"Hostages are such a strange thing to hold onto," Belle murmurs as they step into the garden. It's not wild or free like the land, but she appreciates a good garden and the sunlight streaming down on her. Once, she remembers her own little garden and a poor excuse for a library in a run-down castle. "But I suppose it's good to know that the queen is one to keep to her word. And Alia is the same, in that case?"

It doesn't hurt to know who her hosts are.

"Ah, yes." She slips away from him, running her fingers through her tangle of hair as best as she can. "Have you ever been a bear before, Henri? Few people have. The fairy who cursed Philippe wanted to make him into the exact beast she saw him as. It was a cruel curse, but not exactly without forethought to it." She presses her lips together for a moment. "You do not come back from that unmarked."