"Oh," The syllable was little more than a whisper as Bella drew into herself, shoulders rising meekly towards her ears as her amber gaze fell upon the table in the wake of Landon's subtle disdain. She couldn't fathom what had dampened the usually chipper chef's spirits. How strange, especially considering the remarkable shift in Imogen's and Amarinda's temperaments! Was it due to the pie, she pondered, her stomach lurching with the fact that she hadn't eaten in hours. It really was delicious, such a shame to waste it. Bella rested one arm upon the edge of the table where the plate had just been, idly picking up the fork as though she hadn't meant not to finish.
"It's not-" The redhead started to object around a bite of pie. Perhaps the pie had nothing to do with the blond chef's temper, as she deduced from Henry's audible bitterness. Very likely, they were upset with her or the prince, or some combination thereof. Well, what was she to do? Simply forget what the prince had done and go on pretending it never happened? Such a wrong could not go unredressed; and if Jaron failed to redress it, that was on him. Bella swallowed the knot of shame and ire that balled up in her throat, chasing it with a rather sour bite of raspberry.
Speak of the devil. As if on cue, the prince arrived, bellowing from where he loomed in the shadows across the dining hall. A pall fell like a veil of mourning, graying and dimming the light bathing the very end of the grand table. The uneasy tranquility flew from the room like bats out of hell, replaced by a not-so-subtle hostility. Bella took another bite, almost determined to finish now that the others ceased to enjoy their dessert or speak. Each remaining bite she consumed with more ardor than the last, going so far as to swipe a finger over the otherwise empty plate to collect the filling and crumbs, which she licked off.
"Is that so?" Bella shifted cold eyes and narrow regard on the prince, tracing her tongue over her lips with nonchalant finality. "And what do you presume to do if I don't? Tie me to your armchair?" Her chin inclined in blatant defiance, she glared down the length of her nose at the prince. The last time he bore witness to this particular look, they exchanged petty disses in his study. He was the same prince now as he was then; he had been since he threw her book into the fireplace. Mention of the drapes briefly turned her copper head back to glimpse where they hung beyond Henry; she extended her arm, opened and closed her hand on the air, and dropped it again. "I can't; I'm afraid it's too far to reach." She chided, staring disinterestedly at Jaron with a shrug of her shoulders. Clearly, she had no intention of complying with his demands regardless of his huffing and puffing and posturing. If he hadn't addressed her so, she wouldn't even have acknowledged him.
An uncomfortable silence ensued betwixt the rest of the castle denizens as they assumed grave expressions after the fiery maidens grudge for His Majesty. Landon sighed, muttering under his breath, "God in heaven." He seemed the least perturbed, yet was no less disconcerted with Bella's shameless disregard towards the prince than anyone else in the grand hall; not as unsettled as the prince himself however, Jaron's voice booming concurrently with an unanticipated bolt of lighting fracturing the air outside. "FOOLISH GIRL."He roared across the grand hall, the sharp and handsome curvature of his face contorting in a dreadful, egregious manner. So palpable was the intensity Jaron displayed; coupled with abrupt cracks of lightning, the outburst was not quite unlike being kicked in the back of the head by a horse. Briefly he composed himself, only to better articulate the venom he wished to spew at Bella with exalted fashion.
"Do us all a favor, grow up." He began to condescend Bella, narrowing the lids of his bagged, erratic eyes from the shadows, apparently calm all of a sudden yet his words were no less ruthless than ever accompanied by the patter of raindrops. "Have you forgotten your age in all the fantasies and daydreams? Bygone and lost out of your mind," clearly without patience, seconds passed as hours for the prince as he emphasized the question at hand, "HAVE YOU?!" Jaron resounded abruptly throughout the grand hall, his calm facade splintering upon his face.
As if to answer the harbinger of unpleasantries' upsetting company, the sunny day quickly soured. The dining hall turned gray, the misty veil of daylight traded for a pall, brightened only by the brief flashes of lightning. Thunder echoed the prince's baritone, shaking the grand table with the faintest tinkling of silver and china. Half-lidded eyes stayed trained upon his distorted visage, washed to a thinner hue in the dimness yet not lacking intensity, like the sun seen through an overcast winter morning. Bella blinked, face set in much the same fashion his seemed to be in those early days, when she often likened him to a statue.
"I should say not, but what if I have?" She returned evenly, rising from her seat. "I would be no worse off than you, for all your childish tantrums." The heels of her shoes struck audibly despite the figured scarlet runner beneath them, each step carrying her closer to the line drawn across the dining hall by shadow. "Am I not grown simply because I don't scream or spew vitriol when I'm angry? Or perhaps because I don't vandalize things? By all means, give me something of yours that you value, and I'll be most obliged to throw it in a fire." Bella stopped short, a copper brow arched in challenge. "Oh, but I'm so childish, compared to your highness. What shall it be this time? Pie to the face?"
Jaron stood still and bewildered; appalled by Bella's approach, as if surprised his bellowing had not shattered her to pieces like she were made of glass, her truculent defiance conceived like open flames boiling his insides like a kettle upon the stove. The dreadful features of his face slipped away, embedded within the prince as he assumed that intensely blank, statue-esque demeanor familiar to the fiery maiden. "I loathe the sight of you, girl, and your puerile games." He began, terribly composed all of a sudden, "How ill it makes me seeing your face. I'd rather prick my eyes with thorns than look upon you one more second. Merely breathing the same air as you leaves a vile taste in my mouth."
Jaron spouted in his deceptively calm tone again. She had forced his hand by challenging him. Personal attacks against her character were just enough to relieve the malice his heart was craving. "I'll not pretend to have a soft spot for you anymore, just do as I say and perhaps we'll get along, then you can stop wandering my property all day like a chicken without its head." The princes' eyes glazed over upon Bella as he retreated into his marble shell; surely the ghastly thing was hollow and not an ounce of humanity lingered inside.
"Is that all?" The copper-haired maiden's voice cut the tension-thick air, a newly sharpened blade slicing through butter. She stood resolute on the verge of the shadows, the line becoming less distinct with each passing moment as darker clouds rolled in to pour rain over the estate. Her shoulders were drawn back, arms crossed in front of her with an air of authority that might have seemed impossible from the demure young woman. Her chin dipped, fiery fringe sweeping down in front of her eyes, so that she leered at the prince head-on. If he wanted a fight, very well, then; she would give him one.
"If I am lost out of my mind, I couldn't begin to imagine what that must mean for you: a pitiful fool so lacking in wit that all you have left are insults." Bella sneered acidly. The words came easily, tongue fueled by the dammed up anger and bitter resentment that she finally allowed to flow freely. She dared to step closer still. "You exhaust my patience. A week and more I gave you and you couldn't even muster a measly apology. Instead, you choose to assault my character, I assume to overcompensate for your own deficiencies." The steadiness of her voice nearly faltered, so overwhelmed by the rising tide of emotion was she - so overcome with righteous fury that she was white to the lips. She swallowed his venom; although, she had to clench her fists to keep from trembling.
"Well, if that is how you feel, I see no point in remaining here any longer." Bella's bustling skirts twisted round her legs as she turned on her heels, long stride carrying her swiftly out of the dining hall and through the kitchen where she exited its main doors.
The sunny afternoon in the woods faded into a grim, otherworldly storm of thunder, lightning and a creeping melancholia; rain slithered down the windows, the wind howled and the clouds grew dim. The forest was a far cry from the splendid array of bright and blooming trees leading Bella, Sophia and Fritz to the princess' giant beloved cat. Even Inverness assumed darker and gloomy shades inside, not unfamiliar to the denizens yet just as vastly distinct from the radiant dining hall they occupied as they shared Landon's delectable raspberry pie. The difference was night and day, distinguishable by Jaron's presence and the dark aura surrounding him that seemed to ooze an odious tinge across the estate. If it pleased the prince to watch Bella cease her chastising of him and storm off and out of the dining hall, there was no apparent trace of satisfaction on his blank pale face.
No one in the dining hall dared to stop the fiery maiden from storming off, lest her quarrel with the prince ensued, yet they all pondered silently to themselves the meaning of her final declaration; did she see no point remaining in the dining hall, the east wing, the entire castle? By all means, surely Bella had not claimed to have lost her purpose for living in the castle. And yet still, no one could ever blame her if she did, as it was a miracle she ever found purpose there at all. Perhaps it was an empty threat, a last ditch effort to scare the prince. He wasn't truly pretending to admire Bella, was he? Surely not, there was just something about him that gave rise to vile things said in a fit of passion. It was the curse and its evil magic; it left him deranged, spouting abuse on anyone nearby, wasn't it? Perhaps threatening to leave would knock some sense into his mad head. Or maybe Bella just needed some time to cool off and recollect herself, who wouldn't after an exchange with the maniacal beastly prince. How could she leave if she promised to stay?
Then the castles tall, cold and heavy double doors began to open inch by inch, the sound of thick metal hinges creaking could be heard like the trill of a hundred frogs. Howling winds and fierce rain flew inside, blustering into the entrance hall, dragging along a soaking wet young man, drenched in rainwater from the top of his messy brown head to the muddy boots he seemed to trek through the woods in. He desperately slipped through the small opening between the heavy doors just wide enough for his frame to squeeze passed. The doors pushed him forward as they abruptly slammed shut, nearly tripping the young man and reducing the blustering storm to a faint, distant drizzle. As the young man found his footing, widened eyes scanned the perimeter of the entrance hall. If he were not so engrossed in search of Bella, he might have overlooked her copper head amongst the vastly impressive castle interior as she approached the bottom of the stairs directly across the heavy doors separating them from the storm outside.
It was slightly hard to tell beneath the drenched hair, soaked clothes and hooded cloak lied Ben, the all too familiar merchant who might as well be from a distant world, until of course he spoke up across the hall. "Bella?" He called out in a trembly manner, whether his voice quavered more from trekking through the rain or from the apprehension he felt inside the foreboding castle wasn't entirely clear. The young man had never felt so confused, nor could he discern what surprised him the most; to have found the fabled castle hidden in the woods, or Bella lingering inside the magnificent abode, seemingly casual as if she resided there herself. "What is this?" He finally asked once she drew close enough to hear him, "This entire room is nearly twice the size of my house." He observed aloud shakily, wide eyes scanning the perimeter of the vast hall once more. "Am I dreaming?" He asked Bella as his eyes settled on her amber gaze.
"Unfortunately not." The prince interjected, causing the already frantic young man to jump back gasping in fear, "Oh, god!" He shouted, panic-stricken. Jaron must have appeared from thin air, silent as a wisp of smoke. Ben had not seen the dreary dark haired man standing beside them as he scanned the room just moments ago, nor had he heard any footsteps or doors open nearby as he likely would in the vast and mysteriously empty estate, nor did Jaron announce his forbidding presence whatsoever, as he likely wouldn't. Perhaps he meant to spook Ben, the idea hardly contradicted his character. "No one here is dreaming, however much they would like to be." Jaron added, deadpan gaze panning from Ben to Bella.
In all honesty, little if any thought was given to the redhead's final declaration at the moment she made it or prior. There was only hurt for the insults the prince lashed out with, salt in the wounds he had already inflicted, with the burning of the beloved book being the largest by far. All of these things had worn on Bella's nerves, wound them taut like the strings of a violin until they broke. A violin possessed only less than a handful of strings. Jaron had broken them all, even the bowstring and the bow with it. There was nothing left but the violin. Arguably, the force that drove Bella down hallways and around corners and down the stairs so briskly was not fury, but some last-ditch effort at self-preservation.
As such, even she could not have determined the exact meaning of her declaration. The fact that her feet carried her to the entrance hall entailed she meant to leave the castle. Why else would she find herself marching down the stairs, excepting perhaps muscle memory? If that was the case, it seemed more likely that she would have fled out the kitchen door to the garden and run through the storm to the stables to seek comfort from the horses as she had done before. There were certainly no misplaced hopes that he would come after her, pleading for her company and forgiveness. After all, the prince said it himself: he loathed the sight of her. Why, then, shouldn't she leave the castle? One would have to be a fool, or a at the very least a glutton for misery, to hang about someone who would proclaim friendship one day and disgust the next.
Thunder shook the cavernous mouth of the castle that served as the grand entry hall, the accompanying flash barely enough to brighten the domed ceiling. In her ire, Bella failed to consider the conditions outdoors, where she planned to go or how she would get there. She had only wanted one last jab at the prince and he presented her with one, wittingly or no. Yet neither the quaking of the very foundations underfoot nor the muffled pitter-patter of rain overhead were what brought her purposeful stride to a stumbling halt on the bottom step. Across the remaining length of the red gold-trimmed carpet, the heavy worked metal that served as the front doors opened with a reluctant squeal of the hinges. Bella's eyes widened, breath caught in her throat, as a hooded figure bedraggled and wet slid through the narrow gap. For a moment, she knew how Imogen must have felt when she first laid eyes upon Bella. The last thing either of them expected to see was a person come through the door; yet, it happened.
"No." Bella's heart skipped a beat, her stomach felt as though it dropped to the floor. That messy brown hair, those blue eyes - it couldn't be. "NO." Her whole body trembled, lurching forward slowly at first; albeit, as soon as her foot touched the ground, she sprinted. "No no! What are you doing here? You can't be here! You have to go! Now!" Shaking hands grasped Ben's cloaked shoulders, pushing them back against the door. Her voice was a hushed whisper as she cast dread-filled eyes back the way she had come. Surely, it was only a matter of time before someone came. "There's no time for questions. Leave NOW!" Despite how hard she pushed, Bella failed to force the door back open and Ben back through it, shoes sliding on the steadily soaking carpet.
A sensation like a spider crawling down her neck clued Bella to Jaron's presence when there was no other indication, no sound whatsoever of footsteps. In all of their time spent together, she nearly forgot his inhuman condition, how he so quickly transported them from the morning sun-lit gazebo to the shelter of the shadowed west side of the garden. She whipped her head, flame-dark in the subfusc hall, round to glare at him, anger renewed. "Ben, just go." She ground between her teeth, simmering gaze never leaving Jaron's as she placed herself bodily between the two. That is, until the sound of footfalls approaching pulled it toward Henry. She sucked in a breath that was half a sob, shook her head.
"Henry, please..." The fear and pleading she displayed on Ben's behalf was a mirror image of that which she wore when Henry loomed over her on the stone threshold on a dreary day very much like this. Bella knew what was coming; and while she had been powerless to stop it then, perhaps she could now, or so she hoped.
As Bens questions and concerns slipped through Bella's ear and out the other, there was little presence of mind between the two as she pushed him back down the velvet runner he stained with mud, much like Bella and Sophia did that dreary day the forge house girl first stepped foot inside the castle. Ben needn't wonder long why Bella so urgently sought to do away with his unexpected visit to Inverness. Despite how barren the castle appeared from the outside and within its grand entrance hall, residents began filing in one after the other. Bella besought mercy of their burly sentinel, yet was only met with unpromising dismay. "What have you gotten yourself into now, Miss Montagne?" Henry started reluctantly, not particularly enthusiastic to see an unexpected guest in the castle, nor keen on the idea Bella was familiar with the young man in any capacity, presumably intimately; what else would drive a young man to trek through the infamous woods, barging into the secluded castle therein? It was all terribly obvious to the captain. If he could read the young man's intentions on sight so effortlessly, surely Jaron could pick up on it, if he wasn't already aware.
"I would have arranged for some tea and a hot bath had I known we'd have a guest coming in from the rain. All the way from Esterwell, I presume?" Jaron remarked, taunting Bella and confirming his and Henry's suspicions as to what, and more than that, who brought the young shopkeeper into the woods. What felt like a million questions flooded to the tip of Ben's tongue as he scrambled his thoughts for the most appropriate one, "Bella, you know these people?" He wondered aloud, "These people?" The prince assumed a scathing tone all of a sudden. "Watch your tongue, boy." Henry intervened at once to keep the prince's temper from running rampant. "You haven't the faintest clue who you're speaking of." Despite his inappropriate remark in the face of royalty, simply hearing Bella's name leave Ben's mouth provoked Jaron. He could set the 'boy' ablaze with his eyes alone just by looking at him, so he felt. Ben could feel it too; the princes eyes on him, the flames protruding from his pupils, how they blended into Bella's copper hair and Henry's intimidating glare beside it all.
How he would not simply think twice about speaking, but ever speaking again, was the 'boy' so petrified. Yet his instincts as a gentleman and a businessman came into effect, especially so in the face of Bella, who he had longed to see again, and would not so easily let the flame she ignited in his heart be extinguished by the likes of intimidation alone. It seemed he would just have to choose his words wisely, and after all had apparently wandered inside someone's home, an unexpected visitor. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to offend anybody." Ben started confidently, meeting Henry's stalwart gaze, hellbent on getting to the root of whatever Bella seemed to be entangled with, "I was just looking for Bella." He paused, confidence faltering as he drew a long gaze and his eyes fell to the floor, "I- I don't, where have you been?" He looked up to Bella suddenly, losing sense and throwing all caution to the wind; one question loomed in the young shopkeepers eyes after the other, as if the answers he searched for lay written all over Bella's face, "You've been here, this whole time? Why?"
"ENOUGH." Jaron bellowed, unable to help himself flaring up as he watched through fiery eyes and grinding teeth as Ben poured a stream of befuddled inquiry upon Bella. Now it was Henry placing himself bodily between the prince, Bella and what seemed to be her friend, "Your highness, allow me to take the proper measures for our trespasser. I'm not any more pleased to see him than you are." The captain insisted, if only to deescalate the princes temper. Ben had turned to stone, and despite the burly mans clear loyalty towards the prince, he was just thankful the man placed himself in the way of Jaron's hostile glare.
The prince drew a sharp breath as if to convey his impatience, turning his dreadful glare to Henry. "Well, what are you waiting for then?" With that, Henry paused, hesitant to follow through. He turned to Bella, still reluctant to look upon her. "I'm not sure what's going on, but you know what these circumstances call for." Jaron sighed impatiently as he stepped aside, unable to stand the sight of Bella and their unexpected guest a second more. Henry's gentle nature in the matter only stoked the flames. "We can't just let him leave." He added, leaving no room for speculation regarding Ben's affair, albeit the circumstances seemed quite clear to Bella by the dreary look on her face as Henry approached them. "Please don't make this difficult. If you help me, maybe we can help your friend get home safely." Somehow Jaron held his tongue, despite any objection he might have against Henry's suggestion. Perhaps he was curious how Bella would react, and the precise nature of her relationship with their soaking wet visitor who continued dripping rainwater on his floor. It was an opportunity to learn more about Bella, and so the prince remained silent, kept his eyes trained away from everyone.
"Can things possibly get any worse?" The copper-haired maiden woefully asked herself, exchanging glances between the stalwart captain and the dire prince. Oh, that she dared wonder at all! For behind Henry filed in the other denizens, perhaps curious as to whether the opening of the door they all undoubtedly heard meant that Bella had gone. What they arrived to was arguably and without a doubt worse, judging by the mixed expressions on their faces ranging from astonishment to dismay to utter unreadable solemnity. To have Henry, and most especially the prince, witness Ben was terrible; but everyone? It was unthinkable, yet it was.
"I-" Bella opened her mouth, closed it again. There was no objection she could make, no words to absolve herself in the situation. Ultimately, Ben's presence was her fault; albeit, she had neither invited him to the castle nor divulged any details about its existence to him. He came on account of her and that was enough. She drew her lips in a thin, tight line to keep them from trembling in the wake of Jaron's venom, unsure as to whether the cause was anger or dread.
"Ben." The shopkeeper's name hissed between her teeth, an admonition and a warning. He would only dig a deeper hole if he kept on, every word he spoke seeming to aggravate the prince's condition more than the last. These people? Even she shot Ben a glare at those words, going on to groan when he proclaimed to be looking for her as if he was talking to prospective customers. Of all the things he could have said! "For the love of God, Ben, hush!" Bella rounded on him, visibly shaking. Her face was ghostly pale, her voice tremulous. In her eyes was a look he surely had never seen much less been on the receiving end of.
Fists clenched among her skirts, Bella turned pleading eyes to Henry. So ardently she wished they would simply allow Ben to leave; however, she knew they wouldn't - couldn't - and why it had to be so. Their situation was precarious, even Bella didn't know any real details for no one would divulge them to her. Yet the redhead stood between Henry and Ben as though ankle-deep in mud, unable to bring herself to move. Trust didn't begin to describe the reason; she trusted Henry completely to keep his word. She seemed only to be doing what, deep down, she wished someone had done for her in the beginning. Some part of her wished that there had been someone to simply shove her back out those doors and tell her to go home, to never return, especially now when she and the prince just fought and the wounds were fresh.
"I'm a fool to have ever laid eyes upon this forsaken place; and now, so is Ben and it's all my fault." Her eyes closed the barest instant, mind wandering to the possibility that Henry's words implied: that Ben might not leave there safely if ever. He was another liability, not likely inclined to keep any secret agreements or shady dealings. Why in the world they ever trusted her, she might never know. They gambled on her and won, but Ben? "But you can't promise, can you?" Bella nearly whispered around the knot forming in her throat. Another look she cast over her shoulder, a mix of sympathy and reproach. If there was a more favorable option, no one spoke up about it. Shifting her shamefaced gaze to the floor, Bella took a reluctant step to the side.
A peculiar glint flashed across Ben's eyes; a strangely steady calm overcame the young man as Bella pleaded for him to remain quiet with disconcerting urgency. Whereas the prince's sudden outburst had staggered and left him dazed, Bella's pleading eyes reminded him why he had persevered the woods and a thunderstorm in the first place, even going so far as to explore a mysterious castle hidden therein, leaving his own welfare behind among howling winds. Not even the harrowing implications that he may or may not be going home in one piece would rattle the strangely placid calm about him, as he felt there was no home he may return to as long as Bella wasn't there to occupy it. Only in his wildest imagination could he surmise what kept Bella hidden away in the mysterious castle in the woods, but that was less of a concern for Ben. If she was confined there for some reason or another, of her own volition or otherwise, then so be it, he would be too. He watched as she stepped aside, having fixed his gaze on the back of her copper hair in the meantime, and felt little if any fear for what may come so long as she was near.
Ben's composure faltered then, his chest leapt out as he sucked in a sharp breath while a flustered Imogen shrieked from across the vast entrance hall. She stood beside the others in the archway of one branching corridor, having made their way from the dining hall. "My word, not again!" She cried at the sight of the dripping stranger clad in a soaking hooded cloak, "Landon, its happened again!" Ben furrowed his brow as he met Sophia's blank gaze where she peered curiously beside Imogen and Landon. After all having transpired since Bella's arrival to the castle, Imogen's grave apprehension for unexpected guests had yet to be remedied; her arms bent awkwardly above the waist as she tightly clenched air, the knuckles of each idle hand white and tense. Ben had to double take to make sure some dreadful creature wasn't behind him looming over his back, surely it was not him the frail brunette found disconcerting? How she could fathom Ben posed any threat to the stalwart hunk of muscle before him should any kind of quarrel ensue was his best guess, and it was clear the hulking man did not share the frail brunettes concern as he started towards the soaking hooded shopkeeper.
"Right, let's you and me take a walk, unless you want to be dragged on the floor like a sack of potatoes." Henry beckoned with a sidelong glance at Ben as he turned round and started towards the castle undercroft. The hulking man certainly displayed more urgency upon Bella's initial arrival to Inverness, leaving her no choice but to be dragged through the entrance hall. "Let's go kid, with me. That's an order." Henry insisted after a few short paces, gesturing Ben to follow along. Briefly the young man gazed at his own blurry reflection mirrored across the pristine marble below his feet, unsure why he hesitated to follow Henry, especially given the circumstances. He caught only a slight glimpse of Bella in his peripheral, grimaced at the floor. He could only detest the helplessness of their bind to the forbidden wood. There was no option but to play along it seemed, so Ben reluctantly followed Henry's leisurely pace as they made their way across the vast castle interior like a casual stroll through the garden. Perhaps it was reckless of Henry to let his guard down around a stranger, however the captain seemed convinced the boy wasn't a danger to anyone but himself. One glance at Ben and he could see the boy acted out of confusion rather than fear; he felt detest rather than dismay as they locked eyes with each other.
There lies a hint of bravery intertwined with Ben's foolish actions and behavior thus far, or so Henry surmised. Any risks the young man reserved delving into a mysterious castle hidden in the woods, he retained with reckless abandon for Bella's sake and left no room for assumptions in the affair, having admitted his search of her himself moments ago. So long as Bella remained there, Henry felt Ben's cooperation was guaranteed as their saunter to the undercroft. "Don't fret hon, everything is under control, see?" Landon began in attempts to comfort a petrified Imogen, "Won't do any good being stiff as a statue here," He insisted, wrapping an arm around the frail brunettes' shoulder. Somewhere during the commotion, the prince vanished from sight. For a brief moment, as Amarinda and Tobias caught up from the dining hall, Jaron was the only resident of the castle missing from the entrance hall, if one didn't account for Liza and the Monarch. Perhaps he was lingering nearby in the shadows or behind a witches misty veil, whatever the case there was no sign of His Highness other than the grim and desolate expanse of silence and emptiness coating every inch of Inverness.
Sophia waddled attentively into Bella's line of sight, gauging the length of her face as if she could read the forge house maidens thoughts. Between her quarrel with the prince and their unexpected guest being escorted to the undercroft, clearly Bella had seen better days. Sophia could only cling to hope that their worst days were behind them, wishful thinking no doubt so long as Jaron had a mouth to feed. "Is that your friend?" Sophia asked earnestly, eyes darting between Bella, Henry and the trail of muddy rainwater Ben left behind each step to the undercroft. The princess fastened Bella's amber gaze, spoke gently as a nurturing mother to the copper haired maiden, "He'll catch a cold like that. Shall we bring him a blanket?" It was an innocent suggestion, reminiscent of Bella's arrival to the castle; the merciful hospitality bestowed upon her.
Long Bella stood, gaze fixed upon the blur of color that was her reflection on the milky marble floor, gray like the storm rumbling without in the dim gloom. As long as Ben's own reflection remained on the edge of her sight, she dared not look away, lest she dig the hole the merchant found himself in deeper still. Almost she failed to notice when he had gone, plunging further down the rabbit hole of despair and ire the prince dug beneath her feet with his own two hands. Why did Ben have to show up at the worst possible time? Why did Jaron have to appear before she could usher Ben away again?
What if Jaron hadn't come? Would Henry have let Ben leave, without the prince there to posture for? Considering her own experience, that didn't seem likely; but his words led her to believe that he would try to help get Ben home. The real question now was whether or not Jaron could be reasoned with. Having thrown her book into a fire just to spite her, it hardly seemed out of character for Jaron to use Ben against her. These contemplations garbled the voices echoing in the domed hall so they came to the redhead's ears as though through water. "Oh, that--! That...." Her reeling thoughts couldn't conjure an insult for the prince that would suit her temper.
Bella blinked, finding Sophie standing before her and Jaron gone. In that moment, she couldn't grasp the compassion the child offered. Her heart was full of a feeling she was certain she never felt before, like a terrible gnawing hunger or an urgent thirst she couldn't help but quench. She cast her furious glare about in search, that spidery sensation telling her he was still nearby. Her fists clenched among her skirts.
"You're insufferable." The words were low, yet easily reached the farthest corners of the room twice as big as the merchant's house. "Every time I think you can't possibly stoop lower, you prove me wrong. You petulant, vindictive man-child! You're the sorriest excuse for a man I've ever met!" She spat acidly, each word further fueling the craving for savagery. "To think I had sympathy for you- saw you as anything other than a monster!"
If only scarcely Sophie reared to bear witness of the vexed frame mind riddled across Bella's habitually gentle demeanor, she might be less inclined to wander the forest in lieu of lingering inside the foreboding castle; the soft, delicate features of Bella's face stirred by a familiar consternation the princess witnessed time and again in the years since the curse nestled its place therein the castle and surrounding wood. However, Sophie struggled to recall ever seeing Bella inflamed as she was scouring the room.
It was not unlike the forge house maiden to be unimpressed by the others attempts to harmonize her presence within the castle, nor were her previous rebukes against the prince's conduct in the midst of their dining hall quarrel the earliest display of the maidens sharp-witted nature. Bella's fretful gaze often fell upon the castle denizens as if they were not but restless specters made of misty veils; disembodied vagabonds her amber gaze glossed over and beyond. Sophie felt Bella's eyes fall upon her yet did not recognize them, nor their fiery ire as it blazed across the room.
Or so the princess believed, prior to a reminiscent nudge giving rise to memories long since buried in the deepest recesses of her tender mind. She did recognize such fiery ire, yet not any such Bella impassioned by her own volition. "Man-child, is it? Yet here you've been all this time, blinded by your own naivety." A disembodied voice pronounced its presence all of a sudden, reminiscent of that which insisted Bella relinquished her curiosity of the prince's study. "Spares me the burden of understanding how you get along with the rest of these benighted court dwellers." Mayhaps it truly was a specter that cautioned Bella prior to her discovery of the secret laboratory, yet such a notion was awfully unsustainable therein the grand entrance hall, that callously deep echo all too familiar; the disembodied voice unequivocally belonging to the maniacal prince.
"Humor me, won't you?" He persisted, his voice barbing Bella from a new direction each instance he spoke, "I wonder how thine eyes could look upon me and see anything else?" A brief silence ensued; the prince could linger still and silent no longer than that, "Anything other than a savage beast, I wonder! What a foolyou must be!" The prince's bellowing encircled the copper haired girl, seemingly humoring himself rather than allowing Bella the opportunity.
A strange, new air befell Bella upon the resounding bellow of the prince's voice returning fire. She moved only to follow him with her eyes, which yet burned despite having assumed a stony, almost blank expression that could have rivaled the prince's own general demeanor. She drew in a sharp breath through her nose, released it slowly like one trying hard to be reasonable. Her heart fluttered with a giddy excitement at his animosity. She wanted it - needed it; although, she couldn't say why. Had even a little of her logical presence of mind remained, she would have been revolted.
"Indeed, I am a fool." The redhead snapped bitterly. "I am a fool for allowing you to trick me into ever stepping foot in this damned place. I am a fool for not heeding night after night of terrors and never coming back!" Her words, while oozing with contempt, bordered on hysteria. It made no sense to accuse the prince of having anything to do with her arrival to the castle; she knew that. Liza admitted that it was she and the Monarch who conspired to bring her there. Still, Jaron was a monster. He only wanted blood. What better way to get it than by luring someone into the woods or getting someone to do it for you? This was all his doing; it had to be.
"I am a fool for allowing you to deceive me with false tears and making me believe there was something left of the man you used to be! You're worse than those vile creatures in the woods!" Bella's chest heaved, her nails biting the skin of her palms which tingled with lust for contact with the prince's cheek. She felt out his presence, moved to strike him however blindly as that violent craving demanded. "I am leaving this place and I am taking Ben with me."
A palpable haze engulfed the vast hall as Landon threw himself into the fray to rescue Sophie from the crossfire. "Sophia, that's enough, we shouldn't be here." The princess refused to abandon Bella's side despite the forge house maidens hellbent craving for the prince; her heart settled on chewing him to pieces before she spat him out. "No, wait! Bella!" Sophie yelped as Landon firmly grasped hold of the princess. She planted herself on the marble floor, equally hellbent not to budge.
"Child, please!" Landon huffed whilst scooping the princess off her feet and over his shoulder, "Bella!" shrilled Sophie. Bella's name echoed across the room, trailing passed plumes of malice the copper haired girl left in her wake. Jaron silently relished the hazy air, thriving on Bella's feverish fumes yet all of a sudden ceasing to savor it the moment she broached their intimate moment in the garden. He felt a sharp and strange pang in his chest, a wave of dejection washing over him.
"No, it's what she wants." It thought to itself, that ghastly, ugly thing. Yet the pang sharpened as Jaron remained hidden, silently appalled by the strange sensation. The reeling taunted him, stoked the malicious flames; he refused to give her needs their satisfaction, revealing himself whilst catching her wrist as her hand sought his cheek. "You're not going anywhere with him." Jaron declared, grasping Bella's wrist only tightly enough to keep her arm still. Discernible strains notched upon the prince's marble-esque face.
Evidently, Bella succeeded in her endeavor to rattle his core. Surely unbeknownst to her, she had sown the seeds of sin in the process. It glared at her, clenching its jaw as it struggled to maintain a façade of composure. "I'll not allow you to betray your promise for nothing. If you want to leave, then Ben shall take your place here." It pulled Bella closer, so as to emphasize the grave nature of their new agreement, "I promise he'll never see the light of day again."
The princess's cries landed on deaf ears, or ears deaf to all but the dire prince. Bella hardly noticed the child further, consumed as she was by his odious aura. Little could pry her from the malignant tendrils of his being, even the child whom she held so dearly, excepting perhaps the prince himself. His words sent a chill burning through her veins, but her blood boiled again just as quickly. How convenient, to forget so instantly that she wrought this terrible situation upon herself, in favor of getting one more jab at him. It was his fault, all of it!
"Oh, so now it means something to you?" She hissed as he drew her closer, hand shaking with unfulfilled requital. Her lips trembled as she grasped at straws, her own fury leaving her speechless. A knot like a fist formed in her throat and she cursed her own wont towards angry tears as her eyes glassed over. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of crying in front of him but what else could she do? Only one thing came to mind then, one last small hurrah. "I HATE YOU!" Bella shouted, marring the toe of his shoe with the heel of her slipper as she stomped down with all her might. She tore away from him, flying past the standers by on her way up the stairs.
"There's nowhere to run Bella!" Jaron shouted, raising his voice to accommodate the growing distance between them, "Fate will find you tossing in despair, until we meet again!" The prince's ire temper waned; the malicious haze evanesced as Bella finally eluded its line of sight, rounding the bend to the castles west wing, leaving Jaron in the wake of their fray, alone therein the vastly desolate hall. Meanwhile, Ben familiarized himself with the undercrofts dank accommodations and lack thereof as the barred door of his cell shut behind him. "Such extravagant splendor upstairs, yet you lot couldn't spare a place for me to sit?" The shopkeeper criticized whilst turning to face Henry. "Would you mind fetching some spare clothes at least? I'll catch a cold like this. You have that at least, don't you?"
Henry leered directly towards the young man through iron bars, holding fast a silent steady gaze. Ben blinked, then sighed whilst averting his downcast eyes from the hulking keeper, "I guess all that wasn't in the budget." Henry stirred all of a sudden, the sight of a soaked wanderer reminiscent of Bella's initial arrival to the castle. His own face fell as he recalled the hope she instilled; the life she breathed into their hollow abode. The captain spoke up sympathetically, "I'll see what I can do." Ben's eyes lit up therein the dim and damp cell, he couldn't help casting a glance along the disfigurement of the mans face and briefly wondered if that was obvious. "No promises." Henry added, briskly turning back the way they came.
An airy voice called out the forge house maidens name as she scrambled through the west wing. "Where does thine legs take thee, mine fraught fettered lady?" The Monarch fluttered just around the corner of the hallway, distinguishable as ever from the dim castle interior by its familiarly mysterious terra-cotta glow. "Pardon my intrusion in your affairs, Miss Montagne. If you seek sanctuary from His Majesty, you'll find no such place within his castle walls." The ethereal butterfly suspended itself from the chitin of its orange and black striped wings, hovering gracefully before the forge house maiden, illuminating her glassy eyes by its steady diaphanous glow. "Dear Ben waits for you in the undercroft, he's travelled a long way as you know. He shouldn't be left alone, not whilst His Majesty resides nettled by his anguish."
"Bella!" The tender voice of a princess called out to Bella, trailing behind the copper haired girl, having apparently eluded Landon's grasp some way or another; a simple feat with Henry occupied in the undercroft. It may have jeopardized her morning privileges sharing Bella's company, but that was the least of the troublesome tykes worries. "Fret not Miss Montagne, I'll protect you." The Monarch assured. Sophie stumbled to a halt before the redhead and their magic friend. She glanced at Bella's glassy amber eyes only a moment before throwing her arms around the maidens waist, nestling the side of her head against her skirts. Surely, the princess needed to hug Bella more than Bella need receive one. "Don't leave." Was all she could manage to say in the moment, her voice trembling as her own eyes dampened. It was all she could think to say, especially since Bella threatened to take Ben with her, back to Esterwell and away from her self-proclaimed sister no doubt.
"There's nowhere to run.." Whether it was the vast expanse of dim beauty that echoed the prince's dreadful words or Bella's own mind, she couldn't tell, despite her fruitless attempt to shut them out by pressing her palms over her ears. Was there truly no place to flee to, no place that the prince dared not step foot in at all on this massive estate? The only place it seemed he didn't go was the very room allotted to the redhead, with its lack of window coverings. That was where her hasty stride carried her in the heat of the moment, reducing the rest of the West Wing to blurs of washed out color.
"That voice!" Bella's momentum halted at once, nearly causing her to trip as she spun round in search of the source. "You!" She blurted, simultaneously shocked and accusing. Her face blanched and flushed in turns, mouth opening only to snap shut. "Is there not?" She breathed though she knew the answer, looking down at her fidgeting hands. Alas, even her room was no true sanctuary, not so long as the sun didn't bathe it in light. The long hours of night or cloudy, stormy instances such as these afforded the prince access to any place he wished. The next best defense were the doors, which could be locked; however, they could easily be opened when he need only obtain the key.
Bella scoffed, indignant, turned her face away from the Monarch. What anguish plagued the prince other than that which he caused himself? Perhaps if he didn't wish to find himself the subject of others' scorn, he should think twice before destroying the things those others held dear. Despite that she was no longer within the prince's immediate vicinity, Bella still found it easy to be angry with him, disregarding other parties involved and shirking the blame entirely onto the prince. Already she forgot the night terrors she mentioned only moments ago and the fact that surely some degree of Jaron's anguish was a result of those events. He brought her fury upon himself; he only had himself to blame. All he need do was apologize, but that opportunity had long since passed. She wouldn't hear it now if he deigned to get on his knees and beg her forgiveness.
"Oh, Ben!" The name was a groan of mixed emotion from behind Bella's hands, which she scrubbed over her face. "Isn't there something you can do? Couldn't you- I don't know- shower Ben in your magic dust and send him home? Maybe open a door in a wall that leads outside, or better yet, right in his house?" Her hands clasped together before her breast in her desperate pleading. Deep down, she knew she was asking the impossible; yet, the butterfly had done what seemed impossible before. How could seeing Ben safely home be out of the realm of possibility if making dresses and opening secret passages were not?
"That's comforting." The stubborn maiden retorted, turning toward the small voice beckoning to her from the way she'd come. It ought to have been at least somewhat reassuring, considering she and Liza might both have perished in the forest if not for the Monarch. It seemed she refused to be softened, until the arms of her little sister wrapped about her waist. Guilt crashed into her like a tidal wave at once. How could she have fought with the prince so in front of the children, especially Sophie? How could she have so carelessly swung at him with Sophie standing right there, potentially in harm's way? "Oh, Sophie.." One hand rested on the princess's back, the other petted her bright auburn hair.
"Don't worry about that." She took a moment to dry her own eyes before offering a smile and swiping away any tears from her sister's face. "Do you think you might still help me find a blanket for my friend? Or some dry clothes? I wouldn't want him to catch a cold." Bella playfully tapped a finger on the child's nose, hoping to lift her spirits after the scene she witnessed. It also doubled as a welcome distraction for both girls, so they didn't have to think about the prince or his grim warning.
"This looks about right." Bella thought aloud, analyzing the shirt she held aloft in the dressing room. It felt like a finely spun wool, as did the pants she picked first, the perfect protection against the chill of the undercroft. They were humble garments for what might otherwise be found in a castle, but they were well made and undoubtedly better than even the finest suit could ever be so long as it was wet. The singular drawback was that Bella had no accurate notion of Ben's size. In all the time she spent with him before staying at the castle, she never took much notice of his clothes outside of the manner of his dress. He usually looked immaculate, dressed for business, if just a bit messy due to his hair. Thusly she had to guess on the larger side to ensure that he could wear them at all. They would do long enough to launder his clothes if nothing else. She folded the shirt, draped it along with the pants over one arm. Hopefully, Henry wasn't guarding the door.
Bella's amiable tenor lifted Sophie's spirits with ease, as the princess expected. She appeared to her then a polar opposite of the fervent maiden spewing scorn at her brother just moments ago. To think the gentle copper haired lady she had the displeasure of bumping into in the woods, so selfless that she not dare shift the blame unto a child for leading her through the wet maze of bark and mud that was the hazyily forbidding forest, and how could she ever blame Sophie when ultimately the Monarch was guilty of luring her into the woods; setting forth bizarre visions as bait for the forge house maidens ardent curiousity. To think a girl as innocent and kind as she was altruistically humble could find within herself such venomous scorn; a capacity for cruelty His Majesty relished to behold, was unfathomable. And yet it wasn't, how could she? Something happened to that dreamy girl, lured by mystifying apparitions into the brooding castle therein, something changed her in the time since--that fervent maiden spewing scorn, it couldn't be!
"O-kay." Muttered the princess, growing placid as the corners of her mouth marked a faint yet distinct smile. So long as Bella was near, she carried an unshakable faith their worst days did remain behind them. It was easier to feel that way when she evoked something wonderful inside the castles forlorn denizens, especially so as she was up and animated, influenced by malicious ire or otherwise, not bedridden as she was a short time ago, compelled to indefinite sleep by ezinime.
The entrance hall grew empty as it was still, silent; Bella and Sophie's arrival marked by their light steps down the stairs; the Monarch's diaphanous glow gliding across the room akin to a wandering travelers lantern, illuminating the dark of night across open country as the mirthless candlelit dim of the entrance hall glinted briefly, dispelled by the Monarch's glow. "Wait just a moment." A deep voice leapt from the dark to join the girls. Sophie turned round, slightly dismayed to hear Henry trailed behind them atop the stairs. To think he might be there in her brothers favor filled her to the brim with disappointment, as everyone therein the castle often did. She hid from him best she could behind Bella's slender frame, poking her head out only enough to watch him make his way towards them. He stopped halfway down the steps, stood beside them whilst raising a curious brow.
"The door is locked." He remarked, gesturing to the wooden door below; the only entrance into the undercroft. His stoic demeanor melted in the face of Bella and Sophie, a deviant warmness enveloped his eyes and staunchest aspects. With haste the clang of keys jumped off their ring as Henry slid one particularly into the knob of the wooden door. He stepped aside, pulling it open as he met Bella's amber gaze, and simply nodded. "Be careful." He warned the girls, closed the door behind them.
Ben pressed his back against the cell wall, huddled on the ground, his arms wrapped around his knees in an attempt to conserve the dwindling body heat he emitted. His attention swayed back and forth from the iron bars constraining his freedom and the emptiness of the cell across from his, making do with what little torchlight flickered from its frugal fixture mounted on the wall. He tried desperately to wrap his thoughts around moments transpired; the desperation riddled all over Bella's face as she pressed his frame back whence he came; the echoes of her vehement strife following him across the entrance hall and into the undercroft. There, huddled on the floor of the dank cell, he shared Bella's madness, albeit to a lesser degree. A brief taste of Inverness. Was it less tolerable than the melancholy hum-drum of Esterwell's daily affairs, he hadn't yet decided as the light brush of slippers upon stone drew closer.
"Bella!" He exclaimed, scrambling to his feet. His soaked overcoat draped around his shoulders, fell to the cold stone floor next to the dampened crumpled jacket strewn beside. The shopkeeper sprung up and inches from the iron bars between them, wrapped his hands around one and another, "Are you okay?" He breathed shakily, unsure what else to say, not knowing what to think. His eyes bounced frantically as he searched her person for any signs of harm, a grave air crashing into him as her countenance settled in their reflection. "Is it really you?" He couldn't help but wonder given everything so far; the time spent in search of her, missing the dreamy forge house maiden he grew so fond of, and all that he found. Whatever this meant for them, his heart beat restlessly to know.
With no sound other than that of their own passage through the otherwise empty halls, it came as quite alarming when the burly sentinel spoke up from behind the girls on their way down the stairs. Bella stiffened, drawing in a sharp breath, and turned apprehensively to face him. She thought it lucky, having peered over the balustrade to gauge whether or not the coast was clear, to find the door unguarded. Too lucky, in her case, or so she figured until Henry unlocked the door to the undercroft for them. No words could have expressed the depths of Bella's gratitude, which she looked upon him with shining eyes as she stepped into the abysmal darkness she had hoped to never set foot in again.
Taking Sophie's hand, Bella trudged after the Monarch. The warm glow like sunset eased the dread that threatened to turn her round and send her sprinting back out of the undercroft despite the mission at hand. She tried not to recall her own experience or the red eyes that pierced the dark much like the butterfly. Still, she sought uselessly about the murky shadows, expecting the prince to appear at any moment. Letting go of her sister's hand as they neared, Bella ushered Sophie behind her. Better, safer, for the child to be involved as little as possible.
"I'll live. Are you okay?" The redhead offered a ghost of a smile, unsure of what to say. Part of her wanted to greet him like an old friend, another wanted to scold him. How to even begin to approach the subject of his presence there and how detrimental it could be? "Oh, here. I brought you some dry clothes. You'll catch your death like that down here." She raised her arm a bit, the clothes still folded over it, and made to pass the garments between the bars as Sophie had her blanket what felt so long ago. "Ben, what are you doing here? You said you were looking for me, why? My family- are they alright? They didn't send you, did they?" Her tone took a hint of urgency. What other reason could Ben possibly have for coming all that way in search of her? Certainly not for mere conversation.
Even the benevolent warmth of Bella's presence, the natural kindliness she conveyed could not remedy Ben's wild concern. The young man averted his eyes from her dreamy aura, groaned quietly under a short breath, "Soaked through, but here all the same." He answered bitterly, eyes fixed on the finely spun wool draped over her arm. Surely, the young man's welfare was the least of his concerns therein the castle dungeon, evident by his reluctance to accept Bella's aid however thoughtful the gesture was. Pensive eyes followed her arm, the surrealness of it and hours passed longing for the maiden who appeared at arms length and yet felt a lifetime away. He caressed the fabrics in each hand, offering no gratitude for them as he studied the duds so as to avoid her dreamy aura.
"No, what are you doing here?" Ben returned her query, spared no subtlety for his wild concern in her affairs. "Bella, what's happening?" He clenched his fists, squeezing the garments as if to wring his woes from their fabric. "Have you any idea how long its been?" He murmured, tightening his grip, "Not a word from you, nothing. My mind only conjured the worst, if I'd ever see you again…" His face jerked up, beheld the forge house maiden, "Your family- Celine, she told me you were looking after an elderly man, 'a poor family' she said- that you met them while you were lost." Ben solemnly posed himself, transfixed by the copper haired girl he sought relentlessly as he suppressed a myriad of questions flooding his mind.
"He loves you." Sophie blurted blankly, lingering in the background of Bella's regard. It all appeared very obvious to the girl. Ben reminded the princess of herself, the way he trekked through the woods clad in a traveler's cloak in search of a friend. He appeared in no rush to dispute Sophie's claim, seemed relieved to hear it all the more so by the way he loosened his tight grip on the garments as he met the child's prying gaze.
Amber eyes followed the merchant's hands, watching blankly as they fiddled with the offered garments. They reflected the maiden's anxiety with their unconscious gestures, neither accepting the clothes nor rejecting them. Little could Bella do but stand there in the face of her friend's questions, wishing he would take the clothes so she could flee his interrogation. She had no answers to give him. By rights, any answers she might have given weren't hers to give; they were Jaron's. While she had some idea of the circumstances that ultimately led her to the castle, she was still just as much in the dark as Ben in regards to the truth. If she wanted to know, she would either have to ask Jaron or investigate for herself, both unfavorable options that she forbore to consider.
"I don't know," Bella confessed, the words barely above a whisper threaded into an aggravated sigh. "Yes, because I told her to say so." Her tone took on an edge. She felt strangely vulnerable in the face of Ben's pragmatism, still raw after her fight with the prince. The only thing that saved Ben from a lashing then and there was Sophia's frank observation, catching the maiden off-guard. Whereas she opened her mouth to defend herself, she could only utter a series of strangled sounds and incomplete words as her face reddened.
"Sophie!" The older sister hissed, turning round to face the child, an action which tore the garments from Ben's hands. One look at the child's face calmed her, albeit she was still mortified. "Dear heart, can you do me a favor? I'm sure my friend," she emphasized the nature of her relationship with the young man therein, "could use something warm to drink. Would you go ask Landon to heat some water for me?" Bella left no room for her proclaimed-sister to object, gently turning her back the way they had come and urging her on with a hand on her back. Only once Sophie was out of earshot did Bella turn back to Ben.
"Such nonsense." She sighed with the faintest shake of her copper head. "Ben, you can't be here. I don't know how I'm going to get you out of this; but if I do, you have to go home and never come back. It's not safe for you or them for you to be here. You shouldn't even have found this place, much less gone looking for me!"
A sly smile played about Sophie's lips; how quickly ripples of abhorrent misdeeds coasting His Majesty's stormy afternoon quarrel dissipated from her mind before blooming youth caught in loves ebb and flow. She trotted along the dim walkway, catered to Bella's task posthaste, a distraction for her as much a warm, refreshing cup of tea was in Ben's best interest. "Safe for them? What about you? And what feeble old man should reside in this place who might need your help with those men about?" A wild passion gushed from the young man as he desperately tried to recognize the forge house maiden posed at arm's length.
"How did you even find this place? Of all people…" His avid tone fell beside his downcast eyes, "...you're the last person I'd expect to get lost wandering the woods." Balling his fist, the young man sucked his teeth in spite of Bella's concern. No, he never once believed in the fables his contemporaries weaved on their humdrum looms of hideous beasts living in great castles hidden within the forest. Regardless of stumbling upon the latter, what business did a young woman like Bella have wandering therein? None whatsoever, he felt. "How foolish could you be…?" He muttered beneath a sigh, downcast still.
Raw. Bella was still much too raw after her confrontation with the prince to gracefully accept any criticism from Ben. A sound somewhere between a gasp and a scoff erupted from her throat, eyes ablaze in the dark. Who did he think he was to presume anything about her, much less call her foolish? His words implied that she simply walked into the woods on a whim and got lost like any directionally-challenged city-bred girl might, when in fact she had been lured unknowing and rather against her will. Could it be said that she was foolish for chasing after the Monarch in a fit, thus allowing herself to be tricked? Perhaps. Would she have entered the woods if ever it occurred to her that any of the events transpired since would happen? Certainly not. If not for the blatant trickery, Bella wouldn't be here. Shame on her for falling for it, but shame on Liza and the Monarch for their scheming. More importantly, how could she impart any of this to Ben? --and such audacity to call her foolish when he had yet to even realize that the "feeble old man" didn't exist! She seethed, hair on fire in the abysmal light of the nearest torch.
"I was called here." Bella ground out, her angry trembling audible. It was true, albeit not in so many words. Liza and the Monarch chose her for whatever reason, which they had yet to divulge to her among other things. "I'm safer here, despite what you must think." Her voice dropped off a bit at the end and she cast her gaze ascance. There didn't seem a good way to go about explaining the dreams, how the woods called to her and lured her unconscious from the supposed safety of her home and family. The woods did not disturb her here within the castle walls and the dreams she experienced were no conjurings of the forest.
"These people need my help- that child needs my help! I'm here because I'm trying to do the right thing!" The redhead defended hotly, her fervor ringing off the stone walls with an edge of desperation. A brief moment of silence passed before she sighed, exasperated. "Oh… Who am I kidding? Right thing… Loretta would be beside herself if she knew."
Ben listened keenly, his eyes trained on the cold stone floor and flickering of torchlight, how it conveyed a similar avidity to Bella's fire as it danced, wavering to and fro beside her shadow. His feelings persisted, refusing to be swayed by cursory excuses. Perhaps he might understand her strife given everything, every phenomenal detail between the Monarch's trickery and henceforth. If and only if he could believe her extraordinarily precarious tale, that is, but she neglected to afford him the benefit of the doubt, left Ben to his own devices and downcast on thin ice.
"Loretta?" Ben finally asked, looked up to face the forge house maiden he could hardly recognize if at all. She possessed the same intrinsic grace as that dreamy maiden, yet lacked the subtle modesty he grew so fond of in their brief time spent. "Who's Loretta?"
"She'd be so worried..disappointed.." Bella imagined the expressions her beloved surrogate might wear if she were privy to the events of the past few months, the concern in her voice when she would undoubtedly call the maiden by first and middle name. The woman was almost a tangible presence in the shadows, tutting over the situation Bella had gotten herself into. "You flighty child," She could hear Loretta sigh and put a hand to her head in disbelief that such a well-behaved girl could get into so much trouble.
"You know, she-" The redhead faltered, stumbled over the realization that Ben did not in fact know. Never in the summer afternoons they spent in each other's company did Bella mention Loretta to the young merchant. She talked about herself to him very little if any. Jaron was the one she shared those more intimate details with, thereabout the only person to ever ask her for them. "Nevermind." Bella subsided, distant, visibly drawing into herself. Folding the clothes, she pushed them into Ben's hands. "I should go see about that tea. You should change, lest you fall ill." Her brisk steps started into the dark, striking the stones with unnecessary intensity.
A strange sense of relief washed over the prince as he eavesdropped Bella's exchange with the newcomer, cloaked behind the dim veneer of shadows therein with them akin to a chameleon, hiding in plain sight just close enough to listen clearly and brimming with curiosity. There perhaps wasn't a more suitable place for a vampire to hide than the shadows, concealed by darkness, invisible to the naked eye. He wanted to understand the circumstances of their relationship - what lead Ben to trek through the forest despite his own well being in search of the young maiden the castle denizens had grown so fond of in the time since she found herself in a near identical situation as his; shivering, wet and desperate. If it meant an invasion of Bella's privacy, so be it the prince felt. The magnificent castle they had both reluctantly wandered into was his birthright, despite everything. He wouldn't expect a straight answer from Bella regarding their relationship by any means, at least not while the air between them burned still, scalding hot and volatile. Ultimately there was no challenge in a prince justifying his own actions, in his own home of all places, damned as it was.
Ben's impetuous judgements amused Jaron, he could almost feel a smirk playing upon his dreary countenance. Foolish is putting it lightly, he thought in regards to the impulsive habits that lead Bella to Inverness in the first place. How gratifying it was to hear his own thoughts imparted on Ben's behalf, he almost admired the young man for his pragmatism given Bella's circumstances. He too felt if she had any sense, the copper-haired maiden would have skipped town long ago, or at the very least left him and the rest of the castle denizens for dead when she had the chance. To hear her speak of her selfless concern for them only aggravated those ideas further. Bella was a warm light in their dark, bleak life and Jaron loathed her for it. All the halls grew dimmer by day and night, mirroring their chances of survival which seemed null, better to snuff out the candles he felt. Perhaps he ought to begin with the brightest of them all.
A sharp, crisp air breezed passed Bella therein the dank and dimly lit hall, carrying a tangible dread magnified by a hush of darkness enveloping the undercroft; the sharp breeze extinguishing every candlelight on its path to the door. The Monarchs effervescent sunset suddenly the only fount of light in the otherwise pitch black, narrow corridor. Bella's magical companion reacted to Jaron's presence, halting its flight towards the door - there was no point in conveying his lingering under cover of darkness as he quickly made himself known. "All too familiar, these cold stone hallways, don't you think?" He taunted the redhead spitefully, eager to rattle her countenance, "You never did thank me for pulling you out of that dank cell, allowing a soft bed for you to sleep in. I could have let you rot down here." Another brisk wind in the dark before he spoke up again, his cold tone growing closer in the dark, "If I had known what a nuisance you would be, I might have just thrown away the key."
Ben called out from down the hall, "Hello? Bella? What happened to all the light?" He wondered aloud, unable to discern the voices as they were only a distant murmur from where he sat in his cell. "Perhaps I've been too nice with you." Jaron continued, speaking up from behind Bella all of a sudden, "Your friend won't be so lucky here Bella, that's a promise. You're not going to walk all over me anymore, I'll show you how insufferable I can be!" Not a moment after Jaron uttered the last syllable of his malicious proclamation did the wooden door to the undercroft fly off its brass hinges, sliding across the grand halls marble floor. What little light the grand hall had to offer flooded into the narrow corridor, illuminating the pitch black darkness that enveloped Bella and her magical companion. Henry rushed into the hallway to investigate, "What happened, are you hurt?" He was visibly alarmed but seemed to keep a level head as Bella didn't appear to be harmed in any physical way. As the question of who was responsible for tearing the door out of the wall came to mind, Henry could only think of one suspect, evidently the only person in the castle with a capacity for dismantling the castle. The prince, however, seemed to have vanished from thin air as if he had never been there in the first place.
Bella scuffled to a stop behind the monarch as her forward fluttering came to an abrupt halt. They were just far enough from the door to the undercroft that it was obscured by shadows, even with the torchlight flickering sparsely along the cold stone walls. His presence was known before he ever spoke a word, as a brisk gust extinguished the paltry light, carrying with it the scent of extinguished flames and chilly dampness. A tingling like spiders crawling on her skin sent a shiver down her back more so than the sharp breeze the prince conjured, setting Bella on high alert. She couldn't help scanning the inky blackness around her, useless as it was; the monarch's golden light only barely brightened the immediate area.
"Thank you?" The redhead blurted out in a tone of convincing horror with an edge of sudden outrage, betrayed only by the blanching of her already pale complexion that she secretly hoped the prince couldn't see. "Why would I? You've done nothing but lie to, manipulate, and verbally abuse me all this time!" A feeling like fever washed over her, burning up within yet simultaneously freezing without. She balled shaking fists among her skirts. "If not for Sophie, I would have already gone, rather than put up with you." Whether or not that was a bluff was debatable; albeit, had it not been for Sophie, she would not have returned to bring them all back from the brink of death. Then again, that was still before the promise, before the prince's humanity streamed down his face and stirred her own to compassion.
"No, it was nothing but lies." Bella shut the recollection down, trading any compassion that might override her new clarity for that wild fury more akin to mania from earlier in the grand hall. She almost didn't hear Ben at all as she sought Jaron again in the dark. That had to be the reason he snuffed out the lights; he worried she would actually get one over on him this time, the coward! Her hand throbbed with unredressed retribution. "Well, excuse me for causing you so many problems." She sneered contemptibly, almost manically. Steam practically whistled from her ears. Oh, to just be able to hit him! "You mean it gets worse?" She mocked on the backwash of the door flying out of its frame. To think that the prince's behavior could retrograde any further hardly seemed possible at this point, but he already exceeded that expectation multiple times over. Bella stared at the dim arch of the doorway until Henry stood in front of her so that he blocked it with his body.
"No." Her gaze fell to where the monarch hovered between them, staring into the sunset-colored aura as though she might find answers in it. All she found were painful reminders of all that transpired, from the monarch leading her through the woods in the rain to the contradicting moments of friendship and enmity between her and Jaron; and yet, she pinned the blame entirely on him despite Liza's confession. He put them up to it, surely, that vile thing! He used them as means to whatever end he had in mind, which currently appeared to be making everyone as miserable as he was with no rhyme or reason other than he wanted everyone else to suffer alongside him. A monster, indeed! The devourer of not only blood but light and happiness!
Pursing her lips, Bella brushed past Henry, all at once abandoning her purpose in heading for the door in the first place. The tea was in Sophia's hands for now; the business of pursuing his highness was far more urgent. She searched the usual spots, the various sitting rooms she found him occupying before, hesitating in spite of her fury to even approach his study. It stood to reason that the prince would go there, if he wished to avoid her at all, considering her apprehension. Alas, Bella went, not bothering to pay the courtesy of a knock. She entered, closing the door surprisingly softly, and leaned back against it, her fingers still wrapped about the handle.
"Dare I ask whether or not you have an answer yet?" Bella asked evenly, glowering at Jaron across the gloomy expanse of ruin. Her words harkened back to their last exchange there; however, she left no guesswork about it. "What do you want?" She hissed, dared to step away from the door. "You say I disgust you, yet you demand I stop avoiding you. I freely give you company and you shun me. Make up your mind, already!" Closer still she came to the grand desk, the only obstacle between them. She pressed on without preamble. "Release Ben. He has no part in this. I'm sure he can be reasoned with, to not divulge anything he's seen to anyone. Let him go."
