by T F Carthick
She spoke in quiet voice, pausing between every word, “My father sent me here.”
“Your father? Who is your father?”
Just as I had thought. He had completely forgotten about the old man. She told him about her father and reminded him of the promise that had been made to him.
“Oh, that promise? I did not know the most precious thing in his life would be a person…look, I am so sorry…I had no intention to make him send you to me. I apologize for the inconvenience. You must return home at once—whoever has heard of holding someone’s daughter in captivity in exchange for a mere bunch of roses, eh?”
“No, sir. A promise is a promise and I must keep my father’s word.”
I had played my cards well. I could see her charm working on him already and him starting to yield.
“I don’t think it is necessary for you to stay with me. But if you want to, feel free to stay on. You can use the bedroom upstairs, have the run of the full house…including the library next to the hall as long as you stay here…do you read?”
“I love to read,” she said, her eyes brightening for the first time since I had seen her.
“That’s good, then. I have enough books in my collection to keep you occupied. Just keep out of my way,” he added as an afterthought.
I found the injunction all too familiar. I too had said the same to him when he had arrived at my doorstep. But did it stop me from developing feelings for him?
A few days passed. Mostly, he kept out of her sight. She made good use of her time, spending the entire day in the library poring over books on various topics. He would often watch her from hiding. I could see that he had started feeling the attraction. But that was not enough. Nothing would move from here unless they spoke to each other. And knowing him, I was sure he wouldn’t make the first move. And I doubted she would too unless I intervened.
So, one day, when the girl was in the garden I approached her. “I am your neighbor. I have been seeing you around for the past few weeks. Have you newly taken residence at this house?”
“Yes. I have come to stay with the master of this house.”
I noticed she didn’t say “Beast”. A diplomatic one, she was. I hoped it was only diplomacy and nothing more. Last thing I wanted was her falling for him.
“He and I go a long way back. Poor fellow has been lonely for so many years with not a soul to talk to. I am sure your presence would bring joy to him.”
“Hmm…I don’t know. I hardly ever talk to him.”
“Why, my dear? Don’t you like him?”
“No. Nothing of that sort. I just felt he would like to be left alone.”
“No. No. Not at all. He is probably craving for human company, you know? You must seek him out and talk to him. He would be so delighted if you were but to say a kind word to him.”
“You say you are his friend and stay in the neighborhood. Don’t you visit him?”
The girl was smart. I wondered again how that senile fool had a daughter like her.
“I would love to. But we had a small misunderstanding in the past and are not on talking terms anymore. But I still wish him well. If I could have, I would have loved to brighten his life with my company. But since I can’t, I ask that you, who share this castle with him, offer him your society and bring him out of his shell. It is not good for him to languish in solitude.”
Taking my advice, the next day, she was at the door of his room. She knocked gently.
He opened and looked surprised to see her.
“Did you want something, my dear?”
“I was going to have dinner. I was wondering if you would join me.”
Tact. The girl had tact.
“Well…I mean…I thought…my appearance may scare you and ruin your appetite.”
“Not at all, Sir. I must admit I initially found your appearance startling, but I am sure I can get used to it. I would be…delighted if you join me for dinner.”
Thus, they started having dinner together. And of course, dinner meant conversations. Thankfully the girl had been reading widely and had a sharp mind that could engage him in intelligent conversation. They sat and spoke for hours every day. My plan was finally working. He would soon fall in love. But I felt apprehensive at times when I saw how attentive she was to him and took in every word he said. I hoped the girl would not fall in love with the beast as well. Now that would be a complication.
I watched over them closely for the next few weeks. I was sure he had fallen head over heels in love with her. That wretch! Why could he not have loved me this way? If he had, neither of us would have had to go through all this. But, no, that was not to be. I know I was the one who made this happen. It still hurt to know he is capable of such love, and I was not fated to be the recipient. How much better it would have been to have continued to believe he was just not capable of loving anyone, not just me! Served me right for interfering with his solitary life, perhaps? Anyway, there was no point brooding over all this. I meant to make him pay dearly for the hurt he has caused me. And he would—so far, everything had gone exactly as per my plan. And the rest of it would too—unless the girl too ended up falling in love with him. Was that possible? If that happened, my entire plan would go for a toss. Was she reciprocating his love? I could not tell for sure. She was a difficult one to read—she was polite and respectful to him, yes, but he had been the same way with me too, and he had not loved me. I hoped it was the same with her too; I would like nothing more than a repetition of the events at my home with him at the receiving end. That would give him his just desserts for daring to reject me.
I wondered how things would proceed from here. With me and him, things had come to a head when he felt he had learnt enough magic. How would things shape up here? It was possible they would just go on and on discussing books on all kinds of obscure topics and never get anywhere beyond there.
Unless…I did something. Phew! How much effort I had to put in at every stage! I have probably not worked this hard even at my magic. Why must I do everything all the time? What I have been reduced to! From magic woman to match-maker woman. And match-breaker woman. The things we do for love!
I once again approached her when she was in the garden. She rushed joyfully to welcome me. “Your advice was indeed great. He indeed had been lonely and glum. And once I got to know him, I realized he is such a dear.”
Hmm. ‘Dear’? I didn’t like the sound of that. Maybe I was reading too much into it. But either way, the time was ripe to move to the next stage of my plan.
“Nice to know…I am so glad. By the way, how is your family doing? They must be missing you.”
“They are quite well. We write to each other every week. They are dying to see me. But I can’t leave him and go, can I?”
Ah! Just what I wanted to hear. It would be easy from here.
“Why can’t you? I am sure he will let you go and see your family for a week or two and return.”
“I know. It is not at all like father said. I’m sure he won’t hurt a hair on my head or my family’s even if I do leave him for good. He’s such a gentle person. I have no fears on that front. Only I feel he will miss me terribly. And I don’t want to cause him any distress—I seem to be all the company he has in the world.”
Now what was this? Did she care for him so much? Could it be...no. I could not get distracted. I had to proceed with my plan.
“But you can write to him when you are at your father’s home. And it is only a couple of weeks. Surely, he can manage without you for such a short duration.”
Thankfully, she did not remonstrate. This was such a struggle at each and every step.
She once again took my counsel and approached him for the permission to visit her father; he was only too glad to comply with her wishes.
“I will write to you every day,” she said as she got into a carriage.
“That won’t be necessary,” he said. “We can do better than that. Take this mirror with you. It is a magical one. Whenever you
think of me, I will appear on it and we can talk to each other.”
What the hell! Where did this damn mirror come from all of a sudden? That did not suit my plans at all. I couldn’t have them talking to each other daily. That would be as good as her staying with him. Once again, I needed to act—I had played the daughter for some time now. It was time to finger the father. I shot off a letter to the greedy old fellow.
“Dear Sir,” I wrote. “I am sure you remember me. I spoke with you when you had visited the beast’s mansion. I have good news to share with you. Your daughter’s presence has considerably softened the beast and he is no longer a threat to you. He has even allowed your daughter to visit you. However, he has asked her to return in two weeks. It is up to you to prevent her from returning. Retain her at home if you do not want her life to be ruined. Do you want your favorite daughter to remain a beast’s chattel all her life due to your fault? You are the only one who can rescue her from such a terrible fate. Also, one more thing—she will be bringing a mirror with her. It is a magical one given to her by the beast to control her. To free her from its nefarious influence, you must take it away from her and hide it. Don’t destroy it. Magical artifacts are dangerous and unpredictable; one never knows what can happen if you destroy one. So, don’t risk that. Just hide it somewhere where she can’t find it.”
Things so far had worked exactly as per plan. All that remained was to watch him suffer.
With every passing day he grew more and more distressed and vexed at the lack of communication from her. He kept peering into his mirror all the time, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. But she never appeared on the mirror. My letter had done its work. As the days passed by, I could see he was growing gloomier and gloomier.
Then one day, I noticed a letter lying at his doorstep. I had been watching for this. I quickly rushed to his door and retrieved it. It was indeed from her as I had expected. Over the next couple of weeks, I recovered at least three more of those pesky things. That girl was damn persistent. But I managed to prevent every one of them from falling into his hands. I wondered if the girl’s family would be able to hold her back at the end of two weeks. So, when the two weeks ended, two of us were looking towards the road with anticipation—he and I, both for different reasons. We watched from the time first rays of the sun lit up the streets till night swallowed away all of it. No one had come. I had won. He had lost her. He would now suffer. He would now know how I had felt at his rejection.
As the days passed, he started becoming listless. He started neglecting meals. He walked around the garden staring into the vacuum all the time. Soon, his mental distress began to tell on him physically as well. He was beginning to sicken. His state was growing so terrible that I was moved to pity. I had never intended to cause him to suffer this much. Had I gone too far? What was I to do now?
Day by day, his health was deteriorating more and more, and I began to seriously fear for his very life. This had not been part of my plan at all—I did not want him to die. What was I to do? I couldn’t write any more to that girl’s father—or to the girl—without contradicting myself. They would not believe me if I did. There was no way I could secure their help. I had dug myself into this situation.
I thought of going over to his house and tending to him myself, but that wouldn’t help. His malady was not that of the body; it was of the heart. Only she had the balm that would soothe his heart. I almost made up my mind to go over to her place and make a clean breast of it all when one day, I was relieved to see a carriage come down the road. It was indeed she.
As soon as the carriage stopped at the door, she ran into the house. I followed after her in the shadows. She rushed inside the house and soon came out looking agitated.
“Where is he gone?” she cried.
I too wondered the same. Then she stepped into the garden and began to look. There she found him. Under his favorite rose bushes. He lay there motionless as if dead. She sat down next to him and took his head into her lap.
“Oh, my poor Sir. Only yesterday I found the mirror you had given me. I saw you in this pitiful state and came rushing to see you at once.”
He did not answer. Was he dead? No. I could still sense life stirring within him.
“I am really sorry for delaying my return but every time I wanted to leave, my father and sisters found some reason or the other to make me extend my stay. I always thought it was only a matter of few days, but it had dragged on and on. And before I realized, it was two months. I am so sorry to have caused you so much distress, dear Sir.”
She planted a kiss on his forehead, tears streaming down her eyes.
The moment her lips touched his forehead, he began to transform—the horns were the first to go. Then the bear body. It began to lose the bulk and roughness and take on a sleek human form. The lion head was the last to go—the ferocious facial features began to take on a benign aspect till at last it was the handsome head of a man—my Prince! In front of her lay a handsome but weak-looking young man. The curse had been broken.
He opened his eyes slowly. “Is it really you? Have you really come back?”
“Of course, it’s me. What happened just now? How did you become a human?”
“That is a long story. But I am so glad you are back. Come. Let us go inside.”
He took rest and under her care he recovered over the next few days. Over those days, he told her his story bit by bit.
Then one day, when he was fully recovered, she entered his room and sat down in front of him. “I have something important to tell you.”
“Yes, my dear. He looked at her keenly.” Even I was curious what she was going to say. I was happy he had been saved and somehow, I no longer had any desire for revenge. He had suffered enough.
“I know you love me with all your heart and would do anything to have me as wife. And I know my life would be pleasant with you. You are a Prince. You are handsome. You are kind and loving. Everything a woman would ask for. But I realized one thing. I respect you and see you as one of my best friends, but I don’t love you. Not the way a wife loves a husband. I have always had great regard for you. Even when you were in the beast’s form, I really looked forward to our conversations. I was so ignorant, and you were so knowledgeable I looked to you as a mentor who would help me advance my knowledge. But I never saw you in any other way. Now that you have a human form, things can’t just change, can it? In fact, if it did, that would make our relationship so shallow. You know what I mean, right?”
It was happening to him exactly the way it had with me. But seeing this happen no longer gave me the happiness I thought it would.
He looked shocked. “But I thought you loved me. Why did you come back to me then? That too when I was still a grotesque beast?”
“I told you—I respect you and consider you my greatest friend. And I was sorry to see you in such a state. So, I had to come back to you. I could marry you too—out of pity or more out of desire for a good life now that you are a handsome Prince and don’t need my pity. But that would not be fair to either of us, would it?”
He looked at her keenly for few minutes, his eyes filled with sorrow. Then he closed his eyes and put his head into his hands and sat motionless for few minutes.
Then he opened his eyes. His face seemed to have taken on an angelic air. Once again, I felt love rise within my heart, seeing him like that.
“You are right. These things must happen naturally and cannot be forced. I fully understand and respect your candidness. You should return to your father’s home.”
“And you?”
Yes. That was the question on my mind too.
“Don’t worry about me. I won’t harm myself again. I don’t want to cause you any anguish. With my grotesque appearance gone, human society is once again open to me. I shall return to my father and resume my princely duties. I shall dedicate myself heart and soul to my work. Maybe one day I might find love once again, and this time it may be reciprocated for a change?”
It
seemed as if he was speaking for me as well. I felt so ashamed for all that I had done. I had wasted all my time on vengeance against a noble man like that. Love could not be forced. I could see that clearly now. I would return to my old home and once again plunge myself into the study of magic. I had had enough of human company.
Unlike him, I entertained no hopes of finding love ever again.
Magic would be the only love of my life.
The Jungle Tale
“The jungle is a cold, distant and dispassionate entity. It knows no mercy or compassion, nor has it any favorites. As far as the jungle is concerned, you are either the hunter or hunted. And it doesn’t matter which you are—if you want to survive, you must stay strong. The jungle is no place for the weak—anyone showing even the slightest sign of weakness will be ruthlessly culled. As far as strength goes, the greatest strength is the strength of numbers, in the power of packs and herds. Those that stay within their packs survive. Those that stray are claimed by the jungle.”
The elder’s instructions were still fresh in my mind. But to no avail. For I had committed the greatest sacrilege—I had strayed from my pack. I was all alone now, and smack in the middle of the jungle.
In the safety of the pack, all the warnings of the elders had seemed but bogey-wolves to scare the young and keep them in line. I never did take those old curmudgeons seriously.
“It is just a symptom of their growing senility,” I used to think. My free spirit rebelled against all constraints and my legs took me wherever my curiosity led. My earlier forays had been harmless—I had always managed to find my way back to the pack. With every successful adventure, my confidence had grown by leaps and bounds, and I had felt invulnerable. Until one day, I ventured on a longer excursion than usual and now here I was, stranded in a remote part of the jungle, hopelessly lost, with no one to call a friend.
“I suppose they were not just senile old curmudgeons after all,” I told myself. But it was too late to be thinking of that now, wasn’t it?