Beast (21 page)

I picked up Buttons and carried him with us as we left the room. The whole time we walked, Buttons was asleep in my arms. Once we arrived at her room, I handed him to her.

“I want Buttons to sleep with you tonight. I want him to like you as much as I do.” I smiled at her.

“Well, thank you again, Beast, for a wonderful birthday. And thank you again for opening up to me. Have a blessed night!”

“Good night, my beautiful Mirabelle.”

Chapter 13

O
ne night a few weeks later, I was in the music room instead of out on the roof. Every so often, I felt as if someone or something were watching me while I played. I would open my eyes and turn toward where the sound was coming from, which was by the door, but I never saw anything or figured out what was making me feel this way. So I stopped caring and continued to play until the sun began to rise.

While I was leaving the music room, I had an interesting feeling in the back of my mind that I should go to the dining room before I did anything else.

I decided to follow this strange urge. Once I walked through the hallway into the dining room, I saw that Mirabelle was already there, with Buttons following her every step.

She was walking around looking around the room. Before I announced myself, I snuck back into the shadows of the hallway and watched her.

Mirabelle was observing something on the mantel above the fireplace. At first I did not know what it was, and then it came to me. She was eyeing an old Bible. Its pages were falling out, and the spine was breaking; it looked like it had been poorly taken care of. But it actually had been a family heirloom handed down for longer than I knew.

Finally, I walked into the room.

“Good morning, Mirabelle,” I said softly.

“Oh, hello. Morning, Beast,” she replied, turning toward me.

We walked to the table and sat down; Buttons followed us and jumped onto my lap.

“Buttons is extremely sweet,” Mirabelle started. “I have never met a cat that was anything close to him. Last night, I set him down on the ground while walking around preparing for bed; he would not leave my side. And when I finally lay on my bed, he hopped on it to find a place to sleep.”

“Where did he finally decide to lie?” I chuckled.

“Well, when he had settled down, he was on my stomach.” She smiled.

“Did you really lie on her stomach?” I peered down at Buttons.

He meowed at me, answering my question. Both Mirabelle and I giggled.

She began to consume her breakfast. From time to time, she glanced up at me, smiling.

“Mirabelle, is there anything you want to do today?” I asked.

She took a moment to ponder, and then a smile came upon her lips, revealing that she had decided.

“Before lunch, I would like to bring you around Majestueux again.” She smiled.

“Okay, then after breakfast, that is what we will do.” I nodded.

All I could think was that if the horse became comfortable around me, then maybe Mirabelle would be more comfortable as well.

When she came into the foyer after fetching her black coat, it was almost as if she were gliding on air.

“Are you ready to go outside?” she said, smiling.

“Yes, my Mirabelle, I am,” I said as I gave my arm.

We walked outside, where there were some patches of snow on the ground. It had been a few days since the last snowstorm.

“Okay, Beast, wait here till I bring Majestueux out of the barn,” she said, holding on to my right arm.

I stood behind one of the pillars near the barn as Mirabelle led Majestueux into the yard.

Last time, I had stayed far away from them, but I was hoping that he would feel more comfortable around me already. I knew that he was a huge part of Mirabelle’s life, and I wanted so badly to be a part of it too.

Once she was far enough out in the yard, she climbed up onto the saddle. As I watched her, I moved out from behind the pillar and over to the barn.

While she trotted him, the smile on her face was radiant. The movements of the horse were so fluid; I had not seen anyone connect with a horse so well before.

After standing next to the barn for a while, I walked forward a few feet at a time. Finally, I was at the point where he had become uncomfortable last time. He seemed to be fine. But before I moved closer, I waited until Mirabelle motioned to me.

When she began to jog the horse, she glanced at me from time to time. I was in a trance from her smile. She was the only thing I saw.

Once I finally came out of the trance, Mirabelle got off her horse and motioned for me to move closer. I looked at the ground before moving.

“Beast, come on,” she shouted. “I will tell you when he is having an issue.”

“I just do not want Majestueux to hurt you if I come too close,” I explained.

“Do not worry. Please come closer!” she demanded, half giggling.

“Okay, fine. But I am going to be slow.”

I took slow steps toward them.

“Come on, Beast. We do not have all day.” She giggled.

After she said this, I walked at a normal pace.

“Okay, Beast, stop for a moment. Open your eyes,” she exclaimed.

So I stopped and peeked out of one of my eyes.

Once I opened both of them, I realized that I was a little fewer than one hundred feet away. I was surprised to see the horse facing me.

“Look! He is okay.” She smiled as she led him into the barn.

After she put him away, she walked over to me and grabbed my hand.

“Would you like to accompany me to lunch?” she asked.

“I would love to, Mirabelle.”

Her question caught me off guard; she had never asked me this before. Never had I expected for her to ask me to have a meal with her. She desired my presence while she ate.
Is she just being friendly, or does it mean something deeper?

While we walked into the castle, my heart was pounding in my ears again. She had a smile on her face, which made me nervous that she heard it.

Instead of eating in the dining room, Mirabelle always had lunch in her room. But because she had invited me to join her, the Invisibles had set up her lunch on the dining table.

After I was seated in my chair, I looked up at her, and she smiled.

Her hair was down that day, so she kept moving it behind her left ear. After it fell for the fifth or sixth time, I put my hand on her face, placing the hair behind her ear. When my hand touched her face, it began to tremble. She shut her eyes, and her face looked relaxed as I did this.

We did not speak about much, but it was not awkward, as it could have been. When there was silence, I did not become afraid of it, as I had prior. Instead I enjoyed just spending time with her.

After lunch, we parted ways, and I went to the music room to play the piano. Like the last few times, I had the feeling of being watched. I periodically stared at the door. Sometimes I even walked over to the door and looked around to see if I was just being paranoid.

When I walked into the dining room at suppertime, Mirabelle was asleep on the couch with Buttons. I slowly made my way over to them to wake her up for dinner.

“Mirabelle, dinner is ready,” I said as I gently put my hand on her face, trying not to frighten her.

At first she did not wake, but she grabbed ahold of my hand. Instantly I froze; I did not know what to do. My stomach began to do flips, making me feel sick for some strange reason.

“Huh?” she finally said groggily.

“It is dinnertime, lovely,” I informed her, attempting to hide the awkwardness of my shaking body.

“Oh, okay.”

She stretched and yawned before she stood up. Since Buttons was on top of her, she placed him on the cushion next to her before we made our way to the table.

“So how was your ride this morning?” I asked.

“It was peaceful. When I ride, I am transported into a whole different world. If possible, I could ride all day! When we left the city, we rode with four guides who led us to the little town of Eglantina, by the forest. It took a few weeks before we finally arrived, but since I was on my horse, I loved every second of it.

“But Evaline”—she shook her head with her lip curled up, letting out a laugh—“not so much. She would complain that her bottom was becoming numb or that it was taking too long to arrive there. Evaline was very impatient. She has never been the outdoorsy type,” she joked, throwing her arms into the air.

“You have a lot of passion when you speak of horses. I admire that,” I expressed to her.

She let out a little giggle and then acted as if it were on accident, covering her mouth.

“Well, thank you, Beast.” She smiled.

Mirabelle began to tell me about the time when she witnessed a horse giving birth.

“It was one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen. The horse was having complications, and we were afraid for the foal. Papa had to step in and assist,” she informed me.

“That sounds terrifying,” I interjected.

“It was. I was in tears, thinking that we might lose the mother or the baby. But once Papa began to help with the birth, it went smoothly. The foal came out easily without any issue.”

Suddenly, as if coming out of a trance, she clicked back into reality, asking, “Have you ever seen a newborn creature? They are the most wonderful gifts to those around.”

“No, I have not, though I am absolutely sure that they are!”

“The foal that was born that day was Majestueux. He only listens to me, and when I am not near him, he does not respond well. That is why I brought him with me to the castle.”

Throughout the rest of dinner, we continued talking about Majestueux and about her life in the city. I could tell that she had not been too upset when they needed to move away from it. She told me that there were many people and that everyone judged one another harshly.

“Well, thank you for another wonderful day, Beast. Your company was exactly what I needed,” she said as she stood up after finishing her meal.

“You are most welcome, Mirabelle. I love spending as much time as I can with you; it allows me to forget about this awful curse,” I said, looking at the table, unsure how she would receive what I said.

“Same here, Beast.” She smiled.

We left the dining room and walked to her room.

“Mirabelle, will you marry me?” I said as she turned toward me.

There was a moment of silence, and I once again feared that she would hear my heart pounding.

“No. I am sorry, Beast,” she said.

She turned to her room, walked inside, and closed the door behind her. Since her birthday, when I had told her about the curse, I had asked her this every night.

Her answers seemed to be slower than they used to be, which made me hopeful. But I was becoming discouraged because her answers did not reflect her actions. I tried not to become downcast by her answer that night.

I took a deep breath in and slowly let it out in frustration as I walked away.

But in the back of my mind, I thought that the more I asked, the better chance I had that she would tell me yes.

It was finally Christmas morning. There was a blanket of freshly fallen snow outside on the ground. A few days before, we had walked through the forest to find the perfect pine tree to place in the dining room near the fire to decorate.

Mirabelle had so much fun decorating it. She made roses from paper to put on the tree, as the rose was our favorite flower and reminded us of our mothers.

Over the last few weeks, from what I could tell, it seemed as if Mirabelle had changed her demeanor toward me—for the better.

We were together more than ever. While I was not sure of her feelings for me, I knew that she did not despise me. It seemed she had begun to see me for who I was and not just as some cursed creature.

That morning, I caught Mirabelle as she was about to walk out of her bedroom.

“Good morning, Mirabelle,” I greeted her.

“Morning, Beast,” she replied.

We walked into the dining room. Lights danced on the floor as the sunlight reflected off the ornaments on the tree. It looked beautiful as we made our way to the table.

“How did you sleep last night, Mirabelle?”

“I slept well, thank you.”

We were going to have a big dinner that night to celebrate Christmas. I could not wait, because dinner seemed to be the best meal that Mirabelle and I shared.

Like every day, after breakfast, we went into the library to read. Mirabelle had not walked around the room the last few times we were in there, but she did that day.

After we read, it was time for lunch; Mirabelle asked me again to accompany her while she ate lunch. This had happened almost every day since her birthday. I really enjoyed spending time with her any chance I had.

Once she finished lunch, she asked me to come outside with her; her horse had been allowing me to come closer to him, but not too close. Once she saddled him, they walked out together while I hid in the doorway of the castle. When they were far enough away, I walked over to the side of the barn where they were.