Chapter 1: A bad awakening

"I knew it. Ohhh, I knew this was a stupid idea, but did he listen to me? NO! He didn't! Of course not, why would he, this, this..."

It was a real rant that the chubby man, who was hurrying through the corridors of the castle in the middle of the night, had to say. And in his opinion, he had every reason to be annoyed, after all, he had been rudely roused from his well-deserved sleep a few minutes ago.

"And why?" grumbled Monsieur Cogsworth, majordomo at Prince Adam's castle.

"Because this impossible guy had to dance around in the rain and NATURALLY caught something! And what have I got to do with it, anyway?"

Still ranting with his face flushed with anger, he hurried on until he finally reached his destination. He wanted to storm into the room and take out his anger on the person who was responsible for all this, but he thought better of it. After all, he was the majordomo, the prince's highest servant. He had to maintain his dignity, even if he felt more like throwing a tantrum. The whole thing was so unnecessary, annoying and...

Lumiere.

It was just Lumiere.

Once again...

His hand already on the door handle, Monsieur Cogsworth paused and took a deep breath. Even if all this agitated him, he had to remain calm. First of all, he had to see how serious the whole situation was. He could always discipline Lumiere later.

After another moment of struggling to regain his composure, the majordomo finally knocked. A second later he heard the voice of the housekeeper, Madame Potts, who, he noted with slight horror, sounded very worried. And when he entered the room, which was lit only by a few candles, he knew why.

Madame Potts, a friendly, elderly lady who looked after everyone in the castle in an almost motherly way, was sitting at the bedside of Lumiere, the Prince's cook and servant, who looked anything but well. Sweat was pouring off his forehead, even though the housekeeper kept trying to stem the flow with a damp cloth. He breathed shallowly and quickly and it was clearly noticeable how difficult it was for him. His already light skin was worryingly pale, but all this was not even as frightening taken together as another detail that struck Cogsworth just now.

It was quiet.

Far too quiet for the fact that Lumiere was present.

The young Frenchman filled every situation with his exuberant (and, for Cogsworth, all too exaggerated) way of talking and behaving, rarely leaving room for silence. But now there was silence. Only his heavy, hurried and rattling breathing could be heard and that, the majordomo had to admit to himself, did not please him at all, to say the least. He stood silently at the end of the bed for a moment before turning to Madame Potts.

"How... How is he?"

The question was redundant in view of what he saw, but to his shame he could think of nothing better. Madame Potts sighed heavily before putting the cloth aside and looking at Cogsworth.

"Not well at all. The fever has risen, breathing is becoming more and more difficult for him and every coughing attack causes him pain."

As if to confirm what he had said, a violent cough cut the silence.

Lumiere was visibly writhing in pain as he desperately tried to catch his breath. Panicking, he first looked at Madame Pottine, then noticed von Unruh.

Panting, his hand clutched on his chest in his nightgown, he looked at the older man, a pleading expression in his blue eyes. Then another seizure that shook the young man so much he threatened to fall out of bed. The next moment Cogsworth was at his side, one arm supporting Lumiere's back, the other hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, my friend, calm down..."

Only with difficulty did Lumiere manage to bring his breathing back under control before he sank back onto his pillow, completely exhausted. He looked at the elder for a moment, a small, grateful smile on his lips, then closed his eyes and shortly afterwards had fallen into a doze. The majordomo stood there for a moment, silent and visibly shaken, then he looked to the housekeeper and says firmly, though with obvious concern in his voice, "He needs a doctor. And quickly!"

"Is it really that serious?"

Startled, Cogsworth and Madame Potts wheeled around and saw Prince Adam and his wife Princess Belle standing in the room. Neither of them had noticed how the two had come in, or when.

The Prince looked from one servant to the other, visibly nervous, waiting for an answer. Von Unruh cleared his throat and bowed briefly to the gentry before answering.

"It doesn't look very good, if I may say so, and his condition..."

"It's getting worse by the minute!" the housekeeper interjected as she now approached the bed again and looked at Lumiere. She had again taken hold of the cloth and wiped the sweat from Lumiere's face before pressing the back of her hand to his forehead. Saddened, she shook her head before turning back to the prince and princess. Her voice was choked with tears when she spoke again.

"The fever is rising faster and faster..."

"Then we should waste no time! With your permission, Your Majesty, I will send someone to the village immediately to get the doctor and..."

At that moment, a roar of thunder like a thousand cannon blasts interrupted the majordomo's sentence and made everyone in the room cringe. Lumiere whimpered in his sleep and tossed and turned restlessly before he calmed down again. The prince walked hurriedly to the window and pulled back one of the heavy curtains, so that in the glow of a flash of lightning, the full extent of a violent storm raging outside could be seen.

Belle put her hands over her mouth in horror and muttered, "A storm...",

while the Prince looked at Madame Potts, who looked equally horrified and frightened.

However Monsieur Cogsworth, who rigorously refused to swear in the presence of others, and if he did, usually only did so in his native English, just uttered a single word.

"Merde..."