Before Beauty by Brittany Fichter Page B

was warm and familiar. He was
safe. But, Isa reminded herself, she had not abandoned her family
to hide in a stable. She had come with a purpose, and no one would
be safe until she fulfilled it.
    “ Good night, my dear friend.” She
softly rubbed the horse one last time. “I will come to see you as
soon as I can.” Then, with a deep breath and a prayer, Isa left the
stable and headed for the servants’ door of the
Fortress.
    The moment Isa crossed the
threshold, her nerve nearly fled. The sun was almost set behind
her, but the darkness before her was thick and terrifying. It was
as if a black fog had filled the once pristine, shining marble
halls. The air smelled deeply of mildew and dust. After letting the
door close behind her, she stood still, hoping her eyes would
somehow adjust to the blackness.
    In spite of her fear, as she gave
pause, something deep down inside of Isa hoped this entrance would
annoy the prince. She couldn’t bear to give him the satisfaction of
making her feel insignificant. Not any more than he already had, at
least.
    She finally spotted one single
candle sitting on a table not far from the door. She nearly lost
both the candle and her balance, however, when something cold
brushed against her arm. Her hand shook as she held the flame up,
trying to see what had touched her. But there was only the empty
hall to see.
    Isa nearly screamed when two more
breezes gave her gentle pushes from behind. Only then did she
remembered Ansel’s warnings about the shadows. Drawing Deline’s
cloak about her as tightly as she could, Isa decided it would be
best to do as they wished. Ansel had seemed to think they meant him
no harm, but he really hadn’t been there long enough to know for
sure.
    Isa was pushed down a number of
large empty halls, and up several flights of stairs before she was
allowed to rest. To her relief, a door was finally opened before
her by invisible hands, that led not into another hall or
passageway, but instead, a rather small room with a dim fire inside
a large hearth.
    The fire didn’t completely chase
away the darkness, but it lit the room enough that Isa could see
that it had once been a very grand room. The tapestries and carpets
that were now riddled with moth holes, and covered in dust, must
have once been very beautiful, and were most likely made of rare,
expensive fabrics. An oversized bed with tall posts at each corner
filled much of the room, its head against the wall, next to the
fire. A large wooden writing desk was placed across from the bed,
near the windows that faced south.
    “ Thank you,” Isa whispered to the
shadows, tears coming to her eye as she recognized the lights of
Soudain in the distance at the foot of the mountain. There were the
sentries, the ones that stood guard at the town entrance at night
with their torches. Her father had been right. The shadows at least
weren’t malicious. If she was to be trapped in this place, at least
she could sleep with her beloved city in sight.
    That seemed to be the end of the
shadows’ kindnesses, however. Before she knew it, Isa was being
pushed over to a large wardrobe in the far corner of the room. She
gasped as it opened on its own to reveal a large variety of
dresses. Like the once lavish room, these gowns had been incredibly
lavish at one time. But they, too, smelled like wet dust. Isa
stared at them stupidly for a moment before she realized why she
was there.
    “ Am I supposed to put one of these
on?” She felt silly asking the empty room. In response, however,
the shadows nudged her one step closer to the wardrobe. “These are
all far too extravagant for me.” She shook her head. “I don’t need
anything like this.” Again, she received a push. It seemed she had
no choice. So after glaring behind her, hoping the shadows would
catch her annoyance, Isa picked the simplest of the gowns. If she
was going to be introduced to the man who had tried three times now
to steal her life, she would not be made a fool