Beauty of the Beast

Life was full of contradictions.

It had just enough treasures, power and beauty to make humans fight, lie, deceive and murder in their quest to attain them. Never too many to make them common and never too little to make them unattainable.

There was just enough for everyone to fight over. Every precious object had a conceited owner and a thief who coveted it. Every title came with equal amounts of risk to your life and the thrill of being the one who called the shots.

It was a nasty equation where you had to constantly work to stay on the winning side and work equally hard to keep others on the losing side. A scale that was precarious and needed constant efforts to keep it unbalanced and tipping in your favour.

And Eris had worked too hard to have the scales not be in her favour. But fate had other plans.

Her small group of loyal servants and slaves worked frantically to fit as many of her treasures into sacks that they could carry: silks, gems, trinkets, silverware and art. Everything was mercilessly shoved into practical yet unbecoming hessian sacks as Eris scrambled to save what she could of her meticulously planned existence.

Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest, its beating so loud that she couldn’t hear anything else. She shouted orders as she pulled the most valuable of her possessions from their display spots while she walked past those that were either too large to carry while they fled or were slightly less valuable than the things she had picked.

“We have to move, Mistress. NOW!” Her bodyguard shoved her through the back door of the compound where some of the carts holding her possessions had already taken off, loaded to the brim, while the rest were getting readied to leave.

Any other day, she would have had his tongue for speaking to her so boldly, but today, she desperately hoped that he was as capable as he was mean. Because her life depended on it.

Picking up the hem of her powder blue robes, she ran, stumbling over things dropped by those who had fled before her. Her beautiful white marble courtyard with intricately engraved columns and stone inlaid mosaic patterns on the floor was littered with clothes and pots and pans.

She almost tripped on a gem-encrusted silver goblet that was Gaius’s favourite but her bodyguard grabbed her before she hit the ground. They didn’t have time to pick up every piece of her household that was so dear to her and she looked back longingly at the shining goblet that lay on the ground as she was half-dragged half-carried to the waiting chariot.

How had her life come to this?

All these years, she had spent every second of her existence building this life. The grandest and most beautiful home in the border city of Thibillish which was famous for its beauty and architecture. She had overseen every aspect of its construction from the fountains in the fragrant garden to the carvings of the lion head spouts. Each stone and each tile had been laid exactly to her specifications and each room had been designed to perfection. Every sculpture, every vase and every vessel was bespoke and every unique object had been brought from far-off lands to adorn her home.

And she had paid for it in more ways than one.

She had left her family behind in the old and crowded capital where they were safe from invasions but would never get a chance at bettering themselves. Even though her sisters felt like she had abandoned them, Eris simply felt she had outgrown the life she was born into. Thanks to her looks, she had found a way of getting out and she took it. How was that her fault?

Not that it was easy for her but she took the chances she got.

Gaius, her saviour and knight in shining armour, was older than her father even though he was a handsome man. He had taken one look at the baker’s daughter and decided to take her as a concubine. So what if he wasn’t offering her a dignified existence of being a wife and so what if he was known to be incapable of producing any more offspring? He had enough grandchildren from his first two children and he despised his wife enough to want another woman to keep him company all the time.

So what difference did it make that he didn’t love her and only wanted her for her beauty?

When she accepted his offer and spent the week with him at the inn he was staying in, spreading her legs for him as and when he demanded, she loved him enough for the two of them and he adored her enough to give her whatever she asked for. But her family didn’t understand why she wanted to be with a man much older than her who lived in the dangerous border areas of the province where fighting and pillaging were rampant.

But she was finally seeing a glimmer of hope for a life she had craved. The clothes that Gaius dressed her in were finer than anything she had seen in her life and the luxuries he gave her were unheard of even in the capital.

So she never looked back and moved on from her childhood home to spend the last five years of her life being the famously beautiful Eris who was rumoured to be the prettiest woman in all of the mainland if not the world. Gaius received guests from all over who wanted a glimpse of his famous concubine. And to Eris’s secret disgust, Gaius paraded her around for their eyes like a trophy he had snatched away from other men.

He’d order her dressed in the sheerest of fabrics that clung to her curves, covering barely enough to be modest yet showing off her flawless figure and breasts and he had her cleaned and polished with beauty products from around the world that left her skin unblemished and softer than a duck’s down.

Her perfumes were one of a kind and her hair was styled to stay off her body, showing off her beautiful sleek neck and back. She was his most prized possession and he liked having her on display in the home he had funded for her, surrounded by riches he had bought for her and showing off the body that he had in his bed every night. He liked being the envy of every man around him and he gloated in his ability to keep a concubine like Eris in comfort and luxury.

It would have been degrading and humiliating for Eris, if she hadn’t known the real reason Gaius liked to have her as a concubine. She knew that he was simply compensating.

Even though men lusted after her and tried to pay Gaius handsome amounts of silver to let them have her for just one night, in everyone’s eyes Gaius was the lucky one who got to take her to bed every night.

But that’s all he did…at least on most nights.

Eris had discovered early on from their first few nights at the inn that Gaius had a problem. He didn’t get very hard or very often. And when he did manage to get in the right state and managed to climb on top of her, he didn’t last very long. However long he lasted, he liked her playing along, moaning and shouting loud enough for the guards and servants to hear her. And Eris was happy to play along as long as Gaius provided her with what she wanted.

Therefore, they had lived together in harmony for five whole years, till that morning.

Somehow, the cruellest of their enemies had made his way to the city’s gates with a massive army and in an attempt to avoid a siege, the Governor had accepted a battle between their strongest warriors to avoid widespread bloodshed.

So earlier that morning, their mightiest fighter, the commander of Thibillish’s army, had fought Angariot, the personal guard of the ruthless commander of the neighbouring province that controlled the mines.

When Angariot won, he proceeded to slay the Governor of Thibillish and chaos ensued right after. Just because there was no battle didn’t mean there wasn’t going to be any plundering. There had been shouting and screaming in the city centre but Eris had been in her bedchamber, having her morning goat milk soak and heard nothing. Gaius had gone to the city gates to see the fight and never returned. But a servant had come back to take his family with him before he fled and told them the dreary news. Thibillish had fallen.

Apparently, Gaius had seen the outcome of the fight before it ended and snuck out of the city before the pillaging started, abandoning Eris and his household. Thankfully, Eris’s guards had taken control and within fifteen minutes, dragged everyone to a convoy of carts and chariots at the back of the compound and away from Tiberius’s advancing soldiers.

Tears rolled down Eris’s face as she looked back and saw the walls of her home get smaller and smaller as they kept moving towards the forest. The sounds of chaos were filling the air and the carts and chariots were suddenly too slow.

Unable to keep tabs on who was carrying what, Eris watched on helplessly as some of her servants and slaves abandoned their carts and ran into the forest. That was the first sign that they weren’t going to be able to make it.

Two enemy soldiers came charging from behind on large war horses, slashing through the convoy. Those who were in their path, barely had time to see the faces of their killers as their heads were slashed off their bodies.

A scream welled up inside Eris but her bodyguard clamped a hand over her mouth and lifted her off the chariot. She felt herself thrown across a horse as the guard galloped away from the fighting and into the thick forest. She turned her head to see everyone abandoning the bags full of her prized possessions as the enemy soldiers moved through the convoy and there was nothing she could do except watch helplessly.

The horse she was on was the fastest in the city. She knew that because she had paid good money for that claim. Her bodyguard weaved through the forest at great speed and she bumped along in her uncomfortable position. Branches and thorns caught onto her dress and tore it but her guard didn’t stop or slow down. He was adamant about keeping her alive and she was grateful for his loyalty.

She decided to reward him once they had escaped and caught up with Gaius because she was sure her benefactor would take her back if she managed to find him. He may not love her but he was attached to her. Anyone would be after five years of togetherness.

Finally, after an hour of non-stop fleeing, they came to an old abandoned roadhouse a little to the side of the main road. She and her guard stayed silent as he quietly moved closer to the dilapidated building.

When she stood on her feet again, she was a bit shaky and instead and the bodyguard grabbed her forearms to help her get her balance back. She hated being touched by the likes of him. His hands were rough and coarse, scratching her skin and making it crawl. So the flinch was almost involuntary.

But the guard noticed it and quickly moved his hands away. “I need to send them on a false trail after the horse. Go inside and stay hidden till I come to get you, mistress.”

Eris nodded and stepped into the roadhouse. Only half the roof was standing so she found a corner that was out of direct view of the entranced and curled up inside.

She was numb. This couldn’t be real. This had to be a nightmare and she was soon going to wake up and realise that it was all just a bad dream.

She had lost everything in the span of a few hours; her house, her man, her belongings; everything was gone. Everything for which she walked away from her home city and gave up her family for was gone. And she feared what might happen to her if she were taken prisoner. Tiberius was known to throw women to his troops and she had heard stories of the depths of depravity that his nasty and vile lot were capable of stooping to.

So even though she had lost her wealth, for now she had escaped a terrible fate and all she had to do was find Gaius. But where could he have gone?

Just when she thought she would have to travel to all the places he possibly had safe houses,she heard it. His voice.

Her eyes widening, she scurried to the edge of a window, trying to stay out of sight. Sure enough, Gaius and the two men who had left with him that morning were trotting along the road and moving towards the roadhouse. With him was the bodyguard who had helped Eris escape and another soldier whom Eris didn’t recognise.

Overcome with joy, she stumbled out of the small building calling out to Gaius.

“Gaius! Gaius!!! You came back!! Oh, mother! You have no idea how worried I was that you’d fled the city.”

Gaius gave a curt smile as his eyes roamed over her body taking in the scratches and the torn clothes. “Did…umm..did someone..” he turned to her bodyguard without getting off his horse as Eris clung to his leg.

“No, Master. She hasn’t been touched since you left this morning. She got these injuries while we were fleeing through the thickets.” Her bodyguard assured Gaius.

“Ah well. Good. Good. You being safe was one of the conditions for…” Gaius was saying when Eris grabbed the saddle and pulled herself up on his horse. She threw her arms around him and sobbed uncontrollably as he went stiff. She didn’t mind his coldness. He was always cold, more so when others were around so this wasn’t something that alarmed her.

“Master, my reward.” Her saviour bodyguard said from beside them and pulling away from her, Gaius rummaged in his pockets.

“Ah yes. Your reward,” Eris watched on as Gaius gave a bag that looked heavy with coins to the guard. “And you can have the other half after you deliver Eris.”

Eris blinked as she wondered if she had heard him right. Deliver her? To whom?

“Wait. What?” She was looking at Gaius’s lowered eyes as the guard tried to pull her off the horse. “Gaius! What do you mean deliver me?”

She grabbed onto his robes and clung to her companion of five years for dear life as the guards tugged her off.

“STOP! LET ME GOOO!!” She screamed and she kicked and she fought with all her might as the guards tied her up and attempted to gag her while she thrashed wildly. What was happening? She thought she was safe!

She was unceremoniously loaded onto the stranger’s horse and Eris realised that he was wearing a uniform she didn’t recognise. That’s when it struck her that he must be one of Tiberius’s soldiers.

The blood drained from her face as she looked at Gaius with tears streaming from her eyes. “You’re handing me over?” She couldn’t believe it. It was like she meant nothing to him.

He didn’t even have the courtesy to make an excuse. He simply shrugged and said, “Tiberius is letting me keep all my possessions in return for you. I had no choice.”

With that, he turned his horse to the road and galloped away without a glance at her.

And Eris watched on helplessly as she was carried away to the cruellest man that ever existed.

Tiberius the Terrible.