The days passed quickly in the castle. Soon, the warm afternoons had gone, fading into the days where leaves would fall from the trees. Then, those days morphed into chilly days where each tree was mainly a large stick, with no leaves on to cover it. Everything was dreary looking from the outside. On the inside, things were the opposite.

Lizaveta and I days spent our days aggravating each other, but in a teasing way. She finally taught me a few letters and their sounds so I could read very simple books. I taught her more magic spells and better technique when she used the power. Her fighting had gotten beautiful. Watching the swords swing wildly around her head was like watching a ribbon dancer dance.

Except the ribbons were made of steel and sharp.

Everything we did, I only had one feeling that stayed with me.

It was happiness.

And that wasn't good.

The curse strictly said "No emotion without consequence." Happiness was an emotion. Everything I was feeling was an emotion. They were strong emotions.

And the consequences were already noticeable.

There were no more outer changes since the day my teeth became pointy. Nothing physical. But mental changes--they were there.

And they were not good.

The "beast" part of me, the part that always wanted out was fueled on by emotion. So, the starved little creature that stayed locked away in the back of my mind finally had some nourishment.

It thrived.

Every second of every day, I had to fight it. I had to manage my emotions enough that I could feel, but I couldn't feel too much. If I felt too much, it would get loose.

It spoke to me, too. The day I told Lizaveta my name, it made its voice known. It hadn't stopped. It would keep on talking.

And talking.

And talking.

Never ceasing. They say monsters don't sleep; that's false. I was a monster. I slept.

Emphasis on slept.

Once it started speaking, sleep was not a luxury. Sleep became something I couldn't do. Sleep became a war zone in my head, with me fighting against the creature, battling it out for control.

And then he'd start talking.

And never. shutting. up.

"Brennen!"

I didn't respond. Brennen?

"Brennen, come on! Let's go outside!"

Stupid. Brennen is you.

Over the four months that had passed since I told Lizaveta my name, the title "Brennen" was still unfamiliar. It was foreign to me.

"Outside? Why do you want to go outside now?" I cried. Isn't it morning?

"It snowed last night!" came the excited response, bursting through the doors.

Snow. Snow...

Very vaguely, the image of white flakes falling from the sky crossed my mind.

This'll be embarrassing.

I got up from the useless bed and over to the door, flinging it open. I cocked my head to the side and, already regretting my next sentence, spoke curiously.

"What is... snow?"

Lizaveta's mouth dropped wide open. "You're kidding," she said in disbelief.

I shook my head.

"You don't know what snow is?" she cried.

"Well, maybe I should rephrase." I know what snow is, but I'm not familiar with it.

"I know what snow is, but I've never seen it."

"You've never seen it?"

"Nope."

In one fell swoop, she grabbed my wrist and started dragging me towards the steps.

I bit back a laugh. "Lizaveta, what are you doing?"

I gazed over her fast-dressed body. She looked like she had literally thrown clothes on, and the shoes were a completely different matter. Her curly hair was in a bunched up, tangled mess from where she tried to hold it back with no avail.

Lizaveta didn't stop or answer me until we were at the door. "It is a sad day when someone I know says that they haven't seen snow before. I mean, the Upper Kingdom would get blizzards just about every year, and I still love snow."

She reached for the doorknob and turned back to look at me. "Do you get cold?" she asked thoughtfully.

I looked at my clothes. They were thin, not suited for winter weather. "No?"

She giggled. "You don't know, do you?"

I smiled. "No clue."

With one great push, she opened the doors. "Let's find out, shall we?"

This is really not a good idea.

A sharp pang hammered my head.

OH NO, PRINCE. THIS IS A FABULOUS IDEA. TAKE HER ADVICE. GO.

The fact that it wanted me to made me more worried than anything else.

"Aren't you coming?"

I looked up. Lizaveta was standing a few feet out, halfway turned around.

She smiled again, this time wider. "Please don't tell me that the Beast is afraid of a little thing like snow."

Not of snow.

I growled and stepped into the cold, wet stuff. "There. You happy?"
My response was something like getting a snowball thrown onto my face.

Shock was the only thing that hit me at that moment. "Lizaveta, what the--"

The rest of my sentence was drowned out by peals of laughter.

When she finally calmed down enough from laughing, she stared up at me.

I scowled, very well aware that she couldn't see that. There is, however, a glare called the "hairy eyeball" which she got a full dose of.

She trudged over to me, still smirking, and reached up, flicking some of the snow away that was lining my mask.

"There." She smiled. "Now the snow won't get inside your mask."

I didn't move. Without her knowing, there was a barrage of snow heading straight for her back. "But what about you?"

She tilted her head, confused. "Wha--"

Her eyes widened once she realized what was about to happen.

Too late.

With a flick of my fingers, the snow I was holding came hurling towards her back and dumped all over her.

I chuckled lightly.

Lizaveta glared at me, shivering.

I shrugged. "What? You're allowed to throw snow at me, but I can't retaliate?"

Her frown broke into a huge grin. "No, you can retaliate."

Another wall of snow showered me. Once I was able to see again, I saw her back. She was running away, as fast as she could go.

I laughed, enjoying everything. "Do I need to count to ten this time?"

A pang hit my chest. LET ME OUT. I'LL CATCH HER FOR YOU.

Go away, Beast.

With a skid, Lizaveta stopped in front of one of the ponds. It appeared to be frozen. "Nope!" she called. "Come over here, you need to try something!"

My footsteps crunched as I trudged through the snow. "What do I need to try?" I asked once I got next to her.

Wait, is she standing on the pond?

She carefully stepped off the frozen pond. "Do you know what ice skates are?"

She was standing on the ice. Not the brightest idea.

I drew my eyebrows together, wondering about the new words she sent my way. "No."

She bit her lip. "Okay."

Her whole body shook as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

What is she doing?

A soft whisper hit my ears.

"Ela."

There was a soft flump beside me. I glanced down. Two pairs of platforms with a sharp blade glued to the bottom were lying in the snow.

Lizaveta bent down and picked one pair up by the straps. She held them out to me. "Here you go! Put them on."

I looked at the skates, then at her, then the skates, then her again. "What?"

Please tell me you're joking.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, shoving the things into my outstretched hand. Bending down, she picked up one of the two remaining skates and strapped it to her foot. "Put them on. Like this."

The expression on my face must have been one of complete blankness. I did what she said, though.

"Now what?"

Happily, she stepped onto the frozen pond and pushed some of the snow away with her feet. "Come with me."

Haha.

I stepped carefully onto the ice and almost immediately lost my balance, slid around for a second, then stepped back off. I pointed to the frozen pond. "You have fun. I'll watch."

She shook her head stubbornly. "Nope. You're coming with me." Slowly, she made my way up to the edge of the ice and held out her hands. "Take my hand."

I looked at her doubtfully.

Her eyes met mine, searching for an answer. "Trust me," she whispered.

Reluctantly, I reached out and grabbed her hands, feeling the coldness of her skin. She wiggled backward, forcing me to step onto the slick surface. Her hands didn't leave mine, and I clutched her as if they were the last solid thing in the universe.

"See? It's not so bad," she said after a few minutes.

I had gotten a little accustomed to the balance I needed to stand.

Carefully, she slipped one of her hands away from mine. "You can stand on your own," she declared.

Yeah, no.

I gripped her other hand tighter, making sure she wouldn't let go. "I seriously doubt it."

The next few hours were dedicated to Lizaveta trying to get me to stand without holding on to her. It was only at the end where I did let go of her hand, and only briefly at that.

"See?" she cried as we stepped off the pond. "You got it."

Doing the same action I had been doing for hours on end, I shook my head. "Not really. Nor did I particularly like doing that."

"Why not?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Although I am glad that you forget what I am most of the time, I am well aware. Me standing on frozen water for any period of time is not exactly the best plan in existence."

She bit her lip, eyes flaming. Her eyes flickered away from me, then she looked back. "Well," she huffed, wiping her hands on the pants she wore, "You're just going to have to do better and not think about 'what you are' and get over it then, aren't you?"

Okay, then. That was... unexpected.

Lizaveta waved her hand and the skates that I still had clumsily strapped to my feet vanished. She started to walk back to the castle. "You coming?"

I stared at her as she bounced away.

That girl, I thought with a grin. She's going to be the death of me.

YOU'RE RIGHT ABOUT THAT, PRINCE.

I grimaced. The voice that had given me blissful silence while I was attempting to stand on metal blades came back full force.

I wasn't talking to you, Beast.

BUT YOU WERE. IF YOU TALK TO YOURSELF, YOU TALK TO ME.

No, I don't. You aren't me. You are a monster.

BUT YOU ARE A MONSTER TOO, ARE YOU NOT?

Not like you.

By the time I got back to the castle, Lizaveta looked like she had been there a while.

"Good, you're back!" She grinned and took my hand again.

"Lizaveta, what now?"

I looked up at the sky. We had spent longer than I thought skating on the pond.

"We are... going to walk this way," she answered, pulling me along.

I stopped with such suddenness that I felt her jolt back. "Aren't you hungry by now? It's easily mid-afternoon."

She shook her head. A low rumble came from her stomach, traitorously denying what she had just stated.

She looked sheepish. "See, the thing is with days like this is that there's only about one per year. So, if you haven't gotten your fill of snow by the end of that day, you are completely out of luck for the rest of the year."

Lizaveta started walking again. "Which means," she looked back at me. "You are coming with me. You need to see something."

I relaxed and followed her obediently. Curiosity killed the cat, I suppose.

We reached the outer edge of the forest before she stopped. Pointing up to the tree with the lowest hanging batches, she asked

"Can you climb?"

Before I could answer, she grabbed hold of a low-hanging branch and pulled, bracing herself with her feet against the trunk.

I watched her, astounded (though I shouldn't have been) at her climbing. "Yes."

Being part hunting animal does have its perks, I guess.

Nope. No, it doesn't. Forget that.

She looked down at me, already halfway up the tree. "Come on then."

I felt my feet on the snow-covered ground and pushed myself up, springing high enough to grab one of the higher branches. Lizaveta sat on a branch a few feet above me, staring out at something.

"Why did we climb up a tree, Lizaveta?" I questioned as I slid next to her.

She turned her head and smiled at me. "Just look. Look at the ground. Look at the trees. Look at everything."

I sighed. Why? "I don't see the big..."

I trailed off in mid-sentence.

Other than the footprints Lizaveta and I had marked on the snow, it lay on the ground like a blanket, making small hills that followed the slightest difference in the ground. Icicles hung down from the snow-brushed trees like ribbons, sparkling slightly in the sunlight. The best part of it all was the castle. The magnificent building, which was ominously dark most (all) of the time, was covered in the white powder. The snow twinkled gently in the light, making the whole scene seem like something one would find in a glass ball sold my merchants.

I didn't know it could be so bright.

We didn't move for hours, not speaking, just staring. Even the Beast didn't bother me.

Sometimes silence is the best way to speak.

The sun, which was high in the sky when we climbed the tree, slowly the sun made its way down toward the trees.

Lizaveta sighed. "I guess we should head back."

I looked over everything again, not wanting to move. "Yeah, probably."

I started down the tree first, with Lizaveta following behind me. She was so close that her foot very nearly hit my face a few times.

When we were close enough to the ground that I could let go without hurting myself, I did.

"Uff." The air left my lungs quickly once my feet hit the ground. Once Lizaveta was near enough, I reached up and wrapped my hands around her waist, picking her from the tree.

Gently, I set her down. "Now where to?"

A sad look crossed her face. "Back to the castle."

I nodded, feeling strangely disappointed.

We started to go back staying close to each other. I looked over at Lizaveta. Her whole body shook from the cold. Her long hair was damp from all the snow that had fallen on it and melted throughout the day. The shirt and pants she had on clung to her small body.

I touched her shoulder, not thinking. I never noticed the cold while we were out. While I looked about as wet as she was, I was warm.

She leaned close to me. "You're hot," she chattered.

No. You are cold.

Without saying anything, I reached beneath her legs and scooped her up, hugging her close to me. "Is that better?"

YOU ARE COMING DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO MEETING ME, PRINCE.

I ignored it.

Lizaveta snuggled into my arms. Her frigid nose touched my neck lightly. "How on earth are you not cold?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea."

She laughed.

She laughed.

It was like the tinkling of a bell. It was a beautiful sound. It was one that I'd heard more than once in the castle, but only then, walking through the snow, did I appreciate it.

YOUR MISTAKE.

Pain.

No. Agony.

It erupted in my head and spread to my chest like fire.

My knees buckled beneath me. I hit the ground in a puff of snow, vaguely feeling the ground below me.

"Brennen?"

I looked up at the girl--no, Lizaveta. Something tickled at the back of my throat, wanting out. My hands clawed at the back of my head, trying to find the string that held my mask on.

My chest was burning.

The tips of my fingers turned to small knives, cutting through the flesh on my head, and eventually, the string. The silver mask fell to the ground.

Whatever was at my throat started to wriggle up. I coughed, struggling to breathe through the fire.

Crimson stained the white snow below me as the thing broke free from my lips.

LET ME OUT!

No!

It wanted out.

"Brennen!"

I looked up, gasping for breath. Lizaveta stood above me, reaching her hand out.

Then something came from my back.

My skin ripped from the things that were pushing their way through.

FIGHT ME! COME ON, LITTLE BOY, FIGHT ME! LOSE! KILL THE GIRL!

Hold it back.

A scream tore its way from my throat. Blood dripped down from where my teeth punctured my lips, leaving a trail of blood running down my chin.

"Castle! Go! Get Raul!" I yelled.

Lizaveta stared at me, panic scrawled across her face.

"I'LL SEE YOU SOON, GIRL."

It only took a second for me to realize I had said that out loud.

"No!"

My body was protesting. I curled in a ball, hitting my hands against the ground, feeling the pain as my claws dug into my skin, screaming until my throat was raw, then screaming more.

Don't let it out.

Something snapped. More pain raced up my nerves.

"You can't have her, Beast," I huffed between breaths. "I win."

NO, LITTLE PRINCE.

I WIN.

_______________________________________

😁 Fun.