My week passed too quickly.
It sped by as I found myself engrossed in cleaning the house, caring for my father, and keeping the rest of the family occupied. After I'd slapped Blair, neither of my sisters had called me Beauty. It was an odd thing, when they first started talking to me civilly. Blair's glare softened by a few degrees and Ilsa was friendly. Aaron and Thomas were always polite, but on occasion I could see the disdain in their eyes. They were used to luxury. I was too after so long in the castle. The floor was not a pleasant place to sleep, even without my castle comparisons. But it was all worth it to see Father growing stronger. He could get up and walk around a bit by the fifth day of my stay and improved every day. It was wonderful to be home, even if the castle spires in the forest made me anxious.
And yet, though Jean's parents had been informed of his passing and all other business I'd had was settled, when the villagers tried to get me to talk about my time in the castle or with the Beast, I couldn't bring myself to answer. They wouldn't have understood it. They couldn't. And I knew they would never accept my answer. They were all - my father included - wholly against the Beast. They would never be any other way. Many of them thought I'd somehow killed the Beast, which was why there had been no more attacks since I'd left. Still others whispered behind my back about magic and sorcery.
More and more, home felt like a far off place in a storybook, one that I was anxious to get back to.
It was the evening of my last day in the village. I had left the things I had brought my family in the stables for them to find after I'd left and was on my knees packing my bags. I knew I had to go back. I'd figure out the enchantment, break it and run with whatever came. I was done with the things that kept the Beast and I apart. I was done with no answers. I was done with strange dreams.
I glanced out the upstairs window. The sun was already hanging low in the sky. I had to leave now. I should have left far earlier, but I'd had some final chores and things to do. And Blair and Ilsa had seemed so eager to make the most of our last day together.
I tucked a firestarter and torch into my bag. I grabbed my belt and cinched it around my waist, making sure my knife was safely tucked away inside it. I didn't know if I would meet up with Jayla or her wolves on the way back, but nothing was certain.
I glanced back at the sun. Jayla was out there. Avoln was out there. I hadn't seen either of them for the entire week and it was making me anxious. Where were they? What would I find when I got back to the castle?
But if I got back, what could I do? Really? What could I do? What progress had I ever made on the curse? I knew the Beast's time was short. What if I couldn't do it? What if I wasn't the right person? What if I failed him?
But who else would have gotten this far? No one else in the village would have given the Beast a second chance before trying to run him through. And who else who could have calmed him down, brought him back when he had turned? Maybe...maybe I was the only person who could do it. Maybe I was the only person in the world who could break the curse.
But even if I could see the future and found out I couldn't break the curse, that I'd failed, would I still go back? I watched the sun dip lower on the horizon.
Yes, I decided. Yes I would.
I had to leave tonight, go back, and set everything that was wrong to rights again.
I closed my bag, slung it over my shoulder and leapt down the stairs. There were still a few things I needed to take care of before I left.
I hurried into the kitchen where Mrs. C was making up another infusion for Father. She glanced at the bag over my shoulder and my blue working dress then resumed her work.
"So you're leaving."
"I have to."
"There is a difference between 'have to', 'want to' and 'need to', Annalise."
"In this case it's all three I'm afraid."
Mrs. C looked me up and down and a sad smile formed on her lips.
"I don't suppose I can stop you, can I?"
I shook my head.
"You will look after him for me, won't you? Make sure he gets what he needs. I'm worried that he'll get worse once I go back."
"He should be alright. Whatever it was that had a hold of him when you found him is mostly gone."
"You know, he gets quite lonely here, and you've been a good friend to him. I've seen how he looks at you. It sounds strange to say that, being his daughter and all. Have you ever thought of maybe, I don't know, remarrying? "
Mrs. C laughed with a hint of sadness.
"If only."
"I'm serious."
"I don't know if I could. After Tom..."
I nodded.
Mrs. C focused on her infusion for a few more moments of heavy silence. Seeming to have finished her work, she set a cup of what resembled tea on the counter.
"I ought to be going. You should too. It's nearly sunset."
My lips flattened into an anxious line and nodded, then walked her to the door. I opened it for her but as she crossed the threshold I said,
"Wait. Please."
She paused. I took a deep breath.
"Mrs. Charleston, you have magic. How do you- how do you defeat a sorceress? The safety of someone I- someone I care about very much is at stake."
Mrs. C kept up her silence for a moment, mulling over her words.
"Annalise, a sorceress is as mortal as anyone else. You can kill them just the same as you can anybody, but I would suggest-," she stopped, and her eyes seemed to grow heavy with years. "I would suggest that it is far more worthwhile to turn a heart than to pierce it."
I bit my lip.
"I'm not sure if I can do that."
"There's only so much any of us can do, Annalise. Part of it depends on her. If she doesn't want to be turned, she won't be. There are some people who wander too far to be brought back again."
"I'll keep it in mind. Thank you, Mrs. C. You've been indispensable these last few days."
"No trouble, Annalise. Good luck."
I smiled and watched as she walked off down the road and out of sight.
I closed the door behind her.
And now to say goodbye to my family.
As it happened, I found that they were all in the living room, evidently holding some kind of impromptu meeting. They froze into guilty silence at my appearance.
"Is it true?" Ilsa asked, eyes glistening. "You're leaving?"
I nodded.
"Anna you can't!"
"Ilsa, I'm sorry but-,"
"It's ridiculous, Annalise," Blair said. "You can't go back. You've only just come home. Who knows what the Beast will do if you go back? We may never see you again."
"It's true then, what they've been saying?" Thomas asked. "You're really living with a monster?"
"I am not living with a monster," I said.
"Miss, please see sense. It would be ridiculous for you to needlessly put yourself in danger like this," Aaron said.
"I won't be in any danger, I promise."
"Anna," said my father. Instantly, everyone else quieted.
"Anna, you can't go back. Who knows what the Beast could do to you! I've already lost you once. I thought you died!"
I glanced at the window where the sunset was just beginning. It was getting late.
Reading my mind my father added,
"At least wait until tomorrow if you must go. It's getting dark already. You don't want to be in the woods alone at night it's too-,"
"Dangerous?" I asked. "Father, I know you're worried, but the Beast is the most dangerous thing in the forest and he won't harm me."
"There are other dangers in those woods, Annalise, or have you forgotten your mother?"
I stiffened. The wolves. The storm. The ravine. Jean's horse. Avoln. Jayla. A shudder racked my body, but I hushed it.
Seeing my hesitation he continued,
"As worried as I am that he might punish you for staying an extra night, he must see reason on this point. I absolutely will not let you go back through those woods tonight."
My father's arms were crossed and his jaw was tightly set.
The sun was almost completely beneath the horizon now.
"But- I...I promised..."
I didn't want to ride through the woods alone, but I had to. I had made a promise to the Beast and I had to stick to it. But even the Beast knew the dangers of the forest. He'd run after me to protect me from them.
"I guess-,"
He could forgive me for one night, couldn't he? He knew it was dangerous. One night wouldn't make a difference, would it?
I sighed in defeat.
"Alright. I'll stay."
There was a collective sigh of relief.
"But just until tomorrow morning," I added. "I'm leaving, first thing."
Blair did something I never thought she'd do in a hundred years. She hugged me.
"I'm so glad you're staying," she whispered.
Oh, Beast, forgive me.
* * *
It was dark in my dream. There were stones making up the walls and floor, and for a moment I thought I was back in the black marble room, until I realized half the ceiling was missing.
The dungeons.
"Adam?"
My voice echoed a thousand times, mocking me and making my voice sound small.
There was a weak cough from behind me and a voice rasped,
"Anna?"
I turned. In the shadows was a man in a heap on the floor. His loose, white shirt hung limp on his frame and his blonde hair was stringy and lifeless around his face. His wrists were bound behind him with shackles whose chains trailed away into darkness.
"Adam!"
I ran and knelt next to him. He got to his knees and I saw the dead expression in his eyes, marked only with a glimmer of sadness. There was a dark bruise across one of his cheeks and a cut on his lower lip. I cupped his face in my hands and felt him shiver.
"I'm sorry you had to see me like this."
I tear slipped out before I could stop it.
"No, Adam, no... What's happened?"
"It doesn't matter," he breathed.
"Of course it does, you're hurt."
"I'll be okay."
"You are a stupid king," I cried. "My stupidly brave king."
He tried to laugh but it came out as a cough.
"Anna, I had to tell you, had to see you again. There's only one rose left and at dawn it dies. I won't ever see you again. The Beast will die and I'll be gone forever. I just had to tell you- had tell you how glad I am to have met you."
"No, no. Don't talk like that, please."
"The Beast sent you away to spare you from seeing his fate. Don't go back to the castle. The Enchantress will be there. She'll try to hunt you down. She'll kill you. Please. Don't come back. Don't-,"
"Stop it. Stop it, don't tell me you're going to die," I cried. Hot tears were pouring down my cheeks now. "I can save you, I know I can, just hold on for me, please."
"Anna..."
He shook his head, silently pleading with me.
"You stupid King," I said.
And I kissed him.
At first he stiffened, but in the next moment he was kissing me back with quivering lips, pressing them against my own, each trying to savor the taste, the moment. Hot tears were slipping down both our cheeks and Adam shuddered. He cried out and pulled away, panting hard. His lips were blistering, burning...
I gasped.
"Oh, Adam, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!"
But he was fading already, his lips moving, but I couldn't hear the words.
"No! Adam, come back!"
It made no difference. He was gone.
I jumped to my feet.
"Why do you hate him so much?" I cried to the darkness. "What did he ever do to you?"
"Why? You want to know why? Because I wanted love! Was that so much to ask?"
I spun around.
Jayla wasn't beautiful anymore. Her expression was twisted, her eyes crazed and flashing like a lightning storm.
"I was older. I was better," she snarled. "He was an idiot. And yet he got the throne. He was Father's favorite. My father, the most powerful man in Fabel, loved him more than me because he was a boy! I was smarter, stronger, everything, and yet he still chose him over me. I was better at magic. I knew how to run a kingdom. My brother was nothing. And after Denver-,"
But she stopped herself. A flicker of something like pain broke her expression for a fleeting moment, but rage replaced it just as quickly.
"When my parents took me to see the High Mage I killed them," she snarled. "I cut their throats open so wide-,"
"You didn't love them then," I said. "If you could kill them like that, you never really loved them. If you could kill them like that you're lying to me."
"Who said I loved them?"
"Because if you didn't love them you wouldn't care who was the favorite."
Jayla went silent.
"What really happened?"
Her gaze had turned stony.
"I don't need to tell you that," she said. "It doesn't matter now anyway, not anymore. In a few short hours, my poor little brother will be dead. The curse will be gone, as will everything in my way. I can take the throne. I. Will. Be. Queen."
"Not if I stop you first."
"Ha! You think you can break the curse now? I've let my pet hunter out to play. You're too late, Beauty."
My pet hunter... Avoln. He'll kill him. I never should have left the castle. I never should have left the Beast on his own. I never should have broken our deal. Adam will- It's a trap. Of course it is. She's let Avoln loose. If the curse doesn't kill the Beast then he will. And if I wake up-
I knew she could see the fear widening my eyes. It in was the way her grin curled higher, the triumphant gleam in her storm-maddened eyes.
Wake up.
Wake up!
The last glimpse of my dream was the flash of her gleaming smile and then-
-I woke with a gasp, back at home, on the floor before the fire. It was only a heap of barely glowing coals now, not enough to cast any light, only a thousand dying, amber eyes peering out from darkness. The moonlight came through the window and fell sharply across my face. I squinted.
It was the middle of the night. Nothing was stirring, but the Beast was dying. Adam was hurt. They needed my help.
I have to get back. I have to get back now.
I started to get up but a cool, rigid edge pressed against my jugular.
No.
I shivered and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
The moonlight caught the slimy gleam in his grin, the madness in his eyes. It threw his gaunt features into the shadows that he wore as a second skin. His lip tugged upward, revealing a wolfish canine, sharp and hungry.
I've let my pet hunter out to play.
"Going somewhere little swan?"
The blood drained from my cheeks and my breath caught in my throat.
Avoln.
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*internally screaming forever*
Guys I've been excited for this last scene for so long, you have no idea.
Please let me know what you thought! This is one especially where I would appreciate your feedback.
Happy Reading! (Also, to all those of you who celebrate Easter, have a happy belated holiday!)