Hey everyone! I've been trying my best to plan out this story how I want it to go.. and for the record Gaston did not sexually assault Belle, he did something else that will be revealed around chapter 9 or 10. I love all the reviews that have been left and want to thank each and every one of you :) I hope you enjoy this chapter and leave a review if you have a comment you want to share. Thanks for reading!
The next morning Belle expected to wake up alone in the tower, like she had for the past three years of her life. The dungeon, however, was no improvement. The floor was cold and rough, and it was remarkable that she had gotten any sleep at all.
The sound of heavy footsteps caused her to stir in her light slumber and with reluctance, Belle was awoken by none other than the ferocious Beast himself.
"Rise and shine dearie. I've got a lot for you to do today." The demanding voice echoed through the dungeon.
Belle's eyelashes felt as if they were glued to her bottom ones, she was still half asleep, while she listened to her new employer. She reluctantly got up and stumbled towards the door but fell into the side of the wall still in a sleepy state.
"I'm hungry. I wouldn't count on any housework from a starved maid." She growled under her breath fixing her hair, tying it back in a ponytail.
"Yes yes there will be time for eating- but first put this on" he threw her a blue dress.
"You can't do any work properly in that dress, it's.. it's.." He became lost for words, his mind blanking on him as he searched desperately to finish his sentence.
"Too much like a princess dress." She spoke flatly. "You've made it very clear that I am no longer a figure of royalty.
"Indeed" His voice trailed off while the way he looked her up and down, making Belle rather uncomfortable.
"Now I want you to meet me upstairs in about ten minutes to discuss the chores that need to be done, do you understand?"
Even though his voice was harsh and demanding, the Beauty responded calmly, her bright blue eyes fixed on the new garment she was just given. When Belle looked up to ask another question, the imp was gone.
The dress he had given her had fit her perfectly which made it easier for her to do the daily chores around the castle. In her new blue servant gown, she made her way up the many staircases to the main floor where Rumplestiltskin awaited her in the dining room. He sat at the head of the table, his head held high with pride and smugness. Baelfire sat on the other end of the table his big brown eyes looked up at belle with a warm smile as she approached them.
"The dress fits nicely my dear." Rumplestiltskin observed "You look more like a maid and less like princess now, my dear." he smirked then pointed in the general direction of the castle kitchen.
"You can start making us breakfast now, we are both starving."
Belle gulped at her next chore. He wanted her to cook? She had never cooked a day in her life, even in the tower she only had the basics, bread, water and on every occasion an apple. The thought of her being demanded to make a delicious meal made belles hands shake. Her knees seemed wobbly as she walked into the castle kitchen.
"Maybe cooking isn't as hard as you think" she tried to reassure herself.
On the counter there already lay eggs, fruit and even a jug full of orange juice. Across the counter were tubs of flour sugar and other baking necessities she had no idea what to do with. Belle grabbed a wooden bowl from one of the shelves and placed it in front of her as she took a deep breath in.
She could talk herself through this she had seen her servants do it a thousand times beauty took a cup of flour and dumped it in the bowl along with sugar and some eggs, leaving the eggshells on by mistake. Gradually, she mixed them together adding dashes of cinnamon and a spoonful of honey. She then noticed other small bottles filled with herbs and seasonings. Her eyes spotted a reddish bottle labelled cyan and due to its pretty sounding name she dumped half the bottle into her bowl.
"What's taking that girl so long?" Rumple hissed through his teeth with impatience.
"You don't need to be so mean to her, she helped me sleep last night." Bae spoke up to his father.
"You didn't have your nightmares at all last night?" He asked
Baelfire shook his curly brown head of hair.
"She told me dreams are just imagination and they have no way of hurting us. The really strange thing is that I think Belle and I are having the same-"
Suddenly Belle burst through the door with two large trays in each hand, stopping Baelfire in mid sentence. Her mind was deeply concentrated on not dropping the heavy trays of food. She placed the trays down in front of rumplestiltskin gently, then placed a plate in front of Bae. The breakfast turned out better than she expected, the pancakes seemed round enough, and she had cut fruit all around the plate for a. More appealing presentation.
"Finally" rumple scoffed, sticking a forkful of pancakes into his mouth then pausing for a moment before he immediately spat them out.
"What on earth is this!?" He voice became louder.
"Trying to poison us on your first day?"
Belle shook her head "I didn't mean to, this was the first time that I've ever cooked.. Ever" she admitted.
It was true that there was no need for her to do the duties of servants.. Until now.
Rumple snapped his fingers and then a feast appeared on the table.
"Now this is what breakfast should look like." Rumple perked up with delight at the new meal.
"You Better get to cleaning then. I hope you aren't as useless as you proved this morning" he retorted.
"I'm rather hungry." Belle objected. "I can't clean unless I've eaten." She challenged somewhat angrily at Rumplestiltskin.
"Fine, fine" he obliged, snapping his fingers once more providing her with an apple in her hands.
"Thank you" Belle spoke, taking a large crunch out of the apple, exiting the room, she couldn't take one more minute of that Beast picking her apart like she was nothing. Eventually Belle found a broom and began sweeping and dusting the castle entrance. Tears came to her eyes with thoughts of her old life, and her current horrific position, working like a slave for a monster. Her bright blue eyes travelled to the door, which was unguarded and unlocked.
There was that temptation again in the back part of her mind. She could try and run away from this place and perhaps seek help in a neighbouring village. After all she was a princess, a princess who needed to rule her people opposed to Gaston, who had gained the title of lord of the castle since her father's death. He was selfish and had no good intentions for anyone asides from himself.
The Beauty's eyes turned to the door once more.
Freedom.
It was tempting.
However if she were to fail, what would he do to her? Some kind of torture and punishment would await her, but if she escaped, she could finally have her life back again and make up for all the years it had been robbed from her.
Her feet stepped closer and closer to the door until her arm pushed on the cold metal. It creaked loudly, exposing the outside world. It was winter, she could tell from the day he had brought her to this place. Snow had covered everything like a big sheet of white blankets.
The nearest village was about a five hour journey on foot, she would have to be fast, fast enough to outrun a beast.
Then the adrenaline kicked in. Belle ran, her blue dress bouncing off of her legs, the wind blowing through her curly head of hair. The cold was deceiving, what didn't seem like much at first seemed to caress her entire body forcing her to let out a harsh shiver. She found herself in the woods now, the dark castle was out of sight, she hoped it was the last time she ever saw that horrid place ever again. Though it was mid morning, the forest was dark, the trees were so thick that barely and snow had managed to fall on the terrain.
"Well, what do we have here?" A masculine voice boomed behind her.
She froze.
Three tall men stood amongst her dressed heavily in winter clothing, all with a wide grin on their face.
"What is a pretty face like yours doing out in the forest all alone?" One of them asked.
Belle didn't answer, she was so stunned and rattled to even take a step.
"It's cold out here love and all you have is such a lovely tight little dress to wear, what a pity." Another man added never taking his stare of the beauty.
"It's easier to get her out of isn't that right sheriff?" The man looked up to his boss, the sheriff of Nottingham, who seemed to not even notice the joke that was just made. The sheriff came closer and closer until he had Belle by the tops of her shoulders.
"Feels like you could use a little warming up." The sheriff chuckled his mouth uncomfortably close to Belle's face. She pushed him back in disgust taking steps back from all the men.
"You all are pigs." She retorted "I'm Princess Belle of Avonlea and my guards will becoming for me any minute." She lied trying to get them to back off and leave her around.
They all laughed at the lady's defence.
"I don't believe that at all. Your peasant dress tells me otherwise, wench." The sheriff came at her again pinning her against a tree, making Belle shudder while moving her face away from the sheriffs terrible alcohol breath.
"Get off of me" Belle demanded.
"Or what?" The sheriff breathed in the scent of her hair.
"Or you'll have to deal with me" A familiar male voice growled deeply.
Even before Belle turned to face whoever had stood up to these scum of men, she knew who the voice belonged to.
Rumplestiltskin.
He had obviously caught on to her plan and tracked her into the woods.
"I don't like when other people touch what belongs to me." Rumple notified them pacing towards them.
All three men backed off immediately, fearful of the wrath the Dark One would bestow upon them.
"This is your wench?" The sheriff asked pretending to be shocked.
Rumple didn't buy their stupidity. He knew what those men wanted from his maid and if he wouldn't have interfered, they would have gotten it.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip your heart out right now." He hissed through his teeth.
"You know how it is, perhaps we could buy time with this beauty for an hour or so."
Rumples face became even more repulsed then before.
"Not even 20 minutes?" Another man asked.
Rumple with the twist of his wrist tied all three of the men up against a nearby large tree.
"I've thought this through boys" A devilish grin beginning to grow on his face as he started to speak.
"Usually I would turn you into snails and squash you with the weigh of my boot, but instead I thought I would let the wolves have you." His smile grew wide with the look of desperation and fear on the men's faces.
"No!" Belle interjected, grabbing a hold of Rumple's arm in protest.
"We shall let them go, one day their troubles and crimes will catch up to them." She declared.
"You need to remember dearie, you are my servant, I am not yours. I will do what I please." He snapped.
"They will remain as I left them, and it is getting dark. The wolves will be looking for a meal soon." He smiled widely making direct eye contact with the sheriff.
With that, Belle knew she had been overpowered, there was no negotiating with this Beast.
The walk back to the dark castle was a silent one. Neither of them spoke a word to each other until they reached the door of the castle. Belle was freezing, she had nothing but her blue dress which had short thin sleeves. Her teeth chattered noisily as he opened up the door for her, while she rubbed her hands together for a source of warmth.
"I don't get it. Those men would have had their wicked way with you and yet you showed them kindness when they deserved no mercy." He spoke, continuing to walk down the castle hallway with Belle at his side.
She was surprised at the first words spoken to her by Rumplestiltskin, she thought that he would be yelling and upset at the fact she had attempted to flee the castle and break their deal.
"Everyone deserves mercy." She answered carefully, hoping in some way Rumplestiltskin would agree with her.
He didn't answer back after her response, letting the sound of silence take over as they approached the dungeon.
"I never said thank you, for saving me from those men." She added, her voice cracked from the cold while her body still shivered.
"It was no matter. In fact I've forgotten the entire thing already." He concluded, directed Belle into her cell.
She sat in there like she had earlier that day and huddled her legs against her chest, still trying to warm up from the cold.
"Oh one more thing" He added.
"What's that?" She gazed up at him attentively.
"If you ever try and leave this castle again, I will kill you."
Next Chapter: Belle decides to fix the curtains, and Belle and Baelfire come up with a plan, one that Rumple will not approve of. The next chapter should be up on Thursday!