"Beauty: Chapters 4-6" by Lauren Christine

Chapter IV

     The halls were crowded with servants, all who had clamored to the entrance to see their master.  Naphtali was obviously very well loved by those who served him.  I read somewhere once that the best way to judge a man was to see not how he treated his equals, but those who serve him.  I suppose if I were to judge Naphtali by that account I would find myself with a very good man indeed.  On the way to Red Meadows, we had discussed what to do about Lydian and Cassidy and had come up with a number of suggestions.  All of which we intended to put into play; at least until they left. 

   The next morning, Margaret, one of Naphtali’s servants walked into Cassidy’s room and flung back the curtain.  Just down the hall, Rebecca was doing the same thing in Lydian’s rooms. 

  Cassidy blinked at the blinding sunlight.  It was far earlier then she had ever gotten up in her life, despite the fact that the sun was already up. 

  “You stupid maid!”  She shrieked at Margaret.  “Get out of my room this instant!  I shall inform Tali-Kins of this outrage!”  This was not the thing to say to Margaret, who was very old and very impatient.

 “Ye shall not be speaking to me like that!  Respect is earned in Red Meadows estate.  Be ye Lord Naphtali’s guest or no, I have been here a good bit longer then ye have!  Longer on the earth it’s self, and that earns me more respect then you for sure.”

  Cassidy had never been back talked to by a maid in her life.  She sat there in bed staring at Margaret. 

  “We... Well,” she faltered.  “Do you still do your job as a maid?” 

  “I do my job, missy, but I do not take lip from impertinent girls like yer-self.”   

  “Then you shall assist me with my make-up.”

  “I shall not, missy.  Make-up isn’t worn at Red Meadows estate.  And even if it was, you don’t order me about!  You ask old missy Margaret if I would be so kind as to assist you.”

  Cassidy was again with out words, both at Margaret’s audacity and this new rule.

  “Tali-Kins never said anything about no make-up before,” she managed.

  “Well, he’s been about hasn’t he? Not your business what he’s doing with his time anyway,” Margaret snapped.

  “No make-up?” Cassidy repeated.

  “No make-up,” Margaret confirmed.  “Now up with ye!  It is time to get dressed.  Now what shall ye be wearing?  Brown, red, or red-brown?”

  “Brown and red both go horribly with my completion,” the redhead whined, now out of bed and rooting around through her bag.

  “Wha… Where are my eyelashes?!?”  She demanded, not finding them. 

  “On yer eyes I’d imagine,” Margaret said patiently.

  “No!  My…” she hated to say it, “…Stick on eyelashes.”

  “Those ratty things I found in there?  I threw them away,” Margaret told her.

  “You… you threw them away.”

  “I threw them away.”

  “I only have red and brown to wear.”

  “Ye’ve only got red and brown to wear.  Look here, are you daft girl?  Must you repeat everything I say?”

   In the next room things were going much of the same way for Lydian.

  “WHERE are my hair care products?  WHERE is my powder?  WHERE are my things?”  she was shrieking at Rebecca.

  “I took the liberty of disposing of those terrible smelling ointments, and I threw that foul smelling powder to the pigs,” Rebecca told her calmly.  Where as Margaret was an old, plump Irish woman, Rebecca was a thin severe Englishman.  (Or English woman, rather.)

  “And what will you be wearing, brown or red or red-brown?”

  “BLUE!”  Lydian shrieked.

  “Then go sit in the snow for a bit and go to dinner naked,” Rebecca told her.

  “It isn’t snowing!” Lydian whined.

  “Then what will it be, brown or red or red-brown?”

   Mean while, I was in my own room, having my hair brushed by a pleasant lady around my age named Daisy.  (“Mother was going to name me Rose, but she found out Lord Naphtali’s views on the matter and named me Daisy instead.)  It was nice having my hair brushed.  I may have been a princess, but I was never coddled, as there were always my beautiful sisters to look too.  I had fun allowing her to place a net with tiger-eye and onyx stones woven in the silver wire, and then wearing the red-brown dress. I looked really beautiful, I remember thinking.  It was the first time I ever remembered looking beautiful. 

  Cassidy, however, was simply not feeling beautiful at all.  The years of fake eyelashes had permanently damaged her own, leaving them stiff and short, and rather spiky looking, truth be told.  The red dress she chose clashed horribly with her red hair, and her face look distinctly plainer do to the lack of the usual sprinkling of freckles.  Lydian didn’t have much luck either, shunning the red dress for the brown on since it was made of a finer silk.  Where the red would have gone well with her blonde hair and fair skin, however, the brown only made her skin look pale and sallow, and emphasized her light colored hair that was a giant ball of frizz do to the lack of ointment.  Rebecca denied her towels for her bodice as well.

Chapter V

  The girls learned very quickly how to live with Margaret and Rebecca.  Both were demanding, and from Cassidy and Lydian’s stand points, rude.  They got what they wanted when they wanted it, which annoyed the crap out of the girls.  Neither of them were treated like princesses, and neither of them were granted an audience with Naphtali when they wanted one.  It was easy to forget that they were there, almost.  They stayed in their rooms and sulked.  Occasionally they went to each other’s rooms and sulked together.  Naphtali and I, however, were enjoying ourselves very much.  I grew to love Red Meadows after my first day and a half there.  It was truly beautiful.  I was quite all right living with Cassidy and Lydian locked in their rooms, and I was tempted to just let life stay with them like that.  But Naphtali would not kiss me so long as they were there.  He refused to even hold my hand.  I was not pleased.  So… we decided that it was time to hold dinner.

   Margaret and Rebecca went up to the girls’ rooms, giving each other grim glances.  Both women hated them.  Lydian and Cassidy were given word that dinner was to be served.  And that they HAD to attend.  Now, normally you see, they would have demanded to be allowed to attend, but as soon as they were told that they had to go, they protested.  And when they found that they also had to keep the same dresses that they had been wearing on for dinner and were still not permitted make-up they were livid.  But they went to dinner anyway, at Rebecca and Margaret’s ‘request’.  

   It was the first time in my life I had ever seen them with out make-up – but I get ahead of myself.  Dinner.  The table was set plainly, and it looked out of place in the elegant dining hall, the simple white table cloth, linen, not damask or anything beautiful like that.  The silver was plain and unornamented, and the plates, although made of fine china were unmarked with decoration.  The table its self, should anyone have looked close enough, must have been over a hundred years old, shining mahogany with patterns engraved in the legs of the creatures of the fae.  The rest of the hall was equally magnificent, the windows stained glass, featuring the fae as well.  The images seemed to dance under the sunlight, catching the eye of anyone who graced them with more then a passing glance.  The hall seemed to sing with each step you took.  But none of this was really noticed unless one was looking for the best in the hall.  Both Naphtali and I were confident the girls would not. 

    When it was finally time to come to dinner, Naphtali was sitting casually in a chair made of old beech wood.  As is traditional, Cassidy, being the youngest was announced first. She walked down the stair with as much dignity a girl with spiky eyelashes and a sudden lack of freckles can.  She walked over to Naphtali and kissed his cheek.  (“Hello, Tali-Kins!”)  Then, she turned and sat on his right hand, on the bench that had been laid out for her.  She got a splinter in a place that I am too kind to mention by the time the night was through with all her fidgeting.

   Then it was Lydian’s turn.  She too came down the stairs, although she stomped.  She was quite put out at the fact that her breasts were two sizes smaller then they had been that morning.  Her hair had been contained as well as possible in a net behind her, but the rebel strand poked out here and there.  She kissed Naphtali’s other cheek, (“Good evening, Nephy-Poo!”)  then sat on his left.  Unfortunately she did not get a splinter, although she fidgeted a good deal. 

  When it was my turn to come down the stairs, my name was announced in a much more welcoming tone.  Although there were no mirrors for me to see in the hall, Margaret later told me (with the support of Rebecca and Daisy) that my cheeks were rosy with my happiness, and my eyes fairly glowed.  I walked with faerie grace, and I smiled as though the whole world was my own.  When I curtsied to Naphtali, (“My Lord.”) his eyes light up at the sight of me and looked happier then any of the three had seen him in a long time.  Now, I can’t say for sure that was how it went mind, but Becca and Daisy and Margaret swear to it.  I sat next to Cassidy, hoping that she would be the more bearable of the two.  Conversation was unpleasant for both of them, although the servants and I got quite a kick out of it.

  Naphtali’s butler, Michael, served dinner and then drinks were served by Pansy.  Once our food had been set out, Mich laid out food all the way down the table, and Pansy followed suit with the cups and the wine.  And then, much to Cassidy and Lydian’s surprise, the knights of Red Meadow filed into the room and took their seats, striking up a loud buzz of conversation as the all nodded in Naphtali’s direction before tucking into the food Mich had laid out.  Then, as there was still empty space at the end of the table, the servants also came in, each bowing in Naphtali’s direction before taking a seat and starting dinner.   Cassidy and Lydian were in a state of shock.  I smiled.  How could I expect any less of noble Naphtali then for his friends who served him so well to share his table?  I was a bit surprised myself that the girls didn’t know him well enough to figure that he would share his meal. 

  As we ate, he politely commented on how lovely he thought Cassidy’s eyelashes were looking tonight, but where were her eyebrows and freckles?  and how in the world did Lydian get her hair so wild, and what happened to her chest? and didn’t I just look so pretty in my dress?

  Both Lydian and Cassidy were both sure that he was being sarcastic about the beauty comment.

Chapter VI

  We were both very sorry to see that Cassidy and Lydian did not wish to stay with us at Red Meadows any longer.  They both ran away as soon as they could pack the nonsense that they had brought with the coming up of the sun the next morning.  Cassidy was simply so homesick that she couldn’t bear to be away from her house any longer, and Lydian dreadfully missed her daddy.  Naphtali said that he was sad to see them go, and I asked them to tell my parents that I was staying in Red Haven for a while.  The rumor that Naphtali had kidnapped the girls was quickly stifled back home when they cam crawling back without their make-up.  They really were pretty things, but their years of cosmetics had reduced them to pitiful creatures with out it. 

  Naphtali and I were married by Margaret, who turned out to be an Irish priest.  She had pretended to be a woman to earn her priest-hood, complete with shaving her head, but had been caught and fled.  Naphtali had taken her in to Red Meadows.  He had only one condition I had to abide by if I was to be his wife: I was never to call him Nephy-Poo or Tali-Kins.  I have never been tempted.  I was the happiest I thought I’d ever be in my life on my wedding day.  The whole of Red Meadows was at our wedding; all the servants, and Naphtali’s knights, and all the people who lived in the surrounding village.  Naphtali was well loved by all who sat beneath him.  I walked bare-foot through the woods to the alter we had made, and we gave our love into God’s hands.  The first time I ever kissed my husband was our wedding. 

  Later, Naphtali revealed to me that he was half elf, and I took me on many a visit to the other world, which I loved.  He told me that I must have some faerie blood myself to have such a love of that realm.  Eventually, I figured I had to tell my parents of my marriage, so together we rode back to face them.  All went well enough, my mother was pleased to see that I wasn’t going to attack the castle in a vengeful rage after the fight we had gotten into. 

  We never told anyone about Cassidy and Lydian kidnapping him; I think it was a bit of a sore spot in his ego.  I can’t say I blame him.  My sisters eventually got married to poor half blind old fools who made them rich, and therefore happy.  They had multiple affairs and never got caught, and eventually married fortune-seeking men their age when their ancient rich husbands died.  God rest the souls of the men forced to deal with them.

  Mother and Father died with out any sons, so Naphtali and I received Seven Brooks, my home, and we rule there still, King and Queen of Red Meadows and Seven Brooks.  We have six children, can you believe it?  Six!  I love them all.  Lilly, Daisy, Margaret, Rebecca, Michael and Naphtali II.  I love them all to death, and so does Naphtali.

  My name is Bernadette.  I have never been called beautiful.  But I have been called kind, and good with children.  In my opinion, I would never trade either of those two things to be beautiful, and plus they both got me happily ever after, which is all I could ever ask for.