Beastly Beautiful

*Drake*

The rhythm of my feet creates a steady beat on the tiles. Where is she? Where can she be? I’ve made everything so romantic for her and she doesn’t even bother to show up?? Anger rushes to my head and my eyes never leave the door. I've prepared such a lovely evening for her and she doesn't even have the etiquette to attend? The clock ticks on and on. One minute... two minutes... Is she ever going to come?

A gust of wind sweeps through the dining room that I worked so hard to make look beautiful. Time stops as she walks in.

“You’re late!” I growl impatiently.

“We need to talk.” My muscles tighten and I roll my eyes. Not this nonsense.

“We can’t pretend anymore.” Her lips press tightly together in an unpleasant way. “We don’t belong together. We’re just too different.”

Anger flails inside of me like a fish taken out of water. She can’t do this to me! I’m the King and I had chosen her out of every girl in the kingdom. I deserved better anyways. “You came here just to tell me that? I knew that from the beginning. Me, choosing some ordinary girl. It’s distasteful.”

“I know you do love me. You’ve never been able to really tell me your true feelings. That’s why I must leave.” I can’t stand to meet her eyes with mine. She’s full of lies. I don’t care about her. She’s just a pawn in my game. “I need someone that will love me openly and freely as I love them.”

“Love," I scoff at the word. "What a foolish word! You marry for security. Just know that you’ll never find someone better than me out there.” I motion to my guards to carry her away, but something in her eyes change and I signal for them to wait. A sort of fire ignites and I can’t help but stare right back into them. Challenging her.

“You are not the best there is. Don’t even kid yourself.” She snarls.

“Name one person that is as good looking as I am or that is as wealthy! I have it all, so I dare you to find someone that could even compare to me!” As I challenge her, I can feel heat rising all around me like power is coursing through my veins. She has some nerve to try and make a fool out of me.

A wicked laugh echoes through the stone room from her lips. “You think that riches and looks define a person? That your status as king means anything about who you really are? Well then, I believe that a lesson should be arranged.”

“A lesson?! I'm tired of folly! Leave, ugly cow. I’m tired of looking at your face.” The guards take my cue and start to reach for her.

An inhuman roar comes from her general direction causing the guards to fall to the ground. Fire shoots up from the ground.Tall flames blaze around me, engulfing my very being. My eyes hungrily search for her knowing that this could be my death bed. A demonic hiss comes from the flames and the fire mutates into a dragon shape, wrapping it’s tail all around me.

“Drake, King of Azaria, do not underestimate my power and the horror I can inflict upon you!” The dragon roars again and locks into me getting ready to attack.

Unsheathing my sword I bare my teeth at the sorceress in front of me. If there is one thing that I’m not, it’s a coward. “Do your worst!”

“I wouldn’t have said that if I were you!” Before I knew it the dragon charges at me and I lift my sword ready to fight. The flames consume me and everything around me, burning my very flesh. I cry out in pain as they lick every inch of my body. Within seconds the scorching ceases, but a new aching pains washes over me.

A booming voice starts speaking in an diabolical tone, “You have insulted a powerful witch and now you will face this curse: Until you can find someone who is truly better than you, that will look past the ugliness both on the surface and deep inside of you, you shall be hideous forever. May your kingdom forget their king and live as if they had never had one. Lastly, all you’re servants and this castle’s attendants will be trapped until you can break this curse.You have until the last petal falls on this rose to have the curse lift and if you do not, you and everyone else shall be curse for all of eternity. You will not die, or age, but face this hell on earth forever. Only true love can set you free.”

With that, the fire vanishes and she’s gone. The aching is gone as well and I scoff at what she said. Looking around for my guards, I see none, but instead large gargoyles hissing and howling. I catch my reflection in a mirror and gasp at the hideous sight of my own face.

Where I once had luscious, black waves of hair, I now have thin tufts of dull strands. The whole right side of my face is destroyed as if I had actually gotten burned by the fire. My arms aren’t much better. The scars run down from my shoulders to the my knuckles.

I howl out in despair. I am a monster.