?? Inside The Beast's Castle

Inside the Beast's Castle
Introduction [Inside the Beast's Castle]
Hello to you wonderful person who decided to read this.
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To those of you who know what that means and know who the actor is, you're awesome.
To those who don't, there's a TV show called Star Trek out there that you need to
go watch.
On to the non-goofy stuff!
(Who am I kidding? I will always be goofy.)
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Like most of the books on here, this is a first draft. That means that while I have
a story posted, it is not a final draft. It's not perfect. There are typos. There
are plot holes. There are chapters I look at now and cringe.
Badly.
So, if you see any mistakes, or things you don't like, or things you DO like, don't
be afraid to tell me. I'll take criticism. In fact, PLEASE criticize me. I can't
improve if I don't know what to improve upon. Whether I've already heard what
you're saying 5000 times, I'll still listen.
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⏫me about constructive criticism⏫
This story is based on Beauty and the Beast. Technically, a retelling. But, don't
think just because something happened in the movies, it'll happen here. I kinda
twisted a lot of it.
Horribly.
While I love all y'all's comments, please do not use curse words or dirty comments
in this. I don't use language in my stories for a specific reason, and I would like
the comment section to be semi-safe. If I see any of you that HAVE used foul
language (you potty mouthߘ) then I might delete your comment, depending on the
extent (no, I won't give examples of okay and not okay). Please don't make me do
that. Basically, keep it PG/ PG-13.
Please.
Thank you and I hope you enjoy my story!
Noa
Update as of October 3, 2018: You know how people say, like, things they write that
they thought was good but then go back and re-read it to find out how much their
style has changed? Okay, that's this. Literally, first thing ever written for me,
and me being my own worst critic feels compelled to warn you that for some reason.
Idk why but just go with it.
Okay! Have fun and thanks for reading!
!IMPORTANT! [Inside the Beast's Castle]
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
*theme music starts*
I joined Wattpad.
*record needle screech*
Now, when I joined Wattpad, I had no plans to start writing.
*crickets*
Honestly. I was just going to be a silent reader--maayyyyybe vote and comment every
now and then.
Then I got mad at a movie and things went down the writing route from there.
Anyway, I'm not here to talk about how/why I joined. That's a weird story for a
totally different time. However, I'm here to tell you a horror story. It's short,
non horror fans, so just keep reading.
Wright, who was an author, carried his manuscripts with him wherever he went. All
the time. In paper form or in electronic form, they were there.
One day, Wright went to play a game. This game, called giarism, needed him to give
strangers his manuscripts for free.
To play giarism, his manuscripts were stolen.
So Wright lost his will to work and died a week later. The cause? Plagiarism.
On Wright's tombstone, a phrase was written. It warned other unsuspecting victims

of plagiarism and its consequences.
One day, a person named Noa ran across this stone.
"Oh no!" Noa mused. "What will I do?"
Noa decided to then keep all drafts of future possibilities for publication close
and out of the hands of evil plagiarizers.
The end.
Like young Noa, I have decided to keep all things that have been plagiarized/I
really don't want plagiarized away from the internet.
Excuse me-- plagiarized even more than they already have been.
So, point of this post is a warning.
I he taken this down completely for a time, but for now it comes back up. I'll post
"new" chapters when I can. There will be no second draft like I originally planned
coming onto this site. Instead, this is all. Now, this means it will be a bit
cliche and not the best quality I am capable of writing, but it will be a story for
y'all to read.
If I see any more forms of plagiarism on here, this is gone. It won't be coming
back.
That is not a challenge. It is a simple statement.

Please let me know as soon as something looks like it us plagiarism. If I can
report it early, then this may not need to go. Reason being, this draft is
completely unlike my final one I have planned.
If you are reading this on any other website besides Wattpad, then you are at risk
of a malware attack.
Semi-ish-scary Noa out.
¢‫܌‬
Prologue [Inside the Beast's Castle]
A/N: I really suggest you read the chapter labeled "Important" before
this one. It lives up to its name.
Now, storytime.
____________________________________
"So is it a deal?"
The man who spoke was standing in the middle of a dark throne room, feigning an air
of confidence. Resting comfortably on his head was a golden crown, with one name
engraved on the side: Regol.
The thing which he had spoken to glared at him from underneath his hood, his red
eyes piercing through the man ten feet below him. Darkness covered the rest of his
huge body by the black cloak that he wore draped around his shoulders.
The king felt the slightest shiver run down his spine. He was standing in another's
throne room asking for help, and that was a position he wasn't comfortable in or
used to. Of all the places he had thought to go, that particular palace was the
worst. If he wasn't there though, he would have a front row seat to watch his
kingdom--and more importantly to him, his palace--get destroyed by the vyechers.
The Vesper Wars had been going on for many, many years. They began before he was
ever born, and had yet to cease. He was just a boy when his father, the late king,
had gone to fight and never returned home, leaving him the ruler of the small
kingdom at a young age.
If this doesn't work...The king quickly banished the thought from his mind. Of
course it would work. Everyone knew the beast couldn't resist a deal.
Or that's what he had been told, anyway.

The thing on the throne slowly turned its head to the side, seeming like he was
debating something, and then he spoke in a voice that sounded like a hundred wolves
growling at once. It spoke only one word, and that one word carried all the king's
worries and fears. "No."
Terror consumed the king. What else could he do? He offered everything that he was
willing to trade--precious gems, servants, a piece of his kingdom--nothing seemed
to satisfy the--the--
The beast.
A panicked thought went through the king's mind. What if it wants more? What if it
wants my whole kingdom? What if it wants my son? My money?The townspeople?
The king quickly dismissed the last thought from his mind. It didn't concern him.
The townspeople could look after themselves.
"Jewels and money do not interest me, King. I have more than enough of them here to
last a lifetime. Your offer of shared power does not benefit me, either. Do you not
see where you are standing?"
The king suddenly saw where he was standing very clearly, and the more he stood
there, the more he realized how much he couldn't give the beast.
"Your Highness," the king sputtered. Your Highness. Bah! He is only a monster.
But still, the king addressed him respectfully. After all, the "monster" was the
only option he had left.
"Your Highness, please reconsider. My--the subjects in my kingdom will certainly

die if you do not help."
"I already told you, King," the creature growled. "You have nothing more to offer
me."
And idea slowly came to the king. "You're right, Majesty. I have nothing more to
offer. But, that does not mean that you can't choose what you would like."
The beast seemed to think for a moment, staring at the small man drenched in a cold
sweat in front of him, then spoke again. "Fine. I'll tell you what I want. I want a
girl," he proclaimed thoughtfully. "Just a human girl, and nothing more."
"A girl?" The king was shocked. Better to not ask why, he thought to himself,
amused. With a quick bob of his head, he agreed.
King Regol turned and motioned for his guards to begin to move outside. A low growl
made him freeze in his tracks.
"Since you're so willing to go along with my plan," the beast added after a pause,
"I want you to send me a princess, one of your daughters."
The king froze. To tell or not to tell, that is the question.
"Majesty," the king began. "I have no daughters. There are no princesses in my
kingdom. I cannot give you that type of girl."
The beast chuckled. "Good answer," he replied, waving his hand back and forth. In
between his long fingers was a small ball of fire.
The king gulped.
"Give me a girl, King. Give me an older girl, not one of those ten-year-olds who
wish to play all the time. Do not give me an old woman either. Give me one that you
know I would like."
The king nodded, ready to flee.
"And King? If she isn't here in three day's time, I will let the vyechers into your
kingdom myself."
With that last sentence, the king smiled, the gears in his head turning. He wasn't
worried about this new demand. He knew plenty of girls that he could use for the
job. Any would be willing to, and if they weren't, he was very good at persuading.
"It's a deal."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Please don't forget to comment and vote! I love hearing feedback from my readers!
Conversation Starter: How do you think this deal is going to turn out? Do you think
that the king is right in his decision to trade a girl for a kingdom?
Chapter 1--Red [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"You give up your future, lose your dream, and are stained with
despair, yet at the same time you shake off your past, fight reality, and never
lose your nobility." --Black Butler
_______________________________________
A/N (again): For those of you who skipped the author note, important note, and/or
prologue, y'all may want to go read 'em. They're important. Especially the one
labeled "Important."
_____________________________________
Red.
Why is everything red?
But then, the red turns to orange. The orange turns to yellow. The yellow turns
to...
Red.
Dark red. A crimson bloodstain splattered across mahogany floor.
The red is no longer just red. It is everything. It's is many changing colors,
flickering all around. It's sparks popping off the flames that lick the walls.
The red turns darker. It's no longer red.
It is deep brown locks of hair, spread out around a ball.
No. The "ball" is a head.
A head. A face. The head has a face. Dark brown eyes, open and glassy in death.
Blood flecks mark on snow white skin.
But the head isn't a head anymore.
The head is a ball.
It's a small, black ball, no bigger than a little finger.
Hurling towards my face.
The flames aren't flames. The flames have become dead soldiers, lying unmoving on a
battlefield. All are dead. Husbands, sons.
Brothers.
"I'll be gone one year. One year only, then I get a break."
A smooth, deep voice. It's familiar. Comforting.
"Zara, it'll only be one yea--"
And it is silenced forever by the stray black ball.
Everything is red. The only words are the ones last spoken that echo through the
silence.
One year.
*****
My eyes sprang open. The remnants of the dream still echoed in my mind.
One year.
"Oh, ga--" I mumbled. My knees found their way to my chest. I pulled them close to
me, trying to draw comfort from something.
Apparently, my knees were "comfort."
Everything echoed loudly in my head, reminding me of the scene I had endured all
night.
One year.
I gasped and buried my face in my hands. Why do I have to be reminded? Why now?
Why at all?
The face--which I never saw in my dream, but was all too real to me-- surfaced to
the top of my mind.
Green eyes. Tan hair. Permanent smile lines etched across the bottom of his face.
Joshua.
I could still hear his promise when he left.
"It'll only be one year, Zara. I'll be home before you know it."
That single year had morphed into a letter.
No good things come from letters.
In my case, it meant that my brother was gone.
One year.
One year since I was forced into the reality of being alone.
The days that we were together were still fresh in my memory. I could hear his
laugh. I could hear his voice. I could see him as if he were standing in front of
me.
But that was something that he wasn't going to do again.
Through unshed tears, I smiled, still sitting on my cot. Images of the baker's face
when we "accidentally" made his display in his front window spell out some--well--
some unkind words danced across my mind.
The threatening tear finally fell down my cheek. I pinched my leg hard, feeling the
pain race up my thigh.
Stop whining, girl. If you start crying now, you will never stop.
Joshua told me before he left for the war to not mourn over him, to be strong. He
knew as well as I did that it could only go poorly.
So, strong I was.
While my father went to the tavern and drowned himself in drink every morning, I
was the one who had to work night hours at the pub to hold the money collectors. I
was the one one who had to convince the king's knights that my miserable father was
too sick to go to war.
And while the "too sick" part was true in ways, it still didn't satisfy the knights
enough to never come back.
"Hey!"
I jumped, startled by the shout. The pallet below me crunched as I got up and went
over to the thin, ragged curtain that covered the window. The white sheet that did
little for privacy slipped between my fingers. I moved it about an inch away from
the wall and peeked out.
Three boys, no older than eight, rushed out of the bread shop across the street in
a ruckus. Th eldest of the three clutched a basket of rolls to his chest. The old
baker was not far behind them, waving his years-old roller in the air like a war
club.
I let the small curtain go, feeling a tiny grin flit across my face. The baker
would eventually catch the boys like he always managed to do. He'd scold them so
much that they would be to the point of begging forgiveness, then let them go with
the food they had stolen.
Truth be told, the baker didn't mind the fuss. He, too, once had children. Children
that, as soon as they were old enough, were carted off to war.
Children that were killed within one week of getting to the battlefield.
That was the one thing almost everybody in my village had in common. Loss.
I turned away from the window and spied my brown dress hanging on a rack across the
room. I walked across the dirt-covered rugs that covered the ground and grabbed the
clothes. Carefully, I dug through my pocket, fishing for my mother's necklace.
I pulled it out and stared at it, tracing my fingers over the cross shape
longingly.
How weird is it that one thing can hold so many memories?
Sighing, I slipped it onto my neck, then started to move around the room. I went to
each window, pulling the curtain over the small latch that held it down, then
locked the door of the one-room house.
The key paused in the keyhole and let out an almost inaudible click.
A click.
The click of a knife entering its sheath.
The necklace that I had on suddenly felt like an unwelcome weight around my neck.
Don't think about it, Zara.
I pulled the drab brown dress over my head, being careful to tuck the necklace
underneath the dress so that it wouldn't be seen. The necklace itself wasn't worth
a lot of money, but if someone were to notice it, it could easily have been stolen
by those who would sell it at an exaggerated price.
A slick string touched my fingers as I dug through my pockets again. I pulled it

out and let it fall to my pallet. With a lock of hair in my hand, I ran my fingers
through the mess at the back of my head. The knots in it were bad enough, but the
curls tangled it up even more than it should've been.
A quick glance in the shard of mirror hung up against the wall was all I needed to
see if I was presentable.
I dreaded the fact that I even wanted to look.
A girl glared back at me, her arched nose smudged with dirt, face thin and pale
with hunger, and chocolate brown curls wild. I looked away quickly. My dislike for
mirrors was inherited from my mother. She would always say that "Mirrors just show
what's on the outside. You can never judge anyone based on their appearance."
I ducked down to the pallet and swept up the ribbon. I literally had to wrestle my
hair into something that even resembled looking like it was tied back.
"Child? Zara?"
"Oh no," I sighed. It was my father. I liked to be gone from the house before he
showed up, drunk after many hours at the pub. It had been easier when Joshua helped
me avoid him, but after he left I was forced to see my father more frequently.
There was one day I had mustered up the courage to ask the girl I worked with about
him before we swapped shifts, and she had just shaken her head with a look of pity
in her blue eyes.
Get really good feelings from that, right?
Often, Joshua and I schemed to run away from our father and the town, but something
always held us back. I suppose it was the love that we once felt for our dad, and
the remembrance of love that we knew he once felt for us.
I didn't even know if that love still existed.
Let's go face the beast.

I opened the door, squinting in the late afternoon sunlight. My father stood across
the street, yelling at the baker for some unknown reason. His arms waved around in
the air like a wind-up toy preparing to take off. Honestly, it was a minor miracle
that he managed to get from the tavern--which was all the way down the street--to
the front of the baker's shop.
"Baupa!" I hollered. I closed the door just enough so it would appear closed, but
there was a small crack of air wide enough for me to open it with my foot. With
that done, I scuttled across the dirt road. "Baupa, come here. Leave him alone."
The baker gazed at me in relief, his gray eyes thanking me silently. I met him with
a small nod and grabbed my father's arm. He resisted momentarily, but allowed me to
put it around my shoulder. A low mumble of some unintelligible word escaped Baupa's
lips while he tried to pull away.
A putrid stench wafted into my nostrils. Unable to hold it back, I gagged, thanking
my lucky stars that the baker had entered his house again. The walk across the
street, which should have taken mere seconds, seemed to take forever and a day. I
half-carried, half-dragged my father to the house, pulling him toward me when he
started to walk away.
"Baupa, you're home early today." I tried to sound less aggravated than I actually
was, but I don't think it worked.
His clouded eyes met mine, then slid out of focus. "Konechno, I'm home early!
Those--"
Another something I couldn't quite catch came tumbling out of his mouth in the
midst of his slurred words, but I don't think I wanted to know anyway.
Once we got to the door, I flicked it open with my foot. We walked into the house--
no--I walked into the house, he stumbled into the house and plopped his round body
onto the pallet. Baupa's back straightened after he sat for a minute, and his green
eyes locked mine for a moment until they slid out of focus and he began his ranting
again.
"I paid them all I got, I did! Then they told me to get out 'cause I didn't have
enough!"
The rest of his fuss was so slurred and mumbled that I couldn't understand anything
else.
Wait a second...
The realization of what he had just said hit me like a runaway horse. Frantically
digging through the second pocket on my dress, I looked for the few silver coins I
kept stashed there in case of emergency.
They were gone.
All of my aggravation and annoyance came out at once, a big tidal wave directed at
my father.
"You did what?" I screamed. "Baupa, that was everything we had! Those coins were
all the money that we had left to live on until the end of this month!"
Everything I was saying came out before I could think.
"That's all you do! You don't care what happens to us, you're so busy burying
yourself in the bottom of the first bottle you can get your hands on! You would
think, that since it's just you and me, you would try to dig yourself out, but no!
Ever since Mom di--"
Next thing I knew I was on the floor, my cheek stinging.
Did he just hit me?
Never before had he struck me in one of his fits. He would just yell or throw up.
Maybe break some glass.
Never strike.
Baupa's rough hand seized my arm and hoisted me off the floor. His gray eyes blazed
like a fire in rage, fueled on by the alcohol in his system. He shoved me
backwards, hard, pinning me against the wall.
"Don't talk about your mother," he whispered into my ear. The grip on my arm
vanished and my father plopped himself down onto the pallet, his white hair falling
on front of his face and covering his eyes. I watched a tear fall down his face.
I stood in place for a moment, feeling like I needed to say something. Finally, I
gave up and shook my head, then walked toward the door.
"Poka, Baupa," I whispered, not even knowing if he heard me.
He doesn't care, Zara. Just leave.
So, I did.
This chapter is dedicated to KelseyCheney, who catches my horrible fat-fingered

typos.
Translations
Konechno= Of course
Poka= Bye
*****
Please don't forget to comment and vote. I love hearing feedback!
Conversation Starter: Now that she's left the house for the day, were do you think
she'll go?
Pronuciation: Zara= Zahr (rhymes with car) - uh. Zahr-uh.
Chapter 2--Vadik [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"I don't trust easily, so when I tell you, I trust you. Don't make me
regret it." --Anonymous
_______________________________________
"That's all you do! Ever since Mom di--"
Slap!
I gently reached up and prodded my cheek. It stung a little.
Definitely a bruise. How do I get to explain this one?
I sighed and stared down at the water below me, trying to make out the color of my
cheek through the ripples. I was at the river, where my feet carried me from my
encounter with my father. I had no clue how I ended up there. I guess I wasn't
thinking clearly and went wherever I was most comfortable.
Which, apparently, was at the water.
My more pleasant memories of the town had happened at the river. The memories
themselves mostly involved me and Joshua pranking people. Shocked faces of the
Watsons--who were the town doctors--and Margaret Carter--the only person who I
could halfway call my friend--circled around in small waves of the water. Jokes
gone awry, embarrassing asking-outs, everything that I laughed at had happened at
the banks of the river.
With Joshua.
Needless to say, being at the water wasn't helping me calm down very much.
My stomach growled, roaring so loudly that I could be mistaken for a lion or bear
of some kind.
Shush, stomach. You've been hungry before.
And the saddest thing was that my thought was completely true.
After we had left the Upper Kingdom, my father, brother, and I had to find food and
a home. We had gone hungry for weeks, eating the few things that we knew were safe,
like berries and sticks. When we finally found a house that we could live in, I
immediately had to start working somewhere to pay for everything that we needed.
That was when I was eight.
The baker had kindly allowed me and Joshua to come in on the weekends and work for
him. Joshua found a job a year later and registered for the yearly draft. He told
me once I asked that all he had to do was to scribble his name down on a slip of
paper and place it in a large bowl. He said that the king would draw names from it
whenever someone was needed, and the people who were drawn had to go to war.
"It's just one name in a bowl full of thousands, Zara. What are the odds that it'll
be me?"
The odds were never in our favor.
Stop thinking, girl.
I tuned myself out before my thoughts overwhelmed me and sat at the edge of the
river, feeling the water slosh up at my feet. The rays of the sunset reflected off
the surface, making the water catch the colors of the sun. A rare-in-the-spring
cool breeze blew, rustling the leaves of the trees around me.
How have I missed this?
"It's so beautiful," I whispered to no one.
My days would normally start out with me coming to the river to bathe and wash the
few pieces of clothing my father and I owned. There was never anyone down at the
banks in the morning; they were always sleeping. Of all the times I had come down
at sunrise, I had never seen the sun actually rise. I was always too caught up in
my work. Watching the sun set was an even bigger rarity.
The corners of my mouth twitched up into a smile. I let it spread.
"Ono prekrasno, nyet?"
A colorful word flew out of my mouth as I scrambled to my feet. My heart pounded in

my chest as I glared at the person who disturbed me.
A man stood about ten feet behind me, at the edge of the trees, staring up at the
sky. His mouth curved up a bit on one side, no doubt trying to hide a snicker at
the word I blurted.
"Vadik," I breathed. "What are you doing here?"
He tore his attention away from the sky and back to me. His footsteps seemed to be
like small explosions in the quiet.
"It's going to rain," he stated, not answering my question. "The clouds are
gathering."
With that last sentence, he motioned up, pointing to a few black clouds that were
starting to form. He was right. There seemed to be more and more rain clouds
forming by the second.
"Fine, Vadik. But what are you doing here?"
"May I join you?"
I wonder if anyone will notice the sudden murder of a king's guard.
Vadik was already walking over before I nodded, not giving me a choice in the
matter. He sat, then patted the ground next to him, telling me to join him.
I sat down, trying to get the time spent with him out of the way as soon as
possible.
As different as we were, and as much as I pretended he didn't need to be there, I

was thankful. He'd been my friend for ten years, even since my family came to the
Lower Kingdom. Over time, we'd grown apart. Since he "worked" for the king as a
guard, he got extra bonuses. "Extra bonuses" as in getting time off, having his
pick of girls, seeing the king personally, all that junk.
There were times we disagreed and times we got along. Our paths crossed in
different ways, some good and some bad. He had his job, and I did things I had to
for survival.
"You never answered my question," he mumbled.
I stared. "What question?"
He crossed his arms like he had won something. "I said 'It's beautiful, no?'"
"Oh. I guess so, yes."
Satisfied by my measly answer, he brought his attention to the water.
I watched him. The last time we'd spoken, I was leaving a jail cell--one he put me
in. Only by sheer luck was I chosedn to be freed.
After that, and before, he was nothing but nice to me (a little demanding, but
nice). We tried to avoid each other, but still managed to be close. The last few
times I'd seen him, I was working and he was less-than-sober with a group of his
friends.
It was when they were around he was at his worst.
The people always asked why he chose to be a guard. I even wondered it. He was
easily in his mid-twenties, which was the age you'd have to be to be a guard. His
hair was dark, dark brown, so much that if you looked at it right, it was a deep
midnight black. His eyes were a beautiful blue-green color. He was strong. Tall.
A lot (haha, all) of the other girls in town would hang onto his arms when he came
galloping in on his horse like some kind of hero. They'd flutter their lashes at
him. They'd rub his shoulders. They'd flirt.
They'd look about as stupid as a human being could be.
All in all, the only reason I would even be outside when he came in was to get some
entertainment from the girls. It was funny.
Before I lost my father completely, he'd say Vadik looked like a noble. Sometimes,
I wondered that as well.
We sat in silence, watching the sun set. I could feel him glancing at me every few
seconds, and it was kind of starting to freak me out. I turned to him.
"So why are you here?" You never answered me. Answer me. Now.
He raised his eyebrows in amusement. "I'm waiting on you."
He said it so simply, I was taken aback. "You're waiting on me?" I was positive
that my mouth was dangling all the way down to my toes.
He laughed at the face I was making. He had a loud laugh and an even louder voice.
"Is that honestly so shocking?"
"I guess not," I mumbled, still surprised. "I'm just not used to having somebody
wait."
That's a new one.
"I miss this. How we used to do this." Vadik crossed his arms over his chest as if
he was hugging himself. With a bitter laugh, he added. "What's happened to us?"
I missed it too.
"Life happened."
I got up. We had sat through the whole sunset together, and it had quickly become
dark. It seemed to be a combination of 'it's dark' dark and It's-going-to-rain-
really-hard dark.
Besides, the conversation had taken a turn for the awkward.
He stood up next to me. "You want me to walk you to your work?" he asked. It was an
honest question. As I opened my mouth to reply, the sky lit up as a flash of
lightning arced through it. I swallowed the sneer I was going to give him and
smiled quickly, my eyes wide, nodding my head furiously.
"Yep."
*****
A jug slammed down in front of me. "Another!" the man shouted.
Honestly. It's his fifth one, does he really need more?

As I was supplying the man with his wish, I looked around the building. Vadik was
sitting at a table across the room, drinking with a few other guards. A few women
were prancing around near him, each striving to be the one who got noticed first. I
rolled my eyes.
Another guard walked in the door. I immediately started getting a glass ready for
him until he looked at me and shook his head. He scanned the poorly lit room for a
second, then found who he was looking for.
My attention was snapped away from the guard and back to the man in front of me as
he threw up. I closed my eyes, trying to stop myself from vomiting as well. I cast
a glare at the man's friends, who looked back at me sheepishly.
"Could you, maybe, take him outside before he does that again?" I asked forcefully.
It was time to get my inner "tough bartender" out.
They nodded. As they all stumbled out the door holding the big man up, I yelled
after them.
"Clean this up after you're done with him!" There was no way I was going to get
near touching the vomit that the man spewed across the floor. I moved over to
another section of the bar, my eyes searching the crowded place for the guy that
walked in before all of the excitement. I finally spotted him, leaning down next to
Vadik, whispering something to him. They both looked up at me.
Okay, then. Not inconspicuous at all.
After the man finished speaking to Vadik, he left, nodding goodbye to me as I

watched him warily.
Someone shouted my name. Well, they didn't really shout my name, but they did say
the equivalent of it in the bar.
"Hey, girl!" I sighed, serving another beer to the smelly, bearded guy who had just
got up in my face.
"No, no, no, sweetie. That's not what I wanted." The man's gruff voice tried to
sound suave, but it did the exact opposite.
I recoiled. Ugh. This guy has no idea what the word 'space' means.
"It's what you're getting though," I spoke as calmly as I could through clenched
teeth.
Don't hit him.
He grabbed my arm, his calloused hands scratching at my skin. "No, I think I'll be
getting exactly what I want tonight."
My breath sped up involuntarily. His rough hand tightened around my wrist. A vision
of a man in a black mask popped up in my head. Panic felt like it attacked me at
once.
This can't be happening. Not again.
"Let go of the girl, buddy," a deep voice boomed. Vadik. A sigh of relief escaped
my lips as the man sized my rescuer up, then let go of me, mumbling something under
his breath about "stupid king's guards".
"Thanks," I squeaked, still shaken. "That guy was nasty."
He smiled. "No thanks is necessary, milady." He gave an unsteady bow. All my nerves
vanished as I held back a laugh.
Yep. He's a little drunk too.
He stood straight and stared at me. "Although..."
"What is it?" I questioned, hoping he wasn't going to say that he wanted more
drinks. Even if he had asked, I wouldn't have given them to him.
"What is your name?" he asked.
I looked at him like he had suddenly grown a set of antlers. "You know my name," I
said slowly, "it's Zara."
He grinned again, wobbling a little on his feet.
The women sitting at the table he was at were glaring daggers at me.
If looks could kill...
He followed my gaze, then frowned and shook his head. "I want to know your full
name, not just what everybody calls you."
"Why do you need to know?" I demanded. I hadn't been called by my full name since
my mother died, nor did I plan to start being called that again. My full name
brought back bad memories, and reliving those memories wasn't on my agenda.
"Just do."
I sighed in defeat. He wouldn't leave anytime soon or drop the name question. Then
an idea hit me in the head. I could fix that problem.
"If I tell you, will you go? Mr. Bigshot over there looks like he wants to start a
fight with you, and I'm not really in the mood to try and fix another of your bar
brawls." I was half-lying. The guy that Vadik had made let go of me glared evilly
at us as he talked to his buddies, but mostly, I just wanted Vadik to leave. As
soon as he goes, the rest of his rowdy crowd would leave too.
He nodded his head in agreement. I grabbed his arm and walked him to the door.
"It's Lizaveta Zara Tribeka." I spoke my name softly, trying not to hear it myself.
The one thing I didn't like talking about was my name.
He made a weird face momentarily after I told him. As soon as I opened my mouth to
ask why, he spoke.
"Thank you kindly, Lizaveta."
I cringed. "Call me that again, and you won't know what hit you. You call me Zara.
"
I gently shoved him outside into the pouring rain, grinning as I did. "Now shoo."
_______________________________________
Translations
*Ono prekrasno, nyet= It's beautiful, no?
*****
This chapter is dedicated to cleverwren, because without that teensy little

suggestion you made at the beginning of this book, then it wouldn't be written how
it is today.
*****
Please don't forget to comment and vote! Love to hear what everyone thinks!
Conversation starter: Why do you think Vadik wanted Zara's name?
Chapter 3--What Happens in the Woods [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"Into the woods, it's time to go, I hate to leave, I have to go."
--Into the Woods
_______________________________________
The half-lie I told Vadik worked to get his crowd out of the tavern. I had felt a
little guilty about making him leave, but only a little. I just hadn't wanted him
around. The only problem was, the man who had grabbed my arm earlier in the night
had noticed Vadik's absence and tried to do whatever to me again. In which I
proceeded to break his arm.
Yawning, I waved goodbye to Margaret, who worked with me. My shift had just
finished. The ground crunched against my feet, the only noise I could hear for
miles. Silence. I smiled inwardly. The sound of nothing was peaceful, calming even.
I didn't have to worry about being told to move, or even being polite and greeting
a neighbor as they walked by. With silence, I could hear what was going on around
me. This was the time of day I enjoyed the most.
I strolled a little bit further, headed toward the river again. The birds above my
head were singing, alerting everyone of the sun that was slowly rising over the
horizon.
Sitting down in the dirt, I leaned over to the water and put my hands in it. I let
the cool water run in between my fingers and circle my wrist, getting all the dirt
and grime off of my hands. As I sat back, I saw a bed of roses to my right, the
buds on each plant half open. I slowly got up and walked over to them, then bent
down and breathed in their scent. Although they were not my favorite flower, it was
still nice to smell something good after smelling beer and stinky people all night.
Something got my attention. Well, more like lack of something. The birds, which
were singing happily when I got to the river had become silent. Not the nice
silence. The creepy one, the one that makes all the hairs on the back of your neck
stand straight up. I got up quickly, my heart racing. I scanned the trees, trying
to find out what made them stop. I saw nothing. A split second decision crossed my
mind, and I turned and walked quickly into the trees, trying to keep my breaths
even. Instead of sleepy, like I had been a few seconds before, I was alert and
looking everywhere to see what made all the animals go quiet.
Pausing at a tree, I listened again. The birds had started back up. I let out a
sigh of relief.
You're just imagining things, Zara. Chill out. Now, home or river?
Home would mean a chance of seeing my father again.

River it is.
More like river it would be. As soon as my I started to walk to the water, a rough
something latched hold to my shoulder.
I jumped, scrambling to get as far away from whatever touched me as I could

possibly get. When I got a good distance away, I turned around. It was a guard from
the pub. How I hadn't heard his horse come up was beyond me. Still a little uneasy,
I took another step back.
"What do you want?"
It wasn't normal for a guard to patrol the forest for thieves. They normally stuck
to the middle of the lower kingdom where the few semi-wealthy people lived. The
king was far more interested in protecting them, not those who were barely able to
get along. The main difference was that they could pay their taxes.
The guard pulled out a roll of paper from a satchel hanging off the side of his
saddle. Opening the top end and then the bottom carefully, as though not to tear
the paper, he held it out in front of him and squinted his eyes to read it in the
morning light.
He spoke in a very loud, noble voice. "Lizaveta Zara Tribeka, you are now ordered
by his highness, King Regol, to be escorted to the palace on this date. There is a
matter concerning your family that he wishes to discuss with you. If you go against
this order, the guards have been informed to use as much force as needed."
I stood in my spot, confused. I hadn't done anything wrong. Well, unless you count
hitting a sicko wrong.
"Okay, number one, what guards? And number two..." I paused, then took off running
as fast as I could. My question of 'what guards' was answered quickly as one darted
out from behind a tree in front of me. I changed my direction and went to the left,
and there was another one blocking my path. I slowed my pace. I was surrounded.
"Zara, stop running," a voice spoke softly next to me. The guard I stood next to
was Vadik. Of course it was Vadik. This was why I didn't trust people easily. I
looked up at him, hurt.
"I take it that the bar was just a watching place? You needed my name for this?" I
pointed to the scroll the other guard carried.
He didn't meet my eyes. He stood firmly on the ground, all illusions of

intoxication gone.
He was never drunk. It was all an act.

I looked back at the guard that read the scroll. "What do you want with me?" While
I was trying to appear calm, my voice betrayed me. I heard anger and fear laced
through it. "I haven't done anything wrong. Why do you need me?"
When he didn't answer, I looked back to Vadik. His face was a blank slate, devoid
of emotion.
What should I have expected? He is only doing his job.
"Lizaveta--"
I cut the guard who read the order off before he can finish."No. I'm not coming." I
paused, then added as an afterthought, "My name is Zara."
I began to walk away, leaving the guards all in a circle. I think I must have
surprised a few of them. They must not be told 'no' very often. Then someone
shouted four words that I never thought I'd hear again.
"We have your brother!"
---------------------------------------------------------
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Conversation Starter: Do they really have Zara's brother?
Chapter 4--The King's Castle (part one) [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"Into the woods--it's time, and so I must begin my journey." --Into the
Woods
_______________________________________
"We have your brother!"
Four words. Four words was all it took to freeze me, to make me stop everything
that I was doing and forget everything that I was going to do.
I felt my face pale, my heart felt like it stopped, then started back up again
twenty times the speed it was going. I needed to cry in relief--no, I needed to
kill all of the guards after forcing them to tell me where Joshua was, and why the
king had him. Numbness spread, my fingertips were tingling as I turned around to
face the one who spoke.
"You're lying."
That's all my brain could comprehend to say right then. Joshua was dead. He was
killed after being forced to fight for the king. There was no reality where he
could be alive. There had been no letters from him; writing was something he
promised he would do, and there was no word from him for a year.
But I still hoped.
I wanted them to say that yes, they were lying, everything they had just told me
was a lie, and that this was some bad joke Vadik brought his buddies in on; after
all, I did tell him my name.
No answer came from the guards. They just sat on their horses and looked at me. My
face was wet. I was sobbing, but I refused to show them how much that hurt.
This time I screamed at them. "You're lying!"
If you truly believe that, you would have left by now.
One of the guards steered his horse over to Vadik and whispered something in his
ear, pointing up at the brightening sky. Vadik nodded. Gesturing for the others to
follow, he rode towards me.
He stopped his horse by my side and bent down. I resisted the urge to pull him off
the horse and hit him. Grabbing my shoulder, he mumbled softly, "If you don't come
willingly, we will have to force you."
Force me? They'll have to force me? That's laughable.
I looked at the person I thought that I trusted, then up at his horse. Making up
my mind wasn't difficult. I already knew my answer.
I already had a fairly good idea as to how everything was going to play out, too.
"Take me to Joshua."
*****
It had been a long time since I was in the Upper Kingdom. It was only a few miles
to the north of my village, but I'd never really wanted to come back to my old
home. The other reason was that the Upper Kingdom was made up of nobles only, so
anyone who had any money to their name.
Since I was born in the High Region, the place where the high ranking nobles
live, I was technically allowed to come and go as I pleased, but the part of the
kingdom that the guards and I rode through was normally sealed off to commoners. I
guess we were believed to be too dirty for the place.
"Why aren't we riding in the street?" I asked for the fifth time as a tree branch
caught in my hair. No answer. I sighed. The edge of the forest was about ten feet
away to my left. Why we weren't at least riding on the grass away from the trees
was beyond me.
I guess some people enjoy being hit in the face by tree branches.
We rode some more, and houses about the size of small mansions appeared where there
was nothing. When we reached an opening of emptiness, the guards slowly steered
their horses out of the forest and onto the street. The sun, which had been shining
brightly while we were behind the trees, was muted by dark clouds that had gathered
quickly above us.
I couldn't help but notice the fact that the people who used to bustle around in
the street were now looking at us suspiciously from behind their windows. We passed
house after house, all with the same response to us.
Lock the windows, closed the doors, and usher the children inside.
What's happened here?
With a lurch, we stopped at the gates which open only for those of higher nobility
than a knight. One of the guards dismounted from his horse and spoke to the
gatekeeper. They were far enough away that I couldn't catch what they were saying
to each other. The guard mounted his horse again and the gates gave a clunk. With a
screech of them grinding on the cobblestones, they opened slowly inward.
I felt my heart rate pick up as we passed the gates. The castle was directly in
front of me, but I knew what I'd see first. We rode for a minute more and then it
was there, my old home.
Except it wasn't my old home.
A glamorous building stood in place of where a pile of burned wood and rubble was
ten years before. The house that took over the spot was almost an exact replica of
my home; with its glass windows and wooden door, it was easily the prettiest house
on the street.
But instead of seeing what was there, I saw what had been. I could see blackened
sticks and sharp metal beams sticking up from where the foyer had been. Piles of
dust covered stones littered the ground. Vines and weeds were burnt to a crisp from
the flames that had refused to go out, even with the rain.
The worst part was where the master bedroom was at the house, I could still see a
scorched bit of land that looked like it would never grow back. I could still see
the broken and twisted outlines of the dead.
A fleeting image of three masked men standing in the flames, each holding a knife,
came to me as I tore my eyes away from the rebuilt destruction. Closing my eyes, I
took a deep breath, calming myself as well as erasing the image from my mind as we
crossed the drawbridge to enter the castle.
_______________________________________
Please vote and comment! I'd love to hear some feedback from you guys!
Discussion starter: Who do you think the masked men are?
Chapter 4.5--The King's Castle (part 2) [Inside the Beast's Castle]
The throne room was beautiful. Cream colored tiles, each with a black
diamond in the middle, covered up the floor. The walls were made up of stone and
what looked to be diamond pieces, because every time the light hit them they'd
sparkle, although windows as tall as I am covered most of the wall. Each window had
a deep crimson curtain for it, held back by a silver hook. A golden chandelier on
the ceiling, surrounded by tiles of the same crimson color, sparkled just perfectly
as the light bounced off of it. The throne looked to be the same color as the
curtains, with a golden trim around it.
Women, children, and men were standing up next to the throne. They all looked quite
silly to me: the men with their brightly colored capes and turned-up shoes, and the
women with their long, hoopy skirts that trailed one the floor. One of the children
ran past me giggling. It was a girl, the spitting image of one of the ladies
standing up at the throne. It suddenly occurred to me, if that fire had never
happened and I had grown up in the upper kingdom, I would have been that girl
running by, no cares in the world.
"Lizaveta Tribeka?"
I jumped, startled by the deep voice that called my full name. I didn't think about
my next sentence very hard, and I just responded, "Yeah?"
The person on the throne raised his eyebrows. I cringed. It was the king that just
spoke to me, who I had answered with a disrespecting 'yeah.'
Vadik, the only guard who was still in the room, elbowed me hard in my ribs.
"That's the king, Zara."
I turned to Vadik and smiled a sarcastic smile, picturing my elbow hitting him
square in his perfect nose. To his credit, he looked away.
Good. He deserved to be somewhat ashamed.
I looked back up at the king. He was no longer looking at me, but waving the extra
people in the room away, his ringed fingers catching the light of any and
everything.
"Lizaveta Tribeka," he began again after the people left, "do you know why you have
been called here?"
Do I know why I have been called here? Yeah, I know why. I just enjoy standing
around for no apparent reason.
Instead of saying what I was thinking, I answered his question the more polite
route. "All I know is that your guards told me to come for a matter concerning my
brother, Your Majesty," I added the title through gritted teeth, glaring directly
at Vadik as I spat those two words.
The king nodded and waved his index and middle finger around in the air, apparently
ordering for something to be done. He looked at me and smiled, his lips parting to
reveal a set of perfect white teeth. A moment later two guards come in, dragging a
person along with them.
The man was shackled, his wrists and ankles bound together by a chain, which was
then connected at the end. I was amazed that he didn't just slip through his
chains, considering that he looked to be all bones. His head was bent, and his hair
and beard were long and black, matted and stringy from his dirtiness.
He wore a green soldier uniform, torn and stained from fighting. When the two
guards let go of him, I half expected him to collapse to the floor, but he didn't.
He was stronger than he looked. One of the men handed him a wooden cane and he
leaned against it. It was only then that I realized that he had a fake leg strapped
on. It must have been new, considering that he still needed a walking stick for
balance.
The man looked up, and I took a step back. Although his body looked to be one of a
forty-year-old, his face, battered and tanned from the sun, was no more than
seventeen. His emerald green eyes locked onto mine and I gasped. That was not just
a random man that they brought out.
That's my brother.
"Joshua!" I shouted, running to him. As I reached him he dropped his cane and
steadied himself. I threw my arms around his neck as he wrapped his around mine.
"Zara." He said my name over and over again, rocking me back and forth every time
the word exited his lips. I didn't know how long we stood there, both overcome with
emotion, holding on to each other like we would never let go.
"You're alive." That sentence was all I could say.
He's alive. He's here.
Suddenly, Joshua was yanked backward, out of my arms.
"No, stop!" I screamed at the guards as they tore us apart. Another guard grabbed
my arm and dragged me to the stairs in front of the throne. I watched, helplessly,
as the two guards that brought Joshua in were taking him back again.
"Lizaveta."
The king stood up, walking down to me. He stopped, a good distance away. It was all
I could do to not scream at him. Why show me my brother only to yank him back
again?
"You are now aware that your brother is alive," he started. "If you do one small,
trivial task for me, I will see to it that he remains alive."
My eyes widened. "Are you threatening me?" Anger and disbelief swept through me. I
couldn't believe what was going on.
Is the king threatening my family?
King Regol shook his head. "Nyet, young Lizaveta. I am merely suggesting that you
do as you are told. You wouldn't want Joshua to end up on the battlefield again,
would you?"
He moved closer to me. His graying hair fell in front of his plump face, and his
eyes, which gleamed like sapphires, dared me to refuse.
"What would frighten his royal highness so much that he would threaten a family to
make a girl do his bidding?" I asked. All sense of self-preservation had flown out
the window as soon as he had made his suggestion.
The king frowned. He started to speak, but it was in the language that only the
people in the Upper Kingdom spoke. Jumbled of words flew out of his mouth in a
quick burst.
I thought a moment, translating. I hadn't used this language since I was eight.
Inwardly, I smiled. Apparently, I had flustered him enough for him to forget all
formalities. The king stopped himself, glaring at me.
"Nyet, pojalusta prodalzhaityeah!" I called, surprising him.
No, please continue hurling insults at me that you believe I'm too stupid to
understand.
He took a deep breath, then he started up again in the language I used most
frequently, his thick accent more noticeable than ever.
"There is a monster in the far north who has taken a castle belonging to me. He
believes that I am sending a princess to him in order to get the castle back. I
have no daughters, only my son, but I have not told him so. I want you to go and
stay there, then I want you to kill him." He said it all in a rush of words.
He also wouldn't meet my eyes.
Something nagged at me. He's hiding something.
The king produced a knife from the folds of his clothes, small enough to be
concealed in a dress. "I will protect your brother and your father. There will be
no more drafters trying to take your father away, and your brother will no longer
have to fight in the war. They will be brought to the castle and treated like
royalty. You just need to do this small favor."
"And if I die? If this terrible 'beast' finds out I'm not who I say I am, what
happens?"
"Nothing. Your family will remain here as guests."
I breathed in. If I didn't take the offer, he would--without a doubt--sentence my

brother to death, along with my father. Slowly, I looked at the king and nodded,
reaching for the knife. As I was escorted out, I stopped and turned.
"Just one more thing," I called as an afterthought.
It looked like it took all of the king's self-control to not roll his eyes. "Yes?"
"Make sure my father doesn't touch an alcoholic drink."
King Regol paused, then let out a mighty laugh.
"As you wish. Do svedenyeh, Lizaveta."

I nodded. "Goodbye, Your Highness."
__________________________
Translations:
*Nyet pojalusta prodalzhaityeah.= No, please continue
** Do svedenyeh, Lizaveta.= Goodbye, Lizaveta.

( do svedenyeh is a formal goodbye)
---------------------------------------------------------
This chapter is dedicated to GreggTheGrimReaper, because of his awesome comments

(which border on the line of insanity).
*****
Conversation starter: What do you think is going to happen if Zara gets to the
beast's castle?
Chapter 5--The Beast's Castle [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"Never dreamed that a home could be dark and cold."

_______________________________________
Reaching back, I scratched my shoulder fiercely. The dress they put me in was
itchy. When I first saw it, I was excited that I was going to be allowed to wear
something so delicate. It was crimson silk with a gold trim around the neckline,
sleeves, and waistline. The neckline sat just underneath my collarbone; the sleeves
were three-quartered and it had a high waistline. My hair was pinned up into a
messy bun, with several of my brown curls falling out. The only shoes they could
manage to get me to put on were flat ones matching the color of my dress.
I felt like I needed to roll around in mud or something because they bathed me. I
hadn't been that clean in years and had actually gotten used to the feel of dirt.
Nervously, I fingered my necklace. They wanted to take it away at first, but I
threatened to fight if they tried, so they decided I could keep it as long as I hid
it underneath my dress in the presence of the beast.
Suddenly, the carriage stopped. I tucked my necklace in and stuck my head out the
window.
"Are we there yet?" I asked. I was not very good at sitting still for a long time.
I had wanted to ride a horse up to the castle, but the king decided that I should
be escorted. It was probably so I wouldn't run away. The driver looked back at me
tiredly.
"No miss, we are not."
"Why have we stopped then?"
Worry was etched into the driver's face. He kept looking around frantically like he
was trying to find someone. Finally, I realized who he was looking for. The guard
that had come with us to show the way to the castle was missing. Catching the
driver's eye, I stepped out of the carriage and onto the muddy ground. The driver
stepped down from his horse. We both searched around the buggy, looking for the
guard that came along.
"When did you last see him?" I inquired. How can someone vanish so quickly?
"Only a few minutes ago, Miss." The driver's voice was quivering. His fear had
started to rub off on me. A shiver ran down my spine as I ran my eyes around the
area again, the trees blocking my view. In the distance, a wolf howled. The forest
suddenly appeared to grow much darker. I looked at the driver in alarm, making sure
he noticed it too. By the way his eyes had grown to the size of plates, I would say
yes.
"Let's get back on our way," I suggested.
He seemed more than happy to oblige. Then, as we walked to the carriage, the thing
that howled appeared out of the brush. My throat constricted in fear. In front of
me was the biggest wolf I had ever seen, if it could even called a wolf. Its black
eyes searched the driver and me hungrily, as if deciding on which of us to eat
first. Saliva came off of its pointy teeth as it opened its mouth and licked its
lips. The black tail on the thing swished back and forth, daring us to move first.
Very slowly, my hand moved to the dagger the king had given me, hidden in the folds
of my dress. I found its hilt and grasped it firmly, pulling it slowly from my
skirt.
"When I say so," I started whispering to the driver, "move very slowly toward the
carriage. I have a knife in my hand in case that thing pounces."
The driver didn't seem to catch my words. He stood very still, almost as if he was
paralyzed. I whispered to him again. Finally, he nodded, still not taking his eyes
off the wolf. At first, my plan of moving slowly worked perfectly. Then, I heard a
snap under my foot.
A twig. Of all things to step on, I stepped on a twig.
The wolf howled then came charging forward, directly toward us.
"Run!"
I didn't know who screamed that word. It may have been me, or it may have been the
both of us. The carriage was only a few feet away to begin with, but we were both
too stupid to get into it when the wolf showed up. The driver jumped onto his horse
as I scrambled into the carriagе. I didn't get a chance to close the door because a
big, clawed paw blocked me. My eyes grew wide. Somebody was screaming but I
couldn't tell who. The head of the wolf was in the space with me, snapping its
jaws, trying to bite whatever it could.
Then it yelped. Unconsciously, I had plunged my dagger into its neck. Warm blood
ran down my hand as I yanked the dagger out from its jaw.
The wolf was dead.
I stared at it in shock. I had never killed anything before. The dead animal was
pulled backward and I noticed the driver. His face was still very pale, and his
hands were visibly shaking.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm good." My voice shook. "Thank you Mr.--" suddenly I realized I didn't
know the driver's name. I looked at him apologetically. He grinned or did the
closest thing to a grin that he could.
"Camden. No mister to it, Miss."
"Thank you, Camden."
Camden smiled again. "No, Miss. Thank you."
*****
The rest of the ride to the castle was relatively painless. No more creatures
attacked us, but we also didn't stop again. Neither Camden nor I said anything
about the guard that had accompanied us, but we both assumed that he had been
killed by the wolf. I rode up front with Camden the rest of the way, helping guide
him the best I could. When we reached the edge of the forest, the horse jerked to a
stop.
"This is as far as I'm allowed to go, Miss."
My heart pounded in my chest as I looked at the castle in front of me. A wide

walkway paved with stones ran all the way to the drawbridge in a curvy line from
the entrance. I sucked in my breath.
Here goes nothing.
As I started to walk, I looked back at Camden as he left. A nod and a small wave
was our exchange of goodbyes.
I hope he gets back home alive. Then again, I don't think any other creatures will
attack him.
Panicked thoughts of what I'd do when I got inside the palace circled around in my
head as I approached the drawbridge.
King Regol said to kill the beast. What if I can't bring myself to take a life
again, even though the first one I took was a wild animal?
An unthought idea surfaced to the front of my mind. What if this beast kills me
first?
I couldn't imagine what the beast would look like. I guessed something horrible,
terrible, grotesque even. But what if he looked normal?
It would be hard to call him a beast then.
I reached the door. Steeling myself, I clenched my fist, then managed to knock on
the smooth, wooden surface. The door swung open with a loud creak. Tentatively, I
walked in.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" I called, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
I half expected for there to be some thunderous yell telling me to get out. Nothing
came. I looked around at my surroundings. There were stairs spiraling up to a
hallway on either side of the wall in front of me. A chair sat in the middle of the
wall. A small table was next to it, holding up a little vase. A dusty chandelier
hung in the middle of the ceiling. It was very dark in the room, like no light had
ever touched it.
Slowly, I walked forward and, speaking in the best "noble" voice I could muster, I
announced my presence. "I'm here for King Regol. I was told that I would meet
someone here. If no one shows up, I'm going to leave."
Probably not the best idea to say that I'd leave.
Suddenly, a voice growled from the darkness. I looked around frantically, waiting
for a four-legged monster to jump out. There was nobody to be seen. The voice
growled again, then spoke.
"Name?" It sounded deep, and had an undertone of a growl, like many animals getting
ready to fight each other.
I swallowed. "Zara."
There was a roar. I felt my breath catch. I was trembling, unable to stop myself.
"Full name?"
I thought for a moment before speaking. "Lizaveta Zara Tribeka." I couldn't help
but cringe while saying my first name.
"You are the daughter of the king?" a hint of doubt rang in his voice.
"No, sir," I whispered. "I am the daughter of a..."
Of a what? Drunkard? Peasant?
"Answer me!" he roared.
I jumped. "I am the daughter of a knight," I blurted frantically.
A tense silence followed my statement. Every ounce of me was wanting to see the
person--or creature-- that spoke, but I held back. Finally, I couldn't take it
anymore. "Where are you?"
Another earsplitting roar came from the darkness.
Oh, he didn't like that.
"Where I am is of no concern to you. Raul will take you to your room, where you
will stay until I summon you. Understood?"
A small, thin man with gray hair appeared next to me, making me jump sky high. I
guessed that this was the 'Raul' person that had just been mentioned.
"Hello, Miss," he drawled. I was unable to place his accent. His voice was almost
fragile sounding. He touched my arm, his calloused skin rough. "Come now, I'll show
you around."
I jerked out of his reach.

"Wait!" I yelled, addressing the voice. For some reason, I had gotten the sense
that he was leaving. "You know my name now. Shouldn't I also know yours?"
"You are either very brave or very stupid person, Lizaveta" A sentence like that
would normally be spoken in a joking manner, but the voice snarled when he said it.
"My name will not be shared. I have been called 'Master', 'Monster', 'Beast', and
many other names. Call me what you will."
With that, I heard a swish--like the swish of a cape--then nothing. I looked at

the-person-who-might-be-Raul. A small smile played on his lips, like he knew what
was going to happen all along.
A bit of annoyance hit me. Now I'm being laughed at.
"Shall we be going, Miss?"
A feeling of dread swooped over me, replacing the annoyance.
What on earth have I gotten myself into?
I gritted my teeth. This will all be over soon, assuming that I am 'summoned' by
then.
"I guess so, Raul."
_______________________________________
Raul is pronounced so that it rhymes with 'pal'. I was going to go with the
spelling of Raoul, but I realized that it was pronounced Rah-ool. I didn't want
everyone to think that Raul's name rhymed with 'Paul' either. So, yeah!
Please comment and vote. I love hearing feedback!
Discussion starter: Will Zara be able to kill the beast, or so you think she won't
be able to bring herself to try?
Chapter 6--An Inroduction [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"There's no escape for me, it wants my soul, it wants my heart."-- John

Cooper
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src="https://img.wattpad.com/d79125d5da5c092623b5cada78873f06aa7d590e/68747470733a2
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I don't know what I expected.
Maybe a sick and dying twenty-some-year-old. Maybe a healthy teen.
What I got was neither.
She was beautiful. A scrawny little thing, but beautiful. She walked into the
castle and stopped, her hands shaking in fear.
The king certainly made her up fancily.
She was probably just some poor soul that they grabbed off the street and forced to
do this. Her stance gave a lot of it away.
Why did I want this in the first place?
Silly. You wanted this for...amusement.
The girl opened and closed her mouth, convincing herself to say something. She was
terrified.
But she needs to be afraid.
Her brown curls were pinned up in a high bun with a few strands falling out,
framing her tanned face. She wore a crimson dress with gold trimming the edges that
her hands gripped unknowingly as she looked around, her dark green eyes wide and
searching the room. Her shoes were covered in mud, as if she walked through the
forest to get here.
Come to think of it, her whole dress was muddy. She must have been attacked
earlier.
My mind wandered to the vespers that roamed the area outside of my castle grounds.
Part of me hoped fervently that the girl wasn't harmed, but another part didn't
care.
I shouldn't worry about her. She is only here to seal a deal that the king and I
made. And end the--
I didn't even allow myself to finish the thought. A sly grin pulled at my lips.
Foolish king. The vespers are animals, not soldiers. He must have been very
frightened of being uprooted from his throne that he saw a whole army when he
looked at one.
I turned my attention back to the quivering girl standing in the room.
Time to have some fun.
"Name?" I said the word harshly, trying to scare her. She shivered. Good. She
should have been afraid.
"Zara."
She spoke softly. Zara. Another name surfaced to my lips, one I hadn't spoken in
years. Pain shot through my head like a stab. I roared, wanting to push it down. I
didn't wish to talk to the girl longer than I had to.
A small gasp came from her. I didn't even know if she knew she had gasped, it was
so tiny.
"Full name?" I didn't know why I cared. I saw her hesitate, thinking it through.
"Lizaveta Zara Tribeka."
The muscles in her face barely twitched when she said her first name. Not much, but
I noticed it.
Lizaveta. That's not a horrible name.
I felt myself relaxing. I was scared to know her name for some reason, afraid that
it would be the same as hers. An image of a smiling face of a laughing woman
surfaced to the top of my mind, but the memory wouldn't allow itself to be
recalled.
I focused on the girl again. A deep part of my mind decided to call her what she
said. Lizaveta.
No! I shook my head. I shouldn't call her anything but girl, and only that if I
must address her.
"You are the daughter of the king?" I growled. I wanted to see her reaction. The
curiosity of if she could keep her face straight was killing me.
The girl gulped. "No, sir. I am a..."
She fell silent. I waited for her answer. Nothing came.
"Answer me!" I roared.
She jumped. "I am the daughter of a knight."
Huh, I mused, surprised. She kept her nerves in.
Bravery is not lost on her.
She was silent, probably waiting for me to ask her more questions. I opened my
mouth to tell her where she would stay and who would answer to her.
"Where are you?" came blurted out from the girl. An urge to run over and snap her
mouth shut came over me.
Aggravation. Watch it, boy.
I closed my mouth and slowly, took a deep breath. I did not like to be interrupted.
Besides, she mustn't see me. Not yet.
"Where I am is of no concern to you. Raul will take you to your room where you will
stay until I summon you. Understood?" I hadn't meant to raise my voice again, but I
did anyway.
I saw her flinch. Then, she jumped as Raul suddenly appeared beside her, his name
having been called. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. As I turned to
leave the room, she spoke once more.
"Wait!"
It's as if she knew I was about to leave.
"You know my name now. Shouldn't I also know yours?"

Names. What is the big deal with names? Why does she--
I froze, hand on the doorway. The prickling sensation of the beginning of the
change came over me.
Why is this happening now? I willed it to stop, panicked. I let out a harsh laugh
and answered the girl's question as quickly as I could. I couldn't tell her who I
was.
Not then.
Head pounding, I left with a swish of my cloak.
Outside. I need outside. I can't turn in here.
I ran across the hall, clenching my jaws shut. That little bit of emotion hurt me.
Just one sliver.
I can't get near her. She'll die.
Die by my hand.
I threw away my cloak as I ran. I knew that the castle would fix the mess before
the girl got into the hallway. Every step I took was painful, jarring me as I held
back the creature wanting to burst from my chest.
I grasped the handle of the first door to the outside that I reached. Flinging it
open, I ran into the woods behind the castle and allowed myself to relax my hold on
the change.
Pain ripped through me, down my spine, and in my chest. I watched my claws grow
longer and dark fur protrude from my skin, turning me into a gigantic thing. I felt
my teeth sharpen in my mouth, biting my lips and drawing blood.
The repetitive pulsing in my head I had felt during the change faded. I looked down
into the shape that I had become.
I was a monster, like I told her to call me.
I am a monster.
---------------------------------------------------------
Like I said last chapter, a different POV( you know, it took me forever to realize
that POV meant point of view? *facepalm) How do you like it being from the beast's
perspective?
Noa
Please, remember to VOTE. I really love hearing from everybody, so comments are
greatly appreciated.
Discussion starter: Thoughts on the Beast?
Chapter 7-- The Piano [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between notes and
turn my back to loneliness."
_______________________________________
It was three days before I convinced myself to look around.
The first night, I barely could sleep. Although I was tired beyond belief, I hadn't
been able to find the courage to sleep. Raul assured me over and over that I was
completely safe, and after he made sure I was as comfortable as I could get he
left, saying only to call his name if I needed anything.
I would have believed him about the 'safe' part, but I was locked in my room at
night. I supposed that Raul locked the door, considering that I hadn't heard
anything of the...the beast.
Ugh.
I didn't want to call him that. It was too harsh, and the picture it brought to my
mind was of a huge creature with long claws and sharp teeth, waiting to rip my
throat out while I sleep.
Which could be the reason I hadn't slept that night.
On my second day in the castle, I tried the door in the morning to find it
unlocked. I deeply considered leaving my room to explore, but I decided to wait
until the next day.
Slowly, I glanced across the room from my bed. The door was closed, maybe locked
and maybe not. I was tired of sitting in the room that I was given. Not that I was
complaining or anything. It was beautiful. In the corner there was a large canopy
bed with pillows that felt like air, a desk next to that, then across the room
there was a dresser that held some very expensive clothes (that I was too scared of
messing up to try on), and a room with a tub in it that had a weird curved silver
thing hanging off it pointing inward.
The best part of the bedroom, despite all of its fancy trinkets, was the small
window that looked out over the front of the castle. Every morning, I had woken up
and stared out of it, admiring the outdoors, and breathing in the fresh air.
My stomach growled. I had been fed since I got to the castle--the people weren't
that bad-- but not yet that morning. I opened my mouth to call Raul, but thought
better of it.
I could go look around now, and if I'm caught then I could always say I was looking
for the kitchen. Technically, I was never forbidden to go around the castle, it was
just implied that I should wait in my room.
I got up from my crossed-legged position from my bed and tip-toed over to the door,
careful not to step on any floorboards that may creak. Bending down, I peeked from
the keyhole to the hallway outside.
Good. No one around.
Grasping the door handle, I let out a deep breath. Ever so slowly, I turned the
knob. I stepped out of my room, looking left and right in hopes that I wouldn't be
discovered. The staircases that were lining the walkway when I first entered palace
crossed my mind. My goal made up, I started to go to find the stairs.
*****
Finding the staircases wasn't that difficult. I just had to walk down the hallway
my room was on. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I glanced left, then
right. No one was in sight.
Good.
It wasn't being found by Raul that worried me the most, it was being found by the
master of the castle. I didn't want to come across him again, especially when I was
stretching the limits of his orders. Slowly, I tiptoed up the stairs.
When I reached the top, I stopped. Like downstairs, one hallway was on either side
of me. I could choose to go left or right. I thought a moment, trying to remember
the sound of what direction the Beast went when I first met him.
He went left, didn't he?
I went to the right, telling myself that I was going right because it was easier
that way. There was also another door to be opened to the left, and the right was
free of doors, so right it was. Not wanting to sneak through another door was also
a good incentive to go the opposite direction. I walked down the right hallway,
noticing that it got bigger with every turn. There were rooms on either side of me
and some of those rooms were huge, twice the size of my bedroom, and my bedroom was
twice the size of my old house.
I stopped walking. A room on the left of me was covered by a dark curtain. I

wouldn't have noticed there was even a room there, if not for the fact that the
curtain fluttered gently like it was being blown by wind. Curiosity got the best of
me. I looked down the hallway that seemed to continue past the point of no return.
The castle seemed to go on forever, never ending.
If I walk some more, I might get lost. Where I'm at seems like a good place to
stop.
I invisioned my way back, making sure I remembered how I got to the room. With my
decision made, I grasped the curtain and pulled it away from the gray, stone wall.
Behind it was a doorway that had been boarded up tightly, only missing the center
board.
Not even bothering to check if anyone occupied the room, I ducked in between the
wooden panels and opened the door. After a few steps, I stopped. It looked like a
tornado had landed in a small, concentrated area that just so happened to be
indoors. All of the objects in the room were shattered on the floor. A few
paintings of people still clung to the walls, but scratch marks marred the images
so badly I couldn't tell what was what.
A sharp pain hit my foot as I heard a crunch. I bent down. A small pocket picture
lay on the floor, old and worn from age. I tried to dust it off, but it wasn't dust
that was the problem. The picture had been scratched and torn at so much, it was
almost unrecognizable. Almost.
I brought it up to my face, trying to make out the images of the people in it.
Three people stood in the picture. A man posed in the middle, his arm around a
woman with a toddler in her arms. Their faces were scratched out.
I gently set the picture back where I found it on the floor and stood up. A large
object sat in the corner of the room, covered by a dirty white cloth. It looked to
be the only thing still standing from the rampage all around me. I began to go to
it, but something caught my attention first. A window, tiny and glass, covered in a
shredded gray curtain. A few rays of sunlight escaped from the curtain that failed
to block out the light completely and were dancing around the room. I pushed back
the curtain and a spray of dust popped up, causing me to sneeze.
I was absolutely positive that I blew out a rib in the process of trying to hold
the sneeze in so I wouldn't be heard. I grabbed the bottom of the window and pushed
it upwards. It went up easily and stuck in the perfect spot. I got onto my knees
and smiled with my eyes closed, the warm sunlight caressing my face. I didn't know
how long I sat there like that, feeling the sun, wishing to be outside.
Slowly, I opened my eyes. My plan on moving was utterly destroyed as I caught my
first glimpse of the castle grounds. Bushes that looked taller than I was were
placed so that they made a square. Inside the square, it looked like a maze, with
dirt and sticks sitting where a garden used to be at each corner. At the center of
it all was a fountain made from stone. It looked like there was an angel on top of
it, almost as if it were standing guard over the garden.
Outside of the maze, there were three small ponds. Two of them were at each corner
of the maze and one was in the middle, farther away than the others. All three of
them made a lopsided triangle. The sunlight glistened off the top of each pond,
making them sparkle like they were made of jewels instead of water.
Silently, I vowed to go down there one day. I would walk in the sunlight, tend to
the gardens in the maze, and at the end of the day, dip my feet in one of the
ponds. Deep in my mind, I was almost one-hundred percent sure that would never
happen.
I'll probably be killed here before I get a chance to go outside. But that can't
stop me from imagining.
Something wet fell down my cheek. I brushed it off, realizing it was a tear. I
didn't even know I was crying. I got up from my knees quickly. I must have been
there for an hour at the least, and I still hadn't found out what was underneath
that cloth.
Quietly, I closed the window and moved the curtain to how it was sitting before.
Being careful not to step on anything else, I moved to the object next to me. I
carefully removed the cloth covering it.
Underneath was a black thing, almost like a table, but it had a drop off from the
top. At this drop off, little white and black keys lined the platform, the black
keys up higher that the white and alternating between white and black. Every few
keys, the white doubled and the black started back up. Another small platform was
above the keys, like it would hold something there.
Suddenly, realization dawned on me. The thing in front of me was a pianina, like
the one my mother used to play years ago. There was a song she used to sing and
play for Joshua and me when we were children that I still remembered, although I
hadn't sung it in years.
Softly, I hummed the tune. Forgetting where I was and what I was doing, I touched
the keys of the instrument. An out of tune klang reached my ears. I didn't care. My
fingers moved on their own, finding the notes as I hummed, trying to remember the
song.
Suddenly, a noise jolted me out from my dream state. I quickly covered the pianina
up and left the room, jogging to get back to mine before someone found me. A small
bit of joy was in my heart as I ran, and when I got back to my room, I quietly sang
the words to the song under my breath as I remembered their meaning.
For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our joyful hymn of praise.
For the beauty of each hour

of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon, and stars of light;
sun and moon, and stars of light;
For the joy of ear and eye,

for the heart and mind's delight,
for the mystic harmony,
linking sense to sound and sight;
linking sense to sound and sight;
For the joy of human love,

brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild;
for all gentle thoughts and mild;
For thy church, that evermore

lifteth holy hands above,
offering up on every shore
her pure sacrifice of love;
her pure sacrifice of love;
For thyself, best Gift Divine,

to the world so freely given,
for that great, great love of thine,
peace on earth, and joy in heaven;
peace on earth, and joy in heaven;
Translations
Pianina= piano
_______________________________________
Zara's song is called For the Beauty of the Earth by Folliott Sandford
Pierpoint. The first version I heard of that song was an acoustic version sung
in church. The song to me was a beautiful song, so I decided to put it in this book
as something that could be sung again if I wanted it to be.
Noa
Please, remember to VOTE if you liked this chapter.
I also would love to hear what anyone thinks of this so far, so comments are
greatly appreciated too.
Discussion Starter: Do you think there's any significance in the song?
Chapter 8--Quick Decisions [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"A villain is just a victim whose story hasn't been told." --Chris
Colfer
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src="https://img.wattpad.com/744e59f2b3ec6f69a1008bc830863eb55ecc5246/68747470733a2
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Raul had been with me since he left the girl in her room. He helped me the best he
could after I changed to my normal self again.
Well, as normal as I was anyway.
The transformation that time was more painful than it had ever been. I had changed,
but the part of my mind that I always kept intact, the part that was me changed
with me.
I couldn't remember what I did when I was in the forest. All I knew was that I woke
up with blood on my hands. I had come back and didn't need to say a word to Raul,
he had already known what had happened.
There wasn't much he could do, though. Since I hadn't had anyone in the castle with
me for a long time, I forgot how to control my changing, seeing as I had no need to
control it.
"Anything else for you, Sir?"
I looked up at Raul. I was in my room, sitting on my bed. My mind went blank.
"Yeah, you could get rid of this stupid curse."
As soon as the words left my mouth, I wished I could take them back. That wasn't
fair. Raul's under the same enchantment I am, just with a few differences.
I watched his face fall, but within a second, he put up his usual bright mask.
I shook my head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."
Silence followed my sentence. My gaze drifted back down to my hands as a wave of

guilt washed over me. I had made the only person who could halfway stand to be
around me mad.
Why do I always do this? Why can't I learn to stop myself? Why can't--
A rough hand laid itself on the top of my head. I looked up, snapping myself out of
my thoughts. Raul stood over me, his creased face in a small smile--a true smile--
not the ones that he used when I was being horrible. I started to open my mouth to
say something, but he shook his head. I closed my eyes.
We stayed there, both knowing the unspoken words between us.
Sometimes forgiveness doesn't need words.
*****
I sat, carefully perched on a rafter as I watched her explore the room. I followed
her when she thought she sneaked from her room. Really, I had asked Raul to unlock
her door in the day, so if she felt even the slightest curiosity about where she
was, she could explore.
I didn't know why I had asked. It seemed like a waste of time, but when I had
thought of it, I liked the idea.
I suppose I still had that hope in me, that stupid sliver of hope. I should have
given that up a long time ago.
The girl bent down to the floor, picking up a small piece of glass. I quickly
realized what it was she was holding. Painful memories came flooding into my head,
memories of a woman holding a child, running for their lives.
Memories of an argument that turned into a fight.
Finally, the most painful memory of them all, one of a beautiful auburn-haired
woman in a white dress, laughing at a joke I had told.
The hour before everything had gone up in flames.
I gasped quietly. Oh, this hurts. I still remembered their names, even after so
many years of not allowing myself to think of them.
Rosalie and Henry Scott.
I touched the left side of my face gently, feeling the deepest scar that ran down
it. There was a time where someone would have touched it with more care, tenderness
even... even love.
I stopped myself. Those times of love and happiness are gone. Now it is just the
monster.
I drew my attention back to the girl. She had put down the picture and gone to the
window. Slowly, as if she was afraid, she opened it. I saw the tranquility sweep
over her face, almost as if she was hypnotized. The sun's rays blinded me for a few
minutes.
My eyes slowly adjusted to the light and I just sat and watched her. I never
thought one could be so happy just sitting in the sun, but the more I sat, the more
I realized her joy. It had been years since I allowed myself to see sunlight and
sky.
It had been years since I had changed views from the dark and dreariness of the
castle halls.
It had been years since I was able to stop thinking about the Beast.
I didn't know how long I had been sitting, but I saw her jump up and close the
window.
Panic washed over me. Did I make a noise? She can't see me--not now. Not without my
mask.
I started to move to the exit, trying to get off the perch I sat on, but then her
real reason for getting up was shown. In the corner, covered by a cloth, was the
old piano. I watched her move toward it, her movements slow and deliberate. I'd
never seen anyone so wary about what may or may not be under a cloth before. It was
actually quite amusing.
She yanked the cover off the instrument and gasped, then a smile lit up her face.
I tilted my head to the side. She must have seen one of these before.
When I had gotten it, having a piano was a rarity. Only the richer people in
kingdoms would have them.
Things change in two-hundred plus years.
The girl bent over the piano and started to play the out-of-tune instrument. The
first few notes she hit were cringe-worthy, but after a minute she got the hang of
it. The song she was playing was familiar. I couldn't quite pick it out the name
until she started to sing softly to it. I doubted she even realized what she was
doing. Then the words of her song reached my ears.
For the beauty of the earth,

for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
A woman's laughter filled the room.
Joy. It was a joke.
She was laughing at something funny, her smile was contagious. She sat on a bench
in front of a piano. It was nighttime, the vividness of her auburn hair was muted
by the lack of light. She wore her favorite dress, a white one with lace covering
the top.
"Play something, love."
The woman smiled softly, her dimples showing. Her green eyes sparkled in the
candlelight.
"What would you like me to play?"

Her voice was like a music box, soft and twinkling. A little noise came from the
corner. A child's hand came from behind the opening door, then a face. A little
boy, no older than three, waddled into the room. He had the woman's eyes and face,
but his hair was light blond.
"Mama? Are you going to play again?"
My wife smiled again, the love she felt towards our son obvious in her eyes.
She looked at me curiously. "What would you like to hear?"
The child answered for her. "For the Beauty of the Earth, Mama! Play that one!
Daddy loves that song, too."
The woman looked like she was going to reprimand the boy, but I spoke first.
"Now, Rosalie, it's alright. Henry Scott knows that's what I was going to say
anyway."
Rosalie's face softened as she nodded. She turned to her piano and played a
beautiful, flowing hymn that could never be played the same. Soon my son and I were
singing along to her music. When we stopped, a middle-aged man entered the room,
his graying hair slicked back and his gray eyes filled with worry.
"I'm sorry sir, I didn't want to disturb you, but the Duke is here."
I sighed, not wanting the moment to end. "Alright Raul, I'll be there in a second."
I stood, and the boy and his mother were suddenly gathered around me. Rosalie stood
up on her toes and kissed me gently.
"I love you, Rosalie"
"Love you too."
************************************
It was like a punch in the gut. I gasped, and my hand slipped on the rod I held.
Her voice.
I couldn't get her voice to go away. I felt the familiar pain of the change start
in my back.
No. I can't do that here, not now. A groan escaped me as I grabbed my ears. I
barely noticed that the piano had stopped playing.
I had to get down from the rafters. I moved quickly out from my spot, down to the
ground floor. Another wave of pain hit me, and I doubled over. My eyes squeezed
shut, trying to stop everything from rushing through.
I slammed my arm against the wall. The jolt that ran through me was barely
noticeable. It took all my willpower to stop another cry coming from my lips. I
just stayed there, in the middle of the hallway, hands cupped over my head,
scrunched down to the floor.
I didn't know how long I was there, but whatever I did to stop myself from changing
worked. Slowly, I unclasped my hands from my head and held one out. It was shaking,
but not horribly.
That room. That instrument. I know better than to do go there. It was stupid of me
to stay.
"Raul!"
I just spoke his name. I had something to do, planned later but then worked just as
well.
"Yes, sir?"
He appeared beside me, where only air was less than a second ago. A fleeting image
of him in the vision came up, but I didn't let it get very far.
My breath caught. I called him on instinct--a split second decision that I made for
him to do what I was about to ask.
Is this a good idea?
It doesn't matter.
"Tell the girl to dine with me tomorrow night. I want to meet her."
"Yes, sir."
It was time for her to leave.

I go back and I read this... *shakes head* First attempts, right? ߘ
Noa
Please, remember to vote if you liked this chapter. Comments are also appreciated.
I'd really like to know what could be fixed and what is fine.
Discussion Starter: What happened to Rosalie and Henry Scott?
Chapter 9--A Dinner [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"I've got a bad feeling about this." --Star Wars

_______________________________________
Terror surged through me. I stood in front of a large wooden table, the length of
it stretching almost from one end of the room to the other. I was going to meet the
monster. I wasn't ready for that yet; I still hadn't gotten my bearings in the
palace.
I slipped my hand in the small pocket of my dress, a pocket concealed by the many
folds of the skirt. A hard surface met my fingers. The knife I pocketed earlier was
still there. My heart jumped at the thought of killing somebody.
I wish I didn't have too. I wish I had refused the deal with the king.
Now, it is too late.
Unconsciously, I fiddled with my necklace. I saw Raul across the room. I looked at
him and mouthed "What now?"
He just shrugged.
Some help that is.
Raul's eyes widened when he saw my necklace out and he quickly dragged his fingers
across his throat, telling me to tuck it back in. I remembered his warning from
earlier in the day of not letting the master of the castle see it. Quickly, I
tucked it under my dress.
"Are you just going to stand there all night, or will you do yourself a favor and
sit down?"
I jumped, sucking in my breath. The voice seemed like it was coming from behind me.
Whirling around, I looked, but no one was there.
"Where are you?" I asked, my voice trembling.
I can't be afraid. I need to suck it up.
Deal with it, Zara.
The voice growled from the other side of the room. I turned again.
"Do not search for me. I'll show myself to you when I wish. Now sit," he demanded.
My heart pounded. "I'm fine standing, thank you." Sitting was the last thing on my
mind.
I'd rather face him standing up.
"That wasn't a question. Sit." Warning laced the speaker's words.
I grabbed the chair next to me, yanked it out, then sat, throwing both my arms in
the air as I did so.
Stubborn. Then again, so am I.
"I'm sitting now. Feel like coming out so I can see you?"
A noise that one might think was a chuckle came from behind me.
"So you do have some spunk to you."
I started to look, but a hand grabbed the back of my head, forcing me to keep
still.
If I could have thrown up my heart, I would've.
"Do not turn around." Then, added as an afterthought, "Close your eyes."
"Not planning on killing me, I hope." I was surprised at my nerve. A few minutes
before, I never would have spoken like that.
I guess the fear of death makes people do stupid things.
"No." The word was soft, as if trying to make my guard come down. I took a deep
breath, then very slowly my eyes closed. I heard a rustle and the hand moved from
the back of my head. A few clinks of metal followed, then the voice spoke again,
"You can open them."
My eyes fluttered open. I gasped, unable to believe what was in front of me. The
table, which originally had nothing on it but a black tablecloth, was filled with
plates piled high with food.
There is no way possible that this was done so quickly.
I tore my eyes from the food and found a shape sitting at the other end. The
candles that lit the dim space didn't give enough light to see everything, but I
could make out a definite shape of a man. He was the biggest man I've ever seen,
though. He wore black and a shadow seemed to unfold around him, the way his cloak
was positioned. Draped across his broad shoulders was an animal skin of a large
mammal, like a bear or a wolf. He almost seemed to swallow the chair he was sitting
in. Then, my eyes flicked up to his face.
His eyes looked black to me from where I was sitting, and his face almost stark
white. The bottom half of his face was covered by a silver mask with fangs that
made him look very much like the type of animal hanging across his shoulder.
The man turned his head to the side, his stringy blond hair falling from behind his
ear. "Eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"Let's not start off by lying to each other. You've been fed little these past few
days in comparison to your castle food, and for that, I apologize. You now have a
feast fit for your welcome. Now eat."
Castle food?
Does he think that I lived in the castle?
Honestly, the food I had gotten before was amazing. It was more food that I had
ever dreamed of having before to myself. I sighed a little, then took a plate and
piled some chicken and bread rolls onto it. I looked down at it sadly.
There was no way possible I can eat all of this.

I picked up a chicken leg and bit into it. After I chewed, I noticed he hadn't
gotten anything yet.
"Please don't tell me you're fattening me up for slaughter."
He shook his head. I put down my food.
"Why aren't you eating anything then?"
"It's pretty difficult to eat with a mask on, don't you think?" I heard the
annoyance in his voice, laced under a fake calmness.
I fell silent. I grabbed some more of the food and happily chewed on a bread roll.
When I couldn't eat anymore, I sat back.
"Where did all the food come from? The only other people I've seen in this castle
are you and Raul, no others. How is the castle taken care of?"
Silence followed my question. I could practically hear the gears turning in his
head, mulling over what to tell me.
"I have servants," was the simple answer, spoken shortly. I watched him get out of
his chair and start to come toward me, twirling his long cane in his hands. I
grasped the knife handle in my hand.
Let him get behind me. Just wait.
"Do you have any family?" he asked when he stood behind my seat.
Why should he care? I'm locked up here because of him.
That one question lit the match to my anger. "Don't talk about my family, " I said
curtly, pushing my chair backward. "Thank you for the meal. I'm going to my room."
"Sit. Back. Down."
I gulped and slowly sat back down in the chair.
He spoke again. "So, I wonder what you did for your family to hate you so much that
they sent you here. Or did you make a deal with the king?"
I was silent. Apparently, my silence answered his question.

He let out a mocking laugh. "Stupid girl. The king can give you nothing. Is there a
prince that you wish to marry? Money? Riches?"
I squeezed my eyes shut. Please don't talk about this. I don't want to get into
this conversation.
"I made a deal with the king. He offered me safety."
"But sent you here?" He laughed. "Some 'safety' deal."
I've got to do it. Oh, God, please forgive me.
"I'm sorry." I apologized, voice shaking.
I felt him pause behind me.
"For what?"
I turned to face him. My head came to the center of his chest.
Oh wow. This guy is huge.
I looked upward to his black mask, but was unable to make myself look into his
eyes. Guilt weighed down on me like a ton of bricks.
"For this."
And I reached up and drove my knife through his heart.
Please remember to VOTE. I'd love to know what everybody thinks, so comments are
Discussion Starter: Well, that looks like it's the end. Do you think it's that
easy?
Chapter 10--Well, That Worked Fabulously... [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go 'according to
plan.' Even if that plan is horrifying!" -- Joker
_______________________________________
I cringed as my knife plunged into the man's chest. I quickly let go of the handle
and closed my eyes, taking a big step back, not wanting to see him fall to the
floor. I waited, my back turned to him, to hear the pained sounds of the dying.
It never came.
"You held the knife wrong."
My eyes snapped open. I could feel myself start to shake more than I had already
been.
There's no way. I stabbed him through the heart, I'm sure of it. This guy is
dead.
But the fact that his feet were still firmly planted on the floor made me think
otherwise.
"You did better than most, though. Normally, people can't even get into the castle,
let alone stab me."
I couldn't stand it anymore. I looked up at his chest and the lower half of his
face. The knife was still stuck at the place where his heart should've been,
exactly where I had put it.
A large hand reached up and grabbed the hilt of the dagger, and a low groan
followed by the wet sound of metal slowly being pulled out of flesh followed. He
tilted his head and stared at the silver blade, then started fiddling with my knife
expertly, moving the blade between one finger and the next faster than I'd ever
seen. He stopped and held it in his monstrous hand. With the other hand, he pointed
to his fist.
"Hold it like this. Gives you more thrust and let you block easier."
I felt like I was going to be sick. The mark on his chest was completely healed;
the only evidence that I had stabbed him was a hole through his black shirt. My
breath came out quickly.
"Y-you should be dead," I stuttered softly. "That should have--"
"Killed me? Yeah, didn't work too well for you did it? I, however, have all the
ways I could gut you here and now running through my head, all at one time. It's a
bit troublesome, if you ask me."
I took a step back.
I need to get out, now.
Like an animal, he noticed my fear.
"You want your knife back?" he laughed.
That did it. In one motion, I swiped the dagger and started running as fast as I
possibly could toward the stairs. If I could find the door, I could get out. I
heard what sounded like laughter.
"I'll give you to the count of ten, girl!"
I've never heard anyone sound so joyous who is hunting someone down before.
It dimly occurred to me as I ran that I had absolutely no clue where I was going.
All I knew was that I had planned to find the 'out' door, but I really didn't know
where that was in comparison to where I was. I still heard the beast counting.
"Ten!"
He was after me. I grabbed the first door knob that I saw and turned it, yanking
the door open. As I slammed it behind me, I took in my surroundings. The only thing
I saw was a bed in the corner of the room, in the darkest place it could be. I ran
over and found a cubbyhole in between the bed and the wall that I could squeeze
into and duck down.
The door creaked open as soon as I managed to force myself into the corner.
"Now, you're not making this fun for me. Hide somewhere better next time."
I peeked under the bed. If I had too, I could probably crawl under it to get out. I
clutched the knife in my hand harder and tried to calm my breathing.
Silence.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
I swallowed, gathering my wits to look up from my corner.
"There you are, girl."
A large hand grabbed my arm. I screamed, thrashing my dagger toward the hand,
trying to get him off me. One of my random hits landed, and he growled, saying for
me to quit it over and over again.
I didn't listen.
Finally, he pinned my arms to my sides and forced me to look into his face. "Look
at me! Into my eyes, stupid! Do you honestly believe you can kill me?"
His hand grabbed my chin, forcing my head up. I tried to avert my eyes, but it was
too late. I shrank down as I stared into the dark eyes that I thought were black,
but really were deep, deep, blood red. He stared back at me with annoyance. The red
things suddenly darted down to my neck.
What does he--oh.
The chain of my silver necklace had come from underneath my dress.
"What is this?" His voice was no longer tame, if that's what it could have been
called it in the first place. It was swarming with rage. He reached a long finger
out to grab the chain.
I need to go. This isn't going to be good.
I struggled to free myself, but only managed to succeed in making his grip tighten
around my arm. I froze as my necklace was yanked out from under my dress.
"Where did you get this?"
The monster sounded calm now, alerting me to the danger I faced. He was like a dog.
The more he barked, the less worried I had to be.
But the growl, the growl is what kills you. The silence is a death sentence.
He looked at the cross in disgust, seeming like he would fling it away as soon as
he could.
I started,"It was a gift from my mot--"
"Lies!" he bellowed.
I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head away, my heart racing.
"Tell me the truth!"
I shook my head. I did tell him the truth. The noises he made were feral sounding,
like he had turned into the creature he was wearing.
Somehow, I managed to squeak out the words, "I did."
A deafening roar made me fall back. A rough hand seized me and the other shoved the
necklace back into my fist.
"You lie!"
I didn't know what to do. "I'm not lying! I'm telling you the truth!" Two tears
fell down my cheeks.
He still held onto my wrist, his grip flattening my arm to a pancake. An unsettling
calm came over the creature. Immediately, the iron clamp in my wrist vanished. I
stood for a second, the started to slowly back away toward the door.
"Get out. Get out. GET OUT!'
It started out quietly, but the more he spoke,the louder he got.
"LEAVE!"
He didn't have to tell me twice. I ran out of the room as fast as I could, somehow
managing to find the exit. I flung it open, not caring about grabbing the bags that
I brought with me, not caring about seeing if there was a horse I could take, not
caring about something for warmth, just wanting out. I didn't even bother to close
the door as I ran. The time it took me to get from the edge of the forest to the
castle was nothing as I barely paused to look back.
Another roar came from the castle. I turned again and made my way into the forest.
I don't know how much longer I went. When I couldn't take it anymore, I stopped at
a big oak tree, clutching my side.
Breathing would be a good thing to do.
I stood there, one had on the tree, doubled over, trying my best to catch my
breath. I hadn't run that hard and fast, well, ever. When I thought it was okay for
me to continue on, I let go of the tree and started to walk in a straight line. The
forest was dark, the trees were obscuring the light of the moon. An image of the
wolf crossed my mind. I felt into my pocket, but the dagger wasn't there, instead a
big hole occupied the spot.
Great.
I shuffled on the ground, looking for a stick. When I found one big enough, I
brought it with me. Maybe I could poke something's eyes out with it or something.
*****
My eyes snapped open, and I looked around, leaning against the tree I fell asleep
against. Through the dark trees and bushes, a small light was floating up and down.
"Hello?" I croaked. I had gotten sufficiently lost trying to get out. Maybe whoever
it was could help me. The light stopped moving and sat, hovering in midair like a
ghost.
"Hello, is anyone there? I'm lost; I need help." I mentally slapped myself. I
should have made sure that whatever or whoever it was wasn't going to try to kill
me. The breaking of sticks confirmed that whoever it was coming over. Three men
emerged from the brush, the one in the middle carrying the lantern I had seen
bobbing up and down.
" 'Ello Missay," the middle one said, his rough accent distorting his words. "Ye
said yer lost? Me an' my three buddies 'ere are too, if ya cain't tell."
A feeling of dread crept up my spine. I recognized that voice, although I couldn't

figure out from where. I got to my feet, ready to leave.
"No, sir. I'm not lost. I'm picking berries for my father. You must have heard
someone else." I flat-out lied to the men--although my lying skills needed some
work. Something didn't feel right.
"Well Missay, we could sure use some company 'round 'ere. Wanna 'elp us out?" The
biggest gestured for the two on each side to start moving. They both weretrying to
sneak their way up toward me.
I swallowed my fear and started to back away, walking as I called back, "I'm sorry,
not tonight."
The two men that the leader ordered to get near me grabbed my arm. I jumped and
tried to yank free, but it was no use. Their rough, calloused hands kept their
grip.
"See 'ere Missay, we cain't 'ave ya leavin'. When I say we need some company, we
need some company. Right, boys?" The other two shouted in agreement.
My eyes widened. I know where I've heard their voices before.
It was the night my mother died.
"No," I whispered. It couldn't be happening. My breathing came out ragged, pure

terror running through me. I knew what the men did, and could do. I needed to
leave, and fast, but the two lackeys held my arm too tightly.
The leader approached me, the stench of him filling my nostrils making me gag. He
slowly took my chin in his right hand and tilted my face upward. I now saw the
pitch black mask that covered his face, leaving only his beady, yellow eyes to
stare at. He brought his face closer to mine, grabbing my arms and forcing them to
my side. The other two let go of my wrists and looked on with amusement.
"Let's 'ave a little fun now, eh girly?"
Bile rose in my throat. Somehow, I managed to wriggle my hand free from his grasp.
My breaths heavy, I looked into his eyes and spat into his face.
"Let's not." With that, I balled my fingers into a fist and hit the man with all I
could, pounding on his stomach. He startled, surprised by my outburst.
It was enough.
His hand became let go, and I ran. I heard them shouting after me as I went, and
their feet were pounding on the forest floor as they gained on me. I pushed past
all the brambles on the ground and the tree branches that scratch my face and just
ran. I could, very literally, feel the breath of the leader against the back of my
neck. His fingers brushed against my skin, his attempt to grab me almost succeeded.
Then, I made the mistake of turning my head as I ran.
My foot slipped on the straw and dirt lining the forest and I fell on the ground,
hitting the back of my head on the forest floor. I cried out involuntarily as black
spots swarmed my vision. Vaguely, I felt rough hands pin me on my back as a weight
dropped on my stomach. My eyelids fluttering, I saw the leader of the gang on me,
his back wet with sweat and his shoulders heaving. He leaned down so that his head
was less than an inch away from my face, his breath like rotting fish.
"Gave us a little workout, eh missay? That's all right. Gives us more fun in the
end."
He backed off and took out something that shined in the moonlight.
That's a knife...
A bloodcurdling scream erupted from my throat.
And I'm just doing this now?
The man rolled his eyes and punched me straight in the gut, silencing me.
"Cain't be havin' any o' that now, hun." he whispered. "Now quiet down an' we'll be
having' a good ole ti--"
A roar came from the trees. The two other people were suddenly thrown backward away
from me and the leader. A creature was standing in their place, its back hunched
over and its claws coated in blood. The fur on it was long and dark, covering its
whole body. When it turned its head, the eyes were blood red. Snarling came from
the back of its throat and it glared at me as it grabbed the guy sitting on me.
"GO."
In that one word, I knew exactly who it was. The one who drove me out of the
castle.
The Beast.
The guy he was holding screamed and the beast threw him against the tree furthest
away, then looked at me again. Except that time, the almost human look in his eye
was gone, and it was replaced by pure animal. My hands and feet started moving
before I realized what I was doing. It snarled and moved to the leader again.
An ear-piercing scream echoed around me for a split second, then was cut off with a
wet sound. I stood up dizzily, still suffering from my first fall, and stumbled in
the other direction. The crunching of branches was uneven sounding as I went away,
trying to do exactly as he said.
"RUN!"
When I went to move my leg, I couldn't. Somehow, my ankle was wedged in between two
small rocks. Of course, I say small, but they were big enough.
The sounds of whatever was going on behind me stopped. A sniffing noise-- like a
giant dog--started up, getting closer and closer to me. My eyes widened.
Beast.
A mix of panic and adrenaline attacked me at once, and with a mighty tug, I yanked
my foot loose.
Only to lose my balance.
Unable to catch myself, I saw a rock hurling toward my face, then pain erupted in
the front of my head.
Then nothing.
This chapter is dedicated to _Theveilednight_ for being an awesome profile for dark
stories. Everyone should go check them out!
*****
I know, I know. Second cliffhanger in a row. I'm sorry.
Please remember to VOTE. I really like hearing from my readers, so comments are
Chapter 11--A Choice [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"You have to continuously make choices throughout your life. Whether it

is made consciously or unconsciously, by making a choice means that you have given
up on something. If you do not hold any regret to your choice, then it means you
have made the right decision." --My Little Monster
_______________________________________

I woke with a jolt. As I calmed
down, I tried to take in my surroundings. The stone wall I was sitting up against
was damp, like a water leak in the ceiling was hitting it. My arms were chained to
the wall at shoulder height. One small candle sat on a round disk at the ceiling,
giving off a flickering light that was only enough for me to see the room I was in.
A set of iron bars were in front of me, locking me in. I slowly remembered what
happened. I tucked my chin, looking for the chain of my mother's silver necklace
around my neck.
Nothing.
The only piece I had left of her was gone. I leaned my head against the wall, then
thought better of it as the knot I got from falling touched the hard surface. I
couldn't move my arms or my hands, but I would have touched the front part of my
head where I struck it to see how bad it was. I wrinkled my brow in and out, up and
down, to see it I could feel the spot, but I felt nothing. It was almost as if it
never happened.
"Hello?" I croaked. I coughed, trying to clear my throat. "Hello?" I tried again,

this time my voice was much clearer.
"There's no need to shout. I'm right here." A pair of crimson eyes peered at me
from the other side of my cell as the beast spoke in a low voice. I froze. In my
mind's eye, I saw what he did to the man in the forest.
"You lied to me."
Well, this conversation will go well.
I almost rolled my eyes, then thought better of it.
The beast narrowed his eyes, almost like he knew what I was thinking.
"You come in here with this infernal thing and try to kill me in my own home. I
should make you an example to all who try to do that again."
He pulled his fist out from underneath his cloak and opened it. In the candlelight,
I could just make out the shape of a cross.
I clenched my teeth. "I told you, that necklace belonged to my mother."
"Silence!" he bellowed through the bars, banging his fist against the wall.
I was seriously trying to get myself to back through the stone wall behind me to
get away.
His monstrous shape started pacing back and forth the small space he was in.
"I want you to leave tomorrow morning, and never return," he declared after he
finally stopped pacing. "If you come back here, I will kill you." He began to walk
out of the room, seemingly finished with me.
Relief flooded through me at first, then I remembered the king. "Wait!" I shouted
after him. "Wait!"
A masked face peered at me through the bars. "What?" he growled, silencing me.
I took a deep breath. "I can't leave," I said softly, the words paining me as I
spoke them. "My brother--the king will kill him."
The beast's eyes were cruel and unsympathetic. "Do you have any other family
members? A father, perhaps?"
"Yes."
"Then your brother will live through him. Every time you see your father, remember
your brother fondly."
I was shocked. When the disgust at the beast wore off and I could speak without
telling him off, I gave a mirthless laugh. "So my brother would be living through
the bottom of a beer glass?" Tears pricked at my eyes, threatening to spill out. I
wouldn't allow them too. I would not show him any more weakness than I already had.
The beast turned his back to me, lowering his head as he leaned against his cane. I
watched, surprised at what I saw. He looked uncomfortable. He turned around and
slowly opened the door to my cell. His feet thudded against the damp floor as he
made his way toward me. When he reached me, he leaned down so that his eyes were
even with mine.
"Did they hurt you?" His words almost sounded tender, as if he cared whether I was
harmed or not. I stared into his eyes, searching for laughter.
There was none.
I shook my head.
The beast gave the slightest nod of his head, as if he were saying 'good.' He
straightened himself, the top of his head almost touching the candleholder hanging
on the high ceiling. He stepped back, his arms folded up against his back like a
soldier at attention.
"If you won't leave, then you will be my servant. You will work from after the
first meal you eat until you eat your second. Call on Raul to find out what you
will be doing each day, and he will take you to the person you will be helping."
Somehow sadness and happiness came at the exact same time when he finished his
orders. Sadness because I wasn't free, and happiness because he wasn't going to
have me sent back home. I was a bit confused on the whole 'other servants' part,
though. The only people I had seen in the castle, besides myself, were Raul and
Beast.
I didn't speak, although the opening he had given me was obvious. I watched him
watch me, and we stayed like that for a minute or so. Finally, he moved his fingers
very slightly. The chains that held my arms against the wall came unbuckled and my
arms dropped to my sides. I looked around in wonder, trying to figure out what
happened.
"Come with me," he said as he stepped out of the room. I followed. He led me up a
set of stairs that goes to the first room that I had seen in the castle, the
ballroom. The door stayed open as I crossed the threshold, but as soon as I exited
it closed, blending into the wall so well I could barely even tell where it is.
The beast took me up the stairs and went in the opposite direction of the dining
room. We walked down the hallway, and I realized that this is the way to get to the
room with the pianina that I had found. He led me straight up to the room and
pointed to a door directly next to it.
"This is yours." He stepped aside so I could enter. The room itself was about
three-fourths the size my old one was. It still had its own washroom and a dresser
that took up half of a wall. My bed was on the left side of the room, next to the
dresser. Directly in front of my bed was a window, large enough that is seemed as
if the wall was made of glass. A light fixture of some sort hung in the middle of
the ceiling, catching the light from the candles that were on it. The room was
simple in comparison to the other.
I love it.
"I--" the Beast started to say something, then stopped himself.
I turned to look at him, tilting my head to the side.
He dug in the pocket of his shirt and found what he was looking for. Awkwardly, he
extended his hand and dropped a cool metal surface into my palm.
I looked down and grinned. The silver of the chain had some stain on it, but it was
the unmistakable cross that gave it away. My necklace. Suddenly, the hand which
dropped the chain into my palm grabbed my elbow, forcing my arm to stay still.
"They did hurt you. You lied."
He grabbed my sleeve and pulled it away from my wrist. A deep purple and green
splotch ran up and down my forearm. I looked at it calmly. It was the mark of a
hand, much too big to be from the gang in the forest.
I tilted my head up. "It wasn't from them," I answered coolly.

His eyes widened the slightest bit, then he dropped my arm. Turning away, I heard
his uneven footsteps as he walked down the hall away from me. Some deep part of me
wondered if he was hurt, but I dismissed it.
One moment he seemed like he could kill me then and there, and the next, he acted
like he was trying to be almost kind. I moved toward my bed and yawn, all
excitement draining away and leaving sleepiness in its place. The events of the
night resurfaced, and I saw the monster flinging the men into the air. I curled
into a ball, pulling the sheets up to my ears like a child. I wanted to block out
everything, all my thoughts about the monsters in the woods and this confusing
person who held me in the castle. I looked at my arm where the handprint-shaped
bruise was.
If he hates me like I think he does, why did he save me?
I closed my eyes, wanting sleep to come to stop my thoughts.
And so it did.
Please vote if you liked this chapter! Comments are also appreciated.
Discussion Starter: Do you think that the beast is more than he seems?
Chapter 12--First Day [Inside the Beast's Castle]

The bright light of the sun blinded
me as I woke up. I squinted, trying to cuddle into my bed more than I already was.
An image from the nightmare I was having convinced me to move. I sat up and closed
my eyes again, trying to escape the morning light.
Wait a minute. Light.
Like lightning, I shot out of my bed and ran over to the huge window that showed me
the outside world. Golden rays of light shone as the sun rose over the trees tops,
the light escaping through the the leaves on the trees that circle the castle
grounds. One of the small pools of water near the garden maze rippled like a fish
jumped out and sparkled light a precious gem. Very gently, I allowed my fingertips
to touch the cool glass. I had seen this part of the grounds before, but not in the
morning time. I slowly exhaled out, not realizing I had been holding my breath.
A knock on my door startled me. Raul's voice came from behind it.
"Miss? I brought you food."

I looked down at myself as I heard the creaking of the door handle.
"Wait a minute!" I yelled as I ran to my bed. The thin nightgown that covered me
was something I didn't really what to be seen in. I frantically threw the covers
over me as my door opened.
"I'm sorry, Miss. The master ordered me to come in when you were up."
He froze as he saw me in my bed. I sat down and shoved the covers up to my chin.
His wrinkled face turned a light shade of pink as he gently put my breakfast tray
on the few sheets I hadn't disturbed.
"I'll call Lia for you, Miss. She'll dress you."
"Wait," I started to protest, but he had already left my room.
I just need to know where my clothes are, not someone to dress me!
My door opened again, and a skinny girl with short blonde hair tiptoed in with a
green something draped over her shoulder. She looked around twelve or thirteen.
"Here you are, Miss." She spread out the green object, and I realized that what she
held was a dress. The whole thing was the same color as the grass outside until the
skirt, where a dark forest green formed a triangle in the front. The sleeves were
longer than short sleeves, but shorter than a three-quarter length.
"I can't wear that."
The words leaped off my tongue before I could stop them.
Lia looked disappointed. Pity washed over me, but before I could say anything, she
spoke.
"Master wants you to wear this, Miss."
Rage threatened to boil over me.
He wants me to wear something of his choosing like I'm a plaything?
Lia's blue eyes filled with tears. I must have looked like I was about to hurt her.
I calmed myself, then asked her softly,
"Could you please get me some pants and a shirt?"
"I'm sorry, Miss. He won't let me. He'll-" The young girls voice cracked and tears
poured out from her eyes. I slipped out of my bed and put my arms around the girl,
trying to calm her.
"Does he hurt you?" I asked, terrified of the answer.
Lia reeled back in horror, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Miss. I shouldn't have
said anything. I'll go get you your clothes now, Miss."
"Wait!" I shouted. She stopped at my door and turned toward me. This girl reminded
me of my friend's little sister from the village. Before she had to work with me at
the tavern, she and her sister could be seen around the town with their father. Her
sister would always jump around and laugh, trying to bump her father and her sister
over. I don't know what had happened to her after her family died. I had never even
found the courage to ask that question.
"Does he hurt you, Lia?" I asked softly, willing her to answer.
"No, Miss. He just doesn't like to be told no."
That's good. I was about to see how brave I could get
"He just yells at me most, Miss," she continued, "The master isn't really the
most..." she hunted for the right word, "forgiving of people, if you don't mind me
saying, Miss."
I smiled. "No, I don't mind you saying."
She turned to leave.
"Lia?" I asked.
"Yes, Miss?"
"I'll wear the dress today. You don't have to find me anything else."
I saw the relief in her eyes, but she still asked, "Are you sure, Miss?"
"I'm sure."
She started to come over to me, then I realized what she'd do."I can dress myself,"
I said, heat flaring across my cheeks. She nodded, then turned to leave.
"Lia?" I spoke once more.
"Yes, Miss?"
"Call me Zara. You don't have to be formal around me."
She smiled. "Yes, Miss."
I quietly laughed as she left the room.
Who knew I would find a friend here?
*****
"You are to work in the kitchen today, Miss," Raul's deep voice boomed at me as he
led me to the kitchens. "Suzanne will show you what to do." He finally stopped in
front of the door. Raul turned the knob and slowly pulled it open.
"She'll be with you momentarily, Miss."
I nodded and stepped over the threshold. The room would be dark except for the
window that allowed light in. Against the farthest wall, a metal box sat with
sparks flying around it. A table was in the center of the room, along with enough
knives to supply a small army with weapons. Wicker baskets holding fruit lined the
wall to my right, while another metal bar was pinned against the other wall with
meat hanging from some small clips.
The temperature at each different side of the room was amazing. Near the metal box,
the room felt hot like the hottest summer day, near the fruit wall was almost
spring-time-ish, and the wall with the meat was so cold that frost formed on the
wall. I stood awkwardly next to the table in the neutral temperature zone, waiting.
A thud echoed against the door and a hurried lady holding a basket bustled in.
" 'Ere I am, Missy! Sorry, it took me so long t' get 'ere. Go' caught up in me own
time, I suppose!"
The lady's accent was choppy and hard to understand at first. It took me a minute
to translate. She looked at me with impatience, her chubby arms crossed over her
wide chest.
"Get th' carrots for me, won' ya, sweetie?" The lady pointed to the second basket
on my right, the one where the supposed carrots were. I went over a dug in, trying
to find something that even resembled a carrot. Apples and peaches rolled in my way
every time I moved one away. A sweaty arm touched my shoulder and I looked up to
the woman standing over me.
"Yer lookin' in th' wrong basket, girl!" She let out a huge sigh and moved to the
basket next to me, her chubby fingers grabbing the carrots she was looking for. I
stood.
"Yeh know how to cook?" The only cooking I did was in the tavern, and that hardly
counted as cooking. Instead of going into detail, I just shook my head.
"Clean?"
"No."
"Cut?"
Finally, something I knew I could do.
"Yes," I said, nodding my head vigorously. Handling a knife is something I can do

well.
She passed me the carrots that she dug out of the basket and immediately started on
cleaning some of the meat. I slowly began cutting a carrot with the first knife I
could grab. Silence followed. When I couldn't stand it anymore, I spoke.
"Are you Suzanne?" I asked hesitantly.
"Th' one an' only," she replied, her gray eyes meeting mine. "Yer Lizave-"
"It's Zara," I interrupted.
"Yer Zara then, ain't ya?"
"Yes, ma'am."
A funny look crossed the woman's face as she shook her head, her black hair making
a wave around her head. "I ain't old enough to be a ma'am yet, sweetie. Jus' call
me Suzanne."
We exchanged smiles and dove back into the silence. A question started to form in
my head.
"Where are all of the other servants, Suzanne?
The few pots she was holding dropped out of her arms in a loud clatter. I sucked in
a breath, then helped her pick them up.
"Hold on a minute, sweetie. I need to check on th' soup for tonight." It seemed
like the first thing she could think to say. I stepped back obediently, and watched
her move the bowl she had placed on top of the metal box onto the table. She pulled
out two spoons and handed one to me. She quickly plunged her spoon into the soup
bowl, stirring it, then took some and tasted it. I did the same. Warm liquid ran
down my throat as I tasted all of the different spices in the soup, but something
wasn't right. Not with the flavor of the food, that tasted fine, but with the
number of spices. I only saw three, but I tasted many more.
"How did you get so many flavors in here? I mean, I'm not complaining or anything,
but there are three spices on the table and I taste much more than that."
Suzanne shrugged. "Things like tha' just happen 'round 'ere, I suppose. Yer
question earlier about th' servants," I looked up, focused completely on Suzanne.
"I can't explain it all to ye, but you can only see one of us at a time. We are all
here," she added, seeing my look of disbelief. "but forbidden to come out all at
once."
"Because of him?" I asked, not knowing what to call the beast around his servants.
"The Master? No, not completely because of him. He prefers to see us one at a time,
but he doesn't control how many people are out at once."
"Oh. What does control you, then?"
"I don't know, Missy. Whatever has us stuck 'ere, I suppose."
"Whatever has you stuck here?" I was alarmed.
They're prisoners?
Suzanne put her spoon down in exasperation. "No, I don't know why we're stuck. I
jus' know that we are. Now, stop asking questions, and help me again!"
I was surprised by her outburst. I went and took the spoon from her hand and
stirred until I couldn't stir anymore.
___________
Please vote if you liked this chapter. Comments are good too. You know, whatever
you feel like doing.
Discussion Starter: Why did Suzanne get upset at Zara's questions?
...my discussion starters need help, lol.
Chapter 12.5--First Day (part two) [Inside the Beast's Castle]
Some people are like clouds. Once they are gone, it's a beautiful day.
_______________________________________
By the time I looked up from my chores, it was at least noon. My stomach rumbled.
Suzanne looked at me in pity and nodded toward the finished food that we had
cooked.
"Have some."
I wasted no time grabbing a few things and piling it all onto a tray. As I left,
Suzanne grabbed my elbow.
"Miss, I know that you think that the master is at fault 'ere--that he punishes us
unfairly. Please don't think that of him. He wasn't always like 'ow he is now. At
one time, he was happy. He just needs as someone to remind him of that."
I looked at her sadly. "Why did he freak out when he saw my necklace, then? It's
just a chain with a cross, nothing special. And then, when I ran, why did he save
me? He's just confusing."
A small smile creased her face. "The necklace reminded him of someone from his
past. Who it reminded him of is something he should tell you for himself. Just give
him a chance, Zara. Please."
I turned to leave. I didn't know if I could do as she said or not.
I crept down up the stairs and down the hallway to my room, eating as I walked. I
was done working for the day, so I had time to go explore the castle. Instead of
finishing the rest of my food in my room though, I went to the door next to mine,
the place with the pianina. I silently shut the door behind me and grabbed the
small, flipped over table from the corner, then dragged it to the window. I placed
my food tray on top of it, then looked at the floor. The shards of glass, torn
pieces of cloth, and broken objects needed to be cleaned before someone-- namely
me--got something embedded in their foot.
I sighed, scanning the place for a broom. No such luck. Carefully getting onto my
hands and knees, I started to push everything to the corner with my hands. The
picture that I first saw when I came was face down on the floor, not where I left
it. I sat back on my knees and picked it up gently, dusting off the smooth outer
surface and studying it some more. Although the faces were scratched out beyond
recognition, I felt like I knew the people in the picture.
"They aren't going to start moving or anything special, you know."
A voice from the corner made me jump, a small squeak coming from my lips. Sitting
on the top of the piano was the Beast, one leg crossed over the other, tossing his
black cane from one pale hand to the other. His garnet eyes looked at me with a
mixture of annoyance and curiosity, as if I wasn't supposed to be in the room. The
fur cloak he wore fell onto the keys of the instrument he sat on, pushing them down
lightly. I stood quickly and he shook his head, some blonde clumps of his hair
swinging back and forth.
"Sit back down," he rumbled.
I kept standing, trying to figure out the best way to leave.
"Sit. Back. Down," he growled again, a hint of warning in his voice that time.
I gulped and found my seat on the floor where I was, not taking my eyes off him.
"Go back to what you were doing."
"Looking at the picture?" I asked.
A low growl emitted from his throat. "Moving everything to the wall. I find it
somewhat amusing."
I froze, my hand an inch from my pile. "You know, it would be a lot easier if I had
a broom." I couldn't stop the venom dripping off my words.
He shrugged "So it would be."
I sat back onto my heels and frowned. "Who were the people in the picture?" I
asked, not doing what he said.
I'm not cleaning with him watching.
"Start cleaning and I might tell you," came the answer.
"Get me a broom and I might start cleaning."
He tilted his head, watching me. I didn't move a muscle. I wasn't going to give him
the satisfaction of watching me squirm. He seemed to make a silent agreement with
himself, then reached behind the piano. When his arm appeared again, he held a
small wooden broom. He carefully got up, leaning heavily on his cane as he did, and
held out the broom. I took it.
"Are you hurt?" I didn't know why I thought that he couldn't be harmed. He shook
his head. I could tell that he was lying. He favored his right leg too much. He sat
back on the piano again.
"You said you would clean now."
I looked down and began to sweep the glass to a corner. I was almost done when I
looked up again.
"Who are the people in the picture?"
What could be a smile came over the Beast's face, although I couldn't tell. I could
only see his eyes.
"I said that I might tell you, not that I would."
I rolled my eyes and slammed the bottom of the broom into the floor. I was positive
that he was smiling now. I raised my eyebrows. Suddenly, his eyes turned solemn.
"Let me see it," he demanded, holding out his hand. I passed the picture over. More
than a minute passed as he held it, searching the painting for something.
When he finally spoke, sadness was evident in his voice. "They used to live here,
in the castle. They were the royal family, I suppose."
"You drove them out?" I accused before I could stop myself.
Pain registered in his eyes for a second, the left. "So what if I did?" he said,
standing up to his full height.
I straightened automatically. I kept silent, not letting my eyes wander from his.
"Then you're just as much as a monster than I thought you were," I spat. The next
thing I knew, he had me pinned against the wall, eyes flickering.
"Don't call me that. Not today," he growled in a low voice.
I swallowed."Then what do I call you?"

He let go of me and turned around. "I told you," he whispered.
"Then I'll call you nothing."
Multiple looks came over his face at once. Finally, he stopped back at the piano
and looked at me again.
"Then Nothing I will be."
The sentence that he said so casually hit me in the gut. It was something that
Joshua would say when we kidded around. Tears sprang to my eyes. I looked down and
noticed a thin trail of blood running to where the beast was standing. A dark
splotch had appeared below his kneecap.
"You are hurt!"
He looked down at his leg and mumbled something unintelligible. The black cape that
is under his fur one got pulled in front of it.
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not." I scooted closer, reaching for his pants leg. "Let me see."
"I'm fine," he repeated, moving away. Aggravation swallowed me. Why was he being so
hard headed?
"Let me help you!" I moved forward again, only for him to jump up and start to
leave. As he did, something hit me with enough force I fell back. To brace myself,
my arm went down.
In the middle of glass shards.
When I looked up again, the Beast was gone.
________________________
Chapter 13--To Sleep Brings Unwanted Dreams [Inside the Beast's Castle]

"Mama?"
Heat from the flames made waves come up from the ground. A few sparks flew around
like lightning bugs.
"Mama, where are you?"
I was in the entryway of the house, shouting for my mother. Father and Joshua were
outside. They got out when the men came in. I ran down the hall to my bedroom to
see if Mama was there, hiding in my favorite hiding place. My birthday present, a
silver necklace, bounced up and down on my chest as I ran.
I looked in my room, careful not to touch anything. Black clouds of smoke rose up
from the flames, making me choke.
"Ma-- mama? Where are you?"
A high-pitched scream filled my ears, and I ran to my parents' bedroom. Wood panels
started to fall down from the sides my house. Panic crossed my mind as I realized
that I need to leave. I couldn't leave without Mama, though. A stuffed lamb with
soft pink bows adorning its ears lied on the ground with flames engulfing it,
making it turn to ash. My favorite toy. Tears started creeping down my face. I ran
into my parents' room.
"Mama!" I started, but stopped quickly. There were five men in there with black
masks on, gathered around my parent's wooden bed. The smallest of them grabbed me
by my collar before I could flee.
"Looky here, boss. We got another one."
For some reason, I got stuck on that voice. It was so familiar.
The apparent boss poked his head up from the other side of the bed. His mask
crinkled, giving the illusion of a sick smile
"Girly, you shouldn't be in here. Don't you know not to go back into burning
buildings?"
He got up and slowly walked to me, flicking something in his hands as he did. A
dark stain ran down the front of his shirt. I coughed, choking on the flames.
A wet hand touched my cheek roughly. The man's face was close to mine, his yellow
eyes reflecting the fire behind me.
"Lemme go! I want my Mama!"
All the men laughed. The boss took out the thing he was playing with earlier and
flicked it some more. It was a small, foldable knife. Blood shone on the sides of
its silver surface. He held it menacingly in front of my face. I tried to move
back, but I was held in place by the guy who grabbed me.
"Should we let her see her mama, boys?" the man shouted. An off-sync chorus of
'yeah's' responded. Two of the masked men smacked their hands together.
The bigger man grabbed my hand, hard. He pulled me to the other side of the bed. A
heap of something lied on the floor, sprawled out in a shape that is not humanly
possible. Its brown eyes were open and staring into oblivion with a glazed over
look about them. Tendrils of brown stringy stuff fanned out from the round shape
that the eyes are on, clumped together by dried blood. Its clothing was half-way
torn off and covered with holes; the torn pieces wrapped in a ball under what would
be the things legs. Small, thin pits lined its stomach, with red liquid seeping
through the holes. The way the thing was bent it looked like a limp doll. A dark
red liquid pooled out from around it, making a misshapen circle. My eyes widened
when I figured out what it is.
It wasn't a what, or an it.
It was my mother.
*****
I woke up in a cold sweat, bunched underneath my covers. My breath caught and

caught again, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn't move. I needed to get up. I
found feeling in my arms and legs and bolted out of bed, running my hands through
my hair frantically, trying to calm myself. I bent down and put my head between my
knees, then straightened up again, then bent down. Every time I blinked I saw my
mother. Every move I made I saw her killers. I wasn't in control of my own body. I
moved around the room, needing to scream but unable to, needing to cry but having
no tears, needing to close my eyes but unwilling to. I couldn't even breath. I sat
on my bed and bury my head in my hands, then fell onto my back.
The game.
I counted to ten, then twenty, then thirty, breathing in and out on each number
like Joshua had said to do years ago. With each count in the thirties, I made an
image in my mind of things that calm me, then let it go as I breathed in or out.
With the last count, I summoned up my favorite picture that was in my old house-- a
picture of my mother with my father, smiling at each other lovingly.
Slowly, I let my breath out. I hadn't had a nightmare like that in a long time. I
touched my cheek and felt tears dripping down my chin. Instead of wiping them away
like usual, I let them fall. I sat on the edge of the bed quietly, counting. I was
trying to keep all of the images out of my head. When I'd counted a minute, sixty
times, I got up shakily and grabbed the candle on the desk next to my bed. It was
probably the middle of the night. I didn't trust myself to stay in my bed, and
although I wasn't tired, I was not completely sure that I wouldn't fall asleep if I
stayed. I fumbled for the candle, only being able to see by the small sliver of
moonlight that crept its way into the room.
When I got the candle lit, I slowly moved toward the door, careful to not make any
noise. I tried the door handle and found it locked. Frustration chewed at me as I
put the light down softly and searched my hair for a pin. When I found what I was
looking for, I carefully put the pin in the lock and turned, wriggling it around as
I did so. After a few minutes, I heard a satisfying clink of the door unlocking. I
quickly picked up my lantern and walked out. It suddenly occurred to me that I had
no idea where I wanted to go. The thought of the piano room crossed my mind, but it
also drove me away. I didn't need any more reminders of my mother than I already
had floating through my mind.
I turned to the left and trod directly down the hall and around the corner until I
came to a bigger door directly in front of me. It was shaped like a dome, with
rectangular divets cut into its aurelian surface. Two bronze lion heads each hold a
copper ring at the center of the entryway; both rings as high as my head. I grasped
the ring closest to me and pulled. A low creak resounded down the hallway, making
me freeze in my tracks. I listened, trying to hear the sound of anyone coming to
me. Nothing. Breathing in deeply, I pulled the door the rest of the way, leaving
myself enough room to slip through the narrow gap I left myself. I grabbed my pin I
used to pick the lock earlier and shoved it in between both doors, securing the
fact that I could get out of the room.
I picked up my candlestick again and held it up in front of my face, casting light

further into the room. A gasp escaped my lips. Bookshelves lined the burgundy
walls, book stacked on all of them from floor to ceiling. Deep green carpet covered
the floor, following the small set of stairs to a seating area with two velvet
chairs sitting next to each other and a crackling fireplace in front of them. The
ceiling was glass, so the moon's rays gave light to the library.
"You can see the stars," I whispered. The sky was speckled with stars, both big and
small, as far as I could see. I stood still in amazement, feet planted in the
middle of the room. Finally, the lure of the books dragged me out of my trance. I
walked over to the seating area and sat in one of the velvet chairs carefully,
scared that it would break. I sighed as I got comfortable. It was like a poofy
cloud.
"How are you supposed to get to the books on the top shelf," I wondered aloud to
myself. "Is there a ladder in here somewhere?"
No sooner than the words left my mouth, an oak ladder appeared at the bookshelves.
I glanced around to see if anyone was near me, but there was no one. A thought
dawned on me as I got up from the chair.
"A guide to the books in here would be nice too."
A soft flump resounded from the chair I had just gotten up from. I smiled and turn.
A large book with a wrinkled cover was laying on the seat. I quickly flipped
through the old, worn pages of the reference book to see what I could grab. The
'magic' section caught my eyes quickly, and I turned the pages to the start of the
chapter. Only three words took up the whole page.
Magicae Pro Tironibus
"Great," I whispered, exasperated.
I hope the whole book isn't in whatever language the title is in because if it is,
I'll be out of luck.
I saw the section that the book was in, then went to the ladder and moved it to the
right spot. I grasped the wooden sides firmly and started to climb, hoping that I
wouldn't fall. When I reached the top, I saw one lone book on the top shelf. I took
it down and climbed back down the ladder. When I reached the floor again, I moved
everything back to it's original starting positions and quietly opened the door. As
much as the thought of staying in the library appealed to me, I needed to get back
to my room in case somebody went looking for me.
I quietly closed the door and tiptoed down the hallway again, the dusty book in one
hand and my candle in the other. When I reached my door, I heard a low moan coming
from the room next to mine. I froze, my hand trembling over the small doorknob to
unlock my door. The moan came again, low and sad. I sighed, cracked open my door
enough to put Magicae Pro Tironibus inside the room, then left the door open just
enough that I could run in if I need to.
Another noise made me jump. It took a moment for me to realize what it was, but I
was shocked to hear it. The piano was playing softly, hitting enough notes for
someone to be playing it with one hand. I moved over to the closed door and found
the keyhole. Peeking through, I saw the Beast, his right hand carefully hitting
notes on the thing to make a song. The song had a haunting sound to it, like a
funeral march but a bit happier.
He played with his eyes closed, not looking at the keys. His shoulders heaved, but
I saw no tears, nothing to indicate sadness. Suddenly the song stopped. I watched
the Beast shudder and twitch as he brought his hands to his head. He cried out
in....pain? With labored breaths, he slowly staggered to the window, shakily
opening it when he got there. With a thud, he fell onto all fours against the wall.
Another cry followed but this time, a cry like a wounded animal who knew the next
few moments could be it's last. He encircled his head with his arms, like there was
a loud noise that he was trying to block out, and started to rock back and forth
against the wall, a black blob moving soundlessly in the darkness. One of his hands
made its way into the small sliver of moonlight. I couldn't help but gasp. The pale
hand had grown dark brown fur almost all over it, leaving only a few sections hair-
free. Long, yellow claws adorned the end of each finger, retracting and poking back
out erratically.
Immediately after I gasped, the Beast stopped moving. I wondered why briefly, but
then it hit me. He had heard my gasp. I held my breath, hoping he wouldn't move,
that he wouldn't come over to the door. My wish was not granted. He got up, back
facing me. My heart started pumping wildly in my chest. The thing that got up
wasn't the Beast who I had spoken to a few days before. The dark brown hair that
covered his hand now covered his entire body. The dark shirt that he wore was split
down the back, leaving a hunched back with the vertebrae stretched up against the
skin seeable. His blond, clumpy hair had changed to the brown stuff, and it now
hung to his shoulders like a mane. He seemed to have grown at least a footin all
directions, stretching his clothes tightly around his body. The new beast turned
around to face the door. The silver colored mask that made him look like a beast
was gone, and in place of it was a set of real canine teeth that poked their way
out of his mouth. The dark red eyes that belonged to the Beast latched onto mine.
"Run."
I didn't move, paralyzed in fear. A low growl emitted from the back of his throat.
"Run!"
This time I moved, scrambling to my feet and running backward at the same time to
do what the animal told me. A roar came from the beast, an animalistic roar that
told me that the eyes that recognized me wouldn't anymore. I slammed the door to my
room, fumbling around for the key to lock it. The sound of shattering glass stopped
me. I listened very carefully, then ducked down to look out the keyhole. There was
nothing. No noise, no beast. Another roar came, but this time from outside. I flew
over to the window and gently moved the curtains less that an inch away from the
glass, just enough that I could peek outside. A dark shape bounded into the forest,
chasing a wild animal. I let out a breath that I didn't realize I had been holding
as I stood there, watching to see if he would come back.
Nothing.
After a while, I shakily moved over to the book I took, then sat on my bed. I
opened it carefully and, with relief, found that it was written in a language I
could read. I slowly read over the words, but I couldn't stop the thoughts running
through my head.
What happened to him?
_______________________________________
Translations
magicae pro tironibus: magic for beginners
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Please vote, comment, add to reading lists, you know whatever feel like doing.
Discussion starter: What is Zara going to do with the book and what do you think
happened to the Beast? Had he always been like that or did something happen?
Chapter 14-- Magic Spells and Fake Monsters [Inside the Beast's Castle]
I smiled as the sunlight kissed my face as I lied down in the almost-

dead grass at the entrance to the garden maze. The book that I took from the
library was now being repurposed as a pillow for my head. Although it was not very
soft, it worked. I clasped my hands against my stomach and counted the clouds I
saw, giving each one a shape that they would eventually change out of.
A dog. A cat. A little duck.
I smiled again and closed my eyes, not thinking about anything. Something tickled
my nose. I open one eye slowly and see a black something on the end of my tanned
nose. The black thing rubbed its front legs together and flexed its wings.
"Eep!" I screeched, jumping up a swatting at my nose. "Cockroach! Cockroach!"
The one insect that I really, really don't like.
I shivered as I made sure that there were no more on me or around me, although I
honestly couldn't tell because my skin was crawling. I shuddered again and snatched
up my book, then headed straight for the middle of the maze. As many times as I had
studied it from my room, it took me no time to get to the center of it. I looked
around. The smiling baby angel at the top of the stone fountain was covered in moss
and grime, with thin cracks running down its arms and face. A small puddle of
rainwater was in the bottom of the round fountain, calling mosquitoes and other
insects to it. The roses that used to sit at one of the walls of the maze were now
no more than brown sticks, home to the spiderwebs that used two of the sticks to
hang across. Dead leaves and remnants of vines covered the walls of the maze,
securing the look of death that the garden gave off.
"What happened here?" I mumbled to no one. This place had once been beautiful, I
was sure of it. I carefully set the book down on the edge of the stone fountain and
opened it up to the page I was reading the night before, labeled Ut ea movere. I
closed my eyes and thought of what I would want to move. Something small. My eyes
snapped open and I bent down, searching underneath the fountain for a tiny pebble.
I felt like shouting 'victory' as I stood back up with a pebble in hand. I took it
and laid it smooth side down in my left hand. Then I glanced back down at the book.
It said to concentrate on the rock. Feeling incredibly stupid, I squinted my eyes
almost shut, staring only at the pebble lying in my hand.
"Kinisi," I mumbled the words, trying to make the pebble at least shake. Nothing
happened. "Kinisi!" I said louder.
Maybe the louder you get the better the spell works.
The pebble did absolutely nothing. I stood there, alternating yelling and mumbling
at the rock in my hand, trying to get it to move. When it felt like I had been
doing that for hours, I stopped
"This is how to make things move the easy way!" I screeched.
I turned and threw the pebble as hard as I could away. A pale hand caught it with a
smack.
"Kinisi," whispered the Beast, moving the rock into my palm.
I took a step back, heat spreading across my face. I locked onto the Beasts eyes
and didn't move.
"It's not how loud or soft you say the word. I can get away with being completely
silent and still move the rock. Think about where you want it to go, and while you
do that think the word."
His voice was quiet and he didn't want to meet my eyes. He held his head slightly
bowed so that his blonde strands of hair fell to the side of his face, framing it.
I didn't move, still holding the pebble.
He sighed in exasperation. "If you're going to steal books from my library and come
outside without permission, you might as well try the spell that I just told you
how to do instead of staring at me."
The corners of my mouth flicked up in a grin as I looked down at the stone in my

hand.
"Close your eyes," the Beast demanded. "It'll help the concentration."
I looked into his dark red eyes one more time, then closed mine slowly. "Now what?"
I asked, waiting for more instructions.
"With you, I'd whisper the word. Don't yell it, it won't work. While you whisper
though, imagine where you want it to go. You can try up and down, side to side,
around in a circle, whatever you like. Just concentrate on the rock and nothing
else." He was very patient, telling me how to do everything slowly and carefully.
An image of my father floated into my mind of when he was younger, trying to teach
Joshua how to ride a horse. He and the Beast sounded almost the exact same. I
calmed myself with three deep breaths then drew my focus back to the pebble. The
Beast's words echoed in my mind as I thought of where I wanted it to go. Up and
down seemed like a good idea for the first time trying.
"Kinisi."
The weight from my left hand disappeared immediately. My fingers on my right hand
were moving up and down involuntarily, telling the rock which way to go. I smiled
triumphantly. A slow clap caught my attention, making the pebble fall to the
ground. My smile faded.
"Can you do it again, but this time send it over to me?" the Beast asked. The way
he cocked his head to the side and barely squinted his eyes told me that he was
testing me. He didn't expect me to be able to do it. I prepared myself for a
comeback as I bent down to pick up the rock. A sharp rap on my head stopped me and
I stood up angrily.
"What was that for?" I questioned, turning the palms of my hands upward like I do
when I'm angry. The Beast walked back to his original standing spot. I rubbed the
back of my head.
"You just moved a pebble up and down in the air with your mind, and you want to
pick it up with your hands? Tell me how that makes sense," he retorted. He began to
circle his cane around in the air, changing the direction he circled it every few
seconds.
Rage built up inside of me at this man. How could one person be so aggravating? I
pictured the pebble flying directly into his face and didn't even have to say the
word to make it rise up from the ground. His eyes widened as he realized what was
about to come next. My pebble flew straight for his forehead and stopped, less that
a hairs width away from his skin. I didn't stop it though. His left hand was held
up in the air, the force of his (dare I say magic?) greater than mine.
"Good. Don't act on rage though. It gets you nowhere." He was unfazed as the rock
soared back to me.
He turned around to leave and I flicked the rock back, smacking the back of his
head as I mumbled, "Pridurok."
He froze and turned around slowly, as if in a challenge.
"What did you say?" He turned his head to the side again and alarm bells went off
in my head. The exchange we had when he was telling me how to use the magic was so
much like an exchange I would have with my brother that I had seen Joshua standing
there for a moment.
"Nothing," I squeaked out. He raised his eyebrows at me. I heard a low clink from
behind me and I wheeled around. A rock twice the size of my pebble was barely
touching my head in between my eyes.
"Good," he said. "If you were after a fight, let me tell you, I'd win."
"I'm sure you would." The rock was still hovering between my eyes as I thought of
some of the stray dirt from the ground, trying to get it to glance off the Beast's
shoulder. My distraction was enough to make him lose concentration on the object at
my head, and I scampered out the other side of the maze. A sound like a laugh came
from underneath his mask.
"I can move things bigger than rocks, girl."
I felt my feet start to come off the ground and I started to float into the center
of the maze again.
"I have a name, you know," I called back as I made about ten pebbles hit him in the
back. I ran right past him as he turned to stop the barrage of tiny missiles coming
at him.
"Ah, yes. Lizaveta, isn't it?"
He said it so casually it hurt. I stopped. "No. Not Lizaveta, Zara."
"Why don't you like Lizaveta, girl? It sounds fine to me." He shrugged his
shoulders and a splash of cold water hit me from behind, making me jump about a
foot in the air.
"Why don't you tell me your name? Once you tell me yours, then you can call my
whatever you want to call me," came my comeback as I took all the water he splashed
on me and fling it back toward his face, landing a perfect hit. Silence was my
answer to my question of his name.
"I see we both hit a nerve with our questions," he finally says, not throwing
anything back at me. Water dripped down his pale face from my hit. Both of our
shoulders rose and fell as we tried to catch our breath. He stood straight,
gripping his cane tightly and putting most of his body weight against it, like the
dark rod was the only thing keeping him upright.
"When you fight, remember to watch your opponents eyes. Those are the things that
can tell you when they give up or not, whereas their body language can lie to you."
With that, a swooping sensation came over me and I found myself lying on my back.
"Like that," he said again. "Read their eyes, not their actions."
I slowly crawled to my knees and stood up again, glaring at him. His eyes twinkled
in amusement, but his face was considerably whiter that before. A drop of sweat
fell from his forehead. He noticed my gaze and turned away.
"Is your arm okay?" The Beast's voice was soft, and he didn't meet my eyes.
I looked down at my arm that was cut by glass a few days before. It was already
almost healed.
"Yeah."
We both stayed silent. I was the first one to speak again.
"You know, I didn't technically steal the book from the library. There was nothing
that said for me to stay out, and no one has ever told me that I can't come outside
before. I'm not disobeying your rules."
He held up his hand. "You aren't exactly following the either, though. You found
loopholes."
He seemed to think for a moment, then spoke again. "As long as you do not leave the
castle grounds and come inside before sunset, I see no reason you couldn't be
outside." He looked at me almost kindly. Neither of us mentioned the book.
"What happened last night?" I finally mustered up my courage to ask the question
that had been bugging me. He debated for a moment, then spoke.
"From time to time, I--" he hunted for the right word, "turn. It's not willingly
and I-- I can't control it."
I looked at him curiously. "What triggers you turning?"
"Emotion," came the automatic answer. "It has to be strong emotion though, not just
a small bit. Normally it's associated with--" he shook his head and closed his
eyes, not finishing the sentence. I knew what he was going to say, though.
"A memory," I finished for him, softly. He opened his eyes and met mine, each
sharing a moment of understanding before he turned away.
"Wait!" I held out my hand and stepped forward a few steps, surprising myself. He
turned around and silently asked 'what'.
I took a shaky breath. "I know what I want to call you."
Why did I say that? I have no idea what I want to call him.
"Ah, yes. I am Nothing, correct?" Amusement was evident in the sound of his tone.
"I'm not calling you Nothing."
"Then you will call me Something, then."

"No!" I almost laughed at our ridiculous conversation. A name came to my mind. "I
want to call you--"
"Beast," he interrupted firmly. "It's only what's fitting." His eyes were cold,
staring me down, daring me to say no. I took the dare.
"No one deserves to be called a beast."
He halted and something clicked behind his eyes. "I do." His voice was low and sure
of his words, but I heard the sadness behind it.
"You aren't a beast. You're nowhere close to that."
He closed his eyes and gulped, slowing his breathing. When he opened them again,
they were like stone.
"But I am though. I am a beast." He walked up closer to me menacingly. "A monster,"

he continued, "who enjoys the pain of others. Snacks on weakness in humans and
enjoys it. I have gutted many people just for saying no to me." He moved up close
to me, his masked face looming in front of mine. "You, girl, are merely a tool for
me. A plaything. When I tire of you, I'll get rid of your pretty little face around
here." If his mouth wasn't covered by a mask, he would have been breathing on me.
As it was, he stood in front of me, moving like a snake trying to hypnotize its
prey. He grabbed my shoulder, hard. "I killed the family that used to live here,
just to get my own castle. Everybody loves a big house, right!"
A tear fell down my cheek. My heart was pounding a million miles an hour inside my
chest, screaming at me to run away.
"I am the monster lurking in your dreams, girl. Don't ever think I'm anything more
than that."
I looked at him with fury, torn out of my fear. "You may be the monster in someone
else's dreams, but not in mine. That's something you will never get the sick joy of
having. I will not be afraid of you." I was amazed at myself. While I said that I
wouldn't be afraid of the man in front of me, I didn't feel that way. I was
terrified.
He turned away and started to walk away from me quickly.
"Goodbye for today, Lizaveta," he spat at me as he left.
I fell to my knees when he vanished my vision and stayed like that, defeated.
He was wrong. He was no beast.
He is a monster.
_______________________________________
This chapter is dedicated to TheFaeFolk. They are a profile that recognizes high
fantasy stories. Go check them out!
*****
Translations: ut ea movera- how to move things
Pridurok- moron
Hi guys!
So what do you thing so far? How do you like Zara's attitude toward the beast? I'm
trying to do it so that she is okay with him being around when he's not being
horrible, but when he is being horrible she wants him to curl up and die in a hole.
(Wow. That was a bit on the mean side for the character, wasn't it...)
*shrugs*
What do you think about the fact that she can use magic?
P.s. Would you please be kind and orange-ify that star down at the bottom of your
screen? Or, you know, click it or whatever?
Thanks!
Chapter 15--Behind the Mask [Inside the Beast's Castle]
<img
src="https://img.wattpad.com/c9425be39f59affbf4ccff4e81b73fb687a17813/68747470733a2
746f7279496d6167652f796b383857484549694c58656e773d3d2d3236353232393335362e313439636
No one deserves to be called a beast.

Well, I proved that wrong.
I shook my head in disgust at myself.
Why on earth did I go off like that?
She was trying to help, and I lost it. That just wasn't like me, it was like a--a--
I froze, one foot in the air, panic starting to run through me as realization
struck.
"It was like a monster," I mumbled, petrified at the thought.
I started moving again, this time more briskly than before. It couldn't be
progressing this quickly. It couldn't. I had been stuck in the castle for so many
years I had lost track, and nothing had changed since that day.
Why now?
Because she can stop it.
I paused again, surprised at myself. I actually had allowed that thought to

surface, didn't I? Why did that happen?
Because it's true.
I gave a small laugh and pressed my thumb and forefinger against the bridge of my
nose. "Now I'm talking to myself. What next? Wait, no, don't answer that."
Great. I'm going nuts.
I leaned against the stone entrance- way I stopped under, trying to calm the nerves
I didn't know I had wound up. I looked down at my hand that held my cane and almost
laughed. It was shaking so much that the cane was bouncing up and down, very
lightly touching the gravel underneath me and then bounding back up like a nervous
grasshopper. I closed my eyes, trying to think of something that could calm me. The
magic. Teaching how to simply move a pebble. A smile pulled on my lips, pinching my
skin around the edges of mask.
I kept telling myself I didn't like that. I didn't like teaching again, I didn't
like our mini rock fight. I held back a chuckle. Pridurok. It's funny how no one
believes that another can speak their language. It took a lot of self-control to
not respond back to her with an insult in the same language she had spoken. The
flash of fear in her eyes when I turned around was priceless. I think the main
reason that it was so funny is because it wasn't all fear. It was playful.
The ground beneath me suddenly seemed to spin. My knees buckled under me and I slid
down the wall I had been leaning against. I weakly tried to thrust out my hand to
stop myself from falling, but it was too late. I tried to open my eyes, but my
eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. Sudden cold came over me and I shivered.
Stupid.
I knew what this was. The magic I used. I knew I'm not supposed to use as much as I
did that soon after a change like last night, but I did anyway. I let my head roll
to the side, unable to stop the sleep-trance that took me into memories.
************************************
"Go, Rosalie!"
I ran down the stairs in front of my wife and son, trying to get them away from the
battlefield as quickly as I could. I drew my sword from its scabbard and
immediately started clearing a path through all of the Duke's men. It was hard to
believe that only an hour ago I was in the piano room, listening to Rosalie play
music with Henry Scott. I winced every time my sword sliced someone, even though I
purposely aimed for their shoulder so I wouldn't kill them, just stop them. I
turned to look back at my wife. She held Henry Scott in one arm, and a pistol in
the other, firing at those who charged at her. A mini explosion went off and the
man that had charged at her fell to the ground, crying out in pain. I met her eyes
and shared a laugh. This was one of the reasons I loved her so much. A sharp
stabbing pain in my shoulder tore my attention away from Rosalie and to the person
in front of me.
"Go on, Rose," I called back to her.
I looked at her once more, taking in her auburn hair and green eyes one last time.
Then, I looked to the man in front of me--no, not man-- he was no more than
fifteen. The boy had sweat dripping from his brow; his dark hair was plastered to
his forehead like it was painted there. Every breath he took was labored from
fighting. I straightened to my full height and stared at the top of his head. Blood
glistened from the tip of the boy's sword. The man he was fighting before lied on
the ground with a pool of blood creeping out from underneath his neck, staining the
cobblestones a deep crimson. I turned to find Rosalie in the crowd, but the kid's
sword sliced at my leg.
"I would pay more attention to me, old prince," taunted the cocky voice. 
I turned my head and grinned, taking up the challenge.
"I wouldn't call me old, boy. I'm maybe, what, six years ahead of you?"
The boy stiffened at being called 'boy.' I laughed, only angering him further.
He straightened and stuck his nose in the air proudly. "Then I am no mere 'boy',
old man."
He thrusts his sword in front of himself, into the position of attention. I took my
ready position also.
"Are you sure you wish to do this?" I asked. I didn't want to hurt this child, but
I would if I must.
"Are you, Gramps?" The kid lunged first, and I nimbly stepped out of the way,
swinging my sword as I did, so that the flat end smacked him in the buttocks. The
kid looked at me with fury and lunged again. This time, I hit him in the shoulder.
I shook my head. "Compose yourself, kid. If you don't, you'll get yourself killed."
I stepped back and waited a moment for him to settle down. He took two deep breaths
while I scanned the fighting for Rosalie. Momentary panic gripped me when I
couldn't find her. A sting alerted me back to the boy.
"I suppose you're ready then, boy?"
The boy smiled, sure of himself.
"Oh yeah."
************************************
I sat on the floor, my arms and legs in shackles. A man in black robes paced back
and forth in front of me; the only sound heard in the room full of people is that
of his boots clunking on the stone floor. He stopped and leaned down over me, his
black hair falling in front of his face so that he had to push it back. His cold,
dark eyes stared into mine with hatred. I glared back with equal emotion.
"Do you know why you are here?" he asked, as if I didn't.
I didn't look away. "Yes."
He crossed his arms in pride. "Then you admit to killing those in your castle."
I rolled my eyes. I didn't kill all of them, a few were already dead by the time I
got around to it.
"Yes," I admitted. I just wanted this over as soon as possible.
The man looked out to the court, gesturing to all of them with his hand.
"You see? The man admits to what he did."
The room started to buzz with excitement.
I smiled."Why don't you ask your Duke, good people, what he did? Are you that sure
that he is innocent?"
The room immediately quieted. The duke looked at me with so much rage that his
beard was shaking. I smirked, only angering him further. There was no way I would
get out of this unpunished. The duke came over to me and grabbed me underneath my
chin, hoisting my head up.
He whispered in a calm rage so no one else could hear us."You killed my son, you
ba--"
I cut him off, whispering back to him harshly. "You killed my wife and my two-year-
old child, Duke. Tell me, who should be sitting here right now?"
He sneered and let go of my chin, knowing what I said has a point. "Has the council
reached a verdict?"
An older man stood up and nodded. "His punishment will be Ferae Incarceratur. You
may begin it now, Sir." The man bowed deeply to the Duke.
The duke bowed back and walked up toward me, reaching underneath his black robe for
something. He took out a silver cross necklace and waved it in front of my face.
"You will always know my family tree, Prince. This will be passed down through
generations, always showing you me, the man who cursed you." He tucked the necklace
back under his robe and spoke loudly, still looking at me.
"Because of your transgressions against the state, I hereby punish you to a life of
torment. A life where you cannot die by your own hand, nor happily age to an old
man and die in your sleep. A life where you can feel nothing without consequence,
no anger, no fear, and no love."
He grabbed a small vial of liquid, opened it, then poured it onto my head.
Agonizing pain ripped through my body and I let out a scream, writhing in my seat.
It felt like fire running through my veins.
The Duke's face loomed in front of me. "I'll see you around, Beast."
"Sir?"
My eyes snapped open, taking in my surroundings. I looked around frantically to

find the voice that spoke.
"Sir?"
A hand gently rested itself on my shoulder. I flinched and jerk away, then calmed
myself as I realized who it was.
"Yes, Raul?" I tried to sound as unflustered as possible as I scanned the ground

for my cane. It was lying almost directly under my leg. I grabbed the smooth handle
and forced myself onto my knees, placing my hand against the stone column for
balance.
"Are you alright, Sir? It's been--" Raul glanced at the quickly darkening sky,
"you've been out here a while."
I stumbled to my feet, trying not to breathe heavily. My heart pumped quicker than
usual, trying to keep up with my huffs. I shook my head and growled softly. "Stupid
magic."
Raul smiled knowingly and grabbed my arm, slowly leading me back to the castle.
When we reached my room, he stopped before unlocking the door.
"I thought that you weren't going to use magic, Sir."
He said it like a statement, not a question.
I sighed. "I thought so too, but there's only a certain amount of time that someone
can yell a word so loud and so wrong."
Raul laughed, something that I hadn't seen him do in many, many years. I scowled at
him as he unlocked my door, but he couldn't tell.
"Help me get the mask off, will you?" It pinched my face so horribly I could barely
stand it. I hated the thing, but I had to wear it.
Raul obediently came over and I turned my back to him. The hair on the back of my
neck stood up as his nimble fingers unclasped the hook at the back of my head,
hidden underneath my hair. The heavy weight of the mask is lifted as it fell from
my face and onto my lap. I took a deep breath in, savoring the feel of cool air
instead of the warmness and almost-dampness that I had been breathing all day. I
took the mask by the strap and handed it to Raul. He immediately walked away and
placed it on my desk, where it always goes. I stood longer, waiting for Raul to
leave.
"Anything else, Sir?"
I shook my head, back still turned to Raul. "I think that's everything. Goodnight,
Raul."
He stopped at my door. It dawned on me why he stopped. I hadn't said goodnight in a

long time.
"Goodnight...my Prince."
I sat on my bed and absentmindedly ran my fingers over the deep scars that traveled
up and down my face.
My Prince.
I took the one thing that I swore never to look at--my golden, cross-shaped
necklace. I twirled the last gift from my wife in my fingers.
"Goodnight, Rose," I whispered sadly. "I--" a little voice in the back of my mind
screamed at me. Love? You can't love.
"I miss you."
_______________________________________
Please vote if you liked this chapter. Comments too.
Thanks!
Noa
Chapter 16-- Yellow Eyes [Inside the Beast's Castle]
Common sense is so rare, it should be classified as a superpower. --

Anonymous
_______________________________________

The dead rose bush and I were
having an all-out war.
I tugged at the bottom near its roots, trying to pull it from the place that it was
planted. I had decided the day before that I would clean the garden up some--
meaning that I wanted to try to get the plants in it actually living, not having
dead sticks in the ground.
"Umph!" The rosebush suddenly pulled free from the ground, and I wound up five feet
away from my starting point, sitting on my rump. I groaned and rubbed the spot. I
was going to be sore the next day, I knew it. As if that ever stopped me.
"Need help, Miss?"
I whirled around, brandishing the dead sticks like a sword at the person who spoke.
"Raul." I smiled at him and lowered the bush in my hand, shrugging.
Raul smirked. "Not planning on impaling me with that, I hope."
I laughed. "No, not you."
He moved over next to me and bent down to his knees at the dirt.
I was still standing. "You don't need to help, Raul. I'm fine doing this on my own.
He plunged his hands into the dirt and, with a soft ripping sound, pulled the
second bush up easily. I watched, astounded.
Raul smirked. "Are you sure, Miss?"
I closed my mouth, which had dropped open. "Um, never mind. I didn't say anything.
Help is good."
He laughed quietly. "Alright then."
We worked in silence so long I lost track of time. We yanked out the last of the
dead flowers and the weeds that had sprouted like beanstalks over time from the
section I started in, then moved down to the next corner of the maze and began all
over again.
"How has the magic been going?" Raul broke the silence, but I almost wished he
hadn't. The magic had been coming easily to me since the lesson--if it was even
called that--the Beast gave me. Even time I tried a new spell, I could get it down
within five minutes of learning the word. I could even think the words on a few
spells and get whatever is supposed to happen, to happen. It was just, since the
week before--when he finally snapped at me-- I hadn't wanted to think of the Beast.
I had successfully avoided seeing him or hearing him. Even Emilia, who had proven
time and again that she liked to talk whenever she could, failed to mention him. To
be honest, I thought I liked the castle more without the thought of a man that lost
his temper at every little thing being one of the two people I could talk to at a
time.
I sighed and answered Raul's question. "Very well. I am getting better at it." I
smiled, pleased with myself, although I didn't want to admit it. "I can move more
than pebbles now."
Raul sat back from leaning over the flowerbed. "Would you be willing to give an
example, Miss? I am fairly curious. Besides, if you don't mind me saying, it would
be much easier to use that than to do do this manually."
I thought it over, then nodded in consent. Holding my left arm in front of me, I
splayed my fingers out and chanted, "Pano."
The bush slowly rose up from the dirt, roots and all. It floated in the air for a
minute, then I dropped it to the ground, its dirt sprayed in all directions at the
impact. I caught my breath. I didn't realize I had been holding it.
Raul clapped his hands. "Very good, Miss. Very good. I can see why he is willing to
teach you."
I froze and turned to Raul quickly. "What?" I asked, confused at what he said. Or
partially terrified. One or the other.
Raul's face turned a slight shade of pink and his eyes flicked downward. "The
Master, Miss. He doesn't just show magic to anyone."
I looked at him, amazed. "You said 'willing.' What do you mean by that?"
"I mean what I say, Miss. He is willing to teach you magic. What he told you a week
ago was the fundamentals to each spell. It's just up to you to say the spell
correctly." He glanced at the rosebush that I pulled up and smiled at me. "And it's
very clear that you can figure out spells easily."
"How do you know that he's willing?" I was still unable to get over the fact that
he was willing to teach me.
"Because if the Master wasn't willing, then you wouldn't have just done what you
did."
I stared and shook my head as Raul moved to the next bush. We worked in silence the
rest of the time. I didn't want to use magic again. I would rather have felt the
dirt under my fingers and the small thorns on each bush poke my hand gently as I
pulled. I would rather move as slowly as I could in the autumn weather than as
quickly as I could.
When we finally finished with the bushes, golden rays from the sun were lowering
themselves to the ground. The sky was a multitude of dark colors, purple, pink,
red, orange. I smiled at the sunset, loving the look that it gave to everything
around me.
"Miss?"
It was all I could do to not roll my eyes as I turned to face Raul. "Yes?"
"It is time to go inside, Miss. Remember the Master's warning?"
I did remember it, but I chose not to act like I did. 'Go inside before sunset.'
Ugh. I would go inside before I saw the last rays of the sun, but not yet. This was
my favorite time of day.
I waved my hand dismissively. "I'll be in in just a minute." When I saw the alarmed
look on Raul's face I giggled. "I won't run away, I swear. I'll be with you in a
minute, you can go on."
Raul looked like he wanted to say something to counteract my statement, but he

turned around and walked into the castle instead. I waved after him, and as soon as
he disappeared, I ran out of the maze. I wasn't planning on running away, I just
wanted to get away from there for a while.
As I walked past one of the pools of water, a splishing sound caught my attention.
I turned and looked at the water carefully, inspecting to see what made the noise.
It was too loud to be a fish, but too soft to be an animal hopping into the pond.
The thing splished again, and this time, I saw a tail peek out from underneath the
water. Against my better judgement, I strolled towards it, trying to see what was
making the noise. The sun had set quicker than I thought it would. A few stray
sunbeams tried to escape from the hills of the horizon and the moon suddenly
appeared in the sky.
"Zara?"
There is no way.
I whirled around, my hand over my mouth in disbelief. "Joshua?"
Joshua smiled at me and stepped closer, opening his arms up for a hug. His green
eyes glistened with tears. He was happy to see me!
I ran to him and mumbled into his chest, "How did you get here?"
He pulled away and grinned again. "I just... found you, I guess. I'm here to take
you home."
Something in the back of my mind was nagging me, but I ignored it. "What about the
king? How did you get away, how did you convince him that I killed the Beast? I've
been gone too long to show up now."
Joshua shrugged "I just did. The king told me where to find you and to bring you
home." He smiled again, his teeth were blindingly white. Something about him made
me shiver. This was wrong.
"How's Baupa?" I whispered. I silently prayed for him to give me the right answer.
"Baupa's fine. He has been asking for you since the day you left."
My heart sank, and at the same time picked up speed. That, whatever it was, wasn't
Joshua. I didn't know who it was or what it was, but it wasn't him.
I smiled, trying to deceive it. "Um...I'll be with you in a minute. I need to get
something."
I turned on my heels and start to speed walk to the castle. A cold, damp hand
grasped my wrist. The thing that isn't Joshua smiled at me. Its eyes changed from
the green color of Joshua's, to yellow eyes that closed like a lizard.
"Come with me, Zara. We can go home."
A puff of air was blown into my face. I coughed and waved my hands around, trying
to get the sickly sweet smell to leave.
It grabbed my hand again. "Come with me."
Immediately, I relaxed.
What was I worried about before? I should be glad, happy that my brother has come
to take me from this place.
The thing led me to one of the ponds and started to walk in. I stopped at the edge,
uncertain.
It motioned for me to follow from waist deep in the pond."It's alright. You can
come."
I smiled widely and stepped in. The cold water lapped against my feet then legs as
I trod slowly in after it. I stopped next to him, looking expectedly into his eyes.
His eyes.
His yellow eyes.
Its eyes.
Shoot.
It grabbed my head and shoved me under the water before I could move. I struggled
against the creature's strength, trying to get up for air. Its arm slipped off me
and I broke free, then looked around to try to tell up from down in the murky
water. I swam upward and broke my head out, taking in a gasp of air.
I filled my lungs, then screamed. "Help!"
The thing pulled on my ankle, dragging my under again. Sharp twinges of pain
traveled up my legs and arms.
It's biting me!
I couldn't tell where it was, or how to get away. My lungs were bursting as it
dragged me further down away from the surface of the water, away from air. Red
filled the outer rim of my vision. I couldn't find the strength in me to struggle
anymore. I vaguely felt the bottom of my feet hit the floor of the pond, and the
thing pushed me onto my back before my eyes closed.
I can't breathe.
_______________________________________
Well, that went well...
Noa
Chapter 17--Do I, Don't I? [Inside the Beast's Castle]
I opened my eyelids slowly, telling myself that they weren't as heavy

as they felt. I squinted, being blinded by the bright light that shone on me. My
right hand rested on my stomach, while the other one laid on the bed I was in.
My bed.
A noise from the corner made me look up. I glanced around, looking at the broken
glass and scratched wallpaper that hadn't been there when I left. Then my eyes
landed on him. The Beast. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and he was
leaning against the door in a carefree manner.
He looked at me with uncaring eyes. "I take it you are awake."
Everything about that sentence told me to get away as fast as possible. It sounded
like claws on a windowpane.
I met his eyes. "Apparently I am." My voice was rough and cracked. I cleared my
throat, then repeated my sentence louder.
He uncrossed his arms and stood straight. "Good."
We looked at each other a few more seconds.
"I--" he starts.
"What--" I began at the same time. We both stopped, then he continued like I never
spoke.
"I believe that I told you to come in before sunset."
I bit my lip, wary of the answer I should give. "You did," I agreed slowly.
"Obviously, you didn't listen."
I raised my eyebrows and sat up carefully. "I did listen. The sun hadn't set yet
when I was outside."
"No!"
My hand bolted behind me. I was in the crawl-away-backwards-quickly position.
The Beast paced back and forth. I noticed his cane was gone.
"You disobeyed two of my direct orders. Two of them!"

I stared at him in disbelief. "What did I disobey? I was doing exactly what you
told me."
He growled. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up.
"You were not. You were outside past sundown. You also ventured outside of the
castle grounds!"
"When did I go outside the castle grounds? I was near the it at all times."
"When you entered the water, that's when."
My mouth dropped open. How dare he?
"I didn't enter the water on my own free will! What, you think I like drowning?
Maybe you should try it sometime. Does wonders for your life expectancy!"
Sarcasm dripped off every single one of my words. The Beast froze momentarily,
surprised at my outburst, then growled louder.
"You should know better than to speak to those who you believe to be 'rescuing'
you." When he spat out 'rescuing' he made air quotes with his fingers. "No one is
coming for you! You are stuck here for however long I wish."
Something inside me snapped. I felt rage boil up, feeling like it was suffocating
me.
"Maybe I just wanted to see the only family that I don't hate again," I whispered.
A tear traced down my cheek, which I quickly wiped away.
"Tough. You won't. You made that decision when you decided to stay. I couldn't care
less about your family. Or you for that matter," he added as an afterthought.
I just shook my head. I was strangely calm after his hurtful words. He turned to
leave, but I spoke up, unable to not have the last word.
"If someone you love shows up after you know that you will never see them again,
what would you do?"
The Beast stopped and turned around. "I have no one that I love. I have no one that
loves me. That is why--" he stalked up to my bed and leaned over me. "I don't care
about you, or your so-called family."
There was a tug at my neck and a popping sound. I looked down. Draped across the
Beast's white hand was my silver necklace.
"Give it back," I choked.
"If you want it so much, then fetch, little dog." He threw it toward the window
with all of his strength, making it hit the glass. Spider-like cracks formed in the
glass and a round hole penetrated the window, making it clear that it was gone.
He turned back to me. "And with that, Lizaveta, adieu. I hope you enjoy your new
prison, because you will never set foot outside this castle again. You will see no
sunlight nor moonlight, you will not feel the air against your face, you will be
here and you will die here."
The rage that boiled up inside finally overflowed. I didn't cry. I stared directly
into his eyes and whispered my next three words with power, meaning every ounce of
what I said.
"I hate you."
Something happened behind his eyes, something momentary, something sad.
I didn't care.
I said the sentence again and again, getting louder each time I spoke those three
words.
"I hate you."
"I hate you!"
"I HATE YOU!"
My door slamed shut as he exited. I continued screaming at him with malice, wanting
him to be hurt as much as he had hurt me.
No, more than he just hurt me.
Underneath my screams, I heard a roar. It was the same roar that I heard when he
changed next to my room. This time, though, it was filled with pain.
My hatred quickly turned to sorrow and my screams turned to sobs. I couldn't stop
myself. I fell face down onto my pillow, wetting it like a rag.
I'm sorry.
***
I jolted awake. I didn't even know when I fell asleep, let alone what woke me up. I
looked to the window, praying that it was still there. Momentary panic hit me as I
looked at the blackness surrounding the area, but then I almost laughed at myself.
It was dark outside.
I pushed myself up from my bed with my hands, then slowly started to walk over to
the glass. I smiled softly as I looked out, watching how the moonlight glistened
off the ponds and the top of the fountain.
Regret swarmed over me. Looking outside reminded me of the fight, and that reminded
me of what I said. While his actions were uncalled for, it was not consent for me
to tell him that I hated him.
Something nagged at the back of my mind.
Do I hate the Beast?
I shook my head.
No, I don't. I can't hate him. He saved me from the men in the forest and allows me
to stay in his castle. He even taught me some magic. All of those times, he was
anything but hateable. More than a few times he has been unlikeable, but not liking
someone is different than hating someone.
My hand moved towards the bottom of my neck, where my necklace usually sat. I
grabbed for it, but found nothing.
That's right. He threw it through the window. For some reason, tears pricked at my
eyes.
It's just a necklace, Zara.
A muffled crash made me jump. Another roar followed close behind it, signaling what
caused the noise. In fact, whimpering moans had been ringing throughout the castle
since I woke up. Dread gnawed at my stomach as it dawned on me what I should do. I
took a deep breath and went to my nightstand, where a long candlestick was. I
scooped it up, grabbed my shawl, and snagged my dagger, which I brought along
without a second thought.
My door was unlocked and I tiptoed out without thinking, knowing that if I thought
about what I was going to do, I would lose my nerve. Quietly, the door closed
behind me. This was my fault, and I needed to fix it.
Where would he be?
My question was answered quickly enough. The candlelight flickered onto the walls,
and I saw deep scratches that ran down the entire length of the hallway. The few
pictures that hung lopsided were either torn to bits, lying on the floor, or both.
Smashed glass and overturned tables littered the walkway.
I've got a bad feeling about this.
I gulped, then followed the trail of destruction around the corner and up the hall.
I went past the kitchen and the dining room until I reached a part of the castle
that I had only been once before, on the night that I ran into the woods. I stopped
in front of the big wooden doors that covered up the wall in front of me, knowing
exactly where I will wind up as soon as those doors opened.
The Beast's room.
Another moan crawled its way out from behind the walls and reached me, tugging at
my heartstrings. With trembling fingers, I reached for the door handle, moving like
a snail. My hand grasped the cool surface and somehow, I managed to convince myself
to turn the knob and step into the room.
With my heart in my throat, I whispered, then spoke louder. "Beast?"
I cringed at the only name I knew to call him, not liking the way it sounds.
"Beast? It's Zara."
A growl escaped from the far corner of the room. I held my candle up and caught a
fleeting glimpse of a creature curled into a tight ball, holding it's head with
it's hands. My feet shuffled forward, and my action was immediately met with a
snarl.
"Don't...move." The words were forced out, as if saying them was a challenge. I
froze and watched as his whole body shrank slowly. Long claws on his finger
retreated, leaving the short ones I was used to. Hair, dark hair that covered his
body pulled back, leaving his white skin glistening with sweat.
Slowly the Beast got to his feet. His back was still turned slightly away from me.
The black strap that circled his head to hold his mask in place was missing.
"Lower your candle."
I did.
"What do...you want?" he questioned through labored breaths.
I heard the soft click of the door behind me closing.
No turning back now.
I opened my mouth to answer, then noticed everything scattered around the floor.
More glass was shattered on the ground, and a dresser was completely overturned.
Huge claw marks ran up and down the bed that was pushed against the wall, and the
stuffing fellout from the large tears. A few things still sat upright, the largest
of them being a flower vase that balanced precariously on a small table at the end
of his destroyed bed.
Of all the times to be brave.
"I, uh, I came to apologize," I squeaked, hating how my voice betrayed me.
A low, dark chuckle camefrom the Beast. "For what?"
My heart pumped louder and faster than before, if that was even possible. "Um, for
saying that what I said."
He started to shake. A hand moved up to his temple, and the other clawed at the
wall.
I continued stupidly, ignoring the danger signs in front of me. "I don't hate you."
He froze and darted his eyes over toward me, turning his unmasked head slightly in
my direction.
My curiosity is going to kill me.
I took a step toward, wanting to know what he looked like without his mask. The
Beast tensed and growled again. I stopped moving.
"I'm sorry for what I said, Beast." I was continuing from my apology. "I don't hate
you."
Then I added in a whisper, "I can't."

Suddenly, I was thrown backward. I hit the wall next to the door hard. A heavy
weight pushed against my shoulders, pinning me to the floor. The little bit of
light from the candle has disappeared.
"You should hate me, child. Hate is good. You need to stay away from me."
His eyes were brighter than their normal red. They were same color that they were
when he attacked the people in the forest. When he spoke, it has an animal sound to
it, laced underneath his normal voice.
I tried to catch my breath, to breathe with him sitting on top of me. I couldn't
speak. He knocked the wind out of me.
The Beast slowly walked his fingers up my shoulder and licked his lips. "Otherwise,
girl, you might end up like those men in the forest."
My eyes wided as he leanef over me, the bottom half of his face still hidden.
Somehow, I got my hand free from underneath me. I punched him in the chest, as hard
as I could.
"Get. Off. Of. Me."
I could literally see the realization of what he was doing hit him. He scrambled
away and faced his back to me, gripping at the sides of his head.
I sat up, trying to calm myself. My whole body was shaking. I ducked my head in
between my hands.
One, two, three, four.
An unearthly yell came from the Beast, making me jump to my feet. He slammed his
arms on top of the flower vase, shattering it. Small trails of blood immediately
appeared on his arms, marking where the glass imbedded itself. He rammed his
already injured arms against the bed frame, splintering the wood, then punched the
wall.
A loud snap of breaking bone brought me out of my fear. I ran to him and grabbed
his wrists, trying to stop him from hurting himself more.
"Stop it! Stop!" I started to look into his eyes. My head snapped to the side and
pain raked across my face, making me fall to my knees and cry out. I pressed the
palm of my hand against my cheek then pulled it away, feeling the three scratches
on my face.
I heard him move toward the door. At the same time, the sound of breaking glass
reached my ears, the door opened. No doubt he used magic.
If he gets out...
I threw my arm out to the side, as if reaching for him. The door needs to close,
the door need to close.
"Stop!"
_______________________________________
Well, that was fun.
This and the next chapter were some of the first scenes that I thought of for this
book. I was going to put it all into one big chapter, but apparently, this was
longer than what I thought it'd be.( It would be close to 5,000 words if I combined
them.) I am really excited that I finally got to write this down.
Thank you for reading! If you liked this chapter, feel free to vote and comment
what you think!
Chapter 18--Sit Still [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"Stop!"
A loud bang surprised me. I stared, unable to believe what just happened.
The door closed. I had overpowered the Beast.
He didn't move. I looked at his back from my seat on the ground, waiting for the
yell of anger or the look of surprise.
Nothing came. He didn't move an inch. Not even his extended arm that reached for
the door.
My eyes widened. I didn't... I stopped him from moving. I had made him stop.
I overpowered the Beast's magic, and by doing so, I had stopped him.
I got up from the ground carefully. The glass shards beneath my feet crunched as I
stepped on them--thankfully, I had enough sense to put on shoes before I had come
to the room. A metal object in the corner caught my eye.
His mask.
I walked over to it, still watching the Beast as I did so. He didn't move. I could
feel his eyes following me as I bend to retrieve the mask. I held the cool surface
in my hands, feeling the intricate designs embedded in the mask.
I was faced with three choices. I could either have gone up to him facing him and
hand him the mask, but if I did that, I would see him--something he had made clear
that I wasn't supposed to do. The second choice would be to discard the mask
altogether, which would still have allowed me to see him. The third choice, which
was to climb across the bed and fasten the mask to the Beast's face, would have
been the most respectful of my choices.
I swallowed, my mind made up. I crawled across the ripped bed, mask in hand, being
careful not to touch anything. My heart felt like it was going to fly out of my
throat. My feet hit the ground and I stood, no more than three feet away from the
Beast. I could see his trembling, whether it was in fear or anger, I didn't know. I
stepped up to him, my eyes coming to the middle of his shoulder blades.
I held out the mask, reaching underneath his outstretched arm. "Here," I whispered.
"You can have it."
As if on cue, he stopped shaking. He breathed in deeply. Very slowly, as if he were

afraid he would spook me, he grabbed the mask from my outstretched hand and moved
it up towards his face. The black clasps dangled at his ears, giving the illusion
of dreadlocks.
"Could you fasten it?" His voice was incredibly quiet.
I almost refused, but I looked down and say his other hand, hung limply at his
side. Blood was dripping off of it and starting to form a small puddle below him.
Without saying anything, I stood on my tiptoes and reached up, grabbing the clasps.
I swallowed, holding each strap in my hands uncomfortably. I had no idea how to

fasten his mask. "Just tie them, or..."
"There's a clip on each one. Just hook them together." His voice was gentle. I
could literally feel the banging of his heart as I pressed myself close to him,
trying to clip the clasps together. I was sure that my heartbeat was no different.
A small clip told me that I hooked it right. "There you go," I said, back away.
As soon as I had stepped backward, a shudder ran through the Beast. His knees
buckled and he fell to the ground, putting his good arm out to catch himself. I
looked at the door and considered leaving for less than a second, then turned back
to where I was needed.
"Here." I tried to smile a little as I draped the Beast's good arm around my
shoulders and helped him hoist himself off the ground. My mind wandered over to the
bed for a second, but I quickly dismissed the thought.
"Can you make it downstairs?" I asked.
He nodded his head. "Yeah," he whispered. "I know a place we could go."
I flopped onto the ground. Water splashed from the bucket I held and spread across
the flood like a bloodstain. I carelessly tossed a cloth into the liquid, which set
more droplets free.
"Let me see your left arm," I demanded. The stain of blood was evident in his
clothes, which told me that whatever he had done to it was nothing that could be
fixed easily.
The Beast shook his head. "I'm fine," he claimed firmly.
I rolled my eyes. "Look," I started, exasperated. "if you don't let me see your
left hand willingly, I can make it hurt worse."
The skin around his eyes crinkled, the only evidence of what might be a smile. He
lifted his arm slowly and, inch by inch, edged it over to where I could reach it.
My stomach clenched when the light hit it. His hand, which was normally long and
thin, had swollen up to twice it's normal size. His knuckles looked like they had
been sandwiched together to form a round ball, and on the top of the ball, he was
bleeding profusely from exactly where he had punched the wall. Deep purple, blue,
and a yellowish-green splotched his whole hand, and in the middle of the bruise,
there was a small, white circle. I didn't notice it at first, but the longer I
looked, the more I realized that the white circle wasn't skin. It was bone.
I could feel my face drain of all color it had. I had never been good with
injuries, especially injuries to this extent. I turned away from his hand and tried
to distract myself with something else.
It didn't work.
Quietly, I dipped the cloth in the water, then twirled the ends in opposite
directions to wring it out.
I steeled myself. I was going to have to look back at his mangled hand if I wanted
to clean it, which meant that I'd have to see it again.
Count to three, Zara.
I almost rolled my eyes at myself. I just needed to suck it up and get over it.
Armed with my newfound steel-stomach, I turned to look at his hand and quickly
dabbed the towel at it.
"Ow!" The Beast shouted and, with his other hand, pushed me away from him. "That
hurt!"
I started up at him in disbelief. His shoulders had tensed up, almost touching his
ears. His back was pressed up against the back of the couch, as if he were trying
to blend in with the dark red color.
He looked like a toddler.
I sucked in my breath patiently. "Yes, it's going to hurt. That's normally what
happens when you have a bone sticking out of your hand." I got back up onto my
knees and started to dab at his hand again.
He kept squirming. I would get close to his hand with the towel and he would move,
just the slightest movement, away from me. And this was only when I tried to touch
his hand with the towel.
My patience had finally dwindled down to nothing. I threw my arms into the air,
flinging water from the towel I held as I did so. "Will you say still?" I asked,
annoyed.
"It stings!" he answered back with the same tone of voice that I had.
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "If you wouldn't move around so much, it
wouldn't sting so much."
"Well, if you would be gentler, then I wouldn't move around."
My mouth dropped open. "If you hadn't slammed your hand into a brick wall then I
wouldn't have to do this in the first place."
His eyes glinted dangerously. "If you hadn't come into my room, then I never would
have done that."
"I came in to apologize! Besides, if you hadn't banned me from outside and thrown
my necklace through the window, then I never would have screamed." My voice had
risen quickly. I didn't like where he was taking the conversation.
He was silent for a minute, thinking of a retort. "If you hadn't disobeyed the
orders I gave, then I wouldn't have banned you."
My eyes narrowed and I didn't miss a beat. "If you had been more specific and said
why I wasn't allowed outside past a certain time, then I certainly would have
followed your precious orders."
He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, trying to think of an
answer. I grabbed the cloth and started back on his hand again, this time more
forcefully than I had been.
We couldn't have cut through the silence in the room with an ax.
It what felt like the longest time, I managed to get his hand clean enough that I
felt comfortable trying to bandage it. I grabbed the roll from the couch and tried
to peel the fabric away from itself, which failed miserably.
If hands fail, use teeth.
I found the little flap at the corner of the roll and grabbed it with my teeth.
That time, it worked. Carefully, I began to wrap the bandage around the Beast's
hand.
"You can't keep me from outside, you know. I'll just go back out there anyway." I
didn't look up from rolling the cloth around his hand, but I could feel him sigh.
"I could board you into your room."
I glanced at him, and although he had said that with a serious tone, his eyes were
laughing.
"Haha, very funny," I said as I ripped the bandage. Quickly, I tied the two ends
together.
"Next arm." I held my hand out.
He brought his right arm closer to me. This one wasn't broken like his left, but
tiny little glass pieces were stuck in his hand and lower forearm. I looked around
the dimly lit room, trying to find something to help me get them out. A pair of
tweezers sitting on a shelf placed against the wall caught my eye.
Kinisi. I just thought the word, and the tweezers flew across the room and landed
onto my outstretched hand.
"You've gotten better." the Beast sounded surprised.
I smiled a little before I started to pull the glass out. "I've been practicing."
"I can tell."
Each glass piece I pulled out, I placed on the arm of the couch. I was almost done
when the idea hit me.
"Teach me how to fight." I looked up at the Beast and bit my lip.
"Why?" he asked wonderingly. "So that you can try to stab me again?"
I laughed. "Because that worked so well last time." My smile faded as I thought of
the men in the black masks. "I just-- the men in the forest," I mumbled.
"Who were they?" he asked.
I swallowed and looked away, not wanting to answer his question. "People from my
past."
Thankfully, he didn't ask anything else at that moment.
I pushed myself onto the couch, relieving my knees from the uncomfortable position
I had been sitting in. I heard him suck in his breath.
"Your face..." he whispered.
I brought my hand up to my cheek quickly, feeling the three deep cuts that his
claws had scraped on me earlier. To touch them burned.
I shook my head, mimicking the Beasts actions from earlier. "It's nothing."
He looked hurt. Pain etched in every detail of his face that I could see. Very
slowly, he raised his right hand-- the hand that wasn't bandaged and broken-- and
moved it toward my cheek.
My heart raced and I stared straight at one of the shelves. What is he doing?
The small instinct in the back of my mind told me not to move. I stayed as still as
I could be, even trying to not breathe. Cool fingertips brushed up against my
cheek, sending shivers down my spine. The coldness of the fingertips turned to a
warm sting as three of his fingers stretched out and covered my scratches. The
stinging gradually went away, leaving a warm feeling in my cheek. He slowly slid
his fingers away from me.
I looked away from my staring spot and gently touched my face. It was smooth-- like
there had never been any cuts there.
"What did you do?" I asked, finally bringing myself to look at him.
His eyes were impassive. "I healed you."
"Oh."
We were silent for a few minutes. I kept feeling the urge inside me grow every
second, the urge of wanting to ask something else.
The Beast broke the silence first. "In answer to your earlier question, I'll teach
you how to fight."
My jaw opened just enough for a small breath of air to come out. "What?" Did I hear
him right?
"But, I'll only teach you if the times we go outside for the lesson are the only
times you go outside alone. One step out of line and all your 'outside' goes bye-
bye."
My heart leaped in joy. A smile so big it hurt my mouth escaped me.
Calm down, Zara.
"Why do you want to learn so badly?"
With that one sentence, my joy drained away. I sighed. "I already told you. There
are people from my past that aren't very nice people."
I didn't tell him that the same people I saw in the forest were the same people who
had killed my mother--because that would be impossible. All but one of them died
that night.
"Who are they?"

Boy, he's inquisitive tonight.
I slammed my hands onto my knees, frustrated. "I'll tell you that when you tell me
your name. Like, your actual name."
He turned his head to the side. "I'll tell you my name when you tell me who those
people were." A hint of triumph rang in the Beast's voice.
I smiled sarcastically and sprung up from the couch. "Then it seems that we have
reached a stalemate, Kvir."
His head whipped around so fast hair smacked his face. With surprise not-so-subtle
in his tone, he held up a hand. "What did you call me?"
Oh, he didn't like it. Even better.
"Kvir," I replied. "Your new name."
"I don't like it."
With a fake bow, I left the room. "You are Kvir to me until I am Zara to you.
Besides, I hate the name 'beast.'"
"But--"
The door slammed shut behind me.
But, before it was fully shut, I could've sworn I heard a small voice whisper from
inside the room.
"Thank you, Zara."
_______________________________________
Hello peoples!
So, how'd you like the chapter?
This was the first time that Zara actually spoke to the Beast--I mean Kvir. Like,
actually spoke, not yelled. And he spoke back! So, did I do a good job?
Please don't be a ninja-reader! Fill up that little star on the bottom! Comment!
Tell me what you like/dislike.
Noa
Chapter 19--Pgoma [Inside the Beast's Castle]
I am also childish and hate to lose. --L, Death Note

_______________________________________

I stood outside, smiling up at the
blue sky. It had been a week since I was last "allowed" outdoors, and the feeling
of freedom to me was overwhelming. I felt the sun against my face, the small breeze
whip around me, the cool autumn--
A sharp twack sounded out as something hit behind my knee, yanking me unpleasantly
from my happiness.
I yelped. "Ow! Watch it!"
Kvir walked past me, swinging his cane around like a baton. "Come on. You're the
one who wanted to be out here in the first place."
I opened my mouth to say something back--trust me, it wasn't going to be nice-- and
thought better of it.
Nope. Let's just be aggravating instead.
"So why do you even have that cane?" I asked, jogging up to catch him. "It's not
like you need it or anything."
That was true. Whenever he walked around, he normally just swung his cane around in
the air. There was only once I had actually seen him use it, and that was after he
had taught me how to move a rock.
He sighed and stopped moving. "You're right, I don't need it. I just enjoy have an
extension of my arm." He leaned down over me and whispered in my ear, "Makes it
easier to hit inquisitive people."
I narrowed my eyes and backed away, mentally making a face at him. I had barely
even seen the guy since a few weeks ago. The day I almost drowned.
The first day we had actually spoken to each other like normal people, not just
screamed at each other.
Of course, the next few days made up for that. For three days straight, I would go
and change the bandages around his hand--and clean the wound in the process. He had
Raul by his side watching me work constantly, enough so that it got onBmy nerves.
At the last of the three days that I helped, our patience with each other had worn
very, very thin. I wanted to talk to someone, and the one person I had to talk to
wouldn't speak. I'd ask a question, and a low mumble would be my answer. Unless, of
course, Kvir was complaining about "how badly I hurt his hand." when I bandaged it
up. Then, and only then did he actually speak audibly.
Needless to say, it didn't go very well.
"Hurry up, girl," he called. I had slowed my walking to a snail's pace, and I was
just strolling through the grass. Kvir had gone up further, toward a line of trees.
He stopped and turned around, waiting for me to get my "slow" self over there.
I took my time. Although I wasn't very far away, I somehow managed to make it drag
out for five minutes.
"So, what are we doing over here?" I asked when I reached him. Excitement--or
nervousness--was bubbling up inside me.
"You are going to learn--" slowly, he pulled a metal object from the pocket of his
coat. "--how to use a knife."
I looked at him disbelievingly. "You take it and you go 'stabby stab' with it.
Person or thing whom you 'stabby stabbed' goes 'Bleaagh! Blood, blood!
And...death.' " With my final word, I moved the top half of my body to the side,
then stuck out my tongue and closed my eyes.
When I straightened again, I saw what may have been a smile reach his eyes, but it
vanished quickly. He held out the long, silver blade to me, handle first.
"Take it."
I sighed and took the knife. Kvir pulled out another one from his coat.
"Now, when you hold it, you want to have it like this." He quickly rearranged his
fingers around the hilt of the knife so that they were almost in a fist. His thumb
was pressing against the top part of the hilt where an arch was.
I quickly examined how he held it, then did the same. The knife itself was actually
a bit big for me, so I awkwardly handled it in my small(ish) hand.
Beast beckoned at me, waving his arms toward himself. "Now charge at me."
All tension I had in my stance went away. "Say what?"
He rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Charge at me. Attack me. Do the whole 'stabby'
thing you mentioned a little while ago"
He wants me to stab him?
I shrugged my shoulders. "Wouldn't that hurt you?"
"You stabbed me through the heart the first time we actually met face to face. I'm
still here. Now, charge."
He has a point.
So I charged at him, doing all I could do to keep from screaming like a jungle
person. When I reached him, I thrust the knife towards his chest, digging slightly
into his clothes.
And dropped the knife.
Both of our heads went down at the same time to look at the thing on the grass.
"And that," he began. "that is when you are dead."
He bent down to pick up the knife from the ground. The only problem with that was
the fact that I did too. At the exact same time. Which resulted in our heads
banging together in a very painful and unpleasant manner.
I sucked in my breath and rubbed the spot he had hit.
"Here." Kvir handed me the knife again. "Try again, but this time hold it tighter."
I scowled at him and took it, then walked back to my starting point.
I ran at him again.
And again.
And again.
Have I mentioned that I ran at him again? Really? I thought so.
The last time I charged, it worked. I didn't drop the stupid knife and actually dug
into his skin with the blade.
Only to be magicked backward into a tree.
Pain shot up my back from where I had hit the bark. My chest heaved as I tried to
catch my breath back.
"What are you doing?" I shouted as soon as I caught my breath. "I did what you said
to do right this time!"
He shook his head. A glimmer of a smile etched itself in his eyes. "You told me
that you wanted to learn to fight. Your enemy will not play fair."
I screamed. Just... screamed in frustration.
He laughed.
Which made me even madder.
I still held the knife in my fist tightly. My breaths came out in gasps; the rage
inside of me felt like fire licking my cheeks. My hands shook as I slowly got up
from the soft grass I had landed in.
Let's see how good my aim is.
Back at the bar, there were times where I had to dodge glasses being thrown. My
reflexes were always on pointe, seeing as I was able to leave the bar every time
unscathed. There had been once or twice when to stop the flying glasses, I had to
throw one back to the person who started the fight.
Now, in instances like those, I couldn't actually hit the person who threw one.
That would hurt them. So, I had to manage to throw the glass against the wall
behind them--while barely missing their face.
To practice my aim, I would go to the river. There would be pinecones scattered on

the ground, or tree branches that I would take and use as the "glass", then throw
it at the "person", or the tree. My aim really, really stank at first, but the more
I threw, the better I got.
How can knives be any different that beer glasses?
They can be a lot different, Zara. For one, you drink out of glasses. You don't
dri---
Ok, hush you.
I glared at the Kvir angrily, still seeing the smile twinkling in his eyes.
"Come on. You're not even trying," he taunted.
That was enough for me.
I swung my arm and threw the knife directly at his chest. The look of surprise on
his face was priceless, even with the limited view of his facial expressions.
The knife stopped at the distance of what looked to be less than an inch away from
his breastbone. He held one hand out to the side, keeping the knife still.
That was what I wanted. With his attention on something else, I pushed at the air
with all my might. The same thing that happened to me, happened to him. Kvir went
flying backward, skimming the ground lightly as he flew. The knife was cradled in
the grass where he had been standing mere seconds before. I ran forward and felt
the smooth surface of the hilt touch my hand as I scooped it up.
'Charge' he said. I'll show him charging.
"Pgoma!"
Then, suddenly, I couldn't move. It was like I was trapped in a box fitted to my
size. All my weight was on one leg, the other directly behind me. My right arm was
in the air, still holding the knife.
With care, Kvir pushed himself up from the ground. "Good job," he huffed. "Show
your enemy that you don't play fair either."
I struggled against the unseen bonds that held me in place as he started to walk
away.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
He waved his hand in the air carelessly. "Don't worry! It'll wear off in a few
hours. You won't get tired standing like that! I think."
"You're kidding!" I shouted back. "You can't just leave me here!"
"Watch me."
***
The next few hours were painful. He lied his face off when he said that my legs
wouldn't get tired. My whole body got tired. My nose itched, I had hair in my eyes,
it had started to rain within the first hour, and I was fairly sure that a line of
ants was dancing up one of my legs.
The only good part was the fact that I heard him yell the spell that froze me. So,
I practiced it. I practiced it on the birds that pecked at my feet, on the
butterfly that landed on my nose. Eventually, I got the spell to work.
The release happened suddenly. Thank goodness that the knife had slipped from my
hands earlier, otherwise I would've unwillingly stabbed myself with it. I fell
forward to the ground, my bones aching horribly from standing on one foot for hours
on end.
I stomped my way back up to the castle and flung open the door with a bang. The
sight that greeted me was the Beast, shoulders shaking slightly and eyes closed. He
stood in front of me, laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" I snarled. Water from my hair dripped down my back. My
dress looked to be painted on my skin it was so stuck to me.
"No-nothing;" he choked out.
I narrowed my eyes. "You try standing on one foot for hours. I'm sure you'd love
it."
Saying that was part of a plan I had thought of while stuck on one foot.
Please fall for it. Please?
Raul came up to me with a towel. He draped it lightly around my shoulders and

started to rub, trying to stop the small pond that had appeared underneath my feet
from growing any larger.
Kvir raised his eyebrows. "Standing on one foot's not so hard. See?" He picked up
one foot.
"PCgoma."
He stiffened like a board, unable to move. "Lizaveta, let me go," he warned.
I smiled and tapped my chin thoughtfully. "Okay. VrochC."
Instead of him being free from his one-four trap, a small rain cloud appeared over
his head.
And started to rain.
I burst into laughter. "See, here's the thing. I know the spell to freeze you, but
not the one to release you. You didn't say that one to me, so I couldn't practice
it. Now, I'm sure you know it, so you could tell me, but by the time that I get the
wording right and whatnot, you would probably be free already. Or, you know, burnt
to a crisp seeing as sometimes I accidentally set things on fire. And if I remember
the rules correctly, you can't free yourself."
I waved at him as I turned to walk away. "So have fun with that."
As I left, I heard Raul start to chuckle.
His voice came out in gasps. "She really fooled you on that one, Sir."
_______________________________________
Hello all!
I'm happy. This actually does contribute something to the story line, although it
seemed a lot like a filler chapter.
Didja catch my Zootopia reference? Sorry, I just couldn't help it. It was begging
for me to put it in there. (And no. This is supposed to be in a make-believe word,
so they don't have television or movies or anything like that. They haven't seen
the movie.)
Although, that's an image and a half right there...
*Shush, Noa. Let those poor people who you have bombarded with your writing leave.
They don't what to hear you talk to yourself*
Someone needs to stop me...
Noa
Chapter 20--Is This a "Normal" Conversation? [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"And you, child. We will have fun with you. Just like we did your
mother."
I gasped and bolted from my bed before my body could even realize I was awake. My
feet hit the cold floor and I felt a chill run all the way up my spine, shaking me
like an earthquake. In fact, my whole body was shaking--and not from my feet
hitting the floor.
I closed my eyes to try and halfway tried to wake up the rest of the way and
halfway tried to block out the black-masked man that showed up in my dreams again.
Only the first one worked.
Instead of pushing away the image of the man, I only managed to bring him to the
front of my mind, along with the rest of my dream. Again, his warm breath tickled
my ear as his scratchy hand rubbed my shoulder.
I could see him too clearly. The mask that covered his head, the eyes whose gaze I
couldn't escape from.
The same as the man in the forest.
Snap out of it, Zara.
Because, hey, you know ordering yourself to stop panicking always works, right?
Wrong.
I crouched down at the side of the bed and gently placed my forehead against the
mattress, squinching my eyes shut.
"One," I whispered.
"Two."
"Two girls in one night, boss? Dang, we're gettin' fancy, aren't we?"
The man holding my arm shook me around. "Shut up, Four. We're saving this one for
another night."
I could hear the crackling of the flames mix in with my mother's killer's voice.
All I wanted to do was to see who was under that mask of his, even though every
part of my body told me otherwise.
My small, eight-year-old hand crept up toward the man's face and caressed the knit-
together material softly.
"Zara."
Except that didn't come from the man that held me. The voice was too sweet, too
kind, too warm.
It was my father's voice.
I turned around, suddenly free from the other man's grip, and smiled at my father
as he held open his arms for an embrace. His hair was a luxurious shade of brown
with no traces of white--how it was before my mother died.
My feet slapped the white floor as I ran to my father. The bright light around me
was almost blinding. Without a second thought, I buried my head in his shoulder.
The smell of freshly-baked bread made its way to me. It was the smell that used to
come from him--not alcohol. He was how he used to be, how I loved him as.
A smile pulled at my lips, which I allowed to break free. "Baupa."
A gruff voice thick with the Upper Kingdom's accent answered me. "Baupa's not here
right now."
A sharp breath of air entered my lungs and I scrambled away from the man I was
holding--no, more like was holding me. My father's warm embrace was gone and
instead, I saw the king. King Regol's sapphire eyes glinted furiously at me as he
held out a long sword in front of him.
"You, child. You disobeyed me!"
My heart thudded against my chest frantically. "What did I do?" I asked.
I already knew what the answer was.
The king shook with rage. "You didn't kill the beast! You family will now die!"
There was no one in front of the king, but still, something was telling me that if
the sword swung down, someone would die.
A little movement from the metal made me act. A word tore its way from my throat.
"No!"
The sword rose into the air.
And chopped off Joshua's head. The bloody ball of hair and skin came rolling over
to me, leaving a trail of red behind it.
Laughter rang in my ears. Not the king's, not the man in the mask, not my father's,
and certainly not mine.
Through blurry vision, I looked up from the thing that had come to a stop in front
of me and saw who was laughing.
His dark hair blew around his head, even though there was no wind. His eyes were
laughing and cruel as he stared at me. In his large hand--the same hand that
knocked the man out at the pub--he held the sword dripping blood that killed my
brother.
"Vadik?"
My eyes flew open. I breathed in and out in a jagged pattern, trying my best not to
hyperventilate.
Why won't they stop?
For years, I had been having the same nightmares over and over again, the ones with
the black-masked men. I never had any way of facing those nightmares until--until--
The day in the woods.
The men I had seen when I ran from the castle were the same men from my nightmares.
The same men who chased me through the trees were the same men that killed my
mother. The same men that Beast got rid of were the ones that I thought I had
finally escaped.
Man, how wrong was I?
My nightmares only got worse, carrying images of King Regol, of my father, of

Joshua, and--last of all--Kvir.
Every night, the four of them would fight it out in my head, each seemingly trying
to be the one that woke me up.
This was the first time Vadik has shown up.

Vadik.
The thought of him brought back the picture of the dead body of my brother,
crumpled on the ground with nothing but a bloody stump attached to its shoulders.
Slowly, I slid down the rest of the way to the floor and clamped my hand over my
mouth. Dry sobs forced their way out from me, echoing around my room.
Make it stop. Please.
My hands gripped at the side of my head, like I could tear out the memories of the
dream with my hands. The things around me were all fuzzy blobs, all unrecognizable.
I moved my hand away from my hair and brushed at a tickle on my cheek. My hand came
away wet.
Get up, Zara. Come on girl.
Shakily, I started to get to my feet, gulping down sobs. "It's okay. It's just a
dream," I whispered to myself. "It's not real. Just in your head."
A small, betraying though voiced itself, Except the first part was real.
Hush up you.
I glanced around the room, not knowing what to do. There was no way on the face of
the planet that I was going to try to sleep again. I moved over to the window and
surveyed the darkness. There were faint traces of the line of trees that surrounded
the castle--the trees that looked like a way out, but now, I knew better.
Through the soft light from the moon, I saw a large shape blundering from the
woods, heading straight for the castle. My hand touched the cool glass gently.
What is that thing?
"Lovely night, isn't it Miss?"
A squeak like a mouse flew from my mouth. I whirled around quickly, one fist in the
air.
Raul backed away and held up his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to scare you,
Miss."
Immediately, I felt myself relax. "Just be glad you weren't your master," I
answered. I turned my back to Raul and stared back out the window, trying to find
the dark shape. "I would've blasted him across the room."
A light chuckle was my reply. The soft tmp of Raul's shoes made their way to my
side.
I ignored him and just stared out the window.
"You know, Miss--" he began.
I don't want to talk to anyone. Can't he just go away?
"--Whenever I have a nightmare--not saying that you did, of course--I find myself
in the library if I don't wish to sleep again. Reading is a wonderful pastime."
I sighed, defeated. "And how, pray tell, did you figure out that I may have had a
nightmare?" I couldn't keep a smile from pulling at my lips. "I'm that obvious?"
Raul's gray eyes widened slightly at my question. I couldn't help but notice his
thin lips twitch up into a smile. "Not that obvious at all, Miss. You may, however,
wish to wipe some of the tear stains on your cheeks away--not that I have seen
them, of course."
I laughed. "Of course."
Silence fell between us. "Just call me Zara, Raul. I don't--I'm not a 'Miss.' "
He nodded, making his thin, gray hair bounce up and down. "As you wish, Zara."
Silence fell again, but I could feel the presence of a question straining the
silence.
"Mi--Zara, may I ask what you dream was about?"
And there it was. The dreaded question.
I sighed and turned my head away. How much do I want to tell him?
That answer was simple: none of it.
I crossed my arms over my chest as if I was cold. "People from back home," I
replied, avoiding Raul's eyes.
I could practically hear his shoulders tense up. Whether it was something I had
done, or the fact he realized he pried where he wasn't wanted, I didn't know. The
warmness of Raul's old hand touched my shoulder.
"I'll let you be for now."
I breathed out and turned to face him. "Walk me to the library?"
He smiled widely and nodded his head.
Within the first few moments of me being inside the library, Raul left. I don't
know if he sensed my leave-me-alone-ness, or if he just felt like leaving. Whatever
the reason, I was grateful. Out of all the people in the castle, Raul was probably
the most aware of how people felt--a quality that I wish I had.
I scoured the shelves repetitively for a book title that looked interesting.
Reading was not one of my favorite things to do, mainly because I hadn't gotten
much of a chance--haha, any chance--to read at the village. The only reading I had
done was the reading of the rusty signs that dangled above the few shops in town.
I pulled a few books from the shelves down and laid them out on the floor in front
of me. Magick, The Prince of the Laucerots, and Eleven Chimes were the ones I had
grabbed--none of which sparked my interest much at all.
I sighed and bit my lip. Which one to grab?
"What books do you have?"
For the second time that night, I jumped. "What is it with you people in this
castle and not knocking?"
Kvir rolled his eyes and walked toward me, relying heavily on his cane as he did
so. I opened my mouth to ask him about it, but the flash of his crimson eyes told
me to keep my mouth shut.
He slid down against the back of the chair behind me. I watched him warily.
"What are you doing in here?"
"Bad dreams," I answered. He looked like he was going to say something else, but I
raised my eyebrows at him, silencing the unspoken words.
He pointed again to the three books I had spread out on the floor. "What books do
you have?"
"Uh, Magick, The Prince of the Laurcerots, and Eleven Chimes." I twisted my body
around to face him. "You have an opinion?"
He nodded and pointed to the forest green covered book to my right. "Eleven Chimes
is the best, unless you like romance books. If that's the case, try The Prince of
the Laucerots."
I almost laughed at how normal our conversation was. He was talking to me about
books of all things. I reached for Eleven Chimes. "Romance isn't really my thing."
Kvir raised his eyebrows. "Same here."
I held the book in my lap, waiting for him to leave. He didn't move.
I smirked. "So how long were you stuck in the hallway?" I am way too proud of that
stunt.
He͂ tilted his head and glared at me. "Four hours. Don't bring that incident up
again."
I couldn't help it--I laughed. And not a small giggle either. A full-out, loud-as-
heck, snorting included laugh. "Serves you right," I managed to force out between
guffaws.
"Just read your stupid story," he mumbled. He placed his hand on the ground to
anchored himself as he got up. Almost as soon as his foot was firmly planted on the
ground, his leg buckled beneath him, making him topple down like a card house that
was blown on.
"Are you alright?" I asked worriedly.
He sat back against the chair again and nodded his head. I couldn't help but notice
the cautious way he moved or the fact that the part of his face I could see had
paled considerably.
"What book did you choose?" Kvir asked in a strained voice.
I held up Eleven Chimes, feeling how thin it was beneath my fingers.
An awkward silence followed my action. I opened the book and started to read the
words written on the first page.
"It's a lot better read aloud," Kvir piped up.
I sighed and scooted back next to him. I placed the book in the space between our
bodies. "I don't like to read out loud. If you want to read this, then you can tell
me when you're done so I can flip the page."
Immediately, I dove into the book. I could feel Kvir's tenseness as he sat next to
me. I was long-since done with the first page when I looked at him, waiting for the
order to turn to the next page.
"Are you ready?" I questioned impatiently.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. Go ahead."
I flipped it and began to read the next one. Kvir yawned. My eyes darted over in
his direction. "Have you finished already?"
Silence.
"Are you done with both pages?"
He turned his head so that his blonde hair was facing me and mumbled something
unintelligible.
"Did you finish reading your pages?" I shouted, throwing my arms into the air.
Kvir whirled around at me and yelled. "No! No, alright? I can't read!"
Somehow, I had managed to teleport (not really) myself across the room and against
a wall. My heart pounded in my chest as the meaning of the words that were just
thrown at me registered.
"You can't... read?" Slowly, I unplastered myself from the wall and made my way
back to the spot on the floor.
Kvir squirmed in his spot uncomfortably. "No," he whispered.
Wait, if he can't read then what has he done while he's in the castle?
Awkwardly, I extended the book out in front of me. "How long have you been in this
castle?"
He reeled back, surprised by my question. "Two hundred or so years, give or take.
Well, give mostly."
My breath caught in my throat. Two hundred years? What has he done this whole time?
I stared open mouthed at the man next to me.
He picked at the carpet underneath us absentmindedly. "I forgot how to in the first
hundred years, I guess. I just didn't--I didn't pick up a book or anything. Didn't
try."
Without realizing what I was doing, I placed my hand on top of his long one. He
tensed up immediately at my touch.
"Here," I said quietly. "I'll read it to you."
And, by the flickering light of the fireplace, I read to him until I fell asleep.
_______________________________________
Discussion starter: Do you believe the dream was simply a dream or was it a
foreshadow of events to come?
Chapter 21--Old Promises [Inside the Beast's Castle]
For the first time in a very long time, I actually slept well.
Well, for the remainder of the night, anyway.
I woke up in my bed, with no memory of walking there myself. The sheets were placed
on top of my shoulders, almost carefully. On the side of the bed I wasn't on, a
small rectangular object rested on the mattress.
I poked my fingertips out from under covers and touch the thing, rubbing my thumb
up and down the hard top. I found the groove of an engraving and traced the
spiraling shape up and down the cover. I gave a tiny grin. The thing on the bed was
what I read the night before, Eleven Chimes. A small slip of paper was poking out
from the pages marking the spot I had left off at.
I sat up in my bed at stifled a yawn. The sunlight flooding the room made me feel
like a cat--lazy.
A muffled noise from across the room made me jump.
"Gah!" I cried, throwing the book that I held in the direction of the noise.
A small "oof" told me I hit my target. Sadly, that target was Lia. She rubbed her
head where I had hit her and held the green-covered book with her first finger and
her thumb.
Oops.
"Lia! I'm so sorry!" I cried, rushing over to her. She sat up in the velvet chair
she had been sleeping in.
"It's alright, Miss. Although it is best to not throw objects at sleeping victims."
I opened my mouth to apologize again, but noticed the small smirk hidden behind her
blonde hair.
I laughed and extended my hand. "What are you doing in here anyway?"
Lia placed the book in my hand and smiled widely. "Would you like to eat something,
Miss?"
Immediately, my suspicions arose. The smile the plastered onto her face a wide--too
wide to be a real smile. That wouldn't have bothered me, except for the fact that
she changed the subject so quickly.
"Lia?" I asked. I crinkled my eyebrows together worriedly. "What's going on?"
The smile stayed in place like it was painted on. At my question, she walked past
me briskly to the other side of the room and picked up a tray with food on it,
which she then brought back over to me.
"Have something to eat, Miss," her voice quivered. Her wide green eyes were filled
with fear--at what I didn't know.
Surely she's not scared of me.

I walked over to my bed and sat, patting the spot next to me. "Come on."
Shakily, she came over and placed the tray where I had patted. I shook my head.
"No, silly! That's where you sit."
Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Oh no, Miss! I couldn't!"
I smiled at her. She needs to calm down. "Of course you can. Just sit."
With warriness, the plopped down on the bed. A barely audible sigh escaped from her
lips. She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ears and gestured at me to begin
eating.
Oh, yeah. Food.
I dug into the cinnamon roll on the plate, not caring about my "manners" at all.
Why should it matter? It's just me and Lia..
After I was done with my food, I placed the fork that I had barely used on the
silver tray. I could tell that Lia had calmed down significantly when I stopped
acting like I was going to question her.
I got up from my bed and beelined toward the dresser. I grabbed a dress and went to
the bathroom to change.
Lia didn't move.
What is she up to?
If she's not gone when I come out, I though as I pulled the dress on, something's
up.
Slowly, I cracked the door open and peered out. Lia still sat on my bed with her
hands folded in her lap.
Yeah, something's definitely up.
"Is something wrong,?" I asked as I opened the door the rest of the way.
She averted her eyes and stared penetratingly at the floor. "No, Miss."
I flumped down next to her. "Where's Raul?"

Confusion darted across her face.
"I mean," I started to clarify, "I'm not complaining or anything, but he's the one
who normally deals with me in the morning."
Lia's face paled. "I--he's--" she let out a huff. "Master told me to stay with
you," she mumbled.
Thought as much.
"Why?" I pressed further. "I can handle myself."
She shrugged, not wanting to answer the question.
I narrowed my eyes. "Lia..."
"He's--Master is doing business," she squeaked out.
"Business?" I shouted. Lia frantically waved her arms around, trying to silence me.
"Business with who? What kind of business?"
The tips of Lia's ears grew a light shade of pink. "A client?"
I bounded up from the bed. Very mixed emotions flew through me, all of which I
couldn't name.
"A client?" I screeched.
She nodded her head quickly, backing away from me slowly. "You must understand, he
is not the one in charge in this case. It is the Beast who rules for now. That is
what conducts business, not him."
"Oh really?"
Maybe I could find a way to phase through the wall.
"He doesn't want you to leave the room, Miss."
Oh, was that the wrong thing to say.

My foot slammed on the floor like a toddler throwing a fit because they didn't get
their way.
"Hecan'tkeepmeinhere!"
With the flurry of unintelligible words that came tumbling out of my mouth, I
pointed my hand at the door. My rage came out in spurts, so sadly, my magic did
also. A sharp blast of energy tore itself out of my fingers and hit the doorknob.
The doorknob then flew away the door and onto the chair Lia had fallen asleep on,
landing with a soft flump.
I ran to the door and squeezed my fingers through the gap left by the doorknob and
pushed. Slowly, the door creaked open.
"Miss, I can't allow you to do that!" Lia shouted after me, shock finally worn off
from my outburst.
I answered by pushing the door shut behind me and dragging a desk across the hall
to put in from of it.
Sorry, Lia.
I practically ran down the hall, thinking of where Kvir could be.
And what Lia meant by "client."
A low rumble caught my attention. It was coming from downstairs. Quickly, I tiptoed
down the steps, careful not not step on the ones that popped or creaked.
The talking was coming from behind a door, in a part of the castle I had never been
in. Stone creatures--some with boars heads and leapards bodies, others with the
wings of an eagle but the legs of a lion--lined the walkway that gradually got
wider as I went on. The walls were gray, the floor was gray, the stone was gray.
There was only one word I could think of to describe the feeling I got.
Cold.
My bare feet made no noise as I rounded a corner, still following the voices. A few
words faintly broke free from the rumbling, most of them being spoken in a much
higher voice.
"Your majesty, please--"

It was the voice of a younger man.
It was familiar.
My heart pounding, I glimpsed from behind the wall I was at. I was right--a young
man, bowed in fear, stood diagonally across from me. His hands were clasped in a
plea, begging for help from unseen person.
He didn't have to be seen for me to know who he was.
"Vadik?" I whispered.
There was no way. He was back at the castle, still with Regol. There was no logical
reason for him to be here of all places.
Unless he's trying to find you.
He wouldn't be.
"What you wish is impossible, boy. Nothing is able to transfer power like that."
It was all I could do to not gasp. It was the Beast who spoke, but a low growl was
hidden beneath his voice.
Power?
Vadik collapsed to his knees, defeated. "Please," he choked. He held out his dirt-
stained hands in a prayer. "Please. The kingdom will fall if you don't."
Edria, falling?
A sound like rushing wind came from the top of a stone mound. "You ask this for
selfish reasons, boy. My answer is unchanged."
Vadik jumped from the ground, rage in his eyes. "You helped my father with his
selfishness, monster! You condemned a girl to death for his mistake, why not mine?
You know what I ask--"
Beast roared. "You ask the impossible! Magic cannot be transferred to another
without consequences you have to pay. Nothing is free."
"A girl died for this!" Vadik choked. "My friend is gone because of my father's
conquest for power, a girl killed by you because she only wanted her family safe."
A knife, one with a red blade and green hilt appreared in his hands. In less than a
second, Vadik stood at Kvir, the blade pressed to his throat. "You will grant me
this power."
My heart leapt to my throat. The tension in the air was stiff, sharp with anger and
fear.
Something was about to happen.
"You ask for revenge." Beast laughed.
Laughed. Knife to his throat and he laughed.
"I ask for justice," Vadik spat. "Justice for the dead."
The blade cut deeper.
In that moment, I knew what would happen. Kvir was gone, all left was Beast.
Neither could be killed by a dagger, but Vadik didn't know that. If he cut, he
would...
"Let go before I kill you, little man."
Die.
Too late, I stepped out. All thoughts of hiding from the one who could confirm my
life vanished.
"Then you die."
The knife tore across Beast's throat. Blood splattered the white shirt Vadik wore
and the floor around him. The body hit the ground like a weight shattering
concrete.
I from my corner and grabbed Vadik's arm. The whirled around, knife raised, until
his eyes met mine.
For an instant, everything was familiar.
His lips parted with surprise. "Zara?" he breathed. His hand found my shoulder.
"You're alive?"
I wanted to smile, wanted to hold him.
All I'd be holding was the life about to be extinguished.
I tugged him away from Kvir's body. He'd yet to stir, but his shoulders rose and
fell enough to tell he still lived.
"You have to go. Now."
He broke away, head shaking. The smile faded. "What? Zara, he's dead. You're safe."
"No." Behind us, Beast began to rise. I pulled Vadik to the middle of the room. "It
didn't kill him. Trust me, I've tried."
"Nothing can be unkillable."
Beast stood, circling his head as if to test it was still attached. His eyes were
the brightest red I'd ever seen.
The shriek that came squeezing from my mouth was only a fraction of the fear I
felt. "Vadik, listen to me. He is alive. He won't hurt me. He will kill you."
Finally, Vadik turned and saw what I meant. Too late, he started to back away, hand
still clenched to mine.
Too late, because his chance to run was gone.
Beast reached out and fired a force of air at us--at Vadik. It smashed into his
chest, tore him away from me, sent him flying across the room and onto a wall. A
crack resounded from the place he hit, a crack to make my breath catch.
My friend fell to the ground, still as the dead.
Beast brushed past, his attention locked onto the person who attacked him. Claws
extended from his fingertips, razors ready to cut flesh to pieces.
Ready to cut Vadik to pieces.
Whether he lied to me or not, he couldn't die. Not like that.
Either bravery or stupidity made me jump in front of Beast, hands up. "Leave him,"
I gasped. "Let him go, he's meant no harm."
Beast snarled, eyes still on the body. "Move."
I wanted to. Every fiber of my body wanted to get away.
But it wasn't to save one friend anymore. It was to save two.
"No."
His fists clenched. "Zara, move."
Kvir broke through on the last sentence. Maybe there was still a chance.
So, I held my ground. "Leave him alone and I will."
Beast-Kvir shut his eyes. His body was tense and taut like a bowstring ready to
break. "You can't beat me in a fight. Move."
I stayed still.
His eyes snapped open, red and burning. A tremor went through the ground from where
I stood, the rock caved in to make a dent large enough to swallow me.
I darted to the side, barely able to get free.
Beast expected that. With a point of a finger, ice formed around my ankles. The
cold cut into my skin, to the bone.
As he started to go to Vadik, who still lay in the floor, I caught sight of a

stone.
It's just like the play fight, Zara, except real.
The stone went flying to the back of Beast's head.
His concentration broken, the ice fell from around my ankles. I scrambled up to try
and get closer to Vadik as he glanced back to throw a ball of fire.
The heat from it singed my shoulder. I sucked in a breath. It burned even after the
fire dissipated.
"Pagoma!"
Beast waved a hand, as if swatting the spell away. A some of the stone detached
itself from the ground and came flying toward me.
Just barely, I was able to dodge it.
He was right. I couldn't beat him. I knew all of five spells, all of which he could
block.
But, he relied on force. I relied on dumb luck and somewhat strategy.
And force.
It was time to hope the promises he made as Kvir also applied to Beast.
I couldn't beat him, but I knew how to stop him.
Focusing all my energy on the tiny pebbles scattered from the blast he sent, I
lifted them up and forced them to ram into Beast's back. His surprise and pain
lasted long enough for me get in front of him, close enough to Vadik that I was
able to dive onto my knees in front of him.
I got there in time to see a hand of claws swiping to kill.
They didn't.
My body shook with fear and excitement. Air forced its way from my lungs into the
open world, onto the claws frozen a hair's width from my eyes.
Behind me, Vadik pulled his hands close to his body, awake after being magicked
into stone.
Slowly, I pulled back from the mini daggers aimed at the man behind me. My eyes met
Kvir's dark crimson ones.
He stared back with too many emotions to name, arm trembling, then body. A thud
rang across the forced silence when his knees hit the floor, a small gasp following
as the little bit of color left in his face drained away.
My limbs unlocked themselves. Still shaking, I touched the top of his outreached
hand, lowering it to the floor. He started like he was going to say something, but
stopped, words dead in his mouth.
I shifted my weight so I was close to him. As carefully as I could, I wrapped my
arms around his neck in a hug.
"Pagoma," I whispered.
Beast couldn't come back. It wasn't a chance I was willing to take.
There was no looking back at Kvir after that. Instead, I grabbed Vadik's hand and
helped yank him up. He wobbled a moment as he stood, then steadied himself.
"Come on." With a tug, he was with me, at the door.
We would go together.
_______________________________________
This whole bottom half is brand new... Idk why I couldn't just leave it how it was,
lol.
And of course, this means I have myself more work for the next chapter. Probably
about half of that will be changed, so it'll be a few days before the next one
comes out.
Vadik's backstory was also changed, for those who read it before 11/23/17. Chapter
two is the only tweak and it's not much, just enough y'all know they're friends.
Main reason this changed was because it made more sense from a story standpoint as
to why stuff happens later on and how. If you haven't read it before, you'll find
out. Shoot, even if you have read it, you'll still find out.
Noa
Discussion starter: Vadik found his way to the castle, but why do you think he
came?
Chapter 22--Trust [Inside the Beast's Castle]
It felt like forever before Vadik spoke.
We'd gone past the entrance to the woods and run deeper than I'd gone before.
Wolves' howls shook the leaves of each tree branch, with dying rays of the sun
peeking through.
When Vadik did say something, it was when his legs had given up and folded under
him. He crashed to the ground, breathless, eyes closed.
I knelt beside him, too out of air to call out. Instead, my hand found his
shoulder, where I squeezed. At first, he didn't move, but after a moment his weight
shifted as he sat up.
A line of red ran down the back of his neck from his head. I reached toward it, but
didn't touch.
"Your head..."
Those two words were all I could muster.
At the sight of me reaching toward him, Vadik backed away as fast as he could. His
face twisted in a mixture of pain and fear. With his left hand, he brushed the back
of his head, only for his fingertips to come away shining red.
"I got hit harder than I thought," he mumbled. He gazed at me with wild eyes.
It didn't take a genius to realize what he meant.
I stood with him. "I'm not dead, Vadik. That should be obvious by now."
He swallowed and kept going backward until he ran into a tree. "Unless you're a
hallucination caused by me getting slammed into a wall."
I crossed my arms. "You grabbed me and gave me a hug a before that. I'm pretty
solid."
"Zara," He let out a shaky breath. For the first time, it looked like he was
genuinely frightened. "What I saw in there--right now I really need proof, okay?"
Leave it to Vadik to not believe me.
Then again, I couldn't blame him.
I bent down and plucked a small stone hidden in the grass. Without much thought, I
flung it toward Vadik, where it hit his knees and bounced off.
While he stood trying to process what just happened, I walked to him and grabbed
his arm. Without a fight, he let me pull him to the ground again.
I brushed some of his hair to the side. "While you're still going through your
whole disbelief idea of the day, I'm going to look at your head, 'kay?"
A small nod was my reply.
Thankfully, the spot on his head wasn't as bad as I originally imaginied. Blood
clumped up sections of his hair together, some of it dried and some of it not. The
place he hit wasn't indented into his brain, but red and purple from where a bruise
had already started to form. The cut itself wasn't deep, it long and wide enough to
cause him problems before he got back to Edria.
I stared for a second, the made up my mind. "Vadik?"
He tensed. "Yes?"
Still, he believed me to be an illusion.
I bit my lip. "The spot's not bad, but I'm going to get water and a towel to try
and clean this a little, okay?"
A nod was the answer.
I grabbed his hand. There as no doubt in my mind he thought I'd get up to get the
items.
My heart pounded. If he started to run, the vespers would catch him before I did.
If he panicked even more than he was, we'd both be dinner.
"Please don't freak out."
Vadik raised an eyebrow. "Why would I--"
"Kinisiv."
A bucket of water with a small, white towel draped over it appeared next to us.
My friend started to jump up. "Holy--"
I clapped a hand over his mouth. "Don't freak out! There are creatures here that
will sense our panic and try to kill us."
His eyes widened to the size of plates.

I loosened my grip. "Promise you won't scream?"
"Mmhmm."
I let go and grabbed the towel next to the bucket. The water felt cool and clean
against my hands--against the scratches and bruises of fighting and running.
As soon as the towel touched the back of Vadik's head, he visibly relaxed. With a
sigh, he mumbled: "Next time you want to tell someone to calm down, saying there
are monsters out there ready to kill isn't the best idea. Neither is randomly
making objects appear."
I couldn't help but laugh. "I'll remember that for next time I have to run through
the forest filled with magical monsters with someone."
A grin flickered across his face. "I'm happy you're alive."
"So am I."
His arm latched out and hit mine. "Come on, be serious for a second."
"You really did hit your head hard. I'm Zara, not Serious."
"Zara!"
In my crazy laughter, the water from the cloth dripped so much onto Vadik's head he
looked as if he had just walked through a rainstorm.
He copied me, but his was more tight and maniacal. "It's good to see you again.
Especially after... last time."
'Last time' when he turned me into Regol. 'Last time' when I was sent to kill Kvir.
"Let's forget about last time, okay?" My voice softened. "You have your duties and
I had to obey."
He looked away. "It's still wrong. I lied, I betrayed your trust--"
"Vadik." I put the towel in the bucket. Red from it started to leak out and stain
the otherwise-clean water a shade of pink. "It's okay. I trust you--and I will
trust you until I am absolutely sure I can't anymore. You've kept my brother, and
father, alive. Without me being here, they would be gone."
"But--"
My hands found his face, where the cupped around him. "You are--and will forever
be--my friend. Nothing can change that."
The smallest flicker of a smile went across his lips. "Come back with me," he
whispered. "Come back to Edria. Your brother misses you. I--" His voice was no more
than a breath. "You have no idea how much I need a friend. Please."
I said nothing.
A howl came breaking through the trees. I tensed, but Vadik continued. "With your
magic, you could stop my father."
I wanted to. I wanted to so much. To get out of the castle with crazy magic and
monsters--it would be so easy. I was already free. All it took was for me to walk
away.
But, if I walked away, it meant I'd have to kill the king.
I was done killing.
Vadik saw my decision before I even had to speak.
"Why?"
Suddenly, I was cold. It was a chill that went down to my bones, to my heart. "If I
do what you want me to do to your father, yes, Joshua would be free, but the
enemies I'd make would be enough to kill all of us."
"Zara, I'm next in line for the throne. You wouldn't have to worry about enemies."
"If you protect your father's killer, then my enemies would turn against you as
well. Your father has supporters. If they find his own son has betrayed him, no
matter how loyal to the crown they are, they will try and kill you."
"Then you would go back to the monster?"
For some reason, his sentence bothered me.
Maybe it was because we were all monsters.

My voice was a whisper--a breath. "I trust him."
"He tried to kill us!"
"And we tried to kill him. Vadik, I think he trusts me as much as I trust him. I'm
not dead after shielding you. If I were to be killed, I'd be gone."
He was silent. The wind rustled through the trees.
I clasped his hand. "It goes both ways. I believe in you; it is your turn to
believe in me."
He nodded. Nothing he did let on his enthusiasm for the plan, but he did not fight
me.
"Here." I took a deep breath. With the same spell I used earlier, the book with
spells appeared in my lap. Never had it been specifically mine, but nothing had
stopped me from doing what I wanted with it. "This is yours now. It holds
instructions Regol doesn't know of--instructions on magic. Use it. Stop him."
Vadik took it from me, gently. His thanks was a nod. He reached into his back
pocket and pulled out a sheathed dagger with a rose carved into the wood on the
bottom. "For the people who are against you."
I took it with a smile. "Be careful."
He pulled me into an embrace. "You too, Zara. You too."
In that moment, I knew we would be safe on our walks home.
I didn't know what would follow.
*****
The castle was the same as when I left. Cold and still.
Dead.
I had pocketed Vadik's knife after I left the woods, but couldn't help but finger
it to make sure it was there as I opened the door.
Nothing had changed. Burn marks and dust still covered the stone floor; Vadik's
blood still stained the wall, Kvir's the stairs.
The worst part was seeing Kvir where I left him--frozen on the ground.
My throat tightened. "Kvir?"
He didn't move, but that was expected.
I stepped forward, partially terrified it wouldn't be the man under the monster,
but the Beast in control. "It's Zara."
His eyes found mine. Dull, dead, red stared at me, full of everything. All the
words in the world and he couldn't have told me what his eyes did.
I fell beside him, not sat, but fell. My hand brushed against his back and in an
unspoken spell, he was free.
Words started to tumble from my mouth, but were stopped by a quiet question.
"Are you okay?"
The barriers began to fall. The walls around me started to crumble to dust, only to
be pulled up by stubbornness.
My hands were the only part of me damaged, and it was my own doing.
"You didn't touch me."
"Good." Kvir started to sit up. The little bit of color in his face drained away in
the efforts. "The other?"
"Vadik's fine. He'll be a little sore from hitting a wall, but he'll live."
He nodded. His arms shook as he tried to stand, only to fall again, breathless.
I swallowed. He was so busy asking about the people he may have hurt, I hadn't
asked him.
"Kvir?"
"Magic," he gasped. "I used too much earlier. Just... give me a minute."
I sat back.
Surprise flashed across his face. "You're not going to leave?"
"No."
"Why?"
Maybe it was because I froze him and ran. Maybe it was because, somehow, I felt
guilty about the fight.
Whatever it was, I would wait.
"Lizaveta--" Kvir's voice cracked. "I tried to kill you. Why wait for me? Why come
back?"
There would be no telling him why I came back. I couldn't answer.
Kvir clutches his head and looked away. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry for
this--for hurting you and Vadik. For dragging you into this mess of a world."
At the word 'mess' he slammed his fist into the ground. I flinched, but didn't
move.
"Why don't you hate me?" He stared at me, eyes wide with fire. "You should. It's
because of me you're here, because of me your constantly in danger, because of me
you are stuck. You should despise me with your whole soul, yet you don't."
Again, I couldn't answer. I just sat, still and silent.
When he finished, his shoulders shook. His fists clenched and uncleched, his eyes
flashed blinding red.
"I'm sorry."
Two small words. Careful.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and did what I'd only done to Vadik and my
brother.
Kvir tensed as I scooted closer. His body froze when one arm wrapped around his
neck and the other under his arm. I pulled him close, but still far enough away
there was no awkwardness in the hug.
Saying it would do no good.
Sometimes, forgiveness doesn't need words.
_____________________________________
This is so totally off the top of my head.
Who cares. It's here. Yay for brand new chapters I swore I wouldn't post but did
anyway as an update!
This is hereby dubbed: plot barf.
Chapter 23--Vespers [Inside the Beast's Castle]

A few days after fighting, I was outside for a lesson in the same thing.
Which is loosely translated as a "let's-see-how-beat-up-Zara-can-get" lesson.
I was honestly just happy to be outside again. The fighting lessons had been few
and far between, and they were the only way I was able to go outdoors. Between the
until-noon times I cleaned the castle and the rain which plagued the castle grounds
for a week, going outside became a very rare and virtually impossible feat.
So, when I finally had the chance to feel the sunshine hit me, I didn't think twice
about asking for a lesson. Trying to fight off Beast was more of me dodging out of
the way and praying he'd keep his word. I would've lost a fight with the vespers
too, Vadik's knife or no Vadik's knife.
"Lizavyeta!"
I jumped and glared up at Kvirfrom my sitting position on the ground. "What?"
He crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, I'm sorry. I must have just imagined that
you said you wanted a lesson today. Never mind then. Let's go inside."
I rolled my eyes. "I was just enjoying the sunshine for a second. Get over it."
"Mhm." Beast pointed up at the sky, which was covered in dark clouds. "I see that
sunshine you were enjoying so much. Wow, it's nice!"
It wouldn't go well if you slap him now. Just wait until he starts showing you some
weird move or something. You can mess it up and blame it on that.
I counted to ten before I started to move, just to aggravate Kvir. Slowly, (and I
mean slowly) I rose to my feet.
"So, what are we doing today?" I pulled my arm behind me, feeling the stretch in my
shoulders.
His eyes twinkled as he dug through one of his pockets, fishing for something. When
he finally grasped it, the skin around his eyes crinkled in a smile and he pulled
the thing out with a flourish.
It was a knife.
"Here," he said, holding the hilt toward me. "Take. Use."
Already have one.
Still, I took it. "Well, unless you want me to stab you again, I doubt I'll be
using it."
He rolled his eyes. "Come here."
The grass crunched beneath me as I walked two feet to Kvir and stood, knife in
hand. "Now what?"
He twirled his fingers. "Give me the knife and turn around."
What was the point of giving me the knife in the first place if you're just going
to take it away again!
I thrust the knife out--which he took-- and turned around, slapping my hands
against my thighs. His clothes rustled with his movement behind me. My heart sped
up. What's he doing?
A long hand touched my shoulder lightly. A shiver ran up my spine.

"We're doing headlocks today," Kvir chirped brightly.
And he proceeded to wrap his arm around my neck and squeeze.
The pressure of his arm against my windpipe disturbed me for a second, but only for
a second. My brain went into overdrive, trying to remember what to do in that
situation.
I stomped his foot.
He let go of my neck fairly quickly. "Don't do that!"
"Whaddaya think I'm going to do if someone chokes me? Give 'em a prize? Just be
glad I stomped your foot and didn't aim higher!"
Kvir sighed in exasperation. "Normal people wait to be told what to do."
I nodded. "Exactly. Normal people."
"Just--okay." Kvir took a deep breath. "If I were to have a knife in my hand, and
with the other put you in a headlock, what would you do?"
"Stomp on your foot."
He slapped his hand against his forehead. "No, Lizaveta--"
I grimaced. "Zara."
He repeated himself again, this time louder. "No, Lizaveta. First of all, try to
take the knife away from me. Come here. "
When I didn't move, he walked up toward me and stood behind at my back. "I'm not
going to chokehold you yet, but just take the knife away."
After a few minutes, I succeeded in doing that.
"Good," he said. "Do you know how to get out of headlocks?"
I smirked. Stomp on your foot.
My mouth opened to say just that, but Kvir cut me off with a wave of his hand.
"Don't say 'stomp on your foot.'"
I closed my mouth and shook my head.
So, again, after minutes of me being yanked backward by my neck, I finally got the
move down to get out of headlocks.
"You feel like putting it all together?" he asked.
My heart sped up. Something was bothering me about the move he was trying to teach
me, but I couldn't place it.
Instead of saying 'no,' I nodded my head. "Sure. Let's do it."
Kvir wirled his fingers around in the air. "Turn around."
Heart hammering, I turned, waiting for his arm to squeeze around my neck. And it
did. He pressed into my voicebox and held me up to him, so much so that I was
pressed against his chest. The knife--which was supposed to be at Kvir's side--had
the flat part pressed against my side.
Something clicked in my head. I knew why the move was bothering me.
"Kvir, stop," I choked. Don't think about it, Zara.
He didn't let go, only squeezed tighter. "That's not what works to get out of a
headlock, Lizavyeta."
"Let go!"
He didn't let go.
"Kv--"
It was just a momentary flash. The brown grass below me turned to wood. The trees
turned to flames that waved around like an ocean. The arm clad in black that pulled
at my neck turned much smaller, hairy, and white.
It was like I could smell the guy that choked me.
The dagger he held pressed lightly into my side, stopping me from running away.
But I knew what to do.
With my left hand, I grabbed the hilt of the dagger and yanked downwards, feeling
it slip from the man's grasp. I brought my right foot down like a ton of bricks
onto the guy's foot, stomping it to pancake. I whirled around and stabbed at his
neck, feeling the knife sink deeply into soft flesh. He gasped.
I looked up, wanting to see the light leave the man's eyes--no--I wanted to see him
die with his face uncovered.
But it didn't happen.
The eyes that I feared so much only stared back at me in shock. The mask that
covered my mother's killer's head didn't move.
We stared at each other through the flames.
This isn't right. I was just with--
"Zara?"
The flames around me fluttered away. The wooden floor turned to grass. Trees
reappeared, and the sky turned gray once again--but this time not from smoke. This
time it was rainclouds.
Oh no.
My breaths came out faster and faster. "I didn't..."
Slowly, I lifted my head to look up. Kvir stared at me in shock, a hand pressed
against his neck where--
Where I stabbed him.
Oh.
He held the knife in place, making sure the point didn't tip up. His shoulders were
rigid and the rest of his body stiff with pain. His ruby eyes flashed at me, then
back at the knife.
There is no blood coming from his neck, and he's still breathing, so I guess that's
a plus.
If you can call getting stabbed in the neck a plus.
"Help--help me with this," he whispered.
I think my heart skipped a beat. "What?"
"You put it in there, take it out!"
Stupid.
I walked up and grabbed the hilt. This is going to hurt.
But, of course, my bright ideas and I didn't say that out loud.
Unsure of whether to go slowly or just yank it out all at once, I chose the quicker
option.
Which was probably the wrong choice.
Kvir let out an earth-shaking roar after I yanked the blade from his neck. He
glared at me with rage.
"Zara, what the--"
What followed was an unhalting string of words, some of which I recognized and some
I didn't, but all were curses.
"Kvir, I'm sorry!" I shouted back to him. He had finally quieted down a second so I
could speak. "What did you think, that I like stabbing you?"
His arms went into the air. "Yeah, seems like you do!"
Uh-uh. I'm not doing this again. "I told you to let go!"
Kvir went mysteriously silent all of the sudden. He crouched to the ground and
grabbed his head with his hands.
"Kvir?" I stepped forward. His right hand shot up, telling me to stop. A low moan
forced itself out from clenched teeth.
He's fighting it.

With deep breaths, he stood up. His eyes were a brighter red than usual, but
everything else about his was normal.
"Do you know what a vesper is?"
"Say what?" Wow, jumping track a little, are we?
He looked at me like I was an idiot. "A vyecher. Surely you know what one is."
"Gah," I didn't answer his question. I was still reeling from the "hold-on-I'm-
about-to-tear-you-to-sheds" to the "So-do-you-know-what-this-is" transition.
Kvir rolled his eyes and started to walk toward the castle. He twirled the cane
(which he hadn't had anywhere near him the entire time we were outside) around and
around.
"Wait!" I called, jogging to catch up. "What about vespers? I mean, yes, I know
what they are, I've seen them."
He stopped so abruptly I almost ran into his back. "So you don't know what they
are."
I sighed and looked up at the still-darkening sky. "No, I guess I don't."
Kvir plopped down on the ground. "Sit," he commanded.
I looked at the ground warily. Still, I sat.
"What do you think vespers are?"
I glanced at the forest. "I don't know," I answered. "People, I guess, because
that's why we are in a war with them."
War. I had completely forgotten about the Vesper War since I was at the castle.
"No."
I turned my head so sharply that one of my curls flung itself into my eyes. I
tucked it back. "What do you mean by that?"
He looked at me and spoke simply, "They aren't people. They are animals."
Confusion basically attacked me at that point. "But the war--"
"There is no war now," Kvir answered. "I stopped it when the king sent you to me."
"You--you stopped it?" I sputtered. What?
He just sat still, staring at me. He wasn't lying, that much was clear. But if what
he said was true, then Joshua would've gone to fight for no reason. My father might
not have been in the state he was when I left because Joshua would've been home. I
wouldn't have even been at the castle because there was no war in the first place!
"I don't understand," I mustered out. "What do you mean you stopped it?"
He bowed his head and slowly got to his feet, using the disappearing/reappearing
cane to help him up. "When you came to the castle, I called off my vespers. It was
part of the deal I made with the king."
Confusion quickly turned to anger. "Your vespers! You had control over them the
whole time! And how, pray tell," I paused for breath. "How did the king see an army
when you said that they are animals?"
"Liizavyeta." Kvir grabbed my shoulder. "Go into the woods. Here," he reached into
his pocket and pulled out the knife I stabbed him with earlier. "Take this."
I resisted the urge to stab him multiple times with the dagger he gave me. I closed
my eyes instead. "What the heck are you talking about!"
There was no answer. My eyes flew open. Kvir was gone.
"I'm going to kill him."
_____________________________________
Discussion starter: What do you think a vesper is?
Chapter 24--Vespers(2) [Inside the Beast's Castle]
The forest was dark.
Obviously.
The tree branches fit perfectly together, making a canopy that blocked out almost
all the weak light that tried to break through.
My throat constricted. The last time I as in the forest was the night I first met
Kvir. It was when I ran away and saw the black-masked men who were supposed to be
dead.
A hoot from an owl (I think it was an owl, anyway), startled me. I jumped and
twirled around. Branches cracked under my feet, not allowing me to silently move as
I hoped. I pushed through the bushes and thorns, holding onto the dagger like a
lifeline.
Everything fell silent. No crickets chirped, the owl that hooted made no noise,
there were no sounds of the feet of scurrying squirrels or the mad flapping of
birds wings.
Then, a low voice shattered the silence. It was a man, and he was singing.
"Hush lit-tle
Ba-by,
Don't say a
Wo-rd.
Mama' gonna
Buy you
A mock-king
Bird.
And when that

Mock-king bird don't sing,
Papa's gon-na tie it up with
Me-tal strings.
And watch its wings go

Flap-py flap.
And eat it th-en,
Just like that."
My heat kept into my throat. The voice slowly sang the lullaby song in the
creepiest way possible. The worst part wasn't the fact that someone sang it though.
It was, for one, the song that one of the men sang under their breath the night my
mother died.
Second, it was coming from directly behind me.
I turned around and bit back a scream. Stepping toward me, holding a bloodstained
dagger was a person wearing a black mask. Red oozed from the top of his head,
falling in between the creases on the face mask. His shirt was spotless; there were
not rips or stains from the forest. The only thing on his chest was a four-inch
wide wood piece that stuck through him and out his back.
Don't things like that normally kill people?
The man stepped toward me again.
Time to go.
I turned back around and ran like a bat out of--well, I ran fast. Terror boosted my
adrenaline as I fought my way through the bushes and trees. Thorns scraped at my
cheeks, digging into my flesh. I ignored them.
But no matter how fast I ran, the man was the same distance behind me, singing that
song.
"And then I'll watch you,

Ba-by, aye.
I'll sit right there and watch you
Cry."
My breath came out in choked gasps, some from running and some from the tears I was
swallowing down. The song spread around me like wildfire, echoing from the smallest
nook in a tree to an owl hooting along. I could almost hear thumping every few
beats, like an unstopping drum beat.
Something brushed against my shoulder. I ignored it, putting it off as a tree

branch.
Then said tree branch grabbed my shoulder.
I shrieked and tried to pull away, all the while still running. It didn't work. I
only succeeded in pulling him closer to me.
He yanked my shoulder back, twisting my body around. My feet tangled up, resulting
in a hard fall on my side. The air left my lungs, leaving me gasping for breath but
still managing to scramble back, away from the man.
Through the folds of the mask, I saw the man's mouth open again.
"I'll laugh at your--"
"No!"I screamed. The knife--which I had somehow managed to not stab myself with
when I fell--found its way back into the palm of my hand. I reached up and slashed
at the man, feeling resistance as the knife dug through his abdomen.
It was like a fountain of red. Warm blood spurted out from his stomach, splattering
my legs and a few unlucky trees. The man gripped his stomach where my knife had
torn through, trying to stop the bleeding. It didn't work. He only succeeded in
coating his arms the dark color.
A cry escaped through the mask; a high, pained cry much like a wolf's vaulted
through the treetops. The man fell to his knees, then the ground, whimpering.
I gasped. The mask that he wore slowly stretched out in front of his face, getting
longer and more pointed by the second. Little sprouts of dark hair formed on the
mask--which wasn't a mask anymore, it had turned into a snout. The eyes, which were
yellow-ish to begin with, turned a deep shade of brown. Its legs shrank and arms
grew. It's fingers molded together, forming a paw.
When the thing finally stopped changing, it was still. There was no breath, no rise
and fall of the chest. Whatever it was, it was dead.
I had killed it.
I slowly reached out and brushed the tips of my fingers against its fur. The short
hairs prickled me lightly. The creature itself was small. From foot to top of head,
it was about three feet. It had a face like a wolf, and that continued on until its
shoulders, where the hair flattened to its pale pink skin. Its feet were
disproportionate to its size; they were bigger than they should have been.
"It was a child..." I whispered.
Like a punch to the gut, the realization of what had just happened hit me. I
doubled over, gasping for breath.
Calm down, Zara.
I pulled my knees to my chest and shoved my head in between them. Tears streamed
down my cheeks.
Why did that thing come after me? Why did it look like--look like him?
What was it?
As soon as I thought the words, the answer came tumbling to the front of my mind.
It was a vesper.
I shook my head. "Why? How did it... Oh."
They take the form of your greatest fear. That's why I saw that man, that's why
Camden saw a wolf. That's why--that's why the king sees, no, saw,--an army!
Were we fighting animals the whole time? Joshua's leg, the baker's sons, they were
all lost to animals?
Where did these things come from?
I took a shaky breath. I knew where to get my answers, and he wasn't going to like
me when I asked.
*****
"Kvir!"
I stormed into the castle, flinging open the doors. They blew back and banged
against the wall, rebounding so hard that they slammed closed with a bang.
All of my terror and sadness had been replaced by anger in the minutes it took me
to get back to the castle.
"Kvir!" I screamed again. "Get down here! Now!"
No thought crossed my mind of whether he'd be angry at me for fussing at him. I was
too upset.
There was a flurry of thuds following my demand. Kvir's head popped up from behind
the balcony railing.
"Why aren't you--"
I cut him off with a dagger-glare and pointed my index finger down at the floor in
front of me. "Now."
Kvir started to come down obediently. When he hit the last three steps, I started
to walk towards him, pointing my finger at his chest.
"What. Was. That." With each word I spat out, I jabbed my finger closer and closer
to him.
He looked down at me calmly. "A vesper."
I stood less than an inch away from him. If I was taller (although I didn't need to
be. He needed to be shorter), then I would've been breathing in his face. As it
was, I had a clear view of the middle of his chest.
I crossed my arms. "Why, pray tell, did you send me after a creature that
transforms?"
"I didn't know if you could kill it or not. Seeing as you are standing here yelling
at me, the answer to that question would be a 'yes.'"
My jaw dropped slightly. "So, you didn't know if I'd survive? If I died, then, 'Oh
well, that's that' would've been the answer?"
A low growl came from his throat. I stepped back.
"Luzaveta, if I'd have wanted you dead, you would be," Kvir rowled. His eyes
flashed, warning me to stay silent.
I shook my head and spoke softly. "Then why did you send me after a vesper?"
H sighed. "They take the form of--"
I interrupted him. "Your greatest fear, yeah I kind of figured that out."
He scratched his head. "I thought it might help. You seemed to have some type of...
terror whenever I did something a certain way."
I stared at Kvir open-mouthed.
"You know," he continued. "Face your fear."
Face my fear? What the heck has he been getting into?
"What on earth possessed you to send me out to kill a creature that took the form
of my 'greatest fear?'" I screeched. My rage--which hadn't been in control that
much anyway--just completely boiled over.
"Lizaveta, I was trying to help!"
"No!" I screamed, stepping away from Beast and clenching my fists. "You don't get
the privilege in deciding what I'm scared of or not! It not up to you!"
He stiffened. "I'm sorry that my actions weren't sufficient enough, girl. If you
would rather have issues like you apparently have and won't share them, no matter
how much I may ask, I will take it upon myself to take actions. You freak out at
the stupidest things, resulting in problems that I have to solve! Whether it be a
memory that I show you, a fighting lesson where you stab me, or all of your little
nightmares,"
I reeled back.
"Yes, don't think I don't know about them," he continued. "All of your nighttime
excursions around the castle aren't just for fun! It's stupid that you aren't
telling me! You're being childish!"
Every word Kvir spat felt like a punch to the gut. Tears sprang to my eyes.
"Kvir," I began, trying to keep my voice level. "Me telling you about my past takes
some sort of trust. Any little bit of that that you had, you just lost."
His face softened as the realization of what he had just screamed out at me hit
him. "Lizaveta," he whispered. He reached out his arm to touch me.
I batted him away. "Don't."
As if I could hold myself together, I wound my arms around my sides. A tear

trickled down my cheek. I wiped it away and turned around.
The silence was deafening.
Kvir screamed. There was a loud bang of his arm hitting the wall.
I tensed at the sound and turned toward him again. "Don't," I whispered. I shook my
head. "Don't hurt yourself again. Not about this."
His breaths came out sharply. He growled and clutched at his head. He pressed his
back against the wall. "I'm sorry."
I laughed through my tears. "Don't be. It's my fault."
I walked up to the wall and stood next to him. He still pressed his hand against
his temple and had a far-off look in his eyes, which turned a brighter shade of
red.
I closed my eyes again and let more tears fall. "I'm sorry. You don't need to worry
about my stupid past."
Without thinking, I leaned to the right. My head met something solid, something
warm. It only took a second for me to realize what I was touching.
He tensed under my touch and tried to distance himself.
"Stay," I whispered.
He did.
I stayed like that for a few minutes, drawing in comfort from the stiff body next
to me.
I breathed out slowly through my mouth. "What--no, where-- did the vespers come
from?"
Kvir remained silent for a second longer.
"You've seen forest animals, right?"
I didn't lift my head. "Uh, yeah, why?"
"Vespers," he paused, thinking of what to say. "Vespers were once the animals of
the forest."
That made me lift my head. "They were deer?"
Beast nodded. "Before I came here, yes. The prince who used to live in this place--
his whole family loved them."
He was silent a second. "After I... after I took over, the animals became cursed.
They were no longer the innocent creatures the Prince once knew. They became the
protectors of the castle. They guard the grounds and stop those who enter here."
He looked at me. "Although they can't keep everyone out."
I bit my lip, processing what he just said.
"Do you control them?"
I hoped that he would answer 'no.' I didn't want to blame him for the war that the
Upper and Lower (but mostly Lower) kingdom went through.
Kvir shook his head. "At one time, I was able. That ability faded through the years
though. Now they just do as they please."
I slid down the wall and sat on the cool stone floor. Waving my hand. I gestured
for Kvir to do the same. His cloak billowed out around him when he sat, forming an
almost perfect black circle.
I voiced the thought that bothered me the most.
"Have the people in the Kingdoms been fighting hordes of animals throughout the
years?"
"No," he mumbled. "The truth is worse. Since it shows the first person who sees it
greatest fear, they all see an army. In reality, there was no army. It was just the
one animal."
He fell silent again. I waited, not wanting to believe the thoughts that were
surfacing to my mind.
"Lizaveta the people were fighting each other. There was no army to begin with."
I closed my eyes and forced myself to breathe slowly. The answer that I feared
would come had come: that we were at war with ourselves. That all the injuries to
the soldiers in the war came from either them attacking themselves, or one of their
fellow soldiers--and possibly even friends--attacking them. How many friends killed
friends? How many brothers injured brothers?
"Wouldn't someone have found out about this?" I whispered. I didn't trust myself to
speak louder.
He shook his head. "The thing is, is that if someone did find out, they'd have no
way to prove it. Besides, what they would have is a perfect situation: the people
banding together to fight a common enemy. Take that away, and all eyes may be on
the person who figured it out. What's a better way to do something under the nose
of an entire kingdom than distract them?"
I lowered my head, heart sinking. "That's horrible."
Kvir didn't answer. He didn't have to.
I pushed myself up from the floor. "So, do you mind me asking one more question?"
He raised his eyebrows and stood up next to me. "Depends on the question."
"If vespers show your greatest fear, then what do you see?"
Great job, Zara. I'm sure you could be a little blunter next time.
Kvir didn't answer immediately. He turned his head. "Nothing. I'm a monster, and
monsters have no fears."
His words hurt, even though they weren't directed as an insult. The fact that he
still looked at himself in that manner--as a monster--bothered me more than him
putting me up against a vesper.
So, I did one thing I wasn't used to doing. Without thinking very hard about my
actions, I reached my right hand up and lightly touched the top side of Kvir's
head, above his mask.
"As soon as you believe you are a monster is when you truly become the monster. And
you don't believe it with your heart, otherwise, why would you still be mentioning
it?"
Our eyes locked. If I could've seen the bottom of his face, I would've sworn he was
grinning. With as much thought as I had given my hand press, he pulled me into a
hug.
I froze for a split second, then wrapped (or tried to wrap) my arms around his
torso.
"I'm sorry, Lizaveta," he mumbled into my hair.
I closed my eyes and burrowed myself deeper into his embrace. "You are forgiven--"
"--You will always be forgiven."
_______________________________________
Hey guys!
So what'd you think of the chapter? I'm starting to get a little worried, 'cause I
don't read a lot of romance-y type books(I actually try to avoid them), and I don't
know if I'm dragging this out too long, or if I'm speeding it up too much. I don't
think it's the second, but I've no idea.
So, I'm going to do one of my not-often shout outs here, and call out
wisteriaflower. She has some really, really awesome retelling stories on her
account. "Beyond the Tower" and "The Siren and the Singer" are two of my favorites
that I've read on here. All y'all, go check them out.
Please vote if you liked this chapter!

Funny fact of the day: Since I type this on my phone, auto correct does some
damage with the names of characters and things. For instances, "vespers" had
changed to "checkers," and "testers" before. "Kvir" somehow turns to "Ovid" (not
entirely sure how) and, the funniest, "McKenna." His name swapped about three
times during the process of my editing this one.
Noa.
Chapter 25--You Knew Who? [Inside the Beast's Castle]
Kvir
Ow.
Just...Ow.
The day before, when Lizaveta's friend showed, had hurt. A lot. The moments I
struggled, I was caught between the beast and my "normal" self--something that I
felt briefly every time I changed.
Briefly.
Never at full-force, like how I had felt it. Never for that long.
But somehow, somehow, I fought it. And I beat it.
In which my body was not going to let me forget about.
Normally, every time I changed I had some sort of side-effect that went along with
it--the main one being the fact that I used magic, and since I used the magic, it
progressed the spell.
I could already feel the minor changes the spell had done to me--my bottom teeth
were longer, the claws on my hands had grown sharper, and my eyes. When the girl
arrived, they were a darker brown, not the startling red I knew they changed to.
"You will become more of a beast every day."
The words of the woman who visited me in my cell the night the duke took over my
castle echoed in my head. It was the night of my choice.
My choice to be executed or to become a monster.
I clenched my teeth and turned my head to the window. The overcast sky threatened
rain, and a strong wind rustled the trees from a direction I had long since
forgotten--north, south, east, or west.
It was fitting for the day.
The fact that she left her room shouldn't have surprised me. She was adventurous,
I'd give her that much.
So adventurous that she bordered on the edge of stupid, but yes. Adventurous.
What she didn't know was that Vadik could never come back, no matter his promises
of returning,
That was one aspect of the curse--or rather, the magic, I didn't absolutely
despise. If anyone entered the castle grounds, they would never be able to find
their way back when they left. If they tried, they would just wind up where they
started.
It worked. Every time.
But one.
I closed my eyes. A girl, no older than eighteen, popped into my mind. Her brown
ringlets fell to her shoulders, seemingly draped across them like a shrug. She was
remarkably similar to Lizaveta, in more ways than one. In fact, they could almost
be twins.
I shrugged off my thoughts and got up from my chair, reaching for the black cane as
I moved. It wasn't that I needed it, it was just a reminder.
A reminder of the one who cursed me.
I ran my thumb over the gem decorating the top of the cane, feeling the engraving
of foreign symbols under my skin. Even with my forgetfulness of the letters, I knew
what it said.
Duke Aldrich of Evonshyr.
I gripped the top of the cane harder. The man who killed my wife.
I closed my eyes and pushed out the memories that started to flood to the tip of my
mind, knowing what would happen in I delved into them. The scenes would bring on
emotion, and emotion would bring on the creature.
"You will be able to feel nothing without consequence."
My consequence: a monster that couldn't be controlled.
I glanced at my mask lying on the table next to me. Something inside of me just
reared back in aggravation at the silver object.
Do I really want to put it on today?
I shook my head. Why am I even asking myself these things?
"Raul!" I called.
A sudden warmth at my side alerted me to his presence. "Yes, sir?"
I picked up the mask and held it out to him. "Could you help?"
I finally looked at Raul's face. He was pale--paler than usual. His lips almost
blended with his face, and it seemed like he had aged twenty years. His hands shook
uncontrollably, and his breaths were heavy.
"Raul?" I asked, like a little child.
He looked at me and smiled. "It's amazing how the years pass, isn't it, Sir?"
I grinned a little and nodded. For me, practically no time had gone by. I had lived
in the castle for over two-hundred years, and yet I hadn't aged. Once, Raul came to
the conclusion that I aged so one year equalled one day, which would make since.
He never said how fast it went for him.
A sudden fear gripped me. What if he dies?
When my father died before I was cursed, Raul took the mantle of the father-figure
in my life. He filled the gap and stood in for both of my parents--my mother, whom
I never knew, and my father.
Pain shot up my spine. I groaned and held up my hand to stop Raul.

Think. Don't let it control you.
Lizaveta's words echoed in my mind. "If you can fight it, you can stop it."
And, like that, the pain stopped. I gasped, not realizing that I held my breath.
Hey, that worked.
With a bob of my head, I beckoned Raul over to tie my mask.
He moved slowly, like swimming through syrup, and fumbled with the ties that held
the mask on. It took twice as long as usual. I could feel myself get on edge at his
every touch.
He's like my father.
Not that I'd ever mention that to anyone. And the fact that he already knew that.
He placed his hand on my shoulder gently. I immediately relaxed, though I didn't

realize I had tensed up so much.
"Sir, do not worry about me," he croaked.
I didn't move.
"Sir?"
I stayed as still as a statue.
Raul sighed again and sat next to me. "Brennen, please. Look at me."
Something is incredibly wrong.
Very rarely--no, never did Raul ask me to do something with such urgency in his
voice. I could feel myself start to shake as I turned to look at him.
He smiled a small smile--a mix between sadness and happiness. "Death is a part of
life. There is nothing you can do to stop it. It is a great mystery that only you
can find the answer to, and only once at that. Do not be frightened for me."
Abruptly, I stood and moved toward the door. "Do not speak of Death."
"I will speak of it. It happens to everyone. You never know when your time will be.
A minute, a day, twenty years--it's all a mystery." Then, in a low voice, he
muttered, "And I know where I'm going after I die. I am not frightened."
"Raul, please. You will not die anytime soon," I choked.
He stood and came to me, once more patting my shoulder. "Everybody does. Why should
I be any different?"
With that, he disappeared.
****
Again, I found myself watching the girl.
I swear, it wasn't on purpose.
With Raul's words to me over, I left the room and walked down the hall, then heard
footsteps coming from a part of the castle where I hadn't been in years. The only
light was a glowing ball, bobbing up and down like a specter. I slinked quietly
towards it, darting back and forth between the shadows. Footsteps went along with
the bobbing light very faintly.
Oh, I mused. It's her again. What's she up to?
So, I followed her down the hallway, watching as she picked up small trinkets and
put them down again. The mass of brown curls that hung from her head we're tangled
horribly, like she had just woken up.
She sighed and stopped walking, dropped the candle down, then lifting it back up.
"Would you just come out of the shadows already?"
She's learning.
I emerged from my cloak of darkness. She huffed and crossed her arms over her
chest.
"What do you want, Kvir?"
Nothing.
Well, that's not true. You are apparently hovering around this person for a reason,
so there's something you want.
But I would've preferred not to be seen.
Shut up, you.
When I didn't answer right away, Lizaveta turned away from me. "Fine," she said,
throwing her arms into the air. "Don't answer the question."
A breath of air forced its way from my lungs. "I want nothing. I was just--"
"Following me?"
Well, not intentionally.
That's a lie.
Okay, then maybe a little on purpose.
Why am I talking to myself?
"No. I'm not following you. I was just walking."
She raised an eyebrow. "And following me."
"I told you--"
Lizaveta cut me off. "Look, I don't care right now, okay? Either follow or don't."
She couldn't be angry at me?
"Lizaveta, did I do something I'm not aware of?"
Lizaveta stopped and turned around. Her face softened. "No, you did nothing. It's
just me right now." Her hand went up and she tapped her forehead with a shrug.
"They won't stop."
"Are you sure of that?"
She opened and closed her mouth, looking for words.

She needs to stop that. She looks like a fish.
"I'm positive," she finally whispered, "Nothing anyone does helps. It's always
there, whether I watch it play out over and over again or if I ignore it
completely."
"You have tried doctors?"
Lizaveta let out a strangled laugh. "Yes. All they tell me is that it'll go away.
Well, it's been ten years and it hasn't thought once about leaving."
"Does... talking about it help?"
Red slowly started to creep up Lizaveta's face. "I've told my brother."
"Anyone else?"
"Why does it matter?" she snapped. "I could go on to Edria's king about it and it
won't make any difference. Your vespers didn't help at all, so why should you
bother asking?"
I straightened to my full height, towering over the slim girl in front of me.
"I was trying to help, Lizaveta. I still am."
She turned away from me."I don't want to talk about it."
"Lizaveta--"
"It is Zara!" she shouted. "My name is Zara, not Lizaveta."
I narrowed my eyes. "You're name is Lizaveta. Your nickname is Zara."
She threw her hands up above her head and walked away. "I'm not talking about this
now."
Well, I'll go back to my room.
But what if I want to follow her? See what she's looking at?
No, you don't. You want to go back to your room.

I began to trail behind Lizaveta by a few feet, walking slowly so I didn't surpass
her. Every now and then, she would stop and hold up a candle to one of the pictures
on the wall. They would always be torn or slashed beyond recognition--the result of
my first changes.
Finally, she stopped to a portrait on the wall and held up the candle. It was
intact, looking like it was brand new.
"Who is this?" she asked. "Why isn't it torn up?"
I looked up from the scattered pieces of knight's armor under me and stared at the
picture. It was one of a regal man, with dark, shoulder-length hair and a matching
mustache. He was dressed in royal blue had a crown perched on top of his head. It
his hands, he flaunted a jeweled cane.
Duke Aldrich.
Now it was my turn to not want to speak.
"That's the duke who took over the castle a few hundred years ago," I answered,
queuing her to move on.
Unlike me, she took the hint and did.
We walked down some more and stopped at more pictures. Rosalie, Henry Scott, me,
and a much younger Raul. She would ask me about each of them and grudgingly, I'd
answer.
Finally, we stopped at the last picture on the hall, one of a dark haired girl with
tight ringlets. She smiled softly in the painting--unlike all the rest who frowned
stoically. She was dressed in peasant robes, not like royalty. It was the girl I
had thought of earlier. The only person who managed to come back.
I waited for Lizaveta question of "Who is this?" but it never came. I looked at her
curiously.
Her lips trembled and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears looking at the painting.
Carefully, she reached out a hand and touched the canvas, caressing the girl's
face.
"How did you get this?" she whispered.
I answered her question slowly. "One of the servants here did it a few years ago."
She shook her head. "No. How did you get the girl in the picture? Did she pose
here, or did your painter just think her up?"
"She was here."
Lizaveta gasped and pulled her hand away from the painting. She turned to me, tears
falling down her cheeks. "Why is my mother here?"
I reeled back in shock. "What?"
Her hand raised and she pointed at the picture. "That's my mother. Why do you have
a picture of her here?"
Oh boy. Well, that explains the similarities.
"She came to my castle years ago," I answered.
"But you knew her? How?"
I stood still, at a loss of words. I didn't know that the girl's mother had come to
the castle.
"How?" she screamed and raised her hand, as if to strike me.
I grabbed it. "I can't tell you. I don't have the right words, and it'll come out
wrong."
Again, she opened her mouth to say something back.
No going back now.
"I can show you."
_______________________________________
Well, that was a twist. 
Okay, so has anyone heard of the word kerfuffle? I was listening to the radio
the other day and it popped up and I googled it. My new favorite word. 
Did anyone catch the thing I threw in? I'm not going to say what it was though.
(It may, possibly, have been a name.) 
Noa
Chapter 26--Lilia [Inside the Beast's Castle]

He knew my mother.
I don't know what scared me more--the fact that Kvir had a picture of her in his
castle, or the fact that he knew her.
As in, actually spoke to her, knew her.
I fiddled with the lace on my sleeve, twisting it around my fingers.
How did he know her? She died. She never told me anything about him, never even
mentioned him.
It never crossed my mind that he may be lying. I trusted him too much to believe
that.
"Are you ready?"
I looked up from my clasped hands and stared into the crimson eyes of Kvir. His
forehead was crinkled together in thought--or worry.
I sighed and scooted back into the comforting folds of the couch, turning my gaze
to the crackling fireplace in front of me. My bare toes curled under themselves on
the carpet below my feet, successfully hitting one of the books I hadn't put back
on the library shelves from the other day.
"No," I laughed quietly. "But now's a good a time as any."
The cushion next to me cavedin as Kvir sat down on it slowly.
He thumped his feet. "I haven't tried this before," he warned. "It may not work. Or
it may work. Or it'll hurt like the dickens and do one or the other."
I nodded, my heart in my throat.
"Are you sure you want to know?" Kvir whispered. He raised his gaze and locked eyes
with me.
"Yes."
His red eyes hardened. Carefully, a cold hand reached up and touched my cheek. I
could feel his long claws catch some knots at the nape of my neck. The other hand
reached up and did the same thing on my other cheek, cupping my head in his hands.
I kept my gaze level with his.
"Close your eyes."
I raised my eyebrows.
"Please."
Slowly, my eyelids shut. Weirdly enough, I could feel him move his head closer to
mine--personal bubble, I guess. I resisted the urge to lean away. I never liked
being close to people.
"Keep in mind," he began, "that this goes both ways. I'm latching onto one of my
memories and shoving you in. I have the easy part."
He sighed again. "Just remember-- whatever you start to see, I will be able to see
too."
I nodded. "Gotcha."
His hand on my cheek clinched. A swooping sensation felt like it started in my gut
and crawled up to my head. Then, as soon as it started, it vanished.
Slowly, I opened my eyes. We still sat on the couch, the fireplace still crackled--
nothing had changed.
My heart sank. "It didn't work?" I asked.
Kvir removed his hand from my cheek and stood carefully, swaying lightly when he
was upright. A bead of perspiration trickled down his forehead.
He pointed down to the couch where the two books had been. "Well, the books aren't
there anymore," he stated.
I looked to the side. He's right. They aren't there.
"You could've hidden them."
Kvir chuckled. "You think I would've hidden books so that you would think we
are...well, wherever we are?"
I couldn't help it--I grinned. I hopped to my feet. "You might have," I laughed.
He just shook his head. "Come on." He waved his arm, beckoning me to come with him.
I followed him loyally and walked out of the room. We went down the hallway and to
the place that I found the other day--the place where I saw the old woman. There
was nothing different about the castle that jumped out at me while we stood in the
room. The walls were still gray, the floor still cold. The castle itself still
deafened me with its eerie silence that was only broken by the sound of footsteps
in the hall.
Wait, footsteps?
My eyes shot to Kvir. He was still standing next to me, so the footsteps weren't
his.
"Are those Raul's?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No. Neither of us has called him recently."
Ah. Okay, then.
I slowly turned toward the direction of the footsteps. Out of the shadows came a--a
thing. It walked on two legs like a human, but it was anything but that. It was
furry--and not the "cute puppy" kind of furry. Coarse dark hair sprouted from every
angle of the creature, matting together from years of not being untangled. Huge
claws sprouted out of its paws, curling up at the ends in a dangerous hook. Long
yellow teeth escaped from its mouth, where it held up a bloody price of meat to its
lips. Blood from its food dripped from its fingers and down to the stone floor,
leaving a small puddle on the ground. The eyes on the thing were a bright, piercing
red and had no hint of human in them.
My breath caught in my chest as I took a step back, away from the creature that
devoured his meal.
"It can't see us," Kvir assured me. "The spell worked." A hint of sadness rang in
the undertone of his voice.
I didn't move. "What is it?" I breathed.
Kvir tensed. He stared at the thing ripping into its food in front of us sadly.
"It's me."
"What?"
He turned to me. "Remember when I told you what book to read in the library?"
I raised my eyebrows. "That was, like, yesterday, so yeah, I remember, but I don't
see how that has any impact on this subject."
The skin around his eyes crinkled in what I could only guess was a smile. "It
doesn't. You asked how long I've been in the castle."
"You don't need to replay the whole conversation for me. I know what I said."
He rolled his eyes. "Wouldn't you think two-hundred years is a long time to just do
nothing?"
The realization of what he was saying started to hit me. "You mean..." I pointed to
the thing--no, I pointed to Kvir--well, the other Kvir--that was licking its--his--
paw.
Kvir looked down. "After a few years, it took over. It still tries to, even now."
I swallowed. "That's--that's--"
But, I never got to finish my sentence. Three knocks on the giant wooden door
interrupted me, making me jump.
The creature looked up from its almost-finished meal and slowly slinked over to the
door. I heard a woman's voice call from outside.
"Hello? Can I come in?"
There was no answer to her question. Instead, the beast licked at his paws and went
to the shadows.
The three knocks came again. "Hello?"

I knew that voice that was speaking, asking to be let inside. I had heard it until
I was eight. It was the voice that would sing lullabies to Joshua and me. It was
the voice that had a beautiful laugh. It was the voice that would sing as the keys
of a pianina were pushed down.
When no answer came, the door cracked open. A mob of curly brown hair poked through
the doorway and turned back and forth. Then, an actual body came through with the
curls.
The girl stood and looked the room around curiously, her dark eyes searching with
vigor. She was my height exactly. A light sprinkle of freckles splattered across
the bridge of her nose and cheekbones. A tan dress hung off her small frame
awkwardly, swallowing her up.
My hand flew to my mouth. "Mom?" I whispered, reaching out to touch her. My hand
got to her shoulder and passed right through it. I drew back.
"We're in a memory, Lizaveta," Kvir reminded me gently. "You can't touch her."
I wiped away a stray tear that traced down my cheek. "I know," I replied. "It's
just... I want to so badly."
He nodded his head. "I know what you feel like."
How does he "know what I feel like"? When have I ever seen him like this?
Idiot. You haven't seen him like this because you aren't near him every moment of
every day. He may put on a wig and dance around like a gypsy for part of the day
and you'd never know.
I bit back a giggle as the image of Kvir in a wig and traditional gypsy jingles
crossed my mind.
The girl walking through me snapped me back to reality. I could still see the beast
in the corner of the room, hiding--or scheming--from the girl.
"You don't eat her, do you?" I asked.
He raised his eyebrows. "Well, if she is you mother, the fact that if I ate her and
that you are standing beside me at this very moment sort of contradict each other."
"Spit her out, maybe?" I mumbled.

"What?"
"Nothing!"
The beast slowly crawled out from its hiding spot and made its way to the girl--my
mother. It hung directly behind her, following her every move.
My eyes glued themselves to my mother. She still looked around, amazed at the
castle.
Then she turned.
You would think that seeing a bloodstained creature would make someone scream.
Like, really loudly. And also, run away. Fast.
She didn't.
My mother stared in shock at the beast, then bent down over it.
And touched it. As in, stroked his fur.
And he didn't bite her hand off.
My mouth dropped open. Kvir laughed softly beside me.
I pointed. "She--she pet you?" I screeched.
He nodded. "Yep."
Now I've seen everything.
The outer edges of my vision seemed to get blurry. I blinked. It didn't go away.
"Kvir?"
"Just close your eyes. We're transferring."
Transferring? And why is this only now striking me as weird?
I did what I was told though. Almost as soon as my eyes closed, I was told to open
them again.
This time, we were in the dining hall. My mother sat at the end of a table, staring
at the mountains of food in front of her. The beast, this time more human looking,
paced back and forth at the other side of the table.
She dug into the dessert first, gulping down huge mouthfuls of chocolate cake.
I watched her open-mouthed. "So much for 'table manners.' I muttered.
The beast that was pacing stopped. It let out a series of strained growls.
I narrowed my eye and tilted my head, trying to make sense of what it said. My
mother did the same thing.
It did it again, but this time, words were barely audible underneath the growling.
"What is your name?"
I could see the meaning resister in my mother's eyes. She carefully placed her fork
down on her plate. "Lilia," she answered. "What is yours?"
He growled this time, for real. Unlike me, who would've drawn back at the noise, my
mother--Lilia--stayed still.
"You call me Beast," it answered the same way as before.
Lilia shook her head. "No. I cannot call you Beast, because that is when you will
act like one. I want to call you something else. A new name."
"Like what?"
She shrugged, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. "I don't know. Furry baby?"
I giggled.
The beast growled at that, leaving my mother to laugh. "I won't call you that. It's
too belittling." She thought for a second. "How about Zvir?
_______________________________________
So. Short.
I can't even come up with a discussion starter for this one.
Chapter 27--Lilia (2) [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"Sphere?" His words were becoming clearer and more recognizable as,
well, words.
Lilia laughed again. "No, silly! Zvir."
"What does it mean?"
She shrugged and stood up. "I don't know. It just sounds neat."
The edges of my vision became blurry again. I turned to Kvir "Wait! What about the
rest?"
"Lizaveta, there is nothing more to see here. Let's move on."
So, that's what we did for a while. I watched my mother and the beast--or as she
called him, Zvir--do different things around the castle. She went to the library
and read, ran around outside, played hide-and-seek on the castle. Every new scene I
saw, she was older and the beast was more human.
The next thing we stopped at was Lilia and Zvir standing face to face. Zvir stood
like a human, and actually wearing clothes. Fur still covered his face, but just
barely. His eyes were a new color-- chocolate brown. He and Lilia were evidently in
an argument, and had been like that for a while.
My mother's hand were clenched by her side and trembling. "Zvir, I need to go
home."
He shook his head. "No. I told you that. You can't leave."
"I must!" she screamed. "I miss my family--my father and even my sisters! I miss
the village people, I miss my friends!"
"The friends who dared you to come here? The friends who sealed your own fate?" he
roared.
"Yes!"
Zvir stepped back. "Fine. Leave," he said sadly.
The smile that crossed Lilia's face was short-lived.

"Be warned," Zvir began. "Once you leave, you can never come back."
Lilia reached out and touched his hand-paw. "Zvir, I will always come back."
He closed his eyes and shook her off. "Just leave," he whispered painfully.
I turned to Kvir. He didn't watch what was happening in front of him. Instead, he
was taking great interest in the wall behind us.
I closed my eyes. "Did she ever come back?"
He was silent. "Just watch," he finally said.
I opened my eyes again. The castle was dark, with no light shining through the now-
nonexistent windows. One torch hanging on the wall let off a dim, flickering
light--just barely enough to see by. The beast sat in a chair, staring at the gray
wall intently. He was how I knew him--stringy blonde hair; long, gangly body; a
black cloak that swallowed him, silver mask, that stupid cane that he swung between
his hands. The only thing different were his eyes. They were still dark brown--so
dark that the brown blended in with his pupils.
"Zvir?"
I jumped and turned, along with the beast, who shot up from his chair as if he'd
been shot.
"Lilia?"
My mother stood uncertainly in the doorway, clasping her hands nervously. She
smiled tentatively. "Hello, Zvir."
Zvir twirled his cane around. He didn't approach her. "You didn't come back. I
waited. I waited for days, for weeks. Where were you?"
Tears sprang to Lilia's eyes at his words. "I wanted to," she whispered. "They
stopped me--my father, my sisters."
He nodded. "I see."
Silence descended on the room. Lilia opened her mouth and closed it again. "I'm--
I'm here to say goodbye."
He looked up. "What?"
"I'm being married off."
He nodded. "Oh."
"So you came all this way just to say goodbye?"
My mother at her feet. "Yes. Once I am married, I won't be able to come back."
She stepped forward. "I missed you, Zvir. I will miss you. You were--"
The beast held up his hand, cutting her off. "Lilia, you were--are--and will always
be--my friend."
They both embraced quickly. As they pulled away, my mother whispered something
softly in Zvir's ear.
It was a song.
I gasped and backed up, trying to stop what was coming.
Yeah, that didn't work.
The scene in front of me blurred and changed quickly. Flames spread around me,
licking at my ears. Wooden panels fell to the floor around me--the remnants of a
once-gorgeous house. The burning remains of a stuffed animal lay on the floor.
My breath caught in my chest. "No. Not here."
Kvir looked at me. "Lizavyeta? Where are we?"
I bent down to the floor. Kvir's hand grabbed my shoulder. "Lizavyeta, you have to
stop thinking about it. Close your eyes. Press it out."
"Mama?"
That one scream, that scream from a little girl stopped me. I couldn't breathe.
Every breath hurt--bringing along the knowledge of what would happen next.
"No!"
It couldn't happen, not again, not ever. I grabbed at my head, my hair, my ears
thinking maybe it would block it out.
A board fell from the sky, covered in red fire.
Red. Red like blood. Red like death. Red like pain.
Redredredredred.
It surrounded me, covered me with a tidal wave of heat but no pain.
"Mama, where are you?"
The little girl ran right by me, through Kvir and toward the room.
The room where death happened.
I shut my eyes. The red turned black. The crackling and popping did not.
"Lizaveta!" Kvir's hands grabbed at my shoulders and squeezed. "Listen to me, this
isn't real. It's a memory, okay? You can't latch hold, otherwise it'll keep
playing."
It wasn't a memory. It was happening, over and over again. Every night, every
moment of though, every time there was a fire, never stopping.
It was as real as it'd even been.
"Well, what do we got here, boss?"
Everything shifted. Three men stood above us, knives in their hands, red blood
soaked through their shirts.
Kvir glanced in the direction they were standing. There was brown hair, torn out,
littered across the floor, attached to a head, a body covered in holes--holes
leaking a crimson fluid. Eyes staring into space.
My name was faint when he said it again. His voice was loud, by everything
just
kept
fading.
It was time for the girl to scream. For me to scream.
There was one.
But it was different.
It was an older person's scream, not one of a little girl.
Not one of mine.
I opened my eyes. The fire was gone.

The burning had never happened.
A body was on the cobblestones in front of me, bleeding from a gash in his neck.
People ran around, swords at their waists and guns in their hands. Cobblestones
were painted scarlet with drained life.
"Brennen, run!"
I turned to see who spoke. There was no one there but a woman holding a child. Her
hair fell into her eyes, matted with sweat. In her right hand, there was a long
gun.
She turned to go up the stairs. At the top there was an older man, sword up and
ready for her to meet it.
But she didn't see.
She had to see.
I reached out my hand, step taken toward her. "Wait!"
The sword swung--
Then, it was gone. I grasped the couch underneath me tightly, feeling it beneath my
fingers.
We were back.
For some reason, my arm hurt. I looked at it. Kvir held onto it tightly, squeezing
his eyes shut.
"Kvir?"
"Hmm?" he mustered out. "Just talk. Say something--anything--I don't care."
I was at a loss. "Like what?"
"Whatever. Make me stop," he shuddered.
I wanted to know about the lady and child.
I didn't need to know.
So, I said the first thing unrelated to the memories that came to my mind.
"Do you and my mother ever have... uh. Well... you know."
He shook his head painfully. "No, I really don't."
Well, he asked for it.
"I'm not like, descended from you two, am I?"
My face was on fire.
It worked. He stopped thinking about whatever he was thinking about. Instead, he

just burst into laughter.
"Why would you ask that? The answer is a resounding 'no', by the way," he gasped
through peals of laughter.
I grinned. "I just wanted to make sure that you weren't my father or anything weird
like that! And you didn't have--"
"No!" He held up his hands. "Don't finish that sentence. The answer is still no. I
may be what I am, but I still have morals."
A shaky laugh came from me. "Good. That would've been..."

"Awkward-er," he finished for me.
"Yes. Awkward-er," I laughed.
"By the way, if I had done that with Lilia, I wouldn't be here today. We wouldn't
be talking."
"Huh?" I asked, confused.
"Something like that would mean that I married her. If I married her, then it would
have meant I loved her, and I wouldn't be in this castle. I'd be with her--wherever
that would be. We were just friends. People can be friends without any type of
romantic love."
It was nice to see someone else who thought that way.
When he finally settled down, Kvir looked at me. "What were the flames about,
Lizavyeta?"
My smile faded. Cold latched onto my bones. "Please, can we not talk about it? It
was nothing."
"It didn't look like nothing."
"I don't want to talk about just as much as you don't want to talk about your
memories, okay?" I stood quickly from the couch and began to exit the room. Guilt
gnawed at my stomach. I stopped by the door.
I sighed. "Thank you for showing my mother, Kvir. It--I'd forgotten how she used to
be."
It was true. All I saw of her was a body, mangled and unrecognizable.
Something in his eyes clicked and all at once, he understood. It was the same
understanding I had for his past--his memory.
"You're welcome, Lizaveta."
_______________________________________
I honestly wasn't going to add that last (and very awkward) question in originally,
but GreggTheGrimReaper alerted me to the fact that the way I ended the last chapter
made it seem like Beast was Lyza's father, and NO!, that is not true. Not
happening, not doing that, sorry.
I just really wanted to clarify that.
And no, to all of those nasty-minded people out there, nothing happened between
Zvir and Lilia. NOTHING.
Okay, I think I got that settled.
Fun fact: I was originally going to use Lilia as Kvir's wife's name, but changed it
to Rosalie at the last minute for the sake of having something related to a rose in
the story. Zvir was going to be what Zara called Kvir, but again, I changed that
and opted for her to make up a name and learn a name somewhere in there. The name
she made up wasn't actually supposed to sound like Zvir, but I sorta forgot what I
had him called originally. The meaning behind the name also changed. Instead of
Zvir and its meaning of "beast" or "monster," (if I remember correctly) Kvir means
"strange." It was picked because I liked the sound of it, but then is as asked what
it means and had to go to dear old Google for an answer.
Chapter 28--Why? [Inside the Beast's Castle]

I yawned and pushed myself and the
books I was reading closer to the fire. The last rays of daylight shone through the
glass ceiling, giving me a few moments of light until I would have to light a
lantern or read by the fire.
Even though it was not yet night, I was tired. It had been a long day. Raul and I
had worked in the castle for the morning and better part of the afternoon, stopping
only when we felt that giant spiders were not going to suddenly drop from their
webs and devour our heads. We then went our separate ways, me heading to my room
and Raul going whoever he went. For an hour or so, I practiced magic, trying to
learn new spells or refine the ones I already knew.
I stopped when I accidentally set my bedpost aflame.
I glanced down at the three books in front of me. I had finished Eleven Chimes days
before and was reading the first chapter in each of the three books in front of me.
True to my luck, the three I had grabbed were romances--the one genre that I really
don't like. Part of me wanted to grab Eleven Chimes and begin reading that again,
just to steer clear of the cursed genre.
"Reading again?"
I didn't look up to see who spoke. "Not exactly. More like trying to find a
halfway-decent story."
Kvir laughed. The sound was like a deep rumble that filled the room.
I looked up from the pages of one of the books. "Amused?"
"Well, hearing those words come from someone who claims they don't like to read is
a little ironic."
I rolled my eyes. "Haha, funny man. Do you have any suggestions?"
Kvir walked over to the bookshelf and scanned the books, although he most certainly
wasn't reading the titles. The few times I had tried to re-teach him how to read
lasted all of five minutes and ended with frustration. He could pick out a few
words, but that was as far as his skill reached.
He reached up and plucked a purple-covered book from the shelf, then tossed it over
to me. "This one should be good."
"Alright." I didn't even glance at the title and flipped it open to the first page.
"So what's it called?"
I smacked the palm of my hand against my head. "You don't know what the book you
grabbed is?"
In the most "obviously" tone Kvir could muster, he pointed to himself and exclaimed
"Illiterate!"
"Yeah, but I though you recognized it by the cover!"
"Lizaveta," Beast raised his eyebrows. "When I told you a month or so ago that I
hadn't been to the library in years, I wasn't kidding."
"Yeah, I don't think you know how..." I muttered under my breath.
"Book name?"
I snapped the book closed and flipped it face-up. "The Tale of a Fisherman" is the
title."
Something that sounded like a groan came from Kvir. I looked up. "Don't like the
story?"
"Not particularly."
I nodded. "Tough. Sit down, I'm going to read."
He didn't move.
"If you sit down, I'll read to you. Surely you don't like silence?"
"What makes you think I want to be read to?" Kvir asked. He still walked over to me
and sat down close to the couch.
I shrugged. "Why would you come into the library anyway? If you can't read, then
the library is a pretty useless place to be."
"Point taken."
I opened up the book to the first page and began to read.
"Once, a long time ago and in a little village named Willissa, lived a lad named
Elrik. Elrik was what most of the men in his village were: a fisherman. Every day
at sunrise and sunset, Elrik would get on his boat and cast his net into the
waters.
One day, Elrik ran late--if a fisherman could run late. He frantically got into his
boat and paddled away from the village. When he was out to sea, he kept hearing
cries of 'Help! Help!' Elrik did not want to go investigate, at risk of scaring the
fish, but he did not hesitate. He paddled in the direction of the voice, where he
saw a young lady.
'What ails you, Miss?' Elrik cried. The lady looked up, and with her burgundy hair
flying around her face, she yelled back, 'My boat is stuck! I cannot move it.'
Elrik was puzzled at this, so he called back, asking her why she didn't just swim
over to him.
'I cannot swim, sir.'
So, Elrik went to the woman, paddling around the rocks that threatened to rip into
his boat. When he reached her, she jumped into his boat and sat next to him.
Elrik then brought the woman back to the village, where she thanked him profusely.
Before he could ask her name, she left.
Many years passed. Elrik grew from a young man to an adult. There were many girls
in the town who wished him to wed them, but Elrik could only think of that one girl
whom he had rescued years before.
The following morning, Elrik received an invitation. He--along with the other men
his age in the village--was invited to go to the Princess' ball.
Unhappily, Elrik went. When he was there, he met many girls who tried to charm him.
None succeeded. When it was time to meet the Princess, Elrik was surprised. The
same girl whom he had rescued years before stood regally at the foot of the throne.
The two stared at each other for much longer than needed. Finally, the Princess
spoke.
"Would you like to dance?"
Astounded, Elrik took her hand and began to waltz across the room with her.
At the end of the night, Elrik asked the girl one question: her name. She
delightfully told him that her name was Rosa.
"Can we pretend it was Lucy?" Kvir interjected.
I looked at the page. The name "Rosa" was clearly written in the book.
"But that wasn't her name."
Kvir grunted. "Please, Lizaveta."
I sighed and continued. "She told him that her name was Lucy.
Soon after, the two were married. They lived in the castle together for years, and
eventually, Lucy had a son. The boy, Scott, was heir to the entire kingdom and
throne.
One day, Elrik happened upon Lucy kneeling at the foot of their bed.
'What is the matter, darling?' he asked. He was afraid that some sickness had
befallen her.
Lucy did not move for a moment, then rose and smiled at her husband. 'I was
praying,' she answered.
Elrik was confused. 'Why do you pray? Everything is perfect.'

'I pray to thank God for that, for it will not last forever.'
At those words, Elrik was silent. He went to sleep that night thinking about what
Lucy said.
The next morning, the couple was awakened by the sound of tolling bells. They
vaulted our of bed and ran over to the window. Some enemies from the north were
burning the castle!
Elrik ordered Ros--Lucy to leave with their son. While she did that, Elrik grasped
his sword and charged toward the approaching enemies."
Kvir squirmed uncomfortably. I glanced over in his direction, then went back to the
story.
"After a particularly difficult enemy, Elrik turned around to see where his wife
was. He looked up the stairs just in time to see her fall to the floor. His son was
next, killed by a single swipe.
Elrik ran up the stairs and killed the killer. He cradled his wife's head in his
hands as he cried over her.
One hand reached up and touched his face. When Elrik looked up, he saw his wife's
green eyes staring at him.
'Do not mourn for me, dear husband,' she breathed. 'I know where I am going.'
"Stop," demanded Kvir. My head vaulted up, staring at him.
"What? Why?"
He growled. "I don't want to hear it anymore. That's why."
"But the story isn't done."
"I don't want to hear it anymore!" Kvir reached out and snatched the book from my
hand and threw it, as hard as he could.
Toward the fire.
It touched the flames and ignited. I watched it burn, wide-eyed.

"What was that for?" I shouted, standing up quickly.
Kvir growled. "I said I was done."
My arms shot into the air. "That doesn't mean you have to burn it!"
He started shaking. His hands found their way up to his head and clawed through his
hair. A slapping noise came from his palms hitting against the side of his head.
"Leave, girl! Now!"
I didn't move, still angry about his throwing the book into the fire.
Stupid stubbornness.
Kvir roared again and crouched down, tearing at his hair.
Slowly, I backed away, the full realization of why I needed to leave hitting me
hard. My back rammed into the hard plank of the door, digging into the doorknob and
sending jolts of pain racing up my spine. My hand shook as my sweaty palm gripped
the knob and turned it quickly, opening the door slightly.
I squeezed through the gap and closed the door behind me, but not before taking one
last glimpse at Kvir.
He was at the same spot where I last saw him--crouched on the floor and holding his
head in his hands. His shoulders heaved in the effort of keeping the creature back.
Our eyes locked for a split second, green staring into red. All of the words that
we could've spoken to each other wouldn't have conveyed what we silently said in
that second.
Heart aching, I broke my gaze and closed the door. One last, pained bellow shook
the halls of the castle before everything fell back into silence.
*****
I woke with a start from dreamless sleep with the overwhelming sense of being
watched. My room was pitch black except for the single ray moonlight breaking
through the window, barely illuminating my room enough to see shapes.
And the shape that was on the chair at the window was not normal.
My eyes widened. Heart racing, I racked my brains for the spell that would let me
see--give me a light. Nothing surfaced. My gaze drifted to the desk beside the bed,
and the knife that lay on top of it. Slowly, as not to rustle the sheets, I leaned
across the bed and grasped the hilt in my sweaty palm.
"Please don't stab me... again."
Immediately, I relaxed. A great gust of air exited my lungs in relief. "Kvir, what
are you doing in here?"
There was a light clinking of chains as Kvir repositioned himself on the chair. He
didn't answer my question immediately, and instead, he let out a long sigh.
"This place wasn't always like this, you know."
I stayed sitting in my bed, waiting for Kvir to continue. He didn't. With the
feeling of what he was saying being incredibly important, I pushed back my covers
and walked over to the chair, ignoring the protests from my mind as my nightgown
fluttered around me. The chair was big enough that there was enough room for me to
sit comfortably next to Kvir I sat, pulling my knees to my chest. "What was it
like?"
He took a shaky breath. "It was... for lack of a better word, it was bustling.
There were servants running around all the time, each of them happy to do their
chores. There were homeless children the Prince and Princess let in to live in to
live here that could always be seen in the yard, playing with some sort of ball or
something. The Royal's son was always teetering around, getting into whatever he
could. The Prince and Princess were kind to the kingdom."
Curiosity awoken, I asked, "What happened?"
He looked at me sadly. "What the Royals didn't know was that they had an enemy
toward the west. One day, he showed up and stormed the castle. He killed everyone
in it, including the Princess and her son."
"What about the Prince? What happened to him?"
Beast looked away. "No one knows. It is said that he became the lead vesper, or
that he died along with his wife. Some even suspect him to be the one who drove the
invader from the castle, but that one is false."
He fell silent again. I could feel the tension ebbing off his body as he thought
about what to say.
"I--" he started. "I was the one who saw the invader last. I was the one who killed
him."
I absorbed his words. "Oh. Why did--"

"Why did I kill him?" Kvir cut in. "Because he killed me."
"Huh?" I spread my legs out from my chest and sat back. "You look pretty alive to
me."
He let out a short laugh and held out his hands. "You call this living?" he asked.
"I'm bound to a castle that I can't leave. I have a--a creature inside of me that
wants to take over, which I have to fight for control if I want to feel anything.
I've been breathing longer than twice the normal human lifespan, and I can't die.
Age doesn't affect me. I can't die when I'm like this--trust me, I've tried." He
shook his head. "If this is living, then I want no part of it."
The realization of his statement slowly crept up on me. A feeling which I hadn't
felt in a long time spread throughout my body, numbing it.
Sympathy.
"You've tried?" I whispered. My voice shook as I spoke the two words.
His eyes locked with mine. "Lizaveta..." he breathed. He swallowed, "I wasn't
always like this. At one time, I was married. I had a wife and a little boy. Then
the man that invaded the kingdom took them from me, and changed me into this--this
THING!"
I jumped as his fist struck the arm of the chair, splintering the wood.
"That's why..." I didn't finish my sentence. That's why he reacted to the book the
way he did.
Then, another thought. His wife and child died, and in the same way the prince's
did. No one but him knew what happened to the last of the royals. The pictures of
each person were still up--if he had no care as to who they were, they'd have been
taken down.
"You were the prince," I whispered.
Kvir neither confirmed or denied my theory, but took a few deep breaths and
continued. "After I killed the man, I found myself unable to leave. I was alone in
a castle, surrounded by the dead. Only the servants remained. For a year, I wanted
nothing more than to die. I tried everything--poison, knives, ropes, water--nothing
worked. I could harm myself, but not die by my own hand. Me trying only angered the
creature more. The last time I tried, the creature took over. I was lost in my own
mind, a mind that then belongs to a monster."
He breathed in again. "During that year, I could only think of why God cursed me. I
did nothing to deserve this. My family did nothing to deserve what they got."
Oh.
I couldn't bring myself to speak. Kvir's confession was painful to me, and I
couldn't imagine what it was to him.
I reached out and touched his hand. His skin was cool to the touch. He turned his
head to face me, and for the fist time, I saw the deep caverns of sadness and
suffering reflected in his eyes.
I swallowed, finally trusting myself enough to speak. It came out as the softest
whisper. "God didn't curse you."
Kvit closed his eyes and hmph-ed. "The why am I like this?" he retorted, his voice
the same volume as my own.
I bit my lip. "I don't know. I can't answer that. But I know that God will make the
most out of your situation." I smiled. "He has a way of doing that."
"Do you really believe that, Lizaveta?" Kvir whispered.
I didn't hesitate. "Yes."
We fell silent, listening to each other's breathing. Finally, Kvir spoke.
"It hurts to be around you."
"Well, that's exactly what I've always wanted to hear," I answered. He caught my
sarcasm and laughed lightly. "But why does it hurt to be near me?"
He hunted for the right words. "It's a--feeling. Emotion. And it's strong. The
creature doesn't like that."
"Do you now what the feeling is?"
He swallowed and stared at the moon. "I think it's friendship. Joy." When he stared
at me, his eyes were vacant, thinking. "Back when life was different, I didn't have
many friends. Just my family. Everyone else just wanted favor in my eyes."
Sarcasm dripping, I added, "Everyone wants to be buddies with royalty, right?"
Then the true meaning of his words hit me. His family were his friends.
It was how I used to be.
As the skin around his eyes crinkled, my grin faded.
"What's wrong?"
My life story.
Instead of telling him that, I put my head on his shoulder. "I guess we're the
same, when it comes to friends. All mine have been princes in disguise who have, at
one point, either nearly killed me or turned me into their father."
That time, he almost laughed. "We just pulled the short straws at the friends
rally, didn't we?"
"Guess we did." I sat up. "But look how it turned out. I mean, you're the best
friend I've ever had."
The pain was back in his eyes. "And you are the first person I can call a true
friend."
I put my head back on his shoulder. Neither of us spoke after that
We didn't need to.
_______________________________________
...
Yah.
<img
src="https://img.wattpad.com/caaabc4355427b53dd8778937ac621bd7244a212/68747470733a2
746f7279496d6167652f4c3153624d325f7563686d4753413d3d2d3330373931333434372e313437346
363343762346563363831623132383830363632323938362e676966" style='max-width:90%'>
Yay for backstories!

Any thoughts on Kvir or Zara? It's good to see them both finally opening up,
although Zara is a lot more guarded than she should be.
Chapter 29-- Food Fight [Inside the Beast's Castle]
_______________________________________
There was something touching my head.
I mean, generally, when I wake up, there would be something under my head, like a
pillow or the mattress--my arm, even.
But I was sitting up. My arms were at my sides and considering how not soft the
thing was, it wasn't a pillow.
I snapped my eyes open and slowly looked to the side. I was met with a mix of
yellow, crimson, white, and silver.
As my eyes focused, the yellow became straw-colored hair. The crimson turned from a
random blob to a recognizable random blob with pupils. White stretched and rounded
into a neck and face, and silver turned into--
A mask.
My eyes widened in realization. "Whoa!" I shouted. I scrambled back to get as much

distance between me and the person as I could. Somehow, I caught the side of the
couch wrong and flipped off the edge and onto the floor. I stood quickly, staring
straight ahead.
Kvir did the same.
My mind raced back to the night before. He had told me about his past--his family.
What happened to him. After he had finished, we just sat and stared out the window.
Until, apparently, we fell asleep.
I watched him squirm from across the room. My eyes fell on a darker spot on his
shoulder where my head had been.
I was suddenly very aware of the wet that went from my mouth to my chin.
Oh, please don't tell me I drooled.

Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice. He waved his hand in the air. "Uh--sorry," he
stuttered.
I shook my head quickly. "Sorry about what?"
Curse my voice for being two octaves higher than it should have been.
"Me staying didn't bother you?"
"No! No, it didn't--I--well--I mean, don't do it again."
He looked away.
"Well, not that I didn't mind it," I began, trying to fix what I said. "Sleeping
with you--NEXT to you." Heat rose to my face. "Next to you."
"Ah! Yeah. I know what you mean. I didn't mind it either." Kvir shuffled his feet
against the floor.
We were quiet. There was enough awkward silence in the room to give to the entire
kingdom.
Suddenly, I was very aware of the nightgown I was wearing. I pointed to the dresser
in the corner. "I'm going to get dressed now." Before I bury myself more.
He nodded quickly. "Yeah, okay."
I stood still, waiting for him to go.
He didn't move.
I raised my eyebrows and waved my hands. "Leave. I can't get dressed with you in
the room."
The tips of his ears went red. Kvir moved his hand to the door, pointed at me, then
at the door again. Finally, he just gave up and turned around.
I let out a breath of relief once the door closed behind him. How much more awkward
could that have gotten?
A smile tugged at my lips. As scary as he could be sometimes, it was almost worth

it to see him embarrassed.
Almost.
I went over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of longer pants and a shirt. I was
not in a dress mood.
Reaching down, I grabbed the bottom of my nightgown and pulled it up enough I could
get the pants on. Out of habit, I turned my back to the door and started to yank
the dress up the rest of the way.
A creak from the door made me drop the nightgown so the end of it fell back down to
my ankles. "Knock!" I screeched.
I whirled around to see Kvir standing in the doorway. His eyes were scrunched
closed.
Remember how I said it was almost worth it to see him embarrassed? I take it back.
Flames may as well have been on myface. I crossed my arms over my chest. "What do
you need?"
"Gah... I was seeing if you wanted breakfast."
"I always eat breakfast. Why wouldn't I want food?"
Kvir scratched the back of his head. "No, with me."
Ah.
"I thought you didn't eat."
Great, Zara. Just great. Shut up now before you make a fool of yourself some more.
Kvir sighed. "May I join you while you are eating, Lizaveta?"
Thank goodness he made it as clear as day. I may not have caught on otherwise.
I moistened my lips. The last time we'd been in the same room at the same time with
food, I'd decided to stab him, which was an incident I wasn't enthusiastic to
repeat.
Slowly, I nodded. "Sure. It's boring by myself, anyway."
His eyes crinkled slightly. He nodded as if he was saying "thank you."
I grinned. "Close the door?"
"Oh, right!"
As soon as the door shut, I laughed, absolutely positive that the awkwardness I had
just experienced was about to be multiplied.
*****
Boy, I wasn't wrong.
I stared down at my muffin, picking at it absently. Every now and then, I'd pop a
small piece of it in my mouth and chew quickly. I couldn't help but feel like Kvir
was watching me the entire time.
I looked up from the half-dissected muffin. I barely caught Kvir turn his head to
look out the window. I glanced back down at the food and ate some more.
"Thank you," Kvir said softly.
I swallowed. "For what? What'd I do?"
He gulped. "Listening last night. I don't get very many instances to tell someone
about that."
Oh.
I took a deep breath. "I don't mind. I like learning about people."
"Really?"
"Yeah." I nodded, still holding the muffin. "Everyone has a reason they act the way
they do. You could be the most horrible person in the world, but you have to have a
reason why."
He chuckled. "Unless you're crazy."
"Nope. Even the crazy people. Sometimes they have the best reasons."
He crossed his arms. "You're nosey, you know that?"
I grinned. "Ah, but I'm the unsocial type of nosey person. I'm the one who gets
your information before you even speak to me."
"Mm."
"What's 'mm' about?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You must get in trouble a lot."
I waved my hands in the air. The muffin in my hand was in danger of flying across
the table. "What gives you that idea?"
"Just--I take it you've done this once or twice."
"Possibly. What, you think I can't get away with it? That's just like a guy."
Kvir choked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I smiled. "Back in the village, a number was your money. You'd tell the person the
digits and they'd give you what you could get. The money you earned--with the
exception of a few coins here and there--went to the number, courtesy of the king.
Well, one day, Joshua--my brother--came home one day and found me with this huge
crate of food. When he asked me where I got it from, I told him the man next door
had given me his number to get food. Without me knowing, he went next door to thank
the man and, um, found out that the guy hadn't known he gave me his number."
Beast sat back in his chair. "I'll bet that went well," he teased.
"Not at all. I had to give the crate back to the man. And it was big, too!" I
circled my hands in the air. "It was enough food for a month, and I had to give it
all--"
At the word "all", I flung my arms out. Without thinking, I spread my fingers
apart. The muffin I held went flying across the room.
"--back."
And into Kvir's face.
I froze, hands still out to the side. Part of me wanted to laugh, but the other
half wanted to run screaming. The muffin had mainly bounced off his face, but bits
and pieces still clung on to his mask.
Carefully, he opened his eyes. His hand moved in slow motion, going up to a piece
of food and plucking it from his face. He threw it onto the floor.
"Sorry?" I squeaked.
Kvir glared at me. He pushed his chair back and stood. I did the same, ready to
bolt from the room.
"Lizaveta..."
I'm about to die, aren't I?
He flung his hands out in front of him. I barely and time to think to dodge before
I saw the projectile-muffin fly back at my head.
I ducked. It hit the wall with a splat.
The muffin was the first to die in the food war.
I looked up to make sure of what Kvir was doing and got a bowl of porridge in my
face.
Of course you know, this means war.
I wiped the slimy stuff away from my eyes. Kvir held his chin in the air. "I win."
No , you don't.
I eyed the monster pile of food on the table. I flicked my finger up and all the
liquid from glasses rose into the air.
A curse came out of Kvir's mouth before he got a face full of juice.
I ran toward the table and took cover as a storm of rolls hurled to my head. Most
of them hit the edge of the table, but two managed to smack my forehead.
He poked his head under the table. "Hiding won't help y--" He cut himself off by
yelping. I giggled. The bagel had found its mark.
I scrambled out from under the table and searched the room for Kvir. How someone
his size could manage to hid so well was just amazing.
Where did he--
An egg broke over my head. I blinked the runny yolk out of my eye and found him at
the other end of the table.
With one giant swing, I threw whatever food was closest to me at him. Bits of
bacon, porridge, eggs, bread, and muffin hit his body.
He held his hands up. "Stop!" he laughed. "Stop! I surrender! You win!"
Victory!
I gave a small fist pump and walked over to him, unsuccessfully trying not to step
in any of the mess we had made. Egg yolks ran down his hair and toward his eyes.
I broke into a half laugh, half smile and reached up to wipe it away. His eyes met
mine.
"You forgot to see if I was lying," he whispered."
Crap.
I ducked, but it was too late. Whatever food that was still partially left hit us
both, covering us the rest of the way in whatever.
After the onslaught, I looked up. While my back had taken most of the food for me,
Kvir's face took his brunt.
I flicked a bacon piece off his nose. "Not. Fair."
"Life's not fair. Get over it," he mumbled. Suddenly, his knees buckled from under
him.
"Whoa." I grabbed under his arm and put my hand against his chest. It only
succeeded in slowing his fall, not keeping him up. I backed up as much as I could
and helped him lean against the table. "Are you okay?"
His hand found the edge of the table and squeezed so tightly his knuckles went
white. His shoulder heaved, his breaths heavy. "Yes." He closed his eyes and shook
his head. "On second thought, no." He lowered himself to the ground. "Just give me
a second."
I knelt in front of him, watching. His hands shook so hard they were almost a blur.
He opened his eyes again. They were a brighter red than before. "How do you--how do
you do that?" he breathed.
I shook my head, confused. "Do what?"
He leaned against the leg of the table and shut his eyes once more. "Magic. How do
you use magic so easily and not get bothered by it?"
I shrugged, then realized he couldn't hear a shrug. "I don't know. It just comes."
He raised an eyebrow. "As you said so vehemently earlier, not fair."
I grinned and pushed myself off the floor. I held out my hand to help him, which he
grabbed and pulled himself up.
"Life's not fair. Get over it." I tried to wipe my hands off on his shoulder, but
only managed to get them nastier. "We need to go get out of these clothes," I
laughed.
"What, not hungry anymore?"
I looked at the door. It was going to be fun cleaning up the room. "I think I'm
good."
As I started to walk away, Kvir grabbed my shoulder.
"Oh, Lizaveta?"
I turned to face him. "Yes?"
A piece of yolk smacked my nose.
Kvir laughed. "I win."
_______________________________________
This chapter was a originally not part of this because it seemed pretty filler when
I though of it. It was actually a surprise Valentine's Day chapter.
It still is kinda filler, but I'm not doing anything else with it other than
letting it rot in WP drafts, so it's just going to be here.
Noa out. "‫܌‬
Chapter 30--Eight Years Old [Inside the Beast's Castle]
Kvir
Three days after I found myself telling Lizaveta about--well--me, I found myself
having to go outside at "teach" her again.
I swear, I think she just liked to hit me. I never gave any notion that she hurt
me--or bothered me, for that matter. I'm pretty sure that she saw through that
mask, though.
I walked down the hallway quickly, racking my brains for something that we could
work on. Her magic skills had evened out, or even surpassed mine, not that I'd
admit it out loud. She worked wonderfully with swords, using them as easily as she
could. It was daggers and knives that there was a problem with.
It's not that she was bad with them. Her movements were just always jerky and not
smooth. She left spots unguarded.
So knives it is.
Lost deep in my thought, I wasn't paying a bit of attention to where I was walking.
There was a hard collision, like riding on a horse that suddenly stops. My breath
exited through my mouth with a huff. Still standing, I looked down to see what I
had hit.
A little blonde head rose up from the floor. My mind went blank for a split second,
the name of the small girl escaping me.
Lia, isn't it?
She stood up quickly, snapping to attention. Terror flickered in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Sir!" she cried despairingly. "I wasn't watching where I was going,
it's all my fault!"
Is she afraid of me?

I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder, feeling her flinch away from me.
"It's fine... Lia. Go on your way."
I obviously got her name right, because her face screamed "Surprised!" She stared
at me in disbelief until I began to move away. I heard her footsteps skittering
away as quickly as she could go.
Wait a minute.
"Lia?" I called after her. I could hear her breath suck in as she stopped. I turned
around. "Where is Raul?"
She kept her back to me. "Um, Sir, he--he told me to take over for him today."
"Why did he ask you?" I couldn't keep the nervousness out of my voice.
"He said he wasn't feeling well, Sir."
"Oh. Be on your way, then," I ordered quietly.
A soft thumping made its way up to my ears. I looked down at my hand grasping the
cane. Unknowingly, I was bouncing my arm up and down, making the cane hit the
floor.
Don't panic. Nothing's wrong. He's just not feeling well. That happens to
everybody.
A traitorous thought entered my head.
But does it? I've been this castle long enough to have suffered multiple illnesses,
but haven't been afflicted by one yet. The days the creature would go outside in
the bitter cold didn't bother me one bit.
That's just it--the creature went outside, not you. If you had, then you would
eventually have not felt well either.
Not entirely convinced, I started to walk toward the door again. I could hear
Lizaveta humming softly, waiting to go.
"Finally!" She exclaimed as she saw me. She crossed her arms and grinned
halfheartedly. "Took ya long enough."
Forcing the thought of Raul from my mind, I rolled my eyes. "No, I'm not late. I
arrive whenever want to. You," I pointed at her, "are early."
She shrugged. "Considering that I use that one, I can't say you're wrong..."
"See?" I proclaimed. "We agree."
She shook her head, tightly hugging herself. "Keep telling yourself that."
****
Five hours later and I still hadn't relaxed.
My thoughts were still all over the place, ranging from Raul to the lesson to
Lizaveta to any and everything I could think of.
She wasn't any better. We had gotten outside in mid-afternoon, and since, the sun
started to set, and she was still trying to learn the move I was teaching her.
"Lizaveta!" I cried. "No! Arm goes down."
She looked at me and bit her lip. "I'm trying, okay? My mind is--elsewhere."
Join the club.
I waved my hand at her. "Try the whole thing. Maybe you'll get it that way."
The grass crunched beneath my feet as I moved towers her and pulled a knife from my
coat. I got behind her and pressed the knife against her throat gently. I could
feel her body tense up beneath me.
"Ready?"
She shook her head. "No. I don't get a choice though."
"Just move through it slowly--" I started to say. Too late.
She had already tried to flip around and grab the knife, succeeding in grabbing the
blade instead of the hilt.
"Yeowch!" she cried, dropping the blade. She brought her hand up and looked at it.
Although I couldn't see her palm, I saw the line of blood falling down the side of
her arm.
"You okay?"
She looked at me like I had lost my mind. "No, Kvir. I just like cutting my hands."
With a flick of her wrist, Lizaveta turned her injured hand toward me.
That's not a little cut.
A long, deep gash ran across Lizaveta's hand. There was no bone showing
(amazingly), but it was close enough.
"Come here," I beckoned.
She did as I asked.
I pointed at the ground, already lowering myself into the grass. "Sit."
Once she sat next to me, I grabbed her arm and brought it close. With my right
hand, I made a fist, but kept my thumb out sticking up. I turned her hand cut-side-
up and pressed my thumb against the wound.
Kerasma.
I was careful not to speak the word aloud, otherwise, Lizaveta would no doubt hear
it and try to copy me. It was interesting to see if the spell would word or not,
seeing as I had never tried to use it without speaking.
It did work, however. With my thumb still firmly pressed against the cut, I could
feel it closing up. Pain flared in my own hand as a gash identical to the one I
just healed appeared on my palm.
Lizaveta pulled away, surprised. "What did you do?" she asked, amazed.
I smiled, although she couldn't see through the mask. A wave exhaustion washed over
me. "It's a spell. I healed your hand."
Her eyes fell down to my fist. Blood oozed from between my fingers. "But now you're
hurt."
I shrugged. "It'll go away. I'm a fast healer."
"Can't you just heal yourself?" She turned her head to the side curiously.
"No," I sighed. "It doesn't work like that. If I heal someone, it gets transferred
to me. 'Equivalent exchange,' I think is what it's called."
"Oh." She stood and held out her hand. "Getting up?"
This'll be fun.
Holding back the dizziness and exhaustion that came with magic, I took her hand
with my non-bloody one and stood. "Let's run the move again."
Her mouth dropped open. "Don't you want something for your hand?"
"Nope."
We ran the move another two or three times, each time getting more and more
aggravated at it. Finally, Lizaveta threw her arms in the air.
"That's it! I give up! I'm done! It's not working!"
Whoa, chill.
"Calm down, Liz--"
"No!" she yelled. "I will not calm down. And my name is Zara."
I picked up the knife that was on the ground, feeling it slip a bit from my hand as
blood ran down it. I looked at my hand. It still hadn't stopped bleeding.
I went over to the small pond that was at the edge of the maze and stuck my hand in
it, all the while staring up at the sky. The sky was a brilliant golden yellow,
along with purple and pink streaking across it.
"Fine!" I called back. "We're done. It's time to go inside anyway!"
I twirled around, shaking the water from my hand. Lizaveta stood with her back to
me, facing the trees.
"Are you coming?" I demanded.
She didn't move. Both of her shoulders shook lightly. "Could we stay out, just for
a minute longer?"
I opened my mouth to shoot down her request.
"Please?"
Her voice was so small and laced with so much pain, I stopped.
No. We can't stay out. We need to go in. You're stupid for wanting to be outside
past sunset, remember what happened last time?
"Alright."
Inwardly, I groaned. Ugh.
She started walking toward the woods. I followed her, asking, "Lizveta, what are
you doing?"
She stopped at a spot that had no trees blocking the view of the sunset. She
kneeled down and sat on the grass, patting the ground next to her. "Sitting. So are
you."
I bit back my sarcastic remark of No, I'm fairly sure I'm standing up, and joined
her on the dirt. Everything was completely silent; no birds chirping, no crickets,
nothing.
I opened my mouth to say something, wanting the quietness to go away, but Lizaveta
spoke first.
"Back at ho--at the village, there was always some type of noise that would prevent
silence. There was never a dull moment." She laughed quietly and plucked at the
grass below her. "I would have to go into the woods for this type of silence."
I looked at her, and without thinking of the next words that were to come from my
mouth, I said, "I hate it. Quietness, I mean."
"Why?"
"When you're in a castle for over two-hundred years, silence seems to be the only
thing that is constant," I spat bitterly.
She nodded. "I can see that."
She picked at the grass blades some more. "There was only one person in the village
who knew of my place in the woods. He was..." she hunted for the right words,
"never told where it was. I'm a little glad he found it though, because it gave me
someone to talk to on the worst days. "
I lowered my head. "Is this Vadik?"
She nodded.
The next question was one I didn't think about before speaking. "Were you two a
couple?"
You did not just ask that.
Lizaveta stared at me. Yep. You just asked that.
"Uh, no, he wasn't a boyfriend of mine," she answered, holding back a grin. "We
were--are just friends. I think." She sighed. "It's complicated."
I nodded. Just stay quiet so you won't say anything else stupid.
In one quick motion, Lizaveta brought her knees up to her chest. "We didn't always
live in the village we were at. At one time we were a part of the Upper Kingdom."
"Don't you have to be noble to live there?"
She bobbed her head up and down. "Yep. My father--"
I heard a strain in her voice when she said 'Father'.
"My father," she continued, "was a knight. My mother was descended from a long line
of dukes and duchesses. I guess I'm distantly related to the king in that way."
The duke. So she is related.
"When they got married, my mother was forced away from her family because she
married a lower rank. My parents eventually moved farther away from the castle, but
were still in the Upper Kingdom. That's when I was born."
She swallowed. "After me was my brother, Joshua. He's--he's the reason I came here
in the first place. The king threatened to put him on the front lines of a non-
existent war, and Joshua had already lost a leg."
Oh.
"Anyway, my family was happy. Then, a little before I turned eight, I heard my
parents talking. Apparently, my father did something to anger the king. He wasn't
arrested or anything, but we were warned that if it ever happened again, there
would be consequences."
She took a shaky breath. "About a month after that we were attacked. It was at
night. A group of men set our house on fire." A shiver racked her entire body. Her
eyes reflected the memory of the flames that burned her house.
"My father, brother, and I got out safely. My mother was supposed to be right
behind us."
Lizaveta reached up and wiped at her eyes. "She wasn't."
"I went back into the house. My father didn't notice. He was too busy keeping up
with Joshua. When I went back in, the house was still burning. I couldn't find my
mother. I ran through the whole house and finally came to my parent's room. The men
that set the flames were in the room. With my mother."
A feeling of dread fell over the two of us, with Lizaveta knowing what about to be
said, and me already guessing it.
"She was already dead when I got to the room," Lizaveta mumbled. "Her clothes were
ripped. She had been stabbed... among other things. When the men saw me, they were
delighted. I remember the leader of the group the best. He had this really deep,
husky voice. The thing that he said to me that stood out the most was a song. It
was the lullaby that Mom would sing to Joshua and me."
She gasped, sobbing. I sat next to her, not knowing what to do next.
"Um, if you don't want to say this, then you don't have to," I mentioned
uncomfortably.
Her head went side to side. "Just before they started to do to me what they did to
my mother, the leader was shot." With one finger, Lizaveta pointed up to her head.
"Through the forehead. He died instantly."
"That's when I ran. I ran as fast as I possibly could, away from the house, away
from my dead mother. A few days later, they found the bodies of two of my rescuers
and three of the four men. The last one was never discovered."
With one hand, she reached up to her neck, grasping for an object that was no
longer there. "The last thing my mother said to me was my name. She was the only
person who would call me Lizaveta and not Zara. Lizaveta was my name in my old
life. Zara was my name in the new one. And now..." She sighed, "You call me
Lizaveta. You are the only one who is allowed to call me that."
She was quiet again, then spoke. "The last thing my mother and I did together was
watch a sunset. Now, every year, on the anniversary of her death, I sit and watch
the sun sink into the trees."
With one last wipe at her eyes, she stood up. "The men I see from the vespers are
the men who killed her that night. The nightmares I have ask me why I couldn't save
my mother. And when I lost my mother, I lost my father."
"About a month after Mom died, Joshua and I were looking for some type of shelter.
Since my father was just a knight, and a retired one at that, we were being kicked
out of the Upper Kingdom. There was a baker across the street who let us work for
him in exchange for food. When we got home, excited at our success, our father was
drunk."
"He claimed the next day that it wouldn't happen again, but that night was the same
way. He never harmed us. He just was never there either."
She turned and started to walk back to the castle. I stood and followed her.
"People would ask me and Joshua why we didn't leave. We did we put up with our
father. The answer was simple to us: he was our father. He was the only living
family we had left. We loved him. I guess that some part of us thought that he
would put down his drinks and come with us, but that never happened."
We reached the castle doors. Lizaveta stopped, then suddenly turned around and
wrapped her arms around me tightly. "Thank you for listening, Kvir. You didn't have
to."
Pain erupted in the small of my back at her movements.
LET ME OUT, PRINCE.
No. You don't need to be let out.
YES, I DO. THIS IS EMOTION, ISN'T IT? YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO FEEL ANY IF THIS. THAT
GIRL NEEDS TO PAY.
No! She doesn't. It's not her fault. You don't need out.
YES, I DO.
No. You. Don't.

With one final inward shove, I pushed the creature down. Carefully, I wrapped my
arms around Lizaveta.
"I'll tell you my name when you tell me who those men were."
I grinned and spoke that word aloud. "Brennen."
Inside, I could feel the creature scream in agony as the word left my lips. Ha,
Beast. I win this one.
She pulled away, but didn't let go. "What?"
"My name," I said. "We made a deal a while back that you'd tell me your past, I'd
tell you my name. My name is Brennen."
She smiled. "That's a nice name. Much better than 'Kvir,'"
Slowly, she unwrapped her arms from my waist and walked to the door of the castle.
It opened with a powerful creak.
I walked in after her, only lingering long enough to see the top edge of the sun
slip beneath the trees.
______________________________________
Hello again!
So were the things in this chapters too soon or all at once? I really don't know.
The chapter I was originally going to do was a lot like a--was a filler chapter.
Nothing incredibly important was going to happen, so I scrapped it and put this one
here instead. After the book is written, I'll add it in as a bonus.
Thank you for reading! If you liked it, please consider voting.
Noa.
Chapter 31--The Beast [Inside the Beast's Castle]
<img
src="https://img.wattpad.com/3d1e6b31ffdcc35eb302d214f2c05ea419075a2d/68747470733a2
746f7279496d6167652f49744a496b347a3264376f4d70513d3d2d3330373931343038322e313439636
The days passed quickly in the castle. Soon, the warm afternoons had gone, fading
into the days where leaves would fall from the trees. Then, those days morphed into
chilly days where each tree was mainly a large stick, with no leaves on to cover
it. Everything was dreary looking from the outside. On the inside, things were the
opposite.
Lizaveta and I days spent our days aggravating each other, but in a teasing way.
She finally taught me a few letters and their sounds so I could read very simple
books. I taught her more magic spells and better technique when she used the power.
Her fighting had gotten beautiful. Watching the swords swing wildly around her head
was like watching a ribbon dancer dance.
Except the ribbons were made of steel and sharp.
Everything we did, I only had one feeling that stayed with me.
It was happiness.
And that wasn't good.
The curse strictly said "No emotion without consequence." Happiness was an emotion.
Everything I was feeling was an emotion. They were strong emotions.
And the consequences were already noticeable.
There were no more outer changes since the day my teeth became pointy. Nothing
physical. But mental changes--they were there.
And they were not good.
The "beast" part of me, the part that always wanted out was fueled on by emotion.
So, the starved little creature that stayed locked away in the back of my mind
finally had some nourishment.
It thrived.
Every second of every day, I had to fight it. I had to manage my emotions enough
that I could feel, but I couldn't feel too much. If I felt too much, it would get
loose.
It spoke to me, too. The day I told Lizaveta my name, it made its voice known. It
hadn't stopped. It would keep on talking.
And talking.
And talking.
Never ceasing. They say monsters don't sleep; that's false. I was a monster. I
slept.
Emphasis on slept.
Once it started speaking, sleep was not a luxury. Sleep became something I couldn't
do. Sleep became a war zone in my head, with me fighting against the creature,
battling it out for control.
And then he'd start talking.
And never. shutting. up.
"Brennen!"
I didn't respond. Brennen?
"Brennen, come on! Let's go outside!"
Stupid. Brennen is you.
Over the four months that had passed since I told Lizaveta my name, the title
"Brennen" was still unfamiliar. It was foreign to me.
"Outside? Why do you want to go outside now?" I cried. Isn't it morning?
"It snowed last night!" came the excited response, bursting through the doors.
Snow. Snow...
Very vaguely, the image of white flakes falling from the sky crossed my mind.
This'll be embarrassing.
I got up from the useless bed and over to the door, flinging it open. I cocked my
head to the side and, already regretting my next sentence, spoke curiously.
"What is... snow?"
Lizaveta's mouth dropped wide open. "You're kidding," she said in disbelief.
I shook my head.
"You don't know what snow is?" she cried.
"Well, maybe I should rephrase." I know what snow is, but I'm not familiar with it.
"I know what snow is, but I've never seen it."
"You've never seen it?"
"Nope."
In one fell swoop, she grabbed my wrist and started dragging me towards the steps.
I bit back a laugh. "Lizaveta, what are you doing?"
I gazed over her fast-dressed body. She looked like she had literally thrown
clothes on, and the shoes were a completely different matter. Her curly hair was in
a bunched up, tangled mess from where she tried to hold it back with no avail.
Lizaveta didn't stop or answer me until we were at the door. "It is a sad day when
someone I know says that they haven't seen snow before. I mean, the Upper Kingdom
would get blizzards just about every year, and I still love snow."
She reached for the doorknob and turned back to look at me. "Do you get cold?" she
asked thoughtfully.
I looked at my clothes. They were thin, not suited for winter weather. "No?"
She giggled. "You don't know, do you?"
I smiled. "No clue."
With one great push, she opened the doors. "Let's find out, shall we?"
This is really not a good idea.

A sharp pang hammered my head.
OH NO, PRINCE. THIS IS A FABULOUS IDEA. TAKE HER ADVICE. GO.
The fact that it wanted me to made me more worried than anything else.
"Aren't you coming?"
I looked up. Lizaveta was standing a few feet out, halfway turned around.
She smiled again, this time wider. "Please don't tell me that the Beast is afraid
of a little thing like snow."
Not of snow.
I growled and stepped into the cold, wet stuff. "There. You happy?"
My response was something like getting a snowball thrown onto my face.
Shock was the only thing that hit me at that moment. "Lizaveta, what the--"
The rest of my sentence was drowned out by peals of laughter.
When she finally calmed down enough from laughing, she stared up at me.
I scowled, very well aware that she couldn't see that. There is, however, a glare
called the "hairy eyeball" which she got a full dose of.
She trudged over to me, still smirking, and reached up, flicking some of the snow
away that was lining my mask.
"There." She smiled. "Now the snow won't get inside your mask."
I didn't move. Without her knowing, there was a barrage of snow heading straight
for her back. "But what about you?"
She tilted her head, confused. "Wha--"
Her eyes widened once she realized what was about to happen.
Too late.
With a flick of my fingers, the snow I was holding came hurling towards her back
and dumped all over her.
I chuckled lightly.
Lizaveta glared at me, shivering.
I shrugged. "What? You're allowed to throw snow at me, but I can't retaliate?"
Her frown broke into a huge grin. "No, you can retaliate."
Another wall of snow showered me. Once I was able to see again, I saw her back. She
was running away, as fast as she could go.
I laughed, enjoying everything. "Do I need to count to ten this time?"
A pang hit my chest. LET ME OUT. I'LL CATCH HER FOR YOU.
Go away, Beast.
With a skid, Lizaveta stopped in front of one of the ponds. It appeared to be

frozen. "Nope!" she called. "Come over here, you need to try something!"
My footsteps crunched as I trudged through the snow. "What do I need to try?" I

asked once I got next to her.
Wait, is she standing on the pond?
She carefully stepped off the frozen pond. "Do you know what ice skates are?"
She was standing on the ice. Not the brightest idea.
I drew my eyebrows together, wondering about the new words she sent my way. "No."
She bit her lip. "Okay."
Her whole body shook as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
What is she doing?

A soft whisper hit my ears.
"Ela."
There was a soft flump beside me. I glanced down. Two pairs of platforms with a
sharp blade glued to the bottom were lying in the snow.
Lizaveta bent down and picked one pair up by the straps. She held them out to me.
"Here you go! Put them on."
I looked at the skates, then at her, then the skates, then her again. "What?"
Please tell me you're joking.
She rolled her eyes and sighed, shoving the things into my outstretched hand.
Bending down, she picked up one of the two remaining skates and strapped it to her
foot. "Put them on. Like this."
The expression on my face must have been one of complete blankness. I did what she
said, though.
"Now what?"
Happily, she stepped onto the frozen pond and pushed some of the snow away with her
feet. "Come with me."
Haha.
I stepped carefully onto the ice and almost immediately lost my balance, slid
around for a second, then stepped back off. I pointed to the frozen pond. "You have
fun. I'll watch."
She shook her head stubbornly. "Nope. You're coming with me." Slowly, she made my
way up to the edge of the ice and held out her hands. "Take my hand."
I looked at her doubtfully.
Her eyes met mine, searching for an answer. "Trust me," she whispered.
Reluctantly, I reached out and grabbed her hands, feeling the coldness of her skin.
She wiggled backward, forcing me to step onto the slick surface. Her hands didn't
leave mine, and I clutched her as if they were the last solid thing in the
universe.
"See? It's not so bad," she said after a few minutes.
I had gotten a little accustomed to the balance I needed to stand.
Carefully, she slipped one of her hands away from mine. "You can stand on your
own," she declared.
Yeah, no.
I gripped her other hand tighter, making sure she wouldn't let go. "I seriously
doubt it."
The next few hours were dedicated to Lizaveta trying to get me to stand without
holding on to her. It was only at the end where I did let go of her hand, and only
briefly at that.
"See?" she cried as we stepped off the pond. "You got it."
Doing the same action I had been doing for hours on end, I shook my head. "Not
really. Nor did I particularly like doing that."
"Why not?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Although I am glad that you forget what I am most of the
time, I am well aware. Me standing on frozen water for any period of time is not
exactly the best plan in existence."
She bit her lip, eyes flaming. Her eyes flickered away from me, then she looked
back. "Well," she huffed, wiping her hands on the pants she wore, "You're just
going to have to do better and not think about 'what you are' and get over it then,
aren't you?"
Okay, then. That was... unexpected.
Lizaveta waved her hand and the skates that I still had clumsily strapped to my
feet vanished. She started to walk back to the castle. "You coming?"
I stared at her as she bounced away.
That girl, I thought with a grin. She's going to be the death of me.
YOU'RE RIGHT ABOUT THAT, PRINCE.

I grimaced. The voice that had given me blissful silence while I was attempting to
stand on metal blades came back full force.
I wasn't talking to you, Beast.
BUT YOU WERE. IF YOU TALK TO YOURSELF, YOU TALK TO ME.
No, I don't. You aren't me. You are a monster.
BUT YOU ARE A MONSTER TOO, ARE YOU NOT?
Not like you.
By the time I got back to the castle, Lizaveta looked like she had been there a
while.
"Good, you're back!" She grinned and took my hand again.
"Lizaveta, what now?"
I looked up at the sky. We had spent longer than I thought skating on the pond.
"We are... going to walk this way," she answered, pulling me along.
I stopped with such suddenness that I felt her jolt back. "Aren't you hungry by
now? It's easily mid-afternoon."
She shook her head. A low rumble came from her stomach, traitorously denying what
she had just stated.
She looked sheepish. "See, the thing is with days like this is that there's only
about one per year. So, if you haven't gotten your fill of snow by the end of that
day, you are completely out of luck for the rest of the year."
Lizaveta started walking again. "Which means," she looked back at me. "You are
coming with me. You need to see something."
I relaxed and followed her obediently. Curiosity killed the cat, I suppose.
We reached the outer edge of the forest before she stopped. Pointing up to the tree
with the lowest hanging batches, she asked
"Can you climb?"
Before I could answer, she grabbed hold of a low-hanging branch and pulled, bracing
herself with her feet against the trunk.
I watched her, astounded (though I shouldn't have been) at her climbing. "Yes."
Being part hunting animal does have its perks, I guess.
Nope. No, it doesn't. Forget that.
She looked down at me, already halfway up the tree. "Come on then."
I felt my feet on the snow-covered ground and pushed myself up, springing high
enough to grab one of the higher branches. Lizaveta sat on a branch a few feet
above me, staring out at something.
"Why did we climb up a tree, Lizaveta?" I questioned as I slid next to her.
She turned her head and smiled at me. "Just look. Look at the ground. Look at the
trees. Look at everything."
I sighed. Why? "I don't see the big..."
I trailed off in mid-sentence.
Other than the footprints Lizaveta and I had marked on the snow, it lay on the
ground like a blanket, making small hills that followed the slightest difference in
the ground. Icicles hung down from the snow-brushed trees like ribbons, sparkling
slightly in the sunlight. The best part of it all was the castle. The magnificent
building, which was ominously dark most (all) of the time, was covered in the white
powder. The snow twinkled gently in the light, making the whole scene seem like
something one would find in a glass ball sold my merchants.
I didn't know it could be so bright.
We didn't move for hours, not speaking, just staring. Even the Beast didn't bother
me.
Sometimes silence is the best way to speak.
The sun, which was high in the sky when we climbed the tree, slowly the sun made
its way down toward the trees.
Lizaveta sighed. "I guess we should head back."
I looked over everything again, not wanting to move. "Yeah, probably."
I started down the tree first, with Lizaveta following behind me. She was so close
that her foot very nearly hit my face a few times.
When we were close enough to the ground that I could let go without hurting myself,
I did.
"Uff." The air left my lungs quickly once my feet hit the ground. Once Lizaveta was
near enough, I reached up and wrapped my hands around her waist, picking her from
the tree.
Gently, I set her down. "Now where to?"
A sad look crossed her face. "Back to the castle."
I nodded, feeling strangely disappointed.
We started to go back staying close to each other. I looked over at Lizaveta. Her
whole body shook from the cold. Her long hair was damp from all the snow that had
fallen on it and melted throughout the day. The shirt and pants she had on clung to
her small body.
I touched her shoulder, not thinking. I never noticed the cold while we were out.
While I looked about as wet as she was, I was warm.
She leaned close to me. "You're hot," she chattered.
No. You are cold.
Without saying anything, I reached beneath her legs and scooped her up, hugging her
close to me. "Is that better?"
YOU ARE COMING DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO MEETING ME, PRINCE.
I ignored it.
Lizaveta snuggled into my arms. Her frigid nose touched my neck lightly. "How on
earth are you not cold?"
I shrugged. "I have no idea."
She laughed.
She laughed.
It was like the tinkling of a bell. It was a beautiful sound. It was one that I'd
heard more than once in the castle, but only then, walking through the snow, did I
appreciate it.
YOUR MISTAKE.
Pain.
No. Agony.
It erupted in my head and spread to my chest like fire.
My knees buckled beneath me. I hit the ground in a puff of snow, vaguely feeling
the ground below me.
"Brennen?"
I looked up at the girl--no, Lizaveta. Something tickled at the back of my throat,

wanting out. My hands clawed at the back of my head, trying to find the string that
held my mask on.
My chest was burning.
The tips of my fingers turned to small knives, cutting through the flesh on my
head, and eventually, the string. The silver mask fell to the ground.
Whatever was at my throat started to wriggle up. I coughed, struggling to breathe

through the fire.
Crimson stained the white snow below me as the thing broke free from my lips.
LET ME OUT!
No!
It wanted out.
"Brennen!"
I looked up, gasping for breath. Lizaveta stood above me, reaching her hand out.
Then something came from my back.
My skin ripped from the things that were pushing their way through.
FIGHT ME! COME ON, LITTLE BOY, FIGHT ME! LOSE! KILL THE GIRL!
Hold it back.
A scream tore its way from my throat. Blood dripped down from where my teeth
punctured my lips, leaving a trail of blood running down my chin.
"Castle! Go! Get Raul!" I yelled.
Lizaveta stared at me, panic scrawled across her face.
"I'LL SEE YOU SOON, GIRL."
It only took a second for me to realize I had said that out loud.
"No!"
My body was protesting. I curled in a ball, hitting my hands against the ground,
feeling the pain as my claws dug into my skin, screaming until my throat was raw,
then screaming more.
Don't let it out.
Something snapped. More pain raced up my nerves.
"You can't have her, Beast," I huffed between breaths. "I win."
NO, LITTLE PRINCE.
I WIN.
_______________________________________
ߘ Fun.
Chapter 32--Raul [Inside the Beast's Castle]
Zara
"Raul!"
Raul's name sprung from my lips before I even touched the door to enter the castle.
I stole a frantic look behind me to see what was happening. All I saw was the snow
which had started to fall.
I pushed the door with all my might, finally making it budge. "Raul!"
Footsteps beat against the floor upstairs, running toward me.
"Yes, Miss?" A small, faint voice squeaked next to my ear.
I turned.
Not Raul.
"Lia," I couldn't keep the panic from my voice. "Where is Raul."
Not a question.
Lia smiled calmly. "He asked me to take over for him."
My chest heaved. A chill wind blew In from outside. "I need him."
Lia didn't move.
"Now."
Her face fell. "I'm sorry, Miss. I can't. He told me nobody but--"
Heat rose to my cheeks. "Listen, Lia. Your master told me to get Raul. If you need
further description, currently, Brennen is outside, in the snow, throwing up blood
and halfway turning into a...c reature."
Her eyes widened.
I nodded. "If you don't get me Raul, then I will do it myself, which won't be very
pretty, considering that you two are somehow linked. Kapeche?"
Emilia lowered her head in obedience. "Yes, Miss. Call Raul again."
Thank you.
"Raul!"
Slowly, Lia's body started to grow. Her short blonde hair grew even shorter and
lighter, turning a very dull shade of gray. Her eyes suddenly lost all color, like
a torch that had been blown out, then lit back to a dark brown. Her whole body grew
and changed shape, along with the clothes she was wearing.
Soon, I was no longer looking at Lia. I was staring at Raul.
"Yes, Miss?" he asked.
Suddenly, I could no longer breathe. The air came out of me in frantic gasps.
"It's Brennen," I cried, finally able to speak. My hands shook with fear. "He's--
he's--there's something wrong."
Raul's face paled even more than usual. "Where?" he demanded, already walking
quickly toward the still-standing door.
I followed right behind him. "Near... near the maze, I think."
Raul didn't stop half running through the snow. "Can you make light?"
The sun had set from the time it took me to go into the castle, get Raul, and come
out again.
I nodded. "Yes. Fos."
I held up my hand, and a tiny ball of light hovered above my palm.

Raul glanced over and nodded his approval. "Good job."
I didn't feel the need to say 'thanks.'
Raul started speed walking faster. I had to jog to catch up. He was fast.
Snowflakes blew in a whirlwind around us, trying to block our vision. The wind
began to howl, sounding like a wolf.
Raul heard it too. "Zara, stay near me," he croaked.
"Wasn't that the wind?"
Raul turned his head around to look at me doubtfully. "Miss Zara, that was no more
the wind than I am a teenager."
Vespers then.
Raul thrust his hand out to the side, stopping me. We were next to the three frozen
ponds.
He pointed in the distance to a large lump on the snow.
"Is that the prin--is that the master?" he called over the wind.
I squinted my eyes, trying to see past the flurry of snowflakes that danced in my
vision. Through the moonlight, I could just catch the gleam of silver reflecting
from the snow.
The mask.
My heart felt like it doubled its speed. "That's him," I mumbled.
I had to repeat that sentence three times before it came out audible.
Raul lowered his arm once he heard me and ran up to Brennen. I was on his heels.
Before we even reached Brennen, I could tell that something was incredibly wrong.
His mask was still laying on the snow, catching the snowflakes that fell. He was
curled up in a ball so that his legs were folded up and his head was resting on his
knees. Long claws extended from the tips of his fingers, some piercing his flesh
and other bent backward from scraping at the ground. The fabric on his back was
ripped to shreds by the misshaped form of his spine that bubbled up and veered out
of line, with bits of bone peeping out from his back.
And there was blood.
The ground in front of his head was stained red, like paint spilled on a canvas.
Clumps of yellow hair were littered on the ground, leaving bloody gashes in his
skull. His arms were scratches and stabbed by the claws on his fingers.
He was completely still.
"Oh..."
I raised my hand that held the light in the air and gave a little push.
"Terogizo."B The ball moved away from my hand and hovered in the air, above
Brennen's body.
I fell to my knees in front of his head and gently touched the side of his face.
Wetness tickled the tips of my fingers, but from blood or snow, I didn't know. Deep
rivets traced down his cheek in scraggly lines, never straight.
The worst part was that he was cold.
He was warm earlier.
My thoughts went back to an hour or so before when his chest was like a fire. He
was warm, not sure if he could even get cold.
My throat constricted in fear. "Raul," I whimpered. "He's cold."
If it was possible, Raul's face went even whiter. He swooped down and touched
Brennen's shoulder gently.
"Master?"
Brennen's eyes fluttered open slightly. The crimson color of his irises stood out
brightly against his white skin. They slowly made their way up to mine, locking on
with intensity.
There was only one problem.
I didn't recognize them.
A low growl emitted from the back of his throat. Slowly, his lips spread apart,
curling away from the pointed teeth that were hidden behind them.
"Zara." Raul looked at me in alarm, barely whispering my name
It was a warning.
Slowly, I slid my hand behind me, trying to back away from Brennen. His eyes landed
on my hand and he growled louder.
"Zara, get up," Raul commanded calmly.
How can he be so calm?
Heart racing, I stood up slowly, keeping my eyes glued to Brennen.
"NOT SO FAST, LITTLE GIRL."
He spoke in a low, animalistic voice. One of his feet was planted on the ground,
his knee coming up to meet his nose. He stood up, slowly, either ignoring the pain
from his wounds or not being affected by it.
Then pounced.
His body flew on top of mine, making me fall to the ground hard. I gasped, the air
having had been forced from my lungs.
"Get off!" I screamed. Brennen's claws dug into my arms and tore my skin. The
weight of his body on mine pinned me down.
Pgoma!
Brennen froze on top of me, unable to move.
Did I just think the spell?
I didn't dwell on the subject for long. Somehow, I managed to find a way to wriggle
out from underneath Brennen.
Raul walked over, his eyes trained on the still form of a man.
"Are you alright, Miss?"

I looked down at my stinging arm. A gash went through it.
It's not too deep.
"Yes, Raul. I'm fine."
My eyes drifted back to the frozen form of Brennen.
Better than he is.
Cautiously, I shuffled through the snow and bent down next to Brennen. His eye
flicked up to meet mine again, but this time, they were normal.
Laced with torture, but yes. Normal.
He opened his mouth slightly. His lips were red.
"Zara."
His eye closed slowly, fluttering shut.
I took a shaky breath and wiped away the tear tracing down my cheek. I looked up at
Raul, silently begging for an answer of what to do.B
He looked back at me sadly. "Take him back to the castle."
Raul moved over to the other side of Brennen and squatted, the gently grabbed his
arm and draped it around his shoulders. He looked at me expectantly.
I copied Raul's actions, then stood as he did. I wrapped my right arm around
Brennen's waist, trying to keep him held up.
This is not working.
Stupid! Use magic!
Still holding onto Brennen's arm, I thought of the spell I needed. "Terogizo."
Some of the weight that was weighing Raul and me down lifted from our shoulders.
Raul grinned at me thankfully.
Brennen's head rolled over to the side limply as we dragged ourselves back to the
castle.
I couldn't stand the tense silence of "we-can't-move-any-faster-but-we-need-to" for

very long.
"So, what happened to him?" I asked, trying to not dwell on what happen a little
over an hour before.
"Pardon, Miss?"
"Why did he... why did he change? What happened?"
Raul didn't answer immediately. In fact, we reached the castle door first.
"Zara, please open that," he demanded.
I reached my left arm out and grabbed the door handle, then pulled it toward me. As
soon as it was open, Raul dove inside. He led me straight into the living room.
Gently, we lowered Brennen to the floor in front of the fireplace.
Raul stooped down and started to examine Brennen's body.
"I need a pail of water."
Pail of water, pail of water.
"Ela," I whispered. A bucket of water appeared next to Raul. He didn't look up and
immediately started to dip a cloth into the pail.
I stood to the side, feeling useless. I hate this.
Raul tended to Brennen with the hand of an expert. I hovered back, leaning against
the wall.
"Miss Zara, to answer your question that you asked earlier, Master only changes
when he feels something strong. Especially, an emotion."
I scrunched my eyebrows together. "But he'd been laughing with me. Surely that's an
emotion."
Raul nodded. "Yes, it is. He learned since the time you got here how to keep the
emotions in. The only problem is the fact that his... affliction thrives from
emotion. To protect you, he was feeding the creature inside him."
Oh no. It's my fault.
"Why did it suddenly take over him, then?" I whispered. I blinked back the tears
that swarmed my vision.
"He felt something stronger than what he normally dealt with," Raul replied simply.
Like what? If I was already causing pain, the was it something I said or did?
What--why did it suddenly take over?
I had no answer. There was only one thing I could think of, and it was certainly
not the answer. There was no plausible reason for it.
My attention was kicked back to reality by a low mumble of my name.
"Lizaveta."
Brennen's voice was strained and cracked, giving a choked sound to my name. His
eyes were squeezed shut so tightly that it appeared his head had no eyes, just
wrinkled sockets where they'd be. One of his arms shot out and hit the ground hard,
the smacking sound echoing through the room.
He moaned again, a whimpering, pained sort of noise. His whole body gave a great
shudder.
Then was still.
"Raul?" I screeched, stepping forward.
Raul held up his hand. "You need to leave. Leave this room for now. He senses you,
which means it senses you."
"But--"
Raul stared at me and yelled. "Now, Miss Zara!" Then, in a softer tone, "I will
handle this."
I drew back, gasping for breath. My shaking hands couldn't find the door handle
quickly enough before I threw myself from the room. My feet carried me away before
my brain caught up to their actions.
I didn't know where I was going. It was just away.
I wiped the tears that clouded my vision away, thinking a silent prayer. Please
don't let him die. Please.
My feet stopped carrying me to wherever the back of my mind wanted to go. I looked
around.
It was the piano room.
I laughed weakly. Of course, I go to the music room.
The walls and floors were clean from where I had tidied the room weeks before. The
large cloth that had been over the piano was no more, and instead, the instrument
was proudly standing in the corner.
I went over at sat down on the bench in front of the keys, then leaned my head
against the wall.
Why is this my fault?
No one ever blamed you, Zara.
But it is my fault.
I bit my lip, breathing in and out as calmly as I could.
It's okay. It'll be okay. He's not going to die. He told you himself.
*****
Waiting.
That is the worst thing that can happen.
Waiting, and not knowing what to do.
Please don't let him die.
*****
The old man leaned over the body of the one he had raised for years.
The one on the ground was as still as death, breathing in and out in only minuscule
breaths.
The man looked around the room. A bucket of water was next to the other's head. The
white cloth draped over the side had light red stains across it.
He sighed. "Well, sir, there seems to be nothing more I can do. If you fight that
thing by yourself, you will lose."
He reached out and touched the other's cold hand. "It is not that your body will
die, it is that your mind will. If it takes over again, I know we will never get
you back."
"She will never get you back."
He laughed bitterly. "I should apologize, my Prince. I have been selfish."
The prince's eyes fluttered, even while closed.
The man nodded his head. "That servant girl, Lia, I told her to not let me out. I
told her to take charge."
He moved his hand over the prince's heart. The low thudding was like a drum beat.
Bum-bum. Bum-bum.
The man smiled. "I was selfish because I was dying. I am dying. I'm old."
He laughed. "I'm an old man."
More seriously, he added, "I wanted to see the day your curse was broken. I wanted
to see you walk out of here a free man."
Very slowly, the prince's eyes peeled open. His red eyes met the old man's.
The old man smiled at him. "I see the one who is to break your curse. I've met her.
I know you know it is her also. No one else could make you turn like that."
"No other emotion but true happiness."

The man smiled widely. "And with that, I am fulfilled. I can go in peace. I can do
what I am about to do."
"Raul, what..."
The master's voice cracked weakly. The Raul grabbed his hand, squeezed, then let
go. He placed both of his hands over the prince's heart.
"Raul?"
Raul looked into his red eyes one last time. "It has been a pleasure, my Prince."
A bright, golden light poured out from Raul's chest and spread throughout the room.
When it vanished, Raul was no longer in the place he sat.
He was gone.
_____________________________________
I'm sorry. I know, I'm evil. I'm a killer of characters.
Discussion starter: Other than die, what exactly do you think Raul did? Is there
any significance to the hold light, or do you think the author just went insane,
killed off a character, gave him no respawn, and is about to do the same to one of
the main characters?
Chapter 33--Gray [Inside the Beast's Castle]
Human kind cannot gain anything without giving something in return. To

obtain, something of equal value must be lost. --Fullmetal Alchemist.
_______________________________________
Is it possible for something to feel gray?
Not the color. The feeling.
The morning after I left Raul and Brennen, I woke up in the piano room. It was no
surprise--that was where I fell asleep. The surprise was the instant feeling of
something being horribly wrong.
Like something that happened that couldn't be fixed. A sense of dread blanketed the
castle, wrapping it up in something that felt like it couldn't be cut through with
the sharpest sword.
My heart felt like it was going to burst. What happened? What's wrong?
Careful not to touch the keys on the piano, I got up and tiptoed from the room. My
arm pounded. I looked down and saw the long scratch that traveled from my wrist to
my elbow. The skin around the scratch was red and puffy.
I need to go clean this off.
Since my room was literally right next door, I went in there first. Everything was
exactly how I left it from the morning before: messy.
Weird how yesterday feels like it happened last year.
I walked over to my dresser and pulled out the first thing I could grab, which was
a dress. As much as I liked the pants and shirt I was wearing, they were in dire
need of a cleaning. I rummaged through another of the drawers and pulled out a roll
of bandages to wrap around my cut.
After I cleaned my arm and wrapped something around the gash, I went to change. The
first thing I noticed as I was pulling the dress on my the pain at my abdomen. I
inhaled sharply and looked down. Black and blue splotches covered the right side of
my ribs.
I guess that came from when Bren--the creature that took over Brennen attacked me.
There was no way I was going to say the bruises came from Brennen. Especially
considering the fact that he tried to stop the thing from coming out.
I pulled the dress over my head and slipped on a pair of soft shoes. Reaching back,
I pulled the band from my hair (succeeding in taking half my hair with it) and
quickly attempted to brush through the mess. It took me less than two seconds of
consideration to decide to not pull it back and to just leave it long.
I nervously walked out of my room and stopped. Where should I go?
The gray feeling hadn't left me, which told me something was really wrong. The
castle just felt off.
Downstairs.
I all-but-ran down the stairs and nervously pushed open the door to the room Raul
and I put Brennen the night before. The pail of water that I summoned was still in
the exact same spot. The rag Raul had been using was draped over it and speckled
with blood. There were excess bandages littering the floor. The remnants of a fire
were still in the fireplace.
But there were no people.
I closed the door quietly, resisting the urge to shout for someone. If I shouted
for Raul, he would surely come, and if he was dealing with Brennen at that moment,
then I might cause a problem. One the other hand, if I called for Brennen, I ran
the risk of not meeting him, but the not-so-happy creature instead.
Best not to call anyone.
Now, if I was a--I'm not even going to finish that sentence. Where would they be?
In his room?
Up the stairs I go again.
I ran up the stairs (almost tripping on my dress while I was at it) and before I
knew it, found myself in front of the deep brown wooden doors that opened up to
Brennen's room. I moved my fist up to knock on the doors, but immediately decided
against it and grasped the door handle instead. I turned it slowly and cracked the
door open, giving myself just enough room that I could peek through the gap.
I smiled at what I saw and opened the door the rest of the way. Brennen didn't look
up from his sitting position on the bed. He stared down at something in his hands.
"Hi." I suddenly felt cautious. I didn't know how he would be doing from the day
before. The fact that he didn't move or look up was also a huge indicator that
something was wrong.
I took a step forward. "How are you doing?"
His shoulders rose, then fell. He turned his back to me slightly. "I'm fine," he
answered shortly.
What happened?
I walked farther into his room and sat down next to him slowly. The bedsprings
screamed with the weight of another person on them.
Brennen turned around enough that it was just his back facing me. The black string
that normally stood out against his yellow hair wasn't in its normal position.
I swallowed. "Are you holding your mask?"
He nodded.
"Do you want me to tie it on for you?"
Without a word, he passed back the mask. His hands shook like there was an
earthquake.
I took the mask in one hand and grabbed onto his fingers with my other. "You're
shaking."
He snatched his hand away. "Yeah."
I bit my lip and places that mask over his mouth. His fingers brushed mine as he
reached up to hold it in place. Carefully, I tied the string in the back.
"Where's Raul?" I asked. "Isn't he the one who normally does this?"
Brennen's reaction was immediate. His shoulders tensed up--no--his whole body
tensed up at the mention of Raul. It was like this electricity crackled off his
every move.
My heart sank. "What's wrong? What happened to..."
I trailed off, knowing and dreading what the answer would be. I hadn't seen Raul
the whole morning. The dirty rags that lay on the floor, the bucket of water that
had yet to be emptied, the mask that wasn't tied on--all of them pointed to his
absence.
Brennen's voice destroyed every flicker of hope I had that the worst was false.
"Raul is dead."
His voice caught at the end of his sentence.
I felt the color drain from my face. Oh no.
"How..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say. I wanted so badly to know how he
died, but I was afraid to delve too deeply into the subject.
Brennen answered my unspoken question. "Last night, after you left the room, he--he
healed me somehow. It wasn't physical injuries that he healed, it was more along
the lines of him pushing the--creature--beast--it--back. When he did that, magic
claimed its price."
He turned to me. "I told you, 'equivalent exchange' was how that worked. Because I
was dying--at least my mind was--his spell took his life."
Oh, God.
I thought it like a prayer, although I had no idea what I was praying for. Wherever
Raul's soul went, it was already there.
Gently, I reached up and placed my palm on Brennen's shoulder, curling my fingers

underneath my hand to grip him.
He pushed me off. "Don't," he whispered.
I gulped down air to try and keep my tears in. This is my fault.
"Brennen--" I started.
He turned around and glared at me. "Lizaveta, no. Not now. Just... just leave."
The tears I kept locked away finally spilled over. "I'm sorry," I sobbed. "It's my
fault. If I hadn't brought you outside then--"
His bitter laugh interrupted me. "Your fault? I can't keep a part of myself
controlled. It's my fault he's--he's dead."
We fell silent.
"There's not even a body that I can bury!" Brennen yelled. He smashed his fist into
the side of the bed and sprung to his feet.
I jumped and sat still, watching him helplessly.
A cry of frustration tore out of his mouth. "I can't fix this! One thing that I
want to be fixed, and I can't do a thing about it!" Again, his arm hit the wall
with a bam.
His breathing caught and his hands went up to his face, covering it. Slowly, his
slid down the very wall he had hit a few seconds before.
Without consciously knowing what I was doing, I was next to him. I took his head in
my hands and held it up so our eyes could meet. His red eyes screamed in torment,
yet he did not cry.
I wonder if he even can.
Slowly, I wrapped my arms around his head and pulled him close to me. There was no
point in apologizing. Its already been said. What happened had happened and there
was no fixing it.
It just was.
We stayed like that for a while. Eventually, Brennen's breathing slowed down to a
normal speed.
He broke free of our embrace first. There was no 'thank you,' there was no
acknowledgment whatsoever.
There didn't need to be.
I wrapped my fingers around his hand. "Can you stand?"
Brennen nodded and cautiously stood. I joined him.
"Come with me," I said, gently pulling at him. He followed behind loyally.
When I reached my destination, he paused. "What are you doing, Lizaveta?"
I pushed open the door to outside and began to walk. "You'll see."
His hand slipped out of mine. I twirled around. Brennen gripped the door tightly,
holding on to steady himself. His face paled to a sickly green. Beads of
perspiration shone off his forehead.
"Still... still... yesterday is..." Brennen didn't finish his sentence.
Yesterday took its toll.
I walked back and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. It wasn't hard, considering
the two-foot height difference.
"Lean on me," I mumbled.

Almost immediately, some of his weight felt like it dropped on my shoulders. I bit
back the "oompf" that wanted to come out of my mouth.
I led us outside and to the center of the maze. At the top of the stone fountain
was a baby angel, with his hands covering his eyes.
I walked out from under Brennen's arm and went straight up to the gray rock.
Carefully, so I wouldn't fall, I placed my feet on the edge of the fountain. Snow
fell off the sides of the thing in big clumps.
Please don't let there be any hidden ice. That would be embarrassing.
Once I reached a height that I could touch the angel, I reached out and grabbed its
head. The smooth stone was cold beneath my fingers, making them tingle.
I closed my eyes and concentrated. "Allag," I whispered.
The stone beneath my skin bubbled and rounded. It thinned out and got larger, into
more of an arch shape.
Once it stopped moving, I pulled my hand away and hopped down from the fountain. I
heard Brennen's small gasp as if it was a big wind.
Where the angel was, I had left an oval-like surface. It gleamed just a small bit
in the non-existent sunlight. One both sides, the front and back, the surface was
smooth except for a few letters neatly carved into the rock.
For Raul
The man who never left.
The father when one was not there.
The friend when needed the most.
_______________________________________
Chapter 34--Piano Man [Inside the Beast's Castle]

I paced up and down in my room,
feeling like I was wearing a hole in the floor. The moonlight shone through my
window, slightly lighting up the place enough that I could see where I was going.
Another nightmare.
Why another nightmare?
It was the first one I had in months, since the little excursion with the vyechers.
I stopped pacing and stared out the window. One scene from the dream kept bothering
me.
Dead bodies were strewn across the gravel, piling up on top of each other to make a
mountain of dead. Bloody hands and legs; dismembered heads; long, pink tongues;
even a stray eyeball--they were all part of the death pile. While there were at
least fifty dead, they only had two faces.
My father and brother.
Every single body was theirs. Every blood stain was from them. Every broken bone,
every vacant eye. It was theirs.
And on the top of the mountain of bodies was Vadik.
He stood heroically, a sword dripping deep red clasped tightly in his hand. His
foot was planted on one of my father's disembodied heads, sinking into the flesh
like it was quicksand. On both of his cape buckles were the piercing emerald eyes
of Joshua, dull and gray with death.
And in Vadik's left hand was another head. He held it by its straw-yellow hair,
showing off the stark-white skin marred by scars to no one. The head still dripped
blood from the pieces of muscle and spine still attached, making a dark puddle on
the top of Vadik's foot.
It was Brennen.
Vadik beamed, his white teeth blindingly bright, then, with his still- bloody hand,
pulled out a large diamond ring from his back pocket.
"Lizaveta Tribeka, will you marry me?"
I sighed and flopped onto the bed again, falling so hard that the pillow I used
jumped up.͂ I pulled my knees halfway to my chest and put the heel of my hand
against my forehead.
And why does this one keep bothering me so badly?
All of the nightmares I had bothered me at one point or the other, but it was a
dream-bothering. The one I just had--that one was different.
It was too real.
Why Vadik, of all people? Why on earth did I see him? Why didn't I see the king or
something?
I huffed and fell down the rest of the way, so I'd be lying down. Some deep part of
my mind considered calling for Lia, but I decided against it. In the fourteen days
after Raul's death, I hadn't seen her around. Who knew how she'd be handling
everything. I didn't even know why I would call her anyway, I didn't have anything
I wanted.
I closed my eyes slowly, experimenting to see if crazy-Vadik would show up again.

The answer was yes.
"Why on earth can't I just sleep like a normal person?" I yelled. My pillow quickly
became the unlucky object that was closest to me, resulting in it getting thrown
against the door. "Why do I have to have these blasted nightmares?"
There was no answer. Of course. Why would a dresser or a pillow answer me? Talking
furniture was one thing the castle seemed to lack. Thank goodness. I'd probably
break whatever I was holding if the thing started to talk to me.
I threw my arm over my eyes, wanting to sleep, but knowing that it was hopeless.
All sense of time was soon lost as I hovered in between a dreamless sleep, but
wide-awake-ness.
Pling.
Pling.
Blong.
I sat up. What is that? It sounded like...
Music.
Another note was hit. I cringed at the dissonant sound. It was like two keys were
being played at the same time, and they were directly next to each other.
I waited a few more seconds to hear the rest. It was as if the beginning of a song
was being played, but the person hitting the keys had no idea what to touch.
Blwang!
"Ow," I whispered. I slid off the side of my bed and onto the cold floor. I ignored
it, not wanting to try and find the shoes that were hidden somewhere under the
piles of mess. I walked slowly out of the room. It was easy to guess where the
sound was coming from. The only instrument I knew of that could make a noise like
the one that was being played was a piano, and it was in the room next to mine.
Quietly, I tiptoed to the doorway of the piano room. Brennen was at the side of the
instrument, hitting the white and black keys in utter concentration. His fingers
were too big the notes--unlike the first time I saw him in the room. He kept
playing two notes next to each other at the same time, resulting in some twang-y
sounds.
Brennen closed his eyes and groaned in frustration as he missed yet another note.
"What are you playing?" I couldn't stop myself from speaking up and asking the
question.
Brennen jolted and twirled to stare at me. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, "I didn't mean
to wake you."
"No, no! You didn't wake me. I was already up." The words rushed out of my mouth as
he started to back away from the piano.
He stared at me doubtfully.
"Nightmares." I shrugged and did a weird circling motion with my first two fingers
in the air, pretending that it was no big deal.
"Ah. About?"
A head, dripping blood from its still-dangling spine pieces, held like a trophy.
The open and staring eyes were a deep crimson, and the pale skin was marred by deep
scars. It was being held up by his yellow hair that was matted and stained.
I smiled. "Can't remember."
Liar.
Brennen nodded slowly, clearly not believing me. "Well, I'll let you try and go
back to sleep then."
I placed my foot so that I was not-so-subtly blocking the doorway. "What were you
playing?"
He chuckled. "There is no realm of possibilities that exists that calls that
playing, Lizaveta."
I grinned. "Okay, so what were you trying to play?"
"A song."
I shook my head quickly. "Nuh-uh. Straight answer, Mister Riddles."
He was silent.
"Maybe give me the song's name?" I rolled my eyes.
Brennen looked down. "I can't remember. It was something from a long time ago."
"Oh."
We stood still for a moment longer. Finally, Brennen started to walk away from the
piano.
My hand darted out and caught his. "Wait."
"Yes?" His muscles were tensed, ready to dart at the smallest indication he needed
to.
He was cautious.
Since the day that he turned, he had been nothing but cautious around me. When our
conversation was about to turn down a sad direction, he'd leave. If I started to
smile much, he'd leave.
All of the comfort we felt around each other had been destroyed once he turned. It
was replaced with caution.
I bit my lip and pulled him over to the piano. "Try it again."
"Lizaveta, my hands are too big for now. I can't."
Duh.
I met his eyes for a split second before he looked away. "But I can."
I placed his hand on top of mine and moved them both over to the piano. "Show me
what I'm supposed to do."
He raised an eyebrow. Everything about his actions screamed that he was holding in
a snide remark.
I opened my mouth to make him say what he thought, but he quickly pressed my
fingers against a black key. He held my hand in such a way that his fingers only
reached my knuckle, but he could press on it and move them up and down.
He moved another finger on my right hand, then paused. "I need two hands for this,"
he muttered. He slid behind me, obviously pressing up against the wall, because he
was barely touching my back in the small space. My heart hammered in my chest,
feeling like it was beating a zillion times a minute.
He's warm.
"You can calm down, you know. I'm not going to bite you."
I let out a nervous chuckle. "I know."
His other arm snaked around my shoulder and he grabbed my left hand, holding it the
same way he held my right. No part of him touched me except for his hands and arms.
"Good?" I asked. I tilted my head up and to the side, trying to see his response.
Brennen nodded. "Yes," he replied. Slowly, he eased my hands on top of the black
and white keys. I grinned, just a little bit, loving the feel of the smooth ivory
beneath my fingertips.
Then, he started to play.
The first few notes Brennen hit were wrong. He groaned slightly every time he
missed a key. After a few seconds, however, he started to play what he had planned.
His hands, my fingers, flew over the keys on the piano, piecing together the
separate notes to make an unhalting melody. Soon, it wasn't just Brennen playing. I
was playing along with him. He was no longer guiding my hands to where he wanted
them; I was playing the exact notes he was.
With the last note played and held until it faded away, Brennen's hand slowly moved
away from mine.
"Thank you, Lizaveta."

I turned toward him, forgetting about the small space. A jolt of shock ran through
me at seeing his masked face looming over mine. "Gah!"
I immediately burst into unrestrained laughter and moved away. "Sorry," I gasped.
"I forgot you were so close."
His eyes sparkled with amusement. "It's alright."
He moved from the behind the piano and over toward the door. His fists were
clenched at his sides so tightly that his knuckles stood out sharply.
"You don't have to, by the way," I called after him.
Brennen stopped in the doorway. "Don't have to what?"
"Thank me."
He shook his head and walked over. Gently, as if he was afraid he'd hurt me, he
placed his hand on my hair, pressing down on the wild curls that outlined my head.
"Yes, I do," he whispered. "I will always have to thank you."
Heat flared through my cheeks. Suddenly, I had a great interest in the designs of
the floor.
Brennen was silent a moment longer, then a string tumbled out of his mouth
frantically. "Wouldyouliketohavedinnerwithme?"
"Huh?"
He took a shaky breath and looked away. "Lizaveta, would you like to have dinner
with me? Tonight? "
I stared at him, unable to comprehend what he was saying.
Disappointment shone in Brennen's eyes. He looked away. "It's fine," he muttered.

"I didn't think you'd want to any--"
"No, no!" I cried, finally able to remember how to speak. "I'd love to."
It was his turn to stare.

"Have dinner with you, I mean," I fumbled. "It--the first time didn't... well, it
didn't go very well. And the second was a war zone breakfast."
Brennen nodded his head slowly. "Yeah. If I remember right, you sort of stabbed me
and ran, then threw a muffin in my face."
I laughed. "You chased me!"
"You tried to kill me!" he cried back. "None of that this time."
I was sure that if I smiled wider, my mouth would cover my entire face. "Trust me,
that went so well last time I decided to not try it again."
He laughed. It wasn't a forced chuckle or a you-did-something-stupid-I'm-going-to-

laugh laugh, it was a true laugh.
"Good. I'll see you tonight, then?"
"Oh no. You'll probably see me before then. We'll just eat together tonight."
"Of course."
With a quick turn and flick of a cape I hadn't noticed before, Brennen left the
piano room.
I stood in the same place, smiling like and idiot.
Why did that one comment make me so happy?
_______________________________________
Ah, calm scenes. No deaths.
Yet.
BWAHAHAHA!
That scene with Vadik wasn't TOO overly-graphic, was it? I have no idea, I just
wrote it as it came to me.
Which is a bit disturbing that something like that just "came to me," but hey,
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Discussion starter: Did the dream mean anything, or was it just a dream?
Chapter 35--How the Mighty Will Fall [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"What's a mob to a king? What's a king to a god? What's a god to a

nonbeliever?" --Death Note
_______________________________________
Vadik
The palace was strangely silent.
There were no maids busily running up and down about the halls. There were no
knights in their armor clanking to the door of the throne room.
Everyone was in their rooms, either asleep or enjoying the small bit of time they
had to themselves until the next morning.
That is, all but one.
The man strode through the castle briskly, moving down the halls with a purpose.
His dark hair was tied back in a knot at the nape of his neck. He wore the uniform
of a guard-- burgundy chest plate, black boots that muffled footsteps, a golden
scabbard that hung loosely at his side--but held himself in an entirely different
manner.
He had told himself it was for disguise.
Old leather slipped through sweaty palms, the material covered a book given in the
woods. Thoughts of the girl who gave it kept running through his head.
At that moment, she was his anchor. His rock. He'd lose his nerve if she didn't
keep speaking in his mind.
But Zara wasn't truly there. It was old memories, not the magic she possessed nor
the magic he was about to have. Old conversations and old ideas before they knew of
each other's worlds.
Vadik entered a room to his left, a room where the door was slightly ajar, thanks
to the obedience of the servants and their fear of his father's wrath if he were to
report them.
He'd seen what happened to those who did not listen. Never again would he inflict
that type of pain unto an innocent. It was his vow-- a vow taken ten years before.
A vow taken as smoke of the dead rose into the air and the screams of a child
floated through the kingdom.
More than his innocence died that day. His father, his father who was once an
influence on his life, became to him what the rest of the world saw.
A monster.
A beast.
And he was the son of such a creature.
As Vadik entered the room, a faint, sour odor stung his nostrils. He'd never been
much of a chemist--unless sleeping through his tudor's classes when he was younger
counted--but for once, all the instructions were falling into place as beautifully
as fresh snow blanketing the ground.
Glass tubes, some shattered, sat up against the wall; the liquid in each shimmered
with potential.
With magic.
Although, not exactly so. According to Zara's book, it was energy in a liquid form.
When put into the body, the engery reacted in such a way to give the person powers.
He also knew of its side effects.
He knew what it said, word for word. It was one of the few books he'd read multiple
times.
He had to. With the book came hope. With hope came the possibility his father could
be stopped and his friend could come home.
The desk the precious tubes sat on rattled dangerously as he tugged on the drawer
below. When it finally came undone, it screamed with such a force the castle should
have been awoken.
It was as if God was telling him no.
In all his years of planning, Vadik had never known such a steep consequence of
an action. What he was about to do went against all "good" feelings he had, all
parts of what believed to be right. To seek such power meant a heavy price would be
paid.
Hands shaking, he brushed away his doubts and seized a long, thin syringe from the
drawer. It may as well have weighted a ton as he filled it with the strange fluid.
He prayed he'd be the same after the magic. His morals--while his father had none,
Vadik was sure of his.
No killing. No false blame. It was his chant, over and over again, spoken once
while filling the tube, spoken again when rolling up the sleeve.
When the metal point rammed through skin and a tingle of power started to course
through his veins, the chant melted away into nothingness.
*****
The palace was strangely silent.
It had been that night--silent. Peaceful.
It was almost calm until a pair of boots came tapping down the hall. The man
wearing them walked with his head high, eyes straight and pointed to his goal.
When he slowed to a halt, he was still as a stone. Cold. He clenched his fist
and knocked loudly on the golden handled doors. Carefully fiddling with something
hidden behind his chest plate, he plastered a wide smile to his face.
The door which he knocked on swung open. "What?" yawned the person who answered it.
He held onto the frame of the door lazily, still trying to wake up the rest of the
way.
Vadik raised his eyebrows. "Well, Joshua, I was hoping for your assistance in a
matter."
Zara's brother let out a sigh. His green eyes widened--the green eyes like hers.
"Oh, I meant no disrespect. Sorry."
The man cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Nyet, disrespect does not matter. You
forget, I don't follow my father's path."
The other man bobbed his head, his limp curls bouncing along with his head. "Da.
What would you have me do?"
"Come with me."
Joshua limped away from the doorway and glanced quickly behind him. "I'm amazed we
did not wake Father."
His father. Vadik had forgotten about the older man. "How does he fare these days?
I haven't seen him since your sister left for the beast."
Joshua's eyes lowered sadly at the mention of his sister. "You know as much as I
do. He has become more... handle-able"
The other laughed. "Easier to handle is always good."
They strode down the hallway quickly, one almost running and the other day limping
along behind on his wooden leg.
"Have you heard any word from Zara?" Joshua questioned.
"No, friend, I haven't. Not since yesterday, when you asked."
The two stopped in front of a large golden door. Joshua looked up and stared.
"Isn't this the king's room?"
Vadik nodded. A sick thrill soared through him at what was about to happen.
Excitement would do no good, however. Above all else, he needed to stay calm.
"He will not mind. Wait here, Joshua. I'll call when I need you."
The younger boy nodded.
"As you wish."
Vadik opened the door slightly, doing his best to have it make no noise. He slipped
his body through the small crack and breathed a sigh of relief.
Now for the easy part.

The man on the bed sat up from his reading, lifting a round, glass piece from his
eyes.
"Ah! And to what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Oh, Father, I was just giving a report on the girl. Zara, am I right?"
The king sat up, immediately intrigued. "You have news?"
His son nodded. "Yes, sir. I regret to inform you, sir, that she failed." He
stepped closer to the king's bedside, holding in a sly smile.
Almost there.
The king looked like he had seen a ghost. "She failed? How so, I must know!"
"I just received a letter, Father." Vadik stepped forward, reaching under his armor
plate for the supposed 'letter.' "Written by the beast himself."
"He killed her, sir."
If possible (which apparently, it was) the king's face turned to the shade of white
which very closely resembled the white of a piece of parchment. "She is dead? The
vespers?"
Now for the big reveal.
"The vespers are being released, and will, if not already, be upon us."
"Oh." The king rose from his bed and went over to the armor-clad man. "May--May I
see the letter?"
YES!
In one smooth, quick motion, the man reached under his armor and pulled out a
dagger no longer than his forearm. The king didn't even have time to register what
was happening before the knife plunged into his chest.
Warm blood immediately oozed from the wound, splattering the killer's hand.
Rosen gasped, staring at the knife-wielder in disbelief. Slowly, the life left his
eyes and he fell, crashing down to the floor on a pool of his own blood.
The killer wiped his hands on his pants. "Joshua!" he called, "I need your help
now, please!"
The look on his face will be absolutely priceless.
Slowly, Joshua stepped around the corner and into the room, not noticing the
carnage before him.
"Where is this--"
He stopped speaking quickly, staring in shock at the body of the king who lay
spread-eagle on the floor. "What..."
"Treason! Treason! You killed him! You killed my father!" The real killer collapsed
to his knees in front if the king, cradling his head in his hands. The knife which
was used to stab the king, he slid over to Joshua's feet.
Let's muster up some waterworks now.
In a matter of seconds, Joshua as seized by the guards. "Wait, what are you doing?"
he cried. "I didn't do it! I was framed!"
His screams echoed all the way down the hall.
Tear in his eyes, Vadik rose to his feet. "Get the father, too," he sniffled to
another guard. "He must have had something to do with this."
The other guard clicked his feet together. "Yes, sir!"
As he left, it was all the other could do not to laugh. Years of planning, all
completed in a matter of minutes. All he needed were a few creatures here and
there, a selfish king, and a little bit of magic.
"Long live the king."
_______________________________________
Should I be worried about how. much. FUN that was to write? I mean, just
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Ah, that was satisfying.
Discussion starter: What on earth happened to Vadik that made him kill? Was it
because of the "magic" he injected himself with?
Fun fact: In my very first draft, there was no explanation as to why Vadik
killed his father. He just did, because it went along with the villain role. The
first part of the chapter is brand new, because I wanted to test out something
that'll be in the final drafts of this story.
Chapter 36--Inside and Outside [Inside the Beast's Castle]
Lyza
"Miss, you need to stop messing with that!"
Lia's smooth hand reached out and grabbed my wrist, forcing my arm to the side--
away from the dress she forced me into.
I fought back the urge to slap her away and let her take my hand. I grimaced. The
dress she shoved me in was less-than-comfortable. The neck came about a half-inch
below my collar bone, then fell another half-inch to form a "V." Gold trim followed
the outline of the neck, tracing around the forest green material. My toes poked
from underneath the floor-length skirt, blissfully bare.
"Here." Lia tossed an unknown item over to me.
I jumped, fumbling around with the object.
Wha--
Shoes. Of course. Why not?
I tried my best not to sigh and roll my eyes, then slipped the flats onto my feet.
Without thinking, I grabbed the shoulders of the dress and yanked it back, trying
to pull it up. It wasn't low for normal standards, but that was the problem.
I'm not normal. Sue me.
Lia raised her hand again, staring at me. "Miss, I will slap your hand again. Leave
the dress alone, you're not showing anything!"
But it feels like it!
There was a sharp yank at the back of my head, pulling me backward.
"What on earth, Lia!"
She made a face at me and went back to pulling every single strand of hair from my
head. "I'm trying to untangle this mess!" she cried.
I laughed. "Lia, my hair doesn't know the meaning of 'untangle.' It's not
happening."
She ignored me and kept yanking. After what felt like forever, she stopped.
"There, Miss. That's all I can do." Liia waved her hands, becoming for me to stand.
"Let's see how you look, Miss."
Slowly, I stood up. There was a sharp intake of air from behind me.
"What, that bad?" I asked as I turned around.
Emilia's eyes sparkled in awe. Her cold hand grabbed my wrist and she dragged me
over to a tall, covered-by-cloth object that she brought in with her. With a flick
of her wrist, the red cloth whipped off the object, revealing a clouded silver
surface.
My heart sank at the realization of what she wanted me to do. "Lia, I don't like
mirrors."
She shook her head, her short blonde hair flying into her eyes. "Just look, Miss.
Just once."
Just once.
I stepped to the side, directly in front of the mirror. Very slowly, I lifted my
eyes from the staring at the ground to my reflection, not focusing on anything
until I met the gaze of the girl in front of me.
That can't be me.
There was no way the person glaring at me unhappily was me.She was wearing the
green dress like a princess, not a tavern girl. She was standing straight and tall,
not trying to hide behind herself. Her hair color was a deep, rich brown with
lighter highlights and the curls weren't a crazy, mass, fuzzy blob, they were
carefully curled ringlets that circled her head. Her face wasn't thin with hunger,
it was shining with months of being well-fed. Her eyes weren't a dull green; they
were a startling electric emerald.
"That's not me."
The words forced their way from my mouth, and the strange girl in the glass copied
me. Her face turned from an angry glare to awe--the exact same emotion I felt.
Lia's beaming face reflected back in the mirror. "Aye, Miss. It is you. You're a
real beauty, although you don't realize it."
I tore my eyes away from the girl--me--and stepped away. My heart felt like it was
going to burst with amazement.
Lia placed the cloth over the mirror again. "You look lovely, Miss. Master will
be--it would be amusing to see his reaction."
"How so?"
She smiled slyly and shook her head. "That, Miss, you'll have to find out for
yourself."
*****
In all of the fairy tales, the princess glides down the stairs majestically,
enchanting everyone around her. She makes no mistakes--no tripping, burping,
snorting, falling, eating sloppily--none of that.
Real life is not a fairytale.
Walking down the hallway to get to the steps (Walking. Down. The. Hallway), I
managed to somehow trip on the front of the gown that Lia put me in. I went
crashing to the floor, hard, at the top of the steps.
Have I mentioned how much I hate dresses?
Thank goodness that the dining room isn't directly below me.
"Lizaveta?"
Kill me now.
I plastered a smile on my face and turned my head. Brennen stood over me, one
eyebrow raised in amused curiosity.
"Are you okay?" he asked. He lowered his hand so I could grab it.
Swallow the pride, Zara, and take his hand.
I reached up and wrapped my fingers around his. The back of his hand was slightly
fuzzy. "I'm fine. Just admiring the view of the carpet."
"Oh, yes," he replied. "It's very nice, isn't it?"
I rolled my eyes. "Who am I kidding? I tripped on this stupid--" With a fistful of

the skirt in my hand, I pulled the outer layer up a little and waved it around like
a curse. "--dress."
"Like dresses, do you?"
"Oh yes! I have this unhealthy desire to burn one and laugh every time I see a
dress. There is only one word to describe it. One feeling."
Brennen nodded slowly and started to walk down the stairs, with me following
behind. "What is this feeling?"
"Loathing. Unadulterated hatred. I could sing about it if you'd like."
He stopped quickly, holding up a hand. "Please don't. If you do, I may have to join
in about suits, and that would not be pleasant."
I laughed, then finally noticed what he wore. Instead of the pitch black jacket and
shirt he normally was in, he had a garnet suit with silver buttons. The diamond-or-
some-type-of-jewel tipped cane that was normally swung around was nowhere to be
seen.
"Lizaveta?"
I met his eyes, feeling mine grow. "Yes?"

"Staring much? What's wrong?"
"Nothing." I shook my head and continued my trying-not-to-fall-again walk down the

steps. "I guess... You look different. Nice-er."
His eyes softened. "So do you."
Whoever decided to dress us up... I'm going to jump out and hit them so hard, they
don't know what happened.
We stopped at the last step and stood awkwardly. I bounced my hands up and down
against the side of my dress.
"Are you hungry?" Brennen blurted.
"No." I actually felt like I was full. My stomach was twisting itself into knots.
He nodded and stood, twiddling his thumbs.
We're fine all the rest of the time, but when you dress us up fancy, we suddenly
don't know how to speak.
Something shoved me from behind. "Oof," I grunted. With a smirk forming on my face,
I turned to face Brennen. "Shoving now?"
He shook his head, eyes wide. "No. I was pushed too."
I opened my mouth to laugh at him, but he proved that he was right by suddenly
vaulting across the room. I soon joined him.
"What is shoving us?" I asked, rubbing my back.
"Probably Suzette," Brennen answered. "Don't you smell the food?"
As soon as the word "food" left his mouth, we were pushed farther toward the dining
room. A sweet smell hit my nose and my stomach grumbled.
Well, I wasn't hungry.
"Come on," I said. I reached out and grabbed Brennen's hand and pulled him toward
the room with food. In a matter of seconds, we were seated at the table, each with
a plate piled high with food.
I immediately dug in. Gnawing on a chicken leg, I looked up at Brennen to see his
plate untouched.
"Are you not going to eat?"
"Not hungry."
I pointed at a piece of sweet potato bread on his plate. "You should try something,
hungry or not."
He pointed up at the silver mask that was hiding his face. "Mask. Makes it pretty
difficult to eat."
"Oh." I looked down at my plate, face flushing. "I forgot, sorry. Couldn't you take
it off? I won't look if you don't want me to."
Brennen sighed and shook his head. "It's not just the mask, Lizaveta. Food--human
food--tastes bad to me."
I sat back, all attention focused on him. "What do you mean, 'bad?'"
"The cake--it tastes like dirt. Chicken--it's like rotten meat. Water is the worst;
it's like blood." He started to play with the edge of the dark blue tablecloth.
"It's not the food. It's me. How I am--the only substance I can eat or drink is
what the Beast gets. When I'm like this--when I'm normal--I have no hunger."
That's horrible!
"It's a fairly new development," he added, noticing the look on my face. I'm sure I
was gaping in disbelief. "It's been about fifty years or so since this started."
I pushed myself away from the table, appetite destroyed in a fiery blaze of dread.
"Anything else planned for the night?"
No sooner had I said that, a low note sounded out from across the hall. I turned to
Brennen and raised an eyebrow questioningly.
He shrugged. "It's coming from the throne room."
"Before the pushing starts, do you want to go check it out?"
He rose from his seat quickly. "Yep. Come on."

Quickly, Brennen walked down the hall, with me following after as fast as I dared.
For a second, he got out of sight, then showed up again, basically running in the
opposite direction.
I grabbed his elbow as he went by. "What's wrong?"
"Don't go in there." Brennen pointed to the set of doors he exited from.
I smiled. "Why?" The note that started to play when we left the dining room was
louder, and definitely coming from the room. Still holding on to Brennen's elbow, I
pushed open the doors, expecting a horrible sight, like dead bodies or something.
What I saw would classify under "horrifying." The room was empty, except for five
instruments in the corner--a cello, two violins, a harp, and the piano. As soon as
I stopped and turned around, the doors shut with a loud snap.
"Crud."
Brennen glanced at me with the I-told-you-so look written all over his face.
Slowly, I turned around to face the instruments. The bow on each violin lifted,
then started to play a slow melody.
I thrust my thumb over in their direction. "Nice music."
I didn't get away with that.
As soon as I turned my back to try and open the doors, I was pushed (again!) to the
middle of the room. So was Brennen. We stood there, staring at each other
exasperatedly.
Then we were shoved into each other.
I swear, whoever is the invisible thing pushing me around, if they show themselves,
I will not hesitate to hurt them.
"I think," I mumbled, with my face pushed into Brennen's chest, "that they want us
to dance."
"That's what it would seem," he replied.
The force lessened enough that we could separate and stand comfortably.
"Well, are you going to start it?" Brennen questioned.
I laughed. "If you think I know how to dance after living in the Lower Kingdom
basically my whole life, you've got another thing coming. You start it."
"I don't remember how! You think I just randomly decided to dance while I was
here?"
Before I could respond, my arm started moving, and I wasn't the one controlling it.
So did Brennen's. Within a matter of seconds, we were holding each other the way
the dancers did in pictures.
I chuckled. "I guess they do."
Gently--not like before when we suffered severe whiplash--the force nudged us in

the direction we were supposed to go, moving our feet along with us. Before long,
Brennen and I were gliding across the room, and not being controlled by the shovey-
person.
We danced for what felt like hours, only pausing when the instruments did. The last
time we stopped, the music didn't start back up. I very quickly realized how out of
breath Brennen and I were.
He bowed. "Thank you for the dances, My Lady."
I grinned softly and curtsied deeply. "Right back at 'cha."
Brennen chuckled, then his face turned solemn. "May I ask you a question?"
"Only if I get to ask one too."
"You first then."
"Why do you wear the mask?" I blurted. My face turned red almost immediately at the
sentence I thrown out without a second thought.
"Huh?"
I started to play with the outer layer of my skirt. "Why do you--why do you still
wear the mask?" I mumbled. Good job, Zara. So much for a fun night. Let's just blow
it all in one unthought sentence.
He straightened with the realization of what I was asking. "Why do you want to
know?"
I swallowed and shook my head. "I guess--I guess it's because I've been in this
castle with you for a while, and I've never seen your face uncovered. It's just
curiosity, I guess."
He looked away. "You wouldn't want to see. You'd run."
Is that what he's been afraid of? That I would run away if I saw him?
"Brennen," I said gently. I reached up and touched the side of his face. "I will
never run."
His eyes searched my face for falsehood. "Close your eyes," he mumbled.
I did. There was a swoosh of strings untying, then a clatter as something metal
fell to the floor.
His mask.
I fought back the urge to open my eyes and see him. Gently, Brennen grabbed my hand
and placed it on his cheek.
"Feel that?" he whispered. He moved my hand up and down his face so I would feel
the deep rivets in his skin. "That is not even scratching the surface of what I
look like, Lizaveta."
"Brennen, they're just scars."
He took a deep breath and let go of my hand. I still kept it at his cheek. "If you
want," he said shakily, "you may open your eyes now."
I did.
Brennen's eyes were shut, as if he was afraid to see my reaction. A small red line
outlined the place where his mask had been, showing how tightly it was tied on.
Scars lined his face, some lighter than his skin, and others light pink. They all
varied in lengths and sizes--some thin, like a knife made them, and others the same
width of his claws. They traveled up and down, side to side on his face, some just
on the cheeks, others on his lips.
Carefully, I touched the longest scar on his face and traced my fingers over it. It
went from the top of his right ear diagonally across his face, all the way down to
the bottom left ear.
"Brennen, you're--"
"Terrifying?" he finished. He opened his red eyes and stared at me, waiting for a
conformation.
"No. You're very handsome."
He smiled. Actually smiled. It was tentative, like he was afraid that I'd run away
at his lips parting to show his teeth.
That were apparently pointy. They were like shark's teeth inside a human mouth.
Okay then. Pointy teeth it is.
"'Very handsome?' I've heard better lies than that one before. You need to work on
that some more."
I laughed. "No, it's true!" I pointed at myself. "Would I lie to you?"
"Do you want me to answer that honestly or not?"
I smacked his shoulder.
"Now for my question," he said, smile fading away quickly.
I waited for him to speak.
"Are you happy here? With me?"
"What?" I was taken aback by his question. What was he getting at?
"Are you happy here, in the castle?"
I searched his face, trying to figure out where he was going. I nodded my head.
"Yes. I wasn't at first; I wanted to leave and never return, but now--now I'm happy
here. I just--" I bit my lip, not knowing how to say what I was going to say. "I
miss Joshua and Vadik. I wish I could see them again."
He closed his eyes and bit his lip, tensing up. "Leave," he choked out.
It felt like he just dunked me in a vat of ice water. "What?"

Brennen reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a silver chain. He grabbed my
hand and placed it in my palm carefully.
I looked down. "My necklace," I whispered. "Where did you find it?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he stared at me with eyes of stone. "It'll take you
home. Put it on before you go into your room, and it will take you to where you are
thinking of. Don't lose it."
"Brennen--"
He held up his hand and looked away, breathing quickly. "Lizaveta, leave. Go home.
Please."
A tear fell down my cheek. I stepped close to him, wanting a hug. He moved back.
"I'll come back," I whispered. "I'll come back in a week."
He stared at me in disbelief. "As long as you have the necklace, you can go
anywhere you wish. But I do not expect to see you here. Ever."
"Brennen, I--" I what?
"Leave, Lizaveta. Now."
I backed away, not taking my eyes off him until I reached the door. Brennen's back
was turned and tensed, holding himself together.
A tear fell down my cheek. I don't want to go.
"No."
He turned around. "What?"
I bit my lip. "I won't leave. I'm staying here, with you."
In felt like less than a second before he was beside me. Slowly, he raised his hand
and wiped away the tear that fell down my face. I searched his eyes, wanting to
find something--anything that would say that he wanted me to stay.
"Lizaveta, please. Something is happening-- something bad," he whispered.

The hand withdrew from my cheek. "If you don't leave willingly, then I will force
you to. You have to go."
My eyes flew open. He trembled, his back turned to me.
"Why? Why do you want me to leave so much?"
"Because you have family!" he yelled. I jumped, startled by his outburst.
Again, he turned to face me. His fists clenched and unclenched. "You have family,
and you love them. My only family--my wife, my son--they died over two hundred
years ago. Raul is gone. I have nothing."
I didn't move, the meaning of his words slowly sinking in.
"But you do. You have a father and a brother who are waiting for you. So, I tell
you this." He grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly. "Go home for a week, no
more, no less. On the seventh day, if you still want to be here, then come. I won't
stop you."
He let go and walked away, turning his back once more. "But I doubt you'll come."
I caught my breath. Slowly, I pushed open the doors to the throne room and left,
holding onto the cross necklace in my fist. I slipped it onto my my neck, still
walking to my room.
It'll only be a week. I'll keep the necklace; no one will ever see it.
The dark of the castle seemed to press onto my chest as I reached my room. I stared
at the handles.
"I'll be back," I whispered, hoping Brennen would somehow hear.
The feeling in my chest didn't leave as I pushed open the doors to my room and
stepped through.
Take me home.
_______________________________________
So, they finally got to the Beauty and the Beast scene.
Oh my goodness that was so hard to write.
I've said before, I don't do romance, and I'm writing a romance-ish book. I had to
dig the romance-y stuff out of me for this one.
Well, those of you who know the stories know that this is probably the happiest
chapter y'all will get until the end.
BWAHAHA. I get to be dark now0ߘpߘ
See you then!
Noa.
Chapter 37--Home [Inside the Beast's Castle]
Home is where the heart is.

______________________________________
When I opened my eyes, I was standing in front of my house. I stared at the door,
heart beating wildly in my chest.
Do I knock?
What will I find?
The nighttime silence seemed deafening to me as I clenched my fist. Nerves taking

over, I hit the door three times.
Do they think me dead?
It had been what? Over a year? Over a year since I'd seen my family--my brother, my
father. Over a year since I was told to kill "the beast."
Over a year since I didn't kill him, too.
No one answered my knock. I guess they're sleeping.
I grabbed the door handle and turned it. The door opened with a low creak.
The house was dark.BUnoccupied. The dust was enough to give that away. With just
the slight opening of the door, dirt and dust was blown from any crevice it could
come from.
"Joshua?"
Why I was calling into nothingness, I had no idea.
Thew was a small thump behind me. "Come out of that house, Missy. Don't wanna hurt
you."
I smiled at hearing the crackled voice that broke the silence. Before I even turned
around, I knew who I'd see.
"Mr. Mellark!" I cried.
The baker's wrinkled face stared in disbelief at me. He held his cane in front of
him, brandishing it like a weapon. "Zara? You're back, you're alive?"
I almost didn't respond to the name "Zara." I was used to being called "Lizaveta"
by Brennen, the name came very close to going over my head.
I smiled wider and ran up to hug him. "Where's Joshua and Baupa?" I asked after
finally pushing away.
Mr. Mellark shook his head. "They haven't been here in months. They were here about
another..." he thought for a moment, "three weeks after you disappeared."
I bit my lip. "Do you know where they went?"
"The castle. Your brother said something about a 'deal with the king.' What's all
that about, anyway?"
I looked away. How on earth do I explain this? "The king wanted me to kill a
'monster' so he threatened my family and, hey, I didn't need to kill the thing
anyway, instead he became my friend." Yeah, that'll go well.
"It's--it's a really long story," I mumbled.
Thankfully, Mr. Mellark didn't say anything else on the matter. I stepped out of my
house with him following, then closed the door.
"Zara, where did you get..." he trailed off, pointing at my dress in amazement.
I looked down. I still wore the dark green one from the castle.
How out of place I must look here.
"It's a long story," I repeated, gently moving Mr. Mellark's hand away from the
dress.
He looked away. "Are you hungry? I've got food at home."
I really wasn't. I was still full from the dinner with Brennen
My heart squeezed in my chest. The look on his face when he told me to leave--it
hurt. It was just a blank slate, unreadable.
Until I got to his eyes.
The red eyes that originally made him terrifying were swimming with pain, wanting--
needing--something, but not saying what.
"Zara?"
I jumped, jolted out of my daze. The baker gazed at me worriedly, no doubt

wondering how crazy I'd become in my absence.
I forced a smile. "No, thank you. I'm not very hungry."
He nodded. "Back to see your family?"
"Yeah. Know a quick way to get to the castle?"
No sooner had I said that, did a knight in shining armor gallop up.
Literally.
The man hopped off the horse--or attempted to. His feet twisted underneath him as
he landed, making him fall to the ground in a tangled heap.
I bit back a laugh and went over to the knight. "Here," I choked. I held out my
hand for him. "You must be new to the job."
The knight grabbed my hand and pulled himself up. He was fairly light, even with
the layers of armor he wore.
A gust of wind blew, tousling his hair. A pair of hazel eyes were just visible
underneath his long bangs.
A pair of familiar hazel eyes.
"Camden?" I asked. The last time I saw him, he was dropping me off at Brennen's
castle.
His eyes widened and he gasped in astoundment. "Zara? You look...different. What
happened to you?"
"Different" was a massive understatement. When I saw Camden last, I was clad in a
too big, drab, brown dress, and halfway through the process of starving to death.
Mr. Mellark coughed from behind me. I almost forgot he was back there. "That's what
I've been asking, boy," he croaked, shaking his finger at a startled Camden. "You
may as well forget it."
I grinned sheepishly. "What are you doing here, Camden?"
He gestured at the few houses in the village. "Patrolling," he muttered. "I was
ordered to by the king."
He spat "king" with such spite, I was surprised that he didn't spit acid.
"Zara here needs a ride to the castle," Mr. Mellark announced. Camden nodded his
head vigorously before the old man could even finish.
"I'll take her. I'm going back anyways."
I couldn't stop the smile from escaping me. Camden was already clumsily jumping
back onto his horse, horse, barely swinging his leg over the steed's back.
I gave Mr. Mellark a quick hug. I started to pull away, then felt his hand reach
back to my head, keeping me from moving.
"Be careful at the castle, Zara," he warned quietly. His warm breath tickled my
ear. "It has changed."
With that, he let go and clapped my shoulder, a big grin on his face. I walked over
to Camden and his horse, and pulled myself up, ignoring Camden's please-don't-grab-
my-hand-I'll-fall-down attempt at helping me up.
He squeezed his legs together and clicked his tongue. "Hup, Zvel!"
The horse halfheartedly bolted off, leaving me to wonder about the baker's
whispered words.
What's changed so much that I would be warned about it?
For the longest time, Camden was silent. The ride to the castle seemed to move by
quickly, with us being to the gates before he spoke up again.
"So, how did you get away?"
Get away? He thinks I escaped?
"I wasn't held captive, Camden. He let me go."
The horse jolted to a stop, almost launching my head into the back of Camden's
skull.
He took a sharp breath in. "You didn't kill the beast?"
This bodes well...
Shocked at his sudden urgency, I shook my head.
Camden sighed and rubbed his temples. "Listen to me very carefully, Zara." His
hands grabbed my shoulders and squeezed. "Do not--I repeat--do not tell anyone that
the beast isn't dead. If you are asked, say you killed him. Do you understand?"
I didn't move, confused by his words. "Why can't I say anything?"
The trees rustled around us as of blown by a gust of wind. Camden's eyes flashed
with fear and he kicked the side of his horse with a low mumble of "We need to go."
Before I could question him further, he yelled: "Open the gates!"
Metal clanked, cutting through the night like a gunshot. Slowly, the gates parted
from each other, giving us room to ride through and into the Upper Kingdom.
Camden was silent the rest of the way, not even looking at me. Once we arrived at
the palace, he stopped his horse and gestured for me to get off.
I did, sliding easily from the back of the horse. As I started to walk away,
Camden's gloved hand brushed mine. I turned and stared up at him, trying to read
his face.
He let no expression show. There was just a minuscule shake of his head, then he
was off.
Heart racing, I walked up to the doors of the castle. Two husky guards were
standing there.
The one on the left held up his hand. "You may not enter."
The one on the right did the exact same thing, making the left guard glare at him.
The each wore a belt that held a dagger and a scabbard for a sword. Their armor was
thin and lightweight, not what was usually worn by the patrolling guards.
"I'm here because my brother and father are here," I replied. "I haven't seen them
in over a year."
The guard on the right shook his head. "Sorry, Miss. You may not enter. Only
someone who knows one on the inside may enter. Orders from the king."
I huffed in frustration. Oh!
"I know my father and brother on the inside."
They both shook their heads.
"Vadik, then! I know Vadik. We're friends, even!"
The guards' eyes grew wide at the mention of Vadik's name. "Sorry, Miss!" they both
cried. They tumbled over each other, tripping on feet and bouncing off the walls,
trying to get to the door quickly. "We didn't know you knew His Majesty!"
His Majesty? That's a new title.
I didn't object though. They opened the doors to the castle, allowing me entrance.
"To see His Majesty!" they bellowed.
I jumped, wincing at the yell that was screamed next to my ear. Another guard
marched down the hall and beckoned me to follow. We went down the polished floor
until we reached the throne room, where he led me inside.
"Name?" he mumbled.
"I'm guessing you mean full name, right?"
From the look he gave me, full name was the correct answer.
"Lizaveta Tribeka," I said at the top of my lungs.
The guard rolled his eyes and walked to the back of the room, not needed.
"Your Majesty," I began, bowing as low as I could without falling over. "I am the
girl you sent to--"
"Zara, I know who you are."
That is not the king.
I pulled my gaze away from the floor and up to the one who spoke. Instead of seeing
the expected gray-haired and round king waddling down the steps, I saw a tall,
dark-haired man with a golden crown placed on top of his head.
"Vadik?" I cried.
He smiled and came down the stairs, engulfing me in a hug.
I didn't move my arms, too shocked to return the gesture.
He let me go. "I missed you. A lot happened since I came back."
I swallowed, trying to remember how to speak. "Uh--yeah--how did this--" I pointed

to the crown, "--happen?"
Vadik's face fell. "Father died a few weeks ago."
That's it, Zara. Come back and immediately start getting into other people's
business.
I touched his shoulder gently. "I'm sorry, Vadik."

He shrugged me off. "Zara, as sad as I should be, I'm not. My father was a
monster."
He started at me. Something was off about him, something small, but something
dangerous. "Are you free?"
Free from... No and yes.
My answer was much simpler. "Yes."
He nodded. "Is he dead?"
Both Camden's and the baker's warnings pounded inside my head.
"Yes." I plastered a smile on my face, praying that he would believe my lie.
"The, erm, niceties were required, then?" Vadik gestured at my dress and necklace.
"Yes, Vadik. They were required. He had to believe me a friend, did he not?"
My heart was racing, pounding in my chest at what Vadik would or would not believe.
"May I see the knife?"
Crap!
I didn't think of the fact that I might be asked for the knife!
Vadik moved to the other side of the room and started feeling the wall for some
reason.
"I left the knife at the castle," I choked out. "I ran away after I killed him."
"Huh," Vadik called. He pushed a stone into the wall, leaving a small opening where
the stone was. From the empty space, he pulled out a hand held mirror.
"Wouldn't you have just liked to stay in the castle and take some of his jewels or
money? I'm sure he had millions of precious gems."
I smiled. "I couldn't find them. He never showed me where they were."
Vadik paced over to me and handed me the silver mirror. "Do you know what this is?"
I avoided his question. "Vadik, may I just see Father and Joshua?" His stalling was
beginning to bother me.
"Zara, answer my question."
I sighed. "It's a mirror."
"Wrong!" Vadik yanked the mirror from my hands and beamed. "It's a magic mirror."
"A what?"
I though magic didn't exist outside of Brennen's castle.
"A magic mirror," Vadik drawled. "It shows you whatever you want to see. For
instance, if I said 'Show me Joshua Tribeka,' "
The surface of the mirror shimmered, then an image slowly made its way to the top.
"It will," he finished. He held out the mirror me. "Take it."
I yanked the thing from his hands and stared down in wonder at the surface. It
really was Joshua that the mirror showed. His hair was tangled and damp, sticking
to the back of his neck. He wore a white shirt smudged with dirt and ripped in many
places. His face was thin and taut. He looked like he hadn't seen a good piece of
food in weeks. The place was barely lit and the walls shone with water.
"Vadik, why is Joshua in a jail cell?"
Vadik took the mirror from my hand and tilted his head, a small smile playing on
his lips.
"Horrible story, really. You see, I had to have help moving a desk from father's
room about six months ago, and my father, may he rest in pieces, was suddenly
stabbed by your brother."
His eyes turned cold, the little bit of warmth that was in them when he saw me
vanishing. "Now, the guards had no concrete proof that he killed him, but with just
him and I in the same room, it was no doubt the commoner and not the prince."
He dug into the side of his vest and pulled out a long dagger. "It's not like I'm
good with knives or anything."
In one movement, the dagger he held embedded itself in the wall behind me.
I swallowed, terrified beyond thought. "Why are you telling me this?" I squeaked.
My breaths came out quickly. I felt like a rabbit.
"Because, Zara," Vadik pouted, "Having one's brother and father locked up because
they killed the late king doesn't do much for reputation. Alas," he grabbed the
mirror, "lying to royalty is a crime."
Vadik stopped next to his throne and smirked. He placed the mirror against the wall
and, in an overdramatic voice, he called out "Mirror, mirror on the wall, show me
the beast in the castle tall."
"No!"
The mirror rippled and formed the image of Brennen. He shook, his hands shaking and
claws growing longer. He opened his mouth and, even though I couldn't hear his
voice, let out a screamed that ripped his throat.
"What do you know! The beast really is alive!"
I slid my foot back, trying to get away from Vadik.
"Nuh-uh-uh Zara." He snapped his fingers and a rough hand seized my wrist. I
turned, biting back a scream. A guard held my arm tightly, not letting go.
Vadik confidently strode up to me and smiled. "There is a story about that mirror."
He pointed to the mirror leaning against the wall. "It's that it has another piece
to it. One will show you the thing you want to see, the other will take you where
you want to go."
Vadik leaned close to me, breathing in my face. "How did you get here so quickly,
Zara, if you just 'killed' the beast?"
He reached up and yanked at the chain around my neck. He held the cross necklace in
his hands, taunting me with it.
"The beast that controls the vespers," Vadik mused. "He is too dangerous to let
live."
No.
Terror pierced my heart. It was hopeless. I couldn't free myself from the hands
that held me. "Please, Vadik, you can't! He's not evil like your father claimed,
not is he in control of the vespers. That power was with you father."
He stared at me head tilted to the side. In one swift motion, the knife was in his
hands. "I really wish you hadn't said that."
The guard that held me let go with a jolt. The knife as gone from Vadik's hands and
instead, it was sticking from th guard's head.
Vadik killed. Vadik did what he'd sworn never to do again.
It wasn't my friend.
I jolted out my hand. "Kaio!"
He waved his hand leisurely. "Pagoma."
I froze, unable to move.
He waltzed over to me, humming a song under his breath. "The book you gave me had
more than how to make magic, it also said how to use it. The beast taught you well,
Zara. Too bad he has to die."
Still humming, he went over to the wall and pulled out the dagger.
My heart almost flew from my mouth.
He laughed at my fear. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to kill you. Just hurt you."
Vadik twirled the dagger around so the blade was pointing up. He walked over to me
and stopped.
The book. He gave himself--
That was all I thought before his hand came down. Pain erupted in the back of my
skull. Then I felt nothing.
_______________________________________
Fun fact: Originally, Vadik had taken part in the death of Zara's mother. This
time, he will know about it and what happened, but did not kill her. He's more of a
good-guy-gone-bad than a bad-guy-who-got-worse.
Chapter 38--Welcome to the Real World [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"You take theblue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and
believe whatever you want to believe. You take thered pill, you stay in Wonderland,
and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes." --The Matrix
______________________________________
It is not pleasant to wake up with what feels like a hammer being driven through
the back of your skull.
Just clearing that up.
The back of my head pounded, feeling like a screw was being driven into the bone
with each pulse. My eyelids were caked down to the skin below them, and about as
heavy as a brick.
Something wet trickled against my arm, running from my elbow to wrist. I stretched
out my fingers and felt along the ground-- the rough, wet, and cold stone a foreign
touch to my hand.
Through the small sliver of a crack I managed to make with my right eyelid, a
bright yellow light shone, illuminating everything to a color so bright I felt as
if I had to close my eyes to avoid blindness.
Slowly, the light dimmed to a non-blinding brightness. I forced my eyes open,

feeling like it took all my strength to do that one, simple move.
The ceiling was high above me, stone pieced together, sparkling with wet.
I turned my eyes to the side to see the wall. It was the same as the ceiling--
brown, mold covered bricks. A dank stench filled my nostrils.
Where am I?
A clattering of objects sounded behind me.
"Take the food. Here's an extra for her," a gruff voice ordered. A one-man march
followed the man from the dungeon.
The dungeon. That's where I am.
A sudden thought hit me. There were two others in my same cell. Who were they?
Why'd Vadik put my in a cell with two other people? What were they going to do--
Squeak.
I cursed and bolted across to the other side of the cell. The back of my head
erupted into white-hot pain, flaring through my skull. I squeezed my eyes shut,
trying to stop the headache threatened to attack me.
It didn't work.
"The zombie lives!" shouted (at least I thought shouted--it was probably normal-
speak) a low voice.
I turned my head in the direction of the sound. Emerald green eyes sparkled as they
met mine, twinkling in happiness--even though we were in a jail.
"Joshua," I muttered.
He opened his arms, unable to hold back his smile anymore. I threw myself onto him.
His body was small and thin underneath the white shirt that hid him. His hair was
tangled and long, he was dirty, he smelled bad--I didn't care.
Number one, because that was normal, and number two, he was my brother.
His hand rubbed the top of my head, careful to avoid the base of my skull. "I
missed you," he whispered.
I pulled back. A small beard and mustache was on his face. "Every day."
He bent down, beckoning me to sit with him. I glanced across the cell to the
corner. A thin man was lying down against the wall, eyes closed. His chest rose and
fell slightly, and when he breathed out, the piece of gray hair that fell across
his face moved with him.
"How'd you get out?" Joshua asked.
I turned my attention back to him. "Not the right question. How did you get here?"
Joshua's face darkened. He reached down and absentmindedly scratched at his leg,
where it joined with his wooden one. He scowled. "Vadik happened."
I touched his hand lightly. "What'd he do?"
"He framed me for murdering the king," Joshua spat. "I was supposed to 'help him
move' something, and he went in first. By the time I went in, the king was dead."
"And Vadik blamed it on you..." I finished for him.
Joshua nodded. "They brought me and Father down here. This is where we've lived for
six months. Home sweet home."
I grinned a little at his sarcasm, then became solemn again. "Baupa's down here?"
Joshua raised his eyebrows and pointed across the cell to the man in the corner.
"You haven't noticed him?"
That's Baupa?
My heart felt like it had been stabbed slowly with a needle. The man in the corner
didn't look a bit like my father. His sickly body wasn't anything like how I
remembered him, even when we were at the village.
Joshua's eyes fell. "Then again, I wouldn't recognize him either..."
I swallowed and turned my head to Baupa. "Is he--how has he been?"
"Once you left, the--"Joshua lowered his voice to barely a whisper "--'A' word was
kept away from him at all times. He hasn't touched it since."
A small flicker of hope fluttered in my chest. "That's good."
Joshua and I fell silent, listening to the drip, drip, drip of the water falling
down the walls.
"Now you answer my question, Zara." Joshua seized my wrist. "How did you get away
from the castle?"
"You know about that?"
Joshua nodded. "Yep. You were sent there on the terms of a deal." He grinned in
excitement. "Did you kill it? The thing they sent you there to kill?"
The pain scrawled across Brennen's scarred face as he told me to go surfaced to the
tip of my mind. I might as well have.
"No, Josh. I didn't kill him."
"How'd you get away then?"

I lowered my eyes, unable to stare at Joshua. "I didn't get away. He let me go."
"It what?"
"He let me go." I looked up at Joshua. Disbelief was painted on his face. I sighed.
"Joshua, he's not horrible. He's kind. Caring."
I lowered my voice. "Hurting."
"Zara, he kept you prisoner. He's a monster."
Why does this keep becoming a topic?
"No, Joshua." I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead, trying to calm my headache.
"He is no monster. Besides, the king sent me there on a lie."
Joshua shook his head viciously. "Zara--"
A cough from the corner saved me from an escalating argument. "Z-zara?"
My throat constricted. I was somewhere between excitement and disgust. My father's

voice rang hoarsely throughout the dungeon. It was weak and scratchy, but, unlike
the last time I heard him speak, it was clear. He knew what he was saying.
Joshua got up and held out his hand. His eyebrows were raised at me in a "this
isn't over" glare.
I grasped his fingers and pulled myself up. My heart pounded as my brain formed one
single word.
"Baupa."
He stared dully back at me, his mouth slightly open. "I thought--I thought you'd
have left. Not come back."
He remembers that? He actually understood me then, too?
I shook my head, warily watching him struggle to get up. "No. I came back."
Baupa grasped the wall behind him, holding on to it weakly. His legs shook with the
strain of standing. His eyes searched me, then fell on the green dress.
Please don't ask.
Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, his bottom lip trembled. "Lizaveta, I'm so--"
Joshua interrupted him harshly. "Zara, not Lizaveta."
Baupa's face fell. I clenched my teeth. "Lizaveta's fine."
Joshua stared up at me in confusion. "But, I thought--"
"Does it honestly matter what I'm called right now? Here, to solve this problem,
call me George."
Everyone's face lit up into a smile at that. Baupa coughed again, the force of it
racking his whole body. He shook Joshua off and took a tentative step towards me.
"Lizaveta, I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Part of me wanted to take his apology and tell him "It's okay." The other part
wanted to say "I can't forgive you. It was over ten years that you made Joshua and
I grow up too fast."
So, instead of saying either, I shut my mouth and stayed silent. I managed to stare
up into his eyes, which welled with tears.
Our silent "family moment" was cut short by a clanking of gates.
"Well, well, well, isn't this touching."
Rage immediately erupted inside my chest. I twirled around to face the man who
spoke. "What, Vadik?"
He tsked. "Now, is that any way to address your king?"
Joshua piped up from behind me. "You are no king of ours."
Baupa coughed again.
A slow smile formed on Vadik's face. He started to whistle.
The memory hit me like a ton of bricks. He was singing that before he hit me.
"Where did you hear that song?"
Vadik titled his head innocently. "What song?"
"The one you're whistling." Dummy.
"You're going to have to sing it for me."
My breath caught in my chest. I'm not singing that.
I got an idea. Having never thought the spell before, I knew it was going to be
difficult.
Alithea.
Vadik's eyes just barely clouded over.
I resisted the urge to do a massive fist pump. Yes!
Heart pounding, I asked the question. "Now, tell me, where did you hear that song?"
"I made it up," he answered flatly.
"Zara?" Joshua touched my arm gently. "What did you do? What's the song?"
I swallowed. Not looking at my brother, I answered his question. "I heard it the
night Mother died. The men who killed her sang it."
It went silent in the cell. The only noise was the plipping of water to the floor.
I glared at Vadik. "Do you know the men who killed my mother?"
His eyes were slowly losing some of their cloudiness. I only have a few seconds
left. "Yes."
"Did you kill her?" I blurted.
He smiled a toothy grin. "Your little 'magic spell' isn't working on me anymore,
darling."
"Then I'll do it again."

I raised my hand dramatically, knowing that there was no way I could cast the spell
again. It took up too much of my energy.
Vadik held up his hands in mock surrender. "If you'd really like to know, then no,
I didn't help. I was only aware of Regol's plan."
His eyes flashed red. "I should have helped though. I would've gotten the job
done."
Anger welled up in my chest.
I kept my rage to myself.
Joshua fell on the cell bars and clawed and Vadik's face, trying to harm him. He
screamed at him, yelling curses and unintelligible words.
Vadik simply held up his hand. Joshua was immediately thrown against the back wall.
A loud crack echoed across the dungeon from where his head met the stone. He fell
to the floor like a rag doll, unmoving.
"Joshua!" I screeched. I bent down next to his body. His chest rose and fell
faintly.
Still alive.
Vadik laughed. It was all I could do to not try and kill him right then and there.
The only thing stopping me was the fact that he would be expecting that.
"Why'd she die?"
Vadik shrugged. "She knew too much. My father needed her gone."
Rage built up inside my chest, boiling over my limit.
"Kaio!" I screamed. Flames shot from my fingertips, headed straight for Vadik.
He sidestepped out of the way, letting them hit the wall behind him. "Feeble
attempt, Zara, really. I would expect more from you."
Vadik grabbed the cell bars and smiled. "Now, I can down here for a specific
reason. Care to guess what that is?"
My nose turned up in disgust. "No, Vadik. Nor do I really give a--"
He cut me off before I could finish the rest of my sentence. "I need to know," he
whispered, "--if the Beast is able to be killed like normal people."
He really thinks I'm going to answer this?
His mask of a smile slipped away. "You know, I could make you answer with whatever
spell you used on me."
I stayed silent, finding Baupa's hand and squeezing it. I didn't care if I was
going to dislike him or not, but at that moment, I needed something to hold on to.
"Can it be killed like normal, Zara?"
The memory of me stabbing him in the heart and Brennen calmly pulling it out was
the first thing I thought of.
"You've already done this, remember? You tried. He beat you up."
Vadik pursed his lips and nodded. "Ah. Yes. That makes things more difficult. Now I
have to find what'll kill him."
Something behind his eyes clicked. "Would they... yes! They would!"
He clapped his hand together. "Well, then, all I was doing was coming down to tell
you that your beloved monster would be dead soon. Hope you can somehow get whatever
last words you wish to say to him delivered quickly."
Vadik waved his hand, walking up the stairs. "Bye now!"
"You're a monster!" I screamed, unable to hold it back anymore.
He froze on the top step. "I'm a what?" he chuckled. He stepped back down the
stairs slowly.
"Brennen isn't the monster. You are."
"Oh, so the beast has a name now? How lovely. And," he paused and smiled the smile
that would leave girls falling at his feet. "Do I look like a beast to you?"
I started to hold my hand in a fist. Ice began creeping through the cell bars. "I
don't know what happened to you, Vadik. What changed you. Why you changed. I just
know you need to be stopped."
"Does your magic book have a remedy for that?"
He grabbed my hand, right over the ice. Frigid cold pulled through my skin.
"You Vadik," he hissed. "Your Vadik is gone, buried beneath a pile of schemes and
emotion. It it's only me now."
He let go. My hands burned from the cold, but I made no sound.
"If you use magic again, I'll kill your family in a heartbeat."
He held up the cross necklace, examining it. "So what do you do? Just imagine the
place you want to go?"
I didn't answer.
He nodded. "Imagining it is. Thank you for all your help, Lizaveta."
With one last little wave, then walked up the stairs and out the room, closing the
door behind him.
All the rage and fear that I kept bundled up inside me burst as soon as the door
shut. I sobbed into my knees, unable to stop. A hand gently touch my back and arms
pulled me close to another. I let them, not caring who it was.
I have no idea how long I was crying. Just that I was.

_______________________________________
What do you think the thing is that'll make the Beast killable?
Second question (Eee! I actually have questions this time!) What do you think of
her family this go round?
Thank you all for reading!
And that quote up top? I just put it there because of the chapter name.
Oh my goodness, The Matrix was so awesome.
Noa.
Chapter 39--Escape [Inside the Beast's Castle]

A low moan came from where Joshua
last was. I pushed away from the arms that held me and found myself staring up at
my father.
He didn't meet my eyes, in fact, he let me go.
Thank you, Baupa, I thought.
"Josh? You alright?"
Joshua pushed himself from the ground. "Perfectly fine, Zara. I get slammed into
walls by invisible forces on a regular basis."
He's fine.
"I need to get out of here." I grabbed the jail bars frantically. "I have to warn
him."
Joshua grabbed my wrist. "No, Zara. You don't owe anybody anything."
I opened my mouth to respond, but was cut off by the quiet grinding of the door.
Baupa, Joshua, and I all focused our attention toward the sound.
A boot, then a leg, then a full body appeared. I scowled, waiting to cuss out
Vadik.
But it wasn't him.
"Hurry," Camden whispered. He ran over to our cell and fumbled for something
attached to his belt. The keys jingled as he unlocked the jail bars. "You need to
go."
At first, relief washed over me at being free. Then, doubt.
"Why are you doing this, Camden? How do we know that you won't just kill us?"
He gaped at me. "Do you honestly think I'd free you, just to kill you?"
"Yes!"
"Pridurok," he muttered. He threw his arms into the air. "Fine! Just stay here
then. When everybody goes insane because Vadik brought vespers with him, don't say
I didn't try!"
"Vespers? Vadik has vespers?"
Camden stopped his ranting and nodded his head. "He figured out how to use them,
somehow."
Joshua piped up curiously. "What do you mean, 'Use them?' They're people!"
I turned around, staring at Joshua and Baupa in fear. "No. They aren't. They're
animals--animals that show your worst fear."
Or greatest desire.
Joshua shook his head. "But--"
I grabbed his wrist, not letting him finish. "No time! If Vadik is using vespers,
then we need to stop him."
Neither brother nor father moved.
"Now," I added for emphasis.
That woke them up.
I nodded to Camden, telling him to move on. Joshua, Baupa, and I stood at the edge
of the cell, waiting to for Camden to give the okay. He cracked open the dungeon
door, peeking out to see who was where.
The thundering of boots reached my ears almost immediately. There were frantic
shouts of "you go here" and "hurry up" ringing through the halls.
Vadik is bringing an army...
Why on earth would Vadik be bringing an army? Is Brennen really that powerful? Has
he that much control over this land?
Through the dim light, I saw Camden wave his hands. I bolted up to the stairs and
stood behind him. Joshua and Baupa were a bit slower.
"When I say so," Camden whispered, "go left. You can get to the stables that way."
"Wouldn't Vadik be at the stables?" I whispered.
Camden shook his head. "He's already gotten the horses he needs for his soldiers.
Besides, he'll be at the castle without a horse if that necklace does what he
claims."
Camden took a deep, shuddering breath. "Now go!"
He moved to the side, letting us pass him. I checked behind me as we ran, seeing
where he was.
And, sure enough, he was following, guarding us from behind.
We rounded the corner, and I suddenly found myself getting a really good look at
Joshua's back.
I looked around him. "What is it... oh."
About ten soldiers were blocking the door to the stables. And they saw us.
I smiled a little and held up my hand to wave. "Hi?"
They started to charge.
Joshua and Baupa turned around and ran backward. I stood still.
There is no way I'm not getting to the stables.
I thrust my arms out in front of me and yelled at the top of my lungs, "Pagoma!"
And, whaddya know, it worked.
The guards froze in their tracks, unable to move. All their mouths were open, half
in shock and half in a frozen "Charge!" scream.
"Josh! Baupa! Camden! We're good, come on!"
I turned around to see if they were following me. All of them stood stock-still in
awe at my handiwork.
Joshua was the first to move. As he ran by me, he called, "You have got to teach me
that."
I grinned and followed his lead.
As soon as the stable doors opened, the smell hit me. It wasn't just the normal
horse-poo smell you get with stables, it was stronger, darker.
It smelled of death.
I covered my nose, grimacing at the stench. "What is that?"
Joshua answered my question first. "Zara," he called.
Terror hit me. His voice wasn't the joyful "I found it" sound, it was the "Oh no"
sound that no one wants to hear.
I walked over to him, the straw crunching below my feet louder than any straw I'd
ever heard.
I froze when I saw it. A large beast, bigger than a horse, lay on the ground. Its
thin hair was torn off in patches over its dark skin, leaving red rashes across its
body. The snout on the thing was flat, like a pig, but it was a deep violet. The
ears looked like they used to be large and pointy, but were cut off in the middle.
But the cut ears didn't kill it. No breath came from the creature on the ground, no
air entered and left its lungs.
And that was because its lungs had been cut out of the thin chest and were laying
across the stall, resting on a pile of white sticks.
White bones.
I gasped and stepped back, the straw crunching under my feet again.
Straw doesn't crunch this loudly.
It wasn't straw. It was the same that thing the lungs were on. It was bones.
"It's a vesper. That thing's a vesper," I gasped.

Joshua's face paled. "They killed it?"
Camden pointed to the ground. "More like it killed them."
Why would there be a dead vesper here?
I gasped and stumbled back. "Oh no..."
Vespers kept Brennen trapped in the castle. They were in the forest to stop him
from getting out. Which meant that they had some type of power over him.
A dark splotch appeared below his kneecap.
"You are hurt!"
He looked down at his leg and mumbled something unintelligible. The black cape
under his fur one got pulled in front of it.
"I'm fine."
I bit my lip.
"Zara?"
I ignored whoever said my name. He wasn't hurt when I stabbed him, yet he was hurt
when the vespers attacked him.
His hand.
It was like a million puzzle pieces fit together, forming the complete picture.
When he hurt his hand, he had just saved me from drowning. He saved me from a
vesper, which means that he was more that likely bit by it. He had venom in his
system.
"They can kill him..." I mumbled.
A sliced open animal on the ground would never look so daunting.
Camden looked at me like I sprouted an antenna.
If I wasn't already terrified, I definitely was then. "He--Brennen--your beast--

can't be killed by normal swords." I stared back at the dead animal. "But I think I
figured what what hurts him."
I ran one of the stray horses left and grabbed its name. "I have to stop Vadik."
A hand seized my shoulder roughly and threw me away from the horse. I lost my
balance and tumbled into the buckets of food left for the animal. Pain shot through
my wrist, causing me to cry out. Through my watering eyes, I looked up to see who
had thrown me.
Joshua, stood against the horse, his body shaking. "No, Zara. You will not go."
I swallowed and rose to my feet. My wrist wasn't broken, but man, did it hurt.
Holding my arm close to my chest, I took a step toward the mare.
"Joshua," I said shakily, "move. I don't want to make you."
"No."
"Yes." I lifted my uninjured arm towards my brother. "Move."
"Lizaveta."
I turned, unknown tears falling down my face. Baupa stood next to me, getting ready
to spring.
I choked on my tears. "Don't pair with him, Baupa. I have to go back. I'm not under
any type of spell or hypno--"
He hugged me.
Baupa hugged me.
"What is the be--the man in the castle to you?" he whispered. His warm breath
tickled my ear.
I sniffled. "I--I don't know."
Baupa shook his head and held me out at arm's length. "No, Lizaveta." Gently, he
pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear. "There is always an answer to this."
I stared into my father's eyes, the eyes that for so long weren't able to recognize
me. The eyes that were always clouded over with alcohol.
The eyes that, then, were filled with a wisdom that I had only seen once.
"He's my friend," I whispered. "I can't let one friend kill the other."
He nodded as if my answer was what he expected all along. "Joshua, move."
Joshua opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. "What?"
"Move," my father repeated firmly.
Baupa stepped up and grabbed Joshua's shoulder, pushing him gently to the side. He
took my hand and placed it on the neck of the horse.
"Go."
Without a second thought, I pulled myself up onto the horse. It nickered at the
weight of an unfamiliar person, but quickly calmed down.
I looked at Baupa. "But what about you? What'll you do?"
He coughed again, this time louder than before. "We'll be fine. Now go."
I ran my hand over the neck of the horse, feeling its prickly hairs under my palm.
My eyes found their way other to the dead vesper again.
"If you see what you would believe is your worst fear, it's not really there. It's
an animal. Just remember that."
Camden went over to the stable door and opened it. Bright light poured into the
room, illuminating everything that had been dark.
With my final warning to my family being said, I kicked the side of the horse and
took off through the door way.
Wind rushed through my hair at the speed the horse was moving. I bent down, close
to its neck. When I went out the stable, I went out the side entrance and not the
front, so I wouldn't be horribly noticeable to the guards.
That is, until I glanced to the side.
My heart sank. That's a LOT of guards.

There were no more than thirty of guards, but they were huddled close together, in
a pack. Their auburn color armor shone brightly in the sunlight, catching every ray
that hit them. Even from the distance I was, I could see the sword in each scabbard
they had.
I squeezed my legs tighter around the horse. "Come on. We need to go."
We reached the woods much faster than I remembered reaching them before. The trees
formed a canopy over my head, blocking out all but the bravest little rays of
sunlight. The farther into the forest I rode, the darker it got. Small, thorny
bushes barged their way onto the thin path. Branches fell lower to the ground,
covering the view into the rest of the woods.
A howl of a wold penetrated the uneasy silence that had been broken only by the
clopping of the horse.
The animal nickered and reared back onto its hind legs in terror. I grabbed at its
neck, unsuccessfully trying to find something to hold on to.
And promptly found myself on my back gasping for breath as the horse ran out of the
woods as quickly as possible.
Smart horse.
I sat up on my elbow and took a slow, shaky breath in. My ribs twinged, just
barely.
Well, that's bruise number something-or-other-I-stopped-counting.
My legs shook once I stood up. While on the horse, the forest looked pretty big.
While off the horse, the forest looked huge.
An owl flapped over to the branch beside the one it was on, rustling the tree
limbs. Another howl cut through the trees, sending shivers up my spine that seemed
to start from my toes.
Onward to the castle.
I hiked up the blasted skirt to the green dress I wasn't smart enough to change out
of and started to run through the woods. I passed by tree after tree, dead tree
after dead tree, owl on a branch after owl on branch.
Soon, sweat poured down my face. I had long since dropped the skirt of the dress
because my arms ached so badly. The point of not wanting to trip already passed by
me in a blaze of glory.
I'm not getting anywhere. Why?
"Whooo, whooo."
Dread filled my stomach. An owl.
Except it was the same owl I passed many times before.
Oh no.
I had been going in circles.
My heart pounded in my chest. "No," I whispered.
As if I would prove myself wrong, I took off running through the forest, along the
straight path in front of me. Branches cut my cheeks, vines twisted beneath my
feet.
And I wound up back at the owl.
"Come ON!" I screamed. "I need to get to the castle!"
"Once you leave, you can't come back. The only way is with the necklace."
I touched my chest, knowing that there would be no necklace. The forest suddenly
seemed to go on forever--never ending, the blackness engulfing anything once it
tried to move.
Panic flowed over me like water. Would going off the path work?
Deep down, I knew that it wouldn't work. I still had to try, though. I ran off the
cleared path and onto the dirt. A chorus of howls sounded through the trees once my
foot hit the cool ground. I ignored them. Some deep part of me was ready to burn
anything that tried to stop me.
The bushes and brambles, the trees and thorns all seemed to close up the farther I
went. The sharp points stabbed my arms and tore through my flesh. The ground became
rocky, so the stones dug into my feet. Vines grabbed the long skirt and pulled
back. Everything closed up, boxing me into one small space that I could barely move
in. Every time I tried to move, the thorns snagged on me, or yanked the dress.
I was stuck.
Unable to turn around, because the plants held me in place so tightly. Unable to
fall to my knees for risk of having an eye poked out. Unable to cast a spell.
Still--like a puppet on strings, waiting for the lines to move so I could.
"LET ME GO!" I screamed. "Let me go, let me go!"
Every movement pinched or stung. With each breath, the thorns dug deeper into my
ribcage. Every spoken word was like a pinprick to my chest.
"Let me go," I mumbled, finally exhausted from my struggle. Small lines of blood
trickled down my arms and chest, making little red rivers all over my body.
The rain that fell down my face wasn't from the sky.
"Please," I cried. "Please, I have to go. Brennen won't know what Vadik is doing.
He'll think he's safe."
My sobs shook the branches like an earthquake.
I lifted my face to the sky, yelling at the unseen. "HE WON'T KNOW, DO YOU HEAR ME?
He won't know..."
"Please," I whispered. "Please."
Through a shaking breath, a spoke again.
"They will both die if I can't stop it. Brennen will be dead and Vadik will be gone
because of me. He will be lost to the magic I gave him--they both will be."
The vines that held me slowly snaked backward. The thorns that pierced my arms
retracted, leaving no sign that there was any damage.
Like a gate being opened majestically, the wall of plants before me opened up. All
the trees and bushes moved away from me, making a path of white stones.
And at the end of the white stones was the castle.
I gathered the remains of the dark green dress in my hands.
"Thank you," I whispered.

Then, I started to run.
_______________________________________
I can't figure out what to say in this author's note...

Erg.
So, what do you think is going to happen?
Thanks for reading!
Noa.
Chapter 40--Masks [Inside the Beast's Castle]
<img
src="https://img.wattpad.com/8816784575809e7bc0f087ca34ded156fa6ee2f4/68747470733a2
746f7279496d6167652f757a4f76414158644457527a6a673d3d2d3330373931353735362e313439636
Never were the halls so still and silent that I could hear the smallest beetle
scurrying behind the walls.
Never had the word "lonely" meant anything until I could talk to no one.
Never was I so free to feel, but so unwilling to.
I couldn't help but wonder what she thought of the way I told her to go. I wasn't
gentle or kind about it. I was demanding. Ordering.
But I wouldn't change it.
If somewhere in me, I had found a way to reverse time at just speaking a word, I
wouldn't have. She'd still be gone.
She was like a bird, needing to fly in the open sky, not be locked up in a cage.
LOCKED UP IN A CAGE WITH A MONSTER.
I shook my head, trying to get the Beast to go away.
No, I replied. Not a monster. You weren't out for most of the time.
That shut it up.
With her being gone, it meant I was finally free to feel. There was no danger of me
hurting anyone because of my actions.
But freedom to feel is both a blessing and a curse.
Everything that I forced myself to hold back teetered on the edge of unleashing in
a humongous tidal wave.
A tidal wave that, if it let loose all at once, would allow the Beast to take
control permanently.
YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO, LITTLE PRINCE.
No, actually, I'm sure that I don't. I just want--
I paused. What did I want? I wanted to be free of the creature that wore my skin. I
wanted out of the castle, away from the forest and away from buildings. I wanted
freedom.
But I didn't want it alone.
My fingers brushed against the uneven surface of metal. I held the silver mask in
my lap, fingering it gently, tracing over the designs on its surface.
The old, worn thing gleamed faintly in the small bit of sunlight peeking through a
space in the curtain. The mask was tarnished from the two hundred-plus years I had
it.
For years, I didn't want to get rid of it. I didn't want it to leave my sight. It
wasn't all because of the fear that I would be seen without it.
It was because of who gave it to me.
With just one quick glance across the room, the wooden box holding Rosalie's last
gift to me danced across my vision. But, while a chain with a decoration was from
her, a silver mask was from my son.
I could still watch them die. The silver sword would always run through Rosalie's
chest, then draw back, coated with metallic red. Then that would always move to
Henry Scott.
And always lop off his head in a shower of crimson paint.
The duke's son would always laugh.
I closed by eyes. Watching everything unfold was never what I wanted to do, but it
could bring me back to reality when I needed to be.
After Rosalie's body hit the ground, I lost it. Something deep inside me snapped,
like a switch had been flipped. The part that I could never remember was always the
part I wished I could reverse the most.
And that part left me standing alone in the courtyard, everyone else dead by my
hand.
WHY DO YOU STRETCH YOUR LIMITS, PRINCE?
I stared at the mask harder and lifted it up. Because, Beast, remembering is all I
can do. I can never forget, or reverse it, and that's good. I need to let it go.
YOU WISH TO FORGET YOUR FAMILY?
For the first time, I confused the Beast. I rose from the chair and held the mask
up to my face.
"Ra--"
A wave of sadness hit me, sending sharp pain racing up my spine. For one second,
Raul was not dead in my mind. I swallowed the rest of my sentence and fumbled with
the strings on the mask, trying to fasten it correctly.
No. I don't want to forget the people I've lost. They've made me who I am. I just
can't dwell in the past any longer.
SO YOU DON'T CARE ANYMORE.
I chuckled and let go of the strings, my mask finally tied on. Rosalie, Henry
Scott, Lilia, Raul. Even Lizaveta, because I don't believe she'll come back. I've
lost all of them, all in various ways. And yes, it hurts. It's pain. It's pain that
I can't wholly feel because of you. But I need to let them go.
Beast was silent. Never before had I thought the way I was thinking. It must have
surprised him.
The strongest emotion, Beast. I think I felt it the day in the snow. I don't want
to lose that feeling.
A loud pop echoed throughout the castle. I felt like a dog, attention immediately
captured at whatever made the noise.
Castle settling?
MORON. WHEN HAS THE CASTLE "SETTLED" BEFORE?
Time to go check it out.
No one lived in the castle except for me. Noises like screams and pops shouldn't
have been made.
I touched the cool metal of my mask, making sure it was securely fastened. If
somehow, the thing making the noise was Lizaveta, the mask could come off. If not,
then mask would stay on.
The claws on my right hand grew out, just a little bit. I kept my breathing at a
slow pace. Carefully, I opened the door to my room, not letting it groan under use.
Silent.
Blackness engulfed everything, keeping it held in its embrace. Not one curtain
fluttered with the wind, not one noise was to be heard.
Wishful thinking.
I turned and briskly walked to the steps. I paused at the top and ran my hand over
the smooth railing. If I focused enough, I could still see her flushed face and
hear her stumbling of words as she tried to come up with a good excuse as to why
she was on the ground. My lips twitched up into a smile.
That girl and her lies. She really needs to work on them.
I ran my hand along the railing, slowly moving down the stairs.
Thwap.
Lightning shot through my body, starting at the space in between my shoulder

blades. My foot banged against the next step, stopping me from falling. I clawed at
my back, trying to find what hit me. My fingers brushed against a hard surface.
Knife.
That was all that clicked. That and the thought of who the heck threw it.
I clenched the railing so tightly my knuckles turned white. Out of the corner of my
eye, I saw the silhouette of the man who threw the blade. He reached down to the
belt fastened around his waist and pulled out another knife.
Off the stairs. Now.
I unclenched my hand from the railing, coming away with the splinters of the rail.
The fastest way down? Jumping. I swung my legs over the remnants of the handrail
and leaped from the stairs.
I bit back a cry of pain once my knees hit the ground from the fall that would've
killed a normal human being.
Perks of being not normal and not human.
I reached back, trying to find the knife in my back. My fingers brushed up against
the hilt. Gritting my teeth, I wrapped my hand around the blade and tugged at it
the best I could, loosening it from my skin.
It fell to the ground, not even coated with blood. The place it was in my back had
already healed. I scooped it up quickly and ran behind the wall ahead of me.
Why is someone here?
I kept my breathing steady, aware of every noise I made.
"Aw, come on Beast. I know you're still here. You're not dead yet," a deep voice--a
dark voice--called out. His words were laced in amusement.
I didn't answer. He was close; his uneven breaths were loud.
"You know, she never said you'd be silent. What, don't know how to talk?"
She.
I clenched my teeth. She. He said "she." Lizaveta.
What did he do?

COME ON, PRINCE. GET MAD. LET ME OUT.
No.
The man's arm swung around the corner. In one quick motion, I grabbed it and yanked
him to the ground. He hit the floor hard, the air leaving his mouth in a rush.
I couldn't hold back my complete rage at the dark-haired boy huddled on the floor
below me. I bent down, feeling my claws puncture his arm.
"What are you doing here?" I growled. The deep rumble that left my mouth was all
Beast.
The man laughed.
Laughed.
He was lying on the floor with a creature bigger than him threatening him, and he
had the nerve to laugh.
"Oh, so the frightful Beast can talk!" he cried in delight.
I growled and squeezed his arms harder. "Among other things. Who are you?"
He didn't answer.
"WHO ARE YOU?"
He grinned. "Don't look up."
My eyes widened and I darted to the side, in just enough time that the knife
dangling above my head fell in between the man's legs.
He sighed and grabbed the knife. "Come on! I didn't say move. I just wanted you do
die quickly."
He thinks that'll kill me?
"What's the difference between that knife and the last one?" I taunted. "They don't
seem to be working well for you."
He smirked. "In honor of tradition, I'll tell you my name, then you tell me yours."
I hung back near the wall, waiting for him to move. "What tradition is this?"
"Well, the one dying must always know their killer, correct?"
I smiled, knowing that he couldn't see. "And I'm the one supposed to be dying,
huh?"
The nameless man clapped. "Points to the monster!"
He twirled the knife in his hands. "My name is Vadik. Yours?"
Vadik. I'd seen him one before, once when he was in the castle, once when we
fought. Lizaveta--he was her friend.
So why was he trying to kill me again?
"I have none. I am just the Beast."
Vadik tilted his head and awwed. "That's not what she said, Brennen."
Hearing my name come from the person in front of me sent a punch to my gut. I
growled again, this time louder than ever. "What did you do to her?"
He reached inside his armor plate and pulled out a silver chain, barely noticeable
in the dark room. And the end dangled a little silver cross. Vadik threw it over to
me. "She's dead."
No. He's lying.
But the necklace was real. It wasn't fake. She had also said that it'd never come
off.
"You lie!" I roared.
Vadik guffawed. "You think I'd lie about something like that?"
No. Nonononono. Slowly, I sank down to the floor, cradling the necklace in my hands
like it was the last lifeline to the earth I had.
In a way, it was.
I gripped the chain harder. She can't be dead.
The presence of flames at my feet made me snap out of it. I jumped up and ran to
the other side of the room.
Where did he learn to do that!
"If it's any consolation, Brennen the Beast, she cried for you before I slit her
throat."
Slit her throat.
The familiar pain of changing didn't shoot up my back. That's because I let all my
emotions out at once, though. The Beast was more than likely overwhelmed by the
sheer amount I had stored up for him.
In one quick movement, I leaped on top of Vadik, my claws tearing into his
shoulder. He jerked his over arm upward.
And stabbed me in the side.
I staggered back and pulled the blade out. It felt as if my insides suddenly caught
on fire.
"Anything different about this one, Beast?" Vadik cried. He moved his injured
shoulder up and down, circling it.
There was something different. Blood dripped from my side, staining my dark shirt
red. Every breath felt like the knife was traveling deeper into my side, but it was
out.
My wound wasn't healing.
I pressed my hand to it, trying to slow the flow of blood. "Vespers. I'm guessing
you've figured it out then?"
My words were strained.
He nodded proudly. "All by myself."
"Makes this fairer, then."

Vadiksmirked, then thrust his hand out. Blue flames came racing out of his
fingertips, straight toward me. I dodged the fire, rolling to the right.
Vadik ran up to me and sliced again with a knife. I swept his legs out from under
him, making his back hit the floor. I swiped at his neck, he rolled.
We repeated the dance of death over and over, neither of us going to give up first.
But my movements were slowing.
The first stab Vadik got in was obviously where he wanted it. I was tiring, and
quickly. Warm, sticky blood ran into down my stomach and onto the floor, leaving
trails of ruby wherever I went.
Vadik excelled at hand to hand combat. He knew magic.
Neither of which I was doing well at that moment. Magic would drain too much of my
energy. It would leave me waiting for him to finish me off. And I was moving too
slowly to successfully fight him with just my claws.
I swiped again at him, finally hitting my mark. He screamed and fell back,
clutching at his left eye.
Beast, are you going to come out anytime soon?
Of course, no answer.
I heaved, trying to catch my breath. Vadik curled into a ball on the floor,
clutching at his face.
He was finished.
I grabbed the neck of his shirt and hoisted him off the ground. "You have caused
too much trouble to be left alive."
His mouth opened to a smile. Blood stained the inside of his mouth. His hand left
where his eye was, showing that it was gone. "Kinisi."
My eyes widened. There was no time to move.
No time to do anything before a sword plunged into my back.

I looked down. The blade tore through my chest--through muscle and bone and out the
front. The metallic silver was a shade of dark crimson. White-hot fire burned my
body, cutting off all air.
Vaguely, I felt my knees hit the floor. I gazed up at Vadik who grinned like a
maniac. There was no hope that the blade wasn't coated in vesper blood.
Vadik strolled around to my back. His hand brushed against my shoulder gently.
The pressure of his hand on the blade was like a fire burning from my chest. He
leaned close to me, twisting the sword around and around.
I could barely groan.
"And she said you were unkillable."
And he yanked the sword out, still twisting it while he pulled.
An unearthly yelled broke free of my lips. My back arched, tilting my head up to

the ceiling. Blood filled up my lungs, drowning me.
I fell on my forearms. The movement that shouldn't have hurt sent a shudder through
my body. I took a raspy breath, trying to breathe through the flames.
The air caught in my throat, then came back up in short, powerful bursts. The
ground under me was painted a dark red.
Vadik laughed. "Not so powerful now, are you Beast?"
Black spots danced in front of my eyes. You realize, Beast, that if I die, you die
too.
It--he--was silent.
You come out when I don't want you, but now, when I give your control, you don't
move an inch. How ironic.
WHY SHOULD I? YOU FINALLY HAVE YOUR WISH. YOU GET TO DIE.
And if I don't want to die anymore?
Beast fell silent. If it could be thinking, it was.

THEN THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE, THEN, IS THERE?
A hard blow hit my back, pressing me to the floor. Vadik may as well have been
standing on me.
"Looks like I beat you."

L
My hand shook.
No. My whole body shook.
I smiled slowly, feeling Beast start to take control. "Ever--ever hear of the
phrase 'You can beat my body, but you can't beat my spirit'?"
I pushed myself up from the ground, ignoring the screams of agony from my body.
Vadik backed up, surprised at me standing.
"This is my spirit."
The change wasn't as painful as it always was. Whether it be because my pain meter
was maxed out, or because I let it come willingly, I couldn't figure out.
But for the first time, I welcomed the change. Embraced it.
And the Beast came out.
_______________________________________
Chapter 41--Rain [Inside the Beast's Castle]
"Looks like it's starting to rain."

"But...it's not raining."
"Yes it is. This is rain." --Colonel Mustang and Riza Hawkeye, Fullmetal Alchemist
______________________________________
Zara
I was too late.
The guards were already standing around the castle doors, making sure of who
entered and exited. My heart sank.
How am I going to get past them?
I stood behind one of the trees, about twenty feet away from the door. The guards
mulled about the door, just standing with very little purpose.
How they hadn't seen me by then was impressive.
I pushed a stray lock of hair out of my eyes and stepped forward from behind the
tree. A few of the guards noticed me, shoving at the person next to them in hushed
whispers.
I gulped. The guard's eyes searched me, examining the ripped dress I wore,
inspecting every dirt smudge on my skin.
One of them lifted his sword. I glared at him and bounced my arms against my sides.
"So what now?" I laughed. "You try and stop me? We fight?" I shook my head a
little. "We can, but I assure you, it won't end well."
One of the guards next to the sword holder nudged him. "Lower your sword."
The man with the sword scowled at the guy who nudged him. "The king said no
others."
The rest of the guards suddenly seemed to move away from the two squabblers.
"Your king," I called to Sword-holder, "is trying to kill an innocent-ish man. Let
me through."
He still didn't move.
I rolled my eyes and held up my hand. Flames flickered from my fingertips. Even
though is want looking at the other guards, I could feel them back away quickly. I
eyed Sword-man threateningly, trying my best to be as terrifying as I could.
"I don't want to fight you, and I don't want to hurt you, but if you keep standing
there, both will happen."
Liar. There's no way you would hurt him.
But he doesn't need to know that.
"You have to the count of three!" I shouted.
"One!" I took a step forward. All the guards by Sword-man fled from my path.
"Two!" I took another step forward, leaving the poor man holding the sword shaking
in his boots.
An agonizing roar cut through the dramatics of the front door. It echoed through
the castle grounds, settling deep in my bones.
My blood turned cold. "Brennen..." I mumbled.
With one quick motion, I whirled back to the guard. He still stupidly stood holding
the sword.
I lifted my hand and flicked my wrist. Sword-man went flying to the side, away from
the entrance.
Three.
I didn't wait for the rest of the guards to change their mind about me. My feet
carried me inside the castle within the span of a few seconds.
Immediately, the feeling of the castle was off.
My heart raced in fear. If the roar hadn't given it away, then the unexplainable
feeling did--something was wrong.
"Brennen?" I cried.
There was no answer. Of course. There's never an answer.
The sunlight beaming in from outside couldn't cover the darkness, but it did
illuminate the room enough for me to see.
For me to see the battleground.

The railing that followed the stairs was splintered into a million pieces in the
middle. Black ashes covered the rugs that lay on the ground in a dark dust.
Droplets of blood splattered across the gray stone floor.
Oh no.
I walked over to the burnt wall and touched it gently. It was still warm. A glint
of silver caught my eye. Underneath the splintered railing was a dagger, about as
long as my forearm. I scooped it up and held it to my chest. There was no red on
the blade or around it. Engraved on the hilt of the dagger was the name Regol.
Vadik used this.
A loud crash made me jump. Still holding onto the knife, I ran around the corner.
There was nothing except the pool of blood in the middle of the room.
And the silver mask mere inches away from it.
My throat constricted. The blood was his. It was Brennen's.
Which meant that Vadik used the swords with vesper blood.
I thought for a second. The crash I heard was glass breaking, which means they're
outside.
There was only one room with windows that big.
I took off toward the ballroom, running as fast as I could. Evidence of magic--
Vadik's magic--was everywhere that I could stand to look. There were burn marks on
the wall, ice-cold sections of a room.
I reached the ballroom and didn't have to bother with opening the doors. They were
already blown away. I screeched to a halt, breathing heavily.
One of the windows was completely shattered, the glass shards twinkling on the
grass outside. Long scratches marred the slick floor, digging deep caverns into the
smooth surface.
A scream--human scream--from outside caught my attention. I darted over to the

shattered window and peeked around the corner.
Brennen had changed. He stood tall, towering over Vadik. Dark brown fur covered his
hands, and the claws that were normally short-ish were extended to a terrifying
length. His shoulders rose up and down in time to his breaths, which were heaving
in exhaustion. The dark shirt he wore was torn in many different places, some from
where the Beast stretched it too far, and some from knife cuts. Blood ran down his
side, clumping the bits of fur that stuck out into balls.
In Brennen's clenched fist, he held the back of Vadik's shirt, dangling him off the
ground. Thin scratches covered Vadik's face, making him look like he lost a fight
with an angry cat. Bits of glass stuck out from his arms. The most noticeable
aspect of his appearance was the absence of a left eye. Where the eye would
normally be, the socket was empty, leaving damaged skin as the remainder.
"Wa--wait!" Vadik cried. His voice squeaked like a mouse in fear. "Don't kill me!
Don't kill me! I--"
The rest of Vadik's sentence was lost in Brennen's thunderous roar. He tightened
his grip on Vadik's collar and lifted him higher.
"You killed her! I have no care for your regrets!"
Vadik's face turned a deep shade of red, bordering on the edge of purple. His eye
flickered around looking for something, anything, that he could use to escape.
His eye landed on me.
Recognition clicked behind the fear. He groaned and kicked his feet, trying to get
Brennen to turn his head.
In all of Vadik's frantic breathing and kicking, Brennen glanced back to see what
the problem was. His eyes red mine, red on green like a decorated Christmas tree.
But it wasn't all him.
Pain flickered behind his eyes and he turned back to Vadik. With a snarl, Brennen
threw him across the grass and onto the wall of the maze, where he landed like a
limp rag doll.
Brennen turned his full attention to me. His eyes, which were dark red before, lit
up to the brightest I had ever seen them.
The weren't bright for joy though. The were bright in rage.
I took a step forward, out from the hiding place at the wall. I smiled softly.
"Brennen? It's me."
He scowled and charged toward me.
My eyes widened and I jumped out of his way, backing away slowly. "Brennen," I
gasped. "Brennen it's me. It's Zara."
It didn't help. In a fury, Brennen ran at me again, taking a swipe at my chest. I

barely dodged.
"Brenn--"
"Shut up!" he screamed. "You're not her, she's dead!"
What?
I didn't move, shocked by his statement. It was only then that I noticed the dark
stain on his stomach.
"You're hurt." I reached out a hand tentatively. "Please, it's me. I swear, I'm not
dead."
He growled again, the hair on his neck standing up. "That's what they all say."
"It's--"
Something hit me in the stomach with enough force that I was blown back to the maze
wall. Pain flared through my back at the impact. I gasped, trying to find air.
That's what they all say.
He thought me dead. He'd seen memories before, memories of lost souls.
Brennen hadn't moved from his spot except for his hand, which he held up in the
air. He swayed slightly on his feet, struggling to stand.
Magic.
I coughed, find air again. I looked up again, just in time to see his hands come
out again. The ground was no longer steady under feet, instead, here was the
emptiness of air.
I struggled, trying to move from his grasp. Brennen dangled me over the walls of
the maze, and floated me to the center.
"Stop!" I croaked. "It's me, Brennen, please! Who told you I was dead, Vadik? You
are honestly going to believe him over me?"
Brennen lowered me slightly, but I was still over eight feet in the air. "You're
the vesper from the water," he said. It was more of a statement to convince
himself.
"No, I'm not."
That was the wrong thing to say. His face contorted in anger and he closed his
fists, dropping me.
I fell, landing in the small rose garden that I planted. The roses were sticks in
the cold winter weather, but that didn't make them any less painful to land on.
Snap.
I cried out as blinding pain shot up my arm, completely overriding my sense for a
split second. Black spots danced in front of my vision, threatening to fully engulf
my sight.
I clutched my right arm to my chest, knowing that it was broken. Ow ow ow ow ow.
Something grabbed my neck and hoisted me off the ground. Just the slight movement
hurt. My breaths caugh in my chest, unable to escape.
I stared into Brennen's bright eyes, not letting myself show the fear I felt.
"If--if you're going to kill me, then kill me," I choked. "But I'm real. I'm no
vesper."
His arm shook. "I don't know that."
But he loosened his grip.
"If I was a vesper, I'd have killed you by now."
That did it. He completely let go of me, letting my feet hit the ground. I bit my
lip, keeping my cry for ringing out. Still, I groaned.
Brennen backed away slowly, stopping next to the stone fountain. "I'm sor--sorry,"
he coughed. "I thought that you were--he said he killed you."
I reached out with my left hand and touched his arm. "I'm real." A smirk formed in
my lips. "I'm not dead yet!"
The bright red left his eyes, the color replacing it the tame crimson I was used
to. Some of the fur that covered his body retracted, but not all of it. His body
shrank too, sizing down to two feet taller than me and not four.
Brennen chuckled weakly at my attempted joke. "That's good," he mumbled.
Then his knees buckled.
Instinctively, I tried to catch him, succeeding in only wrapping my uninjured arm

around his side and being dragged down next to him. He hit his knees first and
looked up, breathing heavily.
Only then did I see how pale his face was.
Only then did the blood that speckled his lips and chin stand out--a crimson dash
staining the whitest snow.
I searched his eyes, his eyes which were the dullest they'd even been. The vibrant
red color was blotted out by a deep scarlet that seemed to over take everything.
His mouth flicked up into the smallest of grins. "I guess I can't hold on forever,
huh?"
His eyelids fluttered, threatening to close. I ran my hand over his cheek, fighting
to get him to look up. "Brennen? Look at me, okay?"
He swallowed and moistened his lips, clutching at his side. "S--sorry--" A fit of
coughing cut him off mid-sentence. He turned his head away and coughed, blood
coming with every push of air from his lungs.
My throat constricted. Not good. My gaze traveled down to his chest, where his hand
didn't cover. Gently, I moved a piece of his shirt away from the ever-growing dark
spot on his chest.
"Oh my gosh..." I breathed.
A sword wound.
A sword wound that went from back to front, through his chest.
How he wasn't already dead by then, I will never know.
"That bad, huh?"
I stared up at Brennen, tears pricking at my eyes. His mouth twitched up to a weak

grin that didn't reach his eyes as he nodded his head slowly.
"Ironic."
I mentally punched myself and gathered up some of my already-ruined skirt, tearing

long pieces from it. I struggled with using only one hand, and wound up bracing a
piece of the skirt with my foot.
"Here." I thrust out a handful of material and pressed it up to Brennen's chest and
side, desperately trying to stop the flow of blood. "Hold it there, that'll help."
I didn't meet his eyes. I couldn't. Instead, I just turned my full attention to his
wounds, trying my best to play doctor.
"Liza--Lizaveta, no." Brennen grabbed my left hand gently. "It's not gonna--it's
not going to help, okay?"
A droplet of rain traveled down my cheek. I pushed my hair from my face and looked
at the sky. No clouds. Why is it raining? It's sunny, not one cloud in sight.
He coughed again, lighter that time. His breaths came out in shuddering gasps. He
touched my right arm.
Pain shot through it like a volt of electricity. "Ah!"
Brennen wiped away a stray droplet of blood from his chin. "Your arm's broken,
isn't it?"
All parts of me screamed to deny it, to say that it wasn't, that I was fine. I
pressed down on his side harder. "No. I'm fine."
He tried to laugh, but it turned into a choked gasp. Gently, his fingeres brushed
against my injured arm, sending waves of fire through my nerves.
"Ah," he sucked in a quick breath. My arm didn't hurt anymore.
"You healed it? You didn't need to, you need to--"
Brennen closed his eyes and lay his head against the front of my shoulder. "Save my
strength?" he whispered. "Lizaveta, it's too late for that."
I blinked back tears, not accepting his words. "No, it's not. You're going to be
fine."
Carefully, I brushed a lock of his hair away from his eyes. He coughed once more--
weakly, barely able to force the unwelcome liquid from his lungs.
He's drowning. Drowning in blood.
"Don't... don't lie, Lizaveta. We both know that's not true." With the arm that
wasn't broken, he seized my hand with strength he shouldn't have possessed.
"It's ironic, really," he mumbled through short breaths.
I sniffled, more droplets of rain falling down my face. "What is?"
Brennen swallowed. "When I was... when I was living, I wanted to die. N--now that
I'm dying, I want to live."
He tried to laugh. "Something got mixed up somewhere in there."
I smiled. "That's how life seems to work, isn't it?"
Painfully, Brennen moved himself so he was resting against the side of the stone
fountain. "I just...want to know one last thing."
One last thing.
Oh God, no. Please.
"Don't talk like that!" I gasped. "You'll be--"
"Zara." He reached up and brushed away the wet on my cheeks. "Shh. It's okay. Don't
cry."
I took a shaky breath and leaned into his hand. My hand found his chest and stopped
right over where his heart was.
Bum. Bum.
Bum. Bum.
It was slow, faint.
"How did you come back?" he whispered.
I shook my head. "What do you mean?"
"How'd you come back... back to the castle?"
His eyes searched mine tiredly, trying to find an answer.
I bit my lip. "I don't know," I replied. "The woods wouldn't let me at first. I
kept fighting it, saying that I had to get to you. I yelled at it before it let me
go."
"Must've been some insult," Brennen muttered.
No. No insult.
"It wasn't. I--I just asked." My voice involuntarily became the same volume as his.
Brennen's breaths slowed. "What'd you say?"
I stared at him, tears steaming down my face. My fingers brushed against the side
of his face, stroking his scarred cheek.
I bowed my head and pressed my forehead against his cool one. A chill breeze blew
past, barely rustling my hair.
He watched me through half-open eyelids, waiting for an answer.
"It was more of a feeling than spoken," I whispered. "That's why I came back.
That's why the forest let me. That's why you can't die. It's three words."
I pulled away and laced my fingers through his. "I love you."
Brennen's face softened. A slow smile crept up into his face and pulled his mouth
up. Gently, with his broken arm, he brushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear. The
palm of his hand lingered against my cheek, where I caught it.
"And I love you," he breathed. The quiet words lingered in the air for seconds
after he spoke them.
His eyes fluttered shut. The hand I held to my cheek relaxed, all tension gone from
it.
He was still.
My breathing quickened, as if I was making up the breaths he want taking.

"Brennen?" I squeaked.
He didn't move.
"Brennen, please. Wake up. That's not--" I gasped for breath through my tears.
"That's not how this is supposed to work."
I lowered his hand and draped it across his stomach. "It's not cloudy. Not raining.
Isn't that how deaths are? Always gray days, never sunny."
I shook my head, gasping. "'True love' is such crap," I whispered. "It's supposed
to break the spell. Conquer death."
"Stupid fairytales."
I squeezed my eyes shut, praying that when I opened them, he would be fine, but
knowing the harsh reality.
True enough, everything was still the same when I opened my eyes. I took Brennen's
lifeless hand and held it, pressing it to my lips.
"Please," I whispered, staring up at the sky. "Please. I love him. Don't let him
die."
There was no response. Nothing but stillness.
I bowed my head, sobbing into my knees.
Then the cold metal of a knife pressed against my throat.
_______________________________________
Well, that looks to be the end of that. 0ߘ

Chapter 42--Deaths [Inside the Beast's Castle]
Humans are made so cheaply.--Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist
______________________________________
"How pitiful."
I froze, catching my breath. The blade of a knife pushed against my throat.
"Vadik."
A hand slapped my shoulder, and with the hit came loud laughter.
"Better believe it."
Rage boiled up inside me. I stared at the still form of Brennen, seeing the stab
wounds Vadik made, seeing the blood that Vadik drew.
Every part of me that had

screamed there was something wrong silenced. The world blew past is ringing--pure,
unhalting ringing.
It's his fault.
I clenched my fist, preparing to burn him to a crisp. The blade pressed further
into my throat, drawing a drop of blood.
"Nuh-uh-uh, Zara," Vadik sang. He bent his head down close to mine and whispered,
his warm breath tickling my ear.
"Is he alive?"
All of me ached to get away from Vadik, to burn him to a crisp, to have him back
away so I'd never see him again.
"Brennen's dead," I answered. The last word sent a pang through my chest.
Vadik grabbed the back of my neck and squeezed. "Check."

Check.
He shoved my head down, knife still at my throat.
"Let go. I can't 'check' if I have a knife at my throat."
Slowly, Vadik removed his dagger from my throat. I gulped in air, finally free to
breathe.
He pushed my back, forcing me to get next to Brennen. "Check."
I shook his hand away. Brennen's broken form loomed in front of me, still and
silent.
I tilted my head to the side and ran my hand across his forehead, pushing a stray
piece of hair away from his closed eyes. His skin was still warm.
Tears threatened to spill over again. I pushed them back.ǂ Vadik would not see me
cry more than he already had.
I pressed my right hand to my still friend's chest, right where his heart was.
There was no movement.
The dagger poked at the back of my neck, stinging me. "Closer."
He wants to make this hurt more than it already does.
That was impossible.
I did what Vadik order and put my head against Brennen's chest, like I was hugging
him. Comfort washed over me at the simple action, even though it was hopeless. I
knew he was dea--
Tmp. Tmp. Tmp.
My heart jumped a beat. My eyes widened, and I quickly masked my expression. Never
had one noise sounded so beautiful. It was nearly inaudible, impossible it feel.
But it was there. As clear as day.
A heartbeat.
I clenched my fist. He's still alive.
A million thoughts raced through my mind at once.
Vadik doesn't know.
I need to keep it that way.
Brennen's still dying.
I've got to do something.
What?
The blade poked further into my neck. "Well?" Vadik demanded.
Slowly, I rose up. I scanned Brennen for any type of movement that could give my
answer away.
None.
"He's dead," I whispered.
Vadik laughed and removed the blade. I stood up and turned toward him. His arms
were in the air in celebration, a sick smile spreading wide across his face.
"What do you know!" he cried. "Monsters really are killable."
Do I need him alive?
Vadik wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pressed his face up to mine. His lips
traced my cheek. "That just leaves younow, Zara."
In one swift movement, the knife was back at my throat.
"Need me for what?" I gasped.
Stall him. I need a plan.

"Are you that stupid?" he growled. "I need you to die. It makes an incredibly
convincing story, that you rushed in to save your Beast and attacked me. In all
your craziness, I was forced to kill you."
He pressed the knife deeper into my neck. All it would take to kill me would be one
flick of his wrist. One movement so simple, and my life would be over in a spray of
blood.
Spray of blood...
He can use magic.
The scratches and shards of glass that were in Vadik's arms were gone when I faced
him. He must have transferred them to an animal.
He can heal himself. Could I transfer Brennen's wound over?
It was worth a shot. There would only be one outcome, though.
Someone would die.
Whether I was me, Vadik or Brennen, one of us would die.
I have to get him to start the spell, and he won't do that willingly.
"Any last words, Zara?"
I choked at the pressure of the knife. Disarm him.
His body was pressed up against mine, so I could feel exactly where he was.
Foot first.
I lifted my leg and stomped on his toes with all my might, imagining that I was
pounding through the earth with my foot.
Vadik proceeded to drop his arms around me, letting me free. I stepped forward and
cast my gaze down. I grabbed his shoulders and pulled towards me quickly, bring me
knee up to hit him right where it hurts.
A high-pitched screech escaped Vadik's mouth.

I ignored it and cast my eyes down to his hands. He held the knife in his right
hand, so with my left, I grabbed his wrist and twisted it, feeling the satisfying
snap of bones leaving the joint. Or breaking. One or the other.
With the knife firmly held in my left hand, I grabbed Vadik's head and shoved it
down, pushing him toward the stones.
He fell, face first on the gravel.
It all happened in about a second.
The next step was to drive the knife through his heart. But I couldn't. I had to
injure him enough that he'd start to try to heal himself, but not enough that he
would die from his injuries.
Immediately, that is.
So, instead of his heart, I drove the dagger toward his right shoulder. It met
little resistance going in, only slowing when it met bone.
He didn't even cry out.
Before I yanked the knife out of his shoulder, I twisted it.
Monsters lived in all.
I need him to think he's going to die.
One stab wouldn't do it, then.
So I aimed again, this time at his left shoulder. I punctured his skin slowly,
taking my time in the stab.
He cried out beneath me, squirming to get my body off his. In his struggle, he
moved the knife to the side, making it cut deeper and closer to his heart than I
wanted it to.
I grabbed his neck like he did to me and shoved his face back into the ground.
"Pagoma."
Vadik stopped moving.
I grabbed the hilt of the knife and twisted it. I could literally feel everything
it hit while it was in his shoulder.
Bile rose up in my throat. Don't barf. Please don't barf.
I swallowed it down and yanked the dagger out, circling over to the front of Vadik.
His face was contorted in agony, his one eye glaring at me in hatred.
My heart pounded at the next step that I thought of. Vadik could release himself
from the spell I had him trapped in, it would just take a few seconds.
So in the meantime, he had to burn.
I snapped my fingers. I little ball of fire lit up, hovering just over my thumb,
middle finger, and pointer finger.
Oh boy.
I bent down so Vadik could see my eyes. I didn't let a fraction of fear or disgust
show. In my best "I'm-crazy-and-you're-about-to-die" voice, I cackled, "Now you
burn."
And the small flame hit his hair.
As I thought, Vadik freed himself from my spell milliseconds before the fire
touched him. He leaped up as his hair went aflame and batted at it, trying to put
it out to no avail.
Need I go into detail of what happened next?
I covered my mouth, gagging to the stench of burning flesh. Vadik's screams drowned
out every possible noise, rupturing the silence that had settled over the castle.
I moved over to Brennen, taking my place while I waited for Vadik to put the fire
out. I couldn't even look in his direction.
As quickly as they started, the screams stopped. I took a deep breath and turned to
where he was last.
He staggered toward me, wisps of smoke spiraling from his pink, blistered skin.
Dark coal marks covered spots of his arms and face, while others were a flaming
red. There were places that the skin was burned away completely, leaving makeshift
patches of bloody skin and bone.
A small sliver of sorrow panged me. I knew what Vadik did. I knew almost all of it
was horrible.
But some piece of me wondered him he really deserved to be burnt to a crisp and an
outlet for a spell that may or may not go wrong.
"You!" he cried, his bloody lips mangling the word. Shakily, Vadik pointed at me.
"You will have the same fate as your mother!"
Every ounce of sorrow and regret I felt for my actions went up in a blaze of fire.
Both literally and figuratively.
I planted my feet firmly on the ground, staying as close to Brennen as I dared.

Vadik continued to stumble to me, clenching and unclenching his fists.
I prayed with all my might that he wouldn't try to kill me with magic until he
healed himself. If he decided on revenge and death, then I would most certainly die
with him. If he decided on living and revenge, then I still held a fighting chance.
It was a gamble I was willing to take.
His warm hand seized my arm. "You stupid girl," he rasped. "Now you die." From
behind his armor, he pulled out another silver dagger.
How many of those does he have?
I didn't have time to move out of the way of his stab. I twisted my body to the
side, letting my arm take the damage.
Vadik drove the blade into my forearm, pulling it upward slowly. I cried out,
trying to back away from him--trying to get away from the knife that ripped my arm
in two.
He wouldn't let me.
It felt like fire blazed up my arm and to my shoulder, disintegrating everything in

its path.
Vadik yanked the dagger from my arm. "Now you know what it feels like, dearie."
I didn't dare look at my arm to see what he did. The torment of feeling it was bad
enough.
He brought the knife up again. His eye focused on my ribcage, at my breastbone.
With my free hand, I blasted the raised dagger from his grasp, flinging it past the
walls of the maze.
Vadik snarled at me, baring his no- longer perfect teeth like an animal. He
tightened his grip on my torn arm and pulled my hand to his chest, forcing my
fingers to touch his rough, bubbled skin.
He's doing it now!
My hand barely grazed Brennen's forehead before Vadik and I screamed the same word,
our voices mingling in a dissonant key.
"Kerasma!"
The word slowed down. Everything crawled at a snail's pace.
Then picked back up at twice the speed it was originally going.
I grabbed Vadik's wrist, holding it as tightly as I could. He would not get away
from his spell he started. With my other hand, I seized Brennen's hand, lacing my
fingers through his.
He never told me that you feel everything with the healing spell.
Everything.
Every emotion, every ounce of pain.
I felt the cut hit my side, slicing open my stomach. The sword pierce my chest. The
blood fill up my lungs and cut off all air.
A tickle ran down my ribs. I stared down, seeing the dark red liquid run off my
body and onto the ground. Blood dripped out my mouth from my lungs, needing out of
my body, but unable to escape.
Then I felt the burning.
The small slices I did to Vadik's shoulders were nothing in comparison to the fire
that burnt my skin, burnt my body. A feeling lit up my chest; the feeling of
hatred. Every ounce Vadik felt, I felt, and it was suffocating.
A high-pitched scream came out of the nothingness, like an alarm that would never
stop blaring.
He laughed, overjoyed at his newfound, healthy body. His pink skin shone in the
sunlight, his teeth glistening to a blinding white. He pulled away from my hand,
trying to get away.
But the dead don't escape that easily.
Alarm rose in his eyes when I didn't let go. The hand of a skeleton seized his
wrist, trapping him in an unbreakable bond.
He opened his mouth, screaming at me. "Let go, stupid! Let go, the spell is done!"
He lifted his foot and brought it down on the side of my head. Something snapped in
my neck and my vision went dark.
But the hands of the dead don't let go easily.
I still watched everything that happened, even though my eyes were open and
unseeing. Like a scene from a book, it rolled out in front of me.
"Let go!" he screamed. "You'll ruin all--"
He was cut off by choking. His free hand flew to his throat, trying to massage
whatever it was out.
Dark red liquid dribbled down his chin and onto the ground. He stared at it in
alarm.
Petals of crimson blossomed on his white shirt, starting at his stomach and breast
bone.
Relief flooded over me. The spell was working.
His skin bubbled and blistered again, turning from a glowing pink to burnt red and
coal black. The white of bones shone in patches of his burned-away skin.
He let go of my hand and stumbled back, gasping for breath but only drawing up
blood.
He stared at my body in fear, seeing the broken neck that he caused. His mouth
moved, forming the words "It won't stop."
He blasted away, trying to distance himself from my body, trying to escape from the
spell he enacted. With all the fatal injuries he had, he still ran away.
Vadik went out of the maze and towards the woods, trying to make it there before
the last transfer happened. His eyes bulged and he stopped, coughing up the blood
that filled his lungs and depositing it in the vesper pond beside him.
His back straightened and he stepped down to run.
Snap!
An invisible force twisted his neck to the side. His eyes clouded.
And he fell into the water.
The only thing that broke the surface of the water after he fell in was a short
flick of a tail, as if it was waving 'Thank you.'
Something pulled at me, dragging me towards my lifeless body that lay on the
ground.
My eyes widened. I don't want to go.
I glanced quickly at Brennen. His chest rose and fell with deep breaths.
At least he lives.
I struggled against the force that continued to drag me, but it didn't work. My
neck was no longer broken. The killing blow had never happened.
But was I alive?
I stared up at the crystal blue sky, taking in the beauty of it. If I was going to
die, then I was going to go looking at something pretty instead of staring at the
ground.
My ghost body hit my body.
I don't want to die. I don't want to die.
I don't want to d--

____________________________________
And then everyone died. The end.
I was seriously going to mess with this chapter, but in the middle of said messing
around, I realized what I was doing didn't necessarily fit this version of the
characters, which is why it's all basically the same.
Ah well.
(and to those who think I'm serious about this being the end, no, it's not done. I
was joking.)
Chapter 43--The End is Where We Begin [Inside the Beast's Castle]
<img
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This is not what death feels like.
Unless breathing comes with death.
My mouth felt like my tongue turned to sandpaper. It was dry, sucking all moisture
from it.
Water.
With eyes still closed, I tried to move my arm. I strained, telling my muscles to
work. The only movement I got was a small twitch of my fingers.
"Mmh," I moaned. My eyelids cracked open, letting a small sliver of light hit my
eyes.
It was like the sun.
I squinched my eyes shut again, escaping the harsh light. Slowly, I let the
brightness hit me again, it not being as overwhelming that time.
Where am I?
The only light in the room came from the moonlight that shone through a window. It
hit the walls, making them faintly shine like a jewel. A desk with a green-covered
book sat next to the bed I was in. A dresser was in the corner.
The room was sparse, arranged like mine was in the castle. But, there was no way I
was inside the castle. Everything looked different--calmer. Tamer. Lighter.
I reached across the bed to the desk, finally able to move my arms. I grabbed the
book and flipped it over so I could see the cover. The squiggle lines took a minute
to get into focus, but when they did, I racked my brain, trying to remember what
each symbol meant.
Ele--ven Chims.
No, Chimes.
Eleven Chimes.
A held in huff of air escaped me. Am I in the castle? Why don't I recognize it?
What happened?
I braced myself with my arms and started to swing my legs off the bed. The world
spun around at a dizzying speed and pain raked up my side and across my chest at
the small movement.
"Ah." I winced and grabbed at my ribs. "Bad idea. Laying down it is."
Careful not to disturb myself any more than I already had, I slowly lowered my head
to the pillow. The merry-go-round of blurs slowed to a halt.
With my right hand, I touched my forehead. Everything feels different. Off.
My body felt lighter somehow. Not the same. Like I was smaller than normal.
Something was off in my hearing, too. Everything was too quiet.
I held up my hand and examined it. It was still long and thin, pale with lack of
sun. I extended my fingers, looking for the claws that should have come with.
Nothing.
I stared at the nothingness in amazement. Maybe I'm just tired.
I felt my ribs again, seeing how badly they were injured. It hurt to barely touch
them.
Broken it is. What happ...oh.
The memory of "what happened" surfaced to my mind. I remembered having a harmless

knife hit my back, and not-so-harmless knives stab me later. A small burst of pain
flared in my chest at the memory of a sword impaling me.
I pulled the shirt I was in up slightly and ran my bare fingers against my side.
They met a pucker of rough skin.
What else was there?
I closed my eyes, trying to conjure up the memory.
A pair of emerald green balls sparkled

over me. Droplets of water fell from them.
I sighed at my stupidity. Those are called "eyes," genius.
A voice mumbled something faintly, barely hearable through the ever-growing

buzzing.
"I love you."
My eyes snapped open. "Lizaveta," I whispered. She spoke those words. It was she I
replied to on my last strings of consciousness.
I might as well have been dead. There was no saving me. What'd she do?
The door was becoming a goal of mine very quickly. If I could get to the door, I
could get out of the room. If I could get out of the room, I could find Lizaveta
and ask her she did.
She didn't use the healing spell, did she?
Just the thought of her being that careless terrified me. The thought that she did
and it worked was worse.
I barely held on to life for as long as I did. If she transferred my wounds to

herself, then she was dead.
There would be no way around it.

I slowed my breathing, surprised that Beast hadn't spoken up by then. With as much
as I felt, he would see it as a buffet.
I twisted my head to face the door. Okay. One. Two. Three.
For the second time, I inched my legs off the bed and sat up. Agony screamed at me
to stop, to lay back down. My bare foot hit the cold ground, sending shivers up my
spine.
I wrapped my fingers around the bedpost, gripping it tightly to help me stand.
Of all the times to not have that stupid cane...
My legs shook below me like and earthquake suddenly struck once I started to stand.
I fell back onto the bed, the jolt of my landing sending the all-to-familiar pain
up my ribs.
I gasped. "Ow."
Maybe lying down won't hurt.
I started to pull myself back onto the bed, not caring about the covers.
Creeak.
A split-second later, it was like I never got up. I yanked the sheets up to where
they were when I woke up and closed my eyes, pretending to still be asleep.
The door opened the rest of the way, and the uneven patter of footsteps reached my
ears. They stopped next to my bed.
A puff of air brushed hit my face as a girl sighed. She ran her hand along the bed
carefully, feeling for something under the sheets, then picked herself up onto the
bed.
I clenched my teeth, holding back a groan at the movement of my bed. A soft hand
found mine. The girl laced her fingers through mine and breathed in.
"You know," she mumbled, "when they said it would take you a while to wake up, I
didn't really believe them."
Relief flooded over me at the sound of her soft voice that was laced with the
faintest of accents. Lizaveta.
"It's been... about three days since I opened my eyes again. Don't know why you're
taking longer than me."
Opened her eyes again? She was hurt?
Lizaveta dropped my hand and squirmed. A small whimper reached my ears.
She sucked in a breath. "Me and my bright ideas," she muttered.
She breathed in. "I hate stories. Books. Fairytales. They give you false ideas for
reality. That's why I've never liked to read. In everything, it's 'True love's kiss
will break the spell,' or 'Happily ever after.' 'He was blind, but her tears made
him see again.' Crap like that. Life is different."
She sniffled. "I thought you were dead..." she whispered. "I thought that, for one
second, the books might be true."
"There was nothing," she gasped. I stayed still, clueless at what to do.
"I came in here last night," she whispered. "And I brought you that book."
The room went silent. If I listened hard enough, I could've heard her eyes landing
on Eleven Chimes.
"That book," she slowed her talking speed to a crawl. "--that I specifically told
Lia not to touch, and now, it's flipped over. Which means 'A,' she touched it--
which is very unlikely-- or 'B,' you're awake and faking it."
Oops.
I painfully pushed myself up so I was halfway sitting and grinned sheepishly. "Hi?"
Wham.
"Ow!" I cried. I rubbed my arm where she punched me. "What was that for?"
The sudden weight of her body on mine silenced me. Lizaveta's arms wrapped around
my neck, squeezing me like she'd never let go. I placed my hands on her back
awkwardly, feeling her quake beneath my touch.
"You were dead," she mumbled. "You were gone. Not breathing."
Silent sobs racked her body, silencing her words. I stroked her back, running my
hand over her long curly hair.
"The doctors--" She gasped, then continued on shakily. "The doctors said that your
heart must have s--stopped beating for a minute or two. That's why you were
unconscious longer than me."
Longer than me.
Lizavta re-buried her head into the side of my neck. The wet from her face tickled
my skin.
"I'm alive," I croaked. My voice sounded brittle, like glass about to shatter at
the slightest gust of wind. "I'm here, and I'm not planning on leaving anytime
soon."
She pulled back and stared at me with her puffy, red-rimmed eyes and pink nose. She
wiped at her nose with her left hand. "It's the unplanned events that I'm worried
about."
I smiled and smoothed back her hair. "I'm not going to die."
She nodded quickly and closed her eyes.
"Speaking of death, what happened to Vadik?" I asked. "All I remember is us, uh,
trying to tear each other apart."
Yelizavyeta swallowed, her gaze on her hands. "He's dead. Fell into the vyecher
pond--with a very broken neck and burned body, I might add."
"You did that?"
Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms. "Don't sound so surprised..."
"I'm not!" I protested. "I'm just--"
Thankfully, digging my own grave was interrupted. Unthankfully, it was by Lizaveta

coughing. She held up her hand to her mouth and hacked loudly, gasping in between
coughs. She pulled her hand away from her mouth. It was speckled with blood.
I stared at her in alarm and grabbed her arm before she could hide it. "Lizaveta--"
"It's fine," she cut in weakly. "It's just a side effect. It'll be gone in a few
days."
The intensity of her eyes dulled down from an electric emerald to blunt forest. Her
face was pale like a porcelain doll, studded with beads if perspiration. Even her
hair wasn't at its full wildness.
How didn't I notice this earlier?
"Side effect of what, Zara?" I asked gently.
She bit her lip and mumbled something, not meeting my eyes.
"Side effect of what?" I repeated, louder.
"Healing you," she breathed.
I closed my eyes and leaned back, dead filling my stomach. "If you healed me, then
how are you still alive?"
"Vadik." The bed rustled as she slid next to me. "I channeled it to Vadik."
I opened my eyes and stared at the small girl beside me in amazement. "You
channeled the spell?"
She nodded.
Instead of feeling happy, the opposite emotion hit me. "Do you realize how
dangerous that was! You could've died! You might not have been able to take it!
And, Vadik, he already was injured, so you transferred that to you, too? Why--"
"Don't fuss at me!" Lizaveta shouted. I silenced, staring at her. "You don't think
I know that? I know the spell might've killed me! I know that everything
transferred to me!" She trembled, glaring at me in rage. "I took it. I took
everything. The stabs, the knife cuts, even the result of being burned alive. I
took it all. And it didn't kill me!"
My mouth dropped slightly. "You took it all..."
Lizaveta continued her fuss, talking faster and faster, waving her hands around in
the air. "You don't get to tell me for something that you would've done too. I died
for you, Brennen."
The last five words took a second to sink in. She clapped her hands over her mouth
like she uttered an inexcusable word.
I searched her face, trying to find proof of a jest. She was dead serious. "You
died?"
A sheepish grin spread across her face. "Only a little," she whispered.
Vadik had a broken neck when he fell into the pond.
"He broke your neck?"
"Yeah." With her left hand, she pulled her curls away from her neck so I could see.
A faint purple splotch lined her skin around the bone. "That's all that remains."
I pulled her close to me, ignoring the screaming that came from my ribs. "You
brave, stupid girl," I whispered to her hair.
Her body jolted as she let out a short laugh. "It's amazing how often those two
things collide."
I smiled, happy for the first time in forever.
My breaths caught. That's what's different. I released my grip on Lizaveta and

pulled back, scrambling as far away from her as I could.
Where are you, Beast? Waiting to strike?
The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop then. "You can't make me kill
her by surprising me."
The confusion on Lizaveta's face softened into understanding. "Brennen." Her hands
found mine. "He's not there anymore."
I tugged out of her reach, hovering at the edge of the bed. Where are you, Beast?
Don't play with me!
"Brennen!"
My eyes locked with Lizaveta's. "You need to get away. He'll hurt you. He's try--"
A cold hand caressed my cheek. A soft smile tugged at her lips. "Brennen, he's not
there anymore," she whispered. "Don't you feel it? You're free."
Free.
The concept was too good to be true.
I pressed my hands against my ears, blocking out her voice. It's not true.
But why is it so quiet?
It's too quiet.
"Shh, Brennen," Lizaveta breathed. She took my hand in hers. "It's okay. It's
okay."
My heart pounded like a constant drum beat, drowning out everything. I wanted to
move away from Lizaveta, but yet I couldn't. I needed the comfort of her arms, the
calmness of her breath.
She rocked me back and forth, holding me, letting me wait for the monster she
thought wouldn't return. But it would. It wasn't gone.
Not that quickly after over two-hundred years of living in my head.
Silence was never quite that loud.
My head rose slowly from her grasp. I shook, waiting in fear of when he'd attack.
"Brennen," she breathed. "Where is there a mirror?"
I didn't answer.
"Brennen, a mirror?"
"Bottom of my desk," I finally answered. I couldn't understand why she felt the
need to see her reflection.
Lizaveta slid off the bed and rummaged through the bottom desk drawer, then finally
pulled out a small, hand-held mirror. She rubbed her sleeve against it, getting
most of the dust off.
"Look." She held the thing up in front of my face.
I promptly turned my head. "I don't like mirrors."

"Neither do I. Quit being stubborn and look, even if it's for a second."
I sighed and twisted my hers to face the glass. The man glaring at me made a
horrible face, drawing out the long scars that raked across his cheeks. His blonde
hair was clumped and tangled, having not seen a brush in years.
But the eyes. The eyes weren't blood red.
Lizaveta smiled. "Never," she breathed, "Never have I seen eyes that are such a
rich brown."
They're normal.
"I'm normal."
It couldn't be true.
But I stared at a reflection of a man who had no pointed teeth or crimson eyes.
"It broke. I'm human again."
Lizaveta placed the mirror back on my desk. "You've always been human, even when
you believed that you weren't."
She broke it.
She sat back down on my bed. "Believe me now?"
A wide smile broke free from my lips. "I can feel again. I can be angry. I can be
sad--happy."
I met her eyes. "I can feel."
She nodded tiredly. "You can feel."
Lizaveta leaned against me and yawned. The dark circles under her eyes were blacker
than ever before.
Worry hit me. I let it. "Have you slept at all?"

"Not one bit," she mumbled. "I tried the first night and--" She shook her head and
sighed. "Nightmares are such awesome dreams to have."
"Nightmares about?"
She cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrow. "You, dummy. Want to know
more? 'Kay, then. You died. Over and over again. And I couldn't stop it."
She laid her head on my shoulder. "But nightmares are just that--nightmares. Fears.
And fears are conquerable."
My head started to ache gently. Doing as much as I did was taking its toll.
"Why didn't you summon a mirror with magic?"
Priorities, right?
"I can't anymore," she mumbled sadly. "I used all of it up healing you. Right now,
the doctors think that if I try it again, I'll die."
"Trying it again isn't a good option, then."
"Well, duh."
She fell silent, her eyes closed. For a few minutes, I believed her to be asleep.
"I dreamed about Raul when I was dead-ish," she mumbled. "I think--I think he
helped me come back. I had a choice. To let go or hold on."
I closed my eyes, remembering Raul. The pain and sadness that came along with the
memories were finally allowed to roam free. Something wet fell down my cheek. I
reached up, wiping it away.
A tear. I can cry.
"And you chose to hold on," I mumbled into Lizaveta's hair.
She chuckled sleepily. "Obviously."
We fell silent again. Her breathing soon became slow and steady. She was peaceful
in sleep.
I will do this one last time.
Through closed eyes, I imagined her silver necklace.
"Ela," I breathed.
The exhaustion that came with spells didn't attack me that time.
I held the cross necklace in my hand. Carefully, I unlocked it and clasped the
chain around her neck.
"Thank you," she whispered.
I smiled, a warm feeling spreading through my chest. I was happy.
My cheek rested against her curly hair. My eyes closed, letting sleep take over.
There will always be fear. There will always be nightmares.
That was true. I could still see and hear Beast. I wouldn't forget him, just like
she wouldn't forget Vadik and her mother.
But fear can be conquered.
Like the ending of my curse. Like the death of Vadik. We beat our worst fears.
It was the ending of a life that we lived at one point.
The end.
But with every end, there is a new beginning.
Bonus-Chapter-Epilogue-Thing [Inside the Beast's Castle]

"Are we there yet?"
"No, not yet."
Silence fell upon the carriage, making the clunks and clanks of rocks hitting the
bottom seem deafening.
The small voice piped up again. "What about now?"
A deep sigh sounded from the seat across from me. "No."
Silence.
"Yet?"
I rolled my eyes and turned away from the window. "No!"
And, at the same time I spoke, the man across from me groaned, "Argh!"
I glared at Brennen, who shrugged sheepishly. His hair was pulled back into a low
hanging ponytail, neatly keeping it from his face.
A tiny sniffle drew my attention away from Brennen and to the child next to me. I
bit my lip and gathered the boy into my arms. His curly blonde hair tickled my nose
once I sat him in my lap.
"It's okay, Raul, Daddy's just being a pain."
"Like father like son," Brennen mumbled.
I shot a kick out in his direction, nailing him in the shin.
Raul's sister, a girl no older than two and a half, stretched out over the seat
across from me.
"Why's it take sooooooooo--"
I stared at Brennen, still amazed at the child's capacity for such long holds of
breath. He smirked and nudged the light-haired girl.
"--long to get to the castle?" she finished.

This time, Brennen was the one to smooth her straight hair. "Now, Lily, your
Mother's just going to say that it's because I was stubborn and didn't want to live
in a city or castle."
I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could, Brennen spoke for me. "It's
completely true."
I smiled. "He's right."
"Why are we going there, again?" Raul questioned. The four-year-old climbed out of
my lap and twisted to sit down across from me.
"We're going to go see your Uncle Joshua, Aunt Carol, and baby Era; Grandpa, and
Uncle Camden." I propped my headup with my fist. "Uncle Camden hasn't seen you two
since you were-- what?"
"Since Raul was two?" Brennen finished for me.
I tapped Lily's nose "He hasn't seen you at all! He's been busy ruling over Arium."
Arium was the name of the old Upper and Lower kingdoms combined. After Vadik's
death over ten years before, Brennen became king for a short time--basically
because he had the highest standing in society. It was more of a bed-rest ruling
though because as soon as he was well enough to physically rule, he darted out.
His reasons were more than understandable. For over two-hundred years of his life,
he was trapped behind the stone walls of a building, incapable of escaping.
He finally had freedom.
However, before he could leave, he had to appoint a new ruler. After hearing some
of my suggestions, (my only suggestion) the person he chose was Camden.
Joshua didn't want the responsibility. I didn't. Brennen certainly didn't.
Although he was reluctant at first, Camden proved himself to be a strong leader. He

was also an excellent negotiator.
"We've only been riding for a few minutes," I mumbled. No one heard me. The ride
from our country home to the castle wasn't incredibly long, but for a two-year old
and four-year old, it took forever.
I glanced at Brennen, who tickled Lily and Raul so much that they started
squealing.
A smile formed on my face. Three years after we married--when he first found out
that we were going to have a child--he panicked. Memories of his first marriage and
how it ended surfaced to his mind every night, waking him up with screams in his
throat. Always reluctant to let emotion roam free because of his time with Beast,
he kept his concerns bottled up inside until one day, he broke and let it all go.
The day when he held his son in his arms.
I smirked and barely shook my head. For a kid named after one of the best men we'd
known, he had a lot to live up to.
He took after his father. Same golden hair, same large eyes. Everything was the
same, except for where Brennen's eyes were deep brown, Rail's were sparkling green.
Lily was next. She lived my to the innocent sound in her name, until she wanted
something. Then she'd become an unstoppable mischievous machine. Her hair was my
color--dark brown, her small eyes were the same color as her father's.
Someone slid next to me.
"Daddy!" Lily shrieked. "You're supposed to stay over here!"
Brennen widened his eyes in false surprise. "Really? I thought you and Raul were
happy of there together. These seats are made to sit two" he pointed to the two
children, the twisted his finger around to us. "And two. Not three and one."
I sat up. "Why don't you two tell stories?"
Raul bounded up to stand on the seat like he was declaring land captured. "Oh, oh!
Tell us the never ending story!"
I squeezed Brennen's hand, giving him the go-ahead. A small grin formed on his
face. "Once upon a time..."
I sat straight up and yelled along with the kids, "No!"
Peals of laughed twinkled from the opposite seat.
"Oh, so you don't want the one about the girl with the shoe," Brennen teased.
"No!"
"What about the one with the boy who found a way to the sky?"
"No!"
He bit back a chuckle and placed his hands over his face. "What about the man who
sings and wears a mask?"
I answered for the kids that time. "Haha, no."
"The one about the girl who goes to a strange castle, Daddy."
Brennen met my eyes and grinned. "You know, you two heard that last night."
"So?"
I laid my head on my husband's shoulder and closed my eyes.
"Lily, you start it," Brennen said.
Lily's eyes sparkled. She opened her mouth and started spurting out the words to
the story.
"A long time ago..."
I turned my daughter out and squeezed Brennen's hand.
"Didn't sleep well?" he whispered.
"Not at all," I replied. "Bad dreams."
He kissed to top of my head. "Dreams are just that--dreams."
"And nightmares are just our fears we need to face."
Brennen rubbed my arms, giving me unnecessary warmth. He leaned back, drawing most
of his attention to the kids.
There are still nights where one of us wakes up in terror. Whether it be me with my
dreams of fire, or Brennen with his dreams of blood, one of us needs the other.
But having someone to turn to in those times is comforting. Having the love of
another is what we need.
Nightmares are nightmares. Daydreams are daydreams. They end, and life begins.
Everyday.
I snuggled to Brennen more. "Are we there yet?" I whispered.
He laughed lightly. "We're only just beginning."
The kids fell silent; they probably fell asleep in the middle of my story. The only
sound was the rocks hitting the bottom of the carriage.
It was nice--the silence. Very rare in my life.
A high voice piped up. "I gotta go to the bathroom."
"Me too."
So much for silence.
_______________________________________
Author's Note [Inside the Beast's Castle]
I wish I could name everyone who has helped my get through writing
this. I wish I could state everything each person has done, but really truly, I
can't. There are just so many of y'all who have done more than I thought anyone
would do. From those who have been with this story from the beginning and stuck
with it, those who read the first thirteen chapters and haven't been heard from
since, and those who started because of a book club and given suggestions that
would change how this is written. All of you. The crazy commenters, the voters, the
silent readers, the reading list adders, y'all are all awesome.
I literally typed this last note here three or four times, trying to figure out how
and end it. I wanted to mentioned everyone who has helped me, but realized how
almost impossible that would be. So I'm just leaving it at this.
Thank you.
...I totally suck at writing thank you notes. 0ߘ

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Inside the Beast's Castle

Introduction [Inside the Beast's Castle]

Hello to you wonderful person who decided to read this.

On to the non-goofy stuff!

(Who am I kidding? I will always be goofy.)

⏫me about constructive criticism⏫

Thank you and I hope you enjoy my story!

Okay! Have fun and thanks for reading!

!IMPORTANT! [Inside the Beast's Castle]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

*theme music starts*

*record needle screech*

Now, when I joined Wattpad, I had no plans to start writing.

To play giarism, his manuscripts were stolen.

On Wright's tombstone, a phrase was written. It warned other unsuspecting victims

One day, a person named Noa ran across this stone.

"Oh no!" Noa mused. "What will I do?"

So, point of this post is a warning.

That is not a challenge. It is a simple statement.

Semi-ish-scary Noa out.

Prologue [Inside the Beast's Castle]

Or that's what he had been told, anyway.

"Your Highness, please reconsider. My--the subjects in my kingdom will certainly

The king froze. To tell or not to tell, that is the question.

The king gulped.

The king nodded, ready to flee.

Chapter 1--Red [Inside the Beast's Castle]

Why is everything red?

Dark red. A crimson bloodstain splattered across mahogany floor.

The red turns darker. It's no longer red.

It is deep brown locks of hair, spread out around a ball.

No. The "ball" is a head.

But the head isn't a head anymore.

The head is a ball.

It's a small, black ball, no bigger than a little finger.

Hurling towards my face.

A smooth, deep voice. It's familiar. Comforting.

"Zara, it'll only be one yea--"

And it is silenced forever by the stray black ball.

Apparently, my knees were "comfort."

That single year had morphed into a letter.

No good things come from letters.

In my case, it meant that my brother was gone.

But that was something that he wasn't going to do again.

So, strong I was.

How weird is it that one thing can hold so many memories?

The click of a knife entering its sheath.

A slick string touched my fingers as I dug through my pockets again. I pulled it

I dreaded the fact that I even wanted to look.

Get really good feelings from that, right?

I didn't even know if that love still existed.

Let's go face the beast.

They were gone.

Everything I was saying came out before I could think.

Next thing I knew I was on the floor, my cheek stinging.

Did he just hit me?

"Poka, Baupa," I whispered, not even knowing if he heard me.

He doesn't care, Zara. Just leave.

This chapter is dedicated to KelseyCheney, who catches my horrible fat-fingered

Please don't forget to comment and vote. I love hearing feedback!

Pronuciation: Zara= Zahr (rhymes with car) - uh. Zahr-uh.

Chapter 2--Vadik [Inside the Beast's Castle]

"That's all you do! Ever since Mom di--"

theme music starts

record needle screech