Meet The Parents Dinner

Oddly enough, the first thing Beauty noticed was the rosy pink marble veined with deep emerald green, creating a striking contrast on the floor. It was certainly not the color of the floor she had been walking on for the last three months.  Confused, she looked up into the face of a young man who had been transported with her.  He had lapis blue eyes and patrician facial features topped with medium brown curls.

She almost didn’t recognize him, then she remembered: He was her beast.

“Beast—” She began when her voice trailed off. Suddenly she realized she didn’t know his real name.  There was a lot of things she didn’t know, apparently.

And she had just asked him to marry her.

“Elias.”  The prince told her, realizing what she wanted to know.  “My name is Elias.” He looked around and said, in amazement, “We’re back in the palace throne room.” Realizing that sentence could be confusing under the circumstances, he looked back to her and explained, “My palace…well, the palace where I lived as a child, in my kingdom.” Losing himself for a minute, he thought aloud, looking around, “Oh, it’s still the same after all these years.”  Then he caught himself, “I’m sorry, my love, I feel you have many questions.”

Beauty did. Why did a wicked fairy turn Elias into a beast in the first place? Why didn’t he tell her about this?  What had he been doing in her land?

Did he really love her?

Instead, what came out was, “How long have you been gone?”

Before he could answer, the doors burst opened and the room filled with men in shining metal armor covered with blue and red cloth, their swords and crossbows drawn.

“Halt!” Elias called out.  “Don’t fire. It is I, Prince Elias! The spell has finally been broken,” He glanced over at Beauty, adding with small smile, “by this wonderful maiden.”

Perhaps understandably, the guards didn’t just take him at his word that he was the lost prince.  They were held in the throne room while the king and queen were summoned to decide on the matter. They were an older couple, both bearing similarities to their son. The king had similar hair, although it was graying; likewise, the son had his mother’s eyes, although the queen’s eyes were set in a much more feminine face and surrounded by small lines.

They all stood there for a moment staring at each other. Then the queen ran to her son, throwing all dignity to the wind as they embraced. “Oh, Elias.” She said, tearing up. “Is it finally over?  Are you finally home?”

“Yes,” Elias confirmed, ‘yes, it is.” Pulling back, he said. “And I want you both to meet the woman you must thank for it. Mother, this is my betrothed, Beauty.  Beauty, this is my mother, Queen Johanna, and my father, King Richard.”

As it dawned on her that she was standing before royalty, Beauty gathered her skirts, glad she was in her best gown, saying humbly, “Your Majesties.”

“Lady Beauty,” King Richard spoke up, joining the group, “it seems our kingdom owes you a great debt.”

Lady? Beauty thought, glancing over at Elias. There had clearly been a severe misunderstanding.

“Mother, Father, while Beauty certainly has class, she’s not a lady.” Elias said nervously.

“Then what is her rank then?’  Johanna asked.

#

“She’s a merchant daughter?!”

After things had calmed down and Elias and Beauty explained the whole story, everyone went their separate ways as they tried to figure out what to do.  Richard and Johanna were in the king’s study, the queen was pacing the floor.

“Johanna— “Ricard began, much calmer about the situation than his wife was proving to be.

“The daughter of a merchant who lost his entire fortune,” Johanna continued to rant, “and who stole from someone who saved his life?”

“He snapped a rose off a branch, Johanna.” Richard pointed out, “And our son was going to kill him for it. I don’t think we have the moral high ground here.” He sighed. “I would have hoped the maiden who broke the curse would be a little more politically advantageous match, but Beauty seems like a lovely, intelligent young woman and our son loves her. Can’t we just let them be?”

“It’s not just that, Richard.” Johanna said. “One day, Elias will be king. That means Beauty will be his queen, and that girl is not prepared for the turbulence that comes with politics, to say nothing of delivering justice and managing resources.”

“Then we’ll prepare her.” Richard said assumingly, reaching out and caressing his wife’s face. “We’ll prepare them both.  My dear, our son is back, he’s in love, and the curse is broken. Can’t we just be happy?”

Johanna sighed. “I suppose.”

#

Meanwhile, in the bed chambers that had been hastily prepared for her at Elias’ palace, Beauty sat on the edge of the most opulent bed she had ever seen.  It was even more grand than what she had slept in at Elias’ castle. She tried to sort out everything that was happening in her mind. Everything was happening much too quickly. It was difficult to process.

And there was a certain someone she desperately wanted to see.

Could she go find him? Was she even allowed to leave the room?

That was when Elias stepped in with a mischievous look on his face. “I hope you don’t mind, but there’s someone else who wanted to meet you.”

A young teenage girl with long, thick, pale blonde hair rushed into the room, asking “Is this her?”

“This is her.” Elias confirmed.

The girl squealed and lunged at Beauty, hugging her, saying, “I’m Sabrina, Elias’ sister. It is so good to meet you!”  Sabrina let out another squeal.

Beauty was surprised by the embrace. It didn’t seem like a royal thing to do. Still, she had a feeling she was going to like her future sister-in-law.

  “You’re from the area around our provincial estate, right?” Sabrina guessed. “That’s where they sent Elias after…the incident. How did you meet?  When do we get to meet your family? I want to know everything!”

“Well, you see my father…Beast…Elias I mean, he saved him when he was lost in the forest,” Beauty began to explain, “But when he went to leave, he took a rose from a bush and—” She glanced up to Elias for help.

“I threatened his life.” Elias admitted.

Sabrina’s eyes, the same eyes as her brother, widened, saying, “You what ?!”

Elias winced. “It was not my finest moment.”

“I’ll say!” Sabrina replied. “Elias it was a flower! I mean, no, people shouldn’t steal, but threatening to kill someone?!” She turned to Beauty, saying, “And you still agreed to marry him after that?!”

“Well, there’s a bit more to the story…” Beauty began awkwardly.

“Actually, Sabrina, could you leave us alone for a minute?’ Elias requested.

Sabrina turned around. “Oh, alright, “She agreed reluctantly, walking out of the room, and leaving the couple alone.

“Thank you.” Beauty said sincerely, as Elias sat down beside her on the bed.

“You’re welcome.” Elias told her, not sure of what else to say. He had been dreaming of this day since he was a teenager, and now that it was here it didn’t seem quite of real. There was also a slightly unsatisfying sense of what did he do now? What did they do now? “I suppose I should start with…”

“Was any of it real?” Beauty asked abruptly, lifting her face up to him with large eyes filled with confusion and pain.

Elias wasn’t sure what he was going to face when he got here, but that was the last thing he was expecting. “Ex-excuse me?”

“Taking such care of me?” Beauty began, a solemn intensity in her voice. “All those evening visits? Proposing to me every night? Saying you’d die of grief without me?! Did you mean it, or were you just seducing me to break the curse? Was I just a means to an end to you?”

“My dear.” Elias said, reaching out and stroking her cheek. “No, no, no, please never think that. I loved you from the minute I laid eyes on you.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?!” Beauty exclaimed, pulling away, angry tears welling in her eyes. She couldn’t help but feel like everything between them was now based on a lie.

“Would you have believed me if I did?!” Elias snapped.

“I was sacrificing myself to a mysterious beast in a manor in the middle of the forest!” Beauty exclaimed. “Even after I was reasonably sure you weren’t going to eat me, or just kill me, there was an enchanted mirror in my room, a beautiful woman was appearing in my dreams telling me everything would be alright, and even though there didn’t appear to be any servants, everything was perfectly maintained! I would have believed almost anything you told me!”

Elias knew she had him there. “Alright,” He admitted, “I didn’t tell you because I wanted, I needed to know that you loved me for me, not just my crown, it was the only way the curse would be broken, but… I wanted to love you for you, too. And then there was this…incredibly brave, incredibly good, incredibly smart, and yes, incredibly beautiful girl…I did. Love at first sight. And darling I am so, so sorry that the way I handled the situation made you think otherwise.”

Beauty wanted to believe him. She desperately wanted to believe him.  And so far, Elias didn’t act much different from her beast. So maybe she could believe him. “So, what happens now?” She asked with a weary smile.

“Now?” Elias asked, nervously. “I’ve been asking myself that too, honestly. For right now, I suppose we get through dinner with my parents.”

Beauty looked down at the blue floral print gown she was wearing. It was a wrinkled, dirt and grass smeared mess from the events of the day, her hair was starting to fall out of its braid, and somewhere along the way, she lost the necklace she had been wearing. That was sure to impress the monarchs. NOT.

Realizing what she was thinking, Elias said, “Let’s see what we can do with a few hours.”

#

A few hours later, they came down to dinner together. Beauty had cleaned up in a evergreen velvet dress which brought out the forest green of her eyes, her black hair in an elegantly simple braid. They sat down across from Sabrina and Johanna, with King Richard at the head of the table as the servants set out an opaque red broth with small biscuits floating in it. After Richard quickly blessed the meal, everyone took their first spoonful.

A merchant’s daughter, Beauty did have some idea of proper etiquette, taking a very careful spoonful and sipping from it. The soup was sweet and tasted like roses.

Everything was quiet until Richard said, “It appears word of your return has already gotten around, Elias. The ambassador from Spain came to ask me about the wedding.”

Elias and Beauty exchanged looks.

“You were intending on having a wedding, weren’t you?” King Richard asked pointedly, a hint of worry in his voice. “You did introduce Beauty as your betrothed after all.”

“Of course, we are.” Elias assured him.

Johanna let out a groan.

The groan hurt Beauty’s heart, but she ignored it, saying, “I suppose with everything happening so fast, the reality of being wed is the last thing on our minds.”

“Of course.” King Richard agreed sincerely with a nod. “I can hardly blame you for that. If I can be honest, it’s happening somewhat quickly for us as well.  All these years wondering if it would ever actually happen and now—here you are. Here you both are.”

Soon they moved on to the second course, a creamy light brown sage and mushroom soup.

“Will Beauty’s family be coming to the wedding?” Sabrina asked innocently, taking a sip from her goblet.

This time not only did the couple freeze up, but the rest of the royal family as well.

“I’m sure arrangements can be made.  However, I will need the information on their exact location.” Richard said. “Maid Beauty, would see me in my office after dinner?”

“Thank you so much, sire.” Beauty said, though she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted her family there. Her father, yes, but thinking back to the almost two weeks she had just spent with her family, she was starting to wonder about her sisters.  For years, they made it clear they didn’t particularly care for their youngest sister, and suddenly they were showering her with affection. At first, she had just thought it was just the months of believing her to be dead- absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder after all-but now she was starting to think something more was going on. Like they were hoping Elias would turn on her for breaking her word to just stay a week.

“Speaking of your family, Beauty, could you tell us more about them?” Johanna asked, sincerely trying to be cordial.

“Well, my mother died when I was a toddler,” Beauty admitted. “All I’ve ever really known is my father and sisters. Fleur, Isadora, and I are each about a year apart.”

“Are either of your sisters married?!” Sabrina piped up hopefully.

“No, not yet, I’m afraid.” Beauty admitted nervously. “When I last visited there was a young man courting Fleur and my father seemed hopeful for those prospects.”

Elias looked up to her. “Really? You never told me that.”

“Things got rather busy my love.” Beauty pointed out somewhat tensely.

“And what, pray tell, does your father do now?” Johanna asked. “Is he still a merchant?” 

“Well, after the ships were lost, he set to farming.” Beauty admitted. “However, with the aid of the trunk Elias sent with him when I came to the estate, he was able to get back into his trade.”

Now Richard was a little concerned. “Trunk?” He asked.

“Yes, when Beauty agreed to stay in her father’s place, I sent back a trunk of jewels and coins with him.” Elias said awkwardly, starting to regret numerous decisions. “It seemed like the least I could do to compensate them for losing such a treasure.” He reached out, discretely stroking Beauty’s hair with affection.

“So, you essentially bought her?” Sabrina spoke up. “You bought a girl?”

“Sabrina!” Ricard exclaimed, though he did have concerns about how that would look should it get out.

Beauty and Elias exchanged distressed looks. This was going downhill.

The next course was whole sauteed fish, staring up at its eater with a blank expression. Beauty carefully peeled back the crispy skin with a knife and fork, slicing into the fish’s meat. She was about to put it in her mouth when, out of the corner of her eye, she caught Elias stabbing the fish, causing a spirt of juice of spray all over him.

Thinking fast, Beauty jumped to her feet, helping him wipe up the mess on his shirt.

“I’m so sorry.” Elias said, glancing at his family, flushing with embarrassment, “I suppose the isolation has dullen my table manners. Um, may I be excused to change, please?”

By the time Elias came back in clean clothes, the servants were setting out roast goose. “I am so sorry about that.”

“It’s quite all right, son.” Ricard assured him, “This is going to take some adjustment for everyone.”

They began eating in silence again when Johanna asked, “Beauty, what education have you had?”

“Johanna…” Richard began.

“What?” Johnna responded. “Is it so wrong for a woman to want to get to know her future daughter -in-law?”

Beauty began to shake with nerves. “Well, when I was young, I had private tutors…”

“Any training in politics?’ Johnna asked, increasing in intensity. “Other cultures?”

“Well, I had some…” Beauty began, feeling overwhelmed by the rapid-fire questions.

“That’s it.” Elias snapped, standing up.

“What?!” Johnna asked, seeming confused.

“You know what.” Elias said, helping Beauty up to her feet.

Johanna got to her feet as well. “Oh, Elias, I was just—”

“No!” Elias shouted, “No, I know exactly what you were doing!”

“Johnna—” Richard began. “Stop.” Then he looked to his son, “Elias—”

“No!” Elias exclaimed, whirling around and pointing at his mother. “No, she had no right to say that to her! So, what if she’s not of royal birth?!  You may remember from when you angered the fairy to begin with, but her spell wasn’t that specific!”

“Elias!” Beauty exclaimed, grabbing his arm. “Please! The insult was slight, and its not’s as if wanting a royal daughter-in-law with knowledge of politics is unreasonable…”  That was when she realized something and said, “Wait, they angered the fairy?”

“Yes!” Elias exclaimed, “By rejecting her help in finding me a suitable match in the first place!”

“Fairies are very temperamental.” Richard protested, “We did our best to politely decline and she cursed you anyway.”

“It’s not just that.” Elias said, “After the spell…you shipped me off to the country estate and never came to visit. I was essentially abandoned because of how I looked. By you. And now you think you can just…”

As his voice trailed off, the entire room went silent. Even the few servants still in the room froze.

Beauty took his hand, saying in a hushed whisper, “I never knew you felt that way.”

“Well,” Elias reasoned, “I never told you.”

That was when Johanna stood up. “I’m sorry.”

Everyone went quiet at that. Again.

“What?” Elias asked.

“We never intended to make it feel like you have been abandoned.”  Johanna began.

“None of us did.” Richard spoke up.

“To be fair, I was a baby when everything happened, so—” Sabrina began.

“The point is, we’re sorry we made you feel that way.”  Johanna continued, “We’re sorry we did basically do what you just said. And I shouldn’t have interrogated Beauty like that.” Johanna continued, “I’m just trying to adjust, and I know that’s no excuse, and yes, I would have loved to have some political advantage but…” She turned to Beauty, “You seem like a lovely young woman and you make my son happy. The rest we can sort out later.”

Beauty felt her heart swell. “Thank you.”

Suddenly the whole feeling in the room changed.  The air that had been filled with such anxiety and frustration, was now filled with love and forgiveness. Taking a glass, Queen Johanna raised it in the air, saying the last word on the subject. “A toast, to the new couple. May they have a long and happy marriage.”

“Here, here,” Richard agreed, joining in the toast, causing everyone else to join in as well before taking a drink.

  “Beauty,” Joanna finished, “Welcome to the family.”