Beauty and the Beast
Vivienne Savage
Payne and Taylor
Contents
Title Page
Connect With Vivienne Savage
Once Upon a Time…
1. Chapter
2. Chapter
3. Chapter
4. Chapter
5. Chapter
6. Chapter
7. Chapter
8. Chapter
9. Chapter
10. Chapter
11. Chapter
12. Chapter
13. Chapter
14. Chapter
15. Chapter
…Happily Ever After
Author Note
Other Books by Payne & Taylor
By Vivienne Savage
Copyright © 2016 Vivienne Savage
Cover Design by Rebecca Frank
Interior Design and typesetting by TE Formats
Edited by Hot Tree Editing
All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the above author of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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Once Upon a Time…
12 Years Ago
GOLDEN LIGHT SHONE over the mountaintop garden, but even its gilded beauty failed to soothe Alistair’s rage. Smoke stained the sky in the far distance, barely a smudge to his eye. Another village in the neighboring kingdom of Dalborough had burned to the ground.
“You’ve killed innocents, Alistair. What did those people do to deserve such a cruel fate?”
Sparkling motes on the breeze coalesced together, creating a human-sized feminine form wrapped in silver filaments. The fairy Eos fluttered to the ground on iridescent wings, standing eye level with the prince to meet him as his equal.
“Everything,” Alistair hissed. “Were my people not innocent? Were the villagers slaughtered by the king’s army not deserving of a chance at life? Their black wizard cursed our land. Those who survived cannot sprout even a single bean in this soil and slowly starve, yet you wish me to forgive Dalborough for these wrongs?”
“You picked a fight with commoners. You condemned people to death for the mere crime of being human, knowing battle would weigh favorably to your advantage. Have you forgotten your own people? That they look to you for guidance and protection while you abandon them and harass the western kingdom in your futile, one-sided war?” she asked in a voice simmering with fury. “The battle has ended, Alistair. Your mother would bow her head in shame. You disgrace her memory, and I cannot allow this farce to continue.”
“Eos—”
“My mind is made up. I have watched you shirk your father’s duties while in pursuit of vengeance. The murderer of your parents is no longer a threat, and many years will pass before their army recovers. You are now the monster.”
“I sought justice!” he argued. “Where were you when the humans slew my family? Killed our people and destroyed our villages? Where were you then, fairy?”
A frigid lance of power paralyzed Alistair, rooting him to the spot. Every inch of him ached, down to the core of his bones where it radiated out to his strong appendages. In the blink of an eye, the dragon shifter had assumed his larger form. Against his will. He’d never experienced a forced transformation in all of his life, but the fairy had thrust him into his dragon body with the ease of plucking a flower from the garden.
“What have you done to me?”
“If thou wish to behave like a beast, then a beast thou shall be,” she whispered, fading away on the wind. “Until true love is found to see the human in thee.”
Alistair attempted to leap into his human shape, but when nothing happened, he rocked back onto his haunches to stare at her disappearing form. “Eos, don’t do this. Don’t trap me this way.”
“What need do you have of a human body if your hatred of their kind has grown so greatly, Alistair?” The silken voice carried on the breeze then her voice rose in volume, and the ground quaked from the fairy’s power. “Thirteen years this curse shall endure, these grounds revived and castle secure.”
“Eos! Wait!” he cried. “You cannot do this to me! I’m your godson!”
The awe-inspiring power of the fairies was known across the many kingdoms, and the weight of the curse hanging over his head struck him with terror. Those who failed to meet their requirements of a fairy’s curse were men who died.
Thirteen years.
The winds swirled around him, and his dragon’s skin tingled anew with magic. He sagged on the spot as the spell wound itself in place, sizzling into his soul. He had been sentenced to a slow, thirteen-year death sentence, and he was powerless to stop her.
“Weep not, Prince Alistair. All is not lost, for there is no magic without a cost. A princess will come of her own free will. Say nothing of the truth, and her heart thou shall steal. Beautiful inside and out, her hair will smolder like the sun, and in time she will realize thine heart is the one.”
He tried to protest again, twisting around to search the winds for her, but she was gone with a final whispered echo.
One chance. The mystery princess would be his only chance.
Now if only he knew her name and where to find her
Chapter
THE DWINDLING SUN fell upon Anastasia’s hair, transforming her auburn mane into strands of fire. An afternoon ride with her cousin had been the remedy to a dull day in the lonely castle, despite the royal escort lurking to their rear out of earshot.
“I’ll pass,” Anastasia said.
“Prince Joren is an absolute dream. Are you not interested in meeting him?” Victoria asked, flabbergasted.
“Prince Joren is an absolute royal ass,” Anastasia retorted ruefully. “I’ve already met him at the Midsummer Gala, where he couldn’t keep his bloody eyes away from my cleavage long enough to enjoy his meal.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“I’ve seen nursing tots less interested in breasts,” Ana mused. “Besides, I don’t mind that he looked, but I do mind that he wasn’t able to look away.”
“Aside from his poor table manners and interest in your breasts, there had to be something positive about the meeting.”
“He’s an accomplished war mage and studied at the Collegium in the north.”
Victoria sighed. “Of all the qualities to admire in a man, you find the least interesting of them all. Who cares where he’s gone to study?”
Anastasia winked. “What isn’t interesting about an educated man able to set fire to his enemies?”
Of course, she had no interest in Joren beyond appreciating the view, not that she’d ever admit the handsome young prince had come close to captivating her. Contrary to what she told her friend, she’d been quite smitten until he told her women in his father’s kingdom weren’t permitted to learn magic beyond hearth and ho
me.
Anastasia’s father, King Morgan, ran their kingdom differently. As a child, she’d lived for the days when he held court, claiming she wanted to learn to be a fair and just ruler like him one day. Then her mother would discourage her, promising she’d excel as a pretty queen to stand at her husband’s side instead.
At least, Queen Lorelei had once counseled her daughter to that effect, years ago when she could still speak without uttering gibberish. Before her illness, the queen had been an exceptional seer without equal, guiding generals, leaders of the clergy, and even her husband. If not for the witnesses present for Anastasia’s birth, no one would believe Ana and her mother were related at all. Lorelei was dark-haired and a fragile contrast to the regal king with his fair skin, brawny build, and steel gray goatee.
Anastasia didn’t resemble either parent, being petite and chubby until squeezed into a corset. Throw in the red hair, and anyone could confuse her for a changeling swapped at birth by the fairies.
But her coloring was the least of the differences between Anastasia and her parents. She glowered down at her thighs. They were full and thick, snugly held by the riding pants she fancied while on horseback. She preferred to ride like a man, straddling the horse.
To her right, Victoria rode sidesaddle, dressed in a multi-layered but breezy dress and summer hat. The wide brim shaded her porcelain complexion, and she made the perfect example of a noble lady.
“Enough about me. Tell me about your evening with Sir Bryant. How was it?”
Victoria shrugged and focused on the path ahead. Her unenthused eyes and flat mouth told Anastasia everything she needed to know.
“Oh, Vicky, I’m sorry, love.”
“It’s nothing. There’ll be other suitors.”
Anastasia nodded and steered her horse closer until the mares nearly touched ribs and she could take one of Victoria’s gloved hands. “We’ll be old maids together then, won’t we?”
Victoria chuckled and squeezed her fingers. “Yes, of course. I heard it’s all the rage these days to remain forever young and beautiful, untethered by marriage and unaged by children.”
“You’ll certainly have fewer wrinkles. But do you know what else’ll give you fewer wrinkles?”
“What?” Victoria asked, giggling.
“An eve away from the dilemma of being Lady Victoria. Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do.”
The giggles ended as they separated and Anastasia urged her horse into a burst of speed. Victoria followed, and together they raced down the hill, leaving a startled royal guard in their dust. Her soot-gray mare and Victoria’s black beauty were too fast for the nervous man to keep pace behind them. With her hair flying in the wind and the relaxing motion of a horse beneath her, Anastasia sailed to the palace gates.
“Can we lose him?” Victoria asked.
“I’m certain of it. Quick, follow me!” Ana called.
A handsome city watchman stood beside the open gates, but his expression of warmth melted into a confused stare. His partner, a broad-shouldered, hulking giant of a man in matching, dark boiled leather armor, pointed to the royal escort pursuing them.
“Ana, they’re not moving!”
“They’ll move!” Ana shouted back.
They did. After lingering until the very last minute, as if hoping to intimidate the girls into halting their escape, both men dove out of the way. Ana and Victoria hurried into the city and turned a sharp left into the markets. Their lithe horses navigated the narrow rows between shop stalls with ease.
The markets of Creag Morden were a maze for the unprepared, but they were also the best place to become lost. They twisted their mares into the next street and down a narrow path behind the shops.
“How are we going to lose them?” Victoria asked above the din of startled voices.
“With magic! We have a bit of a lead on them. Hurry and dismount. They’ll be here soon!”
Anastasia sent the two horses ahead without them. They watched the elegant beasts gallop away, riderless, but instructed to return home. They’d reach the castle gates within minutes to be received by puzzled guards.
“Hold my hands,” Anastasia instructed. “I’ll hide us.”
“Can you do it?” Victoria asked, a combination of enthusiasm and fear seeping into her voice. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.” The girl glanced up and down the alley as they joined hands. “It’s so exciting. I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“Neither have I.”
The young women stood still together for a time as Anastasia pushed outward with her magic. Moments later, the guardsmen sped by, their feet pounding the hard-packed street. They disappeared around the corner in pursuit of the horses.
“It worked,” Anastasia said, surprised.
“Did you honestly doubt yourself?”
“A little,” she admitted.
“Ana, darling, you made us invisible.”
Anastasia shook her head. “I cast a spell to make us inconspicuous, not invisible. There’s no telling what they saw. The mind makes up what it wants. They probably saw two washerwomen or a pair of beggars.”
“And that’s easier than making us invisible?”
Ana gave her friend an impish grin. “Definitely. Now let’s go before they circle around again to look for us. You once told me you’d love to visit the seediest bar in the city, and with a clever disguise, we can enjoy a few hours of sweet anonymity.” Wearing a big grin on her face, Ana held up a satchel of clothing.
In a matter of minutes, they were able to bribe a pair of young peasant girls into swapping dresses, then they stormed the poor quarter of the city while wearing enough makeup on their faces to rival the streetwalkers. The girls drank cheap wine, imbibed on honey mead, and had the time of their lives as a pair of normal city girls.
“Should we feel bad about the men out looking for us?”
“No,” Ana answered. “Father pays them well. They’re earning their keep, and he’s always said the whole lot of them are only getting fat without any true work to do.”
“Point well made. This must be the most excitement they’ve had all year.”
They returned to the castle long after dark while the city watch combed the streets. By then, the girls had wiped the makeup from their faces and let down their hair again from their hastily plaited peasant braids.
So much for the dangers of the peasantry, Ana thought. According to her mother, she ought to have been abused and in a ditch hours ago. Returning unharmed and wholly intact to the castle gave her a smug sense of satisfaction that her parents were wrong.
The guard on duty at the gate did a double take when the two young women approached arm in arm and giggling like loons. “Princess Anastasia? Lady Victoria?” He promptly rang the bell, the gates parted, and then the castle doors opened beyond the courtyard to reveal several quickly moving figures. Her father was at the lead, red-faced and furious.
“We’ve returned,” Anastasia said cheerfully.
“Where have you been? Half of the royal guard has gone looking for you.”
“I went to enjoy a fun evening without a grim-faced guardian standing over my shoulder. Is that too much to ask for, Father? I promise, we were both perfectly safe the entire while. See? We came to no harm.”
“You both smell like a distillery.”
The girls tittered, leaning on each other for support.
“A few drinks is all, no worse than the usual feasts we’ve hosted at the castle.” Please don’t be angry, don’t be angry, she thought.
“Do you not realize the depth of the trouble this little excursion has caused? That the guard and I feared for your safety? Williford was beside himself with worry and blamed himself most of all for your loss. He has traveled the streets for hours. Hours, Anastasia, calling your name, taking aside any citizen who may have seen your face.”
Anastasia sighed. Her bubble of pride popped, and the elation whistled away on the breeze. Of all the things she�
�d wanted from her tour, terrifying her father hadn’t been among them. She’d only wanted to know what it was like to travel freely, like one of her brothers, without a man lurking behind her.
“I’m sorry for worrying you, Father. I never meant to make you or Sir Williford afraid for us. I wasn’t thinking.” But I don’t apologize for enjoying a day alone.
“And then you involve poor Victoria in your strange machinations. Her mother and father haven’t had a moment’s rest since this debacle began.”
“I’m sorry, Papa, I didn’t mean to frighten anyone. I only wanted a moment of peace with Victoria.”
As the guilt needled Ana, she felt Victoria squeeze her hand. No matter the carefree fun they’d had, she still felt like an ass for dragging her friend along into trouble.
King Morgan’s features softened. “I’ve chastised you both enough. Come inside now, my daughter.”
They trailed behind the king with their hands still joined, forced to take quicker strides to keep up with his brisk pace.
“No matter what’s said, I came with you of my own free will,” Victoria whispered to her. “And I don’t regret that. We had an amazing time today, Anastasia. Never forget.”
“I won’t,” she whispered back to her friend. “Today, we were normal girls.”
“Today, we had the time of our lives,” Victoria agreed with a smile.
King Morgan forgave Anastasia’s transgression, but he didn’t forget. Despite her promises to never repeat her escape, he increased the number of guardsmen surrounding her. She spent days playing the part of the doting daughter, behaving as a proper princess should, and apologizing for her behavior.
But no amount of genuine repentance could dampen her desire to see beyond the castle gates again, to explore a world on her own. Attempts to talk to him on the matter met outright refusal.
Beauty and the Beast: An Adult Fairytale Romance Page 1
