When Beauty *IS* the Beast by Inez Kelley

I love the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. Cartoon, live action, stage make up or ink drawn, I don’t care. It enchanted me as a child and drew me as an adult. The idea of seeing deeper than skin, deeper than face value to the true heart of a person, I find a wonderful value lesson. It doesn’t matter if the female is the beauty and the hero the beast or the reverse, the lesson is the same.

But what happens when Beauty *is* the Beast?


That was something I discovered after finishing the first draft of MYLA BY MOONLIGHT. Myla is not human. She is a magical being of immense powers. Her solid forms are feline and feminine. Both are beautiful. She is exotic and mesmerizing with a tranquil gaze that scrutinizes and notes every action. Slender as a water lily with the grace of a ballerina, she is not a threatening figure.

Until you piss her off. Then the beast appears. Not so much in ugly form as in ugly actions. She is a killer. That is her design and she has no mercy. You see her beast, her fanged jaguar as it kills a wolf and enemies of Prince Taric. As a woman, she snaps a guard’s neck with her bare hands. She excels in war, beheading and killing while wearing chain mail and swinging a sword.

Taric’s best friend meets Myla and makes an astute observation:

Eyes narrowed, she fixed the young man with a predatory stare. The smile slid from his lips and a gulp worked his throat. “I spare no mercy for any man, woman or beast who threatens the prince. Heed that, Sir Bryton, and you shall never need fear my claws.”

A low snort sounded from her right but she didn’t move her gaze from the wide-eyed man seated before her. Slowly he nodded and a little curl lifted the side of his mouth. “Formidable bodyguard you have, Tar—beautiful and fierce, such a lovely but deadly combination.”

She puts herself between danger and Taric and is prepared to give everything to keep him safe, including her death. But Taric sees her beauty even while her ugliness is front and center. The beast in Myla is still a beauty to him because he loves her. He doesn’t love her DESPITE this flaw but in totality, accepting her as she is. She is both Beauty *AND* Beast and he would have her no other way.

Here are Taric’s thoughts:

Seeing her clad head to toe in mail, he would never have guessed she possessed the curves he’d caressed the night before. She was a fighter, a soldier and a killer. Myla as a lover was incredible. Myla as a jaguar was mesmerizing. Myla as a warrior was breathtaking. If war could be called music, she would be its dancer for her grace and speed were choreographed to a deadly melody. Each twirl and vault of her stance seemed more ballet than fight but her blade drew blood time and time again. In the midst of death and bloodshed, she captivated him.

Beauty and the Beast or Beauty as the Beast, the story basis is the same. Love knows the true heart.

Tell me your favorite Beauty and the Beast story. Do you prefer the hero or heroine to be the beast and why?

Inez Kelley writes a little of this, a little of that and a whole slew of the other but they all come with romance. Currently, she is working a sequel to MYLA BY MOONLIGHT. You can visit her website at http://inezkelley.com/.

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