their stories.
Tale as Old as Time...
CHAPTER 2: LITTLE TOWN
1885, Goodramgate (York), England
Aloysius Starkweather's office was scattered with a mélange of papers; from investigative reports to letters from the Enclave reprimanding his poor upkeep of the York Institute, the eighty-nine year-old's desk was topped with enough papers to fill a whole library.
Tessa sighed, setting aside her new limited edition copy of Little Women as she bent to the ground to scoop up the multitude of scrolls discarded under the desk and littering the floor. She loved her grandfather with all her heart, but his ill-temper and careless dishevelment could really sour her mood sometimes.
As she began to organize the papers in neat stacks, Tessa's mind wandered off to the March sisters; she was always able to seek solace in placing herself in the perspectives of fictional characters, them giving her comfort more than she wanted to admit. Tessa often found herself in the position of Meg, the oldest sister: she was responsible and kind, and treated her grandfather with respect, despite his pretentious attitude and extreme demands. She was used to cleaning up after him and defending his position as the head of the Institute, even if she just wanted to curl up in bed with a good book.
But more than anything, Tessa wanted an adventure.
She yearned to speak her mind defiantly, like Jo, and attempt to quench her endless curiosity by exploring the world and all it had to offer. After all, Tessa had never known anywhere else but the York Institute.
"Tessa." Her grandfather's brittle, gravelly voice called out to her, sounding more like a curse than her name. She quickly straightened the remaining papers and hurried out of the office, finding Aloysius sitting in his favorite armchair by the fire. Even the darkness of the plush navy cloth did nothing to hide the various coffee stains blemishing the chair.
His eyes were closed, forehead pleated in concentration, as Aloysius muttered words Tessa couldn't even begin to understand under his breath. At the subtle sound of her footsteps approaching, he looked up at her, dark gray eyes boring into her own lighter ones.
"Yes, grandfather," Tessa murmured softly, reaching to cover his frail hand with her own. "Would you like some coffee? A scone, perhaps?"
The old man, for once, denied Tessa's offer of food and drink. He inhaled deeply, his scraggly white beard twitching as he exhaled. "The Consul is removing me from my position." He didn't need to say anymore; almost every shadowhunter in London had wanted Aloysius to step down and have a new head appointed for years.
Tessa grimaced, taking a step back. "Please, grandfather- I can pay a trip to the London Institute. I'll speak with Ms. Charlotte Branwell, and see if she can help in any way."
She braced herself for her grandfather's inevitable argument. And here it came. "Bah, Tessa! That woman is too soft and completely unfit to run the Institute." He spat in disgust, turning to look out the large window displaying flurries of snow. "If she's anything like her father, she's deranged."
Tessa bit her lip in frustration. Although she had never met the renown Ms. Branwell, she had heard that she was not only a clever leader of the London Institute, but also had a passionate heart, something that was truly admirable about the first female shadowhunter in a prominent role.
"Grandfather, it's been much too long since you have last spoken with Ms. Branwell. I promise, I will be back in few days' time." Tessa's heart rate accelerated as she imagined the long journey to York; she had never left the little town in which she was raised, and even though she knew it was her duty to be a loving and doting granddaughter, a small part of her also leapt joyfully at the chance to experience something new.
"Fine," Aloysius grunted, not turning to face her. "But you're coming back tomorrow."
She wasn't actually expecting him to say yes.
"Yes, of course." She tried to maintain her composure, even as she bent over to kiss her grandfather on the forehead and back quickly out of the room. "Don't forget to eat, grandfather!" She called as she raced to her room.
Tessa swiftly fastened her thick cloak over the old blue and white dress she had patched together years ago. Pulling on her rugged riding boots and braiding her dark caramel curls back into a thick plait, Tessa grabbed her satchel and filled it with as many apples as she could stuff inside.
Then, feeling the most adventurous she had ever felt, Tessa bid farewell to the old cook and slipped through the heavy mahogany doors of the Institute.
The snow was still flurrying gently outside; Tessa might have been able to appreciate the beauty of freshly falling snowflakes had it not been so cold. She shivered and began to make her way down the street.
Her boots clicked on the wet cobblestone ground as she passed through the village's quaint streets.
Tessa beamed at the charming row of small shops and boutiques; she knew every shop and keeper in the town by name.
"Bonjour, Tessa!" called the baker from the patisserie she was just passing.
Tessa's face lit up as she waved to the baker, then the florist, and then the butcher as she kindly greeted each villager.
When she passed Luke Garroway's petite bookshop, her absolute favorite storefront in the village, she made sure to wink at Luke. He waved from his position perched on the ladder by the windowsill, and she made a reminder to check out his new additions once she returned from the Institute.
Once Tessa reached the end of the village's main street, she approached the stable besides the town's only inn.
"Hey, Cyril," she said, grinning at the stableboy. He mock saluted her, already reaching for a saddle to prepare one of the horses for Tessa.
"Out and about again, Miss?" He asked kindly, gently leading the stable's beauty, a white Belgian draft horse named Philippe, out towards Tessa.
She nodded and graciously accepted the bridle Cyril held out to her. "Off to the London Institute, to meet with Miss Charlotte Branwell," she said, kindly ignoring Cyril's outstretched hand and pulling herself up onto Philippe's back. "Another request came from the Consul, practically imploring my grandfather to step down from his position as head of the Institute."
She turned back to look at Cyril, whose rich brown eyes were widened in surprise. "Miss, you must greet Thomas, my younger brother, for me! He's over working at the London Institute. The last I heard from him was that Miss Branwell was most kind towards him."
"Of course!" Tessa exclaimed, smiling warmly at Cyril. "I'll tell him that his brother has been most helpful to me, since the day I met him."
She didn't know if it was from the cold or her words, but the boy's cheeks reddened. "Much obliged, Tessa. You're quite the belle."
Her laugh resembled tinkling bells. "I will see you tomorrow!"
With one last wave, Tessa set off with Philippe in a gentle trot. She softly hummed the words to a song she had made up as a young girl: "I want adventure in the great, wide somewhere...I want it more than I can tell..."
-O-o-O-
"Why, she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen," Axel Mortmain murmured as he watched Tessa's horse race into a gallop away from the village. "But she's far too clever, and stubborn, for her own good. If she is to make my subservient wife one day..."
His companion groaned, his average thoroughbred shuffling up besides Mortmain's dark stallion. "Please don't talk about my sister that way..." he said, shuddering in mock revulsion.
Mortmain chuckled. "Oh Nate, but it's true! Ever since the war, I felt like I've been missing something...she's the only girl that gives me a sense of-"
Nate sighed. "Mmm- je ne sais quoi?"
Mortmain frowned, slapping his horse to start following Tessa. "I don't know what that means."
And that concludes this chapter! Please let me know your thoughts, and hit HEART! :) The next chapter will be about the effects of the curse on the Institute's residents!
Stay tuned for more. Sending lots of love your way! xoxo