BELLE was sure she had never been placed in a more precarious position than she was right now. She huffed in annoyance as she blew away a stray strand of hair that had gotten in her way as she cautiously tried to approach the Beast-Prince to get a look at his arm. He had not let her near him since entering the library and she was beginning to get worried that an infection in his wound was already starting to set in.
"Please let me see it," she coaxed in as soothing a voice as her frayed nerves would allow her to speak. She hoped if she could keep the Prince calm, the Beast-Prince would allow her to get a good look at his arm. "You're hurt. It needs tending. If you don't let me treat it, then your arm will become infected."
All she received by way of response was a low growl from deep within the Beast's broad furry chest.
"I'm fine, Belle. Don't trouble yourself. I have suffered worse. Just ask my father, I'm sure the man would only be too delighted to tell you of the few times I misbehaved under his presence," the Prince growled.
Belle frowned and shook her head, not convinced by his dismissal, and was equally disturbed to learn that the Duke would dare lay a hand against his own son in anger, but she could see where the Prince got his temper from.
"I beg your pardon, Your Highness, but I highly doubt you're going to be fine. You've been swaying this entire time. You can barely walk and you've lost blood," she blurted out, her words clumsy and blunt.
Belle's lips parted in shock. She was almost tempted to ask the Beast what 'worse' meant for him, and quickly decided against it, though she wondered if it had anything to do with his transformations or his father. Wintry blue eyes met hers. Without warning, he swayed and suddenly reached toward her arm.
He shivered, both from the cold and from the sudden contact of his ice-cold paw against her warm skin.
Belle eyed the Beast wearily as she did her best to help give him some semblance of stability as she wound an arm around his waist, the other grasping his injured arm around her shoulder as she attempted to guide him towards the nearest armchair in front of the fire.
She was grateful a fire had already been lit in the hearth and made a mental note in the back of her mind to thank whichever servant tended to the library earlier.
With barely even a step taken, the Prince staggered and collapsed in an ungainly heap upon the chair. His blue eyes widened in realization as his voice came to him in a hoarse and reedy little whisper.
Finding some sort of inner strength she did not know she had, Belle nodded and settled him as best she could back against the large chair. In any other circumstance, the Prince might have allowed his maid to do with him as she pleased, taking comfort in the woman's tender touch and even teasing the girl for it.
But in his current state of physical vulnerability and his lack of any mental preparedness for the young farm girl to touch him, he managed to grab a frail wrist.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" the Beast seethed, his blue eyes turning cerulean in his anger.
Belle had the impudence to raise a thin eyebrow at him as she sighed. "I'm helping you, Your Highness, as I have said. If I cannot stop the bleeding, your wound will only get worse. I have seen this before once, with another man from the village Gaston picked a fight with. You may punish me later for going off into the woods without you, but now, I need you to cooperate with me, Beast, please."
Belle's pleading dark eyes searched the Prince's until the Beast met her eyes and merely grunted, giving her an affirmative curt nod as she settled him into the chair.
Belle bit down on her lip as she shrugged out of her coat and rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, staring horrified at the mangled bloodied mess Gaston had made of his arm.
"Oh, this is all my fault, I—I never should have left, it's my fault you're hurt, Prince, I'm sorry," she bemoaned as her wide eyes glanced over the slash markings on his arm that she knew would scar, no matter how much she was able to help him.
The Beast huffed in indignation as he instantly looked away from his maid's stricken and tear-filled gaze, furrowing his brows, humiliated. The absolute audacity of his prickly little maid. He scowled, angry, and was unable to keep the angry bark out of his voice as he flung venom at Belle in a moment of self-pity towards his situation.
"Your 'help' doesn't involve blatantly staring at me, does it? You want to help me, so help me. Stop gaping." The angry bark to the Beast-Prince's hoarse voice immediately caused Belle to snap out of her reverie and come back to herself as she grabbed a clean cloth she had managed to swipe from one of the spare storage closets on their way to the library, before draping her coat over his lap.
Gingerly, she knelt by his chair and wordlessly held up the rag after she'd wrung it out in a basin of hot water and set the bowl by the fire to continue heating. She shot him a pained look and tried to apologize with just her eyes for what she was about to do. When all the Beast did was stare, Belle sighed.
"I'm very sorry, Prince, but…this might sting a little. It cannot be helped, sir," she told him, and bit down on her lip. Belle hovered the damp rag over the bleeding wound, disbelief, and horror on her pretty face.
She exhaled a shaky breath and before her resolve could fail her, she pressed the rag as gently but firmly as she could to the Prince's wounded arm, nearly flinching at hearing the Beast let out a guttural roar like a dying animal and was nearly thrown back onto her rump on the floor as he thrashed.
The Beast looked up at Belle with a snarl on his lips that nearly made Belle recoil in disgust and fear.
"I told you it was fine! If you would just leave it alone, the pain would stop. Leave me, Belle, you'd be doing me a favor!" he shouted hoarsely.
Belle stomped her foot and stuck out her bottom lip in a slight pout, a thousand emotions overwhelming her at once as she realized she was not in the mood for his moods.
"No! No! It's a wonder you were even able to make it back here in one place. You're proving to me that you're stupid, Your Highness, to refuse my help, but you're lucky." Her eyes widened as she realized what she had said and clamped a hand over her mouth, surprised at her angry outburst.
She wondered where on earth she had acquired the gall to speak so candidly, and with the Prince himself no less, but it was already much too late to take back her angry words. Her comment made him pause and the Beast peeked open one eye to shoot her a rueful look as he quirked a brow in distrust.
"Why?" he growled angrily.
Belle sighed tiredly, and tucked a wisp of hair back behind her ear, annoyed at his suspicions of her aid.
"Because I'm going to help you, Your Highness, like it or not, you need me. Aside from your father, you have said it yourself that I am the only one to see you…like this," she murmured, a pink blush gracing her face embarrassedly as she waved a wild hand toward his monstrous form, trying not to look at his horns. "Please. Let me help. Please don't shut me out, sir." Her voice had turned soft and timid again.
The Beast remained silent for a long time, but his breathing had calmed and he did not flinch again when she moved closer and pressed the rag to the slash markings on his arm a second time. He winced but ground his teeth and did his best to remain still. Gingerly, his prickly little maid dunked the rag into the wooden bowl of hot water by her side and continued to dab at his arm once more, trying to do what she could to clean up most of the blood to assess whether or not his injured arm would need to be stitched.
The Beast watched Belle's actions intently, trying to spot any hint of treachery in her help, at any sign that she despised him, but all he could see was genuine concern in those almond-shaped dark eyes of his Belle's. He was pleased to find that after a while, his body had warmed considerably, and his shivering had mostly subsided. Watching Belle fret over him, he let out a haggard sigh and spoke softly.
"Thank you…Belle."
Belle immediately looked up from her work, surprised, just in time to see his eyes locking onto hers.
Her breath caught in her throat a bit at the intensity behind his eyes, and the way she swore his gaze almost softened.
She smiled, a faint pink blush finding her cheeks before she quickly looked back to his arm and flinched at the wounds that would most certainly scar, even with her helping him as she was now.
"…You're welcome. Um…can you feel anything? A-are you in any pain?" Belle stammered, suddenly too shy to speak as the Beast-Prince's gaze faltered.
"Thank God I cannot. Not anymore, thanks to your…help. But I think it's best that you do not tire yourself. I can manage it on my own from here," the Beast grunted and reached for a pile of the gauze wrappings that Belle had perched on one of the armrests of the chair, only for her to pull them out of his reach.
Belle smiled shyly at the disgruntled look the master of the castle shot her and ignored his quiet protests as she proceeded to lightly wrap his arm.
"For once, Your Highness, I think that you have surprised me. You are…not who I thought you were, and I'm glad," she murmured under her breath, another shy smile finding her face as she rose to her feet and headed towards the door of the library.
The Beast glowered, hating the sour mood returning to him as Belle began to walk away, taking her warmth and radiance with her that he wished he could selfishly trap in a little glass vial and keep it for himself.
"Oh, and monsieur, I will be back with some supper for you, I won't be gone long. Will you be alright here on your own for a while?"
Her dark brown eyes looked at the Beast inquisitively.
"Yes, that will suffice, Belle. Thank you. And be careful wandering the halls, the Duke is said to be arriving within the hour," he cautioned her softly.
Her third or fourth warning to stay away from his father, Belle realized.
He must really be something else, she thought to herself as she quickly turned on her heels and scampered out the doors of the library, leaving the Beast to watch Belle disappear.
The Prince blearily focused his gaze a few feet from himself, never taking his eyes off the door, wanting to witness the moment his maid reappeared.
He did not know how long he waited. He felt more than a little guilty when she returned bearing in her hands a heavily laden supper tray with a wooden crockery bowl from which a cloud of steam emanated.
As she gingerly approached, he felt his mouth water as he caught the delectable aroma of a stew. Belle perked up as he straightened his posture, doing his best to not flinch at the pain in his arm, though he knew she had seen the way he raked his claws down the sides of the arms of the chair he was now sitting in.
"The head chef made stew, are you hungry?" she asked as she moved closer to set his supper down.
"Anything sounds appetizing now after what that fool of a hunter did to my arm," the Beast grunted as he met a confused stare to which Belle instantly recoiled and reddened as she'd caught him staring.
He flinched as he quirked a brow at the girl, realizing he'd made his prickly maid uncomfortable and he'd not meant it.
"I hope that you did not meet my father on your way back from the kitchens," he grunted, managing a dry sarcastic laugh.
Belle shook her head. "No, sir, I didn't, I was very careful to ensure I was not followed," she told him truthfully and she was glad that she had not. Despite this, Belle could see that the dark purple bags underneath his eyes were prominent, and even underneath the fur that covered his face, he looked pale.
He soon met her confused gaze and tried to smile, though it came out as more of a pained grimace as he awkwardly moved to take the dinner Belle offered him.
"Your father doesn't happen to favor funny girls, does he? If he doesn't, then I have nothing to worry about," Belle asked, showcasing a small amount of dry humor of her own which almost set the Beast smiling. Meeting a confused stare, she instantly realized she had overstepped her place and reddened maddeningly, clamping a hand over her mouth as she shook her head to herself. "Forgive me, Your Highness, I-I shouldn't have said that! It's been such a long day a-and I did not expect Gaston to be out in the woods. Or Monsieur LeFou. Sir, I wish you'd let me go back, at least for Monsieur LeFou, if nothing else. I owe him. He is the reason I am here working as your maid, sir, please." But the Beast had not heard her last request as he was too busy focused on the farm girl's unexpected quip against the Duke.
"I dare say that is the first time that anyone has ever asked me that about my father," he snorted through his nose, managing a tired laugh, though his blue eyes twinkled as he met Belle's stricken gaze and almost smiled, alleviating her fears that she had grossly overstepped. "Regardless, I appreciate you staying with me, Belle, it is…very kind of you. I appreciate that you are here now. Any other would likely have fled, but not you." The Beast-Prince paused and eyed his prickly maid with a guarded expression.
"It was the least that I could do, Your Highness. You put yourself in Gaston's way to save my life. If it weren't for you, I…I don't know what would have become of me," she whispered, her face turning pale at the thought she did not want to voice, for fear that would become real if she were not more careful.
The Beast was grateful the girl could not see his blush and for once, he found himself grateful for his curse and the fur that covered his face and limbs that came along with his transformations.
"I did what needed to be done. I gave you my word that you would be protected as long as you remain my maid, Belle, and I have not yet taken in my words. I meant them then and now," he said softly.
"You should give yourself more credit where due, Your Majesty. You saved my life, which is no small feat, sir. Not that I'm telling you what to do or anything. Here I am rambling again, I should go and fetch you a blanket or a pillow, are you warm enough? Will you be sleeping here tonight instead of the West Wing?" she asked.
The Beast had to stop himself from chuckling at the prickly farm girl's nervousness.
"I will, yes, thank you, Belle. And as for going back for your friend, he will be fine. He's strong enough."
She smiled. "Hmm, two 'thank you's' from you in less than an hour. I think I could get used to it. I'm glad that you are proving yourself to be different. Or are trying to be better," she added with a pause.
Belle's eyes darted around the vast library skittishly before meeting his and quickly turned on her heels and scurried off down the corridor to fetch him as many blankets as she could.
The Prince was perplexed at her behavior but not enough to dwell on it, as white-hot flares of agony continued to shoot up and down his injured arm. His entire body had begun to ache and even as he ate the dinner that was now growing cold that Belle had brought him, he felt more miserable than he had before. Belle's mannerisms began to remind him of whenever he had been around Father on a bad day, as a young boy. His maid was proving herself to be a kind and gentle woman, if not severely naïve.
She was petite compared to the witch's statuesque goddess-like height and he contemplated Belle's shy smile and awkward phrasing whenever the maid spoke her mind. She had only been serving as his maid a few weeks now and already, Belle was leaving an impression on him, one he was not sure what to make of. He frowned to himself as he mulled over the situation with Belle and how to hide her from Father, whenever the Duke was set to arrive tonight. He prayed it would not be until much, much later.
There was still the matter of how he hoped to conceal Belle from him throughout the duration of his stay.
He was still pondering the best place for her to remain hidden, one if she would assent to be kept locked away in the dungeons even for two or three days at most.
If the few passages within the walls of the castle that led to the outskirts of the perimeter of the estate in the event of a siege when she returned would be enough to hide her away from Father for a few days.
"Was it that bad, Belle? The hunter that cornered you in the woods. It seemed he cares for you," he asked her, blurting his question out of the void in a much more soft and subdued voice than he was used to hearing, and for a moment, he wasn't even sure that he himself had spoken at all. He was so caught up in what he thought her answer would be, that he did not hear the seeping jealousy in his tone now.
Belle eyed him bashfully out of the corner of her lowered gaze as she approached his chair reverently, at least three blankets cradled in her arms carefully.
She blanched as she realized the Beast's gaze was drawn to a scar on her right knuckle that she'd gotten one fateful morning when attempting to calm Gaston down from one of his rages when LeFou had accidentally said the wrong thing and humiliated him. Gaston had wrenched his arm out of her grasp as she'd tried to pull him away and calm the man down, and she had accidentally wound up bruising her knuckles against Papa's cart that he used to hitch Phillipe to when he would venture to the fairs.
There was no concern nor pity in the Prince's voice, just curiosity. Or if he did feel sorry at her predicament that she had escaped by coming here, the Beast hid it well.
She stiffened as she set the pile of blankets down on a nearby footstool and straightened her posture, folding her hands over themselves as if she were embarrassed.
"Was it that bad?" he questioned, wanting an answer to his question and he felt himself grow annoyed when he realized his maid was purposefully avoiding looking at him. Slowly, however, Belle turned to face him with an icy stare and pursed her lips, the blood rushing to her cheeks as she began to speak of the trauma that drove her away from her home, any friends that she might have, to come work for him.
"Gaston mocked my father, monsieur, called him horrible names and made a mockery of his inventions. He rallied the whole town against my father and as a result, we were shunned, save for Gaston's repeated attempts to ask for my hand. You've seen his temper firsthand for yourself. I had to go," she whispered in a trembling voice, fighting back the onset of tears. She looked away to compose herself. "No, Your Highness, I suppose to answer your question, it wasn't all 'that bad'," she sniffed angrily.
The Beast breathed out a breath made to cool his temper as he rolled his neck to crack it as he lifted his gaze and glared at his maid.
"If he was truly so terrible, Belle, then why did I catch you in the woods trying to flee? Were you trying to run from the monster, is that the reason?" he snarled, a harsh bark to his voice that made Belle look up in surprise.
"No, I—of course not," she stammered, taken aback by the bitterness and sense of defeat she sensed within the master of the castle. "I-I made a promise to a friend, the other man who was in the woods with LeFou, to attend his wedding tomorrow. I was hoping with the commotion surrounding the Duke's visit that I could be there and back again before anyone even noticed I was missing. Before you noticed, I mean," she confessed, the truth leaving her lips much easier than she thought, which surprised her.
Belle sighed and looked over her shoulder at one of the massive crystal windows, now speckled with snowflakes.
She chewed on her lips as she thought for a moment, and it was then that an idea came to her. "You could…come with me tomorrow, Your Highness, if you won't let me go alone," she described, speaking slowly as she tried to halt the urgency of her thoughts, but it was too late to take back her words.
She could see even out of the corner of her lowered gaze that she had the Beast's attention, at a minimum. Eager, she continued. She was surprised to find herself hoping he would say yes.
Perhaps if he came with her, and got a look at the villagers he ruled over, his view of people who lived differently than he would change.
"Come with me, Beast, if you feel the need to protect me," she offered, almost hopefully.
The Beast narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
He could not be sure, but he thought his maid almost sounded hopeful. He hoped that it was not merely his mind playing yet another cruel trick on him and making him hear what he thought he wanted.
"Protect you in your hovel of a village?" he sneered, crinkling his nose in disgust as he could think of so many other things he would rather be doing than attending a peasant wedding. "What other purpose would I have there tomorrow if I were to say yes, girl?" he grunted. His expression darkened in annoyance, causing a chill to run down Belle's spine and her stomach to churn in worry.
Nevertheless, she was able to raise her chin and stare defiantly at her injured master.
"I made a promise to a man, Your Highness, and I intend to keep my word. I promised him I'd be there," she pleaded, it was the only thing she could think to say that might supplicate the Beast a little.
The Beast remained silent for several long minutes, his blue eyes going flat the way an animal's did when trying to decide how best to deal with its fear.
For a moment, Belle thought the Prince was going to say no and offer some cutting insult to her for daring to have the audacity to suggest she would be returning home with or without him, but such an insult never came. He looked away from her for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, and when he did regain his voice, she detected the annoyance within, but she held her breath and waited eagerly.
"We leave at dawn, Belle, and if you are late, we are not going. It's already enough of a risk," he told her in a flat voice. "I do this for you on the condition that you stay by my side, always," he emphasized through gritted teeth as he glared at her. He smirked in triumph and smug victory at the astonished look in Belle's dark eyes. Her lips parted as if she meant to speak, to thank him, but nothing came out.
Taking that as a good sign that he had stunned her into silence, the Beast continued.
"And I fully expect that you will give me something in exchange for this kindness. A favor owed."
Belle swallowed hard. "Anything you ask, Your Highness," she told her, regretting her words the moment they left her lips, but it was too late to take them back, and she was just elated he had agreed to come.
If nothing else, perhaps this would quiet his anger and annoyance that she'd run into the Duke. She suspected was bound to happen sooner than later, but she was not about to say that to him when he was already riled up. She shivered as his grin widened.
"I like it, Belle. Keep your promise. I will hold you to that. But let it be known that I'm only suffering through this disgusting peasant's wedding tomorrow because I despise that look on your face any longer, mademoiselle."
Belle blinked owlishly up at the Prince as she hovered by the door.
"What look?" she questioned, furrowing her brows in confusion.
She did not understand, but when the Prince did not respond, she let her shoulders sag in disappointment that he seemed to be playing this one relatively close to his chest.
"A-are you sure, Your Highness, about this?" she asked, still needing to be sure as she stared wide-eyed into his eyes. "How would you explain your presence there to your father should he happen to notice you…with me?" she whispered. "You would really risk losing everything, just so I can go?"
Belle heard the Beast swallow but she did not avert her gaze.
"You are mistaken, Belle, if you think I have anything left to lose. What was worth in my life, I have already lost when my mother passed? I've nothing left to lose by going with you. What more could Father do to me? I'm already such a disappointment in his eyes, what's one more insult? Let me worry about Father, as it is my duty to do so." He paused, licking his lips. "Again, you will not leave my side. I will go with you, but you simply cannot traverse those woods on your own, Belle, do you hear me?" he demanded. "We are not arguing about this and this condition is not a negotiation, Belle. You will do this."
"Yes," Belle immediately answered, nodding her head, and with a curt nod of his head and a wave of his hand, she was dismissed, their conversation over.
Belle quietly slipped out of the library and gingerly closed the door behind her and leaned against the wooden frame, her heart racing wildly against her ribs that it was almost painful.
A part of her wondered if the Prince felt as lonely as she did. He seemed as alone in the heart as she was when Papa had died, but Belle could sense that he was trying to be kinder towards her, perhaps out of necessity or something more, she couldn't say.
Belle sighed softly, letting the built-up tension that had been gathering on her shoulders ever since the Beast had whisked her away to the library dissipate around her like a tidal wave.
Belle was beginning to feel disturbed by just how much power the Prince held over her. She knew she had to be smart going forward about him, his father, and anything else that might come her way, she thought she could handle, provided that the Prince did not have too much influence over her.
If only she could have known, that he already did. He had already crept his way into her heart and was making himself right at home, though Belle herself was not aware of this and would not be for a bit.
What had transpired in the woods was careless and entirely her fault that both the Prince and Gaston were injured as a result of her telling no one her intentions, but now, she knew that she owed the Prince his favor owed and more.
She appreciated at a minimum that he seemed to be attempting to behave kindlier towards her than when she had first arrived in the castle.
That, she realized as she slowly made her way back to her bedroom, was good enough for her, and she made a silent vow going forward to be kinder to him. Her situation would never improve if she did not at least plan to try to make an effort to be gentler towards the master of the castle.
But plans, as Belle had learned, have a way of going astray no matter what. And her plan went wrong almost from the start, starting from the moment she left the library and headed back to her room, not aware that a figure was skulking behind one of the marble pillars, watching her go, interested…
She did not know it at the time as she headed back to her rooms, that at the same time that a figure was following her, careful to stick to the cover of darkness, the Beast-Prince was sulking angrily within the library.
The Beast was currently summoning enough inner strength and courage to ask the farm girl to join him for dinner, as the precious prize that was owed to him for going with her tomorrow.