Chapter 17
Disclaimer: I have to admit, I'm getting a little sick of coming up with creative disclaimers that acknowledge that Disney owns this story and not me…hey! That works! On with the story!
The Next Afternoon
The door to the Dutch quarter's tiny jail opened with a squeal of rusty hinges, throwing dim, dappled light onto the two men imprisoned behind a set of bars that reached from ceiling to floor. Both looked up in surprise, squinting against the unaccustomed light to see three dark figures in the doorway.
"You have five minutes," the jailer's voice said roughly. One of the figures, heavyset and bulky and presumably the voice's owner, turned and walked away. Once it was out of sight, the thinner of the remaining figures took two quick steps forward, where her lovely face was clearly visible to the prisoners.
"Oh, ma petite," Maurice gasped, rushing to the bars to embrace his daughter with happy tears. "How did…I thought I'd never see…"
"Papa, I'm so sorry…" was all she could say. To Maurice, it didn't matter. Just to hold her in his arms and stroke her hair under his fingers was all he needed to know that he wasn't dreaming and his dear Belle, the child he'd thought was forever lost, was with him once again. At last, it was she who pulled away first. She turned to the other man in the cell. "Koru." And then, inexplicably, she launched into a brief string of flawless Nipponese. The little man's eyes widened, but he only bowed deeply in response.
"Belle!" said Maurice sharply, torn between shock and pride. "How did you do that? And what about the--" he stopped, glancing surreptitiously at Belle's companion, the Dutch quarter bookseller.
"The Beast?" Belle finished quietly. Maurice, dim as the light in the jail was, did not miss the brief softness that came into her eyes as she said the name. But before he could pursue this, his daughter added, "It's all right, Papa, I told the bookseller everything."
"That's all very well, but how did you manage to escape from that awful monster?" Maurice burst out.
"There was no need to escape." Belle said, as if the idea was surprising, "The Beast let me go on his own."
"He what? That…that creature, that…that…"
"Papa, listen to me. We don't have time for this. Suffice it for me to say that he's not what you think. He's not terrible at all. He's been very kind to me, these last months. "
"And…and you don't have to return?"
"No." Belle paused, biting her lip, her brow creased. "I will go home with you to Brussels, if it comes to that."
"If comes to that?" asked Koru, who had clearly been listening with silent interest. "What Medemoseru know we do not?"
"I believe--and he agrees with me," Belle gestured at the bookseller, who was keeping watch at the open door, "That you were set up. This has all been a trap."
This pronouncement was so dumbfounding that neither Maurice nor Koru said anything except a startled, simultaneous "What?"
"There was only one person in the city, besides the two of you, who knew that Belle wasn't either Getsuru's prisoner or murdered by him," the bookseller explained, "Not even I knew her fate. And I assume you told no one of her true whereabouts for fear you would not be believed." Koru nodded from beside Maurice, his forehead wrinkled with worry.
This was a going a bit too far for Maurice to keep track of. "So what precisely are you saying? Who would want us as prisoners, and what purpose could that possibly serve him?"
"I believe I hear my cue," came a new voice from the hall.
Everyone in the room froze. Belle slid her hand onto the dagger the Beast had given her, the motion hidden by her cloak. She had known it was dangerous, coming to see her father, if her suspicions about who had set Maurice up were correct. And now she had inadvertently sprung the very trap they had been trying to avoid. She resisted the unladylike urge to swear aloud at her own stupidity.
A familiar figure stood in the doorway, casually palming a gleaming samurai sword. "Good afternoon, Beru-san," Getsuru said in Dutch with a bold, smooth air, as if they had simply met by chance in the street. "So pleasant to see you here after all this time…away. I knew putting your father in prison would draw you out of hiding sooner or later."
Belle's hand clenched on the dagger. "I have no quarrel with you, Getsuru. None of us do. Why did you tell the guards about the secret entrance my father and Koru were planning to use? They did no more than you are doing now by being here in the quarter."
"Haven't you guessed, Beru-san?" Getsuru chuckled at Belle's puzzled expression. "You women are so naïve; it's a wonder you live as long as you do without a male constantly providing the answers. None more than you, pretty thing. You need a man more than anyone else, if only to remind you of your subservient place in the world."
"Stay away from me," Belle said, backing as far as she could into the bars of the jail cell. "What exactly is it that you hope to gain by putting my father in prison?"
"Such a pity. They said you had a few brains. I didn't think I would have to spell out for you the interesting position you find yourself in," Getsuru sighed with mock sympathy. "Very well. If you agree to come with me quietly and become a humble little wife in my household, I will ask for clemency for your father and your peasant friend. My word, as a lord's son and acclaimed samurai, carries much weight in the city. They will be free by tomorrow."
"And if I refuse to become your obedient shrew?" Belle spat out, disgusted.
Getsuru's lip curled ever so slightly. "Then your father is shipped out as a prisoner on the first available boat to the Netherlands, which, as I recall, leaves in two days. You, of course, will be arrested for leaving the Dutch quarter yourself and placed on a different ship. As for your peasant friend, he will be executed as a criminal."
Belle gasped in horror, gripping the bars behind to keep her knees from giving way. She would die herself before marrying such a man as Getsuru, but how could she choose the alternative and condemn Koru to death with the helpless victim looking on from behind bars?
"Pardon me, sir," the bookseller, ignored until now, suddenly cut in, "But have you any proof that Mistress Bella has ever left the Dutch quarter?"
"Of course I do." Belle got the sense that if Getsuru had been a Westernman, he would have rolled his eyes. "How do you think I knew of that secret entrance they used? I followed Beru-san and her lackey the evening she slipped out of my grasp, but could not catch up to them in time to prevent them from leaving. I have proof with my own eyes, which is more than enough. After all, it is unbecoming of a samurai's honor speak falsehoods."
"And it less becomes your precious honor to attempt to force a woman to marry you by threatening those dear to her," Belle snapped. She whipped her dagger forward to point at Getsuru's throat. "I've heard all I care to hear from you. Now, get out," she ordered coldly.
Getsuru's face set. His shoulders shifted slightly, and suddenly the knife was knocked from Belle's hand with a clatter of metal. She dove for it, cursing herself for allowing her anger to make her forget about his unsheathed katana, but Getsuru was faster. He picked up the Beast's gift to her, examining it closely. For once, his cool eyes showed surprise. "Where did you get this?" he demanded.
"It was given to me," Belle replied through clenched teeth, "by the dragon who resides in the oshiro in the forest outside the city. I was his prisoner, if you truly wish to know where I've been these last months."
"I thought I recognized this blade," Getsuru said, half to himself.
"What do you mean?" Belle asked. Since he seemed so distracted studying the dagger, she reached to snatch it back. She wasn't quite swift enough, and he moved it out of her reach.
"I mean, girl, that as part of my warrior's training I had to memorize the distinctive markings of all the significant katana swords of Nippon. The design of this dagger in particular matches that of a sword that was lost nearly ten years ago, a sword that belonged to the son of the Shogun. Strange that the monster would give you the matching dagger. An odd gift from captor to captive, for the blades are not meant to be separated." Getsuru glared suspiciously at her.
"I did not steal it! He gave it to me freely, for protection when I…" Belle trailed away, covering her mouth, realizing she'd said too much.
Getsuru's eyes narrowed even further, if that was possible. "Protection? Does the creature have…feelings for you, then, Beru-san? Did it use its cunning and trick you into believing it thinks and feels as humans do?" He wrinkled his nose in distaste.
Belle opened her mouth to deny the possibility of the Beast having such feelings for her, but a stray memory of the heartbroken look in the Beast's eyes as he told her she could return to her father flashed across her vision. Was it possible…?
If she had not been lost in her own thoughts, she might have laughed at the astonished look on Getsuru's face. After a long moment, he seemed to recover. "And the sword? Did you see a sword that matches this dagger?"
"Nightingale," Belle whispered, her eyes still on the Beast's face.
"Then you have seen it? The Beast keeps it?"
Surprised at this sudden turn of the samurai's mind, Belle answered, "Yes, of course I've seen it. Why, what is so important about that sword?"
"It is a great crime to keep a katana blade that you have not rightfully earned or won in battle. Especially the blade of someone you have cold-bloodedly murdered."
"Murdered?" Belle recalled the bookseller's original tale of the creature that lived in the oshiro, and how it had killed the Shogun's own son. Her first impression of the cruelty of the Beast. But… "The Beast I know would never kill anyone. He is far too gentle and honorable," she declared loyally.
This time, Getsuru actually staggered back a pace as if she had struck him. "You…you reciprocate that monster's…feelings?" He spat the word like a curse.
Belle stuck her chin out. "You dare to call anyone a monster, Getsuru? The Beast is far more human than you'll ever be."
"And to think I wished a mad thing like you for a wife!" Getsuru was slowly recovering from his shock, replacing it with steely anger and the usual calm calculation. "Well. My duty is now clear. I must slay the murdering Beast and retrieve Nightingale from its evil clutches. I shall be a hero to the people of Nippon forever for doing so. And perhaps it will lift the spell the monster seems to have cast over you."
"No!" Belle cried in horror. Forgetting all else, she rushed at Getsuru and tried to pry the daito knife from his hand. He flung her back, calling for the jailer as he did so. The bookseller tried to prevent the man from entering, but in the scuffle that followed was knocked unconscious. Before Belle realized what was happening, she was bodily hurled into the barred room with her father and Koru. The bookseller was dumped on the floor beside her, and the door slammed shut.
"That will prevent any of you from sneaking off to warn the monster while we make preparations," Getsuru snarled.
Belle threw herself at the door. "It won't work!" she screamed at those hateful, calculating brown eyes, "The Beast told me his oshiro can never be found by any who are looking for it. You'll wander in the forest forever and never reach it!"
Getsuru did not even seem surprised. "Ah, Beru-san, but there are ways around such magic. Oh yes, there are ways." With a satisfied chuckle, he strolled out of the room, followed by the jailer, who leered at them all before slamming the door behind him.
Belle sank to the floor beside the unconscious bookseller, face in her hands. "Oh, Papa, what have I done? I've ruined everything, and now the Beast is going to die because of me!" she wailed. Burying her head in his shoulder as he knelt beside her, she began to weep, deep sobs of utter despair that did not come close to easing the ache in her heart.
Author's Note: And so the plot thickens… I'm not used to writing so much dialogue in one chapter!
Thanks again to jarethsdragon for your invaluable information about the part of samurai training where they had to memorize the designs and markings of famous swords. As you can see, it really came in handy!
Cheers, and keep reading all!
SamoaPhoenix9
