Beauty in Autumn (Beauty #3)(2)

So Windybrook has sent Rosie every year for the last ten years. And Rosie's returned every year, back to her family. She's never been chosen, just like Leta predicted.

But Rosie married two months ago, and now a new maiden must be chosen.

Maybe that's why I dreamed of him. It doesn't explain why I found it arousing, though. Why I want to touch myself, even now, just thinking about the dream. Why I wonder all day long what would have happened if I hadn't woken up, and if I'd stayed on my knees...

These thoughts carry me through the day and into the night, when I must attend the town hall meeting. My mother and father are there. Heck, every Windybrook family with a daughter is here, because tonight our fates will be decided. Someone will be chosen to be our village's representative for the harvest festival....and possibly the next bride of the beast. The mayor is stressed, mopping his forehead with a wrinkled handkerchief. Two rows up from me, my friend Siobhan weeps quietly, seated next to her father. Anna sits in the front row, her back stiff with anger, as if she's daring the mayor to pick her. She's his daughter, though - we know she won't get picked. Every bench in the small meeting hall is filled. No one wants to have their fate decided by another.

My mother holds my hand tightly. "Just remain quiet, Willow. Do not draw attention to yourself, whatever you do."

"It'll be all right, Mother," I reassure her, though I honestly don't know if it will be. I count off the maidens in the village that are of a marriageable age. Other than myself, there are seven girls, and Catriona will be too old next year. I feel my skin grow damp with sweat, though I'm not sure if it's from nerves or the press of bodies in the cramped room. Everyone in the village seems to be here tonight.

I glance around the crowded hall, seeing nothing but worried faces. In a dark corner of the room, I'm surprised to see Leta, the wise-woman. She has no family, so it's strange to see her here. She's staring, quite pointedly, at me.

I feel my cheeks heat. It's almost like she knows about my dirty dreams, dreams that no woman in her right mind would have about the beast. I glance away, then sneak a look over my shoulder again. Leta's still watching me.

She knows something.

I'm curious. I've never talked to Leta myself. No one in town does. She's strange and only comes out at night. She keeps to her little cottage at the edge of the lake, and the rumor is that she'll answer any question you have, but you have to bring her something in payment.

I've never been curious enough, but today, I find myself wondering what Leta could tell me if I went to her house. I wonder if she knows what the beast looks like. I'm beside myself with curiosity.

I look over and my mother has fat tears rolling down her cheeks. Oh, no. I give her hand another squeeze. "Don't cry, Mother. It's going to be all right."

"How do you know?" She sobs, clinging to my hand.

"Because I know." It doesn't feel like something bad is about to happen. If anything, it feels...like something's about to begin. I'm strangely excited, even though everyone dreads harvest season.

The meeting begins. Nervous families talk over each other until the mayor decides that the only way it is fair is if the names of all the women are put into a bowl.

"Let Leta pick," someone says. "She has no family. It's the only way this is fair."

The room goes silent. All eyes turn to the wise woman, but her expression remains cool and calm. The bowl is brought to Leta and she reaches in without looking and pulls out a name. She hands it to the mayor.

He reads it, and then scans the room. His gaze lands on me.

I knew. I knew, I knew, I knew.

I should be terrified, but I'm actually...a little excited. Breathless. Curious. Even if this turns out for the worst, I'll get to see what the beast looks like.

My mother weeps louder. My father snarls an angry curse under his breath and leaps to his feet to argue with the mayor. I know it's no use, though. It's done. I look over at the wise woman.

She nods at me.

All right, then. I'm the female candidate from Windybrook. Except...I don't think it'll stop there.

I think I'm going to be the next bride of the beast. And I think Leta knows it, too.



I don't dream of the beast that night. I don't dream of anything at all, and when I wake up, I'm disappointed to find that it's been a quiet night. I wanted to see the beast.

You'll get the chance soon enough, Willow, I chide myself as I get up to dress. It's nothing to be excited over. But I can't help it. I'm so very curious. I want to know more about him, who he was. What happened. There has to be more than just the stories, vague as they are. I dress quickly, heading out before my parents rise. I leave our small farm and head down the road, to the path near the lake where the wise woman lives, alone. I've got my small savings with me - nothing but a few coins and a pretty comb I was saving to wear in my hair for when I got married. I don't know what the wise woman will want as payment, but if this doesn't work, maybe I can bring her a chicken.

Whatever she wants, I'll pay it if she has answers.

Leta lives on the far side of the lake, and there's a few of the small fishing boats out on the waters early this morning, a hunter walking in the reeds with his hound. I skirt all of them, keeping to the path and my head down so I don't have to talk to anyone. I hear the faint sound of chimes as I move closer to the cottage, and realize that the trees near Leta's thatched-roof cottage are covered in wind-chimes and noisemakers. Huh.