Author's note: I began writing this gender swapped version of Beauty and the Beast for a fairytale novella anthology. I didn't have time to finish it since I was trying to write Dissonance at the same time.
I hope to return to this story sometime. I really like the small island and the world building I created for this story.
This was meant to be a dual pov novella featuring Eva, a shifter, and Beau, a farmer.
Beau & the Beast
A High Fantasy Retelling of Beauty and the Beast
Prologue: Eva
I pressed my wings against the back of the closet, simultaneously attempting to shift back into my human form and remain hidden. High pitched voices shrieked down the hall, then everything stopped.
“Eva, darling,” my mother’s voice called, “You don’t need to hide. Everything is fine.”
I squeezed my eyes closed and held my breath, lest I make a sound. This wasn’t a trick I would fall for. I curled my tail around my knees and took a tiny breath that even my keen ears couldn’t detect.
“Eva! Where are you?” Mother’s voice passed the closet.
The enchantress must not have seen the barely visible cracks in the wall of my hiding place. As it turned out, she didn’t need to.
A surge of magic hit my body like a wave, forcing me to shift fully into my phoenix form. Another surge forced me into my doe form, and the clack of my hooves hitting the ground betrayed me. The closet door flew off the wall and I stared into the ocean blue eyes of Agathe, the most powerful enchantress the known world had seen. My throat constricted as I blinked at the sudden brightness.
“Hello, Little Doe,” she said in her own voice this time. She towered over me, magic rippling in waves from her outstretched hands.
I shivered, leaning against the back wall. Doe wasn’t my best form, and I knew I couldn’t run fast enough on my hard hooves without stumbling on the slick stone floors. I couldn’t respond, not unless I was human.
Agathe tilted her head, midnight blue hair falling into her face. She motioned toward me, and another magic surge forced me to shift to my human form, but she clutched me tight with an invisible force. At the magic’s bidding, I tumbled forward into the hall, falling onto my delicate knees with a small cry. There, behind the enchantress, were two large cages. My parents, frozen in animal form. The great golden lion was my father. The soft, brown doe was my mother.
“Tell me, Little Doe, do you know why I am here?”
I shook my head.
The enchantress leaned forward so our faces were only inches apart. She was horrifyingly beautiful, and the scent of iris filled my nostrils. She gazed deeply into my eyes, searching for something.
“I see truth.” Her head whipped toward my parents. “She may yet be saved.”
My father, in his lion form, roared.
Agathe pointed a slender finger at him. “This is your doing, Beast.”
Mother turned in a circle, her small hooves clattering against the metal of her cage.
Those powerful eyes gazed at me again, and she grasped my animal form shoulder, sending pulses of magic through me. Wings erupted from my back. My feet and legs became heavy lion limbs, my hands morphed into a mixture of fingers and long birdlike talons. Another surge of magic snapped my torso and head into a mid-shift form of human and doe, then she froze me.
This was all wrong. I couldn’t manifest all four beings at once. It felt horrible, the wings, tail, long claws, gentle doe body, powerful lion feet. It was like shoving the wrong puzzle pieces together. I desperately tried to shift back into my human form, my natural form.
Agathe clicked her tongue. “No, Little Doe, this is your new body.”
I pulled away from her grip but had little control over this unnatural arrangement. “Please,” I begged, tears gathering in my eyes, “it hurts.”
She caressed a long finger under my chin. “Then break the curse.”
Understanding clicked into place, she cursed us, my parents into animals, and me into a miss matched beast. “How?”
She smiled. “How all curses are broken, silly girl.”
I glanced at my parents and swallowed hard. The books mother read always said true love broke curses. The only difference was I thought the stories weren’t real.
“True love?” I asked, hoping there had to be another way. How could a fourteen-year-old in a secluded forest find true love?
“Clever girl,” Agathe whispered. “Break the curse, undo the wrongs, and when you regain your abilities, so will your parents. Then you all will be free.”
Hope filled my chest just as she released me and I fell hard onto the floor, unsure how to use my mixed limbs to stand. A blue rose encased in a crystal display materialized before my face.
“You have until your twenty-first year, or less if the rose wilts.”
I struggled onto all fours, my paws and talons unbalanced. “Seven years like this?” Tears blurred my vision and my furry chest heaved. My wings flapped uselessly, the feathers brushing against the walls and floor.
Agathe crouched before me, wiping my tears with cold fingers. A cruel smile twisted her features. “Little Doe,” she scolded gently, “Only if you fail.”
Oooh, this does seem very interesting!