Beauty and Her Beast

Holding Albert by his shirt collar, Christian roared once more and hauled the sniveling man back through the gardens into the manor. Albert, hanging helpless, could only catch a glimpse of the riches around him as he was carried quickly from room to room. Finally the monster came to a stop and Albert was thrown unceremoniously to a dirt floor.

“Will your death be quick or slow stranger?” the man-beast snarled, drool running off his exposed teeth. “I show you kindness by feeding and sheltering you, and you repay me with the theft of my most precious possession.”

“My lord… Please,” Albert whimpered, thinking desperately how to save his own skin. “Don’t hurt me, I am but an old man. I have a child my lord, a sweet girl!!!”

In truth he had three daughters, but there was no need to tell this monster that. Climbing to his knees, Albert wept openly over the monster’s feet. “I will give her to you… just please spare me.”

With a powerful kick, the man-beast launched Albert across the room, sending him hard into the stone wall opposite.

“You would sacrifice your own child to me in exchange for your life?” the beast snarled, his eyes squinting in disgust. “What a pathetic little man you are. I should let the wolves have you and be done with it!”

“My lord, I am a very poor man, and I can see that money would mean nothing to you,” Albert said, hiccupping as he tried to regain some of his usual control. “I own no magnificent works of art, and looking at your possessions, they put anything I might have to give to shame. I have nothing I could offer you that you don’t already have except… Except, my daughter. She could be yours for the taking, just please, spare me and she is yours.”

With a look that can only be described as doubt, the monster motioned for Albert to rise to his feet. “Tell me of your daughter. What makes you think she would be worth your life to me?”

Pulling down on his tunic, Albert cleared his throat. If he was going to rid himself of his most useless child he would have to do a little lying.

“Anna is the finest musician I know. She can sing the very birds from the trees, sooth the most savage beast…” realizing his faux pas, Albert averted his eyes and quickly continued, “She has never met an instrument she could not master. Her physical beauty is only overshadowed by her music.”

The beast scoffed.

“She can draw and paint such realistic scenes that one can almost feel the breeze on one’s face blowing off the page. Her mediums include oil, watercolor, pastel, and even clay. Her works are the only ones on display in my house, and they have been compared to the Masters of Italy. Her art is only a reflection of her own physical perfection.”

Spreading his hands as if he were showing wares on a table, sure that he had just saved his life, Albert allowed himself a smile of self-satisfaction.

“As you can see, my lord,” Albert continued, bowing low “in exchange for the short lived satisfaction of killing me, you could have my daughter to amuse yourself with for a lifetime.”

Using the tip of his index claw, the beast lifted Albert’s face to look him in the eyes.

“You are genuinely the most repugnant man I have ever met. Here you are, bowing and scraping to me, offering me your daughter as if she meant nothing to you. Tell me the truth. How do you truly feel about what you are doing?”

“Sir,” Albert said, showing no shame, “I am a widower, with very little prospects. This would ease my financial burden of feeding, clothing and housing her.”

Lifting his claw slightly, drawing blood from Albert’s chin, the beast smirked.

“I think we might be able to strike a bargain,” the beast growled.

Removing his claw and turning away, the beast motioned for Albert to fall into step next to him as he walked out into the main hall.

“You will return to your home tomorrow,” the beast said, his voice low and throaty. “In three days time, I will send a carriage to bring one of your daughters here to me.”

“Three days?” Albert asked, then he realized what the beast had said.

“Daughter’s sir? I only have the one,” Ablert lied.

“Do you take me for a fool, little man?” the beast roared, turning a slit eyed glare at him. “You have three daughters. I have lacked companions for many years, but I am sure at least one of your daughters will suit me.”

“That can be done,” Albert replied, realizing that by being rid one of three would truly be to his best advantage. “I will have one of them ready for you.”

“I am sure I will be able to find uses for her,” the beast concluded.

Not wanting a return to planning his own demise, Albert allowed himself to close off his heart, this was not a time to become sentimental. The worth of his daughters lives, when compared to his own, was never in question.

“As you wish my lord,” Albert answered, resuming his deep bow.