𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 ✔

Chapter Seventeen

Roughly thirty minutes or so after Garna had left, there was a soft knock on my door.

"May I come in?" Alveary's sweet voice was refreshing. I had just been sitting there in utter silence without really realizing it.

"Of course, I myself was in need of some company." When I was alone, I would somewhat shut down, but that had been my intentions in truth.

I wanted to be strong and seem somewhat normal to everyone around me, but behind closed doors was where I wanted to let my true feelings take over. I was still deeply upset about Papa, however, I maintained focus on what I had come there to do and that was keep Alveary safe. To protect her from the secrets of the castle and from the other two girls we had arrived with. She, nor I could have survived what was to come without one another to lean on when, or if, things became critical.

"Do you need help getting changed?" She asked as she glanced over at the blue dress I had laid out on my bed.

"If you would, please." I chuckled, "I had been contemplating wearing what I had arrived in for quite some time now since I had no idea how I was to tie the laces on my own."

"That is one of the reasons I too have not changed," She laughed.

After she helped me get dressed, she finally cut the silence, "I am rather, confused."

"That is quite understandable after the given circumstances, but what exactly is troubling you?" It was obvious everything was troubling her, because I too felt the same.

"I want to be scared, horrified in fact, but I just cannot." When she said it, I realized that almost all of my fear had diminished once we walked through the doors.

She flopped down face first onto the bed next to me, then sat up. "What if this is all a game, or some sort of trap?"

"Do go on." I held back a giggle.

"Well, does it not seem odd for the beast to want to have dinner with us? Unless," she paused dramatically, "we are the dinner."

"Oh, I do hope to be served with a nice butter sauce, accompanied by roasted potatoes, of course."

The two of us erupted into laughter, hardly being able to catch a breath in between. However, not long after, her laughter melted away, her eyes glossed over and it appeared her mind had ventured elsewhere.

"What is it that weighs so much on your mind?" it was a stupid question to ask her, for I already knew what it was. It was the same thing that had to have been on all of our minds.

She broke from her thought and looked at me for a moment, I supposed to figure out what I had said. "Oh. I just keep thinking about the situation we are in." She paused, "Tell me, what do you think is going to happen at dinner?"

"After our arrival being rather peculiar, I suppose we can expect more strange events to occur." I shrugged. "Though, if one thought about it, our perception of the whole curse is one sided. We all have very little facts to work with so, in the Prince's case, we all might have over thought the whole ordeal. Or perhaps he is much worse than anything we could have dreamed up."

"I grew up with Prince Leroux, and in truth I did not think he out of the three of us was going to grow into a monster. He was the kindest out of all of us." There was a slight hint of pain in her voice.

"Well, if not he, then who-" I paused, "Sebastian." His name left a bitter taste in my mouth and for the first time since our arrival I thought about him. I subconsciously rubbed my wrists out of fear.

"Sebastian was much different as a young boy. Rather than being cool and refined, he was explosive and rude like when he yelled at Mama. Were as, Adam had the kindest, eloquent and most warm personality. I have missed him a great deal over these years for he was the brother I never had. However, I will not lie. At first after watching Sebastian grow into a strong, smart and kind man, I started to believe he had changed into a better person, someone much like how everyone once saw Adam. But when his true colors were revealed, I realized that he had been trying to be Adam all along." She took a moment, as if she was trying to recall something correctly, "Do you remember how Sebastian reacted when Lord Chambren read Adam's name aloud?"