Any who, the song I listened to while writing this chapter is Bonny Portmore by Loreena McKinnet.

AND HAPPY B-DAY WanderingChild 2007!

-

Chapter 6

Difficult times have helped me understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever – Isak Dinisen

I woke up the next morning with a bit of a headache. I covered my eyes, forgetting for a moment where I was.

"Good morning." A disembodied voice said.

I recognized it as Emily. So this wasn't all just a bad dream… I'll admit that I was disappointed.

"Did you sleep well?" Molly asked.

"I did, yes." I confessed.

"Are you almost ready for your breakfast, or would you prefer a late brunch?" Emily asked.

"I'll eat breakfast." I said.

"Well then you are going to have to brush your hair." Molly said.

"What's wrong with my hair?"

"Have you ever seen an angry cat?" Emily asked, her invisible hands going through the wardrobe and extracting something pink.

"Yes…" I said, disliking where this conversation was leading…

"You know how, when a cat is angry, all the fur puffs up and the cat looks incredibly odd and stupid?" she asked.

"Never mind." I sighed, grabbing the hairbrush from Molly's hands. As I brushed the knots out, I muttered, "At least people can see my hair."

"Oh, what a terrible jab at my self confidence." Emily said sarcastically, hitting me over the head with a pillow. "No one can see me having a bad hair day, either. Now, put on that nice pink dress that I picked out."

I narrowed my eyes at it. "That one?" I asked, pointing to a dress with a very, very low neckline.

Silence.

"She can't see you, you idiot." Molly said. "You can't nod at her, for pity sake."

"Oh. Yes… that one." Emily said, her voice low with embarrassment.

"I'm not wearing that."

"Why not? What's wrong with it?" Emily asked, her voice rising in agitation.

"The neckline is too low. I have self-respect. You can't possibly expect me to wear that." I said.

"What are you going to wear instead? The clothes that you brought? They're so ratty and out of style…" she shuddered vocally.

"It's better than looking like a desperate prostitute." I muttered.

"Oh, come on, the dress isn't that bad…" Molly said, picking it up and holding it against me. "Here, try it on."

"No."

"Oh, come on Adara, it won't bite you." Molly said.

I felt someone grab at my dressing gown. "I said no! I'm not going to wear it. Come on, you must have something other than that…" I went up to the wardrobe and pulled out a baby blue dress with navy blue embroidery on skirt to match the thread on the seams, which was also navy blue. Most importantly, though, it had a higher neckline. "How about this?"

"But pink is your colour!" Emily insisted. "That blue dress wouldn't do you justice…"

"I'm not going to wear the pink one." I said doggedly.

"Why are you being so stubborn?" Molly asked.

"Because I like being stubborn. Now, just give me the blue dress and then I can go for breakfast." I muttered.

"Fine. Here. Take it. Be a horrible blue creature. See if I care." Emily grumbled, tossing the dress at me with a pair of matching dark-blue shoes. "And I suppose that you'll refuse to wear a nice necklace with a sapphire on it to, right?"

I sighed. "Wrong. I'll wear a necklace if you promise to be quiet."

"And a ring? And a tiara?" she prodded.

I sighed gloomily. "Fine."

"Yes!" Emily said, her glory undaunted by my depressed look. "First of all, no gold. Gold and blue look so… meh. We'll find you a nice light tiara made of silver… here we are. It even had sapphires and diamonds in it. Now, this necklace with the sapphire pendent… and now this ring with the sapphire and the diamond chips…" she held all three pieces in front of me. "We'll do your hair all twisted up so the tiara sticks out nicely."

I shrugged. By now, I didn't have a choice. I was just glad not to be wearing the pink dress. "I'll just put the gown on first so that I don't mess up my hair later."

"Good idea." Molly said.

-

Torin paced his room nervously. Today he wore a dark brown cape over his white shirt and black pants. He glanced in the mirror. His fur wasn't tangled; he's spent the better part of the morning making sure of that. Today he had a surprise planned for Adara.

-

I came out of the bathroom wearing the beautiful blue dress. I had to admit, this one was ravishing. Emily… or Molly, I'm not sure which one, picked up a brush and the tiara they planed to force onto my head. I sighed.

This was not going to be pleasant.

"Are you ready to be beautiful?" Emily asked.

I sighed. "I guess."

She dropped the brush. "You guess? You guess? Molly and I work our fingers to the bone trying to make you look like a princes, and you guess that you're ready?" she sighed loudly. "You just aren't happy with anything, are you?"

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic. It's early; the poor girl's probably just tired." Molly said soothingly.

"I'm not being melodramatic." Emily muttered, picking the brush up again. "Do you know just how annoying it is to be invisible? I can't see to do my own hair up nicely. I probably look absolutely hideous right now. The least you could do is let me do yours."

"Alright, alright. I'm ready." I muttered.

"Oh, goody!" she exclaimed, grabbing a handful of hair and scraping it back with the brush. "You're going to look simply marvellous when I'm finished with you… now here, Molly, put the jewellery on her while I do this…"

"Ow." I whimpered as she brutally pulled at my hair. "Why are you pulling it so hard…?

"Oh, hush up. It hurts to be beautiful." Emily muttered. "Here, Molly, once you've got the jewellery on her, hand me some pins… we'll put this hair in its place…"

"Ow."

-

About half an hour later, Emily dubbed me ready. I'll admit, she did a pretty nice job on my hair. I felt like a princess, the way it curled up so gracefully, and I couldn't argue that the tiara looked stunning the way it stuck up in front of my dark brown locks.

"So, are you ready for lunch?" Molly asked, opening the door to my room.

"I thought I was getting ready for breakfast!" I exclaimed.

"Well, it took too long to get you ready. It's almost lunch time now." Emily explained. "As I recall, you refused to wear a nice pink gown that I had picked out…"

I stared in her direction, my mouth hanging open. Finally, realizing just how dim-witted I was sure to have looked, I closed my mouth. "Never mind." I said. "I'll just skip it all entirely."

"No!" Molly said, running up to me. "You can't do that! Torin… I mean, the Master would be crushed. He's looking forward to being able to see you again."

I blinked. "Torin? His name is Torin?"

"Oh, Molly, now look what you've done! No one's supposed to know the his birth name!" Emily moaned. "Now he's going to blame us because she doesn't like him."

"… Right." Molly cleared her throat. "Well, um… Adara, you can keep a secret, right? You won't tell the master we told you his name, right?"

"Well, whose fault is that?" Molly spat.

"Yours, actually." Emily pointed out.

I stared at the empty air. "Okay… um… I'll keep the secret."

"You're an angel." Molly sighed in relief.

Emily asked, "So, are you going to eat you lunch with Tor… the Beast?"

I sighed. "I don't think I have a choice."

"Good girl." Molly said. "We'll just finish making your bed, and then we can go."

"Oh, I can make my own bed…" I said, picking up a pillow.

Emily pulled the pillow away from me. "No can do." She said." Tor… Master said that we are to provide every service to you, and that includes making beds."

I sighed. "You two really know how to make someone feel obsolete." I muttered.

"Why, thank you." Emily said.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. "H-hello?" The Beast's voice filtered through the door. "Is anyone in there…?"

"Oh no!" Emily hissed. "We must be later than we realized!"

I started towards the door, but Molly stopped me. "Adara, you must never call him Torin!" she whispered in urgency. "If he ever realized that you knew…" she trailed off.

I nodded my understanding. "I swear I won't." I opened the door. "Hello." I said, looking up into the Beast's icy gaze.

He looked down at me, his mouth agape. "You… you look beautiful." He murmured.

I blushed. "I… um… thank you." I replied.

The Beast stared at me silently until good manners took over. "Er… are you ready?" he asked.

I blinked. "Ready… for what?" I asked.

"Lunch." He replied. "You missed breakfast… and I have a surprise for you…" he offered his arm. "Shall we go?"

I faltered for a moment, and then took it. "Yes."

-

After eating lunch, the Beast lead me down a few halls until he brought me to a pair of tall mahogany doors.

"Are you ready?" he asked. I nodded. With a grunt, he pushed both doors open, revealing a large, dark room.

I glanced inside.

"Go in." the Beast prompted.

I looked up at him.

"It's perfectly safe." He promised, stepping inside as proof. He extended his hand. "Trust me."

After a moment, I took his hand and, reminding myself not to stare at him or flinch away, stepped inside. The dark pressed in around me, and he Beast closed the door so that not even a spare ray of light could come in. he let go of my hands and went up to a window, pulling at the heavy curtains.

Slowly, light began to flood the room, revealing a maze of shelves, each covered in books. Flabbergasted, I went up to the nearest shelf and took out a book.

"Where did you get all of these?" I asked in quiet astonishment.

"They've always been here." He replied. "These books have been passed down…"

"And now they're yours…" I murmured, putting the book down.

The Beast cleared his throat. "Yours, you mean."

I looked up at him. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"You said you love to read." He said. "These books are for you to enjoy."

I touched the thick leather binding of the book I had been holding. "You mean it?"

"I do." He replied.

"I… I don't know what to say…" I murmured. "I… I couldn't possibly accept this…"

He shook his head, putting something in the palm of my hand and closing my fingers over it.

"Please," he whispered, "I want you to accept this…"

I tried to find my voice but I couldn't. I nodded instead.

"Good." He murmured, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to… do you think that you can find your way back on your own?"

I nodded once more, and, without saying anything, he left. After a few minutes, I opened my hand. In it was a rose pendant on a thin silver chain.

-

"I've never seen a piece so exquisitely made." Emily exclaimed, examining the necklace that the Beast had given me.

"It's beautiful." Molly agreed.

"Yes… and it would go lovely with that pink dress that I picked out for you…" Emily put in.

"I don't know if I should accept all this…" I murmured.

"Why not?" Molly asked.

"I'm just not sure about it…"

"But it's only a necklace! What harm could it do?" Emily asked.

"But it's not just a necklace!" I protested. "He gave me a library, too! And this room… and all these clothes… he's giving me everything I could ever ask for!"

"Isn't that a good thing?" Emily asked.

"It would seem so, wouldn't it?" I sighed, "But I don't feel right accepting everything. And he's just so…"

"So what?" Molly asked.

"He can be very kind when he wants to be," I murmured, "But he also has this temper…"

"Ah." Emily murmured.

"I just don't understand why he is the way he is." I muttered.

"Master Torin once had everything he could ever dream of." Molly said suddenly. "But one mistake destroyed everything for him."

"What?" I asked.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you." She murmured. "That's something that you'll have to figure out for yourself."

"Oh, can't we tell her?" Emily begged. "Please?"

"We couldn't; it's forbidden." Molly replied.

"Then what am I to do?" I asked.

"Look to your heart." Molly answered simply. "That's all that I can recommend."

-

"So?" Torin asked when Emily and Molly finally entered his room, "Did she like it?"

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Emily asked.

"Don't toy with me." He growled. "Does she like it?"

"She does." Molly paused for a moment. "Although, I think that you're going a little too fast."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean all of these gifts at once… it's confusing her." Molly explained. "She has no idea what's going on… she doesn't know that she's supposed to be the one to-"

"Have you been speaking to her?" he asked suddenly.

Molly was caught off guard. "What?"

"Have you been actually speaking to her?" he asked, his eyes cold. "I specifically ordered you not to."

"Well…" Molly began, "That may be true, but-"

"But you also ordered us to follow her orders as well." Emily interrupted suddenly. "And she ordered us to answer her. It isn't our fault if two of your orders overlap on each other."

"Why are you speaking to her?" Torin asked,

"Because she's lonely. If you hadn't noticed, you're the one keeping her from her family." she didn't notice his face twitch. "She needs someone to-"

"Enough!" he growled.

"-Confide in." Emily finished, and then both servants fell silent.

Torin's whole body shook in the effort not to destroy something. He took a deep, shaky breath. "Don't you realize this is my only chance to free myself?" he asked. "I need to fall for her and for her to fall for me… and you two despise me. How do I know you aren't telling her terrible things to make her hate me?"

"We don't care about you enough to destroy your freedom with our own." Emily muttered.

Molly cleared her throat. "We haven't told her anything to endanger her feelings for you. We didn't mean any harm…"

He fell into his chair. "But we can't destroy this chance…"

"You have to consider what Adara is going through." Molly reminded him. "We did steal her away from her family…"

"She came of her own free will…"

"… To save her father." Emily put in.

"What am I to do?" he asked.

"Try to make this as easy as possible for the poor girl." Molly murmured. "And I think that she appreciates Emily and I for company, as little a comfort as it may be."

"Fine." Torin sighed.

-

Yeah, I totally didn't steal the library scene from Disney... (shifty eyes)

Alright, alright, so I didn't come up with it all on my own. But I LOVE the idea of Torin giving Adara a library! It's so... warm anf fuzzy...

... Even though he's being kind of stalker-y now...

I'm totally fangirling over this story now. I'm beyond obsessed.