Wow...not a bad reaction for my first BatB fic...thanks to all who reviewed!
On with the show!
Years passed, though I no longer kept track of them. I no longer cared to know how long I'd been in this…form, this body I'd come to call my own. I no longer behaved like a human; four legs were faster than trying to walk on two, and my paws had trouble working with silverware.
I could hardly bear the sight of my servants, the only ones who had stayed with me, slowly becoming less and less human as the days passed. I knew it was my fault, and that they had never done anything wrong. I was angry with myself for dragging them into this, and took it out on them.
Two things had not changed with the transformation. My temper was still renowned, and my eyes stayed the same ice blue they'd been when I was born. I was larger, hairier, and more bestial, but my eyes stood out as a testament to what I once was, and they plagued me.
Most of the lower servants avoided me, leaving Lumière, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Babette to tend to me. (Madame, now a wardrobe, was stuck in a room and could not fit through the door.) Several times, I sent one of them running in fear of my temper. Eventually, they were the only ones who dared to even stand near the staircase to my wing. I was fine with that; I wanted no company.
The rose became my very life as time went on. No one was allowed near the table it floated above, and I guarded it as though it was some precious jewel. No one touched or looked in mirror either; I was the only one who used it. I watched as my father's parents died and left the throne of France to my uncle, a man I'd met only twice. Mrs. Potts assured me that he was good man, and would run the country fairly, but I no longer cared. I wasn't a part of that world anymore; my castle had become the only world that mattered.
A chill breeze stirred my fur as I stood alone on my balcony. I could hear the wolves howling in the distance like they had for so many years. They had become the first sound I heard when I woke from nightmare-ridden sleep, and the last thing I heard at night.
Faint cries echoed up to me; a man this time. The last time it had been a lost child. I no longer felt for the victims of the wolves' savage hunger. They were too numerous now.
Clang!
The sound of my gates slamming shut shook me out of reverie. My gates…slamming shut. They were never open! I whirled around and looked towards the gates. A small, insignificant speck was running as fast as it could away from the gates and towards my castle. The wolves' victim had gotten away.
I turned towards my room. Cogsworth had strict instructions not to let anyone in unless by miracle it was the Enchantress. That Enchantress had to be the only human alive who could stand the sight of me. I could hardly bear it myself.
I could trust Cogsworth to keep out the intruder. Lumière would insist on letting him in, I reminded myself. Hopefully, he was off chasing Babette. Assured the intruder was still outside, where he would remain, I stalked downstairs.
Voices coming from the den reached me at the foot of the staircase. I could hear Lumière and Babette arguing over something trivial, and Cogsworth was outraged about something.
"Lumière, listen to me! We have to get him out of here! Do you have any idea what the Master will do if he finds out we let a stranger in?"
They what?
"Calm yourself, Cogsworth! The Master will never have to know!"
They let a stranger in my castle, directly disobeying me, and Lumière thought I wouldn't find out? Furious, I stormed down the last few stairs, roaring. I could hear Lumière's panicked voice adding, "As I was saying…he's got to find out sooner or later."
I entered the den, blowing out the fire Lumière had no doubt lit. "There's a stranger here…" I growled, looking around for any signs of the trespasser. Lumière gulped and turned to me.
"Master, allow me to explain. The gentleman was set upon by wolves-"
I didn't care. "Who let him in?" Cogsworth, quaking under a blanket, stammered something about being against the whole operation, but I silenced him with a roar.
"Who dared disobey me? You have all betrayed me!" I roared. I hadn't noticed Mrs. Potts or her son in the room, but she led him out quickly, muttering something that sounding vaguely like "Oh, dear."
Someone fell from the chair in front of the now-extinguished fireplace. I leapt on the chair, my chair. "Who are you?" I demanded, glaring at the older man that now lay quaking on the floor. He seemed terrified, as he should have been. He was a trespasser on my property, and I planned to teach him a lesson.
"M…Maurice…"
"What are you doing in my castle?"
"I lost my way in the woods and the wolves…."
"You're not welcome here!" The man nodded, not looking up at me.
"I'm sorry! I'll just be on my way!" He got up and noticed who towered over him. I watched as his face became a mix of fear and disgust. Sudden humiliation flooded over me. The man had no idea what it was like to look like this….how dare he stare at me?
I growled, "It's hideous, isn't it? You've come to stare at the Beast, haven't you?!"
The man, Maurice, shook his head furiously. "No, I meant no harm! I was merely looking for a place to stay!" He backed up, tripping on the rug. I swooped down over him.
"I'll give you a place to stay!" I grabbed him by the shirt and brought him closer. "You come into my castle without my permission; you'll stay in my castle. In the dungeon!" I carried the terrified human down into my dungeons, ignoring his pleas for mercy. He could not be allowed to leave. If he did, he'd no doubt tell everyone about the Beast in the castle and mobs of people would come, trying to find me. My solitude would be ruined.
The man mentioned his daughter, but I was too furious to let it register at the time. A suit of armor sprang to attention as I approached and threw open the door to one of the cells. "You're safe from the wolves in there!" I taunted him, shoving him in and shutting the door.
"Please! My daughter! She's all alone!" I locked his door and turned from him, placing the key in one of the few pockets my clothing still had.
"You should have thought of her before you trespassed!" I replied, leaving him in the dungeon.
Mrs. Potts met me at the top of the stairs leading away from the dungeon. "Master, was that really necessary?" she asked gently. "The poor soul merely needed a place to stay and avoid the wolves." I glared at the housekeeper, struggling to keep the roar out of my voice.
"He trespassed," I said. "You had orders to bar any intruders who made it past the wolves, yet you deliberately disobeyed me. Be glad I only threw him in the dungeons and not you!" I swept past her and the others who had gathered there.
Fuming, I went back to the West Wing and reached for my mirror. "Show me the old man!" The mirror glowed for a moment, then an image of my prisoner curled on the floor came into focus.
"Belle, Belle, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he repeated. A hacking cough racked his body, silencing his mantra for a few seconds. He sat up and looked around at his surroundings before collapsing.
The mirror cleared and I threw it down in anger. Curse this old man! Like so many times before, I looked out at the night sky and roared in anger and frustration. Curse that Enchantress!
I didn't sleep that night, haunted with by sound of the man crying for mercy and the image of him collapsing. For the first time in almost twenty years, I felt slight remorse for my actions. The only thing that kept me from releasing my prisoner was the fact that he had trespassed and the fear of having people gawk at me…or worse. It was my right to punish him as I saw fit.
For the second time in as many days, I heard the sound of my gates opening and then slamming shut. I didn't move from my spot in the West Wing, certain that someone had let the old man out and he was trying to escape. Of course, the wolves would chase him back here, and I'd handle it then. I took my mirror and demanded to see the prisoner.
He was still in his cell, coughing and hacking. Once the image faded, I tried again. The man hadn't left, and the door remained shut and locked. "Show me the intruder," I ordered the mirror, daring it to show the old man again.
It didn't. A girl, not much younger than I would have been had I remained human, was walking through my castle, calling for someone. I could see Lumière slightly ahead of her, taking care to remain out of sight as he led her down to the dungeon. She must be the old man's daughter.
I was furious. Two intruders? Before long, an entire village would be at my door. I left the West Wing, taking secret passages only I knew of to reach the dungeons before that girl.
She had arrived before I did, but I remained in the shadows, watching her. In the dark, I realized how small the girl was. She looked almost like a china doll, fragile and pale. She seemed even paler in the moonlight that shown down through a hole in the ceiling.
Nothing as beautiful as the girl had been in the castle for years. A long-forgotten part of me kept me from demanding she leave; I stood and waited, watching the girl and her father.
"Belle, you must leave this place!" the old man insisted.
The girl, Belle, wrapped a scarf around his hands. "Who's done this to you?" The man shook his head.
"There's no time to explain. You must go now!" Belle stood and tried the door.
"I won't leave you here!" I made to stop her, but she whirled around and I slipped back. "Who's there? I know someone's there! Who are you?"
Panting slightly, I spoke. "The master of this castle." The girl grew indignant.
"Then you're the one who's responsible for this! Release my father at once!" she demanded, turning towards my voice.
I growled in anger. She had no right to speak to me like that. "I am the master of this castle! I take orders from no one!" I roared and the suit of armor standing by the cell took the girl, trying to drag her away. Surprisingly, the girl fought against it and broke loose.
"Forgive me! Please, let him out! Can't you see he's not well?" I growled again. This girl was trying my patience, what little I had.
"Then he should not have trespassed here!" I motioned for the suit to take her away, but again she broke free.
"But he could die!"
I whirled around, careful to remain in the shadows. "He came into my home uninvited and now he will suffer the consequences!" I roared. She winced at my roar, but remained adamant.
"Please…I'll do anything!" she cried. I scoffed.
"There's nothing you can do," I replied, turning around and heading back to my wing. There's nothing anyone can do anymore.
I heard the girl take a few steps closer to me. "Please, wait!"
"I said there's nothing you can do!"
"Take me instead."
Time stopped. I turned back around to face the girl. For the first time I noticed just how beautiful she truly was. It made me even more aware and ashamed of my hideous shape.
"What did you say?" She would really offer herself instead of her father?
"Take me instead," she repeated slowly, as if I were a child who didn't understand.
From behind her, her father cried out. "Belle!"
I growled to silence him before turning back to the girl. "You would do that? You would take his place?"
The girl sniffed, tears in her eyes. "If I did, would let him go?" I thought about it. My time was running out, I knew that. I figured that if I wanted any chance at becoming a human, I would need to find a way to keep a girl here. Here was girl, a beautiful girl, and she was offering to become my prisoner in place of her father. Perhaps….she was the one who could save me.
"Yes…but you must promise to stay here forever," I muttered, unsure if I could trust her not to run away unless she promised. I heard the old man cry out and saw the girl stiffen.
"Forever? But that's not fair…" She turned back to her father.
"Forever or he dies in the dungeon!" I watched as the old man reached for his daughter and took her hands in his.
"Belle, listen to me. I've lived my life!" Belle looked back towards my shadow.
"Come into the light," she demanded.
No! She takes one look at you and you're doomed! She makes her choice first, a voice in the back of my head warned. I growled.
She has a right to know whom it is she's promising to stay with forever before promising, another voice, one I usually ignored, pointed out. I took a deep breath and slowly slid into the torch light.
I watched as her face went from curious and frightened to terrified. She looked at me, then looked back at her father. "You have my word."
"Done!" I brushed her aside and opened the cell door. I grabbed the old man and shoved him to the armor. "Take him out!" I ordered.
"No! I'm begging you! Spare my daughter!" The girl tried to get to her father; I pushed her away and kept them apart. If I let them speak, no doubt the father would talk his daughter out of her promise and I'd be left with no one.
"No! Not yet! Wait! Papa!"
"Belle! Belle! Let her go!" The man's cries faded as the armor led him away. Belle collapsed on the floor in tears.
"Master…"
I spun around to face Lumière, his hands aglow. He backed away, then came forward again. "Master…since the girl is going to be staying with for, ahem, quite some time…perhaps you would offer her a more…comfortable room?" I growled and he slinked away. I turned to go.
"You didn't let me say goodbye."
I stopped. "What?" What was she saying?
The girl looked up at me, her face red with tears. "I'm never going to see him again and I didn't even get to say goodbye!" She held her head in her hands and wept.
I shifted uncomfortably. I had grown up around women, but most were frightened of my temper or scurrying around to get whatever I wanted at that moment. Never did any of them cry or make a scene like this one was.
Maybe, for once, Lumière was right. "I'll…show you to your room." The girl stopped her sobbing.
"My room? But I thought…" I whirled on her.
"Do you want to stay in the dungeon?" I demanded. She shook her head. "Then follow…" I reached for her, only to have her shirk from my touch. "You follow me." I swept past her to the stairs, my cape brushing against her leg for a brief moment. The girl hurried after me.
I led her up to the third floor of the castle, the highest except for my wing. "The castle is now your home," I informed her. "You can go anywhere you like except the West Wing." She could not know about the rose or the mirror; both were too precious to me. And, somewhere inside, I was embarrassed. My room was the den of a Beast, not a place for anyone but a Beast, and especially not a beautiful girl.
"Why? What's in the West-" I stopped and turned to her. She was questioning me?
"It's forbidden! You are never to set foot in there. Do you understand?" She didn't answer fast enough. "Do you understand?" I roared.
"Yes!" she cried, shaking. I nodded and led her forward. We came to a room in the East Wing, as far from mine as possible.
"This is your room," I said gruffly. I could see Lumière standing down the hall, waving at me to say more. I paused, at a loss for words. "I…hope you'll be comfortable here." I opened the door and motioned for the girl to enter. "If you need anything, my servants will attend you."
"Invite her to dinner," Lumière muttered just loud enough for me to here. As a Beast, my hearing was considerably better than that of a human.
I sighed, exasperated. "And one more thing. You will join me for dinner." The girl looked ready to refuse, so I added, "That is not a request!" I slammed her door and fled back towards my own room.
"A girl. A girl! A girl managed to get past the wolves and Lord knew what else lives in those cursed woods," I muttered, pacing. I hadn't seen a human face in years, and suddenly two faces had appeared, one of them a beautiful young girl. The part of me that still hoped to be free of this curse knew she could be the one to finally release me, but the sensible part of me knew only a fool would hope for something so impossible. "She's so beautiful and perfect," I murmured, resting a paw on the glass dome protecting the rose. Three petals lay at the bottom of the dome, a sign my time was finally running out.
The old man had called her Belle. The name suited her well. Belle…I looked out at the forest. Snow had started to fall and sky was a dark gray, a sign of more to come. Sighing, I turned away.