The figure hesitated, clearly reluctant to come out.
'I..I don't want to,' she said, 'You may not like what you see.'
'It doesn't matter, I want to see who I'm giving up my freedom for, since all I'm seeing is a coward hiding in the shadows, too ashamed to face what she has done!' Leon said.
'It is considered polite to look people in the eye, you know. What have you got to hide?'
'Nothing,' the figure replied uncertainly.
'Then step into the light, then,' Leon said again.
The figure reluctantly put her foot forward and a light brown paw with long, sharp claws at the end started to emerge, which made Leon realise that his mother's captor was not human, as if the animal-like voice didn't give him his first clue.
The rest of the figure came into the light and a creature, thin and sleek as a wolf appeared. It was truly a terrifying sight as Leon saw a long, untamed mane of hair like a lion's with a pink bow tied in it; small buffalo horns on top of her head; floppy, velvety ears; a pair of piercing blue doe-like eyes similar to a human's staring at him, surrounded by patches of dark brown fur.
The face was wolf-like, as was her snout with two sharp fangs poking out of her mouth; covered in light brown fur, very much like her arms and legs and her long tail which hung behind her and she had a dark brown patch of fur on her chest.
Leon could also see that under the white silk shirt, black silk trousers with a hole for her tail at the back and wine-red cape she wore, the beast (at least that what it looked like to him) was female, as the shirt, in spite of being loose, gave away her feminine figure and curves.
The sight of the Beast terrified Leon as he looked at her. The only time he had seen a creature like this was in the Greek myth he read about Bellerophon killing the Chimera, but he never thought that one would exist in real life and he would actually see one in the flesh and wondered how she ever came to be.
He also thought about the rumour and tale that the villagers told about a beast in the forest and it seemed to be true after all, especially since his mother had been captured by her and now he was about to give up his freedom for her.
'My God,' Leon whispered.
The Beast took a good look at the boy and couldn't help but think that he was handsome, with his thick, brown hair, chocolate brown eyes and well-built figure but having seen his rude and know-it-all attitude and had been very quick to judge her based on her appearance, made her recoil, as did his never-ending staring at her.
'Well?' she said, uncomfortable, 'Are you happy now that you got to see the Beast? And, are you willing to stay here forever like you promised? If you do, then your mother may go free,'
Leon breathed deeply and said,
'You have my word, my freedom for my mother's,'
'Then it's done, your mother will return to the village,' the Beast said, opening the cell door and dragging Madeleine out, wanting her out of the way quickly, while Leon collapsed on the ground.
'No, please, please spare my son!' Madeleine begged, as she struggled to reach out to her son, wanting to comfort him, 'He's all that I have, the only family I have left! Don't let him suffer because of me!', as the Beast dragged her along.
It was a sad sight, for the two were about to be ripped apart, never to see each other again.
It hadn't dawned on Leon that, by agreeing to be the Beast's prisoner, he would be separated from his mother. The intelligent young man cursed himself for not thinking it through.
'There is nothing you can do for him now, for he is no longer your concern,' the Beast said coldly.
'Mama!' Leon called out desperately, hoping to reach out to her one last time, to say goodbye.
'Leon, it's alright, don't worry about me, just take care of yourself now,' said Madeleine, trying to remain calm, but her voice was filled with panic and fear, as the Beast kept on dragging her further away from him.
'Can I at least say goodbye to her?' Leon pleaded. The Beast froze in her tracks. Seeing the boy reach out to his mother reminded her of the terrible day the curse took place, being a frightened little girl desperately reaching out to her parents as they turned to stone, separating them from her for the past ten years without the chance to hug and tell them how much she loved them.
It was only fair that the boy should be allowed to say goodbye, since they would not see each other again and having been touched by his bravery, as much as she tried to hide it, her small compassion she still had inside her was showing and she simply said,
'You may,'
Hearing those two words, Leon hurriedly ran over to Madeleine and mother and son embraced for the last time.
'Leon, it's not too late to reconsider,' Madeleine said, 'think about what you are giving up for this terrible monster! You'll lose your hopes, freedom, dreams..everything! You shouldn't sacrifice yourself for me!'
'I have to Mama,' Leon said, 'I don't like this anymore than you do but it's the only way for you to be safe and I can't break my promise.'
'Well, alright then. You're so brave for doing this,' Madeleine said, 'I'll always love you. Goodbye, my love,' as the Beast came up from behind and dragged her away outside.
'Goodbye, Mama,' Leon said, tearfully as he watched his mother being thrown into some strange carriage covered with ivy and had legs like a spider, from the narrow window of the dungeon.
'Take this woman to the village at once!' the Beast commanded, as the carriage broke free of its ivy shackles and its legs squeaked, not having been used in years as it moved, carrying its passenger into the forest, going farther and farther into the distance until it disappeared completely.
Leon, tears leaking from his eyes, collapsed again on the scratchy hay on the floor, pulled the mouldy blanket over him, trying to make himself comfortable in the damp and miserable dungeon which was his new home where he was now the prisoner of a cold, cruel beast, separated from his mother forever.
At least I got to say goodbye to her, he thought, which was some comfort to him, but it didn't take away the pain and emptiness he was feeling in his heart. He had only wanted to save his mother and while he was successful in doing so, the victory was hollow, as he was paying the price for it.
'Mistress,' Lumiere whispered to the Beast when she returned to the dungeon. He had seen what had happened with Leon and felt sorry for the boy. He hoped that the mistress would see to it that he would get a decent room instead of the damp dungeon.
'WHAT IS IT, LUMIERE?' she roared, which made him tremble in fear.
Seeing how terrified he was of her made her instantly regret it, since he was only trying to be helpful, like how she treated everyone, why she was so…beastly to them when all they were trying to do was help her as her parents couldn't.
'That was decent of you to let the boy say goodbye to his mother. Your father never did that to your mother when he let your grandfather go. He just grabbed him out of the dungeon, put him the same carriage and your mother didn't get to say goodbye to him!' he said.
'But how come you did that when your father didn't?'
'He was desperate, Uncle Lumiere and my compassion showed when I saw him reach out to his mother. It reminded me of when I was separated from Mama and Papa and I thought, since he has chosen to stay here willingly and was brave to do so, he should be allowed to say goodbye to her,' the Beast said.
Lumiere smiled at that, knowing that the subject of the Beast's parents was a very sore point for her and the servants, with her going into violent outbursts, crying and roaring uncontrollably whenever it was mentioned, so they went to great lengths to avoid bringing it up.
'Anyway,' he continued before the Beast went into an uncontrollable range if he kept talking about her parents, which he didn't want, 'since the boy is going to be staying with us for a very long time, I suggest that you give him a nice, cosy room, which I believe will be much better than a cold, damp dungeon, don't you?'
'Of course I was going to do that, Uncle Lumiere, I wasn't going to let him stay in the dungeon! Being a beast hasn't made me stupid, you know,' the Beast replied, amazed at Lumiere's uncanny ability to state the obvious.
'No, but it has made you ill-tempered, mean, coarse and beastly to everyone! If your father was here, he would've whipped you into some sense and good behaviour!' Lumiere muttered under his breath, even though he knew that Adam had never beaten her ever, even when she had misbehaved as a human, instead he and Belle scolded her gently.
'What was that, Uncle Lumiere?' the Beast said, having heard through her super-sensitive ears.
'Nothing, Mistress,' Lumiere quickly said.
'That's what I thought you said.' the Beast replied, 'The boy can have Mama's old room in the East Wing, it's the only one that I could think of. Mama hasn't used it for years and is big, spacious and comfy with the basic necessities and Aunt Moiry will be there to help him get dressed in the morning.'
'But Mistress, isn't that room a bit too..feminine for him?' said Lumiere doubtfully, 'I mean, it was good enough for your mother, but for a handsome boy, it doesn't seem appropriate for him. Maybe we should get Raymond and Amelie to repaint and redecorate it to suit his style and needs.'
'It's either that or nothing at all!' the Beast snapped, 'And the room is to remain as it is. No repainting or redecorating will be carried out. Do I make myself clear?'
'As crystal, Mistress,' said Lumiere, reluctantly, 'The boy will have your mother's old room then,'
The Beast picked him up and walked over to where Leon was lying on the floor, the mouldy blanket wrapped around him and his head in his arms as muffled sobs could be heard underneath.
'Are you planning to stay here, then?' she said, silkily, 'Because there is a room in the East Wing for you and I can guarantee that it is better than a musty, damp dungeon.'
'I thought that this was my room,' said Leon, throwing the blanket off himself, ' and if it was good enough for my mother, then it is for me as well!'
You've got some nerve offering me a decent room when you ripped my small family apart and put me in a dungeon, expecting me to make myself at home when I don't feel like it is at all!
And thanks to you, I'll never see my mother or the light of day again!'
'I let you say goodbye to her, at least be grateful for that!' the Beast snapped.
'And you thought that would make it better? It only does a little, since it doesn't change anything or take the pain away in my heart! Mama was the only family I had left and you cruelly took that away from me!' Leon shouted.
'Don't test my patience!' the Beast roared, starting to lose her temper at this annoying boy, but Lumiere gently touched her, preventing an outburst.
'Now, do you want the room or not? Because if you do choose to remain here, you will most likely get ill or hypothermia and you wouldn't want that, wouldn't you?'
'No, I wouldn't,' Leon said bitterly, knowing that the Beast was right and he had to accept her offer, as he didn't want to get sick like his mother did.
'Then swallow your pride and follow me,' the Beast said and Leon reluctantly got up from the floor and silently and miserably followed his beastly captor out of the dungeon.
During the long walk down the corridor of the East Wing, neither man nor beast said a word to each other, making the atmosphere as cold as the Arctic. Leon looked up at the ceiling, in awe and frightened of the beastly statues and gargoyles, unaware that, from the many rooms around the castle, curious pairs of eyes were watching the boy (in their eyes, he was a guest rather than a prisoner) in amazement and admiration at his brave sacrifice.
His eyes closed, as tears dribbled down his cheeks despite having trained himself not to cry after the death of his father because in the village, if any boy showed even a single tear, they would be labelled a pathetic, emotional wimp and a girl (although Jean-Luc had told him that the boys cried floods of tears at Amandine's failed proposal, which contradicted that belief).
Not looking where he was going, he accidently bumped into the Beast, who turned around and saw that he was crying but kept on walking, wanting to get him to his room as quickly as possible.
'Poor monsieur,' Lumiere said sympathetically as he saw Leon's miserable expression. He noticed that the mistress wasn't saying or doing anything to comfort him, which concerned the candelabra, as he frowned at her.
To break the icy silence, he nudged her and whispered,
'Say something to him,'
'I've got nothing to say! What do you think I am, a mind reader?' she whispered back.
'It doesn't matter, just say anything! Can't you see he's upset? Say something encouraging to cheer him up and make him feel better about being here,' Lumiere said.
'The castle is your home now,' the Beast said to Leon, 'and you can go anywhere you like including the gardens, but you must stay within the castle and if you leave, there will be serious consequences.'
She hoped that being allowed to wander around the castle freely rather than be confined to one room, as long as he didn't go in the West Wing, would cheer Leon up, but it didn't seem to, as he remained silent.
'But there is one thing,' she then said, 'You are forbidden to go into the West Wing,' which caught Leon's attention.
'And why is that?' he said.
'I have my reasons,' the Beast said.
'What is in there that you don't want me to…'
'STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!' she roared, which made a portrait fall off the wall and Leon flinch.
After a while, the Beast stopped outside sea green double doors which were decorated with gold and had golden handles, with a white border around them. She opened them, while noticing three pairs of eyes peeping out from the art studio. One fierce scowl and growl from her was enough for the eyes to retreat inside quickly in fear.
Doors open, she ushered Leon to follow her inside and he entered into a rather feminine-looking room, painted a pinkish-lavender colour with elaborate purple decorations on the walls.
Candle holders were on the walls in different places and a huge canopy bed with deep purple drapes, a teal bedspread with pink and blue cushions and pillows on it and a rose carved into the footboard sat in the middle.
A huge window was on the west side, with a long cushion on the still for sitting on and a large white wardrobe with green doors sat on the right side of the bed, while a bedside table was on the left as was a little table with some teacups on it and a mahogany desk could also be seen near the window.
Leon's first impression of the room was that it was too 'girly' for him and wondered why the Beast had offered it to him, where he could have any other room in the castle, but her 'take it or leave it' attitude convinced him that it was better than being in the dungeon.
'This is your room,' the Beast said, 'I hope that you, um, like it.' She faltered at the last sentence as she was embarrassed to have given it to him due to its décor and that she had just put this boy in the gloomiest castle in the land. Leon just nodded his thanks.
'If you need anything, my servants will attend to you. Don't hesitate to ask them.' Lumiere then nudged her and whispered,
'Dinner! Invite him to dinner!'
Dinner is at eight and I expect you to join me. Until then, you have time to do whatever you may please,' she said.
'I'm not having dinner with you,' Leon said, 'I'm not hungry,'
'THAT WAS AN ORDER, NOT A REQUEST!' the Beast roared and slammed the door, which Leon leaned on in a heap.
Seeing no other option, he walked over to the bed, collapsed on it and buried his head under his arms, shedding tears, while early winter snow, unusual for this time of year, started to fall outside in the dark with snowflakes drifting gently on the window.