THE MERCHANT'S DAUGHTER -Chapter Eight (Patreon)

CHAPTER EIGHT:

When they awoke, the sun was already shining brightly in the sky and there were the gentle sounds of birds chirping in the trees near the cottage. Beauty smiled as she took in all this; she figured it was a good sign for their journey. Her sisters took it less so as did their father. They felt as though the weather mocked their situation of saying farewell to one another.

The ceremony was brief. After breakfast, Beauty and her father packed the horse’s saddlebags with provisions and then were seen to the gate by Celene, Annaliese and Linnette. There were no tears between any of the sisters but Beauty could tell by the expression of eyes that they were sad to see her go.

And then, Dunstan mounted the horse and helped Beauty hoist herself up onto the back of the saddle and with a short wave, the two were off.

The journey lasted only a day and a half before they found themselves at the entrance to the forest. Beauty’s father hoped he would remember how to get back to the castle from this point on the road but so far as he recalled, he’d simply headed in a relatively straight path on his way home the last time. He therefore allowed the horse to follow the trail so long as it did not appear to curve much and prayed that he and Beauty would not be lost in the woods. And they were not for soon they could make out what appeared to be a clearing and the gates of the castle somewhere ahead in the trees some two hours after they’d set into the woods.

With every step the horse took, Dunstan felt his heart sink further and further into despair and his stomach to churn with anxiousness. For soon, he would lose Beauty; his precious Beauty.

For her part, the young woman remained fairly composed and confident. As she had stated days previous, the sooner she arrived at this destination, the sooner she may leave it once the terms were fulfilled.

“It does not look so bad,” Beauty commented as they came to the castle’s gates and she beheld the place she would remain captive.

Her father said nothing; instead riding the horse through the curiously already opened gates into the courtyard. They dismounted in front of the doors and Dunstan looked at his daughter sadly; feeling regret already tingeing his heart but knowing that there was no other choice than this.

“Father don’t fret,” she reassured, “All will be well. I shall live in a castle and return home to you sooner than you know it! There are worse things!” She thought to herself about the possibility of leaving home to be given for marriage. It made her shudder. She would much rather live here for a time than endure that fate to someone she did not know or love.

“You are right,” her father agreed softly as he took her hand and led her up to the doors. “I love you Beauty.”

“I know, Father. This does not change anything. I love you as well; very deeply.” With that, Beauty herself reached out for the knocker and alerted to their arrival.

Dunstan thought it rather curious that she was able to use the knocker so freely; the night of his arrival it had not budged.

It felt like ten years’ time in the span of the several moments it took for The Beast to answer the door to them. “Good afternoon,” he greeted in an even tone as he beheld the father and daughter.

Beauty had taken her father’s hand in the meantime as she’d heard the door begin to swing open and when she beheld The Beast, her hold tightened upon her father’s.

The two’s heads bowed politely to the creature and then Dunstan spoke, “Good afternoon, Great Beast. I-I would like you to meet my daughter, Beauty,” he introduced.

“Beauty. Such a curious name...”

For her part she thought that a talking animal who had ownership of a castle was quite curious but she said nothing in response.

“H-here is the requested wine,” Dunstan told The Beast as he held out the sack he’d brought back to the castle as the creature had desired.

The Beast accepted the sack with a nod of approval. “Now, if you’ll kindly excuse me just a brief moment, I shall obtain your things,” The Beast told Dunstan a moment later. Within seconds he was back at the door holding the boots and the cloak; the rucksack and the skin of wine placed away elsewhere. “Your horse, I’m afraid, doesn’t quite like me,” he stated, “I saw it in the woods not but two days ago and it fled. I see, however, you obtained a replacement,” he gestured with one paw.

Dunstan could not tell The Beast that he sold the cloak and new boots he was given upon their last visit to be able to purchase that horse.

“Here are your things, sir.”

“Th-thank you,” Dunstan murmured as he accepted them back.

“Very well. Say your farewells,” the creature bade the two.

“Goodbye Father,” Beauty murmured as she hugged him.

“Goodbye my sweet, sweet girl,” he whispered; feeling tears on the edges of his eyes as he dropped his old cloak and boots to embrace her. “I love you so much. I promise I’ll get you back.”

“Father remember what I told you. You needn’t worry.”

He could only nod as a quick glance towards The Beast revealed an intense gaze upon the two and the merchant gave up all hopes of making an alternative plan to rescue his daughter. He would just have to do as was asked and wait until the terms of this agreement were up; trust the word of this beast and trust the strength of spirit of his daughter.

The two separated and Beauty framed her father’s cheek with a gentle hand. “Fear not. We will see one another again when I am able to return home. Until then, you take care of yourself and the farm and...” Beauty paused as she realized she did not want this beast to know of her sisters. “Just live on your life as usual and I shall be back upon the conclusion of this arrangement.”

Her father nodded silently.

“I shall send word to you when it is that the terms have come to their end,” The Beast spoke up, “Then you may return here to fetch your daughter Beauty.”

“Thank you, sir, for your hospitality and thoughtfulness,” Dunstan spoke with gratefulness. He was fully aware that upon the conclusion of this arrangement, his daughter could be sent off into the woods alone to find her own way home. It was truly considerate and kind of this creature to make that promise of contact with him.

The Beast’s head merely nodded before he spoke again, “And as promised you are not to send anyone else here or return yourself. If I so much as catch any suggestion that you have broken this term, my rebuttal shall not be one of kindness and consideration. I expect kindness and consideration from you, dear merchant.”

“Yes of course. I shall remain back within my own life until such a time that I receive word to return,” Dunstan vowed.

“Very good. Now, you are free to be off. I shall see you once more when I have gained two new roses in my garden.”

“Yes,” the merchant replied with a bow of his head before nervously smiling at his daughter and gathering his things and returning to his horse.

Beauty waved a goodbye to her father before The Beast was ushering her into the castle and closing the door. “Follow me,” he told her gruffly.

“Where are we going?”

“It does not matter for me to tell you. You are to remain captive here and you will do as I say. Your father had the courtesy and good sense to keep our arrangement now I expect you shall do the same to honor that. Follow me,” he repeated.

Frowning ever so slightly, Beauty did so; carrying her bag with her as her captor led her through a bit of the castle before alighting upon a staircase leading downward. Curious yet a bit frightful, she followed along until they came to the bottom of the steps and he led her through a stone dungeon. It was not very large, she noticed, and luckily it was not very cool either. However, her heart began to pound with the thought that since she was captive that he would keep her here. That did not bode well.

He led her into a cell within which held a long, wooden item that resembled something between a table and a bed. It was completely horizontal and made of planks and small wooden brackets and at the head of it there were a set of shackles strung through a large, metal ring. It was obviously something to keep a prisoner both shackled and lying down horizontally.

“You may lay your things there,” he gestured beside the apparatus. She did as she was told; staring with scrutiny at him. “Now, lie down here.”

“What are you going to do to me?” she asked.

“You are a prisoner. You are to be shackled. And, you are not to question me so eagerly,” he added almost as an afterthought.

Taking a deep breath, she moved closer and sat down on the wood before swivelling herself and placing her arms above her head where he shackled her in place.

“I will return for you at dinner,” he spoke before moving out of the cell block.

“At dinner?”

“Yes,” he repeated almost casually; pausing just a moment –considering that she may not have heard him correctly as he’d left.

She watched curiously as he kept walking; leaving her cell door wide open and unlocked.

However, she thought she could hear the turn of a lock at the top of the steps.

Beauty frowned. So, she was to be kept prisoner like this for the duration of this agreement? Chained up like some criminal; some animal to be fetched when desired upon? This was not what she could accept for herself.

A moment later a smile came to her lips. She had just realized something that her captor probably had not. It gave her hope that perhaps she could change her circumstances. She would just have to wait until he returned to find out.

She wasn’t sure how long it had been until she heard the door unlocking at the stairs and then the sounds of padded footsteps and movement of fabric. Beauty turned her head just as he re-entered the cell.

“Good evening,” she greeted. This seemed to take him by surprise.

“Good evening,” he greeted softly. Then he paused as though he had to remember what it was he had been intending to say to her.

“Am I to remain this way for the duration of my stay here?” she asked him before he could speak again.

“What? Well not the entirety of it. You will be released upon certain occasions throughout the day for food and changes of clothing and bathing and such.”

“But I will never be free of these chains upon my own?”

“No. You are a prisoner and prisoners are kept in the dungeon so as they do not escape or have leisure.”

Beauty could feel a bit of frustration building at his statement like that but she withheld feeling more emotional in favor of trying to appeal to him before attempting something that could very well go quite favorably for her but could also perhaps lead to further obstacles. She would just have to see.

“I have something to ask of you,” she told him.

“Wha— Why?”

It was her turn to be a little surprised. “B-because I have something to ask,” she responded a little incredulously.

“Very well,” he stated after some consideration. “Go on with it then.”

“Please, just let me go!”

He stared at her with a slight frown furrowing his brows. Was she jesting? It appeared she was not and this made him feel taken aback. “No! Wh-why should I? You are my prisoner.”

“Because I don’t like being treated this way.” She sat up, pulling her arms out of the cuffs in a fluid movement, and stood up to face him.

“Wha…” he trailed off; completely in shock. “How did you do that?”

“You’re not the only one here with magical properties,” she retorted evenly. She’d guessed as much –considering he could speak yet he looked like some sort of upright-walking lion or some similar creature. She hadn’t yet seen a tail on this beast...

“Why didn’t you just do that before?” he asked her flatly; confused as he replayed the situation over in his mind and realized she could have easily gotten out and escaped on her own without him coming down here necessarily.

“I agreed to be captive,” Beauty told him, “But now you’ve taken it too far. I will not be treated like an animal and be bandied about like some cattle. I am a human being; I deserve better treatment.”

The two stared at one another not quite realizing the other was on edge; preparing themselves to defend should the other make a sudden unexpected movement.

“What are you going to do?” he finally asked somewhat gruffly; ready to go on the defense.

“I am going to ask that you treat me properly,” she responded evenly.

This surprised him. “You’re not going to run away?”

“No. Promises were made and I do not intend those promises to be broken. That is, so long as yours won’t be. I simply cannot stay here if you treat me like an animal –or worse. You must promise to treat me like a human being; decent. I won’t be locked up in some cage to be played with at your decision to do so. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Did you ever have love?” she murmured. “I mean, what has caused you to behave in such a manner? Truly...” Luckily, he didn’t quite hear her. She spoke up, “So we have a deal then? I shall remain upon the terms that I am treated decently.”

“Yes,” he answered slowly; almost reluctantly. He could see no other choice in the matter.

“Very well then.” She lay back down, placing her hands back in the shackles.

The Beast looked at her with an expression of both curiosity and suspicion. Finally, he spoke, “Come, let us get you out of those.” He moved forward and unlocked them to free her.

She sat up and slowly stood.

He considered her for a moment before he made a decision. “I shall show you to your room?” he invited.

“Room?” Her voice now sounded delicate and innocent again.

“Yes, room,” he repeated in frustration –angry at her change of tone. It was as though she sought to mock him. “You cannot stay down here.”

“Thank you,” she murmured.

He ignored it. “Then you must get changed for dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“You shall dine with me. That is an order and not a request,” he added gruffly.

“I understand…” She paused, “What made you change your mind? I… I thought surely I was to stay down here prisoner.”

“You are really enjoying this aren’t you? I must warn you my temper is short; I will not tolerate your insolence.”

“I am sorry to have upset you,” she told him; bowing her head –realizing she’d gone just a bit too far. She’d take things a little slower from here on in.

“Yes. Now come this way; your room isn’t down here.” He turned and began to walk away. “And bring your things, then,” he added.

Beauty did as he asked and followed him back up out of the dungeon.

“I do not have a recently aired room available to you at this time,” he spoke; trying to be somewhat cordial and gentlemanly, “The blankets upon the bed have likely been idle there for a couple of months,” he explained, “However they have never been used and were washed before being placed as bedding.”

“That’s alright,” Beauty murmured, “Thank you. I can air the room myself. You are gracious.”

He held his tongue; unsure whether she meant to further mock him in her last statement or not.

They alighted in front of a room on the second floor of the castle. He gestured inside.

Beauty entered and looked around. Although the room could not quite be described as plain, it was fairly simple: a four poster bed with hangings and a lovely comforter atop it. There were at least three chairs in the room upon her first glance and a wardrobe as well as a small vanity table not unlike those her sisters used to fawn over before they’d all been forced into poverty. There was a humbly sized window to the far left with drapery closed in front of it. A small rug lay beside the bed and a much larger one covered much of the space leading away from the direction of the window where two of the chairs were sat; one angled towards the window and one facing more-so into the room.

Beauty turned to her captor. “This is lovely. Thank you.”

“It is meant to be decent enough,” he murmured in reply. “Should there be anything else you shall need to be treated with decency, bring it to my attention and we shall negotiate.”

She decided not to argue with him further on this for now. “You are most kind and accommodating. Thank you, sir,” she bowed her head to him in respect.

He returned the nod. “I will leave you to get settled. Dinner shall be in a quarter of an hour and I shall fetch you,” he told her.

She nodded in acknowledgement of this.

“Very well.” He turned and exited the room.

Beauty gave a sudden start. It sounded like he’d bounded away down the corridor in a hurry; the sounds making her think he might have done so on all fours. “Oh my!” she murmured.

The Beast was true to his word and returned almost precisely when a quarter of an hour had passed. Beauty was awaiting him in one of the chairs. She stood just as he came to the door which she’d left open.

“Come along then,” he directed. She followed him as he led her to his dining room on the first level of the castle; not far from the kitchen in which her father had taken refuge.

“I am not used to guests,” he told her as they made their way to the table. “Therefore I haven’t exactly made best use of entertaining in here. I suppose if the state of it displeases you we can amend that...”

Beauty understood what he meant immediately; it appeared as though the room was tidy but could use a bit of dusting over on some of the side tables and on one end of the dining table itself which appeared he had not used in some time.

He sat down in his chair at the head of the table upon the dusted side and gestured at the other place setting he’d arranged somewhat crudely in front of another chair.

She frowned at him. He immediately frowned back. “What displeases you?” he asked.

“Um...” she began shyly. “It is alright.” She pulled out her own chair and sat down. She had expected since this was a castle and his clothing was somewhat fine in appearance that he would pull the chair out for her in decorum. Not that she needed such a gesture. She could pull out her own seat; she did it at home all the time.

She was simply attempting to understand who this creature was and how he behaved. It was rather odd to experience a creature that could speak and walk upright and seemed to have manners and logical sense and yet whose knowledge of propriety and decorum in social norms seemed somewhat limited –at least thus far.

She looked at the large plate of food he’d placed within both of their reaches. There were buns, cheeses and dried meat laid out upon the plate in addition to a few vegetables.

The Beast reached out a paw and began to grab what he wished from the plate to transfer to his own. Beauty was taken aback and seemed to have made some sort of noise of protest as his head turned to look at her with a fixed stare. “Do you not eat these foods where you are from?”

“Yes, of course I do it’s just...” She cleared her throat. “We use utensils...”

He paused; frown deepening. “A knife?”

“Yes and sometimes fork in this sort of array.”

“Do you wish for some now?”

She shook her head. “I’ll be alright. Excuse me,” she reached out and took what she wanted to her own plate as well. It felt a little awkward not using something to transfer the food besides her own two hands. It was something she decided she could easily get used to, however, in the circumstances.

There was a cup of water in front of her which she picked up tentatively and sniffed to try and find out what the contents were. Only, she had no idea without tasting it.

“Water,” he declared suddenly; startling her a bit.

“Oh. Thank you kindly.”

He merely nodded his head and continued eating.

The majority of the meal then passed in silence between the two. Both seemed to ignore each other but they had no idea that the other was being quite mindful of them and their movements when they thought their companion was looking at their food.

Finally the silence was broken by Beauty, “Do you not have servants here in this castle?” she asked.

He gazed at her a moment before answering, “No.”

She nodded rather slowly, in thought, and turned back to her meal.

“Why do you ask such a thing?” he inquired after several moments had passed.

She looked up. “It is a castle. I thought castles had servants,” she explained.

“I see. Well, not this one.” He was about to go back to eating when he saw the expression on her face. “What is it?”

She felt a bit shy to answer. “Well... I was going to ask...why you do not have any?”

“Should there be a reason?” he retorted; partially curious.

“Were there servants before?” she posed instead of saying what she was thinking which was that he scared them away or perhaps even... ‘no.’ She would not allow herself to think such a thing of the creature before her. He did not seem the type to injure or kill unnecessarily.

“Before I was here, there may have been. I do not know,” he responded. “When I came into... ownership of this place, it was abandoned.”

“Really?”

He merely nodded and bit into a piece of cheese.

“And how long ago was that?” she asked him with curiosity after several more moments had passed.

“Why so many questions?” he grumbled.

“I am sorry,” she apologized immediately. “I did not mean to offend you.”

“You... I am not offended. Merely...” he paused to try and settle on a word to use, “I wish to eat in peace. I am not used to talking during my meals. And I did not anticipate to have you at my table.”

Beauty lowered her head humbly and let the rest of their meal pass in silence.

“Are you still hungry?” he asked once his plate was cleared. She shook her head. “Very well then. You will—you will tidy your plate and goblet yourself and then I will return you to your room.”

“Thank you—” she told him; hesitating in the middle of speaking. “Um, what shall I call you?” she asked him timidly.

He did not answer her at first. “I suppose you may call me... Em... Emin...Eminence. That sounds about right for a name. Or, Beast if you so desire.”

Beauty bowed her head in acknowledgement.

“Come. I’ll show you back to your room.”

“What about my plate and goblet?”

“Oh yes, right...” He squinted his eyes at his mistake. “Yes come with me and bring them.”

He showed her how it was he cleaned his dishes and told her to place them upon the counter when she was through.

With all that done, he then showed her back to her room. “You are to stay in here for the duration of tonight,” he told her, “I will fetch you again tomorrow for breakfast upon which time I will show you where else you shall be permitted to go in this castle. Are we in agreement?”

“Yes, milord,” she responded with a small curtsy to show her respect.

“Very well. I shall leave you for the evening. Should you require anything, I believe there is a bell-pull in this room. Keep ringing it until such a time that I come for you. I’ll reside tonight in a room close to where the bells are situated that I might hear one should it ring.”

“Thank you. That is very kind of you.”

The Beast stared back at her silently for a short while. He did not feel it was kind but proactive. He after all had not planned to have the young woman free about the castle and requiring ‘proper’ treatment. He would use his time tonight to devise some guidelines and other arrangements so that they might both live together comfortably and to his liking. This was his castle, nevertheless and she was meant to be a captive here under his ruling. Magical young woman or not, he still wanted her to be under his regulation and not the other way around!

“I shall see you in the morning, Milady Beauty.”