The Beast of Rose Castle

-= 22 =-

The morning had come and the Beast was pacing in his room, wondering how he would be able to find his Beauty that had mysteriously disappeared. 

He regretted what he had done. Sending her away from the library and yelling at her had been a harsh reaction. Vardan honestly had no clue where such violence had come from. Perhaps he was nothing but a Beast, but at least he could act civil to the girl who intrigued him more than any other. 

He had heard the servants talking about how she had not been in her room come morning and that no one had seen her since she disappeared off to her bedchambers. Vardan had not barged into their conversation, rather taking the information and searching for Annelie himself.

Yet, through everything he did, every attempt he made, she was nowhere to be found. He was left confused and undeniably worried about what had become of her.

When the time came to serve breakfast, he was outside, checking that she didn't try to jump out of any windows. It was a silly response, but he had been unable to comprehend eating when she was missing, out of his sight. 

He was stopped cold in his tracks and stared ahead at the iron gate. His eyes moved over it and a shout unwillingly escaped him. The Beast charged forward, unable to keep still any longer. Even as servants found themselves outside with him, he didn't stop until he was on his knees by the iron gate. He took flower petals in his hands, the browning red making him curse out profane words in anger. Servants who had come to try and calm him quickly noticed the display that had become of their gate.

The roses were dying.

"Where is she?" he roared. Unable to keep himself still, he rose to his feet and began to pace next to the wilting roses.

Merrick and Gioia hurried outside at all the ruckus, finding that the Beast was growling and moving erratically. They had been unable to see what he had been reacting to, but notice the wilting roses on the gate. 

A feeling of dread started in Gioia's gut, a motherly feeling of warning. Before she could understand her own emotions she was gripping Merrick's hand, wondering where her daughter was. 

Navini found her eyes locked on the gate, unable to move. 

Liyor and Zaman, usually the voices of reason, froze where they stood along with Navini, unable to believe what they were seeing.

None of the servants moved, just lost in the realization of what was happening. Their beloved Annelie was dying, that they knew. The roses were the simplest proof of the fact. Instead of worrying about themselves and their own likely unending immortal existences, they were focused on the gate and the fact that Annelie was going to be gone by the time the last rose petal fell.

Vardan paced, not willing to lose the girl he had come to appreciate more than anyone. He didn't want to lose the girl who taught him everything. Least of all did he want to lose the girl who had a smile like no other, and an ability to make him at peace with everything that had ever happened to him.

The Beast came back out, and he was raging. What was his was being taken from him, and he would do anything to get it back.

He hurried back to the castle, ready to tear the building apart to try and find out where she was. If she wasn't there, he doubted that he could be able to live in such beauty any longer. His castle had become a prison, cold walls that caged him in. It was torture to be hidden within the walls, to not be able to search beyond the iron gate that signaled the end of his leash.

Another roar left him, shaking Rose Castle with its ferocity far more than it had the night before. More and more exclamations of his rage echoed down the halls, frightening anyone who heard it.