Chapter Eight

Merric watched the beast carry the girl toward the fireplace, impatience curling in the pit of his stomach. His master couldn't fall in love if the girl was going to risk her life! He clenched the rail of the balcony until his knuckled were white. He wanted this to be over. Have them fall in love and be done with it, removing the couple to their precious farms, Merric to his rightful kingdom.

Too bad, Merric thought grimly. Even scraped up and cover in mud the girl was beautiful. If his future didn't depend so much on her falling in love with someone else, he might have gone after her himself. They would have made a handsome couple, ruling Ethane together, king and queen. As it was…

The beast laid the girl on the settee before the already stoked fire. Even from here, Merric could see that her breath was shallow and uneven. Blood seeped slowly from a large gash in her left forearm and from numerous puncture wounds in her back and abdomen. Her shoulder was twisted in an awkward angle. Merric was sure it was dislocated.

As he watched the beast, the room suddenly dipped and spun. Merric blinked hard, rubbing his eyes. Nausea rolled his stomach and he fought to keep from dropping to his knees. The room flared with a light so incredibly bright, the very edges of time disappeared. He was left standing, surrounded in white, shading his eyes as the beast and his palace disappeared.

After a moment, the blinding brightness ebbed just enough, allowing Merric to open his eyes without pain. There was nothing around him but light, pure white light. Nothing. No one.

Except the woman.

Merric couldn't believe his eyes. He bowed low to the woman who had placed Ethane under its terrible curse all those centuries ago. "Mistress."

The woman didn't move. Her eyes stared at him, glowing with her ancient power. It was a long time before she spoke. "The seed has been planted."

Merric winced. Hers was a voice that shouldn't be heard by human ears. He shook his head, as much to clear it as to show he didn't understand. "The seed? My lady?

She continued as though she hadn't heard him. "With life, comes death." She paused. "Your death."

Merric shook his head again, not understanding.

She didn't blink, didn't move, didn't seem to breathe. They were surrounded by an eerie silence, broken only by the woman's words and Merric's harsh breathing. "As guardian of this castle and the monster that resides within, I need remind you that your life is forfeit once the spell is broken."

Merric paled. "What are you saying?"

She frowned, her blue eyes blazing. "Have you forgotten? No Steward may rule whilst a King resides."

"There is no king!" Merric cried. "The last king died over a thousand years ago."

"But his line was not destroyed."

Her indifferent tone irritated him. "This country should be mine," he said slowly, his voice deadly calm. "The Old Kings' line was destroyed! There are no descendents!"

"You forget your place, Steward!" The woman raised her hands and light exploded from them as she brought the full force of her power down on him. Merric barely emitted a small gasp as he was forced to his knees, kept off his face only by trembling forearms. "The Old Kings' line was not destroyed, for Dominic of Ethane lives and breathes as you do. His ancestry is rich and full, hidden away from public view too long. I have waited for this day," she lowered her voice to a whisper, not easing Merric's burden. "I have waited for day a son of the ancient line would rise up and take his rightful place. The time is ripe for new beginnings."

She lowered her hands and Merric found he could breathe normally again. He sat up, still on his knees as he watched the woman who had created his destiny.

"A life to give life. Should the spell be broken, should the One Who Will Save come forth, you will join the Old Kings in death and open the way for a new generation."

Merric clenched his teeth in anger. "So you'd take away everything I have built? Everything that I have lived for? Three thousand years I have…"
"You have done nothing, Steward! It was not by your power that you were kept alive. It was not by your power the beasts were created. It was not your power that keeps you alive now." Her eyes narrowed. "I would not be so quick to anger me if I were you. You have been a good and faithful servant, but I will not leave my kingdom in the hands of one such as you."

Merric shouted curses at her even as terror ran through him. "You took my life from me!" he bellowed. "Everything I had is gone. I have poured what is left of my life into this kingdom and now you seek to take it from me?" He rasped for breath. She watched him carefully, fury building in her eyes. "The beast and the girl should give their lives to me! How is it that I am expected to give them more?"

The woman didn't flinch at his outrage. When she spoke, however, her voice shook with wrath of her own. "Should the beast and the lady recognize their love, the spell will be broken and the rightful king will take the throne. Your life for his life. I will take nothing less."

Merric screamed.

And the light was gone.

She screamed. Pain. Searing hot pain ripped through her shoulder. She tried to cry out, but she couldn't find her voice. Something was wrong. She tried, but failed to open her eyes. She felt as though she had been buried under a mountain of stones and then rolled across a never ending valley of razor edged daggers.

Struggling past the waves of nausea, she finally managed to open a heavy eyelid. Her vision blurred, unable to make out any identifying feature. A harsh scent crept over her and she began to feel as though she were drowning in it. The pain in her shoulder began to increase, rapidly.

Where was she? What had happened? She should be at home, but she didn't remember taking a fall. Had she been fallen while hiking with Dom again?

She succeeded in opening both eyes, an action she regretted as she was suddenly aware of all, including pain like she'd never felt before. A blurred figure, huge and dark and bulky bent over her, a thick green substance in its hands. Her head began to swim and she was vaguely aware of someone trying to calm her down. Her vision began to darken. She tried to force the shadows back.

The beast sighed in frustration and stepped back, letting the girl find her surroundings. She whimpered and tossed back and forth. Sympathy and another foreign emotion surged through him. He gingerly smoothed the damp hair off of her forehead, taking care not to jostle her.

Three days had passed since he'd brought her back. He had raged at Merric to fix her. He had thrown chairs, overturned tables. He was angry. Angry that she would try to leave him. Furious that she would deceive him. It had taken him hours to calm down and return to her. He had expected to enter the room and give her a piece of his mind, and demand she never leave the castle again as punishment only to find Merric stitching up a long deep gash in her arm.

She had been in such a terrible state, he hadn't been sure she would last the night. Merric had washed the thick layer of mud from her skin and gotten her out of her wet clothes, leaving only her shift and underclothes. He had helped Merric stitch up the wounds in her back and bandage a few more shallow gashes along her sides. He couldn't forget the sound of the thick crunch as he had relocated her disjointed shoulder. She had come down with a heavy fever not long after and had spent the last three days unconscious, shivering despite the heat of the raging fire and terribly sick.

"Dom....Dom …."

He looked at her sharply, expecting to find her wide awake. Instead, her eyes were closed, her fists clenched, sweat pouring down her temples. Who was Dom? She continued to mumble that name with such heartbreaking sadness, the beast felt his own emotions stir.

Anger still burned at the edges of his vision, but he was nearly overwhelmed with the desire to care for this fragile girl-child.

"Ginny?" he whispered, leaning down close. "Ginny, can you hear me? You're in my palace. With me and Merric." She cried out as she tried to open her eyes. He could see she was in terrible pain. He had tried to apply the sticky green poultice Merric had prepared for her wounds, but found his paws too big and hulking to be of any use. Taking great care, he lifted her off the settee and into his arms, cradling her against his chest to warm her.

Slowly, her shaking subsided. A chip of ice melted from his heart when she turned and nestled her head against his shoulder. He sat without moving, listening to her heartbeat, careful not to nudge her shoulder.

Well after midnight of the third day, her fever broke. Color returned to her cheeks and she breathed normally for the first time in days. The beast never once left her side, watching her sleep. With the stillness came a realization he hadn't before fathomed, and a fear, a deep unseated fear he couldn't explain.

She was warm. Comfortable. Light from a nearby window pooled over her features, making her smile. She should get up and help Emma with breakfast. A hot cup of coffee and a thick slice of homemade bread sounded wonderful to her. Her stomach growled as if in agreement.

Raising her arm to push back the covers, she stiffened with a gasp. Pain shot down her side.

"Don't move yet. Your arm still needs to heal."

The voice was deep and rough. "Papa?" she whispered, her voice thick from disuse. She opened her eyes. At the sight of the hulking mass that was the beast, she closed her eyes again as everything came back to her.

"No." The word came out in a long whine, full of pain. "No! Oh, please no!"

The beast moved closer to her, unsure of what to do. "Ginny?"

"Take me back," she cried. "Take me back. I can't be here."

"Ginny, you're hurt. Don't get too upset. You might rip the stitches out."

The tone of his voice caught her unawares. She froze for a moment for it wasn't with the usual anger or biting resentment he spoke. Instead, his voice was coated with tenderness. She watched him with frightened grey eyes, struggling to understand.

He frowned. "You ran away."

She blinked. "You frightened me."

"So, you think you can take care of yourself out there? You nearly died!"

Anger curled in her chest, clearing away the fog that had held her mind. "What do you care? You're nothing more than an animal."

Instantly, she saw how deeply her words had cut him. He didn't answer for a long while, just stared at her with those unfathomable green and silver eyes. Their depths scared her, forcing her to look away, ashamed.

"You ran away," he said quietly, "into a forest you knew nothing about." Ginny could see he was struggling to hold in his temper.

She couldn't resist. "If it bothered you so much, you should have let me die!"
The beast roared. "A few more hours and I wouldn't have been able to stop it!" She shrank back as his voice shook the walls. He glared at her, his eyes full of pain. "I saved you!" he shouted.

Ginny suddenly found it hard to breathe. Her eyes burned. He had saved her. He hadn't left her to die.

A growl rumbling in his chest, he didn't take his eyes off of her. He gestured to her arm. "I should take another look at that."

She glanced down. Blood had seeped through the bandages. It was then that she noticed she was no longer in the gown she had worn when she left. The only things that clothed her were her shift, a pair of underwear and her breast band. As shredded as they were, she hurried to pull the covers over herself for modesty's sake but found it unbearably painful to move the arm that wasn't bandaged. She gasped in pain and fell back against the pillows.

The beast didn't move as he watched her struggle. When she fell back, tears in her eyes, he stepped forward and pulled the covers up over her chest. "You dislocated your shoulder. We'll put it in a sling when you feel up to it. Let me help you with that," he added, touching her bandaged arm with more gentleness than she had thought him capable.

Without looking at him, Ginny let him redress the wound. She hissed as the poultice he put on it stung or when one of his claws clumsily scraped the wound. He muttered an apology. When he was done he laid aside the supplies and turned away.

"Thank you," she whispered.

He glanced back once, a small smile stretching around his fangs. Her heart pounded at the look in his eyes. Sorrow and regret pierced her even as she saw those same feelings reflected in his face. He nodded and walked away.