Faster than we thought possible the day of the wedding arrived. The ceremony was held in the castle chapel, which was not far from the main ballroom. Like every other room in this castle, the thing was MUCH larger than you would have imagined possible in even a castle as tall as this. So long as everyone was willing to stand there was enough room for both the castle inhabitants and our entire community.
Me and Gaston, since we were bigger than anyone else in the village were assigned the back of the crowd, partly for our height, and partly, I was sure, because Gaston was still being given the stink-eye from time to time from some of our neighbors. After Paulette had broken the ice yesterday, a few others had stopped their poisonous glares at my brother though certainly not all of them. While it wasn't perfect I was willing to take it for the time being as it was better than open hostility. I prayed though that the others would eventually forgive him or he managed to redeem himself as I thought he'd taken his punishment already.
Glancing at my brother's side I noticed someone who'd been missing since the events of that fateful morning. Little Lefou, my brother's lackey and (no fooling) best friend, had been keeping his distance from Gaston for the last few days, though not of his own volition.
After the buzz of the free beer and the announcement of Belle and Prince Louis's wedding began to fade, the others in the village had remembered just what Gaston had almost done and their work preparing for the wedding only drove it home all the harder. Their glares and their cold-shoulder treatment had hurt Gaston more than anything else had, driving him into a dark mood as he was reminded how far he'd fallen which I had only pulled him out of the day before.
For nearly a week I'd stuck by him and I wasn't alone at first. Lefou, despite the revelation of the true identity of the Beast, had refused to join the others in their ignoring of my brother. The others noticed it and were starting to give the little guy the cold shoulder as well. Including Marie, a girl we both knew Lafou was sweet on but hadn't had the courage to make a move yet. She was downright tiny, even compared to Annie, and with her narrow features and redhair, I often wondered if she was some sort of lost Leprechaun...an opinion that wasn't helped by the fact that her father was the village cobbler….Funny how the world works sometimes.
But back to Lafou, the guy had been pining for her for ages though never having the guts to do so...I sometimes wondered if me and Gaston's escapades in love scared him from trying. But he'd always been friendly with her and vise-versa. That is until it was common knowledge that Lafou wasn't going to turn his back on his hero/friend. When she figured that out she'd stopped talking with him as well.
Watching the poor little guy being crushed like that I gave Gaston one single look. Gaston returned said look, sighed and had walked over to his friend/only remaining friend.
Seeing how despondent the little guy was Gaston had knelt down and clapped on hand on Lafou's shoulder. The smaller man had turned around and tried to smile the same way he always did with Gaston, failing miserably, the downcast look in his eyes at his crush stonewalling him like that had put the poor guy down. "Oh, hey Gaston. Ready for another go at those roses hanging off the East Wing?"
Gaston, sighed and said, "Later. Lafou...we're...we're friends right? You think me like a friend don't you?"
Lafou's eye widened but he nodded quickly enough, "Y-yeah! Of Course we are, best of friends. Through thick and thin!"
Gaston nodded, "Then as a friend, I need to ask you to stay away from me, for a while."
Lafou flinched when Gaston had made his request, "B-but, why?"
Gaston had shrugged and said, "Because I don't want you ostracized for what I did." Huh using the big words there bro.
"Ostra-what?" Lafou asked.
"The others will ignore you for being near me. I don't blame them for ignoring me I know what I did was wrong...but you, you didn't do anything wrong. And I...don't want you to be hurt because of me...It wouldn't be right." Gaston was struggling to put to word what he was trying to get across.
Lafou's eyes narrowed. "To hell with them! You couldn't have known that monster was the prince under a spell! They were all ready to follow you into that castle. And who even cares that's the prince, what's he ever done? You're the greatest hunter in the world and the greatest man I've ever known! It ain't right I tell ya, for people to ignore you. It ain't right. And if no one else will, then I will!" He almost screamed that last part. Tears forming at the corner of his eyes.
Gaston, to my amazement, kept his cool and said, "Lafou, you're a good friend, better than most men deserve. And that's why I need to to keep away, for a few days, at least until the other's calm down. I don't want to see my friend hurt. Can you do that. For me?"
Lafou, sniffed for a moment, then said, "A-alright. But the moment somone else starts talking to you again, I'm right back with ya'. Ya' understand?"
Gaston grinned and said, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
With that the two separated for the longest period of time in their entire lives.
Even after all these years I was still amazed at the incredible loyalty Lafou had for Gaston. Ever since he'd saved the smaller man from drowning when we'd been boys, Lafou had stuck with Gaston like a shadow...or a puppy. He had acted as a gopher or assistant for my brother whether on hunting trips or just going about town.
My brother hadn't really treated the poor guy as a friend should, but he seemed to have a fondness for him that came close as he'd always keep him from getting beat on when they were younger and had never refused him when he'd asked to go on hunting trips with him. This turned out to be a boon as Lafou, for all his goofiness, was quiet as a shadow when he wanted to and his small size made him an excellent scout in the woods.
After following my brother around the foothills and forests for years he had become a master at finding and then flushing out the prey that Gaston would then shoot. He may not have had the nose but I'd have bet him against any tracking hound in all of France when on the hunt.
I still remember one of the few times I had gone with them. I had armed myself with a boar spear and blunderbuss, while Gaston had a hunting rifle, a huge monster that looked more like a small canon than any hunting piece. Most other men would have been sent flying trying to fire that gun, but Gaston was more than strong enough to withstand the kick. So was I but Gaston was by far the better shot with it. We jokingly called the thing the Dragon Gun as we would claim it could knock a dragon clean out of the sky…though considering the lack of dragons in the area, the last one being killed in 1305 (and wasn't THAT a surprise to read about in history class), we had our doubts for ever putting our claim to the test.
Lafou had only a small pistol that he kept in his belt, it wasn't his job to kill the prey, a boar on this trip that had been bothering the local farmers, it was to find it and flush it out.
A small man already, Lafou was keeping his head low to the group, following a trail the boar had made a few hours ago. As we approached a thicket in a small ravine he went still, straining his ears and looking around he then pointed towards the thicket and said, "boar's in there."
Gaston nodded and began loading his rifle while glance towards me and muttering in a low voice, "Have that spear ready." Then he turned to Lafou and said, "Alright, you know what to do."
The little man had nodded and moved forward, keeping low and drawing the small pistol, cocking it as he went. He disappeared from sight for a moment, then we heard the crack of the pistol, there was a bestial squeal and the entire thicket shook. Lafou burst out of the underbrush, running towards us faster than a man with legs as short as his had any right to, right on his heels was a mammoth of a boar. It was easily five feet tall at the shoulder and had to be more than half a ton if not closer to a full ton. It's tusks were massive, the eyes blood-red, I emphasize not blood-shot, BLOOD RED save for small jet black pupils that were focused on Lafou. It's large hooves churned the ground as it charged, and from its shoulder I could see a small trickle of blood from where Lafou had shot the beast to goad it into attacking.
There was a roar of thunder and a splash of blood, Gaston had hit it in the center of the chest. It seemed to tumble for an instant, than to our horror it regained its step and charged even harder.
My bowels threatened to turn to water. What the hell was my spear going to do to that monster? It'd use my spear as a toothpick after it ate me alive!
"Pierre!" My brother shouted at me, snapping me out of my panic. I turned my head to him and he shouted. "I've got to reload, you're going to have to spear it so I can get a clear shot."
"Wha-"
"Either you do it or we're all dead!" He snapped.
Gulping and nodded I steeled myself and got in position read to ground the spear for the boar to run on at just the right moment.
Lafou, seeing us ahead, put on another incredible burst of speed and actually pulled away from the boar. Seeing its prey getting away it roared in fury and lowered its head.
A heartbeat later Lafou went past me, I immediately stepped in the way of the boar and screaming like a fury I rammed the spear into the boar's chest. Its shriek of pain hammered into my eardrums and the thrashing of the beast threatened to rip the spear from my hands, but I held on. I was Pierre Legume, the strongest man in Lorraine, I may not be fast, I may not be skilled. Women seemed to despise me on principle but by God nothing and noone was ever going to beat me in strength. I gripped the spear tighter, planted my feet into the forest floor, gritted teeth, and wrenched the spear with all my might. The huge titan...stopped, off balance. Driving forward and roaring like a bear I drove the spear forward, using my own considerable size and strength to push the spear as deep into the boar as I could. The boar, its momentum stopped and the pain of the spear in its chest disorienting it, was unable to resist my charge and, to all of our amazements, was pushed off its feet and driven into the ground, pinned by my spear.
It didn't last for long and the boar began to fight even harder, feeling like my arms would be ripped from their sockets I bellowed to Gaston. "Take the SHOT! Take IT!" I forced myself to keep the beast down, trying to keep it still all while it was fighting for all it was worth.
After what felt like an eternity, but was more like half a minute, my brother dashed forward with reloaded rifle. He pressed the rifle mouth into the boar's side and fired. The boar tensed for a moment, then went still. Aside from a few residual twitches the boar was dead.
The three of us collapsed, I looked over at my brother and Lafou, then I broke into hysterical laughter, which Gaston and Lafou quickly took up as well. The three of us made for a funny sight as we laughed like hyenas around the carcass of the giant boar.
I was shaken from my memory when I heard the good father say, "-speak now or forever hold your peace."
I glanced at my brother, he tensed for a moment, then shook his head and kept silent.
Seeing that none spoke up the priest continued, "Then by the power invested in me I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
The young couple turned to each other and kissed, a slight grin spread across my face as the entire church roared in approval. The young couple walked down the aisle, hand in hand, ready to face the world and all its trials and tribulations with a smile so long as they had each other.
The rest of the day was a non-stop celebration, corks were popped, food was eaten, toasts were made, songs were sung, speeches made and finally the couple would have their first dance as husband and wife. The music began and the royal pair made their way to the center of the ballroom. The prince in a blue jacket while Belle was wearing a dress that, according to the baron, had been out of style for decades but frankly she looked lovely in it. I was observant, not poaching!
They kissed and then began to follow the music, the couple the only ones dancing out there, alone in their own world. I was standing along the edge of the room, my brother was at my right, Lafou at his right. To my left Annie stood nearby with her uncle and the triplets were close by as well along with that red-haired maid.
I heard the straw-haired boy Chip, asking his mother if he would have to keep sleeping in the cupboard. As Mrs. Potts and Maurice laughed at his innocent question I sighed, and so ended the tale as old as time. I was now free to do as I wished without fear of ruining the story and other people's lives. The future was wide open. Nothing could-
Just as I thought that there was a brilliant flash of green light from the balcony outside of the ballroom, people shrieked in pain and fear and the music and the good feeling that came with it stopped dead. The doors flew open and a through my daze I could make out a feminine shape walk into the room.
When I could see again I saw the shape more clearly. Our uninvited guest seemed to be a young woman in her late teens to early twenties. She was taller than most women, standing about 5'6'', her hair was blonde and reaches down to the small of her back in flowing locks. Her dress was emerald green matching her eyes. Her face was fine and a her features beautiful. She had a small waist and the curves of a young maiden. In her hand she held what looked like a glowing rose, extremely similar to the one I knew All in all it was a visage of youthful beauty.
Old memories of an animated stained glass window danced in my head. Another dancing couple also flashed in my mind. A small part of me thought, so, this is the legendary enchantress. Another, much larger part went,Sleeping Beauty? For indeed the enchantress, save for the green dress and glowing green eyes was a dead ringer for Princess Aurora of the Sleeping Beauty fame.
As I tried to wrap my mind around that thought the enchantress walked or possibly floated towards the prince, who had pulled Belle behind him as he faced the enchantress. His features twisted in rage and fear, making the handsome young man's features look much more like his former bestial ones.
The enchantress stopped a few paces from the prince, then looked around the room. Her gaze taking in the other attendants. She seemed to smile and my heart flipped, God help me but she was gorgeous. At the same time, something in my lizard brain screamed at me that this was a threat and hideously dangerous.
Then she spoke, "Well met my prince. It seems my lesson has been learned and your curse lifted. Well done, I always knew you had it in you." Her voice was young and melodic, I'd always heard the term like bells but I'd never actually experienced such a voice. Well now I did...and again it was a thing of beauty.
The prince ground his teeth but kept an air of civility as he bit out, "Welcome lady Enchantress, what brings you here on my wedding day?"
The Enchantress smiled a wicked smile and said, "Why my prince, I only came to congratulate you on your nuptials." She glanced at Belle who was looking around the prince to get a better look at the intruder. "A true beauty, especially to see past my...alterations to your form."
The prince pushed her back behind him again his eyes seeming to burn with rage. The enchantress only titered at that protective gesture, "Oh my Prince, please don't be so defensive. I'm not here to harm anyone. I merely wanted to give you my warm regards. As well as tell you that you passed your first trial. It was a bit rough when I first tried ten years ago. You were such an angry and spiteful little boy. But my lesson seemed to straighten you up and you've passed wonderfully."
The prince paled at her words. "First trial? Test? What are you talking about."
The enchantress smiled and said, "Oh I guess they never told you. You see when you were young and your supporters had freed you from your imprisonment, they found to their horror that you were struck low by a horrible fever and were already at death's door. Unable to stay in Paris for you to recover they fled east to the Empire and your mother's kin. They were followed and eventually were chased into my mountains, where they managed to find refuge in an old chateau built by your illustrious ancestor. I believe he called himself the Sun King did he not?"
The prince flinched as if remembering things he wished not to remember. When Belle saw his pain she laid a hand on his arm. That seemed to calm the prince down and he turned back the enchantress who continued to speak. "Well when I learned someone had move in I had to see for myself who they were. Your guardians when they learned of my magic, begged me to save your life. That you were the rightful king of France and they would do anything at any price in exchange.
"I took their bargain. In exchange for their service I would not only heal you but ensure you were well taken care of. My only request being that I could test for myself how good of a king you were. And I must say my first visit was such a disappointment. Instead of a king of the line of Hugh Capet I was faced with a spoiled brat who would consign an old woman to the bitter cold of a mountain winter. Such callousness could not go unpunished."
"By turning me into a monster?" The prince interrupted her story. The hate in his voice volcanic and barely contained. I edged towards my brother, "Get ready to run…" I muttered under my breath.
To my horror the enchantress somehow managed to hear me as she turned towards where I was standing. She took me in or Gaston, and grinned, amused at something. A shot of ice went up my spine, getting the attention of something of that sort of magical power was NEVER a good sign.
Turning back to the prince she answered, "In a way, you needed to be punished for your cruelty, what sort of king would have been if you were so spoiled at such an age. This was for your own good."
"My own good?" The prince asked?
"Yes, did you not become a better man from your experiences? Like metal in a crucible you've come out stronger for it."
The prince was silent for a while, then he said, "You said first trial...that implies there are more."
The smile, wicked at first, now became cruel. "Yes. You've proven that a king must be a moral man. Now you must prove you are a warrior and leader of men in battle."
That set my mind whirling, what did she mean by that?
"How would I prove that? Defeat Napoleon and all his armies? You may not have noticed, but my resources are limited my lady."
"Oh nothing that extreme. But no worry about having to go out looking for a fight, I've already arranged one to come here."
I could feel my heart stop for an instant. What had she done?
The prince echoed my thoughts when he asked in almost the same words.
She answered with a smile. "Oh nothing much, I merely gave a local garrison commander a rumor that there was an old regime castle in these mountains with no defender or claimant. He should be coming with a company of infantry after the new year."
"WHAT!" Louis-Charles roared, unable to contain himself.
"Now, now my prince. You have the resources to fight them. Provided of course you're able to use them properly." The Enchantress said with almost unhidden schadenfreude at the prince's situation.
She waved her rose-wand which began to glow a, well, rose-colored glow that quickly enveloped her. "Well I bid you Adieu my prince and I wish you luck. I will return once your trial is finished. Oh before I leave. Here is a reward. It may come in handy in your upcoming conflict." In another brilliant flash of light she vanished. In her place was a small golden ring with some sort of design on it which I couldn't make out from this distance.
All was silent for a moment, then voices immediately began shouting over each other. Mostly fear at the idea of even a hundred soldiers of Napoleon's imperial armies coming to our small corner of the world.
I couldn't lie and say fear didn't have its grip on me, but I tried to force the growing panic in my soul and I looked around for Armand. Spotting I grabbed Maurice and pulled him with me, the older man asking what I was doing until I reached the gunsmith. "Armand, remember when I asked about that rifle making venture? Well we might have to step up production."
Armand nodded in agreement, dazed at what he had witnessed. Witches were creatures of the past, things of that sort of magical power simply did not exist anymore, but here was solid proof that their kind still existed and all those old stories somehow lost their innocent appeal.
I then turned to Maurice, "How are you with metallurgy? Because I have an idea that might help save all our lives if it works, and I'll need your help doing it. We'll speak to the prince about it once we have an idea."
I glanced over to the formerly happy couple, their entire world ripped out from under them and for one of them yet again. I prayed that they had the strength, cunning, and wisdom to see our people through this. I promised that I would help them in any way I could. The idea I began to discuss with Armand and Maurice was a start. We couldn't hope to blast away at any French troops like the redcoats could. And hunting pieces simply didn't have the rate of fire….but maybe if we could increase the range without losing rate of fire. I knew it could be done, the trick would be producing them fast enough. Sorry Monsieur Minee.