La Beaute est la Bete
Chapitre Deux
The master of the castle stood with his back to the door, but none the
less he heard very clearly the moment that his guest was admitted into
the room. He paused before turning around. The prince was not about to
admit it out loud, but he was fairly nervous. He was not entirely
certain that he had made the right decision in sparing the brothel
owner's life and demanding a whore in return. But it had been a very
long time since the prince'd had the benefit of companionship, and his
empty castle was growing very tiresome indeed. Besides, he told
himself, it was too late to reconsider now that the poor unfortunate
soul stood mere inches away from him. If things did not go well he
could always kill their new arrival. Or stick them in the kitchens to
help the cook. Or even send them home. Either way, nothing was yet set
in stone.
When the scarred prince at last turned around he was a bit surprised by
what he saw before him. He had been expecting a pretty maiden, fair of
skin and in the bud of youth, or a well trained harlot, shapely and
voluptuous. Neither stood before him, however. Instead the prince found
a young man with wide green eyes looking nervously back at him. The boy
had short brown hair that fell in wisps across one eye, his lips were
full and pink, and he had a body that was both slender and delicate.
But he was no less beautiful than anything that the prince had been
expecting. If anything, the boy was more beautiful in a very charming
sort of way.
"I can see that the old man obeyed my orders." The prince remarked. "You most certainly must have fetched a high price."
The boy looked away at those words, and the prince silently cursed
himself for such insensitive words. The boy might have been a
professional who sold his body for a living, but it did not mean that
he needed to be reminded of such things. Especially when those had been
the first words spoken between them.
Having been reminded of his place, the boy dropped to his knees before
the prince, bowing his head obediently and saying, "My father has sent
me here to serve your needs, Your Majesty. I hope that you should find
me worthy."
"Father?" When the boy nodded the prince felt even worse for his choice
of words and decided that he most certainly would not be sending this
boy back to his home. He remembered his own father, who had been a kind
and benevolent king, and he knew that any life that he could give the
beautiful boy was better than one where he had a father who would give
him so easily to another. "What is your name, boy?"
"Bela."
"Bela?" The prince liked the sound of it. It was pretty, just like the name's owner.
"And what may I call you, Sire?"
"I am known as the Beast." The prince said without inflection. "If ever
I had another name I have long since forgotten it. That is the name by
which you may call me, if you are so inclined."
"Beast." Bela had heard men call themselves by stranger names, and so
he paid it little mind. Especially when the moniker had such obviously
reasons behind it. Bela only hoped that it was in body only that the
prince was a beast. Although, with the luck that he had suffered
through for his entire life, the boy dared not hope for such good
fortune.
Beast moved to take a seat before the massive fireplace, his large form
filling the heavy leather armchair and dwarfing it easily. His sharp
red eyes never left Bela, still kneeling on the ground, formfitting
clothes revealing a body that Beast thought he could easily come to
enjoy. The boy may not have been what he had expected, but he was most
welcome indeed.
"There's no need to kneel on the ground." Beast said, motioning with
one big hand for Bela to come closer. "I don't bite. I promise."
Bela wasn't sure if he believed the prince, for he was used to empty
promises made by even emptier men, but he dared to move a bit closer to
Beast all the same. There was something curiously alluring about the
large man, and Bela found himself drawn to him as a moth to the flame.
He intended to stop just short of the prince, perhaps kneeling at his
new master's feet as his father had taught him, but instead Bela found
himself moving ever closer to Beast until at last he was perched atop
the man, straddling his muscled thighs.
Beast, despite his name, did not consider himself a cruel or difficult
man, and he had intended to let his young guest have some time to grow
accustomed to his new surroundings before allowing things to progress
to such a level. However, when Bela climbed into his lap of his own
accord, Beast could not help being pleased. Reminding himself to be
careful with the delicate young boy, Beast wrapped his hands around
Bela's waist, completely encircling the slender body with ease. He held
the boy still, red eyes locked to green, and brought their lips
together. Bela tasted sweeter than Beast could remember any lips ever
tasting, and soon Beast was all but devouring the trembling body in his
arms.
The pair parted only to remove their clothing, quickly coming back
together again, Bela's smaller body still draped across Beast's lap.
Bela was slightly frightened upon seeing that Beast was indeed massive everywhere,
but soothing hands and a gently rumbling voice kept him calm as their
bodies were at last joined. There was only a little pain at first, but
before very long the sounds of barely muffled whimpers were instead
replaced with squeals of pleasure and moans of passion.
There was a snarl from Beast as he came, and as Bela too found his
release he was surprised to find that he was more than happy to
discover that Beast had lied about not biting. The mark of possession
on his neck left him feeling oddly satisfied.
Over the next few months Bela found himself happier than he had ever been in his life. He was given free reign of the beautiful castle and its grounds, no one ever yelled at him or tried to hurt him, he had no worries and he was able to spend his days doing whatever he wished. Beast never talked down to him, or called him foul names, and they found that they shared many interests in common. They talked for hours on end, and Bela learned that he had not, as he'd thought, forgotten how to smile and laugh. He was not forced to continue with his previous profession either, although he willingly gave himself to Beast every day.
There were only two things that sullied Bela's happiness. First was the strange restriction that Beast placed on the upper most portion of the west wing of the castle, where Beast kept his private rooms. Bela was strictly forbidden from ever entering that section of the castle. Everything else was his for the taking. Bela had found out early on that there were only four servants in the entire castle; a butler called only Butler, a cook who kept to the kitchens, and two maids named Daisy and May, so there was no one save Beast himself to ask about the strange rule. And Beast refused to tell him why he was not allowed to enter that particular portion of the castle. It was the only thing that the prince would not talk about with his new lover.
The other thing, the thing that bothered Bela the most, was that Beast refused to sleep with him at night. Beast had given Bela a beautiful suite of rooms, and they would often make love in his bed, or in any number of other rooms throughout the castle, but as darkness fell Beast would kiss Bela good night and leave for his own rooms. In the west wing. Where Bela could not follow. Bela wanted nothing more than to fall asleep feeling safe in the arms of the man who had at last taught him happiness, but this and this alone was Bela denied. And Beast would give him no explanation, except that it was as things must be.
For his part, Beast did not like having to leave Bela each night, nor did he enjoy having to forbid the other man from entering his private rooms, but it really was for the best. He had secrets that could hurt the beautiful young man who had somehow managed to reawaken his long dormant heart. He convinced himself that he was hurting the boy to help him. To help them both, truly, because if anything were to happen to Bela, Beast knew that it would destroy him. And so he denied Bela his requests and held his secrets close to his breast.
All too soon the happiness that Bela and Beast shared was interrupted by an unexpected, and most unwelcome, courier who bore with him a letter from Bela's father, the brothel owner. Beast had wanted to throw the man out of his lands the moment that he had seen who the letter was from, but Bela was a kind soul, and despite the torment of his earlier life he still felt an obligation to his father. Especially since the man was, in his own way, responsible for his current state of bliss.
Bela batted his eyes, looked imploringly up at his lover, and Beast was lost. He had learned early on that he could deny the beautiful boy almost nothing. And so, against his better judgement, the prince of the castle admitted the courier and allowed him to deliver his letter to its intended recipient. He did not, however, allow the man to stay long. For that, the messenger was most grateful. With Bela, Beast may be most kind and gentle, but the unwanted newcomer was not Bela and he all but ran from the kingdom after Beast growled at him.
Soon Beast was wishing that he had prevented the messenger from delivering his letter after all, because Bela looked more and more distressed with each line that he read. The prince tried to remain patient until Bela reached the end, but before very long he was looming over the smaller boy and trying to read the letter for himself.
"My father sends word about my siblings," Bela informed him. "The twins, Fleur and Finn, it seems that they cry for me and do not understand why I left so suddenly and have not come back."
"Send them a letter." Beast provided, not at all liking where their conversation was headed. He would not lose his Bela to that man, no matter what the reason.
"They are six and can not read." Bela said, most reasonably. "And I could not trust my father to read it to them. He rarely has the time for them as it is."
Beast only glared, his scarred face looking fearsome to all but the boy who stood before him, not wanting to hear what he knew was to come.
"My father thinks that I should go and tell my little brother and sister what has happened to me in person."
"No!" Beast shouted.
"It would only be for a short visit." Bela pleaded, not at all frightened by Beast's outburst. After all, Beast was the one who had taught him that he didn't need to be fearful of those around him. With Beast near he was safe, even from the scarred man himself. "The journey can be made in six days, less if I ride through the night, so I could be back in barely more than a fortnight."
"No!" Beast shouted again.
"But my poor little siblings, they are all alone in that horrible place now that I am gone." There were tears in his big green eyes, and that was the moment that Beast was lost.
The next morning Bela was on his way to his father's home by the sea.
Chapter 1 ~~~~~~~~ Back to Beauty and the Beast ~~~~~~~~ Chapter 3
