Blind and the Beast

Cursed

-Adam-

Polly had to force him to leave Belle's side to eat something. He only agreed to it because he felt as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. He expected to find Annette in the kitchen, but when he walked through the door there was an unfamiliar woman standing in the center of the kitchen. She looked normal besides the long blue robes she was dressed in that flowed around her and her bright gold eyes.

"Oh finally, I was beginning to get bored." She said. 

"Who are you?"

She smiled, "Right, I forget that we haven't exactly met. I am the sorceress." 

She held out her hand to him, but he didn't move to take her hand. 

"You're her." he said, "You're the one who cursed my father."

She lowered her hand and curtsied.

"We have something to talk about King Beast."

"I'm not the Beast King." He said. The prospect of dealing with a magic weilder felt exhausting. They always found ways to twist your words and meanings.

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk about. I won't go without a Beast King and I thought I'd offer you the job first." 

He laughed darkly. "You won't talk me into anything witch. I know the kind of games magic creatures play."

"I am not a creature of magic. I control magic. I am much more powerful than any of the creatures youve come across. If you don't want to be the King Beast I can't force you. I see that I am wasting my time here. I'll have to find someone else to keep the monsters in the forest. It's to bad I know one particular human friend of ours will be disappointed in your decision."

She turned to leave but Adam charged forward and stopped her.

"What are you talking about? What does Belle have to do with this?"

The sorcceress turned and smiled sweetly at him. 

"Haven't you heard about my little bargain with Belle?" She asked.

"You've cursed her." He felt his throat constrict and panic set in. "You're the reason she sleeps. You gave her that rose?"

The Sorceress nodded her head. "Yes, it's one of my calling cards. You called it a curse, but you couldn't be more wrong. Curses can only be cast on people who have shown to me that they deserved to be cursed. I couldn't curse her anymore than I could curse you right now. She volunteered to become the Keeper of the castle."

"What is a Keeper of the Castle?"

"I was correcting one small oversight from my previous curse. I realized that if I'm going to have a Beast King, I need someone to take care of this place." She moved over to the table and moved her finger along the surface, removing imaginary dust. "That's where the Keeper comes in."

"She won't be doing your bidding witch." He snapped. 

"That's where you're wrong. Belle and I made an agreement and since I've given her what she wanted, she will be my Keeper. It's outside of your hands."

She was right.

"You abused the situation and took advantage of her." He accused. The sorceress just shrugged.

"What are you going to do about it? You're not very intimidating Adam."

He shook with anger, but the helplessness of the situation washed over him. There was noting that he could do.

The sorceress yawned obnoxiously, "I should be going. I still need a Beast King, and if I can't find one here I might as well start looking. I don't think it will be a hard position to fill. Plenty of men would be honored to accept, and now I have someone sweeten the deal." She said with a wink.