Author's note: Left you all hanging, did I? Well… ^_^ That's what the most climatic portions of books do, but I am not quite the type to go in for all-out support of driving my readers mad, so here it is: the final battle between the forces of good and evil in this, my tale of Beauty and the Beast! (And quite a few other fairy tales, I must say…)
snowylove-angel – Thank you so much for your very kind review, and I am glad that you have enjoyed the story so far. I hope that you also like this newest update as much as you have the rest of the tale, and yes, you spelled ballistic right. *winks* I love that word, don't you? ^_^
Rosethorn – Well if you don't post your version of BatB, maybe perhaps perchance possibly would you consider letting *me* read it? (And as if my treatment of poor Beast/Orlando hasn't been bad enough…though I could see worser types of 'serious abuse'…) WOW! Gavin, behaving? Amazing! How on earth did you manage to do that? Ella and Arin are really curious, as is Orandor…
Bil – Thank you also for your nice review; it always makes me happy to know that someone has enjoyed what I write. (And I definitely prefer long chapters as well myself!) ^_*
LadyElf – WHEEE! I like that name – I use one like it sometimes, only with numbers attached. Pray tell, what kind of Elves do you prefer? My personal favs are those of the great J.R.R. Tolkien…but anyways, thank you also for your review and I am very happy to know that you have enjoyed my fic so far. And have no fear – love and faeries are just about my favorite things to write about, and these are both featured quite prominently in the series that My Beauty, My Beast is going to be featured in. I am a fairy tales fanatic, you see… ^_^ Thank you also for those book suggestions you gave to me – I have been looking for some good happy-ending fantasy to read for a while, and the works that you named sound very interesting indeed. As for right now, I've just been pretty much a Tolkienite and an occasional Robin McKinley follower, so your input is highly valued!
And everybody else: Let's see – thank you again for your reviews and comments, and for being so nice! All of your reviews have been just so lovely, and I am overjoyed to know that you've found pleasure in reading this story. It makes it all worthwhile. Now, on with the fic and please beware of 'fluffiness' towards the end.
Disclaimer/claimer: I don't own the original fairy tales; I just write about them. Faeries, however, I do own, so don't go hurting them or kidnapping them from me because I would miss them all too much and would have to cry at night for them. (J/k, but I can't guarantee to you that you'll come out unscathed if you try to abduct people like Arin, Ella, Gavin, 'Lando, or Arielle; just a warning…)
Beauty and the Beast:
The End of the Enchantment
Night.
All was silent in the Laclarien mansion in Basilisk-Head, as the moon and stars kept their serene, perpetual watch over all below them. No one was at home; they had all gone to an opera being shown somewhere in the city, in spite of any arguments that might have been given. The rooms within the place were dark, full of inky shadows, and the air held a sort of breathless, heavy presentiment that bespoke of the very walls themselves waiting, anticipating, a truly terrifying turn of events.
This night would hold just that.
A giant, fateful stage had been set; the scenery was in place, the players awaiting their cue in the wings of an invisible theater.
The final chapter in the story of Beauty and her Beast was about to begin.
* * *
A long, powerful dark shadow approached the front door of the Laclarien home, wraith-like fingers outstretched towards its brass handle from beneath a filmy gray-black cloak that fluttered even at the touch of the smallest night breeze. Then, the figure that the fingers belonged to stopped, pausing, as if in second thought…and slowly moved away from the door, drifting into the shadows at the side of the house, where the street met the alley.
A window – cracked slightly open to allow the cool, early fall air into the home. A slight touch, a softly spoken word, a burst of magic.
With only the slightest sound of the window itself sliding against its wooden frame, it glided open: slowly, ever so slowly.
The figure cast about itself, hooded head moving with eerie serenity, and then in through the heavy, scarlet velvet curtains it went, leaving no trace of its presence about in the alley behind itself. It came to stand at its full height within the room, once more casting about itself, looking around the quiet room. No one was here: no one knew of its presence, of course.
Not yet.
Night drifted on: the moon continued her arc across the sky, her children – the stars – continuing to keep their watch over the darkened city. The Laclarien household was still silent, and nothing moved within it. No sound came forth.
A second figure approached.
This one was smaller than the first, and was garbed in a flowing, deep purple cloak and hood: a purple so dark that it was nearly black. It took the exact same course as its predecessor, creeping in through the open window without a single noise to betray its movements.
Once it was inside the room, it drew itself up to its full height, then exhaled, seeming to relax. A hand – upon the fourth finger of which was worn a large, ornate ring with a band of gold and a fascinating, glimmering stone of fine sapphire – reached up from beneath the cloak and removed the hood that obscured the figure's features.
This revealed the face of a seemingly middle-aged man, with sharp, almost hawk-like features that the moonlight fiercely accentuated: a man with dark eyes and dark hair, and a mustache and goatee, the last three of which were streaked with shocking gold highlights. From his person seemed to emanate a very obvious power, which revealed one thing about just what he really was…
This man was a wizard.
He obviously knew that no one was about the house, as he went straight to work. After he had murmured a few soft words, he extended his hands – palms outward – towards the rest of the room, the house as a whole, and a strange, smoke-like green haze came forth from his fingertips. It whirled about the room, curling around corners and shooting under closed doors. Yes, this was magic, and yes, it was looking for something.
The wizard should have been looking out for something himself.
For he, as the reader well knows, was not alone in the house.
A large, hulking shape sat in a chair, in a dark corner behind him, watching his every move…with eyes that had begun to glow an unearthly, deadly blood red.
The wizard stopped, feeling a tremor in the air about him. He stiffened.
Finally, he had realized that someone was there.
A voice.
"You're rather late," a deep, yet somehow tenor voice said. "I've been here for hours now."
The wizard whirled around in surprise.
And I sat forward in my seat, leaning towards him but allowing my features to remain deeply hidden in the shadows.
I laughed then: softly, mockingly, a very dangerous edge to the sound, and said, condescendingly, as an adult would to a very young, very naïve child, "You didn't actually think that you could just get away with it, did you? And now every faery in the White Realm is on your case, and it won't be much longer before you find yourself trapped in the web that you'd spun with your very own hands." I deliberately, coldly, punctuated each of those last three words.
Saruptal, my age-old enemy, narrowed his eyes, but he paled.
"You took the Book."
I rose to my feet, slowly, and he took a step back.
"Correct." I said, my voice a mere murmur. I regarded him thoughtfully. "And yet – yet my hunger for revenge still isn't satiated. Not yet. The Book is now in a place where you can never again reach it, not even with the aid of traitors. You're ruined – all is lost, and I still have yet to take your life…"
Saruptal sneered in my general direction, still backing up as I advanced on him. "Go ahead and kill me, faery bratling," he spat, venomously, although he kept his voice low so that it would not carry throughout the house, "But know that I have had the Book of Hours these three hundred years, and I have learned well how to wield it. It wouldn't take much to alter your spell just enough to keep you in your current hideous form for all of eternity!"
His words caused my anger to intensify tenfold, becoming a burning, violent fire within me, and I growled. With one gesture, I caused every candle in the room to light – allowing him to see me fully for the first time since he had placed me under his foul curse. On that night, three centuries before, Saruptal had indeed cursed me and stood by as the agony of my terrible transformation had begun – but he hadn't stayed for long. He hadn't seen the complete product of his spell then.
But now it stood before him.
Less than four feet away, looming in scarcely contained menace and complete black fury, was the faery that he had turned into a ravening monster.
The Beast.
"You know," I said, coldly, "I really wouldn't care. If I have to look like this, so be it – as long as I vanquish you in the bloodiest manner. And if I have to die here and now, as a result of this, I will…but if I go down, I am taking you with me, wizard."
He made a strangled sound of rage, for he knew well by now that, no matter what he did to me, I wouldn't be affected by it. I no longer cared about being under his curse, and I wouldn't cease to live until I had seen his death: until I had killed him. His hands rose from his sides, a furious red light beginning to light in his palms, but I was ready for him. I formed my own blast of counter magic, and we faced each other—
Suddenly, another voice cried out, from behind the closed door of the room that we stood within – a small, feminine voice that reminded me of rose petals and crystal raindrops and sunlight, a young girl's voice…
"Noooo!"
The door flew open. I had just enough time to see who it was – as if I had even needed to – before a slight but overwhelmingly desperate weight hit me, somehow managing to move me to the side and out of harm's way just as Saruptal's wildly aimed blast of magic came at me. We both turned, the fracas nearly forgotten in our shock, to gape at the intruder—
Arielle: dressed for the opera, her beautiful face pale, her eyes wide and dark, her hair and delicate rose velvet gown mussed and flying! She gazed up at me, breathless, her small hands clutching my arm, and we both gaped at her like idiots.
Then, in the next split second, three more figures barreled into the room, all shouting and shrieking and moving about at once, descending upon us like a cloud of maddened bats. Her family – her father, the merchant, and her stepsister and stepmother! All were here, in this room with me and my archenemy and the maiden I loved more than life itself! If the situation hadn't been so awful, so desperate, I might have been tempted to stop right where I was and yank my mane in frustration – what were they doing here?
Arielle's stepmother and stepsister were furious with her for something, and they were both scrambling like sewer rats to get at her, nails and grabbing hands flying, both gabbling more awfully than a flock of geese.
Her father, poor man, was trying to pull them off of her, but then his efforts seemed no longer needed when the Baroness Nelisia caught sight of me.
"Three preserve us!"
And she let off a truly bloodcurdling scream that made me wince sharply, and fell backwards, covering her face with her hands. Again, if the situation hadn't been so desperate, I might have been tempted to give her a little of her own medicine – the kind that she had so willingly pitched out onto Arielle all those years – but current hard reality prevented that. I saw, out of the corner of my eye, that Saruptal was preparing to attack again, and my thoughts instantly reverted to one thing: Beauty's safety. I pulled away, yanking myself out of the cluster of arguing people, and turned to face him.
"Beast!"
Arielle flung out her hand towards me, and I realized that she didn't want me to fight him without her – alone. But I had to! I shook my head, simultaneously opening an enchanted portal to take both Saruptal and me back to my castle, away from the mortal world and all of the risks that being in it held for us.
"Arielle, no!"
I stepped into the portal, lassoing the wizard with my magic and dragging him into it with me – but then Arielle ran towards me, and before I could stop her, she had grabbed onto my hand!
NOOOOO!
* * *
The blinding white light of the magic portal that the Beast had opened lasted only for a fleeting second, and then, with a burst of energy, it was gone and I felt myself landing on some soft, bouncy surface. Instantly, I sat up.
I was back in my own room at his castle. All of the windows were open, and around me were the dead brown petals and leaves of the once-magnificent roses that had covered the castle. A cold, searing wind blew about the room, ripping through my light gown and causing my teeth to chatter uncontrollably.
What has happened here? was all that passed through my mind, and then I was leaping off of the bed and running for the door.
He hadn't wanted me to be present for his final confrontation with the wizard. After that night when I had heard that strange, menacing voice within my head, through the ether of my sleep, I had known that the wizard Saruptal was searching for the Book, and that it wouldn't take long before his tracing spells found me. I had hidden the Book, but no powers of magic and enchantment in the world would keep it safe for long before he came to find it, aided by his now-enhanced wizard's knowledge.
The Beast had known that, and so he had come to face the evil wizard instead – to save me! I had expected this. I knew my Beast – and I wouldn't let him face his enemy alone. For a very long time now, we had been each other's companions and safeguards, each other's rescuers, through many trials and adventures. I wasn't about to let him be struck down in one-on-one combat with his greatest enemy.
I would fight with him, and if it were my destiny, I would die with him.
Even if he didn't want me to.
I flew through the door of my chambers and ran through the castle, down countless halls, corridors, rooms, and flight of stairs, all the while calling to my Beast, hoping vainly that he would hear me and respond before the wizard did! I dashed down the grand staircase that fronted the ballroom, the one in which we had first danced together, my slippers clattering pell-mell against the marble steps as I tried to keep my balance. My thoughts were tumbling over one another.
What if I didn't find him? What if Saruptal met up with him before I did, and what if I arrived on the scene only moments too late? What if I couldn't save him—
Suddenly, a hand swung down through the air in front of me, coming to snatch a-hold of my flying hair with a grip of iron!
I shrieked at the abrupt pain and surprise, and found myself yanked roughly backwards. My spine came up against the hard plain of someone's chest and the hand holding my hair pulled again, forcing me to turn my head up and to the side. As I gazed up through my stinging tears of pain and defeat, for I knew who had caught me, I saw the dark eyes of our common enemy glaring down into mine.
"You!" he snarled, grabbing my other hand by the wrist and wrenching it up behind me, twisting it cruelly until I cried out again. "I know you – you're that little wench who was at the wizards' gathering: Larillana, the Burning Rose! You took the Book!"
I forced my mind to concentrate on gathering my powers, trying to rally my strengths in order to blast some of my own magic at him, but then he somehow pulled it out of me, into his own hands – and reflected it back on me! A great, fiery pain ripped through me, entering at my fingertips and shooting up my arms, then down through the rest of my body, until I screamed from the sheer agony of it all.
With a feral growl, he suddenly let go and threw me to the ground. I managed to land without hitting my head and then struggled up onto my hands and knees, my hair coming out of the arrangement that I had put it into for the opera that night and falling in streams about my shoulders, pooling on the dusty marble floor.
"You little idiot!" Saruptal shouted at me. "It doesn't matter whether I have the Book or not now! I already know its spells – neither you, nor your fey bratling lover, nor anyone else can defeat me!"
I breathed in, trying to steady myself, to banish the memory of pain from my mind, and then spoke.
"You think so?" My voice was a pathetic rasp. "You'll beg to differ when every single faery of the White Realm comes hurdling through this very castle's roof, seeking vengeance for a notorious wrong done to them over three hundred years ago! Three centuries…do you think that they've just been waiting for you to attack them all this time? Their combined power is infinitely more awesome than a slimy, revolting reptile of a despicable wizard like you can imagine!"
I didn't know if what I was saying was actually true. Was I bluffing then, trying to frighten him into believing that his attack was all for naught? Perhaps. But for all I knew, the White Realm faeries really did know that he had taken their Book of Hours, and they were only waiting for the right time to exact their rightful vendetta upon him. It was worth a try – and I would be blasted before I just simply gave up and let him destroy this place, my Beast, and me myself without putting up a fight of my own!
My words didn't cow him – they only made him angrier.
"Shut up!" he shrieked.
But I wouldn't be shut up. I wasn't finished yet.
"Nothing you can do will stop them – us!"
I was faery. I was one of them. This wasn't just myself and my Beast that I was battling for – it was my world. My people.
Saruptal turned a mocking smile down on me. "You think so?" he asked, tauntingly. Then, his sneer became a deadly, almost animal snarl and he hissed, "Well, you won't live to find out!"
Another blast of his magic came at me and I braced for the pain, which then roared through me as never before, and all I could do was collapse onto the cold, hard marble and scream. But suddenly I heard another scream – a wild, surprised shriek of a male victim, and then an even more deafening sound: a ground-shaking roar. I forgot my agony and sat up, turning to see what had happened, and the shock that I had felt only grew when I saw the scene before me.
Saruptal had been thrown across the room, and he was now standing, bent double with his back against a giant pillar, clutching his arm: his clothing across his back and the side of his body had been slashed and lay in shreds about him, bloodied. He was looking at something that stood just behind me…and I followed his gaze with my own eyes…
And then I beheld the Beast at his most terrifying – totally ablaze with dragon fire, his huge eyes burning with infinite, unstoppable rage, his entire body turned black and armor-plated with scales, and fiery, spiky wings sprouted from his shoulder blades! He spoke, and his voice was an earsplitting roar – and yet incredibly distinct and understandable all at the same time.
"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!"
Saruptal stood up straight, becoming incredibly white, his eyes fixated with horror on the Beast – but then, his terror made him forget everything, even common sense, and his pride seemed to have gotten the better of him, for then he said, "You want to save your little witch? All right – come on then! But know that it'll have repercussions – that fire that you have invoked upon yourself unwittingly in your fury will do more than burn flesh. It will stay with you forever – even if you do find the one who can save you!"
The Beast's fire seemed to intensify, becoming a raging inferno, and he narrowed his glowing red eyes, fire bursting from his mouth and nostrils as he snorted. Then, he spoke…and his words were the revelation that made me understand the truth.
"I've already found the one I want!"
Everything seemed to move in slow motion then. They dived at each other, and all motion began to blur in front of me. I could only dimly hear the sounds of the ongoing battle – my mind had totally reverted in on itself, and I could concentrate on nothing but my own thoughts.
The one he wants…that is me. He wants me. He always has…and I want him too! I always have! Ever since the beginning…before the beginning…in ages past. We've been destined for each other, this is meant to be, we are meant to be!
I love him…
"I must save him."
My words came forth from my lips almost without my realizing it. Then, I abruptly came back to reality with a surge of renewed hope and determination. I turned back towards the dueling pair, my eyes focusing on them with new intensity.
Destiny could never be thwarted – this wizard will not defeat us.
This is not the end!
I stood, but was unsure of what to do.
Because of your valor and kindness, I will grant you any three wishes that you may desire to have fulfilled…
And then I knew.
"I wish that this would stop."
It did.
Everything froze, except for the Beast and I. He stared at Saruptal, who had fallen motionless to the floor, for a moment, in disbelief…and then he looked back at me, wonder and relief in his eyes. "Beauty…" he whispered, and I smiled, however weakly, and held out my arms to him, replying, "Beast!"
He lost his fire then and was himself once more, and I ran to him—
But then everything went wrong.
Just over his shoulder, I saw that my wish had only come true for a moment's time. Behind him, Saruptal stirred and got to his feet, slowly and painfully, his eyes fixed in a murderous glare at the back of my Beast's head.
"She may be the one you want…" he rasped, and his palms began to glow. "But let me tell you, bratling…you will never have her!"
The killing magic came at me, I heard the Beast scream my name, and I braced myself for the impact, the final blow that would give me only a moment's pain, and then blissful darkness; I closed my eyes, and then—
It all happened at once, and it was much more painful than I could have ever imagined, but the darkness came much more quickly as well. I opened my eyes, seemingly only seconds later, and gazed up into the large, golden, tear-filled eyes of my beloved as he held me in his arms.
"Beauty," he said, his voice breaking. I saw that the hazy golden dome of a shielding spell surrounded us. Saruptal couldn't break through.
I would be able to say goodbye to my Beast.
"Beast." I whispered.
"I'm sorry, Beauty, I'm so sorry, please forgive me, I'm sorry," he said, weeping, and I raised my hand to his face, with some effort. Strange – I felt no pain, only a curious sense of calm and ease. I was in shock. I smiled, softly, as darkness began to well in the corners of my vision.
"Shh, Beast…it's all right. It's all right," I told him. I wouldn't let it end like this. Our story deserved more…
"Arielle," he whispered. "Arielle, no…"
"I love you."
* * *
I was unable to restrain the wild, uncontrollable scream of utter devastation – agony and bitter, tearing grief as I saw my enemy's blow, the one that should have been meant for me, shoot across the room and slam into her beautiful, slender body. She withstood the blast, standing straight as it absorbed into her, making her light with a horrible red fire-like glow, and I could hear an awful, mind-breaking shriek on the air, surrounding us, as all motion seemed to slow.
Arielle!
It wasn't until the next split second later, when I found the willpower to move – to get to her, that I realized the scream was my own. Almost without thinking, I threw up an ancient, unbreakable shielding spell about us, catching her in my arms as she began to fall…wilting like a dying rose.
Then I slowly lowered the both of us to the floor and a moment later, as I gazed at her pale, motionless face, she exhaled unsteadily and stirred, her eyelids fluttering open. My breath caught in my suddenly tight throat, and I heard myself saying in a strangely detached, alien voice, "Beauty."
Her gaze turned upwards and I quickly looked to where she had been hit by Saruptal's magic, hoping vainly – hoping against hope – that it wouldn't be that bad, that there was a chance that she might be all right, that I could somehow save her…but my eyes told me that this was not possible. Damage had been done here that no one, and no kind of any magic or enchantment, could undo.
I was going to lose something that I loved…again.
My vision was blurring and I struggled to control myself, not wanting for her to see me like this, not wanting to say goodbye in this way.
"Beast," she whispered, and the sound of her voice made it all the worse. I couldn't hold myself back anymore – this new grief was too much. "I'm sorry, Beauty, I'm so sorry, please forgive me, I'm so sorry." The words came spilling out of my mouth and I was powerless to stop them; they just kept tumbling over and over one another, like my thoughts at that moment. Then, I felt something on the side of my face – her hand.
I raised my own hand, placing it over hers, and gazed at her as she smiled at me – weakly, simply. Beautifully.
"Shh, Beast…" she said, softly. "It's all right. It's all right."
No – no, it's not all right! This can't be how it's going to end! No…
"Arielle," I whispered, brokenly. "Arielle, no…"
"I love you."
Then, her eyes slipped closed, her head dropping back against my arm as I cradled her body to my chest, and I felt my heart shattering into a million shards.
"I love you too."
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light – sharp, brilliant, almost painful. I was dazzled by it. A mere fraction of a second too late, I threw an arm over my face and bent down over Arielle's motionless, limp form, shielding her from whatever might be coming now. A thousand new thoughts – worries, fears – were rushing through my mind then. What now? Had Saruptal somehow broken through the shield? What was happening?
Arielle breathed in.
I started violently and sat up straight again, staring at her in unabashed, boundless shock, too stunned to move…as she began to breathe regularly, her eyes slowly opening in tandem with her lips, which parted slightly as her gaze focused on me.
She was alive – not dead, not wounded, not limp and silent, but alive!
There was something strange in the air that moment: something very elusive and dazzling and enigmatic and bright, yet something that was all too very familiar. Somehow, it seemed as if there was a great, invisible presence surrounding us, watching us and smiling secretly to itself, knowing the answers behind all mysteries…
Arielle's brow clouded as she looked on me then, her blue eyes darkening with some emotion that I could not comprehend in my disbelief and wonder, and she said, seeming confused, "Who…who are you?"
I'm me! I am your Beast, the one who loves you – but what is happening? Why are you— Then: how…?
For, as I looked at her, completely baffled and fearful, I now saw something out of the corner of my eye. There was a long, slender, yet strong and masculine hand resting on her arm, lying wrapped around it like that of a possessive, ardent lover.
I moved my fingers, gently rubbing my thumb against her soft skin.
The fingers on that other hand moved.
Oh fates…
Scarcely daring to hope that this new dawning fantasy of mine was actually real, I quickly took both of her hands in mine and raised us both to our feet, forcing my eyes to remain closed so that I would not give in to this insane, mad illusion that had somehow been cast before my eyes!
I looked at her for one long, fearful moment, but – although she seemed as bewildered as I and also slightly frightened – she did not pull away from me. Instead, she stared back into my eyes, still frowning slightly, her head inclined to one side in the display of confusion that I knew she always enacted in such times. Our surroundings continued to glow with the same incredible, brilliant, clean white and gold light, making everything seem to shimmer and sparkle.
Then I turned my gaze down to our joined hands, drawing a deep breath…
And saw that the hands who held hers were indeed my own.
It was over – the enchantment had ended.
* * *
I felt something wash over me as soon as I had heard the seemingly far-off, echoing words from my beloved: "I love you too…"
It was a strange, wonderful sensation: like a gentle, warm wave of seawater rolling over me as I looked up to the rippling, crystalline surface to the shining shards of sunlight above me. It felt like being purified and made new, purged of all pain and darkness to the core of my heart, soul, and mind, in every pore of my skin, in every cell of my body. Strength, serenity, and knowledge rushed into me, filling my entire being as a stream of pure water would fill a silver pitcher, ringing sweet and clear.
The darkness that surrounded me gave a great, terrible, but dying shriek and released me from its talons, and I was free to fly back up to the surface: to the light.
Nearer and nearer it came, and life coursed through me once more…
I breathed in…
The first thing that greeted my senses upon my awakening was the sound of a soft, incredulous gasp, and the feeling of the warmth, power, and security in someone's strong, encircling arms: arms which held me closely, tenderly.
I opened my eyes.
Oh fates…
But who was this? When I had fallen, struck down by the blast of evil magic from the wizard, it had been my Beast who had caught me, who had held me in my dying moments, remaining by my side. Who was this, and what had happened to me?
I should be dead…but I'm not.
Now, instead of the familiar, scaly features and large, golden eyes of the Beast, I saw the face of a new person: the beautiful young faery from my visions. However, as I gazed at him then, I realized that I had seen him elsewhere, in a place other than my strange dream…I had seen those eyes before!
The masque ball…
He, meanwhile, was quite unknowing of my confusion – or he was for the moment, at least.
He was just as fair as I remembered him, perhaps even more so now that I was seeing him face-to-face, mere inches from me, with his long, slender yet extremely well-developed arms wrapped warmly and securely about my body. The warm, golden-brown, thick and unruly hair, its golden tones reflected in his smooth skin, the youthful features with their sensuous lips, straight, fine nose, high forehead, cleanly cut, firm chin, chiseled cheekbones, and arched eyebrows – they were all just as I had last seen them, as were his eyes: his large, intense, and beautiful eyes, with their long, dark eyelashes framing irises the colour of the bluest sky, the brightest sapphires.
This was most certainly a surprise: even a shock. This man who now held me was beautiful beyond thought, almost beyond imagination, but he wasn't my Beast! Where had my Beast gone: why had he left me? What new sorcery was this? And now, at last, I shall ask my questions…
I frowned.
"Who…who are you?"
He started, a line forming between his own eyebrows, and I noticed that his pale gold complexion became a few shades lighter, and he stiffened, drawing back a little from me. There was fear in his mesmerizing eyes now, I saw – fear and disbelief. His lips parted slightly, as if he was about to say something, and his fingers, which lay along my arm as he cradled me in his lap, flexed slightly against my skin.
Suddenly, his eyes riveted themselves on those fingers.
He moved them again, and his body stiffened even more.
Quickly then, he quickly took both of my hands in his and raised us both to our feet, closing his eyes and keeping them closed until we stood facing one another. He was tall – taller than most people I had ever known, but not quite as tall as my Beast, but he towered over me easily even at that. Slowly, almost hesitantly, it seemed, he raised his head and looked at me for one long, spellbound, silent moment.
And much as I wanted to have my questions answered and to go find my Beast, that urgent desire was suddenly replaced by a strange new knowledge…
I am meant to be here…stay.
So I did not pull away.
He turned his gaze down to our joined hands, drawing a deep breath…and then froze, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. His head came up, jerking to face me once again, and I saw that the beginnings of an incredibly happy smile – the smile of someone who had just overcome some great trial, someone who had just been set free from a bondage that looked to be inescapable – were on his handsome face.
And then it dawned on me.
Of course I knew who this was! How could I have ever missed it?
"Arielle…Beauty…it's me."
It was. There was no mistaking that this man who stood before me, grinning uncontrollably into my eyes, was my Beast.
The same rakish, but sincere and knowing curve of the lips was there, as was the endearing cock of the head and sparkle of the eyes – the voice. This was he…and now it was finally all clear to me. He had been under a curse: a curse that Saruptal, the corrupted wizard, had cast on him some three hundred years before. And now, because of us – because of our incredible, undying love – the spell was broken, the enchantment lifted, and he was free to be himself once more.
And I loved him.
Unable to restrain my incredible happiness, I joyously threw my arms around his neck, drawing him closer to me, so that we were touching. Then, I looked up into his eyes, smiling ecstatically at him, and spoke the words that I knew were true.
"Of course it's you!"
He grinned, and then he moved his own hand to take one of mine from behind his neck, bringing it down between us and raising it briefly – gently, tenderly, to his perfect lips. The very earth around us seemed to be singing a great world song of joy!
"Arielle," he said. Then he inclined his head to one side, considering me. "My Beauty."
"My Beast."
And then he bent forwards, and his lips came down on mine. We melded together sweetly, passionately, truly: our love reflected and felt in that one, perfect kiss. I felt as if fireworks were going off inside of my head, exploding with brilliant, effervescent sparkles into the air around us as his lips caressed mine. My mind was overthrown with the glorious rapture of our kiss, with the passion and tenderness of the strength of his arms around me.
The embrace seemed to last ages, going on for lifetimes, an entire beautiful eternity. When we parted, and the power of our combined strengths, love, and will crackled in the air around us, like lightning that was about to strike.
My love raised his hand, taking it from my waist, and made a swift, smooth motion, gesturing as someone who was tearing down a rack of curtains might, and, instantly, the shielding spell broke apart, with the sound of muffled breaking glass, falling down on itself in a shower of fading golden sparks. When it had disappeared into the floor, we turned our faces as one and faced the intruder who had done his very best to ruin our lives and wreak havoc on our existence.
"It is over, wizard." My love's smooth, golden tenor voice rang out with power, pride, and nobility: with strength and conviction and triumph, for he knew that we had won. "You have failed – your betrayal has come to nothing, your curse has been lifted. You have no power here. She has won – I have won."
The wizard stared at us for exactly one moment, and then he gave off a horrible, almost animal-like howl of complete and utter, dire rage. He rushed at us, but we were more than ready for his attack. Together, at the same moment, we raised our hands, extending our arms to their full length, palms outward.
White magic issued forth from my hand, pale green from his, and shot across the room towards our enemy, who did not have a single split second's time to form a counter-attack or to defend himself. Our magic whirled up and around him in a blazing, bright inferno, hiding him within itself, and then, with the sound of shattering glass, it burst into pieces: shards of light flying out into the room.
Then everything was silent; the wizard was gone.
My love dropped his head, letting his forehead come to rest against mine, and we remained there, still and wordless, for a long, long moment, eyes closed, arms draped about one another. Then, finally, he lifted his head, eyes flicking to meet mine, and he smiled: simply, softly, sincerely.
"It's over, my love."
All I could think to do in that moment – when it finally occurred to me that it really was all over, that we had defeated the greatest evil in our lives together, and broken the ties of the curse that had bound him – was give one incredulous exclamation of wonder and joy and relief, all combined into one, and fling my arms about his neck again. He sought my lips with his again, and for a blissful while after that, there was no need for words: only soft, possessive caresses and the gentle brushing of lips. Finally, then, he turned my face up to his, gazing deeply into my eyes, smiling at me.
"I can't believe this – it's just…it's all too wonderful, too incredible. I thought that my life was over: that I would never find a way out of the enchantment. But you – you!" His smile broadened into a white, flashing grin, and he raised his hand to the side of my face, cupping my cheek with his palm, and I smiled back at him happily. "You were the one, and because of you, everything will be right again."
"Everything." I murmured, and buried my head in his strong, firm chest: hesitant – as if it was the first time that I had ever done so. Perhaps I felt this way because I now found myself facing this incredibly beautiful faery nobleman, whom I had never really known before, perhaps it was because of the way that he was looking at me: as if I was the princess that he had been searching for all of his life, the one person with whom he desired to spend all eternity…perhaps…
He brushed his lips against my brow, cradling me in his arms, and I knew that, no matter what form he was in, this man was my lover; he knew it as well as I did, and all was right: this was destiny. Our destiny. And how happy I am that it is…
"Oh, my darling." he murmured, his lips against my ear, reassuring and loving and tender. "Arielle." A pause. "I love you."
"I love you." I replied, ardently: meaning the words with all my heart, all of my being. Then, something ironic occurred to me; I lifted my head from his chest and looked up into his face, scrutinizing him wryly but affectionately.
"But…what is your name, exactly? I don't think I ever got that before."
He grinned even more broadly and laughed, a truly enchanting sound. Then he put both of his hands on my waist and lifted me clean off of my feet, off of the white marble floor, and swung me around in a circle, my hair and gown swirling about us. He set me down, letting his hands remain resting atop my hips as he gazed at me, knowingly – almost teasingly, as he had done so many times before.
"No, my love, you didn't."
A maddening pause.
"My name is Orlando…and did I say that I loved you?"
I laughed as well then, softly, caressing the side of his face with my fingers.
"Yes…but say it again…Orlando."
He leaned towards me again, thick, long lashes sliding down to fringe over his sapphire eyes, lips parting as he murmured, ardently and adoringly: "I love you…"
* * * * * *
Author's note: And right now, ladies and gents, if this was a movie, the camera would angle up, away from the happy couple, and look to the fancy stained glass skylight far above, patterned with roses and vines and what-have-you, with the sun shining brilliantly in from behind it, and a huge choral piece would soar into the air, and close with a final black-out… But it's not (yet…), and there's still (happily) an epilogue, hosted by *gasp!* wonder-who?, in which you will find a fitting end to the story.
As for now, however, since I don't have that part written up yet, please leave a review for me? @à---