Rob slung his arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “You were a child, Beauty. And I think you’ve grown a lot in these last months alone. I hardly recognize you.”
“Beast is a good influence.”
His eyes widened. After a moment, he said, “I’m waiting for the rest of the joke.”
“No jest this time. Just honesty. I learned that from him.”
“The way you defend him ...” He frowned. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say ...”
“What?”
“Nothing. I need to see to Honey.”
He led her into the stall, and I lingered behind.
My eyes traveled to the forest, to the towering trees that hid a white castle deep in its heart.
The morning of the winter celebration dawned cold and clear. I helped Callista in the kitchen while she slaved over the best pies she could make. Astra sewed in the front room, a plain dress, too simple to belong to the carriage owner.
Seeing it, Callista said, “You should borrow my extra dress for this evening, Beauty.”
“There’s no need. I have no one to impress.”
In truth, I had no desire to attend at all. With every day away from Beast, I missed him more. I would bear out this celebration, and in the morning, I would return to the castle. That was my decision, made at last. I could almost see the gates already.
But I could not leave this time without saying goodbye, so I squared my shoulders and asked for another private conversation with Father.
He waited for me to speak, but I couldn’t say it without the need to explain.
“I’d like to tell you everything,” I said. “About the beast.”
His eyebrows lifted meaningfully. “I’d very much like to hear it.”
We sat on his bed, and I told him all my suspicions of the beast’s enchantment—the evidences that he was a man, that he did not come from the castle but from humble roots as a fisherman.
“I think he found a fairy and wished to be a prince,” I said. “He was given a castle and all the trappings, but in trade, he became a beast.”
“A prince by all accounts, but unable to enjoy any of it,” Father murmured. “I have always distrusted magic. I have heard of too many good men gone mad simply in the search for it. To find it may be even worse.”
“There’s something else.” I hesitated. “He’s asked me ... to marry him.”
Father’s eyes went wide as eggs, and for some reason, I felt a ridiculous pang of irritation. Probably on behalf of Beast.
“He is forced to ask,” I said. “I believe an acceptance is the key to breaking his curse.”
“Beauty, you are under no obligation to marry anyone, no matter how it would help them.”
Hearing it from someone outside myself lifted a weight from my shoulders.
“Stay home with us.” He patted my hand as if the matter was decided. “I pity the beast—or man—but your home is here. You’ve no need to spend another minute away and no obligation to anyone except yourself for how you spend your life.”
My lips twitched. “Not even to you and Mama?”
“Not even to us,” he said seriously. “Beauty, listen to me. I want you to be happy. If I could, I would give you all the happiness in the world. But I would never control your choices. I have one life to govern, as do you, and if I can teach you to govern yours well, then I’ve been a father.”
I didn’t know what to say.
I’d always thought I had a duty to my parents—to reflect well on them, to use the advantages they gave me. Society said a good girl took her father’s status and married above it, bringing a new son to the family and climbing a rung higher in society. It was why Astra had never been satisfied with the common city boys, with the sons of tradesmen and merchants. Father was a merchant, so she had to marry into peerage. It was her duty.
