Author's note: And now comes the part of the story where I hope that you've appreciated all of the comic relief in the last few chapters – because in this one, everything becomes angsty again as we arrive at the point of Beauty and the Beast that we all know too well…when Beauty leaves…
Disclaimer/claimer: I don't own Beauty and the Beast or any of the other fairy tales in here; I simply just take them apart and then put them back together again, and try to fit them all together into one story. It's purely for fun and for the entertainment of others. R&r and I will love you forever! ^_^
Beast:
Life…and Love
I let her go.
After all the hours, the days and months, that I had spent with her, after all that we had seen and experienced together, after everything that had happened, I pushed it all away, freeing my mind from the blissful captivity that Arielle – my Beauty – had put me into, and let her go. I made her leave.
There wasn't much else that I could have done.
On that cold, bleak morning as the sun began to rise, shining weak and thin, I watched her mount the horse that she would take on her journey – a conjured steed of pure white and silver, worthy of a princess – and ride away. From me. From my castle. From all that was and could have been.
I didn't want to give in to that hope.
She would go on her quest: she would rescue the legendary Book of Hours, and return it to the faeries to which it rightfully belonged. The world, our worlds, would be saved because of her. And I would stay where I was, locked in my impenetrable fortress, and wait until death inevitably came to me. I didn't know if it would come in the form of my vengeful archenemy or something else. I really didn't care. I had always known – there was no way that I could find 'the one': the only person who could free me from my curse. If I were to go out into the world, it would only cause a disaster.
I couldn't keep her with me either. She deserved so much more…so much that I could never give her. I could never tell her of my love, profess my devotion, my passion and desire for her to love me in return. I could never be a husband to her, or anything else beyond that. I refused to require her to love me back.
I couldn't free myself, and I couldn't have her.
So I let her go.
As soon as she had left, I went into the castle and called every other living being within it to my presence in the cavernous throne room. Seated in the one throne that was there, I looked at them all, letting my eyes travel across them slowly and carefully. This would be the last time that I would ever see any of them. Finally, after several moments of complete silence, I spoke, addressing them.
"Griff, Raethyr…all of you…" I began, trying to control the furious wavering of my voice. I would not let them see my emotional turmoil now – if they knew that I was breaking up inside, they would never leave me, no matter how I tried to persuade them. "You are all herein released from your obligations to remain in this castle." I turned my head to face Griff, letting my eyes meet those of my old friend steadily, blankly. "I want you all to leave. Today."
The silence that immediately followed my last word punctuated it like a deafening blast of thunder. Each one of the Sprytes was perfectly still; the unceasing glow that they emitted dimming. I felt a twist of guilt.
Funny – before she came, you'd never known such a thing. Guilt.
"There isn't any reason for any of you to remain. Beauty has gone, and I have taken measures to make certain that she does not return, as there will soon be nothing left to live in this castle. You must all go. Griff," I caught the furious, all-too-faery light in Griffith's eyes, and cut him off before he had a chance to interrupt me. "There isn't any reason to go on with this. It's over. Everything. It's done."
It's the end.
The Sprytes had no choice but to do my bidding. They always had been bound by their willingness to serve me, even when my commands hadn't been exactly kind or easy to exact. They were the first to leave. Griff went after them, and for reasons that were more than obvious. He didn't want to say good-bye, in the end of all things. I didn't want to say good-bye either, but I knew that there was no other way. I didn't want any of them – Griff, the Sprytes, or Beauty – to be about when Saruptal came to enact his ultimate vengeance.
When they had all gone, I stood in the throne room, and realized that, for the first time in three hundred years, I was completely alone.
I had forgotten how ancient silence could make one feel.
During the last several months of Beauty's stay in the castle, I had attempted to make myself look more civilized. I had worn more or less fashionable clothing, and had even taken to tying my unruly, spiky, thick mane back, away from my shoulders and face. Now, with fingers that trembled, I undid the ties that held that mane in submission and let it fall all about my face and shoulders as I stared at my hands.
She had been able to find beauty in those hands, I remembered. She had seen something in me that even I had not been aware of – my soul. I had nearly forgotten it, in my pride and bitterness. I recalled our first meeting, the memory playing before me like some strange, faded performance.
"So…you are Beauty. Welcome to my castle, milady."
"I have come, my lord, to fulfill the vow that my father made to you."
So many years, frozen in meaningless time – so many lies, deep in your mind…
"You are brave then…and honourable."
"I am not brave, milord."
So many emotions – buried now, beyond sight or recognition, forgotten, ignored – whirling through a mind that is imprisoned. And yet still coldness…
"You came. That is enough."
In silence we find our solace, our unspoken words…
"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."
"Please…may I see you?"
"Beauty…"
But dare we face the sunlight, when it chances our lives, to change our existence?
"So, you wish to see my face? You are brave for coming here, milady, but perhaps now we shall see how far that bravery can go!"
"If I need fear nothing here, why should your face terrify me?"
"Very well – so be it!"
We walk a fine line between nightmares and love…
"So, Lady Beauty, now you have seen the Beast – are you satisfied? Have you seen enough? What – aren't you afraid?"
And yet all it can take is one word to make your world, your hate, fall down…
"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 did…didn't I."
Can you believe it?
"All of this castle is yours to make use of, milady."
Can you find the strength within yourself?
"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."
"Milord?"
"Beast – you will call me Beast. I am not a lord."
The strength to give in?
"Beast."
"Why?"
Will you never know?
"It's lonely here. I'm sorry. You had a life."
"It wasn't much of a life that I left."
There's only one truth…
It's not a life that we live. It's love.
* * *
Before she had left forever, I had presented her with a gift that would allow me to watch over her in this greatest trial of everything that she had learned.
It was a necklace, but one unlike any she had ever seen before. It was a pendant and chain, usual of all such ornaments. The chain was silver, fine as the filaments that create a spider's web, and near the pendant it was adorned with many faceted crystals, all devoid of colour, sharp, and icy, and yet scintillating with every hue of the rainbow that could be imagined. The pendant itself filled up her entire palm – the palm of her tiny, delicate, flawless hand – when she held it. Its stone was a gigantic sapphire, bluer than the sea, bluer than any other sapphire that had ever existed. It was set in silver, which had been engraved and molded into a graceful, scrawling shape.
However, when danger was near, this necklace could save her life.
I could see her through the necklace's pendant gem, as I had used an enchantment of my own on it. Wherever she went, I would be able to watch her and make certain that she was still safe. Upon her arrival at Saruptal's mortal realm fortress, the stone would instantly turn from its original serene sapphire into a deep, blood red ruby. Its chain would cease to be silver and would instead become gold, while its crystals would transform into black diamonds. This would always serve to tell her when she was in danger. If that danger intensified so that her life could be threatened, the very center of the enormous stone would begin to glow a bright, almost dazzling golden light.
It was the one last thing that I could do to keep her safe.
And in the end, her safety – Beauty herself – was all that mattered.
I thought of this distractedly as I went to my rooms to check on her progress. It was evening – with the aid of magic in her travels, she would have reached the Wizards' Convention by that afternoon. By now, she would just be going to the grand ball that would begin the gathering itself.
I wondered what she would wear to disguise herself. I called on the magic in her necklace to show me her image, looking into the stained-glass window that would always show me the world that I could no longer be a part of. I felt curiously resigned to it, suddenly.
Funny how falling in love with someone – and then realizing that the only thing you can do to give them the life that they deserve – can change your heart.
She had changed my heart.
The image swam, blurred, in the glass for a moment, and then it cleared and I saw a crystal-clear, all-too-real scene unfolding before me. She was in the black marble hallways of Saruptal's mortal realm fortress, making her way down the floor, alone and searching for her destination. She wore a fantastic, exotic gown in all shades of red, accented with saffron, gold, and black: the outline of a huge, embroidered rose surrounded by blood-red flames detailed on the flowing, voluminous train of her gown. She approached the entrance to the ballroom as I watched then, and gave her name to the chamberlain who stood at attention there.
Larillana – a sorceress, the Burning Rose.
She looked so different from her real self. I thought of her as a pure white rose, delicate and gentle and yet aloof in her cool, graceful beauty. Now, she was resplendent and alluring and glamorous in her fiery disguise, the trailing black ribbons of the small, curving mask that she held elegantly in one hand curling about her like tendrils of smoke. Here was a beauty that smoldered and captivated as only a true inferno could.
I kept watching as she entered the ballroom, becoming immediately surrounded by the hundreds of guests who were already present, each costumed and masked according to their stations and titles. I saw that her necklace had long since reverted to gold, black diamonds, and ruby. Saruptal obviously wasn't anywhere about. She was playing her part of the fiery sorceress well. Her demeanor reflected a cold, distant, and unimpressed take on the entire occasion, and it was with a disdaining and yet fascinating air that she dismissed each of the men who begged her to partner with them for a dance.
Suddenly, the very center of the ruby pendant flashed a blinding yellow, causing the entire room around me to light. I threw my hands up over my eyes, but not quite quickly enough. I blinked rapidly, trying to banish the black flecks from my vision, and looked into the glass once more. And, of course, there I beheld my old archenemy conversing with the maiden I loved as if he had nothing better to do.
Before my heart had left me to give itself to her, I would have been surging with rage, with fury and uncontrollable blood lust. Now, I could only look on, knowing that I had given her up, and I could no longer pretend that I had any control over her. I could only send her my protection from a distance, and remember my undying love.
At length, Saruptal turned and walked back into the crowd, melding with it until it seemed as if he had disappeared. Arielle stood motionless for a moment, and then she bent down to adjust the hem of her dress. I knew that I was the only living creature who had noticed how her hands had shook as she did so.
She stood straight again, and surveyed the crowd. I realized what she was thinking – it was time. She would now go to execute the most deadly part of her mission, while everyone was busy and no one was looking. She turned to leave, and within seconds, she was drifting down hallway after hallway, climbing countless flights of stairs and turning any number of corners, passing through many doors, heading for the room where the Book was located.
Then, something very odd happened.
Something that even I hadn't remotely expected.
Out from behind a huge, towering pillar stepped a male guest, garbed in a blue so dark that it was almost black. He wore a mask that was clearly meant to imitate some sort of bird of prey – a falcon, perhaps. Arielle stopped, her skin paling as her eyes became wide and dark. The man stepped forward, slowly, his hands moving up from his sides to make a gesture of peace. I instantly looked to Arielle's pendant.
I was shocked by what I saw.
The gold, black diamonds, and ruby had vanished, and in their places were the necklace's real materials of sapphire, crystal, and silver.
Arielle also noticed this, and then she looked at the man with questions in her eyes. Suddenly, two more guests also materialized from the darkness beneath the pillars: a man, and a woman. This second man was tall, as was the first, and he had long, white-blond hair. His plain mask and costume were all in black, accented with silver and green. The woman wore a misty silver gown and a porcelain white mask; her hair was as long as Arielle's, but it was a midnight black. The second man made a swift, fluidly graceful movement with both of his hands, and a soft, shimmering gold bubble seemed to surround them all. Arielle stared at them all for a moment, and then she spoke.
"Who are you?"
"We're friends," replied the woman, who looked only a little bit older than Arielle. I recognized her voice the instant she had answered. Now things were getting very interesting indeed, if what I was seeing was true.
"We're here to help," added the man in black, who stood at her side, his arm intertwined with that of the woman.
"We've come to warn you," said the first man, coming to stand directly in front of her, his gray eyes looking steadily and knowingly into Arielle's white face. "There isn't much time left for you, beautiful one. A great danger is coming, and you must escape it."
"How can I do this?" Arielle's voice was soft – trusting.
Exactly – how can she do this? I asked them as well, mentally.
"If you wish to gain what you are seeking, go to it now and leave this place without a moment's delay. We will make certain that your path is clear."
The quiet, serious man with the white-blond hair in a warrior's style said this; his seemingly luminous, ice blue eyes also looked at her steadily and knowingly from behind the smooth black mask that he wore. Arielle nodded, understanding.
"You will save us all…and we will do likewise for you, if it is in our power," said the woman, gently; she then stepped forward and put both of her hands on Arielle's shoulders, turning her so that they faced one another. I watched Arielle's eyes then and saw recognition flicker through them, and she smiled a bit. "Your quest will not be in vain – you will save him. For if you cannot, no one else can."
What?
The woman leaned forward and gently kissed Arielle on the forehead, and then she stepped back to the side of her partner, who held his left hand up, palm outwards, in both blessing and farewell. "May the Three be ever with you, little lost one," he said.
"Have no fear," joined in the other man. "We will protect you."
And then the glowing golden bubble evaporated, and Arielle was alone again.
She stood in front of the room in which the Book was kept.
* * *
That night, the Book of Hours was recovered for the White Realm, and Arielle escaped from Saruptal's fortress.
If the fates were with us, as I prayed they were, Saruptal would forget all about his meeting with the incredibly beautiful Burning Rose. Of course, Arielle – I knew – would turn her course straight towards the home, the castle, and I could not let her do that. Saruptal could very possibly forget that it was the sorceress Larillana who had attended his convention and then left rather abruptly, at almost the same time that the Book had been stolen from him. He might not make the connection between her and the theft. But he would most definitely know who had been behind it, for who else knew that he had taken it? To the White Realm, he still maintained the appearance and reputation of a powerful, albeit slightly fanatic wizard. I was the only one who knew of his evilness.
So I sent her an enchanted message when I saw that she had stopped for the night in a village somewhere in the south of Éindor, which was near where Saruptal's palace was located, telling her that she should go to see her family. She, I surmised, would most likely tell them that she could only stay for a week or so, and then she would make all efforts to return here. I would most likely be dead by then.
As I thought of this, I was hardly surprised to find that the thought of death no longer bothered me. It was just how things were destined to be. I sat back in my chair, gazing at the now darkened window. Its panes glittered at me weakly, as if they were trying to express their sympathy for my imminent fate. I didn't care.
Not now.
Then I had a thought that really did bother me.
I sat bolt upright in my chair, shocked and benumbed realization going through me. I wasn't the only one who knew about what Saruptal had become—
Griff!
How could I have thought that Griffith, my dearest friend of old, would ever simply let me handle things in a way that would bring about my own death, even when I could see no way of averting it? Of course he would have gone back to the White Realm as soon as I had sent him away! Of course he would have told the Lord Orandor and Lady Vahlada about the long-hidden truth of what had happened to the Book!
It all made sense.
That was why both of my immortal royal cousins, none other than Gavin and Elladine of the White Realm, and Elladine's husband Arin, the enchanter-king of the country of Lærelin, had appeared to Arielle at the Wizards' Convention! They knew – the entire White Realm knew! Griff had told the story, and now Saruptal had been recognized as the traitor that he was. Each and every faery in the White Realm, I knew, would be out to seek their vengeance for what he had done.
But I wouldn't be around to see them claim it.
Justice would be done, however, and Arielle would be safe. She would never know that I loved her, and I would never be free of my curse…but I had stopped caring.
I looked down at my paws as they rested limply in my lap, and felt a grim smile curve the corners of my mouth. Three centuries ago, I had been a different person.
Now my story had been told.
The story of the price paid for a rose, of a prince who was cursed to be a monster, and of the girl who changed his heart.
And then it was all too much. My love for Beauty overcame me and I wrapped both of my arms around myself, drawing into myself, and closed my eyes, waiting for the silent blackness to overwhelm me and break my mind.
I felt tears welling in my eyes and felt them drop down onto the rough scales of my face. I hadn't cried very much over the last three hundred years. I hadn't really ever cried before in my life. Now, I could remember only two times that I had known the feeling of tears. The first time had been when Beauty had told me that she would go in my place to retrieve the Book of Hours. She hadn't noticed because her eyes had been closed and her face had been almost entirely buried in my chest. But I had cried.
I was crying now.
Slowly, I looked up at the enchanted window.
In its panes, seeming to have bloomed there, was the shape of a large, white rose, and on its petals, instead of dew, was a red teardrop, the colour of blood.
Red – white. Blue, silver, gold, black, green.
Oh fates.
And then I saw my hands…
In their palms, the faintest tinge of pale peach was beginning to show…and when I looked in the mirror, I saw that my eyes had flecks of icy sapphire in them…shards of magic, in the invisible world of enchantment, were beginning to fall down all about me, cascading in a silent avalanche, as the tide of life began to turn…
Spells and curses were being broken.
"How is this possible?"
You said it before yourself…
It's not life we live. It's love.
* * * * * *
Author's note: And here the update ends, for I much desire to know what you all think of things so far. I told that our original Travelers of Enchantment would make a cameo appearance (and this one won't be the last, have no fear!) But what is going on with the Beast, or Orlando, as we should probably now call him? Things are beginning to change, now that he has come to the most painful and yet important part of his relationship with Arielle – he's realized just how much he loves her, and that love is beginning to have an effect on the spell that has bound him for so long…