Beauty and the Damned

40 | Behind the Veil

Two days had passed and she hasn’t talked to anyone. Not the handmaidens, not Leo or any of the brothers, and certainly not Rowan. After what she had discovered, she questioned everything. When Rowan told her he loves her, did he mean that? Those things he did to her, were all of it true, or was it only for a show? Has she been dancing on Rowan's palms all along? Was her inner gut telling her something that’s why she couldn’t say she loves him? Does she love him? Is that why she's pained at what she just discovered?

Ariadne spent her time avoiding Rowan as much as possible, which wasn't hard considering that Rowan's been frequently out these days. By the time he arrives, it's already evening and she's sleeping peacefully with her fur to warm her up from the chilly wind. She doesn’t want him to find out that she already knew about it. In fact, she doesn’t want anyone to know she already has an idea about Rowan’s plot, not even Leo who warned her in the first place.

What she doesn’t understand is why. Why is Rowan trying to kill her? After all those things he had said, he had promised, behind it all, he was in fact, trying to win her heart so he could kill her easily. 

But why? Surely, he must have some reason why he wants to kill her and she must find that reason, whatever it was. 

Has she done something that made him furious to the point that he was willing to kill her? The same woman he confessed his love to? His love--was it even true?

Ariadne let out a sigh and a tear escaped her eye. She hastily wiped it away and curled on the bed. She has locked the chamber and never had the chance to transfer to another chamber. Not when it would make Rowan start getting suspicions and that is the last thing she would want to happen.

If he is playing this kind of game, she figured she might as well play along and she couldn't do it well if Rowan gets suspicious. Days after her huge discovery, she has thought about it. All this time, Rowan has been the bad guy, trying to get on her good side, telling her everything she wanted to hear to gain her favor and make her—

“Fall in love with him,” she muttered under breath. “To think I was thinking about falling in love with him." Ariadne did not bother denying the fact that it saddened her. Rowan has been someone she considered someone close to her aside from Delilah. He has been the one who gave her hope, who gave her kingdom hope--if he hadn't arrived in her castle one day, she wouldn't have decided to become better for her people. 

Then a realization made her pause. Rowan arrived at my castle one day without any notice. She remembered it. He just appeared out of nowhere and suddenly, he was the solution to her problems. Suddenly, he was the hope of her kingdom. All of it--they were too good to be true. Too perfect to become a coincidence. Everything about it felt like it has been...planned. 

She couldn’t hide the frustration she felt. How could she not notice? Was she too blinded by the pleasure that she didn't even question his suspicious arrival? He was too good to be true. 

Suddenly, the room became suffocating and it was hard to breathe. She stood and ran to the chamber door. When she opened it, she almost jumped back when she saw Leo standing in front of it.

“Leo—“ she gasped and she wasn't able to continue what she was going to say when Leo pushed her back inside the chamber and closed the door behind him. 

She was about to protest when she saw his icy stare. He was wearing his black sleeveless shirt and black breeches. He looked like he had been practicing something outside judging from the sweaty hair and the minty scent of his sweat. 

His eyes scanned her from head to toe before he said, “Seeing you are alive and well means you haven’t been eating the meals he prepared.”

The mention of it made her shiver. She was so close. She was so close to drop everything Leo had said and decide to believe in Rowan only to find the latter was indeed trying to poison her for whatever reason. At first, she doesn't want to believe it but as she watched the birds die one by one until none of them left, it felt like a bomb was dropped on her face. 

Leo must have seen the expression on his face when his icy stare suddenly changed. “You believe me now, don’t you?” he said, not removing his gaze on her, on her trembling fingers, and on her worried eyes. 

She heard him sigh before he said, “How did you find out?“

“I was so close, Leo,” she said, walking towards the chair because her knees are wobbling. She just had a feeling that she won't be able to stand straight if she tells everything to him. “I was so close to believing him and brand you a liar.”

Leo’s gaze was still fixed on her as she grasps for words to say. “I—I took a vial of the soup and threw it away and decided to tell him what you have been telling me. But the birds…when I threw it, it broke on the birdbath and birds drank the water and—“

She met Leo’s stare before she took a deep breath. “The birds died,” she breathed. Leo didn’t say anything as if letting her sink it all over again. Then she realized the direness of this situation that she sprang up to her feet. Leo is in the chamber. Rowan's chamber. 

“Why are you here? You shouldn’t be here. He will see you and—“ But Leo held up a hand and she stopped talking.

“He is somewhere and he’ll be back tomorrow.” Relieved, she sat back down and looked at Leo who was still looking at her as if waiting for her to tell him more about it. But she doesn't have anything else to say but she knows Leo owes her one. 

“Well? Aren’t you going to start telling the rest of your story? Rowan is trying to kill me for god knows what reason. Isn’t this the time when you tell me what reason it is?”

Leo was silent for a moment and much to her horror, he shook his head.

“What do you mean? You can’t tell me? Leo—“

“I have told you what I needed to tell you. I have told you the things you needed to know without me getting—“ He stopped talking and clutched his chest as if the memory of him collapsing during that day inside his chamber was still fresh. She furrowed her brows.

She did not bother asking him if he was okay. After several seconds, Leo let out a deep breath as if relieved that the pain did not come. He finally looked at her again and said, “The name I gave you—ask him. He can tell you everything.”

She gave an exasperated sigh. “Why not you? Why can’t you just tell me yourself?”

Leo shook his head. “You’ll know why once you know everything. And to know everything, you have to ask that man on the paper.”

“Where on earth can I find him, then?”

Leo closed his eyes firmly as if he isn’t liking this as much as her. “I am afraid you’ll have to figure it out yourself too.”

She gritted her teeth and looked at him. “I don’t understand what is going on—“

“I have questions too,” he said. "But I am going to ask that once you have gotten all the answers you needed about why Rowan is trying to kill you." 

She threw him a sharp glare before she walked towards the door past him.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

She did not bother looking back at him and said, “To this man you were talking about.”

Ariadne was about to open the door when Leo held her wounded hand to stop her. "Wait--" She flinched. Leo saw it.

Panic crept into her system as she met Leo’s curious stare as if digging her memory as to why she is suddenly injured. His eyes went down to look at his hand holding her arm. Then she felt it loosened as if he also realized it was wounded.

He’d know I was there. He’d know I was the beast in his chamber that night. She thought.

“Let go,” she said but Leo’s grip remained as if trying to form the puzzle pieces in his mind. Then his stare met hers, soft and vulnerable.

“You,” he said. Before she could even ask what he was talking about, she felt his hand on the sleeve of her dress and the next thing she knew was him pushing the sleeve, revealing a bandaged arm. She swallowed hard as Leo looked carefully at it.

“Where did you get this?” he asked, his voice cold.

It took her long to answer and when Leo looked at her, she knew he already knew about it and was just trying to confirm. She did not say anything as she isn’t a liar. Ariadne bit her lower lip and looked on her bandaged arm.

“I…” she trailed but doesn't seem to find any other word other than that.

“That night, with the assassins…” he trailed, looking at her as if expecting her to say the rest. But she remained silent and did not say a word. “Was that you?” he asked. And she didn’t know what to say. What would she say? That she was the beast? That she was cursed? That she is on the brink of losing her kingdom and everything she has if she messes up everything? Well, everything is already messed up the moment she started to believe in Rowan. But what about her kingdom? What about the poor kids in the village? What about Delilah? What about her? What will happen now?

“I apologize, I was talking nonsense. Maybe I should go—“

“That was me,” she rasped and met Leo’s stare. His eyes were wide in shock a though he couldn’t believe what he just heard. His mouth opened as if to say something but closed immediately as if deciding not to. He looked at her from head to toe, finding any trace of that beast he saw one night in the human body in front of him. She swallowed hard as the silence continued.

“Well? Aren’t you going to say something? I was that beast in your chamber. I don’t know why I—“

“Saved me,” he breathed. She looked at him. “You saved me.”

Her throat bobbed. Silence passed between them until she decided to tell him. “I saw them in the gardens. I saw them heading towards your chamber. I don’t know what they want but I was certain they don’t mean good,” she said. Leo was still looking at her, unable to believe what she had just confessed. But one word came out of his mouth.

“Why?” he asked.

She opened her mouth, ready to tell him the answer but then again she realized she didn’t have one. She didn’t have an answer to the same question he had after she rushed to his chamber and fought the assassins. The moment she realized they were coming for Leo, she was instantly out the window and was running over the roof of the spires.

"Why did you save me, Ariadne?" he repeated then his eyes scanned her as if staring deeper into her soul, searching for something even more. Then realization passed his eyes.

"That was your curse," he said confirming something he had known. Only that he didn't know what kind of curse it was. The look in his eyes was something she never expected to see. His usual icy cool stare is now replaced with utter shock with what he had confirmed.

Then she felt his grip on her arm tighten but not too tight for her to flinch in pain. He looks more worried now than surprised.

The next words that came out of his mouth were something not new to her but still never expected. "Forget about going to that person to tell you everything. If you are what I think you are, then Rowan will not stop until you are dead. He won't let you live until he—" Leo clutched his chest. His other hand left her hand and braced against the door for support as if it was hard to stand on two feet.

"Leo—" But Leo held up his hand to stop her from moving close. She doesn't understand what is happening to him. One moment he was fine and the next moment, he's not.

"I'm fine." Again, he clasped her arm and with frantic eyes, he said, "You must leave this place as soon as you can, Ariadne. Tonight, if possible. You can't stay here another day—"

She did not hear the rest of his sentence. Everything seemed to be a blur. Rowan is going to kill her and the only reasonable way to stop that is for her to go back to Vale. But what about her curse? She can't go back to her kingdom still cursed. The witch told her she could find the cure in this kingdom. The seer had told her the same thing. She is not leaving until she gets it. Even if it means risking her life.

"—Rowan will be back tomorrow evening. Before then, you should be out of here—"

"I am not leaving," she said and met his eyes. Leo's face was a curtain of confusion as he looked at her, trying to decipher what she was thinking. He looked like he was prepared to call her insane but stopped herself.

"Did you even hear what I just said?"

"I heard you, loud and clear. And I said what I said. I am not leaving this castle until I find what could break my curse. I need to lift this curse before I could go back to Vale and rule my kingdom, Leo. So I have to stay. I need to find the Dragon's Heart before he kills me—"

"Hold on," he held up a hand, standing straight. "Dragon's heart?"

Leo looked like he knows about the Dragon's heart. She looked at him curiously. He met her eyes for a brief while before she saw her rub his temples.

"Do you know something about it?" she asked.

Leo's throat bobbed as if deliberating whether to tell her or not. In the end, he sighed. Her shoulders slumped back in disappointment.

"Let me guess, you can't tell me?"

Leo didn't say anything but it was answer enough. Which means, whatever it was he couldn't tell her, she has to find it herself. And she's going to start with that name on the piece of paper Leo had given her.

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