Beast Page 4

  Chapter 3

  Her mother was sent for that very night. She was placed in small room with a large bed and even larger fireplace, perfect for keeping her warm. A door led to a closet room just off of her mother’s, where Leona set up a cot and table. Mrs. Kingsley came in after a short while, to show Leona what she was to do.

  “I’ve just learned of your arrangement,” she said cheerfully. “I think it’s wonderful, you deciding to stay. Come, this way; I’ll get you started with a rag and duster.”

  Leona followed her down to the basement of the castle, where the kitchen and cellar lay. When they entered the kitchen, Leona frowned. “Ah- Mrs. Kingsley,” she asked.

  The woman turned, raising her eyebrows.

  “Where is the rest of the staff?”

  Mrs. Kingsley laughed. “Why, there is no other staff! Other than myself, you, and…oh, lets see, I suppose Jeffrey, there isn’t anyone.”

  Leona gaped at her a moment. She looked around the large kitchen, the fireplace big enough to roast several pigs, three ovens against the wall, the cutting table big enough for six to comfortably prepare a meal… “Do you mean to tell me- how- how does the Prince live? Has he no…. Where does the tax money go?” she demanded.

  A dark shadow crossed Mrs. Kingsley’s face. “The Prince himself lives a very secluded life,” she said soberly. She sighed. “He never leaves the castle. We’ve had dozens of young ladies come forth to…well. Some reside here still. He never even visits them, really. The poor man.”

  Leona leaned against a chair pulled up to one of the smaller eating tables in the room. She leaned forward a bit, and spoke low. “Is that why he relies on…the beast? To make decisions? Scare people away?”

  Mrs. Kingsley scowled, and snapped, “The beast, as you would call him, makes every decision in this palace! You would do well to learn your place!”

  Leona blinked. “I- oh.”

  Mrs. Kingsley huffed over to the wash table and pulled out a bucket filled with rags and soapy water. “Here,” she said, shoving it at Leona. “You’d best start, if you’re to keep your stay.”

  Leona took the bucket from her, about to thank her, but Mrs. Kingsley had no sooner handed it to her than she was stalking away. Leona stood in the kitchen alone, utterly at a loss, staring after her. “I don’t know what she’s so touchy about,” she muttered.

  She sighed and walked out, heading for the front hall, trying to remember which way it was. If she could find the hall, she could make her way just about anywhere, since the design of the palace all centered to end in the hall. If she could find it.

  Leona had taken several flights of stairs up, and still she hadn’t found it. She was certain she had taken one too many steps up; perhaps if she went back down… Turning, Leona walked through the double-doors she was certain she had just come out of, and ended up not in front of a staircase but a wide, glass room. She skidded to a halt, mouth a-gape, utterly impressed.

  The room looked to have once been a conservatory, thus the glass exterior and wilting flowers here and there. Now, however, it was…a laboratory. Two long tables ran the length of the room, covered in glass tubes, trays, contraptions that sizzled and popped, colored liquid and various jars of herbs and poisons. Bookcases filled over the brim with books lined the only solid wall, the one from which she had come. All over there were papers; on the floor, the tables, the bookcases, even crumpled and stashed in flowerpots. A small writing desk occupied the end of the room. Sunlight filtered onto it, revealing a spilt inkpot staining another stack of half-used papers. One quill pen lay on the floor; another, at closer glance, was angrily thrown into the wall by the bookcases.

  Leona walked slowly around the room, staring into the jars, truly amazed. She didn’t hear the door open behind her.

  What are you doing here!

  Leona gasped and spun around, heart fluttering. She knocked over a glass tube in her haste, and instantly regretted it as green liquid quickly spread to the floor. “Oh, no, I’m sorry!” she cried, quickly wiping it with a rag.

  Why are you here? came the ominous voice.

  Leona looked up and gasped again, abandoning her rag as she scooted away. The beast had come close, very close; he was towering above her. She stared up at him with terror-filled eyes. “I- I’m sorry I was just- I thought the doors led to the staircase-”

  You didn’t touch anything, did you?

  Leona quickly shook her head, and gulped. “Well, no, e-except for that one tube…” she held her breath.

  The beast looked around, growling low in his throat. You are not to come in here.

  Leona nodded. “I understand.” She waited for him to leave. When he did not, she slowly got to her feet, cautiously taking a step forward. She shouldn’t have been bold enough to ask, but she did anyway. “Who…who does this place belong to?”

  The beast looked at her, capturing her wide, curious eyes in his stare. It belongs to me.

  Leona widened her eyes. “You? I…” she glanced at the tiny tubes. “You can handle these?” she motioned to the glass.

  The beast grumbled. With difficulty, yes.

  Leona looked away. “Oh.” She lowered her eyes.

  Why do you ask?

  Leona looked up, surprised at the curiosity in his tone. “I suppose because…” she sighed, and then motioned to the papers on the floor. “It looks as if you’re having difficulty.”

  The beast retreated from her, into the shadows of the room. And if I am?

  Leona shrugged. “Why don’t you get someone to help?”

  With what? How could I trust someone to…to keep things right?

  Leona’s eyes widened. “A bit touchy, aren’t we?” she scoffed. “My, for one such as you I’d think you wouldn’t be so disgusted by the assistance of others.” Cheeks heating, Leona stiffly walked to the door and opened it, when the beast suddenly growled loud and clapped the door shut with his paw. He leaned against it, blocking her exit, while Leona cowered away.

  One…such as me?

  Leona took a breath, trying not to panic at the malice in his eyes. “Yes,” she breathed. “One who gives assistance at every opportunity.”

  The beast blinked. He had obviously not been expecting that answer, for immediately his weight left the door, lax. I do not understand. What assistance have I given?

  Leona stared at him. “What- m’Lord! You saved my life, and that of my mother’s!” She took a step forward in her gratitude. “You let me stay here. What more could you do?”

  The beast seemed confused. I had not realized it meant…so much.

  Leona shook her head sadly. “Of course it did.” The beast had moved away from the door. Leona walked to it, this time making it into the hall before he stopped her.

  Would you help me?

  Leona turned back. “Help you? In…there?”

  He was staring at her with his big, mournful eyes. Yes.

  Leona put down her bucket and placed her hands on her hips. “You trust me?”

  The beast did not move. All Leona heard was the earnest note in his voice as he said softly, Yes.

  Leona looked at him a moment longer before replying, “What would you have me do?”

  The beast stared at her, her white cap gleaming in his eyes. His chest rose and fell as he continued to stare, almost transfixed by her presence. Leona waited patiently. Then the beast turned, looking back at the room. His voice rumbled, Clean that mess you made. Then grab another tube and fill it with the green liquid in that jar over there. His paw motioned to the end of the long table on the left.

  Leona picked up her bucket and walked to the pile of rags she had left on the floor, staring down at the mess. Then she turned abruptly to face the beast. “I can’t help you here, if I’m still to clean-”

  I will consider this you new duty.

  Leona frowned. “I…cannot.”

  The beast’s voice was curious when he asked, Cannot?

  Leona to
ok a deep breath, and then set her bucket on the ground. “You have shown me such kindness,” she said softly. “I must repay you in some way. Helping here would be…” she smiled slightly, looking around. “Fascinating. But it is not enough to pay my keep.” She turned sad eyes back on the beast.

  His voice, when he spoke, was soft, soothing. Then you shall help me every other day. You were right, Leona. I do need you. Here. Please.

  She widened her eyes. “Please? M’Lord, all you need do…” she let her words stop. All he need do was order her to help, and clean after hours, yet…she could not, somehow, see him ordering her to do…anything. Which was odd enough, considering he was now her lord. And she wanted to help him. She found herself wishing to explore the books and fill the tubes, yet…she held herself back. She took a deep breath. “I will help you here every other day.”

  The beast made a low growl. Good. Now. Get to it.

  He was leaving to her to decide which task she would pursue that moment, she realized. He would let her choose. Leona turned pointedly around and sank to her knees, taking up a rag and beginning to scrub. She saw the beast’s shadow move slowly towards the other end of the room, towards the desk. She did not glance up, even as she heard him rustling through papers. She could not help but satisfy her curiosity when she heard a chair scrape back. She looked up, and then widened her eyes, her mouth parting slightly.

  “What are you doing?” she breathed.

  The beast looked up. Oh, what a picture he presented! Leona felt stunned, unable to breathe, dying to cry out with laughter yet deathly afraid to offend him. The beast was perched in an armchair, paws open before him, a book propped between them. Spectacles rested on the bridge of his nose. His black eyes blinked at her. I am reading.

  Leona’s mouth dropped even farther down. She sputtered a moment before rocking back on her heels and blurting out, “What?”

  Carefully, the beast let the book fall back on the desk. Have you never heard of such a pastime?

  Leona raised her eyebrows. Then she let them drop. “I cannot read,” she said softly. “I suppose…if humans still have not mastered it, why not…”

  A beast? The bitterness in his voice was hard to mistake.

  Leona took a breath, and then put her rag and bucket away. She stood, standing directly in front of the beast’s desk, across the room. “How…” she cleared her throat. Her hands moved to toy with her apron.

  How what? Spit it out, girl, I am not afraid.

  Leona frowned. “You’re so bitter,” she whispered.

  The beast growled, a warning sound that echoed around in his chest. This was not a subject he was willing to discuss.

  Leona scowled, and then said angrily, “You said you trust me.”

  The beast waved his paw. What has trust to do with anything?

  Leona put her hands on her hips. For the world of her she could not imagine why she was being so bold. She supposed it came from having worked as a barmaid all her life. One learned to be quite aggressive in such a place as her life had allotted her. “All right. We shall start with my trust. I shall tell you a secret, one no one else on this world has ever known. And you shall trust me with one of yours.”

  Why should any of this come to pass? Why should either of us become…friends?

  Leona took a step closer. Without realizing it, she was starting to come very close to his desk. “Because that is what trust entitles. Because I owe you my life.” She paused. There was one last reason she was hesitant to admit; yet it was there, surprising as it was. “Because I want it to.”

  The beast’s dark eyes gleamed. The only one I needed to hear was the last, he said softly.

  Leona took a deep breath. She looked out the window. “I know this won’t concern you,” she said softly. “You don’t…gossip, I suppose you could say, so this…what I’m going to tell you is my secret, and it has value to me. Even if it holds none to you, I ask you respect that.” She looked back at him.

  Of course, Leona.

  She smiled a little. She came towards the beast, taking a few last steps, and suddenly she was right before him, so close that she could see each hair as it expanded with his breath. “When I was little,” she started. She sighed. “Well, this was back when my father still lived. We weren’t too bad off then. I remember, it was a cold night, and my mother wanted me to go to town to collect a few groceries. She handed me money, and I started off, and…then there she was. This really, really old woman. She stood directly in front of me, holding out her hand, and her eyes…” Leona looked up.

  The beast was staring at her again, and Leona couldn’t help it. She stared back. She fell into his eyes, his black, unmoving eyes, and her words just started to tumble out.

  “She asked me for food. I didn’t have any but…I couldn’t help it. She looked so hungry. I gave her my money. I really shouldn’t have, since when I got home, my mother refused to feed me for a day to repay what I had ‘taken’, but…well, there’s something that I never told my mother about that day.” Leona reached around her neck, and pulled out a thin gold chain. Attached to that chain was a tiny pink rose, so tiny it was barely bigger than the tip of Leona’s pinkie finger. “You see this? She gave it to me. I asked my friend Gerry, who worked as a blacksmith, before he- he died, to put a loop on it so I could wear it.”

  Her smile became bittersweet for a moment in memory, and then she cleared her throat, ready to set her past free.

  “But you see? It has always given me luck. The old woman told me it would. She told me it would bring me to…” Leona laughed. “My destiny.” She looked back at the beast. “Do you think me a fool for believing?”

  The beast’s chest rumbled. Never.

  Leona smiled. “I didn’t think you would. You see m’Lord, this is why we must help each other. You are trapped in the body of something much worse than what you are, and me, I am trapped in the body of a barmaid. A barmaid who believes in a destiny.” She smiled.

  The beast’s paw waved. You see this laboratory?

  Leona nodded. It is the result of my foolish whims. My secret, Leona, is my desire to be human.

  Leona blinked, and stepped back in shock. “Human?” she asked incredulously. “Is that…possible?”

  The beast looked past her, at all the bottles, at the papers, at the books. It has to be.