Beast: The Untold Legend

by Shoshanna Evers

  Victor nodded and turned his attention back to the queen. He had to convince her that letting the princess live would be the best option. If she agreed, he wouldn’t have to risk her wrath by refusing outright.

  “We can set the scene with animal blood,” he said. “You are so artistic and skilled, Your Majesty, that it will convince any who question her alleged demise. And who would question the queen? No one.”

  The queen raised an eyebrow, as if she might actually be considering it. “Why do you want her to go free? She has everything you do not.”

  It was true. But as much as he hated the injustice and elitism the princess represented, he couldn’t help wanting to protect the girl from the queen’s evil plot.

  “I know you, Victor,” the queen said. “I know what you hate. I even know you hate me, and all of the royalty who lord over you and the peasants.”

  She knew. All this time, and she’d known the animosity he’d nurtured inside.

  “If you think I hate you,” he said, “then…why? Why me, all these years?”

  “I like the anger in your eyes when I get submission from your body,” the queen said, her lips twisting into a wicked smile. “When I make you come even though you hate yourself for loving what I do to you.”

  A wave of dizziness passed over him. He wanted to protest, but doing so would endanger his ability to save the princess. He’d never submitted to the queen in his heart. Any repetitive stimulation could make him come—that was how cocks worked. But he’d always been able to hold onto his hatred toward her, no matter what she did.

  He must forget his own pain—save the princess.

  “The girl’s done nothing wrong,” he said. “Let her go. I will personally make sure she will never return. This girl here is no threat to you, Your Highness. You are far too powerful.”

  Praise and more praise. As much as he could force himself to utter. Flattery had always greased the wheels before.

  “Victor, my dear slave,” the queen said, shaking her head.

  At the mention of his name, Justine gasped and struggled some more. There was a strong possibility the queen would punish him now, and he didn’t want to crush the princess during it.

  “I’ll free you from my arms,” he murmured. “But do not run or speak a word. Get behind me.”

  He let her free from his arms and set her down behind him, where she could hopefully remain out of the queen’s sightline. When dealing with the queen—whose temper flared at the slightest hint of disrespect—the beast knew Justine’s only hope was to keep quiet so the queen wouldn’t impulsively use her magic to hurt her—as she so often did to him.

  But the princess struggled to her feet, bound though she was. “Surely I have gone mad.” Then, with a hurt look that pierced his soul, asked, “Who are you really, Beast?”

  “You disbelieve what you already know,” he said. “It’s me… Victor.”

  “No. Victor would never do what you have done,” she said, but her expression was uncertain.

  “Ignore what your eyes are telling you, for they are lying, not me,” he said. “Don’t listen to the low rumble of my voice. Hear my words. Do not see my size or fur. Look into my eyes instead. I am Victor Gerard, and I am the Beast.”

  He caught her under her chin with his large finger and forced her to look him in the eye. The only part of him that still looked exactly the same as before the change.

  “Blue-grey, like the sky when a storm is coming,” she whispered, as if to herself. “Victor,” she breathed. “Is it really you?”

  Her expression revealed she understood now that he had once been the stablehand. The man who had risked his hide to bring her an antidote. And now he had betrayed her by bringing her right into harm’s way. What if he couldn’t save her this time?

  “How…how could you do this to me?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry I did not tell you sooner,” he said gruffly. “I hoped I would be changed back to my human form without you knowing that I was the beast who had terrorized you so.”

  “You kidnapped me at my wedding,” she said. “I was so afraid—you carried me kicking and screaming for miles. You tore my gown, you tied me up!” The anger rose in her voice. “I’m still afraid. You…you kissed me. What sort of friend are you, Victor Gerard?”

  “The only one you have right now.”

  The queen laughed at their argument. “You tied the girl up and kissed her? I suppose I’ve taught you something useful after all.”

  He growled. “I won’t kill her. You may as well turn me back into a stablehand. My fangs and claws will not be used to rend her flesh.”

  The air around him swirled, leaves gathering like a tornado. Wind rushed by him, and a high-pitched whistle sounded in his ears. The noise grew louder and louder, hurting him. He tried to block the sound but couldn’t. It was inside his head. Everything turned white with flashes of color, and he fell to the ground.

  Was she changing him back? If so, it wasn’t like this last time. This was different. Now it felt like he had been set on fire, but the flames roasting him were invisible. The heat was real, and he roared with pain and fear.

  “How dare you refuse me,” the queen hissed. “I will make you suffer for it, Beast. My flames can lick you for hours without granting the mercy of death. Burn alive, my beast, or submit to me and do as I order.”

  ****

  Justine fell back on the forest ground, unable to catch herself with her hands tied. The beast writhed in agony only ten feet away, and there was nothing she could do to help him. Primal expressions of pain and anger raged through his muscular body as he twisted to and fro, trapped in an invisible nest of black magic that only the enchantress could control.

  The princess wanted to reach for him, to touch him, to comfort him, but the very restraints he had put on her himself hindered her now.

  Victor had betrayed her, hadn’t he? And yet it still did seem as if he was her only friend in the world right now, just as he said. Yes, he had followed through with the queen’s plan to kidnap her, but the pain he suffered now for her was proof that he had only gone along with it to save her in the end.

  And didn’t the ends justify the means, terrifying though they were?

  He caught her eye, and he inhaled sharply.

  “We don’t need to kill her to destroy her,” he roared. “I can ruin her in the eyes of the people and the prince. Let’s ruin her, my Queen.” His breath was ragged, each word choked on his suffering. “But I won’t kill her. Do what you will to me.”

  Suddenly, Victor’s massive body went still, his hind legs bent at the knees. He opened his eyes. A low groan of relief escaped his lips.

  The queen had stopped enchanting him with pain—for now at least.

  But…how could he? How entwined was the beast with the queen that he should offer his help to…destroy her, in his own way?

  “You force my hand with your disobedience.” The queen smiled at him in contempt. “Very well. You have a good point about the longer-reaching benefits of making her unmarriageable. For now, at least.”

  The beast looked up at the queen. “Not for now. Forever. I won’t ruin her and kill her. I am only suggesting such a crime to save her life and you know it.”

  “I will allow the princess to go free,” the queen said thoughtfully, “under my conditions only.”

  The bubble of joy that rose in Justine’s heart at the queen’s words was tiny and fragile. She easily tamped it down, afraid to let it surface lest it should burst. There was no reason for the queen to show her any kindness.

  And yet a small part of her still hoped for salvation— a way out of the hell she had been thrust into. All she wanted was to be free. To go and live by her own accord. To not be forced to marry a man she did not love. To not be hunted by the queen.

  “Tell me your conditions, Your Majesty, and I shall obey,” Justine said, her voice shaking. She took a breath, and spoke again without the tremor. “I wish to live my life. I will do what I must to su
rvive.”

  This is all a grand hoax. It had to be.

  “Good,” the queen said. “I’m glad to hear it. Victor, are in you in agreement?”

  He didn’t respond, just glared at her.

  It didn’t feel right. Just like that, the queen had changed her plans for Justine’s destruction? Impossible.

  “Taking her virginity will not be enough,” the queen said. She frowned. “I don’t know, Victor. I think I’ll just have to kill her myself, after all—”

  At this, Victor got up off the ground. “No!” He glanced quickly at Justine and gritted his teeth. “That will only come back on you, my queen. And I have a certain fondness for your beautiful neck, remember?”

  He reached out gently and touched the queen’s face with the familiarity of a lover. She nuzzled her cheek against his palm.

  “I remember, darling,” she purred.

  “The king will never allow Frederick to marry a woman with child,” the beast continued, looking at Justine. “It would ruin his chance for a proper heir to the throne.”

  The queen’s eyes lit up. “You’re right. It would make her useless. No threat to me at all.” She grinned at the beast. “You’ve been learning a few of my tricks.”

  Justine watched the two of them cavorting like thieves. How could she have trusted him? He was in on it from the beginning. He had no desire to save her. He just wanted to toy with her and hurt her for his majesty’s amusement.

  The queen turned to Justine. “After you are showing—say, three or four months from now?—I will send you off on a boat, with my blessing. That is, if you can stay hidden for a season.”

  Freedom. Freedom to not be a princess, to be without the constraints her noble birth had brought upon her.

  It was true that Justine would be useless to the prince if she was already with child. Even having been kidnapped was enough to ruin her—the threat that she may have been ravished was enough to put doubt in the minds of the people when any eventual heir was born. It could challenge the heir’s right to the throne. The king would never allow it. The Queen’s plan would work.

  And Victor had known that. She had told him so herself in her bedchamber last night.

  Would the enchantress get her with child using her magic? What sort of demon would she give birth to then?

  Uneasiness settled into the pit of Justine’s stomach like a rock. “Who—who will plant his seed in my womb?”

  “No one else must know you are alive,” the queen said slowly, as if she were a child. “My beast will be the one to ruin you.”

  This was her one chance to live. She had to take it. At least if they agreed, the queen would go back to the castle, giving Justine a chance to escape—at least the possibility. Three or four months was a long time. The beast’s guard would be down at some point. She could run for it.

  “I would do it myself,” the queen said, “if I only had the right parts. Pity.”

  “You will turn him back into a man, first,” Justine said cautiously, “won’t you, Your Majesty?”

  The queen shook her head. “There is no magic to reverse a powerful, permanent spell such as the Beast Enchantment.”

  A strangled growl emanated from deep in the beast’s throat. It sounded vicious, like a dog about to bite. Justine instinctively tried to get away from him, but on the ground with her hands and feet tied, she wouldn’t get far. His anger was focused solely on the queen, however. It was as if Justine didn’t exist in that moment.

  What would happen if he lunged at the enchantress? She would put another spell on him, no doubt. And with her beast gone, the queen would have no other option but to immediately kill her.

  Please don’t do anything rash.

  Justine glanced at the beast—at Victor. His muscular body was hard and animalistic; the smooth dark fur that covered him made every sinewy twist of his body stand out in stark relief. He had a long tail like a mountain lion, and his face was contorted into a vicious snarl.

  At ten feet tall, with a body as thick as a tree trunk and limbs as strong as a bear’s, how could she…mate with him in this state?

  And his cock, dear Heavens, his length was unfurled in the open with no shame. This was the first adult male penis she’d seen… Justine wasn’t sure what, if anything, was different about it from a human cock, other than its enormity and girth.

  She turned back to the queen. “Can you make him human sized again, at least, Your Majesty? Surely there is no way it will…” Justine couldn’t say the last word. Fit.

  “Stupid virgin,” the queen laughed. “You would say the same thing even if he were in his human form. My slave has always been…a big boy.”

  Heat rushed to the princess’s cheeks.

  The queen gestured to Victor. “His seed should still be human, so your baby will not be half beast, if that’s what you fear.”

  “You know that’s not what she fears—her concerns for her safety are real.” Victor rushed to the queen and gripped her shoulders with his massive arms. “Change me back to a man—I know you can. I could crush the girl in this state.”

  “Well,” she said, “if you do happen to crush her, please rip up her body afterward. Either way, I will be satisfied.”

  The princess’s fists tightened in anguish. They would never let her live. How could they? This game they played—it was all for show. For their own amusement.

  Any thought of escaping was a fantasy on her own part. The beast wouldn’t help her any more than the queen would. If she was going to die, she may as well die fighting. Why play into the queen’s plan?

  “Is it not enough for you to kidnap and kill the prince’s bride?” Justine asked. “Must you torture me first for months as well, by making me lay with a beast such as him?”

  “You assume that I will kill you after the beast has ruined you?” the queen asked. “That’s not the case.”

  “You are not a charitable woman, my queen,” Justine said. “I won’t be played a fool.”

  “It’s true, I’m not doing this to save your skin. Quite simply…It will amuse me to see you— our perfect, spoilt little princess—forced to live in such a state, with a bastard and reputation that will turn you into a beggar or whore for the rest of your miserable life.”

  Justine shivered at the thought. As tempting as the concept of freedom seemed, reality was a harsher master than dreams. How long would she make it on her own in a foreign land, with a child to care for and no title or coin to smooth her path? No one had ever prepared her for a life other than to be property of a prince.

  The queen glanced at her with a cold smile. “Even if I do plan to kill you after all, then your choice comes down to: die now, or in three months. Shall we just do it now and avoid months of torture, as you put it?”

  “No,” the beast growled. “I will not allow it.”

  “It may be the kinder option, Beast,” the queen said, raising an arched eyebrow. “Rape or murder? Quite a conundrum for such a mindless beast to make.”

  As she watched the beast’s emotions reflecting in his eyes, the princess had the sudden fear that he was reconsidering the queen’s ultimatum now that Justine had thrown her own two cents into the mix.

  “I don’t want to die today,” Justine cried out. “I will submit to you, Beast. Ruin me. I don’t care anymore.”

  I want to live.

  Justine caught the beast’s eye. If only to let him know that it was going to be all right. That she’d give herself to him willingly for the chance to have…a chance. That was all she needed. To survive. She was a fighter, and today would not be her last fight.

  “You are the Devil in the flesh,” he growled to the enchantress. His eyes were bright with hatred. “I will kill you if you harm her.”

  Justine winced, waiting for the queen to rain hurt down onto him with her magic. Instead, the enchantress ignored the beast’s towering form.

  “Of course you would,” the queen said with a laugh that belied the murder in the beast’s eyes, in every ti
ghtly strung muscle that he flexed, ready to pounce. “Would you like to hear my protection spell?” She looked pointedly at the princess. “My insurance that you will not kill me is the girl herself.”

  Of course. I am a hostage. Whether there was a sword to her neck or not.

  “I’ve put a spell on your princess,” the queen said. “If I don’t break the spell before the first snow falls, she will die anyway.”

  Victor dropped to all fours with a thud that shook the forest floor, and backed away from the queen as if in disbelief. “You did not.”

  But Justine knew the enchantress was not bluffing. The way the queen had kept her focus on her throughout the wedding procession, the fainting…the princess had no doubt the queen was telling the truth. Justine had only until winter to live. She clenched her teeth, determined not to cry. Not to beg. That time was over.

  There was a deal on the table, and she would take it. Even if the beast killed her in his mission to ruin her, then she’d know she’d died trying to survive. It was twisted that such a thought should comfort her, and yet it did.

  “You better not let me come to harm, beast,” the queen hissed. “I don’t trust you to do as I say—of course I put a death spell on her. You kill her…or you ruin her…or I kill her. As long as it turns out to my liking in the end, I do not care how the brat goes down. Plans require backup plans, and backup plans require even more plans,” the queen said. “You need me. Either you ruin the girl before you get rid of her, or I will end her my way. If the prince finds her dead in the woods after the first snowfall, everyone will assume she died of exposure. My hands will remain clean.”

  “You will never be clean,” the beast growled. “Your soul was stained already from what you’ve done to me all these years.”

  “Beast,” the queen whispered, “you look so beautiful when you’re like this…so broken.”

  “You haven’t broken me.”

  “No?” She smiled cruelly. “I’ve just turned you into the thing you hate the most. Me.”

  With that, she turned her back to the beast she had created, and disappeared into the forest.