Enchant: Beauty and the Beast Retold (Romance a Medieval Fairytale #1)(10)

As if he could read her thoughts, the man she thought was the king laughed. "You do not even know my name, let alone what a man like me deserves, though I daresay you are right. You must have been listening to servants' gossip, for only they believe that the curse can be removed. Who can blame them? They suffer, too, but they live in hope that the curse one day will be lifted. Why else would my storehouses be so full?"

Zuleika saw red. "Your storehouses are full of stolen goods which do not belong to you. The true owners slide into poverty, while you grow ever richer. That makes you a thief, sir, and a pirate. Synonymous with pond scum." She wished she had had the temerity to tell the king that when they first met. How dare a man who owned so much power already steal from upstanding merchants like her father? A toad was too good for him. A maggot might be more fitting.

Yet again, the man laughed. Zuleika began to wonder if she was in the presence of the king at all, or simply some madman who sounded like him. "You call me scum and sir in the same breath. As for my being a thief… That is what my servants say about you. They say you were caught carrying out a casket of jewels. What say you to that, Lady Thief?"

She bridled. "My father's ship was carrying those jewels home to me. I merely took what is mine. I am no thief."

"And neither am I, despite the contents of my storehouses. They, too, are the result of my curse, but if you have listened to the servants gossiping, then I am sure you know more than I do about our affliction. Tell me, lady: how would you break the curse?"

Dread settled in her stomach of a different sort. It dawned on her that this man wasn't the king, and she had no idea what he was cursed with. Even for an enchantress of her skill and power, tampering with an unknown spell was dangerous. And yet…breaking curses was what she was best at, though it wasn't as satisfying as animal transformations.

"I know nothing of your particular curse," she said cautiously, "but perhaps if I knew more, I might know someone who can help." Only a dark witch cursed those who did not deserve it. If he was cursed unjustly, she was honour-bound to help him. She drew herself up, trying to sound as authoritative as a queen, though she sat in her shift in the bed and not on a throne dressed in royal robes. "But only if you are not a pirate, and you swear that you intend to do no harm. Who are you, sir?"

The hunched shadow in the corner became a tall pillar of darkness as the man rose to his feet. "Lady, I am Prince Vardan, Trade Master of Beacon Isle, and no pirate. While you are my guest here, no one shall harm you."

He was right about that last part, Zuleika thought, but did not say. She wished she could see his expression, so she could judge if he was lying. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him to step into the light, but if he sounded like the cursed king, and bore a curse of his own, he probably had been blessed with good looks to match those of the king. She had no desire to see Thorn's face or any like it ever again.

"And you are?"

Zuleika's mind raced. Beacon Isle was part of King Thorn's territory; which meant Prince Vardan must be his brother. That explained the similarity. If he knew her true identity, he might return her to the king. Not while she drew breath, she vowed. She would rather die than become King Thorn's whore. She chose to feign ignorance. "I am sorry, your Highness?"

For the third time he laughed. "You honestly can't expect me to believe that your parents named you 'Sorry'. Beauty or Belle I would believe. Especially Belle, for your voice does have bell-like qualities, and your beauty is already the talk of the house. In fact, if you do not give me your name, I shall give you one. Lady Belle, the mysterious maiden who appeared in the snow."

"Your Highness is too kind," she murmured. "I am certain there are many ladies here far more beautiful than I."

Vardan barked out a laugh. "None that I have seen this week. But, as you say, you know nothing of curses. Least of all the kind of curse that turns a man into this." He unshuttered his lantern and held it high, so that she might see his face.

Zuleika recoiled in horror. What she had taken for a man, was in fact something so hideous she could scarcely bear to look at him. She wasn't even sure what creature he'd been transformed into. Some sort of monstrous…feline? Canine? Bear? And were those…tusks, or horns?

He lowered the lantern before she could decide, hiding himself in the shadows once more. There was no laughter this time. "So you see, Lady Belle, that there will be no breaking of my curse. Do you still wish to know more?"

What had he done to deserve such a fate? The curse she had visited upon his brother for her brutal rape was mild in comparison to this. Perhaps Vardan was a pirate after all, and a worse man than the king. If he deserved this curse, he would not dupe her into removing it. In the unlikely event that he had been cursed unjustly…then she would help him. But she would take her time to determine the truth of the matter before she made her decision.

"I do, your Highness," she said with her eyes closed.

"Then on the morrow, you shall have a tour of Beacon Isle." And with that, he swept out of the room.





Fourteen

He should never have unshuttered the lantern, Vardan scolded himself. He could not explain the strange urge that had taken hold of him, to show himself to her as though he expected her reaction to be different to anyone else's. The horror in her eyes when she'd seen his face…