Okay, in this chapter we have the reprise for 'Amandine' and Leon's interaction with Raymond, Amelie and Sophie, so sorry if what I said before was misleading but Leon will meet all of the enchanted objects eventually!

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

'Was that really necessary?' Jean-Luc said when Henri, Beauden and Francois came back in, 'Madeleine didn't deserve to be thrown out in her time of need, especially when you said you would help her out!'

'Yeah, we did do that, Jean-Luc,' said Henri, speaking as if Jean-Luc was being thick, 'we helped her out of the tavern since she was acting like a total loony, rabbiting on about an imaginary beast! It's what Amandine asked us to do, you idiot!'

'I don't think Amandine meant to literally throw Madeleine out into the cold and ignore her!' Jean-Luc said

'Of course she meant that, we had to get rid of Mad Maddie somehow and throwing her out was what we had to do! Why, I hear you ask? It's because that woman is as mad as a hatter!' Beauden said, snickering.

'Hatters, Beauden?' Henri said, 'They're very sane people compared to Madeleine!'

'Yeah, Mad Maddie!' Pierre said from the distance, 'She's always good for a laugh and she never ceases to amuse me!'

'No wonder Duplonk's the way he is,' said the fishmonger's son, 'he's too devoted to that mad mother of his and has become just like her! He's a mad mama's boy!'

'Mad Maddie, Mad Maddie,' the villagers chanted, 'She's such a baddie!' and they all laughed at their chant.

'Mad Maddie,' Amandine said to herself, the words rolling around her mouth like a delicious truffle, 'Mad Maddie..Mad Maddie.'

Now this was the icing on the cake for her latest, fail-proof plan to make Leon marry her and live happily ever after. She was still determined to be his wife, in spite of the failed proposal and humiliation she suffered and now with his mother going mad, she would be the key to get him to fall at her knees and beg her to marry him. With Martine and the villagers by her side and willing to do what they were told, she was certain that this plan would work.

'Martine, get over here,' Amandine said, clicking her fingers and Martine trotted obediently to her side.

'I have another plan to make Leon my husband and I can guarantee that it will not fail this time! Let me explain it to you through song, so listen up.'

Amandine began to sing,

Martine, I've been thinking

Martine was surprised at that for as she knew all too well, when Amandine thought of a plan, it didn't always go right, which was a dangerous pastime and she bore the brunt of her anger at their failures and didn't want a repeat of what happened earlier.

She sang,

That's bad news for me

Seeing her sidekick's doubtful expression, Amandine sang,

I know

But that loony woman is Leon's mother

Even though she's the last person you would call crazy

Because her sanity's alright at best

Now the wheels in my head have been turning

Since I looked at that mad woman

See, I promised myself I'd be married to Leon

And right now, I'm hatching a plan

'If I...' she whispered something to Martine, while the villagers looked on, eager to listen and see what was going on.

'Yes?' Martine responded.

'Then we…' Amandine whispered again, which made Martine gasp and look at her quizzically.

'No, would he?' she said, puzzled.

'Use your mushy brain, Martine! Guess!' said Amandine.

'Oh, I get it now!' said Martine, finally getting it.

'Let's go!' they both said and sang together,

No one plans like Amandine

Amandine sang,

Aims to get her man like Amandine

Martine added,

Plans to prosecute non-crazy persons like Amandine!

Amandine sang again, boastfully,

Yes, I'm endlessly, wildly resourceful

Just like my dear Uncle Gaston

Martine chimed in,

And as down to depths you descend

Amandine sang,

And I won't even be mildly remorseful

Martine sang,

Just as long as you get what you want in the end

Amandine sang again,

Who has brains like Amandine?

Martine added,

Entertains like Amandine?

Both sang,

Who can make up these endless refrains like Amandine?

They, along with the villagers, sang,

So her marriage we soon be celebrating

My, what a gal

Amandine!

The whole tavern erupted in cheers, excited that Amandine was going to get married after all, despite the earlier setback.

All Amandine had to do to actually make it happen was to persuade (or rather blackmail) Leon to marry her, using his mother and her supposed madness as the centre of it and she knew the perfect person who would be more than willing to help her, someone who owned her a favour and was a warden of a certain asylum.

'Perfect,' she said to herself, 'Soon, Leon will be mine and we'll live happily ever after!' She laughed evilly, confident that this plan was going to work and all of her dreams would come true.

Still outside the tavern, Madeleine heard the cheers and Amandine's evil laugh inside and realised that sitting around moping and doing nothing wasn't doing her or her son any good and if the villagers weren't going to help her rescue him, she was going to have to do it herself.

'Well, like they always say, if you want something done, you've got to do it yourself and I'm going to rescue Leon from that horrible beast, no matter what it takes!' she said and hurried back to the cottage, not wanting to waste another minute.

Once she was inside, she put on her (still-torn) cape, grabbed a bag and stuffed it with a compass and few of Leon's maps he had been using for study aids and a lantern since she hadn't used the one she had in the forest and probably left it there.

'Right, I think that's everything I need,' she said, as she looked up at the portrait of her late husband, Paul. If only he was still alive, then he would have easily convinced the villagers to help her or even go with her to go look for and rescue Leon.

'Oh, Paul, my darling,' Madeleine said sadly to the portrait, 'If only you were still here with me, you would've had no trouble getting everyone to organise a search party to look for Leon or even gone out with me to do it ourselves.

It's because of me that he's being held captive by a terrible beast and I have to go out and find and rescue him myself. I only hope that you can give me the strength to do this, darling.'

She kissed the portrait and left the cottage, into the cold, lonely night that lay in wait for her, determined to carry out her mission despite not having Sabine and having to walk on foot.

Madeleine was certain that she would find the castle again, even if she had to rely on maps to do so and would most likely face many obstacles, but she had to do it for her beloved and brave son, who had done so much for her.

'Don't worry, Leon, my darling,' she whispered, as she made her way down the path, 'I'm coming for you.'

Back at the castle, Leon, having walked down the East Wing's corridor which seemed never ending, found a door which had a sign saying Le studio d'art on it, both fading with age as shown by the peeling and cracked paint and eroding wood.

'So this is the art studio,' Leon said and tied the string to the doorknob, opening the door to enter a room covered in dust and cobwebs from years of neglect and disuse, which made Leon cough and shake off a cobweb on his arm.

Easels, palettes, paint bottles with gluggy or dried up paint in them and brushes lay untidily out of a large art chest and the table they were on, piled on top of each other.

Paintings, stained glass windows, pottery, cracking clay pots, half-painted and repaired china, statues and sculptures in various stages of completion were scattered all over the room.

Yellowing, crumpled crayon drawings, much like a child would draw were on the floor and worn down crayons, reduced to stubs were lying around them. Leon picked one up and squinted at it, not being able to work out what it was supposed to be from the shapeless blobs he was seeing.

But he wasn't here to be a nit picking art critic (which he wasn't and actually found the drawings to be cute even if they were shapeless blobs) and put the picture back on the floor, not wanting to disturb anything or touch someone's property.

He continued walking around, admiring the art and sculptures, looking for the people Remy said would be there, not noticing three pairs of eyes in the shadows as they looked at him or the paint bottles, brushes and crayons that weren't worn down coming alive and making squeaking noises and dancing on the table behind him.

'Well, look who decided to come and visit us!' a female voice said, while a brush tapped Leon on the shoulder, which caused him to turn around and see a palette with the brush that touched him attached to it like an arm and a blue beret sat on top of it.

'Hello there,' she said, in a somewhat flirtatious tone. Leon, who should have expected to have seen more moving objects, if Remy and George were anything to go by, was alarmed at seeing the palette talk to him and tapping him on the shoulder when he hadn't expected it; backed away in surprise and accidently bumped into an easel with a black beret, a human face with a brown moustache, who yelped and wobbled backwards, unable to break his fall into some nearby vases and china plates, breaking them into pieces.

'Oh, I'm so sorry!' Leon said, rushing to the easel's side to help him, as it fell on its back and moaned in pain, 'I didn't mean to bump into you!'

The palette, having seen the easel's latest accident, sighed and rolled her eyes, like it was nothing new to her.

'That's another entry for the journal,' she said to herself.

'Ohhh, my back,' the easel moaned in a man's voice, as it tried to get up, the stumps at the bottom flailing wildly in the air.

'Some people always have to make a dramatic introduction, don't they, Raymond?' the palette said, in an annoyed tone.

'Well, they would if they have had someone bump into them, Amelie, since they had been startled by you, when they didn't expect it! You always do that!' the easel or Raymond as he was called said.

'Sorry you had to see that,' he said apologetically to Leon, as he helped him up, 'it's not the best way to introduce one's self, isn't it?'

'Are you alright, sir?' Leon asked, 'You've had quite a nasty fall on some broken china,' looking for any scratches, cuts or china that may have stuck to him, but there didn't seem to be any.

'Oh, don't worry about me son, it wasn't your fault. It was just harmless tomfoolery,' Raymond said, sheepishly, 'besides I've had worse accidents and injuries than that!'

'And I've got the journals to prove it,' Amelie, as the palette was known, said, pointing to a shelf of journals in the distance, 'His accidents and injuries over the years have made a whole library of journals about them! Feel free to read them, if you wish.'

'Um, thanks for that,' Leon said.

'Well, at least the boy now knows I'm accident-prone and clumsy,' said Raymond.

'Yes, you certainly made your mark on him,' Amelie said, sarcastically, 'Anyway, a very warm welcome to you, monsieur to our art studio,'

'I'm sorry it's such a terrible mess, but due to circumstances beyond our control, we haven't been able to tidy up and get everything organised, or finish our art.

My name is Amelie, one of the castle artists, only don't ever call me Ami, like that idiot Remy does, since it's such a stupid nickname and I don't like it at all! I hope he had the decency to not give you one.'

'He just calls me 'kid', it's really no big deal and he's been really friendly to me,' said Leon.

'Sure, whatever floats your boat,' Amelie said.

'And I'm Raymond, the other artist and Amelie's husband. You can call me Ray if you prefer, but not Ray-Ray please.' Raymond said.

'Nice to meet you both,' Leon said, shaking Amelie's brush, 'My name is Leon Dupont and I'm the newest..' he faltered, trying to find the right word, 'resident of the castle, even though I'm actually a prisoner of your mistress.'

'Oh, that's right; you're that brave young man who gave up everything for the mistress to save his mother. I wouldn't have had the courage to do that myself, since I would've been scared out of my wits!' Raymond said.

'What a great son you are, so devoted to your mother that you were willing to do what you did for her.' Amelie said, admiringly.

'Hi mister!' a chirpy little girl's voice said, as a little glass paint bottle with pink paint in it came out of the art box and hopped beside Amelie, eager to meet the boy she had been waiting for, the one to fall in love with the mistress and to be her friend.

'And this little rascal is our daughter, Sophie,' Amelie said, patting her affectionately, 'This is the boy who you've been talking about, the one who we now know as Leon.'

Leon looked at her and seeing her happy face, big smile and childlike innocence, he couldn't help but think she was really cute for a paint bottle.

'I told you he was pretty, Mama,' Sophie said, looking back at him.

'Oh no, darling, you don't say 'pretty' when you're talking about boys who are good looking, you say 'handsome,' and he sure is!' Amelie said, purring.

Leon chuckled slightly, but was feeling uneasy about a palette, who was married with a daughter, flirting with him (but in a friendly, teasing way). Raymond felt the same way, even though he usually never noticed it.

'Oh, gee, Amelie, I'm standing right here!' Raymond said, uneasy about his wife flirting in front of him, 'and besides, he's young enough to be your son! What kind of example are you setting for our daughter, who is so impressionable, by letting her see you flirt with men?'

'Raymond, it's just harmless, you don't mind at all and you know that you're my one and only and I love you dearly, so don't make such a big deal about it,' said Amelie.

'Yes, dear, sorry about that,' Raymond said.

'Do you want to play, paint and draw with me, Leon?' said Sophie,' because I would love it if you would be my friend and play with me since the mistress doesn't want to anymore.'

'Sophie!' Amelie scolded, 'The poor boy has been through a lot today and it's not polite to pester him to play with you so soon! Maybe when he has settled in more, he may but give him time to adjust.

And, little lady, we use a certain word called, 'please' when we want something,'

'Leon,' Sophie said, 'will you please play with me when you have settled in?'

Seeing her cute face, eager for a playmate, Leon was starting to like the little paint bottle who thought the world of him and wanted to be friends.

He may not have made friends with the Beast as their first impressions of each other had not been favourable but it seemed he was winning over her servants who were very keen to befriend him and make him feel welcome, forgetting that he was a prisoner and didn't take great measures to avoid him like the plague.

'Sure, Sophie, I'll play with you,' Leon said, to the paint bottle's delight and she jumped into his hand and wiggled up and down in excitement.

'Yay!' she exclaimed, 'Thank you, Leon!'

'Want to see me do a trick?' she then said, as she took a deep breath, popped the cap off and squirted some paint up in the air and landed it back in her.

'That was amazing, Sophie,' Leon said, as he watched the paint go in her neatly, without spilling anything on the walls or table.

'Sophie, please don't squirt paint, it's not ladylike as I've told you many times before,' Amelie said.

'Sorry, Mama,' said Sophie, while grinning at Leon.

'Oh, Amelie, stop being such a grouch, it's nice to see Sophie having fun for the first time in years and the boy enjoying himself. I'm glad to see a cheerful face around here for once.' Raymond said, seeing his wife's face in a scowl.

Sophie then hopped back on the table and got some paper and her crayons to come out of their tin and they soon got busy drawing, as Sophie instructed them to.

'Say, Leon,' said Amelie, 'do you paint and draw yourself?'

'Well, yes, I do, as part of my studies because that's what I like to do, or did back in the village- read and study.' Leon said.

'Is that right?' said Amelie, interested, 'I thought that you were the hunting and fishing type, but obviously, that's not your thing.'

'No, it doesn't interest me at all,' Leon said, 'I prefer reading and studying than shooting and catching animals in a barbaric manner just to get respected.'

'And who might I ask, taught you to read and write?' Raymond asked, curious to find out.

'I did,' said Leon, 'I taught myself to read, write and learnt many subjects and foreign languages on my own.'

'You really did that? That's amazing!' said Amelie, like she couldn't believe it was possible to educate one's self.

'Well, my mother gave me a helping hand when I first started to..' Leon stopped as tears fell down his face, remembering his mother.

Raymond and Amelie looked sympathetically at the boy as they saw the sadness, loneliness and the pain of separation in his eyes and were reminded of why he was here, how their mistress treated him by taking his mother away from him and making him stay with her forever due to the brave sacrifice he made for her.

And yet, he was the one who could break the curse, even though it was early days and it was looking very bleak and hopeless for them at the moment, no thanks to the mistress's beastly attitude, having seen it for themselves but they wanted to comfort him, which they did.

'You poor thing,' Amelie said, gently, using her brush to wipe away Leon's tears, 'I know things may look bad now, but trust me, it will get better. You just have to give the mistress a helping hand, that's all.'

'I made this picture for you, Leon, to cheer you up since you look so sad,' Sophie said, giving it to him, the one that the crayons had drawn.

'It's me and you,' she said, as Leon looked at it and saw him holding Sophie in his hand and the words written in wobbly black crayon, 'Me and my friend Leon,' on the bottom of the paper.

'I hope you like it,' Sophie said.

'I do, thank you Sophie, it's lovely,' Leon said, as he thought it was very cute, much like the drawings on the floor and that Sophie was kind enough to give one to him.

'Ooops, look at the time!' Amelie said, looking at the clock on the wall, 'We're kept you here too long! It's seven-fifteen and you better get back to your room to get ready for dinner!'

Leon was starting to get sick of hearing about a dinner he had no intention of going to but he wanted to get back to his room and said,

'It was very nice to meet you all and thank you, Sophie for the lovely drawing. I'll keep it on my bedside table.'

He then left the studio, following the string he had left outside.

'Bye, Leon!' Sophie said to her new friend.

'What a nice boy,' Raymond said.

Leon quickly found his way back to his room and put Sophie's drawing on the bedside table. He then lay on the bed, wishing that he had his book with him, but it was in his bag, which was still attached to Sabine outside.

The best thing he could do now was lie on the bed and reflect on the day he had and the new friends he had made so far in the castle, while drifting off into some sort of slumber, not caring if he missed dinner or not or hearing someone come in the room.

The dinner request scene will be coming up soon!