The Beautiful Beasts
Chapter 1: The Wedding Interrupted
Belle Mechanicalle stood admiring her reflection in the full length mirror on a stand in her dressing room. It was her wedding day and she was dressed in a beautiful white silk and lace wedding dress. The bride's dress had short, puffed sleeves with a little lace ruffle at the end. The sweetheart neckline had two pink satin roses on the sides, was trimmed in seed pearls and had an oval aquamarine gemstone with a row of diamonds surrounding it and tear drop pearl dangling down from it onto the lace bodice. The bodice of course was made from lace with a pattern of roses, lilies and butterflies. The waistline had more seed pearls and another aquamarine and diamond jewel, the bell-shaped skirt was white silk with a scalloped design of three separate pink satin roses holding up a layer of ruffled lace. Below it was more tiers of ruffled lace that reached the floor. Her white kidskin slippers had seed pearls, and aquamarines surrounded by diamonds on them. Belle wore long white gloves and for her veil, she had a garland of pink roses on her head with a hair comb of silver with diamonds and an aquamarine in the center in her bun and gauzy layers of white chiffon falling over her hair and down her back for her veil. Belle wore aquamarine, diamond, and pearl earrings to match the ones on her gown. She carried a bouquet of fresh roses in every color, red, white, pink, yellow, peach, and lavender, with green maidenhair fern leaves, and baby's breath.
Mrs. Eliza Potts, the housekeeper of her prince's castle, stood behind her. She had helped Belle get dressed and fixed her hair and make-up. "You look gorgeous, my dear." She said. "Oh what a happy day this is! The spell on the master and the castle has been broken and we are all human again. Better yet, our prince has learned to love. You two will have a wonderful future together, I'm sure, making each other happy and raising your children."
"I'm not so sure I want to think about having children so soon. I'd like to spend some time with my prince together just the two of us before we have babies. Belle replied.
"Oh, well, you'll have plenty of time to live your life together. And I'm sure eventually you will have children. Why my little ones are a joy and a blessing to me. Of course they try my patience and my temper now and then, when they are occasionally naughty."
Mrs. Potts was dressed in a yellow silk matron of honor dress, decorated with white lace ruffles and pink satin bows and ribbons. Belle's flower girl, Claire, the village baker's daughter, came into the room wearing her cream silk and lace flower girl dress with a garland of white roses on her head. She carried a white wicker basket of rose petals in many colors.
"Mademoiselle, it's time!" Claire said. Belle's father Maurice Mechanicalle entered the room in his best formal garb, a pale gray broadcloth suit with matching breeches and black shoes with gold buckles.
"Belle, mon Cherie, I'm so happy for my one and only girl on her wedding day! You look beautiful, like the perfect princess bride. Oh, but I will miss you, what will I do without you, my little Belle?"
"Oh Papa, Prince Armand says you can live in the castle with us, but if you don't want to, you are welcome to visit any time. And of course we will come to visit you at the cottage near the village any time you want to see us." Belle set her bouquet on the vanity table and fell into her father's arms, giving him a big hug.
"I love you so much, my sweet, clever Belle. I feel like I'm losing my only daughter. But how wonderful things turned out. Who would have thought that savage beast was a prince under an enchantment?"
"He just needed to be loved, Papa. Armand forgot how to be human. He needed someone to remind him of who he really was, and what he could be if he had some hope."
"Hope, faith, and love…..what we all need." Maurice mused.
"Well, I don't want you to be late for your own wedding, Belle. Your prince is waiting. I'm sure you and Armand will be very happy together."
Belle gave her father a quick kiss on the cheek. Then the music began to play. She picked up her bouquet of roses. Claire the flower girl went down the aisle first, scattering rose petals down the plush red carpet covering the aisle of the castle's chapel. The chapel had been decorated for the wedding with garlands of pink, white and red roses, yellow and pink ribbons, and a bridal altar of white wicker work with pink and red roses woven in between the curls and a yellow lace canopy at the top. The bride and groom stood underneath the altar during the ceremony to take their wedding vows. There was a cage of white doves to be released at the end of the wedding.
The pews in the chapel were filled with wedding guests from near and far. The servants of the castle, who had been turned into animated furniture while Armand was a beast, under a spell a fairy had put on him for his selfishness and lack of hospitality, were in the wedding. Prince Armand had two best men since he didn't want his friends Lumiere and Cogsworth to fight over the position. The other men servants in the castle were the ushers. Mrs. Potts' young son Chip was the ring bearer boy. The castle seamstress Sophie, who had been a wardrobe during the castle's enchantment, the chef's wife and assistant chef, Paulette, the maid Babette who had been a feather duster, and Angelique, who had been an angel Christmas ornament, were her bride's maids. Mrs. Potts was her matron of honor.
Maurice walked his daughter and only child down the chapel aisle strewn with rose petals. She held on to his arm and walked gracefully and stately to her beloved groom. Maurice felt his eyes growing misty. This was an occasion for great joy and celebration. He knew that his beautiful Belle would attract many men, and one day she would find the man who attracted her and she would want to get married. He began to remember his own wedding to Belle's mother, and that brought up other memories, of everything he did wrong that caused her to leave him and their daughter. Belle reached her darling love Armand's side. The groom was dressed in a sky blue frock coat trimmed in gold buttons and braid with beige pants and black and gold boots. She took Armand's hand and he bowed slightly to Maurice, who returned the bow. All of them were smiling broadly. Armand brought her white gloved hand to his lips and kissed it. The village priest, Father David, began the ceremony.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together on this lovely spring day to celebrate a most joyous occasion, the wedding of Prince Armand of Vanier, third cousin to our glorious king, and of Belle Mechanicalle of Pasture. Matrimony is a holy estate ordained by God in which a man and a woman are joined together to become one flesh. It is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, and in the fear of God. If anyone here can show just cause as to why these two may not lawfully be joined together, let him or her object now or forever hold their peace."
"I object!" Shouted a voice coming from the back of the pews. A rough burly red-headed man stood up. Three triplets, identical young blonde women that were very pretty and shapely, stood up with him. He was a farmer who had been Gaston the hunter's friend and had participated in the villager's raid on Armand's castle when he was still a beast. Gaston was an excellent hunter, a vain, proud, arrogant conceited man. He fancied Belle for his wife, but his motivations were all selfish, he did not know how to truly love her since love required giving up of the self to make someone else happy. He tried to black mail Belle into marrying him by claiming her father Maurice was crazy and having him put in an insane asylum. If Belle would agree to marry him, then Maurice would be declared sane and free, but if she did not, then he would be locked up. When Armand the beast released Belle to tend to her father, she returned to the village with a magic mirror that showed you whatever you wanted to see. At first the villagers did not believe Belle when she told them about the beast in the castle, then she showed them in the magic mirror. Then they were very frightened. She tried to explain to them what he was really like, kind and gentle, but they would not listen, the mothers were scared for their children and wanted their men folk to hunt down this dangerous and deadly beast and kill it. Gaston was jealous and excited at the thought of hunting a beast as rare as this. The villagers locked Maurice and Belle in a wagon and then went off to the beast's castle to hunt him down and kill him.
However little Chip, who was a teacup with a tiny chip in it at the time, snuck out of the castle with Belle and avoided being locked up with her. He had Belle's horse Philippe with him and together they started one of Maurice's inventions, (he was an inventor) it was a wood chopping machine, and they got it to chop down the door to the wagon they were imprisoned in. Belle rushed back to the castle on Philippe and the furniture servants were doing their best to fight off the invading attacking villagers. Gaston managed to sneak through the castle rooms with his bow and arrows searching for the beast till he found him, in despair over his beloved Belle's departure in one of the tallest towers. Armand didn't have the heart to fight back because he was so sad over losing Belle and thought he had lost her forever. Gaston shot him, mocking him all the while. Then they saw Belle. In a struggle out the window on the castle's roof Beast managed to knock Gaston off the roof. At first the beast offered the hunter mercy, but then Gaston stabbed him with his hunting knife so Beast hurled him from the roof.
Belle wept over her dear beast and realized how much she loved him as he lay mortally wounded and bleeding in her arms as the rain from the thunderstorm soaked them both. She kissed him and said "I love you" to him for the first time. With her love, she broke the spell the fairy enchantress had cast that bound him in the form of a beast. He had learned how to love, and to win another human being's love, and when his sweetheart declared truly from the depths of her soul that she loved him with all her heart, he became human again, for his beastly nature had been transformed into how a true man was suppose to be. Now they would be married, a blessed union of souls.
But Gaston had been a popular man in the tavern of the village. The friends of Gaston were angry, and sought vengeance for his death. The fact that the beast turned out to be a prince added jealousy and envy to their anger. In their eyes Armand was a murderer. Never mind the fact that it was self-defense, and Gaston's own fault, and never mind their own crimes of trespassing and viciously attacking the castle and all the living furniture and household objects who were the servants.
The Devil, that master of evil was like a roaring beast himself seeking to devour anyone who listened to his poisonous serpent whispering lies, the temptation and thoughts he put into human heads to tempt them toward evil. The dark side of humanity, humanity's beast-like nature, has been around since Adam and Eve disobeyed God, that is why there is so much injustice, pain suffering, corruption and evil in human society. The village peasant men were ignorant hicks who drink too much after the work in their fields was finished and liked to get rowdy, often making their wives or girlfriends annoyed with them.
The red-headed man's name was Russell. He started on Armand, "You murderer! You killed Gaston! And you are involved in witchcraft." Then he turned on Belle, "I know you for what you are, you little witch! You used your sorcery on him to make the beast look like a man. He is your demonic lover. You both are an abomination, damned to hell!"
The blonde triplets began to speak too. "Gaston would have been ours had he lived." Marie, the eldest said. "I never understood why he was so in love with you when you never gave him the time of day." said Yvette. "Now I understand. You're a witch and you put a charm over him to make him fall for you, but then you repeatedly ignored him and strung him along, reading those spell books of yours till you could run away and find the beast's castle and make the beast your lover. Then you had your beastly lover kill poor Gaston." She continued.
"Her father was always weird, making those creepy strange inventions." said Isabelle, the youngest triplet. "He must be a sorcerer too, and his inventions are evil, possessed by evil spirits. No wonder they rarely work properly."
"Father David, you can't let this wedding continue, it is a union between a witch and a demonic shape shifting beast who is a murderer and could be a warlock, they are evildoers and have already killed one innocent man and injured several others. If they are wed they will breed a race of foul demonic children with powers of black magic who will take over our fair country." Russell declared to the priest and everyone present at the wedding.