They appeared in a dark corridor out side of a door. She tried to take in her surroundings but it was dark. With a wave of his hand the dark one light the torches on the walls. They were standing in a hall way with lots of doors leading to who knew what. He opened the door to the room in front of them and with another wave of his hand the fire place inside the room light up with a bright warm fire.

"after you dearie" he said as he stepped aside to let her through the doorway. When she walked in side she saw a beautiful large four poster bed with a fire place and a small sitting area in front of it. The was a large wardrobe, a vanity and mirror. The room was far more beautiful than anything she ever had before. "this shall be your room. There is a bathroom through that door and the wardrobe is full of new dresses and attire for you. If they dont fit let me know and I will fix that. You can get yourself situated for the night and you will begin your duties in the morning. You may come down to the kitchen for dinner or I will send it up to you the choice is yours." she looked at his with a confused look on her face.

" this is mine?" she asked and he nodded looking at her curiously. " I , I, thank you" she said and for the first time he saw a smile spread across her beautiful face. He wondered why this girl would thank him for giving her a simple room when he had just taken her away from her family and everything she had ever known. How could she look at the monster he was and still smile at him as if he were a man. He wondered a lot of things about this girl and he was determined to figure her out.

"well, it's nothing , just a room dear. I'll leave you to your room, dinner will be done in half an hour. If you don't come down I will assume you wont be joining me and I will send your food up to you." he gave her a small bow as he turned leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

She wondered why he was being so kind to her. She had expected him to be cruel and vicious anything but kind. She didn't think anyone had ever been this nice to her. He had given her a room when she had expected no more than a dungeon. He had even given her a choice to either come down and join him or have her food sent to her room. She would join him she thought. It had been so long since she had joined anyone at a table to eat dinner. She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. It was filled with all new dresses. She decided she would take a look at them later but she wanted to make it to the dinning area before dinner was done and she didn't have the slightest idea of how to get there. She opened the door and poked her head out. She saw that some of the torches were lit and began following the light and quickly realized he had made a trail for her using the torches. She made her way down the hall and made a left. She was now at the top of a large set of stone steps that spiraled down. She made her way down. When she reached the bottom she looked around and saw a rather large table and she wondered if anyone else lived here or if it was just them. The room was large with a beautiful chandelier hanging above the table. A long red rug lay under the table and thick matching red curtains covered the windows. For the dark castle it was beautiful from what she had seen so far.

" a little early aren't we dearie?" he asked and she jumped when she heard him. She was so busy taking in the surroundings of her new home that she didnt hear him walk through the doorway behind her. She turned to look at him and he was carrying two bowls. He placed a bowl at one end of the table and walked to the other end of the table and sat down. She wondered why he sat so far away but said nothing and took her seat. They sat in silence for a few moments and ate their porridge before she spoke.

" your home, from what i've seen is quite beautiful." she said from across the table. He was surprised when she spoke but he tried not to let her see. He hadn't expected her to join him much less try to spark conversation with him.

" it is your home too now. You may go any where in the castle you would like. Like I told you when we first met it's a rather large estate so it might take a while to explore and find your way around, but i'm sure you will manage. You may go anywhere you like and do what ever you please, within reason, as long as you have finished your work for the day and remain within these castle walls. Your work will not be hard. You will do light cleaning and cooking, you will bring me straw to my spinning wheel and you will bring me my tea twice a day. I'm sure you can manage those things as well." she nodded and it fell silent for another moment before she spoke again.

"why did you want me here?" she blurted out with out meaning to.

"excuse me?" he asked looking at her as if trying to look inside of her and read her every thought.

" I mean well, you could use magic to do all of those things couldn't you? Why did you need a caretaker? And I don't understand why you are being kind to me. I thought you would have locked me up, beaten me, or maybe even starved me. I'm sorry I shouldn't have spoken. Father always told me never to speak unless spoken to. I apologize sir.

" No, don't apologize. I am not your father and you may speak whenever you please dear." he could tell that she had been raised much differently than her sister and began to wonder how much differently. He had made countless deals with her family and he had seen regina numerous times but of all the times he had been to her fathers castle he had never seen this girl before. His magic could tell him that this was in fact Maurice's daughter that much he knew to be true or else the deal would not have been able to have been struck. "why exactly would you think I would lock you up or beat you? I'm certainly not going to starve you as you can see." he said gesturing to her bowl of porridge. " I may be a monster dearie, but I'm certainly not as cruel as the stories say." he said looking away. Maybe this girl was scared of him after all and believed all the stories about him. Why else would she think he would be so cruel to her?

" you're not a monster." she said very matter factually. " at least I don't think so" she gave him another one of those warm smiles that made his heart jump for some reason. He just couldn't figure her out just yet.

"eat" he said " before it get cold."

"but you never answered my first question. Why did you want me here?" she asked

" there are certain things magic can't do like dust, and it doesn't know how I take my tea. Hopefully you will get it after a few tries." she knew that there was something more as to why he wanted her there but she wouldn't push, not tonight anyway. " now eat dearie before it gets cold" he said gesturing to the bowl across the table from himself. For the rest of their meal they sat in silence as they ate. Every few moments he would catch himself staring at her and look away quickly but his eyes always made their way back to her. He wasn't being very conspicuous about it either. She could feel his eyes on her but every time she would look his way he would look away quickly. She held back the urge to smile at his obvious staring. When they finished their food he stood and began gathering the few dishes on the table. Isabelle quickly got up and closed the distance between them and placed her hand on top of his. He jump as if the action had startled him.

"i'll get those" she said taking the dishes from his cold hands. " after all I should be the one doing it any ways. You were nice enough to prepare dinner for us tonight." she gave him a quick smile and began gathering the rest of the dishes. " I um, I'm afraid I'm not much of a cook, but I assure you I will learn fast. Do you maybe have some cookery books around that I can learn from sir?" she asked and she looked up to notice he was still staring at her with that look upon his face and she wondered what he was thinking. Finally he snapped out of it.

" I uh, yes, yes, there is a library on the second floor. It should have everything you are looking for dear. I should get back to my wheel. Do you remember how to find your room or should I light the torches again?"

" I think I can remember but to be on the safe side could you light them please."

" as you wish" he said with a flourish of his hand.

" thank you sir, for everything" she said as she turned to walk throught the door that she was assuming to be the kitchen. She left him standing in the dining area alone as he stared at her in amazement as she walked away.