The castle staff shuffled inside in defeat. Mrs. Potts knew immediately that they had failed, as the looks on their faces said everything. (Then again, the next part of the plan if it had succeeded was to escort Belle back to her village on horseback and avoid the wolves as best as they could, so seeing them anyway would give away that she was still the Beast's captive.)
"He still has her, doesn't he?"
Cogsworth stepped forward, nodding sadly.
"What's wrong, Momma?" Chip whimpered. "Is Belle gonna be okay?"
"Run along Chip. I need to speak with Cogsworth and the others."
"But-"
"No, Chip. And don't you dare go looking for her!"
After he left, Belle immediately sunk down and sat on the side of her hip. Her hair stuck to her skin due to the sweat as she busied herself trying to untie the lace. Unfortunately, it just became even tighter and seemed to cut into her wrists. Irritated, she gave up and blew a strand of hair out of her face. The Beast hadn't even touched her, but she already felt like a common whore just by sitting naked in the presence of a male. In fact, wearing nothing for an extended period of time felt weird in itself.
The grey stones beneath her felt like ice due to the worsening winter weather.
After waiting for what seemed like hours for his return, she closed her eyes and began to drift off.
She found herself wondering wistfully around the castle, wearing a simple cherry pink dress. It was dead silent, and it seemed as if she was the only inhabitant of this mysterious place. Not even the castle's staff made an appearance, which was interesting considering that Chip and Sultan followed her everywhere on the rare occasion that she ventured out of her quarters. Sensing no one around her, she decided to make a break for it- there was no one guarding the door and no one around, so why not try to get back home? All she would need to do is hitch up Phillipe and head through the forest. The wolves would probably be in their dens, and it would be much easier to travel by sunlight…
Belle awoke with a sharp sting across her body.
"I thought I told you to stay in that position until I returned."
She looked up to see the Beast with the whip in his claw and a scrap of wood under his arm. Belle straightened back onto her knees and he turned his attention to the window. Even just sitting like that for a few minutes caused her legs to spasm out of stress and she struggled to stay up. Looking over to watch him seal the window, she noticed that he had placed a (non-sentient) wooden bench in the middle of the room.
"What is that for?"
"You'll see soon enough," he growled as he checked to make sure the wood in the window was sturdy enough. Belle now noticed that he had a length of rope hanging from his arm. He turned and strode back to Belle, throwing the hammer to the side and leaning down to remove her restraints. "Either you bruise really easily, or you were trying to escape," he noted, examining her wrists.
Belle remained silent. She heard the metal hooks fall to the floor.
"Answer me."
Belle's gaze stayed fixed to the floor.
The Beast, not one to be toyed with, pulled her onto the bench face down. Using the rope he tied her torso to it tightly and used some of the remaining scraps of lace to fasten her appendages to the legs. Belle yelped in pain and tried to squirm free, which did nothing but cause the rope to scrape against her back. He pressed her down with his massive paw and waited for her to tire herself out.
"Are you finished?"
Belle whimpered in pain.
"I assume you tried to escape, then."
Silence.
He ran across the room on all fours and retrieved the whip, raising it in his claw.
"ANSWER ME!"
"FINE! IS IT SO SUPRISING THAT I TRIED TO ESCAPE?"
He answered with the whip, causing Belle to scream in agony.
"Are you going to give me a more ladylike response, or would you like another?"
"I… I-"
"You what?"
"I tried to escape. I tried to escape!"
The Beast stood back, holding the whip behind him.
"Now, I am going to set a few simple rules for you. First, you will speak when I tell you to and only when I tell you to. This is not only for my benefit, but also to ensure your own safety, so I'd recommend that you cooperate." The Beast gently ran his claws down her back. Belle whimpered softly.
"You are only allowed to address me as either 'Master' or 'Sir'. Understood?"
"Yes," she said weakly.
"What was that?" he snapped, digging his claws deeper.
"Yes, Master!" she yelped.
"Good. You are to obey my every command. You are to make yourself available to me at all times. You must ask permission to do anything that might infract on my time."
He circled around her, his eyes tracing her figure. Belle's eyes were completely closed. Did he think he could honestly force her into being his slave?
"When speaking to me, you must remember your role. You are to keep a journal each day detailing your feelings on the day's events. Each entry will end with a list of three things you want to work on regarding your duties to me, and a list of three things you are thankful for."
"WHAT IN THE WORLD WOULD I HAVE TO BE THANKFUL FOR?"
The Beast stopped and looked her straight in the eye. He raised the whip once more, but stopped after realizing what would be better.
"I think that you need some time to think this over by yourself." And with that, he strode out of the room, leaving Belle still bound to the bench.