Page 10 of Beauty Reborn
Even that, Stephan countered: “If death turns out to be the end of all things, we’ll know nothing after it.”
I should have considered my father’s feelings, but I was preoccupied with the rush of victory and the thrill that came from Stephan’s eyes on mine as we shared it.
“A man must live today,” Stephan said, raising a toast to me. “Every untamable moment.”
Every untamable moment—that was my romance with him. A wild burn of reckless indulgences as we broke society’s rules and laughed. As the future baron, no one dared reproach him, and with me on his arm, no one dared reproach me.
No one except my brother.
“I don’t like him,” Rob told me bluntly after his visit to the house. “And I don’t like who you are with him.”
My face flushed, and I felt the betrayal as a dagger to my heart.
“Who I am with him,” I said, “is who Iam. Do you have any idea what they say about me, Rob? The ladies of town. They say I’m a disgrace—to society in general, but specifically to Mother.”
“You’re not a disgra—”
“Oh, but I am. I’m whimsical. These women have children to raise, and I raise topics of what exists inside the stars.”
“It’s different,” Rob insisted.
“It isn’t,” I shot right back. “With Stephan, I am free to be myself. And I shall be myself as long as I please.”
No one could dissuade me, not Astra, not Rob. I continued forward in a reckless charge, lance of self-righteousness held high, never imagining the day would come when I would be unseated, left to be dragged behind my horse into the wild unknown.
Chapter
4
The wardrobe was insistent. Each time I passed it, the doors burst open, parading gown after gown of glittering, richly embroidered fabric for my consideration. At my refusal, the doors would snap closed once more, and the entire structure would wilt, sagging against the wall like an insulted maiden. Had it a wrist or a forehead, it surely would have thrown the two together in despair.
Yet had I ever been tempted by the offerings, my experience with the bath was enough to convince me that an enchanted dress would vanish off my form at the worst moment, leaving me naked. So to each of the gowns, I offered a firm, “No.” I remained in my linen shift and dress, the pigeon among the peacocks.
If my host minded my attire, he made the same comment on the matter as he made on any other: absolute desolate silence.
No matter how I searched, the beast’s whereabouts remained unknown. Each day, the castle was spotless, erasing any evidence that might have betrayed it was lived in. Even my own room was pristine each time I entered it.
“I am hardly intimidating,” I whispered, after another futile foray into the endless castle looking for a door marked “Beast.” I closed my own marked door gently—only just remembering to bolt it—and sat in the fading afternoon sun warming my window seat.
I should have been grateful for the solitude. My trip to the castle had been in search of the most complete escape, and the reality was as near as anyone could hope for. I was not only uneaten but undisturbed, and at my fingertips was anything I could hope to want. I had only to think of it, and the castle would pop it into existence.
But my desires were not so simple as silk gowns and savory pies.
I sat at the desk and wrote,Your name is Beast.
Then I took my place on the staircase and waited. Perhaps he would be angry that I continued to send messages he couldn’t read. Perhaps today was the day to be devoured.
“Is it my name?” he asked.
I jolted upright at his voice. My fingers tightened on the edge of the stair beneath me.
“Yes.” I licked my lips. “Your name is Beast.”
Silence. That slight crinkle of parchment. He must have studied my earlier message enough to recognize the “name is” and, from there, to draw the conclusion as to the message’s entire meaning. My instructors would have called him diligent, the same praise I’d enjoyed, and that was something, wasn’t it?
“I’m surprised.” My voice burst out of me without permission, itching to chatter. “Such a castle has a hundred expensive tapestries but not a single book. It isn’t what I expected, especially knowing you can speak. Someone should have told you true wealth lies in learning.”
He was silent.
