Once, he had brought a King's daughter back from the brink of a psychotic break. The cost to the King was high. In exchange for helping his daughter, he had removed all the memories the King had of his wife; all the love for her, every emotion he'd ever felt for her, gone just like that. He'd thought that observing those memories might help him to understand true love, but it was clear after watching that it wasn't True Love. Just love. One that was deep and true in a way, but not True Love. Still, he kept the memories for himself, thinking at least it would give him something to compare True Love to. After he'd healed the girl, he'd offered the King an opportunity, one that he knew he needed, he would help him end his Ogre War as he had long ago. The King had scoffed, he'd told him quite adamantly that he never wanted to see him at his door ever again.
Well, seeing as how he was here to do what he felt certain the King didn't want, he thought that he might as well give him something he wanted.
He'd held off his arrival at the Palace until the last minute. He liked to maintain control of every situation he involved himself in, and there was nothing about this he wasn't in control of. The King wanted him before the council meeting; he'd get him during, when he could be certain that all the players were in the room at the same time. The King, his council, his future son-in-law, but most important of all, his daughter. He'd been watching her ever since he'd cured her, he'd been trying to place why she'd been so familiar, why the Seer told him she was important. He hadn't been successful at determining any of that yet. And so, he'd decided long before he even set foot in the place that if he really and truly wanted to figure it out, he had to keep her close. The King already detested him, he couldn't risk her father pulling her away from him, and so he was here not so much to help the King and his people as to help himself. He was going to cut the King out of their deal, remove the middleman. He was going to take a risk, and find out just how well he knew the young woman, just how much his watching had paid off. With any luck, he'd take her back to his castle where her father would mourn her, but her Kingdom would be safe, and he could figure out why she was important to his future. And of course, he'd honor the King's request at the same time; he wouldn't see him at his door.
He arrived just on the heels of a young soldier, carrying news from the battlefield. He didn't need to see the news to know it was bad; the boy's face was solemn enough that it spoke for itself. And besides, they were Ogres, what else could any news be but bad. From inside the room, he'd heard the King roar something at the top of his lungs before all fell silent again. He wasn't even in the room and he could feel the weight of whatever had just happened. It seemed like the time to intervene.
He pounded against the door and listened carefully inside. Things went from quiet to quieter for a heartbeat before he heard a commotion, a high shrill voice cried out "It's him, it has to be!" before he heard the King mumble something followed by "open it!"
And so he fulfilled his promise. When the doors to the chamber opened, he wasn't standing there. He'd used his magic to get inside the room. Walls were nothing to him, brick and mortar stood no chance against magic, and he wanted the King to know that as he dropped himself into the King's chair and summoned a building from the map at the center of the room into his hand. No one saw him. Their backs were all turned to him as they watched a soldier walk to the door he'd just knocked on, yanked, and opened it to nothing.
The tension that had been running through the room all this time suddenly dropped as all were left staring in confusion at nothing, wondering if they were finally going crazy, wondering if they'd actually heard something, wondering what had happened and where he was. Showtime.
"Well, that was a bit of a letdown," he announced. His voice echoed off the walls of the chamber. More than one person jumped at the sound of his voice as they all spun around to find him. All eyes were on him, and more than a few swords were drawn, one by the man that the Princess was engaged to. But that was the way he liked it, that was the way he'd wanted this to happen. He wanted witnesses.
He made an effort, tried as hard as he could, to keep his eyes firmly on the King and not the girl, but it was impossible to notice her. In a sea of brown, gray, black, even the King's dark red cloak, she was difficult not to spot in her bright yellow dress. They were all covered head to toe, but her gown hung off her shoulders revealing soft skin that had never seen battle. If he was honest, they were the most beautiful shoulders he'd ever seen on a woman who'd ever worn a dress like that. Much more so than even Cora's. Beautiful shoulders, strong clavical, graceful neck, and still that sensation that there was something familiar about her face, about the brown hair that fell down her back... Something he couldn't place. Who was she to him?!
Her hands were wrapped tight around her father's arm as she observed him with the others. They were all stoic, their eyes fearful and wary of him. But not her. She seemed curious, like a child peeking out from behind its mother's legs, only she was trying to see what her father was trying to keep from her. Part of him wondered if there would be recognition, but it appeared the potion he'd given her in their last encounter was sufficient. The only one sensing any kind of familiarity was him.
"You sent me a message," he explained to the room. "Something about 'Help! Help! We're dying! Can you save us?'" he mocked in a high and cowardly voice. The King hadn't written those exact sentences, but they both knew that was the long and short of it. He deserved to feel some shame over his behavior in front of his inferiors. He rose then and eyed the rest of the room, took in the future Prince as well as the King and his soldiers, carefully making sure to avoid looking at the girl no matter how difficult it was. The captive audience helped. And there was no way they weren't going to be captive when he approached their King as he was now.
Maurice behaved as he should, looking unhappy and upset all at once, the fiancé, on the other hand, refused to back down. It wasn't surprising given what he knew of Le Gume Junior, but there was something to be said for intimidation, especially when he was wielding a sword in his face.
"Now the answer is…" he moved to strike the sword, slapped it away with his hand so that the boy twitched just a bit. "Yes, I can." He tossed the little toy castle he'd taken to playing with to one of the soldiers whose reflexes were quick enough to overpower his fear and he caught it. "Yes, I can protect your little town…for a price," he added sinisterly.
"We sent you a promise of gold!" the King growled, taking a small step forward. He smiled at the reaction. He had the power here, not the King. What he said was going to be as it was. His attempt at controlling the situation by telling him the price had been cute, but not effective.
"Ah! Now you see, um, I uh…make gold," he pointed out to the King and probably to the rest of the room as there was an unsettled shifting of feet that followed his statement. He resisted the urge to laugh at them. Had no one thought of that fact before the letter had been sent?! "What I want is something a bit more special. My price…is her."
He pointed in the direction of the princess and finally let his eyes land on her. The reaction was immediate. Her back straightened in surprise as her eyes widened into shock and maybe even horror. But she didn't fight. She didn't scream or yell or give him an earful or even try to run away as so many noble women might have. She only looked as if she were thinking, as if her mind was working through something that no one else was yet. That much, at least, was evident in the reactions of everyone around her.
Every eye had just turned from him to her in a heartbeat. Some of the soldiers stepped closer to her. Her fiancé was the only one who stepped in front, as if he was going to be able to protect the girl from the likes of him.
Her father shook his head. "No," he stated, almost breathlessly.
"The young lady is engaged…to me!" Gaston, her fiancé proclaimed.
He laughed at such a comment. Like the promise of matrimony was enough to chase him off her tail! Not in the least. He didn't care what her marital status was, all that mattered to him was that he kept her close. At least until the Seer told him why she was so important.
"I wasn't asking if she was engaged!" he corrected as he began to move about in a slow stroll about the room. "I'm not looking for…love! I'm looking for a caretaker! For my rather large estate!" he corrected with a beaming grin.
The Princess was to become a glorified maid. What did they think of that?! Not much from the looks of it. Though he only caught glimpses of the girl's face from between her fiancé and father's arms, he could see that she almost looked relieved at the pronouncement, but everyone else looked offended. Both reactions were normal he supposed. While they were all considering what a lowly state she would enter, he'd watched her enough to know that she was just glad that she wouldn't have to share her bed with a monster like Gaston. Relief was what he would have expected from the one who was at the center of the deal. But would she take it? He knew they wouldn't. But if his observations of her were accurate, he suspected that she just might. With the right push of course.
"It's her or no deal," he finally concluded.
"Get out," her father ordered quickly. "Leave!"
At the King's command, a path cleared for him, partly only because Gaston had given the girl a shove out of the way that made him want to hit him. He may have been a monster, but even he knew how to treat a lady. But he ignored the urge, gave a simple bow of his head before muttering "as you wish" and began a slow purposeful stroll toward the door. Magic could've taken him home in only a second, but he wanted to linger he wanted to give the girl an opportunity to watch him walk away and take all of her hopes for her Kingdom with him. He wanted to give her time to allow her to-
"No! Wait!"
To do that.
Her voice cried out to him from across the room and bid him to turn. The girl wasn't a girl, that much was obvious in the way that she removed herself from the protective grasp of her father and fiancé and then moved toward him. It wasn't the walk of a girl, or even a woman, it was the walk of a Queen. Not a single step showed hesitation, just confidence as she stepped toe to toe with him and stood defiant in front of those that she loved. There was a nervousness in her eyes and in her jaw as well as in the flutter of her heart, but her head was held high with confidence and courage. When everyone else in the room shrank back, hoping he wouldn't step close to them she moved forward, volunteered to put herself in the line of fire. It was a rare thing that could take his breath away. But she did.
"I will go with him."
He let out a joyous laugh at the deal finally struck, the plan that was in the making as they looked one another in the eye, but the rest of the room didn't celebrate with them.
"I forbid it," her fiancé shouted.
"No!" her father cried out.
He saw just a brief flash of fire in her eyes before she turned from him to look over her shoulder at the pair of them. "No one decides my fate but me!" she shouted.
Immediately the room grew silent. Seven words. Seven words was all it had taken for her to bring them to their knees. Seven hot and angry words that forced the room to back away from her and asserted the dominance that she had. Seven words to surprise them all. Seven words was all it took for him to feel a warm sensation of pride and victory in his chest. Not because his deal was coming to pass, but because after all that watching he'd always known that she had this in her. She wasn't like other noble girls. She admirable, a rare sight. Strong, courageous, and brave…he felt nearly giddy at the thought that she'd go with him, that he would get to dissect her, to learn why she was important, to study her further.
"I shall go," she concluded, turning back to him.
"It's forever, dearie," he warned, wondering if he'd see fear overtake her. It didn't.
"My family, my friends, they will all live?" she questioned clearly.
Intelligent girl, she'd left him not a single hole for a loophole, and yet he didn't feel upset. He'd meant to assume control the moment he stepped in the room and now here she was taking it back. For this kind of entertainment and promise, he could easily work that into their agreement.
"You have my word," he promised, giving her a small bow.
"Then you have mine," she confirmed with only the smallest bit of sadness in her voice. "I will go, with you, forever."
"Deal!"
Not the first appearance of Belle in this fiction, but certainly the first time Belle is Belle. You've made it to the Rumbelle scenes everyone! Which means, if you really, really want to, you can begin to now read Moments Known and Unknown in conjunction with this fiction. That being said, as this chapter perfectly demonstrates right out of the gate, the chapters are not divided the same way between the two fictions. I thought about doing that, really I did, but on the very first attempt at that (with this chapter, naturally) I realized doing it that carefully was never going to work. So, what is happening in this section is also happening in the first chapter of MK&U. However, in MK&U, this scene continues on to the point where Belle and Rumple walk out together. In this fiction, the second bit of this conversation is going to come in the next chapter. As I continued on writing this section, doing little things like that actually became something I enjoyed because even though Belle and Rumple come to be a unit later on I'm also a firm believer that a good and healthy relationship should emphasize two individual people. So their stories overlapping but not being 100% perfectly in line came to represent that to me. They are still two different people, who will chronicle memories differently and experience moments uniquely (see what I did there). So, if you wish to read MK&U in parallel to this, begin now and you'll just have to pay close attention with where to stop and start (I can help with a little of that privately if you need me to), because I won't be making notations of it much beyond this A/N.
Thank you, thank you, thank you MissAmande, Jennifer Baratta, Alarda, and Grace5231973 for your reviews on the last chapter. I'm so happy to hear you are excited to finally reach this point in the story! If this chapter seems a bit slow, that was done purposefully. I really wanted time to feel like it stopped in this moment. It's not like this all the time. I do hope you'll enjoy the rest of Beauty and the Beast section and looking at Belle through Rumple's eyes. If you are like me, it's a bit strange at first, but you get used to it. And it is sort of fun to read both at the same time. After living in Belle's head for so long, to flip the coin and live inside Rumple's head. Knowing what the other is thinking as you read is certainly an experience! Peace and Happy Reading!
