"Lord Sébastien." Alexander greeted. Sébastien strode towards the side of the bed to stand at his side.
Alexander tried not to shrink back from the horrid beast of a man. He was more beast then he was man and it didn't matter if he dressed himself in human attire and walked like the Noble Lord he claimed s himself to be. Alexander knew he was a beast, through and through. There was nothing humanly about those coal fired eyes.
"Mister Moreau. How are you feeling today?"
The sincerity in his voice did not reach his eyes and Alexander clutched the paring knife he took from breakfast a couple days ago beneath his blanket reassuringly. He would not be mauled so easily.
He cleared his throat. "Well. I feel good enough to ride if I wasn't crippled from the waist down." He would not hide the bitterness in his voice. He did this to him. He threw him in a cell and gave him the luxury of dying slowly on a full stomach rather than a quick death at the jaws of a wolf. He should have known what that butler was doing when he wrote to him asking for his name and place of residency. He had groaned out a response thinking perhaps they were decent enough to inform his daughter of his death. How foolish he was to think death was at his door so soon. No. His fever raged on, fighting the infection from his wounds and he was still conscious if not halfway delirious when Colette had found him.
Relief had came upon him like a tremendous weight and just to see his daughter's face once more opened the doorway to accepting death. His body was halfway there and he knew if he just let go it would soon find peace. But he also knew his daughter. She would not let him go so easily as she fought to save his life. But instead he only damned her to this castle and its beastly prince. What horrors did she face during the day? Was this beast stalking her door at night? Did he loom behind her in every shadow she passed? Had he laid his hands on her yet? At that thought, spiteful hate blossomed inside of him as he stared into the eyes of a monster.
Sébastien seemed to sense his distaste and casually stepped back. He had his paws clasped behind his back and Alexander wondered if he strained to keep them from slashing his throat.
"I'm sorry for your condition. I know what it feels like to have something robbed from you."
Alexandre turned away from him. "I have lived my whole life as an invalid. This is nothing I cannot handle. I cannot fathom that you turning into a beast isn't a fair repercussion for the assault you so eagerly did to that poor young girl." Disgust laced his voice.
Sébastien sucked in air through his mouth as his nostrils flared. His whole body tensed up at the accusation and he looked like he was ready to pounce. Alexander dug the end of the knife into his side, waiting. But Sébastien only exhaled deeply before rolling his shoulders. Alexander was mortified at the smoke that fell from his mouth. What manner of beast was he that fire burned inside of him?
"It was unfortunate what I had done to that girl when I was a young boy." He gritted out. "But I cannot change the past and I will not allow it to rule over me now."
"No. But I know my daughter is beyond normal beauty. She is breathtaking and if you so dare as to sniff her shoulder I will find a way to end your life by whatever means, even if it meant that I would die at your... your monstrous claws!"
"Enough!" Sébastien barked, fury blazin in his eyes.
He grabbed the edge of the blanket that covered Alexander and yanked it away. Sébastien growled when he saw what he had in his hand. "You foolish old man. Do you think a paring knife would inflict a wound serious enough to harm me? You're a fool!" He snarled.
Everything inside of Alexander yelled at him to run. His body betrayed him in that sense and he had to muster whatever courage he had left in him to stare down the beast beside him. One precise stab to his chest and even that wound would likely kill him. Slowly, but surely. A damn fool he was.
"You're a fool if you think I can be killed. I have shown nothing but hospitality to you and to Colette."
"Keep my daughter's name from your wolf's mouth," he spat, angrily.
Sébastien bared his teeth at him and Alexander flinched at the sight of his abnormally large canines. Saliva glistened on their ivory surface. How many people had he killed? How many necks had he sunk those teeth into? There was hardly anyone in the castle. It was too quiet. How many souls had wondered and filled its halls before he turned on them?
"I will not lay a hand on your daughter. I have not laid a hand on your daughter. You have my word, rather it's good to you or not. No harm will come to her. I would take my life before I even consider such an incredulous thing." He panted, in a sort of breathless rage.
Alexander found his words to be true and the truth revealed between them set his heart dropping. He released the knife in his hand as realization dawned on him what Sébastien had admitted.
"No." He breathed, worry filling his eyes. Sébastien had the audacity to look surprised by his next words.
"You love her."
Alexander didn't want to believe the words that left his mouth but he took one long hard look into Sébastien simmering eyes and knew the emotion that swam beneath their surface. He was once in love too and he recognized the feeling immediately upon his dark face.
Sébastien opened his mouth then shut it. He straightened himself and a muscle in his jaw twitched. Alexandre waited for him to deny it but there was no denying the silence that filled the room after he spoke those three words.
"You won't have her. She is to be betrothed soon after she leaves tomorrow morning and arrives home."
Sébastien's eyes flared at the news and Alexandre knew it pulled a chord in the suddenly composed beast. He was not aware of that.
"You both are to leave tomorrow? " There was no emotion behind the words, just vacant breath.
Alexandre grimaced. "She is to leave. I will not burden her newly married life with my crippleness. I will take my life after she has departed. You will finish what you had started the day you dragged me into that cell." He hissed.
Sébastien acted appalled by the declaration. "You would force your daughter to leave you here just so you can die? How will that make her happy? She would spend her honeymoon mourning over you."
Alexander's eyes dipped down and he squinted back the tears that brimmed his eyes. "I was not going to tell her."
Sébastien shook his head and began to pace. "Why? Why would you leave her like that? Are you so quick to die because of your condition?"
Alexander frowned angrily. "Her happiness means the world to me as well as mine to her. She knows nothing but us. It is time for her to live her life the way she should and experience a new happiness with her husband."
"You are her happiness. She loves you dearly . She would die for you. If you think she will be happy after you have passed, you are a fool and a selfish old man."
"You would not understand," he bit out. The tears swelled up and dared to burst.
"I will not allow it. I will not allow you to ruin her chance at happiness. Her betrothed, whoever he may be will give her happiness only a husband knows how to but familia love is just as important. If you kill yourself you kill a part of her along with you and I cannot let her go knowing she would be broken."
Alexandre looked up towards the beast and found his eyes to be full of sympathy and regret. Human emotions. He tore his gaze from him and covered his face with his hands. "How am I going to get around? She would wait on me all her life. She would put her marriage on hold to assure my comfort. I cannot do that to her." He sobbed.
Sébastien growled impatiently. "You fool. Do you think I would have sent you both on your way knowing well enough that she would subdue her life to doing exactly that? And to repay what I had done to you?"
Alexander removed his hands and stared at him in disbelief. "It would not cross my mind." He said, coldly.
Sébastien clenched his jaw. "I had a blacksmith build a chair that would enable you to move around freely. It was my design and I took every comfort into consideration. It will arrive this evening along with a cart and mare for you and Colette's departure. You will be leaving with your daughter tomorrow."
With that said, Sébastien did not wait for his reply and stalked straight out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. The tea cup on the table beside him rattled from the vibration.
Alexandre sat in shock at what Sébastien had told him.