A Rose for the Beast

Vanished

Hours passed by and Rosalie's tears eventually dried up. She figured the sun would be setting soon, but she had no way to confirm that. The castle's silence taunted her with loneliness. She wondered if Michel had been defeated and the servants executed.

The thought made her heart ache. She migrated to lay on the cold stone floor, staring into nothingness. What grievous crime had they committed to earn such violent retribution? She couldn't imagine the rabbit, crane, or tortoise doing anything heinous. While the wolf and Michel did seem aggressive, she doubted they would cause unprovoked harm towards anyone.

The castle, hidden from prying eyes, had been here for ages. None of the historical literature she'd come across mentioned anything about a kingdom near Maelynn, even before France became united under one King. How had they been erased from history?

The more she thought about it, the more questions she had. Without answers or any source of entertainment, Rosalie became increasingly bored.

She'd begun tapping in rhythm on the floor when a grinding sound came through the wall. Jumping up, she backed against the opposite wall, preparing for one or more of the cloaked hunters to enter.

A rectangular section of stone swiveled away, opening the room to the West Wing hallway. The light of dusk penetrated the darkness, blurring her vision and blinding her. She blinked away the haze and the silhouette of two long, furry ears came into view.

"Mon chére!," the rabbit exclaimed as he hopped over.

Rosalie heaved in a deep breath and lifted the rabbit in a tight hug, twirling in place. She'd never been so happy to see a rabbit in her life. Relief flooded her as she continued squeezing the ball of fur.

"Hmm! Mmph!"

The creature's mumbled cry forced her to quickly release him and the rabbit tumbled down to the floor. He stood and rubbed his head with one paw, glaring up at her.

"Sorry, bunny rabbit," she said sheepishly, then frowned. "Actually, I'm not. You're lucky I don't do more than squeeze you. Why'd you leave me up here for so long?!"

"Madame Plume only just recovered from unconsciousness and informed us about what happened. The master has implicit rules for when the Queen or her men visit: hide and don't make a sound. When it was quiet for a while, we emerged to find Ms. Plume on the table in the dining room, everything in disarray, and the master is missing."

Guilt assailed her for being so rude. They'd all been through a terrible ordeal. She followed the rabbit out into the hall, eyes instinctively drawn to the doors at the end. The closed doors shut in whatever mysterious light had been emanating from the room earlier.

"By the way, Madame," the rabbit interjected, "I am Francoís Carrote, the castle's Maître'd. At your service," he said while giving a bow.

She nodded, "My name is-"

"Rosalie LaFleur. We met briefly," he smiled kindly, "Madame Plume speaks favorably of you. Come, she is waiting."

The rabbit, or Monsieur Carrote, led her down stairs. Her gaze drifted to the front door where several chimpanzees and gorillas had begun repairing the damage. She cocked her head, astounded to see the animals working in sync with each other.

They walked to the other side of the staircase, opposite of the dining room's entryway. Though curious, she was grateful to not have to revisit that scene at the moment.

Through this side, they entered the kitchen area. Three large brown bears worked at various stations, preparing what looked like a very scrumptious dinner. Her stomach grumbled at the smell of such delicious food, berating her for ruining breakfast with Michel. If she hadn't have been snooping around his home, things may have turned out quite different.

As they moved through the kitchen, the bears glanced at her with sadness in their eyes. Perhaps they blamed her for their master's absence. She relaxed a little when she and Monsieur Carrote left the kitchen for a long corridor with several doors on either side. She peered at the name plate on the first door to her right.

It read: Shelldon Dubois: Majordomo.

This part of the castle appeared to be housing for the staff. She realized that she hadn't met nearly any of them as they traveled down the hall, passing names she'd never heard of. They stopped at one door with a name she did recognize and she had to steady herself before following Mr. Carotte into the room.

"Madame Plume," Rosalie gasped when she saw the frail body of the crane laid out on the bed.

"I'm fine, mon chére. Come in. Apologies for the mess. I would have cleaned if I knew I'd be recieving guests today," she said weakly.

Rosalie saw only one piece of cloth on the floor. The rest of the room looked spotless and beautiful, the soft green tones and feathery decor blending well with the hard wood furniture. If the interior of her home had as much appeal as this one room, she wouldn't care about a single garment on the floor. Especially if she had been handled like a sack of potatoes.

Monsieur Carotte joined Monsieur Dubois on the couch adjacent to the door. Rosalie placed herself in the chair beside Avila Plume's bed and reached for her feathered wing. Her eyes watered anew at the sight of bruises and fresh cuts marring the crane's neck. Avila smiled at her reassuringly. Then, the two smaller cranes entered with arms full of bandages.

Rosalie retrieved them from the small birds and returned to treat Ms. Plume's wounds. None of the animals protested.

"I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I should never have come here. Michel wouldn't be missing. You wouldn't be hurt. He wouldn't have come out into the forest for me if I hadn't been so reckless."

Her voice broke as the dam holding her emotions at bay threatened to crumble. Avila shook her head, wincing at the movement while Rosalie continued to wrap her injuries carefully.

"You owe us no apology, mon chére. The false queen did this, not you," she said,  gaze drifting to everyone in the room before sliding back to Rosalie. She spoke again with a grave expression in her eyes.

"You are our only hope, Rosalie. Without you, we will all perish."