CHAPTER NINE
Belle and Rumpelstiltskin strolled hand in hand through the garden, drinking in the sweet fragrance of the blossoms. Somehow the sun was brighter, the flowers produced a stronger scent, and the birds crooned their serenades.
Nary a word was uttered between them. She and Rumpelstiltskin had talked for hours in the library and now they could enjoy each other's company in simple solitude. Occasionally Belle would steal a sideways glance at him. He would wink, and the apples of her cheeks would flush and she would look away. Something akin to joy was blooming within her soul.
The king and queen may have had their own motives for marrying her off to Rumpelstiltskin, but in the end she won out. She gained a husband, a friend and a mate for life. As long as he was forever by her side, she could endure anything.
The shadow the sun cast on the sun dial indicated that it was mid-afternoon. His fingers twitched inside of her grasp and she knew that he had to go. Rumpelstiltskin had not even begun on today's quota of gold. To her delight he spent less and less time in that dank little room and joined her in her pursuits. When he did work, she continued to research curses and what she could do to break his.
He faced her, groaning his frustration. "I have to go in now. To spin."
"All right." Belle quirked her mouth into a smirk. His impishness was rubbing off on her. "Aren't you going to kiss me goodbye?"
Rumpelstiltskin released an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, if I must, dearie!"
He snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her flushed to him. Inclining his head, he dotted her eyelids, nose, cheeks, and chin with kisses, saving her lips for last. His clever fingers skittered along her sides, tickling her, making her squeak.
But she grew impatient with his little game and caught his mouth, nipping his bottom lip as punishment. The more interactions she had with him - the more kisses shared, the stroking, the exploring of each other's bodies - the more Belle wanted. She wasn't a maiden by any means, and though she had mixed emotions about sex, she had the feeling that sex with Rumpelstiltskin wouldn't be like it had been with Keith of Nottingham.
With Rumpelstiltskin, it would be making love.
His brow nuzzled hers , their foreheads touching in what seemed like their own special kiss.
Belle teased his tender scalp with the curve of her nails, eliciting a moan from him and then toyed with the ends of his floof. "Rumple, this thing that we have, whatever it is, it makes me feel whole. We may not be each other's True Love, but it feels right," she said.
"Yes, it does. See you this evening." Rumpelstiltskin captured her mouth once more, then with a snap of his fingers, he vanished.
The purple wisps left his scent enveloping her, which was better than any perfume.
Belle spun around on her heel, drew her hands behind her back and started down another pathway, until she encountered the queen. Her breath caught in her throat. How long had the royal been there, watching her tete-a-tete with Rumpelstiltskin?
Queen Snow White smiled coyly, her dimples showing. "You and Rumpelstiltskin have become very affectionate. You won't be far behind me." She petted her tiny baby bump, not bothering to disguise her giddiness. "If you're having trouble conceiving, we grow herbs in the garden that promote fertility. Mandrakes are especially beneficial."
Belle's eyes widened, her pulse quickening. The queen viewed her as nothing more than a brood mare and Rumpelstiltskin as the sire. The royals considered them no better than a couple of animals. Breeding stock. That was precisely why Rumpelstiltskin asked her to lie about the consummation of their marriage.
For whatever reason, Rumpelstiltskin could not stand up to the royals. They were his Keith of Nottingham.
Belle inhaled, asking the gods for strength, to face the most powerful woman in the land. That she would have the courage to fight for her husband. "Your Majesty, pardon my frankness, but what is it to you that Rumple and I have a child? We have been married only a little while. Can't Rumple and I have time to ourselves?" There was a slight quiver in her tone, betraying her fear. But she met the queen's gaze and she stood as erect as her petite height would allow. "Is that why you wanted Rumple and me to marry? So that there might be another like him?"
"You forget your place, Lady Belle." Queen Snow White stuck out her reddened lower lip in a pout. She was as petulant as a spoiled child. The queen was never refused, never told "no," never argued with. "I am not accustomed to being spoken to in such a manner."
Belle squared her shoulders, refusing to back down. Rumpelstiltskin had been brave for her, now it was her chance to be brave for him! "There is a first time for everything, my queen. And my place is with Rumple." She deepened her tone, firmly countering the haughty queen. "I will fight for him, even if he cannot fight for himself."
Whirling around, her skirt snapping at her ankles, Belle departed without curtsying or receiving a dismissal from the queen. She could feel the royal's enraged glower upon her retreating figure, but she didn't dare look back.
From this point on, she would have to be on her guard against the queen and her machinations.
#
Rumpelstiltskin couldn't concentrate on his spinning. What had once consumed his mind and soul, no longer could mesmerize him.
He rose from the bench, stretched his wiry frame, and proceeded to the window. Gazing over the courtyard, spying on the people below, he yearned to be down there with them. Or wherever Belle was. She was the reason for his wandering mind. No man – or in his case, no beast- could concentrate on something as dull as spinning; not when he had such a wife. The alteration in her since their wedding night was extraordinary. His bride no longer feared him. She was a different person…or perhaps without that underlying fear, Belle was more like herself than ever before. Whatever it was, he loved it.
"Rumpelstiltskin…" A whiny voice beckoned.
Rumpelstiltskin clutched his chest and staggered backwards into the wall. Damn royals. He ground his teeth, hissing a string of curses. He fought the pull, the one that had a claim on his soul. With every fiber of his being, he tried to disregard it. To pretend he didn't hear the king and queen demanding his presence.
"Rumpelstiltskin, I summon thee!" The harpy queen commanded.
Resigned, he shut his eyes and transported himself to the dungeons of the castle.
Rumpelstiltskin raised one eye lid and then the other. He was kneeling before King David and Queen Snow White, in total and complete submission. No better than a mongrel before its masters.
Queen Snow White's arm was held out from her body; in her closed hand was a dagger. A dagger with a waved blade, bearing his name in dark letters. She was beaming, her luminous eyes fixated on the blade.
Being in such close proximity to the object, he drew his lip back and snarled.
There never used to be a dagger. Once upon a time, he was cursed, yes, but he had his own freewill. No one could control him; he practiced magic and produced gold. He did as he pleased.
Until Cora.
The darkness in her called out to the darkness in him. In that sense they were soulmates. He confided everything to her; every thought, every secret and every little fact in regards to his curse. How could he not? She had said if he truly loved her, that he would hold nothing back. He had denied her nothing.
Then Cora used that information against him. One night after hours of love making, while he slept, she cast a dark spell all her own over the dagger and plunged it into his chest, straight into his heart. He awoke, his screams flooding every inch of the castle, feeling as though he were dying as she extracted the blade from him and brandished it. From that point on, he was cleaved to the dagger.
In her pursuit of the crown, Cora wreaked havoc on the lands, using him as her pawn. Darkness had consumed him fully; he could feel it eating through his heart, blackening it. He no longer ate, no longer slept, no longer felt guilt. Whatever remnants of humanity he had retained from the curse he had as a child, had been extinguished. Thousands were slaughtered by his word: men, women…and children. The poor babes squalling in a bath of blood, their little frames wracked as he smothered them. Their pitiful cries continued to ring in his ears to this day.
Somehow, with blessings from the gods above, Queen Snow White and King David had conquered Cora and took back their kingdom. The dagger came to be in their possession and he now belonged to them. To maintain their control over him, they had forbidden him of speaking of the dagger, Cora, his ability to spin straw into gold, and many other things.
"Your Majesties, you called," Rumpelstiltskin sneered. "What can I do for you? More gold? Finer jewels? Protection for your 'White as Snow' child."
The king disregarded his snide questions and asked, "Rumpelstiltskin, are you displeased with Belle? Would you prefer another woman? If so, we can arrange an annulment and select another more to your liking."
King David may have posed the question in a cavalier manner, but it was a veiled threat. The royals knew how important Belle was to him. There would be no hope for him if she was taken away. If he lost her, he would surely become dust.
Something snapped within him. Rumpelstiltskin could feel his sanity slipping. "Are you threatening to take her from me? Belle is mine; she belongs to me. She is my wife!" He shot across the space that divided him from the king, standing mere inches from the royal. Shouting like a mad man, he seized King David's shoulder, digging his nails into the man's flesh. "You swore not to interfere; you gave me your word!"
King David knocked Rumpelstiltskin's hand off of him and ducked his head.
The queen drew him from her husband and flashed the dagger in his face. "Rumpelstiltskin, have you or have you not consummated your marriage?" Her pert mouth twisted in glee. "Answer me."
"We have not," Rumpelstiltskin spat out.
How did they know? Belle had given him her word not to tell anyone and he knew she wouldn't betray him. He had thought that they could hide the true nature of their marriage from the royals. Hellfire, in the last couple weeks they had put on a convincing portrayal of a happily newlywed couple.
"And why not?" Queen Snow White demanded.
"Belle isn't ready." Despite his resolve, the words spilled out from him. He loathed himself for being so weak. Were he a better man, a stronger man, he could fight the pull the dagger had on him. But alas, with the dagger in the queen's hands, he was out of his depth. "She was hurt long ago, she was betrayed. She needs to heal."
Queen Snow White harrumphed. "Yes, we have all heard about her dalliance with Keith of Nottingham. Why do you think we chose her for you? No one else would have her. Beggars cannot be choosers."
I'll kill her! Rage flooded him. His talons tingled with the urge to wrap around Snow White's pale neck and crush her windpipe.
He lunged for her, but the queen held up the dagger as a shield.
Rumpelstiltskin retreated, recoiling from the dagger. His mind was churning on various methods of retaliation, the various ways he could make the queen suffer. How dare she ridicule his Belle! The queen may be White as Snow but Belle was the one who possessed a soul free of darkness.
"I order you to take Belle to your bed," The queen began.
Rumpelstiltskin cringed, putting his hands over his ears. The queen didn't have to verbalize her command; he could sense what she had planned. Oh gods, please! No, he could never…Not to Belle. Anything but that!
The queen wanted him to impregnate Belle so that they might have their own collection of magical imps. She would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. If that included him taking Belle against her will, then so be it.
"Stop! Stop it!" King David wrenched the dagger from his wife's grasp and hid it behind his back, out of her reach. Rumpelstiltskin could feel his soul being torn from one person to the next. As much as he despised the king, he preferred that man to wield the control. "This is not right. Belle is a human being; she deserves more consideration than this." The king shook his head mournfully. "Snow, this thirst for power has changed you. You weren't always like this."
"David, we are doing this for the sake of our daughter; she deserves the best." Queen Snow White cupped her husband's cheek, stroking it. "When she inherits the throne, she will reign over a majestic dynasty. It will be worth it. The end results justify the means."
"Not at the expense of another human being," the king protested.
Rumpelstiltskin wondered if he could sneak over and reclaim his dagger, but decided against it. Those two fools were so captivated by the dagger and the power they had because of it, they would notice him attempting to steal it. He would have to try something else.
"Aren't I enough?" Rumpelstiltskin beseeched the queen, resting his hand on his chest. "I swore to produce as much gold as you wanted! Must you wound my wife and own my child too? Please, I'll produce twice the amount of my daily quota. You will have more gold than you will know what to do with."
Queen Snow White was unmoved by his frantic pleas. "There is no guarantee that you are immortal. You could die at any time and then where would we be?" Turning back to her husband she stated, petting his cheek causing him to fall into a hypnotic trance. "We must preserve the kingdom, David. For the next generation. Otherwise it is all for naught."
The queen held out her open palm, expecting her husband to promptly hand over the dagger to her.
King David hesitated. For a moment Rumpelstiltskin thought the king might refuse. King David had promised to free him.
Rumpelstiltskin released an agonizing wail when the king handed it to Queen Snow White.
King David sheltered his face with his hand, to avoid meeting Rumpelstiltskin's gaze.
"Spineless bastard!" Rumpelstiltskin growled.
Queen Snow White raised the dagger, smiling as she made her command, "Rumpelstiltskin, you have three days to prepare Belle. Then you will take her to your bed and consummate your marriage." As if to make matters worse, she added, "All we need is one child like you. You can keep the rest."
The order had been given; there was no rebelling against it. His soul was willed to it. But he had to try. He had to do something to avoid raping his own wife. He would be no better than Keith of Nottingham, using and abusing her. Of course he wanted to make love to Belle, nothing would make him happier. But he didn't want her like that.
"Please, Your Majesty, don't make me do this. Please!" Rumpelstiltskin begged, prostrating himself on hands and knees. He was groveling, but whatever pride he had before had vanished. "Please. Don't force me to rape my wife. Please!"
Queen Snow White's eyes were blazing. "Go." She used the dagger to point at the dungeon steps that led back up to the castle. "You have your orders. You will obey me."
Rumpelstiltskin rose and on a teetering stride; he mounted the stairs to the upper level. He didn't stop until he reached the room where he spun.
He plopped down on the bench and would have dissolved into tears if he weren't so enraged. The queen may have commanded him to take Belle by force, but he'd jump out the window before he would harm a hair on her head. The queen was right on one score; he could not be certain about his mortality. If he survived, he would be in the same boat he was now.
Rubbing his face, he cursed the day he met Cora. Even beyond her grave, she was making his life hell. There was only one thing to do and that was to send Belle away. Now that she had seen what the king and queen were capable of, she would leap at the chance to be free of this life.
Rumpelstiltskin didn't know what he'd do without her. She was his whole world. But better that Belle be free and safe than be harmed by him.
#
Belle licked her thumb and turned another page. Her vision was blurring from reading for hours on end. She had a list of facts that she had accumulated about Rumpelstiltskin and his curse. He was cursed from birth. True Love's Kiss didn't work on him. The royals are able to control him somehow. The list went on, but she was no closer to uncovering the truth of what could break the curse.
Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the familiar pitter pat of her husband in the corridor. She sat up straighter as he burst breathlessly into the room.
"You're finished with the quota already?" The cheerful grin she wore soon faded when she observed his agitated look. Her husband had a hundred or more expressions to relay his ever-fluctuating moods, but this one she had never seen before. "What is it? Are you all right?"
"You have to go. Run away. You have to get out of here." Rumpelstiltskin pointed his index finger at the door of the library.
Belle rose and met him in the middle of the room. "What? Rumple, why?" she asked, reaching for him.
He batted her hands aside and shrank back from her. "Please, Belle, don't ask questions." Unable to meet her gaze, he lowered his head. "Get as far away from this hellhole as you can. It's for your own safety."
"Not without you. We can runaway together, Rumple." Belle rested her hands on his shoulders before raking threading her fingers through his hair. She hoped that her touch would have a calming effect on him. It usually did. "We could travel and see the world. We could go to all the places we read about."
"Stop! Don't!" Rumpelstiltskin roared, prying her hands off. Darting to the other side of the room, he was determined to put as much distance between them as possible. "I can't."
Her first instinct was to give him the space he desired. Then she caught the shame etched in his countenance and she remembered that she too had carried shame on her shoulders. And he had not abandoned her in her time of need. Rumpelstiltskin had shown her more compassion and kindness than anyone else.
Now her best friend was in pain and he needed her.
Belle slowly approached, careful not to startle him. He was as skittish as a hunted deer. "Why? Why won't you trust me? Please, I'll do anything for you!"
Rumpelstiltskin's face contorted. His large eyes watered. "Don't you think I would tell you if I could? Gods, I want you to know everything! I would tell you in a heartbeat." He sighed and shook his head, mumbling. "A heart...beat."
Belle's mouth swung open. Another clue! "That is a hint, isn't it? The king and queen control you and you are not the master of your own fate!"
Rumpelstiltskin pressed his lips together in a thin line. He was blank, but then while under the control of someone else, he couldn't verbalize what was wrong.
"They have your heart!" Belle concluded.
She had read how some who practiced Dark Magic could rip the hearts out of people and control them by speaking their commands onto said hearts. King David and Queen Snow White hardly seemed the kind to practice Dark Magic, but that had to be it!
Belle closed the space between them and before he could slip away from her again, she ripped open his silk shirt. The buttons shot out, pinging every which way.
Rumpelstiltskin sucked in a haggard breath, but he didn't stop her.
There was a puckered ridge that stood out on his golden chest, above where his heart should have been. It was a few inches long. The books mentioned nothing about a scar left on those whose hearts was extracted. However, her husband's skin was scaled…that could have been an effect from that.
Tentatively, she brushed her finger tips along the scar and pressed her palm into his warm chest. There was a thudding beneath her caress, a wild palpitation that only a heart could create.
Rumpelstiltskin still had his heart.
"I don't understand." Belle stroked the spot on his chest. Her theory may have been wrong, but she loved touching him so intimately. It felt…perfect. "When True Love's Kiss didn't work, my books led me to believe that someone was controlling you another way. Some people can rip out hearts, you know. I thought they had stolen your heart. Did the royals stab you? Rumple? They forbid you to speak of it?"
He eased his fingers around her wrist and drew her knuckles to his lips. "Belle, I care about you. So much. Please go. Don't make me hurt you," he begged.
Belle shook her head; she slipped her arm around his waist and hauled him close. "No. We are bound to one another. The day we married, we made vows to one another and I will be true to mine. Can you speak of the king and queen's intentions? Rumple, please, I'm not going anywhere."
"Yes. In their enthusiasm, they forgot to order me to be silent about their latest command." Rumpelstiltskin squeezed his eyes shut. A couple of tears leaked out and followed the scaled valley down his face. "They have discovered that we have not consummated our marriage. They have given me three days to prepare you and then I will take you by force. I won't be able to fight them. Don't you see? You have to leave. I don't want to hurt you like that, Belle." He rasped, "Please, don't make me do that to you."
Belle blinked, stunned. She couldn't form a response. The king and queen were cruel…the queen especially. But she never would have suspected this of the royals. That they were willing to have Rumpelstiltskin ravish her to achieve their goals. No doubt they were furious that she and Rumpelstiltskin initially thwarted their plans. In part, this had to be a punishment for her and Rumpelstiltskin's disobedience.
Rumpelstiltskin feigned a smile. "Go." He laid his palm on her jaw, thumbing her bottom lip. "It's all right, really."
Belle nodded. She understood. It wasn't right that the royals were forcing their hand, but there was no way around it.
She had to do it.
Belle threw her arms around his neck and sealed her mouth over his. The momentum of flinging herself into his embrace sent them reeling backwards onto the settee where they had most of their reading lessons. She laid across him, loving how he felt under her. He was tense, like a coiled spring wound too tight.
Rumpelstiltskin opened his mouth wider to protest. She took advantage of that, swiping her tongue within. He let out an impassioned moan as she situated herself in his lap and undid the rest of the buttons on his shirt.
Rumpelstiltskin broke the kiss and held her back. "What are you doing?" he gulped, licking his lips.
"What does it look like?" Belle heaved a roll of her eyes. She had thought she was being rather obvious. But then again, for a magically charged imp, Rumpelstiltskin could be really obtuse. "I am seducing you. I'm not scared now. Nervous, yes, but I am ready to truly be your wife." Dipping her head, she kissed the scar on his chest, nipping at it, then she laved it with her tongue.
"Stop, stop." His hands framed the sides of her face and pulled her back up. He rocked them sideways until they were sitting upright, her centered in his lap, rubbing her nose against his. "We don't have to do this. You can still escape-"
Belle silenced him with a small peck on the lips. "Not without you. They may decide your fate, but no one decides mine but me."
Ready to continue, she was disappointed when he stopped her once more. She hadn't thought their first time together would be this soon. Or be prompted by the royals. But aside from abandoning him, Belle could not come up with another solution than for them to make love now. It would cancel out the order and after that she and her husband could do as they please. Whenever they pleased, however they pleased.
Rumpelstiltskin searched her eyes, studying her. Whatever he detected, it convinced him that she knew her own mind and that she was ready. "Belle, please. Let me, um... let me lead this." He cradled her cheek and stole a quick kiss, avowing, "I swear, I will make it good for you. Please."
"All right." Belle agreed, nodding bashfully.
A wave of his hand, his magic transported them to their chambers, onto their bed.