"Mademoiselle," Navini exclaimed as soon as Annelie began to struggle to her feet. She forced her legs to slip over the side of the bed, ignoring the dizzying feeling of the world spinning all around her. "No, you must not! You are not fully healed!" Yet, Annelie brushed away her hand with a weak defense and found that Navini didn't try too very hard to stop her.
'Help me', Annelie mouthed out to her friend. At once, Navini's arm wrapped around her shoulder, helping her stand and taking most of her weight. The nightdress she had been changed into was clean and light on her body. It flowed around her thighs, ending there rather than flowing to her ankles like many other, less revealing, nightdresses did. It was a pale creme color that went along with the paleness of Annelie's skin as she pressed one foot forward at a time.
It was an excruciatingly slow progress, but Navini kept encouraging her silently. By the time they had left the bedroom, they could see the congregation of people around the doorway of their master. Liyor and Zaman were not to be seen, but Annelie had no doubts that they were close, probably in the room with their master at that very moment.
Heads turned to look over Annelie. Wide eyes and stunned features were her only greeting as they parted for her to go through. She had to see her Beast. She had to see Vardan, the prince who stole her heart.
Her eyes were determined as she made her way into the room to find Liyor and Zaman having a quiet argument on the far side of the room. They froze when they heard Navini clearing her throat. "Ah! Mademoiselle! Why are you not at rest?" Liyor questioned her. His hands went behind his back to hide the trembling. They clasped together, fingers turning white from the harsh grip.
Annelie swallowed, finding that her mouth still lacked any saliva and nodded her head towards the Beast. Navini cleared her throat, focusing on the two men who seemed to regard both of them with worry and wonder. "She wishes to see the Master," is all that the servant girl stated. At once the two men nodded and bowed their heads.
"We shall leave you alone in the master's company," Zaman suggested. "Navini, please do join us in the hall when you have finished in aiding Annelie." Navini nodded at her instructions, part of her wondering if they were going to be yelling at her for moving Annelie so soon.
Sure, it had been a few days since her arrival back to the castle, but Annelie's recovery was going far more slowly. Perhaps the curse was slowly losing its power, its upper hand on everything. Perhaps with every weak breath, the master took in his magic-induced, weakened sleep the spell was breaking all around them.
Annelie brushed away Navini's hand and took the final step to collapse by the Beast's bedside. She laid her head against his hand, tears rolling down her face. The servant girl took one long look at the two of them, knowing that there had to be love there. There was no way they would try so hard to be by each other if there had never been love. No doubt, their master had fallen for the girl more than he could have ever imagined himself doing. Yet, his payment for her safe return was high.
A tug of longing pulled at her heart, but she knew that she had no one to go home to, no one who cared so deeply for her. Maybe, if she had been born to a different life, she could have had what Annelie and her master shared. Or maybe, she would still be stuck, waiting and wondering whether she would have love in her life.
Navini turned away, taking long, soft steps to the door. She closed it without looking back and glaring at all those who tried to peek into the room. "We must leave them alone. It is Liyor and Zaman's orders," she instructed the crowd. They all looked over at the two huddled men who were once more in an argumentive state. Liyor looked pale and there were bags under Zaman's eyes. Navini sighed as she made her way over, knowing how worried everyone was and how tensions were once more rising in the castle.
"There must be some way to save the master!" Liyor exclaimed and threw his hands up in the air as if he had this argument many times before and knew his words would change nothing.
Zaman huffed, before noticing Navini, with her hands folded in front of her slim dark chocolate body, and her eyes on the ground before them. "Well, we can continue to have this conversation at a later time. Now, onto you, Navini, we must thank you," Zaman stated. The girl frozen, eyes wide and unable to understand what they could have possibly meant.
"You brought the mademoiselle to the master! He may have a chance now!" Liyor explained with a slight smile that faltered, then fell away again. There was a deep sadness in the man's eyes. Despite how cruelly the master had yelled at him before and how he had been slapped, he still deeply cared for his master, a man he had known since they had both been young.
Navini blinked before inclining her head once more. "Please, do no thank me. I may have brought the mademoiselle to master, but there is no guarantee that she will be able to save him," she replied lowly. Both men nodded their heads, eyes going distant and both wondering if their master was going to be able to survive or if he had finally met his end.
---
Annelie cried against his hand, shoulder shaking with silent sobs. Her fingers tightened on the bed and she swallowed back her tears, not wanting to lose him. She picked up his limp hand, pressing it to her face.
He had saved her.
There was no doubt that he went out of his way to come to her in her time of need. His price was his life and she had not a clue as to how she could live with it. He was a lot kinder than he put on. The cruelty was his only way to defend himself, to protect his heart and his castle from outsiders and from the servants from seeing too much. She knew him, through his writing and through the fact that in his eyes there was always some sort of softness hiding within.
When he came to save her, her heart had jumped up and happiness had coursed over her in waves. Yet, he sacrificed himself to get her back to someplace she could heal. She had been dying, that much she could figure out. Him taking her to the castle, grounds that comforted and healed by calming the ravages of time, had given her body enough to see to fixing her wounds, making her live.
For that, she was more thankful than she could ever be able to express. Yet, he laid there, looking so sick and so weak, and she felt her heart ache. Her mouth pressed a soft kiss to his hand, and she mouthed the words of her apology over and over again.
'I am so sorry, Vardan,' she mouthed against his hand, wondering if he could hear or feel anything. She swallowed, tears rolling down her face continuously.
'Oh, Vardan. I love you,' she tried to say. The words, however, she couldn't say aloud. She tried again, forcing her voice to work. Please, she thought. Please let me tell him before he dies. I can't let him die without knowing how I feel. Please.
"I love you," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "I love you," she whispered, only slightly louder, and her voice cracked. Annelie let her head fall back down on his hand, and tears rolled achingly down her face. "D-don't leave me," she gasped.
A laugh, weak and terribly broken, echoed in the room. Annelie's head jerked up and her gaze moved to the man on the bed, with dark eyes and dark hair, and eyes that seemed to soften as they watched her.
Vardan slowly sat up, his hand cupping her face and he leaned down to press his lips to hers. "I love you too. I would never leave you," he murmured. A wave, imperceptible except for only a few in the castle, rolled over the occupants. A warmth returned to the castle and sunlight drifted through the window.
The servants who had been looking out windows or had been outside trying to distance themselves from their ailing master and their troubles said they noticed the roses on the gate bloom beautifully. They said that the thorns seemed to disappear altogether and the gate swept outward, warm and welcoming to any and all who wished to tread the land.
They would later explain how the air seemed to grow lighter on the castle and that any aches and pains disappeared as if they never existed, a parting gift of a curse lifted.
Yet, Annelie and the man, no longer a beast, no longer a monster, reveled the feeling of having one another and knowing that their love was enough, enough to break any curse, enough to save each other.
As they kissed, Vardan felt as if all that time he had lived had been worth it, if only he had the chance to hold the woman he had feared to hope for.
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A/N~ A quick explanation as to why this chapter is a bit shorter than the others!
I felt like adding the epilogue in here would be wrong and putting in useless words was even worse! So, rather than combine this chapter with the epilogue, I will be having them be entirely seperate entities!
Thank you so much for the love and support on this story! If you guys liked this fairy tale themed story, then I may have another surprise for you later! ;)
Please remember to comment, vote, and all that good stuff so I know you like the story and are dying for something else like this! I loved creating this story and I honestly have ideas for other stories like this, but I need to make sure that you guys like it! So, please, let me know and thank you all once more!