Hey readers! I just want to thank you all for reviewing! Seriously, it was really great to hear from you.

I just want to address a few concerns the reviews brought to my attention. I tried to PM you if you weren't a guest reviewer, but here goes:

1) The story moves super fast. Yes, it does. I had the idea come to me and I wrote the whole story in one sitting, got super excited about it and began to put it online before proofing it much. Alas, it led to this.

2) The POV-switching from 1st to 3rd. I thought it was a good idea at the time, now I'm thinking I'm going to edit the story once it's completely uploaded and either post a new version or just switch out this story. Keep me on Author Alert just in case!

3) Isolde's feelings change almost overnight. Yeah, kind of. I did mention that time passes, but I need to add some filler in there so we can get a feel of that change happening over a period of time.

So thanks again for all of the reviewing!


The beast sat at the dinner table waiting for Isolde to come down. He was so happy, so overjoyed. He knew he didn't have much time left with her, but he felt so… liberated. It was a new feeling for the beast, but a somewhat familiar one to James. It was different. Strange. But good.

"Good evening, James."

He snapped out of his reverie and saw her standing at the other end of the table. She wore one of the dresses he had made the housekeeper make for her. She looked absolutely radiant. Her hair seemed to shine more, her eyes glittered brighter. She smiled brightly at him.

He stood, gesturing to the seat next to him. "Come, sit next to me."

She came and sat down. "You look nice tonight," she remarked as he sat down with her.

He was startled by the compliment, though he had put a little more effort into his appearance. Nobody had complimented him in almost a century.

"I am nothing but a monster compared to you," he said. "You look… You're beautiful."

She blushed slightly. "I told you," she said emphatically. "You are not a monster."

He rolled his eyes at her, giving her what he hoped she would recognize as a smile. Her smile back told him that she knew what he was trying to accomplish.

Dinner was served promptly. It was extraordinary. It was all very luxurious and flavorful with more food than the both of them could have eaten. There were five courses, the last being a very elaborately decorated cake.

"This is all so wonderful! Did you do this all for me?" Isolde asked at the end of the meal.

"Of course I did! It's not often that someone finds someone to truly love them. I may not remember much of being human, but I know that love is precious. I felt it was a good enough reason to celebrate." He felt confident and happy for the first time in a very long time. He knew it wouldn't last much longer and wanted to cherish it for as long as he could.

They got up and took a walk in the gardens. The sun was setting and the sky was lit with brilliant shades of orange.

"I don't know much about you," the beast said as they strolled alongside the rose bushes. "I didn't even know you existed. You lived under my roof for years and I had no idea. I want to know everything there is to know about you." His voice was eager. "I want to know what your likes and dislikes are. What do you like to do in your free time? What are your favorite flowers?"

She smiled. "Roses are my favorite. The roses you gave me before were gorgeous. I loved them, even though at the time I was a little uncomfortable accepting them. I love to read in my spare time. When we first arrived there weren't many children my age, so my mother taught me to read. She wanted to make sure I wasn't running around getting in trouble."

"How old were you?"

"I was five. I have a brother and sister. They were a few years older than me and stayed behind with an aunt of ours who lived not far away. I refused to be parted from my mother's side so they finally agreed to bring me along. Besides, my aunt already had my three cousins to raise, so she would have had a hard enough time with them and my siblings. She didn't need to add me to her list of worries. Anyway, my mother and father did their best to raise me the best they could in this environment." She kicked a pebble on the path absentmindedly.

He felt a pang of guilt. "Do you regret your choice?"

She looked up at him with an amused expression. "If you had asked me six months ago I would have said I absolutely regretted it. I was only five. I couldn't have predicted the outcomes of any of the choices that were put before me. I didn't know what any of it meant. I just knew I wanted to be with my parents." She frowned, suddenly very serious. "But that's just an absolutely crazy question now, James. I couldn't possibly regret my choice anymore. If I had chosen to stay behind with my siblings or if my parents had made me stay, I would have never met you."

For some reason he couldn't help but doubt her, despite her emphatic tone. He couldn't help but feel responsible. "Still, you missed out on a lot of things most children get to experience."

She shook her head. "I had a pretty good childhood, all things considering. It was a little lonely at first, but I found a way to make the best of it. Yes, I wonder what it would have been like if I hadn't come here with my parents, but I also sometimes wonder what it would have been like to grow up as a princess." She gave a small laugh. "You see, James, it doesn't matter what happened before. Don't sound so sorry about it! It isn't your fault that my parents were sent here. They made a poor choice that brought them here. I made my choice too." She wrapped her arm around the crook of his elbow and leaned into him a little.

He winced at her last sentence. It reminded him that her choice was to inevitably leave the castle. He wouldn't have her forever.

That night, he dreamt of ruling over a huge country. People respected him and looked to him for leadership. They trusted him and not once did they cringe at the sight of him. He walked the halls of a large castle full of people. He met both servants who were happy to serve for him and nobles who were honored to be a guest in his home. Then the dream turned dark. There was a fierce dragon that attacked a village. Then his brother, Henry, who came back a hero.

The last he remembered was an enchantress who told him in a frightening whisper, "She must marry you willingly, without knowing that it is the only way to break your curse. You have only three months. If she leaves and never returns, you will live only as long as she does. You are no longer immortal, my dear king. The clock is ticking."

He woke up suddenly, startled by the dream. He remembered! He remembered everything! He remembered being human, being a king. Henry had slayed the dragon, the enchantress's dragon, to save the village from complete devastation. He had been the only one brave enough to face the monster and save the kingdom.

The enchantress's words echoed in James's head. He must have known deep down there was a way to break his curse, that's why he had asked Isolde to marry him. He would beg her to marry him every night until her eighteenth birthday, if that's what it took.


Adjusting to a new schedule- or lack thereof- proved to be very difficult for me. I was happy to have James's shirts to mend or else I would have nothing to do but read. There were times that I would sneak away to find Emma because I was so bored.

It took James several weeks to adjust as well. He wasn't used to having to entertain someone. He wasn't used to having someone to entertain him, either. I discovered that James slept late and did very little during the day. He almost never left the castle and on the rare occasion that he did, he would only spend several minutes in the garden before returning to his study.

We sat talking a lot. Ever since we discovered how each other felt, however, things felt strange. Our conversations always seemed to revolve around the future. Then we would remember that there wasn't much time left until I turned eighteen and we would drift into an awkward silence. One day he suggested that I begin reading to him again so that we didn't have to worry about conversations going astray.

"I love the sound of your voice," he said shyly when he suggested it.

I smiled. "You do?"

"Yes. The first time I ever heard you speak, I thought your voice sounded so angelic. It was what first caught my attention," he told me.

I laughed. "My voice?"

"Don't laugh!" he said with a smile. "It's true! That's what made me first fall in love with you. I bet you sing beautifully, too." He had a wicked twinkling in his eye.

"Don't you dare ask me to sing! I do not sing. I can't sing."

He laughed. "I doubt that! You really wouldn't sing for me if I asked?"

"Absolutely not. My father always used to make fun of me when I would sing in the garden with him. I will not sing."

He gave me a skeptical look and said, "Fine. I'll hear you sing someday, though. Go pick out something to read."

I laughed and jumped up to pick out something from the hundreds of books lining the library shelves.

As I returned, I said absentmindedly, "Speaking of voices, yours seems to be different lately."

"Really? Different how?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Not quite as harsh. You're less… growly, I suppose. I don't know how to put it. You soundthe same, but at the same time… you don't."

He laughed. "Maybe I'm coming down with a cold."

"It's not just your voice, though. You seem different overall."

"How do you mean?" He appeared confused, but strangely hopeful, which surprised me.

I frowned. "I don't really know. I can't pin-point it. Your voice… Your teeth seem to be less scary now, too. Your hands…"

He laughed. "You mean paws?"

I shook my head and laughed a little with him. "I don't know what it is, James, but you seem different lately than when I first truly met you. Maybe I'm imagining things."

He shrugged it off, said nothing else about it, and just urged me to start reading.

A month before my birthday, James and I were sitting in his study. I was trying to mend as many shirts as I could before I left and someone else was left with the task.

"Isolde?"

"Yes, James?" I asked absentmindedly.

"I remember who I am."

I looked up at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

He rubbed his paws on his thighs. "I remember my life before this."

"You do?" I asked, stunned.

"The night after you told me you loved me I had a dream about my past. Ever since I've been remembering little details here and there."

I gaped at him. "Wow. So who were you? Do you remember what brought you here?"

He nodded and launched into a story about being a king of a huge kingdom. He told me about how peaceful everything was and how a dragon threatened all of that. His brother, Henry, slayed the dragon and saved the villagers. Then he told me about the enchantress and how she wanted to kill Henry.

"I wouldn't let her do that. So I took his place," he said. "The enchantress thought it was noble of me or something and instead made me this and gave my kingdom eternal peace and prosperity."

I couldn't believe his story. I felt suddenly very small in his presence. "You're a king?"

"Was a king," he corrected.

I shook my head. I put down my mending to go sit on his knee. I leaned into him. "Once a king, always a king. It explains so much about you, James. Truly. You are a king to me."

He laughed. "Thank you for that, though I beg to differ. A beast can never be a king."

"Don't!" I scolded him. "You know how I feel about you talking about yourself like that. And don't argue with me!"

He shook his head, still laughing. "Yes, Isolde. Whatever you say."

I moved to get up but he stopped me. I looked to him expectantly.

His face was full of hope. His eyes conveyed so much emotion. "Isolde, I told myself I would ask you every day until you left, but I have been too afraid. I need to ask you again... Will you marry me?"

I felt my heart tighten. "I would marry you in a heartbeat if it meant that we wouldn't be trapped here. I have lived most of my life trapped here. I wish I could stay, James, but I just can't. I need to have freedom."

His face fell, the hope and excitement gone. "Are you sure?" he whispered.

I bit my lip. "No, I'm not. I want to stay here with you. I want to marry you. I really do. But remember what I said the first time you asked? It isn't fair to either of us. I will grow old and die, leaving you alone again. I will have lived a lonely life without knowing anything else in the world."

He looked like he was desperate to argue more, to tell me something, but he stopped himself. "Do you mind leaving me for a while? I need time to myself. I will see you at dinner."

I got up and hovered in front of him. I couldn't leave him like this. Why didn't he want me to stay? "James, please-"

"Go."

I felt heartbroken. No doubt he was feeling the same way and it was all my fault.

"I'm sorry," I whispered before I left the room.


So there are only two more chapters left! I think after this one and the last one, the next two are better.

PLEASE continue to review. I honestly very much appreciated all of the reviews this past week. Thanks so much again!