Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 74631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
They pause at the top of the steps, and Elle’s father looks over her head at me. I rise to my feet, keeping a hand on the table for balance.
“Who is this?”
“The prince,” she answers.
“Prince?” His eyes narrow and then widen in awe. “You’re alive? You’re…unchanged?” he questions and my heart races. He sees me as I once was, too? His voice hushes. “Where is the beast?”
“He is both, Father,” she tells him, and I stare in wonder. He stares at me, leery and unsure of what Elle’s said.
“Let’s get him to a room,” I offer.
“Thank you,” Elle murmurs and I reach out, bracing the old man’s arm and he lets me. More than that, he thanks me as well.
I lead them down the stairs and to a room that hasn’t been used in decades, letting her say her goodbyes in privacy at the entrance of the room. Elle steps out and closes the door behind her.
Quietly, I lead her down the hall, my mind reeling and a new feeling coming over me. It is just the two of us now.
“When he is well, I will send him home.”
I only nod in agreement.
“He can tell the villagers I am not here, and there is no one here but magic.”
“That would be wise,” I tell her.
“Perhaps he could return…and stay at times,” she says like it’s a question.
A moment passes and I attempt to see what she sees. “Perhaps,” I answer and then ask, “Would that make you happy?”
“I would like that,” she says softly and then her wide eyes reach mine. “It would make me happy to have company.”
“But you will stay.”
Elle nods, and her eyes drop to the floor. “I will not leave, but I would love his company.”
“I will see to it that he is welcomed,” I answer, more than anything grateful for her desire to stay.
“I am sorry for causing him pain,” I tell her.
Elle does not answer. She looks at the floor at our feet. I wait as long as I can, but it is only a few moments before I need to see her eyes. I take her chin in my hand and tip her face up.
“Do you forgive me?” I ask.
Slowly, Elle nods.
I put my other hand to my chest, bracing myself for the honesty I know I must give to Elle. “I may look like the prince. I may…see myself as the prince. But I can still feel the beast inside.”
Elle does not pull away. She steps closer to me, putting her hands on my waist. “Perhaps it is something you can control.”
“I do not know that I can. I only know what the curse said.”
“What is the curse?” she asks me.
“She said if I did not find my fate, when the last petal falls I would be nothing but the beast.”
“But it’s fallen,” she whispers.
“What?” I question, not believing she knows what she’s said.
“I saw it…in the tower. I saw the last petal fall.”
My heart races as I leave her in the hall, striding to the tallest tower. My hands clench beside me and my emotions tear through me. The beast is still with me, I can feel him stir. Breathlessly, I get to the final step and fall slowly to my knees as I stare at the cloche. The rose is no more.
Is it over? Is the curse no more? Deep inside of me, I feel him stir. The beast.
“Prince!” she cries out and her voice echoes up the tower. “Henry!” she cries my name.
My name. It’s then I look in the mirror. My reflection betrays me. No longer a beast. My body sags against the frame. “The curse…”
“Henry.” Elle’s voice is calm and breathless, and I turn to see her, standing before me.
And all I can think is that she is my fate.
“I love you,” I tell her and practically crawl to meet her halfway. She collapses in my arms.
“I love you,” she tells me and then kisses me fiercely. “You see yourself, don’t you?” she murmurs as she pulls away, both of her hands on my face. “You see what I see.”
The magic stirs around us, a thick fog leaving the window, and I know then it is not over.
“Henry, do you see that you are the prince?” she asks me, hope filling her eyes. The nearly full moon shines brightly down upon her face. I’ve never seen so much beauty as the way she looks at me.
All I can say is, “I love you.”
EPILOGUE
Elle
We go out to the yard together, both of us bundled in the finest winter clothes I have ever seen. The magic of the castle has provided me with a beautiful, thick, fur-lined, hooded cloak to keep out the cold. The dress I wear underneath is soft, yet sturdy enough to keep me warm. I even have leather boots, also lined with fur that is so luxurious that it feels as though I am walking on a plush indoor rug even as we cross the frost-covered grass.