TENSION met the Prince immediately upon entering the West Wing. For a moment, Prince Adam stood by the closed door staring in a daze at his maid resting against a mountain of pillows at the bed's headboard. Her dark chocolate hair was matted in a striking contrast to such pale skin rendering her as white as a ghost and dark eyes.
She looked more dead than alive, but when she called him softly, the Prince was brought back to himself by the sound of Belle's shy sweet voice melting his heart. The Prince was jolted out of his awed staring at Belle upon hearing a truly pitiful whimper escape from her barely cracked lips. The Prince blinked and quickly came back to himself, angry at himself for ogling her when she was in such a vulnerable position and looked at Belle.
He found her weak, fatigued, and struggling to sit upright, but she was not making the progress for which she had hoped. Belle was attempting to push herself towards the pillow and winced in pain, clutching at her side.
Prince Adam wasted no time in rushing to her side.
"What are you doing?" he admonished Belle, almost sounding angry with her. She parted her lips as if to speak, but the Prince did not let Belle answer him. Instead, he continued trying to comfort her. "You're not to move a muscle for at least a month. The...the witch, who cursed me, she healed you, Belle, she told me outside you were not to be delved into too much anxiety or activity while your wounds heal," he told her in a firm voice. "That is what I am here for, and the servants." He tried to smile, though it felt strained as he helped ease Belle back down onto the bed sheets, and then sat beside her on the edge of the cot. "May I?" he asked, noticing her bandaged wound.
Only when Belle feebly nodded did the Prince gingerly lift her shift and examined the Enchantress's handiwork. Her wound had been stitched and cleaned, and whatever magic the witch Lenore had used on Belle was now emitting a faint golden glow of light that seemed to surprise Belle, but she was doing her best to contain her shock.
Belle regarded him woefully, her lower lip sticking out in a slight pout as he lowered her shift and draped the blanket over her once more.
"I-I'm not used to lying around, sir," she tried to argue her case softly. "Inactivity was never in my nature, Prince," she pouted, frowning as the Prince took her bandaged hand and held onto it gently.
"You need to let yourself heal, Belle," the Prince commanded, kissing her fingers, and holding onto her hand as tight as he dared. "Belle…?" The Prince spoke Belle's name in a shaking voice as he dared to scoot even closer to Belle's side. He watched as Belle's eyes which were cracked and red-rimmed at the edges began to brim with fresh salty tears.
There was reluctance from her, but eventually, Belle gave in and let herself wrap her arms around Adam's neck like the Prince was the only one she had left, and he knew with a sinking feeling in his heart, that he was.
Adam was dazed that she was even willing to hold him as she was now, but he made no move to pull away as he held her, Belle's coldness spilling through the layers of his undershirt and black doublet. He awkwardly patted her coarse brown hair as she sniffled on his shoulder, letting herself cry without restraint.
"Shh, Belle, it's all right now. You are safe, you'll be safe…"
Finally, they pulled apart and the Prince pulled back slightly to study Belle's expression.
He thought he saw the beginnings of a flicker of love spark to life behind Belle's eyes, but then she stared past the Prince and out the window, turning her head towards the left and purposefully avoiding his gaze as she spoke, her shy voice hoarse and waxy sounding from how sore her throat was.
"I should hate you, Your Highness," Belle spoke in a dry voice that did not sound like her at all. Her eyes never left the snowfall, her tone conveying absolutely nothing of whatever emotion she was currently feeling.
"Yes, Belle, you should," the Prince agreed in as equally hoarse a voice as Belle's, lowering his eyes, shamefaced.
"I-I should leave the castle as soon as I'm well enough to travel," Belle continued, speaking in too fast a voice, gazing still out the window, her dark eyes turning dull and lifeless. "I should swear that I won't ever even talk to you again," she said, lowering her voice an octave as it cracked.
The Prince could already feel his heart breaking. He knew that deep down, Belle was right. What else could he have possibly expected, that Belle would agree to stay, that she would eventually, in time, marry him? He had no right to hope for anything from Belle, given what had happened to her after he had so cruelly sent her away.
Prince Adam sat gravely by Belle's side, unable to speak, his fingers beginning to twitch as he itched to take Belle's hand and hold it, though he stopped himself from reaching for it, certain that she would not allow it.
Belle paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, and then forced herself to forge ahead.
"I should, Your Highness," she whispered, breathing out an almost defeated-sounding sigh that made Prince Adam look up in surprise, just in time to see her eyelids fluttering closed for a moment. "But after everything….I cannot."
The Prince felt a surge of hope in his chest swell to the point where his chest was almost painful as he raised his eyebrows as he looked up at Belle.
Surely, it was too much to hope that Belle would accept him and forgive him and take him back, and yet, Adam did.
Belle began to speak slowly, her pace a feeble effort to try to stop the tears that were forming behind her eyes from spilling over. "When you…when you sent me away, the things that you said to me, I-I was angry. I wished for nothing more than the ground beneath my feet in your castle's courtyard to open up and swallow me whole. I-I wished that you would stay a Beast forever, thinking it was no more and no less than you deserved," Belle wept.
"Belle, please," Prince Adam begged, wanting to tell Belle of the Duke's death, that his father would not be a threat to her or their happiness together, but Belle held up a bandaged hand, not letting him finish, her lips pursed in disappointment.
"Please," she continued desperately. "I-I need to say this." Only till the Prince nodded did Belle feebly continue speaking. Taking a deep breath, Belle forced herself to speak the truth she knew he needed to hear, regardless if she'd come to regret it later. "I…" She bit down on her bottom lip, hesitating, but she knew she had to say it. "I think that I might…love you, a-and I don't want to deny how I feel anymore."
Belle stared, watching as the Prince's face paled in shock, misinterpreting his stunned silence as disinterest on his part. Belle, humiliated, lowered her eyes, and wound her fingers around fistfuls of the thick blankets, desperately wishing her tears not to fall. Had the love she thought the two of them shared been wishful thinking on her part?
"You—you don't feel the same for me, do you," she questioned, though phrased like that, it sounded more like an accusation. Prince Adam was stunned into silence, nearly choking on his tongue, hardly daring to believe the three precious words she'd just uttered, wondering if it was a dream. "Then….why am I back at the castle, Prince? Why did you not return me to the village?" Belle questioned, the furrow of confusion between her brows deepening.
The desperation and hearing the crack in her voice as she fought back the tears that were swamping the back of her throat and forming a lump there was enough to break the Prince out of his stunned stupor.
"I-I brought you back because I love you," he pleaded, hoping he could convince her.
"You love me?" Belle's hoarse voice was hushed and barely a whisper. The Prince felt his heart soar at seeing the look of hope sparkle in her dark eyes, only for it to shatter into a million pieces as a cloud of anger flashed across her pale features and the edges of her mouth turned down in a frown. "But you sent me away!" she cried loudly.
The hurt in her voice was almost too much for him to bear, and the Prince knew then that he had to tell her the truth. He had not wanted to further cause Belle any stress or anxiety discussing the horrors that had plagued his mind as he'd sent Belle away when he realized that by staying, she was in grave danger.
But realizing that he had put her in even worse danger by sending her away and seeing her now in his bed, wounded, and searching for answers, Prince Adam knew he owed her the truth.
"Yes, Belle, I made a choice!" he shot back. "I chose you! I chose that you should be safe and free from my father's wickedness. I did not want you to suffer as the Enchantress had suffered at Father's hand and lusts all those years ago."
The Prince's heartfelt words confused Belle, and she stared at him, her lips parted slightly in shock and utter disbelief. The Prince continued, desperate for Belle to hear the truth.
"I chose that you should live and be untouched by Father's wickedness, I chose to send you away to keep you safe. He knew of my…of my feelings for you." Feeling a bit bold, the Prince moved to take Belle's bandaged hand in his and held it as tightly as he now dared. "He would have hurt you had you stayed, and we both know that, Belle."
His stomach lurched to imagine the fate she would have suffered at Father's hand.
"I couldn't let that happen, Belle," he admitted, his throat suddenly tightening as black spots snaked their way into his vision. For a moment, he felt dizzy and thought he might be ill. "Belle," he continued, her name leaving his lips as a pained gasp. "I…my father, he...he will not be a threat to your life anymore, Belle," he paused, hoping what he was about to confess to Belle would not taint how Belle thought him anymore in her eyes. "I…I killed him. The Duke. I-it was an accident, I-I didn't mean it to happen, I don't…" he trailed off as his breaths caught in his throat.
Belle's anger and hurt and confusion at being sent away from the castle melted away into something much quieter and sadder as she looked at the despair brimming behind the Prince's burning deep blue eyes.
"I-I'm sorry," Belle whispered hoarsely, horrified. "I…I can't imagine what that must have been like b-but…" She hesitated, trailing off, unsure whether to speak the truth and then realized that, like it or not, Prince Adam needed to hear the truth, no matter how painful. "Your father was a man too far gone, sir, you could not have saved him," she whispered, not bothering to keep the hatred out of her voice as visions of the Duke's face flashed in her mind.
Belle wanted to steer the conversation towards his father and how he must be feeling, in part wanting to give the Prince the opportunity if he wanted to express his feelings, to not keep them hidden and bottled to the point where they exploded. But in truth, was she yet ready to revisit the fact that the Prince had confessed his feelings, that he claimed to love her? No. She didn't think so. She was sure his words were just a pretense, and she was to be sent away again. Best to wax and seal off the hope of a life with the Prince now in her mind and not let herself think it.
But she was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of the Prince's voice reaching her ears, forcing her back to the present.
"Please, Belle, don't." Prince Adam struggled to find his voice as it trembled, and it sounded like the man was on the verge of tears, perhaps even hysteria. "I…I know the things my father did, all right? I know what sort of man the Duke is. Was," he snapped back, flinging venom at Belle in a moment of self-pity, forgetting himself.
But he flinched the moment the words were out of his mouth and he saw Belle look away in hurt and surprise upon hearing how rough he sounded. He let out a shuddering sigh and tried again.
"But Father, he…he was all that I had left of my family. All that I had left. Now, I don't."
"What happened was not your fault," Belle insisted, her voice cracking as she fought back tears of her own to see the Prince in such despair, her anger towards the Prince at sending her away forgotten.
She wanted to heal the man's hurts, that they could heal together, she wanted to give him that missing piece of affection she knew he lacked in his life.
"It was an accident. I know you wouldn't have hurt your father on purpose. You…you lost control." She nodded, sure of herself. "But… I think the Duke would have continued manipulating you until you could no longer take it, and you're strong, Your Highness. Stronger than you give yourself credit for. In here," Belle emphasized, and placed her hand on the Prince's heart for emphasis, letting out a content sigh as he caught her hand in his and held it.
The Prince was now staring at the delicate appendage as though her hand was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen before.
"You're stronger than me, than anyone else I've ever known. You-you risked your own life to save me, sir, for what you think is right. Even when the person going against you is your father," Belle whispered. "It was still wrong of him to use you," Belle said shyly.
She paused, letting her hands drift upwards and she raked her fingers through the Prince's long blond hair. She kept on speaking, knowing the Prince needed to hear her words, regardless of whether or not he accepted them, however, was up to him. She could not help him with that.
"None of this was your fault, Prince. You know that. I know it, Mrs. Potts does, Lumiere, Cogsworth, all of them know it too, I suspect. I hope one day, you will come to terms with it and understand it yourself," she murmured in what she hoped was a soothing tone.
She watched as the Prince raised his head and met her gaze, his hands coming to rest around her waist in a bold move that surprised even Belle as she could feel the man's fingers clutching onto fistfuls of the white nightgown she wore for support.
"I…thank you, Belle," he managed to gasp out, though his words sounded as though a half-choked sob were caught in his throat. "My father was not a man that I should mourn, Belle. He was the monster in my life, not me. I know that," he whispered, swallowing hard. The Prince looked deeply into Belle's eyes, begging the young woman who now held his heart to understand why. "I told Father whatever lies he wanted to hear after I sent you away from the castle and hoped that you would be safe and that you would not suffer as the Enchantress that did this to me did."
Belle's face grew pained the longer she listened to the Prince. He was grateful Belle was still letting him speak and continued to bear his soul.
"He would have claimed you for himself. He would have forced himself on you." The Prince let out a shuddering breath as he could no longer stop his angry tears from falling as he moved closer to hold Belle tightly. "He would have made me watch," he growled, sobbing his confession and burying his head in the junction of Belle's shoulder.
Stunned, Belle felt tears of her run down her cheeks, and her breath caught in her throat upon hearing his words. She instinctively wound her arms around him and did what she could to provide comfort, rubbing small circles near the center of the Prince's spine, and whispering soothing words into his ear, hoping to calm him.
She held him close until his tears trailed off and he pulled back reluctantly, the edges of his eyes and his nose were red.
"Sending you away was the hardest thing I think I have ever had to do, Belle, the greatest mistake of my life and one that I will never repeat, I swear it. You should have stayed with me. I should have told Father that I loved you and he had no hold on me or my life any longer."
Prince Adam's words were laced with a horrible bitterness at his beastly father who had taken away so much of his life, and still, the Duke may have cost him Belle's heart.
"I should have protected you with my very life and dared that wretched hunter to come after you," he whispered hoarsely, choking on the words as they left his lips. He lowered his head in shame as the image of Belle being wounded by the very man she would have married had she not fled her village ran through his mind then. He tried in vain to force them away and was having difficulty in doing so. The Prince nervously brought his gaze up to meet Belle's eyes once again, his face grief-stricken. "I should have, Belle, I-I was a fool and a bloody coward not to have," he began to weep, his resolve to stay calm and collected in front of the woman he loved failing him. "When I saw you there, nearly dead, I wanted to die too," Adam admitted.
Belle's heart broke into a thousand pieces upon hearing the Prince's heartfelt confession and she could no longer stand the distance between them. She gently took his face in her hand and pressed her forehead against his, the bold move surprising herself.
Unsure, and disbelieving of her actions, Belle forced herself to speak before her courage could fail her.
"Gaston, Your Highness, what will happen to him?" Belle whispered, not sure she wanted an answer to the question she had just posed to the Prince, but she had to know the truth. Before the words even left her mouth, Belle prayed she was not asking for too much and that he keep her informed.
Belle flinched as a feral look of anger flashed across the Prince's handsome features, twisting them and distorting them temporarily into something monstrous. He looked at Belle as though she had gone mad in asking after Gaston.
"A trial, Belle, one that I hope the king of France himself passes judgment on him for and has him executed," Prince Adam spat in disgust. "It is no more and no less than the man deserves for nearly killing you and the hurt and suffering he has caused both of us."
Belle felt what little color was left in her already pale face drain and a violent shudder traveled down her spine at the image of Gaston losing his life over what had happened. As horrible as Gaston had been to her, she thought not even he deserved to be sentenced to death over it.
She paused, thinking over her words as she ran her slender fingers through the Prince's long mane of blond hair and sighed tiredly. This Changeling Beast-Prince in front of her was truly a blessing in disguise. He had done so much for her and asked for so little, perhaps it was her turn that she could ask a favor of him if he would have her.
"Revoke it, Your Highness, please, Gaston does not deserve to die for this, Prince, please," she asked him, begging.
The Prince stared at Belle. He felt a feeling that was almost foreign to him. He was not angry with Belle for daring to suggest he let the man now chained in his dungeons live, but he wasn't pleased to hear it, either.
But Prince Adam was pulled from the feeling of jealousy and replied, taking a moment to carefully consider his words. The hunter chained in his dungeons was admittedly the last person he wanted Belle near, and the image in his mind of her visiting him made him uneasy.
"Why?" he growled as he gingerly took Belle's slender hands in his, searching for her gaze, at any hint that this was her pitiful attempt at a joke, but he could find no jest in Belle's dark brown eyes.
Belle looked at the Prince and her eyes widened. Belle leaned back against the pillows, shocked.
"Because Gaston is not capable of love, Your Highness, and I…I feel sorry for him, but there is always another way. Send him to the Bastille, let him repay his debt through manual labor, but don't kill him. And I would speak with him before he leaves. Please, Prince. Do it for me…?" she asked.
The Prince hesitated, considering Belle's request. He had the overwhelming burning desire to kill the prisoner chained in their dungeons, but he managed to keep himself in check. He did not want to do anything that would upset Belle and cause her body to become so taxed that it would hinder her recovery.
"I…very well, but I will be by your side when you speak with this man and I would ask a favor in return," he assented, unable to keep the note of begrudging reluctance out of his tone.
But he wanted Belle to know that if she asked for something, he would give it to her if it was within his ability to give. If she promised not to leave him and one day, become his Princess.
Belle's lips twitched as she dared to smile shyly.
"You should ask it—" she started to say, but Adam cut Belle off.
"Marry me," he blurted out, his words clumsy and blunt, and the Prince cringed the moment the words were ripped from his lips before he realized he had just asked her without properly planning this through.
He could only watch in dread as her eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
"I…I said…marry me…" he murmured, lowering his voice an octave as Belle's cheeks flushed bright pink with heat and Belle nervously glanced down at her lap, shocked.
Had the Prince just now…proposed to her?!
But Belle was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of the Prince fumbling over his words. His voice held a slight stutter to it, likely due to his nerves. She hesitantly lifted her gaze to his.
"I-It was…selfish of me to ask, Belle, to even mention the word, but uh…I fear that you have become someone that I cannot live without."
Belle let out a nervous chuckle as she searched for his gaze.
"You fear?" she whispered, hardly daring to believe what she was hearing. This all felt like a dream.
He nodded, his mouth turning dry and his fingertips going numb with how awkward this all was. This was not how he had envisioned proposing to Belle would go, but it was too late to take it back now.
"Life without you, Belle," he spoke the truth faintly.
Belle felt her breath catch in her throat. His words were sheer poetry.
No man had ever spoken to her as the Prince had just now.
Her gaze softened as she looked deep into the Prince's hopeful and earnest eyes.
"You tried to sacrifice yourself for me," she acknowledged, amazed at the depths of the Prince's selflessness, so glad that he had not turned out a monster like the Duke.
He was so different from the Prince that she had first met when she had first come to work at his shining castle, but now she scolded herself that she would see this man as anything less than honorable and noble, once he had proven himself.
"You say that you love me?" she asked, already sure of the Prince's answer, and yet, she wanted to hear him say it himself.
"Yes, Belle. With all my heart." The Prince nodded, holding his breath in anticipation of what her answer would be.
Belle looked deeply into Prince Adam's eyes.
"Then…fear no more. I am here. Always. I…I love you too," Belle openly let herself admit it.
Belle was rendered silent as the Prince, without warning, pulled her in for a deep kiss. Belle's eyes shot wide open at first as her breathing quickened as she shut her eyes, inexperienced though she was, as this was only her second kiss, but she reciprocated getting lost in the embrace. She gasped for breath when her lungs beseeched her to fill in and finally took the initiative after a moment, holding his head in her hands.
Their gentle caress only grew deeper, sending Belle reeling.
When he pulled away, Belle was gasping, and her eyes were half-lidded with disbelief.
"Belle, I…wh-what…I…oh, God…"
Belle lightly blushed, though her lips parted in shock as she noticed something was wrong. The Prince's eyes were dilated, and he was suddenly holding onto his side as though he were in great pain.
"Wh-what's wrong?" she asked, upon hearing the Prince let out a low groan of pain from deep within the back of his throat and he slid off the bed and sank to the floor, unable to stand up.
"Belle, there is nothing w-wrong with me, it's you I worry for, I...I am fine, it is...merely a stomachache, Belle," the Prince gasped, though Belle noticed how the Prince glanced down at himself for the briefest of moments, his mouth going slightly slack in surprise as a faint golden tendril of light began to seep from his every orifice. Checking.
Belle opened her mouth to voice her concern, to call for one of the servants. Though before she could scream with as much strength in her throat as she could manage, there came another groan from the Prince as he doubled over, clutching at his abdomen in pain, and there was a flash of harrowing blinding white light, and then, the explosion.
Belle rose her arms to her face to shield her vision from being blinded, and when the spots in her vision slowly but surely danced away, she shakily lowered her hands to find the Prince rising to his feet.
From outside, they could hear the sound of many footsteps approaching, and those outside did not even bother to knock as the Enchantress was the first to enter the room, followed by Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, and Lumiere, all of whom who'd been alerted to the noise.
Belle's heart was in her throat as she recognized the witch who had cursed the Prince to be none other than Princess Circe, though she had no time to wonder how it could be so as the witch stopped short when she saw the Prince get to his feet, staring at his hands in awe.
"I'm…I've never…what…?" The Prince let his voice trail off as he raised his shocked eyes to Belle, finding her expression just as equally confused as his before he turned questioning eyes towards the Enchantress for confirmation, his heart in his throat as he hoped his wretched curse was now lifted for good.
The Enchantress came to a halt a few feet in front of the Prince as he forced himself to straighten his gait and looked him in the eye.
"Well, Prince, I daresay this is a welcome sight indeed," the witch smiled coyly, as she stepped to Belle's side and perched herself on the edge of the cot. "My lady, no doubt you have questions for me, but those are best saved for later when you are more healed and in a better mindset to have such a lengthy conversation," the Enchantress said.
The Enchantress smiled at Belle's nonplussed and shocked expression and returned her gaze to the young Prince in front of her, who was now looking at her expectantly and waiting for a remark on what the bloody hell had just happened to him.
"Your curse has lifted, Prince. You now possess that which your father never had. Love," she relayed to the group of people now gathered around the bed. She regarded the Prince who wasted no time in rushing to Belle's side with relief.
At bed's base, Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, and Cogsworth all collectively sighed and beamed at the happy news, elated that their master's life and very soul had been saved by none other than Belle, with whom he seemed to be holding hands and eyeing as though no other existed in the West Wing right at this moment. The three Heads of House exchanged elated looks with one another, suspecting that they would be planning his wedding in the future.
The Prince kneeled beside Belle, gently gathering his former maid in his arms and he kissed her again with the longing that had been so cruelly denied him as he'd wanted to do when he sent her away.
Belle was glad that it was her and not the Prince who had been injured by Gaston. She was not sure she could have survived watching the Prince suffer even more.
When the Prince pulled apart, he laid Belle carefully back against the pillow, his face hovering over hers.
"God has answered my prayers, Belle. You saved me..." The Prince smiled at Belle, certain that he was the luckiest man in all of France as he pulled her in for another gentle kiss.
Their kiss was gentle and sweet and promised a lifetime of happiness with one another, this Prince and this farm girl who were an unorthodox and admittedly an unlikely 'funny' couple.
The Prince was sure that his decision to marry Belle would face scrutiny in the aristocratic world in which he had been raised and Belle knew nothing, but they would face those challenges when the time came, together.
The kiss the two of them shared now in the West Wing was just the beginning of a lifetime of love and joy the Prince hoped would follow now that his curse was lifted and Belle was to become his Princess once she was trained and they were lawfully wed in the eyes of God.
Their kiss was a promise of so much more still to come.
A promise of forever.