This chapter was Evacuating London from the Chronicles of Narnia soundtrack. Enjoy!

Chapter 5

His friendship is not easily won, but it is something worth having – Michael Joseph

I set my skimpy parcel of belongings on my new bed, looking around in confusion. The Beast had given me time to freshen up; I supposed that I had to do just that.

I walked back into the bathroom to find that the tub had already been filled. My heart jumped in my chest. Obviously, this had been done by servants, but I'd yet to see one. Where were they hiding? And how was I to tell the servants when I was ready to go to dinner?

"I… uh… I'm ready to… um… have my bath now…" I said to the air, feeling rather stupid and wondering where the servants where. Behind the curtains, maybe?. "Um… thank you for filling the… the tub for me…"

As I stared at the curtains, I was sure that they shifted. I strode to the window and threw the curtains back, glaring at the servants.

Except, there were no servants.

I swallowed hard and stole into the bathroom, undressing and jumping into the tub before I could give myself a chance to change my mind.

-

The Beast walked into his own room. There he kept the one of the last three remaining mirrors in the castle.

He hated mirrors. He hated seeing his own hideous reflection in them, so he had destroyed all but the three. Well, two, actually, if you didn't count the enchanted one.

The enchanted mirror wasn't in his room; it was in his study, where no one but he was able to tread.

The other two mirrors, the ones that showed reflections, were separated. One was in Adara's room, where he never had to look at it, and the other was in his own room.

It was true; he did hate mirrors, but he had kept this one for a reason unknown even to him. Today, for the first time in years, he looked into the eyes of his reflection.

This, his cage, the body that he was trapped in, disgusted him. It hadn't changed since the first time he had laid eyes upon it. He was still as hideous as he remembered.

"No wonder she didn't want to touch me." He muttered.

-

I got out of the bath water and wrapped myself in a towel. I had forgotten how wonderful it was just to relax in a tub full of hot water.

As I left the bathroom, went to close doors of my wardrobe. I closed one and noticed the full-length mirror on the inner panel on the second door. Since there was only the hand mirror back at home, I hadn't seen myself in a full-length mirror in… well, in about ten years.

I studied myself. I wasn't as bad as I had thought; I actually looked almost pretty, if I just wasn't so terribly plain… but still, I was nothing compared to Rowena and Aisling. I sighed, thinking about my family. They would never guess how kind the Beast was to me…

I stepped back, startled. The Beast, kind?

Yes, maybe he had given me a beautiful room… but he had taken my family away from me. And all on the sake of one little rose. That wasn't kindness.

I sighed. I missed them already.

Suddenly, the wardrobe's second door flung itself open. I jumped and came down with a shriek as the dresses seemed to come alive and dance out.

"What… who's doing that?" I whimpered, glancing around uneasily. "Speak. I command that you speak!"

"'Tis a bit of a pickle…" a low, feminine voice muttered. "The master will be-"

"Hush!" a higher; more bubbly voice cut in. "We aren't supposed to speak with her! The master said!"

"He also said that we must obey her orders," the other one said. "And she did ask for us to speak…"

"Oh dear…" the higher voice sighed.

"Who are you?" I asked having finally built up the courage to interrupt their conversation.

The deeper voice sighed. "We have to tell her, Molly. She'd probably find out soon enough, anyhow."

The higher voice, Molly, sighed as well. "Emily, you know that the master will be angry… we shouldn't be disobeying his orders…"

"I told you, he ordered us to obey the lady! If those two orders overlap, well… he should have thought it out better. And besides, after what he did to us, I'm not all that inclined to do as he asks." Emily raised her voice to include me in the conversation. "We are Molly and Emily. We are the servants of this castle, sentenced to invisibility unless someone can break the-"

"That is quite enough!" Molly snapped. "Don't make a bloody novel out of it!"

"Meh." Emily grunted.

"Okay…" I whispered, backing up closer to my bed. "And… what are you doing, exactly?"

"We were only trying to help you pick out a nice dress." Emily muttered. "And then you had to go and frighten us!"

"Oh…" I murmured, looking around, trying to catch even the slightest hint of their location. "I… I'm sorry. I hadn't meant to scare you…"

"It's alright." Molly replied. "Emily's just a little uptight these days. Now, how about that dress?"

"Uptight…" Emily muttered, pulling out a lovely red dress. "How about this, then? Red will look lovely on you…"

I gasped in delight. The dress had an empress waist and a square neckline. The sleeves were form fitting up to the elbow, and from there they belled out beautifully. The skirt of the dress hung nicely, and as I stared at the beautiful fabric I remembered that my mother had had a dress like that when I was young.

"It's perfect." I murmured.

For shoes, we picked black slippers, and I was also shown thousands of tiaras, necklaces, rings, and bracelets. In the end I chose not to wear any of the jewellery provided for me, though Molly and Emily insisted that it was meant for me. I chose instead to wear the locket and ring that I had brought with me, ignoring their comments of how "pathetically plain" they were and that they "did nothing for me".

"My, she sure does clean up nicely, don't you think, Molly?" Emily asked.

"Yes. Simply stunning."

"Thank you." I said, taking my skirt into my hands and curtsying to the mirror.

"Well, are you ready to go to dinner?" Molly asked.

"Yes, I am."

"Then follow me." She replied.

"Molly, how is she supposed to follow you? You're invisible!" Emily muttered.

"Just follow my voice, then." She snapped. "My, Emily, you don't have to make everything so complicated! There, you fetch the master and I shall bring the girl."

"But I wanted to-"

"Go and fetch the Beast!"

"Fine." Emily left in a huff.

"Now then, let's get you to the dining room…"

-

Emily went to the Beast's door and knocked quietly.

"Yes?" A voice from inside boomed forth with an intensity that never failed to make Emily feel small.

She recalled how she had been mistreated before the curse set in and sighed, hoping that he wouldn't be as cruel to Adara. "She's ready. She'll be awaiting you in the dining room."

"Excellent."

-

The dining room was magnificent. The table and chairs were made of gleaming mahogany, and the dishes and cutlery on the table was fit for a king. There was a white silk tablecloth with vines embroidered around the edges, as well as matching napkins. The walls had a more cobwebs than a normal dining room would have, but I ignored them.

There was a bottle of fine champagne on the incredibly long table, as well as more food than I'd ever seen in my entire life. There were only two places set, across from one another. My heart skipped a beat. Did I have to eat with the Beast?

My question was answered when the Beast appeared behind me, looking exactly as he had the first time that I saw him.

"You look lovely." He murmured.

I gasped and turned. "Oh!"

"I didn't mean to startle you." he cleared his throat. I wondered if he was blushing under his fur. "Do you mind if I join you?"

I certainly did mind, but I was to scared to say so. "No, no, I don't mind. Please, sit down."

The Beast pulled out my chair for me like a gentleman, and then sat down at his on seat. "Is your room to your liking?"

"Um… yes." I replied. "The dresses are all beautiful and the jewellery is lovely."

"You like it?" he asked.

"Very much." I guaranteed him.

As I finished speaking, a plate covered in a fancy sort of pasta floated onto the table in front of me. The cutlery clanked as it was set down, also when the Beast's plate was set in front of him. The food smelled like nothing I had ever smelled before.

The Beast lifted his glass, which had just been filled with an expensive red wine, to his lips and took a sip. I looked away, but not quickly enough to avoid seeing those sharp teeth through the wine glass.

I picked up my own glass once it was filled, taking a small drink. I had never really drunk wine at dinner before, just on special occasions when father decided to buy some. It was unlike any of the cheep wine I had ever tasted.

The Beast would only eat when I wasn't looking at him. I assumed that it was because he didn't know how to eat in a humane way, so I kept my eyes on my own plate.

The food tasted heavenly. I can barely describe how it all but melted in my mouth. After the pasta, some sort of chicken was served, and then a delicious, dark-green salad. I had never eaten so well at home, not even when we were rich. After the meal, a dark-chocolate cake with white, sugary icing was brought out for desert.

"Did you like it?" Beast asked after the meal.

I nodded vigorously. "I've never eaten anything that delicious before…" suddenly, a horrible thought came to mind. What if the Beast was only trying to fatten me up before he ate me? Maybe I was still to die after all.

My face must have turned pale, because the Beast suddenly asked, "Adara? Is something the matter?"

"I… uh…" I blushed. "Nothing. I'm just tired, I suppose. It's been a long day."

"Yes." He nodded. "It's not every day that you're forced from your home to come face-to-face with your worst nightmare."

My face had gone back almost to it's original colour, but I turned red again on hearing his comment. "Well…" I couldn't really argue with his words though.

The Beast only shook his head. "No, that's alright. You don't have to shield your thoughts from me. God knows, I think the same thing every time I pass a mirror."

"Really, you aren't all that bad." I said, wishing with all my heart that it were true. To my surprise, a tiny spot of pity began to worm its way into my heart.

He brushed my words away. "Is there anything else you need? If you're going to stay here, you may as well be entertained. What do you enjoy doing?"

I couldn't tell whether or not he was being sarcastic. "I love to read."

"That's all?" he asked.

"Well…" I cleared my throat. "I can't quite remember. I haven't had the time to do anything I enjoy lately. I've been too busy taking care of my…my family."

He nodded.

"Well, it's getting rather late." I said, yawning to make my desire known. I could only pretend to be pleasant for so long. "I'd better get back to my room…"

"I can take you there." The Beast said, already out of his chair and coming around the table. "You'll probably need help finding your way back."

"Yes, all of these halls are pretty confusing." I confessed. "I have no idea how you manage to keep them all straight in your head."

"It wasn't easy at first." He admitted. "But you'll be able to find your way around on your own soon. You just need to get used to it."

He led me down the dark hallways, turning left here, turning right there, and silent most of the time. Finally we stopped, but not in front of my room.

"Where… where are we?" I asked.

"This is my study." The Beast answered, his voice low and strangely foreboding. "This is the one place in the entire castle where you are forbidden to enter. Do you understand?"

His voice wasn't threatening, but his point was clear. A small chill ran through me when I answered, "Yes… I… I do understand."

"Good." He said. "Now I will take you back to your room so you can get some sleep."

We went to my room silently, and I entered the room just as silently, relieved to be free of the Beast's company.

"Good night, Adara." He said, standing in the doorway. "I hope that you… enjoyed yourself, some-what."

I nodded, though I hadn't enjoyed myself in the slighted. "Thank you."

He closed the door, realizing that I wanted to be alone.

I sighed, muttering, "Molly? Emily?"

I received no answer and decided that I was alone. With a lonely moan I slipped off my gown and found myself a nightdress. I pulled the nightdress over my head and fell on the bed.

"This is hopeless." I murmured.

-

"You didn't have to be so snippy about telling her." Emily muttered as she made up the Torin's bed.

"She's already scared out of her wits, Torin." Molly agreed. "You don't need to make this worse for her."

"Don't call me that." Torin snapped.

"Call you what?" Molly asked.

"Don't call me by my birth name. I hate it." he growled. "It's a human name for a human body. And besides, I had to be sure that she wouldn't go in there if she was lost. I don't want her to find the enchanted mirror."

"Why not? Finding the mirror isn't going to kill her." Emily mumbled. "Here, Molly, pass me that pillow."

Molly tossed the pillow across the room.

"I don't want her to see me… the way I was. I don't want her to know what happened. If she sees how I looked before…" his voice drifted off.

"What?" Emily asked. "And besides, what are the odds that she would even ask to see that? Or that she'd even know that the mirror was enchanted?"

Torin cleared his throat. "I found something about the curse in one of the old books in the library."

"Don't tell me about it." Molly muttered. "I don't want to hear anything more about this stupid curse."

"It had to do with lifting the curse." He added.

"Tell me everything." Molly insisted.

"… It has something to do with…" he cleared his throat. "Love."

"What does it have to do with love?" Emily prodded.

"Someone has to fall in love with me." Torin sighed.

"Oh." Molly's voice was sullen.

"Perfect. Our only escape is for the unlovable terror to be loved." Emily spat. "We're doomed."

Torin shifted in his high-backed chair. "You're only saying that because of the incident regarding your quarters."

"The cook almost died in that cess pit." Emily hissed. "Don't you pretend that you're innocent here. You're the one that bought the curse into effect, not me."

"Emily…" Molly cut in.

"And don't think for one moment that this girl is going to fall for you." Emily growled. "No one would ever love you. Even if you were still handsome, your personality is enough to poison anyone's good feelings."

With that, Emily stormed out, the only evidence of her leaving being the slam of the door and the sudden silence.

Torin sighed. "She's right."

"Don't say that." Molly cut in, trying to be kind. "What exactly did the book say? Does she just need to love you?"

"We need to love each other." Torin murmured.

"… Oh." Molly sighed. "And do you think that she's the one to…"

"To break the spell?" Torin, his eyes glowing soft with hope. "I hope so. Maybe, someday, I'll be a human again…"

"But how are you going to make her fall in love with you?" Molly asked. "I mean, you can't just waltz up and propose tomorrow."

"I know… I know…" he sighed.

"And, before that, you need to actually fall in love with her. I mean, you can't just force yourself to love the girl."

"I know." Torin murmured. "I'm trying to love her. She can be quite beautiful at times…" he glanced at his paw, remembering how she had put her hand in his when he asked her to trust him. He also recalled how she pulled her hand away and winced at his face and curled his "fingers" into a fist. "But she can also be… difficult."

"But she seems nice enough." Molly murmured.

"But what of… this?" Torin asked, gesturing to his horrible face.

"Maybe she can see past that." Molly suggested.

"How can anyone see past this?" he asked, putting his paw up in front of his face. "I'm really nothing more than an animal. She winces at the very sight of me. There's no way she'll be able to love me like this." He sighed, slumping in his chair. "It's hopeless."

"Give it time." Molly murmured. "She'll come around."

-

Poor Torin. I feel so bad for him, even though this is really his own fault.

Any who... Emily and Molly have normal names! They didn't to begin with, but since it's been three years since I've looked over the story I'd totally forgotten how to pronounce their old names. So, I renamed them.

Whoever can guess which servant is based on me (it shouldn't be too hard if you've read anything else I've written) gets a cookie.