Caervon's Belle Ch. 01

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The mansion on 39th street had always been considered haunted by the locals. It had belonged to an ancient and power family - The Caervon's. The Caervon's had lived there for centuries. A secretive and very reclusive family, they had rarely ventured amongst the locals and families that resided in the large town not far away. They had been a well thought of and liked family, even though it seemed as though they thought they were above such mortals as those that lived in the town.

The parents -- Lord and Lady Caervon -- were both members of charitable organizations and seemed good natured, although quiet, when around others. Of children, they had three. Two boys and a girl.

The eldest boy was fair and light, like his mother, but had his father's frozen demeanor when angered. His name was Ayden. He was being

trained by his father to manage the estate. This, and maybe other reasons, was why the boy didn't seem to like the other children of the town, who would sometimes come and mingle with the Caervon children.

The second boy was exactly opposite of his fair brother. While the latter was blond and had grey eyes; Luka, for that was his name, had hair so brown it was almost always considered black; his eyes dark green, which would turn darker when angry. And angry he was. Unlike his brother, his temper was explosive and often violent, although, to the Caervon servants' relief, not generally toward people themselves. The boys rarely smiled and on the rare occasion they did, it greatly startled those in immediate presence.

The little girl, the youngest, was the angel of the family. She had midnight curls and eyes so blue, the servants' would say they were chips from the sky. She brought light and laughter to the house. There was no ebb to her smiles and her laughter flowed through the house, for no matter where you stood, you could hear it. Her name was Arielle.

The Caervon children and the children from town were wont to frolic and play, as previously mentioned. Although, the Caervon boys didn't so much play, as observe. Arielle, however, as the curious and adventurous child, wandered freely with the other children her age. One in particular, another little girl named Belle.

Now Belle, contrary to her name, was not as beautiful as Arielle. A sad fact, as many of the Caervon servants' observed. She came from a very poor family, one that could not feed their children so well as to keep them from looking underfed. She had lank hair - always pulled into a scruffy braid - of an indefinable brownish color, perhaps because she didn't get as many baths as she should, and eyes that were the blue of the ocean...and nearly as deep.

The first day that Arielle had dragged Belle to the mansion, sent the whole house into a flutter. The servants' were certain that a dirty child, from a family so poor they had to beg for food, would not be very welcome as the best friend of their Arielle. And right they were. When the Lord and Lady of the mansion learned of this turn of events, they were not happy.

Unfortunately for Lord and Lady Caervon, one of the family curses was extreme stubbornness. Arielle tried every trick. She begged, cajoled, cried, ranted, screamed, and wheedled. In the end, nothing worked. Arielle's parents would not let her have such a friend and Belle was sent out the door by the kindly housekeeper, who patted her on the back, gave her an apple and told her to never come to the house again.

Arielle, however, was not to be defeated. She decided to punish her parents for their actions and despite many scoldings and outright yelling, did not speak or look at them. However, what most worried the inhabitants of the house was that Arielle did not smile. She did not laugh. She did not beg pastries from the cook or pester the maids. She sat and she brooded. The doctor was called, but she was not sick. She ignored even her brothers' attempts to bring her out of her misery. Finally, with much reluctance, Lord Caervon sent a man to bring the child Belle back to the manor.

*

But what could have inspired such devotion in such little time?

The day Arielle met Belle was so bright and sunny that it drove even the most adventurous to the shade. It just so happened, that both Arielle and Belle had decided on the same bit of shade to seek cover under. In fact, whilst one was so absorbed in her thoughts of berries and the other with getting under the shade before she got sunburned, they smacked straight into each other.

"What did you do that for?!" Arielle asked angrily, it was one of the few times she got angry -- when she was taken by surprise.

Belle simply stared at her. She had never seen anyone as exquisite as Arielle. She reminded Belle of a little glass statuette that she had seen in a windowsill. Arielle stood there with her little white hands resting on her hips. She had a look of righteous indignation on her face. But Belle's stare was starting to unnerve her.

"What?" She asked her mood suddenly shifting to nervousness. Belle bit her lip and looked down.

"N-nothing." She stammered, almost in a whisper, "I'm sorry." Then she turned around and began to walk away.

"Wait." Arielle ran up and walked beside her. Arielle had never seen anyone so...scruffy. Even the stable boy washed up a bit. She decided she would ask about it.

"Why don't you take a bath?" She asked boldly. Belle looked up at her.

"What's a...bath?" She asked still almost in a whisper. At this Arielle nearly tripped.

"What's a -- but haven't you ever had one?" She gasped.

"We don't have very much." Belle admitted bluntly. Arielle began to ask a question but was interrupted by a different voice, not friendly at all.

"What do you think your doing?!" It was a little boy. A little, unfriendly boy, with sharp eyes and a sharp face. In fact, he seemed to be made up of angles. There were two other boys with him, standing by his sides. One was skinny and gangly, the other rather stout. None of them looked very happy to see the girls, who had apparently wandered onto their territory.

"Who are you?"

Arielle started. The question had been asked by Belle. But there was a tone in the voice that made Arielle shiver. The boy glared at Belle contemptuously.

"I'm Beric and you're a stupid girl." He poked his finger at Belle. Arielle looked at Belle and was startled. Gone was the stammering girl and in her place was a little tomboy who didn't take crap from anyone, especially boys. Her teeth were bared, her legs braced, and her eyes narrowed.

"Well, I think you're a stupid boy." She said, flicking her braid over her shoulder; she didn't seem the least bit afraid that these boys were starting to look angry and were advancing slowly.

"You'll regret that, girl." Beric said and he and the two others began to walk toward them. Arielle, who had never been in this kind of argument before, started and walked backwards, but Belle simply raised her little fists and waited.

The fact that Belle wasn't running seemed to put a seed of doubt in the boys' minds. She obviously couldn't win, but was still standing there. The reason for this, they seemed to surmise was that either she had backup somewhere or that she actually knew what she was doing.

They stopped. Beric raised an eyebrow, but Belle didn't move. Arielle, for the first time, was jealous of another girl. Not because of beauty or possessions, but because of bravery.

Beric shrugged and the boys moved off as though they didn't care that a girl had unnerved them or that they didn't mean to walk off anyway. But Arielle saw that the boy Beric's eyes were filled with retribution; one day they would pay.

Perhaps, this does not seem like a very good reason for children to become friends. But to a child, and to Arielle, who had always been coddled and never shown the violent world, it was revolutionary. She immediately considered Belle her friend. And Belle who had never had a true friend, or a friend who was female, decided this was a fine plan.

*

Belle was very afraid of the mansion. She suffered Arielle to drag her there merely because, well, it was Arielle. But to go with someone she didn't know, who stared coldly at the hovel she lived in and sneered in disgust at her... well, that was an entirely different matter. But who could ignore a missive from the Great Lord of Caervon? So she went.

When Belle walked into the mansion, she was filled with the feeling of uneasiness that she had when she had first been here. She stood in the parlor, with her hands clasped in front of her, beads of sweat beginning to form on her forehead. A door opened and she started, but when she looked, it was neither Lord Caervon -- who she feared- nor Arielle- who she actually wanted to see.

It was Luka.

Belle drew a ragged breath and straightened her shoulders. Boys she could deal with. She was never afraid of boys. After all, she had three brothers of her own. Three brothers who didn't care that she was girl; who treated her as if she were a boy.

Luka stared at her for a moment, his green eyes unreadable, before sauntering forward. This caused Belle to narrow her eyes. In her experience, boys who had such a careless gait were obvious up to trouble.

"You can sit down if you want." Luka said frowning. Belle lifted her chin.

"I didn't want to dirty the chair." She told him. He stood looking at her, a furrow in his brow. Then, sighing, he walked over to a chair, picked it up, and set it down behind her. She watched this all in silent amazement and was taken completely by surprise when he pushed her into the chair. Sputtering, Belle pushed herself up, but before she could jump out of the seat in indignation, the door opened again.

This time it was Lord Caervon. But he wasn't alone, either. Ayden was there, his grey eyes showing nothing when he looked her over. And Arielle was there as well. She grinned when she saw Belle, but abruptly sobered when her father looked at her. Lord Caervon surveyed Belle majestically, she thought, from his towering height. Not knowing what to do, she simply sat and looked at the floor. When Lord Caervon spoke his voice was soft, but deep and reverberating.

"What is your name, child?" He asked her. Daring a peek, Belle looked up at him. He didn't seem angry...

"Belle, milord." She half whispered.

"Well, Belle," He said, and she dared another peek, this time he was half glancing at Arielle, who was bouncing on the balls of her toes waiting to drag Belle off for some adventures around the mansion, "As long as you behave with proper respect, you are allowed to come and go as you please, as a good friend of my daughter's."

His lips twitched. "However," He said, and Belle's heart sank, "You should probably have a bath before you run around the house." Eyes wide, she glanced at Arielle and repeated her earlier asked question with trepidation.

"What's a bath?"

This time, Lord Caervon burst into real laughter, booming. And even the two boys grinned. Chuckling, Lord Caervon left a very confused Belle to the housekeeper.

*

And so, Belle became a regular visitor to the Caervon mansion. Over time, all the inhabitants grew so used to seeing the two girls together, that it was odd when they weren't. As the Caervon children grew, Belle grew as well. And not just in height. Arielle dragged Belle with her to her classes, learning sewing and French.

With the care that the Caervon's spent on Belle, being fed more, she filled out. Being clean showed an almost pretty little girl with a mop of golden hair. Even the boys treated her with affection, as a second sister. Lady Caervon took pride in Belle's achievements as well as Arielle's. And Lord Caervon still found the girl amusing, although she could not figure out why.

It was the best time of her life.

*

10 years later.

"Belle!" A voice shrieked and Belle swung around in time to see Arielle barrel into her.

"Oof!" Belle felt the air leave her lungs. "What?" She asked when she got her breath back.

Arielle sighed dramatically. She did a lot of things dramatically. In fact, she was just plain drama. Belle hid a smile.

"Have you seen Lord Winston? He's so...dreamy." Arielle sighed again. It sometimes hurt to look at her. She was just too beautiful. Over the years she had become more and more magnificent. Her silky midnight curls reached her waist and her sky-eyes were framed by the longest eyelashes Belle had ever seen. Belle felt drab next to her. She sighed.

"No, I haven't seen Lord Winston and although I'm sure he's dreamy, his mother is a witch." Belle said and continued walking. Arielle hurried after, as Belle knew she would.

"I know, I know," She said pouting, "But still..."

"Can you imagine having to spend your life with her evil eye watching over you?" Belle laughed. Several young men on the street looked around for the source of female laughter, but disappointed looked around again.

"Where are we headed for anyways?" Arielle asked looking around.

"Market. Mrs. Loveworth wants me to man the booth this afternoon whilst she's away." Belle had taken a job with a flower seller, a job her mother would have died for all those years ago.

"Ugh," Arielle wrinkled her nose, "But it's so noisy and smelly and hot. Don't you get tired of it?"

Belle glanced at her. "Only when Beric hangs around leering." She said. Beric had grown into every girl's fantasy man. He was extremely handsome, wealthy and charming. All of the local girls were fawning over him. He seemed to preen at the attention. Yet still he came over to her booth and lounged about, annoying her. Arielle wrinkled her nose again.

"Poor Belle." She smiled slyly, "Maybe if you had married Mr. Woodward..." She laughed. Belle rolled her eyes.

Mr. Woodward, a corpulent middle aged man who drank too much, had decided he needed a new wife. And that person should be Belle. Unfortunately for him, Belle had refused. Mr. Woodward had persisted, until Arielle, in a fit of giggles, had told Luka and he had exploded in anger. Gaping, they had watched Arielle's brother throw on a coat and storm out the door. An hour later, looking much calmer, Luka had returned and after giving Belle an indefinable look, had gone to the library.

It turned out that whatever Luka had said to Mr. Woodward had had an extreme effect on the poor man and he had moved away from that part of town the next day.

She had tried to talk to Luka about it, but he had shrugged her questions off angrily. He hardly talked to her, since she had turned eighteen. He had even snarled in rage at the dinner table when she had told the Caervon's that she had taken a job as a flower seller. Lord Caervon had silenced Luka with a look and Arielle's brother had spent the rest of the evening shooting her glares and sitting in sullen silence.

Ayden was hardly even talking to her. Whenever he did, he would shoot Luka worried glances, as though the man was going to go into rage. It was beginning to irritate Belle that every time one of the Caervon's wanted to speak to her, they made sure that Luka wasn't in the room. Sometime soon, she was going to have to talk to him about it.

"-- this afternoon?" Arielle was saying. Belle looked at her quickly to see Arielle looking back at her curiously. Arielle narrowed her eyes.

"You weren't even listening to me were you?" She said.

"Um," Belle said sheepishly, "Something about this afternoon?" Arielle sighed.

"We were wondering if you're coming to the mansion this afternoon." We, meaning the Lord and Lady Caervon. Belle shrugged.

"I don't know." She said. "I have a booth to run."

*

That evening, Belle walked up to the mansion. She had been bullied into accepting the Caervon's invitation by Arielle. As she walked up the drive, she noticed a carriage that wasn't the Caervon's. She groaned and debated whether she should just turn around and walk back home. But she had promised. So she continued up the great marble steps and into the house. After so many years of practically living there, she was completely comfortable with letting herself in.

As she walked into the parlor, she could hear the voices murmuring from the other room. The Caervon's had guests. She hated it when they invited her at the same time as guests and they knew it. She was always looked down upon as practically a servant or else she was ignored altogether. Steeling herself she walked into the room at the same time that the housekeeper announced that dinner was ready.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Walking alone into an already occupied room was the hardest as all the attention focused on you. She noticed Luka first, standing leaned up against a bookshelf, and he alone looked up when she entered the room. Ayden was standing next to a sofa, which held two girls, Arielle and another girl who Belle didn't know and who was so spectacularly pretty that Belle blinked. Lord and Lady Caervon had been conversing with another older couple, likely the parents of the very beautiful girl sitting on the sofa and...Beric, who was surveying Arielle with hooded eyes. Belle gaped at him for a few moments until he looked up and noticed her, giving her a wicked smile.

"Ah," Lord Caervon said, looking up, "Glad you could join us for dinner, Belle." He introduced the strangers. Lord and Lady Ellingson and their children Rose and Beric. The Ellingsons nodded their heads at Belle and then promptly ignored her. After excusing herself, Arielle jumped up from the sofa and came to walk next to Belle as they walked into the dining room.

"So," She whispered, "What do you think?" And nodded toward Beric and then to Rose and Ayden who were smiling at each other. Belle raised her eyebrows. Then wiggled them. Arielle smothered her giggles right before Luka grabbed Belle's arm and steered her toward a seat farther down the table, beside him. Glaring at him, Arielle took the other seat next to her and became absorbed in a conversation with Rose. Beric took the seat next to Ayden, across from Belle. Inwardly, she groaned. Now she would have to avoid his gaze while she ate. No wonder he hadn't been at market. He had been too busy getting ready for dinner with the Caervons'.

"What's with the dinner parties?" She murmured to Luka. He raised his eyebrows and glanced pointedly at Rosa and Ayden. Ah, Belle thought, matchmaking. She made a face at Luka and his lips twitched. She looked up and met Beric's eyes and promptly looked back down.

The entire dinner was a very stilted, uncomfortable affair. At least for Belle. It wasn't until they gathered in the family room that she relaxed slightly. Rose sat at the pianoforte and was plunking away at the keys, Ayden standing next to her. Arielle was speaking to Luka animatedly. And Beric, Belle looked around and nearly jumped out of her skin. Beric was standing right next to her.

"Can I help you?" She asked tightly, softly. Beric grinned and circled around her, indicating some chairs. Sighing, she took one looking at Arielle for help. But Arielle was still absorbed in conversation.

"So," Beric said leaning back against his chair and put his hands behind his head. "I should have realized this was where you spent all your childhood time." He glanced at Arielle and Luka then back at her.

"What's you point?" She asked, looking at the books around her. Anything to distract her.

"No point." He grinned, "Just making polite conversation." Belle looked back at him to catch him looking down the front of her dress. Flushing, she angled her body away, seeing his grin get wider. Thankfully, Luka noticed. His visage darkened and he glided over to Belle taking her elbow and angling her away from Beric.

"Stay away from that, bast-" He cut off, "Man." He finished, tightly, angrily. Belle frowned at him.

"I know how to take care of myself, Luka." She said, "Do you mind letting go of me? You're bruising my arm." Luka let go abruptly, looking icy. She shook her head and glancing around decided to attempt conversation.