The Beast's Bride (7 page)

She struggled, panic ripping through her. Darkness was the last thing she had seen before Muffin had appeared. Was she dying?
Not again, not again, not again.

But then she heard that warning snarl once more, louder this time. "Begone," growled a voice, and she realized it was the beast. And he wasn't talking to her. And the darkness over her eyes, she realized as the breath struggled to return to her lungs, was his cloak. Her arms flailed for a moment, and she shoved the fabric off of her face, looking around her.

The beast lay on top of her, his large form covering hers. He wasn't looking at her, either. He was staring off to one side, his leonine teeth bared in an angry rictus, ruff standing alert, ears flat.

She looked over and saw the rat-beast nearby, red claw marks on its haunch. It hissed and chittered at them, as if not sure what to do.

The beast roared, and Pippa nearly lost her breath again. The sound was terrifying and loud and shook her to her core. Somewhere in the distance, she thought she heard Belle give a frightened sob.

But then the creature hissed one more time and disappeared deeper into the maze.

It was gone. The beast had saved her.

Pippa blinked her eyes in surprise at this turn of events. She stared up at the beast, his big body still looming over her.

He looked down at her, his yellow eyes focusing on her face. The pupils were dilated, and that snarl disappeared from his mouth.

And she realized, staring up at his face, that he didn't smell unpleasant or beastlike at all.

There was an oddly appealing scent to him, like sage or rosemary soap instead of animal fur.

And his form over hers was warm and solid, not crushing like she'd expected from a creature as large as him. It was…pleasant. Protective. And it made her feel warm and a bit flushed in response.

His gaze flicked over her face, and then he jerked up as if burned. He got on his hind legs and before she could get to her own feet, he grabbed her and hauled her like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder.

4Pippa gave a yelp of alarm, but then she lost her breath for a second time when her stomach slammed into the large shoulder.

And, with that undignified move, she was hauled out of the maze. As she caught her breath, she noticed that the beast didn't pause, moving unnerringly through the overgrown maze, as if he'd walked the grounds a million times and knew the way out like the back of his hand. A moment later, they emerged back into the open gardens, and then Pippa was slung to the ground, landing on her bottom in an ungraceful heap.

Above her, Belle loomed over her, looking attractively weepy, her breasts heaving, her cheeks prettily flushed, eyes bright blue with tears. She glanced at the beast, then at her sister, then back at the beast, before kneeling next to Pippa. "Oh, Pippy. I was so worried."

"Do not," the beast breathed, big shoulders heaving, "Ever enter the maze again. That is an order."

Pippa struggled to sit up. "But—"

One large clawed hand pointed at her, an inch from her nose. "That is an
order
. Why do you think I insist you stay in your rooms? You are foolish if you think this place is safe to explore."

"How was I supposed to know there were giant rats?" Pippa grumped, pushing his hand out of her face.

"Look about you, lady." He gestured. "What about this place strikes you as normal? What makes you think that this is a place for pleasant walks or afternoon jaunts?"

"It's not afternoon," Belle said in a whispering voice. She quailed backward when the beast turned the force of his glare on her.

"Hey," Pippa said, leaning forward so Belle could hide protectively behind her. "We didn't know. Calm down."

"Stay in your rooms!"

"We're not prisoners," Pippa said angrily. "We're your guests, aren't we?" Ironically, strains of a Disney song began to play in her head. She
really
had to get past the Disney version of things—the reality was nothing like it.

"Pippy," Belle said in a hesitant voice.

"
Pippa
," she corrected, and then gritted her teeth when her voice sounded annoyed. "Look.

We can't stay in our rooms the entire time we're here. That's all I'm saying." Especially not if she was supposed to make these two fall in love. For someone that wanted to break his curse, the 4beast was sure making this whole thing rather difficult. "You want time to get to know your bride, right?"

She felt Belle's hands tighten on her arm, as if she didn't like that idea very much.

The beast's gaze went back to Belle, and he studied her lovely form for a long moment. Then, he glanced back at Pippa's upturned face. "I will see you both at dinner."

"But—"

"Until then,
stay in your rooms
." His voice rose in volume.

"And do what? Stare at the wall?" Pippa got to her feet, not intimidated by his yelling. "Do you know how boring it is to be trapped with nothing to do and no one to talk to?"

And then she stopped, the words dying in her throat as his eyes narrowed.
Duh, Pippa
, she told herself. Of course he knew what it was like to be trapped and lonely. And just like that, all her irritation vanished, leaving behind nothing but sympathy.

Poor beast.

His leonine jaw clenched, and he gestured at the castle again. "To your room. Now."

This time, instead of arguing, Pippa went, dragging Belle with her. She was even more annoyed now, though. Because not only was the beast all pissy again, but Belle was clearly terrified of him. She'd seen him get angry at Pippa, and every moment of his anger seemed to frighten her fairy-tale sister more. The harder she worked to get these two together, the more difficult they seemed to make it on her.

Worst of all? She'd kind of been an unthinking ass to the beast. She’d acted like she was the only one who was bored and lonely and trapped in this situation. She’d paid no attention to the fact that his situation was the worst of all, and it made her feel like a heel. And Pippa really hated that feeling, because now she was the bad guy in this. She’d have to apologize or it was going to eat at her.

She would apologize to him, she decided, at dinner that night.

~~***~~

Since they had nothing to do, Pippa and Belle took an extended nap that afternoon, and when they woke up, Belle asked to do Pippa's hair for dinner. She had nothing else going on, so she agreed, and she sat on the floor while Belle sat on the bed and began to braid her hair into an 4intricate updo, chattering all the while about the village and wondering how things were going and if Papa was doing well without them. She didn't mention the beast, or the strange, lonely castle they found themselves in, almost as if she were deliberately avoiding the subject. Then again, maybe the daily life of the local dairymaids was far more interesting to someone like Belle, who gossiped about who was flirting with who, as if Pippa would know these people.

Theoretically, she was supposed to, but she only made half-interested noises and thought instead about their situation. The strange, cursed inhabitants of the castle, the lonely beast, and the complete and utter isolation of this place.

Wasn't he just as bored as they were, being by himself with no one to talk to but the boar-headed butler or the cat-headed maids?

As bored as
I am
, she corrected after a moment, wincing as Belle chattered on and pulled her hair into a tight twist. Belle didn't seem annoyed by their confinement at all. In fact, she seemed rather…happy.

Yet another problem. Belle was pleased as punch to be hidden away from the beast. The beast was happy to hide them away. Neither seemed to be conducive to a relationship. She had to shake this up somehow.

"All done," Belle announced happily. "Let me get the mirror and show you." She bounded off the bed and went to a nearby dresser, pulling out a tiny round metal object and handed it to Pippa.

Pippa examined it. It wasn't like any mirror she'd ever seen—its glass was thick and wavy, and it was smaller than she'd expected, being no larger than her hand. But she held it up and examined her reflection thoughtfully. There was a slight distortion of her features in the mirror's fuzzy glass, but she could tell that Belle had done an incredible job with Pippa's tangled hair. An intricate braid curved her head like a crown, with smaller, more tightly braided pieces woven through it like a decorative band. Along her brow and near her ears, she'd left a few small strands of hair loose, softening the look. Pippa looked almost pretty. Regal. Like a real fairy-tale princess.

She turned to Belle and smiled. "It's gorgeous."

Belle clapped her hands happily. "You look lovely! Now do me."

Pippa did her best with Belle's hair, but the lovely blonde was as wiggly as a puppy as she continued to chatter on, filling the silence of the room with one-sided conversation. Pippa wasn't 4a great braider herself, but Belle didn't need much ornamentation. Her golden hair was lush with waves, and so Pippa simply pulled it into a thick french braid and wove a bright red ribbon through it. Belle would look beautiful in anything, she thought, and she couldn't even be jealous.

Belle was too sweet, too open. Of course she was utterly gorgeous. She was just Belle. That was how things were.

As she tied off the ribbon into a loose bow at the tail of Belle's fat, golden braid, a knock sounded at the door to their room. Both women startled, and Belle's stream of chatter abruptly died.

"I'll get it," Pippa told her, and she bounded over the side of the bed to answer the door.

The boar-headed butler was there, and he gestured that they should follow him down the hall.

Pippa glanced back at Belle. "Time for dinner."

Belle swallowed hard, but she gave a brave nod.

The two women followed the silent butler through the maze of the castle halls. Pippa thought the hallways were beginning to look familiar, but she could have been mistaken. A lot of the doors and the stonework looked alarmingly similar.

When they entered the great hall, though, she was surprised—and pleased—to see that it had been decorated. When Pippa had first seen this room, it had been silent and empty, devoid of everything. Now a fire blazed in the enormous stone fireplace at the far end of the hall. A massive wooden table had been set up for dining, with three chairs at the far end: two on one side, one on the other. A bright red decorative table runner had been laid down the center of the table, and the walls hung with colorful banners of the same vivid red. As Pippa passed one of the banners, she noticed the gold embroidery lining the edges. It was set with the crest of a lion roaring. She glanced over at the decor and wondered if it was a coincidence that they resembled the beast. Probably not.

Their host lurked at the far end of the room. He'd changed into new clothing for their dinner, a white shirt evident under his ever-present cloak, and he wore a pair of puffy-seeming pants that went to the knee. She would have laughed at the get-up on a human man, but there was no laughing at the beast. Instead, Pippa was pleased that he was trying so hard. Even his lion mane seemed combed. She cast him a beaming smile even as Belle slid a little closer to her.

"Good evening," Pippa said cheerfully.

He said nothing, but gestured at the table, indicating that the women should sit.

4Belle automatically went to the side of the table with the two chairs, her hand still clutching tightly at Pippa's sleeve.

Pippa frowned at the place settings. Two chairs on one side, obviously for two sisters. But if they sat across from the beast instead of next to him, they'd be losing out on a superb opportunity. Pippa detangled her arm from Belle's and pulled her chair out for her sister, an idea forming in her mind.

Like Pippa hoped, Belle sat down in the chair offered her.

Immediately, Pippa went to the opposite side of the table and sat in the chair by itself.

Belle made a terrified whine of protest and started to get up.

"Come and sit?" Pippa asked the beast, gesturing at the chair she'd left for him.

As she watched, his leonine eyes narrowed at her, but he obligingly went and sat next to Belle. Her sister's back went ramrod straight, her body stiff with a mixture of distaste and fear, and her big eyes pleaded with Pippa to change seats with her.

Pippa ignored it. She smiled brightly at the two sitting across from her. "So what's on the menu tonight?"

"Venison stew."

"Oh good," Pippa said. "For a moment there, I was worried you were going to say pork."

Given the look of their butler, that would have been rather hard to stomach. When the beast's eyes narrowed again, she added, "I'm just famished, and I love venison stew."

Belle looked confused for a moment. "You do?"

Pippa kicked her under the table.

Belle's lower lip thrust out in a pout, and she went silent.

As the odd butler came by the table and began to set out delicate plates for them, Pippa fiddled with the folds of her skirt. The room had gotten quiet again, and she guessed that was to be expected. She doubted the beast was good at small talk, she certainly wasn't, and Belle wasn't chatty when she was in the same room as the beast. Still, it was awkward.

No better time than to give her apology to the beast. "I wanted to say that I was sorry, by the way."

The beast looked away from Belle and back over to Pippa, his furry brows creasing. "Sorry?"

She nodded. "When I said what I said earlier, I was rather mean to you. It was unthinking of me and I apologize. You've been very kind to us so far."

4This time, Belle was the one that kicked her under the table, a silent statement of disagreement. Pippa scowled at Belle and rubbed her shin. Dang! Belle had stabby, pointy little toes. Pippa was going to have a bruise in the morning if she did that again.

"I was not offended," the beast said in a low, almost growly voice. "You are in a strange place. You are bound to be a bit overwhelmed." He glanced over at Belle. "I know you are here for me."

Belle was silent. She seemed to be physically leaning away, scooting to the far side of her wooden chair as if she could somehow escape her dinner companion. Her gaze remained glued to Pippa's face.