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Previously : The beast is at Elaina's house.  Both Eliana and Izabelle take care of him. The look inside the villain's mind is given.  Elena considers the beast her prey and plans to ruin both her sister and Izabelle along with him.  She had hoped that Izabelle would lose her mind because of all the magical pressure in the air but till now she had managed, something that infuriates Elena.

**

Now:

The next morning the prince woke up from the non ending torment he was experiencing in his sleep. The first thing he felt was the wetness on his forehead and the next a sleeping figure resting on the bed next to him while sitting on a chair. A very awkward position indeed.  He first silently touched his head making sure not to wake up the person next to him.  An off white wet fabric graced his hands as he shifted around in his bed.  Putting the cloth aside he tried to stand up feeling dizzy as soon as he tried and falling back on the bed. As a result the girl asleep woke up. 

Izabelle jolted back at the speed of lightening, falling off the chair, when she saw the beast in front of her awake and sitting.  His huge frame took up all the space on the bed and he was like a king on a throne, sitting powerfully. Even though it was but a bed the presence of the beast made it somehow have more to it.  His sharp red eyes darted everywhere and a pale moonlight like glow had come back to his beastly body.  Izabelle noticed the white cloth in his hand stood up quickly.

"You should rest still. " She said concerned even though her fear of him was still there in the corner of her mind. Their eyes connected for a moment but the moment passed just as soon as it happened.

"You both do not have that luxury." Eliana said coming up from behind and the bewildered beast just sat collecting his thoughts.  A flash of shock passed through his face but was covered up before anyone could see. 

"Eliana." The beast said,  his voice lower and scratchy than ever. From what Izabelle knew, the beast had no idea Eliana lived. She simply helped him from the dark for the past century and a half.

"Adam." Eliana responded in the softest voice Izabelle had ever heard from her.  Izabelle knew she loved him but seeing them now, as they were, the beast on the bed with the softest gaze and the white haired witch besides her with almost a tearful voice made it seem all the more real.

"What do you mean?" Izabelle said seeing the seeing the sick beast. She couldn't journey with him knowing that he is for one sick and secondly still affectionate towards Eliana.

"The clock ticks past no matter who needs rest.  I need you both to embark on the journey for his sake as soon as possible." A dense atmosphere set between the three. The air felt heavier to breath in as the second ticked past. Unanswered doubts hung between the two females while the beast looked at them in silence. His head filled with questions more than Izabelle's. 

"Eli-" The beast started but held his tongue. He knew some things were best left unsaid. Knowing that being there was just a little too much, Eliana turned to leave.

"You know what to do, leave when the sun sets. Give him that every time the sun shines. Take all the necessary things from the room next door. I won't be there to bid you good bye." With that Eliana vanished down the corridor not to be seen by the two for some time to come.

*

Lord Willington and Izabelle were on horses with their hoods up and bags packed the hour after that. Stallions  dark like the moonless sky were their companions for the journey to come.  A journey across the kingdom to another in search of a person who may or not exist now.

The journey was silent apart from the sound of galloping and owls. The beast sat clad in robes heavier than the lugage he carried. For the time of the journey the beast was to play the role of a noble soldier marred in war. This would deter any questions aimed his way. Izabelle, as per Eliana's instructions, would act as his young aid who was helping him cross borders to meet with some known herbalist in the town of scholars.

Before Izabelle knew it, the small village that she had taken refuge in passed along with many others.  She was farther away from home than she had ever been but the homesickness was driven away by the feeling of excitement even if with a little fear.  The idea that the beast wasn't well,  a beast, was slowly incorporating in her mind.  However it was yet to settle in fully.  The prince's outward appearance was one thing to be fearful of but to add to it his random outbursts didn't help. She just did not know how to respond to him or behave in his presence, that was the scariest of it all.  How was she to survive on the road with a person who till date did not bother having decent conversation with her? Before heading out she had filled him in on the important details but all he had done was watch with those dark, blood red eyes of his.

As the night deepened a loud howl tore the silence. Followed by it were many more howls. A pack of wolves was afoot to hunt for their next prey. 

***

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Princess_Arielanne