Chapter Twenty-Three: Days In The Sun
It had been five days since her masked host had saved her from the wolves and Christine's head was finally on the mend.
Glancing over at the slumbering figure in the chair next to her bed, she realized that she didn't even know his name.
Biting her lip guiltily, she wondered why she'd never thought to ask before.
"This is the first time I've seen the master sleep all week!" a voice exclaimed in surprise, causing Christine to flinch in shock.
But then she saw that it was only Madame Giry and relaxed visibly.
"Why do you care so much about him?" the question was out of her mouth before she could think to stop herself.
"We've looked after him all his life!" Madame Giry answered calmly.
"But he has cursed you somehow," Christine said, confused as to how such an ill-tempered creature could have inspired such loyalty.
When the teapot didn't respond, she pressed on determinedly.
"Why? You did nothing."
Her masked host's cry from when she'd almost touched the glowing rose echoed in her ears.
"You could have damned us all!"
The castle was clearly under some sort of spell.
And she couldn't imagine that any of the castle's staff were responsible for their state...
"You're quite right there, dear!" Madame Giry admitted guiltily.
"You see, when the master lost his mother, and his cruel father took that sweet, innocent child and twisted him up to be just like him...we did nothing."
The words poured from Madame Giry, as if she had been waiting to tell their story for a long time.
She painted a sad picture of a young boy who had loved his mother with all his heart.
Back then, Madame Giry told Christine, the castle had been a different place.
It had been full of laughter and love, sunshine and innocence.
And then the boy's mother, her host's mother, Christine clarified in her head, had grown ill.
The redhead's eyes grew wide as Madame Giry explained that the boy had stayed by his mother's bedside day and night, watching as she faded away.
He had begged the doctors to help her, but they just shook their heads and offered up false promises.
After the boy's mother had passed, nothing was ever the same again.
The father was a cold, heartless man who tore the sunshine from his son and buried it deep down.
As time had passed, all traces of happiness were taken from the castle, replaced with darkness and a sense of hopelessness - even before the curse.
Madame Giry's voice trailed off and Christine remembered the glass jar with the glowing rose, dried crimson petals gathered beneath it.
"What happens when the last petal falls?" she asked, afraid that she already knew the answer.
"The curse becomes permanent," Madame Giry replied as she turned around on her trolley.
"Madame," Christine started hesitantly, glancing back at her sleeping host.
"I was wondering what his name is?"
The teapot smirked slightly.
"Ah yes, dearie, I was wondering when you were going to be asking that..."
She rolled toward the door before pausing.
"Erik, my dear. His name is Erik."
Then she was gone.
A/N: Please review to unlock Chapter Twenty-Four...