Author's note: Nothing much to say right now, except that I need some reviews. Please? Thanks to Lexi, Lis, and CapturedHeart though – you guys are the best!
Disclaimer: Or would it be claimer? I don't know. Fairy tales are free-domain (maybe…), but the world where this takes place is mine, as are most of the characters. Enjoy!
Beast:
Two Souls, One Vow
Welcome Beauty, banish fear;
you are queen and mistress here.
Speak your wishes, speak your will,
Swift obedience meets them still.
On the afternoon of the final day of the three weeks that I had ordered the merchant to make his decision in, I stood at a window in a wing of my castle that faced the great front gates. The Sprytes had kept themselves out of my way most of the day, since I hadn't expressed any desire to have their company or their service, and I knew that it was because I was clearly not in the mood to have anyone speaking to me. It was growing late and the sun was beginning to ever so slowly creep towards the far away horizon, and yet neither the man nor his daughter had arrived.
What if he lied to me?
I flexed the long, wickedly sharp claws at the tips of all ten of my fingers and then curled them back into fists again, growling low in my throat without even meaning to.
Who would?
A bit of wind stirred the top branches of the trees that grew beyond the sheltering wall and I listened – acutely, with my animal's senses – to the sound of it: to the sound of the tree limbs groaning with their movement, to the whisper of the branches against themselves, to the soft sighing of the wind. The smell of the air was sharp and filled with the nuances of a forest, of pinesap and snow-blanketed earth, and cold, fresh air. It filled me with an exhilaration that nothing could surpass. I wanted to run, to be free, to gaze up at the never-ending globe of the clear sky above my head and feel the wind racing against me, to forget and never think of what I had become, what I was, again.
I muttered, under my breath, in the faery tongue, and then I glanced out to the wide, excellently kept lane that led up from the gates to the castle's gigantic, ironbound front doors. My horse would find her; of that, I was completely confident. I had transformed one of the Sprytes into a snow-white stallion and sent it on its way to find the merchant's dwelling, and even if another howling blizzard made an attempt to impede its progress, it would reach her.
Her.
I wondered what I was to do with her, once she arrived. It had been quite a considerable time since I had been in the company of another sentient being other than the Sprytes, much less a young maiden. I had had my sisters, of course, and my royal cousins, the daughters of the Lord Orandor and Lady Vahlada, and therefore I had some idea of how members of the feminine race behaved.
But there was a gargantuan difference between how I had treated the ladies in my own family and ladies of the faery court and how I would treat a human girl.
What nonsense am I blithering? I thought to myself, in disgust. Who could give a care about how you treat her? She certainly won't! She'll hate you for what you've done, for the way that you've taken her from her family and her life, and she'll fear you for what you are – a monster.
Suddenly, the gates were opening, and a stallion, white as snow and spirited as a spring zephyr, pranced in through them, tossing his head and shaking his mane as if he had just taken part in a merry hunting party.
At last.
She was here.
Beauty had come.
* * *
"No," replied the Beast, "you alone are mistress here…"
Upon seeing that she had finally arrived, I had flung out an arm and snapped out a rapid string of words in faery, and, instantly, five eager Sprytes were hovering in the air around me, setting it aglow with their light.
"Attend her!" I ordered them. "Give her whatever she needs and do whatever you must for her. Show her to her room. Go!"
The five went whizzing off and I turned back to the window at which I was standing, leaning heavily on its stone ledge and hearing the scrape of my claws against its hard surface as I dug them into it. I tried to calm my whirling mind, to maintain my composure, but it was extremely difficult. I found myself struggling to steady my breath.
The Spryte that I had sent to retrieve Beauty was suddenly floating beside me.
"She has come, Master," it informed me in its soft, breathy voice. "What is your bidding that I may carry out for you now?"
"They are attending her." I said, narrowing my eyes as I tried to organize my thoughts. I had to start somewhere. "Tell her…no, wait, I will."
Hastily then, I conjured a sheet of paper out of the air and an ink-filled quill pen materialized beside it, forming the words that I composed in my head as I gazed at it, mentally writing down my message. My hands were now so altered that I could never again hope to use them in writing or any other activity that required such dexterity. My powers of magic and enchantment would have to suffice.
"Take this to her," I gestured for the Spryte to retrieve the letter that I had just written, "and tell her whatever she wishes to know. I will not have it hidden from her that this castle is run by magic, and that I am the source of that. Tell her…" I bit my lower lip, hesitating, as I considered my next words.
"Tell her that she needn't be afraid."
* * *
The sun was already mostly set by the time that I left my chambers in the wing that I had not vacated all that day and passed through countless numbers of rooms, corridors, and other chambers, seeking the place where I knew she would be awaiting me. I hoped that my letter had been convincing in its apology for my not meeting her upon her arrival and clear in its revelation of where she would find me if she wished to have a formal acquaintance between the two of us.
I paused outside of the pair of towering wooden doors that guarded the drawing room that lay beyond them. Within, the light was very faint and many shadows were cast by the torches that I had had lit. I would keep to the darkness, for if I could hardly live with what I looked like, what would my appearance's effect be upon her?
My animal's heightened sense of hearing informed me – telling by the faintest suggestion of materials whispering and brushing against one another, and the even fainter trace of a human heartbeat – that she was already there, waiting for me. In all likeliness, she was expecting me to spring out from the shadows and act accordingly in a beast's manner: show her no mercy, kill and devour her like an insatiable lion. I took a deep breath, holding it within myself as I waited for my resolve, for my strength, to build itself up and force me into movement, and then I stepped forward, pushing the door open, making certain that I made no noise to betray my presence there.
The door swung silently open and I was looking into the room.
Across the gleaming marble floor, with her back to me as she stared about herself and her gaze focused on something far above either of our heads, was the one who had been promised to me.
I stood still, watching her, for a moment.
She was very young, from what I could tell. The gown that she wore, one of those that I had had provided for her in her room, played up to her figure beautifully, which was slender and curvaceous to a point where no one could have called it any less than perilously beautiful. Her hair was long and straight and very smooth, and light in colour: blonde, perhaps. I then scrutinized her movements, hoping that she wouldn't turn around suddenly and see me there, for that would surely frighten her and I wanted neither hysterics nor an unconscious body to deal with.
I carefully remained in the shadows.
She carried herself with extreme grace and poise, as if she had been trained by the best of comportment teachers: her back was straight and firm, and her movements themselves were fluidly graceful and elegant. She was surveying the room. I wondered what she was thinking.
A few more moments of silence passed.
"So…" I said, suddenly: my voice only a murmur. "You are Beauty."
Surprising me, she remained perfectly still: betraying no sign of fear, surprise, or anger, all of which I had thought she would greet me with. I continued to watch her, assessing her meticulously. Ah, so she shows no fear. She is brave…
"Welcome to my castle, milady."
As soon as I had finished speaking, she dipped into a deep, refined curtsey, without turning around: her skirts whispering as she moved and pooling on the marble. "I have come, my lord," she said, in a voice as quiet as the whisper of the faintest breeze on a summer's night, "To fulfill the vow that my father made to you."
I made a low musing sound before speaking my next comment.
"You are brave then…and honourable."
She, I think, had realized that I stood not to the front or the side of her, but behind, and I stepped further into the ether of the shadows as she began to slowly turn around. Since I could see through the darkness more easily than she could, I was the first of the two of us to be favored with a glimpse of a face.
She was beautiful.
What am I saying? She was more than beautiful. She was dazzling, brilliant, goddess-like. She was beauty!
Her face was young and smooth as only a maiden's could be, and her features were petite and gently curved. She had ample, well-proportioned lips, a firm yet graceful chin and jaw line, a delicate, straight nose, angled eyebrows, a high but not overwhelming forehead, and large eyes of a light colour that I decided had to be either blue or gray. Her neck and head were in perfect balance with her shoulders, and she seemed as if she could be a famous dancer, or a statue come to life, or certainly at least the muse of some aspiring artist. Beauty.
"I am not brave, milord," she said, looking intensely and unflinchingly towards the shadows in which I lurked as if she knew that I was there. I caught a glimpse of something bright that might have been tears shining in her eyes when the light fell across them, but it was only a fleeting glance.
I had caused her pain.
Then the ridiculousness of that thought: the thought that I was allowing myself to feel pity for this girl in front of me, who was now my captive, who would always hate me for what I had done and for what I was, dawned on me. And I felt a squirm of revulsion and pent-up, festering anger twist my stomach. I, who was faery and needed no one to know me, no one to save me or help me, was letting myself feel for a mortal. I was letting myself empathize with her, feel her grief…letting myself think of the impossible.
I was only hurting myself.
No, you fool, I thought, as the old, bitter taste of all my horrible memories flooded in to me. You're not going to do this. You'll only cause yourself pain. It didn't matter who this girl, this child, was. I would not let myself be taken in. I would not let myself become open to more pain, more heartbreak and agony.
There was no giving in.
"You came." I replied, icily. "That is enough."
We were silent for a moment, and then I said, abruptly and coldly, "There is nothing here that will serve to harm you, milady; you must not be afraid. As long as I am the master here, you are the mistress. Everything is at your command."
I spoke calmly, evenly, and almost emotionlessly – but inside, in the deepest realm of my heart, I felt that the core of my entire being was trembling violently.
NO! You do not need this child, this infant, to remain standing! You can survive on your own strength, without anyone! You are yourself! You need no one!
She gazed in my general direction for a moment longer and by then I knew that she had ascertained that that was where I was. Then, she spoke and her words threw me into a panic, making my heart pound with fear.
"Please…may I see you?"
I felt a shuddering sense of cold revulsion come over me. She didn't know what she was asking for. She wouldn't be able to bear it. No one could.
"Beauty…" I began, but nevertheless I stepped out of the shadows.
She remained where she was, her face as even, calm, and almost emotionless as it had been the moment before. But that was because she hadn't seen me: most of my body was covered by the long black cloak that I wore, and my hands were enclosed by black gloves, and my feet were hidden beneath black leather boots.
"So, you wish to see my face?" I asked, contempt and barely-veiled mockery dripping in my tone: a sneer twisting my face. All of my bitterness, loneliness, anger, and distrust of the world in general now began to surface. "You are brave for coming here, milady, but perhaps now we shall see how far that bravery can go!"
She shook her head and there was a flashing defiance in her eyes.
"If I need fear nothing here, why should your face terrify me?"
Brave – too brave, perhaps!
I narrowed my eyes, a growl beginning to resonate in my throat, wondering how – if she had known just what was lurking behind the hood of my cloak – her reaction would have differed from such a plain show of outright defiance as she had just given me.
No one, in my entire life, had flaunted his or her own self-righteous freedom in my face! No one had ever taunted me, wordlessly, with the fact that I had no power to control him or her at all, in the end of all things – and now this child had the gall to come here and stare straight at me like she was! Of all the possible insults—
At that exact moment, in horribly perfect timing, I saw a Spryte darting through the shadows behind her head, where she couldn't see it, and then I heard its voice within my mind as it told me, smugly, The maiden has a point.
I know she has a point, blast it! I mentally snapped back at it, still watching Beauty. She doesn't know what she's asking for!
"Very well – so be it!" I snarled, and reached up to pull the hood away from my face and backwards onto my shoulders, letting it drop.
We stared at each other.
I could very easily tell you what she was seeing, for I knew it all too well even though I had mostly avoided mirrors or anything that could reflect my new self after my transformation. Unless dragons had dramatically altered in appearance during the time of my self-imposed exile, that is what I looked like: a cross between one of the terrible reptiles and a human, or faery, with a human-like body but a head, hands, and feet that were undoubtedly monstrous. All of which came complete with an wide mouthful of frighteningly sharp, white fangs.
"So, Beauty, now you have seen the Beast – are you satisfied? Have you seen enough?" I asked her, everything within me writhing with anger and disgust. Her eyes roved over my face, over my clothing and everything on my person. She was studying me just as I had studied her.
"What – aren't you afraid?" I spat, viciously.
She shook her head.
"No. You told me not to be…and I don't see anything that I should fear. It's you. Your face, your voice, you. I can't be afraid."
I turned away then, hiding from her the emotions in my eyes.
"No…you can't." I added the last two words so that only I could hear them, and they echoed strangely in my mind.
Master your emotions, blast it!
Finally, I looked up and met her eyes again, although something in my spirit flinched when my gaze met the brilliance of hers.
"All of this castle is yours to make use of, milady." I said this coldly and formally, indicating a general sweep of the castle with a broad gesture of my arm. "My servants – whom, I do not doubt, have already made themselves quite available to you – will always be about when you need them. They will obey you to your exact command."
I was about to leave her when she called after me.
"Milord?"
I stopped at the door, driving myself to a screeching halt, and rested one hand on the doorknob, feeling as if I was leaning against it so heavily that I would collapse when I let go. I closed my eyes, pain and humiliation coursing through me.
"Beast – you will call me Beast. I am not a lord." I growled.
She was silent for a moment and then she said, softly, "Beast."
I turned back towards her and she gazed at me for a moment: hesitating, it seemed, before she spoke.
"Why?"
There was no mistaking what she meant by that question. I knew it, and she knew that I knew it. I returned her gaze, my eyes dark: shadowed by disgrace.
"It's lonely here. I'm sorry. You had a life."
"It wasn't much of a life that I left," she replied, and I felt as if I could have dropped dead with shock at those words. She didn't miss her life! She wasn't angry with me for taking her away from her family and the world that she knew!
Just what kind of maiden was this?
Some things were just too much to think of, and our conversation in those last few moments was one of those things. I quickly bade her farewell, before my threatening emotions overwhelmed me before her, and then I practically fled down the corridor as soon as I had closed the drawing room door behind myself. I went to my own chambers, slamming the doors there behind myself with a frenzied burst of sheer passionate rage, and climbed out onto the roof above my bedroom's balcony.
Once there, I crouched on the tiles, digging my claws into their tops so that I would not slip, and turned my head up to the moon as it climbed high into the sky above me.
Beauty was here and she did not hate me.
However, I was still a Beast, and I hated myself.
* * *
Author's note: Like I said, it isn't exactly love at first sight. More to come soon, and we will see how they get along in the future… ^_^