(1-5) You tie Sugar outside

Thinking that the garden is more dangerous, you decide to tie Sugar outside yourself while Belle enters the palace first.

"Actually, let me tie Sugar outside. You go ahead and enter the palace," you hold out your hand for Sugar's reins.

Belle nods her head and hands you the reins, "Be careful, Cora."

"You too," you reply.

You lead the horse away from the palace entrance to a nearby bench that settled a little way off from the palace walls, overlooking the garden.

You tie the reins as loosely as possible to the back of the silver bench without the possibility of Sugar yanking free, in case you and Belle need to quickly untie the horse to make an emergency escape.

As you are tying the reins, you notice a heavy layer of ivy climbing up all legs of the bench that made the bench seem as if it grew out of the ground.

Piqued by curiosity, you finish typing the reins and reach out your hand, attempting to pry away the ivy and see for yourself whether the bench actually grew out of the ground or not. As you lift the alluring green plant, your finger tips touch a soft, furry thing. Before you could react, a light brown blur dashes out from under the blanket of ivy at the base of the bench, momentarily brushing against the palm of your hand. Alarmed, you withdraw your hand.

The blur sprints towards the palace walls, and when your eyes focus, you realize it is a rabbit.

Another rabbit!

Or is it the same one?

The creature stops for a rapid second and glances at you with its beady black eyes, its nose twitching once, before it dives into the security of the heavy ivy curtain hanging from the palace walls.

Why are there so many rabbits here?

You quickly shake your head. That's not what's important. Belle is still waiting for you.

You hurry back to the palace entrance, and as you near the open doors, you hear conversation coming from within.

A deep voice echoes out of the castle, and your heart immediately drops.

You rush into the castle to see Belle standing in the center of a ballroom, looking up at a beast standing near the wooden staircase on the second floor.

You come to Belle's side and defensively looks at the beast.

Surprisingly, the beast looks at you with astonishment, "You..."

Belle whispers to you, "Cora, I just talked with the beast. He declares to have prepared a room for us to stay in the castle, but I rejected his offer."

"And then? What did the beast say?"

Belle shakes her head, "And then you came in."

You nod once and look to the beast again, "My sister is right. We cannot stay at the palace. We apologize on our father's behalf for him taking your possession without permission; however, we have come to delegate with you to let us go without harming either us or our father."

*************************

Continue to (1-6) Initial Negotiations with the Beast