Before Beauty by Brittany Fichter Read Free Book Online

floating
in a cloud. Her arms were covered in lace, and her veil made the
world look like the clouds filled the room. Best of all, the long
gown covered all but the toes of her shoes. If she stood still and
buried her left hand in the layers of white material, it was
impossible to see the crook of her ankle or how her wrist turned
inward.
    “No, Baby,” her mother wiped a
tear from her eye. “ You are perfect.”
    Isa fought the tears that
threatened to spill down her own face. She still could not believe
that this happiness should be hers. At one time, she’d thought that
it could never would be.
    It was hard to imagine that just
months ago, she’d been running for her life. After receiving a
midnight letter from a friend at the Fortress, Isa’s father had
dragged the family out of bed, whispering severely that there were
to be no candles or fires lit. Deline had wept as Isa’s father and
brother had bundled her up and buried her beneath a load of
supplies in the horse cart and fled the city in the dark of night.
For three days, they had waited up in a deserted mountain cottage
before Deline had been able to send word that Isa would be safe
again. The Fortress had gone dark, and the royal order had never
been carried out.
    Still, when they had returned, the
neighbors said Ansel should send his daughter with the Caregivers.
It had been a close call. While years had passed since the Fortress
monarchs had shown true interest in the welfare of its poor,
everyone had hoped their new king would bring about a more merciful
reign. Instead, Isa had very nearly been killed in her sleep by the
first edict of the young prince. No one knew when the Fortress
would awaken, the neighbors said, and then what would become of
Isa? No, her father had argued, much to Isa’s relief. Isa would
stay.
    It wasn’t that Isa disliked the
Caregivers. They seemed kind enough. Merchants by trade, they would
come with great varieties of foreign wares, many which her father
sold in his mercantile. They did not trade only for money, however.
Everyone knew the Caregivers by the black metal rings they wore.
Those rings, they claimed, were a sign of asylum for anyone who
needed sanctuary. Unbeknownst to the king and his elite, those who
could not provide for themselves could be smuggled out with the
Caregivers to their own country, where they were given fitting
jobs, food, and shelter.
    This was all fine and good, but it
had always bothered Isa that those who left were not allowed to
contact their families. It was too dangerous for letters, even,
Marko said.
    Marko was one of the Caregivers
who visited Soudain most. An old family friend, Ansel often
purchased his goods for the mercantile. Marko was a good-natured
man, and ever since she was a small child, he had never come to the
mercantile without sweets for Isa and her brother and sister. He
was fiercely built for a tradesman, and would have frightened her
if she hadn’t known him for so long. His long hair was always
pulled back into a tight knot at the back of his head, and he
smelled of campfire smoke. Marko had visited not long after the
Fortress went dark, and he had also strongly advised Ansel and
Deline to send Isa with him.
    “ It is too dangerous to leave her
here!” he had argued, gesturing in the direction of the Fortress
with one of his large arms.
    “ I will not send my daughter off
by herself to a place I have never been, and will likely never
see,” Ansel had answered his friend in a steady voice.
    “ You could come with her! We would
happily take you back with us, all of you!”
    “ It would be too conspicuous.” Her
father had shaken his head. “I’m on Soudain’s city council. They
would notice when I left. No, I will care for my daughter. She will
be safe with her family.”
    That had been the end of that
discussion, and Isa was grateful. After a few weeks, the Fortress
had remained dark, and the urgings of well-meaning family and
friends had stopped. Life had begun to