The next day, Connor woke with a strange feeling in his chest. The small part of his brain that knew what that feeling was whispered 'hope'. Connor ignored it, though he bounded out of his broken down bed and donned cleaner clothes than the ones that he had worn over the past several years. These pants weren't ripped and ragged and he put on a clean shirt. It was strange, wearing shirts again, but he wanted Jude to see him as a person, not as an animal. Animals didn't wear shirts but people did. He clasped his familiar purple cape around himself, as being without the weight had become uncomfortable after so many years of wearing the garment daily. Then, he checked his face in the shattered mirror. Very few shards still clung to the mirror's backing and, as always, Connor was ashamed with what stared back at him. There could be nothing done about his appearance – about the eyebrows that made him look perpetually angry or the animal ears that existed beneath his large horns. He was more of an animal than a human. He knew that. But, maybe, just maybe, that could change. Maybe he could be a person again.

He went downstairs to breakfast, hoping to meet Jude there. He was disappointed to find that there were dishes being cleaned in the kitchen.

"Jude's already been here?" he asked.

Jesus nodded. "He was off to see his horse again."

"You could join him," Lena said. "I'm sure he'd like to see you."

Jesus rolled his eyes. "Mom, tell the Master what Jude really said."

Connor's interest piqued and he felt his ears perk upward. "What did he really say?"

"He's hoping to see you," Jesus said smugly.

Connor didn't know whether or not he could fully trust Jesus. Jesus was too hopeful and too confident about the whole thing, so he turned his eyes on Lena. As optimistic as she was, she would also be realistic about it with him.

"He did say that he was specifically hoping to meet you in the Games Room later," Lena admitted. "Though I can't imagine he'd be upset about running into you earlier than that."

Connor turned to head back out the door.

"At least eat something!" Lena called after him, but Connor didn't turn around again.

He went out into the back courtyard of the palace. Come spring and summer, this area would become a garden, the likes of which had barely been rivaled. Now, the area was covered in a fairly thick blanket of snow. Connor watched Jude walk his horse. With every step, Jude sunk so that the snow was halfway up his shins. The horse followed Jude obediently, though Jude had a very loose hand on his reins. Connor thought that the animal was walking a little unevenly. Jude was chattering to the horse again and, from this vantage point, Connor could almost make out the words. He paused, knowing that he either had to make his presence known or flee back inside. It would be wrong to eavesdrop on Jude.

The decision was made for him when Jude turned his head and caught sight of Connor. There was a small bit of a smile on Jude's face and he called out.

"Good morning, Beast!"

Connor lifted a heavy hand in response, though his heart sunk. Beast. It had never occurred to Jude that he was anything but. It had never occurred to Jude that Connor might have a name at all.

Jude led the horse closer to Connor and Connor walked out to meet them.

"Good morning, Jude."

"This is Phillipe," Jude said. "He's how I carried you back."

Connor held out his hand, though he wasn't surprised when Phillipe pinned his ears against his head and took a step backward, swishing his tail angrily. Animals had hardly liked him before, but they definitely didn't like him now.

"Hey, now," Jude lectured the horse.

"It's fine. Animals tend to do that."

"Oh." Jude pinned his lips together. "I wasn't going to keep him out long. He injured himself when we were running from the wolves but a little bit of exercise is good for him."

"I won't keep you."

"Oh!"

Connor had been going to turn away, but he faced Jude at the exclamation.

"I thought we might … try a new game today. I liked … yesterday."

Though Jude's face had been red from the cool wind, Connor could still tell when he blushed at the admission. For once, Connor was glad for his fur. It wouldn't give away his rapidly beating heart or the heat that he felt rising within him.

"I didn't think you'd want to play so early."

"I do if you do." Jude turned his head against his horse's cheek for a moment and then he peeked at Connor expectantly.

"All right," Connor said, trying to squash his excitement. "Um, I'll meet you in the Games Room after you put your horse away."

Jude nodded his agreement. It took all of Connor's will not to bound back inside, trembling with excitement. He kept himself composed until he was sure that he was out of Jude's line of sight, and then he scrambled back into the kitchen. Stef had appeared there now, and she put a plate of food in his hands as he entered.

Connor knew that he should be thinking about his table manners, particularly where he'd been disgusting twice yesterday in front of Jude, but the thought didn't occur to him. He one-handedly shoved his breakfast into his mouth while excitedly telling Lena about how Jude and he were going to spend the day together again.

"I have to go meet him." He tossed the plate in the direction of the grand sink. One of the scrubbing sponges leapt out of the soapy water and caught the dish, submerging it for him.

"Good luck. We'll send up lunch," Lena called.

Connor swept from the kitchen and he would have bounded away had he not heard Stef speak. He paused, letting his acute hearing bring him her words.

"Oh, first love." She laughed, and it echoed around her hollow body. Connor heard creaking as she moved. "To feel that way again."

Lena's returning laugh was more amused. "I rather like the second love."

"Me too."

Stef's and Lena's tones became affectionate in a way that Connor wasn't used to hearing and he took off running again, although his mind flitted about. He'd never thought about Stef and Lena about people who could be in love. Although he hadn't been quite so young when he had transformed into a beast, he'd been a sheltered sort of young. He'd been aware that Stef had a husband, a man named Mike, who was Brandon's biological father. Mike had been the head of his father's guard and Adam had seemed saddened when the man had passed away when Connor was only about six years old. Now that none of them were human, Connor hadn't really thought about the logistics of being in love like this – though, really, he should have, as it was what the curse hinged on. Of course, Stef and Lena could have been in love for a very long time. As selfish as Connor was, he never would have noticed.

It would go a long way in explaining their compassion for a prince who had no yearning for a princess.

Connor opened the doors to the Games Room. He had beaten Jude here, although that didn't particularly shock him. Jude was probably still with his horse. He set about the room, lighting the fireplaces and opening the curtains to let the faint sunshine through. He thought about setting up the checker board, and then he remembered yesterday, when Jude had mentioned playing a different games. There were at least a hundred other games that Jude would want to try to play. Connor had no way of knowing what Jude would want to play today and he wasn't presumptuous enough to think that Jude would be all right with playing something that Connor set up. Besides, Connor wanted Jude to pick; he wanted to play what Jude wanted to. This was Jude's room now.

He settled himself into one of the plush armchairs, but he promptly found himself back on his feet when Jude walked in just seconds after. Jude hugged his hands to his chest.

"Do you mind if I close the doors?" he called up from the first floor. "I want it to get as warm as possible in here."

"I don't mind." He was pleased Jude trusted him enough to close the doors when they were alone in here together. Connor jumped down over the balcony and landed on the first floor.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Jude asked.

"No. I don't feel it. I've jumped from higher."

"That's actually kind of interesting. I mean, I can see how it would be useful."

"For running up and down the palace, maybe. It's not highly effective when it comes to fighting wolves, though."

Jude looked embarrassed as he shut the doors to the Games Room. He turned back around to face Connor.

"I'm sorry for getting you hurt. How's your arm feel?'

"It's fine. It could have been worse. You could have left me there."

Jude just shook his head.

"What were you thinking of playing today?" Connor asked.

"Let's get something from the A's," Jude suggested. "I thought we might just go in alphabetical order … For however long we want to keep playing."

"It sounds like a plan to me."

They ascended the stairs together.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather climb?"

"I'd rather walk with you," Connor answered. "I'm only sort of an animal."

"Sort of," Jude repeated softly to himself.

He didn't say anything more on the matter and Connor didn't want to push. Jude seemed happy to be in his presence and he didn't want to ruin that.

Jude went over to the A's, studying the tall wall in front of him. He had to grab a ladder and he scaled all the way to the top. Connor stood at the bottom and watched him go.

"Abalone," Jude read. "Have you ever played that one?"

"I have no idea," Connor replied honestly.

Jude grabbed one of the ornate wooden boxes and tucked it under his arm. He made his way down the ladder haphazardly and Connor felt his heart lurch just watching Jude move around. He scarcely remembered what it was like to be a human boy and he didn't know how Jude's feet knew where to land or how his hands caught him. It didn't seem possible to Connor that Jude would be okay, not having animal instincts. But Jude made it down to the ground safely and presented the box to Connor.

"Abalone," Connor said, staring at the top of the box. He knew that's what was inscribed there.

"Let's sit by the windows again."

Connor was happy to follow Jude as Jude took his seat in front of the balcony. There wasn't much of a view this time of year – the thick rails were coated with snow and the snow blocked them from seeing the wintry grounds. Jude opened the box and put the board down on the table.

"No," Connor said, trying to see if the board triggered any memories. "I don't think I have played this one."

Jude was skimming the rule sheet kept with the game.

"I have!" he announced. "I never knew the name of it, though. Callie learnt how to play it at one of the places she worked at and she managed to get her hands on a set. We didn't play it all that often."

"Another one you're good at?"

"Mmm," Jude mused. The board he set up was hexagonal and he began dropping game pieces on it – black and white balls. "Well, let's just say I generally have better luck with abalone than I do with checkers."

"Lucky me."

Jude smirked. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course. You can ask me whatever you want."

Jude's smirk relaxed and he turned more thoughtful at the words. "Where did all of these games come from?"

"Well, before me, very different people lived here."

"Royalty?" Jude guessed.

"Exactly. A king who travelled to foreign lands and who had people who travelled from foreign lands to see him. When the castle was vacated for … whatever reason, everything was left behind. I kept it. Why not?" Connor carefully maneuvered around the truth, although he felt guilty for lying to Jude. He knew he couldn't tell him the truth. If Jude knew the truth, he sensed, then the curse wouldn't play out as it should. Jude had to fall in love because Jude truly loved him, not because Jude felt obligated to return everyone in the palace to their human form.

"Everyone just abandoned a palace? That seems strange."

"It does, doesn't it?"

Jude moved one of his pieces across the board. Connor studied it for a moment, decided that he was going to lose this game in the end anyway, and bumped one of the little white balls forward. It clicked loudly against his claws, but he was easily able to flick these pieces with his claws and he found that he liked it.

"So why move in here?"

"Why live anywhere else?" Connor countered.

"Callie always wanted to live somewhere else," Jude confided in him. "The town close to here is the one we've been in most of our lives. Callie always liked the thought of moving to a city."

"What about you?"

"I didn't really care. I mean, seeing a new place is always exciting. And life in the village is hard. I've always wanted my life to be different than it was there. But it was being with Callie that was important to me. She's my sister and she's been my only constant my entire life."

"You love her," Connor observed.

"Of course I do," Jude said. "Don't you have any family?"

Connor hesitated and then he shook his head. His mother had been gone since his birth; his father had been gone for long enough that he hardly seemed to matter anymore.

"No one you love?" Jude pressed. "What about Stef or Lena? They seem to care a lot about you."

"I care a lot about them," Connor replied. "Love is something else entirely."

"You've never loved anyone at all?" Jude sounded skeptical and Connor really couldn't blame him.

Connor chose complete honesty for his answer. "I don't think I'd know love if I felt it."

"It's tricky that way," Jude agreed, bumping one of Connor's game pieces off the board. "Can I ask you another question?"

"Anything."

"Are there … more like you? Or are you it?"

Connor let out an awkward laugh. He really hadn't expected the question. "I'm it … I hope."

"You hope?"

"I'm a monster," Connor said, not believing that he'd actually let the words slip out. "It wouldn't be fair for there to be more than one of me."

"I wouldn't call you a monster," Jude said. "A loser, maybe."

Connor shook his massive head at the board. "Fair's fair."

"One more then see if we have to move onto a tie breaker?" Jude suggested.

"You're on."

Over the course of the next game, which Jude won, Connor asked him a few questions about Jude's life and he answered every one of them, though he seemed reluctant to dwell on questions about Callie. He talked about he barely remembered life with his biological parents, as they had died when he was so young. He mentioned a few, bad orphanages and that when he was seven years old, he and Callie had run away from them. He mentioned, in a quiet voice, that they had been hungry a lot before they had found a farmer's wife that had taken pity on them. Callie had worked in the house as a servant and Jude had helped the farmer to the best of his youthful ability. Connor took it all in without saying much. He couldn't identify with this kind of life at all. His plush, entitled upbringing kept him from relating.

"You don't talk about yourself a lot," Jude observed. With no need for a tie breaker, he was packing up the game.

"I don't have a lot to say." There wasn't much that Connor could say. He couldn't admit to his true past – it wouldn't make sense for the beast he was now to have grown up as a prince. He hoped that it wouldn't work against him, in terms of Jude falling in love; if there was even the remote possibility that Jude could fall in love with him. He could find other things to talk about. He even thought they'd been doing okay so far.

Jude looked down to the table top. "I'm not used to feeling like I'm doing all the talking."

"I'm not used to talk to people that aren't the servants."

"They're people too." Jude shut the lid on the box.

Connor lifted his head, studying the boy in front of him. People. Did he truly see the servants, in all of their varying forms, as people? "Do you mean that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Jude didn't seem to realize the importance of what he'd said. How could he? "You know, I'm feeling a little restless. If I put this away, could we … maybe go for a walk around the castle?"

"I'd like that."

Jude scrambled back up the ladder and put the box back in its designated place. They left the Games Room behind and set about wandering the castle.

"It's a pretty place," Jude decided. "Even if it's a little scary."

Connor couldn't tell Jude that it hadn't been scary until the curse. The dark stone walls had once been a glorious, light shade; the threatening gargoyles had once been angels. Everything dismal about the castle had once been beautiful. He'd never appreciated it, then, but when he compared the dirty castle he roamed in now to the one that he had played in as a boy, there was a world of difference.

"So, this is the library," Connor said, opening the door. "I don't know if you've been in here yet."

"I'm not known for being a reader," Jude said. "Callie made sure I was taught but I'm not very good at it."

Connor had, of course, been taught to read. He'd been a pupil to some of the greatest tutors in the country. His father had needed to make sure that he was able to take over as king someday. But, now, Connor couldn't even make out a single letter. He'd let the mind of the beast rule his world for so long that the mind of a person was struggling to survive.

Jude stepped inside the library and looked around. Like when he stepped into the Game Room, he seemed in awe of the size of it.

"So many books," he murmured. "I may have to take up reading."

"Let me know if you read anything good."

"Of course," Jude said, as if Connor shouldn't have had to request it. Jude reached over and ran a finger across a dusty table top. "You don't use many rooms, do you?"

"…No," Connor admitted.

"How did you keep from getting bored?"

"A lot of sulking."

Jude laughed and they left the library, continuing down to the lower floor. Connor pointed out the ballroom and a closer back exit to the stables when they passed them.

"It seems like such a convoluted place," Jude observed.

"You get used to it, I guess," Connor said. "Just don't try to use the servants' routes without a servant. They're old and complicated and I don't really know when the last time they were used were."

"Duly noted," Jude said. "And I … I'll stay out of the West Wing."

"Thank you."

"It's your space. I shouldn't have let my curiousity get in the way."

"I … may have overreacted."

"Mmm." Jude paused in front of his room. He leant against the wall and stared upward toward Connor. "What's with the flower?"

Connor's brain stalled out. He didn't have a good lie for that. "Uh. What flower?"

He was such an idiot.

"The rose. In the West Wing."

"It's personal. It's the only personal thing I have and I'd appreciate if we forgot the rose existed."

Connor had no idea what Jude would say.

"All right. I can respect that." Jude bit down on his lip. "But … I just want you to know that I'm curious."

"There are better stories in the library," Connor said firmly.

"Maybe … Maybe we could check that out tomorrow. Maybe read something?" Jude's gaze flickered down, and Connor's breath nearly caught. "Or games. Or … this place is strange, you know?"

"I have an idea …" Connor mused. "It can be a scary place."

Jude hesitated, and then he forged on ahead. "Were you ever scared here?"

Connor liked that about Jude; how he said what he was thinking and didn't back down from that. It meant that Jude wouldn't lie to him. It meant that, even if Jude figured out the curse and decided he was going to break it, he wouldn't tell Connor he loved him in a vain attempt to do that. If Jude said he loved him, he would mean it.

"Yes," Connor finally answered.

He was terrified in this very moment, because he was thinking about love and its implications with Jude standing in front of him. Connor knew that, even if he weren't a beast with a curse, if he had ever met Jude, he would have felt the same stirrings and strange feelings that he was getting now. Connor liked Jude in a way that he had never liked anyone before.

"What would you have to be afraid of?" Jude asked.

"You mean, what's out there that would scare a beast?"

"I didn't say that."

"Was it what you meant?"

"Yes and no."

Connor crossed his arms over his chest.

"I mean, I really don't see what's out there that could scare you physically –"

"A pack of wolves got the better of me."

Jude's face went stony. "You know what, forget it. If you're just going to keep bringing that up … I guess I shouldn't have even tried to move past it."

"Jude, wait –"

But Jude wasn't going to wait. He was inside of his room in a flash, letting the heavy door fall shut behind him. Connor resisted the urge to pound on the door to demand another audience and a fuller explanation. His hands still clenched into fists and a low growl escaped him. Then, Connor did something he hadn't even done before. He let it go, for now. He walked away and decided not to push Jude. It wasn't as if Jude could avoid him forever – Jude was his prisoner, after all. But Connor could now recognize that Jude might need space.

He thought Lena might be proud of him for that.

Connor decided to find her and fight out if he was right. Even if he were wrong, she'd put him on the right path. He found her in the library, propped up against one of Stef's arms, a book open in front of them. Every so often, Lena would whisper something, and Stef would flip the page, as it was something that Lena could no longer do on her own.

Connor entered the room and dropped down to all fours, settling himself in front of the fireplace. He turned his head and watched the flames flicker.

"Something on your mind?"

Connor's ears flicked. Sometimes, when Stef raised her voice even the tiniest bit, it made his ears hurt. There was just something about the way her voice rang inside of the suit of armour.

"Yes." He sunk down against the floor, not looking at either of them. He explained what had occurred with Jude, and then he anxiously turned to look at the closest thing he had to parents. Growing up, Lena had always felt more like a mother than his dead mother or the plethora of nannies that his father had for him. "Was I wrong?"

"About what part?" Lena asked.

"Space. Leaving him. I wasn't going to. I was going to make him talk to me. Then I thought that might go worse."

"I think you made the right decision. Giving him time to sit down was good."

"I wasn't trying to be antagonistic about the wolves," Connor said anxiously. "I … I thought … I mean, I didn't want Jude to think I was invincible or something. That I was … some kind of beast that could get away with that. I mean, he already asked if there was more like me! I don't know what he thinks of me. Of what I am." He lowered his gaze to the floor and huffed. "I don't think I want to know."

"Have some faith!" Lena said brightly. "He might be thinking good things."

Connor huffed again. "About you, maybe. He likes you guys."

"You weren't exactly the friendliest face when he got here," Stef said. "Try and see things from his perspective. I doubt the way he sees you now is the way he saw you when he first arrived and I think things will evolve further."

Connor turned his head and stared into the flames. Like a child, he wanted to whimper and ask 'what if it doesn't?'. If it didn't, they would all live like this forever. It would be his fault. Because he was unlovable. He was scary. And, he was just a terrible person. It had gotten him into this predicament in the first place. But he had to try. He and his servants had one chance and if they lost it, then he could be miserable and terrible in the coming years. Now, he could become a person who was worthy of true love. Perhaps even worthy of Jude's love; Connor couldn't deny that he wanted Jude, specifically, to love him. It was a hard thing to think about and consider. For so long, he had only thought about love in terms of the curse. He had to fall in love; it was the means to becoming human again and becoming human again was all that truly mattered.

But now Connor was faced with someone that he already had feelings for and who he could see himself falling in love with. Jude was … curious and spirited and moral and strong and a little hot-headed and Connor liked it. Connor liked the way the light hit Jude's brown eyes and he liked how Jude was a graceful winner when they played games. He liked how he just wanted to sit and be with Jude. He'd never had that sensation before; the idea that all he needed was another person's presence. They didn't need to do anything; they could sit and their corners and do separate things.

"It's so fast," Connor whispered.

"We don't have time for slow," Stef mused. "And love moves at its own pace, no matter the situation."

"Just remember your feelings are not his feelings."

"That's always been the problem," Connor said. "I think I need to be alone."

Slowly, he stood from the floor and headed for the palace roof, with the intention to slink by Jude's room on the way.

Just in case.

On tumblr I'm: we are all of legend now (with dashes between every word). If you want to find my replies to anon reviews, add backslash tagged backslash anon dash replies. If you want to see anything I post about Tale As Old As Time, add backslash tagged backslash tale dash as dash old dash as dash time. Note that the punctuation is spelled out due to fanfiction's restrictions. If you have any problems accessing the extra content on tumblr please send me a message and I can help you out!

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~TLL~