SMOKE AND ASHES
Gold has spent some time tying up loose ends in Undertown. He warns Belle that he will likely show her another side of himself, a darker side, and promptly executes a shadow demon that was impertinent enough to dare touch his Belle. Belle is shaken but works to understand and accept that ruthlessness is the only thing that will be accepted in this world. Gold assigns Cora and Jones to be his lieutenants (with the strict rule that he is to have no contact, not ever, under any circumstance, with Cora). He proclaims some new civilizing rules (although with harsh consequences for Undertown residents).
In other venues, Zelena demonstrates her child care skills (while little Elspeth reveals her own talents for deal-making). Belle realizes that her increasing sensitivity to iron heralds her Fae heritage and her interest in finding out more about her mother is aroused. Elspeth (unwittingly) terrorizes Lovecraft.
Meanwhile, his Royal Majesty Maurice closes in on Gold's whereabouts.
CHAPTER 34
Mostly Fluff
Gold was momentarily puzzled, "What the he. . . what's a 'floaty egg'?" he self-corrected the wording of his question.
Elspeth looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise, "You know. The egg in the water."
Gold was blank.
"Poached," Belle explained. "Don't you have some of those little silicon cups you can do it in? I think I saw them rummaging in the drawers for a tea pod." She got up and started going through some of his kitchen cabinet drawers. "Here," she held up a box with some odd shaped cups.
"That's what those are?" He hadn't known. "How'd you know? You struggle to boil water."
"I guessed," Belle shrugged. "Perhaps it was the notation on the side of the box that said 'Egg Poacher.'" She'd never pretended she was a cook, knowledgeable or otherwise, but she could read.
Gold scowled but took the cups and set them aside. He began boiling some water and dropped the silicon cups into the water. Then he cracked an egg into each one.
"What do you think? About five minutes?" he asked.
Belle and Elspeth looked at each other and both nodded. "Sure," said Belle.
"You don't know," Gold told her.
"Why would you ask me then?" Belle asked him.
He had that sense again that Belle might be laughing at him.
Belle toasted some bread, buttered it and then cut it into some slender 'fingers' that Elspeth could dip into her egg. Belle joined the child while Gold ate his usual scrambled eggs.
"Tomorrow morning, Miss Elspeth, I'm getting you up early and we three can go out for breakfast," he told them. Enough of this fixing breakfast at home – he wanted to go back to his old way of doing things.
"Really? Out for breakfast?" apparently this was a new concept for the child.
"Would you like that?" he asked.
"Yes. I'll bring Teddy," Elspeth told him.
"Fine enough," Gold told her and watched the pretty child daintily eat her food. Damn Shivat! You did make yourself into a precious little mini-Belle. You knew I wouldn't be able to walk away from you. He folded his hands, thinking, not sure how best to bring up the topic.
"Elspeth?" he finally began. "Would you like to be my little girl?"
"I am," she told him guilelessly.
"Well, this would be official. I'd be your daddy. You'd be my daughter." He waited.
"I am," she told him again.
"So you're all right with this?" he asked.
"Yes. You be my daddy?"
"Yes. I have some paperwork to finish, but yes, I'll be your daddy."
"And Miss Belle be my mommy?" Elspeth asked.
He froze a moment, then looked over at Belle. She looked back at him her eyes twinkling with unexpressed amusement. She was enjoying this.
"Maybe," he answered slowly. "In time. Miss Belle can't be your mommy right now, because she's not my wife," he tried to explain things.
"Why not?" Elspeth pursued the issue.
"Because . . . Miss Belle and I . . . well, we haven't . . . we're not . . . I mean . . . "
He stopped. He closed his eyes a moment and then confessed, "Because I haven't found just the right time to ask her yet."
"Ooooh," Elspeth responded. Apparently his answer made sense to the child.
He pushed back from the table, "Great. We'll clean up from breakfast and I need to get down to my shop and finish with that cleanup."
Belle leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Why don't Elspeth and I clean up here and then join you later in the shop?"
"That would be fantastic," Gold told her and because a quick kiss wasn't enough for him he caught her by the neck and kissed her on the mouth.
Elspeth was shaking her head and had covered her eyes.
+ + + + + More Shopping
Eventually Belle and Elspeth made it down to the shop. Belle had attired herself in her usual skirt and tank-top combination with an added long sweater to protect her against the still brisk, cold winds that swept through Asheville. She had put Elspeth in some pink and white striped leggings and a long pink sweater top.
"Ashley is right behind us. She's going to take Elspeth with her so she can get some new shoes," Belle told Gold. "She'll call me when I can come and get her."
"Ashley?" he said. "Yeah, she's working at Tops Shoes now, isn't she? I guess Elspeth will be all right with her," he said considering the young fire-witch's style choices. Should be all right, Ashley usually dresses like she's twelve. She should be able to relate to a three-year-old.
Ashley was wearing black pants and a simple black top but, as befitted someone working at a shoe store, some clever heeled laced-up boots.
"So this is Elspeth!" she greeted the child grinning at her. "Miss Belle says you need some new shoes."
Elspeth glanced at Belle then back to Ashley, nodding somberly.
Belle introduced her, "Elspeth, this is my friend Ashley. She works at an awesome shoe store and she's going to help you find some everyday shoes, some boots and maybe a pair of dress-up shoes."
"Shoes?!" Elspeth looked at the plain Maryjanes she was wearing.
"Oh darling. I've got some really nice shoes in mind. Do you mind walking with me?" Ashley asked her.
Elspeth looked at Belle. "When you get back, we'll go get some lunch," Belle promised her.
Elspeth considered, evidently evaluating Ashley and deciding if she was comfortable enough to go out with the young woman.
"Otay," she answered and held out her hand to Ashley.
"Here's your coat," Belle handed her the pink pouf she had gotten the child the day before.
"Got your number," Ashley called back to Belle as she led Elspeth out the door to walk down the couple of blocks to the well-known shoe store.
Belle watched her go.
"You all right?" Gold asked her.
"I guess. I . . . maybe I should have gone with them?"
"She'll be fine with Ashley. She's not going to let anything happen to my daughter," Gold assured her.
"No, I suppose not," Belle was twisting her mother's necklace between her fingers – a nervous habit that had recently re-emerged.
Gold saw the action. "Belle, about your mother . . . ." he began.
+ + + + + News
"Well, well, well . . ." Cogsworth was on the telephone. "Yes, of course . . . His Majesty will be most pleased . . . Certainly . . . I'll be letting him know immediately . . . Yes, I do want you to keep watching . . . Yes, yes . . . Call me with any updates."
Cogsworth hung up the phone and quickly made his way to His Majesty's bedroom. He knew that Maurice would want to know this information right away.
He tapped on the door.
Maurice opened the door himself. He was dressed in some simple pull-on sleep pants and an oversized t-shirt. Looking at him, a person would not recognize him as the scion of a long line of clever, talented rulers. He looked very ordinary, an older man with a thinning hairline, perhaps some of the muscle of his youth having gone soft. He still had a commanding presence but his trials with his beloved daughter had taken their toll. He often looked tired.
"Yes, Cogsworth?" he greeted the head of his police force, knowing that the man would never have disturbed his sleep if there wasn't something of substance to share.
"We have the address of the place she is staying . . . with the elusive Dr. or Mr. Gold. He seems to own the building. There are multiple tenants that stay in the building. Seems to be a respectable place. The tenants are employed, some of them work for the police department or the mayor's office." He wanted the king to know right away that they didn't think that Belle was with a pimp or some other type of unsavory character.
"I want to go and see her," Maurice announced.
"But sire? You can't just pack up and go to America," Cogsworth protested.
"Why not? It's not like I'm abandoning my country. There's not a crisis going on. You'll be able to reach me by phone. I really don't want any of your people to approach her. I don't know her state of mind . . . how fragile she might be . . . how angry she might be. I need to be the one to reach out to her."
Cogsworth was sputtering, "But sire . . . this . . . what . . . how?"
"I can go to the U.S. using my given name, Maurice du Francais le Coronet Roi, perhaps shorten it to Maurice French. I can get a passport in that name and, what else will I need? A credit card perhaps, for expenses?"
"Sire, I'm not so sure," Cogsworth was scandalized.
"I'm not a serious target for assassins or terrorists. I'm sure with minimal security I shall be perfectly safe," Maurice reassured his officer. "Can you arrange for the necessary paperwork and secure a plane to Paris and from there to this place . . . what is it? Asheville. I'm going to Asheville."
Cogsworth managed to restrain himself. If it had been his choice, he would have sent over several of his best men and had them locate the princess and take her into . . . well, he would have called it protective custody. He sighed. What Maurice wanted to do had all the earmarks of a disaster.
Nonetheless, this was his king and it was his daughter that all the concern was about. Cogsworth would do his best to comply.
+ + + + + The Fae
"What about my mother?" Belle asked.
"How did she die?" Gold asked.
"I don't know the details and, of course, I have no memory of her or her death. I was much too young. I was told she became very ill and . . . just died."
"Where was she from?"
"I don't know. I know she wasn't from Avonleigh, but other than that, I don't know."
"How did she and your father meet?"
"He was on a good will tour of Europe and met her in Paris. I gather it was love at first sight, a whirlwind romance. They were married and nine months later I was born."
"You don't have any pictures of her, do you?" he asked.
"There are some available. Probably on line. I don't have any with me – of course," Belle told him. "Why are you asking me about her? What do you know, what do you think you know?" she asked him.
"Well," he began slowly. "It took me a moment and actually it was Jefferson who first recognized it – he's better at that type of thing than I am, but I . . . we . . . realized that you have a great deal of Fae blood in you."
"Fairy blood?" she asked. "That would be why I have a problem with iron. Is that where the Empathy talent comes from?"
"The potential for talent likely comes from both of your parents – a lot of people in Avonleigh are talented or, at least, have latent abilities. Your father has some of the Empathic gift, I think. But Belle, Empathy is an extremely rare talent, less than one per generation. It's not understood and, I think, it's probably less appreciated than it should be. I know I've been surprised at how powerful you are several times. At first, I just thought of you as someone who could just read feelings. I don't think I realized that you can get at people's motivations, their desires, their fears, everything with an emotional undertone. A telepath, like Emma, reads thoughts but these thoughts, like as oft not, are not colored with their emotional states. You seem to be able to convince people of things, you can put people at ease. We can shield our thoughts but we have far less control over our emotions."
"So why me?"
"Why is one person talented and another not? I have no idea," he shared. "And why this person gets this ability and this other person gets that. No idea."
"Are powers inherited?"
"Sometimes but they can sprout up spontaneously too."
"So knowing my talent won't help me figure out who my mother was," Belle said sadly.
"Probably not. But knowing that she was likely one of the Fae, well, that does narrow things down."
Belle perked up. "Does it? How?"
"Belle, if your mother was Fae then she . . . " Gold stopped and looked down. He collected his thoughts and continued, "Belle, the Fae sometimes, to amuse themselves, will consort with a human. They will sometimes get pregnant and have a half-Fae, half-human child. But they get bored easily and tired of mortal life."
"So they die?" Belle asked, sorrow evident in her voice.
"Die? Oh no, they more likely to fake their death and abandon spouse and child," Gold told her in a rush.
Belle stood quietly. "Fake their death?" she repeated.
"I don't know that your mother did, but it's unusual for the Fae to get sick. It's even more unusual for one of them to actually die."
"So," Belle managed to sit down. "My mother could still be alive." She said it flatly without any of the powerful emotions washing over her. Somehow this made sense.
Gold nodded slowly. "I don't know, Belle, but yes, it's possible she's still alive.
"Why didn't she contact me when I first start to manifest my talents? Everyone was thinking I was mentally ill," Belle asked.
"Because the Fae are the most self-absorbed, self-righteous, self-involved creatures that have ever existed," Gold explained in a rush. "They look down on humans, profess not to be slaves to their emotions – as they think humans are – although emotions are clearly just as powerful in propelling their behavior as they are for us."
"Would a picture of my mother help? I don't have any, but I think if we go on-line we might be able to find a copy of the royal family's portrait," Belle told him.
"Excellent idea. Doesn't Emma have a computer?"
Belle nodded. "We can go and check it after lunch," she told him and then flitted off to continue her cleanup duties.
+ + + + Watchers
Archie came in mid-morning. He looked around and saw that Belle was engaged in one of the back rooms. He obviously had something on his mind. Gold saw that Archie was trying to be sure that what he had to share would be for his ears only and suggested that he and Archie step into the backroom.
"What's on your mind?" Gold asked him.
Archie looked at his feet¸ quite nervous. "I probably should have gotten to you earlier about this but there was so much else going on," he confessed.
Gold waited
"You're being watched," Archie told him.
Gold considered, "By whom . . . or what?"
"I'm not sure exactly. They're human. They don't seem to be threatening which is why I didn't immediately come to you. But they are being persistent and then yesterday, it was evident that they were watching Miss Belle."
That got Gold's attention.
"What do these people look like?" he asked Archie.
"Well dressed, suits, sunglasses," Archie hesitated. "I'd guess they were policemen rather than thuggees. They're just watching."
"Approach one will you. Ask him for directions," Gold suggested.
"Why, I mean, what am I looking for?" Archie asked.
"To see if they speak English with an accent," Gold told him.
So, he thought, Maurice was moving in. If he timed it right . . .
+ + + + + Selecting Shoes
Elspeth was having a great time. Ashley had taken her to the children's department and measured her foot. She then brought out about ten different shoes for the child to try on. Elspeth found some mirrors that were close to the floor that just reflected her feet – and she was prancing and dancing around in front of the mirror in each pair that Ashley put on her.
Most often, Elspeth pronounced each pair as, "Pretty." Ashley pinched her toes to be sure there was the right amount of space. She questioned Elspeth to be sure the shoes were comfortable. She looked closely to be sure the shoes fit well and then decided on which pairs were best for the child.
"All righty Elspeth. I think you will need a pair of these boots as we're likely to get a couple more snows before it's spring."
Elspeth nodded, "Like them," she said about the pink boots.
"Me too," Ashley agreed with her. "And which of these sneakers do you like?" and she held up three pair that had passed the fit test.
Elspeth bit her lip much like Ashley had seen Belle do when she was perplexed. Finally the child pointed to a pretty multi-colored pair (passing up the pair that lit up and the pair of solid pink with sparkles).
"Excellent," Ashley complimented the child's choice. Elspeth beamed.
"Now," Ashley put out some shiny black shoes that would do for dress wear. "What do you think?"
Elspeth screwed up her face. "Like these," she pointed to another pair of matte leather shoes with an ankle strap and a large black bow on them.
Ashley considered. "Let me get your size in those then. We'll try them on and see." After she brought them back and had Elspeth try them on, Ashley wasn't convinced they were the best buy.
"I think the shiny ones are better," she told the child.
"No," insisted Elspeth.
Ashley was good with animals and managed to channel that skill to assessing little Elspeth. The child was determined.
"Tell you what. I'll put both pairs aside and we'll ask Miss Belle to help decide. What do you think of that?"
Elspeth considered. She sighed. "All right," she agreed slowly. Elspeth, by herself, put her new sneakers on while Ashley fished her phone out of her pocket to call Belle and let her know they were finished. Ashley glanced down at Elspeth's feet.
"Oh darling. You have those shoes on the wrong feet," she told the child.
"But these are the only feet I have," Elspeth protested.
+ + + + Late Morning
Belle got the call from Ashley about eleven thirty. Elspeth was ready . . . well, mostly. There was a shoe problem. Belle let Gold know that she was going to pick up the child.
"Think about where you want to take your daughter for lunch," she told him.
"You aren't going with us?" he asked, momentarily panicked.
"I think some father-daughter time is needed," she told him with a smile.
Great, he thought.
+ + + + Compromise
Belle found a disgruntled Elspeth and a frustrated Ashley when she got to the shoe store.
"We are in disagreement about which black dress shoe is the best," Ashley explained. "Her everyday sneakers and the snow boots - no problems."
"Well, let's see these shoes," Belle said.
Ashley brought out the two pairs. It was obvious that Elspeth wasn't really happy with either pair. "How about something different?" she suggested. "Was there another pair of shoes you liked?"
Elspeth nodded.
"What?" Ashley asked her. "You hadn't told me!"
"I didn't think you would let me get them," Elspeth confessed.
"Which ones?" Belle asked her.
And Elspeth pointed to some sparkly silver shoes.
"Elegant," Belle told her. "Certainly party shoes." The shoes were essentially Maryjanes with a strap and a white net bow. "Let's see if they have your size," and Belle nodded to Ashley.
Elspeth was ecstatic. The shoes were available and they fit.
Ashley sighed. "I guess every girl should have a pair of sparkly shoes. I've got a pair myself that are clear with a little glitter – they look like they're made of glass."
"Now we'll have to look for a dress to match," Belle remarked.
"I got these for when Daddy and Miss Belle get married," Elspeth announced.
Ashley looked at Belle.
"I have no idea," Belle said.
+ + + + Lunch
Gold was waiting for the two when they got back to the shop. Elspeth showed off her new sneakers and opened the boxes to show him the boots and the sparkly shoes.
"Excellent choices," he commended them. "Now, Miss Elspeth will you accompany me to lunch. I was thinking The Soda Fountain," he said.
"Yes, Daddy," Elspeth answered and held out her hand to him.
"You two have fun," Belle told them. "Bring me back something, please."
"Will do," Gold promised and nervously set out with his new daughter.
Elspeth chatted all along their walk. She talked about her new bedroom, some of the books that Auntie Zelena had read to her, how pretty her new sparkly shoes were, how much she liked Miss Belle.
He had thought Belle talked a lot. He was wondering how Elspeth managed to breathe with all the talking she was doing. He managed to give her the occasional grunt of affirmation but thought that, even if he had said nothing, she wouldn't have been deterred.
When they got to The Soda Fountain, Elspeth wanted to sit at the counter on a stool, rather than in one of the more comfortable chairs at a table. He had to lift her up but not before taking off her coat which he set on an adjacent stool.
"What would you like?" he asked her as he perused the menu that was up on the wall above the counter.
"What dey got?" she asked him.
"Well, they have some sandwiches. There's a fried bologna, a grilled cheese, an egg salad, a chicken salad, a hot dog and a peanut butter and jelly."
"Peanut butter and jelly," Elspeth spoke up.
"What side? They have chips, Fritos, potato salad, cole slaw, macaroni salad, and something called a pineapple-walnut delight. You can also get hummus or pimiento cheese with carrots and celery or soup. Let's see, they have chicken noodle today."
"I want pineapple-walnut delight and carrots and celery," she told him.
"Of course you do. Hummus or pimiento cheese with the carrots and celery?" he asked.
"No," she told him.
Gold just sighed.
When the waitress came up, she nodded at Gold who was an occasional patron.
"And who is this cutie?" she asked Gold.
"This is my daughter. She's just recently come to live with me," he told her.
"I Elspeth," the child spoke up.
"Well, you are gorgeous. Out with your daddy for some lunch?"
Gold ordered for the child (getting the hummus rather than the pimiento cheese) and got a turkey sandwich with potato salad for himself.
He watched the child. There was just no trace of the darkness of the Lady Shivat that he could sense. She seemed like a sweet little girl, generally happy, generally cooperative.
When the waitress brought their food, Elspeth gave her a nice little 'tank ooo.' Nice manners.
He could have done worse for a child, he thought. He thought it likely her powers would emerge as she matured but right now she was as helpless as any other three year old.
She ate through her sandwich, the vegetable sticks and pineapple-walnut delight, cleaning her plate.
"Would you like to stop at the bookstore on the way back to the shop?" he asked her. "We might find a storybook you'll like." He went ahead and ordered another turkey sandwich with macaroni salad to go for Belle.
Her eyes lit up. "Really? I like stor-rees," she told him.
He helped her down, put her coat back on her and they went on back up to Haywood Street to walk to the bookstore. He watched Elspeth as she carefully went through the available children's books. He selected a collection of classic fairy tales and, at Elspeth's request, a Skippy Jon Jones book and a Llama Llama book.
"Tank you daddy," she said. He couldn't help but feel warmed.
"What a nice little girl," the checkout woman told him. She was familiar with Gold who would come in from time to time for coffee and often would pick up a best seller. His tastes tended to run towards non-fiction, often political tomes.
"She's my daughter," he explained. "She's recently come to live with me," giving the same explanation as he had at the soda fountain.
"How nice," the woman replied.
It was nice. He felt that he got nearly as many admiring glances when he was out with his little daughter as when he was out with Belle (who attracted more than her fair share of attention). Different people admiring him for sure, but nonetheless, it was quite pleasant to be out with the child.
When he got back to The House, Belle was waiting and gladly took the take out lunch off his hands. "Well?" she asked.
"It was nice," he said grumpily.
"Daddy bought me books," Elspeth held up her bag of goodies.
"Oooh, we'll have to pick out which ones we can read through tonight." She turned to Gold. "I talked with Emma. She said it was fine to use her computer and gave me the password to get in. She said to plop Elspeth in front of the set and tune it to Nickelodeon or Cartoon or something. She thought that would keep her occupied. I just need to call Jefferson and he'll shop-sit."
Gold was beginning to feel nervous about this. Would they be able to find a picture of Belle's mother? Would he recognize her? He knew quite a few of the Fae – didn't like any of them, except perhaps Tink. Yeah, he liked Tink. She was all right.
Belle seemed quite calm as they went up the single flight of stairs and went into Emma's apartment.
It was messier than Belle remembered it. Then she realized that some of the clothing scattered about was not Emma's. Some was likely Zelena's but some appeared to belong to a man – Jefferson's?
Gold caught this also but said nothing. Belle first set up Elspeth watching some animated Nickelodeon show. Then she turned to the computer. She got it turned on and got to the Google window. She typed in "Avonleigh Royal Family, Queen Miranda." Then she hit "images."
Some blurred images came up. He recognized a younger King Maurice and a very young Belle. She and Elspeth were dead ringers for each other. There was a woman standing in some of the pictures but her face was blurred out in so many of the pictures.
Privately Gold thought Fairy magic. The woman they were looking at was petite, like his Belle. Dark brown hair, like his Belle. Couldn't see much else.
"There," Belle announced. "Got a good one. This is a picture of the royal family portrait done at my Christening. I don't remember it of course, but I remember the picture hanging in the palace."
Gold peered over her shoulder. Yes, dark hair, curling down her shoulders, pale skin, piercing brown eyes shining with a deep intelligence, a faint gentle smile. Yes, this was Belle's mother.
His blood went cold.
Thanks so much to those readers who graciously took their time in this busy time of the year to read and review (so much appreciated): Spacecats (chapter 32), RaFire, MyraValhallah, jamie. wan. kanobi, Robin4, Grace5231973 (chapter 32 & 33), Erik'sTrueAngel, orthankg1, Aletta-Feather (chapter 31 & 32), Chauchi, deweymay, EevyLynn, jewel415, Anne Andrews (Guest), karolprado, DruidKitty (chapter 19, 20, 21), Emospritelet, and CharlotteAshmore
NEXT: Belle's mother