SMOKE AND ASHES
Gold is shown a picture of Belle's mother – someone he clearly recognizes (and is distressed to see) but he side-steps identifying the woman. Shaken but determined, in preparation for ascending into Fairyland, Gold leaves final instructions for Emma, Regina and Jefferson. Milah works one last bit of make-over magic to transform Belle into the very image of a fairy princess. Belle and Gold are joined by Leroy for the venture into the Upper Lands. Gold leads them to a small shop on Lexington and a hidden portal passageway. While Belle and Leroy are able to pass the threshold without difficulty, Gold needs Belle's assistance to cross over.
Their portal has positioned them several days away from their destination, the home of the Fairy Queen. Along the way, Belle befriends a sprite, transforming Gold's energies to heal the little fairy. A truce between Gold and the sprites is concluded with Belle's guidance.
The threesome end up at a little homey cottage which proves to be the home of outcast fairy Nova, Leroy's True Love.
They are being watched by the Fairy Queen who has plans for Gold.
Chapter 36
A Walk in the Woods
A.N. No Elspeth, but there is a little smut at the beginning of this chapter.
Nova offered them a tiny room in the loft for them to sleep in. They had to climb a ladder to get up to the small space. There was a down mattress on the floor and Nova gave them a clean sheet to put on the bottom and a soft flannel cover for them to keep the chill off during the night.
After a filling supper of fresh sorrel salad, bean and potato soup and fresh bread (with a cinnamon bun for dessert!), Belle and Gold retired to the loft. Gold helped Belle out of her foamy, frothy dress and, in turn, she helped him remove the snug fitting leather vest and pants. Belle ran her hands under the silk shirt. She was fascinated with his unusual skin texture, the tiny scales overlapping and making him feel remarkably smooth. They knelt on the mattress facing each other. Belle lowered herself down to run her tongue over one of his nipples. He gasped and threaded his fingers through her polished tresses snaking his way through the curls. She kissed her way up to his neck and then to his mouth, locking onto him. He still had his hand on her head and gently tilted her head to grant himself better access. He was satisfied as he heard a soft whimper.
"You looked like a fairy princess today, my Belle," he told her, pulling away briefly and then bending himself to focus on kissing her along her chin and down her neck.
"And you, you looked like . . . "
He interrupted, "Demon spawn? The Prince of Darkness? "
Belle gave him her slow smile that always melted him. "Perhaps, but nonetheless, you are so intriguing . . . exciting. . . powerful."
"They say that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac," he told her darkly.
"Maybe so," she agreed.
He could tell that his Belle was aroused, her pupils dark and filling her eyes.
"I've never known anyone like you," she told him. "You. . . fascinate me."
Gold let his fingertips, blackened with his clawlike nails, trail down her arms. "You make me want to be a better man, the best man I can be."
"I love you," she told him quietly.
He looked deep into her eyes, his breath catching in his throat. What had he ever done to deserve this woman? "You know I love you, too," he replied and again they gently kissed.
He laid her down on the bed and together they touched each other, softly, kindly, gently.
"Belle, my Belle, please, please, tell me that you want this, you want me, like this?" he asked her, pulling back from her yet again.
"I love you. You," she emphasized tapping his chest, "not this outer shell," she assured him but then she added mischievously, "although I think this outer shell is very handsome."
"Really?" he was surprised.
"Really," she whispered looking up at him leaning over her, her hair fanned out on the pillow. She held her arms out to him and he settled into her embrace.
Belle shivered as his hands trailed over her, his touch light but sure. He watched her reactions and smiled as she stirred and wiggled next to him.
"You make it hard for me to concentrate on you," she complained.
"Then don't. I'm content to give you pleasure," he dropped his hand between her thighs and coaxed her legs apart. "I promise I'll have my pleasure from you later, my sweet, whether you concentrate on me or not," he assured her, his voice husky with desire.
Belle would try to kiss him but the man seemed intent on giving her the pleasure he had promised . . . and he was most most distracting. He had slid his body down hers, kissing her along the way, before settling in between her thighs. She could feel his breath on her core. He kissed her on the inner thigh.
"Relax my darling," he encouraged her. "Close your eyes and just feel."
She bit her lip and did her best to relax. She closed her eyes as he had urged her to.
"Feel the softness of the mattress against your back¸ the roughness of the blanket against your legs. Feel the heat of my skin against yours. Feel my fingers. How they're touching you," he continued murmuring soft words all the while he touched her . . . stroked her . . . stimulated her. His fingers, his magical, talented fingers had made their way to the most delicate, most sensitive part of her. She was trying hard, very hard not to cry out, conscious of the presence of Leroy and Nova just below them. Yet Gold seemed intent on pulling a response from her. She pulled up the cover and stuffed a corner of it into her mouth.
Gold stopped his ministrations and Belle, anxious about what he might be planning to do, peeked down at him. He was nestled between her thighs, his arms under her legs. He was smiling up at her.
"You can't resist me," he told her smugly and he inhaled deeply and began to flick his tongue against her clit. He was holding her so she couldn't pull back from him. He became more insistent and persistent, slowly enfolding her into his mouth, still flicking his tongue. He kept up steady, unrelenting pressure. Belle felt her body coiling, roiling, clenching. She wasn't going to be able to stand much more and soon enough she screamed into the blanket as she exploded against him.
The next moment he had slid up her body, crushing her, a welcome weight, into the soft mattress. There was a single moment and then she felt him surge into her. Not all the way, not at first, her body wouldn't, couldn't accept him. She grasped his shoulders.
"A moment, please, a moment," she begged him and he stopped moving, allowing her to adjust to him, well aware that in this form he was presenting her with a more . . . prodigious offering. He continued to kiss her along her neck connecting with a particularly sensitive point where her neck and shoulder came together. He was aching near to pain but didn't want to cause her discomfort.
When he felt her begin to shift, to push up against him, he cautiously began to move again, gaining increasing ground. He had yet to completely bury himself in her heat when he felt her muscles clamp around him and Belle lifted up, her nails digging sharply into his shoulder. He began to move again within her, even as she still shivered against him, finally gaining complete penetration.
"Don't come again until you ask me," he commanded her. Always a fun game to play.
"What?! How can I?" She was breathless, on the edge, her body ready to shatter. How could she possibly hold back the intense feelings he was pulling from her?
"You must ask," he told her, shifting slightly, pulling up her legs, positioning her body into a more receptive position, one that would allow direct stimulation on her clit and he began to drive in and out, nearly pummeling his sweet girl with his body.
"Please, please," she heard herself pleading with him all thought of Leroy and Nova gone from her mind and he slowed down.
"Not yet dearest. Just a little longer," he told her. And he felt her little fists closing on her shoulders, her nails digging into him, likely cutting into him.
"Pleeeeassssse," she hissed. "Please, please, please." Her body was close to convulsing. She didn't think she could hold back but he slowed down again.
Belle struck his shoulders, her frustration, her pent-up frustration gaining control over her.
"All right, my precious, give yourself to me," he finally gave her permission and he felt her come apart, her inner walls clenching and unclenching around him, her body stiffening and convulsing, her eyes rolling back in her head. There was a stifled scream which almost certainly Nova and Leroy had heard.
He followed her, groaning, unable to resist her allure any longer, his body pouring into hers.
He collapsed onto her and lay on top of her a moment before regaining enough of his senses to roll off his princess. Belle had lapsed into sleep almost immediately. He stroked her hair, amazed at her responsiveness. He flexed his shoulder. She had definitely drawn blood, judging by the stinging he was feeling.
Well worth it, he thought with his usual arrogance. Well worth it. He had not only enjoyed himself immensely but had marked Belle with his own aura, his scent, his essence.
It wasn't all self-serving, he thought. He had been equally marked as hers.
+ + + + Wildflowers
Re-attired, with Belle's hair now mussed but still falling about her shoulders in waves and ringlets, he and she parted from Nova's cottage after a generous breakfast of a hot mixed cereal laced with dried apples (more cinnamon) and large bowls of café au lait to drink.
If Nova and Leroy had heard their love-making they had been too polite to say anything. Leroy had let Gold know that he'd planned to stay a couple of days, maybe a week or more with Nova. He just wanted to spend time with her. Gold nodded, with understanding.
He and Belle set off walking. This time they were carrying packs that Nova had generously put together for them with canteens for water, blankets and multiple packets of food. She had let them know they were still more than a day, closer to two days out, out from the city.
Belle remarked on this as they started walking. "Did you know it would be so far from the portal to the city?"
"No clue. I've never been through that particular portal before. I had no idea that different portals opened up into different parts of Fairyland, although I guess I should have realized it," he admitted. "I would have suggested we bring supplies if I had known."
"Well, I think we'll do all right," Belle told him. "It's not very cold, we should be able to find somewhere to spend the night and now we have plenty of food."
"Remind me to send Nova a special thank you if we get back," he said.
"You mean when we get back," she corrected him.
"Right when, not if," he said very quietly.
They walked on through the morning. Belle kept noticing other small cottages hither and yon, some in better repair than others, some appearing newer than others.
"Are all these cottages where the Fae who are out of favor live? Do you think they've all broken some rule of the Fairy Queen and they've been exiled here?" Belle asked Gold.
He shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. She certainly has a lot of rules. I guess they could be."
"You know," Belle began. "At first I thought that Fairyland would be this beautiful, magical place with everybody being happy and kind."
Gold stopped and looked at her, "And now?"
"Well, it is beautiful, everywhere I look it's breathtaking. But I'm beginning to hear about all these restrictions. I mean, Nova having to choose between her powers and her love. Your father, for all his faults . . . "
Gold inserted, "And he had many."
"Your father," Belle continued, "couldn't care less if his people fell in love. He thought it a weakness, but there were no restrictions against it."
"Well, my father didn't have many restrictions against anything. He went too far in the other direction."
"Perhaps. But it is an interesting question, is it not? Would you rather live in a land with no rules or one with many?"
"Fortunately, it's not a choice we have to make. We come from a world with something in between," he smiled at her.
She smiled back at him, "Tell me more about the Fae. If I'm related to these people, I'd like to know more about them." Belle was interested and yet puzzled by life among the Fae.
Gold explained a little more of what he understood. "The Fae want perfection, however, emotions and attachments are messy, so I think that's why they have these restrictions," he ventured.
"Perhaps. It sounds more to me like one person trying to impose their will over everyone else," Belle said tartly.
"I wouldn't know," Gold told her but he thought she was likely right.
They walked on amidst trees and rocks. They had made their way up and were out on a rock face in the sunshine. They could see that they were actually walking along the top of a huge boulder. They would soon be descending down into a valley and then, they could see, off through more trees.
"Maybe we should stop for lunch when we get to the valley," Gold suggested.
"If we can find a place we can spread a blanket and have a proper picnic with some of Nova's fine food," agreed Belle.
It was nearly an hour before they found their way down into the valley. They were surrounded by grasses and wildflowers, pretty white wildflowers that were blooming in this land far in advance of their sister flowers in Asheville.
"This is nice," Gold complimented Belle. He settled himself on the blanket she had spread and sampled one of the sandwiches that Nova had packed.
"What is this?" he asked. "It's not pimiento cheese."
"No it's one of Nova's specials. It's cheddar cheese mixed with apples and just a little red onion mixed up with mayonnaise and mustard."
"It's odd but acceptable," he said, beginning a second sandwich.
Belle sneezed. "These wildflowers are a bit cloying," she remarked looking around. There seemed to more of the wildflowers around them than she had first noticed.
"Maybe a little," murmured Gold. He was sitting with his eyes blinking as if he was falling asleep. "I'm a bit tired. I guess we had a busy morning." He finished stuffing down the sandwich and then lay down on the blanket.
Belle watched him. It was nice, sitting in the warm sun on the soft blanket after a morning's worth of hard hiking behind them.
"It is lovely. But I don't think we want to take a nap," she told him.
"It'll just be for a little while," his speech was slurred.
"No really, I think we need to be up and walking," she said to him.
"Uh hmmm," he replied. His eyes had closed and he was lying still and breathing deeply.
Belle had a moment of alarm. "Gold? Rum?" she called him by his familiar name. "Rum, I don't think we should go to sleep here." She glanced around and realized that the number of wildflowers had logarithmically increased. She was getting increasingly alarmed. She pulled on Gold's arm, "Get up! Get up!"
"No, no," he turned over onto his side. "Nice place for a nap."
"No it's not! Come on, sit up!" she pulled on the man and got him sitting up. She quickly gathered up the blanket, ooffing him off of it and stuffing it into her little pack. She went back and pulled him to an upright position and with great effort, she got him to his feet. "We've got to get out of here."
By now the white petals of the wildflowers covered the area and the place looked as if there had been a late season snow. Belle pulled and tugged Gold along, helping him, encouraging him to take one step after another. He would lean on her, his eyes still half shut and protests coming from him now and again.
"You smell good," he told her, burying his nose into her neck and allowing his hands to stray around her waist and up to her breasts.
"Thank you darling. We'll stop in a moment and you can sniff me all you like,' she answered him, shooing his hands away. "Right now, we've got to keep going."
Belle realized she wasn't going to make it by herself. She took a deep breath and began to pull on the land itself to give her enough strength to get the drowsy man out of the soporific wildflower field. The flowers seemed to be waving themselves at the two as they struggled up and out of the valley.
By the time she got him up the next hill and away from the wildflowers, it was late in the afternoon.
"What are we doing?" Gold asked her suddenly and pulled himself upright.
"You nearly went to sleep down in that valley. It didn't seem natural to me. I got you out."
Gold turned and looked down at the valley. He looked at Belle one time and decided to go back a short distance to look at one of the wildflowers.
"Well damn," he told Belle rubbing his forehead.
"Do you know what they are?" she asked him anxiously.
"Yeah. If I paid more attention to my surroundings and less to you . . . " he gave her a weak smile. "These are dream poppies. They are a favorite trick of the Fae to put all matter of creatures asleep. Apparently, you have enough Fae blood to be immune."
"What happens? What do they do?" she asked him.
"What you saw. They put you to sleep," he explained and then added, "forever."
"How awful!" Belle was appalled.
"Cheaper than having border patrols. These blasted plants will do it for you," he said resigned.
"If I hadn't been there. . . . If I hadn't been immune . . . ?"
He smiled at her and gave her a quick kiss. "But you were there and you were immune and we're on our way. . . ."
They trudged on now quite a bit more vigilant. Belle would often ask him about different plants they passed, some he knew, others he didn't. He often walked in front in case they were to come up against something unexpected.
It was getting towards evening. They had spent time going in and out of forest patches, up over rock outcroppings, and following narrow paths along a slow moving river – no doubt Fairyland's answer to the Swannanoa. It was hard going up and down over tree roots – the path not always clear.
Gold stopped a moment as he did from time to time so that they could catch their breath. He was considering if it was too early to start looking for a place to make camp. He turned to speak to Belle but didn't see her right away.
"Belle," he called. He didn't hear a response. He didn't hear anyone else moving. "Belle!" he called again, louder.
There was still no answer. He started backtracking calling for her.
He was afraid that she had slipped and somehow he hadn't heard her fall. Perhaps she had hit her head on one of the tree roots or on one of the rocks lining the river's banks. Perhaps she was lying bleeding somewhere or worse, had fallen face first down into the water.
No, no, he kept telling himself. He would have heard it if she had fallen. She was right behind him.
No, no, it was more likely that she had seen something interesting and had veered off, intending only to take a moment to investigate but then becoming engaged in some other activity.
He kept expecting to round a corner and find Belle sitting on a log or a rock talking to some river nymph, solving their life's problems. That would be more likely.
He kept telling himself he'd find her but when a half hour had passed and he had had no sign of her, he stopped looking.
He moved away from the river – water magic not meshing well with his primary allegiance. He drew a circle and stood inside of it. He concentrated.
Belle, my Belle. Where are you? What's happened?
But there was no answer.
He tried again but realized the air was so heavy with a combination of water magic and fairy magic and his talents for anything except full bore out-blasting attacks were dulled. Belle may have very well been screaming her response to him, but he wasn't able to hear it over the dull roar of water and light magic.
He considered.
Either Belle had wandered off and was actively looking for him and he should simply go on, marking his trail along the river, looking for evidence that she had gone before him. She would be looking for him and he should go on looking for her.
Or
Belle had been taken. Taken by some fairy entity, whether the fairy queen or some other fae creature.
He sighed.
It was more likely that Belle had been taken.
To what end?
Did they think they were protecting Belle? From him? Did they have some dark purpose in mind for her?
Well, if she were taken she would be trying to get back to him. She would be trying to let him know what happened, to let him know where she was, that she was all right.
He believed that.
She loved him.
She had told him so.
+ + + + The First Test Begins
He retraced his steps. His best bet was to continue to make his way to Fairyland-Asheville. For tonight, he would have to find a campsite and he preferred to be a bit away from the river. Belle had most of the foodstuffs with her while he had carried the heavier equipment, including the reserve drinking water, three of the blankets and just a little of the food. He trudged on finding his way back to the point where he had originally missed Belle, marking his path and keeping a lookout for any signs that Belle had come this way before him.
He went on and was grateful that the path finally veered away from the river and began climbing.
At some point he became aware that he was being followed.
Several somethings were following him.
One did not seem immediately threatening but it was certainly there – following him – not very good at it. Whatever it was often made noise and he thought he caught a glimpse of it every so often.
The Other Things following weren't so much following him as they were following the first follower.
The sun was nearing the horizon when he found a place for the night. It was a flattened area on a rock face. He built a campfire and used just a spark of his magic to start it. He dragged some branches in and managed to construct a simple A-frame using one of the blankets. He carefully put heat into the rocks below the tent and then put another blanket on the warm rock face. He opened the foodstuff that Nova had packed.
He had some dried fruit, apricots, raisins and some nuts. There were a number of hard rolls and a couple of slabs of what he guessed was roast beef. Frowning he considered conjuring himself a baked chicken but he knew, as magic goes, fetching could be a bit noisy. Pulling heat into a rock face was one thing, a gentle tugging on the earth's energy. Since he thought it likely he was being watched by something more insidious than his little follower, he didn't want to call undo attention to himself.
This food should be enough, he told himself and settled in next to the fire. He sat still . . . listening.
He heard it. Whatever had been following him was in the bushes. Judging by the noise it made, he thought it something small.
"Why don't you join me?" he called out. "I don't have much but I'm willing to share." He waited.
He sat quietly. The bushes rustled again and he could see a face peeking out. It was a small face. A child?
"Come on, I've got a hard roll with some beef and some fruit and nuts," he held up the food.
A boy, maybe five or six, scrambled out of the bush. He held back.
"Come on. It's warm by the fire," he said to the child. A scrawny little boy with dirty blond hair he couldn't help but be reminded of himself.
But Gold had lived too long to be taken in by appearances. He knew that many a demon would initially appear in the form of a child, like a young boy. He would seem to be an innocent and then chew your face off in your sleep. Gold closed his eyes and looked the boy over.
No, there was only a slight tinge of magic, the rest was human. This child was what he appeared to be.
The child gingerly came towards him and squatted down just outside of the light created by the fire. Gold looked at him. A boy, dressed in old, patched clothing, not exactly rags, but not of any quality.
"I'm called Gold," he said. "What do I call you?"
"They usually just call me Wart, sir," the child answered.
"Well Wart. Come join me. Want something to eat?"
The child nodded and crept in towards Gold, still not sure about the man. He snatched the food from Gold's hand and began stuffing it into his mouth.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked the child not unkindly, recognizing well when someone has been underfed and under-cared for.
"I could ask you the same question, sir," the child said to him.
"You could, but I asked first and it's my food and my fire," Gold replied.
"I was supposed to be cleaning the kitchen but I decided I might go fishing instead."
"No luck, I presume," Gold had not noticed any fishing gear or any fish.
"No sir. But I did meet with The Lady again."
"The Lady?" Could be any number of women. "Tell me about her."
"She's beautiful and she talks with me sometimes," the child answered.
Well, that was unhelpful.
Gold studied the child, "Let me guess, you skipped out on your chores, went and talked with a fairy creature and now, you're lost." And you're being followed by Something. Why? What would want to follow a scrawny, peasant child?
The boy nodded solemnly. "I can't figure out how to get back home."
"You must have come in through one of the other portals."
"I don't know what you mean by portals, sir. I went to see the Lady by the Lake and then I got lost in the forest. Can you help me get home?" the boy asked, his eyes large.
Gold hesitated.
"I saw what took away the beautiful lady who was with you," the boy told him, as if that might help his case.
"What?" Gold was alert now.
"They were dressed in pretty blue robes. I couldn't see their faces. They just came up on her and one of them raised her hand. I think they were ladies in the robes. The lady who was with you just fell asleep and they lifted her without touching her and went off with her." The boy dropped his voice, "I think they used magic."
"Sounds like it." Women in blue robes. Some of Reul's retinue, no doubt. The Fairy Queen had taken his Belle! Cheese and Crackers! Just how many people were wandering around in these woods?
"Can you help me find my way home?" the child asked him again. He sounded pitiful . . . sad . . . scared . . . lonely.
Gold considered. Ah, now this was the child's purpose – to pull him away from seeking his Belle.
But . . .
What was he to do?
"I'll see what I can do," he finally answered. "We'll have to backtrack as far as you can."
The child seemed relieved. "Thank you. I believe I want to go to sleep now."And he crawled by Gold to settle in the A-frame shelter and curled up in one of Gold's blankets.
Gold shook his head. Well, now he had another errand he felt obligated to do.
Well, he couldn't just leave the child out in the wilderness, could he? And he didn't want to drag the child with him into the heart of Fairyland. His senses told him that this was a human child, maybe with just a touch of Fae blood, enough to allow him to enter Fairyland but he had no sense the child had any real magical talent.
But there were The Others following the child and he could feel that they had malicious intent. At least two of them. He could touch them now - human. Gold gave a sigh of relief - he could handle humans even in his weakened state. He knew they had spotted him and the child. Knowing that they were human, he opted to give them a little show.
Gold stood and pulling on the earth's energies and the fire energies from his campfire he pushed a small screen out around himself and the child. It glowed, it twinkled, it sparkled – a very visible effort. He would know if anyone came near them at night. The alarm would be raised. He hoped also, now that the followers had seen him using magic that they would think twice about attacking them at night.
Gold plumped his rucksack up to make a makeshift pillow, wrapped the last blanket around himself and curled up on it in front of the fire.
+ + + + + The Fae Plan
"See, Your Majesty. With his own lady gone, he is nonetheless going to help that child find his way home. It will delay him from finding Belle, but he wants to do the right thing."
"He hasn't done anything yet except share his food."
"And his blanket, his fire, his shelter and soon enough, his time."
"We'll see. He will still have plenty of opportunities to kill. Is the Princess safe and sound?"
"Yes, your majesty. Still under the effects of the sleeping spell."
"Keep her that way. She will be introduced to her mother when the circumstances are just right."
FYI: Okay folks, next Thursday will be Christmas and I have elected to forgo posting that date and post on Friday. Thx ever so. -twyla
Thanks so much to my reviewers who have graciously found the time to give me feedback. Much appreciated: OUATWhoLock, AnneElliotsCat (34 & 35), cynicsquest, RaFire, Robin4, RoxyMoron, MyraValhallah, jewel415, deweymay, Grace5231973, Chauchi, spacecats, orthankg1, Erik'sTrueAngel, Onitsu Blackfeather (8) and CharlotteAshmore
Anne Andrews (Guest): glad you like Grumstrid, Grumova, Astrey, Asteroy, oh whatever we want to call 'em – they're such a cute couple.
NEXT: Gold completes the first test and begins the second test
Maurice comes to town
Belle meets her mother