Songs for this chapter are from 300 again because I love it so. What Must a King Do, Submission and No Sleep Tonight.

-

Chapter 10

They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel – Carl W. Beuchner

I awoke the next morning, quickly dressing myself in a plain grey dress and black cloak and fastening the beautiful rose necklace that Beast had given me around my neck, and sat at my desk, collecting a pen and sheet of paper.

I had been selfish the night before and I knew it. The Beast had made a huge sacrifice for me, and he deserved more than just a hug from the night before.

My Dear Beast, I wrote.

There aren't enough words to explain what I feel in my heart. I could thank you until my dying breath, but it would never be enough.

I understand the sacrifice that you're making on my behalf. I understand that you don't have to send me home, but that you want to so I can be happy, even if the price for that happiness is your life.

I want you to know that I will never betray you. I will be back once my month is up, and from them on I will be content to stay with you. You've shown me how much I mean to you, and now it's my turn to return the favour. I promise that, once this month is over, I will spend the rest of my life with you.

I was about to end the letter with "Your Friend, Adara", but something made me change my mind. A new ending rose in my thoughts and I blushed, wondering what would make me want to write such a thing. With a shrug, I wrote the closing.

With all my love,

Adara.

I folded the letter and placed it in an envelope, writing Beast on the front in my best calligraphy. Then I gathered my things and, leaving the letter on my desk and the door to my room open, went outside.

-

Beast met me in the stable, wearing an outfit that looked suspiciously identical to the one from the night before, though while the clothes he was wearing the night before had been perfectly clean and unwrinkled, these where wrinkled as though he had slept in them. However, his eyes proved that he'd had very little sleep. They were defeated as he showed me my horse: a grey creature whose shoulder reached Beast's.

"This is Thunder." Beast murmured, handing me the reins, "The best horse that I have. He will see you home… and, if you choose, he will bring you back."

"Beast," I breathed, "I swear to you that I will come back."

"Perhaps you think that now," he replied sadly, placing a gentle paw on my shoulder, "But let's not pretend that things are anything but what they are. We may be friends, but blood is thicker than water and your family will cause you to forget all but one simple fact: I am just a Beast."

"If you're so sure that I'm not coming back, why are you letting me go?" I asked.

"Because," he murmured, "I want you to be happy."

"But death is far too high a price for happiness." I argued. "I should stay."

"No." Beast sighed, murmuring, "If I asked you to stay now, I'd never let you go again and you'd grow to despise me for keeping you away from your family. I… I'd much rather die, knowing that I've given you freedom than live knowing that I've kept you from it."

Tears filled my eyes. I wanted to see my family more than anything, but I knew that I'd miss Beast just as badly once I left him. I closed the distance between us in two steps and wrapped my arms around him, whispering, "I promise you that I'll come back. I won't betray you."

Beast choked back a gasp, returning my embrace with twice the passion. "Adara, please." He managed to mumble, his claws digging into my clothing, "Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

I sighed and wiped the tears from my eyes, pulling back from him and mounting the horse in one smooth motion. Beast stumbled away, but not quick enough for me to see the tears in his eyes. He opened the stable door and the castle gates swung open as he whispered, "Go."

"I'll be back in a month." I promised.

He gave a tiny nod and granted me a small smile, mouthing "Goodbye."

I nodded and returned the smile as Thunder began to gallop. Before I even had a chance to look back, the Beast was out of sight.

-

Molly and Emily joined their master at his side, watching the dust settle where Thunder's hoofs had fallen.

"Why?" Emily asked. "Why would you let our only chance at freedom leave?"

"We've all worked so hard." Molly whispered.

"She's coming back." Torin whispered, still numb from the embrace he'd shared with the girl he sent away.

"You think she'll come back to this… this prison?" Emily spat, "I think not."

"Even so," he murmured, "I had to let her go."

"Why?" Molly asked.

"Because I love her," he answered, "And she needs to be happy."

-

When I reached my old home around noon, I was too excited to be quiet. Even though it was late in the night, I knocked loudly on the door. Thunder stood a few feet from me, showing no signs that he was planning to leave. In fact, he looked so content that I doubted that I would have to lock him up.

After a while, Briac came to the door. He was wearing his new glasses, and I could tell that he didn't recognize me right away. He rubbed his eyes under the glass and stared for a moment, squinting. I grinned as he tore off his glasses and widened his eyes, finally recognizing me.

"Adara?" he whispered.

I threw my arms around him. "I missed you so much."

Quickly, he put his glasses back in and looked into my face. "How did you escape?" he squeezed me tightly. "Never mind, as long as you're home, that's all that matters…"

I kissed his cheek and drew back. "You look so handsome with glasses!"

Briac grinned. "Rowena says I look like a wet blanket."

I giggled. "I think you look very dignified."

"You and about ten other village girls." He rolled his eyes. "They're always bothering me when I go into town…"

I pulled my hair loose from the bun it had been in. "So… may I come in?"

"Oh, of course!" He pushed me into the house, and then went outside. "I'll tie your horse up in the stable. You just go in the kitchen and find something to eat. I'm sure you're starving."

Before I could argue, I was interrupting by another familiar voice. Rowena was coming down the stairs in her nightgown, obviously to investigate the noise. She stared at me for a moment. "Adara?"

I grinned. "You where expecting someone else?"

She flew to my side and threw her arms around me, exclaiming, "I'm so sorry for being such a nasty wench to you. I had no idea how hard it is to have to take care of everyone. Please, please forgive me-"

"Rowena, it's all right!" I pulled back, startled at her reaction to seeing me again. "We're sisters." I reminded her, "Fighting is what we do."

She let out a quiet giggle. "So you forgive me?"

I hugged her tightly. "Of course."

She pulled back and looked over me, grinning. "You look so pretty…"

I rolled my eyes. "Liar."

"No! You really do look nice. The brown dress suits you because its so, you know, plain." Rowena remarked, more out of habit than spite. "I'm so glad you're back. Now we can both take care of everyone, and-"

I cleared my throat. "I'm… um… not here to stay."

She stared at me. "What?"

"Call Aisling and Father down, and we'll wait until Briac comes in." I murmured, touching the rose necklace that the Beast had given me. "I don't want to talk about it more than once."

She winced. "You sound like father did that night..."

"I know."

-

A few hours later, Torin found his way into Adara's room. He allowed himself to sit on the bed, glancing into the wardrobe and remembering each dress and the way Adara had worn it.

After a few moments, he went over to the wardrobe and pulled out the brown dress, holding it close to him and remembering what had happened while Adara wore this dress. He had proposed to her, and she had asked to go home to her family. Torin noted that the dress still had a faint trace of her scent on it and inhaled deeply, finally grateful for his sharpened sense of smell.

Terrible things always happen when she wears this dress. Torin thought, staring down at the brown fabric. I always make mistakes… I always push her away…

And this time, she's never coming back.

A carnal rage engulfed Torin, reminding him that he was nothing but a Beast, taunting him with reminders that, without Adara's love, he would never be human again. He was a monster, and in anger he began tearing the dress to shreds.

"She'll never love me!" he roared, throwing the dress to the ground and setting about destroying everything else in the room. Anything that could be linked to Adara was torn apart. He destroyed the wardrobe, the bed, and the desk, tearing apart anything in sight…

By the time the letter for him had registered in his mind, he had torn it apart. In a panic he tried to stop, catching the shreds of paper in his clumsy paws and trying to read the words. Only one part was readable, My Dear Beast, while the rest was far too mutilated. Fraying shreds of paper fell from his paws and to the ground, their words skewed and the message lost.

Torin stumbled back, letting himself fall onto the ruins of his bed. The three words stared up at him from the torn paper, mocking him with their kindness. He held the paper delicately, recalling the embrace he'd shared with his beloved not twenty-four hours earlier.

"Adara," he breathed, "My dear, sweet Adara."

-

The tale I told my family, the story of my time with the Beast, was a watered-down version of what had really happened. The details where left out, so they didn't know about the time he had asked me to marry him, they didn't know about the time he gave me the library or the necklace, and they didn't know about the special friendship that Beast and I had shared. They saw him as a monster, but I saw him as a misunderstood creature, and as a true friend.

When I told them that I could only stay for a month, they argued with me, demanding my reasons for it. When I told them that the Beast would die if I didn't go back, they where furious.

"So stay here." Briac murmured. "If he dies, so much the better. We'll get his castle and all his riches."

"But what if it's a trick?" Rowena suggested. "Maybe he'll come here and kill us. Or, if we go there, he'll kill us for trespassing."

"I doubt that monster would leave his home." Father muttered. "You said he didn't like leaving the castle, didn't you?"

"Well… he left with me a few times…" I murmured, clutching my rose necklace.

"But he'd never leave the castle grounds."

"Then Adara should stay here." Briac said. "That way, she'll stay safe."

"But what if the monster comes here?" Aisling piped up.

"We'll kill him." Father growled.

"No!" I shouted. "You can't kill him!"

"And why not?" Father asked.

"Because… I… he… he isn't as bad as you all think." I tried to set my thoughts in order so I could explain my feelings better. "He's my… my friend."

I could feel them all staring at me, and their next words cut me deeper than I ever thought possible.

"How could you ever be friends with that thing?"

"Why would you do stand up for such a hideous creature?"

"Have you lost your mind?"

Only Aisling remained quiet, watching me as I struggled for words.

"It's just that I know him…" I murmured, "He's really… he's very kind to me…"

"How can you say that he's kind?" Rowena demanded.

"That ogre stole you away from us." Father growled.

"I'm going to kill him." Briac announced, standing.

"No!" I shouted, grabbing for his arm. "You can't hurt him!"

"Everyone quiet." Father said. Everyone silenced and, after a moment, he said, "Obviously, the monster has Adara under some sort of spell."

"I'm not under a spell!" I stood, stepping away from my family. "I-"

"What are we going to do to protect her?" Rowena asked.

"We'll keep her under close watch at all times." Father said, "And we'll be sure that she's safe."

"But I don't need to be-"

"In a month, once the creature is dead," Father finished, "The spell will be broken and Adara will see reason."

"No. You don't understand. The Beast is my friend. He's kind to me. He knew that I missed you and he sent me home to see you, even though it could mean his death. He trusts me." I felt wetness rolling down my cheeks, but I didn't realize that they were tears until I tasted salt on my lips. I fell to my knees before my father, murmuring, "Please, don't make me kill him. I don't want him to suffer."

"Adara, don't you see? You're only under a spell. That monster isn't your friend. He's a beast, and that's that." Father sighed, shaking his head. He looked at Briac and whispered, "Lock her in her room."

And, despite my pleas and my threats, I was locked in the windowless attic with Briac and Father taking turns standing in front of my room throughout the night. I heard them tell Rowena to go and get chains in the morning and I knew they where going to chain me up until my month was over. Then, it would bee too late: the Beast would be dead, and it would be all my fault.

-

This chapter makes me all emo inside. Poor angsty Torin and Adara. I love them so!