out a hand and grabbed the Beast by his ankle.
“Please M’lord, I beg you. I will do anything, I will give you all that I have to save him. I need him, else my mother and younger brother will starve and also… ” her soft voice faltered, “I love him. What can I do?”
The Beast sneered at her pleading, but he reached down and pulled her roughly to her feet. “Love? What is that but a soft women’s word? I have never known of love and I do not believe in it.”
“You’ve never known love? Not even from your parents?” Beauty was so shocked she forgot herself, looking him straight in the eyes for a quick moment before lowering her gaze and adding, “M’lord.”
The Beast thought of himself as a very private man who had long closed himself inside a wall as thick and solid as those enclosing the castle grounds, and nearly as impenetrable. In truth, deep in the core of his soul, he hungered with an ache he would never acknowledge, even to himself. He hungered for just one person to see past the stern warrior to the man buried deep inside.
To be certain, he was not thinking of the peasant girl before him as that person. He thought of the girl as being worthless, of no more importance or intelligence than one of his dogs, but she was the first person ever to pose such a question to him, and almost against his will he answered her truthfully, surprising even himself.
Mayhap a dam broke deep inside his soul releasing a flood of buried emotions or mayhap he was angered by the nerve of the girl and just wanted to let her see herself as the weak fool she was, speaking of wasted emotions like love and mercy.
“I very seldom saw my parents when I was an infant,” the Beast scoffed. “From what I’ve heard, they hired a nurse to care for me. If care is what you’d call it.”
“What do you mean, M’lord?” she asked quietly, sensing that he was telling her things he had never spoken aloud before.
Beauty felt a pain coming from within this proud man and knew she had to tread lightly, not letting him see any trace of sympathy. Sympathy that he was sure to take as pity or weakness that he could use to his advantage.
“The nurse kept me swaddled. I was bound so tightly I could barely breathe, or so I’ve been told, and left hanging from a nail on the wall in filthy rags until I was thought old enough to begin learning to walk and talk. I remember naught of it, of course, but whilst I was in the King’s guard I learned that most infants are cherished and well cared for.” The Beast paused and shrugged, “It probably did me no harm, and mayhap it even strengthened me.”
“And when your parents felt it was time to begin teaching you?” Beauty prompted, heartsick at this tale of abuse.
“All my memories of my parents are the lessons I learned from their fists or their whips. Is that love? Sometimes, if they were too tired or busy to whip me properly when they thought I needed punishment, they had their executioner do the task. A man known far and wide for his brutality. Is that love?” the Beast sneered, not even fully realizing why he was telling her this story. “They fostered me out to another knight for training at the age of seven. He beat me even more often than they did; was that love? I was told constantly that to show any hint of mercy or tenderness would make me seem weak and foolish, that I would be judged not worthy to be a warrior, a knight, or to rule a castle such as this. The lesson was beaten into me daily. And since I’ve grown up I’ve seen the truth of their teaching. I have seen naught to change my mind. I’ve seen the hopelessness of life and the cruelty of war, and I’ve known men so depraved as to make me seem a weakling, but I have never, ever seen love. I do not believe it exists.”
“You have seen love, M’lord. You see it now. It’s standing here, now, before you, begging with you,” Beauty said proudly. Then she paused and lowered her voice, “I fear you as I have never feared any man before. I have been raised hearing tales of your heartless cruelty, and I have known of women who have been brought here against their will. They’ve been murdered or killed themselves both before and after submitting to your cruel and lustful attentions. They died in pain and disgrace. With all of that, and knowing full well the risk I take, I stand here offering you anything I can give to save my brother. Is that not love?”
The Beast did not let her see that a touch of her reasoning had struck a spark deep within him. A trace of wonder and a hint of admiration for her courage.
“Why would any woman kill herself after I honoured her with my attentions?” the Beast puzzled out loud, ignoring the shock that threatened to ruin his composure.
Could it be true? Gathering himself, he shoved off the uneasy feeling. Certainly spending a night in his bed, even by force, was not enough to cause a woman to take her own life in despair. What disgrace could there be in pleasuring the lord of the castle?
“It’s only a wild story, made to frighten young girls into obedience. It can not be real.” He then asked bitterly, “Who told you these tales of my cruelty? I should have him hung as a traitor!”
Beauty saw the trap but knew not how to avoid it.
She dropped her head and whispered softly, “Many have said it, M’lord, tis common talk in the village.”
“Including your brother?” the Beast asked quietly; he was no fool.
“Yea, M’lord,” Beauty admitted softly, her voice barely a whisper. “Including my brother. He is the one who suggested I dress like this to avoid catching your attention.”
“I gave him a decent job and a chance to earn a little money to help his family. Does that not warrant some loyalty? Why should he spread these tales to you? ‘Tis nigh treason? You have not helped his cause by telling me thus,” the Beast roared.
“There was a lass in the village who he was fond of, he might have even married her until you… took her,” Beauty said meekly. “She was a virgin.”
“It is my right to claim the maidens. What harm did that do? She could still marry your brother.” The Beast was unconvinced.
“She was beaten so badly that she was crippled when you let her return to the village, M’lord, and soon found herself to be pregnant with your child.” Beauty met his cold stare head on. “My brother still would have wed her, I think, but she killed herself in despair. Please, M’lord, understand that he did not tell me these things to be disloyal to you but because he fears for me, that I might meet a similar fate.”
“Yet you stand before me, having come here on your own accord, offering yourself to me. What would he think of that I wonder?” the Beast taunted her. “Would he be pleased that you offer to give yourself to me?”
“He’ll know why I did it, and understand, I pray, but he will still be furious.” Beauty swallowed before she continued, “And I will be, in truth, eternally dishonoured. If I can save his life, it will be well worth the price.”
“And will he not try to take vengeance for you?” the Beast sneered and wondered aloud. “Against me? I would, for a sister well loved, if I believed in love at all.”
“He will not. I swear it,” Beauty said steadily. “I have a mother and a younger brother for him to protect. He would not abandon them or put their lives at risk to save me.”
The Beast paced the room, agitated at this glimpse of the girl’s mind. Finally he paused, tamping down his fury before continuing, “What exactly are you offering? For all your fine talk, so far as I can tell, there’s nothing at all about you
