This is an AU type Rumbelle story. AU because no dark curse from Regina and the whole Rumple tossing Belle from the castle happens a bit closer to the Disney version than the OUAT version of what happened. This is M rated! Dont like, dont read
I will try to update at least weekly if not more frequently. Feel free to feed the review Monster, lol.
Chapter 1
Princess Belle had escaped her Fathers latest War meeting with shattered nerves as the Captain of the Guard gave the dreaded news; Avonlea had fallen. The decades long Ogre war had finally breached their walls and their impending doom weighed heavily on the young womans shoulders. King Maurice had told her that he was sending her away for her own safety; Gaston had renounced their engagement as soon as they had received the news that the borderlands were breached. Belle sighed with evident relief at the end of the arranged engagement, Gaston was a rat deserting a sinking ship; a coward who was taking his men and abandoning Avonlea at her darkest hour. Good riddance! Belle could never bring herself to give her heart to the brute. The end of the engagement left her free to concentrate on the wellfare of her people, but her Father would let her remain in dangers path no longer. Belle retreated to her Fathers library to think. How could she convince him to allow her to remain with him and his remaining guard? She had only one recourse at this point and she wasnt sure if her Father would ever forgive her for what she was about to do. She had saved this option as an absolutely last resort; making a deal with the Dark One. Belle sat at her Fathers desk and retrieved the specially spelled ink hidden in a secret pocket of her gown. The ink was golden in color and glowed brightly in the dim room, illuminating the mahogany desktop and making it shine eerily before her. The old woman had told her to use the ink on black parchment, write out her plea to the Dark One, and toss it into the flames. Belle was then to wait for his appearance, which would probably not take long at all if she had worded her plea urgent enough. She furrowed her brow for a moment in thought; the best thing to do she supposed was to get directly to the point, she doubted that the man could be ignorant of their plight with the Ogres.
Dark One,
Help us I implore you. We are dying! Avonlea has fallen and the last of our Soldiers have taken heavy casualties. I am willing to offer you any amount of gold and treasure that you could want. We are at your mercy, please help us.
Obediently Yours,
Belle De La Fleurs
Her Majesty Princess of Avonlea
Belle went to the library hearth stealthily before she could change her mind out of fear and tossed the missive into the flames. The parchment incinerated in a shower of green and gold sparks with a loud bang, causing her to start and swallow nervously. The die was cast. Her fate was sealed. The old woman had warned her that once a person dealt with the Dark One, they were never to be the same as once they were, but if she wanted to save her people, her family, her friends, then there was no other coucourse of action and no other path to take. Her Father had told her on numerous occasions that to be a leader meant sacrifice. A leader was selfless. A leader put the needs of their people above all else because their lives were in their hands.