The Beast (31 page)

“It’s that…Chloroform. It has put a fog in my mind,” came Prince Aleksander’s voice. He stood behind his desk, his hands typically clasped behind his back. He shook his head in irritation. “Nothing feels right to me. I find it disorienting.”

“I feel it too.” Despite herself, Belle’s heart leapt at the sight of Aleksander. She realized suddenly that she’d missed him. Turning toward the Prince, she put her hands together at her front. Only then did Belle notice she wore one of the dresses from her stay at Castle Vakre Fjell. The regal outfit and the elegant design that Belle knew her hair was swept into, gave her confidence. With that came the needed fortitude to get down to the brass tacks. “You’re a hellhound.”

“No,” Aleksander said forcefully, with barely a breath between their words. He stared at her defiantly. “I
am
cursed, but I am not
like them
.”

“Then what are you?”

“
Mánagarmr,
that’s what the norn had called me the day she came to my castle. I don’t think she even meant to say it.” He brought his arms in front of him, crossing them over his chest.

“And what is that?”

“It means Moon-Hound; also One Who Hates and The Enemy.” Aleksander chose a book from on top of his desk, opened it to just the right page, and held it out to her. “Do you recall the poem Völuspá?”

“Yes, I remember.” Belle looked over the book he gave her, seeing the same pages he’d shown her the day he first told her about the curse.

Aleksander’s eyes drifted as he recited from memory the words that were written before her. “
‘In the east sat an old woman in Iron-wood and nurtured there offspring of Fenrir’
but the line went on further. It read, ‘
a certain one of them in monstrous form will be the snatcher of the moon.’
”

As the Prince spoke, the words began to change before her eyes. Where once had been blank space, the old paper became stained with aged ink. Belle looked up at Aleksander in surprise.

“You hid this from me.” Suddenly she realized the extent Aleksander had gone to in order to keep his secret. Belle had read many books during her time in Vakre Fjell, but most of those had been in one of Aleksander’s moon dreams. “How many books did you alter just so I could read them without discovering what you are?”

“Only this one. The other books I gave you never mentioned me.” He glanced away, looking uncharacteristically guilty. “All the books that did…those were kept with me.”

“What did the other books say?” Belle set down the book she’d been holding, ready to hear it all.

From within his desk, the Prince pulled out two more immense volumes. He opened the first and slid it to her. “The poem, Gylfaginning.
‘from this race shall come one that shall be mightiest of all, he that is named Mánagarmr; he shall be filled with the flesh of all those men that die, and he shall swallow the moon.’
” Over top of it, Aleksander placed the next book. “
‘Unfettered will fare the Fenris Wolf and ravaged the realm of men, ere that cometh a kingly prince as good, to stand in his stead.’
The poem Hákonarmál.”

Aleksander remained silent as Belle attempted pathetically to process it all. She stared at the words, hardly believing any of it. That he had kept it from her, yet by these words she could not see why. This was all a moon dream still, could she even trust what she was seeing?

“I don’t understand, Aleksander.” Belle looked up at the Prince, unable to help the tears in her eyes. “Why would you keep this from me? Why would you lie to me?”

“At first it was simply a matter of trust. When that past…” He swallowed, his face looking pained at the sight of her distress. Aleksander placed his hands on his desk, dropping his head like the weight was too much. “I was afraid you would hate me. You were a Hunter and I was a beast. For you…I wanted to be just a man.”

Belle couldn’t speak. She felt entirely overwrought with raw emotions and circling thoughts.

Aleksander sighed, continuing in her silence, “In time several things were becoming clear to me. First, that I loved you. Second that you appeared inclined toward me as well. And third, that there was no breaking the curse upon me. I was never going to be the man you deserved.” The Prince pushed off his desk and walked to the window. He said quietly, “So I sent you home.”

“And that made me angry,” blurted Belle, overtaken by her own memory. Aleksander turned to her in surprise, his lips upturning at the sight of her own smirk. He’d said he loved her! Despite all of Belle’s still valid fears, the Prince’s admission made her feel incredibly light. “I wasn’t going to let the beast keep us apart. I intended to confront it. To save you.”

“You shot at me,” Aleksander teased, making Belle blush at her actions. Then his smile faded as he remembered. “The look on your face, when you saw me…it was everything that I had feared.”

Belle’s heart ached at seeing the event through his eyes. Her actions had been unknowingly cruel. “Why then did you chase after me?”

“What must’ve you thought upon seeing such a monstrous beast? What of me? My people? I couldn’t bear to think of it. Then I realized that I would never see you again. Our time together would end with fear and gun smoke.” Aleksander came away from the window, grasping Belle’s small hands within his. His blues eyes gazed intently into her own. “I had to make you see. Not just so you wouldn’t bring an army back to my doorstep, but because I needed you to know that I was there. That the man you were growing to care for was still reaching for you. That he wasn’t lost.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks from the waves of relief that flooded her. Belle freed her hands, expecting her hopes to still yet be dashed. “I wish you had called to me sooner. It was torment,” she whispered breathlessly. “Not understanding what you were and fearing that you were avoiding me.”

“I’m sorry. I tried,” he answered. “Fighting the curse weakened me. I can’t remember anything after becoming human again in the woods.”

“That’s why you destroyed our guest room?” The emotional pain was fading fast from Belle. His words were like an herbal salve on an open wound. “You were confused?”

“I was angry that you weren’t there.” Aleksander raised his hands and grasped her cheeks. Belle looked up into his fierce blue eyes. He pushed back her hair, his eyes tracing the lines of her face. “I’d feared the worst. I was so relieved when I saw you were safe.”

“I understand completely. I thought I was going to lose you when you wouldn’t wake before.” Belle thought back to his fevered sleep. Then she grabbed onto his hands, holding them firmly against her cheeks. “But you’re still not safe. We need to get you back to Vakre Fjell.”

“What do you mean?” The Prince pulled away slightly, but didn’t let go, and looked at her with creased eyebrows.

“I think the church means to have you executed.”

“What?” He dropped his hands incredulously. “The murder of a foreign monarch…They wouldn’t dare.”

“It’s the Catholic Church, Aleksander. They
would
dare. They would act now and convince the world governments of their righteousness after.” Belle grabbed up one of his hands, holding it tightly between two of hers and looked at him beseechingly. “Your kingdom would either be abandoned then or it would be taken up as a cause of evil that needs to be rid from the world. Your people need you to protect them. Without someone on the throne, they’ll be tossed to the wolves—excuse the turn of phrase.” He frowned at that, but she peddled on. “It’s time for us to wake up, your Royal Highness. We need to get you back to your castle.”

Prince Aleksander looked at her, considering something. “You’re with me?”

“Irrevocably so.”

She’d called them together as soon as she’d woken. Doc had informed her that she and Aleksander had been asleep for forty-eight minutes. Which was too much time, as far as Belle was concerned.

“But the church hasn’t approved his return yet,” Delano stated, standing with the others outside her bedroom door.

“We can’t allow the church to execute him. He may look like a beast, but there’s still a man under there.” Belle had to convince them. Asking them to go against the church was asking a lot, but she had to make them see it her way. “He’s clearly not the Devil and he’s not a hellhound. If he were Satan, why would he bother with any of us? Have you ever seen a hellhound save a Hunter, as he did me?”

“I certainly haven’t,” answered Nicolas.

Jack leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and propping up a cowboy boot. “Wouldn’t be much fun hunting them if they did.”

“The church isn’t out there hunting like we are.” They seemed to be listening and hope unfurled inside her chest. “Think of all you’ve seen—not just recently, but in these long years. We cling to what the church tells us, but we all know that this curse isn’t as simple as Heaven and Hell. You know they’ll refuse to see him in any other light.”

Silence followed. The Hunters looked to one another and wrestled with their own uncertainties. Gastone, who was normally the first to speak up, remained stoically quiet. It was Andre this time who scratched his arm, like the metal beneath had an itch, and said, “I have no qualms about killing a Vakrein prince, but if I’m going to, I want to be honorable about it.” He gestured to Aleksander’s door. “Killing him here, like he’s a wounded dog, it isn’t honorable.”

Jean banged on the wall twice with a grunt. He finished with a nod of agreement, then crossed his arms. Jean couldn’t speak, but his body language spoke volumes. This caused a ripple through the group as they each started to concede this point.

“So you’re with me?” Belle asked, echoing Aleksander, and looked to each man. “The Prince goes back to Vakre Fjell and then we see how the church wishes to proceed?”

“I’ll agree to that,” Andre said first and the others followed suit.

Except for Gastone. He watched them all with his stony expression and said nothing when they all looked to him for his answer.

“Gastone?” Belle prompted.

He took a deep breath. “I’m in.”

Belle clapped her hands together once but reined in her relief. She had no intention of listening to the church on this matter. The beast was Aleksander—and he…she’d give her life for. For now though, Belle just had to get him back to Castle Vakre Fjell. There he would be protected by his soldiers. If the church chose to strike against him, she’d just have to deal with that when the time came. God willing, it wouldn’t.

“Okay, Hunters. Ready yourselves and the horses. We leave in an hour. Tell no one.” They all nodded and dispersed to do as she ordered. Belle returned to her room to ready herself properly for the journey ahead.