A quick note from last chapter, Henry is the name of prince from animated Disney Cinderella, normally spelled Henri. However thought by spelling it the way most people know was easier for people to identify him. Adam is not the name of the Beast as far as I know but since it is unknown I thought this it will be easier because most people think of him as Prince Adam. It just makes it easier for everyone to know who he is by giving him that name. Anyway enjoy!
It must have been close to noon, for it was getting warm. It had been days since Belle had been locked away in her underground prison. The desert was now warm and even into the deep part of the pyramid Belle could feel it. In the evening it was cooler, the pyramid seemed to absorb outdoor temperatures.
The evil Jafar had her locked in a mall area, he had made sure there were no secret doors or wall openings. Belle had pretended to be unconscious when they arrived in Egypt. She had been bound and gagged but at least she had been alert and was able to determine how they entered this place. It was pretty much a maze with a lot of zigzags. There were no booby traps from what Belle saw but she assumed they must have been disabled for awhile.
The locked door wouldn't budge but that didn't stop Belle from searching for anything loose that could help her escape. She read all about pyramids and she had always wanted to see them but this wasn't what how she imagined she'd get here. Attacked by a dark sinister man who abducted her, leaving her to wonder the fate of her husband Adam who had been left behind. She refused to believe he was dead. That was all that kept her from giving up hope and trying to escape.
Belle was starting to grow tired and weary again. She took another sip of water. This was something. She had been given cold water and warm bread almost every day. This meant she was being kept alive for some reason. Belle thought of starving herself out of spite but that wouldn't help her. It was better to keep her strength, it was a big desert. Who knew how long she'd have to travel through it before she had water?
Exhausted Belle leaned up against the wall when she heard loud noises. Boots of men coming to the door, they were Jafar's followers (or people under mind control perhaps?). The door was being opened. Belle stood up instantly. She didn't think she'd be able to run away but she could try. Unfortunately she wasn't given much of a chance, once the door opened they had tossed something in and slammed the locked door shut. It was a woman about her age, tied up and gagged. They had thrown the poor thing to the ground.
Belle quickly ran to her aide. The woman was unconscious and had a small bloody gash on her head. Her light brown hair was a disheveled mess, her dressing gown in shreds. Belle checked to find a pulse and was relieved to see the woman was breathing.
"Hello? Are you ok?" Belle removed the gag and began to untie her. The woman groaned and began to stir.
"What happened? Where am I?" The woman croaked as Belle tried to help her sit up.
"Don't worry I got you." Belle said gently.
The woman's blue eyes blinked and she put a hand to her head. "Ouch, that hurts. Who are you?"
"I'm Belle…er your fellow prisoner."
The woman seemed to regain awareness as fear returned to her eyes. "The sorcerer! He kidnapped me! Henry! Oh what happened to Henry?"
"Shhh, please calm down!" Belle said urgently. "I've been kidnapped by the same man. If we want to find a way out of here we cannot panic! Just relax a bit. Take a deep breath."
The poor frightened woman tried to do what Belle advised, but it seemed to be difficult.
"I know it's scary. I'm scared too, but at least we aren't alone now. Why not tell me your name?"
Belle hoped some small talk would calm her down.
"I'm Cinderella, I come from the northern kingdom of France." She tried to steady her shaking voice. Cinderella looked at her, "And you said your name is Belle?"
Belle smiled, relieved that she was calmer now. Cinderella smiled weakly back and looked around. "You think there might be a way out of here?"
"I don't know but I've been trying to find a way. We are imprisoned in some kind of dungeon in one of the great pyramids."
Cinderella's eyes widened "Egypt? How long had I been unconscious?"
"It looked like your head was hit pretty hard. How did Jafar get a hold of you?" Belle asked.
Cinderella tried to remember. "Well he came to my kingdom and used some kind of magic to summon some dark followers. It looked like he had people under a mind spell. They came to my castle and attacked. My husband and I saw the kingdom burning outside. Henry went to fight them off but they came inside. Jafar approached and grabbed me, next thing I knew everything went black. I think I faded in and out, I was on a horse. I found myself tied up and unable to scream for help. I kept trying to stay awake, but my head hurt so much I kept passing out."
Belle sighed, "Sounds almost what happened to me except my husband and I were in the woods when Jafar attacked. I blacked out too. I woke up when we arrived outside the pyramid, but I was pretty weak myself."
Cinderella shook her head, "I just don't understand. Why did he bring us here? What does he want from us?"
"Believe me I'm dying to know myself." Belle said angrily. "Can't be anything good, he's beyond the most terrifying man I have ever met. Not even Gaston was that scary. I think it's more important we get away before we find out Jafar's plan."
Cinderella began to stand but her legs started to wobble "Whoa, maybe I shouldn't have stood up so fast?"
"Your limbs are stiff from being tied up so long." Belle offered the rest of her water to Cinderella whom she figured may not have had much to drink in days. "You might be dehydrated too."
Cinderella decided to sit and lean back as she drank the water. Belle sat with her. If they were both going to escape Cinderella needed to regain some of her strength back.
"So you're from the North of France? I don't know much of our neighboring kingdoms." Belle said.
"Me neither but I've been learning." Cinderella said. "I only married Henry two years ago. I'm still getting used to learning new things about my kingdom every day. I've been studying history books and maps. I never asked what kingdom you are from Belle."
"Adam is a prince from the heart of France. It's deep in the woods and surrounded by small villages."
Cinderella frowned, "Huh that is odd."
"What's odd?"
"Henry's father, the King, was a bit confused. These books and maps keep popping up about a kingdom he had never heard of before. Maybe he just couldn't remember. It's as if it suddenly appeared out of nowhere."
"Oh." Belle thought for a moment. "That must have been because of the curse."
"The curse?"
"Er yeah. Adam was cursed by an enchantress because of…I guess he was wicked man. He was turned into a large beastly animal, his servants were turned into household objects and the memories of everyone else of the kingdom were wiped so he'd have no human contact. The only way it was to be broken was for him to find love. So it broke when we both fell in love with each other after when I came to his castle."
Belle started to feel embarrassed. The woman next to her must have thought she was nuts.
However Cinderella didn't look surprised. In fact she looked even more interested. "Here I thought magic pumpkins and fairy godmothers were strange."
"Huh?"
Cinderella laughed. "I've seen a great deal of strange magic myself, long before Jafar anyway. I was nothing more than servant for my stepmother and stepsisters until a fairy godmother granted me one night to attend a ball. She transformed my dress, turned a pumpkin into a carriage and mice into horses."
"Mice into horses." Belle shook her head, " Like turning a dog into a walking footstool. What kind of world do we live in anyway?"
"One could only imagine. It seemed to turn everything around for us when you think about it." Cinderella said.
"True, I never expected my life would turn out like this. I suppose you didn't either."
Cinderella laughed again, "No! I thought I would find love one day but certainly not from a prince and become a princess. When I met Henry I was so stupid, I thought he was just a peasant such as myself only he dressed nicer."
"Hmm. It seems you and I have something in common." Belle said. "Something that Jafar considered. You notice that we were the targets and not our husbands?"
Cinderella rolled her eyes, "Yeah the helpless royal females he probably couldn't resist-"
Belle shuddered "I don't want to even think about that! Anyway that's not what I was thinking. We are both royals now…but not by blood. We are royal by marriage. If we live in a world where magic exists, our blood must be worth something."
"I don't know about that." Cinderella frowned. "Wouldn't royal blood be more powerful?"
"Maybe. We could just be hostages for something but that just seems so minuscule for someone like him. However Jafar hasn't had his use for us yet. He's been keeping me alive and there's got to be a reason for it. Which means he must be searching for more just like us."
"You think? He's going after more royals?"
Belle nodded. "Yeah we may have some time but not much longer. Let's find a way out now. What if it is some kind of sacrifice ritual or something?"
It was Cinderella's turn to shudder, "Well let's find a way out of here shall we? After all it would be nice to have our new lives back!"
