Chapter Four
This
is certainly not what I had expected. Beauty thought to herself as she
washed away the grime of the last night's road in a large tub of green marble filled
with rose-scented water and bubbles. A
large cat with long, gray fur waited patiently a few steps away from the tub, a
pile of towels next to her and her yellow eyes half-shut in contemplation. Another cat, this one with short, ivory fur
and orange eyes, kneaded at Beauty's head with soft paws, lathering her hair as
best she could.
"Sir Christian was right about
you, milady." she bubbled happily, her plumed tail swishing back and forth
slowly. "Your name does suit you
well."
"Does it?" Beauty scoffed
lightly, relaxing in the warm water despite her forthcoming rendezvous. "I always considered myself a tomboy in
looks."
"That would explain all those
unsightly scratches on your arms and knees." the gray cat shrugged. "What on earth did you do to yourself? Climb trees and jump from them?"
"The former, yes... the latter,
no." Beauty smiled. "I also worked in the garden a lot and thorny
vines aren't exactly pillow down."
"True enough, milady. But, we'll have you looking proper soon
enough. We've got the perfect dress for
you."
"I hope it's not too...
ornate. By the way, what are your
names?"
"Saints alive! I had forgotten to introduce us!" the
white cat exclaimed, bopping herself on the head with a soapy paw. "I'm Shannon and that's Matilda, known
as Matty."
The somber one nodded in
acknowledgment. "We'll be your
servants... your ladies-in-waiting, if you will."
"Servants? I'm to have servants?" Beauty
repeated. "But, I'm quite capable
of doing things myself."
"Nevertheless, dear... 'tis
Master Rayven's wish that you want for nothing while you are here."
Shannon chirped cheerfully as she rinsed Beauty's hair.
In
that case, I want to go home... Beauty thought wistfully.
@>-------,------'----------------------
Rayven watched through the large
mirror behind the bath, the only one in the castle, for he couldn't stand his
own reflection. The girl was brave and
strong-willed, he'd give her that, but perhaps a little too stubborn for her
own good. Her name did indeed suit her,
as Shannon had noted. Even when
travel-dirty, she'd been a sight to behold for him; a red-haired temptress with
the face of a child, dainty as a sparrow but with enough heart and courage for
twenty soldiers.
Only
Beauty can do that... Bylana's cryptic words had returned to haunt him
every night for over four hundred years.
He'd taken it only to mean a beautiful woman could break the spell, but
that would be too easy for Bylana's taste.
He'd never entertained the thought that it could be the girl's
name. This had to be the solution...
But for that exquisite creature to
bear him a son... even he couldn't imagine such a beauty submitting to his dark
desires. She was no shrinking violet
either and was likely to fight his intentions every step of the way, beast or no.
She rose from the tub and Rayven
respectfully averted his gaze until she'd wrapped her slim form into a thick
towel, her burnished hair hanging to her waist in sopping wet locks and her
blue eyes huge with wonder at her surroundings. He tried not to notice how low she held the towel around her
bosom and failed miserably, staring at the revealed tops of her breasts
hungrily. Her skin was a pale golden
color, as if her time in the sun had succeeded in tanning her only a little,
and dotted here and there with golden-brown freckles. Despite her peasant upbringing, she carried herself like a
princess, with elegance and pride.
Rayven had no doubt that she had a temper to match her red hair and did
not relish the thought of being the brunt of it, as he was surely going to be.
Rayven sighed heavily. What on earth was he thinking? That lovely girl would no more willingly lie
with him than with a true wild beast of the woods. That was the key... willingly.
Bylana undoubtedly expected him to take the child by force, thereby
ruining his chances. He would do no
such thing. He wished the girl no harm
in any manner, despite the demands of his long-celibate body. He would make no advances, no overtures, no
blatant gestures whatsoever to imply that he needed her in that way.
He growled in frustration both at
the absent Bylana and himself. Insane,
that's what this whole thing was, insane!
He would never be released from this dreadful spell and he knew it. What was the point of trying?
"For our sakes, you must,
master." a familiar voice caught up behind him.
Rayven whirled around to see Jacob,
his right-hand man, or hound as it were.
"What are you talking about?
Since when can you read my mind?" he half roared at his faithful
servant.
"I can't read your mind, but in
this case, master... your face isn't all that difficult." Jacob replied
evenly, used to Rayven's outbursts by now.
"You can't just give up before you've even met the child. You're not the only one who's under a spell
here, sir... we are all just as anxious to be human again as you are. For all our sakes, you must at least try to
win her heart."
"Look at me, Jacob! I am certainly not the white knight of young
women's' dreams! I'm the black dragon
that rules over their nightmares and dies at the hand of the noble prince. You know it and I know it!" Rayven
growled viciously.
"Well, you're certainly not
going to get very far with the young lady if you bite her head off, if I may
say, sir. Stop talking yourself out of
things and just attempt to make friends with her, get to know her... you might
learn to love her, sir." Jacob sniffed calmly, bowing and taking his leave
before Rayven could blow up again.
"That's what I'm afraid
of..." Rayven mumbled to himself, his heart giving a pang of what was
surely to come if he did such a thing.
With that dismal thought in mind, Rayven silently stalked off to his
rooms to change for dinner and his appointed meeting with the young Beauty.
@>-------,------'----------------------
Beauty paced nervously in front of
the roaring fire of the dining hall, anxiously awaiting the arrival of her
monstrous captor. He was late and this
suspense was driving her mad!
Christian's earlier description of his master was not a heartening one
either, filling her head with all sorts of fearsome chimeras. The supper on the table would remain
untouched until she'd seen this beast and told him exactly what she thought of
him. He was an evil, pompous,
egotistical bastard with no respect for honest merchants and their daughters
and he was a fool if he thought he could get away with any of this. If she were going to be forced to stay here
against her will, she would make his life so miserable that he'd toss her out
just to be rid of her.
She also didn't believe a word she was
saying to herself. She sat down at the
table dejectedly, a wisp of despair wrapping around her heart. She could never be so bold as to do such a
thing... nor could she be so cruel. In
her deepest heart, she sensed that the beast was as much a prisoner here as she
was. It was like a fairy tale with a
handsome prince under a spell who needed a beautiful maiden to break it.
If he was looking for a beautiful
maiden, she was certainly the wrong choice!
Innocent, young maidens in fairy tales did not ride great stallions or
climb trees or argue with the hero of the story, as she unquestionably would.
The quiet creak of a door opening
made Beauty turn abruptly towards a dark corner where the firelight couldn't
reach if it wanted to. Holding her
breath, she squinted into the darkness, trying to see the form in the
doorway. Her eyes adjusted slowly and a
huge figure became apparent, taller than her by at least half and with the
muscular bulk of a great bear. She took
an involuntary step back as he entered the room, still hiding in the shadows.
"Lady Beauty." a deep,
rumbling voice greeted her, making her shiver with something other than
fear. The shadow dipped and Beauty
assumed he was bowing to her.
"Milord." she curtsied
uncomfortably, her voice shaking despite her resolve to be brave and
forthright.
"Please... Rayven." he
asked gently, or at least as gently as his voice allowed.
"Milord?" she repeated,
uncertain as to his meaning and still overcome by the power of just his voice
and shadow.
"My name is Rayven, if you
would, I would prefer you to call me that." he explained, slowly drifting
throughout the shadows. "I did not
expect you so soon, milady. However,
have you found my home to your liking?"
She didn't answer right away. This was definitely not the welcome she had
in mind, she'd expected to be thrown into a dungeon or eaten or something. "Quite to my liking, milord...
Rayven."
"I would've greeted you upon
your arrival, but as I said, I didn't know you would arrive so quickly and I
also decided that harsh daylight would be a bit too much for either of us when
shining on one such as I." he nodded thoughtfully. The way he was keeping to the shadows was
beginning to bother Beauty and she concentrated on trying to see him better.
"Perhaps, Rayven... perhaps
not. I do not wish to be the captive of
a shadow, I want a face to go with your voice.
If you please, would you come into the light where I can see you."
she all but demanded, using her regal tone of late.
"Am I making you nervous by lurking
in the shadows? I will stay in one
place if you wish. I only want to
refrain from frightening you." he amended, obviously reluctant to show
himself.
"Nevertheless, I want to see
what you look like, if only to stop my imagination from running wild...
sir." she coaxed gently.
"I very much doubt that your
imagination could be any worse than the reality, milady." he mumbled with
a hint of bitterness.
"Humor me, Lord Rayven."
she shrugged, her determination solid.
"As you command, milady."
he sighed, slowly moving into the light as though all of his instincts were
screaming against it.
Beauty's eyes widened as this great
beast was revealed. He was indeed no
animal she'd ever seen before or even read about. But predatory... definitely predatory, with huge claws springing
from his fingertips and fangs that protruded slightly from under his top
lip. Cloaked in a thick pelt of dark
fur and a mane of an even darker shade, his eyes were strangely human and
unquestionably intelligent. He was,
indeed, a chimera of sorts… not only animal, but human as well; for he moved
like a man and spoke like a highly educated scholar. Overall, it was like her previous notion of a fairy tale and
Beauty was more than surprised to find that she wasn't frightened by him in the
least, awed and impressed, certainly… but not terrified.
Rayven attempted to detach his
emotion from the look in her eyes by distracting himself with how lovely she
looked when at close range. Amazing,
that she showed no outward sign of her certain fear, only her stunning blue
eyes revealed just a hint of wonderment.
Without meaning to, his gaze settled exactly where it shouldn't have;
the gown that Matty and Shannon had laid out for her was very low cut and the
bodice was snug, showing the deep crevice between her breasts to her guaranteed
advantage. Rayven cleared his throat
painfully, it had been centuries since he'd seen anything so stirring and his
starved flesh reacted with the instinct of a man, a swelling in his loins
prompting him to back away a few steps back into the shadows.
"No… don't go into hiding
again." Beauty exclaimed, reaching out in his direction as the darkness
seeped in around him.
"I told you, milady… I have no
wish to frighten you." he said in excuse.
Beauty crossed her arms over her
chest mutinously. "I am not frightened of you! Are you so egotistical about your appearance
that you think everyone is? How
conceited."
"Conceited?" he repeated
in a growl, somewhat insulted at her impudence. "My dear, I am the last thing on earth to be called
conceited. For your information, I
consider myself to be one of the ugliest creatures in all the world… that is certainly not conceit."
"Then get down off your high
horse and have dinner with me, Rayven." She commanded, pointing at the
chair opposite hers, which seemed to appear out of nowhere at just the right
time.
"I very much doubt that you
would want that, milady." Rayven rumbled, his gaze flitting between the
chair and Beauty cautiously. "I am
an animal."
"And I'm a farm-girl, between
the two of us, this should be interesting." she shrugged indifferently,
seating herself and patiently awaiting his following.
"Your very determined aren't
you?" he mused, sensing that he was beat this time.
"Yes. I am also a spoiled brat by most standards, so you may as well
just give me what I want and save yourself a wagon-load of trouble." she
smiled sweetly.
"I can be stubborn too, I'll
have you know." he cocked his head at her thoughtfully.
"I've no doubt of it." she
replied complacently. "But why
don't we save the screaming rows for later… well, screaming on my part, roaring
on yours."
He sighed with an indulgent smile,
struck by this "farm-girl's" spirit and conviction. If anyone was going to give him a difficult
time breaking the spell, but make it a delightful challenge at the same time,
it was Beauty for this beast.
Without a word, he withdrew from the comforting shadows and sat at the table with his red-haired quest and leaned back casually. "Red wine or white, milady?"