So. Yeah. More of Courtney. Enjoy. Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart, Bubhh (I'm thinking a Gidgette-fied version of The Little Mermaid now...any other suggestions for later?) and Gage the Hedgehog.
Duncan went up to his private quarters, full of his important things, and pulled out the mirror. "Show me Courtney." he ordered, and the mist in the mirror cleared to show the brunette. It seemed that Lindsay had come back and suggested going through the wardrobe of dresses she could wear, but Courtney wasn't interested. "How can I be, when I was just ripped away from my whole life? I can't fulfill my ambitions! I'm never even going to see my little sister again, stuck in a castle ruled by someone I despise."
"Aren't you being a bit hard on Duncan?" Lindsay asked. "Maybe you should try to get to know him a little!"
"I don't want to get to know him!" Courtney said bitterly, turning her fury on a scared-looking Lindsay. "I don't even want to look at him!"
What a depressing thought. Duncan's only chance to break the curse on him didn't want to even look at him. But although he'd resigned himself to the curse, now that there was a chance to break it, his outlook changed.
"I'm not going to give up." he muttered to himself. "If I've only got a year to make her love me, I'll just have to work hard at it." He didn't acknowledge the part of the curse where he himself had to learn to love. He still didn't really understand how he could do that.
Hours later, after Duncan had dozed off in his bedroom, Courtney was lying awake. She almost regretted refusing to go to dinner earlier, because now she really felt like she was starving, and she knew from Duncan telling her to "have fun starving" that the servants would have been told not to give her anything.
But she'd have to try. Besides, it was midnight. Most of the servants would be asleep, but she could cook herself. And if Duncan was still up...well, she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.
As it was, some of the servants closest to Duncan were still up, and sitting around a table in the kitchen – just the three. They looked up when Courtney entered.
"Um...hi." she said.
DJ was the first to respond. "Hey, good to see you're out! I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself." He shook Courtney's hand. "I'm DJ."
Geoff came up and also introduced himself, grinning. "And you've already met Gwen." he added, gesturing over to the pale girl, who smiled slightly.
Courtney introduced herself, smiling in spite of the misery she felt. While Lindsay had exasperated her both times she'd come up to manage Courtney's wardrobe, these guys and Gwen seemed like good people, easy to get along with and not too shallow either.
"Anyway," DJ said, "If there's anything we can do to make your stay here more comfortable, we're happy to help."
Courtney thought about voicing her hunger. Well, what harm could it do? "I guess I am kind of hungry." she admitted, not sure whether she expected to be allowed food.
Gwen jumped up. "I'll get something for you." she offered.
DJ frowned. "But Duncan said that she wasn't to-"
"Screw what Duncan said." Gwen interrupted. "I'm here to do kitchen work, not to do everything he tells me regardless of what I think. And if she wants something to eat, I'll get something."
"It's all right, Gwen." Courtney said. "You don't have to cook anything. If you'll just show me where the food is, I can do it."
Gwen shrugged and smiled. "It's okay. It's hard cooking in a new kitchen. But if you want to help, I won't stop you."
"All right." DJ gave a sigh. "But nothing too big, and then, straight back to her room."
"Lighten up, DJ!" Geoff said. "You just said if there's anything we can do – Courtney's a guest, and we should make her feel welcome here."
DJ sighed again, knowing that he was losing. "All right, all right. Do what you want. But if Duncan hears and gets mad, I knew nothing, all right?" He went to bed himself, while they prepared the food. Geoff mainly just stood there, chatting, while Courtney and Gwen did the actual cooking. Courtney thawed considerably, and soon, she was firm friends with both servants. The two of them told Courtney all about the other servants and told her fun stories, while Courtney told them all about her ambitions.
"You know, I think I should introduce you to Emma." Gwen remarked. "She's one of the librarians. She originally took the job to get the money to pay for law school herself, but complications happened." Translation: Emma was there when the enchantress came, and was confined to the castle, stuck at the age of twenty-one.
Once Courtney was finished, she spoke again. "I guess...I should go back to my room now."
"Wait a minute!" Geoff exclaimed. "Don't you want a tour of the place? You've only really seen the dungeon room, and I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't have looked at most of the rooms you passed when Duncan showed you to your bedroom."
"True." Courtney admitted. As they entered the main hall, Courtney glanced up at the staircase Duncan had specifically warned her away from. What kind of secrets was he hiding up there? She was dying to know.
Gwen saw her looking. "So what kind of rooms do you want to see?" she asked quickly. "We have a giant ballroom. And we have a mini-theatre, and a library..."
"I want to know what's up there." Courtney muttered, starting up the stairs.
Geoff jumped in front of her. "Whoa! Sorry, but you can't go up there."
"Why not?" Courtney said.
"Didn't Duncan tell you?" Gwen added. "The rooms up there are basically his private quarters. Even the cleaners aren't allowed up there. Zoey, one of the many cleaners, accidentally went up there when she was new, and Duncan was all set to kick her out of the castle, except I vouched for her."
"Besides," Geoff added, trying to sidetrack the brunette, "There's so many more interesting rooms in the rest of the castle. Gwen, you said Courtney would get along with Emma, didn't you? Is she still awake?"
Gwen caught on to his tactics. She knew perfectly well that Emma wouldn't be up this late, but she said "If she is, she'll be in the library. Courtney, you coming?"
Courtney shrugged. "Sure!" She followed when she saw Gwen looking over her shoulder, but then, crept back. Did they honestly expect her to not want to see what Duncan kept in his secret rooms?
The hallway past the staircase was dark and creepy, full of statues. To be honest, the decoration definitely had Duncan written all over it. The skull designs on the wall, the creaky floor...it was like something out of a horror movie. A really cheap horror movie, the kind Courtney would refuse to watch, which she suspected a creep like Duncan would really love.
Courtney went to the room right at the end of the hall. It was the one adjoining to Duncan's bedroom, but Courtney didn't notice the door in the corner. No, what caught her attention was the glass case next to the french windows that led to the balcony.
Inside it was a white flower – Beth's rose. It shone with a white light, and Courtney was dazzled. She stepped closer to it...
And then a shadow fell over her.
"What the hell are you doing up here?" Duncan almost growled at her. His voice was quiet, but the amount of threat in his tone made Courtney truly afraid of him. For the first time, there was no underlying anger or hate pounding through her veins – it was pure fear. Even the fact that he was wearing pyjamas and had clearly just woken up didn't change that.
"I..I'm sorry..." Courtney stammered.
Duncan suddenly was holding her by the shoulders, gripping so hard that Courtney was sure he would leave a bruise. His blue eyes burned. "I specifically told you not to come up here, and you do it anyway?"
"I was just curious!" Courtney protested softly.
Duncan's hands only tightened on her shoulders. "Do you realize the damage you could have caused?" he said roughly.
Suddenly, something clicked in Courtney's mind. She had to get out of there. Screw her promise not to leave, screw her sacrifice, she had to run. She couldn't stay there, even though she'd promised.
She had to use all of her strength to pry Duncan's hands off her shoulders. "Leave me the hell alone!" she shrieked, her voice so loud that it echoed five times off the walls. By the time it had faded away, Courtney was already on her way back down the staircase. She sprinted out of the castle, into the dark cold night...but stopped short.
Coyotes were outside the gate, growling. They spotted Courtney, and were trying to get across. They...oh no...managed to get over the gate and were running straight at her!
The brunette was strong, but there was no way she could take on the three coyotes that were able to cross. She was frozen to the spot. She closed her eyes waiting to die...
But five seconds later, she was still untouched. She opened her eyes to see a fourth figure, a sharp penknife in his hand, on the ground attempting to stab the coyotes.
It was Duncan.
Courtney was still frozen as she watched him physically fighting the coyotes. He didn't kill any of them, but they were injured enough by his knife to leave, whimpering.
Courtney knelt down, seeing Duncan was injured himself. It was nothing life-threatening, but he clearly needed some First Aid.
"You..saved me." she murmured.
Duncan gave a weak smile. "You're my prisoner." he said, trying to keep up his tough-guy image. "I couldn't let you run off or possibly die, now could I?"
But Courtney had made up her mind. Duncan had shown something good in him by fighting the coyotes and saving her life. She couldn't just leave after all that.
This chapter could have been divided into two, but without "Be Our Guest" this part of the movie is a lot shorter. And let's be honest, can you see Geoff setting up a musical number when most of the castle's residents are asleep? Parties only work when everyone's awake, and there are certain people in the castle who do not take kindly to being woken up. Take the ending of this chapter as sort of similar to "Who Can You Trust", when Courtney sees Duncan's nice side for the first time.