She would never forget the men and women in coarse breeches and white aprons, with sleeves rolled to the elbows. How they had gaped at her, enjoyed her helplessness.
She could not sleep. And she was filled with a strange new terror.
It was dark when the Prince at last sent for her, and as soon as she reached the door of his private dining room, she saw that he was with Lord Stefan.
It seemed in that moment her fate was decided. She smiled as she thought of all his boasting to Lord Stefan, and she wanted to enter quickly now, but Lord Gregory held her back at the threshold.
Beauty let her eyes mist over. She did not see the Prince in his velvet tunic emblazoned with the coat of arms. Rather she saw those village cobblestone streets, the wives with their wicker brooms, the common lads in the tavern.
But Lord Gregory was speaking to her. "Don't you think I see the change in you!" he hissed low in her ear, so that it seemed part of her imagination.
Her eyebrows knit in a frown of annoyance and then she dropped her eyes.
"You're infected with the same poison as Prince Alexi. I see it working on you every day. You will soon make a mockery of everything."
Her pulse quickened. Lord Stefan, at the supper table, looked so forlorn. And the Prince was as proud as ever.
"What you need is a severe lesson..." Lord Gregory continued in his acid whisper.
"My Lord, you can't mean the village!" Beauty shuddered.
"No, I don't mean the village!" He was obviously shocked. "And don't be flippant and bold with me. You know what I mean. The Hall of Punishments."
"Ah, your domain, where you are Prince," Beauty whispered. But he did not hear her.
And the Prince, with an air of indifference, had snapped his fingers for her to enter.
She approached on her hands and knees. But she had only come a few paces into the room when she stopped.
"Go on!" Lord Gregory hissed at her angrily; the Prince had not yet noticed.
But when he turned and looked at her crossly, still she did not move, her head bowed, her eyes fixed on him. And when she saw the anger and outrage in his face, she turned suddenly and ran on her hands and knees past Lord Gregory and into the passage.
"Stop her, stop her!" the Prince cried out before he could prevent himself. And when Beauty saw Lord Gregory's boots beside her, she rose to her full height and ran faster. He caught her by the hair and she screamed as she felt herself pulled back and thrown over his shoulder.
She beat on his back with her fists, kicking, as he held her knees tight, and she wept hysterically.
She could not hear the Prince's angry voice, but she could not make out the words, and when let down again at his feet, she ran again so that two Pages came pounding after her.
She struggled as she was gagged and bound, and she did not know where she was being taken. It was dark and they were descending stairs, and she knew an appalling moment of regret and panic.
They would hand her in the Hall of Punishments and if she could not endure even that, how would she endure the village?
But a strange calm came over her even before her captors had reached the Slaves' Hall, and when she was thrust in a dark cell to lie on the cold stone floor with her bonds cutting into her flesh, she knew a quiet exhilaration.
Yet she continued to weep, her sex pulsing it seemed with her sobs and there was only silence around her.
It was almost morning when she was roused. Lord Gregory snapped his fingers as the Pages undid her fetters and lifted her to her feet on legs that were weak and unsteady. She felt the wallop of Lord Gregory's belt.
"Spoilt, disgraceful Princess!" he hissed between his teeth, but she was drowsy, softened with desire and dreaming of the village. She gave a little cry as she felt his angry blows, but she realized with wonder that the Pages were gagging her again and binding her hands to the back of her neck roughly. She was going to the village!
"O Beauty, Beauty," came Lady Juliana's voice crying beside her. "Why did you become afraid, why did you try to run, you had been so good and strong, my darling."
"Spoilt, arrogant one," Lord Gregory cursed her again as she was driven towards the open doorway. She could see the morning sky over the treetops. "You did it deliberately!" Lord Gregory whispered in her ear as he whipped her onto the garden path. "Well, you shall rue the day, and how bitterly you will weep and there will be no one there to hear you."
Beauty struggled to keep from smiling. But could they have seen a smile behind the cruel leather bit in her teeth? It did not matter. She was running fast, with her knees lifted, around the side of the castle as Lord Gregory pointed the way, his blows quick and smarting, and Lady Juliana wept as she ran along, too. "O, Beauty, I can't bear it."
The stars were not yet faded away, yet the air was already warm and caressing. They crossed the empty prison yard, entering the courtyard between the great doors, and lowered drawbridge of the castle.