Chapter 1

Belle's sobs echoed down the cold stone halls of the Dark One's dungeons as she wept on the unforgiving bed, her measly blanket wrapped around her arms. She missed her friends and father dearly. Belle had been so miserable since coming here to be Rumpelstiltskin's housekeeper despite her attempts to make the best of things. She had never considered herself to be spoiled. Privileged, yes, but she had always strived to never take her good fortune for granted. However, the blisters that now covered her once lily soft hands and screaming of her sore muscles told her that she'd been a lot more spoiled living as a princess than she had previously suspected. Her beautiful ball gown had rubbed her skin raw and her sparkling shoes had caused her feet no small amount of grief.

Maybe if I ask Rumpelstiltskin, he will find me some better clothes to work in.

Momentarily distracted from her grief, Belle's sobs subsided to soft sniffling and the occasional hiccup. She adored her golden ball gown, but it was hardly appropriate for the work of housekeeping. When she wasn't desperately trying to avoid ruining it while she was dusting, sweeping, and cooking, she was tripping over the hem or knocking things over with the enormous skirt. The only reason she had even worn the glittering gown the day Rumpelstiltskin came was because her father had insisted on it. Normally Belle would have argued with father against wearing such a frivolous thing. An expensive ball gown seemed hardly appropriate attire for a meeting discussing war strategy, a war that their kingdom was losing. Her father had seemed so unhappy and melancholy though since the war with the ogres had taken a turn for the worse that, when he asked her to wear the gown, Belle agreed without argument. He had said that he wanted her to look like a noble gentlelady when the Dark One responded to their plea for help, but Belle knew that it was mainly to keep her out of trouble. She couldn't very well sneak out of the castle to help aid the townspeople in their relief efforts in a huge glittering ball gown could she? Belle had always been frustrated with the fact that her father had never approved of her efforts to help their subjects. Leaving the castle might put her in harm's way, which he would never willingly allow. Belle knew that he was only trying to be a good father though and protect her, and for that, she could compromise this one time and wear the gold gown. It would be worth it if only to see her dear father smile again.

But now I shall never see him again, let alone his smile.

Her grief renewed, Belle began to weep even louder than before. She wasn't sure how much more pain her heart could take. She had played the hero she'd read about in all her books, sacrificing her future and freedom so that her family and friends might live. However, Belle found that her books hadn't done justice to the grief and pain the hero experienced after their sacrifice had been made.

So wrapped up was she in her thoughts and sorrow that Belle never heard the creaking of the heavy door as Rumpelstiltskin sauntered into her lonely cell.

"When you so eagerly agreed to come and work for me, I assumed that you wouldn't miss your family quite so much."

Belle started and turned to face the irked voice of her captor. She quickly stood up, smoothing out the skirt of her dress. Her grief quickly turned to incredulous anger.

"I made my sacrifice for them, of course I miss them you beast!"

How this pretentious imp could be the same man Belle had read about that had ended the first ogre war to free the children soldiers, she didn't know.

"Yes, yes of course, but the crying must stop. Night after night! It's making it very difficult for me to spin! You know I do all of my best thinking then."

Tears came to Belle's eyes as the hopelessness of her situation became again apparent. He would never understand her grief or the magnitude of the price he had demanded for the lives of her family and the peace of the kingdom. Her anger turned to frustration at his inability or unwillingness to understand her plight. Maybe the Dark One really was as heartless as the stories said.

His current tactic at trying to quiet the young women clearly not working, Rumpelstiltskin seemed at a momentary loss. Not sure what else to do, he conjured a large pillow out of purple smoke.

"Here," he said, his voice somewhat softer. "Perhaps this will help?"

"For me," Belle asked skeptically, not quite trusting the gesture of what seemed like kindness.

"Not quite so beastly now am I," Rumpelstiltskin replied, tossing the pillow none to gently at her as he started out the door.

"Thank you," she said, quite confused at the turn of events and not sure exactly how to respond. "Maybe now I can get some sleep!"

"No no no. It's not to help you sleep dearie. It's to muffle your cries so I can get back to work!"

Tears once again welled in Belle's eyes at the reminder of her miserable existence under such a cruel man. One who didn't even care that she had just left everyone she'd loved and cherished and hadn't even been able to tell most of them goodbye! Belle felt completely alone. As she began to weep again, her cries were cut short by the sound of breaking glass from elsewhere in the castle. Rumpelstiltskin quickly left the room and Belle followed close behind.

The light from the full moon made it easy for Belle to spy the intruder in the main hall. Rumpelstiltskin confronted the thief as he picked up a wand from its display case. After that, everything seemed to happen so quickly for Belle. One moment the two men were exchanging remarks, then Rumpelstiltskin suddenly had an arrow head deep in his chest, and then a few seconds later, he was leading the thief to the dungeons. The whole exchange couldn't have taken more than a couple minutes.

Belle had asked Rumpelstiltskin why he thought the thief had tried to steal the wand, but the question seemed to only agitate him.

"Why for power of course dearie! Why else would someone try to steal from the Dark One?!"

Belle had thought that was an overly simplistic answer and as she laid back down to bed, she tried to sort out everything that had happened. Why would a thief try to steal from the most powerful man in all the realms? Presumably there was something here that he couldn't get anywhere else. Belle's thoughts drifted back to the wand the thief was after. She had seen it several times while she had been cleaning and it seemed so familiar.

Where have I seen that wand before? Belle searched through everything she had read about magic wands, which honestly wasn't as much as she would have liked. She couldn't be one hundred percent sure, but it certainly resembled a fairy wand she had seen in the book describing the process to becoming a fairy godmother.

Well, if I had broken into the Dark One's castle to steal a powerful object, a fairy wand would be one of the last things I'd take. Doesn't exactly scream all powerful does it? So if the thief hadn't stolen for power, then what was he stealing for? He was obviously very good at his craft to be able to get past all the defenses Rumpelstiltskin had placed around the castle to keep thieves and beggars from coming into the castle. If this thief is so good, then why on Earth did he break in on the worst night possible? A full moon wasn't exactly ideal for trying to keep hidden in shadows now was it. The thief had obviously known what he was doing, so he would have known that the light from the full moon could very easily jeopardize his whole mission. The only motivation that Belle could think of for the thief to come on this specific night to steal a very specific object from the most powerful man known to exist was desperation. The thief wasn't stupid or power hungry, he was desperate.

Satisfied that she had deduced all she could from what she knew, Belle turned on her cot and shut her eyes, looking forward to the rest. Something else was still bothering her though and try as she might, Belle couldn't put her finger on it. Frustrated she sat up, knowing she wouldn't get any sleep until she figured out what else hadn't been quite right about the day. For the most part, that day had been just like every other day. She had cooked, cleaned, and at the end of the day had returned to her room to cry herself to sleep.

That's it! Rumpelstiltskin had come to her room after she had retired to quiet her crying! But what had made the encounter so abnormal that it wouldn't let her sleep?

He'd said that my crying had distracted him. The more Belle thought about the more sure she was that that was what had made the moment so memorable. At the time, she had thought it rather heartless and cruel of Rumpelstiltskin to demand that she no longer mourn for the absence of her friends of family, but now she wasn't so sure.

The man who is said to dance with joy to the cries of his victims said that my sorrow was distracting him. If the rumors of his cruelty had been entirely true, then the Dark One should have enjoyed her cries of loneliness, not pleaded with her to stop. Maybe he's just used to a quiet castle. Belle supposed it was possible that the Dark One was just simply adjusting to another person living in the same house as he, but her intuition told her that something else was at fault for his actions earlier that night. Kindness. With this newfound hope that maybe her captor wasn't as dark as he wanted people to believe, Belle fell to sleep quickly with a small smile on her lips.