The Statues: the Beast

Because he wondered, he turned to the other statue—the male.

The beast.

His visceral response to the crouched, blatantly male body that was a blend of human and animal was a gut-deep sense of recognition. It was as if someone has stripped him of his skin to reveal what really lay beneath.

Massive shoulders supported a feline head that had its teeth bared in a snarl of rage. One paw/hand was braced on the ground near the head of a small sleeping woman. The other was raised, the claws unsheathed.

Someone like Alexandra would look at this creature and assume it was about to crush and tear the female, that the only way to control that physical strength and rage would be to keep it chained. Someone like Alexandra would never look beyond that assumption to notice the small details. Like the sleeping woman’s hand reaching out, her fingertips just brushing the paw/hand near her head. Like the way the crouching body sheltered her. Like the way the glittering green stone eyes stared at whoever approached, and the fact that the snarling rage came from the desire, the need, to protect.

Daemon took a deep breath, let it out slowly—and then tensed. He hadn’t heard any footsteps, but he didn’t have to turn around to know who now stood at the foot of the stairs. “What do you think of him?” he asked quietly.

“He’s beautiful,” Jaenelle replied in her midnight voice.

~Queen of the Darkness, Anne bishop


I have no idea what possessed me to draw this but here it is. To be honest it went amazingly well--for once I have very little to pick about looking at it later. ;D Plus I had loads of fun on it, too. *drools on Daemon*

This is one of two statues in Jaenelle Angelline's garden at Ebon Askavi. Promise I'll post the second one here when it's finished. *cough*-started-*cough*


I do not own the excerpt or the concept, they belong to the amazing Anne Bishop and her Black Jewels series.

The artwork, however, is completely mine. C: