Belle is a maid living in service of a handsome prince who she falls madly in love with. Jealous of all the other women and angry at his refusal to notice her she curses him and turns him into a hideous beast. For years they remain together in the c...
The first lesson my father ever taught me was the importance of needing a weapon. I was around seven years old at that time and one day he pulled me away from the soul-crushing and painfully boring chore that my mother had tasked me with completing which was probably cleaning up after my brothers because clearly, she didn't want life to be easy for me. He pulled me onto his stallion and rode me out into the woods where he stopped outside this cave-like structure. Instructing me to remain quiet, my father led me into the cave-like thing where I saw what could arguably be one of the most disturbing things he had ever shown me. Tucked away deep in the cave was the broken and rotting carcass of a cow. It must have been there for a while because it was sticking and not much of its body was left. Only a few bones with bits of flesh and meat stuck to them.
"It was captured by a group of wolves a few days ago. They'veravaged the poor thing."
"Why are you showing me this papa?" I asked him, my voice trembling with fear.
"Valerie, I'm going to teach you many things but one of the most important ones is what I'm about to tell you right now. That is to always have a weapon on you."
"Why?"
"Because my little one there are goingto be people and sometimes things in this world that will want to attack you as these wolves did to that cow. Only I want you to be prepared. This world is dangerous Valerie and you are eitherthe hunter or the hunted."
I've never thought much about that day, to be honest, but standing here in front of Gaston as he swings at me with a sword has resurfaced the memory of that day. The day when I decided I was never going to be the hunted.
Before the sword can slice down on me I grab the dagger I keep tucked away in my boot. It's small in comparison to Gaston's impressive blade but it does the job and stops my flesh from being sliced open.
Gaston with his sword still resting on my dagger smirks at me. Nodding, he lifts the sword away from me and sets it back down on the table he took it from.
"I must admit that was impressive. I didn't quite expect you to react so fast."
"Well, I didn't expect you to attack me so I guess we're even," I spit at him.
"Don't be like that, Valerie. I just wanted to see what kind of fighter I'm working with."
"You could have just asked me to fight you. I would have gladly accepted."
"Surprise attacks are always a better indicator of someone's abilities. That's one of the first things my trainer told me when I joined the army many years ago. His methods although questionable taught me many of the things I know today, each and everyone one of them is as valuable as the last."
A small smile forms on my lips.
"My father was the same way. He also used to use... unconventional methods to train me. He said I needed to be the best and he was going to make sure I was."
Gaston smiles at me.
"Good, then you shouldn't find the methods I'm going to use too difficult then. We'll start tomorrow until then you should get some rest, trust me when I say you are going to need it."
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