Chapter 14- The Root Cause

"Master? Can I get you anything?" Lumière poked his head into the Master's chambers, hesitant to attempt entering any further. He'd already been verbally flogged twice in the last two days, and he wasn't eager to repeat the experience. Not since Belle had first entered the castle had Beast been in such an irreparably foul mood. By now every member of the staff had heard about what happened between the Master and Belle outside the library. There was a heavy feeling of grief hanging in the air, and several female staffers—including Ann, Belle's former wardrobe—had burst into tears at the news.

"No. Just leave me in peace," he grumbled from beyond the curtains that encased the four-poster canopy bed.

Beast had barely moved from that spot since he'd retreated to his chamber following the fight with Belle. Mrs. Potts sent up several pots of her herbal tea, but it wasn't working. After the third pot with no relief, he had thrown it against the wall in his fury. The broken shards of white and blue porcelain still lay on the floor. She tried to reason with him to send for Kara or Annwn, or even Rosalind, but he refused. He'd even gone a step further and forbidden anyone to enter the castle that didn't live there.

The sun was high in the sky and ready to start its descent, indicating that it was past lunch, and Beast still hadn't touched the breakfast tray Lumière snuck in earlier. The searing pain in his head kept plunging him into bouts of nausea as he tried to remember what happened. The past two days were a haze of excruciating pain and debilitating depression. As he searched his mind for some clue as to why he felt so unbearably mournful, bile rose in his throat and he barely grabbed a bucket in time before he retched into it. Nothing came up, since he hadn't managed to eat a single morsel in all this time, but that didn't stop him from clutching the bucket as his body wracked with the need to expel every last vestige of sustenance.

"Mon Dieu," Lumière whispered, placing a hand over his mouth as he retreated, more determined than ever to seek aid for his ailing Master. Beast's face was sunken, his eyes dim, and his shoulders hung low. Lumière even thought his overall frame was thinner, although it was difficult to tell under all the fur that was unkempt and jutted off in every direction. He wore only his old tattered pants—the ones he'd refused to discard.

Slumping back into the bed, Beast rubbed his temples in slow circles in a futile attempt to ease the throbbing agony, praying that sleep would take him again.

Cogsworth scuttled along the corridor in an effort to catch up to Lumière, who was nearly running down the hall towards the kitchen. He was on his way to check on the Master when Lumière came tearing down the hall like his breeches were on fire. If something was wrong, he needed to know, but so far all he'd gotten out of his colleague was garbled French in a distressed tone.

With a furrowed brow, unable to tell if he should be annoyed or concerned, he more insistently asked, "Lumière?" But he was ignored again. As they rounded the corner, he collided into the back of the worried and flustered valet who'd abruptly stopped. "What are you—?" the majordomo sputtered, righting his toupée.

Ignoring the vociferous cries of his unwelcome companion, Lumière's eyes searched the great kitchen, seeking the round housekeeper and failing to find her. He let out an exasperated sigh as he turned back on his heel and marched out, wracking his brain over where he should look next.

The focused look in Lumière's eyes admittedly was beginning to scare Cogsworth.

The majordomo placed himself in Lumière's path, using his ample belly as a barricade. "Answer me, you impetuous, flap-mouthed varlet! What is going on?!"

"The Master is unwell and I need to find Mrs. Potts, now get out of my way!"

Having never heard his longtime friend ever raise his voice in such a manner, all the color drained from his face as the urgency of the situation finally sank in.

Quietly, Cogsworth offered, "I believe she said she was going down to the cellar to take inventory today. I know we've all been concerned about the Master, but is it really that bad?"

"Yes. He hasn't eaten in days, and he's resumed wearing those atrocious pants. The headache has reached a new level of torment, and I'm quite certain he's lost weight. I don't think he even remembers what happened with Belle. He's been delirious, calling out her name when he manages to sleep."

The two men raced through the hallway to the cellar where they found the object of their quarry.

"Mrs. Potts!" Lumière called out, drawing the kind older woman's attention from the parchment she'd been writing on. "It's time."

"Oh dear. I had hoped it wouldn't come to this. Truly, I did. He's worse?" She laid down the quill and rushed out of the cold, dark room. "We'll send Pierre to discreetly call on Kara, and if we can't find her, then Annwn." The gentleman followed close behind, nodding their heads in agreement with her plan.

A steady pounding on the door to Kara's cottage woke her and her companion from their exhaustion. Rosalind and Kara had spent the last forty-eight hours tending to the wounds of those injured in the other day's riot.

Tobias, along with the rest of the werewolf guard, had subdued the angry mob that tore through the town, locking them in separate cells in the prison until the unchecked rage that coursed through them finally subsided, leaving them all confused and unable to remember anything from that day. Seven people had been seriously injured in the commotion, along with more than a dozen minor injuries. Gertrude's had been transformed into a makeshift hospital where she, Kara, Rosalind, and Annwn tended to the wounded, making good use of the miracle slave Gertrude was famous for.

Rosalind jumped out of the bed in Kara's guest room and ran to the door, worried some other unfortunate event was in progress that would keep her from home even longer. She'd sent a message on the wind to Maurice, explaining her absence and telling him to stay out of Montiquent for the time being.

It was unclear what had started the riot, or why the group of Goblins had turned so vicious. They now had no recollection of the event or what preceded it. The mystery was confounding Tobias and his fellow guards, leaving them on high alert, and increasing their presence throughout the town.

Beating Kara to the entrance, Rosalind flung open the door, bracing herself for bad news. She was surprised to see Pierre, the King's head footman and the man who had traveled with Belle and the King at the beginning of their adventure, standing before her. Without waiting for an invitation, he pressed in and closed the door behind him. His face was awash with urgency and fear.

"You both must come quickly! Gather any healing supplies you might have. We don't have a moment to lose," rushed out in one breath, as he grabbed hold of both women, squeezing each forearm in a beseeching manner.

"What's wrong? Who is in need of our help?" Kara asked as she flew across the room to grab her satchel and Rosalind quickly went to the guest room to locate hers.

"It's the King," was the only reply Pierre offered before exiting as abruptly as he had entered.

A coach with four horses waited outside and the two healers jumped in. The conveyance lurched forward and raced to the castle. The women exchanged a look of dread as the coach rattled and shook with the speed at which it was moving.

They were greeted at the top of the castle steps by the head staff, all of which held various expressions of alarm and apprehension. Kara sprang up the stairs and hooked arms with Mrs. Potts, inquiring for a full account of the Beast's ailments. Rosalind wasn't far behind and questioned Lumière for the same details.

Slowly they entered the West Wing—a place in the castle neither had ever set foot in. They had no time to admire their opulent surroundings as Cogsworth led them to the Master's chambers. Very slowly, he opened the door, muttering some prayer under his breath that the beast within would be asleep. Much to his dismay, they weren't that fortunate, and Beast snapped his head towards the sound of the creaking door.

He immediately regretted the quick action, doubling over in pain as another searing rod of fire shot through his head. "I thought I ordered the castle closed to all outsiders!" he bellowed with as much veracity as he could muster, but the resonance of his own voice sent another bolt of agony along his synapses.

"Master, we brought help. You can't go on like this," Lumière offered in a soft, comforting voice that dripped with concern. Beast flinched at the worry in his close friend's eyes, and he visibly gave in, sinking into the plush mattress beneath him. "Kara and Rosalind are here."

"Both?!" he replied, shocked that they had felt it necessary to bring both of the skilled healers to him.

"They were together, Sire," Cogsworth added, bowing his head. Some grumbling was heard from behind the curtained bed and finally a sigh of defeat.

Putting aside her first inclination to yell and rail at the Beast for his mistreatment of her daughter, Rosalind entered the room behind Kara and the two assessed his condition. It was shocking to see the once formidable beast almost too weak to raise his own head.

Kara had to bite back the tears that sprang to her eyes at seeing him so disheveled and withered. After the jarring sight wore off, they set to work discussing different treatment options to help relieve him of the crushing headache.

They worked tirelessly late into the night, yielding limited results. For the moment, their only success was in knocking him out so he could finally get some much needed rest. Mrs. Potts eventually insisted the two healers take a break and refuel, bringing them to the smaller dining room where an elaborate spread was set out.

"Any luck yet, dears?" the housekeeper asked as she busied herself uncovering cloches and serving the ladies. The maid and footman looked on, chagrined that their superior was doing their job.

"No," Kara replied, dejected. "I've tried everything I know of to elevate his pain and nothing has worked. I'm starting to worry this isn't an illness at all."

"I too fear something else is at work here. Particularly with the strange riot in the village a few days ago, and of course the Beast's treatment of my daughter," Rosalind contributed, stabbing at a roasted carrot on her plate and using it to push around the surrounding food.

Mrs. Potts gasped, dropping a wine glass she had picked up to fill, causing it to shatter on the rug below. She hardly even noticed as she moved away, her gaze never leaving the Enchantress's contorted face. "Do you think they could all be related?" Quickly the maid swept in behind her to clear the broken stemware.

"When Belle came home so distraught, and Edmund disclosed what had happened, my first thought was that it had to be some sort of mistake. However, I can't feel any magic at work here. It's not like he's been doubly cursed. But the bouts of sickness and increased discomfort do seem to coincide with any mention of Belle." She placed a hand over her mouth in thought; a gesture both Kara and Mrs. Potts noted was so like her daughter. "And Tobias said the headaches first started right after he made that absurd proclamation. Has anyone noticed the warning beacon change color or shape or anything amiss?" She looked over to Mrs. Potts, who shook her head.

"Not that I am aware of. But we can send for the Fairy Queen, as it is her and her people's responsibility to watch over it." Mrs. Potts moved to leave in order to send Pierre on the errand and paused a moment to add, "Should we notify the council?"

"No. For now Tobias has everything well in hand that I think we have a few more days before needing to alarm Annwn, Gerard, or Declan," Kara answered, knowing the King would be upset enough that they were involving the Fairy Queen in this situation.

"Yes, Miss." With the slightest bit of a curtsy, mostly done out of habit, the housekeeper scurried out of the room, leaving the footman and maid to finish serving the two guests.

The Beast tossed and thrashed in the sweat-soaked sheets as he slipped in and out of consciousness. Two more days had passed, and he continued to decline, adding a raging fever to his growing list of symptoms. Kara leaned over, carefully placing a new cold compress on his forehead in a paltry attempt to cool his scorching body. Every now and then she could hear his staggered breathing let out a call for Belle, or cries for her to not leave. In the rare moments of lucidity, he would ask where she was followed by a cascade of pain that often rendered him unconscious once more. His once strong, broad frame was withering away faster than anything Kara had ever witnessed. He could barely keep down the teas and tonics she forced him to drink, much less any actual sustenance, but that didn't fully account for the rapid decline.

Rosalind had taken a horse that morning to go find Annwn, for she and Kara had finally been forced to admit the situation was beyond their abilities. Even Frau Gertrude's incredible healing salve hadn't helped. The Fairy Queen sent her assurances that no misuse of magic had been detected by the beacon, so any thought that this was a deliberate attack on the monarch was dismissed. That left a mystery illness that no one had ever seen before and hadn't the slightest clue how to combat. And at the rate his Majesty was declining, he might not have much time left.

Kara and Rosalind hadn't left the castle once in the two days since they arrived to lend their expertise. They were confident Gertrude and her barmaids could finish tending to the wounded they had left behind. A letter was delivered to Maurice detailing what was going on and to take care of Belle, but to keep from her how dire the situation was. If the mere mention of her name could cause the Beast to lose consciousness, Rosalind feared what Belle's presence would do to him. Knowing her daughter, if she had any suspicion he was unwell she would stop at nothing to be by his side regardless of any further heartbreak it could cause.

It took the Enchantress several hours of scouring the west forest to locate the Druid priestess. The moment she did, Annwn seemed to be able to read her expression and without a word leapt onto a nearby horse and the two galloped back to the castle.

After a close examination alone with the King, Annwn slowly crept out of the master suite and quietly shut the door. "He's resting more comfortably now, but the fever worries me." Her usually pale skin looked even more translucent in her concern for the King. She addressed the two healers and the head of the castle staff in a small antechamber next to the Beast's rooms. "This is definitely no ordinary illness. I feel a faint magical aura flowing through him. It's no wonder no one else could sense it. It's so intertwined in his own enchanted essence as to be almost indistinguishable. He's fighting against it, which is why his body is in such turmoil. From what I can sense, the magic is dividing his logical thinking from his emotions. And it's been within him for months, building strength until it finally took over. Some major emotional event must have triggered it recently to throw him into this severe of a reaction."

Everyone gasped at the mention of a major emotional event, and they all exchanged looks of horror.

"What was it?" Annwn asked gently. "If we can somehow help him work through it, we might be able to break the enchantment."

All five of them said in unison, "Belle."

Annwn's brow creased, causing the wrinkles that weathered her face to double. "I should have guessed. But do any of you know the exact details of what happened?"

"He kicked her out of the castle and broke their engagement," Rosalind supplied, and the servants nodded.

"It was after he saw her and Edmund together in the library," Lumière further explained. "He had been looking forward to it all day—joining Belle and her friend in the library—but he was accosted by Declan and couldn't break away."

"Do you think Declan could be behind this?" Kara asked, her face flushed with anger.

Annwn spoke hastily as the group moved out into the hall and towards the stairs. "No use speculating over that right now. We need to gather a few more charmantes who are closely acquainted with Belle and the King, like Tobias and maybe Gertrude, and Pierre. Is Jeremiah still on his trip to the Caspian Sea?"

"Yes, he isn't back yet. But we can get the others," Cogsworth said, bringing up the rear of the swiftly moving group.

"Good. Kara and Rosalind come with me. We have a few supplies to gather. We are going to break him out of this enchantment tonight."

Both women nodded and followed her out.

Everyone met back in front of the King's chambers an hour later. Tobias and Gertrude were filled in on what was going on during their trek to the castle with Pierre. Annwn went over the plan one last time, explaining how each was to focus on a specific memory of the King and Belle that they remembered, and she would channel that into him and help him to overcome the dominance his head had over his heart.

Forming as close to a circle around the large bed as they could, they held hands and Annwn lit a bundle of herbs they had gathered. Lumière stood on the opposite side and lit an identical bundle before placing it back in the vase on the bedside table. Annwn began chanting in a low, almost hushed tone. Each friend shut their eyes and replayed one specific memory they had of the couple while Annwn placed her free hand on the Beast's arm. She nodded to Lumière to do the same, and he completed the circle.

Beast felt a surge of energy and hope flow through him the moment the hands touched him. He was panting short, labored breaths, and sweat dripped down his brow as his mind fought the onslaught of emotions. The back of his eyelids played scene after scene of him and Belle together.

First, it was hazy. They were sitting in the library, heads together, and looking over some large book splayed out on the table that Belle was reading aloud to him.

The next was clearer. They were at the dining table: Belle's parents were seated across from Mrs. Potts and Lumière while the six of them laughed, and Belle's hand reached out to cover his as they exchanged brief, shy smiles.

After that, he saw them in Gertrude's Tavern back in the black forest; Belle had her head buried in her folded arms and he was sitting next to her, stroking her back as if to console her from some unpleasant event. When it dawned on him that had been the day she had seen him in the full-length mirror, he chuckled a little.

What followed were several moments on the castle grounds; one in the garden and another in the library, and finally a few from their time in Ireland with the druids, dancing around the campfire the night before the solstice festival.

With each new memory, his heart beat a little stronger and his breathing evened out to a normal rhythm. His own memories started flowing in: Cooking with Belle in the castle kitchen; the look on her face the first time he'd shown her the library; that first night in the carriage house and the awkward exchange as he'd tried averting his eyes from her form; her deep concern when she'd realized he had been injured in the fight with Tobias; the first time she'd told him she loved him at the cottage in Ireland; the look of desire the night she tried to kiss him; her delight when he'd proposed; and finally, the dance at his coronation and the tender moment they'd shared in the library that day.

With a burst of light shooting off his body, all traces of discomfort fled.

Everyone dropped their hands when Annwn stopped chanting and they looked down on the Beast, sleeping peacefully with a smile on his face as he hugged a pillow to his chest.

"It worked," Annwn said softly. She bent over to check his forehead and felt the fever ebb. Leaving the burning herbs to cleanse the room, she gestured for everyone to leave.

They gathered in the small room down the hall to discuss what to do next.

"For now, let him rest. It will likely take several weeks, if not a month, for him to regain his strength from this ordeal. And the fever has not completely passed. But now that his body is no longer fighting itself, I am confident the fever will be gone by midweek. In the meantime, we need to figure out how this happened. I didn't recognize a particular charmante signature on him, so I haven't the faintest clue where to start."

Annwn shifted her gaze from face to face, hoping someone would have a stronger idea of who might have been behind the despicable enchantment. Her eyes finally rested on Rosalind.

"Don't look at me! I have been nothing but supportive of their relationship," the Enchantress scoffed as everyone's eyes turned towards her before she conceded, "At least... I have been recently."

"Declan would be my first suspect," Kara bit in with disdain dripping from her voice. "He's had it out for Belle from the beginning. If anyone would want to tear them apart, it's him."

"That's a very logical start," Cogsworth agreed. "And he is the last one to have been with the Master before this debacle began."

"No, he wasn't, since this started several months ago, Cogsworth," Lumière added in, deflating some of the confidence that had started to build after Cogsworth's statement. "The Master hasn't been himself since the day after he arrived home. We all just assumed it was his new responsibilities and how busy he kept himself. But looking back, there was a distinct change in the way he regarded each of us. Nothing close to how it was before Belle came, just more stiff and formal then before he had left for the trip."

"I agree with Kara though that Declan is my number one suspect," Tobias chimed in. "As head of the Royal Guard, and town Constable, I plan on questioning him extensively." A glint of pleasure crossed Tobias's eyes and Kara pursed her lips and gave him a sly look of approval mixed with chagrin.

"No, I should be the one to approach Declan," Annwn interjected. "Although, I find it difficult to believe he's behind this. For one, his abilities have nothing to do with manipulating a person's inner workings, and for another, as a fellow member of the King's council, I can't imagine him being capable of such treachery. I can more discreetly question him and get a sense if he is responsible."

Tobias begrudgingly agreed, although if the grumble and scowl on his face was any indication, he was very displeased.

The group disbanded, the servants returning to their duties, Annwn to find Declan, Gertrude back to her tavern, and finally Rosalind, Kara and Tobias headed to Kara's house to formulate their own plan to root out the villain who nearly killed the King.

Another thanks to CarolNJoy and WhiteButterfly for their help in editing this chapter.