Chapter One

Belle walked out of her father's throne room for what she knew was the last time, Rumplestiltskin's hand at her waist, guiding her gently from the room.

"Will you permit me an hour to set my affairs in order?" Belle asked quietly, "Please?" Rumplestiltskin looked slightly taken aback. "There are some people who are depending on me. I must see to them, no one else will." He sighed.

"And why should I do that, dearie?"

"Because you asked for two different things today. And I only agreed to one of them." she said quietly as they rounded a corner of the shattered hallway. He stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Did I? I really don't think I did." he said, his tone silky and dangerous.

"But you did. You asked for me." she replied, her voice steely as she looked up to meet his eyes. "And you asked for a caretaker." she put a finger up to still him. "And I am not known for those qualities that make a caretaker. Quite the opposite in fact. I am...troublesome. Willful. Stubborn, even." She gave him her very best "don't cross me" look. He stared at her for a moment, his lips twitching with amusement.

"And if I give you your hour, you will be what? A model caretaker?" he taunted. She pursed her lips.

"If you give me an hour, I will do my best." she said carefully, her eyes trained on his. "Please, Rumplestiltskin." She asked, very softly, her tone even, asking only for common courtesy, with the promise that she would return courtesy in kind. He rolled his eyes upwards and sighed.

"Very well. One hour. I will come to collect you, no matter where you are or what you are doing." He said, his voice a sing-song as he waggled a long finger in her face.

She closed her eyes and breathed, "Thank you." she opened them again and recaptured his gaze. "For everything." Then she turned on her heel and trotted down the hall. His eyes followed her, before he waved a hand over himself, becoming invisible.

Belle ducked into her room quickly. She snatched a ring of keys and a bulging money pouch from their hiding place behind her mirror, then grabbed a long hooded cloak which she threw over her shoulders.

She hurried back into the hall, drawing the hood up as she went. She glanced quickly both ways before racing down the narrow stairs which led to the dungeons. The guards had left their posts long before to help man the outer walls in preparation for Rumplestiltskin's visit, and she met no one on her way down. She sent a silent prayer of thanks for small miracles.

She raced down the dank hall, torchlight guttering and cloak billowing until she reached the last cage. A russet haired woman was folded in on herself in a corner of the tiny cell. She looked up as Belle approached.

"Belle!" she exclaimed, jumping gracefully to her feet. "What are you...how...how did you escape?!" she stammered in shock as Belle fumbled the key in the lock and shook her head.

"There's no time. Come, we must get you into the forest before they think to look for you." she finally got the key in correctly, and the door swung open. The women embraced quickly, but pulled apart as Belle made a strangled sound and clung to the door, putting a hand to her ribs, trying to catch her breath in her tight corset.

"I see they trussed you up properly." her sister sniggered. Belle glared at her and handed her a tiny dagger she slipped from a hidden pocket of her voluminous gown.

"Oh, gods," she gasped, "Just get it off...get it off!" she hissed, a note of hysteria creeping into her voice. Honoria lost no time snatching free the laces of her gown to reveal the tight corset underneath. She expertly slit through the corset ties and slid the offending garment off. Belle held the dress up, breathing deeply for the first time in hours as her sister laced the dress back on.

"It's a good thing you don't need that thing to keep this up." Honoria laughed.

"Ridiculous contraption." Belle muttered darkly.

"Oh, I wholeheartedly agree!" A delighted voice said mockingly. They both jumped and whirled around. Belle reddened.

"Shite. Sorry, I forgot about him." Honoria said, indicating the grinning man dressed in forest green in the cell next to hers. He pouted.

"Forgot me!? And I thought we were getting on so well." he waggled his eyebrows at the taller woman, who rolled her eyes. His eyes turned serious. "But, please, mistresses, I would much appreciate it if you would release me. I have much to attend to."

Belle looked at Honoria, who sighed and snatched the keys from her sister, opening his door. It was Belle's turn to roll her eyes.

"Follow us and do exactly as we say if you want to get out of here alive." Belle said curtly, turning and trotting back up the hallway. "Time is short."

Honoria and the man followed silently, snatching up swords from the rack behind the guards station and buckling them on as they went. Belle led them through a maze of narrow corridors, broken walls and fetid alleyways, until in a surprisingly short time they reached the outer walls.

She went directly into the stable yard of a tiny inn directly against the outer walls, where two golden horses waited, fine blankets thrown over their backs to ward off the chill, their tack thrown over the shared side of their stalls.

Honoria looked at the man and pointed her chin at Belle's gelding as she pulled her saddle from its perch. He wordlessly grabbed the other saddle. Belle went to a corner of one of the stalls and dug in the straw until she pulled up two sets of saddlebags and a gittern. She handed a bag to each of them, following Honoria's saddlebag with the gittern wrapped in the cloak she'd been wearing.

"Father." she said, by way of explanation at Honoria's raised eyebrow. "There are supplies and gold enough to see you to safety. It's liable to get chilly tonight, use the cloak." she said, fussing with the seam of her skirts.

Honoria froze, her hand on her horses rump as she tied the saddlebag to the saddle. She turned slowly.

"You're not coming." she stated, her voice tight. Belle looked at her and swallowed.

"I cannot." she whispered. "I'm sorry, Honoria."

"The guards said father called for Rumplestiltskin." Honoria said, slowly, warily. Belle nodded, and then suddenly smiled.

"Yes. He came. We're safe." she said, unable to keep the relief from her voice. Honoria closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

"And his price?" she asked. Belle took her sister's hands and forced her to look at her.

"All he asked for was a caretaker for his estate." she said. "I've agreed to go with him...forever."

"Of course you did." Honoria stated flatly, tears in her eyes. Belle put her hand to her sister's face.

"Honoria, look around! Our town is in ruins." She stated softly. "More than that, they destroyed the farms on their way here, soon food will be short. We lost so many people today..." She closed her eyes, staggering slightly as a wave of dizziness shook her body. Honoria grabbed her arms.

"Belle! Are you all right?" she cried. Belle opened her eyes and blushed.

"Sorry. I'll be fine. It's just..." she sighed as she finally admitted to her sister what she had denied to all others. "I've not been permitted food or rest since they locked you in the dungeons." Honoria gasped, looking outraged.

"Surely father would..."

"Yes, he would have, but what would that have accomplished except to split the council into factions? The eve of our destruction is the worst time for us to turn on one another. I would not distract him." Belle interrupted. "Once we'd seen to the wounded, and they'd locked you up, they trussed me in this ridiculous dress and imprisoned me in the throne room. They planned to wed me tonight, before we could escape again. They never believed he would come, and they intended to cement the alliance before father could find another way out of it."

"We should never have come back! Those ungrateful fools! They'd be dead already if it weren't for the warning we carried back with us!" Honoria hissed angrily. Belle held up a hand to still her.

"Come on, Honoria. You didn't hesitate to turn around any more than I did. If you didn't know what we were giving up, I certainly did. I knew if I came back my freedom was forfeit. Father would have been able to get you out, but...well." she closed her eyes and swallowed.

"None of that matters now. Avonlea has fallen. The ogres have ridden hard in this direction since it did. They can't be more than 3 leagues off, and not just a single squad this time, but an entire legion, and us already severely weakened. I...didn't expect any of us to see the dawn." She looked up to meet her sister's eyes at last, her next words coming stronger.

"There would have been no escape this time. Without his aid, all of us, every last man, woman, and child, would be naught but a bloody stain upon these stones – a sad tale told in hushed whispers of yet another kingdom ground to dust beneath the heel of the ogre invasion." She looked down again as she whispered.

"It is not so great a price." Honoria winced and ran a finger along her sister's strong jaw.

"Brave, brave Belle" she whispered. "Always sacrificing your own happiness." She took a shuddering breath. Belle smiled sadly.

"Happy endings aren't for the likes of me anyway." she said. "Disobediant, willful, and independent princesses don't get happily ever afters – they get burned at stakes. And as much fun as the stake sounds, I think I'll take my chances with the imp." she chuckled weakly, but Honoria jerked back.

"That's not funny, Belle!" Honoria threw her hands up. "Strange girl. How can you make jokes at a time like this! Sometimes I think you're trying to get yourself killed, you're so reckless!" she said, her breath hitching.

"Don't think I don't know that you've thought about it! I know you, Belle! I think I'm the only one who does!" she took a step closer to her sister.

"I have kept all your secrets, sister. But I have lived in terror every moment. I wake from nightmares where they've burned you, beaten you, stoned you..." she sobbed as she trailed off.

"I've never asked you to stop, I've never asked you to be less than who you are, because I know you can't. Or won't." she took a shuddering breath, and closed to her eyes to the stunned expression on Belle's face.

"Just don't...don't try to get yourself killed, Belle." Belle's jaw twitched and she immediately looked shamefaced.

"I'm sorry. For everything. I didn't mean for things to happen this way." she whispered. "I've as little wish to die as anyone else, you must believe me Honoria." she continued softly. "But father would have sacrificed every soul here rather than give me to him. And I love him for that. But it wasn't right. My life is not more valuable than the lives of our people." She said flatly. "It's done, and there is no taking it back. Please, I don't want to fight." Honoria stifled a sob, and nodded, looking her squarely in the eyes.

"Then you must be very careful, sister. You will be completely at his mercy. He might hurt you. Sorcerer's are temperamental. He might kill you for the slightest offense." Honoria said quietly. The grin slid from Belle's face and her hands trembled slightly as she brought them down to clutch at the hem of her gown and stepped back. She smiled again, grimly this time, and took a deep breath, nodding.

"Well then, it's a good day to die." she stated, her voice shaking only slightly. "I have no regrets." Honoria closed her eyes and hung her head, their childhood mantra stilling her tongue, as Belle had known it would.

"Yes." she whispered. "It is." she opened her eyes and took a deep breath of her own. She pressed her lips together, then reached out and touched Belle's necklace, her fingertips glowing faintly. She brought her fingers to her own identical necklace.

"There. Now no matter where we go in this land, we will know if the other is safe. And if he hurts you..." she said darkly. Belle shook her head.

"He won't hurt me. But thank you, dear heart."

"How can you possibly know that?"

"I...I don't know. I just..." Belle shook her head again, abruptly. "I don't, all right? I'm terrified. I have to trust him or I won't be able to do this." she practically choked on the words as she spat them out. "There. I said it. I'm afraid. Are you happy now?" She trembled and Honoria wrapped her in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "You always seem so strong...sometimes I forget how much of it is just your innate mulishness." she giggled as Belle swatted her, her face still pressed into her shoulder.

"I'm not a fool." Belle whispered back. "But I made my choice. And I will make the best of it." she said, before drawing back and straightening herself up as tall as she could manage. "Now, I love you, my sister, but you must flee if you wish to escape my gilded cage. You are the only heir now, and bastard or not, the council will have you wed Sir Gaston in my place." Honoria shuddered, then nodded and quickly mounted.

"I love you too." She said, before glancing at her companion and inclining her head towards Belle's horse impatiently.

He'd been (rather uncharacteristically) silent, busying himself with preparations to allow the girls to struggle through their farewell in some semblance of privacy. Now he cleared his throat awkwardly, and dropped on one knee in front of Belle. He took her hand and pressed it to his forehead in the traditional offering of fealty in their land.

"Thank you, Princess." he murmured. "We will never forget your sacrifice, nor your mercy. If ever you are in need, my men and I will always be at your command." Belle nodded gravely as she reclaimed her hand.

"Thank you, sir...?" she said.

"Locklea. Robin of Locklea." he said, grinning at her impishly as he mounted her Philippe. "And, for the record, you can count me as a very big fan of the ridiculous dress." he called over his shoulder. She snorted her laughter, but her smile was sad as they left the stable.

"Take care of my horse, Robin Hood." she called as they galloped into the night.

She watched them go, her heart constricting so painfully in her chest that for just a moment, she could not breathe. Her face crumpled for just an instant as despair briefly overwhelmed her, but she was a stubborn willful thing after all, and she yanked herself back from the precipice as quickly as she'd careened towards it. She had one last task to complete before she met her fate.

She stood watching until she saw they had made it past the tree line. As soon as they were out of sight, she took her skirts in her hands and ran to the outskirts of the village, where a large manor house which was falling slightly to ruin stood. Slipping noiselessly around the back, she knocked on the kitchen door. A haggard, red-faced woman opened the door, flooding the small yard with light and noise. She looked as though she'd been weeping.

"Belle!" she said in surprise, "I heard..." At her name, a tiny, dark-haired boy popped up from behind the woman. Belle shook her head at the woman as she glanced at the boy.

"Belle!" he cried, grabbing her around the middle and squeezing tightly. There were children everywhere within the house, and it made Belle sad to realize just how many new orphans there were. Belle smiled and squeezed him back. He stepped back and gawped at her.

"Wow! You look like a fairy princess!" he exclaimed.

"Oh I certainly hope not," Belle chuckled darkly, "I'm not sure I shed enough glitter. And what an awful mess to clean up if I did!" He giggled a little.

"You don't like fairies?" he asked, cocking his small head to the side as he studied her curiously. She shook her head. He was a quick one.

"It's not that I don't like them, really. I just don't trust them is all." she told him. His eyebrows shot up.

"But...why not? Fairies are good, they help people with their magic." he asked. She bit her lip.

"Yeeesss..." she said slowly, "but what is the first rule of magic, William?" she asked. It was his turn to bite his lip as he thought hard. She took pity on him.

"All magic comes with a price." she answered for him. "Everyone knows this. But fairies...fairies don't always tell you the price of the magical help they give. There must be one. Though they work with the best of intentions, their help is not always in the best interests of the person they are "helping"." she grinned as his mouth made a little "o".

"Have you heard of Jiminy Cricket?" she asked him. He nodded. "Well, I heard that a fairy turned him into a cricket so he could be free of his parent's life." she paused for effect. "A cricket." she stated baldly. "Now, can you truly tell me that being changed into an insect was the best option a grown man had to escape his parents?" she shook her head, and screwed up her face in distaste. "So, I wouldn't trust a fairy's judgment." William giggled at the expression on her face.

"Ok, maybe not a fairy. But you look like a princess anyway!" he grinned as she smiled at him.

"Imagine that." she said, her eyes dancing with amusement. She tore her gaze from the young boy to greet the old woman properly.

"Hello Mama Hubbard." she said, pulling her pouch of gold from her pocket. She quickly pressed it into her hands.

"Thank you, my Lady!" she gasped. Belle smiled.

"It's all I can do, I'm afraid." she said sadly. "I won't be able to do more, I'll be leaving soon and I won't be returning this time. Make it last." the woman clutched her hands tightly, her eyes glittering with tears.

"So it's true then." she whispered. The boy looked devastated.

"You're going away?!" he cried, looking crestfallen. "Don't you like us anymore?" she took his hands.

"Of course I like you William! I must go, I have to protect you from the ogres." she said, tickling him and smiling as if such a thing was an everyday occurrence.

"I'm not scared of ogres!" he declared. "I'll fight them, like you." Her face fell, and she took a deep breath before dropping to her knees, heedless of the dirt on her gown. She hugged him fiercely.

"No, William," she said. "Don't even think it. No, there are too many of them, and they're brutally strong."

"I'm not afraid! I'll be brave, I can..." Belle put her finger over his lips, stilling him.

"You are brave, William. But ogres are not men. Fighting them on their terms is folly. It's suicide. And that's not bravery, darling. Bravery is doing the right thing, the smart thing, even when it's very hard, or frightening. Even if it makes you shamed or despised." she turned him around and pointed to the red flush in the night sky that never went away.

"You see that red in the sky? That's not the glorious fires of battle. That's the blood of our people. The blood of children." she shook her head sadly. "No, this slaughter ends. Tonight. The right way. A great magic will be performed tonight, and it will save us all. And great magic requires a great price, because that is the way the world stays in balance. Tonight I will pay that price," she stood, pulling gently away from the boy.

"And you will grow up in a peaceful land and get married and make lots of babies for Maman to dote on." She took the old woman's hands.

"Take care of them, Maman. I must go." she whispered. The other woman nodded through her tears, then pulled a small goat cheese wrapped in fragrant basil leaves from her pocket and pressed it into Belle's hand.

"Lottie said you've been neglecting yourself again." she said. Belle shook her head and tried to give it back.

"No, Maman, save it for the children. There's little enough to be had at any price." she said, though her stomach constricted just at the smell of the delicious cheese. Maman shook her head vehemently.

"Tis small enough repayment for all you've done for us. Take it you stubborn girl. You're going to need your strength." she snapped waspishly. Belle leaned forward impulsively and pulled the old woman into a hug.

"If I'm stubborn you taught me to be." she laughed weakly, before continuing softly, "Thank you for thinking of me."

"Be safe, Princess." Maman choked, releasing her. Belle nodded, gave William one last hug, then slipped away quietly around the front of the house.

Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice that her steps had begun to weave dangerously until she stumbled on a cobble and fell to her hands and knees. She stayed where she was as waves of dizziness and disorientation rocked her body.

She really had been too long without food and sleep, she realized with alarm. She dragged herself over to the manor's well and pulled herself up, trembling violently. Her fingers found the bucket, and she drank deeply, grateful beyond telling that it had been left full. The water hit her empty stomach and spread cold chills throughout her body that slowly cut through the fog of disorientation.

Slumping against the side of the well, she pulled out her cheese. She turned it in her hand, then brought it up to her nose and inhaled deeply. She adored the smell of fresh basil. Her mouth watered uncontrollably, and she devoured it quickly, sucking her fingers greedily, her eyes closed blissfully.

Satisfied and feeling significantly less faint, she sank to the ground as gracefully as she could manage and tilted her head back to gaze up at the stars. She had only a few moments left of freedom, and she would spend them under the open sky.

Behind her, a bit of the shadow cast by the manor separated itself from the rest and slipped silently after her.