A month later Gaston arrived at her father's palace. It had been a long month. Of course her mother had seen through her sudden interest to accompany Gaston anywhere and realized quickly enough what she'd done. She tried to deny the offer, to withhold permission, but in the end a simple trip to her father had sorted all that out. Her father thought the world of Gaston. That conversation seemed to have proved that easily enough. She hadn't really known they knew much about each other until they'd had that talk but it was clear that he trusted she'd be safe by his side and approved of the trip so long as her nurse accompanied the two of them, since her mother refused in an effort to stop it.

Their palace was closer to the Springs Mountains than Gaston's estate and so her father offered to house him the night before they departed and the night they were to return. Though the night that he'd stayed in their private wing she'd kept a chair wedged by her door. In her mind he'd already broken rules to come into places he shouldn't be to speak with her, the last thing she wanted was for him to barge into her room in the middle of the night to try and have another conversation without realizing how inappropriate he was. Besides, just that the thought of him so close by as she slept made her skin crawl. But despite that, early the next morning she was up, wide eyed, and finally ready to get the answers her parents seemed unable to get for her.

"Be careful!" her mother hissed in her ear before she left.

"I will," she promised.

"Stay close to Gaston and Lydia, and if anything should happen find a horse and flee as fast as you can!"

"Nothing is going to happen Mama…I'm going to be fine! I'm with the jousting champion of the world remember?"

"This isn't a joke," she snapped starring into her eyes. "You are going into an active war zone, anything could happen at any minute, and if I don't get you back, I…I love you. You are my world, the center of everything and you have been for your father and I ever since the day you were born. If you don't come back to us-"

She reached forward and hugged her mother tight around her waist, letting her stroke her hair and hold her close so she wouldn't see tears gathering in her eyes. Their relationship had been strained over the last couple of years, ever since she'd let that ogre go and agreed to one day marry Gaston before all this had started and she knew that her little trick to get into the Springs Mountains these last few weeks hadn't helped it. But it was still nice to know that no matter the tension her mother did love her dearly. And that made it easy to believe her when she promised that she'd never intended for her to be unhappy alongside Gaston for the rest of her life. She didn't like what her parents had done to arrange this marriage. But she believed that they had done it with her best intentions as well as the Kingdoms best interests at heart. She only wished now there was a way around it.

She pulled away and smiled when her mother kissed her forehead. "We'll be back in time for dinner," she assured her before her father hugged her and then offered his hand to help her climb into the carriage.

"My darling!" her mother suddenly yelled out before the footman could close the door. "I nearly forgot…for your trip!" she handed her a basket covered with a blanket before she finally stepped back, the door closed, and the carriage was set into motion. She waved at them out the window until they were beyond the gates and then lifted the blanket and smiled. A new book was waiting for her with a note in her mother's handwriting settled over the top. "For when the conversation is too much...or too little."

It was too much. From the very beginning it was too much, but the book her mother gave her was a lifesaver. When Gaston began to badger her she politely remarked that she had reading her tutor had assigned her and dove into an epic tale of a soldier that struck out on his own in a corrupt Kingdom to help the ordinary citizens who wanted to rise up against the-

"Oh my!" her nurse gasped hours later, making her head pop out of her book and look over at her. The window. She was looking out the window at…

Nothing.

A lack of something. Destruction. Chaos. It was just like the scene one of Samuel's letters described. A town. Clearly this had once been a town, there were foundations and ruins as far as the eye could see. If she didn't know any better she would have thought that they'd just stumbled onto an abandoned town. But the roads were clear and freshly trodden, the trees were properly cleared away, and from the ashes of the "ruins" she saw smoke was rising up. This wasn't ancient. This had just happened. Her mother had told her it was an active war zone but...this active? They wouldn't let her come to something like this!

"This can't be right," she muttered looking out the window in shock. "Where have you taken us Phillipe?" she questioned out the window as the carriage rolled to a stop.

"We're going in the right direction, your majesty," he explained. "This is the village of Tres Blanc. Or at least it was…"

Her mouth was dry as Gaston stopped to confirm with him when he'd last been by this village. It had been a while, but last Phillipe was here, a few months ago, it was still standing. She gazed on in horror as they continued on to the military base, only a few more miles from this place according to him. Of course Lydia and Phillipe had wanted to turn around right then with her. "You're the princess you shouldn't be out here!" Gaston urged them not to. He promised that if it started to look more dangerous he'd turn around, but they had a job to do. They'd come up here to investigate why reports had all but stopped, why they hadn't heard of the destruction of an entire town in the first place. This only proved they needed to accomplish their goals.

She agreed with him. It shocked Phillipe as well as Lydia but she didn't want to turn around, she couldn't! What had happened here was worrisome if the base was only close by...she had to find Samuel. Or at least know where he'd gone! She couldn't live with the thought that he'd been caught up in all of this, she had to know he was somewhere safe! At her insistence they continued on "with caution" as Phillipe stated. The base wasn't far beyond that village. She'd spent months dreaming about what it would be like to finally be able to see it, to be there and see Samuel again. But...

Nothing she'd ever concocted in her worst nightmares looked like this!

The horses panicked, she heard Phillipe do the same, insist he was taking her back before they even stepped out of the carriage. Gaston made matters worse. Despite Phillipe he pushed through the door and then immediately told her to stay where she was, not to get out of the carriage. She knew it was foolish. Even if the order had come from Gaston, she knew that because of where they were if he told her to do something like stay in the carriage and go home she probably should. But Samuel's face flashed before her eyes and she couldn't help herself. She stormed out of the carriage, Lydia attempting to grab her the entire way...and immediately wished she'd listened.

There were bodies rotting away in trees. Dead horses gathered in heaps by hitching posts. The smell was unbearable. Ash and fire and stench from rotting flesh. Her stomach turned and for a moment she thought she was going to be sick before she made contact with a pair of eyes. They moved. They blinked. But there was very little life within them.

Not all the men were dead. There were soldiers milling about, looking lost and frightened. They were dirty, filthy, walking around without shoes or shirts or even pants huddled around small fires, trying to keep warm in the cold altitude. Some of them wrapped what appeared to be the remains of their tents around their shoulders. They were coughing. They had rashes on their skin, their lips were blue and peeling off in flakes but didn't appear to bleed. And their eyes…their eyes were what continued to strike her the most. They were cold. Soulless. They looked at her not like a stranger in their midst but as a ghost, as if she was nothing of substance or might be a vision or a memory of some kind. She didn't want to, but she gazed into their faces, each and every one looking, searching for the one that mattered to her than the others.

Where was Samuel?

"What happened here?" Gaston announced stepping around her. "You! Soldier! Where is your commander?!" he demanded roughly of one man walking around aimlessly. The man glanced up into his face and opened his mouth but no sound came out. He continued to look dazed and shocked at someone, anyone, talking to him. "You're commander!" Gaston went on, putting his hands on the man. "Where is he?!" he screamed as the man jumped away as if he'd been burned, falling to the ground, and curling into a ball with his hands over his head. The angle. The way he positioned his hands over his head it was all wrong for Gaston…but just right for something bigger.

"Gaston please!" she plead rushing forward and falling to the ground next to the soldier. She put her hands on him and he winced, pulling out of her grasp. "These men need help not an interrogation!"

"We're at war, Belle! This isn't a time to be gentle or to coddle them. They're soldiers and I need to know where their commander is! You shouldn't see this! You need to be in the carriage!"

She hurried off the ground the moment he began to storm off toward another crowd of them. "No!" she shouted standing in front of him. "Just…just let me try," she begged. "Please, let me talk to them first while you investigate. I'm…I'm sure with all your training you don't need a commander to tell you what happened! I can talk to them and you can figure it out on your own, like any true King…can't you?!"

He was silent for a moment, an unidentifiable look on his face as he stared down at her. Finally, after a few seconds had passed, recognition flashed behind his eyes. "Fine," he agreed pulling his bow and arrow free. "I'm going to scout the terrain, call for me if you learn anything of substance."

She swallowed and let out a sigh of relief as he moved away from her. Gaston taken care of she turned and found a pail and then her nurse. "Fetch some water from the spring? Please?"

"I don't know miss, your mother-"

"Doesn't need to know I was left behind. I promise if I see anything taller than Gaston, I'll run." After a moment her nurse nodded and went to fetch some water. "Phillipe, any rations we have-"

"We don't have nearly enough for the entire group your majesty, but...ordinarily I'd be afraid that a riot would break out, looking at these boys I don't think it's a problem. I'll do what I can."

Food, water, Gaston...finally she turned to the group of eight men she'd seen around the fire and examined them. None were Samuel and none looked like they'd talk to her, much less look at her if she wasn't fire. In fact, most of the men looked to be in such a state of shock she wasn't sure anything would get their attention but…there, by the tree line. There was a tent covering hanging over a couple of tree branches forming a crude but makeshift tent. And someone was watching her from the opening, or at least they had been. The moment that she made eye contact he darted inside. She glanced around her, located her nurse by the spring, Phillipe inside the carriage, and Gaston examining some dirt then made up her mind and tread carefully over to the small tent.

She lowered herself and glanced inside, hoping she'd know the face she saw, only...

It wasn't Samuel. But there was a man there, huddled at the far end, pressing himself against the tree trunk shaking as he attempted to hide his face from her. It was almost childish. She'd seen her baby cousins play games like this with the mentality of "if my eyes are covered I must be invisible". This man wasn't that far gone...was he?

"Hello?" she questioned pulling the flap back and crouching down next to him. He didn't respond and her heart beat nervously as she wondered where to begin, what, if anything would get something out of him? "My…my name is Belle…what's your name?"

It seemed the most logical place to start but...he was shaking. Everywhere he was shaking. His hands, arms, torso, head, even his naked toes! She was about to go find someone else and leave him in peace but he lowered his arm for her a bit and looked her over with one frightened eye. "Hello," she repeated again, hopefully. "My name is Belle and...I promise I'm not here to hurt you, only to help. Can you tell me your name?"

The man's arm slipped a little lower despite the tremors and she watched as he swallowed and then licked his lips. "Co…co…cogsworth."

"Cogsworth?" she questioned. Was it a last name maybe? Did it matter? A name was a name and that was better than nothing. "Alright, Cogsworth then…what do you do here?"

"Die!" he squeaked out before his chest began to rise and fall rapidly, his breathing came in harsh sharp tones and for a moment she wanted to run, but couldn't bring herself to do it.

"I meant before!" she corrected quickly. "Shh, shh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I meant before! What did you do before the war? Did you live in a house? Did you have a family? A mother? A father? A wife? Did you...did you like to read or paint or-"

"Clocks!" the man shouted out again, allowing her to see tears gathering in his eyes.

"Clocks, you...you like clocks?"

Cogsworth nodded. "I made them. Had a small business. My daughter helped..." he burst into tears again and her automatica response, once more was to flee. It felt like it would have been merciful but...when she looked at the destruction around her, the faces of the men wandering aimlessly around the camp...she couldn't. He was talking to her, she had to get him to calm down and keep talking.

"Tell me more about...about clocks," she requested. She'd wanted to ask about his daughter, but she needed him calm and logical, he was already too emotional as it was and she didn't want to upset him by forcing him to think about a daughter or a wife. And asking about clocks...it worked. Timidly at first, he began to tell her about woods and metals he used to make clocks. He talked to her about wheels and cogs and instruments that she didn't know and had never known existed until now and she was surprised to find that the conversation, for however long it went on didn't dull her. It didn't thrill her, but she took interest in watching his body soften, if only slightly and his chest no longer heave. It was working. he was calming down. Not by leaps and bounds but enough that a few moments later she felt confident again.

"Can you tell me what happened here, Cogsworth?"

He didn't panic like he had when she'd met him. But he did nod too vigorously to be comfortable. "War."

That was it. War. She understood that he was terrified but…she needed more than that. How to ask so he wouldn't panic again was the trick? "Well…what kind of war?" she questioned.

"Ogres…attack! Attack, attack, attack! Then dead, so many dead."

"Okay! Okay, okay, easy! Easy," she urged. Her stomach was turning over as she thought of the bodies in the trees, rotting. How long had they been here? Gaston had known about this trip for a month because the camp was doing a poor job at responding. Should they have taken this more seriously and been here sooner? "Do you know when the attack was?"

"Five days…Four sunsets." That made her feel better but it hardly registered. The attack wasn't to blame for the prior communication issues but...

Five days but four sunsets. So that meant… "So you were attacked, by ogres, at night?"

The trembling man finally looked over at her. He nodded his head. "They came at night. In the middle of the night. A moonless night. The darkest part of the darkest night."

"No one could see?"

"Ogres don't need to see," Cogsworth choked out. "They just kill and pillage and plunder and kill and pillage and plunder and kill...and pillage...and...and..."

His chest began to heave suddenly, his knuckles turned white and she watched as his body constricted further into a tighter ball of dirty flesh. She reached out and placed her hand over his own then. It didn't help. He tried to press himself closer to the tree in an effort to get away from the touch. "It's alright," she cooed, using that same voice her mother used to use to sooth her nightmares. If she couldn't use touch maybe she could use words again. "It's alright, they're gone now. You're safe. You can tell me what happened. Alright? Everything is going to be fine, I promise. Do you believe me? " He nodded along with her after a moment and looked her dead in the eye for the first time. It made her shiver. But she pressed on. "Alright so, they came in the middle of the night. Did you fight back?"

Cogsworth nodded. "We fought. We tried. The…shouts from our commanders at the center of camp woke us in the middle of the night. But ogres…they're blind…they're…they're drawn to sound. They went after the commanders first. Throwing, stomping, heaving our highest ranking officers into the air. We drew them out. Made as much noise as we could while they destroyed the campsite and finally got them into the battlefield. But they'd taken most of us out by then. There were only a few dozen of us left by then and in the end…

"They took men. I don't know why. The few of us that survived…we hid in the bodies of the dead, watched as they moved on and took half a dozen of us with them kicking and screaming. I saw a few that got away and ran, the others…their voices…they faded into the mountains…we were left…there was no way to send a message to the general…to anyone. Men were wounded, dying. Now we're starving. Waiting for death…"

There were tears in her eyes as he finished. What would have happened to them if they never came up here? What happened to Samuel?

"Listen…Cogsworth…a few months ago there was a man up here, a friend of mine, his name was Samuel. Did you know him?"

Cogsworth looked as though he was about to burst into tears again, but he nodded and sent her heart skyrocketing. "Samuel with brown hair and green eyes, Samuel the butcher, Samuel that liked to be called Sam, Samuel with a missing finger, Samuel the General's son, Samuel who just wanted his kids to grow up safe, Samuel who deserted-"

"No, that…that's him…the General's son. You knew him?"

Cogsworth nodded. "Had to be careful with him in training. Had to be sure he didn't get hurt, had to make him look good…Sargent's orders."

Yes. That was him. "What happened to him?" she asked with tears in her eyes, unsure she really wanted the answer. "Was he transferred? Did he get moved?"

Cogsworth shook his head. "Maybe...last I knew...last I knew he was in the camp. Housed with the rest of the elite where the first screams came from. I…I saw a Samuel once on the battlefield but not one since then…he must…he must be…so many dead, dead faces!"

"Oh!" she whimpered pulling away from Cogsworth and covering her mouth as she began to finally cry.

Sorry for the way that this got drawn out. I really wanted to emphasize Belle's good judgment and instinct here, especially with how she deals with Cogsworth and her instinct to calm him and soothe him before diving into the story that might potentially make things worse. Also, spoiler alert if you haven't read MK&U or Out of the Past, but Samuel is still very much alive and if you read carefully I gave him a lot of points of departure in all of this. In Cogsworth's ramblings he mentions a Samuel who deserted them, he's so crazed he could be describing Samuel twice. He talks about men that ran away after the attack, men that were taken by ogres, and also says only that he saw "a Samuel" on the battle field but not "one" since then which, again, he's so traumatized it could be anyone. So, no matter what you believe happened with Samuel in the time between here and the comic (MK&U gets into it a little bit but I didn't get too specific about when or how or why he meets his "friends") you should be covered.

Thank you to TruestOncer28, Grace5231973, Fox24, Kathryn Claire O'Connor, Rumbellefan, and Raizen Yusuke for your reviews on the previous chapter! I've been loving the comments you have to offer and I hope that you enjoy this chapter. These next few chapters will not be easy for our Belle, but what's coming, one in particular is going to be a very big deal to man I suspect! Peace and Happy Reading!