CHAPTER 28
BELLE'S heart thumped beneath her ribs, as her head swam as she fought to try to ground herself in reality, though if she were being honest with herself, she wasn't sure, yet which was reality and which wasn't anymore. She blinked owlishly in disbelief across the small room.
As the man standing shakily on the far side of the room of her quarters slowly turned around to face her, she caught a glimpse of his tall silhouette and long loose golden blonde hair that was bright enough to rival that of the sun's rays themselves.
He held himself with newfound confidence. For a moment, as Belle sucked in a sharp breath of air through her nose, she thought she was seeing a ghost. Had she not known it was impossible, Belle would have sworn that Prince Adam Barreau had just turned human again.
Because…because of her. She swallowed down hard past a lump in her throat and tried to make sense of what was happening right now. She tried to speak, but she couldn't catch her breaths long enough to so much as utter the first syllable of any given word.
Belle stood there, numb and in shock, staring at the phantom Prince before her, waiting for her newly-turned-human master to say something, waiting for him to open his mouth and shatter her delusions, that she would blink and once more, she would be staring at the monstrous form of the Beast once more, but that moment for her never came.
The Prince stayed just as he was, silent, still, and distant, studying his violently trembling hands with a look of shock and pure disbelief. As Prince Adam slowly moved towards her, Belle felt herself stumbling backward, her knees very nearly buckling beneath her.
The Prince, her master, stood now not even ten feet away from her, staring up at Belle with the most hauntingly beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. Belle's own eyes began to sting and blur with her tears, though she furiously blinked them back and refused to let them fall.
At that moment, Belle felt so overcome with so many emotions that her entire body tingled and went numb, rooting her to this very spot. Relief, joy, anger, fear, regret, heartbreak, elatedness. She felt everything, and for a moment, Belle lacked the strength to speak.
She watched, wide-eyed and in a daze, as the Prince smiled at her and glanced down at his body, tugging on a fistful of his crumpled white linen shirt, still staring at his hands as though he thought they were the most beautiful thing he had ever happened to lay eyes upon.
By the time the Prince glanced up and met her gaze with his, there was a mischievous twinkling sheen starting to form in his blue eyes that Belle thought she had seen once before when they spent the afternoon in the witch's magic book. One she thought she recognized.
"You seem to have lost the power of speech, Belle," he said quietly, sounding almost genuine, though Belle thought she caught the faint lilt of a teasing tone as the edges of his lips turned upward in a smirk. "No matter. I'm sure you'll regain it soon enough," Adam joked softly.
But Belle barely heard a word of what the Prince had just said.
She was so overwrought and confused as to how the curse was able to be lifted that her mind could scarcely comprehend half of what was going on around her.
From somewhere outside her chamber walls, she thought she felt her ears perk up at the sounds of the servants' exclaimed and startled shouts. For a moment, Belle wondered if they had been turned back human too. A large part of her could only hope.
"What…what happened?" she breathed out, her voice escaping her as a breathy little squeak. The words fell from her lips without Belle even realizing she was talking.
Adam laughed as he approached, clamping both hands on either of her shoulders, though she thought the man's laugh sounded bitter, almost disappointed.
Though why that was or what his reasons might be, Belle couldn't say.
"Isn't it obvious, pretty Belle?" Adam murmured in a husky voice as his blue eyes clouded over and went glossy. Belle inhaled a sharp breath of air as his hand shot out to cup her chin in his hand, effectively forcing his hearth keep to look him in the eye. "I'm…human again. Because of you," he confessed, suddenly looking pained, as though he were stricken with a realization.
Belle desperately tried to make sense of the Prince's words, but it was nearly too much for her reeling mind. It took the young woman a minute to filter through everything her master had just openly confessed to her, to understand what it all meant.
Finally, everything began to fall into their proper places, and her heart pounded faster.
"You…you love me?" she whispered in a hoarse croak, honestly amazed that she could even summon enough strength on her throat to ask such a personal question of her master.
Adam sighed and almost sounded exasperated. He was almost looking at her with disappointment, as though he had expected better of Belle's ability to make rational deductions.
"Does it really need saying, Belle?" Adam asked Belle, his words sounding clumsy and blunt.
Belle's heart skipped a beat as their eyes finally met. He stared at her, closing off the gap of space between them, the air heavy between them. The look in the man's eyes was one of pure wonderment and awe, and Belle thought she might collapse under the weight and intensity of such a look. She tried to stay steady on her feet, but every fiber of her body had begun to tremble, and his hand-winding around her shoulders was all she could do to stay upright.
There was a heady look glistening in the man's blue eyes, desire.
There was no mistaking that of her master, she knew.
Her whole body went numb except for the warm rush of heat that had settled upon her cheeks and…other places, the longer the Prince continued to stare so intensely at her, his eyes boring a hole right through her. As Belle bravely stared right back, longing for him, she quickly realized what she could no longer deny. She loved this man, this stubborn Prince.
Somewhere, somehow, during her time as the man's hearth keep, she had fallen in love with Adam and his arrogant, egotistical ways. She prayed she'd not waited too long. She hoped that, despite her previous attempts to maintain an air of professional boundaries between the two, that he held the same feelings for her he had just confessed.
Spurred by the closeness the two of them shared, and eager to show Adam how she felt, Belle could no longer stand it. Grabbing onto the Prince's biceps with trembling hands, Belle braced herself to the Prince, her shaking fingers seizing onto fistfuls of the man's shirt.
"I…I love you. Despite everything. Despite the pain and heartache and the misunderstanding, I love you. And…I don't want to deny it anymore," Belle whispered her confession in a trembling voice. "I..." Belle hesitated, biting down on her bottom lip hard enough to bleed. When she spoke, her voice cracked with emotion, and it was barely above a whisper. "I need you..."
The Prince stared at Belle in stunned silence, his blue eye glassy with disbelief as he desperately searched his hearth keep's face for any sign of the truth, any hint she was lying.
"Do…do you mean your words, Belle?" he asked.
Belle's heart thudded wildly against her ribcage. She knew that she was opening herself to the potential of hurt and heartbreak by speaking so candidly with a man who, by rights, was above her, in status, at least, but she could no longer pretend to care.
She had been alone in this castle for entirely too long, and she tired of keeping the man at arm's length when his interest in her was now blatantly obvious to her.
She loved him. And it was cowardly for her to deny it.
"Of course, I mean it, Your Highness!" Belle breathed, scrunching her nose, and pulling a face, which set the Prince faintly smiling, as though he found the fact that she was getting offended by the fact he even had to ask, adorable. "I would not say it to you if I did not. My mother and father did not raise me to be so casual in regard to my feelings, sir."
Adam's skin flushed even deeper, causing Belle to cringe and flinch away, wondering what in God's name she had done.
"Wh—what?" she asked, quietly and confused. "What did I-?" she started to ask, though Adam shushed Belle by raising a finger to her lips and effectively silencing her now.
She felt her breaths catch in her throat.
"Don't call me that, Belle. Not here, not now, and not ever again," he growled, a flicker of annoyance darting through his moisture-filled blue eyes as he kept a hand on her waist.
Belle inhaled a sharp breath of air as he stepped even closer, looking down at her so the tips of their noses almost touched.
"Does this mean I have permission to call you by your name, Your Highness?" she asked, raising her brows, only half-teasing.
He grunted by way of response.
"If you don't, I'll have you thrown out of this room right now, Belle," Adam growled wolfishly, reaching up to toss back a lock of her dark hair that had tumbled in front of Belle's face, effectively shielding whatever expression his hearth keep was wearing from him, which displeased him more than he cared to admit.
He wanted to see his hearth keep's face for himself.
He was almost instantly rewarded for this action as a tiny smile flitted across her face.
"I…I love you," Belle boldly declared in a slightly shaking voice as her fingers curled around fistfuls of the Prince's white linen shirt for support.
Unsure, and disbelieving of her own actions, but wanting so desperately to be close to him and eager to show him how she felt, Belle had to propel herself up on her tiptoes in order to reach.
Without giving herself any time to think over what in the hell she was doing, she pressed her hungry lips against Adam's mouth and kissed him, giving her first kiss to the prince of these lands.
Adam stood there, unable to move, the simplistic atmosphere of Belle's quarters spinning beneath his feet as he tasted Belle's magnificent lips.
He was shocked, yes, but it was with the tentative stupor of finally being given the one thing that he wanted the most and being afraid that if he moved even a single inch, it would all disappear, that this would just be another cruel trick of the witch.
He could not afford to take any risks. Even if this was exactly what she wanted, Adam knew that he had to be certain beyond doubt.
As it was, the Prince could barely manage to bring his lips to meet hers. Never before in his entire life had he been so affected by a woman before, and he had encountered plenty of them in court. Never before had he felt quite like this, yet so unsure of his own actions. He felt like an awkward boy, fumbling through his first time and had no idea what to do with his hands. The feel of Belle's body against his was almost too good to be true, and his body seized up.
Adam was terrified of making the wrong move with Belle.
He prayed that his hearth keep would not misinterpret his reaction, but she did. Belle quickly realized that her master was not reacting to her nearness.
Shaken, confused, and hurt, Belle pulled apart from the Prince within seconds, searching his eyes for any sign of the truth. Her face had gone pale, and her flustered expression registered her shock and confusion and hurt as Belle drew her hands from around Adam's arms and brought them up to cover his mouth.
Suddenly horrified by the realization of her actions, Belle could only gape at the Prince in a stunned manner. She did not know how long she stood there, numb for several minutes, and then began to back away from Prince Adam out of her growing embarrassment.
"I—I'm so sorry, Your Highness! I—I don't…I never…I—I didn't mean to, I—it will not happen again!" Belle begged, mortified. "Forgive me!"
She was hit with the inexplicable urge to run and turned on her heels to flee. Her slender fingers had just curled over the chipped handle of the door Belle knew she needed to pull when a strong hand grasped onto her shoulder with tempered strength.
Adam caught Belle gingerly by the wrist and turned her around to face him, pulling her flush against him and not letting her go.
"All I have ever wanted since you came into my life, Belle, was to be close to you. To hold you, to…kiss you," he admitted, reaching up a finger to trace the outline of her lips in such a tender way that teased her, which elicited a tremor of pleasure down Belle's spine. His love-filled eyes met Belle's as he continued, barely stifling the satisfied chuckle at the revelation he could elicit such a reaction out of her with just a simple touch. "But are you sure, Belle?" he asked her lovingly, as he began to tenderly caress her scarred cheek. "Is this...is me...what you want?"
For a moment, Belle could hardly speak as she felt her breaths catch in her throat. All she could manage to do at the moment was nod, unable to take her eyes away from Adam's. She was awed by the master's depths and lengths he was going in order to care for her.
At that moment, Belle thought she was beginning to understand why the Prince had not met her kiss in the way that she had hoped for, and she decided that she loved Adam even more for it. Adam had wanted her to be completely assured of her feelings, and totally comfortable around him.
Belle drew out a shuddering breath as she copied his motions and brought her hands to his face.
"I have never been more sure of anything in my life," she smiled, feeling the beginnings of tears start to prick at her eyes' edges.
That was the only confirmation Adam thought he needed. Drawing Belle even closer to him, Adam wound his arms around Belle's waist and kissed her long and slow.
The sweet taste of her kiss drove his mind almost insane.
He needed more of her. Belle basked in their second kiss, pressing her aching body against his, and still found that she could not quite get close enough to satiate her yearning for him.
Finally, their faces parted but not fair. Their breaths still mingled together, and their desperate fingers clung to one another for support. Belle's eyes still searched Adam's. As if reading each other's minds, neither fought the impulse between them, as they had no wish to.
Slowly, carefully, Adam's fingers tightening over Belle's waist as he pulled her flush against him and brought his needful lips to meet hers. She melted against the wall of his chest, completely surrendering to her monarch's passionate kiss.
Possessively, Belle felt her hands begin to move of their own accord, no longer taking directions from her mind, which was screaming at her to stop this, to pull away before it was too late.
But her desire was outweighing her logic at this time, and she angrily shoved aside such unhelpful thoughts to the pit of her stomach as the Prince propelled her backward until she was pressed against the wall and cradled safely in his arms.
He deepened his kiss upon her lips until Belle was rendered powerless to do anything else but meet his wants with that of her own and she returned his kiss.
In their embrace, there was no uncertainty nor fear over what the rest of their country would think about such a strange coupling. There were only two hearts filled with the love and desire neither could keep at bay nor deny any longer, and neither of them had any wish to do so.
In each other's arms, it was like coming home. As the needful force of the Prince's growing ardor and inability to control himself around this celestial-like creature who now had him in a vice grip and didn't even know it, there came a sharp, quick rapping sound of someone's knuckles that resonated against the closed wooden panel of the door.
The unexpected noise was a startling reminder of the world around them and shattered the passionate dream they had known for a precious moment, at best. Begrudgingly and unwillingly, the Prince and his hearth keep parted their lips from one another's, a heavy, unspoken frustration at the interruption settling in the air between them.
Prince Adam rested his face against Belle's cheek, closing his eyes at the bitter reality of the unwanted intrusion, cursing whoever happened to be standing on the other side of the door.
Belle did not distance herself from him, for which the man was grateful, but instead, lowered her head into Adam's warm embrace. He planted a reassuring kiss into her hair as Belle gasped for breath, a hand over her racing heart as she tried to will herself to relax.
The two stared at one another, their eyes saying all that there was no need to voice now.
Neither had wanted the moment between them to come to an end.
However, now that the moment had come to a grinding halt and their affections had been forced to cease by whoever it was that commanded Belle's attention, nothing was left for them to do but determine which servant of the Prince's was calling on Belle now.
"I should see who that is," Belle whispered to Adam in a low and hoarse voice, careful to keep her voice low in the event whoever was on the other side of the door happened to be attempting to listen in.
The Prince grunted wordlessly in response and begrudgingly loosened his hold upon the young woman held tightly in his arms.
Belle let herself have a moment or two to steady herself and then bravely stepped away from Adam. The fingers to which Adam held steadfast and tight to be the last part of herself that Belle gingerly removed from the Prince's grasp.
The fingers to which he still held tightly were the last part of herself she took from his grasp. Adam was left alone to stare longingly in his servant's direction as Belle swiftly crossed the floor and turned the knob to open the door. On the other side, Monsieur's Cogsworth and Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts all barreled in through the door, nearly tripping over themselves and one another in their haste to reach the master, exclaiming through their shock.
All three Heads of Household were completely oblivious to the romantic encounter that their sudden arrival had just halted, at first caught unawares of how flushed and pink Belle's cheeks were.
"Sir! F—forgive the intrusion, Your Highness, b—but we just had to see it for ourselves if you were…changed, milord! By God, it's true, it's happened, isn't it?" squeaked old Cogsworth in a wheezing voice as he clutched at a stitch in his side. He seemed to be having trouble breathing, which for a moment made Belle worried as to his health. But after a moment of allowing himself to catch his breath, Cogsworth was able to splutter out frantically, "Human again….her?!" he panted, his gaze narrowed as he squinted between the Prince and Belle.
Adam was unable to stop the triumphant smile from forming on his mouth as he felt the edges of his lips curl upwards as he looked towards Belle, affectionately.
"Aye," he murmured, lowering his deep voice an octave.
Lumiere let out a startled shout of joy, launching himself forward on the balls of his heels and swept Adam's startled hearth keep up off her feet and spun her around once or twice before Lumiere realized what he had done and quickly set Belle back down on her feet and took a staggering step backward, as though burned.
"F—Forgive me, mademoiselle, I did not intend to hurt you, I—it's just that we knew that you would be the one to lift this wretched damned curse," he stammered, suddenly looking and sounding as embarrassed as Belle herself was sure that she felt. "I—it's just that…"
His voice trailed off as he looked up, carefully studying the young woman's expression, how she suddenly was unable to look either one of them in the eyes. It also did not escape his attention how Adam purposefully lingered in the distance, though he was looking amused.
Belle awkwardly cleared her throat and wiped her lips with the back of her fingers.
"Monsieur Lumiere. Monsieur Cogsworth. Mrs. Potts," Belle announced shyly, flustered. "I—is there something that I can…help you with?" she gasped out, breathlessly.
It was then that Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts caught sight of their master, standing sheepishly near the center of the room, his blush matching that of his hearth keep's.
Lumiere and Mrs. Potts instantly reddened, and the two Heads of Household cast their gazes to the floor at the realization of what had been occurring within the young mademoiselle's private quarters, whilst old Cogsworth merely furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and ire.
"Please forgive the intrusion, master, Belle," Mrs. Potts quickly interjected, hoping to supplicate the master of the castle some and smooth things over.
At first, the matronly Head of Household was unsure what to say, though they had initially harbored a different reason altogether for seeking out the master's hearth keep all together, and that was the strange man at the gate, demanding to see Belle, was why they had come to her.
It was clear by the stunned, shellshocked looks on both Lumiere and Cogsworth's faces that neither one of them had expected that they would have interrupted a passionate moment between the master and the girl.
The three Heads of Household did not know whether or not they should excuse themselves so the Prince and Belle could continue the romantic interlude that they had so rudely interrupted, or if they should continue upon their course, knowing that the sudden arrival at the iron-wrought gates of the castle was not about to leave in peace without speaking to Belle first.
Embarrassed, Lumiere decided to take cause and chose the latter.
"Forgive the ah….intrusion, milady," Lumiere began speaking hesitantly, awkwardly clearing his throat and trying his best to avoid his master's piercing stare, though it felt like the Prince's two icy-blue eyes now boring a hole through his chest were no better than if the Prince had stabbed him.
"B—but I am afraid that our business could not wait, Your Highness. there's a man at the gates, young master, seeking an audience with her. We would kindly borrow you for a moment or two, milady, to speak with him."
Belle's face grew pale as if it hit by blizzard as she folded her arms across her chest and arched an eyebrow.
"Is it so urgent? What could he possibly want to speak to me about? The man has a name?"
She was flustered and more than a little bit confused, and unable to ignore the seeping feeling of dread that was spiraling through her system at Mrs. Potts' words like a slow-acting poison.
Say his name and say that it isn't so. Make him go away, send him away.
She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her swooping stomach she knew exactly who it was who was at the gates and had come calling on her tonight, and much to her surprise, that simple question, with all of her resistance put behind it, was the one to hit its mark as she felt Adam move to stand beside her and rested a hand protectively upon Belle's left shoulder.
The gesture was meant to comfort, but in truth, she only felt tenser, and even more so, a horrible cold chill wafted down her spine at the exact moment she witnessed the three Heads of Household exchange a dark look.
Mrs. Potts was the first one to break the silence between the three as she shook her head and shot Belle and Prince Adam a slightly perturbed stare.
"The monsieur at the gates did not want to say, milord," she mumbled, choosing to address the Prince.
Out of the corner of her eye, Belle could see how the man's fingers curled into a fist, his knuckles going white with the force of his growing annoyance and anger, not only at their moment alone being interrupted but also, Belle had a feeling Adam knew who it was, too.
Cogsworth spoke up.
"We would not have interrupted, milady, if it weren't important," he stammered, suddenly looking quite skittish as the sound of a man's shout rent the air from outside, causing all three of them to swivel their gaze in the direction of the noise to look towards the only window in Belle's cramped quarters.
Not hesitating, Belle darted towards the window. She let out a gasp as a cloaked figure stood stoic and unmoved by the gates, seemingly alone, though she couldn't be sure.
If Belle squinted just so, she thought she caught the unmistakable silhouette of another cloaked figure, this one too a man, judging by the person's height and stocky build.
Belle did not budge, unaware she'd drawn in a breath and held it until she let it out the moment Adam moved to stand beside her and join her in her staring out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of what caught her eye. Belle drew in a sharp breath, quick and angry, believing her visitor to be Gaston for yet again a second.
It was a moment or two before she spoke again.
"I will go to him. I will see him, and then he will be on his way," she murmured, hearing the tone of her voice harden as she flushed dark red, but not out of embarrassment for her situation, but in anger.
She turned towards Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, and Cogsworth, choosing to ignore the odd strangled noise the Prince let out at the back of his throat, suggesting without words he disapproved.
Belle blew out a breath and continued addressing the three Heads of Household."Begging your pardon, but I am certain whatever our visitor wishes to discuss with me need not be presented to a public audience, and I would like to know what it is I am to be accused of, assuming I know who he is and the reason for his visit here tonight before anyone else hears."
She lifted her chin and jutted it out slightly defiantly, glancing around the room, as though daring anyone present to contest her choice.
Every fiber of her being wished she could ignore the intruder at the gate, and to a lesser extent, into her life, wishing she could return to their kiss.
There was little that she could do, however.
It became clear by the hooded man's stance on the other side of the gate that he was not going to leave until he'd received his audience with her, and as such, she could not deny the man's request.
Judging by the way he dug the heels of his boots into the ground, the man was prepared to wait all night in the cold if need be. Belle let out a frustrated sigh and carded her slender fingers through her loose tresses, biting down on her lip as she lost herself in thought.
Even the Prince knew that to attempt to send him away without granting him his audience with her was foolish, but the withering, admonishing look her master was currently shooting her suggested he hated it, abhorred the thought of letting her speak in the man's company alone.
Nevertheless, it did not stop the Prince from taking her hand and bringing Belle's trembling fingers to his lips. Adam placed a soft kiss there and smiled hopefully at Belle, his blue eyes taking on a slightly mischievous twinkle.
"Together," Adam murmured, not allowing Belle a moment to open her mouth to vehemently protest. He silently bid Belle, holding the young woman in his grasp perhaps a moment longer than was necessary considering they were still being observed, his blue eyes burning into hers.
Then, he slowly swiveled his gaze and turned a raised eyebrow towards his three Heads of Household, all three of whom timidly pressed themselves against the wall as the Prince began to take Belle by her hand and pull her towards the door, the Prince and Belle stepping through the doorway and departing.
Belle and Adam fled in haste at the way the three Heads of Households' eyes followed the couple to the exit, trying to ignore the growing unease burgeoning within their chests.