The Beast of Rose Castle

-= 3 =-

"W-well, sir, you see... Liyor brought a girl into the castle!" Zaman exclaimed. Liyor swung his head to look at the pudgy man. 

"Ah, yes. It was not as if you weren't there!" Liyor retorted. "As for the girl... she was freezing. She would have died!" 

"You brought a girl into my castle!" the large man roared. Annelie froze further, heart thudding helplessly in her chest. She felt like slipping to the ground and trying to just disappear. No longer did she care about anything other than escaping the horrid castle she was trapped inside. 

"W-well... we... we... yes," Zaman whispered, wringing his hands helplessly. The dark haired man shouted something incoherent and stomped to the bed, throwing the fur blankets to make sure no one was there. Annelie's heart stopped when his eyes moved through the room, and landed on the closet. She looked from side to side, trying to find some way of getting out, of escaping his wrath. 

Her body pressed back through a mound of clothes, hanging and fallen. All were ridden with dust. She curled up on the ground, trying to make herself as insignificant a sight as possible. The Beast, she realized with a blood-curdling shiver. That was what he was. 

Oh, she had heard her father speak of the man. Mistreated, he had said. That was all the Beast was, a man who was mistreated and wrongly judged by the townspeople. 

No, he isn't at all. He is as much a monster as they say. He is no man. He is a beast, she thought, struggling to stay silent through her tears and need to sob. 

The Beast strode to the closet door and slammed it open once more. Light filtered into the dark space, and Annelie didn't move. She barely even felt herself breath as he pulled the clothes in the closet to one side, search for her. "Sir! What are you doing!" Liyor cried out as clothes tumbled down, effectively covering her. 

"What do you think I am doing! I am looking for the peasant girl you decided to take into my castle! She isn't here, but you will find her! If you don't find her by dawn, I will search for her myself!" the Beast shouted. With a flick of his cape, he strode to the door and exited with heavy steps out of it. 

"I've never seen the master more... agitated," Liyor whispered. 

"I told you. He doesn't like visitors, and he especially hates women," Zaman replied. "Oh... look at the mess he made. We will have to get this cleaned up later." 

Liyor looked over at Zaman who seemed so very focused at the messed up bed. "First, we must find the girl! We cannot let him terrify her so! What if he does something he will regret, Zaman? Oh, we must find her. I cannot stand the guilt of knowing what we've brought her into," Liyor exclaimed, shaking his head with a suddenly soft and kind expression. 

"Let us rally the rest of the servants then. We need to search this castle from top to bottom before sunrise," Zaman agreed. 

They left, their footsteps echoing off down the hall. She kept still for a lot longer than that of which she had planned. 

Annelie brushed out of her hiding place at the very back of the large closet. Clothing dropped off of her body as she rose and parted the curtain of clothes that were still hanging on to the rung from iron hooks. The room was empty, leaving her alone in her own thoughts. 

If she was to leave the room she would no doubt be swiftly located by the unknown number of servants. If she was to stay, she didn't doubt the Beast would eventually find her. That was something she didn't want to face. So, she moved to the window, which was on the second floor of the large castle. She tugged on the sash, finding it hard to move. 

Ice had frozen it over quite effectively. However, with fear and dread on her side, she eventually tugged it up. Icy, penetrating winds blasted through in a hard wave. It left her teeth chattering and her body quaking. The fire dimmed before being blown out by another gust of wind. Annelie took a step out and another until her body was precariously out the window.