Beauty and the Beast [ #justwriteit #altending #wattpad10 ]

XI. Secrets & Lies

Belle walked with determination down the stone corridor, her shoulders heavy with burdens, but you'd never know it from the way she held her back ramrod straight and her head high, all emotion void from her features.

The golden skirts of her gown swished and the echo of the heels she wore on her feet from their hitting the stone floor in a rhythmic pace, were the only sounds to be heard as she passed portrait after portrait of servants.

They all gaped at the beauty who stalked through the hall like an elegant princess, as, that was what they considered her, though she didn't know it yet; Their Princess.

With flushed cheeks and her heart beating rampantly, Belle came to the west wing, the place that Beast had forbade her to ever go but was about to bring her to earlier before she demanded that he put her down and she ran to her room.

This was her moment. If she wanted to leave, she needed to play his game. Now, where to find him?

There were no more servants trapped inside their portraits once the West Wing began and Belle was determined to begin playing her part of all this, secretly just wanting to get home to her father and forget about this place.

Belle noticed that this part of the castle seemed to be in desperate need of repair, no candles or lanterns available, making it dark. There were crumbled stones and smashed glass all over the once-valuable persian rugs as well. Stepping into darkness, Belle ducked under hanging cobwebs, her hand reaching for the only clean thing about this part of the castle: the door handle.

She looked around with wide blue eyes, searching for any sign of Sebastian's presence as she turned the handle and the door creaked open, popping her head inside an eerily dark chamber.

Noting old books and papers scattered everywhere on the floor and the abandoned room, she followed her eyes around, the heavy curtains allowing her no light to see. Dumbstruck as to why Sebastian hadn't wanted her near this part of the castle, curiosity got the best of her and she crept inside the room, the skirts of her dress swishing as she walked.

"Sebastian?" Her voice was small and timid.

No answer.

Tentatively, she took a few steps inward, a chill running down her spine. There was an old bed in this massive room, which had been slept in recently. This must be his room, she thought.

Noting the air seemed much cooler in here, Belle wrapped her arms around her as she shivered and made her way further inside the living quarters, her heels silenced by the old dusty rugs adorning the floor.

The room was shrouded in darkness and Belle found it hard to make out most things lying around, her eyes scanning the large chamber, much bigger than her own. Then her gaze landed on the one thing in this room that wasn't encased in darkness.

A red rose, suspended inside a glass case. It seemed to be floating and a bright gold aura surrounded it, little gold particles falling from it's petals.

How was this rose able to survive this way? How was it suspended? How did it glow and produce a shimmering gold dust?

Her brows furrowed as she moved toward the rose, her mind trying to think if Sebastian had mentioned anything to her about it, but nothing came to mind..

Except...

That she would come here, prick her finger on a rose, and that was how Sebastian would know she was the curse breaker.

What did this rose mean?

Her lips parted in sheer awe at the beauty of the rose, noticing that it wasn't actually living. It was beginning to die. Three red petals lay on the base of the glass case, only maybe twelve more petals left on the rose. It wouldn't last long.