The Beast Queen

by Felicity Partington

  “Did that plant offend you?” The deep resonating tone of the beast brought her from angry musings.

  Isabelle spun; Erik had been the last person she expected to meet out here. He must have left immediately after she did. Had he followed her? Did he mean to reprimand her too?

  “This entire place offends me.” She shot back; her tone laced with defensive hostility. Was that hurt she saw flash in his eyes? As annoyed as she was, he was not who she was mad at, “except you.”

  “I should offend you the most, being your captor and all.” His posture was more relaxed than she was used to, he was closer. Not close enough for her to not wish him closer still.

  “You would think so wouldn’t you” Isabelle shrugged, throwing the leaves to the floor, “I don’t know how you stand it here. It’s dire.”

  “I don’t spend much time in the castle.” He was looking back up at the building as he spoke,

  “We both know that’s not true. I’ve been told off for distracting you twice now. You should be out, doing your job.” She mimicked the staunch voice of Charlotte perfectly, “don’t you ever just want to live? Be happy?”

  “Living and being happy is what got my family into this predicament in the first place.” His gaze fell from the castle guiltily.

  “Oh, Erik.” She stepped towards him, he tensed, “you can’t live forever hating yourself for the past.” Isabelle sighed. They were more alike than she had ever thought possible. He was trapped here because of his parents, just as she was.

  “You’re the only one who’s called me that in a very long time.” He sounded wistful.

  “Would you prefer Master?” She asked, there was a frisky glimmer in her eyes as she raised an eyebrow, he averted his gaze, but a deep chuckle escaped him. “You don’t have to stay here. They’re imbeciles,” she inclined her head towards the castle betraying who she was talking about “you don’t have to protect them or obey them. The world isn’t as tiny as it was three hundred years ago. There are people out there who can help you. Scientists. Doctors.” He turned from her and she could see that she was losing him. Isabelle let her anger trail off, “you could be free. You deserve so much more than this.”

  “You don’t know what I deserve.” He intoned darkly.

  “Why? Because you have a bad temper? Because you were a difficult child? Show me somebody who wasn’t.”

  “I’m not human Isabelle." He lifted his massive shoulders in a shrug, holding his clawed paws up between them as proof "I’ve done things, horrible things. This is my punishment, I belong here.”

  “Your parents?” She asked, they were close now but she daren’t touch him. She wanted to, wanted to reach out and snake her fingers into the fur, bury herself against him, but she was terrified that he would flee. “You shouldn’t blame yourself. You didn’t ask to be turned into this. You didn’t deserve it. It was their job to protect you. They failed you, not the other way ‘round.”

  His gaze switched from his monstrous hands to her face and he stared hard at her.

  “I don’t need your pity.”

  “You don’t have my pity." She insisted, folding her arms across her chest. "My frustration perhaps. You could do so much, take so much, and yet you lurk here and take your orders from the people you employ. To them you’re just an animal, they hate me because I see more. They don’t want you to have feelings or desires, they want you to keep your distance and let them play at being important.”

  “You have more faith in me than I,” he spoke, bitterness in every word, “you see a better person than I deserve. You don’t know how hard I’m fighting to not hurt you. How difficult it is to hold back.”

  “You are fighting though, which is better than a lot of humans I’ve met in my life.” Isabelle touched him then, unfolding her arms to touch his hands. She pressed the palm of her hands against the upturned pads of his paws. Together like this, her hands looked tiny. He could crush her with barely any effort, destroy her with a whisper. She swallowed thickly, that thought should not excite her. “And you’re not blameless. I want you to hurt me.”

  “You don’t mean that.” He scoffed, frozen to the spot as she moved her hands over his wrists and up his forearms, her fingers passing through the thick fur.

  “You have no idea just how much I do mean that. I mean it with parts of me that I didn’t even know existed until I came here.” Beast’s hands clasped around Isabelle’s wrists and he looked down at her with something new in his eyes, it sent a shiver through her, even the light pressure on her wrists was enough to pinch. She was afraid to speak, afraid that anything she did would break the spell and make him stop touching her.

  “You’re going to be my ruin.” He intoned dangerously, Isabelle knew it should be a bad thing, but the way her heart was beating she couldn’t process it. All she could do was watch and remember to keep breathing.

  “Well, I’m trying very hard.” She moved closer, knowing he was letting her.

  “You certainly are.” His voice was barely above a whisper, filled with gruff, darkened desire. It echoed through her. She could hear her pulse thundering in her ears.

  And just like that, the spell was broken.

  A cheerful whistle was all it took to cause Erik to pull away from her, she reached out, but his eyes urged her to silence. Erik disappeared into the shadows of the hedges. He had heard it before she, and by the time she opened her mouth to question him releasing her, Thomas was walking along the path towards her, ladder over his shoulder like it weighed nothing at all.

  “No more window cleaning for you.” She said shakily, trying to seem casual, he laughed.

  “Well, I have to do the outside at some point. But for now, it’s hedge trimming before the blooms sprout. Are you okay? You look flushed.”

  “I just got the mother of all telling’s off from Mr Hands,” Isabelle confessed before he could finish his thought process and come to the right conclusion, desperately willing him to go away.

  “He can be a bit harsh at times.” Thomas agreed.

  “He’s vile.” Isabelle corrected. Folding her arms in front of herself, him here, now, made her feel exposed and uncomfortable. Thomas looked at her sympathetically.

  “You will get used to him. To all of them.” He urged. Isabelle was trying to keep her attention on him and not Erik. The beast was almost entirely engulfed by the afternoon shadows cast between the castle and the tall hedge. She could see his eyes though, and the predatory smile which crept across his lips. She wondered how Thomas would react, seeing what was behind him for the first time. Would he scream as Margaret had? It was nearly impossible not to smile, but Erik placed a long, clawed finger over his lips in a gesture bidding her to hush. She swallowed her mirth and nodded.

  “You’re probably right.” She figured that saying what he wanted to hear would get rid of him quicker. Thomas seemed relieved by her agreement and he smiled broadly, was she truly so argumentative that her agreement was a relief?

  “Would you like to walk with me back inside?”

  “Uhm…” Isabelle glanced to the bush and back again, Thomas frowned, and Isabelle grabbed his hand quickly before he turned around. Fixing her eyes on the taller man. He was more a boy really, though he was tall, his limbs were seemingly too long for his body. His eyes were kind, gentle. “I think I’ll skip dinner tonight. I’ll stay out here for a while, give everybody some space.”

  “You can’t hide forever.” He sympathised, glancing up to the fading sun, “and it won’t be light for much longer. I can’t wait for the long days of summer.”

  “I know what you mean.” She replied robotically, Erik had arched an eyebrow suggestively and Isabelle was trying to figure out what reaction he was trying to evoke from her.

  “When I was a boy, the summer seemed to last forever. It seems to come and go a lot quicker these days.”

  “You’re still a boy.” Isabelle laughed, “You’re what? Sixteen?”

  “Eighteen.” He corrected, and Isabelle’s m
outh opened in surprise. She’d thought he was younger than her.

  “Well then, we’re almost the same age. And I’m certainly not old.” She stuck out her tongue, but it wasn’t to Thomas. He frowned but followed it up with a smile, amused by her apparent playful behaviour.

  “Come inside, I really don’t feel right leaving you out here alone, it’s not always safe.”

  “Who wants to live their life being safe?” Isabelle asked, but the point she was making was directed at Erik who held her gaze from the darkness.

  “Sensible people?” Thomas queried, “people who want to live long and happy lives?” This caught Isabelle’s attention again.

  “Is that all you want?”

  “No, not really.” He admitted quietly, “not here anyway.”

  “Why Thomas, are you planning to abscond and pursue a life away from the castle?”

  “Actually, I am.” There was pride in his tone, “I’m hoping this will finally be the year.”

  “Then I shall keep my fingers crossed for you. But really, I’m fine out here, you should get inside in case they eat without you.”

  “They never would,” he said truthfully, but his eyes were scanning the horizon. “I really don’t think leaving you out here is a great idea…”

  “Do you think I’m going to run away?” She teased,

  “No…”

  “Or perhaps that your Master will find and ravage me?” She met Erik’s eyes for the briefest of seconds.

  “No.”

  “Well then, there’s really nothing to worry about is there. I’m a big girl Thomas. I can look after myself.”

  “If you’re sure,” he said, though he didn’t sound convinced.

  “Absolutely.”

  He said goodbye and Isabelle watched him disappear towards the front of the castle. It took a few minutes before Erik stepped from the shadows, Isabelle frowned, “do you always hide from them?”

  “It makes things easier,” Erik explained.

  “You’ve never hidden from me” she observed.

  “He’s right you know; you should probably get inside.”

  “Me? I’m not the one with reporters desperately searching for some proof I exist.” Isabelle pouted a little at him trying to usher her away.

  “What are reporters?”

  “Oh, they’re men who write for newspapers, they print stories, spread news, you really haven’t moved on from when you were human, have you?”

  “And they’re looking for me?”

  “You’re about to disappear off on some urgent business, aren’t you?” Isabelle asked scathingly.

  “If there are outsiders in the kingdom, I really should go and make sure all is well. I’m supposed to keep them out. Or rather, the curse is.”

  “Maybe the curse is reaching its conclusion,” Isabelle answered hopefully, Erik looked at her for a long moment, before he nodded solemnly and disappeared off into the night.

  “One day we’ll have a conversation about saying goodbye,” Isabelle said to the empty air.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  It was surprisingly easy to avoid people. Isabelle didn’t bother with dinner the night after her confrontation with Mr Hands, she went straight to bed to brood on the abandonment of Erik. She was getting altogether fed up with him finding excuses to run off, and this one she’d given him.

  It had felt like they’d made a connection in the garden, as if he’d actually been having fun, enjoying her company. It had been incredible, and it had been the first time in this godforsaken castle that she hadn’t felt alone. Now he was gone, she had no idea when he would show up again or what kind of mood he would be in if he did. She got up early the next morning and snuck down into the kitchen to prepare herself some food, then busied herself reading in the library until Margaret started creeping around lighting the fires. Isabelle helped her out for the morning, even in the milder weather of spring, the castle was bitterly cold without the roaring fires. When Maggie went for lunch, Isabelle explored the gardens again, but this time there was no sign of Erik.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  Days passed.

  One after another, they crawled by, and Isabelle resented each one more than the last. Each empty day where she didn’t see her beast. In the castle, she felt like an outsider, they wanted her to ignore Erik, to pretend he didn’t exist. If that’s what she had to do to fit in, then it wasn’t ever going to happen. She had been the outsider at home, and it looked like the habit was set to continue.

  She had been whittling her days away in the library, her nose lost in books as she worked her way through them. They helped her to forget the woes of her own life. One thing she had come to expect here was the muted silence, so when she heard distant yelling, she was immediately intrigued.

  Putting the book down on the table she uncurled from her chair and walked slowly down the hallway. There were a lot of people, which was the first thing that caught her off guard. They must be from the city, she reasoned. There was at least twenty of them, all trying to talk to Mr Hands at the same time. He was standing in the middle of the room, his voice lost amongst the loud demands. It took her a few moments to identify anything that was said. Slowly she began picking up words.

  Bodies found in the woods. Wardens. Investigations. Isabelle’s heart stopped, engulfed in ice. Bodies? Whose bodies? Not Erik’s? Surely not Erik? Please, not Erik.

  “It doesn’t matter how patient we are. In a few weeks, we’re going to have outsiders descend on us asking what happened. And we’ve got two bodies to hide Joe.”

  “Two bodies lost in the woods. Wild animals must have done it. We can’t help that they strayed so deeply.” Joseph said calmly.

  “Whether it’s our fault or not, we’re going to have people here. Askin’ questions. Pokin’ their noses in. What are we supposed to do about that?”

  “We’ll think of something” Joe promised.

  “He’s gone too far this time. He’s never killed anybody outside of our constituency. These are outsiders, it’s not just going to go unnoticed.” One of the men spat as if they couldn’t already have worked that out.

  “How did they even get in, that’s what I want to know. He’s supposed to stop things like this happening.” Another deflected, Isabelle’s eyes were moving between them quickly trying to keep track.

  “First that crazy old man. Now these two-dead folk, he’s losing control.” This man was smaller, quieter. Crazy old man? Did they mean her father? Did they mean arriving here or…surely they weren’t implying that her father was dead? No. Her father would be fine, Erik had promised.

  “You don’t even know it was him!” Isabelle shouted, surprised at how quickly the noise died down and every pair of eyes fell on her. “They were out in the woods. Anything could have happened. Yet you’re immediately blaming Erik?” There was whispering now, Isabelle was aghast, she was too horrified to care about what they were saying.

  “Isabelle,” Joseph warned through gritted teeth.

  “You were the one brandishing the gun on them when they came here! It could have just as easily been you who killed them. But you’re willing to stand here and let them blame Erik when he’s not even here to defend himself? You should be ashamed of yourselves. All of you.”

  “I assure you, gentlemen, I killed no one.” Mr Hands said incredulously, through a clenched jaw.

  “And we’re just supposed to trust you?” She shot back.

  “With all due respect, Isabelle.” The forced civility made her nauseous, “we’ve dealt with incidents like this before.”

  “I don’t care.” She growled icily through clenched teeth, “accusing him of doing something, with no proof and without him even being here to defend himself, it’s shameful.”

  “Isabelle, he’s not a him, he’s a beast. A monster. He doesn’t obey laws like you and I.”

  “If he acts like a monster it’s because your family forced him to be one.” She accused stonily. Isabelle took a moment to look around the room, e
verybody was still staring at her, wordlessly. Joseph was scowling. Honestly, she hadn’t expected her anger to cut through the crowd like it had, she had half expected her own voice to just be another lost amongst the din. But you could hear a pin drop now.

  “Gentlemen, Mrs Hands has laid out some sandwiches and drinks in the dining hall. Go, eat, collect yourselves. We shall talk later. Isabelle, my office if you’d be so kind.” Isabelle glowered, and stood still as the others filtered out, every now and then one would risk a backward glance at her and whisper to others. What was going on? The mood seemed to have lifted immediately and she had the horrible feeling that she was missing something important. Once the room was empty, she slowly followed Joseph to his office.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The office seemed somewhat more stifling with Joseph pacing through it like a cornered animal. Isabelle stood by the closed door, her arms crossed defensively, waiting for the explosion with barely contained anticipation. But when he spoke it wasn’t in a roar, it was a quiet hiss of fury.

  “You have no business addressing those people, you have no idea what is going on here and your sheer audacity, your incomprehension-”

  “I know I have something to do with Erik’s mysterious curse.” She spoke, and he froze, eyes wide, “I’m not a fool Joseph.” Isabelle used his given name spitefully “I’m the reason that the curse is slipping so that people are finding you, getting in. Nobody found you before I arrived, did they?” His eyes widened, “it’s not hard to figure out.” She said by way of explanation, “and the way everybody suddenly went silent when they saw me. My appearance was enough to shut them up immediately. Am I your way out? Am I here to weaken him? To kill him?” Isabelle asked watching his expression closely, but he seemed to know that she was waiting for hints, answers, for his expression turned stony and unreadable. Isabelle shook her head. “I don’t care. Whatever it is, I won’t do it. I’m on his side.”

  “Foolish child, you think what you’re feeling is love?”