The Beast: Prologue, Part 1

It occurred to me as I prepped for the ball I was hosting that there was nothing in this life more satisfying than being a prince. I had to be the luckiest man in all of France-no, the whole world. After all, I had power, I had money, I had anything that I could ever want. But most importantly, I had her. Élise, the most beautiful lady in the court. She was here tonight, of course. It was Christmas; everyone was here. Well, everyone I had invited. I finished tying my hair back with a dark green satin ribbon, and thought about how I was going to approach Élise. Very rarely had I spoken to her. But I had no doubt that she would be only too flattered to speak with Prince Alexandre. She was a silly little thing, but beautiful. The envy of all, so of course I had to have her. If I didn't, people would wonder why the Prince didn't get the best, and why he would settle for anything less. People of my standard never married for love, anyway. Political gain, appearances, those were far more likely. Besides, her family was wealthy, and their support couldn't hurt anything.
I adjusted my lapel one last time, eyeing myself critically in the mirror. "What do you think, Bromsley?"
"Very handsome, sah," my stoic butler said stiffly. "But may I remind you, sah, the dance has begun. The guests have arrived, and are waiting for my lord."
"Let them wait," I said impatiently. "My party, my castle, my kingdom. They're here because I'm allowing them. They can have fun without me, can they not?"
"They can, sah," Bromsley consented. "But I wonder, sah, if you can, being shut away in your study like this."
I gave him a thin smile. "Well, I could, but it would defeat the point of throwing this party in the first place. After all, I still need to speak with Élise."
"Yes, well, if I may, sire, women are like horses."
I turned and stared at him. His analogies were often beyond me, and I frowned as I thought it over, waiting for him to explain.
"It doesn't do to approach them too directly," he went on. "They'll spook, and it's difficult to earn back their trust."
I smiled. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Bromsley."
"You are quite welcome, sire," Bromsley replied.  
I made my way down the vast marble staircase, one hand trailing casually along the handrail. It was made of rich maple, taken from the forest outside the castle. I wanted only the best. No expenses were spared for my castle. No dirt, no filth, nothing but what I wanted. I was a prince, after all.
As I approached, my herald, Davoust, nodded to me and swung open the elaborate dark-paneled doors, stepping through into the ballroom. He took a deep breath, and announced in a strong tenor, "Presenting his royal Highness, Prince Alexandre!"
I paused on the top step to a rush of polite applause, and a multitude of bows and curtsies. Though of course I didn't show it, because it wouldn't befit a prince to be flattered by his subjects, I always loved this part, where everyone there was bowing to me.
As I descended the stairway, my eyes scanned the crowd for Élise. I finally found her, wearing a deep green gown, her blonde hair piled up elegantly on her head. She was standing in a group of her peacock friends, but of course none of them could compare. She was flushed from dancing and from the heat of all the bodies in the room, but it only made her more beautiful.
I casually made my way through the crowd, greeting aristocrats politely, answering questions inquiring after my health, listening to the trivialities of their lives, who got married, who had a baby, who died…when all I really wanted was to get to Élise. Honestly, these people were so dull. I didn't know how they lived with themselves.
Finally, the crowd parted, and there she was, cooling herself with an ornate decorative fan. I approached her slowly, and her twittering friends stopped laughing, and backed away slowly, awe on their faces. Élise turned, confusion on her pretty face, but then she saw me and her eyes widened. She swept into a delicate curtsy. "Sire," she murmured.
I gave a slight bow in return. "Lady Élise. You look beautiful tonight. May I have this dance?"
The color rose in her face as she slowly nodded. "O-Of course, sire."
I took her gloved hand with one of my own, and placed the other on her tiny waist. The orchestra, which had died down to mere background noise, now grew in a crescendo as we took our first gliding steps. The other guests politely let us dance the first few bars by ourselves before slowly joining in.
"Are you enjoying yourself, Lady Élise?" I asked, staring down at her beautiful face.
"Oh, yes, Prince Alexandre," she said breathlessly, gazing back up at me. "It's wonderful. Christmas is always my favorite time in the year."
"Yes, I like it, too. I love snow, but only when I can enjoy it from the warmth of my castle." I laughed slightly.
"It's a beautiful castle," she agreed eagerly. "Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from you."
I smiled. "You like it? You should visit more often. There's plenty of room here. You really ought to see it in the spring."
"Could I-could I do that?"
I snorted. "It's my kingdom. You can if I say so. And I wouldn't object in the slightest." I smiled at her.
"Thank you, sire! I would just stay here for the winter, thanks to your kind offer, but…I don't have any of my spring dresses with me! How silly would I look?" She giggled.
Inwardly, I rolled my eyes. "Yes, that would be quite the predicament," I agreed. "How would you feel about coming back here in, say, April?"
"Oh, that'd be lovely!" she chirped happily.
I sighed. "Élise, I don't think you truly understand what I'm-" Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I let go of Élise's. Turning, I found myself faced with Bromsley, and I frowned. "What is it, Bromsley?" I asked impatiently, and maybe a little more rudely than I had intended.
"My apologies, sah," he replied, completely unperturbed. "But there is a lady outside who wishes to speak with you."
"Now?" I said incredulously. "Send her away. If she wasn't invited, she doesn't belong."
"Well, I tried, sire, but…you see the thing of it is…"
"What, Bromsley?"
He hemmed and hawed a bit. "Sire, she's…she is rather elderly, and in need of shelter. She wishes to speak with the master of this castle. And, may I remind my lord, it is Christmas Eve…"
I sighed in frustration and turned back to Élise. "I'm sorry…let me go take care of this. I'll be back."
"Alright," she said cheerfully, and I followed Bromsley out of the ballroom and down into the main hall.
"This had better be worth it," I grumbled. "Who in their right mind goes knocking on a castle door for shelter, and why's the old hag out this late, anyway? It's winter!"
"I'm sure I don't know, sire," Bromsley said stiffly.
I stomped to the huge front doors, my previously good mood shattered. The door stood slightly ajar, and snow was blowing in from underneath it. I shivered inadvertently. What fool had dragged me away from the warmth of the party for this?
I hauled on the door against the wind until it snapped open, with a gust of icy air that sent snowflakes spiraling around my cape. I was faced with a hunched-over, wrinkled old crone. She was dressed in nothing but rags, and feebly clutched her cloak tighter around her thin frame. "Are you the master of this castle?" she asked in a reedy voice, one eye rolling crazily as she tried to focus on my face down her beaky nose.
"Yes," I said levelly, trying to keep the disgust out of my voice. "What do you want?"  
"Shelter," she replied wretchedly. "Please, kind Master, just for one night, let me in your castle, out of the cold. In return-I know it isn't much-I will offer you this…" With a shaky, spotted hand, she held out a single, red rose.
I could hear the music and the laughter behind me in the ballroom. This was a waste of my time. My castle was filled with nothing but the finest. There was no room for this hag. "Go find somewhere else to stay," I told her, starting to shut the door. "What need would I have for a rose?"
Her claw-like hand curled around the door, stopping me from closing it all the way. "You wouldn't be judging an old woman on her appearance, now would you, sire?" she asked softly. "I'm poor, and sick. You don't know who I am, or where I come from, just that I am in need. And yet you would turn me away because I'm not as pretty as your little cocottes in your ballroom? Remember, true beauty is found within."
I stared at her in distaste. "If you can find the time to lecture me, you're clearly not in dire need. Now go. There's an inn down the road." I started to turn away again, but the old beggar suddenly tightened her grip on the door, pulling it open so hard that it nearly wrenched my arm out of its socket. I whirled around in shock, just in time to see a brilliant glow of pure light surround the old woman. I stared, breathing hard, as her ragged cape and dark hood fell away, and she straightened up, golden waves of hair cascading down her shoulders. The wrinkles had suddenly disappeared, and she was clothed in a shimmering sea-green dress that appeared to be laced with spider's silk.
I stumbled backward, and collapsed onto the tile floor, staring up at her ethereal form. I couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me. The old beggar was gone, and replaced by something...Fay. I was shaking as her glow hit me. So many thoughts went through my mind: Witch, angel, sorceress…
"Well, well, it appears you've made a grave mistake, little prince," she told me in a voice that was at once beautiful and terrible, melodic and chilling. "I had heard of your shallowness, but I hadn't expected the depth of it. You care nothing for your fellow man. You would deny an old woman shelter? You are clearly selfish, clearly spoiled. So what shall I do with you?"
"Please!" I stammered. "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know what you were, Lady! I-I would've never…"
She laughed derisively. "Of course not. Because unlike the poor beggar woman, whom you so callously turned away, I am a threat to you. But you, dear child, cleverly caused your own downfall. Oh yes. You showed me what was truly in your heart. You were cruel to me, in the guise of an old woman. You will be punished, severely, and in a form that fits your crime. Prince Alexandre, from this day forward, your exterior will match your interior. You are a cruel and selfish person, so you will resemble the monster that you are. The only way to break the curse will be to learn your lesson-to actually love another."
My throat was constricting. "But I-"
"And you're not getting out of this easily." Her face twisted into a beautiful, cold smile. "She must love you, too. And, what's more, you must succeed before the last petal of this rose falls, at the end of your twenty-first year." She held up the beggar woman's rose between two slender fingers, twirling it gracefully. "Time will slow for you. You will spend the next ten years as a beast, but you will only age two-if you break the curse. Remember, child, you must learn to love."
Reeling with shock and horror, I barely noticed as the enchantress leaned down to kiss my forehead.
"No, I-don't-"
But with a small chuckle, she was gone.
Suddenly, before I could fully recover from her sudden appearance and disappearance, a shockwave seemed to shake the castle. It was like the epicenter was right under me, throwing me flat on the ground, and I suddenly felt feverish, my skin prickling all over. I closed my eyes as the prickling turned to abrupt pain. My body contorted, my hands curling inadvertently, pain shooting up my knuckles. In panic, I opened my eyes, then shut them again in absolute terror. Thick dark hair was sprouting from my skin, my nails were twisting into long black claws…No, no, no! This couldn't be happening! My back arched, my mouth opened in a silent scream as I felt my jaw elongating, my teeth erupting into fangs.
I didn't want to know what I was becoming. I didn't want to see the monster's face. Because I knew that this was no dream; it was really happening to me. I was cursed. My world was shattered.
But the very worst part was, as my body spasmed in the transformation, I could feel the beast fighting to get out. Clawing me from the inside. Like it had been in me all along.
The disgust was stronger than the pain I felt, and I almost threw up even as it seemed like the transformation was ending. I shuddered one last time, and collapsed on the cool tile floor, panting. For an all too brief moment, I passed into the bliss of unconsciousness.