Bewitching the Beast

chapter 6

Thrain

Why did Rowland always have to make tough times even harder? The whole disappearing trick really scared her, I could smell it. And the way that I slipped into a silence spell didn't help her either. I know that he hates all of them and that he thinks that people like her are the scum of the earth. But still she is my last chance. Besides, I know that she didn't know that she could change my fur into skin. . .its been a long time since I have had skin. . . That must have been why all the humans never were the ones.

The one that I needed was a witch and now I have one in my castle!

Man alive, these witches really had it out for me. I just hope that this doesn't bring them back because that would get us nowhere. Why did she have to be part witch! Just why. I was following orders. Not acting on my own, if they wanted to curse someone who had it out for them then they should have cursed Rowland.

He defiantly has it out for witches blood. Can't really blame him either. They did kill his parents when he was little, when the witches first started to claw their way out of the Barbarians Pass. Since that day he wanted to work for the army. And he did, the anger that he felt for his parents murder filled him as he climbed the ranks and became a general. He was the best that there ever was.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Rowland asks looking rather annoyed. " Don't tell me that you want me to walk around saying that she is the nicest person that there ever was. She's one of them for Gods sake, and you already know that I hate them more then you want know."

"Rowland, I know all of that, but she's my last chance. And don't think for a second that it's going to be easy for me either. I'm the one who's cursed out of the two of us. And if I recall correctly it was you that suggested that I try the ball that the witches gave me," man he was stubborn.

The temperature started to drop after we passed the kitchens. When we finally got to the old wooden door that lead to the dungeons. I turn as I open the door and meet his bright green eyed stare that he has holding on the back of my head for the last 15 minutes. I flinch when I see his eyes because they're stone, absolutely no life left in them. Just the anger that constantly haunts him. The boy that was in that pass how many years ago is gone, replaced by a living breathing killing machine that ran off of anger and hatred for the Witches and their friends in dark places. That was all that was left of him.

Man this wasn't going to be easy for anyone. Letting one of them into our house and their heart. It's like having the the god of the underworld over for dinner.

"Rowland, I need you to just restrain yourself from killing her in the night, or threatening her, she's going to be scared enough without you hurting her. All I have to do is get her to say that she loves me and all will go back to normal. Okay?" I said, to reassure both of us. Me not falling for her will be hard, but seeing what they did to me it won't be that hard. And for Rowland to reassure him that I would never do something that stupid, I would rather die then marry someone when shares blood with those creatures, let a lone actually love one of them!

I walk into the dungeon and look at Rowland, " I also need you to keep her out of here. If she sees all of this destruction she's going to never look back as she walks out the front doors. And yes, that is an order."

"Should we tell the others what she is?" he asks, giving me a look that clearly says that he thinks that I should.

"No, she's a witch, they always show what they are soon enough. Besides she is rather young to have that strong of power." Knowing that she is going to want a nice meal once in a while.

I gaze into the dungeons. Seeing broken furniture and twisted metal that use to be bars. Thank GOD that my parents were smart and reinforced the door with metal on the other side. 3 1/2 inches of it too. The castle is my oasis but its also my prison. Every night I come down here before 10 o'clock and have someone lock me in. See I'm not only cursed to look ugly, but I'm also cursed to act like the beast that I am. A monster on the inside and the outside is what the Witches said. So they made me look according to how I acted. They said that they were releasing my true self. A beast, not a wolf, not a bear, not human, but some horrid thing caught in between them. If I don't get down here by 10 I start to get angry and easily agitated. By midnight I loose control. I hate it. I can't tell friend from foe everything is red. And the worst thing about it is that I remember exactly what I did the night before. I can't ever forget what I do. Its worst than any nightmare you could ever have. Thats how Rowland got that scar. It was right after I got cursed. We liked to hang out late at night and I started to get aggressive and I hit him. At the time I liked the fact that I hurt him but in the morning I hated myself and I was sure that he would never talk to me again. I became a sadist, I enjoyed hurting people. I was never like that. I enjoyed killing the Witches for what they did, but that was it. Sure I would hunt, but other that the animals and the witches, that was it. I never would kill a human.

In the middle of all the chaos and destruction and broken chairs and shredded portraits are three circles all intertwined in the middle with a metal rose sticking up in the air that is rapidly loosing its petals. One is gold, one is silver and one is bronze, one for each of the witch clans. The gold is the Sorceresses. The sorceresses are the strongest of the three. They are able to make potions and cast spells without having to make sacrifices. They were also known for their beauty. Every single one of them had the biggest doe eyes. Always the darkest blue, like the caspian sea, or as green as new spring grass, or they always love it when one of them has eyes of the lightest brown, almost like a deers pellet in winter. Their hair was like spun gold and it shown like it too. The face of a sorceress was always so fine, it looked like it could break if you touched it. Don't let their looks deserve you though, I found out that these ladies can fight. My father sent me to the North, by the Pass, to stop them from getting to the nearby villages and kidnapping children for dinner and such. He also sent me up there so I would know more about battle of the front lines instead of just looking at it on a map and not caring about the terrain. Man did I learn. You never go with your instincts. You may want the pretty lady across the battle field, but you have to kill her or your parents won't be able to tell whats you and whats the guy next to you.

Then there's the enchantresses, the silver ring because their power is always stronger during the full moon. They're known for their human, or witch sacrifices, for minor spells they will just use small game animals. If you know anything about birds such as chickens then you know that they have a pecking order. Well thats a lot like the enchantresses. if you're weaker then your neighbor then you are likely to be used for a sacrifice in one of their more demanding rituals. They have dark red hair like fresh blood on a battle field, with skin paler than milk with eyes like that of a wild cat, all green and yellow, and they're just as cunning. Legend has it that their temper comes from the banshees of the West. They can tell with one look of you've cheated on your wife, or if you've killed a man, and their temper will flare. Piss them off bad enough and they'll plague you with something nasty.

And last of all are the Wiccans, the bronze ring. They really don't have much power, just enough to help people out when they need it. Like when a woman is having a difficult pregnancy or a child broke his arm out in the fields. They know what herbs will do what and such. But to get them to help you, you have to give them an arm and a leg. Depending upon what you want that phrase can be taken literally too. They also are known for their poisons. They can whip up some of the strongest poisons and potions that you will ever see. The healers wouldn't know who was one of them and who was a Wiccan, so they just taught everyone on some of the continents. Nowadays they probably work as doctors, or voodoo priestesses and such. They have Hair the color of midnight, with tanner skin than their sisters, but still incredibly fair, with eyes like steel.

All of them are stronger than the strongest man on earth, and more beautiful than a siren, and they spin their songs like a siren too. They have the slimmest and leanest bodies you will ever see. You can't crush them, you can't love them, and you can't deny them if you get into their clasps. It was a miracle that we even won the war against them to be honest.

And the rose symbolizes how much time I have left to find true love's kiss to beak my curse before I become like this permanently

Its not what has happened in the 700 plus years that I've missed because I've been locked up here, but its what I am now harboring in my house that was supposed to me extinct. A Witch. A Sorceress, a handmaiden of death, a descendent of my jailers and cursers. And that scares me more than most things that I have faced. It's a long list too, and that thought doesn't comfort me any.

"Just don't hurt her until I break this damn curse, Rowland, or else." I ground out as my anger flashes up. This is going to be the hardest task that I have ever had to preform. Ever. And the stakes are much too high. Hopefully I can make it out of this one with my heart and my head intact and not fall for the siren that awaits me outside of these protective doors. All I need to do is get her to fall in love with me, and me not to fall in love with her. Not too hard right.

Thank you so much for reading. Please, as always, vote and comment. I really honestly and truly want to know what you people think. Don't be afraid to give you opinion. Its what makes you you so don't hold back. 

-A