21

"Lady Stone!" the Prince called out for the lady roaming around castle ground.  The ball was over however the lady wanted to enjoy with her siblings so she stayed behind. 

"My Prince!" The Lady exclaimed not having expected the prince to show up next to her so abruptly. 

"Where are you headed Lady Eliana? " the prince asked curiously.  It was the middle of the night and he had not expected anyone to be strolling around in the hall.  The guards that were posted every other corner were supposed to be the only ones out.

"Oh-I-uh I was searching for this -uh I lost one of my rings during the dinner.  I was just out to find it by back tracing my steps." Lady Eliana fumbled on her words and it had Prince Drake suspicious for a fleeting moment but he ignored it. 

"Well then, I should accompany you on this hunt my Lady." Prince Drake said not wanting to leave the lady alone. She had caught his interest and there was no way she was slipping through his fingers. 

"Really my Prince, there is no need." Lady Eliana said alarmed making the prince want to go with her even more.

"A lady should not be alone at night. Hence even if you do not want me to, I have to go along with you because it is the honorary thing to do. " The Prince stated cleverly leaving no room for the Lady to escape.

"Fine then. You shall accompany me this once. "

*

Another dinner, how like the beast, Izabelle thought as she ascended the stairs she was now accustomed too. This spot was the  spot of trouble.  Whenever they sat down together to eat, something terrible happens.

Like always Isabelle has to wait a while for the beast to appear.  This time however she was not alone.  People she had not seen before surrounded her. A tall man similar to Elber with his pale skin and red eyes stood next to her guarding.  It was not like she could out run the people in a manor she was yet to get accustomed with. There were more chances of her ending up in her favourite book than finding an exit in the Willington manor. The manor was purposely made like a labyrinth so that no intruder could get to the people inside easily.  A labyrinth also was the best place if you needed to escape quickly. The manor was more of a fortress than a place for a person to live. 

As the moments passed, Izabelle's heart rate increases. The lord was not planning to let this be easy on her it seemed.  He was sure to make her mind think up a hundred things that could go wrong in their meeting.  Maybe that was not his plan.  Maybe he just was late.  However Belle found that hard to believe.  The Lord always had something going on.  Right now his purpose seemed to be to make her miserable. 

The time passed. A minute, an hour and another hour.  Izabelle waited.  Every second seemed like an hour and an hour an eternity.  Where was the beast? No one answered her or even bothered to talk to her.  It was like in the middle of the huge room full of creatures, she was invisible. 

Soon, she was taken back to the dungeon her stomach still rumbling and waiting for the food she was promised but not served. 

The beast was toying with her.  What other reason could there be for him to order her presence but not show up?  There seemed to be no one the beast feared.  At least she could recall no one as such.  How did he even come to be?  He was straight out of the fairytales. The short tempered evil of the tales that every child fears. The one parents talk about when they want the kids to go to sleep.  'Go to sleep child or the beast would take you away for being a bad kid.'

Sitting on the cold floor, all Izabelle could think of was her family's warmth and how she was glad her father wasn't sitting where she sat now.  At least they wouldn't be worried for her because of the letter she wrote. Belle wondered if she could get Becka to give her the magic mirror. Becka agreeing to that was hard to imagine. Becka would only give her a pointed look. She was a prisoner, she couldn't exactly make demands. 

Maybe she could escape. Take one of the people working as a hostage and run out of the manor into the world of freedom. Shaking her head at the ridiculous idea, Izabelle waited for the beast to show up. There was n way she could be strong enough to pull of that plan.  Even if she did take a hostage, she did not know a way out of the manor nor did she know the way back home. The beast however knew just where she lived. 

Laying on the straws in silence Izabelle wished for something to happen. Something exciting that did not entitle her sitting in a rusty prison cell. Maybe someone should have told her, be careful what you wish for. 

***

Pic- City_of_lakes