by Nancy Madore
Perceiving her anxiety, the bear instructed a kindly old servant woman to take the girl to her bedchamber. But before she left him he advised her not to be afraid, assuring her that the castle was indeed enchanted and that, for as long as she remained there, all of her innermost desires would be immediately brought about. He handed her a little golden bell, adding that if, in fact, the castle failed in this tall order, all she had to do was to ring the bell while wishing for anything within the castle walls, and it would be immediately done for her. Then, with a polite bow, the bear left her with the old servant woman, who chattered away amicably as she led the girl to her bedchamber. What the servant spoke about she could not have said, so preoccupied was she, but the old lady’s sociable manner had the effect of calming her nerves.
Inside her bedchamber, she first noticed the bed, a massive furnishing of elaborately carved mahogany dressed in lavish silks. Next she spied a dressing table, as splendidly adorned as the bed and laid out with solid-gold utensils for her to use.
At one end of the chamber there stood a series of wardrobes, each so large that it exceeded, in size, the entire bedroom she had formerly shared with all of her siblings back in her father’s cottage. The wardrobes were stocked with beautiful gowns of many styles and colors, all of which were made to fit her just so. She selected a nightgown that was finer than any item of clothing she had ever before possessed and, wondering how the rest of her family had fared, she settled into the comfortable bedding that had been prepared just for her.
Her previous anxiety was for the most part gone now, but upon laying her head on the velvety pillow, she was overcome with a feeling of restlessness. Everything was so perfect and yet she felt a strange emptiness and longing.
Was she homesick? No, for although she loved her family, she was of an age when the solitude of private rooms, with her own possessions, was more than welcome! Besides, she could remember feeling this way in her father’s cottage, too. Back then she had thought it was simply discontent, brought about by her passionate desire for nicer things, but here was the sensation again, stronger than ever, even among such incredible luxury and wealth. She still suffered with that same yearning, without knowing exactly what it was she wanted.
Before she had time to consider this at any great length, the door to her bedchamber abruptly opened and closed, and she heard someone enter her room. She had extinguished the candle, and no moon or starlight could creep through the thick velvet curtains that covered the windows, so she was completely unable to observe who it was.
She was not immediately alarmed, however, supposing that it was only the kindly servant woman, returning to tuck her in for the night or, perhaps, even, perceiving her unspoken and melancholy longing, the woman had duly fetched the vague thing and promptly brought it to her! For hadn’t the bear promised that her every wish would be immediately granted?
But there was none of the servant’s silly chattering this time; no, not even an answer when the girl inquired, “Who is it, please?”
She slowly sat up in the bed and instinctively turned her head toward the intruder, straining to detect the meaning of the soft shuffling sounds she now heard. As she stared into the blackness her eyes opened wider. Their sightless orbs darted back and forth in sudden terror.
At length it occurred to her that the trespasser had undressed. Then she heard someone approach the bed. She was hardly able to breathe, she was so terrified, but she somehow managed to whisper, “Who is it?”
Still the stranger said nothing.
“Who is it?” she repeated, more frantically. “Is it you, Mr. Bear?” But even as she asked this, she realized it could not be so, for the bear did not wear clothes or shoes, as had this uninvited visitor.
The question was once again ignored as, very leisurely, the stranger sat upon the bed. She was now certain that it could not be the huge white bear, for the personage who sat next to her on the bed was the precise size of a man. She had seen no men in the castle (every servant she had encountered was a woman), and so she had no clues as to his identity.
She began to disentangle her legs from inside the bedding, thinking to bolt from the bed, when suddenly a hand reached out and gently grasped hold of her hair.
She gasped and repeated her request. “Please tell me who you are!”
Tightening his grip on her hair, the man carefully wound it around his hand slowly, round and round, until he reached her scalp. Then he gently pulled his hand downward, forcing her head and body back down on the bed and underneath him. Thus he held her head firmly as his lips approached hers.
“It is I,” he replied in a soft whisper, lightly brushing her lips with his as he spoke. “Your lover, beckoned.”
In the next instant his lips were pressing gently against hers, opening her mouth. His warm lips and probing tongue seemed to answer a calling from somewhere deep within her. She was astounded by her body’s immediate response to him.
Even so, the thought of a complete stranger holding her thus filled her with horror. He lifted his mouth from hers and began soft gentle kisses along the line of her jaw.
“I must know who you are,” she murmured. “The bear…”
“I am the reason you are here,” he whispered between kisses. “And you—you are the reason I am here.”
“But…” She had so many questions, but his mouth once again silenced her.
From his position over her and the way in which he held her, she knew that he was a large, muscular man. He smelled of shaving cream and light cologne. His hair was still damp from his bath. But who was he?
His kiss was so intense that she wasn’t even conscious at first that she was kissing him back. A warm feeling trickled up from deep within her womb. She tried to hold on to logic and reason.
“Please,” she begged, “light a lantern that I might at least see you.”
But he neither answered her plea nor permitted the light. He merely continued to devour her lips and flushed skin. Although his body was covering hers, he held himself up slightly so that his weight would not crush her. Still, he remained close enough that she could feel him hardening above her. Her own desire was rapidly becoming a stronger force in her surrender than his hold on her hair.
She reached out her hand in an attempt to touch his face, thinking that she might at least feel his features with her fingers, but he gently brushed her hand away and continued to kiss her. His breath was warm and pleasant.
Fragments of the last few hours whirled around in her consciousness. The stranger, who had appeared so suddenly, said that each of them was the reason for the other being there. And she could not forget the words of the bear, promising that the enchanted castle would bring about her every desire. But she only vaguely remembered the strange yearnings she had been feeling when the stranger came to her room, for they had all but disappeared upon his arrival!
Was it her own desire, then, that had brought this stranger to her? Wasn’t he, in fact, doing things that she had always wished someone would do? But who was he? Was he even real, or just a figment of her imagination? Oh, but it was impossible to think with him kissing her! His lips were insistent and enticing, and she began to feel herself giving in to a fate that, uncertain as it was, was infinitely more pleasant than any other she had encountered in her meager life so far.
A new, warmer longing was rising up from within her. She wanted his kisses to go on forever, but at length she became aware that he was reaching beneath her nightgown. He placed his warm hand on her stomach for a moment, allowing her to become accustomed to his touch. Slowly and gently he began to move his hand, exploring her body carefully and thoroughly, and ultimately leaving every part of her that he touched yearning when he abandoned it for another. His other hand still held her hair in its grasp, preventing escape, though her desire to escape had abated. In fact, her arms, seemingly of their own accord, wound themselves around his neck, and her lips began uttering soft sounds that were unintelligible to both of them.
The str
anger carefully released his hold on her hair.
He once again placed his lips on hers as he slowly and carefully peeled the edges of her nightgown down over her shoulders and torso and legs. With her fully exposed to his hands, he began to caress her more earnestly, feeling every inch of her from head to foot, as if attempting to see her through his touch. She trembled beneath him as he slowly and meticulously continued his intimate examination, seemingly fascinated by every little curve and indentation. She didn’t wonder about his reaction to what he discovered, for she could feel his own rigid body against hers throughout his administrations.
But he was in no hurry, regardless of his growing excitement, and his very adept fingers gradually gave way to an even more skillful tongue. Clutching the extravagant bedding in her hands, she felt herself submitting completely under her mystery lover’s captivating seduction.
Meanwhile the stranger’s strong hands held her firmly as he continued to rouse her with his tongue. She nearly fainted from the pleasure he was giving her, and just when she felt that something within her very core would certainly burst, he raised himself over her and positioned her limbs to accommodate his larger form.
But she struggled against him in sudden panic as it once again occurred to her that she had no knowledge of who this man was. He paused and held back, unwilling to take her by force. With her whole being tremulous with desire, she desperately reached out her hands in another attempt to touch his face but, even in the dark, he easily intercepted her wrists and held them firmly over her head to prevent any further efforts to discover his identity.
Being thus laid open and pinned, her fears seemed pointless, especially while her body was overcome with such an intense craving for the man, whoever he was. He kissed her lips very tenderly, as if to make amends for the unrelenting hold he maintained on her hands, and she wrapped her legs around his torso, at last giving him the consent he had been waiting for.
His kiss suddenly became rougher as he abruptly thrust himself into her willing body. Her head turned away from him in a reflexive movement as she stared mutely into the blackness that surrounded them, momentarily overcome by the many sensations that were flooding through her. But in the next heartbeat, she turned back toward him and received his lips anxiously, breathing his warm breath and tasting his tongue with her own.
Giving herself completely now to her unknown lover, she began to respond, moving her body to enhance the extreme pleasure he was giving her. Longing to hold him, but unable to use her arms, which were still detained by his grasp, she clung to him with her legs. They continued in this way long into the night, until at last, they both lay quiet and sedate.
On the following morning she woke up alone, and try as she might, she could not find a single man within the walls of the castle that day. Instead she discovered many different rooms—rooms that were filled with rich fabrics of every material and style; rooms containing shelves upon shelves of thread and yarn of every single thickness and shade; rooms containing baskets of varying shapes and sizes; rooms for growing flowers; one room was filled with every kind of button that had ever been made. In short, for every occupation the lady could ever wish to engage in, there was a room filled with a wide variety of materials for that craft.
And so it was that, although the young woman was obliged to pass each day in her own company, she nevertheless had everything she could wish for to interest her. And each night her mysterious lover came to lie beside her in the dark, always leaving before daylight, so that she never once caught a single glimpse of him. Weeks came and went in this way and, although she came to love the nights, she began to tire of the isolated days, in spite of the variety of materials that had been provided for her amusement.
One day, recalling the words of the white bear when she first came to the castle, she rang the little golden bell and wished to see the bear. He immediately appeared. But she was unsure of how to proceed.
“Who,” she began cautiously, “is the master of this castle?”
“It is I,” replied he.
She was silent for a moment. She longed to ask him for information about the man who came to her each night, but it occurred to her that her lover might have deceived her about the white bear. Perhaps the bear would be angered by the discovery of their nightly intimacies. Oh, how she wished her mother were there to advise her!
This thought gave her a new idea, and she asked the bear if he would take her to visit her family. The bear immediately agreed, upon condition.
“Soon after you arrive,” he warned, “your mother will try to take you aside and speak with you privately. Avoid doing so or you will bring bad luck upon us both.”
The girl was reluctant to agree to this condition, for a private interview with her mother was precisely what she wanted. But finally she consented, as she was now anxious to see her family, and thought perhaps there would come another way to find the answers she sought.
Servants were immediately called upon to pack her bags, and then she was once again whisked away on the back of the white bear. In a very short time they appeared before a huge mansion.
“You have arrived,” the bear told her. “This is where your family lives now.”
She was very pleased by this, and hurried to be with them. But the bear held her back a moment longer with the stern admonition, “Heed my warning! Do not go off alone with your mother, or it will fare badly for us both.”
Hers was a happy homecoming indeed, with none of them wanting for anything, and she did not forget her promise to the white bear. As the bear predicted, her mother made many attempts to get her alone, but each of these she managed to elude.
But her mother was not to be easily put off, and finally that persistent lady succeeded in arranging a private interview between herself and her daughter, where she posed many questions to find out how things really were in the castle of the white bear. It was not long before the girl had confided in her mother about the mysterious man that entered her bedchamber each night.
Her mother was deeply alarmed by all her daughter said and, giving her a candle, instructed her to take it with her on her return to the castle and hide it beneath her pillow.
“When the stranger is asleep, light the candle that you might learn his identity,” her mother instructed her. But she added, “Take care not to tip the candle, letting the tallow fall upon him.”
With this advice the young woman journeyed back to the castle, hiding the candle amongst her belongings.
Evening came soon enough, and it was the same as it had been before; as soon as the darkness enveloped her bedchamber, her anonymous lover came to her. She had missed him while she was away and longed for his touch in the darkened chamber. He did not leave her waiting, for he had yearned for her also during her absence.
As a lover, she knew him well, and yet she still wondered whose tongue it was that tasted her lips. Whose hot breath seared her delicate skin? Whose strong and nimble fingers stroked and explored the many soft and hidden places of her body, and whose unyielding arms held her in their strong grip? Whose body filled her so completely, in so many ways, and with such violent frenzy?
And still, she could not hold back from participating wholeheartedly, dubious though it was.
At last her lover slept beside her. She felt under her pillow for the candle she had placed there earlier and, disregarding the bear’s warnings about bad luck, lit the candle and placed it before the stranger’s face. There she beheld the most beautiful prince she had ever dared to imagine, and she immediately fell so deeply in love with him that she felt she must kiss him that very instant. She bent over him to gently touch her lips to his and, as she did so, a drop from the burning candle fell onto his chest. He immediately awoke, demanding, “What have you done?”
The lovesick girl could not fathom his displeasure until he explained that he was indeed a prince, who had been promised at birth to marry a princess whom he did not love. When he refused the marriage, his stepmother had placed an evil curse
on him, wherein he would appear as a white bear by day, and return to his human form by night. His only chance to escape the unwanted marriage and the curse was to remain unseen by his true love for an entire year.
“Now I must go to the castle that is east of the sun and west of the moon, and marry the dreadful princess,” he told her.
She wept bitterly when she heard this, but neither tears nor pleading could change their fate, and they spent that evening clinging miserably to each other in the dark.
The next morning the wretched lady woke up alone. The castle and the prince had both disappeared. The only thing that remained was the little bundle of rags that she had brought with her on her very first journey there. She cried until every tear she possessed was lost forever.
“I must find him and get him back,” she decided at last. But where was the castle that was east of the sun and west of the moon?
She picked up her bundle and set out on the nearest road. After traveling only a short distance she came upon an old woman sitting by the roadside. She asked the ragged-looking woman if she knew how to get to the castle that was east of the sun and west of the moon.
“Are you the true love of the prince from there?” asked the woman knowingly.
“Why yes,” replied the startled girl. “Do you know the way there?”
“No,” cackled the hag, thinking it a great joke. But then she added more kindly, “Take this golden apple, it may be of use to you in your travels.”
So the girl took the golden apple from the woman and continued down the road. In a short time she chanced to meet another old woman on the side of the road. This one she also approached for directions to the castle.
“You must be the true love of the prince,” the old woman surmised, just as the other had.
“I am she,” owned the girl. “Please can’t you tell me the way to his castle?”
