“I won’t go! How could you do this to me?”  His voice was hoarse from the amount of screaming he had done.

“Taemin I had no choice, the beast would have killed me, and he specified,” the man paused, not looking back at the boy in the wagon, “my youngest child. Please, don’t hate me, just think of this as your deepest sacrifice for the family.  If he would have taken me, I would have gone myself.”

His hands tied to the bars of the iron fence his father had begun to back away towards the skittish horse.  Taemin had kicked and fought but the long coat his father and dressed him in kept his movements limited. 

“Forgive me,” the last words his father spoke before turning and leaving him in front of the looming castle and light began to break across the horizon. Taemin screamed in frustration and slammed his boots against the iron, trying desperately to free himself before the silhouette of his father disappeared through the thick trees of the surrounding forest. 

Left alone in the grey morning light, Taemin let his unfallen tears tumble down his red cheeks.  His lip trembled and he slid his bound wrists down the iron rung so he could fall to the ground.  His world came crashing down around him as the reality of being left here set in.  He had been given so little warning that until this moment his father’s words held no meaning. 

When Taemin woke in the morning, it was not in his bed, but the back of a wagon.  His sleeping clothes replaced with his finest and a long heavy coat, his hair swept back into a neat braid and his hands tied. His father barely looked at him, and only mumbled his feeble explanation, about finding a haunted castle and this creature’s horrid request.  At first Taemin thought it was dream, but as they hit a bump and his face slammed into the wood of the cart he became aware that he was waking into a nightmare. 

He cried and pleaded to the trees until the sun shown above the towering tree tops and he had begun to loose the feeling in his bare fingers.  The only time his sobbing stopped was when he heard the sound of a twig snapping from behind him.  His breath caught and his heart nearly stopped.  The visions of a monster coming to fetch him filled his head as he slowly turned to see.

Not a monster, but a man, was approaching him.  A tall, a fair looking man, with a pressed all black suit, glossy black hair, and a face that made Taemin suddenly feel completely reassured.  His large, dark eyes were tortured with worry and his defined lips were pulled down in a deep frown. 

With out a word the man opened the gate and knelt beside Taemin, as he tried to stop his crying.  The man quickly unbound his hands and he fell forward and whimpered as his sore shoulders were moved.  The man reached out, first to steady Taemin, before he gracefully lifted him like a bride. 

“Are you alright?” The man’s voice was like dark silk, rich and soft, and Taemin was overcome by the sound of kindness. All he could do was nod.  The man carried him back up the path and away from the gate.  Taemin tried to find it in himself to tell the man to let him go, to try and run and catch up with his father, but already the thought of the man felt like pressing a knife into an already gaping wound.  He simply let himself be carried away, and more tears clouded his vision until his mind went blank.

~*~*~

The next time Taemin woke he was in an unfamiliar bed.  His eyes opened and met a beautiful canopy of silk and lace above him.  He was sunken into a mountain of pillows and laying on top of a fluffy down comforter.  Instinctively, he swung his still booted feet over the edge of the bed to get them off the fancy bedding.  He was still fully dressed but had obviously been left on the bed.  He looked around; it was a certainly bedroom, however, much bigger than his own.  It was filled with white furniture, a dressed, chairs, and even a small fire place.  The windows were large and pained in gold, and the curtains were made of matching lace to the bed canopy.  But no sign of the man who had brought him. 

He got off the bed and set out to try and find the man, and hopefully answers as to why he was here.  Outside the room the walls were stone and looked ancient.  Taemin carefully followed several hallways until he came to a sort of main entrance.  A grand stone stairway that spilt into the hall he came from and another.  A main stairway lead to a vast open space and a grand double door.  Not feeling brave enough to explore the halls he assumed to be twin to those he just walked he chose to make his way down the stairs.  Along the side walls on the ground level Taemin saw several more grand looking doors, one of which was slightly ajar.

Almost tip toeing across the stone landing Taemin peeked through the crack of the door.  Inside he saw a large wooden table, bare except for several books and a signs that some one had recently eaten a meal. A fireplace was inlaid along the far wall, and the flames illuminated the otherwise dim room Taemin scanned as much of the dinning hall as he could and nearly jumped when the man from before crossed his vision.  Just as stunning as he was when he appeared in the court yard, he still wore the all back suit, but his face was just as twisted with worry as before.  He was pacing, and obviously deep in thought, brows pulled together, and hand under his chin.  He sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his shiny black hair, pulling it off his forehead.   He slumped into a near by chair in front of the fire, and rested his elbows on the hard surface of the table. 

Taemin decided this was as good a time as any to make his presence known.  With a tiny knock, the man’s head shot up and their eyes met.  “Excuse me,” Taemin’s small voice echoed in the emptiness of the hall and he slipped between the barely open doors.  The man stood abruptly and made to walk around the table, but smoothing held him.

“I’m glad to see you are awake, how are you feeling?” his voice was more assertive than before, but it was still just as soothing. 

“I’m fine. Thank you,” Taemin heard his own voice and it was hoarse, making it sound not like his own.

“Good,” he paused and stared awkwardly at Taemin. “Are you hungry? There is food to eat.”

Taemin shook his head, “no thank you. I, um, where am I? Who are you?”

The man cleared his throat, “ah, yes. Please sit, and I will be happy explain.” He gestured to the chair facing his own and sat back down. Taemin hesitated, but saw no reason to argue.  He pulled out the high backed wooden chair and sat, feeling the warmth of the fire dance around him.

“To start off, my name is Minho.”  The man nodded, and paused.

“Um, Taemin, my name is Taemin,” he tried his best to keep his voice steady.

“Taemin, do you know why you brought here?” the man asked.

Taemin pressed his lips into a thin line and stared at the wood grain of the table.  “My father brought me here.  Ranting about appeasing a monster of some kind, and then tied me to the fence. He had truly left me here hasn’t he?”

The man let Taemin’s heartbroken words linger in the air for just a moment, but answered with confidence that only further deepened the pain. “Yes. You are to remain here.”

A single tears slipped from Taemin’s eye and splashed on to the wood surface of the table.  He looked down the long table still not able to meet the man’s gaze.  “I don’t even know where here is. He took me from my bed, while I slept. He had not even been back a full day it seems before he gave me up so easily.”

“We are in the middle of the East forest, a full days travel in any direction.  This castle was built long before I become its sole resident and last of the blood line that once erected it.  Now I live here, alone, unable to leave.” Finally Taemin let his eyes flick up through wet lashes to meet those of the man.

“What do you mean?”

The man unfolded his fingers, “I am cursed.” He said it simply as if it were common fact.  “I have the form of a man in the light of he sun and that of a beast in the moon. Your father did not exaggerate when he spoke of a monster and I have no intention of deceiving you any farther.”

“So why bring me here, what purpose am I meant to serve now?” Taemin's heart pounded in his chest and made his blood rush in his ears.

The man at his lips, “companionship. I have been alone, living with the curse of my family. With only the thin hope of finding one to love completely and break the cycle that plagues my bloodline.”

Taemin eyed the man but said nothing.  “I know that being forced to be here is not ideal, but I truly hope you will come to find a home here. I swear to never come to you at night in the form of beast but instead spend the hours of the day together. I know the idea of bringing a young lady here comes with certain connotations, but I want you to know I will not harm you. When your father trespassed in the castle and mentioned his daughter, it felt like my only chance, like fate, to bring you here, and I made a bargain with him.”

Taemin’s heart skipped and for the first time in the presence of the man he felt the cold sensation of fear.  “It seems I am not the one being deceived,” a bitter tone laced each word as Taemin realized the full situation he had been thrown into.

“I’m sorry, Taemin, I don’t understand.”

“My father, has never been an honest man, I know that. And it seems he had lied to both of us. He did not lie about having a daughter.  He certainly does, and she is about to be married to a man with a wealthy farm.  My father also had two other children, a son, big and strong, who he doted on every day. And then me, whom he told I would finally make him proud with my sacrifice if I acted like a man, and accepted my fate here.  He did not bring you a daughter but his worthless son.”

Minho only stared as Taemin spoke, his voice getting louder with rage.  Taemin scoffed and fought back the dark feelings swirling in his chest. “So now what do we do? I was already thrown away by my father, will you throw me away now too?” More tears dripped from his eyes and slid down his neck.

There was a long moment of silence between them. “The sun will set soon. Return to your room now, and we will discuss this in the morning.” Minho’s voice never rose as he spoke, but it still sunk deep in the boy’s already broken heart.  He got up and left Taemin in the large hall, alone.  Taemin’s sobs echoed off the bare walls until the fire died out and all that was left was darkness.