Chapter 4: A Matter of Tea, Money and Trust
Beast hurried off to a small door a little bit further in the corridor and went inside. He didn't wait for Belle or the other household objects to catch up. They followed slowly after him.
Lumière reminded him to scold the master for not letting Belle enter first. He had an aggravated expression on his face and Babette gave him a hopeful smile before they entered the room. Beast had already sat down in the largest chair in front of the unlit fireplace. It was rather cold in the room, but he didn't mind.
Belle gulped as she entered, unsure what to do. Any other man would incline her to sit down. Beast just looked at her.
He studied her appraisingly. Well, she wasn't ugly. That was all he could decide on. The wild ride on Philippe through the forest had messed Belle's hair up and her face was drained of all natural color. True, she didn't look very impressive like this.
Lumière, Babette and Cogsworth stood by the door quietly, observing how Belle nervously sat down in the chair, looking very unsure of herself. They prayed that Beast would be kind to her. Lumière cleared his throat, trying to get it to the master's attention that he had to say something to Belle.
Beast frowned as he saw the three household objects in the door. He felt irritated by their hopeful and anxious expressions. Surely they weren't seriously expecting him to woo this girl? "Leave," he said coldly to his servants.
Belle turned around in her chair, looking at the magical objects. Were they going to leave her there? With that monster? She caught an apologetic look on Babette's face as the duster left and she felt her panic rising.
Lumière caught Belle's distressed look and quickly tried to reassure her. "We will be back with tea in just a few minutes, mademoiselle!"
Belle gulped as she turned back in her chair and faced Beast. She heard the door close behind her and braced herself against the armrests.
Beast looked at the ground. He wasn't accustomed to talking to strangers. Small talk wasn't exactly something he engaged in a lot. He nervously scratched his neck. "So ehm…" Beast hopefully looked into her eyes. "Did I scare you?"
"Excuse me?" Belle said quietly, unable to believe what he had just asked her.
"W-when I jumped from the gargoyle statue," Beast quickly explained.
Belle couldn't help an awkward laugh that left her mouth. "I screamed and fell to the floor," Belle replied as she gazed upon Beast, who was looking into her eyes and blinked his with a blank expression. Belle frowned. "I'd say it was about the scariest thing I've ever endured, yes."
Beast's face broke into a broad grin and Belle couldn't help but brace herself even more as she gazed upon his bared set of fangs.
Beast's grin faded into a small smile, content with the work he had done today. It was kind of fun hearing such a compliment from a stranger. It would be a shame that she would leave again soon. "So your horse got shot, huh?" he said.
Belle quickly nodded. "Yes."
"Bullet?" Beast tried to sound genuinely interested.
"Yes. And arrow," Belle replied awkwardly.
"Bullet and arrow," Beast summarized, staring at the high ceiling. No spiders. How on earth had Babette dusted that?
Belle found herself looking around in the small room as well. There was a desk in front of the window, loaded with paper, quills, feathers and parchment. There was a bookcase against the furthest wall and Belle couldn't help but feel a natural curiosity towards it.
"May I?" she suddenly asked, overcoming a part of her fears as she pointed to the bookcase.
Beast turned to see what Belle was pointing at. What did she want? "May you what?" Beast asked, confused.
Belle got up quietly as she still pointed to the bookcase. "See the books, please?" she added nervously.
What an odd request. Beast couldn't help a wary look. "Sure," he replied slowly, watching as she made her way to the bookcase, still trembling a little.
Belle inspected the books quickly. Some were even in foreign languages; others seemed to be dictionaries, encyclopedias and atlases. There didn't seem to be any fiction in the bookcase. She stroked the back of one of the books gently and sighed.
Beast wasn't sure what exactly he was witnessing. It made him feel a little uncomfortable as he sat in his chair. "What are you looking for?" He couldn't help but ask.
"Just… a good story," Belle replied, failing to mask a blush. At least the company of these books had returned her vital functions to normal! But she couldn't help the blushing when strangers asked her about books. Their questions were so often accompanied by hints of misunderstanding and insults.
"And you're going to find that in there?" he asked as he gave her a curious look.
"No," Belle quickly shook her head. "Unfortunately not… These are just encyclopedias and such. They don't hold the thrill of a good story."
Beast's ears perked up. "Thrill?" he repeated, getting up from his chair and making his way over to the bookcase, not noticing how Belle suddenly took two steps backward as he reached for the biggest book and pulled it out.
It had never crossed his mind that he could find inspiration for his thrills in books. Usually he had just wondered across the attics and dungeons until he had found something eerie that could inspire him for the next scare. Looking through books was a lot easier. He clumsily opened up the book with his large paws and tried to turn the pages, folding many of them in his eagerness.
Belle gulped as she watched him. What was he looking for? Why had he taken out an encyclopedia of animals? And he certainly seemed to behave a little awkwardly around these books.
Beast was excited that this book had lots of images. There were all sorts of animals drawn in the encyclopedia. He stopped as he came by a page of a wolf. On one side it showed a drawing of a wolf howling against the moon, on the other side it showed the skeleton of a wolf's head. "Impressive," Beast muttered. "This is inspiring already! If I could just get such a skeleton, place it in the dungeons… Yes… I'd say I'd like to meet Lumière there… Then… No, that wouldn't work… Perhaps Babette…" Beast muttered to himself as he took the book and went back to sit in his chair, thinking.
Belle shook her head incredulously. What an odd beast… She slowly made her way back to her chair and sat down in it, watching the master of the castle as he clumsily turned page by page.
Suddenly he slammed the book shut and put it on the table in front of them. He folded his hands together and pressed his index fingers against each other as he stared into the empty fireplace. He was thinking very hard.
Belle couldn't help but carefully lean closer. She had the instinct impression that she might overhear his thoughts, however ridiculous that seemed.
"I have to thank you!" Beast suddenly cried out, causing Belle to jump in her seat. Belle was about to ask what he meant when he got up from his chair and started pacing on both his hands and feet. "You have inspired me on where I can look for inspiration on my next scare! I had never thought to look for it in a book! That is really clever!"
Belle felt a little showered with compliments. She wasn't really used to compliments that had to do with books and to hear it coming from a Beast made her a little nervous. This wasn't a normal situation.
Beast suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Did he actually… Yes, he felt something… Gratitude. What an odd sensation. It didn't feel like he would fall in love with her or anything, no, of course not! But he didn't feel either as though the words that left his mouth were forced. "Thank you, Belle!"
"You're welcome, eh…" Belle hesitated. "What may I call you?"
Beast had heard something from behind the door. It suddenly crossed his mind that his curious servants were eager enough to actually be eavesdropping on the conversation. Beast casually and slowly walked closer to the door. "Nobody ever calls me by my name and you are not a servant," Beast said slowly, focusing on the door as he took hold of the handle. "You may call me Beast."
Suddenly he opened the door with such a force that the door flew off its hinges and Lumière, Babette and Cogsworth fell face-down to the floor.
Beast let the door drop with a loud boom. He bent down and glared angrily at his servants as they quickly hurried up.
"I was just dusting the door, monsieur!" Babette quickly excused herself, hurrying backwards along with Lumière.
"I eh… was inspecting her!" Cogsworth quickly added, grinning nervously as he took a few slow steps backwards as well.
"Eh, so I was I, master!" Lumière added smoothly, but Cogsworth slapped him.
"It is not your task to inspect the household!" Cogsworth bit to Lumière. "I am the head of household, not you!"
"I may inspect Babette all I want!" Lumière replied in a grumbling voice.
"If you inspect Babette in the time you should be spending on actually doing your job, I will fire you!"
Beast grew sick of their bickering and suddenly let out a loud roar. The air of that roar nearly caused the three servants to fly backwards, but before they had the chance to reply, Beast was already attempting to put the door back in the door frame.
Beast banged into the door, causing it to crack loudly as he tried to fit it back in. It didn't work however and after a few attempts he took a deep sigh and decided to leave it be.
Belle gulped as she saw Beast return to his seat as though nothing at all had happened. Belle couldn't believe what he had just done! He had pulled the door out of its hinges, yelled at his servants and now he sat in front of her as though nothing had occurred.
Beast suddenly noticed Belle's wary expression and scratched his neck nervously. "They have a tendency to be a little too curious for their own good," he tried to explain.
Belle nodded slowly and smiled sheepishly. Obviously.
As they sat in the chairs and looked at each other, they could hear Mrs. Potts' voice coming from the corridor.
"What on earth happened to the door?"
Neither Beast nor Belle could make out what was being whispered back to Mrs. Potts, but after a few moments her voice once again cut in sharply as Chip seemed to be roaring with laughter at what the others had just told.
"You were eavesdropping?! Well that serves you right then! Now tell me, how am I supposed to open this door?"
The door suddenly fell to the ground with another loud boom as the silver cart with Mrs. Potts and Chip amongst several other dishes and cups on it casually rode in. "Tea is ready," Mrs. Potts announced in her cheerful voice.
Belle was simply amazed by the haphazard way in which this household seemed to be able to hold itself together. It was both astonishing as well as charming. She couldn't help a smile.
Mrs. Potts stared at Beast, waiting for her master to serve the girl tea, but instead he sat in the chair, his arms folded over one another, staring at the ceiling again. Mrs. Potts cleared her throat meaningfully. It would only be very polite if the master would pour the girl some tea. It would be a sign of humility.
Belle waited curiously for something to happen, but all she saw was that Mrs. Potts was trying to get the attention of the master. She didn't really understand what was going on, but suddenly a thought occurred to her. "Do you want me to pour out the tea?" she suddenly suggested.
"No, no, please don't, dearest," Mrs. Potts said sweetly, though her forced smile betrayed that she was a little angry with the master. "You are not a servant."
Beast couldn't help but get the feeling that Mrs. Potts wanted him to actually pour out the tea. He was not going to serve her tea. Mrs. Potts could do it herself. "She is not a master either!"
"No she is a guest!" Mrs. Potts pointed out. "And that means we should treat her as such! Pour her some tea!"
"No," Beast said simply. "I shall do no such thing. Do it yourself!" Beast folded his arms defensively. "Or get a suit of armor to do it then."
Belle could hear Mrs. Potts literally boiling with anger now.
"I shall do no such thing! You can't expect a suit of armor to pour out tea, it simply isn't proper!"
"I'll do it!" Belle cut in.
"NO!" Beast and Mrs. Potts shouted at the same time, glaring angrily at each other.
Mrs. Potts bit her teeth together as she tried to persuade him in the quietest way possible. "Master. Pour. Her. Tea."
"Do it yourself!" Beast hissed back just as quietly.
Mrs. Potts lost her temper at the idiocy of that command. "Now is it so hard to listen to a teapot for crying out loud! I need…"
Mrs. Potts suddenly kept her mouth as she felt she was being lifted in the air. Belle had gotten up from her chair and quickly poured two cups of tea. Anything to make this insanity stop! Papa is never going to believe I saw a Beast argue with a teapot!
She handed over a teacup to Beast and poured another one for herself, quickly setting Mrs. Potts back down on the silver cart. She nervously sat back in her chair and sipped her tea quietly.
Beast and Mrs. Potts stared incredulously at Belle. Beast didn't even notice he was spilling tea on his pants. Chip, who held Beast's tea, tried to get his attention. "Psst, master! You are spilling!"
As Beast carefully lifted the cup and took a sip, he didn't let his eyes wander from Belle. Remarkable. He had been enjoying an argument and she had just… ended it. Nobody had ever done that before.
"Ahem," Cogsworth tried to get the master's attention as he came into the room again, closely followed by Lumière and Babette. "Master, perhaps we should talk about Belle's stay in the castle."
Belle suddenly remembered Philippe and turned to Lumière. "What did the stable master say?" she asked curiously. "Is Philippe going to be alright?"
Under other circumstances, Beast wouldn't have liked it much if he had been cut off by anyone else. But the fact was that Belle was asking something that interested him too. He wanted to know how long she would have to stay in the castle and eyed Lumière eagerly.
Lumière stepped forward, but he hesitated as he did so. A day is too short! Just lie! But he couldn't fool himself: she would find out. And he didn't want her to worry about her horse. "Philippe will be all right. He should be fit enough for travel by tomorrow." He gulped before he quickly added: "But any additional rest he can take here won't hurt him either and will only speed the recovery!"
Belle smiled. That was a relief to know. "Oh, that is wonderful," she sighed. "I shall leave in the morning then." She quickly took her bag and got out her sachet of money and gave it to Beast. "Here, please, take this."
Beast put Chip back down on the silver cart as he took the sachet and eyed it suspiciously. "What is it?"
"It's money," Belle answered, feeling a little awkward. "I hope it's enough to repay you for your kindness. I insist you take it."
Beast opened up the sachet and took a coin in between his claws. He had never ever seen money before and laughed a little at that thought. How odd. And some said that money was what made the world go round, yet this was the first coin he had ever laid eyes upon. Curiously he took the coin and bit it with his fangs.
Lumière once again couldn't help but grit his teeth. Biting a coin was only a sign of mistrust and it was incredibly rude to do in the presence of someone who should be treated as a guest!
As Beast failed to break the coin with his fangs, he wanted to put it in the bag again, but just as he wanted to take it from in between his teeth, he lost grip of it and next thing he knew he was nearly choking on it.
"Master!" Cogsworth cried out, hurrying to Beast as he started coughing like mad. "Put your arms in the air!"
"Just hit his back!" Lumière told Cogsworth as the clock started climbing the chair.
As Beast stood up and Cogsworth had reached the highest part of the chair, Cogsworth suddenly jumped onto the master's back, hitting with all his might… Which wasn't a lot of might.
Belle couldn't believe what was going on and quickly got up as well as she tried to aid Cogsworth in hitting Beast's back, hoping she could put a little more force behind it..
The sounds of a deep cough, the ringing of a coin hitting the ground and a deep gasp that followed meant that it was over.
Cogsworth fell to the floor as he accidentally let go of the cape he was hanging onto. Belle quickly aided him up, putting him on the silver cart besides Mrs. Potts, before she turned to Beast. "Are you okay?"
"I nearly died of that money of yours!" he replied with a hoarse voice, putting the sachet back into her hands. "Keep it, I don't want it!"
Belle didn't know whether she should laugh or be seriously worried as Beast sat back down in his chair. It was Cogsworth who relieved the tension. "As I said before, we'll have none of that. Our hospitability is free!"
"Thank you," Belle said as she sat back in her chair as well. "Thank you all!"
Lumière and Babette felt bad. This wasn't going as bad as possible. At least she was behaving nicely to the master. But they would never be able to break the spell in just one evening, it was simply impossible. But how could they make Belle stay longer?
Belle finished her tea quietly and put her hands in her lap afterwards. "This has truly been a remarkable day," she sighed, a content expression on her face. "My father is never going to believe I met a speaking clock, candelabra and teapot! Or that I saw a Beast nearly choke in a coin." Belle couldn't help but giggle softly. "Everyone will just think I'm crazy."
The objects eyed each other warningly. Was she going to tell others about the castle? They all felt a little worried because of that. Nobody had ever entered the castle and nobody had ever been able to tell a word. What would people do if they found out about an enchanted castle?
"Are you really going to tell others about us?" Cogsworth asked Belle anxiously, wringing his hands as he took a step forward.
"Oh yes!" Belle laughed. "I might even write about it. Nobody would ever believe me, though!"
"They wouldn't?" Cogsworth laughed nervously. "Oh that's a relief."
Lumière suddenly got an idea and his eyes lit up. Babette saw this and eyed him curiously as he ran over to Belle and grabbed hold of her skirt. "Please, mademoiselle Belle! Don't ever tell anyone about us!"
Belle was a little startled by Lumière's pleading tone. "Why not?"
Babette understood the plan, as risky as it was, and quickly hurried over to Belle's side as well. She had to try anything in her might to make this work. "Oh please, mademoiselle! If anyone would come and discover me, they'd pluck my feathers!"
Mrs. Potts didn't know exactly what they were doing, but it seemed like Lumière had a plan of sorts. She felt like she could help. "Oh my! Yes! It would be dreadful if anyone found out! Oh I can't even imagine what they'd do to my children."
Chip eyed his Mama with large eyes. What was she talking about? It scared him that he couldn't keep up. "What would they do, Mama?" he asked curiously in a little voice.
"Unforgivable things, my dearest…"
Lumière whispered to Belle. "They'd just drop him and have him scatter into pieces! Oh, the horror of it!"
Belle's mouth fell open as she heard these fears come from the servants. "No, no, they wouldn't do that! I mean… They could be curious, yes, and…"
"I don't want to be put in a clock museum!" Cogsworth suddenly interrupted. "I will not waste away in a clock museum in Austria. I shall not have it!"
Lumière was delighted. Oddly enough, Cogsworth was cooperating for once. They weren't doomed just yet.
Beast had no idea what the servants were babbling about. Why were they scared like this? "Nothing's gonna happen!" his deep voice cut in. "Belle is going to go back home or wherever she is supposed to go and she is going to keep quiet about everything she saw here. Right?" Beast looked into Belle's eyes, but he saw her look was uncertain for a few moments.
She cast her eyes downwards and quickly nodded. "Right…" She found it to be a shame though… For once in her life, something wonderful and exciting happened and now she couldn't share the story with anyone! Not even Gaston's stories could match up to what she had seen here!
The servants exchanged meaningful looks with each other. Belle needed to stay longer. She just had to. They couldn't let her go, even if the master was willing to trust her.
"I must say I'm not entirely sure I can trust her," Lumière said quietly, talking in a voice that wasn't intent on insulting her at all. "I mean… we have only known her for a few hours… I wouldn't want to risk an angry mob storming the castle to steal the ballroom's chandelier or something. It's worth a fortune."
"Lumière!" Babette gasped. "She didn't know anything about the ballroom's expensive chandelier yet! Now we're getting an angry mob on our necks for sure!"
"No!" Belle quickly tried to make clear she didn't mean them any harm. "I will not…"
"Well, we shouldn't worry too much about angry mobs," Cogsworth cut in, understanding where the plan was leading them. "We've got the master to protect us! He's invincible!"
Beast frowned. "I wouldn't say that, I just nearly choked in a coin and last week I cut my finger so badly that…"
"Yes, the master will protect us!" Mrs. Potts interrupted, pretending she hadn't heard a single word the master had said. "If an angry mob shows up, he'll scare them away! He loves scaring people anyways! He'll be so good they'll be gone before they reach the ballroom!"
"Though I have to say that angry mobs these days carry a lot of swords and torches," Cogsworth added seriously. "And arrows and guns too!"
"Please stop!" Belle urged, trying to get the word. "I promise that I won't say anything! Please!"
Cogsworth shook his head. "My dearest, I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Lumière… I have only known you for a few hours, I don't know if I can trust you."
"But if I give my word!" Belle was pleading now, nearly getting up out of her chair. "I promise!"
"I suggest that you stay with us until we are two hundred percent sure we can trust you!" Lumière decided. "I think it is unwise to take any chances on this. There are too many lives at risk here."
"What do you say about this, master?" Cogsworth asked as he turned to Beast.
Beast shook his head. What did he have to say in this? He didn't want to die at the hand of an angry mob, nor did he want to be put in a museum… Or worse… They could hang his head on a tavern's wall. They could even use him as a rug. Beast felt a shiver down his spine from that thought.
He looked at Belle, who was shaking. Why was she shaking? Was it from fear that they had figured her out? Or just the fear that she would not be able to leave? Well, she could leave… She would only have to wait until trust was gained… But if she was shaking so visibly now, that meant that she did not have any hope… And if she did not have any hope, that had to mean that she had no good intentions either and that she was guilty.
Beast thought for a few moments. He hoped he wasn't making any errors in judgments, but he wasn't sure of that. "This is a dangerous situation…" he said slowly.
Babette felt like she could kiss Lumière. His plan had worked!
Lumière gave Babette a quick and sly look before he resumed an innocent one.
"I say we wait…" Beast decided, not daring to look into Belle's eyes. "Until we decide she can be trusted." Beast looked at his servants. He would be a poor judge in deciding if Belle could be trusted. He had already almost let her go. He could imagine that if Belle would flirt with Lumière, he would trust her in a second. The same went for Cogsworth. Chip was just a kid, he was as ill-qualified to decide as he was. Babette was just… odd. Beast didn't even know if he could trust her, let alone leave her the one responsible for deciding on Belle's fate. The silver cart… didn't seem to have much of a personality. No, there was only one person fit for the job.
"Mrs. Potts," Beast started slowly. "I want you to decide whether or not Belle can be trusted to keep her word. I assign that to you."
Mrs. Potts gulped as she looked into the master's eyes. He was very serious about this. She would not want to let him down and nodded. "I will, master," she said as she bowed her head a little.
Belle stared numbly in front of her. "What does this mean?" she suddenly blurted out. "When will I be able to go to my great-aunt? Or return home?"
Beast didn't look up. He felt bad. He had kind of trusted her, but perhaps he shouldn't have. He was feeling really guilty for not letting her go now.
Cogsworth figured it would be cruel to let the master set the rules in this. It would not make him look good in front of Belle and they wanted Belle to like him, after all. If anyone had to be the bad-guy, it would be better if it was him. "We will judge your trustworthiness by next month," he decided.
Beast suddenly frowned. One month… But in one month, the last petal…
Cogsworth caught the look on the master's face and quickly added. "I once read that it takes one month to get to know if a person can be trusted or not! This I read in a British newspaper and they have very good research on this sort of thing. One month should be enough!"
Beast still frowned. He couldn't help but have the feeling he had been set up…
"A month?" Belle sighed deeply. "I can't wait for a month!" She was getting frustrated now. "My great-aunt could be dying, I can't sit around here and drink tea for an entire month!"
Nothing Belle was saying was making Beast feel any better. A month. That was a very long time.
"I'm afraid you have no choice," Cogsworth quickly cut in, taking the role of bad-guy upon himself once more.
Lumière and Babette could not believe what they were seeing, but they were so happy that Cogsworth was standing his ground in this situation. The curse might now get broken, thanks to Cogsworth!
"We shall give you a room to store your belongings and we shall make sure you do not lack anything during your stay here. If there is anything at all we can do to make your stay more agreeable, you only need to let us know."
Belle shook her head as she bit back tears. "What part of the words 'I'm needed with my dying great-aunt' don't you understand?!" Belle bit to Cogsworth as she got up and threw her chair to the floor. She grabbed her bag from the ground and made a run for it.
"SOMEBODY STOP HER!" Cogsworth shouted as Belle left the room.
Lumière and Babette hurried to the corridor as fast as they could. Chip went closer to his Mama and cuddled up to her. He didn't like this one bit.
Beast sat in his chair, feeling numb.
"Master, stop her!" Cogsworth urged now, realizing that the master was the only one with the power and speed to stop her from leaving.
But he would not do it. No. Why? He didn't want to keep her here against her will. She wanted to be free, was that such a crime? He finally jumped up from his chair when he heard a loud scream coming from the corridor.
Both he and Cogsworth ran out of the room and came to an abrupt halt when they saw it.
The large gargoyle and demon statues had come to life and blocked Belle's path. She lay helplessly on the floor with a dozen gigantic statues opposite her. She blocked her head with her arms as she laid as still as she could, crying at the cruelty of this place.
"I didn't know the statues could come to life," Lumière whispered to Babette, trembling a little by their terrifying appearance.
Babette nodded weakly. "They must have heard Cogsworth's command…"
Lumière held on tightly to Babette as Beast passed by them and walked up to the statues. "As you were!" he commanded in his deep voice, but the statues didn't move. They held their stone weapons firmly in their claws and held them pointed at Belle.
"I am the master of this castle!" Beast said in his most menacing voice. "And you will return to your places. NOW!"
Suddenly the statues started moving and they went back to their pedestals. Once they were back on, they held still and nothing would have given away that they were able to move. They looked as dead as statues were supposed to be. Beast eyed the statues distrustfully.
Beast felt awkward as he looked at Belle. She still lay on the floor and hadn't looked up once since he had entered the corridor. She was shaking and Beast could hear her sobbing still.
"Please stop crying," Beast asked gently, feeling a little uneasy.
The servants didn't speak or make a sound as they stood quietly in the corridor, watching from a distance. He had said please! They didn't dare to breathe now.
"They are gone," he tried to assure her, feeling a little silly for talking to someone who was laying face-down on the ground. "Well, not entirely gone… They're on their pedestals again. They won't come off to harm you…"
Belle took in the words of the master, but she didn't move and it seemed like she was talking to the floor rather than to anyone else as she laid still. "Yes and I suppose you'd want me to trust you on that."
"Yes," Beast replied slowly, unsure why her tone seemed a little aggressive.
"I don't see why I would," she replied, sniffing back a tear as she turned. "Perhaps, in a month I would, but now! This is ridiculous!" She finally jumped up again, the look on her face angry as she took a few steps closer to Beast, almost fearlessly. "I am begging you now," she said slowly with clenched teeth. "Let me go."
Beast gulped as he saw how she was clenching her fists, involuntarily taking a step backwards.
Cogsworth immediately stepped forward before the master could agree to a giant mistake. "Belle, if you will follow me, I will show you to your room!" He hoped with all his heart that she would comply.
Lumière and Babette quickly hurried forward too, standing in between Belle and the master. "What a splendid idea!" Lumière quickly added, giving Cogsworth an approving grin. Smooth. "We have a lovely guest's room on the first floor, I promise it will not disappoint."
"Fine!" Belle shouted angrily, turning around and heading towards the stairs. She cursed the household objects for being so cruel. Stupid… talking… junk… She would much rather try and escape, but she realized she wasn't up for fighting against stone statues five times her size. That would just be insanity.
Cogsworth, Lumière and Babette could not keep up at all with Belle as she hurried through the corridor.
Beast suddenly saw her bag on the floor and picked it up. He sped past the household objects and held it out in front of her. She snapped it out of his claws with a curt "Thank you!"
"You're welcome!" he replied, stopping still as he watched her storm down the stairs, with Cogsworth and the others attempting to keep up with her. She ran into a corridor on the first floor and seemed to complete ignore Cogsworth's warning that it was the wrong corridor.
Beast leaned with his hands against the banisters as he heard Belle and Cogsworth bickering on their way through the castle. Apparently Belle had stormed into the first room with a bed she had found and locked herself in. He grinned at Cogsworth's pleas to get her out and into a more fit room. Anyone that could drive Cogsworth to tears like Belle was doing now, was worthy of his respect.
Beast startled as the silver cart suddenly rolled besides him. Mrs. Potts smiled at him. "She's quite something, isn't she? And that was kind of you, to give her her bag."
Beast watched Mrs. Potts' disturbingly happy expression and made a face as he breathed out heavily through his nostrils. "Don't get any ideas in your head!" he warned her. "I want to state for the record that I don't trust any of you!" The feeling that he had been set up was only growing by the minute. Not only made it feel him very uncomfortable, it was just a horrible thing to do to an outsider like Belle.
"Well, master, we'd rather take a few precautions, wouldn't we? We wouldn't want to see your head on a tavern's wall or anything like that, right?" Mrs. Potts tried to keep it hidden that she was very pleased that Belle was going to stay in the castle until the rose had withered… And she hoped it wouldn't come to that.
Beast roared as he suddenly turned and headed back to the West Wing, growling menacingly as he did so.
Don't try and fool me with those lies… I know your plan…
Word from the author: Once again I need to thank you for your lovely reviews! Twice as many as the first two chapters, that's really making my week!
When I started this story I was without a job (and I have been for three weeks, lol) but now I've got a job again (since last week). I hope this won't slow down the writing process. I still have the weekends to write and I'm hoping to keep up a posting rate of about one chapter a week.
So thank you again for the beautiful reviews, they make me so happy!
Also, something else I feel like I should bring you to your attention... I am intending on drawing Beauty and the Beast fanart for this story. I've uploaded three drawings (kind of inspired by what is to come) yesterday to my DeviantArt account. My username there is CartoonJessie as well. But be warned, if you don't want to be spoiled whatsoever, don't go to check it out. And I've also got BatB fanart there that is NOT inspired by the story, but perhaps you'd like to check it out anyways. Enjoy and until next time!