Inside the Beast's Castle

Chapter 16-- Yellow Eyes

Common sense is so rare, it should be classified as a superpower. -- Anonymous
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The dead rose bush and I were having an all-out war.

I tugged at the bottom near its roots, trying to pull it from the place that it was planted. I had decided the day before that I would clean the garden up some--meaning that I wanted to try to get the plants in it actually living, not having dead sticks in the ground.

"Umph!" The rosebush suddenly pulled free from the ground, and I wound up five feet away from my starting point, sitting on my rump. I groaned and rubbed the spot. I was going to be sore the next day, I knew it. As if that ever stopped me.

"Need help, Miss?"

I whirled around, brandishing the dead sticks like a sword at the person who spoke.

"Raul." I smiled at him and lowered the bush in my hand, shrugging.

Raul smirked. "Not planning on impaling me with that, I hope."

I laughed. "No, not you."

He moved over next to me and bent down to his knees at the dirt.

I was still standing. "You don't need to help, Raul. I'm fine doing this on my own.

He plunged his hands into the dirt and, with a soft ripping sound, pulled the second bush up easily. I watched, astounded.

Raul smirked. "Are you sure, Miss?"

I closed my mouth, which had dropped open. "Um, never mind. I didn't say anything. Help is good."

He laughed quietly. "Alright then."

We worked in silence so long I lost track of time. We yanked out the last of the dead flowers and the weeds that had sprouted like beanstalks over time from the section I started in, then moved down to the next corner of the maze and began all over again.

"How has the magic been going?" Raul broke the silence, but I almost wished he hadn't. The magic had been coming easily to me since the lesson--if it was even called that--the Beast gave me. Even time I tried a new spell, I could get it down within five minutes of learning the word. I could even think the words on a few spells and get whatever is supposed to happen, to happen. It was just, since the week before--when he finally snapped at me-- I hadn't wanted to think of the Beast. I had successfully avoided seeing him or hearing him. Even Emilia, who had proven time and again that she liked to talk whenever she could, failed to mention him. To be honest, I thought I liked the castle more without the thought of a man that lost his temper at every little thing being one of the two people I could talk to at a time.

I sighed and answered Raul's question. "Very well. I am getting better at it." I smiled, pleased with myself, although I didn't want to admit it. "I can move more than pebbles now."

Raul sat back from leaning over the flowerbed. "Would you be willing to give an example, Miss? I am fairly curious. Besides, if you don't mind me saying, it would be much easier to use that than to do do this manually."

I thought it over, then nodded in consent. Holding my left arm in front of me, I splayed my fingers out and chanted, "Pano."

The bush slowly rose up from the dirt, roots and all. It floated in the air for a minute, then I dropped it to the ground, its dirt sprayed in all directions at the impact. I caught my breath. I didn't realize I had been holding it.