The Beast's Bride

Octavia’s POV

"I will not recite vows to a monster."

My voice carried across the great hall before the assembled nobles like a blade through silk and the court fell silent.

Father's eyes turned to ice. "You will recite the vows, Octavia. As rehearsed."

I lifted my chin, meeting his gaze directly. "I refuse to pledge myself to the Beast Prince."

The nobles exchanged glances, whispers rippled through the crowd. Father's knuckles whitened as he gripped the arms of his throne.

"Clear the hall," he commanded, his voice deadly quiet.

The courtiers scattered like startled birds and within moments, only Father and I remained, the vast space suddenly oppressive in its emptiness.

He descended from his throne with measured steps, each footfall echoing off the stone walls.

"Defiant little whore," he said, almost conversationally. "Twenty years I've fed you, clothed you, sheltered you. And this is how you repay me?"

His backhanded strike sent me sprawling across the floor.

Stars exploded across my vision. Blood filled my mouth from where my teeth cut into my cheek.

"I saw you with that knight," he said, circling me like a predator. "By the stables yesterday. Laughing."

His voice dropped to a whisper as he lowered himself to meet my gaze.

"Did you think I wouldn't notice? That I wouldn't see how you look at him?"

I pushed myself up, tasting copper. "Sir Leon is my protector—"

"That boy is a fool who has filled your head with impossible dreams." He crouched beside me, his breath hot against my ear. "You think you have choices? There is none."

Another backhanded strike.

"You belong to the crown, and the crown belongs to me," he snarled, towering over me. "And you will serve your purpose!"

I pushed myself up on shaking arms. "I am a person—"

His boot caught me in the ribs, driving the air from my lungs.

I gasped, curling around the pain as he grabbed a fistful of my hair and dragged me upright.

"You are nothing but a vessel for alliance," he hissed in my ear. "Your only value lies between your legs, and I will not have you squander it on romantic foolishness!"

Then the lash came down across my shoulders, tearing through silk and skin alike.

I bit back a scream, refusing to give him the satisfaction. Again the whip fell, and again, each strike punctuated by his words.

"You will marry Prince Darius."

Strike.

"You will smile and obey."

Strike.

"You will birth his heirs and secure our kingdom's future."

Last strike and my knees gave out.

I collapsed to the floor, dress torn and bloodied, welts burning like fire across my back. Father stood over me, breathing hard, the lash still clutched in his fist.

"Take her to the tower," he called to the guards. "She departs for Bartume at dawn."

The heavy door slammed shut behind him, leaving me alone with the taste of blood in my mouth and fire across my back.

When they took me to my tower and then finally left me alone, I pressed my cheek against the cold stone wall near the door.

Trying to steady my breathing as crimson droplets fell from my split lip onto the gray floor while I was slowly sinking to it. The welts from his lash burned like brands, each one a reminder that my defiance had cost me everything.

The words had felt like freedom then, now they felt like chains.

Hours crawled by in the suffocating darkness. My legs trembled beneath my torn gown as I sank onto the bed, pulling my knees to my chest.

Then the hidden panel behind the tapestry creaked open.

"Princess?" Leon's voice cut through the silence.

I didn't turn around. I couldn't bear to see the pain in his eyes again. "You shouldn't be here."

"When have I ever listened to what I should or shouldn't do when it comes to you?"

The mattress dipped as he sat beside me, his calloused hands gentle as they lifted my hair away from the wounds. The wet cloth was cool against my burning skin.

I bit back a sob as he cleaned away the blood with heartbreaking tenderness.

"He saw us talking by the stables," I whispered, my voice raw. "Said I was being too familiar with my knight."

Leon's jaw tightened, but his touch remained gentle. "What did the King do?"

"Called me a whore. Said I was unworthy of the alliance." Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks. "Tomorrow, Leon... Tomorrow I leave for Bartume to marry Prince Darius."

His hands stilled against my back. "That beast?"

"Father says my purity is the only bargaining chip keeping us from war.” A bitter laugh escaped me. "Twenty years of life, and that's all I'm worth."

"Don't say that." Leon's voice cracked as he set the cloth aside, his fingers tracing my shoulder with reverent care. "You're worth everything, Octavia. You always have been."

I turned to face him then.

Seeing the boy who used to guard my window during thunderstorms. The boy who taught me to shoot arrows when Father wasn't watching.

The boy who kissed me behind the chapel when we were fifteen and still believed we could choose our own futures.

"Run away with me," he said suddenly, desperately. "Tonight. We could take horses, disappear to the eastern kingdoms where no one knows us."

"And watch him slaughter every servant who helped us? Hunt down your family?" I shook my head, even as my heart shattered. "You know what he's capable of, Leon."

"Then what? I'm supposed to let you go to that cursed castle? Let you marry a prince who might feed you to his monster?" His blue eyes blazed with anguish. "I've loved you since we were children, Octavia. I can't just watch you become someone else's sacrifice."

The weight of tomorrow pressed down on me like a stone.

In hours, I would climb into a carriage and ride toward a fate I couldn't control.

My father had stolen my choice, my future, my very body, treating me like livestock to be bartered away. But there was one thing he hadn't taken yet.

One choice that was still mine to make.

I turn to him, to Leon, and slowly begin to unlace the bodice of my gown. My fingers tremble, but I don’t stop.

His eyes widen, his breath catches, but he doesn’t speak. Doesn’t stop me. Doesn’t move.

"If I'm to be sacrificed to a monster," I whispered, voice shaking, "let me at least know love once."