This is just a story about what might have happened between Beauty and Alexander’s departure from her home and their arrival in Beast’s Garden in King’s Quest 6. Who knows! Here is a little ( if not exaggerated ) guess:

The road through the little town was dusty and quiet. Beauty had obviously never seen this place before. Her blue eyes were alive with wonder. Alexander, on the other hand, was quite nervous as he thought over his predicament. He knew there wasn’t much time left. Perhaps it was instinct. Oh well…

The gray nightingale still perched in the branches of the large tree, singing gently as the two approached. Her song touched Alexander, causing him to briefly forget his anxiety, but nevertheless, he led Beauty carefully down the steep, sandy path to the beach, which was still strewn with debris from his once-proud ship.

“How are you going to get us to this island?” asked the girl, her voice naïve. “There is no boat here.”

Alexander felt his heart pounding at his ribs. He had forgotten to tell the girl about the map! What if she wouldn’t consent to go? Reaching into his back pocket, he found the weathered parchment map. He fingered it anxiously and tried to explain the situation the he and Beauty were in.

“Well…you see…I don’t have a book…I use this map to travel from isle to isle…”

“I can see you would need it for navigating and such, but I still don’t…”

“No, no,” said Alexander, his hands shaking as he unrolled the map. “It is also magic, you see…”

“How can a map take you to another island?” asked the girl, looking at him with great curiosity. “Magic, you say?”

“I’m afraid there’s no time to explain it right now,” Alexander stammered, glancing at the large ring on her delicate finger. “Right now we should…”

A sudden jolt shook his hands, causing him to nearly drop the map. Regaining his grip, Alexander thought his fingers felt less nimble than usual, in fact, he could barely bend them. It must be my fear, he reassured himself. Trembling, he turned to Beauty. “You see, you just place your hand on this island…”

“The Isle of the Beast?”

“Yes, and…”

A new problem entered Alexander’s mind. The map always disappeared with him whenever he teleported to another island. How could he do the same trick with two people? Egads, there has to be some obvious way, he thought. Perhaps if I held the map while she linked…no, I might be left holding the map…and of course it wouldn’t work vice-versa…”

“Alexander?”

“Yes?” he replied in a high-pitched voice. “>Ahem<. Yes?”

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m…”

Just then, a prickling sensation ran down the length of Alexander’s spine. He shuddered in terror. Oh no. Did Beast say this was gradual? Ugh, and I thought turning into an eagle was an adventure for my complexion. Oh, I don’t want to know what that is…”

Shaking his head, Alexander once again turned to the golden-haired maiden. He cleared his throat, and thought he heard a low growl as he did so. Clutching his neck, he shook off his morbid thoughts and spoke.

“M-maybe if we held on to each other and the edges of the map at the same time, it would work..”

“It sounds safe to me,” replied Beauty, her face filled with concern as she put her arm over Alexander’s shoulder and her other hand clasped the map’s left side. “But I would like to know why you are so..”

“All right, it’s that isle right there. Let’s…”

Another spasm gripped Alexander’s body, causing him to fall forwards, towards the water. It was like he was being pushed down onto all fours. But fortunately, his hand had touched the island, and he felt himself being pulled into the strange portal. When his vision cleared, he found himself on the beach of the Isle of the Beast, with Beauty’s arm still wrapped around his neck.

“My goodness!” the girl exclaimed. “That was amazing! I’m glad I came out in one piece!”

“Same here.” said Alexander. After putting his map away, he carefully ran a hand along his back. There was no sign of hair and his fingers felt as flexible as ever. It must have been his anxiety that triggered his strange sensations, and not the enchantment he was trapped under. But still…

Zounds! Now I know how Manannan might have felt, Alexander thought. I’d better move, and fast.

“Come on, Beauty. Let’s go.”

The steaming pond caused Alexander to despair for Beauty, but only for an instant. Quickly, he raised the girl in his arms, and valiantly carried her across. The water didn’t hurt his feet as nearly as much as he thought. I hope it isn’t the thick skin I might be growing, Alexander thought. After reaching the other side, he carefully set Beauty on the path again, and continued on, past the now disarmed stone archer and through the vandalized rose hedges and into the garden where Alexander would meet his fate.

Maybe I was in a weird mood when I typed this. I hope you enjoyed it.

And, as a little bonus:

Valanice talks to Alex after Rosella’s return and Graham’s recovery:

“You say you turned this wizard into a cat, Alexander?”

“Yes, mother.”

“Don’t try any of that spell-casting around this castle, you understand?”

“Yes, mother.”

“Oh, by the way, was this cat you changed your master into a black one?”

“Why, yes, it was.”

“Oh dear.”

“What do you mean, mother?”

“Didn’t that wizard teach you anything, Alex? Black cats are bad luck.”

“Uh…I’ll remember that.”

“Now, enough about cats. How did you fare during your slavehood?”

“Oh, could be worse. I spent months feeding chickens, cleaning kitchens, stealing sacks of gold from bandit’s hideouts…”

“Well, that man had an odd sense of style. Sea-green and magenta aren’t very becoming to you, my son. And furthermore…Goodness gracious, Alexander! What is this in your ears??”

“Err…it’s a long story mother. Just part of another little spell. Let’s just say that if I had that cat here now, I would be able to understand what it said.”

“I should have known there was a story behind this. And I thought Rosella’s adventure was amazing.”