Adrina and the Beast (PM before joining)

Adrina and the Beast (closed for SwiftPeter)

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Adrina stumbled through the woods, her dress dragging along the dampness of the forest floor and moss. She had to find her father, he should have been back days ago, but the only thing that returned to their quiet home was the horse he had been traveling on.

The inky blackness of the woods scared her, the sounds of things unseen echoing her every footstep. She had heard tales of a beast that resided in the forest that he resided in a castle where he held innocent traveler’s prisoner. If such a place truly existed, her father would have to be there.

Her horse had long abandoned her to darkness through which she now trudged. Adrina’s long brown hair, once neat and tidy, now was decorated with the small twigs and leaves that had attached themselves during her journey. Her dress was dirty and her cloak had to be abandoned to make her way through the thickets that had blocked her path.

As she emerged, her creamy skin now marred here and there with tiny scratches, she now gazed upon the fruit of her labors. Before her eyes now stood a dark and foreboding castle. This had to be the place, the place she had been looking for, the place where her father had to be trapped. A sudden gust of wind swirled around her, almost pushing her forward across the drawbridge. As she approached the door, her hair blowing wildly in the wind, she took a deep breath, mustering all her courage. She opened the heavy oak door and took her first step inside, unsure of what she would find.


OOC: This is a twist on Beauty and the Beast where the beast is a beast in name, not a physically an animal (i.e. a very naughty man indeed, but not a furry or anything relating to bestiality). If you are interested in joining me on this journey, please pm me!

Closed for SwiftPeter

Sabin paused in his reading to note the change in the songbirds tune that indicated a traveler, and went back to studying. It wasn't so unusual for someone to wander out this far, however, it was unusual for it to happen twice in a season. The small hamlet along the north road believed his woods haunted and wandering season rarely offered up more than one lost merchant or hunter before stories kept the rest at bay.

If not for a single rune, which had been confounding him for an hour, Sabin might have left his tower to take a closer look at the intruder. As it was, however, we was still in his study, trying to conjure the declination of the powerful marks on the parchment in front of him.

When the birds changed their song, he ignored it. When the front door to his own keep swung stealthily open, he did not hear it.

Adrina was surprised at what she found inside the castle. Despite its dark and deserted outside appearance, it seemed to be warm and beautiful inside, at least as far as she could tell. This only made her more nervous about entering the castle. Was this where the beast of legend lived, or was it simply a nobleman’s hunting lodge?

She heard a sudden pop, her green eyes darting towards the sound, to find it had simply been the crackling of a fire in the hearth of the great room. She swallowed hard as she walked further with trepidation.

“Father?” she called out, finding it odd how empty the castle seemed. She had not seen a servant, nor heard any signs of life since she had entered. She looked for some sign that her father had been there when she saw his satchel sitting at the top of a set of marble stairs.

She ran up the stairs and picked it up, holding it to her chest.

“Father!?” she called again and continued up the stairs, surely had to be here.

When she reached the top of the stairs she found herself in a hallway with many doors, though only one had light shining beneath it. She very slowly walked towards the door and then swallowed hard. She bit her bottom lip for a moment and then cautiously opened the door.

“Hello?” she said meekly.

Ice ran up Sabin's spine.

It wasn't that there was any threat in the meek exhalation behind him, it was that it was so close.

Startled into anger, his stool shattered against a far wall, upsetting a brazier and spilling hot coal onto the ground. His hooves struck sparks against the stone floor as he crouched, defensively in front of the book and his tail curled protectively around his shoulders, engorged with venom.

"Who is it!"

His murderous snarl almost turned into laughter as the cloud of sparks raised by the burning coal threw light on a whisper of a girl. She leapt back from the shower of fire and the pieces of wood, not noticing him until he'd spoken.

By then, he'd regained his composure.

Adrina jumped and fell backwards into the hallway, her heart racing as the man before her practically snarled at her.

“I…I’m sorry…I…I…” she was trying to stop her stammering but she was terrified.

“I looked for someone….no one was around…” she said as she moved to stand up, her back sliding up the wall behind her, ready to bolt. She then closed her eyes and stiffened her spin and stood up straight and tall.

“I’m looking for my father. He came this way not long ago and I thought he might be here…” she said with more confidence than she possessed.

The door may have been heavy, but it opened soundlessly. Once Adrina had stepped within, it closed on its own almost as silently -- but there was an audible click as the lock engaged. There were windows large enough for her to get out if she needed to do so, but the door had, for the moment at least, ceased to be an exit for her.

The interior was pleasant and well kept, the floor covered with a deep carpet with exotic, geometrical designs. The furnishings were all of good quality, and it looked as if there was someone doing the housekeeping -- there was not a cobweb to be seen, and none of the shelves or tabletops bore even a hint of dust. There was a faint odor of pine, and a small fire burned, untended, in a brick hearth which was one of the most prominent features of the room.

She advanced beyond the entry hall into the parlor, which had a high ceiling. A staircase led up one floor, and along the far side of the room a balcony looked down from that level.

What really drew her attention, though, was her father's satchel, sitting on a table against one wall. It had been unpacked, and it appeared to have been cleaned, the fresh scent of spearmint coming from its interior. Adrina's father must be here.

***
Upstairs, in the library, the lord of this castle sat, one hand supporting his brow as he pored over the old volume. There was a grim expression on his face, because his dim recollection had been an accurate one -- it had been six years since he had last opened this book. He had only rare occasion to use the language in which it was written, and he had forgotten much of the vocabulary he had developed while he was a student. Normally, this sort of research was a pleasure for him, but this time it was a necessary chore. With every passing hour, the chances that he could save his new guest from his peril grew that much shorter, and now, just as he had remembered, he could not perform this ritual alone.

He stood up, swearing, though it was a fairly mild oath. It would take at least hours, and likely a day or more, to find a partner for this rite, and if she was unwilling it would make it much more difficult to cast the spell -- not to mention that he disliked rape. But if he had to rape someone to save his guest's life, he was prepared to do it; the rape would be the lesser evil.

And, once that was done, he would have to go out into the forest and hunt down the creature who had done this to the old man. Most likely it already had plenty of thralls to protect it, too.

It was then that he sensed the door opening, closing, and locking. The wards had been mindful of his difficulties, and when they had sensed the arrival of a suitable partner, they had made sure that she could not trivially leave.

He strode down the hallway, the tails of his frock coat flapping lightly behind him. Arriving at the balcony, he looked down at his guest, and could not help but smile. She might be a bit bedraggled, but she was young and pretty, and, from the cut of her dress, she might not be excessively modest.

"Welcome to Stonehurst Castle, miss," he called down, his deep voice ringing in the open space. "I am Lord Trenton Denbeigh, the fourth Baron Stonehurst. You should be warned that this place has its own magical defenses, and it can be dangerous to wander about without permission, so I suggest that you stay where you are at the moment. I get few visitors here, so may I ask what brings you here?"

He seemed tall, but from this perspective that could be misleading, since he was a floor above her, his fists grasping the railing of the banister. There was white lace at his throat, and jet black hair flowed backward loosely from a pronounced widow's peak. This was a striking man, and he had broad shoulders as well; there were cream-colored pants, very tight, partly hidden by the bottom of the black frock coat, and he wore black leather riding boots.

Trent did not wait for her reply before starting down the stairs toward her. He walked briskly, but for the moment, at least, he seemed unthreatening.

Adrina screamed as a voice suddenly seemed to boom around her. She jumped until her back was pressed up against a wall, looking for the source of the noise. Before her now stood the man in question, telling her about magical defenses and wondered how that would affect her.

When he asked what brought her there, she swallowed hard and managed to pull herself away from the wall. She took a deep breath and stood forward, looking more confident than she felt.

“My…my father is missing. The last time anyone saw him, he was passing this way…” she said more meekly than she intended. “I’ve come to fetch him and take him home.” She told him, unable to look him in the eye. He was intimidating to say the least and the stories she heard of his temper did not help to calm her nerves any.

"Please calm down, my dear," Trent said, taking the steps two at a time, hurrying down the stairs. "I didn't mean to scare you, but I seem to have that effect on most people. I have no desire to hurt you, and I won't hurt you, unless you ask me to."

A strange enough statement. He reached the bottom of the steps, and walked briskly over to where she stood, no longer calling out to her, but talking in a more subdued manner. He made a pass in the air with one hand, and a picture appeared, floating in the air.

"I'm guessing, I'm hoping, that this man is your father?" The nearly opaque image displayed her father, sleeping, laid out on a nice bed, with a comforter covering most of his body. He looked thin and drawn, and there was a greyish cast to his features, and he had been sweating profusely.

"I've seen this curse before -- it is a curse, I'm sure of that -- and I've just now found the spell that should save this man's life. If you -are- his daughter, you would be the best possible partner for me in conducting the necessary acts of ceremonial magic. Divine magic can remove such curses too, but I don't know of any sufficiently powerful priest close enough to bring here in time. So -- is this the father you are looking for? And, either way, are you willing to help me save his life?"

He wasn't bellowing at her, and while he still seemed to be in a hurry, his posture was less threatening now that he had realized how he had frightened her. Still, he stood very close to her, and the way that his eyes ran over her face and form left no doubt that he desired her -- and his tight trousers couldn't hide his erection, which had just begun to form.

He smelled faintly of light spices and soap, which was somehow not what she might have expected. His teeth were perfect, every lock of hair was in place, and he was very lightly winded from having rushed down the stairs. What would the fourth Baron Stonehurst do or say if Adrina refused to help? And what kind of help -- in a magical ritual! -- did he need? Blood magic? Worse, might she be damning herself by consorting with this man in any way?

She looked at him strangely. Why in the world would she ever ask anyone to hurt her? She was still weary of him however, and kept her eyes focused on his movements. Her mouth dropped as the image of her father was displayed before her with a simple wave of his hand.

“What have you done to him!” she exclaimed immediately. As he explained about the curse she eyed him carefully. She knew he put this curse on her father, or at least, this was what she believed, and now she was being asked to help save him.

He moved close to her and she blushed at the way he was looking at her. Despite her own fear, he smelled of things that were warm and familiar that seemed to ease her tension slightly.

“What is it I have to do?” she asked bitterly, convinced that this man was the cause of her father’s illness.

"The most natural thing in the world," the Baron replied. "I need a partner for a tantric ritual. I actually need one for a whole series of them, if we are going to stop the party responsible for this, and, frankly, if you're willing to do this with me the once, you may as well help me with it again. Are you a virgin? If so, it will affect how I should best cast the spell. But if you are, it will make the spell that much more powerful again, and increase the chances of saving your father. But we really should not waste very much time."

He didn't tell her what a tantric ritual was, because it hadn't occurred to her that she might not know. She was clearly, from her vocabulary, an educated girl, and he wasn't about to condescend to her by explaining the obvious, that would be rude. And Trent didn't want to be rude to this beautiful. understandably frightened maiden at all. Quite the opposite, really.

Instead, he offered her his arm, in as courtly a manner as he could, given the urgency of the situation. He hoped that she would feel that they were about to embark on a grand and rather exotic adventure, for that was exactly what he had in mind.

Even though he would never have framed the thought that way. the truth of it was that he was so excited at the prospect of fucking this beautiful girl that he could hardly wait, that he could hardly stand not to tear her clothes off then and there and just take her on the spot.

Adrina blushed hotly at his questions. She had never heard the word tantric before in her life and she certainly had no idea what all of this would entail, nor what any of it had to do with her virginity.

“Of course I am….still pure. What do you take me for…some fallen women!?” she half yelled at him, extremely embarrassed by such a question. She watched him offer his arm and she wished she had the strength and ability to cut it off and feed it to him.

“Let my father go! I will not participate in whatever it is you have done to him. I simply want to take him home and I will nurse him back to health there. You will do so…or…or face the consequences!” she ordered, though she had no idea what those consequences would be.

“I’ve told the village where I’ve gone and if I do not return, they will come and burn you and your home to the ground!” she lied.

The Baron lifted an eyebrow, "The village elders don't talk much about this, but they know that I am their protector and their advocate>" he returned, fairly mildly. "Any village that elects its own leadership must have a noble advocate to represent their fealty to the larger realm. They may not like to admit it, but this is a monarchy, not a republic. I'm not worried about them attacking me."

He turned to fae her directly. "But now I don't think that you understand what has happened to your father. He is under a deadly curse, and you can't nurse him back from it, however much you might try. The only way we can save him before the curse kills him is through my ritual, and I need you to help me save him. Maybe you don't believe me -- I could understand that -- but do you see what I mean now, and that the longer we wait, the smaller the chance that we can save him?"

“And how do I know you aren’t lying? That you aren’t making this all up to seek your own selfish rewards?” she asked, worried about her father but not trusting him. She had heard some many terrible things about this man, how could she possibly conceive of him wanting to do anything for anyone but himself?”

“And even if you weren’t lying, what is it I would have to do? My father would rather die than see me sully myself to the likes of you.”

"Sully yourself?" His mouth opened and closed, and, for a moment, he was at a rare loss for words. "I can see that you might not trust me, but, my dear, you are the commoner and I the nobleman. If anyone would be sullying themselves, it would be me. But I consider that just a bunch of rubbish anyhow, we were designed to desire and need sexual contact as the only means of carrying on the species, and just for good emotional health. Again, I don't expect you to believe it, but sex is good for you. It's good for almost anybody."

He threw out his hands in a gesture of openness. "As for trusting me -- why should I want to hurt your father, or you for that matter, after having lived peacefully as your neighbor for my entire life? You know that the danger lurking in these woods is new the past few weeks; if I were behind it, it would have been happening for years, don't you think?"

He gestured toward the stairs, lifting one arm in that direction. "And if I had been behind what happened to your father, would I have carried him up to my guest room and taken such care of him? I don't think so. And if I were only interested in my own selfish rewards, I could already be doing exactly that, if I had no regard for your own free will. Do you -really- think that you could resist me, if I wanted to rape you? But I wouldn't do that."

Adrina gasped and slapped Trenton smartly across the face before she knew what she was doing. She started to cower, looking towards the stairs to both escape him and to find her father.

“Peaceful!? How dare you say you have lead a peaceful existence with us? You have over taxed our village and everyone who has come by this place has never been seen again, or if they are, they were tortured by you first! How can the word peaceful even pass your lips!” she yelled and then darted towards the stairs.

She ran through the hallways, moving from door to door, trying to find her father before Trenton could catch up with her. There were so many doors and time was shrinking away like sand in an hour glass.

Trent's voice was behind her; he was standing at the top of the steps, his fists on his hips, grinning. "It's the last door on the left, girl. You don't need to check them all."

He walked, calmly enough, down the hall toward her. "Striking a noble is a punishable offense. I sentence you to one month's service in the manor of your master. Most lords would consider that a laughably light punishment, but I consider you to be in extreme emotional stress, so I'm not holding you responsible -- and so your sentence is suspended. But if you disrespect me that way again, I shall not be so lenient."

He came to a stop about two yards from her. "If nothing else, try to calm down enough to think about this rationally. I haven't made a single move to hurt you, now have I?"

She stopped dead in her tracks as he came towards her. She was terrified he would strike her for that slap, but instead, she was to be punished by becoming his servant for a month. She supposed that was better than what he had intended for her to begin with.

She said nothing, only moved past him to go to the door she said her father was behind. She slowly opened the door and was shocked at what she found.

She had expected to see him sick with a fever, that is what she had thought when she first saw the image Trenton had shown her. However, it seemed to be much worse. While he was feverish, his limbs seemed to be turning a strange color….they looked almost…wooden.

She gasped and covered her mouth, shutting the door softly as tears ran down her face. She quickly wiped them away and tried to be more confident than she was.

“What is it I have to do to save him?” she asked, almost grumbled, hating to be wrong about the fact that there did indeed seem to be a curse upon her father. Whether or not Trenton had cast it remained to be seen, but the truth of the matter was that she could possibly help him if she did as she was instructed.

"As I said, I need you as my partner in a tantric ritual, and because you are his daughter, you are the best possible partner for the ritual," Trent replied, taking just one step closer and speaking as gently as he knew how. "As you seem to have guessed, or perhaps already knew, a tantric ritual is a magical ceremony performed by two people as they are having sex."

Even more gently, he continued. "I would much rather that your first time came under better circumstances, that I could make you feel comfortable and relaxed, that you could look forward to the experience. If you want, I can still do that some other time, but we will need your maidenhead to save your father."

He gestured, and one of the doors on the other side of the hallway slowly opened. "And, as I said, the longer we wait, the worse your father becomes." Then, though, he hesitated for a moment. "Unless you'd rather do this in the same room with your father? Under the circumstances, I leave that entirely up to you."

She blanched at the idea and how direct he was. “Fine. I will do what is necessary to save him but you must never tell him that I let you….do whatever it is you need to do.” She told him, hating the idea of being another noche on his bedpost. She was sure he had threatened many other women to get what he wanted.

Her eyes flew open as he spoke about her wanting to perform the ritual in front of her father. Clearly he must be crazed as well, was her only thought.

She slowly, and hesitantly walked towards the door, her head bowed in defeat. She was scared of what was to come, even more scared about what might follow. She hoped her father would be saved. She could work off her punishment and then return home. She just wanted all of this to be over and done with.

"As long as you continue to feel that way, I will honor your wishes," Trent returned. "It's not as if I had much of a reputation to protect, after all." He said this in a matter-of-fact tone, but still it was clear that he wasn't happy about that situation.

"You can undress yourself, or have me do that, or I can remove your clothing instantly with a spell," he said calmly, following her into the spacious bedroom. "Which would bother you the least? You have several choices like this, when you have bad alternatives. I'll try to make this as pleasant for you as I can."

The bedroom was much like the downstairs: while everything was of good quality, there was no excess of luxury. The bed was huge, and looked to be comfortable.

Adrina moved behind the screen that was in the bedroom. She didn’t want him touching her more than he had to.

She undid the ties of her dress and slipped it off, followed by her under things and finally, her corset. She shivered against the cool air in the room, causing her nipples to harden involuntarily. She was terrified and embarrassed and looked behind her and found what looked to be his riding cloak. She held it in front of her body, swallowed hard and then meekly came out from behind the screen.

“Where do you want me?” she asked in a hoarse whisper as she moved towards the bed. It was as if all her worse nightmares were coming true.

He was already naked himself, and sat on the edge of the large bed. Had he taken the time to light some candles? In any event, the room was now softly lit in a warm glow.

He smiled when he saw that she was hiding herself behind his cloak. "I may make a present of that cloak for you," he said quietly. "It's always been too short for me, it was made for me when I was a teenager. Come over here and sit down, and try to relax, and I will explain what we need to do, and, without getting too complicated, why we need to do it. Are you sure that you wouldn't like something to drink? It's not as if I'm trying to seduce you, and it might make things easier for you."

Trenton had grown up on a diet that included much more meat and protein than the typical villagers with whom Adrina had grown up. It was only natural that he had a good build, given that he stayed in shape with regular exercise. Still, he had arms and shoulders like no other man that Adrina had ever seen before, and the coal black hair contrasted even more with the pale skin of his torso than it had with the slightly more tanned color of his face.

He scooted to one side, and patted the bed about two feet away from where he was seated. His cock jutted up from between his legs, nearly a foot long and quote erect, circumcised in an oddly jarring way that made him seem less beastly, more civilized, though the pure manliness of the sight of it must have had an effect on the girl who approached him. Trent made no effort to conceal himself, nor to show himself off for her. It was simply what was there.

Adrina walked towards the bed, shying her eyes away from his nude body. A hot blush seemed to cover her entire body as she moved towards the bed, doing her best to maintain some form of modesty behind his cloak.

“I think I would very much like a drink…” she practically squeaked, barely able to for the words. As she passed him, her eyes could not help but take sight of him, his cock perversely jutting up into the air. It scared her and made her even more concerned about what was to happen.

Once he provided her with her drink, she took a large swallow which caused her to choke. She had never drank before and the acrid taste of the alcohol, combined with the burning sensation it caused in her throat made it difficult to take. She took another drink, a smaller one that went down a little easier.

“I don’t think it will fit…” she said as her eyes started to blur with the tears of her anxiety. “Wouldn’t someone more…suited to this kind of thing be better?” she asked, though she already knew the answer. She was doing everything in her power not to hide her face behind his cloak.

Suspecting that his guest might not have much experience with alcohol, Trent supplied her with a light red wine, hoping that it would not overwhelm her. Brandy might make her more apt to relax, but she might not finish it.

"It will fit, have no fears on that count. And I can make that part a little easier for you by means of a spell, if you like, a simple one that will mildly heighten your sex drive. But if you'd rather I not do that, I will respect your wishes."

He took a seat on the bed again, once more at arm's length, but this time he held out a hand for her, if she would take it. "There are actually three reasons why you are the best possible choice, my dear.. You know, I don't know your name, and I would like to.. But, to the point. First and most important, your father is the person we are trying to save. That blood tie is an enormous boon toward the success of the ritual. Second, you are a virgin, which also improves the chances, and by quite a lot -- enough that, really, there is not much chance of a spell failure, and, even if it didn't work the first time, it would surely work on a second attempt. And, finally, there is the emotional chenistry between us. You are clearly scared to death of me -- and though I wish you weren't, that too will help the spell, because you have such strong emotions about the encounter. And it works the other way around for me -- we've just met, but I wish very much that I could make you more comfortable about this, and, frankly, well.."

He trailed off for a moment before looking down, unwilling for the first time to look her in the eye. "It's not every woman that makes me react this strongly. Umm, you.. well, you're particularly attractive to me, to be honest. Both in form and in manner." He sighed, and looked back up at her for a moment.

"I don't know if that makes this better or worse for you, but I hope that it helps that I find you so comely?"