The Rose of a Beast
Thank you, to all my reviewers, friends and others. I'll see how well my characters stay in canon, but I'm not promising anything. Keep reading and reviewing and I'm apologizing in case the next few chapters take a while because
I'm trying to go somewhere with my other story, but, c'est la guerre. Don't forget to R&R!
I own some people, so don't use Lizzie or Joshua without asking. Anyone you recognize is up for grabs except for Joshua, he's mine! Hands off!
~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@ ~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@
In which the situation becomes complicated.
Shouts of anger and protestation filled the air as Lizzie left the tavern. She tried to ignore them, but one voice rose above the rest in a challenge.
"Turn and fight, monster!" It was Gaston. She groaned quietly.
The Beast turned.
"Be a man," snarled Gaston. "Or are you too much of an animal? What young girl in her right mind would follow you? Let her out of your spell!"
Elizabeth had been getting angrier at every word he said. While the Beast stood there, Elizabeth walked up to Gaston and slapped him across the face.
Everyone gasped.
"That was for being a stuck up megalomaniac who doesn't know how to shut up!"
Gaston caught her hand in an iron grip and began to bend it slowly and relentlessly backwards.
"No. One. Ever. Hits. Me. No one."
Lizzie felt the bones of her wrist scraping against one another. She gritted her teeth against the pain, willing her bones not to crack.
Suddenly, the pressure ceased and Gaston flew halfway across the room.
"Enough!" said the Beast. He grabbed Elizabeth by her uninjured wrist and dragged her out the door. She was perfectly happy to go.
Elizabeth and the Beast began to walk down the road. Lizzie was thinking about her predicament and massaging her wrist.
Lizzie was fairly worried. Why her? What had made the man in the mirror choose her out of all the people there? What in the world could she do?
The Beast was thinking much along the same lines as Elizabeth. He did not doubt what his brother-in-law said, but he was not at ease.
After two hours worth of walking, the silence was broken by the sound of hoof beats.
The Beast looked up.
"Mon Dieu, Josh, you nearly scared me to death."
"Sorry." said the man on the horse, not sounding sorry at all.
"What are you doing here?" asked the Beast. "If something's happened, you could have told me from the mirror. You shouldn't have left Belle alone."
"Vincent, you're overreacting. The reason I'm here has absolutely nothing to do with you."
The Beast, whose name was apparently Vincent, stared at the young man. Elizabeth did as well, but for an entirely different reason. The man on the horse was very good-looking. He was tall, well built and seemed to have a nice profile. The top of his face was shadowed by his hat and covered by a golden mask. She recognized the mask.
"You're the seer in the mirror!" exclaimed Lizzie.
"At your service," he said as he dismounted and bowed.
"This is my wife's brother, Joshua. Joshua this is..."
"Elizabeth Leroux" supplied Lizzie.
Joshua laughed.
"Pleased to meet you, Elizabeth Leroux. Do I have to add the Leroux every time I address you?" he asked in a serious voice.
"Only if that's the way you usually address your superiors." she responded gravely.
The Beast laughed.
"Now that these *formalities* have been dealt with, would you care to explain what you're doing here?"
"Merely to inform you that your wife wishes you back home soon and that, at the rate your walking, you won't make it back until dawn.
Lizzie groaned. Another eight hours of walking through the chilly autumn weather did not sound appealing.
"I see no way to go any faster and I'm already setting a grueling pace for her to follow."
"That, mon frere, is why I'm the seer and you're not."
He turned to Elizabeth. "Mademoiselle Leroux, would you do me the honor of riding back to the castle with me?"
Elizabeth would have jumped for joy, but she didn't think her legs could manage it.
"The honor is all mine." she responded.
She walked up to the horse, but before she could hoist herself onto the horse, she felt a pair of strong hands lift her up, into the saddle. She may have been insulted, but she was too surprised. What he had done was treat her like a lady, not a peasant, and, though he probably did not realize, she recognized his actions as the same as the gentlemen of the royal court. Lizzie was quite shocked to find court manner in the middle of nowhere.
"Hold on to my waist," said Joshua as he vaulted into the saddle.
The horse reared up and Lizzie flung her arms around his middle.
The rider laughed as he felt the terror of the girl seated behind him.
The horse's hooves hit the ground and it rode off with the Beast running behind.
So much for a Lord's manner, thought Lizzie wryly.
"Are you alright?" inquired Joshua condescendingly.
"Yes, I found it rather tame actually." she said with false bravado.
She heard a snort of laughter that was swiftly suppressed.
"Sir, are you laughing at me?"
"Would I ever laugh at a lady?"
"So you're implying I'm not a lady?" she asked, putting him on the spot again.
"Caught by mw own words!" he said with mock dismay.
Lizzie grinned. Maybe this adventure wouldn't be so bad after all. She may not have found a friend, but she had someone to help her.
After half an hour of hard riding, they reached the castle. Joshua rode up to the gates and muttered something Lizzie didn't catch.
The gates opened smoothly and Joshua spurred his horse on through the gate.
He dismounted at the gates and held his hand up to help her down. She took it and he caught her as she fell.
Lizzie turned around and saw the horse being led off by a walking horse whip. She gasped in surprise before remembering what she had read.
"So I see you've noticed the castle servants," said the Beast's gruff voice.
"Rather." she responded wryly.
"I'm impressed," said the beast. "It's rare that anyone will look at them and not scream in fright."
"Shall we go inside?' continued the beast as he offered Lizzie his arm and left Joshua to bring up the rear.
As they entered the grand hallway, a woman who could not have been more than twenty-five ran to meet them.
The beast took her gently into his arms and Lizzie turned away so as not to see what they were doing. AS she did, Joshua caught her eye and grinned crookedly for about a second before looking down.
"Josh" said the beast, "Would you please show Elizabeth to her room?"
"Yes, your majesty." Said Joshua dryly.
He offered Elizabeth his arm and she took it.
"So," said Joshua conversationally as they ascended the grand staircase, "what brings you to this godforsaken castle anyway?"
"You, I suppose," she answered after a moment's deliberation.
"Pardon?"
"Well, you did tell the bea-Prince to bring me here."
"True," he said in an apologetic tone of voice, "I did. However, you don't seem to be the type to follow orders blindly or follow orders at all." Those words were accompanied by a quirky grin.
"You're right," she said ruefully, "I'm not. I really don't know why I came. It doesn't make sense. In all other fairy tales, the heroine comes to rescue her father or lover or something. I guess I was just curious. Your brother-in-law's story intrigued me."
"How much did he tell?" asked Joshua sharply.
"Not nearly as much as I want to know. He said that his daughter had been kidnapped and he accused Gaston Moncharmin of doing it, do you know who Gaston is?"
"From what I've heard, he seems to be a man in whom the size of his ego varies inversely with the size of his brain.
Lizzie laughed delightedly.
"That is one of the better descriptions I've heard of him in a while. As I was saying, he accused Gaston, but Gaston denied it and then you appeared in the magic mirror and no new facts were revealed to me after that. What's going on?"
"Far too much," said Joshua gravely. "From what I gathered, which isn't much, the spell's back. Oh wait, you don't know what the spell is, about 15 years ago, an old woman came to the door and offered Vincent a rose if he's let her stay the night. He refused and she turned out to be a beautiful enchantress and transformed him into a beast. He had to learn to be kind and fall in love with a girl and have a girl fall in love with him before the last petal fell off the rose. To make a long story short, he did and everything was back to normal. He and Belle, my sister, married and had a daughter, Rose. About two weeks ago, Rose was kidnapped by persons unknown and they called me because I dabble in magic and have a certain amount of the Sight."
"Lucky." Muttered Lizzie under her breath.
"Only when playing cards," responded Joshua. Otherwise it's a real pain in the arse, pardon my English."
"You were in England?" she asked incredulously.
"I was studying there."
"You lived in that barbaric country?" she interrupted again.
"Yes, well, it has its good points."
"Such as…?"
"If I married a shrew like you, divorce is an option so I wouldn't have to soil my hands with your blood."
They reached a door in the hallways.
"Your rooms, Mademoiselle. I'll see you at breakfast." He spun on his heel and strolled off.
Lizzie sat down on the bed. She had been so close to an answer, why did she have to open her mouth?
She sat down on the bed and, with a pang, she realized that she missed her father and sisters. For the first time, Lizzie wondered if she had made the right choice in choosing to come. Maybe she shouldn't have gotten involved at all.
As these thoughts raced around her brain, Lizzie dropped off to sleep and didn't even notice her being divested of her clothes and put to bed in the huge four-poster that sat magnificently in the center of the room. She was too tired and her eyes were clouded by tears.
Joshua sat down in front of the roaring fire in the library and pulled out a book at random.
"The Lord of the Rings" he read off the cover. "Should be interesting." He opened the book and quickly checked the title page to see when it was written.
"Hmm, mid-20th century. Hope it's good." Joshua sat down to read, but his thoughts kept intruding on the developing plot line.
"Dammit," he said, putting the book down.
He stretched out on the huge Oriental rug in front of the fire, resting his head on his hands. Who was this girl? Why in hell's name did he drag her into this mess of magic? Why did she come?
"Adventure isn't all it's cracked up to be." He muttered to himself as he gazed into the flames.
He was shocked to see the girl's face staring back at him. Her hair was cropped short and hidden beneath a helmet, but it was definitely she. She was seated atop a great, black stallion and had a gorgeous sword girt at her side. He watched her ride down a hill toward a raging battle. The picture turned back into the dancing red and yellow flames. Joshua lowered his head back onto his hands. It was too much to think about. He needed to sleep so he let himself drift off in front of the fire. His last thoughts were about Elizabeth and how damnably complicated this whole situation was becoming.
~ To be Continued
Thank you, to all my reviewers, friends and others. I'll see how well my characters stay in canon, but I'm not promising anything. Keep reading and reviewing and I'm apologizing in case the next few chapters take a while because
I'm trying to go somewhere with my other story, but, c'est la guerre. Don't forget to R&R!
I own some people, so don't use Lizzie or Joshua without asking. Anyone you recognize is up for grabs except for Joshua, he's mine! Hands off!
~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@ ~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@~~%~~@
In which the situation becomes complicated.
Shouts of anger and protestation filled the air as Lizzie left the tavern. She tried to ignore them, but one voice rose above the rest in a challenge.
"Turn and fight, monster!" It was Gaston. She groaned quietly.
The Beast turned.
"Be a man," snarled Gaston. "Or are you too much of an animal? What young girl in her right mind would follow you? Let her out of your spell!"
Elizabeth had been getting angrier at every word he said. While the Beast stood there, Elizabeth walked up to Gaston and slapped him across the face.
Everyone gasped.
"That was for being a stuck up megalomaniac who doesn't know how to shut up!"
Gaston caught her hand in an iron grip and began to bend it slowly and relentlessly backwards.
"No. One. Ever. Hits. Me. No one."
Lizzie felt the bones of her wrist scraping against one another. She gritted her teeth against the pain, willing her bones not to crack.
Suddenly, the pressure ceased and Gaston flew halfway across the room.
"Enough!" said the Beast. He grabbed Elizabeth by her uninjured wrist and dragged her out the door. She was perfectly happy to go.
Elizabeth and the Beast began to walk down the road. Lizzie was thinking about her predicament and massaging her wrist.
Lizzie was fairly worried. Why her? What had made the man in the mirror choose her out of all the people there? What in the world could she do?
The Beast was thinking much along the same lines as Elizabeth. He did not doubt what his brother-in-law said, but he was not at ease.
After two hours worth of walking, the silence was broken by the sound of hoof beats.
The Beast looked up.
"Mon Dieu, Josh, you nearly scared me to death."
"Sorry." said the man on the horse, not sounding sorry at all.
"What are you doing here?" asked the Beast. "If something's happened, you could have told me from the mirror. You shouldn't have left Belle alone."
"Vincent, you're overreacting. The reason I'm here has absolutely nothing to do with you."
The Beast, whose name was apparently Vincent, stared at the young man. Elizabeth did as well, but for an entirely different reason. The man on the horse was very good-looking. He was tall, well built and seemed to have a nice profile. The top of his face was shadowed by his hat and covered by a golden mask. She recognized the mask.
"You're the seer in the mirror!" exclaimed Lizzie.
"At your service," he said as he dismounted and bowed.
"This is my wife's brother, Joshua. Joshua this is..."
"Elizabeth Leroux" supplied Lizzie.
Joshua laughed.
"Pleased to meet you, Elizabeth Leroux. Do I have to add the Leroux every time I address you?" he asked in a serious voice.
"Only if that's the way you usually address your superiors." she responded gravely.
The Beast laughed.
"Now that these *formalities* have been dealt with, would you care to explain what you're doing here?"
"Merely to inform you that your wife wishes you back home soon and that, at the rate your walking, you won't make it back until dawn.
Lizzie groaned. Another eight hours of walking through the chilly autumn weather did not sound appealing.
"I see no way to go any faster and I'm already setting a grueling pace for her to follow."
"That, mon frere, is why I'm the seer and you're not."
He turned to Elizabeth. "Mademoiselle Leroux, would you do me the honor of riding back to the castle with me?"
Elizabeth would have jumped for joy, but she didn't think her legs could manage it.
"The honor is all mine." she responded.
She walked up to the horse, but before she could hoist herself onto the horse, she felt a pair of strong hands lift her up, into the saddle. She may have been insulted, but she was too surprised. What he had done was treat her like a lady, not a peasant, and, though he probably did not realize, she recognized his actions as the same as the gentlemen of the royal court. Lizzie was quite shocked to find court manner in the middle of nowhere.
"Hold on to my waist," said Joshua as he vaulted into the saddle.
The horse reared up and Lizzie flung her arms around his middle.
The rider laughed as he felt the terror of the girl seated behind him.
The horse's hooves hit the ground and it rode off with the Beast running behind.
So much for a Lord's manner, thought Lizzie wryly.
"Are you alright?" inquired Joshua condescendingly.
"Yes, I found it rather tame actually." she said with false bravado.
She heard a snort of laughter that was swiftly suppressed.
"Sir, are you laughing at me?"
"Would I ever laugh at a lady?"
"So you're implying I'm not a lady?" she asked, putting him on the spot again.
"Caught by mw own words!" he said with mock dismay.
Lizzie grinned. Maybe this adventure wouldn't be so bad after all. She may not have found a friend, but she had someone to help her.
After half an hour of hard riding, they reached the castle. Joshua rode up to the gates and muttered something Lizzie didn't catch.
The gates opened smoothly and Joshua spurred his horse on through the gate.
He dismounted at the gates and held his hand up to help her down. She took it and he caught her as she fell.
Lizzie turned around and saw the horse being led off by a walking horse whip. She gasped in surprise before remembering what she had read.
"So I see you've noticed the castle servants," said the Beast's gruff voice.
"Rather." she responded wryly.
"I'm impressed," said the beast. "It's rare that anyone will look at them and not scream in fright."
"Shall we go inside?' continued the beast as he offered Lizzie his arm and left Joshua to bring up the rear.
As they entered the grand hallway, a woman who could not have been more than twenty-five ran to meet them.
The beast took her gently into his arms and Lizzie turned away so as not to see what they were doing. AS she did, Joshua caught her eye and grinned crookedly for about a second before looking down.
"Josh" said the beast, "Would you please show Elizabeth to her room?"
"Yes, your majesty." Said Joshua dryly.
He offered Elizabeth his arm and she took it.
"So," said Joshua conversationally as they ascended the grand staircase, "what brings you to this godforsaken castle anyway?"
"You, I suppose," she answered after a moment's deliberation.
"Pardon?"
"Well, you did tell the bea-Prince to bring me here."
"True," he said in an apologetic tone of voice, "I did. However, you don't seem to be the type to follow orders blindly or follow orders at all." Those words were accompanied by a quirky grin.
"You're right," she said ruefully, "I'm not. I really don't know why I came. It doesn't make sense. In all other fairy tales, the heroine comes to rescue her father or lover or something. I guess I was just curious. Your brother-in-law's story intrigued me."
"How much did he tell?" asked Joshua sharply.
"Not nearly as much as I want to know. He said that his daughter had been kidnapped and he accused Gaston Moncharmin of doing it, do you know who Gaston is?"
"From what I've heard, he seems to be a man in whom the size of his ego varies inversely with the size of his brain.
Lizzie laughed delightedly.
"That is one of the better descriptions I've heard of him in a while. As I was saying, he accused Gaston, but Gaston denied it and then you appeared in the magic mirror and no new facts were revealed to me after that. What's going on?"
"Far too much," said Joshua gravely. "From what I gathered, which isn't much, the spell's back. Oh wait, you don't know what the spell is, about 15 years ago, an old woman came to the door and offered Vincent a rose if he's let her stay the night. He refused and she turned out to be a beautiful enchantress and transformed him into a beast. He had to learn to be kind and fall in love with a girl and have a girl fall in love with him before the last petal fell off the rose. To make a long story short, he did and everything was back to normal. He and Belle, my sister, married and had a daughter, Rose. About two weeks ago, Rose was kidnapped by persons unknown and they called me because I dabble in magic and have a certain amount of the Sight."
"Lucky." Muttered Lizzie under her breath.
"Only when playing cards," responded Joshua. Otherwise it's a real pain in the arse, pardon my English."
"You were in England?" she asked incredulously.
"I was studying there."
"You lived in that barbaric country?" she interrupted again.
"Yes, well, it has its good points."
"Such as…?"
"If I married a shrew like you, divorce is an option so I wouldn't have to soil my hands with your blood."
They reached a door in the hallways.
"Your rooms, Mademoiselle. I'll see you at breakfast." He spun on his heel and strolled off.
Lizzie sat down on the bed. She had been so close to an answer, why did she have to open her mouth?
She sat down on the bed and, with a pang, she realized that she missed her father and sisters. For the first time, Lizzie wondered if she had made the right choice in choosing to come. Maybe she shouldn't have gotten involved at all.
As these thoughts raced around her brain, Lizzie dropped off to sleep and didn't even notice her being divested of her clothes and put to bed in the huge four-poster that sat magnificently in the center of the room. She was too tired and her eyes were clouded by tears.
Joshua sat down in front of the roaring fire in the library and pulled out a book at random.
"The Lord of the Rings" he read off the cover. "Should be interesting." He opened the book and quickly checked the title page to see when it was written.
"Hmm, mid-20th century. Hope it's good." Joshua sat down to read, but his thoughts kept intruding on the developing plot line.
"Dammit," he said, putting the book down.
He stretched out on the huge Oriental rug in front of the fire, resting his head on his hands. Who was this girl? Why in hell's name did he drag her into this mess of magic? Why did she come?
"Adventure isn't all it's cracked up to be." He muttered to himself as he gazed into the flames.
He was shocked to see the girl's face staring back at him. Her hair was cropped short and hidden beneath a helmet, but it was definitely she. She was seated atop a great, black stallion and had a gorgeous sword girt at her side. He watched her ride down a hill toward a raging battle. The picture turned back into the dancing red and yellow flames. Joshua lowered his head back onto his hands. It was too much to think about. He needed to sleep so he let himself drift off in front of the fire. His last thoughts were about Elizabeth and how damnably complicated this whole situation was becoming.
~ To be Continued