I was a little curious after that. Something about the beast had changed…or maybe it had been there all along. I was never sure, but I wasn't against what she had become. After a week or so, our dinner had become far more civilized. The majority of the time we remained silent, but every so often one of us would make a comment – normally about the food – and the tension would ease slightly.
My favorite time was the evenings, though. After supper I would return to my room, normally to finish the night with a book. Most evenings the room would be filled with a handful of furniture waiting for me to read to them. On these nights I would glance from the corner of my eye to see Beast listening by the door. The sight would bring a coy smile to my lips as I forced my attention to return to my reading. I wasn't sure why. I had never been known for a nervous and fragile woman in the face of such emotions. And yet here I was, my stomach fluttering almost painfully to the thoughts. Either way it made me long for the nights that I found myself alone, for they never ended that way.
A knock tapped against my door as I turned, smiling at the hesitant woman in the archway. "Come in," I cooed, gesturing to the empty reading chair across from me. Beast, as if on cue, would seem to regret her decision only to mingle across the room and settle into the seat. Next she would look at me as I glanced up to catch her snapping her attention back to the books on the table, again I smiled, turning my eyes back to the words on the page. Beast would clear her throat, grab and book and settle back into the chair.
Again I would find my attention turning to her, unable to focus as she tossed in the small sitting area. Most times I would find her sideways in the seat, back against one armrest and legs draped over the other – as if a different sitting position would make the book a better read.
Her big and bushy tail swept along the floor lazily as I gave a small giggle, pulling her attention from the book. A hint of heat rushed across my cheeks and I cleared my throat nervously, raising my chin to hide the slight rosy tone to my cheeks. "What is it?" She commanded, though it was a tone I'd grown accustomed to. Quickly I shook my head, resting my finger on my place as I closed my book over it.
"You just seem to have a difficult time enjoying the book you chose. You do not have to read it." There was a pause and for a moment I thought I had upset her (which wouldn't have surprised me). But suddenly Beat turned her attention to my book.
"Well what is your book about?" I blinked, looking down and then back at her. She didn't know? These were her own books and she couldn't tell? But then I had to remind myself there were plenty of people that kept books as "decoration" rather than actual use. Beast seemed to be one of them.
"Would you like me to read it to you?" I hadn't been entirely serious at the question but Beast's face was quick o light up as the response. And so soon enough that because my evenings. Admittedly…I enjoyed it greatly. Maybe because it was a time in which I saw a much more child-like side of Beast. If the stories the furniture had told me about the woman, it didn't sound like Beast had had much time to be a child. From the bits and pieces I had pushed on them, apparently she was still a child when she rose to the title of Queen.
Her whole back-story had become my addiction and her child-like nature every evening was just the hit I craved. And the fact that she returned every evening seemed to linger on the fact that she felt the same.
This idea brought butterflies into my stomach as I opened my eyes more to my true captor. She was lonely and angry and I found myself doing whatever I could to help ease the anger by the stories I read. Though even those didn't seem to be enough to satisfy her curiosity.
One evening we had just finished a wondrous adventure story and the couple in it had lived happily ever after – as most do – and while I had thought that was the end of our time…Beast didn't. "You must have someone looking for you." The remark surprised me as I took a sip of teat that had been brought to us.
"Of course, I'm sure my father is looking for me," but Beast shook her head as she sat up in her seat.
"I mean other than your father. You are the age to marry, are you not?" Again I found myself startled at the bluntness of her question before turning my head away.
"It is…complicated," I muttered under my breath. "Certain things don't always work out like in fairytales," I smiled, forcing some sort of happiness to my face. But as I looked at Beast all I saw was curiosity, her head tilted gently to the side as she squinted at me, almost to read my own thoughts.
"Why?"