“Fairies, you have outdone yourself,” he said. “Thank you so much, you’ve saved my life. I’ll be leaving now.”
He finished his breakfast and dressed quickly, not wanting to overstay his welcome. His daughter Belle would be amazed when he told her how he’d spent the night, and he couldn’t wait to tell her all about it. If only he’d been able to bring home the riches he’d promised her.
When he’d heard word that one of his lost merchant ships had been found, he had gone off, expecting his wealth to be returned to him. But no such luck. It was almost as if Belle knew, and didn’t want to put undue pressure on him. While he had promised to bring her back anything her heart desired—a gown, pearls, gold—his sweet Belle only asked him to bring her back a rose, since she was exceedingly fond of them, and they didn’t grow well for her.
Now he couldn’t even bring home a simple rose.
Henry sighed and made his way out of the castle, once again thanking the fairies for their hospitality. A large shadow swooped past him in the corner, making him jump in fright, but no one was there.
The castle looked different in the sunshine than it did at night. The wolves were gone, as was the rain. Droplets glimmered on the beautiful rose bushes that bloomed under every window.
Roses!
Henry leaned into the bush, inhaling the heady scent of the blooms. Carefully, he reached down and plucked a perfect bud from the thorns.
ROARRRRR!
Henry fell to the ground with fright, the rose falling from his hand. Looming above him, growling ferociously with fangs bared, stood a…a
beast
.
“How dare you steal my roses!” the Beast thundered. “After the hospitality I’ve shown you. I took you in, gave you a fire and food and a warm bed. How do you repay me? By stealing the only beautiful thing I have left!”
Henry’s entire body shook with terror. “P-please, sir, I thought the castle was abandoned. I only took the rose because my daughter Belle loves them so much that she asked me to bring her one when I returned home.”
The Beast stilled, glaring at Henry. “You have a daughter.”
“Y-yes, sir. I meant no harm. I’ll return the rose.” He hastily attempted to set the flower back onto the bush, yelping when his hand got caught on a thorn.
“You can’t return a cut bloom,” Beast growled. “It will wither and die. And for that, so must you.”
Henry tried to fight but it was no use, not against the Beast’s immense size and strength. The Beast opened his mouth wide, revealing horrific fangs, and came closer.
He will devour me
, the merchant despaired.
But instead, the Beast bit down onto the back of the man’s shirt and dragged him back into the castle, taking no notice of the way the man’s body was battered against the hard stone floors.
They went down a narrow staircase, to the dungeon. Chains hung on the walls, and along the floor. The Beast threw him into the corner by a pile of hay, and said, “Chain him.”
To Henry’s horror, the chains on the floor crept around his ankles and locked in place, capturing him.
“Please, sir, I beg you,” Henry said. “Let me see my daughter one last time, and I will return to you.”
The Beast laughed at his proposition. “Why should I trust a thief to willingly come back to me, once you are freed?”
“Please, I just…I just want to see my daughter. I want her to know what happened, or she’ll never stop worrying about how I disappeared.”
“If I let you go see your daughter one last time,” Beast said, “and you betray my trust and do not return…I will go into town, hunt you down, and I will eat Belle—like the Beast I am.”
The merchant paled. “I could never allow that to happen, sir. Please, let me go, and you have my word I will return.”
The Beast nodded, and the chains around the man’s ankles unlatched.
“Go now,” he roared. “Before I change my mind!”
***
Back at the merchant’s house, Belle Castelle wiped her hands on her apron and stepped back out onto their tiny front porch, shielding her eyes from the sun to see if her father was heading down the road yet.
He shouldn’t have been gone so long. Her father was due home yesterday. What could have kept him? Perhaps the storm forced him to spend the night at an inn?
Finally, she saw him in the distance, running toward her. He had no packages, which could only mean that his ship hadn’t brought back the wealth he’d been hoping for.
Belle smiled and waved, glad now that she asked only for a rose.
“Belle!” her father gasped, running into her open arms. He hugged her tightly.
“I was worried, Papa,” she said. “Are you…are you all right?”
“No,” he whispered. “Something horrible happened.”
Belle looked at him, frightened. “What, Papa?”
“I never should have taken that rose,” he wailed.
Her stomach dropped at his words. “Tell me what happened.”
“There’s a beast, Belle. A horrible, enormous beast, and if I don’t go back to his castle as his prisoner…he’s going to eat you.” The man sobbed as he said the last part, overcome with emotion.
“Don’t worry, Papa. Let’s go straight to the Constable and let him know. They will take care of this Beast for us,” Belle said.
They ran to the Constable and found him dozing in his chair.
“Sir,” Belle coughed, waking him. “We have a problem. My father is being threatened by a Beast who intends to eat me if he doesn’t go to his castle as his prisoner.”
The Constable looked at the man, at the crazed fear in his eyes, and at the girl. “Very well, my child, I’ll take care of everything.” He stood and walked into the back room.
“See, Papa? I told you, everything will be fine.”
But when the Constable returned, he brought with him his wife Mrs. Sharone, the old lady who ran the Institution for Lunatics.
“A Beast, you say?” she asked dryly.
“Yes, ma’am, a huge beast, with the body of a gorilla, the mane of a lion, and the feet and tail of a wolf!” The merchant nearly fainted in terror just from describing him. “He’ll eat Belle alive if I don’t go to his castle!”
“Tell me about this castle,” she said, picking up a pen and her clipboard. She scrawled a quick note and looked up.
“It’s quite large, very old,” her Papa described. “And it has fairies that can give you whatever you wish for.” Henry paused. “That part was really lovely, actually. But then the Beast came and locked me in his dungeon.”
The old lady turned to the Constable. “As you said, Constable. Delusions, hallucinations. I’ll take him in to assess whether he’s a danger to himself or others.”
“You can’t!” Henry cried. “If I don’t return, he’ll eat Belle!”
Belle looked at her father with concern. Was it as Mrs. Sharone said, that he was suffering from delusions?
Her father grabbed her hand and ran out the door with her. “Go back home. I must go to the Beast so he doesn’t harm you.”
“It must be a misunderstanding,” she said. “You only meant to take a rose for me. You’re no thief. Surely this…Beast will understand, when I explain.”
Her father stared at her in horror. “Absolutely not. You’re not going anywhere near that animal.”
Belle raised her eyebrows. “I will be accompanying you back to that castle with or without your blessing, Papa. Perhaps hearing your side of the story from a woman will soften the Beast’s heart enough to let you go.”
They headed back into the woods, hand in hand. Belle wasn’t sure what she feared more…finding out her father was indeed suffering from delusions and hallucinations…or finding the Beast.
***
“This is it,” Belle’s father whispered, staring at the tall wrought iron gate. “Please, dearest, go home so I can die knowing you are safe.”
Belle shook her head. Her father held many strange beliefs, and she’d never seen proof of any of them. Misplaced items around the cottage were not proof of pixies, as much as her father insisted that was so. If the lady who ran the Institution was right about his delusions, Belle needed to know.
“I insist on meeting this Beast myself, Papa,” she said quietly. “You can’t dissuade me.”
“Belle, I—I demand you leave here at once.”
Belle shook her head. She was nearly twenty years old now, not a little girl.
Her father sighed at her disobedience and pushed the gate open, shuddering when it creaked. “He’s expecting me. I suppose we should get this over with.”
They walked up the path to the front door. Belle lifted her hand to knock, but it opened by itself.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” Belle called. Her voice echoed in the cavernous front hall.
A roar shook the stone floor, and Belle jumped in fright, grabbing her father’s shoulders.
“He’s downstairs,” Henry said ominously. “In the dungeon.”
“Lord in Heaven,” Belle whispered.
Her father inhaled a shaky breath. “I’ll go down. You stay here.”
“I’ll do no such thing,” Belle said.
A narrow staircase led down in to the bowels of the castle, and Belle stuck close to her Papa as he descended the stairs.
“I’ve returned as promised, Beast,” Henry called.
They pushed open a heavy door and entered the dungeon. Belle blinked, trying to adjust to the darkness. Something…some
thing
was in the corner, hidden in the shadows.
“Who’s there?” she called, her voice sounding high and frightened to her ears.
A beast crept out of the corner on all fours. When he stood, he towered over them both by four or five feet. Belle gasped at the terrifying sight.
“This must be Belle,” the Beast said. “The girl who loves roses.”
Belle nodded, trembling. “Sir, please don’t punish my father for my mistake. I never should have asked for a rose. He didn’t mean to steal one, he only meant to please me—”
The Beast roared, silencing her.
Tears stung her eyes. Her father wasn’t crazy—this was real. The Beast, he was real! And even more horrible than even her father’s story could have prepared her for.
“I won’t punish your father then,” Beast said. “I will punish you.”
Her father threw himself protectively in front of her. “You wanted me, Beast, and I am here as promised. Take me.”
Belle couldn’t let her father die for her. She couldn’t. Henry Castelle was the only truly good soul she knew, and she would protect her Papa to the death.
“Beast,” she whispered. “Sir. Take me in his place.”
The Beast looked at her appraisingly, staring at her so intently she felt the heat from his gaze.
“You will stay as my prisoner, forever, in place of your father?” Beast asked softly.
“I will.” Belle’s cheeks were wet with tears, tears for the loss of her freedom, and for the pain she knew she was causing her Papa. But anything was better than having the Beast take him.
“So be it,” the Beast said. He turned to her father. “Get out and never return. If you do, or if you send anyone looking for me, I will eat her.”
Henry cried out in horror, not moving, reaching his hands toward Belle.
“I said LEAVE!” the Beast roared.
A gale-force wind blew down the stairs, wrapped around her Papa, and carried him out of the dungeon.
“What’s happening?” Belle gasped. “Where’s my Papa?”
“He has been escorted off the castle grounds,” the Beast said.
Belle sobbed, putting her face in her hands. She didn’t want to see the Beast, didn’t want to see the cold dark dungeon where she would surely die.
“Are you…are you going to eat me?” she asked.
The Beast bared all his fangs, and she trembled.
“No, Belle, I will not be eating you tonight. Get some rest.”
Belle worked up the courage to speak again. “Where will I sleep?”
Suddenly, the Beast loomed above her. The muscles across his fur-covered chest bulged, his shoulders so broad they blocked her view of anything but…him.
“There’s some hay in the cell. You’ll sleep there—unless you planned on sleeping in my
bed. I assumed you were the virtuous maiden type. Perhaps I was mistaken.”
Belle looked at him in confusion. “No! I mean, I am. But…you’re an animal. You don’t see me like that, do you?”
Good heavens, where did that even come from? Why was she even entertaining the idea that a beast would want to ravish her?
But something about the way those cool green eyes of his stared at her made her think he wasn’t all animal after all. He did speak, and reason, after all. What sort of beast was this?
“I suppose I
am
an animal,” he said, his voice thick. “And yes, I see you.”
***
The Beast prowled the great hall above the dungeon. Just below his paws lay a beautiful girl—a girl who would rather die than give her Papa over to him.
Something tugged on his conscience, a nagging feeling of guilt. It wasn’t fair to keep her his prisoner. But this was his only chance. The one and only time he’d ever had a girl in his castle, a girl who might be his salvation.
He had to keep her, at least long enough to see if she could ever look past his hideous appearance and into his true soul.
What then? She’d only see the man who’d separated her from her father, the man who’d kept her prisoner. Even if she became accustomed to his beastly appearance, she could never love him.
Accustomed to his appearance…
Yes. That was a start, at least. He would see her often, often enough for her to get used to how he looked, so she wouldn’t cringe in fright every time he came by. Once she was able to see him without fear, she’d be able to talk with him.
He already knew they had one thing in common, at least.
They both loved roses.
Perhaps, for her, he could cut some of the deep red blooms. Their color and aroma would brighten the dreary castle up, at least, and might even make her feel more comfortable with her situation.
“Castle,” he said to the empty hall. “I want a bouquet of roses in the dungeon for the girl.”
Heaven knew she had earned her roses tonight.
***
Belle laid on a large pile of hay in the cell, staring out the barred window above her head. The window itself was only a foot tall, and seemed to look out onto the grass.
She closed her eyes, determined to imagine herself in a better place. In a beautiful garden filled with roses. She could almost smell them…