Hidden Beauty

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Rebecca was awoken the same way every day, and it was quite a cruel way for a young girl who needed her rest. Her step umother came into her room at around 5:30 every day, looking poised, composed, and sophisticated with her blonde hair pinned up on her head in a neat bun, and her fancy deep green gown hugging her feminine body.

She yanked the thick and warm blankets off of poor Rebecca, leaving her to freeze in the cold morning air of spring in England. Next, she tore the pillows out from under Rebecca's head, letting her head drop to the uncomfortable mattress painfully.

"Get up!" She yelled at her, beating her with the wooden spoon she always carried up with her. Rebecca squeaked and rolled away, only to land on the floor with a bang.

"Stop," Rebecca cried when her step mother continued to beat her. "I am awake!"

Her step mother stood and straightened her dress; "good," she said. "I would like breakfast. If you do not have it ready soon, I will tell that boy to go home, along with his friend."

"Boy; what boy; is it John? Who is his friend?" Rebecca asked eagerly, wanting to get over her pain and see her best friend.

"It does not matter, because if you do not get your chores done, you will not see them;" her step mother replied, beating her again for good measure.

"All right; I'll do it!" Rebecca screamed at her. "I'm sorry, I'll work."

"Good," her step mother said, walking out of her room.

Rebecca sighed and sat on the edge of her bed, trying to stop the tears that threatened to fall out of her eyes. Once she had calmed down, she replaced her blankets and pillow. She then took her nightgown off and stood in front of her full length mirror that her father bought her to inspect the damage her step mother had done to her. She sighed, tracing the forming dark purple and navy blue bruises. She wasn't going to be able to hide those.

Rebecca opened her dresser and pulled out her only dress. It was a beautiful, long but short sleeved gown that was the perfect shade of blue. It was a deep, but not quiet dark, and it was simple; it was just the one color, with no patterns or distractions. Rebecca slid it on over her head to cover a lot of the bruises, yet the ones on her arms were still showing. She smoothed out the dress and pulled her brown curls out of the dress and pulled them over her right shoulder. She took her silver hairbrush and began to hum to herself as she brushed her hair.

After pulling her hair back into a low, loose ponytail, she put on her brown apron and straightened it out. She sighed to herself in the mirror before heading downstairs, hoping her step family hadn't scared John and his friend away.

~~~

Jonathan paced his room for the millionth time that day already. It was only four in the morning! If his whole day was going to be like this, then he was going to go crazy.

He quickly got tired of waiting for Matthew to wake, so he shook him to wake him.

"Matthew! Matthew, wake up!"

"What do you want, Jonathan?" Matthew groaned, still half asleep.

"We're going out. Come on, get dressed."

A half an hour of struggling to get Matthew up, Jonathan had finally gotten him up and was leading him out of the castle within an hour.

"Where exactly are we going?" Matthew asked him after they had successfully snuck out of the castle.

"To Rebecca's... She doesn't live far." Jonathan answered, nearly running down the road. Matthew had to jog to keep up.

"Well, you are in a rush."

"I'm hoping to get there before her step mom wakes her up. I've never been there when she's woken, and I've heard that she's abused. And I've seen the bruises to prove it."

"Child abuse is against the law. Surely they wouldn't be..."

"You haven't met them, Matthew! I don't know what they do to her, but I am certain abuse is just a daily thing." Jonathan started running, Matthew following close behind.

They ran into a house that was neither big nor was it small, and appeared to have a second floor. One could only be certain if they were on that floor, though. As soon as they walked in, a woman, who had just gotten up from a comfortable looking chair, smiled at them, almost as if she was hiding something.

"Well, John, you're here early today. I was just about to go and wake Rebecca," she said. "You can wait in here."

Soon after she disappeared upstairs, a bang sounded throughout the house, like someone had fallen to the floor. Crying soon followed. John was about ready to run up there and stop whatever was happening to when her step mother came back down.

"She will be down soon. But John, don't forget, she has her chores to do."

"I am well aware of what you put her through."

Matthew had to practically hold John back with his eyes. He could see how badly his brother wanted to go and find out if Rebecca was all right.

"She will be down soon," he said.

"The marks, and therefore, the evidence, will be covered then. If we can't prove this, we can't take her step mother to the castle for a trial!"

"I know that, Jonathan. Just wait; someday soon she will trust you enough and tell you, then you can tell her who you really are."

"No! Matthew, she must never know who we truly are."

"What; why not?"

"She is my only true friend. She accepts me because I am me, not because of the throne."

"Fine," Matthew said simply. "I won't tell her. But you will have to tell her eventually. What if- what if Prince Jonathan died in battle and suddenly John stopped visiting? Don't you think that she'd be crushed?"

"Matthew, not now, we'll talk about this later." John smiled over Matt's shoulder after a door behind him opened.

"Matt, there she is. Rebecca Ann."

~~~

I turned around, and I will never forget what I saw.

There, standing before me, is the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. She looked around me, and when she saw John she smiled and bounced over and hugged him.

"John!" she said, smiling. That smile... It was more beautiful than the moon on the crest of the newly fallen snow.

"Who is this?" she asked, now smiling at me. I was certain that I looked stupid, starring at her dumbfound and beet red.

"That is my brother, Matt," John said in reply to her question. I couldn't believe that I still didn't have the nerve to talk to her. Now I knew why Jonathan was always with her. She was beautifully perfect.

"Hi, Matt," she said to me, smiling her perfect smile. How could anyone ever hurt her?

"Hello... It's Rebecca, right?"

"Yeah," Rebecca said, still smiling. Did she ever stop smiling?

"That is a beautiful name, Rebecca," just like your smile. She blushed; a brilliant shade of red.

"Oh, no, it's not. It is actually quite boring compared to my step sisters', or my mother's name, Jasmine. Rebecca is unique to my culture, though." She never stopped smiling. Why did her smile have such an effect on me?

~~~

"Why does she always get all the cute guys?" Faith whined to Hope a few hours later while Rebecca was making lunch with the help of John and Matt.

"I know! John and Matt look fit to be kings! How could the mere servant attract them?"

"Well, one thing is for certain, we aren't letting her get the boys that easily. There is always the annual ball coming up..."

*A/N* So, what do you think? Does anyone have any idea where I'm leading this? Don't forget to review!

Josephine <3