In the months that followed the wedding she found that she wouldn't, or couldn't, go to sleep as quickly as she once had. There was a time that she would have gone to bed thinking about the book that she'd read, but try as she may she just couldn't do that anymore. There was always a moment that she thought about Samuel, about that conversation that they'd had, about what they had both been talking about, and then, like a bolt out of the blue, she would see Gaston. She saw endless unhappy years before her and heard nothing but silence as she pictured them sitting awkwardly together in a room trying to say something nice to one another! The only thing she ever heard come out of his mouth was just a bad memory: "you look beautiful".

She knew that she was beautiful. People had told her that her entire life. Why was the idea of only having him compliment her on her looks suddenly a problem for her?

Because she knew that he knew it too. And the fact that he saw her as beautiful made her feel even more like a shinny trophy he could put up on a mantle than she ever had been before. How odd, of all the things Gaston had done, all the things that she disapproved of, that was what she felt killed her soul more than ever. Before she'd seen herself as a strong future Queen, now when she examined her future she saw herself not ruling but standing just behind Gaston, the King. It was terrifying. What would a man like that do to their Kingdom?

No, she couldn't remember the last time she'd gotten a good night sleep. A sleep that she didn't feel haunted by what she now knew. But she couldn't do anything about it. She desperately wanted to talk to Samuel, to tell him what had happened, the truth about it. But she knew her mother was against that and after their last conversation she didn't think that it was fair to put everything in a letter. Yet his next visit to the castle was still months away. And that was only if he came! Part of her feared that he wouldn't, that because of their last conversation, what it meant, how it ended, he wouldn't come visit her again. But there was no use worrying over that now. For now she had to find something to read, something to take her mind off of all of this, something to lose herself to other than her future. The remedy for that was always a good book.

After her tutor finished with her that afternoon she snuck off to the library and wandered among the shelves. It was strange, these tales of fiction were nothing but lies at the heart of it, they were just something that someone had made up. And yet they felt more truthful and honest than anything or anyone in her life right now, especially her family. She was trying hard not to be angry with her parents for what had happened with Gaston, and when she considered that she knew it they had done it with good intentions, to ensure her future not destroy it, it was easier not to be angry. Easier, but not necessarily achieved. She had a feeling she was going to be angry for a long time no matter what they tried to tell her.

She shook her head and tried not to think about it. Thinking about it only ever made it worse. That was why she was here, to not think about it, to get it off of her mind and find a new fictional wonderful adventure to go on.

Or…

Looking at the titles before her she was suddenly drawn to one that she'd seen a hundred times but never actually read before because this book wasn't about adventure. It was about romance. A cheap romance, the kind Gaston had told her in this very room that he never would have thought she was interested in. She'd refuted him then, and been honest about it no matter how dishonest he'd been. She'd never had an interest in books about romance, never before now, because books were always her escape to the world that she wanted to be a part of most of all. Besides, the few times that she'd picked them up before her mother had plucked them out of her hands and offered her something different, something adventurous and she'd been satisfied because she'd never really felt she needed to read them. If she was honest with herself she always figured she'd have her own grand romance one day that would put whatever she read in books to shame, but now…

She opened the book up and examined the first sentence, the first page, the then second, then the third before she decided to-

"Belle?" she jumped at the sound of her mother calling out her name and she didn't know why but when she spun around to face her she felt her cheeks go red as she hid the book uselessly behind her back.

Her mother noticed. Of course she noticed. She always noticed. Nothing ever got passed her. So it didn't surprise her when her mother eyed her skeptically and took a few steps closer. "Picking out a new book?" she asked. "May I?" It was a question, but the way that she held her hand out told her that it was not an option. As she handed the book over to her mother she suddenly wished that she hadn't over reacted. If she hadn't acted so guilty then she doubted her mother would have caught her. Not that she was doing anything wrong. She might even discover more about the mysterious "honeymooning" her mother refused to go into detail about. No! She was an adult. If she wanted to read a book about romance, she should read a book about romance!

But she couldn't…at least not with the way her mother looked up at her after she'd examined it. Suddenly her unhappy skepticism melted away into a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure it would be…a great story," she concluded, setting it right back where it had been on the shelf. "But…I have another I think you'd like. It was one that I read when I was about your age and it is a romance of sorts." Her mother didn't wait for her to answer, she just took her hand and led her over to a completely different section of books and let her hands roam over the bindings before plucking an ordinary looking book off the shelf. "Here we are!" she smiled as she presented it to her.

She took the book in her hand and looked it over. Old but not ancient. Plain cover. Title in Frankion. "La Belle Et La Bete," she read aloud. The Beauty and the Beast. "What's it about?"

"It's about a girl," her mother answered. "A beautiful and kind girl that realizes just how beautiful and kind she really is."

"I thought you said it was a romance."

"A type of romance, yes. You see my girl," she reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist then gently led her away from the shelf, a gentle stroll over to the couch she so often read by for hours, "there are many different types of romances and this one in particular…I think you'll find it very…I think you'll find it's very practical, very-"

"Your majesty!" This time they both jumped as the doors to the library slammed open so quickly that they banged against the walls behind them. Her mother unwound her arms from her waist and looked over at the guard, just as confused as she was.

"Yes?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"It's your husband, your majesty."

"Papa?!"

"Maurice. What happened? Where is he?!" her mother demanded reaching for her hand and squeezing it so tight she thought that she could feel her bones crunch.

"He's fine, my Lady, in his study, but he requested your presence immediately. He says it's urgent."

Urgent. She couldn't ever remember something being so urgent that her father needed her mother immediately! That had to mean it was bad, that something was really very wrong! And her mother seemed to grasp that at the same thing. She didn't ask questions or wait for any further explanation. She didn't even stop to ask her to come or make sure she was with her, just let go of her hand, picked up her skirts and practically flew out of the room as if her heels had wings.

She held the book close to her chest and did the same. The guard tried to stop her, tried to tell her that she didn't need to worry that her father would take care of it but she refused to listen. Not because of her father's request, at least not entirely, but because of how her mother had reacted. She'd never seen her look so terrified in her life.

"Maurice?!" she heard her call when she crashed into her father's study across the hall. She followed only a few seconds later and saw that there were half a dozen soldiers gathered together in the room, including Samuel's father, the general. For a moment she felt a brief moment of hope at the thought that Samuel might be somewhere in the castle but it quickly faded as her mother's voice broke her concentration. "The scouts, from the northern mountains, you've heard from them?! What news did they bring?"

"Nothing good I'm afraid." She watched from the door as her father stepped closer to her mother and reached for her hands, a piece of paper still clutched in one of them. "This confirms it my Darling, our worst fear has come to pass, the Ogres have strengthened their population, doubling in size. They've crossed our northern border."

"The Northern border?!" she breathed. "I thought they were invading from the East?!"

"So did we Belle, but scattered reports from the North led me to believe there was something wrong. The scouts confirm it. They've obliterated the Parish of Paris, nearly leveled it after only a week and show no sign of stopping as they continue to move South. At this speed it's only a matter of months until they combine forces with those invading in the East and if that happens..."

Her father couldn't finish his sentence. And what was more, she could have sworn that she saw tears gathered there in her father's eyes as he stared down at her. For that matter she felt tears gather in her own eyes because she knew the one thing that her father was considering, that he'd be forced to do. She didn't know how many people were involved already or how long it would last, the technicalities were beyond her, but she knew, without a doubt, that people were going to die. People were already dead.

"We can do this, Maurice. The country is prepared for it and with the soldiers Lord LeGume provided-"

"We still won't have enough!" he corrected. "We had enough when we fought a war on one front but on two fronts?!"

"Maurice, if this Kingdom is to endure for generations…sometimes difficult decisions must be made for the greater good." She watched as her mother reached up and put a hand against her father's cheek and pulled him down to kiss his other cheek. "I know what you must do, I support you, I will be with you in this every step of the way. You have my word."

For a moment she felt as though she needed to turn away. She'd seen that look in her parents eyes before, the look they got when it was as if no one else was in the crowded room but the two of them, not even their own daughter! She shifted her gaze to a few of the soldiers standing around and found that straight backed or not they had their gazes turned to odd corners or ordinary patches of the wall. No one wanted to intrude it seemed. It didn't seem possible to her that their marriage was arranged by that look alone! How was she ever supposed to look at Gaston like that? How could two people that knew nothing about each other ever look at each other like that?!

Then suddenly, as if a veil had been lifted, the air in the room shifted. Without words, what had once been a quiet and soft moment became heavy and loud. Her father nodded and when he stepped away from her mother he seemed like a new man-a different man. His eyes were dry, his posture proper, and most important of all he seemed strong and unflinching, almost to the point of being stoic.

"Prepare our soldiers and enlist as many young able men as possible. I'm declaring war on those beasts to the north and we will not rest until we have taken back our lands on both fronts and avenged our dead."

So...a few important things to remember here. Belle's sheltered life...here is another great example of it. Her mother has been controlling what she reads, she's just never noticed it before. In Moments Seen and Unseen Belle hits the nail on the head when she realizes that it was done so that she'd never realize there was another option, so she'd never know that she was missing out on something beyond whatever she would have had with Gaston. Why are her parents doing this? Because it's what they know. She's an only child so she has to rule the Kingdom, they can't risk her pulling a Regina and running off with a stable boy allowing one to inherit the throne with her. And really, why would they think that it's such a bad life. I don't know if I'm making it clear enough, though I hope that I am here, that Colette sees herself in Belle. She sees some of her own fears and desires, but she has the gift of age. She knows that she might have been afraid at first but years later she did fall in love with her husband, why would she think that Belle would be any different? Remember, this isn't the woman that we encountered in Rumple's castle. As far as Moments is concerned, when she went with him that was when she really started to live and discover who she was. How can her parents know who she is if she doesn't even know yet?

Thank you to Kathryn Claire O'Connor, Grace5231973, Fox24, Valerie3956, TracyJean, Teresa Martin, Raizen Yusuke, and Ladybugsmomma for your reviews of the last chapter. We've had some pretty interesting conversations with these last few chapters. I know that it's been awesome and helpful to me, I hope that it's been good for ya'll too and that things are starting to become clearer. Ya'll are awesome for your kindness and I can't wait to hear what you think about this chapter! Peace and Happy Reading!