The Beast Within (Villains 2)

She sighed.

“You’re amazing, my dearest! Thank you,” she said coyly as she lowered her eyes to the flowers in the snow.

The Prince decided this was the moment—the moment when he would kiss her and break the curse.

“May I kiss you, my love?”

Tulip looked around as if expecting her mother or Nanny to jump out from the hedge maze or pop out from behind a statue, and then, deciding she didn’t care if they did, she kissed him! And then she kissed him again, and again.

As they walked back to the castle, the Prince seemed happier and more at ease than she’d ever known him to be. It was all so unexpected—this day, his attentiveness, everything that had happened on this visit, really. She felt much better about their upcoming marriage. She had been so worried before, and now she could hardly recall why.

“Did you hear that, Tulip?” The Prince’s mood shifted from gleeful to panicked.

“Hear what, dear?”

She hadn’t heard a thing aside from the birds singing in the nearby snow covered trees.

“That noise—it sounded like an animal, like a growl.”

Tulip laughed, making a joke of it.

“Perhaps the hedge animals have come to life and they are going to eat us alive!”

The Prince looked as though he’d taken her jest quite seriously. His eyes were darting about as he tried to find the location of the wild beast.

“You don’t really think there is an animal in here with us, do you?”

When she realized he was, in fact, serious, she became very frightened.

“I don’t know, Tulip, stay right here. I’m going to check it out.”

“No! Don’t leave me here alone! I don’t want to be eaten by whatever is prowling around in here!”

The Prince was becoming very impatient.

“You won’t if you stay here like I’ve told you. Now be quiet and please do let go of my hand!”

He ripped his hand away from hers before she could comply with his request, and she stood there frozen in fear as he dashed off looking for wild beasts.

She sat there fretting for some time before the Prince came back for her.

“Oh my goodness!” she gasped.

He was badly clawed across his forearm. Whatever had attacked him had clawed right through his jacket and left deep bloody wounds in his arm.

“My love, you’re hurt!”

The Prince looked stricken and angry.

“Brilliant of you to have surmised that, my dear,” he moaned.

“What happened? What attacked you?” she said, trying not to let his bad temper affect her.

“Clearly some sort of wild beast with sharp claws.”

She knew it was better to ask nothing more than to provoke him into further bitterness.

“Let’s get you back to the castle so we can have that taken care of.”