Beauty and the Beast

Imprisoned

Tara held her black hooded cape tightly around her shoulders as she briskly walked up the hill. What a dreadful evening it had been! Just as awful as she had expected: men singing and talking loudly, stumbling over themselves, a breakout of fist fights, one of which the "distinguished" captain Thor had started himself. Tara made an appearance and not long after, she left. At least she had kept her promise, the navy blue book in her hand was proof of that. As the young woman neared the cottage, heavy snowflakes began to fall, piling up on her shoulders and the fur of her cloak. Wherever Father is, I hope he's staying warm, Tara thought to herself. Just as she was about to go inside, she noticed the light brown mane of Giuseppe, galloping up the slope, whinnying and stomping his hooves nervously.

"Giuseppe? What are you doing back here?" The frightened stallion paced back and forth anxiously, as Tara surveyed his torn reigns and frayed saddle. Something was wrong. Giuseppe never went anywhere without Dr. Erskine or Tara. Wherever they'd gone, the carriage had somehow gotten disconnected from the harness, and judging by the ripped leather straps, the horse had been in a hurry to get away.

"Why did you come back without Father?" the brown skinned girl murmured,  "You must take me to him." Once the horse had calmed down down, the 19 year old pulled herself up unto the saddle, forgetting everything, and rode away into the direction her father had gone. Giuseppe seemed to have remembered the way. He carried her deep into the woods, through the dense undergrowth of trees and shrubbery, and to the thicket where the wolves had chased them. Tara's eyes widened at the scene. The carriage lay tipped over on its side emptied, with all of the doctor's equipment splayed out on the snow. The basket she had packed for him was torn apart with only scraps of bread left. Tara looked hard for pieces of her father's clothing but there weren't any. There hadn't been any signs of a fight or bleeding either. That was good; apparently the wolves hadn't gotten him. He might even have been somewhere nearby. Tara rode on up the slope of a small knoll, and down to the valley below. 

The snow was beginning to fall harder, blinding her vision as she went on.  The ground was extremely slippery; Giuseppe's hooves slid a few times down the rocky slope, nearly causing his rider to fall from the saddle. They kept going until they came up to an iron gate out stretched in front of a gigantic castle. She saw that the gate, had been left open, almost as if someone had been expecting her. Cautiously, she dismounted, and walked up through the courtyard. It was certainly a marvelous sight. The rose garden, now sprinkled with snow looked almost magical. And the icy stone walls shimmered like crystal; perhaps her father had decided to lodge here for the night.

"Father, are you in there? It's me, Tara!" The teenager knocked on the dense doors with her fist. She tugged on the round brass latch, and was just able to get it open wide enough to wedge herself inside. A narrow expanse of a hallway stretched out in front of her, in the left corner, a staircase led to the upper rooms, presumably the staff living quarters. Tara squinched in the dark for any sign of a servant, but the building appeared empty. Grabbing the nearest candelabra and lighting the wick, she crept up the carpeted steps. She called out again. At first, there was nothing, but as she neared another staircase, the sound of rattling bars echoed through the vacant halls, as if someone had been locked in a cage.

"Father?"

The rattling stopped. "Tara?"

"Father!" The young woman unhooked the heavy cape and scurried up the winding staircase, careful to not trip on her skirt. Her breath came out in puffs of steam, her legs sore from the long climb. Finally, she reached a dimly lit hallway with a row of cells lined along a wall; all of them were empty except one. "Tara, how on earth did you find me?" Dr. Erskine cried, reaching out to touch his daughter's face.

"Giuseppe brought me here. Oh, you're freezing! And, and your leg, how did it--" The middle aged villager was leaning on one foot, as his other leg was somehow wedged into a block of ice. The man's whole body was shivering, and his skin was cold to the touch. Tara placed one hand on his forehead. Erskine was burning up with a fever! If he stayed in that drafty dungeon any longer, he would catch pneumonia, or worse.

"Who did this to you?"

"Tara, please!" The doctor burst out into a violent fit of coughing. "You have to get out of here. Leave this place, and forget about me. I have seen the world, I've lived my life, and I won't let you give up yours for me!"

The brown skinned brunette only held onto his hands tighter, attempting to warm them up in hers. "My child, you must listen!" Erskine pleaded, snatching them out of her grip and squeezing her shoulders. "You must escape before it's too late!"

"I'm afraid it already is."

Tara turned around to see the silhouette of a tall figure standing. As he moved closer out of the shadows, the girl saw that the man had blue skin, and raised welts jutting across his arms and face, his ruby red pupils gleaming angrily in the glow of the candles. Everything about him seemed human, his attire, and even his wavy black hair, but his skin and eyes were otherworldly. There was only one thing that could describe him, a frost giant. But, that was something out of fairytales, he couldn't possibly be one, could he?

"So," came the surprisingly posh voice, " you're the thief's daughter?"

"Thief?" The insult instantly snapped Tara out of her daze. "My father is no thief!" The Beast smirked, waving his finger as one would do to a naughty child. 

"I caught him trying to leave my castle with this." The strange-looking man pulled out a withered looking white rose from the pocket of his leather vest, holding it out for her to see. A wave of guilt washed over her as she remembered the gift she had asked her father for. She never imagined he would have gone somewhere to steal it. 

"Let him go! You're quarrel is with me; it's my fault he took it. Lock me up instead." Dr. Erskine tried to say something in protest, but his throat was too sore from coughing. The frost giant raised a trimmed eyebrow.

"Are you saying you want to take his place?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

Is that what she was saying? The doctor's daughter pushed aside her hesitation. "Yes," she declared, daring to look into his glowing red eyes.

The frost giant grinned. "It's a deal."