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"Do not thank me," she advises. "Just lift this curse."
"I'll try." I reach out to touch her hand but it's gone. She's gone, and I tilt my head, but I can't hear her anywhere. "Leta?"
Silence. The leaves rustle on the wind, and distantly, I hear birds begin to chirp.
Like in my dream. This seems...right. This is how it begins. I straighten, feeling for the path with my foot. I can't tell which way I'm going because of the blindfold, and I don't want to head in the wrong direction. I stretch an arm out in front of me and take a step forward. The leaves continue to rustle, eerily reminding me of my dreams. I half expect to feel the beast standing behind me. The thought makes my body prick with awareness and I reach out behind me.
Nothing. No one.
"Hello?" I call out. There's no answer, only silence. I pick up my bag and take a step forward, and the birds continue to twitter and sing, the leaves dancing around my skirts. I pause, uncertain. It still feels like i'm on the path, but how can I be sure? I only have three days to lift the curse, and I don't want to spend it wandering endlessly in the woods. Experimentally, I take a few steps to the side. The cobbled stone path ends and I step on grass.
The birds go silent. The wind dies.
Well, that's creepy. I step back onto the path. Immediately, the birds begin their song again. All right. If nothing else, they will guide me. I put a hand out, feeling vulnerable and a little silly wandering into the woods blindfolded. If this is what it takes, though, I'll do it.
I continue on, walking with shuffling steps. I'm not moving fast, but I'm moving, at least. The path is surprisingly clear, given that the cursed forest is never entered by humans. No one dares to enter for fear they won't come out again alive. But I have no choice, so onward I go. Sometimes the cobbles are uneven and I stumble, but my blindfold stays in place. Sometimes the path curves, and I don't find out until things go silent and the breeze dies. Then, I have to backtrack a few steps, find the right way by listening, and continue onward.
It's a strange process.
I walk for a long time, and as I do, the chill autumn air grow colder. The winds grow higher, howling around me and whipping at my hair as if it wants to pull my blindfold off, so I pause and tie a second one over the first, just to be sure. I'm not going to let something as small as the wind destroy my chances at removing the curse. I pick up my pack again once the blindfold is secure--
And then I hear it.
Growling.
It's a low, distant rumble and I pause, waiting for it to sound like my dream. Is it the beast? I get goosebumps at the thought and stand completely still, waiting for him to speak up.
The growling only grows louder, and I clutch my bag tightly to my chest. What if...what if it's not the beast after all? What if it's wolves? I'm out here in the woods all alone and I can't see. When a new growl comes from my right, and a second ahead of me, I swallow hard.
It's not the beast.
I don't know what to do. Do I chance taking my blindfold off and ruining everything? Leta said this wouldn't be easy, but I didn't realize it would be....dangerous like this. I'm terrified for a brief moment that the beast will never find me, and that Leta's been wrong all along - that I'm not going to break the curse. That I'm going to die as wolf food. I dig through my satchel, hoping to find a knife or something I can use as a weapon amidst my sea of blindfolds and the trail bread.
The growling grows louder. "Go away," I hiss. "Just go!"
I hear something run past, and I begin to panic. What do I do? What--
A bloodcurdling snarl echoes in the forest, reverberating all through the trees. It's so loud and fierce that I can practically feel my hair curl. I hold my bag tighter, as if it can shield me from the monster that's coming. That was no wolf. That was something bigger, and scarier. I suck in frightened breaths, turning my head as if I'll be able to hear whatever it is approaching.
"Are you a fool?" A low voice growls from somewhere nearby.
I'm startled. It's not the smoky, sexy voice from my dreams. Rather, it sounds like that voice was chewed up and swallowed by something else. The timbre of it is the same, but it rasps and growls more, and the words seem to be pronounced as if it's difficult to speak through his teeth.
But I know who this is. It's the beast.
"Not a fool," I call out. "But be careful - there are wolves."
"I know there are wolves," the beast growls. "Why do you think I scared them off?"
"Oh. Thank you." I continue to hold my bag tightly, unsure what else to say. I turn my head toward his general direction, and now more than ever, I wish I knew what he looked like, or what I was facing. Because he's different than my dream, and now I'm more curious than ever.
And a little bit frightened.
"Take off the damned blindfold," he says in a low, gravelly voice as he approaches. I can hear his feet move onto the path. He lumbers heavily, movements slow, and there's a click of claws on stone. I'm scared...but I'm also a little fascinated. My mind is racing with all kinds of horrible concepts of what he looks like. Are his feet like a bear's paws? Like a wolf? Or are they human with long curved talons? Is he just one beast or a mixing of several? As I stand there contemplating, I hear him move toward me, and he speaks again. "Take off the blindfold so you can look upon your nightmare. Get it over with."
My heart squeezes, because he sounds defeated. "I can't."
"You can't what?"
"Can't take off the blindfold. I promised...a friend. I'm sorry." I shake my head. "It doesn't matter anyhow. I'm Willow, and the kingdom sent me. I'm the one chosen at the Harvest Stone. I'm to be your bride."
The beast is silent for a long moment. Then, I hear the slow click of claws (talons?) again as he paces around me. "So you have come to throw your life away?"
"I hope not," I say, keeping my voice bright and cheery to counteract his grim one. "I come from Windybrook. That's the village just on the edge of the woods. What's your name?"
"My name?" He laughs, and it sounds like broken gravel. "I am called Ainmhidh, girl."
I'm startled, because ‘ainmhidh’ is beast in the old language. "I'm not going to call you that."
"No?" It sounds as if the word is torn from his throat. "That is what I am."
It still seems a terrible thing. "No," I say firmly. "I would appreciate it if you would call me 'Willow' instead of 'girl' and I'll call you by your real name. What is it?"
He's quiet for a long moment. "Ruari."
Ah. Red king, again in the old language. I want to ask if he's got red hair, but that might be offensive. He might have no hair. He might have...fur. "Pleased to meet you, Ruari," I manage to choke out. "I'm sorry if I startled you."
"I was expecting someone," he grumbles. "Just...not you. Come. Follow me. I'll take you to my castle."
The cursed castle. I shiver and hold out my hand. A short distance away, I can hear Ruari's footsteps clicking away on the cobblestones. Oh. "Um, could you be kind enough to guide me? I can't see."
"Take off the damned blindfold," he snaps at me. "I have no time for this!"
I ignore the surly attitude and wiggle my fingers at him. "And I told you I can't take it off. I can stumble my way behind you, but you'll have to be patient with me if I m
ove a little slowly. Or you can be a gentleman and guide me in."
He growls again, low and menacing, and I feel a surge of alarm. Am I pushing too hard? Is he more beast than man at this point? He says he has no time, but I know he's been cursed for dozens - maybe hundreds - of years. He has all the time in the world. Maybe it's taken its toll on his mind.
"You sure you want to touch the beast's paw?"
Well, when he puts it that way, no, I'm not sure. But now's not the time to be missish. "If I'm to be your wife, I'm probably going to touch more than your paw." I continue to hold my hand out to him. "I'm not afraid."
I can't tell if he growls or laughs, but he makes some sort of deep, rumbling noise in his chest and lumbers closer to me. I remain perfectly still, waiting. I'm a little anxious about his touch - what if it's scales? What if it's fur? What if it's--
The hand that touches mine is warm. Strong. Completely human. There are calluses on the palm and he grips me tight.
I'm confused. Is there someone else here with the beast? This is a...nice hand.
"You look shocked," he says. "Sickened at my touch?" He squeezes my fingers lightly. "Shall I release you?"
I want to laugh with surprise. I want to run my fingers up his arm and see if all of him feels 'normal' or if he's beastly in other areas. But he sounds so miserable that I do the first thing I can think of to make him less so - I pull his hand to my face and kiss the back of it.
He's silent, but I can feel a ripple of surprise move through him. "Come," he says after a moment, gruff. "Let us go before night falls."
And he leads me on through the forest. The beast - no, Ruari - is quiet as we walk, and there's no sound but the heavy thud of his feet on the cobbles, the click of his claws, the occasional snort of his breath that sounds an awful lot like my father's horse. The birds continue to sing and the leaves dance in the air around us, sweeping past my skirts in a rush.
