Blind and the Beast

Forbbiden Places and Stories

"How was dinner?" Belle asked Polly as they began their adventuring for the day.

"Short. Vandy and I got into a bit of an argument about salad forks and then we ate in silence as everyone made jokes about us." She said as if retelling an old war story.

Belle laughed, " That does sound like quite the affair. I am sorry I missed it."

"You could always join us tomorrow!" Polly said in her usual chipper tone.

"You know I can't." Belle had been clear about her intention to completely avoid the King Beast.

"Well, that's just the thing. He was not dining with us last night. In fact, he has not come back from the forest since yesterday afternoon. We've all been a touch worried about him."

Belle frowned. "You're wrong. He was here last night."

"Here? where?"

"My room last night."

Polly's hand gripped Belle's extremely hard.

"He came into your room?!" Polly asked, sounding as though she was about to have a heart attack. "Tell me everything! If he even touched you or threatened you, I'll- I'll-"

"No, no! It was not like that. He- apologized."

There was coughing and sputtering ending in a weak wheeze then Polly was finally able to say, "He did not."

"He did."

"What did he say? If he said anything to upset you I'll-" Belle cut her off by placing hand on Polly's arm that was linked through her own. Polly's grip finally relaxed on her arm.

"No, nothing like that. He didn't say anything besides an apology."

"Did he now?" Polly asked with such an incredulous tone that Belle had to think back to ensure that she had not just dreamt the whole thing. "I told that boy that if he came near your rooms, he was going to be cleaning the whole castle himself for a month."

"I see." Belle said suddenly lost in thought. She did not see. She was too busy trying to contrive an evil motive for an apology.

"So?" Polly asked.

"So what?"

"Well do I have to make him clean the whole castle himself for the entire month?" Polly asked.

Belle laughed, "That's not my decision."

"Well, if you tell me that he's upset you then he'll be cleaning. every square inch of this place." Polly said with finality.

"He is the King of the Beasts-"

"That doesn't mean anything."

"He probably is very busy doing whatever it is Kings do-"

"Apparently too busy to check-in with everyone besides the one person he swore he wouldn't go near."

"I appreciated the apology." Belle finally said and then realized that she meant it. She was still suspicious of the Beast, but she was not afraid anymore that he would sneak into her room in the middle of the night and kill her.

"Well, that solves that then." Polly said, a little too satisfied with herself.

Polly asked Belle where she would like to explore, and Belle asked her to take her outside again. It had not even been a week yet, but she felt like she had not felt the sun on her face for a month.

Polly agreed and showed her the most direct route from her room to the gardens.

She opened the doors in front of her and she was greeted with a warmth that hit her face and made her smile.