Chapter Twelve
Rayven sighed as he watched
Beauty in the gardens; she sat on a white marble bench with her legs tucked
beneath her, reading a poetry book that he had found for her the day
prior. A wealth of summertime daisies
danced around her as a playful breeze drifted through, tossing strands of
auburn hair about her face gently. The
warm sunlight of the late afternoon warmed her, flushing her cheeks a fetching
pink. The mint-green gown she wore set
off her color admirably and contrasted softly with the white flowers and dark
foliage.
His heart
panged sharply as her light laughter washed over him, an amusing lyric of some
ancient poem catching her fancy. She
was so young and beautiful, so full of light… such a contrast to his dark form
and moods. He didn’t deserve her, never
had… even as a young lord with lands and a castle to his credit, he had never
wanted to settle down but preferred to flit from girl to girl. He made no promises and never dreamed he would
want to be with one woman and one only.
But now…
She
didn’t belong in his world of black corridors and breaking hearts… she belonged
with her family in the real world. He
had thought out such things ever since their night together in his rooms almost
a week ago. She had spent every night
since, laying in his arms, although he had not allowed himself the luxury of
taking her again. He was content to
capture his rest with her delicate frame in his embrace.
She’d
never said as much, but he knew she must miss her family terribly… every so
often he would catch a hint of unguarded sadness in her eyes. He knew she must wonder at what was
happening in their lives without her and had kept an eye on them just in case
any crises arose that she should know about.
Now…
one had.
He
had sought a vision that morning, hoping to find Henry, Alice, and Elizabeth
Whittbourne all well and good. However,
Henry, Beauty’s beloved father, had taken ill… some strain of the flu to
Rayven’s figuring. The two remaining sisters
were desperately trying to help him… but neither knew herbs well enough and the
closest doctor was a three day journey away.
Both kept repeating that Beauty would know what to do… Beauty would fix
everything… if only Beauty were there…
Rayven
sighed again, the hollow pain in his chest increasing. Her father needed her… he would die without
treatment. He had to send his heart and
soul back to where he had taken her from.
He had never deserved her and now her family needed her.
Besides,
he was no longer a nobleman with title, lands, and wealth to offer her… only a
beast who could only offer dark imprisonment and his unworthy love. She belonged in the world of men… where he
could not follow.
@>----,------‘----------------,--------
Beauty
looked up as Rayven approached on silent feet, her breath catching in her
throat. Lord, he was so powerful and
muscular, so beautiful. The sunlight
gleamed off of his fur, highlighting it a bright white on contact. He had forgone the heavy tunic he normally
donned in favor of a light shirt of ivory silk along with the black hose and
boots he always wore.
He
bowed at the waist, taking her hand in his and raising it to his mouth for a
brief but fervent kiss. “Good
afternoon, my Beauty.”
“Afternoon
already? Goodness, I’ve been out here
since this morning! No wonder my legs
ache.” She laughed at herself, slipping her legs to a more proper position as
Rayven sat uneasily next to her.
Under
normal circumstances, he would have laughed along with her or teased her about
her habit of losing track of the time, but today he merely nodded and stared at
the tiled walkway intensely.
“Rayven,
love… is something bothering you?” she asked, covering his shoulder with a
concerned hand.
“I’m
afraid there is, my love.” He nodded, finally looking at her. Beauty could see the worry in his emerald
green eyes and her heart skipped a beat… what was he going to tell her?
“What
is it?” she prodded.
“It’s
your family.”
“My
family? How can you know anything about
my family?”
“It’s
one advantage to my enchantment… I have some minimal abilities with magic. I can see your family occasionally… to make
certain that they’re doing well. I saw
them earlier this morning and…” he paused, swallowing hard against the lump in
his throat.
“And?”
Beauty asked, clutching his sleeve, alarmed by the pain relevant in his eyes
and the catch in his voice.
“Your
father… he’s very sick… and your sisters don’t know what to do. They need you Beauty. I fear your father may die if you don’t go
home and take care of him.” He finally admitted, never lifting his eyes from
the seat of the bench.
“You
mean… I can go home? For a visit?” she
asked, uncertain as to Rayven’s exact meaning.
“No…
not for a visit, my love.
Permanently. I had no right to
order you here and I want to… set things right, I suppose.” He explained.
“But,
Rayven, I love you! I don’t want to
leave you here!” she protested. “I’ll
go and I’ll take care of father… then I’ll come back to you.”
“Beauty,
please… you belong with them… I belong here, alone with my fate.” He shook his
head.
“But
the spell! You said that you need me to
break it!” she insisted.
“I
do need you to break it… but that’s not important now… getting you home to care
for your father is. If you leave now,
you can make it there before nightfall… Apple knows the way by now I should
think.” Rayven calmed her with a hug.
On
cue, several raccoons led the huge stallion towards Beauty, his saddlebags
heavy with what she assumed were her belongings. Too shocked to say anything, Beauty let Rayven pick her up and
deposit her on the saddle, his embrace tender.
“Rayven…
I-I don’t know what to say.” She whimpered, frightened suddenly by the prospect
of leaving his loving arms.
“Don’t
say anything then.” He replied concisely, gripping her hand tight within his
and slipping something within. “Take
this with you.”
Beauty
opened her hand to find one of the yellow roses resting innocently against her
fingers, which were now trembling.
“Rayven!”
“Hush…
it’s only one day… what’s one day to me now?
Besides there’s no use scolding me for it now.” Rayven sighed.
“What
sort of talk is this? I love you and I
will break this spell no matter what happens.” Beauty declared, leaning over to
embrace Rayven around his neck.
“What
will be, will be, my love. Go now… each
second you delay, your father slips further into sickness.” He urged, patting
Apple on the rump to send the horse into a canter.
“I
love you, Rayven! I’ll come back as
soon as father is well!” Beauty called over her shoulder as the gates opened,
letting her into the forest.
Rayven
watched with tears gathering in his eyes as the dying sunlight glinted orange
off of her hair before disappearing from sight.
“No…
you will not, my love.” He whispered, his heart tearing into dozens of pieces,
each one forming the words of the spell he knew he must cast.
Beauty Whittbourne, hear this rhyme
Hear my voice this one last time
Forget what happened, the beast from
a cave
Forget it all, not ‘til the grave
There was no castle, no servants, no
rose
Live on your life, however it goes
There, it was
done. Beauty would remember nothing of
the past months she had spent in the enchanted castle. She would forget all about Shannon and
Matty, their scene from Romeo and Juliet,
the recent nights she’d spent in his bed with nothing but love between
them. If she remembered anything, it
would seem as nothing more than a vague dream, like one remembers a nightmare
from childhood. Her family might wonder
at her amnesia at first, but they would be too happy at her return to press at
it. They would think only that she
preferred not to remember it, if they chose to wonder at it at all.
Tears finally
fell as the sun filled the sky with its last red fires of the day, falling
gently over the smooth, fur-covered cheek and dropped to the ground.
“Goodbye,
Beauty… I will love you to my last breath…” he spoke aloud, unable to remain
silent with his grief.