Beauty and the Beast

"A woman will always sacrifice herself if you give her the opportunity. It is her favourite form of self-indulgence." - William Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965), The Circle (1921), 3

The black charger reared and let out a trumpeting neigh. The nun who saw them appear so suddenly in the courtyard let out a piercing shriek and fainted dead away. Riley scrambled off the animal's back, grinding his teeth in annoyance at himself. "Oh, aren't you the eejit, Riley Finn. Did it occur to you that appearing so suddenly in a place of women only might not be the brightest thing to do?" He made sure the horse was tied up so it wouldn't scamper loose. Then he tipped up the unconscious woman's head, hoping she hadn't hurt herself in her collapse. "At least you've made an entrance."

More women began appearing, drawn by the noise of the horse, and halted in amazement at seeing an unknown man kneeling over one of their sisters. Riley spread his hands in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "Ladies, can you direct me to one Elizabeth Finn?"

"Riley?" He turned at that well-known voice, once so dear to him. The white-clad figure stood with other novitiates, her diminutive figure nearly swallowed among their taller forms.

"Lizzy. It's good to see ya, gel," he said and spread his arms wide.

She hesitated as if she couldn't believe it was he. Instead of running into his arms with the old heedless incaution, she stepped towards him and touched him tentatively on the arm as if testing the reality of his being. "Riley? I-It really is you?"

"In the flesh, Lizzy. See?" He lifted one calloused hand and brushed her cheek and her eyes brimmed over. One dainty hand, much more chapped and roughened than of days past, lifted and clasped his own.

"Riley. It is you." Then her fist lashed out and struck him across the jaw, causing his head to snap around. "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!?"

The other women gasped although Riley grinned to himself. Underneath the veneer of this newfound piety lay the old Lizzy that he knew so well. Perhaps she wasn't too far gone in this craziness for him to save her. He clasped her hand before she could strike him again. "Ah, Lizzy, perhaps we should take this inside. We're scaring all these nice women." The woman he'd caused to faint earlier was stirring and looked up at him with a kind of dazed terror. He smiled and she scrambled up, her face slack with something he recognized as idiocy.

"Indeed. Who are you, young man, and what are you doing on our grounds?" The cool voice came from the nunnery door and everyone turned to see a stately woman in her forties standing there. She had her arms folded in front of her and a no-nonsense look that reminded him eerily of Cordelia. She was staring at Riley with none of the fear the other women displayed. She raised an eyebrow when he didn't speak. "Well? Do you have a tongue or has God seen fit to make you one of his blessed mutes?"

He grinned at her. His former shyness around women had disappeared and he couldn't be frightened of a nun no matter how formidable. "Good morning, Mother Superior. I've come to see my sister, Elizabeth." He wrapped his arm around Lizzy. She fought for a moment, still angry with him, and then she wound one arm around his back.

The Mother Superior cast a reproving look in Elizabeth's direction. "Mary Elizabeth has told us nothing about an expected visit from anybody, Mr.-who are you?"

"I'm Riley Finn, Lizzy's-uh, I mean Mary Elizabeth's-brother."

The woman's eyes widened as shocked murmurs swept through the courtyard. The Mother Superior stepped forward, her reserve lowered slightly at this news. "Riley Finn? What a joy it is to meet you. Well, Mary Elizabeth, it seems as if your prayers have been answered."

Elizabeth blinked hard, tears of joy spilling down her cheeks. "Yes. Yes, they have at last. Praise be to God." Echoes of her word flew around the square and the other nuns watched as she hugged her long-lost brother.

The Mother Superior cleared her throat. "Seeing as he is your brother, I suppose we can make an exception for the forbidding of men within our walls. He may not come into the nunnery proper. But he may visit you in the rectory. I'm sure you two have plenty to talk about. The rest of you may return to your duties." She turned a pointed glance at the others. Under that gimlet eye, the other women scattered, although not without many a curious glance at Riley Finn.

__________

Riley sat on the narrow pew and tried not to squirm. He hadn't been in a church for days now but it seemed like years. He wondered what the church would think of a creature like the Beast. [Probably that he's a spawn of Satan or other tool of the devil. Definitely don't think they'd approve of how I feel about him.] He pushed aside the uneasy thoughts and concentrated on his sister.

"Lizzy, just what do you think you're doing?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What do I think I'm doing? You disappear for almost four years, don't send any word or even a body to mourn and bury and then you come here and ask what I'm doing?" She stood and paced in agitation and then turned to look at him. "How did you get here? Who told you I was here?"

"Well, I've been keeping my eye on you. The Beast gave me a magic mirror, see, and it allows a person looking into it to see the outside world."

"The Beast gave it to you? As in a gift? Was this just before you shot him with your arrows?" she asked dryly.

Riley shifted again nervously. "Ah. Well, that whole business about killing the Beast didn't turn out quite as I expected. He wasn't the monster da had made him sound."

"Oh, so he wasn't some ten-foot-tall creature with the head of a boar and huge cat's paws for hands? I wish I'd known that sooner. I wouldn't have been worried all this time that some horrible creature had, oh let's say, eaten you for its breakfast!" She raised her voice as she spoke and then looked about guiltily as if worried about being penalized for her show of temper.

"That's enough about me and the Beast, Lizzy. I want to talk about you." He frowned. "You were never more religious than the rest of us. What can have possessed you to take such a course?"

She lifted her head towards a heavy four-foot-tall cross hung on the wall facing the pews. She contemplated it for several seconds without speaking and Riley began to wonder if she meant to answer his question. Finally she spoke.

"Riley, I thought long and hard about you after you disappeared. I thought about the circumstances. I thought about what I did, what I didn't do and what I allowed to happen." She sat down beside him, sinking with calm grace into the seat beside him. Her earlier agitation had vanished completely as if the cross had given her strength.

"I let you go in my place and you disappeared. You didn't return as you'd promised and at first I blamed you for that. You broke your word to me and I was bitterly angry about that."

"You're still angry it seems," he replied, rubbing the reddened mark on his cheek from her hand.

She brushed it with her fingers and bent her head down. "That was wrong of me. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

"There's no forgiveness needed between us. We're family, Elizabeth, not strangers. We're kinfolk and this is the sort of roughhousing kinfolk go in for. Believe me, I've known worse," he joked.

She didn't return his smile and continued as if he hadn't spoken. "Then I thought that it wasn't your fault you didn't come back. You'd obviously tried to kill the Beast and failed. You were probably dead at its claws and gotten turned into a meal to boot. I didn't want to believe that, though. So for a long time, I stayed in father's house, clinging to the hope that one day you'd return to me."

Elizabeth turned towards him, the white skirt rustling with her movement. "Then one day I realized. You weren't coming back and I was clinging to a foolish fancy, just like a child, like my father and sisters kept telling me. You had been sacrificed because I was too cowardly to go as I should have. It was my fault this happened to father, just as Cordelia said, and I should have been the one to go. Instead I let you play the martyr for me and then reaped the benefits of that sacrifice."

Riley shook his head, still unsure what to make of her sister's fanatical behavior. "That still doesn't explain why you're here in a church full of penguins."

Her look was puzzled. "Penguins?"

He waved his hand. "Nothing. Queer birds of black and white, that's all." The Beast had shown him these creatures in its mirror and Riley spoke of them without thinking. "So why are you here?"

"Riley, it was my fault you were dead and I had to make penance for that. I was decked out like a queen, wearing fine clothes and tending my roses like a grand lady. And all of it was possible because you'd been cast off to die."

He eyed her mournful expression as the truth came to him. "So you're here doing penance, is that it? Lizzy, why didn't you just go to confession and have the priest make you say novenas if that's what you needed?"

"Because that wasn't what I needed," she replied, some of her distress returning. "I needed to show that you were my brother still and more precious to me than any gemstones or jewelry. I needed to show God that I sincerely repented allowing you to take my place. I needed to have peace in my soul. Nothing father and the others said gave me that peace. But being here does. And God has rewarded me for my faith, hasn't he? He sent you back to me." She clasped his hands in hers, his oversized, coarse ones dwarfing her own.

Privately Riley thought it was the Beast who had sent him back. He sighed and said, "Well, that's a bit of twisted reasoning, I must say, Lizzy."

"Mary Elizabeth. It'll be my new name once I've taken the orders," she stressed.

"Lizzy, you don't need to do that. As you see, the Beast didn't eat me. He never intended to eat any of us. When father came to the castle, the Beast hoped for his friendship. Instead father stole a rose and mentioned his daughters to the Beast in the hope of saving his life. Da didn't offer us, but the Beast got that idea when da told him of you and the other girls."

"H-He did? Then the Beast isn't a killer? But he scared father so and threatened to kill him. That doesn't sound so kind to me," Elizabeth said, staunchly defending her father.

"He is a killer. But only of animals. He doesn't kill humans," Riley countered.

"So I see. So he gave you a mirror as a gift. Did you give you all this other finery?" she asked, gesturing at him. Riley was indeed richly turned out, a shirt in red-jeweled colors shimmering like water across his burly torso. A small brown cape, edged in ermine, the corners held together by a thin silver chain, was draped across his back. His breeches were of the softest lambskin, black like his highly polished leather boots.

He flushed. "Yes, he did. I guess he didn't want you to think he'd been treating me poorly." Actually, Riley didn't know what the Beast's intentions were. The clothes had been waiting for him by his bedside. Of the Beast there'd been no sign and he hadn't wanted to waste the precious fleeting moments searching for him. Nevertheless, he'd combed rapidly through the rose garden, the pond and the outskirts of the forest before giving up reluctantly. The thought that the Beast might be avoiding him was painful. But there was nothing he could do about it.

And he still had to talk some sense into his recalcitrant sister. A sister who was even now gazing at him with a mixture of skepticism and growing pique. "So the Beast was treating you well, was he? And he gave you these clothes to come see me. And all this time I was worrying and tearing my heart out over you. The Beast didn't allow you to send messages."

Riley grimaced. "I confess I never thought to ask him. But I'm here now."

"So you are. Then-he's released you? You're free of him at last?" Hopefulness had turned her eyes back to their mossy green and Riley couldn't bear to dash her hopes.

"Lizzy, that's not important. What matters is you. You're the reason I came back. I'm not sensing true faith here. You didn't turn to this because you had a calling or feel a particular love of God."

"But I do," she said, a touch of that Finn stubbornness peeking through.

"So do you intend to go through with it now that I'm back? Shut yourself away from the world, from da, Cordy, Dar-me?" he asked gently.

He saw the hesitation in her eyes. Then something hardened in them and a kind of anger, entirely out of place in a soul pledged to worship, shone through there. "This isn't about the world. This is about me finally following through on something, Riley Finn."

Now he was baffled all over again. "What do you mean, following through?"

She took a deep breath. "First I say that I'm going to marry Shawn McTeague to get us out of our troubles. Then I let father plot some harebrained scheme to trick Mrs. McTeague into thinking he'll marry her. Then I decide to let myself be eaten by the Beast only to let you go in my place. I'm a spineless coward, Riley Finn, a disgrace to our family name."

"So this is what you decide to pursue? Pledging yourself to be a bride of Christ?" Riley chuckled. "Lizzy, there are always simpler means of martyrdom that don't involve sacrificing yourself on an altar like a lamb-literally. Did you ever think of giving to the poor or tending the sick? That is the thing done among high society ladies, isn't it?" He continued to laugh until he realized she wasn't joining him.

"Riley, I'm serious."

"Yes, I know you are, lass. But this isn't the way. What about your young man, what's his name? Ronald?"

"I don't have a-wait, how did you know about Ronald? Did that crystal ball of the Beast show us, um, him? Just how long have you been spying on me?" She sounded angry yet she flushed, just a little, when she mentioned Ronald's name.

Riley hid a smile. "Not long. But long enough to know you have feelings for him, stronger ones than any you have for God." He ran a finger down her cheek, stopping to grasp her chin so she was forced to look at him. "Lizzy, you want to go through with something? Go on with your life. You've been living mewed up in father's house like a mourning widow although you've never had so much as a husband. You let thoughts of me and guilt about my loss consume you until you forgot what truly happened between us."

"I haven't forgotten a single thing about our last time together, Riley Finn," she protested.

"Then you should remember that I never intended to surrender my life for yours or father's. I meant to kill the Beast and steal from him. The fact that I didn't go through with it and cost you the grief of my loss is entirely my own fault. Not yours."

She stared at him, her fingers clenched together as if willing the truth to appear to her where she could grasp it in her own two hands. Then her shoulders sagged. "It doesn't matter. I've given my word to become a nun and I can't change it now. How would it look?"

"Pledging your life to God has nothing to do with keeping up appearances to please the neighbors or even these other women. Besides, the Mother Superior won't force you to stay if you've changed your mind. She doesn't think you're ready for this any more than I do."

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "She doesn't? How would you know-oh. Another vision from your crystal ball, I suppose?" she sneered. "I'm beginning to find what it tells you just a little too convenient. I don't believe you saw anything about her."

"I saw Sisters Mary Sharon and Mary Susan discussing you behind your back and how the Mother Superior doubts you actually have a true faith in what you're doing here. That's why she forced you to talk to Ronald when he came visiting."

Elizabeth gnawed her lip. "Perhaps the Mother Superior doubts my devotion. But that will change once I've taken my orders."

"You've no need to convince her. I think that woman is cannier and wiser than any Finn I've ever met-yourself included."

A wrinkled scowl was his only return. Riley tried to change the subject slightly. "This Ronald seems a true and faithful man, if he's willing to storm the castle gates to get you back. And it's obvious from what I've seen that you have feelings for him as well. Why not grant him his wish if it's what you truly want too?"

She shook her head so the edges of her wimple were thrown every which way. "What kind of loyalty to God is that, I ask you? Love comes in the door so faith flies out the window? I don't think so, Riley."

"I'm not talking of giving up your faith. I'm talking about marrying the man you love. At least you, Cordy and Dar get that option. What do I have?"

Elizabeth rushed to comfort her brother. "Ooh, Riley. I'm sure you'll find somebody who loves you." The faces of Liam and the Beast swam before his eyes and only just managed not to twitch at the thought of them. Lizzy barreled on, oblivious. "I saw some of those girls in the courtyard. I'm sure any of them would be thrilled to have you. You're just as handsome as I remember. In fact, you don't look as if you've aged a day," she mused, squinting her eyes at him.

"I've been taking care of myself," he deadpanned. "But back to you, Lizzy. This place is not for you and you know it. Don't throw your life away on a meaningless gesture because of me. I'm happy and alive; you should be too."

Her gray eyes widened at that. "You're happy? How can you be happy as the captive of a horrible, loathsome Beast such as father told us?"

He smiled at her. "If you've got time, I'll be happy to tell you all about it." She sat beside him, interested in hearing the story behind her brother's lengthy disappearance.

Riley told her a great deal about the castle and its grounds. When he came to talk of the Beast, he was as descriptive as he dared about its habits, moods and behavior. Yet he was forced to leave out much about his feelings with the creature. Liam he didn't mention at all. How could he talk about the man without sounding like a lunatic? How could he speak of him at all without letting Lizzy and everyone know how tangled his feelings were about him?

But his little sister wasn't fooled about his reticence over the Beast. She poked him with one finger. "So you don't hate the Beast any more?"

"I never hated him at all, Lizzy," Riley said. "I merely wanted to kill him and rob the palace of whatever I could carry. Once I got to know him, it seemed cowardly and dishonorable to continue with such an evil plan."

"Evil? To kill the monster that'd threatened our family?" Elizabeth shook her head in disbelief. "Well, I'm glad your trust wasn't misplaced in him, Riley. It sounds as if he could have killed you in your sleep." Then she perked up. "But you're free of him now, aren't you?"

"That I am," he replied even though his inner voices were raised loudly in protest.

"Then I'm happy, too." She hugged him then, a true Lizzy hug such as she might have given him when she was only 15. He embraced her as well.

"Lizzy, please. For my sake. Don't rush into this. See your Ronald again. He's a man of true steel and loyalty. Give him a chance."

She stared at him. Then she turned to look at the cross hanging on the wall. The Mother Superior watched them from a hidden vantage point in the rectory. She had learned not to be too trusting of beautiful girls under her watch who had equally attractive young men come to visit them under the guise of family members. She'd surprised many a young lass passionately kissing a "brother" or "cousin" or "nephew."

But this man matched in every way the description of Riley Finn. Elizabeth hadn't been forthcoming in her account of her missing brother. She'd merely said she wanted to follow the path of true piety and righteousness. Perhaps she'd feared the Mother would doubt her devotion to God if she expressed such an earthly desire as the return of a lost sibling. But when her family had come looking for her, almost violent in their determination to wrest Elizabeth from the church, they had been all too eager to describe the Finn boy.

That Cordelia woman, squalling brats in tow, had been particularly vocal in her criticism of her sister's choice. Her stubbornness had put the Mother Superior's back up. She'd pointed out how Elizabeth was well above the age of knowing her own mind. This choice was hers and hers alone. (A pearl necklace she'd donated to the church coffers hadn't hurt either when it came to swaying her mind.)

However, later she'd regretted letting Cordelia get under her skin. The woman had said this was some misplaced guilt on Elizabeth's part and certain clues told the Mother she was probably right. But Mary Elizabeth had passed all her tests with flying colors. The Mother had no real reason to cast her from the nunnery doors other than her own convictions that this woman was not truly fitted for the life she'd chosen.

But she could see this Riley Finn arguing with his sister and it seemed he might succeed where the others had failed. She smiled at the sight of the two embracing. "Good for you, boy. Perhaps yours was the only voice needed." She nodded her head at a statue of Mary in blue and red robes extending her hand in blessing. "And thank you for sending him at the right time."

__________

Elizabeth smoothed down the front of her dress with nervous hands. "Look at me. I'm shaking like a newborn lamb. I was never this nervy when I was in the nunnery."

"Well, God wasn't expecting you to come to him with a trousseau from Paris, was he?" Cordelia said. She was perched to the side, bracing herself with a strong cup of tea. Her children were in another room, having been shunted off to the nanny for the time being and she was enjoying this rare moment alone with her sister. Well, her sister and two dressmakers, a train holder and her own personal maid. Just because she was a wife and mother didn't mean that Cordelia stinted herself on all the things that made life so very comfortable.

"No. God was expecting eternal love, devotion and servitude. Pretty much what a husband asks for." Elizabeth fussed with her veil, the fairy cloth a floating cloud fastened to her head.

"Well, a man can count himself lucky if he gets two of those things when he takes a woman to wife," Cordelia said with a wink. She was joined by knowing laughter from some of the other women in the room.

Elizabeth worried her lower lip. "I-Is married life wonderful, Cordelia? I mean, I love Ronald."

"You finally admit to that, do you?" Cordelia asked and then yawned. The day for the wedding had dawned warm and rapidly turned hotter and she was feeling the effects of the heat.

"It took awhile for it to happen. Not all of us throw ourselves at the first man who comes along," Elizabeth shot back.

"I'm glad to see sticking yourself behind those nunnery walls didn't entirely take the sauce out of you," Cordelia said archly. "Although I must say I didn't like how peaked and thin you looked. You were so drab, too. White really isn't your color. Except for now, of course," she added.

"Thank you for saying so," Elizabeth replied. "But I was wondering about married life. Is it truly wonderful? I never really listened before but all you ever seemed to do was complain about how hard it is on you."

"Oh, many a mother and wife has grievances and regrets. But underneath all the complaining, I love Frederick. And the children," she added. "I wouldn't trade them for all the ships in father's fleet."

Elizabeth took a deep breath, relieved beyond words. She was going to marry Ronald and nothing, not even a team of wild horses, would drag her from his side once they were bound together. She couldn't help but have doubts, though. Her desire to marry was only weeks old, unlike her decision to become a nun. She wondered if Cordelia or Darla had experienced the same misgivings as she.

Before she could ask, there was a knock at the door and Elizabeth asked who it was. When she got her answer, her eyes lit up, the green sparking from their depths. "Come in, Riley!"

Cordelia watched as the other man followed by Darla stepped in and paused to stare. His youngest sister was a vision in a billowing white dress of the finest silk, the velvet roses she favored sewn artfully into the neckline and around the hem. She was truly beautiful and he wondered if his other sisters had looked like this at their weddings. Thoughts of what he'd missed saddened him a little. But the heavenly image before him served to banish any regrets. "Lizzy, you look lovely. That Ronald is a lucky fella."

"And I'm a lucky woman," she countered shyly. She wanted to hug him. But, perched as she was on a stool with the dressmaker making last minute adjustments to her gown, she could only smile at her brother. Finally, the women declared her ready and she cautiously stepped down, the others holding up the generous hem so she wouldn't step on it.

Darla came to her side and pecked her on the cheek. "Elizabeth, you're gorgeous. Ronald will swoon when he sees you."

"I only hope I don't swoon. Maybe wearing all this heavy clothing in this heat wasn't such a good idea," Elizabeth said.

"Don't worry yourself about it. It'll all be over in a few hours and then you can hang this dress up and never see it again until you give it to you daughter," Cordelia told her.

Elizabeth paled slightly. "Daughter? Oh, right. Children. Maybe I should lie down for a wee spell."

"Don't you dare, Elizabeth!" Darla cried. "You'll ruin that lovely dress!"

Riley let them fuss a little longer before speaking to her. "Look at you, Lizzy. All grown up. And to think I nearly missed this."

"Yes. That's what happens when you overstay your welcome at castles," Cordelia chimed in. "You know, if this Beast is as friendly as you say, I don't see why it can't have us come and visit once or twice. I wouldn't mind staying in an enchanted palace with invisible servants waiting on me hand and foot."

"And how is that different from how you live now?" Darla asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The Beast's servants don't complain and whine to get time off like ours do," Cordelia replied.

The others clucked their tongues at her eternal self-involvement. Then Elizabeth waved away her dress handlers. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like a word alone with Riley."

Cordelia sniffed. "There it is. The same old song. Riley, Riley, Riley. He hasn't been around in over three years but he's the one getting all the confidences. Treat us like cabbages, why don't you?"

"Cordelia, I see you all the time. I haven't missed you like I have Riley. I just can't get enough of seeing him after all his time away. You do understand, don't you?"

"Of course. I missed him too, just as I said." She favored Riley with a quick hug. "If I didn't say it before, I'm glad to have you back, you big lummox."

"And it's good to see you, Cordy." She grimaced at the old nickname but she wasn't truly offended; he could tell.

Before leaving, Cordelia cast one last appraising glance over Elizabeth's dress and bouquet. "You know what would look great with all the chrysanthemums? A few of those roses from the trellis. I'm thinking you could spare them-"

"NO!!" The terrified outcries came from both Elizabeth and Riley. They stared at each other, she in confusion and he in embarrassment.

Cordelia threw up her hands. "I don't believe it! She's got you scared of plucking those silly things, too! Do you also avoid cracks in the sidewalk and squeal when a black cat crosses your path?"

"It's not that, Cordy. Look, I really do need to talk to Lizzy alone. Could you give us a few?" Riley pleaded.

"Let's go, Cordelia. We'll be seeing plenty of them soon enough at the church." Darla wound her arm in her younger sister's and herded her from the room. She cast Riley a blissful smile over her shoulder as she left them. Pregnancy had rounded her figure, making her matronly and plump. She was no longer the willowy girl Riley remembered. Although the mirror had prepared him somewhat for the alteration to her figure, it was still a surprise to see it in the flesh. The motherly serenity she possessed, with nothing of Cordelia's crotchetiness, was also a wonder to behold.

But it was the youngest Finn who held his attention now. She was standing there with her arms crossed, the old look of curiosity stamped on her features. "Is there something you want to tell me, Riley Finn?" Neither of them noticed the phantom figure hovering at the partially closed door.

"It's about those roses, Elizabeth. You'll never cut them down, will you?" he asked anxiously.

"No. I've forbidden the servants even to touch them, especially after that time Ronald tore off a few." She peered at him. "You know about that, don't you?"

"Yes, I did. I saw it."

"I knew it. They're tied to you somehow, aren't they?"

"No, not exactly. They're tied to the Beast." Riley hesitated. Did he dare trust Elizabeth? She had appeared reconciled to his reappearance in her life and he'd dropped hints that he wouldn't be staying around forever. He still had his way to make in the world and he couldn't stop at his father's house as if he were an untrained schoolboy. He'd been purposely vague about his future intentions, however, merely explaining that he couldn't stay longer than a month.

Cordelia had protested that it took a lot longer than a month for proper wedding plans to be made. The church had to be picked out, the banns read, the trousseau ordered, the gown made, the guests invited and the food to be prepared. They had two families to consider and Ronald's kinfolk wouldn't appreciate things being done by halves. Nothing Riley could say would change her mind about that and Elizabeth had eventually agreed with her. He suspected Lizzy's intentions; perhaps this was her way of keeping him with her just a little longer.

The preparations had stretched out to three long months and Riley had grown increasingly frantic at the thought of what this must mean to his Beast. Still, three months wasn't so very long, was it? It meant six hours in the Beast's world. What harm could a few more hours do?

He'd wished many a time that he could silence his misgivings or at least explain to his baby sister why he could brook no delay in the wedding plans. He hadn't told anybody about that and it troubled him to think he had grown so far apart from his favorite sister. But if anybody was thinking about picking those roses, then perhaps he needed to break his silence.

Now she was peering at him thoughtfully, mutely awaiting an explanation. "Lizzy, the Beast was angry with da for a reason."

She sighed. "I know. That rose I stupidly asked him to get."

"Yes. But there was more than rage for a mere theft." He paused, licking his lips. "The Beast's life is tied to those blossoms. When da plucked one, it hurt him and when Ronald tore off those from your rosebush, it caused him such agony he couldn't stand."

Elizabeth's eyes widened at this intelligence and a fierce gleam came into them. "Destroying the flowers hurts the Beast? If I'd known that, I would have cut down that bush as soon as I could!"

He grasped her arms. "No, Lizzy! Please! I know you've been hurt by having me go away from you. I know you don't truly know the Beast as I have. But he's been nothing but kind to me and I owe him everything...even my life."

"Your life? He stole you from us!" she protested. Even as she said it, she knew it wasn't true. As Riley had told her again and again, he'd chosen to run off to the Beast and chosen to stay.

He saw her deny the lie even as she spoke it. "That's not true, Lizzy. How many times do I have to tell you? And the Beast did save my life. I collapsed one day from the heat. I would have died from sunstroke if he hadn't come to my rescue."

"Oh, so that's it? You want to spare his life out of gratitude?" she muttered.

"I-It's more than that."

"It is?" Her eyes swept over him and she saw how furtive he'd become. "What more could there be than false gratitude? I understand he's treated you well, fed you, clothed you and housed you. But that's just the behavior of a good host. You don't owe him anything especially since he's kept you from us for three years."

"I know that. But I made a promise to return to him and I must keep that promise."

"You what?" she yelled. "Why would you do that? Riley, you're free of him. There's no tie between the two of you and you said he doesn't want to eat you. Why would you go back there? The life we lead isn't grand enough for you?" she sneered.

"Lizzy, you know that's not it," he chided her.

"I know that. But how could you do this? And how could you tell me such a thing today of all days?"

He embraced her only to have her body remain rigid in his arms. "I wanted to tell you, Lizzy, truly I did. I remember when we were younger when we used to tell each other everything." He thought of Gavrin. "Well, almost everything. But I didn't want to taint our time together with the thought that I would have to return to him. And I wouldn't have spoken today if-"

"If Cordelia hadn't talked about cutting off a few roses," she said dully. She pushed herself from his arms to look into his face. "Riley, I know you have a Finn's pride and your word means a great deal to you. But your time in the Beast's castle was nothing but a long, idle fairy tale. It's time to put all that aside. You're back in the world now, Riley, with your own life to lead. You wanted me back in the world. It's time you made the same decision. Forget the Beast."

Riley wavered. Was it really that simple? He cared about the Beast, more than he should have, more than he'd realized. But he had told Elizabeth to leave the sterile air of the convent. The Beast's castle had been similarly closed off, with the two of them locked into staring at the world from behind an icy, unfeeling pane of glass.

But he'd given his word and there was more binding him than a sense of obligation or gratitude. But he couldn't tell that to his sister or anyone and, without that explanation, how could she understand? "Lizzy, I'm sorry. But this isn't something I can go back on. God wouldn't suffer to lose one follower. The Beast will if he loses me."

She frowned. "That's blasphemy, Riley Finn. The life and soul of one human being is infinitely more precious to God than that of a soulless creature like this vile monster."

Riley's jaw clenched at hearing the Beast referred to in this fashion. But three months were hardly enough time to change Elizabeth's long-held opinion of the creature that'd kept her Riley from her. And there wasn't time to do it now. "God has many followers. The Beast has only one. I can't abandon him, Lizzy. Please understand and, if you can't understand, try to forgive."

"I remember you saying that to me once before and after that I didn't see you for three years," she pointed out. She bent her head and then raised it to look at him, the gray in her eyes swimming a little. "You're going away forever this time, aren't you? I'm never going to see you again?"

"Perhaps not. I can't say what the future will hold. But soon you'll be so busy raising a family of your own you won't even think of me."

"Not going to happen." This time she did throw her arms around him and he heard her whisper in his ear. "I'll think of you always, Riley. Especially after my first son is born. I'm going to name him after you and tell him all about you so that your name will never die out in our family."

"Lass, I'm touched, I truly am. So let's get you to the church, shall we?"

She only smiled back, brushing away tears with one gloved hand while she shooed him away with the other. "Go on with you. I have to call the others back to help me with my dress. I'll see you at the church."

" 'Till then, Lizzy." He gave her a parting kiss on the cheek before disappearing.

After he went, Lizzy gathered up her bouquet, staring at the blossoms with an unreadable expression on her face.

__________

Riley looked on as his sister became wed to the man she cared for so dearly. But the ceremony seemed to take forever. He had watched from another carriage as her expansive train had been gathered up so it didn't trail on the ground and bundled into the carriage that would carry her to the church. He'd been seated on her side and waited interminably while the organ music played and she came marching in that stately way down the aisle.

But the joy he'd felt had been coupled with worry, growing stronger by the minute. By the time they'd kissed and the others hand stood, clapping and applauding the newly married couple, he had become frantic, his heart pounding in fear. What was wrong? What was the terror that was even now tearing at him with his claws?

He could barely bring himself to make the necessary gestures of polite well-wishing to the happy couple. He bore the congratulations and handshakes of the other guests for only a few minutes before tearing himself away. Then he ran off and jumped into one of the waiting carriages.

The driver looked at him with irritation. He'd been hoping to flirt with the bridesmaids and snatch a bit of wedding cake back at the bride's house so he was a little upset that one of the guests would leave so early. "What are you doing? The bride and groom are heading back to her house. Don't you want to wait for 'em?"

"I'm heading that way myself. Please hurry and I'll give you this." Riley held up a pearl brooch, one of many parting gifts from the Beast for his family. The man's eyes gleamed at the treasure and he flicked the horse with his whip.

"No worries, mate. We'll be there in two shakes of a lamb's tail." He spurred on the horse. But the streets of Galway were busier than usual that day, with carriages and bustling foreigners and travelers occupying the streets. Or perhaps this was normal activity and it was only Riley's fear that made it seem so crowded.

They pulled up to the spacious new Finn home and Riley cried out as he saw the smoke billowing from the rear of the house. The coachman stared in shock. "Fuck me! What in blazes is happening here?"

Riley pounded on the door. "Help! Is there anybody in the house?" One of the maidservants came scurrying out, her eyes blinking nervously at the Finn standing on the doorstep.

"Don't just stand there gaping, woman," he snapped at her. "Can't you see the flames? There's smoke, for God's sake! Get the butler or footman or whoever's in the house and have them get buckets of water. The house's afire!"

"Nay, it's not the house, sir. And we were told to leave the fire be."

He stared at her. "But that's madness. Why would you let-?" His voice trailed away and the fear that hadn't left squeezed his heart. He ran behind the house and was mute at the inferno that greeted him.

The rosebush, the one he'd begged Elizabeth not to touch, had been hacked down from against the house and the torn remains heaped in a pile in the courtyard. They were burning merrily in the bright day and he tore off his cape and beat futilely at the pyre, screaming for the servants who never came. Even as he tried, Riley could see it was too late. The blooms were blackened by the flames; there wasn't a single red petal left on them and the fierceness of the heat drove him back again and again even as he tried to beat out the flames. He sank to his feet, staring helplessly as the fire consumed the last branch, leaving nothing but a smoking, twisted ruin in the courtyard.

This was how he was when the first of the wedding guests began trickling into the house. The pyre had left smoke floating into the sky and he wondered dully that nobody came to investigate. Then he stood up and marched to the house.

The rest of the wedding party were toasting the newlywed couple, lifting up bumpers of ale and champagne, a novelty from France, when the first guest noticed the blackened figure standing on the outskirts of their company. One by one they fell silent, leaving a wide circle as he strode into their midst, and Elizabeth finally noticed the grim, mute figure. "Who are you?" She peered closer, her eyes widening. "Riley?"

"How could you, Lizzy?" There was no anger in his voice, only choked defeat as he stared at her with dead eyes.

"How could I what? What are you talking about?"

He flared at her attempt to seem innocent in front of the others. "You know full well what I'm talking about!" he rasped, his throat ashen and dry from his exposure to the fire. "You burnt it! After everything we've said. After I begged you to leave it alone! How could you do it?"

"Do what? Riley, I don't know what you're talking about!" She reached for his arm only to have him twist away, his features distorted almost beyond recognition with the grime and despair.

"You burnt the rosebush! It's lying out there in ashes behind the house! How could you do this to me when you know what it meant?!"

"Don't blame her, Riley. It was my doing." The quiet voice came from behind Elizabeth and she turned to see her father standing behind her.

Riley stared at his father, his throat working. "You, da? You did this? Why?"

"I overheard the two of ye talking. That thing has been naught but a trouble to me..."

"Really? Because it seems to me you've profited very well from the Beast's generosity," Riley said bitterly, sweeping his arm to show the room with its rich apparel, exquisite furnishings and the elaborate displays of food set out for the guests.

Mr. Charles Finn flushed as the guests looked on with avid curiosity. They may have been cultured people in Galway but it wasn't an Irish wedding until a fight broke out and it looked like a good one was brewing now. "What does he mean about a beast, Mr. Finn?" one guest called out.

The merchant smiled nervously. "It's naught. My son's a wee bit upset..."

"A bit upset? Do I look a BIT upset to you, father?" He swept the guests with a narrow gaze. "Do they understand about the source of your wealth? Do they know why I was gone for so many years?"

"Now's not the time to speak of this, Riley," Mr. Finn said, licking his lips. "This is supposed to be a happy day. Think of yer sister. Think of her happiness."

"Were you thinking of her happiness when you burned those roses? They were always precious to her and now you've destroyed them on the very day she was wed."

"It was necessary, lad, trust me. The time will come when ye'll understand and thank me."

The light dawned and Riley sucked in his breath. "This wasn't about Lizzy. This was about me, wasn't it? They don't know about the Beast because you didn't tell them. You burnt the bush to keep me from going and leaving you to lie about my disappearance again, didn't you? What tales have you been spreading, father?"

He shut his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, there was no anger, only dull condemnation. "So this is what the famous Finn pride has come to. Greed, murder and lies for the sake of appearances. Well, I leave you to enjoy it, father. And you needn't worry about me staying and sullying the family name with my stories."

He didn't wait for his father's reply only swung around and stalked from the room. There was a stunned silence and then Elizabeth ran after him, heedless of her wedding gown or how it slowed her. "Riley! Riley, wait!"

He barely listened, bringing the black steed from the stables. Thankfully, his father hadn't thought to have the animal killed or perhaps he'd thought he could sell it. He didn't know nor care. There was nothing for him here any more and he couldn't stay under this roof a moment longer.

Elizabeth came staggering up to him, hampered by both hands clutching the hem of her dress. "Riley, I'm so sorry! I didn't know father would do this." She stared at his averted face, seeing the grim lines set into it. "Don't leave me angry like this. Not on my wedding day."

He turned towards her. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth," and she paled to hear him use her full name. "I know you weren't responsible for this. But the Beast's life is in danger and I can't bide here another moment. I must go and I must go now."

She bit her lip and dropped her head. Tears splattered the ground and he tipped her chin up with finger, trying not to smudge her too much. "Nae, lass. Don' weep on yer weddin' day. It brings bad luck." His hand dropped away and he waved at her helplessly. "I'd hugged you but I'm covered with soot."

She hurled herself at him and hugged him once more. Once again the oldest and youngest Finn children stood in each other's arms, both of them knowing it was for the very last time. Riley kissed the golden hair on top of his sister's head and mounted the stallion without another word. She stood by in her soiled wedding gown and watched as the animal vanished in a blaze of light.

__________

"Beast! Beast, where are you?" Riley sprang from the horse's back, not even stopping to watch it go into the stables. He ran up to the castle front doors. They hung open negligently and he had to push at them to widen them further. He ran through the halls, calling out for his benefactor, his friend. The halls were silent but this time they held no hint of a presence, no impression of the unseen watchers he had learned to sense in his time spent here. He stood before the mirror and demanded sign of the Beast. But it showed him nothing but the visage of a burnt, wild-eyed stranger.

He ran from the castle, still calling the Beast's name frantically as the afternoon stretched into early evening. The rose garden was still as vibrant as ever. But the Beast was nowhere to be seen. The pine forest, the orchard, the gazebo-all lay deserted and empty. There wasn't even a bird or insect to interrupt the dreaded stillness. It was as if all life had fled from the place and Riley sank on to a bench, panting and close to tears.

Night had fallen and he began to despair. The castle grounds were enormous, almost without end and he'd never explored them completely. Would he be able to find him now in the darkness? Something told Riley he didn't have hours to search for his beloved Beast and time was running out.

Then he started up. The pond! He hadn't checked that yet and that was where he'd last seen his host. He ran towards that, his breath burning in his lungs and nearly wept when he saw the hunched figure stretched on the shore, half in and half out of the water. He'd never seen the Beast by night and the body was diminished by the gloom, the blackness of his fur leeching into the ground around him, making the Beast seem small and insignificant.

The figure didn't move as he threw himself on it, the fur dry and oddly brittle under his hands. "Beast? Oh, Beast, please answer me. I didn't mean for this to happen, truly I didn't." There was no sound and no breath from the body he clutched so desperately. But Riley could feel the faint tremor of a heartbeat under his fingers and hope flared in him.

He scooped up water and threw it on the animal's head. At first it seemed to have no effect. Then a soft sigh welled up from the Beast and those red eyes fluttered opened to focus on his. "R-Riley? Is that you? Have you returned at last?"

"I have, I have. Just as I've promised." Riley pressed a soft kiss on its head.

"H-how long were you gone?"

Riley bent his head in shame. "Three months."

"Truly? There were moments when it seemed longer." The animal's eyes drooped shut and Riley's heart beat faster in terror.

"No, Beast. Please. Don't fall asleep. I'm here. I've come back to you and I won't leave you again, ever." He stroked the head and snout, not even noticing the stiff bristles rasping against his hands.

The eyes opened again, glazed and filled with agony. "But the burning-the roses in your sister's garden... They were destroyed, were they not? I could feel it." The Beast's body shuddered as if in pain still. "Riley, it hurt me so and I knew you must have betrayed me."

"No, it was not me, never," he sobbed. "My father heard me reveal the secret to my sister and seized on it to kill you. I am guilty of a gabbing tongue but not of active spite. Lizzy and I-we'd once been everything to each other and I couldn't leave her forever without letting her know why. When I saw the roses on fire, I tried to stop them from burning but I was too late." He dropped his head on the Beast's, tears leaking from his eyelids. "Oh, Beast. Please tell me you believe me, forgive me."

"I do." The bulky head lifted and that blue-black tongue licked feebly at his hands.

Riley jumped slightly at the sensation. It wasn't unpleasant but strangely cool like... "Beast, when I had sunstroke, I thought I felt a hand on my forehead. But it was you, wasn't it?"

There was a faint cough-the noise of laughter. "Yes. I had wanted to feel you for so long and I took advantage of your unconscious state to snatch a brief touch of your skin. I'm sorry."

"I'm not." The Beast didn't move again and Riley stilled. Then he lifted his head and gazed down at the body within his arms. "Beast? Beast? Why don't you answer me? Look at me! Beast!"

He shook at the heavy body lying unresponsive in his arms and collapsed across it, weeping as if his heart would break. "Please, please. Don't leave me like this. I love you. Don't leave me!"

"When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love rememb'red such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings." - William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), The Sonnets, no. 29 (1609)


TBC