by Clare Smith
Some small bit of pride still lived inside her making her cringe at the thought of standing at the front door looking half drowned and begging for help. Instead she searched along the building’s side wall until she found a small, plain door. Giving a quick prayer to the goddess, she turned the handle and pushed and was hugely relieved when the door swung open.
Inside the building was warm and quiet as if everyone was asleep. The short hallway where she had entered was lit by a single candle in a wooden holder, which she picked up and carried with her. At the end of the hallway was another door, and when she opened it she found herself in a large kitchen with a hearth banked down for the night but, still giving out enough heat to make the room warm and to slowly cook the cauldron of oats suspended over the glowing embers.
She took a wooden bowl from a stack on the shelf and a spoon from the table and helped herself to the oats. They were barely cooked, but they were hot and tasty and, with a dollop of honey, it felt like it was the best food she had ever tasted. When she had eaten enough to take away her hunger pangs, she followed another corridor out of the kitchen and up some stairs until she came across a passageway with a row of doors. She pressed her ear to the first door listening for any sound, but when she heard nothing she pushed the door open and slipped inside.
It had been her hope that the room would be a sleeping chamber, but this one was some sort of sitting room. The remains of a fire burnt in the hearth, and a half empty flagon of wine and a used goblet stood on a table by a fireside chair. There were other chairs in the room and on one was a stack of rugs, like those ladies used to cover their legs when travelling in open carriages. Tarraquin poured the rest of the wine into the goblet and took two satisfying gulps before taking off her wet clothes and draping them over a chair to dry. She took two of the thick rugs and wrapped them around herself and then curled up in the armchair by the fire intending to stay there until her clothes were dry and the rain had ceased, but when the candle burnt out she was still there.
When she opened her eyes again the beast lay sprawled across the opposite fireside chair staring at her. Her immediate reaction was to run and get as far away from the savage creature as she could, but something in the way it looked at her, kept her where she was. She pulled the rug closer around her neck and tried to keep a waiver of fear out of her voice.
“What do you want, what are you doing here staring at me?”
The creature continued staring at her intently. “Grru, groord.”
“I don’t understand you.”
The beast tried again. “Grry grreat grrigv grru.”
She shook her head. “I still don’t understand you.”
The animal gave a snarl of frustration, leapt from the chair and reared up to its full height. Close up and without the bars to protect her the creature looked even more terrifying than it did before. She cringed as far back in the chair as she could go expecting it to attack her, but instead of attacking, it dropped its front limbs to the floor, bounded to the door and pushed it open by pressing on the door latch with a paw and throwing itself forward. Tarraquin waited for her heart to calm, took three deep breaths to steady herself and went to pull the rugs away from her body. At that moment the beast bounded back into the room followed closely by Captain Tangier who was still doing up the buttons of his uniform and panting slightly. He stopped in surprise when he saw her there.
“My Lady, what are you doing here?”
“I came to accept your master’s invitation to dine but by the time I arrived dinner was over.”
The captain gave an amused smile. “I’m sorry you missed dinner, it was roast grunter, and very good, but my master does invite you to breakfast if you would care to stay.”
Tarraquin looked at the beast and weighed up the consequences of refusing. “I would be pleased to accept your master’s invitation.”
“Good, if you would care to dress I will escort you to the dining room.”
“That is kind of you but would you both mind if I dressed alone? As much as I’m flattered by your interest, a woman does need some privacy.”
The captain smiled and the beast gave a small whine which she took to be some sort of laughter. When they had gone she unwound the rugs from around her and folded them, placing them back on the pile. She pulled on her boots which were reasonably dry and her dress and jacket, which were damp and clammy, and looked for a mirror. There wasn’t a mirror in the room, but it didn’t matter that much; there wasn’t a lot she could do about her appearance anyway. When she was as ready as she was going to be, she pushed open the door and found the captain waiting for her. In a strained silence he escorted her along several corridors until they reached the dining room. He went to open the door for her but she put out a hand to stop him.
“Captain, what kind of beast is it that commands you and invites me to have breakfast with it?”
“It’s no beast, madam, but a man, or at least he was until an enchantment was placed on him and this cursed place. Now he is a beast and I do what I can to remind him of his humanity.”
Tarraquin looked horrified. “An enchantment! Who would do such a terrible thing?”
“My master, like all powerful men, has many enemies. I believe that one of those will have bought or commanded a magician to do this to my master without caring what he would become or what it would do to those who were caught up and trapped by the wicked enchantment.”
“Can it be undone?”
“Only time will tell. I do what I can to nurture what human traits my master has left, like his speech, but it’s difficult and I fear he’s losing heart and is slipping away from us.”
“I see. Thank you for being honest with me, captain. It helps to lessen my fear to know that somewhere inside that creature there is a man.”
The captain smiled at her and opened the door, letting her pass into a comfortable room with windows, which looked over a small paddock, bound by the high walls. It was similar to the other rooms she had seen with wood panelling, tapestries and the smell of honey wax. This one had a large table in the centre and, except for one end, was surrounded by chairs. The captain pulled a chair out for her where a place had been laid and then left through the door they had just entered, leaving her in the room on her own. After a few moments two servants arrived, one carrying a tray with a selection of breads, cold meat and fruit which he placed in front of her, and the other with a deep tray of bloody meat which he placed at the other end of the table.
As soon as they left the room the beast stalked in, its nostrils flaring at the smell of meat and saliva dripping from its jaws. It loped to the table and pushed its muzzle into the tray snatching out lumps of meat and swallowing them whole without chewing.
The noise and the smell revolted her. “Do you always eat like that?”
The beast looked up in surprise almost as if he had forgotten she was there and licked the blood from its lips.
“Grres.”
“Well you shouldn’t. You may be a beast, but you’re not a wild animal.”
The creature looked at her quizzically and held out its hands with their elongated fingers and sharp claws. She looked at them and swallowed hard but she was determined to get her point across.
“I can see that those would make it difficult for you to eat in a civilised manner but have you even tried? And another thing, what is that you are eating, it looks and smells revolting, and I am sure it is not good for you. Why don’t you leave that mess and join me in some proper food.”
She took an empty plate and put some slices of cold meat and some sausage onto it along with a small loaf of brown bread with seeds in it, and placed the plate in the space next to her own meal. The beast stared down at the half eaten mess in front of him, growled and stalked to where she sat waiting, holding out an eating knife. It took a look at the food and then the knife and then used its claws to scoop the food into its mouth.
“Oh well, I suppose that’s a start. We’ll try using the knife another time shall we, that’s if you
invite me to breakfast again after me being so rude to you.” She looked down at her own barely touched plate and gave a sad sigh. “I think I’ve lost my appetite so if you don’t mind I’ll take myself back to my cage and try and get some sleep now I’m dry and the sun has come out.”
Tarraquin stood swaying slightly with exhaustion and walked from behind the table. As she did so the beast bounded around the other side of the table and barred her way to the door.
“Grrugr griv grre.”
“I don’t understand,” she said tiredly.
The beast repeated the command only louder and with much more menace, baring its fangs and thrusting its tusks forward so they nudged the back of her hands. She stepped back in alarm and burst into tears. The effect on the creature was instantaneous and unexpected as it sat back on its haunches and howled in frustration and anguish. A moment later Tangier rushed into the room with his sword drawn closely followed by two guardsmen with lowered pikes. They stopped dead as the beast turned to them and snarled.
“I’m sorry, My Lord, I thought …” His voice trailed away as he thought better of what he was going to say. “Are you hurt, My Lady?”
Tarraquin shook her head and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. “No, just scared and tired and confused. It tried to say something to me, but I don’t know what it was, and then it started howling.”
The captain listened as the beast gave out a series of growls and snarls and then nodded in understanding. “My master says you’re not to return to the cage, unless you really want to, but you are to go with him.” Tarraquin looked doubtful. “Please give him a chance, My Lady, and trust him.”
She nodded in agreement and the beast gave a growl which sounded vaguely like an invitation to follow him. The captain opened the door and the creature led the way, loping on its two hind legs with its front claws dangling just above the ground. Its tattered cloak hung in loose folds around it and it constantly looked back to make certain she was following. It led her back down the corridor that she and the captain had walked that morning, through a hallway and up some carpeted stairs to a landing which divided in two. The beast stopped and looked down a passageway to the right and then back at her.
“Nogrr grro.”
Tarraquin nodded in understanding and followed him down the other passageway which was lined with delicately painted doors. It stopped at the third door and growled softly. Guessing that it wanted her to go in, she opened the door and stepped into the room. It was dark inside but she could see the morning light shining around the edges of the shutters at one end. She crossed the thick carpet breathing in the smell of herbs and dried flowers and pulled back the shutters flooding the room with sunlight. When she looked around, she couldn’t help smiling in surprise and delight at a lady’s room that was such a contrast to the rest of the grim building.
The room was dominated by a large bed draped in white silk, embroidered with pink and blue flowers, which matched the curtains at the windows. The walls were painted a soft cream and decorated with pictures of coolly birds in bright plumage. Two soft chairs stood either side of a stone hearth and one wall was completely taken over by a long row of doors with bright metal handles.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“Mugrrs.” The beast shook its head and tried again. “Murggrs. Grrors.”
It loped over to the row of doors and tugged at the handle with its long claws. Tarraquin followed him and gently took the handles from his claws and opened the door. Inside hung a row of gowns, and when she opened the other doors, she revealed more clothes than a woman could ever want.
“Muthgrrs, forgr gru.”
“Thank you, they are beautiful.”
The beast loped to the last of the doors and pushed it open to reveal a plain white room with a large copper bath tub in one corner, several rugs on the floor and a pile of soft, white towels on a small chair.
“Grrath.”
Tarraquin laughed in delight. “Thank you, I will.” She looked around her and then back at the beast with a grin, “but only if you will have one too.”
The beast smiled back, a frightening, savage sight and then howled in what was almost human laughter.
*
She would have given almost anything for a looking glass to see if her hair was properly combed, but the best she had managed so far was looking at her ghostly reflection in the window pane, with the darkness in front of her and a candle behind. It wasn’t a clear image, but it would have to do, for as far as she could tell, there wasn’t a looking glass anywhere in what had once been a rather grand hunting lodge. She suspected that there had been at least two looking glasses in her rooms at one time; one in the room with the bath tub on top of a small dresser, where an array of cosmetics was displayed, and another, a full length one, in her bedroom.
There were empty spaces on the walls and silver studs, which could have been used to hold a mirror in place, were still embedded in the stone. Whoever had removed them must have smashed the glass to get them off rather than carefully removing them and storing them away. In her explorations of the lodge with either the beast or Captain Tangier at her side, she had seen other empty wall spaces where she thought other looking glasses might have been affixed, but every one of them had been removed. On the fifth day as a guest in the lodge she had asked the captain about their absence, but he had only shrugged and had very quickly changed the subject. She could, of course, have asked the beast, but had decided it wasn’t a good idea.
Tarraquin finished brushing her hair and tied it back with a yellow ribbon that she had found in one of the draws hidden inside the wardrobe. It was a perfect match for the dress she wore, one which had once belonged to the beast’s mother, who must have been a woman of considerable wealth if her numerous gowns were anything to go by. Who she and the beast were was another question she had asked the captain, and another one he had declined to answer.
She was certain that all the answers she sought could be found along the corridor where the beast lived, but that was forbidden to her. Curiosity to find out what it was the beast hid from her stopped her at the entrance to the corridor every time she passed, but as yet, she hadn’t found the courage to explore the forbidden passageway. She would though, and some day very soon.
The sun was shining through newly cleaned windows as she went down the stairs to the dining room, but instead of the usual servant, the captain stood waiting with a big smile on his face. “Good morning, My Lady. My master has asked if you would care to join him in the paddock for breakfast.”
He laughed at her surprise, held out his arm, and together they walked out of the hunting lodge, down the steps and across to the small gate which led into the grassy area she had seen from the dining room window. It was a small area which hadn’t been used by horses for some time as the lush grass was emerald green, dotted with yellow and white flowers. The sun shone on the grass making the colours more vivid, and if she didn’t look up at the stone monsters that crouched on top of the wall, she could have believed that she was in one of the wide open horse pastures of her home.
The beast stood just beyond the gate at the edge of several colourful blankets which had been spread over the springy turf. Piles of cushions held the blankets in place and platters of food and flagons of cordial filled the centre. The beast smiled, being careful to keep his fangs hidden, and held out his hand, the fingers still long and bent but the claws filed to fingernail length.
“Picnic,” he said in a low gruff voice with barely a hint of a growl.
“Thank you.” She took his hand and he helped her down onto the cushions before folding himself onto another pile of cushions close to her. The captain bowed to them both and left them to it.
There were no servants in attendance, so she poured him some cordial in the special wooden goblet which one of his guardsmen had carved for him, allowing his curved fingers to grip it tightly. Tarraquin raised her goblet in salute.
“Was this your own idea?”
“Is that why you are wearing new clothes?”
“You like?”
Considering that only a short time ago he had been covered in dirty, matted fur and wore only a torn cloak, the transformation had been amazing. The fur was still there but it was clean, short and neatly trimmed and instead of the ragged cloak, he wore a silk shirt with long sleeves that laced at the cuff, and loose trousers like they wore in Sandstrone, but with a gold military stripe down each leg. His short cloak lay on one side, half covering his bare feet; getting boots to fit was still a problem. She smiled at him, concentrating on his deep brown eyes and ignoring the two stubs on his lower jaw where the protruding tusks had been filed away.
“You look very dashing. What’s the special occasion?”
The beast looked up and pointed at the wall. “Guards gone.”
She looked up and noticed for the first time that the stone monsters were nowhere in sight. “Where? Why?”