The Beast stared at himself in the wide, golden mirror. He contemplated his reflection with an air of questioning and worry. One girl... one girl, he thought. Is it her? Have I failed as she knew I would all those years ago? The beast asked himself over and over the same questions that left his mind reeling and whirling.
Dinner was drawing closer and he found himself dreading the empty table and the void of conversation. Though he had grown used to the silence, the girl had changed his mind. She had welcomed back the memories of the conversations he once held with his parents and all sorts of politicians.
He growled as he strode in several long strides to his leather-bound book. His fingers flipped carelessly through the pages until he had reached nearly the end. Writing covered most of the pages when he flipped through it. His emotions were bled into every curve and line the quill tip had pressed onto the page with ink. Or rather, was it his own blood he had taken by so easily pressing his emotions down into words?
The Beast had poured his own heart out, unwillingly, onto the thick sheets bound with leather and twine.
He brushed his hand over the empty page. Before he could go down, he felt the need that made him have to write.
I've seen a girl.
It wasn't that I just observed her through the rose-covered iron fence. Rather, I touched her. I held her wrist in my hand and felt the fury of her heartbeat. It pounded underneath my fingers, so full of life and youth.
This girl should have never come.
It will undoubtedly be the death of her.
...
She is quite beautiful. You would have to be blind, and deaf not to admit as much as that!
Her eyes are wild, like the ever-growing forest surrounding Rose Castle. They are like a sea of grass on a cool bright summer morning. Her hair is weaved from the sunlight's gentle and blinding rays. It is dazzling, as she is to me. She stuns me so easily, and it is hard to find myself once more once she does.
The girl has a wonderful temper. How I think a temper wonderful is beyond me. Never before have I met a girl so ready to fight against every word I speak, and it somehow makes her more beautiful to my eyes.
Whenever she is angry her the skin at her cheeks flushes a dusty-rose color. Embers are lit in her eyes, making me want to know what they look like when she is happy, excited, and so many more emotions.
Her name is something that was not told to me. Yet, I cannot help but call her Beauty.
Oh... I will be the death of her.
Beauty will be slain by the horrid Beast, and I shall be trapped within the walls of Rose Castle forevermore.
Oh... Oh, dear Beauty, why did you not stay away?
Did I not try?
Have I failed you so horribly?
I believe I have failed you, Beauty. I believe I have, for the second time in my existence, destroyed something as precious and breath-taking as a Winter Rose.
The Beast took his hand away from the book, the quill following. He set it down with a frustrated shout. It echoed throughout the castle, warning the Baker's family that had been spirited into the dining room below.
Minutes before the family found themselves in the dining room of the giant estate, they had been faced by the iron gate to Rose Castle. When Liyor tried to grab the iron, thorns seemed to prick and slice the skin of his hand.
"Darn," he muttered. "It seems to have gotten worse." His voice was too low for the family following him to hear. His eyes turned to the castle and he wondered what was going on with the Master of the house.
Annelie stepped forward, brushing past Liyor. Before the man could do anything, she pressed her hand against the gate. The tips of her fingers brushed against rose petals, soft and sweet. The fragrant smell hit her nose, making her feel a lot calmer and happier.
The gate opened willingly under her touch, and let out no sound of protest.
Liyor's eyes stared, wide, at her for a long moment. When she had reached forward, he had held his breath. I have to check! I have to know, he thought. I cannot stop her now. When she had opened the gate, he froze. His heart fluttered and he wished he had never brought the poor girl to the castle. "I'm so terribly sorry," he breathed softly.
Annelie strode forward, onto the castle grounds once more. "Oh dear! Oh dear!" a voice she instantly recognized exclaimed. Zaman came stumbling out onto the steps of the castle. Instead of wobbling all the way over to the cluster of people he waved them forward.
The group moved, Liyor rushing past them eagerly.
Zaman had tried to stop himself from seeing what had happened. Yet, he had watched her open the gate through the large window at the front door. It had truly sealed her fate as it opened in front of her. The chance meeting in the forest had been no chance at all.
"Come in now! You must get to the dining room at once! I will be going to fetch the master, so Liyor you must lead them," Zaman explained to the group once they grew close enough to hear. He pulled Liyor close, his mouth moving to the other man's ear so he could speak lowly without anyone else overhearing. "Protect the girl," he ordered.
With that, Zaman bowed to the baker's family. He rushed back to the door of the castle, needing to see the Master immediately.
The stairs stole his breath, yet he never slowed. The Beast shouted behind his closed door by the time Zaman had made his way there.
Instead of pausing and rethinking like so many others would, he continued forward. "Master?" he called out questioningly.
Silence met him until the door opened. The Beast stood there, once more composed. His face was like stone as he addressed his servant, "Yes?"
"Master... the girl... she... she is the one," Zaman struggled to explain. The Beast turned away from him immediately, pacing back into his room.
I shall be the death of her, the death of the Beauty, he thought with a mournful shake of his head.
---
Merrick stood by the grand fireplace in the massive dining hall. It was decorated so scarcely but was undoubtedly masculine. A fire burned easily, warming the room, and captivating the older man. His attention was caught as the Beast pushed open the door to the dining hall. His dark gray eyes were two swirling storms.
"I see you have made yourselves quite..." the Beast voice drew off at the sight of Merrick.
"It was you! You were the one who saved our Annelie all those years ago. It must have been you. You, the unchanging Master of Rose Castle, you have saved her not once, but twice now! I must thank you. Truly, I must," Merrick exclaimed.
The Beast looked at Annelie who was openly gawking at her father. She obviously thought him mad. Crazy, old Merrick. Even so, he needed to get her mind off of what her father had said and cleared his throat.
"Yes, I suppose it may have been me who saved your daughter," the Beast muttered with scorn coating his face. "Though, I cannot be sure. I tend to keep my distance from dirty little town rats."
Annelie's eyes hardened. "Ah, yes. A man like you would think all the town's people the same!" she yelled back. Her voice boomed as he had once boomed at her.
Instead of becoming scared this time, she took her anger and used it to her advantage. All the words her mother had whispered to her about the Beast faded, leaving her alone in the soaring flames of indignation.
"Of course a man with a breeding such as mine would look down at something so insignificant as a town rat, as you," the Beast sneered. He would not submit to his mind telling him to take it all back. The Beast was a proud man, and he couldn't take his words back. Even as he felt a pang in his chest for what he was doing, he continued arguing with the fair maiden.
"Insignificant? Of course, you would say such words! What else am I to think of a Beast? Well, mother and father, I hope you enjoy the meal. I am taking my leave as of now, as I am obviously not welcomed," Annelie exclaimed.
"Mademoiselle, you mustn't! You are so very hungry, are you not?" Liyor jumped in, scurrying forward towards her.
"I am terribly sorry Liyor, but I cannot take another second of sharing the same space as this... this Beast!" With that, Annelie rushed towards the doors to the dining room. Even as she tried to leave, she felt the Beast move up behind her, silent and seething.
"No," he growled. His hand slammed against the door to the room, keeping them from opening. "You will stay. You will eat," the Beast commanded.
"You have no say in what I do, or where I go! You are nothing to me, you hear me Beast? Nothing," she replied, voice loud and echoing in the stone room.
"You are in my castle and so help me, you will listen to me!"
Annelie turned, staring up at the Beast. She didn't move from in front of the door, stubbornness shining in her eyes. "You are impossible!" she snapped. He, in turn, just chuckled at her. He is laughing at me, she thought indignantly.
"Yes, that I know," the Beast replied. His voice had softened and his eyes searched her face. The sweet smell of vanilla came off her, calming him like nothing else had ever been able to do.
The Beast utterly confused Annelie. One moment he was shouting at her, telling her what to do with herself. The next moment he would be trying to jest. It was all so very muddling to her. "I don't suppose that is another jab at me?" Annelie muttered. Her eyes were turned down at the ground, unable to come up with a scathing remark to get the Beast riled up once more.
"Hmm... I suppose it was not," the Beast admitted. "So would you care to decide on whether you'll stay or starve?"
I should just push her away. I had been doing such a grand job at it. Yet, to see her disappear, it is something that I cannot do. I cannot lose her, the Beast thought.
Annelie took a long moment to think. She could leave, she could fight him tooth and nail, and she could do so much more. Yet, the doors, on the other side of the room, opened. Delicious smells wafted from inside, calling to her empty stomach. It growled eagerly for something, anything.
A flush came on Annelie's face as her stomach begged loudly for nourishment. "I-I'll stay, bu-but only until we've finished eating. Nothing more!" she exclaimed, head turned completely away from the Beast.
She knew if she looked there would be a grin cover his features. Either it would enrage her or melt her. Either way, she wasn't going to risk it.
He moved away from her with an approving nod, and headed for his seat at the head of the table. Meanwhile, Annelie eyes scoured the area. Her mother was hovering in between going to her daughter and sitting in one of the chairs at the large dining table. Then, she looked to her father, who had his place at the table. He was sitting quite comfortably while waiting for her to find her own place at the table, no worry in his eyes.
Immediately, she was reminded of what her father had said about her being saved twice by the Beast. He had no clue she had been pulled from the window, so how was it twice. With a shake of her head, she moved over to a chair, far away from the Beast and next to her mother. As soon as she sat down servants of all shapes, sizes and colors hurried into the room from the kitchen.
A lot of food was placed down. Heaping amounts of meats, vegetables, and so much more were added the huge table. It was a feast.
Annelie's hand came up to her mouth, checking to make sure she didn't drool all over the table before she even got a bite of food.
The Beast watched the girl's expression change to one of wonder and amazement. She is so exquisite. Truly, the name Beauty fits her perfectly. Perhaps she will not mind me calling her such since she refuses to ask for my name. Hmm... this shall be a very interesting meal, the Beast thought. He lifted a chalice of wine to his lips and continued to eagerly observe his Beauty.