"It's a better life than most in the world have," Laurent commented, glancing out across the great hall they were passing through. "All this luxury and comfort. Even with the loneliness."

He smirked at the Beast's suggestion he felt sorry for the Minotaur. Unsurprising. "I felt sorry for the twelve youths sacrificed to the Minotaur. Hunted like prey and then raped or eaten. Though I would not be terribly surprised to discover that it was a scheme on the part of Minos. That he had some other purpose for the youths, and the Minotaur was merely a scapegoat--or, more likely, a man wearing a taxidermied bull's head. It would hardly be the most absurd scheme a king had ever wrought in order to maintain power."