The Beast (10 page)

He sighs. “You will leave, Lyssette. You
must. I deserved my curse – you did not. I…” He looks away. “I
don’t want you coming back to the castle.”

I am rendered speechless by his words.

A chill wind makes me shiver. Beast rises to
his full height, towering over me, and offers his paw. “You need to
get inside. You’re freezing out here.” So was he a few moments ago.
It is the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do to raise my hand
to his, mirroring his nonchalance. He helps me to my feet and I
lean on him far more than I wish to while I regain my balance.

The wind tugs at my gown and hair. My teeth
chatter and I cannot stop shaking. I will catch my death out here
soon. But I cannot make myself draw nearer to Beasts warmth for I
know that I will never be able to let go again.

Whilst I still can, I step back from him. I
am weary, swaying on my feet. He reaches out to steady me but I
hold my hand up to stay him. Pain flashes in his eyes. No more than
I’ve felt for months.

In my exhaustion I imagine the world around
me is changing. But when I look about, I see it is not my
imagination. The wind doesn’t howl anymore as it did before; it
whispers. Countless voices fly on a rush of air, their words hushed
with secrecy and intrigue. I hear Bastien among them. I hear the
Beast.

I hear a woman’s laughter and a voice so
ethereal it banishes the cold of the night.

He hears them too. His eyes dart around,
seeking the source.

The earth steams as it warms but I still
shiver in my wet gown. There is light to see by, though it is still
full night, the dawn hours away. Where is it coming from?

“Have you learned your lesson, lover?” that
diaphanous voice hisses. The question echoes, rushing past us,
between us; around us. I feel the Beast’s animosity. His snarl is
vicious and bloodthirsty. “Has dying cured your apathy?”

More voices, laughter and cruel shouts which
despite their malevolence still sound sweet as a lullaby. What are
these creatures? The ground warms beneath my feet and miniscule
blades of grass sprout around us.

“Lilith,” Beast growls.

The creature laughs, the sound so beautiful
it pains my ears. Light blinds me and I shield my eyes against its
glare. When it dims and night returns I blink at the female
standing before me. She is tall and lithe, draped in silken robes
which move like ocean waves. Her hair is like spun gold, glittering
about her beautiful face and her eyes shimmer like stars, just as
distant – just as cold. “Lover,” she purrs to my Beast. “It’s been
so long. Three hundred years since the night you abandoned me. Do
you regret it now, human? Do you wish you stayed in my… good
graces?” She smoothes her hand down her breast and the silken dress
becomes translucent.

Beast growls, baring his fangs. “You
narcissistic bitch!”

The female clucks her tongue in censure. “Oh,
now, that is a lovely bit of hypocrisy coming from you, Bastien. I
remember how you loved those mirrors in my bower. I thought you
wished to see me. But it was yourself you were so enamored
with.”

He growls again. “I was a fool to ever think
of you as a conquest.”

The princess smiles. “Yes, a fool to think
you could ever win me.”

“A blind fool, seeing beauty in an empty
shell,” he snaps.

The princess hisses.

Beast bares his teeth again, crouching
low.

“Ah-ah,” she warns coldly. “I know what
you’re thinking. And I would not advise it. You might not care for
your
life any longer but there is another you hold dear.”
She circles me and I am frozen, unable to move or even blink.

“Damn you, Lilith! Release her!”

Lilith laughs and tears leak from my eyes.
“You’re in no position to make demands on me, Bastien,” she says
coldly. “After all your trespasses against me you should show some
respect. Perhaps some groveling would not be amiss.”

Roses bloom at my feet, long vines with sharp
thorns winding upward around my legs. I feel them scraping my
flesh. A single move will cause them to pierce my skin and I
somehow know those barbs are poisonous. I dare not even
breathe.

Beast’s gaze meets mine briefly, fear
sparking in their depths, but it is replaced by rage as he once
again looks upon the inhumanly beautiful female. “What bothers you
more, princess?” he asks. “That I left you wanting in your bower,
or that you’ve not found another since who could please you as well
as I did?”

Lilith’s eyes spark fire. “You insolent cur!
I should have turned you into a worm and stomped you into the
ground you and your pathetic race crawled out of.” The vines
tighten around me and a small sound escapes me.

Beast roars his fury.

“
ENOUGH!
” a voice booms. Both Beast
and Lilith stop, as frozen as I.

All around me the wind whispers in hundreds
of voices. “The Faery queen,” it says again and again. The grass at
my feet blooms in dozens of hues, beautiful, fragrant flowers that
dazzle the eye and dull the senses. I feel dreamlike, as though the
world is swaying like a giant boat gently rocked on the sea.

“You’ve had your fun, Lilith,” the new voice
– the Faery queen? – says. “You’ve punished the man long
enough.”

“But Mother,” the princess grits out. She
still cannot move.

“Silence! With your own words you worked the
spell. It was your magic that bound him and yours again that
released him. The curse was broken. You
will
change him
back, daughter. And you will not meddle with human affairs
again.”

“But Mother!”

Lightning strikes the princess, blinding me
once more. When I open my eyes again Lilith is gone, I am free and…
and…

Bastien is human! “What…”

He frowns. “Lyssette?” He looks down at
himself and when his gaze lifts to mine again it is shocked,
disbelieving.

I cry out and run into his arms. They close
around me so tightly I am lifted off my feet. I can hardly breathe
but I do not care. “Finally,” he says against my hair with so much
feeling I want to weep with happiness.

“You’ve earned this, humans,” the Faery queen
says, her voice softer now. “A thousand times you’ve paid for my
daughter’s folly and so I give you a gift worth a thousand times
more: Love.”

He sets me on my feet again and his smile is
resplendent with happiness. His kiss banishes the bitter chill and
fills me with joy I never thought I’d feel again. And then he lifts
me and spins me around until I squeal with laughter, and he laughs
with me.

It is over.

We are free.

The End

Alianne is an avid lover of stories of all
kinds. Having grown up with fairy tales in a place where it almost
seemed they were real, it was no surprise when she began making up
her own stories. She loves books, hiking, archery, and won’t shy
away from travel and zip lining Alianne graduated with a business
degree and when she’s not off in the land of fantasy, she lives in
California.

Website
:
http://aliannedonnelly.com

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:
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