Chapter 3: A Face Not Forgotten
Adam opened his eyes and allowed his vision to adjust to his surroundings. He didn't remember dreaming at all. The last thing he could remember was the shadow of a woman, the touch of a hand. Darkness.
He knew he was lying upon a slightly lumpy mattress, sheltered beneath slightly dusted blankets. As he looked around the room, he found that he was surrounded by stone and mortar walls, a dirt floor, and thatch ceiling. Within the walls, small four-paned windows were embedded. In the near distance he could see a rough plank door. The air was filled with an herbal aroma and, hearing a gurgling sound behind him, he sat up, a deep pinch striking his abdomen as he flexed his muscles and turned his head to see a stove with a steaming pot held by the flame of one of its burners.
He knew not where he was, or who had brought him there. Right now he appeared to be alone. None of this truly mattered. He needed find Belle and, if Belle wasn't there, he needed to leave.
Stretching his tired legs, Adam stood up out of the bed. His bones shivered from the cold of his toes making direct contact with the ground. For a moment he wondered why the rest of his body felt so cold, but then he looked down and realized that he was naked.
"Oh, good! I'm glad you've finally awakened, Adam," he heard a warm voice call from behind him.
Adam jumped with a start, as though he had been prodded with a hot poker, and flew back beneath the covers to conceal himself.
The one who had spoken now stood before him with a broad grin across her face. She was a young maiden clothed in attire that hearkened back to the fashion of medieval times. She had long, silky dirty-blonde hair, an elegantly curved face and- no, it couldn't be- violet eyes!
"It- it- it- it's YOU!" Adam exclaimed, appearing absolutely stunned.
The maiden bowed her head.
"I am so glad you remember me, Adam. It certainly has been a long time," she confirmed with a smile in her voice.
He could never forget her: she who had made the greatest impact upon the course of his life- she who had influenced who he had become. She hadn't changed since he had last seen her. She was still immensely beautiful. The only difference was the fact that she didn't appear or sound quite so threatening. The Enchantress!
Adam chuckled, still embarrassed, knowing she had seen him naked, "How could I ever forget you?"
The Enchantress replied with a chuckle of her own, "Well, I do have to admit that it would be quite difficult to forget me. On the other hand, you have changed so much that I hardly recognize you."
"Then how can you be positive it's me? I mean, you placed that curse on me-"
"Adam de Beaumont," the Enchantress interrupted. "Do you really think that I would waste my precious magic on a hopeless cause?"
"I beg your pardon?"
Adam sunk back deeper into his pillow. Now he was completely perplexed. It sounded as though she had believed, all along, that he would break the curse. Now, even Adam himself would admit that he had been a rather troubled child. It was unfathomable that this Enchantress, a complete stranger at the time of his fatal encounter with her, could have possibly known that he would change his ways.
"You see, Adam," the Enchantress explained, reading the confusion on the prince's face. "I had been watching you for quite some time before our meeting. I had seen you turn from a wonderfully curious child to an angry one indeed. You were hurting from all you had been through. Still, I sensed something greater in you than you could ever imagine.
"I lied to you, Adam, when I said there was no love in your heart. On the contrary, I sensed more love in your heart than I have sensed in most other human beings. The truth is that your ability to show compassion was clouded with pain. I wanted to help you, not harm you.
"The enchantment I placed upon you was a mighty powerful one, as I'm sure you are well aware. The Chimera's Curse. It was once a popular spell among the darkest of witches, for most victims of the spell end up going mad and terminating their own life. Although I have never associated with evil, I have delved into the knowledge of all types of magic- light and dark. I have always felt it necessary to know both sides. There can truly be no good without evil. My clan, however, has never been keen about my interest in the dark arts, and that is why I live alone."
"But," Adam began, now more perplexed than ever, "If you were trying to help me, why did you choose to use black magic on me? Could you not have used a less severe spell?"
The Enchantress smiled.
"I would have, but I do not believe a weaker spell would have been as effective," The Enchantress continued while Adam fidgeted nervously as she sat down at the foot of the bed. "Besides, I knew, with dire certainty, that you could survive it. Your soul, although once clouded with negative energy, has always been an exceptionally strong one. In your confusion you have made many poor decisions, but you have always had a good heart. How long did it take for you to break the spell?"
"Actually," Adam replied, "I'm not the one who should be credited with breaking it; it was the love of the most beautiful woman in world that saved me. My Belle. She broke the spell just as the final petal began to fall. At that moment, I felt more hopeless than I ever have in my entire life. But, in that same moment, Belle granted me more hope than I had ever hoped to have."
The Enchantress's eyes grew large. Not simply from shock. She now looked upon her guest as though she were staring at a ghost.
"What is it?" Adam asked, taken aback by her expression.
"It- it- it took you that long to break the spell? You lived like that for ten years? Right up to the last minute- when- right before you would have been bound for the rest of your life?"
"Well, yes."
The Enchantress's expression grew even more ghastly as a thought passed like a stunned whisper through her mind: Maybe I even underestimated the power of his soul. What is he, really? Can he truly be just human?
Adam was now becoming worried by the magical maiden's expression.
"Is there something the matter?" he finally asked after a moment of unbearable silence.
"Oh, nothing," the Enchantress quickly replied, forcing her face into a neutral expression. "It's just that you would not have survived beyond seven years of the curse if your soul were not extraordinary in its strength. You would have not been able to handle it. I knew of your hidden goodness. In this world, people with such goodness are rare. With you being a person of influence, I knew that your true nature had to be revealed. Not just for you, but for your people. They need to be able to come to you for guidance."
Adam nodded, trying to make sense of everything the Enchantress had just said. He had never thought of himself as possessive of an exceptional soul- not even when he had seemed so sure of himself. He did not truly believe himself special. Special? Special. Belle!
Adam jolted slightly, thinking he was going to stand up. That's when he remembered his body was naked beneath the covers.
"Um," he uttered to the Enchantress, feeling abashed.
Adam had become quite modest since regaining his human form. It seemed almost inconceivable that he had once walked about his castle without a shirt. The only person whom he felt comfortable seeing him naked was, of course, Belle. And even with her, he had been stricken with a case of nerves on his wedding night.
"Where are my clothes?"
The Enchantress's cheeks suddenly reddened as she acknowledged that she was sitting at the feet of a nude man. Quickly, as though it were automatic, she leapt from the end of the bed and stood with her back facing Adam.
"Um-" she replied, her soft voice shaking madly, "I have them hanging up to dry. I washed them after I- after I-"
She froze, wondering if she should finish her sentence. It was almost too embarrassing. But she hadn't done anything wrong . . .
"After- after I bathed you."
Although she now felt mightily embarrassed, she admitted to herself that bathing the young nobleman had not been a completely unpleasant experience- though she even felt guilty upon noting that fact. She had been alone for quite some time, only receiving company from the people she found lost in the woods. She had never been with a man; although she had tended to body wounds of men before, she had never seen such a perfect example of masculine beauty until she disrobed Adam. The muscles. The lines. The proportion of it all. Her heart swelled with pride at knowing that she had helped him to alter his personality to an equal level of beauty. He had transformed- body and soul. He had become a living work of art.
"Oh," Adam replied, knowing his face had turned completely red. "Wait. You did what?"
"I- I bathed you. You were covered with dirt and blood."
Well, he could not deny the truth in that. But wait-
Adam looked down at his arms to find that he now only had two round red marks where the Arrows had pierced through his skin. He then lifted the blankets to look down at his torso. There was no longer a gaping wound. Now, where he felt a pinching soreness, he saw nothing more than a dark pink line drawn across the ripples of his abdominals.
"How-" he asked, in wonderment, "How long have I been asleep?"
"Only two days."
Two days!
"How did you tend to these wounds?"
"With some magical herbs," she replied. "Greatly potent ones. You were lucky you got them fresh. I happened to be picking some when I found you. Many of the herbs I use cannot be picked until after dark."
"Thank you," said Adam, all his curiosities mended. "But I really need to go. Will you please bring me my clothes?"
"Yes, but you are not leaving until you eat some herbal soup."
"But I must! I have to save my wife!"
"You need to eat something to bring up your strength, lest you be of no use to the one you love."
Adam felt anxiety clutching at his chest. He had already wasted more time than he really had a need to. He had to leave. Suddenly, he no longer cared how much of his body the Enchantress saw. Thus he stood up, revealing himself to the Enchantress's eyes.
"Wh-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she screamed in panic.
"I'm going to get my clothes."
"Not until after you eat something!"
Adam tried to walk past the Enchantress to get to the door. It seemed easy enough. She was so tiny compared to him. But as he attempted to step past her, he felt his body being forced backwards through the air and pounded upon the bed. The blankets flung themselves back over him and restrained him so that he could not move his limbs. Adam's heart raced in fury. He tried to push off his blankets, but found his arms would not budge. The Enchantress, on the other hand, had never moved. She hadn't any need to.
"Just relax, Adam," she said as she walked over to the stove. "I'm going to get you some soup."
Adam, however, did not relax. His face twisted in frustration. He continued in his efforts to move his limbs. Sweat itched down his forehead. His chest ached with strain. He couldn't move. The Enchantress brought, to his side, a bowl releasing an aromatic steam. Still, he continued trying to move. He couldn't move. The Enchantress was using her magic and the blankets to hold him down. He couldn't move. He began to make a noise similar to growling as he strained his muscles with a luxury they didn't seem to have. He- couldn't- move!
Wait! His arm was moving. His arm was moving! Slowly but surely, his arm was moving! The Enchantress could see it peaking upward beneath the blankets. Her jaw dropped, and her eyes dilated.
It was impossible: human sinew against the infinite strength of magic.
Adam heaved out a series of breaths. With a semi-poetic motion, he tore himself free from the mattress and blankets. The Enchantress, in a moment of awe, had lost her concentration and released Adam from her hold. She continued to look on him in disbelief as he ripped the bowl of soup from her weakened fingers and downed it in a quick series of gulps. She admired the ebbing motion of his throat as he swallowed.
As Adam swallowed the aromatic concoction, he felt a new energy fill his body- from his core outward, and throughout every one of his extremities. A fresh sense of determination jolted through his brain. The slight pain that had pinched his abdomen diminished until it completely ceased to be. He felt like a new man. He wondered exactly what it was that he was drinking, but he did not have time to ask. Besides, whatever it was must have been good- responsible for the energy that had taken him over.
"There!" he barked as he placed the bowl back in the Enchantress's mannequin-like fingers. "I drank the damned soup. NOW I AM GOING TO SAVE MY WIFE!"