Hey there here is an Updated Chapter 3 Chapeter 4 will be coming soon I finally have time to write again! YAYAYAY

Chapter 3

That first month Belle spent most of her time cleaning Rumpelstiltskin's estate. It was a very large castle with many rooms. Most of which Belle was allowed to enter. The night of her arrival Belle was thrust into the darkest dungeon of the castle. Left to cry out all of the tears her body possessed over the loss of her daughter. She felt alone and lost. Her daughter gone, her life forever changed. Through the grief however she could not help but feel a sense of hope. Hope that everything would get better. Maybe one day, one day she could change Rumpelstiltskin's mind and get her daughter back. Most would see the cold dank dungeon as cruel. Not belle, she saw it as a refuge. Inside this dungeon, inside this castle she was free. There was no more Gaston, no more of his beatings, his rape, she was finally free. Free to be her own person. Although the grief of her daughter would fade into a dull throbbing, she couldn't help but smile. Free, was all she thought before drifting off to sleep.

She awoke only hours later buy a loud clang coming from her door. It opened to reveal Rumpelstiltskin.

"Are you ready to start the day dearie? My castle needs cleaning, and NOW I have the perfect maid to do it." There was an odd glint to his eye. She saw that working for Rumpelstiltskin was going to be nothing sort of an adventure, a long grueling, sweaty, dusty adventure.

"What will you have me do first?"

"Well surely a lady such as you knows that the best way to start off the day is with a good breakfast. Now I know you have been nothing short of spoiled, but here you shall cook every meal for me. Breakfast and dinner shall be full and hearty. Lunch shall be small."

As he talked he led her out of the dungeon, up a flight of stairs to a set of wooden doors. Belle was not prepared for the site before her. The kitchen was larger than any she had ever seen. Although you would never know that it was a kitchen with all of the dirt and grime that was attached to every surface, every nook and cranny was covered in dust. It looked as if the kitchen had not been used in hundreds of years.

"It needs a small bit of cleaning, but all in all it is a kitchen. I expect breakfast in two hours dearie. No more. Since a Lady like you has no cooking experience I do not expect much, but do try not to burn anything." Rumpelstiltskin then left with a smirk on his face.

Belle was offended. She might be a Lady but that did not mean she did not know how to cook a good meal. During her pregnancy she was not able to eat any of the food made by the staff. It would always make her sick. They would never cook what she wanted only what Gaston told them to. It turned out they were not allowed to cook her anything else. They said they cannot cook for her, but that didn't stop them from buying her cookbooks and showing her how to cook. Soon she was a master. She knew how to cook every meal. Dessert was her specialty. She could make delicious cakes and sensual pies. The smell alone could fill a person up. The staff loved to play taste tester to her many pie experiments. Belle was also great at breakfast. Her cinnamon vanilla pancakes were not to be rivaled. She made the best eggs in the house with ham and onions. Her potatoes were the cook's favorite. Belle decided that this was indeed what she would cook for Rumpelstiltskin. Looking around she found all of the ingredients she would need. But she could not do a thing until the place was spotless. She was not going to get sick because of her new Master. That thought made Belle stop short. She had thought she was free, but in truth she just traded one master for another. Tears fell slowly down her face. She began to clean it took her only an hour and a half. She was thankful that breakfast was quick to cook. Soon the kitchen filled with the delicious smell of pancakes, eggs, potatoes, and a bit of sausage she found. Proud of herself she placed the meal on a tray with a tea set she found and made her way to the dining room she had passed on her way to the kitchen. Inside she found Rumpelstiltskin smirking.

"Finished dearie? Must be dreadful for you to be finished so quickly." In truth the smell that filled Rumpel's nostrils was nothing short of orgasmic. He had never smelled anything like it.

Belle gritted her teeth "I'll have you know I am an excellent cook. I learned from the very best."

"Ahh did your rich papa spoil you with all your little hearts desires?"

Belle's jaw tightened. "No, Papa, like Gaston thinks that women are possessions. They are not meant to cook, they are not meant to clean, they are not meant to do anything but simply sit there and do nothing but looking pretty."

Rumpelstiltskin smirked at her. "Was it really so bad. To get everything you wanted, to be a spoiled little girl? Now look what you have done. You are my prisoner here. Forever. You will have to cook and to clean and do everything that someone of your caliber spits upon. I was a man once dearie. I saw many of your type. Always complaining about being object but they secretly loves it."

By now Belle was fuming. "No you may think that I got whatever I wanted. You may think that my life was perfect. But I will have you know that it wasn't. I have been nothing short of a prisoner my entire life. My father wanted a son he got a daughter. Soon I was nothing more than a trophy. Then my father gave me to Gaston. Gave me! I had no say in the matter. It wasn't love. Gaston wanted the prettiest girl. He seemed to believe that I was she. So he took me to his estate and I never got to leave. We were never seen in public. I couldn't bear to look at him let alone share a house with the man. I…" she stopped. He didn't need to know the rest. He hadn't won the right to know.

Rumpelstiltskin had an odd look to his face. As soon as the look came it left. He sat down in the head chair at the table and pointed. "Well Dearie my food is not going to magically appear on my plate now is it?" he giggled maniacally to himself "Well I mean it can but why waste magic when I have a new pretty maid?" Belle straightened her back and proceeded to place his plate onto the table. She gave him a hearty serving then proceeded with his morning tea. Rumpelstiltskin spoke to her "While you are here Dearie,you will serve me my meals, and you will clean the castle. You will dust my collection, and launder my clothing. You will fetch me fresh straw when I am spinning at the wheel." He looked at her with a impish glint in his eye. "Oh, and you will skin the children I hunt for their pelts."

Belle gasped and the cup in her hand fell to the floor with a clink. Her hart wrenched not only for his meaning, but also for the reminder of her lost child. Rumplestiltskin almost regretted his last utterance.

He pointed to her "That one was a quip. Not serious. "

"Right." Belle gasped again when she bent down to retrieve the cup only to find it with a chip in its delicate structure. "Oh... my. I'm so sorry but, uh... it's.. it's chipped." In that moment she felt like a child again having broken her mothers perfume bottle. She childishly lifted it up for him to see "You—you can hardly see it. "

Rumpelstiltskin squinted at her trying to figure her out. Not understanding why she would pout over a simple cup. "It's just a cup." He said with a flourish his hand.

Belle shook her head and poured him his tea.

He rolled his eyes "Alright, alright, enough" he made a dismissing gesture go clean my castle there is a lot to work on Dearie, try not to touch anything to suspicious. It wouldn't do for me to have to go looking for a new Maid now would it."

Belle's lips thinned and she curtsied and left the room closing the doors behind her. She let out a long distressed sigh. Her mind immediately thought back to his comment about not touching anything suspicious. Little did she know that anything that she could find "suspicious" had been removed the second she made that deal. Not that Rumpelstiltskin cared about the maid. No. He wanted to keep his magic's entirely safe. That was the only reason.

The rest of the month was a blur for Belle full of nothing but cleaning and crying. Somewhere in the midst of it all Belle had actually found solace in her cleaning. It helped her not to think about her baby, her lovely baby. Who knew what kind of people the Dark One had put her with. She had to believe that he had honored their deal. She just had to. Her tears slowly seemed to stop and as the castle was clean so was her mind.

Rumpelstiltskin sat at his spinning wheel thinking about the Maid who had been there almost a month. Twenty-six days to be exact. He heard her cries. He felt her pain. He knew what losing a child felt like. He had lost his Bae, his wonderful boy who only wanted his Papa to love him. Something The Dark One did not understand. It was a battle of minds. His castle was starting to look less like a dark dank evil palace and more like a home. Belle didn't just clean she nurtured the castle. It used to smell old of dust and magic. Now it smelled of Lavender and vanilla. A complete waste of an herb and spice, but he did not dislike it. It warmed his heart. That he did not like. He was supposed to be the cold and Dark One. But he felt as if he should do something nice for the girl. A Bedroom perhaps; maybe to get her out of the dungeon. But how to do it without making himself look soft. He would have to think on it.