Page 35 of Beauty Reborn
“Not today.”
“I don’t mind the flowers, but I miss the snow.”
Sometimes after we moved on, we would both laugh at the absurdity of our situation, an enchanted boy and a runaway girl in a magic castle dancing around the topic of marriage.
As I grew more comfortable, my answers changed. Sometimes it was, “Not today.” Sometimes it was, “And sacrifice my lifelong dream of being an old, unmarried crone shaking my cane at interloping children? Goodness, no.”
Once, it was, “I am much too old for you, wee beastie.”
“Oh, indeed?” His mouth was already tugging at a smile.
“Oh, indeed. I may not look it, but when I was eighteen, I went on a daring quest to the fountain of youth. Now I am eternally as you see before you, but my soul is hunched with a thousand years of age.”
“A thousand years. Incredible. Tell me how the world has changed.”
“The invention of people was quite bizarre.”
He hacked and choked; he must have been swallowing when I made him laugh. Another of his many human traits.
“You are a person,” he pointed out.
“I suppose I am, wee beastie. You must forgive me; my mind is befuddled by age.”
“I’d best find a cane, so you can shake it at interlopers and fulfil your lifelong dream.”
He always remembered details like that. Things I said on a whim, he gathered and tucked carefully away to recall at a later time. It was endearing to be so well heard, but it was also frightening, for my tongue was not a bridled one, and I said plenty of things I wished we could both later forget.
Such as the night he asked if I would marry him and I said, “You would do better to marry Astra.”
“Oh?” He had no eyebrows, but the ridges above his yellow eyes often took the part, the fur rising and scrunching as it would on a human face.
“She is of age, beautiful, versed on all the foremost topics of society.”
“I suppose men have married for less.”
Even though I’d introduced the topic, my chest tightened, and I wished I hadn’t spoken, hadn’t given myself the image of Astra in the castle instead of me. I could not imagine her actually saying yes, but she was twenty-five and desperate. She could have her heart’s desire in gems and wealth from the castle, and magic itself was priceless. With her knowledge, she could certainly leverage a marriage to Beast to her own advantage, especially after the enchantment was lifted and he became a man again.
She would order him around, and he would accommodate her because he was kind and had a sense of honor and duty. Perhaps he would even love her for setting him free. Perhaps they would both be unspeakably happy, having gained everything they ever wanted.
If I was kind, I would have gone home and spoken to Astra, arranged things myself, if not for my sister’s sake, at least for the sake of my friend. But I did not feel kind.
“Beauty?” Beast tilted his head, studying me.
I looked away. “You must resent me.”
“No, why would I ever?”
“Because all it would take to save you would be a simple yes. And every night, I say no.”
“I don’t begrudge your choices.”
Of course he said that, because he was kind. If Astra had been at the castle, he would have been free already.
“You’ve done so much for me, and I’ve done nothing for you.”
He stared at me, and the silence stretched. He couldn’t deny the truth.
“You listen when I speak,” he finally said. “And when I read. You are everything, Beauty.”
