As my eyes fluttered open I pulled in a gasp of air, my hand reaching instinctively back for Beast's, as if to help me keep my footing.
The whole morning I'd woken with this odd feeling in my chest, this odd belief that there was going to be something different today. Maybe that's what had affected my mood all day, my curious desire to step out of my comfort zone in terms of my dress, my carefree attitude towards the knock on my door. Oh goodness…the realization of what I had so casually exhibited to Beast had made my body shudder and embarrassingly made my loins ache. But now I had forgotten about all of that.
"What do you think?" She breathed as my grip tightened on her hand, biting the smile on my lips as my eyes scoured the old shelves, stocked to the brim with books of all kinds. I took a deep breath, feeling the knowledge radiating from their leather bindings.
Stepping away from her, I looked around in a circle before stopping to look upon the creature. And I simply couldn't help myself. The hopeful look in her eyes as well as the worry of being denied a satisfying response made my stomach spin. I rushed towards her, arms flying around her neck as I buried my face into her warm fur. Beast tensed but slowly let her arms slid around my waist and I found myself never wishing to leave, enjoying the soft comfort of her around me. In an odd way it reminded me of my father, of how protective his hugs had been when I was half my size. I could sense the same sort of care from her, but chose not to mention it as I finally gave her a quick nod.
"It's beautiful," I breathed, turning from her and reluctantly moving from the warmth of her person. "I don't think I've seen so many in one place at a time," I remarked, moving to the closest row and grabbing at a random book. I flipped it open to expose the old pages as my eyes took in the material. It wasn't a novel, more of research notes but it didn't discourage me any.
"I'm happy to hear that," she remarked, resting her elbow on a waist-high counter, looking about the room as if to avoid eye contact. "I can have some of my servants tend to the room so that you don't have to sit in a pile of dust." But I had to admit I wasn't really paying attention as I had found another row of storybooks and another of cooking recipes, my mind reeling as I felt each of the books' pages.
That was where I found myself after that. I would wake up in the mornings and trot down to the library, grab a stack of new books, and settle in a large reading chair that I had called my own. I would read till the sun had set and Beast's yawning alerted me that it was time to go to bed. And even during the times that the woman wasn't there I could sense her every so often poking her head through the open doors, glancing in on my current state, before disappearing again. It comforted me.
"Do you have many rooms like this one?" I asked one evening, returning finished books to their appropriate places in the shelves as Beast followed after me. "In terms of rooms that you closed off. I'm sure with the same amount of effort that you'd put into the library, the castle could return to its previous state." There was silence and I found myself glancing over my shoulder to look at the woman. Her eyes were towards the ground, fingers resting on her neck and for the first time I noticed the oddly shaped scar. "Beast?"
"What?" She snapped her head up and dropped her hand, "Oh…um…yes, I suppose that's true. I can't think of any that need to be at the current time." She responded with a weak smile as I gave a small frown, stepping from my place and moving towards her. Beast leaned away, unsure what was happening as I reached up to brush my hand against the scar. Her eyes closed, as if to hide the shame of what I'd found, but she didn't withdraw any further.
"What happened here?" Beast paused, opening her eyes as she looked down at me, reaching up to brush her hand against mine, a shiver rolling through my body.
"It's a reminder," she stated softly as my face grew curious, making her smile. "Maybe…maybe I should tell the story tonight?" She breathed as I found my cheeks blushing, my head nodding slowly as we returned to the large chair.
I curled into the chair as Beast sat next to me, the hint of space between us making me wish she'd shifted closer. But as she began, telling the story of her life I found myself immersed in it. My body slowly relaxed, our legs threading together as she shifted closer to the middle of the chair, hand resting casually on my thigh as my fingers brushed against it.