Christine POV "Are you from this town Mademoiselle?" The kind voice said to me, I was off deep in my thoughts as he spoke to me. All of Elyse's insults and lies of Raoul ringing through my mind. She is surely lying to me... Raoul loves me. "Yes, my Papa moved us here when I was very young," I said remembering my youth here. It was fun as a child especially in the summers with Raoul and his brother. We were so young and innocent, "Do you like it here?" "No, not anymore. I find it quite boring, it was fun as a child but not anymore, everyone thinks of me as odd..." I said almost wishing things were like that again, instead of my life now. "If you do not mind my asking, is it because of your... occupation?" He said clearing his throat at the mention of my work. "No, I'm fairly new at this Mousier-" "Nadir please," He said with a kind smile before returning his gaze to the horses he was driving. "Nadir, I'm educated and that is frowned upon. People think I'm a freak because of my knowlege, they say the sole purpose of a woman is to bear children, make a comfortable home for her husband and obey his every order. My Father did not believe in that practice, he is a wise man." I said letting a smile graze my lips, nobody ever asked me about my family, nobody ever cared enough to. "I see. Well, a educated woman is always welcomed in my mind. Tell me, do you find interest in reading?" Nadir asked, "Oh yes, my favorite is Jane Eyre. It's beautiful, but I've always had such a passion for music, my Papa taught me that you can read an opera or composition as a book. Every note tells a story." I said my heart aching to sing with my Papa once more. "My master is quite fond of music as well, he's composed since he was a child. A true genius he is, I'm sure of it." Nadir said with a kind smile, "I'm afraid my purpose is not to speak with him about music," I said sadly remembering my sole purpose was to please him intimately, how I wished I could talk to anyone as I would talk to Papa. Our conversations would often carry on to endless hours of the night until he felt bad for keeping me up so late. "I'm afraid so..." Nadir said as the soft smile left his face, he must have felt sympathy for me. I hated his pity, I didn't need it nor deserve it. I was a common whore, some thing I had to remind myself of often. "We are here," I took my glance from my feet to be astonished by the sight in front of me. In front of us coming closer with every gallop of the horses stood a magnificent castle, the outside dark with gargoyles and statues littering the stairways and high walls. There were gardens and large oak trees spread about the grounds. There was a lake with a marble bridge across it leading into another garden with stables.
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"It's beautiful, truly Nadir. Ive never seen anything like it..." I said taking in the mind boggling view. "I agree, I must however tend to the gardens in the western side. The master complains his rose garden has gone to hell!" Nadir said running his fingers through his graying hair. "It's beautiful no matter what, I've only read of places like this."
The inside of the castle matched the outside in all of its glory. It was oh so quiet and dark on the inside, it beautiful nonetheless. "Come follow me, the master will be waiting." Nadir said as I took his arm as a gentleman would offer it to a lady. In my heart I would ways try to be a proper lady, but I knew I was no longer. I was anything but. We climbed the stairs for some time, I only assumed that the masters room would be in the highest room where he could have a view of all the grounds. The walls were painted with magnificent murals of dramatic scenes of faithless creatures and mortal men and woman frolicking about in the meadows. "Here we are..." Nadir said as we approached a room with two grand doors guarding it. I swallowed, it was clearly audible for Nadir looked at me with so much pity. "Thank you..." I said softly as my task was near. Nadir pushed open the doors to reveal a grand bedroom with a massive bed in the corner. "Good luck..." Nadir said softly as I entered the room, the doors closed behind me and I was left to me solitude. I looked at my surroundings, there were two armchairs sitting in front of a glorious fire place and a mirror was on top of the mantel. I looked back at my reflection, all I was was the shell of a broken girl. My brown eyes that once held so much life were now dull and bleak. Carlotta had teased my hair high and put various pieces of garbage in an attempt to make me look beautiful. I saw no beauty there, I looked like a sewer rat. I quickly looked away from the mirror no longer wanting to think of what my life used to be like, how simple it used to be.
