Beauty and the Beast

Chapter Five

Chapter Five:

Isabelle got up and walked out of the Dining area, and almost ran right into Lumiere.

"Excuse me," he said while he righted himself and held her shoulders so she didn't lose her balance. "Are you done?"

Isabelle nodded, but said, "Actually, the Master had a really good idea. Could you, perhaps, tell me how I might be able to get a piece of the cake in there to my bedchambers?"

Lumiere laughed and said, "I'll let Mrs. Potts know before the left overs are put away." 

Isabelle yawned, and Lumiere echoed her. They both chuckled. "I guess we both have had an interesting last couple of days."

Isabelle's smile faded slightly, remembering that this was the beginning of a part of her life that didn't include her father. Lumiere noticed the different demeanor and suggested, "Cecile is a good listener, Isabelle. I'm sure she would lend an ear if you need one. We all would, actually. But since Cecile is specifically assigned to serve you it would be more convenient."

Isabelle nodded and continued the journey back to her bedchamber.

"How did it go, dear?" Lumiere asked before leaving her at her door.

"The dinner?" Isabelle clarified and when Lumiere nodded his head she continued, "It was interesting. When you ask Mrs. Potts for some cake for me she might have a little bit of a story for you."

Lumiere's eyes twinkled and he kissed her hand, "Good night."

"Get some sleep, Lumiere," Isabelle said and walked into her room, where Cecile had been busy personalizing. There was a small fire going in the fireplace across from the bed, which Isabelle just realized was enormous. It had four posters and a white, transparent material draped atop it like a canopy. The bedsheets were fluffy and soft (like she remembered from earlier) and they were dark blue.

"Izabelle," Cecile appeared from the adjacent bathroom, "How did dinner go?"

"It was pretty interesting," Isabelle responded but found herself not really wanting to elaborate on the behaviors of the Master. For some reason she thought he wanted the privacy, and she didn't want to give him any cause to go against their new deal. "But I think I would very much like to just go to sleep."

Cecile smiled and walked over to the chest of drawers and pulled out a white cotton nightdress. She walked back over to Isabelle and helped her out of her dark blue dress and into the nightdress.

Isabelle found herself helped into the bed covers, the lights dimmed, and the next thing she knew she woke up some hours later with a vicious stomach ache.

"Owe," she whispered to herself, curling into the fetal position to try to aleviate the discomfort. She breifly wondered if Cecile's quarters were close and cursed herself for eating all the delectable food. She looked toward the endtable by her bed and saw, in the little moonlight making its way through her windows, a candle and matches. She lit the candle, fighting back a groan as her stomach churned.

She crawled out of bed and found a dark blue shawl and draped it over her shoulders and headed for the door, noticing with a gulp that someone delievered the cake and two pieces were in a box on a table next to her door. She opened her door and picked a direction.

Isabelle thought turning right would lead her somewhere, and hopefully to someone who could help with her stomach. She let the little candlelight guide her down the ominous hallway and her hope started to fade quickly. Her stomach gave a lurch and Isabelle had to stop walking, close her eyes, and focus on breathing.

When she believed she had her wits about her again she opened her eyes and continued walking, immediately knowing that was a mistake. Her stomach churned and she fell to her knees, knocking her candle out of her grasp. The whisp of fire died immediately.