Beauty and the Damned

5 | The Man from Faraway Land

“Y…You’re Majesty?”

She heard Delilah’s voice one morning. And again, she found herself naked in her bed. Her clothes are thrashed and torn to pieces and they were lying on the floor. She squinted her eyes as the sunlight was getting liberally into her wide window. Then she remembered she forgot to close her curtains last night.

“A man was waiting for you downstairs,” she heard Delilah say.

She gasped. And she has totally forgotten about the man she met yesterday. Ariadne was immediately on her feet and le Delilah come in. She knew Delilah’s short quest has just given her something useless when it comes to breaking the curse. But then she couldn’t help but anticipate it. Whether she admits it or not, she has been waiting for Delilah to come home yesterday.

“You said you’ll be back before sundown!” she told her.

Delilah looked down. “My apologies, Your Majesty. But I do have some news for you.”

Ariadne narrowed her eyes towards Delilah. “I suppose that’s another useless one?”

But Delilah shook her head and said, “The seer was quite…insightful.”

She couldn’t help but raise her brow as she looked at Delilah. The latter went on, “She said you will receive the answers you were looking for soon enough—“

“Soon enough?” She scoffed. “When exactly is this soon enough, Delilah?”

Delilah was silent as she looked down. That’s when Ariadne noticed the scratches on her servant’s arm. Looking at the wounds, she could tell Delilah has been mobbed by the villagers again.

She sighed. “Stop going to the village now. If what the seer was saying is true, then I guess we’ll have to wait for it to come. If it doesn’t come, then I guess we can’t do anything about this stupid curse.”

Delilah looked up and looked at her. “But Your Majesty—“

She held up a hand and eyed Delilah’s state. “I’m sure you can treat your own wounds. You have a day off today.”

“Your Majesty—“

She glared at Delilah. “Since when did you start to get too comfortable calling me too much like that?”

“I just wanted to say that a man was waiting for you downstairs.”

She totally forgot about him. There was a man she met yesterday and she doesn’t know what to make of it.

“Who is he?” she asked Delilah.

“He says he is someone from a faraway land and that he is lost. He needed shelter,” Delilah said and she couldn’t help but furrow her brows.

“What did the seer say again about my curse?”

Delilah looked confused at her sudden change of subject but she answered anyway. “That you will receive your answers soon enough...?”

Her eyes widened, much to Delilah’s surprise. “It must be him, Delilah!” Of course, it should be him! He's the answer the seer was talking about. Why else would a man suddenly appear in her castle out of nowhere? It's her answer! The solution! 

But Delilah tilted her head, as if in confusion.

Ariadne went on, “You heard about those fairy tales?”

“The ones you loathe, Your Majesty. Yes, I know about them. I made sure to keep them away from you for as much as I can—“

“Give them to me,” she ordered Delilah. “Give them to me. The answer to my curse might be a fairy tale!”

“I will give them to you before sundown, Your Majesty.”

“Yes and tell the gentleman to wait so I could meet him in the dining. Prepare breakfast and bring the man to his chamber. He said he needed shelter? He can stay here forever if that’s what it takes to remove this curse.” He did not wait for Delilah to respond and she immediately went to the bath. She took longer than usual. By the time she was done, she beheld herself in a full-body mirror. She knew about the fairytales and the cursed princesses. It was always love that solved it. And the witch did mention her curse will be lifted once she's able to love and care. Maybe if she will love and care for this man, the curse will be lifted.

Brimming with hope, she smiled at her reflection. She was wearing a black fitted dress that showed too much of her shoulders and it had a plunging neckline that almost didn’t hide too much of her breasts. Her lips the color of the reddest red and her cheeks pink and blushing. Ariadne took a deep breath and tilted her head in front of the mirror.

She’s beautiful. Too beautiful that it was once considered illegal to look directly at her eyes. But now, she’s going to give it for free to a stranger. A stranger that might solve her misery.

She walked down the stairs gracefully. When she walked through the dining hall, she could see the man already sitting on the seat. Ariadne could tell he too, had just arrived. The man looked at her and she was almost knocked off her feet. She has seen men as fair before but the man in front of her is something else. There is something else. The moment she saw him, she couldn’t say anything. Until the man stood from his seat and bowed gracefully. His lopsided smile did not escape her eyes. And the way his eyes traveled across her body made her hot all of a sudden. He is a fine specimen, she thought. 

She looked at Delilah who was standing a few meters away. She nodded at her and Delilah immediately left the room. When she looked at the man again, his eyes were already on her face and there was still a hint of a smile on his mouth.

He then tilted his head. “I am sorry for barging in here—“

“It’s fine,” she said, cutting his sentence and walked towards the seat. The man was quick to draw a chair and pulled it for her. She looked at him and he offered him another smile. She sat on the chair and when the man leaned back to go back to his seat, his fingers slightly brushed her arms. She doesn’t know if that was intentional or purely an accident. But it made her shiver.

“So, Lord…?”

“Rowan,” the man said. “Rowan Casteel.”

He did not correct her when she called her Lord. Ariadne instantly knew he is someone prominent from where he came from.

“Lord Casteel—“

“Please just call me Rowan,” said the man. She did not expect him to be so brazen. Before, people would cower in front of her. People would never tell her anything much more tell her what to do. But the man in front of her, Rowan, makes it so easy to talk to her. “I’m sick of people calling me and there’s always that honorific before my name. For once I want to feel like an ordinary person.”

An ordinary person, huh. So you admit you are not someone ordinary back where you came from.

“Rowan,” she said, his name feels strange on her tongue. “Where do you come from?”

She picked up her glass and gently sipped on her drink but her eyes are pinned on Rowan who was looking at the table, clearly contemplating what he could tell her.

But then he looked up and grinned at her. “Somewhere far away…” His brows rose as he looked at her. His face, questioning as to what he should call her.

She placed the glass down gently and said, “Ariadne.” She smiled. Something she only does when she needed to. It has been her weapon ever since she learned how to wield it. “You can call me Ariadne,” she said and she purposely made her voice sound as if she was inviting him. Inviting him to her trap.

When Rowan smiled back, with his eyes darting towards the exposed parts of her body, Ariadne knew right then and right there that she has successfully lured the man into her trap.

She let out a seductive chuckle. “Well, I had the servant prepare your chamber. I heard you are in need of a shelter?”

“Ah, yes. In the meantime, I might have to stay here.”

Ariadne gave him her smile once again. “Of course. Feel free. I could tour you around,” she said and took a bite on her meat. And when Rowan’s gaze dropped to her lips, it did not escape her eyes. She deliberately tried to distract the man so he wouldn’t notice what she is planning. She would lean too close, enough for him to see a bit more than just the cleavage. And she would shift her legs enough for Rowan to see her exposed legs from the slit of the dress.

Surprisingly enough, the man hasn’t touched her and maintained a safe distance. Just when she was so certain he would reach for her hand, he reached for the table napkin instead. She couldn’t understand why the man hasn’t made any move. She clearly saw he was attracted to her. Ariadne couldn’t count how many smiles she had given him and yet he has given her nothing.

But Ariadne isn’t going to give up just like that. In her guess, Rowan would probably stay in her castle for a day. She has until tomorrow to seduce him. The fairytale books in the library were quite informative. Usually, the cure for every curse she has read was a kiss. If she could just kiss Rowan on the lips then the curse would be broken. So when they walked into the garden, she tried to lean for a kiss but Rowan spotted something in the distance and walked away. She couldn’t count how many swear words she has mumbled in her mind. Delilah couldn’t be seen around which was good because she wouldn’t want to be seen as she embarrasses herself trying to kiss the man.

The was almost ending when they decided to stay in the gazebo overlooking a wide pond. Two hours before sundown and she’ll be staying in her chamber once again. 

“You have a castle and yet you don’t have servants,” Rowan said as he gazed through the pond. She swallowed hard. She couldn’t possibly say her servants and all her other men and soldiers left because their Queen is cursed. 

“I have a servant,” she said. “I’m sure you have met her earlier.” She did not look at him and stared at the pond too. In her periphery, she saw Rowan glanced at her and she had a feeling he wanted to say something but closed his mouth instead.

When it was time for her to get inside, she stood. And when she was about to walk away, she felt Rowan’s hand on her wrist. She gave him a confused look and Rowan was already standing in front of her too. Gone was his playful grin but it was replaced with a smug one.

“I know what you’ve been doing,” he said, much to her surprise. “Now, don’t look too surprised, Ariadne. I know you know what I am talking about.” His eyes darted to her body still in her clothing that left very little for the imagination. But his eyes stopped particularly at her chest and since he’s tall, he could see a bit more than her cleavage.

She wasn’t expecting the turn of events. For the whole day, she was thinking the man was just naïve or someone who has a hell of self-control. But she was wrong. He knew all along what she has been trying to do! And he wasn't playing along with her. Either he is not someone who wants to participate or he has a bigger game planned along.

She gasped when Rowan pulled her close and she hitched her breath when his free hand snaked her waist. Ariadne could feel his warm breath on the side of her neck as Rowan deliberately sniffed her scent from the base of her neck to the base of her ears. And when she felt Rowan bit her earlobe gently, she couldn’t stop the shuddering breath that came out of her mouth. She heard Rowan let out a low laugh and with one last flick of his tongue on her earlobe, he leaned closer. His arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

“You could have told me what it is that you wanted,” he whispered in her ear and she closed her eyes, trying her best not to let out a sigh. Whatever he was doing, it was bad. She knew she needed to get away but somehow, the feeling he was making her feel was so addicting she found herself wanting for more.

“And then what?” she rasped. “What will you do?”

She heard Rowan let out another low laugh before he said, “I would have given you whatever it is that you seek, Your Majesty," he said sensually.

She could have sworn every hair on her body rose with that. And she couldn’t believe that’s she felt excited about it and the way he said it sounded like a promise. Something that he wasn’t planning to break. For a moment, she was in a daze. She doesn’t know what the man has done to her that she could barely talk without losing air. If she asked him to kiss her, that would break the curse. But then her mind flew to something else entirely and she felt her cheeks reddened when she thought of what would it feel like to have his touch all over her.

Ask him! Her mind shouted.

But before she could even open her mouth, she felt his hands loosening around her wrist and her waist. Before she could even protest, the Rowan who was making her feel things earlier was gone. In front of her was a Rowan with a playful grin. And as she looked at him, she couldn’t believe it was the same person who bit her earlobe earlier and promised her to do anything she asks.

Ariadne was about to say another thing when she remembered she had to go. So she cleared her throat and said, “Have Delilah lead you to your chamber, Lord Rowan.” She held her chin high. As if she didn’t almost buckle in his touch earlier. As if she didn’t lose her breath and wished for him to kiss her or do whatever he wanted to do to her.

Rowan just gave her another grin and she knew there was something behind the playful smile. Ariadne cleared her throat once again and bade Rowan goodbye. Even as she walked across the garden back inside the castle. Her heart was still in a thunderous beat. Perhaps it was because she lacked the touch of a man that one touch for Rowan made her crave for more. Maybe it was because of that. Or perhaps it was part of the curse too?

She decided not to think too much about it and locked her chamber. She slumped on the bed and beheld herself in the mirror. Her face is flushed. It was very clear and it was impossible if Rowan did not see how flustered he is. She clenched her fist as she stared at her beautiful face.

And when she realized it was almost time, she removed the dress she was wearing and sat back on the bed. When she transitioned into something else, she only managed a groan. Over time, the pain of transition has become less and less. Or perhaps she has gotten used to it.

She didn’t have the appetite to thrash the whole room once again. Maybe because for the first time after she was cursed, she saw a glimmer of hope that the curse could be lifted.

Or maybe because she felt too different when she felt Rowan’s touch today. She found herself anticipating it more. And thinking about the time he would stay in the palace, she gets excited even more. She knows she shouldn’t entertain those thoughts but it was the only thing she was thinking until she fell asleep.

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