Of Beast and Beauty

of a few things in our garden. He’s going there now,” I say, hoping to buy

Gem more time to reach the King’s Gate by sending Bo in the opposite

direction. “He’s trustworthy. He’ll be back in his rooms within the hour.

There’s no need to—”

“There’s every need,” Bo snaps, anger creeping into his tone.

“There’s every need to do … something.” He shakes his head, his expression

bleeding from anger to confusion to utter bafflement. “What are you doing

here? Why have you hurt yourself?”

“I didn’t do it deliberately. I tripped and fell,” I say, lifting my chin.

“And it seems to me you should be more interested in helping your queen

than interrogating her.” I can’t tell Bo that the roses attacked me, or he’ll

think I’m more rattled than he does already, but I don’t have to endure

being treated like a fool. “Now. Help me out. Use your sword. Cut the vines

if you have to.”

Bo’s lips part, and a horrified look creeps into his eyes. “You want me

to desecrate the royal garden? Are you mad?” He laughs, a single baw so

loud that it makes me wince. “Of course you’re mad. Of course you are. And

to think I … I felt for you,” he says, gravel in his voice. “Even today. I

thought my father and the other advisors were being unfair, but he’s right.

You’ve lost your mind.”

“No, I haven’t.” My forehead wrinkles, but it doesn’t hurt. At least

the roses didn’t attack my face. “Your father supported every measure we

discussed today. He sent the amendment concerning the Banished to my

rooms a few hours ago. It was exactly—”

“He’s lying to you, humoring you until tomorrow morning,” Bo spits.

“He and the other advisors are going to force you to marry me and give

Yuan a ruler who’s not out of his head. They say the law allows them to

compel your marriage, whether you consent to the union or not.”

My stomach clenches. “But I … I’m still in mourning. It’s against

our—”

“Sometimes big changes are necessary to protect the city,” he says,

mocking his father’s kind words from this afternoon perfectly, setting fire

to the last tattered shreds of my hope. “I tried to convince him to wait,” Bo

continues, swiping the back of his hand across his mouth. “I wanted you to

choose to marry me, but clearly you aren’t capable of making wise

choices.”

“You don’t decide what I’m capable of! I’m the queen. My word is

law!” I sound like a child having a tantrum, but how can I help it? What

other option has Bo or anyone else in this city given me, when they treat

me like a small girl or an invalid or a madwoman?

“I’m not mad,” I say, fighting tears. “This city is mad. All of you! You

and your father and the advisors and all the rest. Gem is three times the

person any of you will ever be!”

Bo sighs, but when his gaze meets mine, he doesn’t seem angry. He’s

gone numb again. Numb with a hint of …

Pity. He pities me. He’s so sure of the legitimacy of his hate that he

can’t consider for a moment that the Desert People might be human like

us. Or that I might be the only one in Yuan not out of my mind.

But maybe that isn’t possible. Maybe the mind of the majority is

always the healthy mind, simply by virtue of its numbers. Maybe it’s the

definition of madness to believe I’m right and everyone else is wrong, to

find my thoughts rational and reasonable when almost the entire world

finds them damaged and flawed.

The thought makes me want to cry all over again. Cry, and beg Bo to

listen to me, to try to understand. Despite his cruelty last night, Bo isn’t as

terrible as his father. He cares for me—or cared, at least a little. He has a

gentle side, too.

“Bo, please,” I whisper. “I’m not crazy. I swear I’m not. I—”

“Did you mean to hurt yourself tonight?” he asks, ignoring my

protests.

“Of course not!”

“You’re bleeding,” he says, as if breaking a scary bit of news to a

child. “Those wounds are deep. You’ll have scars. Why did you do this?”

“I didn’t do anything! They pulled me in. They were trying to kill me,”

I say, regretting the words the moment they pass my lips.

“Who was trying to kill you?”

“The … roses,” I mumble, digging my nails into the dirt, wishing I had

fingers big enough to uproot the roses with my bare hands. “I don’t expect

you to believe me, but it’s the truth. They aren’t what they seem. Nothing

is what it seems.”

Bo glances down at the vines, now lying, limp and lifeless, across my

legs. No one but Gem knows what the roses can do, and now no one else

ever will. The roses won’t help me prove that I’m not insane. My allegedly

weak mind stands to gain them a king and a captive queen and

continuation of life as the Dark Heart that caused them to grow prefers it.

For a split second I consider telling Bo about the Dark Heart and the

wicked magic supporting life under the domes, but before I can think of a

way to break the news to him that won’t sound mad, two breathless

soldiers appear behind him.

“The Monstrous has been spotted from the wall, sir,” the short guard

with the crooked teeth huffs. “Ru

“Go. Take the ten men waiting by the—”

“No!” I shout. “Please, let him go. If you let him go, I won’t fight any

of it. I’ll marry you tomorrow morning.” I begin tugging the thorns from my

flesh, refusing to wince as the stickers pull free. “Just let Gem go.”

“Take the ten men waiting by the tower,” Bo continues as if I haven’t

spoken. “Tell them to kill the beast on sight.”

“No!” I stagger to the edge of the rose bed. “You can’t! I forbid it! As

your queen!” But the soldiers refuse to look at me, let alone listen.

“Bring his body to the dungeon!” Bo shouts as the men rush away

through the orchard, the scuff, scuff of their boots transforming to a shush,

shush as they hit the grass beneath the trees.

“Run, Gem! They’re coming!” I scream, even as I hope he’s too far

away to hear me. “Run!” I scramble off the edge of the bed wall, moaning

as I hit the ground, and every place where the thorns tore my muscles cries

out at once.

Bo takes my arm with a tenderness that startles me. I glance up to

see sympathy in his rich brown eyes.

“It’s for the best,” he says. “When he’s dead, the u

will fade. I’m sure of it.”

“They aren’t u

wouldn’t make a difference, anyway. Bo doesn’t think he’s ordered a

murder. He thinks he’s asked for an animal to be put down. Raging at him

for the wicked thing he’s done is pointless until he understands how wrong

he is.

“Gem is like us, Bo,” I say, pleading with him to understand. “He feels

and thinks and hopes and dreams. He loves his family and is devoted to his

tribe. He’s no different, not in the ways that count.”

“Let’s get you back to the tower,” Bo says, ignoring me. Again. He

starts back toward the tower, cradling my elbow as if I’m made of glass. “I’ll

have the healers sent to attend you.”

I dig my heels in. “I’m not going,” I say, jaw tightening as I stare

through the trees in the direction where Gem disappeared. I can’t see him

or the soldiers any longer, but I swear I can feel him. He’s still in the city.

“Not until I know Gem’s safe.”

Bo heaves a tragic sigh, but he doesn’t try to force me to keep

walking. He stands beside me, as silent as I am, though I’m certain he’s not

straining as hard for a sign that the soldiers’ mission has failed.