Chapter 4
Alana spent the next few days either in the library or in the castle's many art galleries. She hadn't seen much of Thomas, but she continued to wear the elegant dresses in case she did. He seemed to want to keep to himself, which gave her the freedom to wander about the castle. He did, however, have a knack for showing up whenever she got lost, for which she was very grateful, because it happened more than a few times. Something inside her felt a tad odd at calling him by such a human name as Thomas, and sometimes she subconsciously called him 'the beast' instead. But he seemed less and less of a beast the more she grew accustomed to his fine clothing, penchant for literature, and his all-too-human eyes.
One gorgeous autumn day, Alana dressed after breakfast and wandered out onto her balcony. She breathed in the now-familiar smell of the white roses climbing the walls, and gazed out onto the gardens. An idea suddenly struck her; why not take a walk outside? Grabbing her cloak, she headed downstairs. The only way she knew how to get directly to the gardens was through the library, so she followed the familiar trail to the library.
Once in the library, she resisted the urge to look at the books and stepped into the glass side. Huge glass doors stood at either end, and Alana went to the right. She was about to open the door when a voice said,
"Where are you going?"
She yelped in surprise, and turned to her right to see Thomas sitting by the fire.
"I was going to take a walk in the garden. Is that alright?" she asked nervously; maybe she was breaking some sort of rule.
"Yes," he said gruffly, returning to his book. "But Alana?" he said warningly.
"Yes?" she said, her hand stopping an inch above the door handle.
"Do not go into the forest," he said, his voice harsh and fearsome.
"Yes, sir." She nodded, and then opened the door.
Once outside, she took a deep breath. It felt wonderful to be outside; the sky was a clear blue, the sun was high, and the air felt crisp. She pulled on her cloak and set off through the multitude of gardens. There were flowers of every color and kind. Alana didn't recognize most of them; she had never been allowed in the gardens at home. She wandered in and out of the maze of hedges that separated the different flower beds. There were arches with ivy climbing over them, and marble fountains that weren't running. It all felt rather romantic, somehow.
Once she had reached the end of the left side of the gardens, Alana made to turn around and go to the right side. Something caught her eye, however.
Set amongst a bed of blooming daisies was a handsome marble gravestone. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Alana knelt down in front of it and read:
Her Royal Highness Princess Lilia
1020-1045
Devoted daughter
Alana's brow furrowed. A princess? Here? Almost 500 years ago? Her own family had only had the throne for about 200 years, and Alana didn't know much about who had been in power before then. She died at only 25… Alana shook her head. She knew this was no business of hers, and it would probably only lead to trouble.
She set off for the right side of the gardens, and strolled through the arch the welcomed her. To her amazement, these gardens had entirely different flowers than the last.
She took her time, pausing every so often to smell the fragrance. When she finally reached the end, she decided it must be time for lunch and turned around. But for the second time, something caught her eye.
Right inside the edge of the forest, which was only a few feet away, were some very exotic, very red flowers. Wondering why they weren't in the garden, she went to look at them, but stopped dead in front of the forest. Do not go into the forest, his voice resounded in her head. But it was only the very edge, and those flowers were so very beautiful…with that slim reasoning, she stepped into the forest.
The darkness seemed very complete in the forest. But Alana could still see the flowers and walked over to them. They were humongous, and were triangular shaped with a white stem of seeds coming through the middle. They smelled very sweet, and very relaxing, as a matter of fact. Alana sunk the forest floor, seemingly unable to stand. She decided to lie down, just to take a little nap.
Just as her eyes had fluttered closed, she heard a noise. A noise that sounded very much like a growl. She arched her back to look behind her and saw a wolf merely five feet away. It let out a long, piercing howl, which broke through Alana's stupor and she sat up. Turning so that she was on her knees, facing the menacing wolf, she glanced to her right and gasped. The edge of the forest now looked to be hundreds of feet away instead of just a few. She looked around her in panic and saw that there wasn't much that could help her. The wolf began to edge nearer as Alana backed away. It barked at her, and she tripped over a tree root and fell face-first into the dirt. Struggling to get up, the wolf lunged at her and pinned her back down, its claws scratching her arms. Baring its teeth, it came closer and closer…WHAM!
The wolf had been thrown sideways, and skidded across the ground. Alana looked up to see Thomas, looking more beastly than she had ever seen him, baring his long, sharp fangs. The wolf, however, didn't seem intimidated, and snapped his jaws at the beast. The beast growled in response, a growl that would have sent Alana running for her life had it been directed at her. The wolf suddenly jumped the beast and Alana saw its fangs sink into the beast's shoulder before the beast threw it off. It hit a tree and with a thud, landed unconscious on the ground.
Alana shakily got up, her dress torn and twigs sticking out of her hair. She saw Thomas inspect his shoulder, and then he said, "Come."
They walked out of the forest, and Alana trotted to keep up. Feeling horrible and too apologetic for words, Alana stuttered, "Sir, I-"
"You deliberately disobeyed the orders of this castle," he fairly yelled so harshly and severely that Alana felt very afraid of him, much more afraid than she had been the first time she had met him. "You are not to go outside again, is that clear?" he said very threateningly.
Alana nodded dumbly, too scared to say anything. She fell out of step with him, and walked at a normal pace; she was too tired to try and keep up with him. She was suddenly very, very aware of the terrible pain in her arms. She looked at them; there were one-inch cuts bleeding freely on both. Not wanting to complain, she fought back the tears that were fighting to get out of her eyes, and continued to walk. Her dress was slowly becoming ensanguined, and she was starting to feel very weak. She paused and leaned against an arch, her head swimming. After what seemed like an eternity, she gathered her strength and reached the doors to the library. Pulling the door open turned out to be a task too difficult to accomplish, so she leaned against the door, her eyes closing as she felt herself slipping out of consciousness.
Suddenly the door opened and she fell backwards into Thomas.
"You're hurt," he said flatly, a tiny trace of concern in his gruff voice.
"So are you," she said weakly. He picked her up, and without realizing what she was doing, she nuzzled her head against his fur. She felt his body tense underneath her, but she was in too much pain to recognize it.
"Thank you," she said feebly as he laid her down on the floor in front of the fire.
"For what?" he said shortly.
"For sav…saving me," she managed to say to before drifting into unconsciousness.
