Chapter Six - Alliances

00BELLE00

Keeping a tight-lipped smile pasted on her face as the dreary old woman droned on about 'decorum', 'modesty' and 'a woman's place' Belle paid little attention. Instead she surreptitiously scanned the room for any and all escape routes out of etiquette hell hall.

Her 'immodest' dress and 'ridiculous' shoes had been burnt without ceremony and she was now wearing a new wool dress which covered all the right areas and itched in all the wrong ones. She hadn't seen Will since they'd arrived in Camelot, but she gathered he was probably rotting in a dungeon somewhere beneath her feet. To her relief the old woman soon left and so she began her meticulously thought out escape plan by testing the door. To her great surprise the heavy wooden door swung open soundlessly at the merest push and she found herself in a passageway of sorts which boasted several identical doors on either side with an open archway leading to what looked like a larger room on one end of the passage and another archway leading to a dark stairway at the other end. She chose the stairway, deciding recuing Will or at least finding out for sure where he was should be her first priority, at least until she could come up with a better plan and as a former princess she was well aware that only noble prisoners were kept in towers. The stairs it was then.

Fear gripped her heart as she groped her way down the dark stairwell; she guessed that people from the castle must carry torches when they needed to use these stairs. Once she finally reached the bottom and found her way lit by candlelight flowing from several wall-mounted braziers she breathed a deep sigh of relief, only to panic anew as she heard the distinct sound of footsteps coming down the stairwell behind her. Ceasing on her first opportunity for escape, she flung open the only door in sight and slide through, shutting the door behind her as quietly as she could.

Turning she smiled despite her frightful predicament, a library! She thrilled to the sight, quickly noting that the room was triple height and featured the medieval equivalent of a skylight, as well as more stained glass than she'd ever seen in her life. The lowest level was round and entirely covered in bookshelves, the only break being a stone staircase which wound its way up to the window level which featured its own bookshelves, these much more elaborate than the ones down here at 'basement' level. There was also she noted a modest desk and many very comfortable looking chairs dotted around the large yet cozy chamber. This last observation proved the most useful when she heard the footsteps pause at the library door.

Belle dived for cover behind a particularly threadbare chair and sat holding her breath, praying silently that whoever had just entered wasn't going to come and sit in the chair she was hiding behind... but of course that is exactly what they did. With a heavy heart Belle listened as the footsteps shuffled across the floor, perhaps to retrieve a book?, only to return directly to her hiding place. She stifled a scream when a weight dropped heavily into the chair she was hiding behind, shaking Belle right along with the chair. She heard the light rustling of pages and realized that she might well be stuck here for quite some time.

Belle willed herself to be calm and patient, she knew getting caught now could well end her chances at escaping at all as she was unlikely to be left alone in an unlocked room again... As she appeared to have the time she scanned the book titles nearest to her; Superior Incantations... Medicinal Uses for Magic... Dreamshade and Other Hokum... Glamour Spells and How to Spot Them... She smiled, Spell books! Quickly she realized that this library could well hold the secret to her escape not just from Camelot but from this realm and all the way home to Storybrook! She resisted the urge to cheer, but her exultation was short lived as the sitting man spoke.

"You do realize young woman that hiding from a wizard is a rather foolish thing to do."

It took a few seconds for the words to sink in, but once they had Belle wasted no time in revealing herself, knowing that delays at this stage were worthless.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked, noting that the man was not quite so old as his voice sounded. Or perhaps he was, she thought as she gazed into his soft gray eyes. She'd been around enough magic in her life to recognize it when she saw it and this man was steeped in magic! Why he might even be older than her husband, she realized, seeing somewhere deep in his eyes a quality of age that seemed to stretch forever backwards in time.

"Well child, do I meet with your approval?" he asked, sounding amused rather than angry.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked quietly, instinctively showing this man the respect she felt he was due.

"Not in the least, though I suspect you're not one of Arthur's fallen roses. I've yet to meet a prostitute or even a courtesan who can read."

"How did you know that I c..."

"I can see it in your face child. You love books just as I do. I only hope their company brings you greater solace than it has brought to me of late."

"Are you troubled as well?"

"Yes, yes." he nodded sadly as if a great weight were pressing down on his neck. "So very troubled child. First it was only bad dreams, but lately the bad things have appeared in my waking as well and yesterday a star shot across the sky and had not permission to do so. A very bad omen I think or possibly a very good one. Stars have always been enigmatic in that way... I only wish I could remember..."

"Remember what?"

"What the darkness says in my dreams." he said wearily, absently stroking the bridge of his nose, "Whether I run from it or confront it outright, in the end it always grabs me by the throat and whispers something in my ear... but I can never remember what it said once the dream has ended..."

"The... darkness?" Belle gasped, "Do you mean 'The Dark One'? Is he the darkness that haunts your dreams?"

The old(ish) man lunged forward and pulled Belle close. He stared into her eyes for a time before speaking, "Child... your life has been marred by the darkness. I can feel the sorrow flowing through your heart! Does the dagger no longer serve its purpose?"

"It's not that..." Belle began, "The dagger still holds sway over the Dark One, the problem is my husband, you see he was once under the Dark Curse himself... for quite a long time actually and now that the curse is finally gone he doesn't remember me anymore and now I'm trapped in this realm and I don't know how I can get back to him..." Belle's voice faltered as she started to cry.

"Hush child," he said, drawing Belle into his lap as if she were a small child, maybe in a way she was to him. "I think this merits a story and I have, as I suspect you do also, a weakness for stories... Now, child... tell Merlin all about it..."