Beast in Shining Armor (A Kinda Fairy Tale)

by Cassandra Gannon

  Sixteen Years Ago

  On the day she turned fourteen, Belle stormed up the marble steps of the castle with one birthday wish in her heart.

  A uniformed guard opened the huge door for her as she approached. She wasn’t sure if it was simply royal protocol or if Avenant had told them to expect her. Probably the later.

  He knew she’d be showing up.

  She slammed straight through the cold, ornate rooms of the palace and into the courtyard. It was one of the Northland’s rare days of summer and dozens of partygoers were taking advantage of the warm weather. A huge waterslide had been set up, along with several massive inflatable pools. Water guns sprayed and people laughed and three barbeques grilled up hotdogs for a line of kids in swimsuits.

  Tears burned her eyes. Avenant had done this just to spite her.

  “Hey, Belle.” Peter Piper came dashing over, his bathing trunks a vivid shade of purple. If Northlands High was a movie, Peter would’ve played the computer nerd. He was a pudgy boy with a talent for math and an addiction to pickled peppers. “I didn’t expect to see you here.” He had the grace to look slightly abashed. “Um… Happy birthday.”

  “Thanks.” She said dully.

  “I was going to come to your party, too.” Peter nodded. “Really. Like maybe in half-an-hour or so. I just wanted to check this one out first.” He gestured over his shoulder. “Avenant’s paying some guy just to make water balloons. I didn’t know there were professional water balloon makers. It’s unreal.” He hesitated, spotting at the gallon-sized cardboard cylinder she was carrying. “Hey, is that ice cream?”

  Belle ignored him, her eyes scanning the crowd. The crowd who should’ve been at her party, except Avenant had hijacked them. Her parents had hired a DJ, and decorated the house with miles of sparkly streamers, and bought her a cake five layers high to share with all her friends. Only no one had shown up.

  Not one single person.

  Her parents were baffled. Nothing like this had ever happened to them. They threw parties all the time and everyone came. They’d patted her head and told her the invitations must have gotten lost, but she’d seen the pity in their eyes. They all knew the truth. Belle’s party hadn’t been important to anybody, because Belle wasn’t important to anybody. Not even her parents, since they’d gone out to some art show opening and left her alone with fifteen gallons of melting ice cream.

  It didn’t matter. Belle’s sights were fixed on vengeance, not self-pity.

  Right from the beginning, she’d known Avenant must have sabotaged her birthday. Whenever anything went wrong, she always suspected he was behind it and she was always right. Two minutes of investigating her email had revealed that he’d invited the entire school to an impromptu pool party at the palace that morning. Obviously, RSVPs to Belle’s birthday meant nothing compared to a wave machine.

  She didn’t really blame the others. It was hard for Belle to make friends. She was kind of an oddball, who liked reading far more than gossiping on a telephone about boys. Most of the people she knew were acquaintances. She was nice to people, but she wasn’t particularly close with anyone. Of course, a huge reason for that was Avenant. People would much rather be his friend and everyone knew he hated her. They tended to steer clear, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.

  “Belle.” The Prince of Darkness must have been waiting for her. He came loping over, shirtless and wet and disgustingly chipper. And handsome. Lately she’d been noticing how damn handsome he was and that made her even angrier. “There you are.” He looked her up and down, taking in her yellow party dress. “You look pretty.” He had the audacity to smile at her.

  She despised him. “I got your invitation.” She bit off.

  “Good. I thought maybe there was breakdown in communication between our houses or something.” He gave a mock frown. “People have been telling me that you were having a party today, too. But I knew that couldn’t be true, because I didn’t get an invitation. You couldn’t have invited everyone else in the school and not me.”

  “Yes, I could.” Belle assured him. “In fact, I did. I’d gladly have no party at all before I let you come to it.”

  Whatever Avenant had been expecting her to say, that wasn’t it. His smirk faded.

  “I got the invitations to both parties.” Peter piped up.

  Avenant slanted Peter a look and Belle realized the other boy was still standing beside her. Avenant’s gaze went back and forth between them, his face growing hostile. “What are you doing hanging around, Piper?” He demanded.

  “Talking to Belle. I’m just here for another half-hour or so. Then, I’m going to her party.”

  “My party is over.” Belle told him flatly.

  “Really?” Peter blinked. “’Cause, I got you a gift.”

  “She doesn’t want it.” Avenant growled and glowered over at Belle. “You had him on the guest list and not me?”

  “I like him and not you.”

  “You like me?” Peter sounded awed. “Wow. I totally like you too, Belle! I think you’re the most beautiful…”

  “Get lost.” Avenant’s voice went dark and Belle could’ve sworn his eyes glowed electric blue for a beat. “Now, while you can still walk.”

  Peter’s eyes widened at the deadly tone. The Beast of the Northlands was on a very short leash and everyone knew what would happen when it snapped. He’d ruin lives without a drop of remorse. It was why they’d come to his stupid party, just as much as the gigantic water cannon. If you defied Avenant you were lucky if you lived to regret it.

  “We can talk later, Belle.” Peter went scurrying off.

  Avenant scowled after him. “Fucking little toad better enjoy this party, because it’s the last one he’ll ever attend.”

  Belle glared at him. “Peter’s harmless. Leave him alone. This is between you and me.”

  “It’s not my fault he just committed social suicide. I never even noticed that twerp before he went and said that to you right in front of me.”

  “You’ve got everybody else on your side.” She waved a hand at all Avenant’s guests. “Everybody here wants to be your friend. You can’t even let me have Peter?”

  “Friends?” He scoffed. “Please. Like I’d ever be friends with these peasants.” He arched a brow. “Your precious Peter is here because he’s weak. He skipped your party to come to mine, because he knows what’ll happen if he crosses me. That’s how much he likes you. You really think he’s your friend?”

  Avenant was right. She knew that. Honestly, she didn’t even like Peter that much. The boy was just her study-buddy in math class. That really wasn’t the point, though. “Peter’s the only one who’s wished me happy birthday today.” She said. “So, right now, I think he’s probably the best friend I have.” It was depressing, but true.

  Avenant’s jaw ticked. “He’s not your friend. You invited all these people to your birthday and they didn’t come. If I was your friend, I would be at your party and not here.”

  “Except you’re not my friend. You’re the one who threw this party.”

  He shrugged. “You didn’t give me a reason not to.”

  “How about the fact that it’s my birthday and you spoiled it for no reason, at all? My parents think I’m a loser, thanks to you!” She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of showing him how upset she was, but the words burst free. “Even the caterer felt sorry for me, Avenant. He told them there wouldn’t be a charge and I could tell they were embarrassed to even know me. We never bring parents into this.” That was one of the unwritten rules of their war. It had been ever since the spelling bee.

  Avenant frowned. “I didn’t really think about your parents…”

  “Of course you didn’t!” She interrupted. “You never think about anything but yourself!”

  “Hey, you’re the one who turned these parties into weapons. I invited you to mine, didn’t I? But, you thought it was fine to snub me. This is all on you, Belle.”

  “I didn’t invite you, beca
use I knew you’d ruin everything! Which you have, just like you always do. You’re a selfish, mean jerk and I wish I’d never met you!”

  Pushed to the brink, she hefted the carton of ice cream she still carried and threw it at him. She’d been planning to do it all along, but the result was even better than she could’ve imagined. The entire gallon of Strawberry Delight had melted into a thick pink liquid. When the cardboard cylinder slammed into his chest, it detonated like one of those professionally-made water balloons. Ice cream exploded all over him.

  For a moment there was nothing but silence. It seemed like even the music blasting from the poolside speakers went quiet. Everyone gaped at Belle and Avenant in horror.

  Waiting.

  Even Belle was a little shocked by what she’d done. She’d just doused the prince with ice cream in his own palace. No way was he going to let this go. People had disappeared forever for doing less. Her heart was pounding so hard everyone could probably hear it in the eerie stillness.

  Avenant looked down at the sticky goo covering him and very slowly raised his eyes back to hers. “Get out.”

  Belle swallowed. She wasn’t backing down, but she was willing to declare victory and leave the field before the battle got even more intense. “Gladly.”

  “Not you. Them.” Avenant’s glare swept over the dozens of guests. “Everybody out.”

  There was a stampede for the door. Under other circumstances it would’ve been almost comical. Avenant told them to show up at his party and they were all too intimidated to refuse. He told them to leave the party and they were all too intimidated to stay. Everyone in the whole kingdom kowtowed to the bastard, but not because they wanted to. They were just terrified. In that moment, Belle didn’t even blame them.

  Avenant’s gaze stayed locked on Belle as the courtyard emptied out. It only took a matter of minutes to find themselves alone.

  Belle kept her attention on the cruel angles of his face, refusing to be intimidated. “I’m not sorry.” She told him, braced for all sorts of Badness. “And I’m not scared of you.”

  “I know you’re not.” He gave his hand a shake, trying to clear the ice cream from his fingers. “You’re not smart enough to be scared.”

  “Not smart enough?! My GPA is two-tenths of a point higher than yours, so… Hey!” Her retorted ended in a yelp as Avenant picked her up and tossed her in the pool. “You maniac!” She sputtered, coming to the surface. “What if I couldn’t swim? Did you even think of that?”

  “Then, I’d jump in to save you.” To illustrate his point, he hopped into the water beside her. His eyes swept over her soaked form, lingering on the front of her dress. The wet fabric was clinging to her body. “That’s more like it.” He grinned like he’d somehow gotten exactly what he wanted. “This party idea is working out better than I thought.”

  Belle crossed her arms over her chest, although she didn’t know why she bothered. She wasn’t well-endowed enough for him to see much of interest. “I hate you so much, I can’t even think of anything mean enough to say.”

  Avenant casually rinsed the ice cream from his skin. “Oh, I’m pretty sure you can come up with something. You always do.”

  For the good of science, some doctor should cut Avenant open and figure out what had gotten twisted inside of him to make him such a despicable person. “If I had powers, I would drown you, right now.” She headed for the edge of the pool.

  “If you had powers, you would’ve killed me years ago.” He paddled over to her. “Come on, don’t be a sore loser. You just got here. We have a whole barbeque thing going on and you have to eat. It might as well be with me.”

  “I’d rather eat beside a rabid dog.”

  “I’ll take you to see the stables, then. We have twenty-six horses. You can have one as a birthday gift and we’ll forget all about how you tried to screw me over today.”

  “Me screw you over?!” She kept wading towards the ladder. “You’re insane, you know that?”

  Annoyed that she wasn’t going to hang around for more torture, Avenant got between Belle and the exit. “Damn it, why can’t you just be normal? Every other girl in this whole kingdom would accept the horse from me. They would thank me. They would want me at their party. I’m the fucking prince!”

  “They wouldn’t want you at their party. They’d just be too afraid not to invite you, because you’re a bully.” Belle retorted. “You think I don’t have friends? Well you don’t either. No one likes you, Avenant.”

  “I don’t care if anyone likes me. Just so they fear me.”

  She splashed water at him in frustration. “That’s why you’re always coming after me like this. I’m the only one who won’t back down from you and you can’t stand it.”

  “You don’t understand anything.”

  “Don’t I? You think you can just buy and threaten people to get your own your way.” She shook her head. “But you can’t. Not always.”

  Avenant’s mouth thinned. “Seems like I did this time, though.” He gestured around the remnants of his improvised celebration. “My party was way bigger than yours.”

  “Only because you sabotaged me.”

  “So what? I still won.”

  “You can’t ‘win’ a birthday.” She snapped, even though he clearly had.

  “Liar. You tried to exclude me from the guest list and you’re pissed that it didn’t work. Admit it.”

  Belle’s eyes narrowed. “It did work. You weren’t invited. You won’t ever be welcomed at my birthday, no matter what you try. I’ll have a party every year from now on and you’ll never be invited and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

  Avenant looked away. “So what?” He repeated bitterly. “I got you to come to this party and that’s what matters today.”

  “Well, now I’m leaving this party.” She tried to go around him, but he shifted into her path.

  “Bella, no. Stay.”

  Unprepared for the way he blocked her, Belle’s body slammed into his…

  …And she felt their whole relationship shift.

  Her eyes flashed up to his and she saw Avenant’s expression go taut. Belle hadn’t been so close to him since she’d shoved him off the stage in the middle of their fifth grade play. It had felt great to send him careening into the audience during his big scene. This felt even better. Her body got all tingly and warm. Avenant’s hands went to her waist, holding her against him. She could feel his breath coming faster. So was hers. For a second, neither of them moved. They just stood in the water, staring at each other.

  “Stay with me.” He whispered.

  He was so amazingly beautiful that it was almost hypnotic.

  “Well, fuck.” A male voice sang out, breaking the spell. “A real man would’ve had her naked by now, cousin.”

  Belle jerked away from Avenant, her mind whirling.

  “Son-of-a-bitch.” Avenant’s head snapped around to pin Lancelot with a deadly look. “You have two seconds to leave before I have you executed.”

  “Hey, the palace is my home, too.” Lancelot retorted. He was a few years older than them, on leave from the Knight Academy. Warm weather was so rare in the Northlands that most everyone used this time of year as a vacation. “I can’t help it if I come into the courtyard and I see you making out with some floozy in a pool.” He took a sip from the beer in his hand.

  Belle’s mouth dropped open. “Floozy?”

  Avenant moved in front of her, his eyes narrowing at this cousin. “No, it’s not your home. Everything here belongs to me. You’re the poor relation who shows up on holidays to pretend like you matter.”

  “I’m a going to be a knight!” Lancelot roared back. He sounded like he’d been drinking away the afternoon. “That’s something you’ll never be, Avenant! Bad folk aren’t allowed be to become knights, because it’s the most important job in the kingdom and you’re not fit for it. All the men want to be us and all the girls want to fuck us.”

  There was some truth buried in that gibberish.
The knights were the superstars of the Northlands. Even Belle admired them. She had pictures of the greatest warriors taped to her bedroom walls and the whole set of their novelized adventures on her bookshelf. But, Lancelot was hardly their poster boy. He was only accepted into the training program because his father was the cousin of Prince Vincent. Everyone knew that.

  Belle shoved her way up beside Avenant. “Being the ruler of the kingdom is obviously the most important job in the kingdom.” She heard herself say. “And, for your information, girls can be knights too, you Neanderthal. We don’t just marry them.”

  “It’s a job for men.” Lancelot insisted, most of his attention on his cousin. “Women disgrace the sacred armor.” He arched a brow at Avenant and took another drink. “By the way, Bad folk aren’t allowed to be princes, either. Your parents can’t force this kingdom to accept you, no matter how many people they throw in the dungeon. No one wants a beast in charge. One day, you’ll be kicked out of this palace and I’ll take it all from you.”

  Belle felt the pool water getting colder and she knew it was from Avenant’s powers. She instinctively opened her mouth to warn Lancelot, but it was too late. At least a ton of snow dumped from the clear summer sky… right onto Lancelot’s head. He hit the ground, dazed and buried in a mountain of frost. Even wearing that stupid metal helmet, he was going to feeling the impact of the avalanche for days.

  Belle didn’t feel too sorry for him.

  Avenant calmly surveyed the damage. “No one takes what mine.” He looked over at Belle and gave a slow smile. “And hey, don’t worry. I don’t think you’re a floozy.”

  Belle fulfilled her birthday wish and punched him right in the nose.

  Chapter Seven

  Prince Charming: I wouldn’t call it a duel, exactly. Avenant just tried to kill me.

  Prince Avenant: If I tried to kill you, you’d be dead, you simpering idiot.

  Judge: Silence in my courtroom! One more outburst and I’ll have your client removed, counselor.