The Beast Within Read online

  The Beast Within

  .

  By:

  D.L. Goddard

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  Anya reached out and tentatively touched his arm. He turned toward her, his once beautiful mane was shaggy and unkempt and she longed to run a brush through it, making it shine once more. It was obvious to her that her master thought the prisoner in this cell was merely an animal. He’d often said the creature had some cunning intellect but nothing of note. All that was required is that the Beast understood who was master. She smiled inwardly knowing it shone in her eyes at the thought of the ‘animal’ in the cell being better spoken and more intelligent than her master in spite of his ragged and unkempt appearance.

  “I’m sorry if I upset you, I haven’t seen anything of real beauty in a long time and in spite of my appearance, I do have needs and wants like anyone else. Forgive me … I don’t mean to offend.”

  Anya smiled a genuine lovely smile that lit up her whole face … He stopped and stared. It seemed as if she glowed in the filthy cell with her beauty, her whole face was transformed into one of such loveliness that he was rooted to the spot wanting her so badly. He had said she was lovely, but when she smiled … she was … breathtaking. Now he knew why Adam Savage wanted to keep her, to teach her a lesson. This woman was something very, very special.

  She came right up to him and stretched out her hand to stroke his smooth cheek. He bent for her to reach him and as he felt the touch of her hand, his big hands held hers against his skin, reveling in the feel of her. He felt on fire at just the merest brush of her silken skin. Something about Anya resonated deep inside him. He felt as if he knew her … that she was familiar somehow, and yet he knew he had never met her before this moment. But when she touched him, somehow it seemed so … right as if she belonged in his arms, almost as if he knew that they were supposed to be together. His heart knew her and he felt feelings for the young woman that he couldn’t possibly have felt before.

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  The Beast Within

  By

  D.L .Goddard

  Copyright © DL Goddard, 04 March 2014

  Published on Smashwords

  Formatted by DL Goddard

  The right of DL Goddard to be identified as the author of this

  work has been asserted by her in accordance with the

  New Zealand Copyright Act 1994.

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. (All layout, design, illustration, and written work of the sole creation and property of DL Goddard).

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  First Edition License Notes

  This eBook/Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook/Book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to wherever you bought it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  * * *

  Also by DL Goddard

  Novels

  The Charnel Throne

  The Shadow Box

  The Halo

  (Fae Tales)

  It Started with a Prince

  The Beast Within

  Short Stories

  Penance

  Plague

  The Changeover

  The Rocker

  Searching for the Heart

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  Dedication :

  All my life I have adored the story of the gentle Beauty who saves the hideous Beast. It is probably my favorite story above all others. The romance and compassion is such a draw on my heart and the seeming weak lovely woman who sees in the Beast what no other can speaks volumes of her character and her gentleness of spirit. But rather than simply rewrite a wonderful story that has been done a thousand times, I have taken the opportunity to weave my tale of Beauty and the Beast with an unusual twist that while the motifs of the original tale are there, the tale itself is very different … some might even say out of this world.

  To you lovers of Beauty and the Beast … I hope I have written a tale of romance and compassion … of seeing what is true and finding the real beauty hidden within. Whatever seems to be beautiful is not necessarily so and what appears to be hideous and bestial becomes a being of such nobility and loving kindness that one wonders how they could not have seen this in spite of his terrifying appearance.

  I do hope you have enjoyed my story, because it has filled a writer’s need in me to be one of those that can add to the legend of the Beauty and her beloved Beast.

  * * *

  Contents:

  Also by DL Goddard

  Dedication

  The Legend

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  The Beast Within

  The Legend

  The exquisitely beautiful woman sneered at the kneeling Prince. Her staff was held above him, the power pouring from the gold sphere set into the twisted roots wound around the top making the man bend to her will whether he wished it or not. The woman was truly breathtaking with a wondrously voluptuous figure, and the clinging sheath leaving her arms free, and ending in a soft pool of cloth around her feet only emphasized her charms. The dress flowed down her body like she had been poured into it and she knew the Prince found her desirable, but still he wouldn’t touch her.

  “Why won’t you give me what I ask for? Is it too hard a task for the beautiful Prince Arahir (A-ra-here) of Castle Barshael (Bar-shay-el)? Is he not up to such an arduous task? Am I truly too much woman for you?”

  Prince Arahir slowly struggled to his feet. He would not be forced to kneel to the Enchantress again. He’d had enough. Arahir looked at the exquisitely beautiful woman; Lirima (Lir-ree-ma) was truly something special. The wondrous leaf green eyes framed in the longest blackest
eyelashes he’d ever seen, with full pouting lips and flawless creamy skin, a slender neck and luscious body with long shapely legs, and all of it framed by jet black hair that hung past her hips, setting everything off like a jewel to perfection.

  He looked at her, really looked at her the way a man will look at a woman he desires to bed above all others. The heat in his eyes as he slowly raked her body made her tremble inside. ‘If he could make her feel like this with just one look, she couldn’t imagine what having him make love to her would feel like.’

  His eyes grew cold and hard, for even if she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, he had no desire to make her his.

  “I know you are beautiful Lirima … I just don’t want you.”

  “Why not?” She raged at him, sick of his denials, knowing how seductive and desirable she was. “What fault do you find that could make you not want to bed me? Am I that repulsive to you? Can you honestly say I do not stir your heart and loins?”

  She had slipped up against him, pressing her body hard against Arahir’s amazing physique. He was so incredibly perfect and they would be just so fabulous together … if he would stop refusing her. She was right up against him, her lips so close to his they were almost touching.

  “Why do you keep denying me my love, you know how much I adore you.”

  “I already have a love mate Lirima; I do not want to get involved with anyone else.”

  She rubbed herself against his hard body, loving the feel of him, but he might as well have been carved from stone for all the response she received. Frustrated she looked into his unreadable face.

  “Is she beautiful?”

  “Yes.”

  “As beautiful as me?”

  “Not to look at but you know you are very beautiful and rarely are women as exquisite as you are.” He was being honest with her and himself. “But … there is more to loving someone than their outward beauty. She is lovely and wonderful and she makes me happy.”

  “Have you made love to her yet?”

  She ran her slender hands over the broad shoulders, the muscles on his chest and began to kiss his skin while her hands began to travel lower.

  “Not that it’s any of your business but, we have made love, end of story.”

  When she had gotten far enough he caught her hands in a bruising grip effectively preventing her from going anywhere he didn’t want her to. The truth be told, she actually repelled him.

  She whispered in his ear, her lips lightly brushing the ridge, her sweet breath blew gently across his skin.

  “I know I could make you forget her. If you came to me for a little while, you would never want to leave my bed to return to your lady love.”

  Arahir stepped back, turning away from the gorgeous body and face. Even though he had no feelings except revulsion for the Enchantress … he was still after all … a man. And he needed her to give him some room. Rubbing her body all over him was making him respond when he didn’t want to have anything to do with her.

  Arahir could ‘See’ truly. He was a Crown Prince and the Keeper over the Living Light in the land. It meant he saw truly into a person’s heart and soul. He was ‘The Noble Lord’, so called because of his soul gift. Castle Barshael was a gateway that he protected from within and without, where the Living Light burned in the castle’s heart. He lived in the castle watching over his people and the events in all the lands joined to the castle, keeping them at peace and tranquility. His abilities meant no matter the lovely exterior, Prince Arahir saw the truth of their heart and chose wisely and well who would be able to use the gateways and to what purpose.

  The Enchantress Lirima wanted to seduce him into letting her live with him in the castle. She was using her body to get her hands on the magic in the castle’s heart. But he was its Keeper and she could not touch the magic without his say so. Arahir was not going to let that happen. The Prince saw the corruption in her soul straight away, it was a poisonous noisome thing that totally repulsed him; she wanted to use the magic to make herself Queen over all the lands with Arahir ruling beside her. She would destroy the hard won peace and tranquility Arahir had worked so long for with her greed and desire for power.

  She did not realize that Arahir was the next in line for the throne over all of Serenor (Sair-en-or) and he had given it up when it was discovered he had the gifts needed to be the Keeper of Castle Barshael. He had no desire for power or to be King, content that his younger brother Aica (Ay-car) would rule the land wisely and well. His position as Keeper was one that required a lifelong commitment guarding the gateways and keeping the lands free from harm. Arahir had been happy to serve and had been doing so for several millennia before Lirima set her sights on him and the magic.

  But putting her ambitions for power aside, Lirima found her body ached for Arahir to desire her. He was like a beautiful perfect god; so perfect in both mind and body that she dreamt of him at night, longing for him to want her as she desired and wanted him. And yet he stood before her and denied her the very thing she desired most … him! If he would just touch her the way she needed him to, she was sure she could make him love her. Suddenly her sheath slid to the floor and she was revealed to his astonished eyes in all her sexual glory.

  She had invaded his bedroom, hoping to join him while he was half asleep. But he had leapt out of bed as if he had been stung. He was furious. She slid onto the huge bed, presenting herself for his viewing pleasure. She knew just how unbelievably enticing she looked, but Arahir barely glanced her way.

  “Please get out of my bed Lirima … I’m sorry … but I do not want to make love to you, I already have a mate that I adore with all my heart, and we are hoping to have the joining ceremony shortly. I will not do anything to hurt my lady.”

  Furious beyond words, Lirima stood holding her staff aloft, majestic in all her naked glory. “Only a beast would turn me down, no living breathing man would ever deny me. You have no feelings Arahir; you are nothing more than a mindless beast, so … I think you may as well become one.”

  She spun her staff above him. Before he could move, a change began to come over him; he could feel his face moving as if it was made of clay rather than skin and bone. He gained long razor sharp talons on his hands and feet and long deadly incisors in a mouth full of pointed killing teeth. The mane and golden eyes were the last things to form. Although truth to tell she didn’t have the heart to change his beautiful body, so she left it as it was, making a mockery of his physical perfection with the bestial head. Arahir opened his mouth in fury to yell angrily at her but what came out shook him to his core.

  “What have you done woman?”

  “If you continue to refuse me then, no other woman will ever want you. When you finally come to your senses, you can reach me via the gateway.” She kissed him lightly on the lips. “Bye my love.”

  She waved farewell as she stood in the gateway to her homeland then, disappeared back the way she had come, leaving him to his duties as Keeper; Lirima’s laughter still ringing in his ears.

  She was right of course … the woman of the Crown Prince’s heart loved him less than he had loved her; she looked at him with loathing and revulsion, breaking off their relationship, choosing another beautiful mate over the course of time. Prince Arahir was heartbroken and angry at her shallowness. He retreated from the community completely, isolating himself, unable to face the looks of loathing, or sympathetic understanding. He still served his people and the castle as he always had, but saw no one. The Prince spent all his time buried in his obscure studies. He became a hermit, inaccessible to them all until even his people nearly forgot the reasons for the castle and the Keeper.

  The Serenor people that loved to visit the human lands because of the ‘Hidden Folk’ eventually stopped visiting the land of men altogether, feeling that humans were coming too close to the fey dwellings and feared they too would be discovered. The last of the Hidden Folk left enmasse leaving their beloved hollow hills and woodlands behind to move to Serenor where a
welcome was waiting for them. They left him in his castle to continue whatever it was that he was supposed to do, alone and forgotten.

  The castle had never been a real place in the land of men until his people decided to visit their fey friends or the Hidden Folk wanted to travel. The castle became solid if the gateway was accessed and stayed as long as the Keeper deemed fit. Once the gateway had been used, the castle could not be reached by normal means. It was neither in the land of men, nor a true part of it. But when the Keeper was abroad, the castle loomed large on the horizon. But the shadow of the castle always stayed, becoming a rumor, a legend among men; it was something of a mystery and the story of the strange castle and its even stranger Keeper was a tale passed down through the generations until it became an ingrained memory.

  Arahir found he liked to stop and walk the soil of this land, visiting places he had known as a child when the land of men was shared by all manner of folk, not just humans. But mankind had taken their world by storm. They were the last people to be born into the land and yet they spread like a plague and their intolerance of anything different resulted in so much death that the peaceful ‘Hidden Ones’ left the land altogether. The hub saved many beings that would have been exterminated by the intolerance and violence of the savage men.

  When his people finally stopped visiting their long-time friends, Arahir found he still clung to the memory of his second home. He would wander in the evening to smell the fresh clean air and listen to the wildlife surrounding him. Although the world was a different world without the friends and gentle sprites he would pass time with. And when the tall noble elves whose passion for their living world meant they were the primary target of the industrious men who were obsessed with progress, and who were the last to leave; he knew this world would never again be the same. No … this world was not the same as when he knew it as a child, but his heart still loved it. And high up where the castle touched each time they came, the air was still as clear and the smell of the forest was still in his nostrils. The forest creatures still came to greet him and listened to one who was not of them but like them and far more fearsome than any creature left on their world. But who would protect them and care for their hurts whenever he was able.