Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Sophie.
"I liked that part too" Tara smiled.
"Good" Willow smiled back, before she continued.
--
"Bravo, that was wonderful!" Said Tara, applauding after the song had finished.
"Thank you miss. It was a jolly good show wasn't it?" Wesley smiled, then began to yawn. The little pendulum inside him struck twelve. "Oh, look at the time! Off to bed everyone, off to bed."
"But I couldn't possibly go to bed now Wesley" said Tara. "It's my first night inside the enchanted castle."
"Enchanted?" said Wesley giving a nervous chuckle. "Who told you that? It was you, wasn't it?" The clock glared at Xander.
"No it wasn't!" said Xander defensively. "Why do you always assume it's me?"
"I worked it out for myself actually" Tara explained, smiling. "I'd like to take a look around if it's alright with you."
"Oh. Would you like a tour?" Xander asked. Wesley pulled him aside.
"I'm not sure this is such a good idea. We can't have the girl just wandering around in certain areas, if you know what I mean."
"Well, maybe you could show me" Tara stood and headed out of the dining room, while Xander and Wesley followed in a slight panic. "I'm sure that you two know all there is to know about the castle."
--
In an attempt to keep her from straying anywhere that she was not supposed to, Wesley decided to give Tara her tour, with Xander accompanying them. The clock explained as if by rote what each room was used for. Xander yawned, clearly bored. When the trio reached the hall of armour, Tara managed to quietly slip away.
"As I always say, if it's not Baroque, don't fix it. And.." Wesley turned around to find his touree gone. "Tara? Oh, this is just wonderful. Where could she have run off to now?"
"Well she did say something about the Grand staircase" Xander replied.
"Oh, that's good" Wesley relaxed for a second, before his eyes suddenly widened in horror. "What?! Those steps lead to the West Wing!"
--
Fortunately, the pair managed to catch up to Tara just before she headed up the stairs.
"What's up there?" she asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing that would interest you dear" said Wesley.
"The West Wing has nothing important" said Xander. "It's just dusty, dull, and boring."
"So that's the West Wing" Tara smirked, her curiosity growing.
"Nice one you nincompoop" said Wesley, slapping Xander on the back of yhe head.
"I wonder what she hides up there?"
"Nothing!" said Xander, a little to quickly. "The Mistress isn't hiding anything!"
"But then it wouldn't be forbidden" said Tara, climbing a few steps. The clock and candlestick blocked her way.
"Perhaps there's something else you'd rather see" said Wesley. "Something much more interesting!"
"Maybe later" said Tara, taking another step. They cut her off again.
"How about the gardens?" Xander suggested, "Or the library?" Tara's interest was piked.
"You have a library?"
"Yes indeed!" said Wesley, relieved that they finally seemed to be getting somewhere.
"Gads of books!"
"Swamps of books!"
"Fields of books!"
"Mountains of books!"
"Forests of books!"
"Cascades!"
"More books than you'll ever read in a lifetime!" said Xander. "Books on every subject imaginable, from every author who has ever put pen to paper.."
--
While the two enchanted objects continued to describe the library, which she had to admit did sound very appealing, Tara crept up the stairs and down the corridor that led to the West Wing. She reached a door with a handle that almost looked like it was sneering at her, and almost reconsidered, but took a deep breath, opened the door, and went inside. Tara gasped. The room looked like a tornado had hit it, and most of the furniture was either broken beyond repair or somehow damaged. On the wall there hung a portrait of a girl with flaming red hair and emerald green eyes wearing royal robes. Tara thought that the girl almost looked like Dark Willow, but it was hard to really look properly since the painting appeared to have been slashed across the middle. A shimmer of bright pink light in the corner of Tara's eye caught her attention, and she turned to see the enchanted rose sitting on the dressing table. Intrigued, Tara walked over to the dining table, lifted the glass case from the rose and reached out to touch it, unaware that Dark Willow was watching..
--
"Uh-oh" said Sophie.