Beast in Shining Armor (7 page)

“Weren’t
you paying attention at the hearing?  I’m rehabilitated thanks to all the drugs
they forced on me in that hellhole.”

Belle
hesitated.  “They gave you drugs in there?”

“What
the fuck do you think?”  He flashed her a glare.  “That we played polo all day?”

“I
don’t know.  I just…”

“There
were drugs.  There were iron bars.  There were guards who beat us, and
administrators who tried to molest us, and they almost killed me with a rocket
launcher.  And
you
sent me there.”

Belle
opened her mouth, even though she wasn’t sure how she planned to respond. 
There didn’t seem to be an answer she could give to that.  She’d brought
Avenant down.  She had.  But, she’d never, ever thought he’d go to prison.  To
be honest, she hadn’t thought about the day
after
her victory, at all.  She’d
been so
angry
at Avenant and she’d just wanted to beat him.

It
had all gotten out of control.  Everything had gotten out of control.

“Why
did you have me locked up?”  Avenant demanded, cutting off whatever she might
have said.  “What did I do that was so terrible?”

“You’ve
done a
million
terrible things.”

“But,
you never took my kingdom before!”

“You
never had men break into my house and attack me before!”

He
had the audacity to look insulted.  “Are you out of your mind?  I never sent
anyone to your house.”  He flashed her a look over his shoulder.  “
How
did they attack you?  Are you alright?”

“I’m
fine, no thanks to you.”

“I’m
telling you, I’m not the one who sent them.”

Belle
snorted.  “Sure you’re not.”

“Damn
it, if you’d…”  He stopped short his attention on the ground.  “Huh.”  He
stepped back, checking the bottom of his foot and making a face.  “Well, I
found the source of your screaming.”

Belle’s
eyes went wide as she took in the carnage.  Someone had carved up Mr.
Pumpkin-Eater.  Stringing clumps of pumpkin guts and seeds covered the floor in
a gruesome orange crime scene.  His scarecrow body was crumpled at an unnatural
angle and his jack-o-lantern head had been hacked open.  Its gooey contents were
spilled out on the icy ground like a Halloween party gone horribly wrong.

Belle
cringed.  He’d been a cannibal, eating his own kind after baking them into
grotesque pies, but it was still a terrible way for someone to die.  “Who
could’ve done this?”  She asked.

“Well,
anybody who knew him had a motive.”  Avenant scrapped some of Mr. Pumpkin-Eater
off his shoe.  “Narrowing the suspects, it looks like he was killed with
something big and sharp.  His head was hacked apart with a blade.  Possibly
that.”  He pointed to a meat cleaver on the floor.  Mr. Pumpkin-Eater’s hand
was resting on it, so maybe he’d tried to wrestle it away from the assailant. 
“Or possibly an axe or a knife or a sword.  I’m sure everybody except you
brought at least fifty-six weapons with them today, so it’s a toss-up.”

“That
makes me feel a lot better.”

Avenant
wasn’t quite done with his CSI analysis, though.  “I’m betting one of our more
strategically minded competitors plans to thin the herd and this jackass was
just the first to go.  It seems like a really focused hit.  No other blood or
clues.”  Avenant edged around the pumpkin slurry.  “The killer probably wants
to hide in plain sight.  Then, he’ll pick us off, one-by-one, until it’s just
him and Excalibur.”

“Could
you not sound like you admire him, please?

“Well,
it’s a good plan.  To be honest, I’m almost impressed.”

“What
are you doing?”  Belle demanded as he made it to the other side of the mess. 
“Whoever did this must have gone that way, you idiot.  Are you seriously
planning to follow them?”

“Of
course I am.  I’d just as soon catch him now, rather than wait and let him
catch
us
later.”

“How
do you know it’s a ‘he’?  Maybe a woman is lying in wait to kill us.”

“Nonsense. 
Women love me.  Most of them, anyway.”  He held out a palm to her.  “You’re a
notable exception, but I’ve crossed you off my suspect list.  You have an
ironclad alibi of aggravating me during the time of the murder.”  He arched a
brow when she didn’t take his hand and let him guide her passed the remains. 
“Coming?”

Belle
hesitated.  “I hate this idea.”  She told him, her gaze on the grisly hunks of
pumpkin shell.  She’d never been around this kind of violence.  Heading off to
look for the perpetrator seemed insane, but not as insane as getting closer to
the gore.  “I don’t think I can do it.  It’s freaking me out to think about bits
of Mr. Pumpkin-Eater touching me.”

“You’re
too soft.”  Avenant muttered.  “Just step over it.”

“I
can’t
.  I’m telling you.  I actually met this pumpkin and now he’s all
over the floor and I…”  She trailed off with a shudder.  “I just… can’t.”

He
studied her for a beat and his expression softened.  “Alright.”  Belle expected
him to lob some more insults her way or simply walk away.  Instead, Avenant
edged back into orange pulp and seized hold of her waist.  “Close your eyes.” 
He swept her up into his arms.

For
once, Belle didn’t argue with him.  She squeezed her eyes shut as he lifted her
over the slaughter.  “Thank you.”  She whispered.  Her arms wound around his
neck and she felt his grip tighten.

“You’re
welcome, my love.”

His
voice was a warm whisper by her ear.  It sent her heart pounding.  When he
called her that, it always brought Belle back to their senior prom and that was
a night she tried not to think about very often.  She didn’t want to recall the
sound of his voice or the way he tasted or the feel of his hands.  Obviously,
it was impossible to forget, though.  As much as she detested this man, he was
the only one she’d ever longed for.

Avenant
deposited her on the other side and cleared his throat.  “You okay to go on?”  He
adjusted her coat collar, not meeting her gaze.

Belle
nodded, staring up at his beautiful face.  Why was he suddenly acting more like
a knight in shining armor than a beast?  “Avenant?”

“Yes?”

“You
were just helpful.”  She arched a brow.  “How does it feel to try something
new?”

“You
probably don’t want an honest assessment of my feelings.  They’ll just scare
you.”

Clearly,
he didn’t want to talk about it.  Too bad for him, Belle
did
.  “Why are
sticking with me?”  She pressed.  “Why didn’t you leave me behind?”

“The
journal…”

She
cut him off.  “Forget about the journal.  Tell me the truth.”

He
hesitated.  “You’re the only one I will ever lose to.”  He finally said.  “I
won’t
lose, obviously.  But, if I
did
, it would have to be to you.  I want
this contest to be you and me, right to the end.  I want to beat you and for
you to see that I did it honestly.  That we played this whole game by the rules
and that I
won
.  And then, I want you to look at me and just… know.”

“Know
what?”

Avenant
shrugged and turned away.  “I guess you’ll figure that part out when we get to
the finish line.”  He started down the corridor.  “Stay behind me, alright?”

Belle
stared after him.

Avenant
hadn’t been the one who attacked her in her bed.

In
that moment, it was so clear to her.  Maybe a part of her had instinctively
known that all along.  Would she have literally tied herself to the man and
come into this labyrinth with him if she thought he was capable of physically
harming her?  Avenant wasn’t a cheater.  He never had been.  His tactics were
often dirty and ruthless, but they were never violent.  Never outside the
boundaries of fair play.  That was why she’d been so furious when she though he’d
sent men to abduct her.  It ruined their whole game to take things to that
level.  It had been such a betrayal.

Except,
Avenant hadn’t done it.  Which meant that someone else had targeted her.

Only
Belle had no idea why.

Little
Boy Blue:
He accused me of falling
asleep on duty and threw me into the dungeon.

There’s
bugs down there, man!  It was a total overreaction.

Defense:
Overreaction?  Weren’t you hired to guard the royal
cows and chickens?

Little
Boy Blue:
  Well, yeah.  But, really,
I’m a musician. See, I just took the job because I knew it would be a snooze. 
No one would steal from Avenant.  Everybody knows what the Beast will do if you
touch what’s his.

Who would
be that stupid?

Mr. Little
Boy Blue
- The People of the Northlands v. Prince Avenant

The
maze circled around in circles upon circles.

Avenant
wasn’t clear on where they were within its corridors.  Since rocks were
beginning to appear beside the ice wall, he could only guess they were
somewhere near the mountains.  Not that it mattered.  After hours of walking
down identical frozen hallways, he was resigned to the fact that Belle had been
right.  This was going to take a while.

Fucking
Grandpa Adam.

The
domed roof overhead made it impossible to see the sky, but a quick check of his
watch said it was close to five o’clock in the evening.  They’d been walking
all afternoon and nothing had been accomplished towards his goal.  Clearly, it
was time to regroup.

“This
looks like a good place for dinner.”  Avenant decided and casually dropped his
backpack.  It was the first halfway reasonable resting spot he’d found.  The
hall was angled so he could see anyone approaching and the flat rocks provided
a makeshift bench.  Given the circumstances, it was the best he could do.

Belle
had been unusually quiet ever since they found the dead pumpkin.  She actually
jumped at the sound of Avenant’s voice, like she’d been lost in her own
thoughts.  “What?”  She looked around as if she had no idea where they were. 
“Wait, you want to eat here?”

“No,
I
want
to be eating lobster amandine the grand dining hall of my
palace.  Since you’ve gotten me lost in a labyrinth, though, I’m making do.” 
He sat down on a rock and unzipped his pack.  “Scarlett better have packed me
something palatable, because I’m starving.”

Eight
months of tepid jailhouse porridge left Avenant in an almost constant state of
hunger
. 
He let out an annoyed sigh when he saw the stack of protein
bars.  Was chocolate really so much to ask?  Yes, he’d outlawed candy in the
Northlands because those damn oompa-whatevers started fucking him over on the
tariffs, but he’d made sure that chocolate bars were excluded from the
crackdown.  Avenant craved the stuff.  When he was locked-up chocolate was what
he’d missed the most.

Well,
there was
one
thing he missed more.

“Do
you think it’s safe here?”  Belle asked, still not looking convinced they
should stop.  “We haven’t found who murdered Mr. Pumpkin-Eater, yet.  What if
they sneak up on us?”

“Then,
I’ll kill them.”  It seemed like a fairly obvious solution.  Avenant grudgingly
tore open the least offensive looking healthy snack Scarlett had provided.  It
was some kind of granola thing with dried fruit and bits of solidified yogurt. 
Actually, it wasn’t
so
terrible.  He upended the whole bag of crumbly
bits into his mouth and opened another.  “Eat something.”

“Shouldn’t
we be focused on the maze?”

“What’s
to focus on?  There are hallways and we follow them.  It’s hardly turning lead
into gold or something that takes actual skill.”  He snorted.  “Until we figure
out what the riddle about being helpful means, we’re just spinning our wheels.”

“It
means we have to be
helpful,
obviously.”

“And
what?  The labyrinth will see that and reward us?”

“I
don’t know.”  She paused.  “Maybe.”

Avenant
rolled his eyes at the idea that the maze was somehow conscious of them.  “You
definitely
need to take a break.”

Belle
frowned.  “The others are getting farther ahead of us.”  She warned, but she
picked up an apple.

“I’m
not worried about the others.”

“What
if they’re all off doing helpful things?  What if they find Excalibur first?”

Another
simple question.  “Then, I’ll take it from them.”

“You
can’t cheat in a contest of valor!”

“Did
you see a rule book?”  He asked archly.  “I didn’t.  Whoever leaves here with
the sword wins.  That’s it.  No one said anything about how we
get
the
sword, in the first place.”  He fished a bottle of water from the bag and held
it out to her.  “Besides, none of these idiots will solve this maze before I
do, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Belle’s
lips pressed together in annoyance.  “You’re such an arrogant prick.”  She
snatched the drink from his hand and sat down on the far side of the rock.

“There’s
a difference between confidence and arrogance.”

“Yes,
there certainly
is
.”  She agreed.  “You know, you’re a smart person. 
You could’ve been a wonderful ruler if you weren’t always so hateful to all
your citizens.”

“My
citizens are always hateful to me.  I’m just returning the favor.”

“Maybe
if you’d shown them you could be a reasonable, compassionate man, they would’ve
given you a chance.  As it was, you came in and immediately started oppressing
the entire Northlands.  It’s like you assumed they wouldn’t accept you and did
everything possible to make sure it was a self-fulfilling prophesy.”

The
woman would never understand what it took to maintain real power.  “You might
have quintupled my approval rating as ruler, but
I’m
the one they
feared.  I had their respect, which is something your hand holding method of
leadership never accomplished.  Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so ready to
give me back the kingdom in that courtroom.  They were terrified about what I’d
do if they denied me.  They
knew
they could fuck you over, though. 
You’re too soft.”

“You’re
too hard!”  She snapped back and chewed on her apple in fuming silence.

Avenant
felt his mouth twitch upward.

“What?” 
Belle demanded, not appreciating his smile.

“This
is the first dinner we’ve ever shared together.  It’s not going how I imagined
it.”

Cocoa-colored
eyes flicked over him.  “You imagined having dinner with me?”

“I
imagine
a lot
of things about you.”  He took the apple from her hands
and bit deeper into the same spot she had.  “You never think about me?”

“I
try not to.”

“Not
even about that time in the courthouse?”

Belle
stared at him.

Avenant
smirked and passed the apple back to her.  He leaned forward to see what else
was stuffed into his bag.  “Do you want to play cards while we eat?”

“What?” 
She gave her head a shake.  “Cards?  You want to play
cards?
”

“Yeah.” 
He held up the deck Scarlett had packed.  “Strip poker can be a lot of fun.” 
He gave the pack an enticing waggle.

“I’m
not playing strip poker with you, Avenant.”

“We
can play for something else, then.”

Her
eyes narrowed.  The woman loved competition.  “Money?”

“What
money?”  He scoffed.  “You don’t have any money.  I’d win just by sitting
here.”

“Fine. 
We’ll play for the joy of beating each other, then.”  She scowled at him.  “And
maybe right
now
I’m broke, but when I’m the one and only princess of the
Northlands I will have
lots
of money.  The coffers are filled again,
thanks to
my
management.”

Avenant
peeled the cellophane off the cards and shuffled them.  “The one and only
princess of the Northlands will have whatever she wants.”  He agreed quietly.  “I’ll
make sure of it.”

Belle
was quiet for a long moment.  “Are you planning to get married?”  She finally
asked.  “Like to someone in particular?”

He
shrugged.  “Aren’t most marriages to someone in particular?”

Belle
apparently took that as confirmation.  “Who is she?”  She demanded.

“I’m
not going to tell you about my love life.  You’ll just try to ruin it for me.” 
He began dealing the cards between them.

“No,
I wouldn’t!”  She sounded insulted.  “I never bothered your girlfriends.  You
were always the one who did stuff like that…”  She stopped short, her eyes
slashing over to his.

Avenant
raised a brow, knowing they were both remembering their prom.

Belle
cleared her throat.  “You could at least tell me this girl’s name.”  She
muttered.  “Do I know her?  God, she’s not someone you met in prison, is she? 
She could be a criminal, Avenant!  How well do you know this woman?”

“I
know her so well it irritates us both.  Just leave it alone and play cards.” 
Avenant examined his hand.  Two aces, two eights, and a red nine.  Dead Man’s
Hand.  Wasn’t that just typical?

Belle
wasn’t willing to let it drop.  “Why are you marrying her?  It’s part of some
nefarious scheme, isn’t it?”

That
was the easiest answer of all.  “I’m marrying her because she’s my True Love.”

His
words drew Belle up short.  “Oh.”  She dropped her gaze to her cards, but she
didn’t seem to be seeing them.  “Well, I’m happy for you, then.”  She didn’t
sound
happy for him.  She swiped her hair behind her ears in agitation.  “Is she
beautiful?  I bet she’s beautiful.”

Avenant’s
eyes traced over her angry face.  “She’s beautiful.  Especially her eyes.”

“Very
poetic.”  Belle muttered.  “She’s probably dumb as a post, though, knowing your
usual type.”

“She’s
brilliant.  She’s the only one in the world who can outsmart me.”

“She
can’t be
that
smart if she’s engaged to you.”

“We’re
not engaged.”

Belle’s
beautiful eyes snapped back to his.  “Why not?  Didn’t you tell her she was
your True Love?”

“She
doesn’t care.”  He discarded the nine and selected the queen of hearts.  It
seemed fitting, given the conversation.  “She thinks I’m a beast.”

“She
said that?”

“Yes.”

“After
you told her how you felt?”

“Yes.”

“Well,
that’s… horrible.”  Belle decided.  “She sounds like a very heartless person to
have just dismissed you like that.  Maybe she’s
not
your True Love.”

“She’s
not heartless.  If anything, she feels too much.  It’s not her fault that
nobody could ever want a beast…”

Belle
cut him off, not even listening.  “Don’t defend her!  It was cruel of her to
say that to you and it’s certainly not the first time you’ve made a huge
mistake.  You could have gotten your signals crossed and she’s not your
destined princess, after all.”  She gave an encouraging nod.  “If this girl
doesn’t want you, you should just forget about her and move on.”

“Have
you ever known me to give up what’s mine?”

Belle
ignored that.  “I think you’re just freaking out because you were in prison for
so long.  That’s what this about.  But, look at you!”  She gestured to his
face.  “You could have
ton
s of girls, even being a total jackass.  It’s
not like you to moon over just one.”

Avenant
snorted at that.  All his life, he’d been mooning over just one.  Unfortunately,
she was the one who most clearly saw the animal behind the prince’s mask.  The
Four Kingdom had many success stories of hideous creatures discovering their
inner Goodness.  Frogs could turn into princes and ducks could become swans. 
Avenant’s case was just the opposite.  He was a monster who looked like a man. 
Behind the handsome façade, there was something Bad struggling for control. 
Something very,
very
Bad.

And
it grew stronger all the time.

His
parents had known it and they’d warned him to keep the Beast locked away.  If
it escaped its cage, Avenant had no idea what would happen.  But the chains
were weaker than they’d ever been.  Sooner or later it would get free and Belle
would see him for what he really was.  The Beast wouldn’t hurt her.  Its need
for Belle went as deep as his own.  But, Belle would look into its eyes and she
would know that she’d been right about him all along.

He
was Bad all the way through.

“Are
you going to stay with that hand or draw?”  Avenant prompted, finishing off
another package of granola.  He’d lost his appetite, but he needed the fuel.

“I’m
serious.  You should just
completely
forget about the whole idea of
getting married.”  Belle randomly picked one of her cards, tossed it down, and
grabbed another.  “I mean, I haven’t even thought about getting married, yet.”