She hated the feeling of being lied to. Not just having been lied to, but actually being lied to. There was a difference in her mind, and she knew exactly when the line had been crossed. It was when her father told her there was more to the tale, then adamantly denied it only a breath later.

Her father tried to keep it quiet. After she'd walked out of the library he'd caught her by the arm and had a guard take her back to her room, instructing them that she was there under doctors orders. Lydia met her in her room and fussed over her for hours until she settled against her bed and pretended to read a book. After the sun went down Lydia fell asleep in the chair by the fire, and she all too easily was able to sneak out of her room again to freedom. Hiding within a small alcove, just as she had when she'd overheard Lydia and the doctor after her mother had died, she staked out her father's new study, wishing, waiting, hoping that something might come from it. If he wouldn't tell her what had happened, but was giving orders to servants concerning it, maybe she might get another hint that way.

It worked.

It took a long time, there was certainly more than an hour of waiting and listening to important information that she couldn't bring herself to care about. People passed by and never noticed she was hidden in the shadows. Her father didn't mention what was bothering when people asked and even when Gaston inquired about her after "the event" he simply told him that she had taken to bed in the wake of her shock and that he was worried about her. But then she struck gold.

Nearly two hours after the sun had gone down her father called for a servant named Fredrick. He was a kind young man and though she knew very little about him beyond that, she knew had wanted to do more with his life than...well...serve. He was a foreigner, his family in another kingdom that he couldn't afford to go to or risk going to with the war. Or so she thought…

"You have one task," her father told him. "Clear the library of all books by this time tomorrow and I'll make sure you get home to your family and provide you with a written letter of knighthood so you can join the royal guard."

"I-I-I'm speechless sir. It would be an honor, your majesty! But sir the task you've given me, considering the size of the library-"

"I don't care how you do it, sell them, burn them, pack them away and send them to another country or take them with you. Just get them out of this castle."

"Sir, I don't understand. Your wife-"

"What about her?!" her father snapped in a way that sounded both angry and desperate. It made her bones chill and she wasn't even in the room. She couldn't imagine what poor Fredrick felt standing before him.

"N-no-nothing! Nothing sir it's just…it seems odd to get rid of them when she always spoke of such high reverence of those books, of the knowledge that they contained."

Her father was silent for a moment. After the reaction he'd had she'd half expected him to snap back at Fredrick again but when he did say something it wasn't what she thought it would be.

"Did she?" he questioned in a small almost confused voice. It would have left her speechless if she'd been trying to say something. He sounded serious! But that didn't make sense! Fredrick was right her mother had always spoken of that library with a joyful reverence. Why would he want to give that up? How was it possible he'd forgotten that in only a few short months. But then her father cleared his throat. "What she thought is of no matter," he dismissed calmly. "It is that knowledge that I fear my daughter will use, will discover, it must be kept from Belle at all costs and she must not know that I had a hand in it to keep it from her! She'd never forgive me and I fear I would never live through the loss of her."

"Your daughter? Sir, if I may suggest, your daughter-"

"I didn't ask you here to provide an opinion! You are here because I trust you to do this quickly and quietly, without question, and without Belle knowing. Can you do that or should I find someone else?"

She didn't stay to hear the rest. She may not have heard what she'd wanted to know, but she'd heard what she'd needed to know. And what she needed to know was that she had to hurry. Whether he'd meant to or not her father had just confirmed for her that it wasn't her imagination, she'd been onto something there, just before she'd found the librarian; what had happened to her, her memories, the answers to them were in the library and if the library would be gone this time tomorrow…

"Lydia!" she hissed flying back into her room. "Lydia wake up!"

Her nurse jerked awake and found her at the foot of her bed taking blankets out of the trunk there. "What's happening Miss?! Are you alright?!"

"Help me with this," she insisted grabbing one of the empty ends. She would have loved to do this on her own, but she couldn't. Time was of the essence and if she was Fredrick she would have begun her task that very night. He could start at any time. She had to rescue what she could as fast as she could.

"What are we doing, Miss?" Lydia questioned as she obeyed.

"I just need you to trust me, alright!"

"We shouldn't leave the room-"

"Just…" she bit back her anger before the door opened. Lydia was her only option. She needed her on her side. "Just please trust me right now, Lydia…please." She took the time to wait a breath for Lydia's answer, hoping she hadn't misplaced her trust. But finally Lydia did offer a nod and she couldn't waste any more time. Against her nurse's protests, they returned to the library with the trunk and lit a candle. Lydia complained about the smell, but she didn't let it stop her. "These two shelves and anything that has been in these trunks on the floor," she ordered, pointing to the books about the history and legacy of her country…as much as she wanted answers she couldn't risk losing that knowledge, it was what her mother had tried to save. She had to as well. "Make sure they get into this trunk. Quickly."

She argued of course, but she didn't listen. She had another goal, another important task to focus on. She had to get to-

She tripped over a book hiding on the floor. She'd done it a hundred times since she'd set foot in this library again but this time…it was only by chance that she looked down. Or perhaps it was her mother.

Her Handsome Hero.

She'd forgotten. That's why she'd been down here that day. That's why she'd joined her here to make sure this book was retrieved. She'd set it down when they crawled under the table. She supposed that in all the commotion during the attack it had been displaced. But now it was safe, here again in her hands and this time…she wasn't going to forget it. But she also wasn't going to let herself forget her task because of it.

She tucked the book under her arm and moved closer and closer to the terrible odor. The restricted books. She lifted her candle and looked around the tiny room and tried not to focus on the place that they'd found the librarian.

Magic. She was certain that the key to accessing her memories again was magic. The trouble was that she'd never been back in this room, only caught glimpses at it when the door was opened or closed. And, now that she thought of it, she'd never even read a book that wasn't fiction or foreign language, the one chapter she'd read about in that text book this morning being the exception of course. How was she supposed to know what to take and what not to take?

She shook her head and stepped forward, lighting a few other candles in the room to give herself as much light as she could and to help with the terrible smell of rotting flesh. "No time like the present," she muttered to herself, pulling a cloth out of her bodice and holding it over her nose and mouth when her eyes started to tear. She was sure she only had an hour, if that until someone showed up. She couldn't spend her precious time wondering what to do. She was just going to have to learn to do it by doing it.

Memories.

How could she get her memories back?

She loved languages, she and her mother had learned them just for fun and the result was that she spoke over a dozen and could read almost triple that. But this…it was all in a language that she could read and yet it all felt like gibberish to her. Light magic, dark magic, head magic, heart magic, mythical beasts, ancient spells, potions that did horrible things, even terrible curses. There were lists of sorcerers, both good and bad, their histories, what they could do. She found books that covered only the basics about magic. Stories, myths, legends…she didn't know where to start.

No…no that was a lie. She did know where to start. The problem was her memory so…head magic, perhaps. She set aside the books that mentioned that. There were only a few that mentioned head without the heart so the good news was that she had both represented at least in some way. Then she needed a way to understand it. If there was a spell or potion, she had to know what she needed to do to enact it so she placed a few of the easier guides aside with the books. As for the rest of it…she didn't know if it would be helpful or not. She could just take the few books she'd found and be satisfied, but she was haunted by the idea that one of these held the answer and she was just going to leave it to be burned or sold or whatever Fredrick decided to do with them. Still, there were dozens of books here. And she'd only brought the one trunk that Lydia was filling up…but there were others. The ones that had never made it to the carriage, the ones her mother had packed. No sooner had she stepped out of the room did she find one laying on its side, already emptied by Lydia. It was small, barely able to hold a dozen books. But it would do.

This was it. She'd take what would fit in the trunk she'd brought and this one and then anything she could fit in her hands. So she picked a selection, guessing as best she could what was right and what wasn't. All too soon the trunk was full and with nearly five thick books stacked against her she was about to go out and find another trunk when her nurse was at the door whispering "Child…I hear voices!"

Time was up. She grabbed the trunk by its handle and gave Lydia the extra books to put in the trunk as best she could. They fit almost as perfectly as if she'd planned it that way. But the ones that she held didn't. Five books in her hand, the small trunk in her other hand, and when she tried to lift the trunk that had been heavy before she and Lydia had filled it with books...

This wasn't going to work. Her heart was racing as she listened to the voice that she was fairly certain belonged to Fredrick and another man. They were talking, but their voices weren't moving. They were on the staircase, talking. About…she didn't care. Time was everything and she didn't have time to get the books out and care. So she hushed Lydia and took the smaller trunk and the books in her arms out into the hallway. It wasn't easy moving over the debris quietly with the dead weights in her hands, but that was what she was counting on to save them. On the far corner, near the stairs that she and Lydia would have to take to go back to her room since the others were obviously blocked, she found a spot of wreckage and hid the precious books amidst the ruble. It wasn't perfect, but she hoped it would do until she could return for them. Then, finally, with two free hands, she was able to return to her nurse and lift the heavy trunk into the air.

She thought it would pull her arms from her sockets and she felt the weight of it in her chest as she strained. She knew Lydia felt it too from the heavy breath she heard behind her. It was almost enough to make her drop the trunk and abandon the idea. Almost.

The voices moved on the stairs. Not much, but enough to panic her. Enough to make her realize just how determined she was to get these to a safe place and though she worried that Lydia would give in and raise the alarm when she turned she saw the wide eyed woman nod quickly, telling her to keep going and to hurry. She didn't know how, but somehow the huffing and puffing and dragging and pulling and carrying paid off.

The moment she and Lydia set the trunk down in her room, they broke out into laughter.

I don't know why, but I absolutely loved the idea of Belle sneaking down into the library and saving what she could. It also gave me the chance to explore Belle as a librarian for the first time. She doesn't know it and clearly isn't very confident, but she's in her element here! She knows what she wants and what she's looking for and even when she's under stress and pressed for time, she tries her best and in the end does her best. She's clever and I hope that you are starting to feel like Belle is becoming more and more Belle here.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Fox24, Teresa Martin, Ladybugsmomma, Kathryn Claire O'Connor, and Grace5231973 for your awesome reviews on the last chapter! Ya'll are too sweet and not only am I glad you like it but I'm also glad to see so many of you enjoying where it is going! Great insights ya'll! Peace and Happy Reading!