Beldon sat out on one of his balconies that night, cold moonlight shimmering down on him, a soft winter wind tugging at his hair and shirt.
He heard Vanessa walk past, rearranging her roses again. She had been delighted by them, she just couldn't decide how to display them and this was her fourth trip around with the bouquet.
"Vanessa," he said softly as she marched past again, making her stop mid-step.
"Yes dear?"
"The Beast..."
"Did he say something again?" she asked, coming out to the full length mirror that was set out on that particular balcony, taking a seat on the reflection of the spare chair.
"He said... you could tell me something about Beauty."
Vanessa looked at him in complete and utter shock. "The Master? The Master himself told you to ask me? He gave you instructions?"
"Strange, isn't it?" Beldon said, smiling at her, resting his cheek on his knuckles. "Considering how secretive he can be. But then, maybe it's just that he's not good at conversation, so it's easier to have someone else do it for him."
Vanessa nodded as she considered that. "That's probably the reason, I suspect," she said.
"So, can you tell me anything about this Beauty? Who is she?
Vanessa smiled. "Ah, now if we knew that, everything would have been fixed a long time ago."
Beldon tilted his head to the side and Vanessa looked out over the pasture, towards the orchards.
"Beauty will break the curse and make everything better," Vanessa said simply. She smiled, "It will certainly be nice to walk beyond the mirror world again." She looked at him. "Beauty is someone who will see beyond The Master's face, beyond those obvious personality flaws and cause his change into something better. Of course, the problem is we don't even know if she's born yet, that freedom could be a long time in coming."
Beldon blinked, staring at her. "Wait... not even born yet? How long have you been waiting for her?"
"Oh goodness," Vanessa said, "how long indeed, I can't even remember, you'll have to ask Iago, he keeps time." She shook her head. "Too long is all I know, far too long."
"Then roughly how old is The Beast?" Beldon said.
"Well... the last time I saw him in his true form, he was twenty-one, add that to however long we've been stuck like this and you'll have your answer. I can't be sure though, though he looks the way he does now, his appearance hasn't changed in the slightest since that horrible day when everything changed."
"What... did happen?" Beldon asked slowly and Vanessa looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Now The Master hasn't given permission for you to learn about that," she said with a smile. "Just about Beauty. And I've told you, Beauty will free his curse."
"Does he leave the castle each day? Is that why I almost never see him?"
"Oh no," Vanessa said, "the first time he went beyond the edges of that pasture since the curse fell was when he left out to find you."
"How can he possibly find Beauty then?"
"There is a mirror," Vanessa said, "in The Master's quarters. Should you look into it, it shows you what you desire at that moment. Every day he stands before that mirror and looks... looks out across the world he is no longer part of, looks to see how the world has moved on, how he is remembered... looks for Beauty."
Beldon stared at her for a long, long moment.
A mirror that showed you what you desired at that moment?
He looked out over the pasture, so Vanessa didn't get a clear look at his expression or see the plan forming in his eyes.
She did watch him however and she didn't have to see his expressions to know what he was thinking. She smiled slightly. It was as easy as a mother reading the thoughts of a son.
~~~~
Beldon stopped at the dead end wall that was the two-way mirror. He was being incredibly stupid doing this, coming back here; invading The Beast personal space when The Beast had told him he was a torment.
He pushed against the wall and the mirror opened a crack, allowing him to slide through. Looking at the mirror, he wondered if this was the mirror in question.
But then it was already special because you could see through it and it didn't change when he looked at it anyway.
He turned around, listening. He couldn't hear anything, perhaps The Beast wasn't there - all the better for him. Slowly making his way further into the main room, he moved through the different rooms, taking more time to look at everything in some detail.
Really how could The Beast possibly live in these rooms? Everything was so old, so ill-cared for. And that feeling still hung heavy in the air. That misery... or fury.
He stopped in a doorway of a small dark room.
A perhaps the feeling was loneliness.
Looking into the room, he frowned. It was pitch dark inside. Walking in, he was wary of his footsteps in case he tripped over or walked into something.
Looking around, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, he glared when they didn't. He needed a candle.
Turning back to the doorway, he froze. There was a blue glow coming out of a side door he hadn't noticed in the dark. He slowly turned, spooked - the last time he has seen a blue glow in these rooms he had got into a conflict with The Beast.
Edging forwards, he looked through the doorway.
There was the mirror. It was full length, and the light was glowing through the sheet that covered it. Walking in, he reached forwards and pulled the sheet away.
The mirror was beautiful, wrapped in a frame of intricate golden rose stems. He was reflected, but a light emanated from within the mirror.
His eyes widened - yes this had to be the mirror, how many enchanted mirrors could be in one castle (excluding all the ones that made up Vanessa's mirror world).
He stretched out a hand, entranced by the rippling blue. His finger tips touched the glass and the blue shattered.
Beldon jerked back, thinking he had broken the glass for a moment, before realising that it was only the light. The image had changed.
Beldon stood there, staring for a moment, then rushed forwards, grabbing the mirror, staring, his eyes wide.
It was Valentine, his eldest brother, dressed in fine formal day clothes, holding a sheet of parchment, speaking to someone out of sight, looking like his calm, cool confident self again, like he had done before their fortune had sunk into the sea.
Beldon slowly sank to the ground, staring. He recognised the room his brother stood in. It was their father's office.
They were home.
So everything must have gone smoothly and they had been able to return home, return to their lives.
Constantine walked in then, his dress less formal, his shirt open at the neck, an easy grin on his face as Valentine turned to him.
In the background, in the door Constantine had left open, he saw his sisters out in the grand entrance hall. Marie-Fey and Rosalia stood side by side in front of Antoinette and her gentleman companion - it was that man Antoinette had fallen in love with.
Antoinette waved her sister away, blushing at something they said and she and her companion walked out of sight. Her younger sisters giggled to each other, adjusting their beautiful day dresses and walking out of sight.
Beldon's hands slowly slid down the glass.
They were alright.
Everything was fine again. They were happy. He could see the light in their eyes, the colour in their skin, the ease in their step.
They were doing just fine.
But where was his father? He stared at the mirror. Where was his father? Was he not there?
The image shimmered to show a street and he saw his father in a carriage. He looked tired, but well. He was probably out on business then.
Beldon let out a breath, closing his eyes. So long as he was alright, so long as everyone was alright.
He sat there for a moment, then bit his lip, feeling the threat of tears in his throat.
He hadn't expected them to look quite so well when they hadn't heard from him for several weeks. He had ridden away to a castle with a monster as the master who had threatened to kill their father...
Weren't they worried?
He looked up. The image had shifted again, back to his family.
He was looking out at the entrance hall now, where Marie-Fey and Rosalia were. They were speaking to a young lady. She turned her head and Beldon recoiled, recognising the profile.
Miss Macy. In her trademark bonnet and large dress with skirt that always struggled to get through the average door. The three girls were laughing hysterically, not a care in the world. Constantine walked out of the office them, joining the girls, kissing Miss Macy's hand, then cheek, making her blush furiously, smiling in delight before she looped her arm through his, pressing close.
Beldon looked down.
She had moved on fast. He understood choosing another man, he had never given her the attention she had wanted, but to move to his older brother? Nice to confirm that is was just his name she had been after.
He put a hand to his eyes, a sick painful feeling striking him like a wave. Gods, he felt so empty here, there was just nothing!
"Beldon?"
Beldon whirled around, flattening himself against the mirror as The Beast's towering figure filled the doorway, lit by the mirror.
"I'm sorry!" Beldon said quickly - flashbacks bursting into his mind of the last time The Beast had caught him in his quarters, of the rage, of the lunge aimed for him. "I'm sorry, truly I am! I just... I heard about the mirror. I'm so sorry."
"No, no," The Beast said quickly, stepping into the room, making Beldon cower against the mirror. He stopped, then crouched down so they were at eyelevel. "I'm not angry," he said gently, slowly pushing his hood back a fraction so Beldon could see his eyes. "I just wondered why you were here."
Beldon looked at him for a moment, then slowly looked back at the mirror.
The Beast glanced up. "Your family?" he asked.
"Some of them," Beldon muttered.
"May I see?"
Beldon was still for a moment, then eased aside. The Beast moved forwards and sat down beside him, both looking at the images.
"This is my second brother, Constantine," Beldon started, pointing to his brother. "And her, she isn't one of my sisters, she's Miss Macy, an... acquaintance."
The Beast glanced at him, noting the pause.
"These two are my sister though. My eldest isn't here, but this is the second one, Marie-Fey. And this is the youngest, closest to my age, Rosalia."
The Beast looked at the girls for a moment, then leant forwards. "My," he muttered, the light catching his eyes, illuminating the vivid green. "She's beautiful."
Beldon glanced at him, then quickly followed his eye-line to see which one he meant. He was struck by Rosalia.
"Ah, yes, she is," he said quietly, looking at her. Out of all the girls, she was the one who took closest after their mother. Small and slender, with big blue eyes and shimmering golden hair. He and Rosalia were forever being mistaken as twins, they looked so alike.
The colours weren't quite right of course. Beldon's hair was closer to sunlight rather than wheat golden and his eyes were almost luminous. That was why people said he was the male version of his mother, a male Belle of the Courts. It was why he had been given a name with Bel in it. A ridiculous thing, to give a man a name that revolved around beauty.
He looked at Rosalia for a moment, watching her beautiful laughing smile.
Raoul had always been enchanted by her as well.
The image shimmered and suddenly Beldon was staring into Raoul's eyes. He jolted back in shock and the image of Raoul looked around.
The Beast looked at the image in surprise. "You're eldest brother?" he asked.
Beldon shook his head, his voice stuck in his throat as he stared at Raoul. God, he hadn't realised how much he had missed him but the thunder crack through his heart told him well enough. His oldest friend looked well. He was pulling off a pair of gloves, his sabre at his hip. His shirt collar was open - revealing more of his muscular chest then he really should have - and he was breathing hard, Beldon knew he had just finished a sparring session against someone.
Had Raoul asked after him? Did he wonder where Beldon had gone after the rest of his family had returned? He had a lot on now and the coming months... did he even care anymore?
Raoul turned - someone had clearly called to him - and his dazzling smile made Beldon look down. Ah, well he didn't have to see to know who had called to him... he glanced up anyway.
Miss Louise Bennett appeared, smiling at him. Raoul quickly pulled his shirt collar together and picked up his waist coat, throwing it on. Beldon smiled slightly at that, he had been the one who had snapped at Raoul about not looking presentable around his lady - he wasn't married to her yet after all, he couldn't just walk around however he liked in front of her.
Raoul turned to Miss Louise again and, looking around quickly, he caught her hands, pulling her closer and kissing her on the lips. She blushed and the young men in the background started to laugh and cheer.
Beldon spun away, standing up. Change it, he had to change it. Something else, something different.
"Where's this?" The Beast asked and Beldon looked around. He smiled at the sight. It was the cottage. Moving back, he knelt down again.
"This is where we lived in the country," he said, looking at the garden. It still looked care for; someone new must have been living there then.
"Who was that young man before?"
Beldon was quiet for a moment, then sat down. "Raoul," he said, running a hand through his hair. "The lady was Miss Louise Bennett, his fiancée, an old friend of ours. They'll be getting married soon; they became engaged just before we moved to the country."
"He's a fencer?"
Beldon smiled. "One of the best," he said, "My favourite sparring partner, we could spar for hours, winning when the first one fell to exhaustion."
"He's special to you."
Beldon jumped and his eyes spun to look at The Beast.
"He's your oldest friend, correct?"
Beldon let out a breath. "Yes, he is." He looked to the mirror. "Would you like to see Rosalia again?"
"What?"
"My sister, the blonde one, would you like to see again?"
"Oh." The Beast looked startled by the offer. "Alright?"
Beldon looked at the mirror, thinking about her and the image shifted, showing Rosalia sitting in the music room at the piano, practicing a piece, singing - she was getting ready for the season.
"She could be Beauty," he muttered.
The Beast glanced at him. "I thought you said you'd never allow any of your sisters to come here because I didn't deserve them and they would despise it."
Beldon smiled. "Well... I still hold to that for now... but I also hold to what I said about hoping you find your Beauty if it means you'll be happy again." Slowly he sat forwards, brushing his fingers across the glass.
The image rippled again and suddenly he was looking into his old library back at the family manor, and he was sitting in one of the window seats, reading a book, Raoul nearby, scanning the shelves. Beldon would have thought it was reflecting a memory - the scene was common enough - if it hadn't been for what he was wearing. It was the white coat he had in his dressing room in the castle.
He stared in confusion, watching as his father appeared, speaking to him, his brothers and sisters following in.
"What?" he whispered, his eyes widening.
"The mirror shows truth but also what you desire," The Beast said softly.
Beldon stared, watching as he rose to his feet, a sabre appearing in his hand, Raoul walking over to him, a sabre in his own hand, his gaze entirely fixed on Beldon as he smiled.
"Stop," Beldon whispered, watching at Raoul set a hand on his shoulder. "Stop it."
Raoul's hand slid down his arm, towards his wrist, then to his hand.
"Stop it!"
He slammed his hands into the mirror and it rocked. He jumped in fright, rushing to his knees to try and catch it as it tilted backwards. The Beast caught it first, easily steadying it, and when the glass came back into sight, they were looking at the castle grounds, seeing the rose garden.
Beldon knelt there, his breathing hard, his eyes wide.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"It's alright," The Beast said.
Beldon looked down, then stood up. "I should go. I... I must have something to do," he said, spinning away.
The Beast caught his hand, making him look down.
His host continued to look at the rose garden. "You may come use the mirror whenever you wish," he said quietly. Beldon's eyes widened.
"Really?"
"Really."
"... Thank you," Beldon said, smiling.
The Beast released his hand and Beldon made for the door.
"Beldon."
He looked back - still The Beast's focus was on the rose garden.
"Yes?"
"I'll be your sparring partner... at some point."
Beldon blinked, shocked.
"If you don't mind a partner that is out of practice."
"No," Beldon breathed. The Beast looked at him and Beldon beamed. "No, I don't mind at all, I look forward to it. Thank you." His smile widened as he turned and walked out.