~*~*~*~ Forget the Past ~*~*~*~

Disclaimer: I think by now you know which ones are mine and which ones are Tammy's.

A/N: Nothing to really say here, just that now that I have two stories to update (Yeah!!! ^.^), it might take me a little longer to get new chapters up, especially with my hectic school/sports schedule.

Chapter Seven: Daine, Numair, Alanna, and Raoul to the Rescue! (Whew, that was a mouthful!)

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(DAINE'S POV)

With the gentle moonlight peeping through the treetops to spill into the small grove, the scene before Daine, Alanna, Numair, and Raoul looked almost magical. The "wing-sister" the birds had been talking about was lying on her side against a large ebony-colored stallion, with various woodland creatures watching in reverent silence along the edge of the trees. At the sound of horse hooves on the soft ground, the stallion glanced up and surveyed the two-leggers before him in an almost human way.

Daine turned to the birds who had led them here and asked, Is this wing-sister you speak of?

Yes, yes that is her! the birds replied anxiously.

The great black horse sent us! another added before Daine could get a word in edgewise.

All right, all right, let me speak with him. And then, walking forward into the thicket, she asked the stallion, Are you the one who sent these birds to come fetch me?

Yes, you are the two-legger known as the Wildmage, are you not?

I am.

Then I ask for your help concerning my two-legger. She was upset and decided to go for a ride. Once we got this deep, she was being obstinate, and did not see the low-lying branch. It knocked her from my back, and she landed on some jagged rocks protruding from the ground. She immediately fell asleep, and I found that she cut her side very badly, and since then she had not woken up. I dragged her here, and then asked the birds to go find you.

I see, Daine commented as she walked towards the girl. The others stayed astride their mounts. This is Belle, correct? At the horse's nod of confirmation, Daine knelt beside the two and pulled back the blonde hair that was covering the girl's face and neck. From the silvery moonlight that peeked through the canopy, Daine could make out tear streaks on Belle's face and the area under her eyes were puffy.

"She must have been more upset than we thought," Daine said to herself.

"She must have," another female voice said. Daine jumped at the voice, but knew who it was. Alanna, once, again, had come up unheard, and joined the younger woman on the ground. Daine also knew Numair and Raoul were not far behind. "Do we know for sure that she's in shock?"

"Not yet," Daine murmured as she reached two fingers towards Belle's neck. A jolt ran through Daine when her fingers met the girl's flesh; it felt like ice. So subtle that it was almost undetectable, the very slight throbbing under Daine's fingers faltered, and continued. "Yup. It's shock all right. Anyone got a blanket? We need to get her wrapped up quick."

A moment later a soft, worn blanket was thrust into her hands, and as she rolled Belle over slightly to tuck the blanket under her, she gasped.

"What?" Alanna asked. Daine pointed out what had startled her, and the older woman grimaced.

"I forgot about that-the stallion-"

Demon the horse interjected.

"Demon," Daine repeated obediently, "told me that Belle had cut herself on some rocks when she fell. He said it was bad, but look at this-it's already got dirt in it. It's already starting to fester. No wonder she went into shock."

"Well," Alanna began sensibly, as though she saw this type of injury every day, "We had better get her back to the castle so a healer can look at her."

"Can't you do anything for her now? Look at all that blood on the ground-look how pale she is…" Daine trailed off, again staring at the grotesque sight in front of her.

The older woman patted Daine on the shoulder reassuringly and said, "Right now all we can do is stanch the blood. If I tried to put any sort of healing spell or stitch up those gashes on her right now, they would be disrupted by the ride back to the palace."

Daine nodded mutely.

"Can you ask the horse if he can move so we can get Belle on him to carry her back to the palace?"
Alanna questioned Daine.

Nodding again, Daine asked the stallion, Do you think you could stand up so we can put Belle on your back, Demon? We need you to carry her back to the castle for us.

Certainly, but will she be all right? the horse demanded anxiously.

She is not hurt too badly, but she has gone into shock. We will make sure that Belle gets the attention of the finest healer available, Daine said, a little amused at the stallion's obvious concern for his mistress.

All right. And with that, Demon stood up, careful not to let Belle's head hit the ground.

Alanna and Daine started to lift Isabelle onto Demon's back, but when he saw they were having some difficulty, Raoul came to help them.

Once Belle was securely fastened to Demon's saddle, the other four quickly mounted their horses, and Daine, leading Demon by his reins, commented a little uncomfortably, "Did you see how loose the cinch on her saddle was? And her stirrups were far too long…she must have been in an awful hurry to get out of Ravensloft."

The others nodded, and Alanna said, "She looked awfully upset when she bolted into the gardens."

After a moment of awkward silence, Daine asked, "Do you think that she was so upset because of what we told her?"

"It probably was that, but whether she wants to admit it or not, she has Wild Magic, and a good deal of it," Numair said pointedly. "I felt it again tonight, when we were out on the balcony."

Daine nodded. "So did I. She was talking to that mouse, probably the same one that Alanna saw at dinner."

"But we still haven't figured out why she ran off when Numair mentioned Wild Magic," Alanna reiterated. "She wasn't just frightened, she looked like she would have died than admit to what we said."

"Maybe you could ask her horse!" Numair exclaimed, startling everybody.

Grinning slightly, despite the situation, Daine inquired silently, Demon, do you know why Belle was so frightened when we told her that she had Wild Magic?

The horse regarded her strangely for a moment, and then returned incredulously, Don't you know what happened to her mother?

"Wasn't that Lorelei of Ravensloft? She died about 10-11 years ago, right?" Daine said aloud, for the benefit of the others.

Correct.

"Didn't she die trying to help the animals in a forest fire?"

Yes. But that is not what Belle thinks.

Confused, Daine completely forgot about her human friends listening. "What do you mean?"

The Bad Man told Belle a entirely different story than what really happened.

"Who is the 'Bad Man'? " Daine asked.

I think he is Belle's father.

"Why does she call him the 'Bad Man'?".

She doesn't call him that. Just me and all the other animals she talks to. After a moment of silence, during which the horse looked as though he was trying to decided whether or not to tell her something.

So she does talk to other animals, Daine mused, until she was interrupted by Demon talking.

We call him the 'Bad Man' because almost every day Belle comes down to the stables and we go for a ride. Almost every single time, Belle is in tears, or her cheeks are wet because she has been crying. But she does not often admit that she was crying.

Daine's confusion slowly turned to sympathy. "Why does she cry?"

Again the horse seemed to be pondering on whether to continue. Every day it is the same. She comes down to the stables weeping, and each time, I have to drag the answers out of her. Belle rarely confesses to anything. She is a brave two-legger, she really is, and it is not her fault. A second of muteness, and Daine was about to speak, but Demon interrupted her. You must not feel that what happened tonight was your fault. A girl like Belle can only take so much.

At this point, they were almost out of the forest. Far away music from the ballrooms was drifting almost silently through the trees, and Daine could see the bright lights of the castle. There were so many questions that Daine had, and she struggled to pick the most important ones.

"What do you mean she can only take so much?" Daine did not notice, but at these words, the others began listening more intently.

This time, the answer came without hesitation. Before I tell you, you have to promise not to mention this to anyone else. I have a hard enough time getting Belle to talk to me about it, and the whole castle already knows. But whenever the Bad Man hears talk of it, he gets even more angry.

Daine chose not to comment on the part about Lord Jared getting angry, but said quickly, as they were now out of the forest, "I promise."

All right. Remember your promise. I probably should not even be telling you, for Belle does not trust anybody, except for me. She is broken very easily. But I will tell you anyway. Belle's father beats her.

"What?" Daine exclaimed alarmed, for she remembered the slap in the ballroom, but had never associated it with child abuse. She had assumed that maybe Belle had angered Lord Jared in some way.

Another reason what Demon had just said was inconceivable was because the Lord of Ravensloft was and always had been the perfect gentlemen in the public eye. Plus, that type of thing used to happen long ago, before King Jonathon and Queen Thayet began their reign.

I wonder how he acts when he's not under surveillance by society.

Demon continued. Yes. It is hard to believe, but true. She has marks on her arms and neck. He has been beating her almost daily since she was five-ever since Belle's mother died. She was so relieved when she went to convent five years later, and made her first friend. But when Evelyn learned the truth about Belle, she turned on Belle too.

Daine was too shocked to say anything, just sat silently in the saddle with a pained look on her face.

Lord Jared beats Belle? Since she was five?

Daine couldn't even imagine how traumatic it would be for a five year-old to have her mother die, and then for her father to start beating her daily.

But then a completely different point presented itself, and Daine still did not notice that her three companions were staring at her, obviously expecting an explanation to her outburst, and to her now mute, anguished expression.

But that still doesn't answer the question about why she was so afraid when we spoke of Wild Magic.

A demanding, impatient voice broke through her thoughts. "Well?!" It was Alanna, and she clearly wanted a rational answer after listening to one side of a very interesting conversation.

"It's very complicated, but to make a long story short, Belle thinks that her mother died for reasons other than helping animals in a fire, and that her father has been beating her regularly since she was five." Daine replied grimly.

What she had said, and the blunt way in which she said it, rendered her three friends speechless.

"I know," Daine said when no one else ventured a comment. "I never expected it either. But Demon says that Belle never has or will admit to being abused. So we can only talk about it in private-in front of no one, and especially not to her father."

"But what about the servants in the castle?" Numair protested suddenly. "Don't they notice something?"

"Yes, but they all know. And they don't do anything about it. They can't mention it at all, because Demon says that if Lord Jared hears talk of it at all, he gets angry at Belle." Daine answered bitterly.

No comment followed this bit of disturbing information, which was just as well, because they had arrived at the castle by then. As hostlers rushed out to take their horses, Daine happened to glance up at the balcony that they were previously on, and saw a tall, dark figure watching them. Daine had no doubts as to who it was.

It figures that he wouldn't even be worried enough to alert his servants to Belle's disappearance. She thought acidly.

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A/N: Ok, I know this chapter had like absolutely no point, and did nothing to help the plot line, but originally, it was a super loooooong chapter (like 25 page), so I decided to split in into two chapters. Chapter Eight will be up later today. For those of you who completely lose track of time (and dates)-like me- that would be the 8th. ^_^ I hope you liked it!!

P.S. Reviewer thanx in the next chapter!

P.P.S. Please, please, please review!! I love all my reviewers soo much!! XD

Happy reading, AND REVIEWING!!!!,

~Starlet~