Beauty and Her Beasty

In the Dungeon

Willow's Point of View

The bath had been quite beneficial as Portia had suggested. She had insisted on helping me bathe because of my useless arm, but I was not used to having someone wait on me so I turned her down. However I wish I hadn't done so. Of course bathing with one arm was a struggle, but knowing what to bathe with was even more challenging.

I had never seen so many soaps and scents in my life! There was an entire shelf behind the deep bathing tub that was stocked with any scent and soap I could imagine. I couldn't help but smell them all, but eventually I settled on a rose scent, and I poured it in the bath. When I finished any dirt, or dried blood that had been on my body before was now gone. I couldn't help but awe at myself in the mirror. My sun kissed skin was sparkling, and my brown hair had never been so soft. In fact if my arm wasn't so damaged, you probably couldn't tell that I had survived a wolf attack just yesterday.

Portia left me a change of clothes on the bed, that I happily changed into. It was a light green dress, with lace trimmings around the cuffs and the neck line. It was casual, yet elegant, and the sleeves were loose and fell right over my bandages. The dress was much nicer than the blood stained blue dress and white apron which I had been wearing before. I folded my old clothes up and set them on the chair adjacent to the window.

After that I crossed the room and plopped back down on the bed. I had no idea what else to do besides wait for Portia to return. But sitting in the silence of the chamber all alone brought back my thoughts of Andre. I sighed, and closed my eyes trying to block out the sadness. Suddenly a low grumble came from my stomach. That's when I realized I was starving, and I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast yesterday! I clutched my stomach to try and squish the hunger. I knew I should probably wait for Portia to get back, but I was so hungry. Also a meal could be a good distraction from my worries of my brother. My range of motion was much better now, after the bath, and I was sure I could make it to the kitchen. I was only trying to convince myself now, and it was working. So I slid off the bed, made my way to the door, contemplated waiting one last time, and then stepped into the hallway of an enchanted castle.

I don't know exactly what I expected but, well the castle blew me away. The halls were lined with armored suits that seemed almost life like, and behind each of their helms was an array of marvelous paintings, and sketches. The amount of doors seemed infinite; some doors had symbols carved into them, while some doors were made from an entirely different wood from the rest. On occasion there would be a window at the end of the halls, but I quickly realized that they were like the one in my room. Good for letting light in, but impossible to see out of somehow. I wrote that off as one of the enchanted palace's tricks.

I had no idea how long I had been searching for the damned kitchen, but I found it strange that I still hadn't come across a single elf. Portia made it seem as though the castle would be crawling with those creatures, but everything was silent. Where could they be? And where was the supposed 'Master of the castle' who had rescued me? Something about that man was confusing me, and I hadn't even met him yet. His mysterious nature gave off a sort of arrogance that I hated, even though he was my hero, and I should be grateful for him.

As I was thinking, a faint scream reached my ears. I paused midway down a flight of stairs. My mind had to have been playing tricks on me, or the hunger was making me hallucinate. But I could swear that was Andre's voice, it was just so familiar sounding. I suddenly felt dizzy, and thoughts of reaching the kitchen vanished.

What if that really, on the off chance, was my brother? Or at the very least it could simply be someone who needed my assistance. I took in a deep breath, and made up my mind to follow the sound of the scream. It had came from the main floor of the palace, so I rushed as quickly as I could down the flight of stairs. Then I followed the nearest hallway, hoping that my brother was really here and not dead in the woods. The hallway that I hurried down was much different than the others, the mood was less elegant and magical, and more ominous and unwelcoming. But I was too blinded by hope to turn around.

At the end of the hallway there was a small, arched door, unlike the others I had seen. I carefully swung it open and was immediately hit by a gust of cold air. I staggered backwards in surprise, there was also a faint aroma of dirt and cobblestone that wafted up my nose. Still though made my way inside. There was a short path to some stone stairs that led downwards. I stepped down them gingerly. Once I reached the bottom, there was a final door, that was cracked open halfway. I gripped its side and swung it the rest of the way open. That's when it occurred to me that I had entered a dungeon. Rows of cells lined either walls, and straw covered the cobblestone floor. Torches were positioned at either end of the room, providing the only source of light. I squealed as a rat ran across my foot adding to the repulsiveness of the dungeon.

"Wh-who is there?" A small scratchy voice came from the nearest cell to my left. At that point there was no doubt in my mind. I stepped close to the bars, and crouched down.

"Andre?" Tears began to coat my eyes as I reached my good arm through the bars. The figure in the back corner of the cell looked up and crawled over to the bars. I stumbled backwards, yes it was Andre, I knew it was, but he did not look as I had remembered. Blood was dripping down a giant claw mark on his chest, and bruises decorated his face. One of his eyes seemed to not be able to open, and his hair was disheveled and caked in dirt.

"Willow how a-are you he-here? Is it truly you?" Andre pressed his messed up face against the cell bars. I pushed past my shock and reached my hand back into the cell to grasp his.

"Yes I am really here, how is not important yet. Tell me who did this to you?" Now I was angry, what kind of monster would harm my brother? He was the sweetest man, he has even done months of service in the guard for goodness sake!

Andre suddenly became very panicked, "Willow you must go, do you remember the stories of the beast who controls the forest? Well he is real and this is his palace. Please run before he comes back!"

The Beast of the forest? That was only a myth I thought to scare children and keep them from running off to far! Of course hunters and village men had disappeared before but we all had assumed they were caught be wolves, or ran away. Wait. If the palace belongs to the Beast, does that make him the master? Why would he save me but harm my brother?

"Andre I can't leave without you! I won't, I-."

"ROAR!" I was cut off by a beastly sound that shook the dungeon walls. Recognition flooded my brain. That was the same threatening sound I heard in the woods before I went unconscious. The creature really was the one who saved me. But he also harmed my brother, so he was no longer my hero anymore. He was just a Beast.