Between A Rose And Its Thorns (ON HOLD)

Who to Trust: Part 2

3rd person,

With a swirl of black smoke, the woman disappeared. The beast coughed as the smoke surrounded him, when it cleared, he gasped at the sight of Lucinda unconscious. He took a step toward her.

"Well, well, well." A voice cooed.

The beast growled. "Hello, fairy godmother," he snarled and turned, his eyes glaring deeply at the woman.

She smirked. "Didn't your mother ever tell you never to play with your food?" She asked, her hands clasped behind her.

"My mother is dead." He yelled, immediately regretting it as Lucinda groaned in her sleep.

"And who's fault is that?" She sneered. "For so many years, you have hidden yourself in this castle. Wallowing in your own self pity. What has changed, Prince? Why now have you actually tried?"

"Because my people are depending on me." He stayed and took a step back.

His fairy godmother crackled. "Your people?! You may be a prince, Theodred, but you are still a beast! I can see inside of you, your heart is still as black and as cold as the day I cursed you!" She took a step forward, and pulled out a silver wand, Theodred tensed. "The only reason they follow you is because they are afraid. They are afraid of what you can do! They've seen what you have done!" She shouted. She lifted the wand above her head. "No one could ever love you!"

A strike of light went through the air, the beast gasped as it hit Lucinda, causing for her to scream. And in a flash, she was gone.

"No!" The beast lurched forward and grabbed the empty bed sheets. "What have you done? What did you do-!" He faced her and all air left his lungs.

The woman smiled down at the girl in her arms.

"Isn't she sweet?" She purred and stroked the unconscious girl's cheek. "Such a darling, kept me good company before you came." She scowled up at him. "You men are all the same, you take whatever you want without thinking of the consequences."

"Give her back to me!" He snarled, the enchantress' grin widen as she watched the black flicker in his eyes.

"Is it you that wants her back or...." she tilted Lucinda's head. "Your... other self?"

"Give." The beast took a step forward. "Her." The Black swirled in his gaze, so much of it filled his iris she could see her reflection in them. "Back."

"And why should I?" She leaned forward, her face now in the beast's. "I think I'll keep her, she is too good for you. I see how you look at her sister, you think you love the girl yet you continue to want to pursue the other. And for what? Her pretty face?!" She lifted up Lucinda's body, and pointed her face to him, the enchantress' claw like fingers holding her chin captured. "Do you value her sister's life more than hers just because she isn't beautiful?"

"Enough!" He bellowed and snatched Lucinda out of her grasp. The woman fell back with a gasp, wincing as she hit the cobbled floor. The beast held Lucinda close to him, cradling her in his arms as he lifted her up and placed her back into the over sized bed.

The fairy godmother huffed and grabbed her discarded wand. "You can fool her, you can fool your servants, you can even fool yourself! ... but you can never fool me." She snapped, her hand tightened on her wand.

"Why won't you leave me alone! Isn't this form enough of a punishment!" Theodred snapped, his blue eyes glared hard at her.

"No." She said. "Your father took something very precious from me, so I might as well have taken something from him."

"He has been dead long before I ever became a beast!" He argued. "What do you get from this?! For years you have hated my family, yet you only punished me!"

"Because you deserved it! You were becoming just like him. I couldn't let that happen, I wouldn't. Your mother was a saint!" She shouted, the beast's hand clenched tighter. "She was the kindest of us all, and your father took her away from me! He is the sinful one! He is the one I hated! Not your mother!"

"All she ever wanted was to be loved and cherished, and she got her wish!" He snapped, his fangs squeaked as he gritted them.

"But at what cost?!" She screamed. "Your father kept her in this castle for years! Only allowed to leave if she only went to the gardens. She wasn't a queen, she was a prisoner!" She sneered in disgust and took several steps back. "Look at you now, you grew up to be exactly like him! Keeping those you claim to love as your prisoners!"

She waved her wand at Lucinda as she slept. No. The beast's eyes widen as he quickly stepped in front of her sleeping form.

"No, no I am not." He said, yet it sounded hesitant, as if he himself didn't know if it was true.

"Listen, and listen well, Prince," she spat the word. "Making her your prisoner won't make her fall in love with you. You may care for her, and maybe-just maybe- she cares for you, but it will be nothing more than a friend." She smirked. "Maybe even as a beloved pet, but she will never love you for who you are."

The beast gulped, his hands shaking as they hung at his sides. His wide, blue eyes watched her as she came closer. It was hard to believe in his childhood this woman was considered a friend to him, perhaps even as family.

But those days are long since dead.

Just like how she was dead to him. But that doesn't mean he was any less afraid of her.

"Because, Beast," she leaned in close to his hunched form, her words echoing through his ear and deep into his mind. "You are a monster, inside and out. Even your own mother wanted to die rather than love you. If you have a soul that your own mother can't love, than what makes you think a strong and independent woman could ever love you?"

He stood there, stiff as stone as she leaned back with a wicked grin. She stepped back and gave a final glance at the girl on the beast's bed.

"Remember, Theodred," The beast flinched. Her back faced him as she placed her wand back into her sleeve. "No one could love a beast." With a snap of her fingers, his fairy godmother was gone. Not a soul left in the room besides himself, Lucinda, and the mountains of white roses.

Oh, and the small pair of silver eyes in the crack of the West Wing's doorway. But the beast didn't know that...

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What do you guys think???

Yay? Nay?

Okay, so, to clarify, yes. The enchantress is also the Beast's fairy godmother. I thought to mix it up a bit.
If Cinderella could have one, then why not the beast?
Do you have any questions? Theories?
Why does Theodred's fairy godmother hate his family? And what made her turn on them?
What do you think will happen in the next chapter, 'Who to Trust: Part 3'?
Ans what else could this classic story might be hiding???

Until next Sunday, bye! 😊