Beloved Beast

Chapter Thirty-Two

Givens was quick to make a hasty retreat. Once she dismounted, gripping her staff, she watched discreetly from beneath her hood as he absconded in the direction from which they came, fleeing her side and rousing a cloud of dust in his swift exit. Likely anxious to report back to Don, to inform him what had transpired in the woods.

            Elle hadn't time to dwell on that as a horde of bodies merged in a fury towards her, elbows and shins knocking as her neighbors fired a maddening barrage of questions that she met with committed silence.

            Is he ghastly? He is maniacal? What happened? Where did he keep you? What did he do to you? Were you tortured? Were there others? What things were you forced to do? Tell us! Tell us what happened!

            They were horrid. All of them.

            She would tell them nothing.

            Keeping her head bowed, her eyes sought wildly for an escape, an overwhelming sensation of panic squeezing at her chest at their frenzied questioning and thundering nearness. No matter where she stepped, a body barred her way, wedging closer, insisting on answers.

            Thankfully, Elle didn't have to endure it for long. Amidst the chaos and clamor, she heard her mother's voice before a reassuring grip cinched her waist, hauling her through the mass of bodies. A wave of relief spiraled through her as she was ushered from the throng of villagers barking closely at their heels.

            It wasn't until the door lumbered shut, once wrapped in her mother's warm embrace, that she managed to reel in a shaky breath.

            With her head buried against her mother's shoulder, inhaling that familiar earthy fragrance, she began to softly cry, not realizing until that tender, fairly rattled moment, just how much she had missed her family, her mother especially.

            "Elle!" her sisters cried in unison, scrambled into the room, rushing to flank her sides.

            She sniffled, her eyes smarting with more tears. She had wanted to ease into this moment, to brace for their shock and disbelief. To prepare for the appearances of her loved ones, faces that she would at last behold, but the feelings welling up inside of her were too extreme, too compelling to be subdued, easily melting away her inhibitions and hesitation.

            With an emboldening breath, Elle raised her head, and pushed the wool away from her face.

            Almost immediately, her mother and sisters recoiled in alarm, a series of heightened gasps sweeping the room.

            Elle assumed she looked frightful, but their synonymous expressions did not register through her watery gaze, for she was too stunned to notice anything other than the array of beautiful faces gaping back at her.

            Fresh tears flooded her eyes as an indescribable feeling sprang through her chest. It was much like that moment in the woods, when she had roused to a startling, blinding light. It rendered her in awe, her heart soaring with exhilaration. A breath seizing in her lungs as she absorbed every stitch of clothing, color, and fascinating feature greedily to memory. She had always wondered, tried to imagine, but nothing could ever take shape past the nothingness of her sight – and now, nothing would ever equate to the wondrous moment of seeing her mother and sisters for the first time.

            Standing abreast to one another as they were, it was easy to determine that her sisters bore a staggering resemblance to their mother, Cora. Where her hair was considerably dark, theirs was remarkably lighter. Having espied the sun, she could only liken their tresses to the bright sunbeams combing through the trees. Their eyes favoring pools of water, just like the deep, bottomless sea that consumed her dreams. A captivating blue, she noted.