Free Deceit: A Beauty and the Beast Novel by M.J. Haag Page A

gaze dropped to the ground beside him.
Tiny leaves dotted the area. Her hair.
    “You have my word.”
    The words barely reached my ears, but it was
enough. I cleared my throat and set my resolve. I would help
him.
    “Can I still do as I please?” I asked.
    He snorted in response.
    “Given your refusal to listen to any command
I make, I would say yes.”
    “Perfect. I’ll return before dinner,” I spun
away with the hope that he’d wonder what I intended.
    I didn’t walk very far, my bag gently tapping
against my hip, when I heard him follow. There were a few things
we’d misunderstood when trying abstinence to help his chances with
the enchantress. His willpower and his boredom. He had too much of
one and not enough of the other.
    Now, I planned to coax him from his shadows
of observance into the light of participation. It most likely
wouldn’t work, and he would roar and growl and leave in a storm,
but the more we tried, the more I learned about him. I felt certain
I’d eventually learn enough to truly help him.
    Marching north, I ambled through fallow
fields and quiet forests until I came to the wall. Unlacing my
boots, I tossed them to the ground and began to climb one of the
trees that stretched over the stacked stones.
    “You’re going to fall. Get down,” he called
to me as I climbed out of his reach.
    Laughing, I kept climbing up and up until I
reached the thinner branches of the canopy. I looked to the south,
and far in the distance, I saw a bit of roofline. To the northwest,
the moving waters of the river twinkled in the sunlight. I looked
down at the beast.
    “Are you able to leave these walls?”
    “Yes,” he said suspiciously, “Why?”
    I crossed my legs around the branch and
started scooting forward toward the empty space that separated me
from my destination. I loosened my legs and dangled from the branch
to squat on top of the wall.
    “Then come on.”
    He looked up at me with concern.
    I slipped over the wall and out of his sight.
Slowly, I worked my way down the wall, one foot and handhold at a
time. The beast sailed over the wall, his back feet clipping it
with a thunk, before I reached the ground.
    “Impressive,” I said, looking up at the top
of the wall that towered above my head. “You can clear it in one
jump?”
    “Yes, when necessary,” he said, sniffing the
air. “Why are we outside the estate? It isn’t safe.”
    I scoffed at his concern. He was an enchanted
beast. What had he to fear? I briefly thought of the stories of
hunters and pillagers who’d tried to come for him in the past then
quickly started walking away from the wall.
    “You’ll see why. It’s a bit further. Come
on.”
    We walked for another hour before the sound
of the river reached my ears. My bare feet were starting to hurt,
and I regretted not bringing the boots in the bag. But, I’d worried
they would cause me to lose my balance on the tree.
    Finding a quiet inlet, I stripped two
branches for poles, attached the string and hooks I’d discovered in
the bag, and handed one to the beast. I sat on a rock at the
river’s edge and dangled my feet into the cool water. The beast
stood beside me, holding the pole uncertainly for a moment, then he
joined me.
    We sat in companionable silence for several
hours while the fish ate our worms and laughed at our efforts. With
the sun overhead, I pulled my hook from the water and opened my
bag, hungry for the bread and cheese I’d taken from the
kitchen.
    Reaching to offer the beast half of the food,
I watched him study the water. His eyes darted over the surface,
following the shadows of the fish underneath.
    “This is pointless,” he growled.
    I smiled at his frustration. “It’s how most
people eat every day,” I said, handing him the food. “Haven’t you
ever had to work for your food?”
    He scowled at me, but he accepted what I
offered.
    “There’s something about it,” I said. “A
savory flavor to the food I gather with my own hands.”
    I