The worst part of weddings, as far as she was concerned, was after they were over. The actual ceremony took minutes, what came afterwards…it could go on for hours! And there was never any good way for her family to just "mingle" like the other wedding guests afterwards. Though the bride and the groom should be the guests of honor, it always felt like they really were the ones every one was there to meet. While the guests greeted the newlyweds the newlyweds greeted them. They offered their own bows and curtsies appropriately, thanking them amply and telling them how lucky they were to have them there. When she tried to turn the attention back to them, they remained rooted in giving their thanks with starry eyes. And of course after they had offered their congratulations things never got any better. The dukes, the nobles, even the one other pair of traveling nobles that had ventured out for the wedding, to honor the bride's father as he frequently served the country as an ambassador; everyone had to greet them. Well, "greet" was technically the word that her mother used. "Gawk" was what she preferred. "Be happy and smile," she whispered in her ear when she reached over to hug her during a momentary break in it all, "they're happy to see you my lovely darling. Be happy to see them too!"
She understood that, truly she did. At least she had three hours ago when all this had begun. Now…well, at the moment she felt like she could be a lot happier to see them if Gaston wasn't looming in the back of her mind. It had been six months ago since her betrothal and the only way that she'd lived with it was insisting the families keep it secret until the time it became an engagement. Most days it was easy to ignore. Gaston went back to his family's villa, his soldiers arrived as promised, and with the exception of his monthly visits that thankfully fell on Samuel's visits, she could put the thing out of her head completely. But today, seeing this wedding, watching the bride and the groom take vows and make promises, knowing Gaston was somewhere in the building with her...she felt too sick to properly be happy about people who really wanted to meet "the Princess" more than they did her.
"My lady!" finally she felt herself beam this time when her hand fell into a warm one.
"Samuel!" she breathed happily. Finally! Someone excited to see her and not her crown.
"I wonder," he questioned kissing her hand formally and turning to her father, "might I have the pleasure of dancing with your daughter?"
Her heart beat in anticipation of getting to do something with someone she actually liked rather than standing here greeting strangers who should be more excited to see the newlyweds than her. But her father didn't seem nearly as excited as she did. She knew that look, the one that he had before he denied the request. She was betrothed now and she hadn't told Samuel, her best friend. He had no idea he was asking to dance with a woman that was already promised to another and-
Suddenly her mother wrapped her hands around her father's elbow. "It think that would be appropriate. If my daughter agrees of course," she responded quickly. She beamed and made a mental note to hug her mother fiercely later for excusing her. But only later. For now Samuel was offering her his hand and raising his eyebrows, silently offering her an escape. She quickly put her hand in his and let him draw her away from her parents and out onto the dance floor, where she was happy that the other couples dancing gave them a few feet of extra room to dance.
"Kill me, kill me now," Samuel whispered in her ear as he fitted his hands on her and they began the steps they knew only so well.
"I just keep thinking to myself it'll all be over soon," she whispered back. "Thank you for rescuing me."
"I know the face of someone contemplating jumping out of the nearest window; it'll be death by wedding!"
She smirked as he let her go so she could spin. "Really? And how is that?"
"I looked at myself in the mirror and saw the exact same face. In fact, I think if we were quick about it, we might be able to jump out the window by the food."
"Tempting but I think I'd rather just eat the food."
"That is the one perk in all of this. Have you tried the grey stuff? It's delicious!"
"I haven't," she hissed regrettably. "I haven't eaten anything since we left this morning, I've been too busy 'greeting' people and...'avoiding' others. I'd trade my crown for a bit of anything right now, grey or otherwise."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Samuel questioned as they finally stopped turning. "Let's get you something to eat before someone-"
"May I cut in?" Samuel's face fell as Gaston stepped up to the pair of them, looking stoic but...he'd turned his eyes on Samuel in a way that made her want to step between the two of them and protect him the same way she had the ogre.
"Gaston LeGume," Samuel announced, hardly paying him any heed at all. "Never seen you around these parts, always off hunting is what I've heard. What are you doing here? Do you have your eyes on a noble woman you've yet to entrance."
"Samuel!" she snapped looking around wildly. She hadn't told anyone, she hadn't told Samuel or any nobles, no one should know and she didn't want that to change! She was happier without people knowing! And she didn't want Gaston to give it away.
Samuel sighed at her chastisement and looked the man over. "No, you can't dance with the lady, we were just leaving to get a bite to eat."
"And you can't spare one dance?" Gaston questioned looking her over.
"She can't dance if she falls over from starvation," Samuel muttered next to her.
"She appears to still be upright," Gaston observed. "And I would imagine that she could find the time to spare one dance for her-"
Samuel it's fine!" she inserted before he could reveal what exactly he was to her now. She pulled her hand from his, suddenly aware of how long it had been there. Gaston seemed aware. His eyes wandered down to the place they'd been attached the moment they disconnected before continuing to eye Samuel like he was prey to be devoured. "I'll uh...I'll meet you in a few minutes, after this song." Samuel looked confused for a second, then he looked insulted, and finally angry. She tried her best to stare at him, to use that look her mother had used when she was a child and did something she shouldn't, the look that could rebuke her without words. She did her best to tell him that he needed to go, that she wanted him to go...the trouble was that all along she didn't want him to leave her side. Not when Gaston was currently taking up residence by it. But eventually Samuel heaved a sigh, muttered something about meeting her at the table later, and moved away from the pair of them.
Them. Her and Gaston. She wasn't thrilled about it but she supposed given the state of things she owed him one dance. But the faster they got this dance over with, the faster she could go eat something. So she offered a small smile and her hand. "Shall we?" she asked as another song began to play.
"Yes, I believe we shall," Gaston agreed stepping up to her and wrapping himself what she supposed would have been a fair distance but at this point she figured there was probably nothing that he could do that would convince her to ever be happy about sharing the same breathing space with such a-
"You look beautiful."
"Excuse me?" she questioned, shaking her head and trying to focus.
"You look beautiful," he repeated. "Clearly the most beautiful girl in the room. I'm sure the bride herself is jealous of you."
She felt herself blush and fought back a sigh of embarrassment. What he'd presented her with sounded terrible. The bride should have the admiration of everyone in the room today, not have to play second fiddle to her.
"The bride deserves to be the most beautiful in the room today," she corrected. "If I could disappear for her I would."
"Oh far to late for that, my Lady," Gaston chuckled in her ear. "Even your friend has clearly noticed just how radiant you are."
"Samuel doesn't notice anything, he's my friend."
"Samuel, did you say. The General's son? Just the same he has noticed, hasn't taken his eyes off you since we started dancing. I wonder...should we give him a show?"
"Samuel is my friend," she insisted stubbornly. "Stay away from him."
"What exactly is it you think I'm going to do to him your majesty?" he asked as if amused. She wasn't. She'd caught the subtle threat he'd given, clarifying who Samuel was and what he did, she wasn't impressed.
"Oh I don't know...I've seen what you've done to the innocent."
"To monsters," he corrected stiffly. "Six months later we're at war with the creatures and you still can't bring yourself to admit they're dangerous."
"I prefer to make decisions for myself instead of letting propaganda decide for me."
"As do I your Majesty, that's the thing about opinions I suppose. Two people can come to believe two very different truths."
"Doesn't make them both true."
"No, it doesn't. I'm glad you acknowledge that."
Her stomach was in knots and if she had to spend one more second with him she suspected that she'd be sick but fortunately for her the music stopped just seconds after his comment and she pried herself out of his grip the moment that it did. She happily clapped with the others for the musicians before catching Samuel's eye by the table. He held a plate out in the air to tempt her and the growl in her stomach let her know that the temptation wasn't needed. She turned back to Gaston, who appeared to have not taken his eyes off of her since the music ended and it made her feel uneasy, like he had her in his sights all along. "Ahem…thank you…for the dance it was quite lovely, but if you'll excuse me-"
"Belle!" he called out catching her around the waist before she could leave. "I quite enjoy dancing with you. And seeing as how you are my future bride, perhaps, if your father wouldn't mind, and I doubt he will, we could have another a dance later this evening."
She felt her blood boil as she stepped out of his grasp and suddenly realized that she'd never be out of his grasp, he was doomed to be in her life forever, there was no changing that. So she took control over what she could and pushed her tears away. "Keep that kind of information to yourself," she insisted. "I won't have the whole kingdom know."
"As if we haven't already given them enough to talk about?" he assumed glancing up and around at her. She looked around just as he had. He was right. Nearly every eye in the ballroom was on them, women talked behind their hands as they eyed them, men pointed and shrugged shoulders as they exchanged comments. She hated this. She might have been foolish to think that she could keep it hidden but she knew that was the only thing holding her together at a time like this. If it wasn't secret, if Samuel knew...she wasn't sure what she'd do.
"I have to go," she choked out.
"Belle!"
"I have to go!" she insisted by some miracle keeping her voice from rising.
"Well, that looked fun," he sneered.
"Is it too late to jump out of that window?" she asked.
He chuckled and opened his mouth to say something but suddenly she watched as his smile faded into astonishment. "Are you...are you crying?" he blanched.
"No!"
"Yes, yes you are, I've known you my whole life and you never cry, what did he say to you?! Belle! If you don't tell me I'll-"
"No! Samuel! Samuel!" she grabbed onto his crooked arm and swallowed her tears before he could stride out to the dance floor and do something they'd both regret. "Please!" she begged. "Don't worry about it just stay here, with me. Please."
He wasn't happy about that request and cast another glance over at Gaston but he was already dancing with someone else who was clearly having a good time. Finally he gave in and handed her a porcelain gold trimmed plate piled with food. "Here, you'll feel better after this," he mumbled unhappily. She agreed and happily began to partake of cheese and bread he'd gotten for her, trying to remind herself that she couldn't stuff it all in her mouth at once. It was amazing what a little food and fine company could do.
"So…how'd it go? You want to tell me why you were so upset, why he said to you?" he drawled after a while, plucking a goblet of wine off of a passing server's tray and handing it to her.
"It went fine," she lied though at this point she wasn't sure why. Samuel should know the truth, he deserved to know the truth. Why couldn't she just tell him. "We just danced, you could see that plain as day."
"I saw an awkward dance and a possessive grip…and then my best friend was here in tears. That's what I saw." She stared at her friend, glared at him really because she wasn't sure she'd ever seen him so angry and while she knew there was a reason that she should be upset she wasn't sure Samuel had one to be as snappy as he was. He'd seen nothing more than their dance that was all.
"You know, maybe I should be asking what's wrong with you...you're awfully pushy..."
"I'm not pushy," he snapped. "If I came back upset-"
"I'm not upset!"
"-I'd want someone to look into it!"
"I don't need you to look into anything Samuel I told you I was fine! Nothing happened!"
"You should see the way he looks at you! Like you're a piece of meat or a turkey he's going to hunt!"
"Samuel!" She tried not to make it so that she was screaming or raising her voice, no one appeared any wiser to their argument and it would be difficult to over the music but if she had to speak any louder than people would begin to notice. Samuel had no idea what he was talking about. "I'm not a child," she informed him lowering her voice. "I don't need you to speak for me or give your permission, and I don't need you to 'take care' of anything especially using that tone. Honestly...if I didn't know any better I'd say you were…"
Jealous.
She couldn't go on. The thought that had suddenly crossed her mind was too shocking for her to put words to. No. It couldn't be. They…they'd known each other too long for it to be something like…like that!
Hadn't they?
She slowly slid her eyes over to Samuel standing next to her, wondering if he'd heard, fearing he'd read her mind and knew...
He was looking oddly at her. It was almost…guilty?
"You'd say I was almost what?" he prompted, almost begging her to finish what she's stumbled onto.
Her heart. Did it always hammer this fast? Was her mouth always this dry? Or was it just now? Now that she was possibly faced with the possibility that Samuel was...that he might actually be-
"Samuel! Samuel my boy! Oh!" The world that had been so still and silent only a few seconds ago suddenly began to move and scream in her ear the moment that Samuel's father appeared over his sons shoulder. She jumped at the intrusion as the party goers presence charged back into the forefront of her mind. For a moment she'd forgotten the room was as crowded as it was. "You're majesty, I'm sorry I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Samuel's father questioned as he looked at her.
Interrupting. She glanced up at Samuel. Was he interrupting something? She honestly wasn't sure and, frightening enough, she wasn't sure she wanted to know or not. "Well?" Samuel asked, his tone suddenly cold. "Is he?" he asked making her heartbeat deafen every other sound in the world again. She'd chastised him for not letting her answer before. And now…
"No," she finally squeaked out before forcing her eyes onto his father. "No, not at all, we…I was just…getting a bite to eat."
"Oh," he father sighed. "Well, in that case, if you'll excuse us your majesty. Samuel I'd like you to come meet Lady Elizabeth, I think you'll find her a fair match for you if you…" she didn't hear the rest. Samuel's father had wandered off, under the impression that his son was following him, which he did, but not before he leaned over and whispered in her ear "find me if you get the urge to jump."
Dun, dun, DUN! This chapter has been heavily edited to accommodate the 5x17 chapters. But the good thing is that I didn't get rid of the heart of it. Fair warning, the timeline for this story is going to hop, skip, and jump at certain times. No more than a year will pass between chapters (excluding chapter 1 of course), most time gaps will be in six or three month intervals, but once we stumble upon an important moment we'll stay with it for a few chapters. So...as an example, in case you didn't realize this is the wedding that Belle and Samuel were talking about being invited to a few chapters ago, before the 5x17 stuff. A year has passed. But now that we're here and this awkward thing has just happened, we're going to be at this wedding for a few more chapters to get some very startling revelations for Belle (startling for her, not so much us), but after we're done with this wedding we'll skip another 3-6 months again. Sorry, but when making the prequel that was just how it happened to work out. I hope that's alright with everyone!
Thank you to Fox24, TruestOncer28, Valerie3956, Raizen Yusuke, Grace5231973, Kathryn Claire O'Connor, and Ladybugsmomma for your reviews of the last chapter. I'm so happy that ya'll like this concept for Belle and in a few months when it's all over I hope that you'll be pleased with the end product! Peace and Happy Reading!
