The Beast Within

by Serena Valentino

  “Never mind that,” she said to herself, and was surprised to see that the trail of petals led out of the hedge maze and away from the mysterious animals that made her feel foolish and into a lovely garden she hadn’t yet seen on her visits here.

  It was enclosed with a low semicircle wall, and within were lovely bright colored flowers. For a moment she thought she found herself stumbling upon springtide; it was such a remarkable sight, so bright and full of life in the middle of the wintery landscape. She couldn’t fathom how the flowers thrived in such bitter cold. Scattered among the flowers were beautiful statues, characters from legends and myths; she knew that much from listening in on her brother’s lessons with his tutors before Nanny would take her away to practice walking.

  Practice walking, indeed!

  No wonder men didn’t take women seriously; they had classes in walking while men learned ancient languages.

  The garden was stunning, and very much like a fairy tale, filled with the cold blue light of the winter afternoon. Nestled in the center of the enchanted garden, all pink and gold, was a stone bench, where her dearest was waiting for her, smiling with his hand outstretched.

  “It’s so beautiful, my love! How is this possible?”

  The Prince’s smile broadened.

  “I arranged flowers from the hothouse to be moved here so you may experience the joy of spring.”

  She sighed.

  “You’re amazing, my dearest! Thank you,” she said coyly as she lowered her eyes to the flowers in the snow.

  The Prince decided this was the moment—the moment when he would kiss her and break the curse.

  “May I kiss you, my love?”

  Tulip looked around as if expecting her mother or Nanny to jump out from the hedge maze or pop out from behind a statue, and then, deciding she didn’t care if they did, she kissed him! And then she kissed him again, and again.

  As they walked back to the castle, the Prince seemed happier and more at ease than she’d ever known him to be. It was all so unexpected—this day, his attentiveness, everything that had happened on this visit, really. She felt much better about their upcoming marriage. She had been so worried before, and now she could hardly recall why.

  “Did you hear that, Tulip?” The Prince’s mood shifted from gleeful to panicked.

  “Hear what, dear?”

  She hadn’t heard a thing aside from the birds singing in the nearby snow covered trees.

  “That noise—it sounded like an animal, like a growl.”

  Tulip laughed, making a joke of it.

  “Perhaps the hedge animals have come to life and they are going to eat us alive!”

  The Prince looked as though he’d taken her jest quite seriously. His eyes were darting about as he tried to find the location of the wild beast.

  “You don’t really think there is an animal in here with us, do you?”

  When she realized he was, in fact, serious, she became very frightened.

  “I don’t know, Tulip, stay right here. I’m going to check it out.”

  “No! Don’t leave me here alone! I don’t want to be eaten by whatever is prowling around in here!”

  The Prince was becoming very impatient.

  “You won’t if you stay here like I’ve told you. Now be quiet and please do let go of my hand!”

  He ripped his hand away from hers before she could comply with his request, and she stood there frozen in fear as he dashed off looking for wild beasts.

  She sat there fretting for some time before the Prince came back for her.

  “Oh my goodness!” she gasped.

  He was badly clawed across his forearm. Whatever had attacked him had clawed right through his jacket and left deep bloody wounds in his arm.

  “My love, you’re hurt!”

  The Prince looked stricken and angry.

  “Brilliant of you to have surmised that, my dear,” he moaned.

  “What happened? What attacked you?” she said, trying not to let his bad temper affect her.

  “Clearly some sort of wild beast with sharp claws.”

  She knew it was better to ask nothing more than to provoke him into further bitterness.

  “Let’s get you back to the castle so we can have that taken care of.”

  They walked back in silence. She felt like his attitude toward her had completely shifted again. She tried to put it out of her mind, but she couldn’t help feeling his anger was directed at her and not at the beast that had attacked him.

  She wanted to cry, but she knew that would just make him angrier, so she walked back to the castle saying nothing, hoping his temper would improve.

  Cogsworth did not greet them at the door as he normally did; instead it was Lumiere.

  “Where is Cogsworth? I need him to fetch the doctor!” the Prince barked.

  Lumiere looked worried, but not just for his master. It seemed as if something else was going on, something he dreaded telling the Prince.

  “Of course, my lord. I shall take care of it.”

  As he was walking away to have one of the porters send a message for the doctor, the Prince said, “And send me Cogsworth!”

  Lumiere stopped dead in his tracks and it took him quite a few moments before he turned around to respond.

  “Well, sir, you see, we don’t know where Cogsworth is.”

  “What on earth are you talking about, you don’t know where he is? He’s always here! Go and find him at once and tell him I need him! Never mind! I will ring for him myself.”

  He went to the mantel to pull the cord that summoned Cogsworth.

  “Excuse me, sir, but he’s not there. We’ve searched the entire estate and we cannot find him. We’re all very worried.”

  The Prince was going out of his mind with anger.

  “This is nonsense! Where on earth is the man? It’s not like him to shirk his duties!”

  “I know, sir, that is why we are all so worried. Mrs. Potts is in a heap of tears downstairs! She’s had Chip looking everywhere for him. Everyone has been looking, sir. Do you recall the last time you saw him?”

  He couldn’t.

  “Come to think of it, I have not seen him all day.”

  Tulip interjected, “This is very vexing, but I think we should call the doctor, don’t you? I’m worried about your arm, my love.”

  Lumiere was rattled out of his panic for his friend Cogsworth and switched his focus to his master.

  “Yes, sir, I’d better take care of that first thing, and then we will arrange another search for Cogsworth.”

  The entire household was in a panic. Cogsworth was nowhere to be found, and now it seemed Mrs. Potts was also missing. “But, Nanny, it doesn’t make sense! You were just having tea with her. Where in the world would she have gone off to?”

  Nanny’s eyes were red from crying.

  “I don’t know! I went to fetch us some more hot water for the tea. That Mrs. Potts is always bustling about, and I just wanted her to sit for a spell. You know that woman can’t just sit down to enjoy a nice cup of tea without getting this or that for one person or another. But wouldn’t you know it, once I returned with the water, she was gone! And the strangest thing, sitting there on the table was a pretty little teapot as round as can be!”

  Tulip was confused.

  “Nanny, you were having tea. I don’t understand why a pot upon the table would be so strange.”

  Nanny said, “Ah, but you see, I had the teapot we were using, didn’t I? To get the water. So why was there another just sitting on the table?”

  “That is strange, I suppose.”

  Nanny’s face crinkled up.

  “It’s more than strange, girl! Something is happening in this house! Something sinister! I felt it the first time we arrived and now it’s getting stronger!”

&nb
sp; Tulip wasn’t going to let Nanny get her worked up with her superstitious nonsense. She’d done it far too often in the past, and she wouldn’t allow herself to be swept away by it again. Not now.

  “Oh, I know what you’re thinking, girl! You think Nanny is an old foolish woman, but I’ve been on this earth much longer than most and I’ve seen things most people only dream of.”

  Tulip rolled her eyes, but Nanny went on.

  “I’m telling you, I think this place is cursed.” Both ladies looked up from their conversation when they heard Lumiere clearing his throat at the room’s threshold.

  “I just wanted you to know the doctor has left and the Prince is resting comfortably.”

  “Will he be okay?” Tulip asked, worried.

  “Oh yes, he will be fine. He’s recovering and exhausted, that’s all. I’m sure he will want to see you tomorrow,” he said, smiling in an attempt to lighten the mood.

  “Tomorrow? Not today?” Tulip wondered, but she smiled back at Lumiere. She couldn’t help it; there was something about him.

  “You needn’t fuss over us this evening for dinner,” she said. “You can just bring us something on a tray. We can eat in our rooms or perhaps next to the fire in the sitting room. I’m sure everyone is in a tizzy down there with Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth missing. I don’t want you worrying over us.”

  Nanny looked pleased with the job she had done raising Tulip; she sounded not only like a real queen but a very compassionate one at that. But the flirty little Frenchman wouldn’t hear of serving guests on trays in the sitting room or any other room aside from the dining hall.

  “Oh no! That will not do! If Mrs. Potts were here, she would blow her lid at the thought of you two eating off trays! And as for the menu this evening, never fear, we have something special planned for you!” He smiled another magical grin and said, “The dressing gong will be at six o’clock, dinner at eight o’clock. See you then!”

  Then he was gone, likely dashing his way downstairs to arrange dinner and supervise the search for the missing servants. Tulip looked at her nanny coyly. “You don’t think the two of them snuck off together? Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts? You don’t think they’re in love?”

  Nanny laughed. “I wish it were as simple as that, my girl, but no. Neither of them gave me the slightest notion there was something between them. No, I fear something dreadful has happened to them.”

  Tulip rolled her eyes again. “Stop with all the talk of curses, Nanny! I won’t have it!”

  Later that night, in the main dining hall, you wouldn’t have known two of the most important people on staff were missing. The room looked lovely, decorated with some of the hothouse flowers from Tulip’s surprise earlier in the day, and the candles were sparkling brightly in crystal votive bowls, casting an unearthly light. The two ladies were enjoying their dessert when the Prince stumbled into the room looking half crazed.

  “I’m happy you ladies are enjoying your meal while the entire household is falling into shambles around you!” He looked terribly worn, as though he’d aged several years from the ordeal. Nanny and Tulip just stared at him, at a complete loss.

  “Have you nothing to say for yourself, Tulip? Sitting there stuffing yourself while my childhood companions are suffering such a terrible fate?”

  Nanny spoke first.

  “Here now! I won’t have you speaking to her like that. She’s been worried sick over them and you. We both have!”

  His face turned into something inhuman, something wicked and cruel. Nanny feared the Prince was losing his mind.

  “Don’t look at me like that, old woman! I won’t have you casting evil looks at me! And you…!” He turned his anger on Tulip. “You lying strumpet, playing with my emotions, pretending you love me when clearly you do not!”

  Tulip gasped and melted into tears at once, hardly able to speak.

  “That’s not true! I do love you!” The Prince’s face was ashen, his eyes sunken and dark with illness, his anger growing with every word.

  “If you loved me, truly loved me, then none of this would be happening! Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth would be here! The animals in the maze wouldn’t have attacked me, and I wouldn’t look like this! Look at me! Every day I grow uglier, more wretched.”

  Nanny put her arm around Tulip, who was crying so hard she couldn’t breathe properly, let alone say anything in her defense. Though even if she had, he wouldn’t have heard her; his anger was growing completely out of control.

  “I can’t stand the sight of you! I want you out of my castle this moment! Don’t bother packing your things.”

  He rushed to the ladies, grasped Tulip by the hair, and pulled her toward the door, knocking over Nanny in the process.

  “I won’t have you in the castle another moment, do you understand? You disgust me!”

  Tulip was weeping harder than ever, screaming for the Prince to let her go so she could see to her nanny, when Gaston came into the room.

  “What on earth is going on here, man?”

  He wrenched Tulip from the Prince’s clutches and helped Nanny to her feet.

  “What are you playing at, sir? Are you deranged?” Then, turning his attention to the ladies, he said, “Go to your rooms, ladies, I will take care of this.”

  The ladies waited in their rooms with their bags hastily packed. They had no idea what to think of the entire matter. Clearly the Prince was suffering from some sort of fever from his wounds and exhaustion. They sat in silence until Lumiere came into the room. His face looked grieved.

  “Princess, I see you have packed your things. If you and Nanny could follow me, I will escort you to your carriage.” He could see the numerous questions written on Tulip’s face. “We think it’s best you go home to your mother and father. The Prince will write you when he is feeling, more…like himself again.”

  Nanny spoke. “Yes, I think that is best. Come now, child, all will be well. I promise.”

  And the ladies walked through the castle and into the courtyard to meet the carriage with as much dignity and composure as they could gather in light of their terrible ordeal.

  The princess never heard from the Prince again. The Prince had stopped raging on about spells and evil curses; he saw how they looked at him when he did. They thought he was mad. He couldn’t blame them. He often thought himself mad. He almost wished he were. He had taken to keeping withindoors since he had chased Tulip out of the castle. He never left his room, didn’t allow the servants to open the drapes, and lit only one candle in the evenings, saying the doctor advised it for his recovery. The only visitor allowed was Gaston.

  “You’re sure this is how you’d like to handle this, Prince?”

  The Prince did his level best not to slip into one of the fits of rage that seemed to seize him so easily these days.

  “I am quite sure, my friend. It’s the only way. You’re to ride out to Morningstar Castle to officially break off the engagement.”

  “And what of the marriage settlement? The king will be destitute without your promised arrangement.”

  The Prince smiled. “I’m sure he will. But that is what he deserves for flinging his stupid daughter at me! She never loved me, Gaston! Never! It was all lies! All a means to get to my money, for herself and her father’s kingdom!”

  Gaston saw he was getting worked up. He didn’t bother arguing that he thought Tulip actually did love him. He had tried convincing him of that in the first few weeks of his breakdown. But nothing Gaston said convinced him. Something must have happened that day in the hedge maze to make the Prince believe Tulip didn’t love him, and there was nothing anyone could say to convince him of the contrary. Whatever it was, Gaston had to trust that his friend was right. Tulip might have been playing him a fool all along. Frankly, Gaston didn’t think she was smart enough to play such a clever trick; he hadn’t marked her as a mercenary. He had thought he’d ch
osen so wisely when he originally made the match, and now he felt sorry for the trouble it had caused.

  “I will ride out this day, my good friend. You just rest.”

  The Prince smiled a wicked smile that distorted his face in the vague candlelight, casting villainous shadows. It almost made Gaston frightened of his friend.

  The Prince hadn’t left his rooms for months; he was held captive by his fear and anger, which were mounting by the day. The only servant he now saw was Lumiere, and he was rather oblique on matters of the household when the Prince inquired. He stood there holding a small gold candelabrum, making sure not to cast light on his master’s face, or his own, for fear of showing the pure terror he was trying to conceal while looking at the Prince’s form.

  The Prince looked ghastly, pale and worn. His eyes were like black pits and his features were becoming more animal than human. Lumiere hadn’t the heart to tell the Prince that everyone else in the castle had become enchanted after he broke Tulip’s heart. It became clear to Lumiere that the Prince did not see the servants as they saw themselves. Whatever he saw was horrifying. He kept going on about statues moving about the castle, casting their eyes in his direction when he wasn’t looking.

  Lumiere and the other servants saw nothing of the sort, and not a single person on staff wished the Prince harm. Lumiere knew it was only a matter of time before he, too, was transformed into some household object like the others, and then his master would be left alone with only the horrors that were conjured in his mind.

  Lumiere wished there was another way; he wished the Prince hadn’t taken this path, dragging the entire household along with him into darkness. How he missed the young man the Prince had once been, before cruelty overtook him and besmirched his heart.

  Mrs. Potts had reminded them with stories of what a promising young man he had once been, and Cogsworth still held faith the Prince would change his heart and break the curse; they all did. In the meantime, it was up to Lumiere to take care of him as long as he could.

  “Won’t you please go outside, Prince? You are withering withindoors. You need to see the sun and breathe fresh air!”