by Susan Kohler
“M’lord, although I always prefer to have you at my side, you would be truly astonished at how interesting my night was without you,” Beauty grinned happily.
She was already waiting for him dressed in a soft shift as she sat on the edge of the great bed. The Beast began to remove his clothes. A bath was waiting for him.
“How so?” The Beast was curious.
“Well, it seems that love is in the air,” Beauty smiled as she watched him undress. “I saw no less than three couples in the throes of an embrace.”
“Three couples? Who were they?” The Beast was not really interested in women’s gossip but he knew well the consequences of ignoring something Beauty had on her mind.
“I’ll tell you all about it later. Right now I’m too curious. What was the final message from the King?” Beauty asked inquisitively as she readied herself for bed, brushing her long hair. “Sir Richard made it sound very important.”
“‘Twas nothing much,” the Beast replied off-handed. “The King said he will come visit next summer if he can. Oh, and he requests that I marry soon and produce an heir. He even sent a list of acceptable women for me to consider.”
“Marry?” Beauty’s heart felt like a stone in her chest; she dropped the brush and turned to him in alarm. “At his request?”
“Yea. Mayhap it’s time. I’ve sent for the priest but he won’t be able to get here for at least a fortnight. That gives me time to find a lady from the King’s list and ask her.” The Beast pretended to read the list again, frowning over the names listed there.
“List?” Beauty fought to keep the tears from her eyes. “The King sent you a list of women to marry? What about the things you said today in the forest?”
“I said I would follow the King’s orders and that I would try to get his approval for us to marry. I didn’t know he had already made a list of maidens for me to consider. There is one he recommends above the others,” the Beast said. “She is young and pretty, according to the King. He speaks of her skills at managing the household and the lands. He even praises her handwriting, but I do not believe that. Real ladies are not educated in such things. She is also known to be skilled at healing and with horses. But there is a mystery.”
“How so?” Beauty managed to say, but she was stunned.
Could he be talking about her? No, it was impossible. Still, she had all the skills the King had listed, Beauty thought, and whether the Beast knew it or not, she was of nobility. Finally, she made her mind up to use all the weapons at her disposal to fight for this man, including her true birthright.
“She was the daughter to the old lord and she has disappeared,” the Beast continued speaking as though he didn’t know well the fevered workings of Beauty’s mind, “along with her family. I don’t know why there is no record of her name, except that the knight who led the invasion of this castle burned all the records and papers he could find, even the old knight’s family Bible. It makes no sense to me. To top it off, the old lord and his lady kept the children much to themselves until they were of an age. The villagers had rarely even seen the girl.”
The Beast looked her over with a gleam in his eye before he continued with just a bit too much nonchalance. “’Tis too bad we can’t pass you off as the girl but she was very well bred and known to be a very gently reared child and so is sure to be a refined and beautiful lady.”
His too carefully controlled voice gave him away.
“Oh you monster!” She launched herself at the Beast in a fury knocking him back onto the bed, pummelling and slapping him.
Laughing, he caught her easily and rolled her over onto her belly. Still laughing, he spanked her with vigour in spite of her squirming and struggling. When her bottom was warm and glowing pink all over, he stopped. Still holding her face down, he gently kissed, nipped and stroked her pink bottom. Then he rolled her over and entered her in a smooth motion, moving ever so slowly within her as his hands explored her soft body. His thumbs brushed her breasts, teasing and hardening her nipples. Gradually he built up the speed and intensity of his thrusts. She was with him at every thrust, matching him perfectly.
When she felt about ready to spin off the edge of the world, soaring off into space, he slowed down. Again and again they built towards a peak, only to have the Beast slow things down, prolonging their pleasure until it was almost unbearable. Finally, both exhausted and dripping with sweat from their exertions, they reached their peaks together. They cuddled without words for a long time, basking in the afterglow of a truly memorable climax.
Eventually, when their breathing returned to normal, they had to talk.
“Don’t ever think to keep a secret like that from me again,” he growled with mock ferocity.
“Nay, M’lord,” Beauty replied with feigned meekness. “How long have you known, M’lord?”
“Almost from the first, Beauty.” The Beast stroked her hair. “You are much too refined and educated to be a serf. You are everything the nobility is supposed to be but seldom truly is.”
The Beast raised himself up on one shoulder and looked at her with all his love and respect for her shining in his eyes.
In a voice almost choked with emotion, he asked her softly, “Will you marry me, Milady?”
“Just to please the King?” she asked, eyes wide, covering her emotion with a glib rejoinder.
“The devil take the King,” the Beast snorted, “to please me. I love you, Beauty.”
“I must admit, I love you too, M’lord Beast,” Beauty replied.
“So will you marry me?”
“Yes, M’lord Beast. I’ve wanted to marry you for a long time,” Beauty replied, almost whispering, as this moment was far too important for loud words. “In truth, I’ve felt married to you for a long time.”
“As have I. Beauty, I once told you I would have to marry a woman with noble blood and a dowry. Why didn’t you tell me you were the daughter of the old lord?” the Beast questioned. “At least you had the title.”
“I had my pride too. As you do,” Beauty pointed out. “I wanted to marry someone who wanted me without a care as to my birthright or dowry.”
“Do you think I care a whit about your title?” The Beast kissed her soundly. “Or that I care that you have no dowry? I love you, Beauty.”
“But I do have a dowry, M’lord.” She got out of bed and went into a corner of the room.
Pressing a small, hidden latch in the wooden floor, she revealed a secret hiding place just big enough to hold a small leather bag. She pulled out the bag and took it to him.
“My dowry, M’lord.” She poured the contents of the pouch onto the table beside the bed.
There was a collection of fine jewels, necklaces, bracelets and earrings with set precious stones. There was also a vast quantity of loose gems, along with an old document that proved to be the title to another castle. The deed had been her mother’s dowry.
“So you will marry me?” The Beast was unconcerned with the small fortune in gems.
“In a fortnight, you said?” Beauty asked, joining him once again on the bed.
“Yea, or sooner if we can arrange it. Mayhap Sir Richard has a priest with his retainers, but I cannot fathom any reason why he would. Is there any problem? Would that be too soon for you to make your preparations?” The Beast wanted an answer.
“Nay, a fortnight is good,” Beauty smiled, pulling him closer. “Any longer and the baby would be showing.”
The Beast was momentarily stunned, stuck both motionless and speechless. Before too long he recovered enough to move, then hugged Beauty in a joy that seemed too great for mere words. She knew she would carry the memory of the rapture in his face at that moment in her heart for the rest of her life.
The Beast held her with a tenderness she could scarcely believe before kissing her with so much reverence that it was almost as if he were worshipping her. It was an intimacy too precious for lovemaking, although joyous lovemaking would certainly follow, and soon. This was a time for sh
aring their emotions with heart and soul, and not with the voice or even the body.
The silent celebration continued for a long time before they did turn into gentle, sweet lovemaking. Even the gentle loving slowly turned into something else: a fierce need, a passion that threatened to consume them both. When they climaxed, they were both out of breath, speechless. It took a long time but eventually the Beast recovered his composure enough to speak.
“Baby? Was that another secret?” the Beast growled with mock severity. “Do I have to spank you yet again?”
“Anything M’lord wishes,” Beauty mumbled even as she drifted off to sleep, “as long as he thinks he has the energy for making up afterwards.”
“Maybe in the morning.” The Beast’s own exhaustion hit him and he cradled her in his arms as he, too, fell into a deep, contented slumber.
Chapter Thirteen
The next day, while the servants started making all the preparations for the guards’ contests and the tournament, Beauty and the Beast, along with Sir Richard, Nate and Claire visited the peasants’ fair.
Beauty was dressed in a soft blue dress, simply adorned with white lace and a golden girdle circling her hips. Claire wore a soft pink dress that was also simple and showed her youth to her advantage. All three men wore dark woollen hose, white shirts and brightly coloured tunics. The group was well dressed and they were all strikingly attractive, but there was nothing so ornate or fancy about their dress that it would make the peasants feel awkward or ill at ease. They wanted to enjoy themselves amongst the serfs and have fun at the fair.
They stood as a group among the crowd of villagers as they watched the jugglers and acrobats perform, and they ignored the stares of the villagers as they listened to strolling musicians. They even bought some of the peasants’ food, meat and vegetable pies, crisp red apples and fresh, cold milk. They sat at a long table and ate as they happily watched the happenings all around them.
When they saw a peasant woman with several children tagging along with her looking for a place to sit and feed her children, Beauty called out.
“Come, sit here, there’s plenty of room at our table,” she invited.
The woman was stunned and very pleased but too far shy and afraid to accept the invitation. “I wouldn’t want to bother your lordships. My children can be very energetic.”
“There’s no bother,” Beauty smiled, “please, sit with us.”
“Of course, you and your children are welcome to sit with us,” the Beast said with a welcoming smile. “’Twould make Beauty very happy for she loves children very much.”
Shortly after that, Sir Richard disappeared along with Nate and Claire, leaving Beauty and the Beast to wander around the fair alone. Strolling hand in hand they stopped to watch a puppet show. The puppets depicted a ferocious warrior and a beautiful woman. He kissed her soundly. By the end of the skit, she was bossing him around shamelessly. Beauty wondered a bit at the Beast’s reaction to the story when all of a sudden, he laughed so hard he almost fell off the bench. Relieved, she joined him in his laughter. They were still laughing at the antics of the puppets when suddenly a small boy, maybe six years of age, who was running around without looking where he was going because he was overly excited by the colourful sights and sounds, ran into the Beast’s hard legs. The boy ran into the Beast hard enough to cause the lad to fall to the ground. The poor lad landed with a thud on his little behind then sat there and cried aloud until the mighty warrior bent down and gingerly helped him to his feet.
“Are you all right, my lad?” the Beast asked gently.
“I’m fine, M’lord,” the boy sniffled, but tried to be brave as he looked up in awe and a little fear at the lord.
“You’re a brave lad,” the Beast told the boy.
The boy’s mother, a young, fresh-faced village lass hurried over to gather up her young son. “I’m most sorry if my boy is disturbing your lordship.” She curtsied quickly, horrified at the sight of the Beast holding her son. “It won’t happen again, M’lord.”
“Tis naught. He just fell down. He’s not disturbing me at all,” the Beast smiled at the nervous young woman. “He’s a very brave lad, isn’t he?”
“Thank you, M’lord.” The young woman smiled back at the Beast, pleased at his compliment and dazzled by his smile.
“He’s a very good looking little fellow too,” Beauty added, meeting the woman’s eyes.
“Thank you, M’lord, Milady.” The young mother, pleased and flustered, quickly hustled her son off.
Beauty smiled at the Beast, a secret woman’s smile, and whispered, “It won’t be such a bad thing, will it, to have a son of our own?”
“I want several sons and some daughters too,” the Beast whispered back. “Most of all I want pretty little girls who look just like you, but without your temper of course.”
“My temper, indeed!” Beauty fumed. “I’m not the one with a temper so ferocious that legends have sprung from it.”
“Nay, lass, you are the one whose temper is too furious even for legends,” he shot back.
He laughed and ducked as she cuffed him on the arm. Grabbing her hand, they stood to the side and watched some of the peasants’ games. Soon Sir Richard joined them again, but Nate and Claire were nowhere to be found.
The trio cheered and bet with each other about a foot race. Then they did the same during the contest to see who could jump the highest. They laughed aloud as several peasant boys tried to catch a greased piglet. Soon they noticed that Nate was one of the pig chasers. When the tug o’ war began they cheered openly for both sides.
The tug o’ war turned out to be one of the highlights of the day. Every time one side seemed to have an advantage, one of the soldiers or guards would grab the rope for the other side, thereby evening the odds. Soon it seemed as if all the Beast’s guards were on one side, and all of Sir Richard’s men were on the other. At the end, the Beast and Sir Richard joined their men on the ropes to the delight and surprise of the villagers.
The contest was lost however, when one of Sir Richard’s guards lost his concentration for a moment. The unfortunate guard’s attention wandered from the rope he was pulling on to the peasant girl pulling right next to him. It seemed that in the girl’s exertions, her shift had slipped and her full breasts were in eminent danger of popping right out of the plunging neckline of her dress. The young guard, upon noticing this, was so distracted that he suddenly let go of the rope altogether. His side lost the contest but he was seen later strolling with the young maiden, holding hands and laughing.
Surprisingly, the Beast didn’t seem to see the day as a waste of his time. As he sat in some deep grass under a shady tree, he finally realized that these were his people to live with and to rule and protect, and that it was important for them to have small fairs and celebrations. The most important thing that happened all day was that he and his lady mingled freely with the villagers. For the first time he met some of them person to person. He encouraged several of the serfs to sit with him.
Soon he was surrounded by a small group of his villagers. They spoke of their daily lives as he listened and learned. Beauty was very proud of him and very happy to see the proof of the changes in him. Her heart swelled with her love for him.
The Beast noticed how many of the women had babes in their arms and small children at their sides. He truly enjoyed watching the small children running about and playing with each other. It seemed strange that he had never taken note of babes and small children before.
The chance to talk to the Beast was just as important for the peasants as it was for him. For once, the Beast was finally seen as a real man, not just some mythical figure from the castle on the hill.
As the evening approached, Beauty and the Beast joined the peasants in some simple country folk dances. These were not the courtly dances which the Beast personally thought were boring. These dances were lively jigs, dances that could leave a body breathless and thirsty. The Beast sent some men to the castle to fetc
h and open a barrel of ale for everyone. The peasants were shocked by his actions but also very pleased.
Beauty loved every minute of the day, every minute of seeing the Beast relaxing, enjoying himself and at one with the people he ruled.
That night over a simple dinner of crusty bread and roasted chicken, Beauty and the Beast laughed about the day they’d had, mingling with the serfs and enjoying the fair. Sir Richard told them about a lass he’d spent the afternoon talking to.
“Just talking?” the Beast teased.
“Well, maybe there was a little more than simple talking going on,” Sir Richard said smiling. “But of course, as a knight, I’m far too polite and dignified to say anything more.”
“Sure you are,” the Beast laughed.
Beauty said nothing but smiled as she ate her chicken.
“Claire and I had fun at the fair,” Nate said.
“We saw you trying to catch the greased piglet,” Beauty told him. “What else did you do?”
“We ate lots of food, saw some puppets and I ran in the race against other boys my age,” Nate said.
“I just sat on the sidelines and watched Nate,” Claire said. “There were too many people milling around, but I enjoyed my day very much.”
“That settles it then, we’ll have to make it an annual fair.” The Beast smiled at the girl who smiled back.
“And the games tomorrow, between us, will you make those an annual event also?” Sir Richard jested. “I’ll be glad to come back once a year to beat you in the joust.”
“Mayhap you will win,” the Beast said calmly, “once in every five years or so.”
“This may be my year then,” Sir Richard laughed. “I’ll beat you and my guards will win their games, beating yours. Bet on it.”
“All right, name your stakes,” the Beast replied.
The two men dickered long and hard over the wagers and the odds before they finally came to an agreement. The final wager was for a new armour, sword and shield for the Beast if he were to win; or a pair of young warhorses for Sir Richard if he were the one to emerge victorious.