Beast in Shining Armor (18 page)

She
didn’t find land. 
It
found
her
.

Belle
thudded into an outcropping of rocks hard enough to see stars.  She shifted at
the last moment, so she took the impact instead of Avenant, jarring every bone
in her body.  Christ, but she hated this labyrinth.

“Avenant,
hold on!”  Belle managed to drag herself onto the stones and then lugged him up
beside her.  Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness and she could
see that he’d hit his head on something.  Dropping her to knees, she began
doing CPR the best she could.  She’d only ever seen it done in movies, but the
basics of it seemed simple enough.  If he would just cooperate, this would
work.  Except it wasn’t working.  Why the hell did he always have to make
everything so difficult?  Why couldn’t he just start breathing and…?

Avenant
came to with watery gasp.  He was swearing and coughing and
alive
.

He
was alive.

Belle
sat back, sobbing like she might never stop.

“Fuck.” 
Avenant quickly took stock and ran a hand through his wet hair.  “Belle, are
you alright?”

“No! 
You were dead, you asshole!”

“I
was?”

“
Yes.
”

He
blinked, seeing she was furious.  “Well, it wasn’t on purpose…”

“How
could you do that to me?”  She raged, cutting him off.  The relief and anger were
making her an emotional basket case.  “How could you abandon me like that?”

“I
didn’t.  I
wouldn’t
.”  His voice softened and he reached out to pull her
into his arms.  “Don’t cry, my love.  I’m here.”

Belle
let out a shaky sigh, leaning against his chest.  She was being ridiculous. 
She knew that, but she couldn’t stop.  “If you didn’t come back, I’d be
alone.”  She whispered.  It didn’t matter how many other people she knew,
Avenant was the one who really mattered.  Without him, she’d have nobody.  “You
can’t do that to me.  You can’t leave me all alone.”

“I
will
always
come back for you.”  His voice was warm in her ear.  “You
should know that, Bella.  Nothing in this world or the next would keep me from
you for long.”  He kissed the side of her head.  “You are my True Love in every
possible way.”

Belle
swallowed and lifted her eyes to his.  “Are you alright?”  He was the one who’d
been shot and she was the one in tears.  “How badly are you hurt?”  She pulled
back to examine his arm.  Her heart stopped as she saw blood stain the white
fabric of his shirt.

“It’s
alright.”  He glanced down at the wound.  “The bullet just grazed me.  I think
I whacked my head of the side of the rabbit hole.  That was what knocked me
out.”

“Bluebeard
shot you.”

“I
noticed.  Remind me to freeze him to death, someday.”  He looked around the
dark cavern.  “So this is that bottomless chasm you were talking about, huh?”

“Turns
out it has a bottom, after all.”

“Yes
and I’m thrilled to be at sitting in the middle of it.”  He didn’t sound
thrilled.  “You see what leaps of faith get you?”

“At
least we’re alive.”  Belle stood up.  “And, if we’re reading the journal right,
this is the way to Excalibur, so we’re still on track.”

He
gave a sigh.  “You couldn’t have just pulled me back up to the jungle level?”

“You
were too heavy.”

He
glanced at her with sharp eyes.  “So, I dragged you down here?”  He surmised.

“No. 
I came after you.”

Avenant
regarded her silently for so long Belle began to feel self-conscious.  “Well, you
followed me when the ice floor cracked.”  She reminded him.  “You think I’d
just let you go when you were in trouble?”

“I
think it’s lucky that you really are my True Love.”  He sounded utterly
serious.  “I could never give you up, Belle.  If you belonged to some knight in
shining armor, I’d have to steal you for myself and this would be a lot more
complicated.”

“Oh
please.  You’d love kidnapping me away from a knight in shining armor.”  Belle
busied herself wringing out her clothes.  “The poor guy’s ice-cubed body would
probably be pictured on your Christmas card, with a Santa hat and a merry
holiday warning.”

“You
believe I could defeat a knight?”

Belle
blinked at his surprised tone.  “Avenant, you could defeat anyone.”  Growing
up, she’d always admired knights and their heroic exploits, but they were
nothing
compared to the Beast.  “There’s nobody in the world who could ever beat you.”

“You
could.”  He said quietly, getting to his feet.  “You could break me right in
half if I let you.”

“I
wouldn’t…”

“I
know you wouldn’t.”  Avenant interrupted, his voice going firm.  “Because, I’m
not going to
let
you.  I’m going to get that damn sword, Belle.”  Determination
filled every word.  “I’m
going
to win.  I have to.  True Love or not,
you won’t beat me.”

“Winning
is that important to you?”

“The
prize is that important to me.”  He took the sodden backpack from her and slung
it over his uninjured shoulder.  “Come on.  Let’s get out of here before we
drown.”

“You
did
drown.”  Belle reminded him testily.  “I saved you, although at the
moment I’m wondering why I bothered.”

“So
am I.”  Avenant started up the steep embankment of rocks.  “In case you hadn’t
noticed, it just postponed the inevitable.”  He gestured around them.  “There
isn’t a way out of here.”

Belle
snorted.  “What else is new?”

Prosecution:
  Come now, Prince Avenant.  You know why you’re
here.  Wouldn’t you agree that you have mercilessly oppressed the Good citizens
of the Northlands since you took the Icen Throne?

Prince
Avenant:
  Only the annoying ones.

Prosecution:
  Sir, it’s a well-documented fact that you’ve
tortured
everyone
in this kingdom.

Prince
Avenant:
  Which simply proves this
kingdom is filled with annoying people.

I mean,
just look around this room.  …Or in a mirror.

Testimony
of Prince Avenant
- The People of the Northlands vs. Prince Avenant

“Soggy
marshmallows make a terrible breakfast.”

“Why
do you think I’ve chosen to go hungry?”  Avenant finally got the fire going and
sat down across from her.  The flames would give away their position if anyone
else got this far into the maze.  He knew that, but he didn’t care.  Belle
needed to get warm and he was pissed enough to take on anyone who got in his
way.  His arm hurt, his lungs burned, and his skull felt like it had been
pounded with a brick.  “This is not how I pictured our honeymoon, you know.”

“Funny. 
It’s
exactly
how I picture our honeymoon.  It’s a cold day in hell.”

“Very
witty.”

This
level of labyrinth seemed to be nothing but water and stone and darkness.  The
river roared in front of them, behind them stood a solid rock wall, and all
that was in between was a narrow dirt ledge.  They’d made it to the small piece
of dry land, but there was no way off of it.  The only path was the one forged
by the rapids and the water was moving too fast to get back in that torrent. 
Avenant had no idea how they were going to get out of there.

This
contest of valor thing was more complicated than the stories let on.

Avenant
sighed.  “Grandpa Adam was a real dick, you know that?”

“It
runs in the family.”  Belle sifted through the wet backpack.  “Seriously, I’m
starving.  If we’re stranded here, we might as well take a break and eat.  Do
we have any chocolate?  We could make s’mores.”

Avenant
was briefly interested in a new chocolate dish.  “What’s a s’more?”

“You
don’t know what a s’more is?”  Belle sounded shocked.  “Geez, you really need
to get out more.  It’s a toasted marshmallow, a square of chocolate, and two
graham crackers sandwiched together.  Kids make them on campouts.”

“I
never went camping as a child.”  He muttered.  Not unless you counted sleeping
on the floor of his closet, wishing he had food.

“Me
neither.”  She admitted.  “But, we’re kind of camping now.  Better late than
never.”

Avenant
glanced at her.  The flickering light of the flames cast dancing shadows over
her perfect face.  “We’re not late.”  He said with absolute certainty. 
“Everything is working out just like it’s supposed to.  It’s inevitable.”

Belle
gave him a small smile.  “You really believe in destiny, don’t you?”

“Of
course.”

“I
never noticed before, but you’re kind of a romantic.”

That
was the most ludicrous thing she’d ever said.  “I’m not a romantic.  I’m a
fatalist.”

“No,
you’re not.  You’re too arrogant to accept the idea that you aren’t in control
of your own fate.  Not unless you think it’s all going to work out in your
favor.”  She shook her head.  “I think you believe in destiny because, deep
down, you want to believe in happily-ever-afters.”

Avenant
rolled his eyes.  “You sound like Scarlett.  Bad folk don’t get
happily-ever-afters.  We just take what we want.  I know you and I are
inevitable, because I
want
you and I’ll do whatever it takes to
have
you.  That’s not sentimentality.  It’s survival.”

“If
you say so, Prince of Denial.”  She ate another mushy marshmallow.  “What
I
want figures in there someplace, though.  And I want someone who’s emotionally
available.”

He
slanted her a glare.  “I’m emotionally available.”

“You
outlawed Valentine’s Day, Avenant.”

“I
had to.  Someone else might’ve sent you flowers.”  Ever since he’d drawn her a
picture of a rose in kindergarten, he’d wanted to be the only man to give her
flowers.  Seeing her wear Peter’s corsage at prom had just about killed him.

“Why
didn’t
you
send me flowers?”  Belle retorted.  She clearly didn’t even
remember that stupid crayon scribble he’d given her.  Why would she?  “If you knew
I was your True Love, why didn’t you ask me out, or buy me jewelry, or do what
a normal guy would do?  Why did you have to be so cold?

The
woman drove him insane.  “Because you didn’t want me!  I tried to tell you the
truth and you refused to hear it.”

“You
told me
once
when we were teenagers and in the middle of an argument. 
Why didn’t you
really
tell me you were my True Love?”

Avenant
was quiet for a long moment.

“I
would’ve believed you, if you’d given me a chance.”  Belle insisted.  “You
didn’t have to trick me.”

“Even
if you’d believed me, you wouldn’t have slept with me and made it official.  At
best, you’d feel sorry for me.  I
had
to maneuver you into it or you
would’ve said no.  I can deal with the fact that you don’t love me, but I’d
rather have your hate than your pity.”

Belle
stared at him.

Avenant
dropped his eyes and decided to change the subject.  “I think Lancelot may have
been the one who sent those men to attack you in your bed.”  He told her.  “It
only makes sense.  He needed me out of the way to claim the Icen Throne, but
he’s too ball-less to fight me himself.  So, he set it up for you to overthrow
me, thinking he’d then get the kingdom.  Except the judge handed it over to
you, instead.”

Belle
cleared her throat and gamely went along with the new topic.  “Lancelot’s a
knight.  He’d only trust other knights on a mission like that and I don’t think
those guys in my bedroom were knights.”

Of
course
, she’d defend her precious squad of armored idiots.  “Knights can
be dickheads, just like everyone else.”

“I
know.  But, they probably wouldn’t make so much noise breaking into a house. 
They’re trained to be stealthy.”

“Sneaky.” 
He corrected.  “As in sneakily trying to steal my crown in the sneakiest way
possible.  By going after my True Love.”

Belle
still wasn’t convinced.  “Lancelot was pretty shocked up on the jungle level when
you told him we were True Loves.  I don’t think he knew.  He’s not a good
enough actor to pull off such genuine surprise.”  She paused.  “Besides,
Lancelot doesn’t have anything against me.  Or he
didn’t
before I took
over the Northlands.  The more I think about it, the more I feel like there was
a more personal reason for them targeting me in my home.”

Avenant
grunted.  “We should kill him, just to be sure.  If nothing else, he’s
definitely behind all the dead bodies we keep tripping over.  Well, Lancelot or
Bluebeard.  We should kill them
both
and cover our bases.”

“The
two of them blamed
you
for the murders.”

“Because
they’re both fucking liars.”  Avenant snapped.  He instinctively defended
himself, just in case she believed them.  “You were with me, Belle.  You know I
didn’t…”

She
cut him off.  “I’m not accusing you, for God’s sake.  I’m just saying that if
they
were the killers, they wouldn’t assume
you
were the killer.”

“They’re
morons.  Who the hell know what they assume.”  He arched a brow.  “Or maybe
they’re just trying to set me up.  It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“I
still feel like we’re missing something.”  Belle chewed on her marshmallow. 
“Anyway, we need to get out of here.  That’s the most important thing.  No
matter who’s doing the killing, sooner or later, they’re going to come after us
and you’ve already been shot once today.”  She got Prince Adam’s journal out
again and flipped through the wet pages.  “Damn it, some of the ink is
running.  I hope we can still read what your extremely-great-grandfather says
about the third level of this maze.”

“Oh
me, too.  It’s sure to be riveting.”  Avenant made a face.  “The man’s idea of
princely behavior was abysmal.  First it was the crap about helpfulness…”

“And
when we helped Lancelot, we found our way to level two, didn’t we?”

“…Then
the ‘looking within’ crap…”

“And
we went through a mirrored rabbit hole.  It was talking about seeing passed our
reflections.  Even you recognized that.”

“…Now,
I’m sure we’ll have to hold hands and sing
Kumbaya
or something equally
un
regal.”

“Well,
we
are
camping.”  She pointed out distractedly.  “Besides, you need to
step out of your ‘regal’ box every once in a while.  Maybe it’ll help you thaw
out a bit.”

He
snorted at that idea.  A prince had to maintain a standard of aloof splendor at
all times.  Everyone knew that.  Belle ran the kingdom like it was some
bleeding heart charity ward, instead of with the proper amount of authority. 
It was why she made a brilliant ruler and also an easy target.  The citizens
loved her, but they knew that they could take advantage of her softness.  All
this talk about “emotional availability” meant nothing compared to strength. 
He’d never seen his father so much as smile and that man had ruled for
forty-five years.

…Of
course his father had been a total jackass.

Avenant
frowned.

“Here
we go.”  Belle exclaimed excitedly.  “Good, the page isn’t all washed away. 
The entry for this level is,” she hesitated, “actually it’s pretty short.”

“Short
is good.”  Avenant wasn’t the biggest fan of Adam’s proselyting, so the less of
it the better.

“It
says, ‘To be the true ruler that his kingdom deserves, a prince must find his
balance.’”  Belle wrinkled her nose in irritation.  “That’s it.  What do you
think it means?”

“We
probably have to walk on a tightrope.  And fight dragons.  Quests always have dragons
at the end.”

She
slammed the book shut at his glib tone.  “You know, you’re taking this all very
lightly.  That sword is the only thing that will get you the Northlands back. 
I’d think you’d be a
little
more concerned about the fact that we’re stranded
on this rock and no closer to finding it.”

Avenant
shrugged.  “Maybe it’s just my romantic faith in destiny, but I’m not worried
about someone else claiming Excalibur.”

“Maybe
you know something that I don’t.”  She retorted.  “This whole time, you’ve been
smirking your ‘I’ve got a trump card’ smirk, so you might as well just tell me
what’s going on.  You knew going into this labyrinth that you were the only one
who could win, didn’t you?”

“I
have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Bullshit. 
The contest of valor was
your
idea and you wouldn’t have risked…”

“Rosabella
Aria Ashman.”  The minotaur called out, interrupting her.  “I never expected
you to make it this far.  How very interesting you’ve turned out to be.”

Yeah…
that didn’t sound ominous, at all.

“Knoss?” 
Belle turned to scan the darkness with a happy smile, like she completely
trusted that asshole not to be an asshole.  “Hey, is this the water you were
talking about?”

Avenant
got to his feet and grabbed her arm.  “Get away from the fire.”  He tugged
Belle deeper into the shadows, keeping her behind him.  The woman never had enough
sense to be afraid of beasts.

Knoss
chuckled, the sound coming from all directions.  “I’ve lived in this labyrinth
all my life, Prince.  Do you really think I can’t find you?”

Avenant
closed his eyes for a beat.  When he opened them again, he was seeing with the
Beast’s vision.  The monster could see far better than Avenant.  The blackness
was suddenly alive with shapes and movement.  He could see the details of the rocks
and the scrubby twigs he’d used to feed the fire and damp curls of Belle’s
hair.

He
also saw a certain horned bastard.

Knoss
had somehow found his way onto the thin ledge and was standing there with his
huge arms crossed over his huge chest.  The Beast snarled in Avenant’s head,
wanting to get free.  It didn’t like the minotaur being so close to Belle.

Avenant
fought it back.  He’d spent his entire life keeping the Beast caged and he
wasn’t about it let it lose.  Especially not in front of his True Love.  He was
having enough trouble convincing Belle to give him a chance without showing her
that he was really an animal.

“Knoss
isn’t going to hurt us.”  Belle assured Avenant.  Because, she and the minotaur
were apparently best friends, now.  “He’s here to help.”