Beauty and the Damned

9 | Your Majesty

An attack.

She has never been attacked by these villagers before. They have been quiet ever since she was cursed and the most hostile thing they ever did was plant trees around the castle to cast her away. But to attack the castle unexpectedly? It was the last thing she expected.

"Why now? What do they want?" she asked Delilah who was still frantic.

"I heard them shouting outside the palace. They want you to come out and answer to them," Delilah said.

But she laughed. "After isolating me here, they want me to answer to them, now?"

"Your Majesty—"

"Tell them I don't answer to them. I am not their Queen anymore—"

"No wonder your people cursed you."

They both looked at Rowan was conveniently leaning on the cell bar and looking at them.

"We don't need your opinion—"

"Oh, I am not asking for permission. I will say whatever the hell I want to say. I am already a prisoner. I have nothing to lose. You can't kill me either as it seems to me that you need me for some reason, Your Majesty," he said and grinned. And the way he calls her Your Majesty sounded like mockery. If it were before, she could have his head with just an order. But he's right. She couldn't kill her. The bastard really has nothing to lose.

When she looked at him, he was grinning from ear to ear as if he had won.

"From what I saw and heard, you have abandoned your people," he said.

"They abandoned me too." She pointed to herself as she faced him. "They planted a forest around the castle to keep me out."

"And why is that? Why did they do that?"

Ariadne froze. She couldn't possibly tell him that it was because she was cursed. That she turns into a beast at night and that she was cursed because she was cruel to her people and to that witch who disguised herself as an old woman paying for her tax. She couldn't tell him that.

"The people don't abandon their ruler. Unless the ruler did something unforgivable," Rowan said and looked at her. Gone was the grin on his face. "They're calling you now. Might as well face them. Perhaps this is your chance to redeem yourself in front of them."

"Are you saying I should beg for their forgiveness?" she asked. She couldn't believe what the man had just suggested. Rowan walked back to the wall and reached for the iron bar to haul himself up and down. Ariadne tried not to get distracted with his muscles.

"I'm saying that you should make up for everything bad you have done to them. As I saw, you aren't the kindest type. I don't know what things you did in the past but don't do it again. Everything has a price and it's obvious you're already paying for it," he said.

"But they're attacking!"

Rowan dropped to the floor and looked at her. "You're Queen. You should know how to calm your people." His grin was back and then he said, "Good luck!"

She swallowed hard. Calming her people should be easy. She has done it so many times before and she will do it once again today. It should be fine. But for some reason, for the first time in her life, she felt uncomfortable. But she looked at Delilah and her servant was scared. Ariadne figured she shouldn't be scared. She's Queen. She got this.

So with her chin held high, she walked out of the dungeon. Her dress felt tight but didn't mind it. She shouldn't be thinking about something else at the moment. Delilah led her outside the palace. The tall gate was sturdy and the walls are high. Thankfully for the vines that have scattered all over the wall, the villagers that attempted to climb were unsuccessful. They stayed outside the gate, holding their weapons with them. She doesn't even remember the faces of these men.

When they saw her walking towards the gate, they immediately screamed profanities at her. She couldn't make out what they were saying but she was certain they were all profanities judging from the angry looks on their faces.

She stopped a safe distance, enough for her to see the villagers' faces and enough for them to see hers. And when she looked around, she could see the splatters of tomato on the ground.

"Beast!" someone called and she clenched her fists. She felt Delilah's eyes on her but she still looked at them with her head high.

"After years of isolating your Queen in this palace, you come back and shout profanities. What, you're all bored already?" she said and she could have sworn she heard Delilah let out a groan. But she's angry. She wanted to take it all out. These men are not standing in front of her castle to give her a chance to redeem herself. They're here to insult her. Something she deserves for what she had done but she is not in the mood at the moment.

"Maybe you can come back tomorrow and continue this profanity shouting and tomato throwing session. I'll be sure to have my umbrella and listen to you all day—"

"You are evil! You are hell's pawn!"

"Well, they say villains are pretty so no offense taken." She opened her arms. It was bad. Very bad. She knew she isn't handling it well. If anything, she was making them angrier and angry people mean bad news. She doesn't have guards and these people have weapons. If they barge in and attack them with tomatoes, what does she have against them?

"You deserve to die!"

"You killed my father!"

"People die every day. Your father's death just happened to be by my hands." Just shut up, Ariadne.

"I stood there in front of you to tell you all that I am not in the best mood to entertain your concerns—"

"We are going to kill you!"

"Thanks for the heads-up."

"And burn you alive!"

She rolled her eyes. "I did that once. Could you come with something original?"

She's bad at it. She's bad at being Queen, she realized. She isn't listening. Ariadne is too prideful to even listen. She has to listen. After all, her job here is to calm them down and she has to do something.

She held up a hand. "Alright," she said. "I know you all loathe me to the point that you wanted me dead. But do you really want me dead?"

The villagers were silent until one of them said, "Yes!"

She groaned inwardly. "Fine," she sighed. "I did terrible things before. I have been too cruel that I ended up getting cursed because of it. You already know about that." She held her head high. "I am standing here, facing all of you to tell you that it would be different this time. There is no need for us to be killing each other."

She looked at the villagers in front of her who doesn't look like they believe every word she said. And then to her surprise, villagers parted, making way for an old man holding a crane. He looked at her.

"I believe you, Queen Ariadne," he said, though his voice was trembling. Not because of fear but because he seems like he finds it hard to talk in a loud voice.

"I believe you changed. I believe it's going to be different this time." He gestured his hand towards the villagers behind him. "But the villagers aren't just going to believe your words. They would need you to do something. That is why we are here."

She looked at the villagers. From the looks of it, the old man in the middle is the village head. Ariadne thought about it. Perhaps it would do the trick. Perhaps if she does something for her people, maybe they will believe her. And if the witch sees what she has done, she will be rewarded with another clue for the cure.

"Very well, then, what is it that you want?" she asked the villagers. They all looked at each other before each and every one of them started talking in unison. She held up a hand and the villagers all went quiet. She let out a small smile as she realized the villagers just followed her.

"I will let you all in the castle tomorrow. I will listen to the village's needs one by one or in groups, whichever you prefer. I would listen to you and we will see what we can do," she said and she could have sworn it was relief in their eyes the moment she announced it. And he was relieved too. She couldn't believe she did something like that. The old Ariadne would have called the guards and ordered them to shoo away the villagers.

"And then what?" shouted one of the villagers. "You're going to stab us all if we don't get you something in return?"

Ariadne looked at the man. She was sure she did something terrible to him and she was being a jerk about it earlier. She sighed. "I am sorry for what happened to you. I am sorry for the terrible things I have done. But I swear I am not that person anymore. Don't worry, you don't need to bring me anything tomorrow. Spread the word to your villages," she said and the man did not say anything anymore. But there was hatred in his eyes. She knows because she has seen it multiple times. Ariadne has done terrible things to people and no matter how much she tries to forget the look on their faces, they would show up in her dreams sometimes.

She felt Delilah step closer to her and it was enough to comfort for her though she didn't thank her for it. The village head slightly bowed his head before he turned his back. And without any other words, the villagers turned their back and walked away too.

When they were already out of sight, it was then that she let out a deep breath. Her knees buckled that she immediately scuttled towards the bench and sat there. Delilah was quick to ask if she was alright or if she needed something. She doesn't know what to feel. It was the first time that she offered something to help her people and now she doesn't know if she could actually help them.

"We have to prepare for tomorrow," she said to Delilah.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And leave me alone for a moment," she said and Delilah was hesitant to leave but walked away eventually.

She sighed and looked at the sky. The weather is good. Too good. And what happened today and what she had offered is good too. She doesn't know how to deal with it.

The first thing that came to her mind was to visit her prisoner. So she trudged the bushy garden and into the dungeon where he found Rowan doing push-ups in the ground.

"How long are you going to work out?" she asked the moment she stood in front of the castle. But Rowan did not even bother to look up and just continued what he was doing.

"I do this every day, Your Majesty," he said.

"Stop that," she said. That's when Rowan looked at her.

"Now, I might be your prisoner but you can't tell me what to do."

"Stop calling me Your Majesty, i***t," she hissed, much to Rowan's delight.

He chuckled saying, "I thought you wanted me to stop working out. That would have forced me to believe you are kind of distracted by this," he said and gestured towards his naked upper body. She gave him an incredulous look before she stepped closer into the cell. Rowan eyed her carefully before he stood and walked closer too.

A feline smile danced across his lips as she wrapped her fingers on the cell bar.  Rowan did the same with his eyes still pinned on Ariadne.

"I did what you said. I told the villagers to come here tomorrow so I could listen to their concerns," she said and she's starting to get breathless as she realized how close they are.

"You like to play with fire," he said and she doesn't know if he meant inviting the villagers who have the drive to kill her or the fact that she stood too close to him who could snap her neck if he wishes to.

"I suppose I do," she said and looked at him where she was met with his dark eyes.

"I don't give my advice for free, Your Majesty," Rowan whispered and she couldn't help but give in to his hot breath on her face. She smirked at how he played his cards.

"Then pray tell, what payment do you require?" she breathed and she was leaning too much to him. Despite the cell bar between them, she could feel his skin against her clothes.

Then Rowan held her hand and slowly unwrapped it from the cell bar. She let out a shuddering breath as she looked at how he guided her hands to his chest. When she looked up to see his reaction, she found him looking at her, his gaze was dark.

"A little use of your hand would do, Your Majesty," Rowan said and he too let out a shuddering breath. That was her undoing. She let out a sigh as Rowan guided her hand down to his abs. He let her caress his body first. She gave him lazy strokes just like what he did earlier to her.

She heard him mutter a curse before she grabbed her hand again down to the waistband of his pants. She looked at him and she bit her lip as she saw him closing his eyes. Ariadne swallowed hard as Rowan guided her hand down to the bulge in his pants. The moment she touched it, she heard Rowan mutter something. His two hands now gripped the cell bars tightly as she moved her hand.

It was lazy strokes at first. She moved her hand lazily on his manhood. Ariadne looked at Rowan's expression. His eyes were looking at her as if encouraging her to keep going. And she did. She kept going until she could feel him granite-hard on her hand.

"f**k," he muttered and grabbed her hand again. Much to her surprise, Rowan guided her hand to the waistband of his pants and let her hand in. She let out another shuddering breath as she felt him: raw and unclothed. But Rowan's expression was her undoing. He tipped his head back and bit his lip, stifling his moans as she continued to do lazy strokes on his manhood. His grip on the cell bar tightened and she used her other hand to touch him.

She heard him grunt and that even made her stroke harder.

"f**k," Rowan said and she let out a sigh as she felt getting harder in her hands. He opened his eyes and met hers. His eyes are wild and filled with so much pleasure. It encouraged her to do more so she did.

And when she saw how his mouth opened and his abs contracting, she knew it was coming.

Then Rowan let out a loud moan as he got his release. She was breathing hard too as she felt the evidence of his arousal in her hand. She looked at Rowan and the man smirked at her while still breathing hard. With one hand, he took her hand out of his pants and gave her a smile.

Then he leaned close to her and said, "If you'd like, I would return the favor to you. That would mean you'd have to let me out of this prison first.”

She swallowed hard thinking about his hand between her legs. But she did not say anything and just walked away back to her chamber, with her hand still wet from what she had done.

And when she was alone, she removed her dress and rubbed her hand in her body. It was dirty and messy but she never felt so much pleasure in her life.

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