I don't own any characters from Once Upon a Time.
Thank you so much to everyone who read/favorited/followed my story. Each and every one is a bright spot in my day and very appreciated.
A special thank you goes out to all of my reviewers - norahmars, Moniii, Dees, Theatre Fan, Crys, and Kira Tsumi
Chapter 7
Belle remembered the first time she met Marina.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
She had been at the Dark Castle for almost a month. Rumplestiltskin had been away for several days negotiating another one of his deals when she walked into the dining hall to find one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen bent over the dining room table. Later Belle would notice the long, light blue dress decorated with thin lines of silver in a bold, narrow style Belle never knew existed, she would be surprised that the dress did not have any obvious fastenings, and that the woman did not seem to be wearing a corset. In those first few minutes however, as Belle stood frozen in the door way, her attention was riveted by a huge black panther next to the woman. The animal sitting down on the floor was as tall as a person sitting in a chair. There seemed to be something like a napkin on the table in front of it and the woman was using a small hard surface to cut in pieces food for the animal to eat. The woman seemed as surprised to see Belle as Belle was to see her. The animal, however, gave Belle one look out of its huge yellow eyes and returned to eating the food placed in front of it. The woman regained her composure first.
"Well hello there and may I ask who you are?" Her musical, soft voice was pleasant to Belle ear.
"My name is Belle and I am the caretaker of this estate," Once Belle had some hope that the animal would not lunge for her throat that very minute, she got over her shock enough to speak a few words.
"Really!" The woman seemed a little taken aback by this announcement but once again regained her composure almost immediately. "I am Marina, Princess of the Farini Realm." The dark haired woman inclined her head in greeting to Belle.
If anything, this announcement shocked Belle even more than the huge animal did. The Farini Realm was the largest and wealthiest empire in the Lands and being in the same room with one of its highest ranking monarchs was something aspired to only by other high placed royals and most famous warriors. "Your Majesty," as soon as Belle understood who this woman was, she dropped into a deep curtsy with her head bowed and eyes lowered to the floor. It was at this moment that a column of purple smoke announced Rumplestiltskin's arrival back at the castle.
"No, no, no, for the last time, I don't want that flea ridden beast eating at the table. It's an animal, Marina, it can eat on the floor."
"Grandfather!" Belle heard the woman call out as she ran into Rumplestiltskin's arms. Belle noticed that the cat continued to calmly pick pieces of meat off the napkin lying in front of it.
"And you, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that and not to come here?" But since Rumplestiltskin's words were said while he still held the woman in a hug, her only response when the two finally let go of each other was,
"You are only being picky about being called grandfather because you are actually my great-grandfather."
"I am not picky and we are not related by blood in any way, shape, or form." Belle heard Rumplestiltskin's voice take on its familiar high pitch tone and began to fear for the woman. However, Marina simply waved her hand in dismissal and continued speaking as if he did not say anything worthy of a reply.
"Now, seriously Grandfather, it just so happens I have something important to tell you."
"That reminds me Marina, if that animal messed up the lock spells on my doors again, I'll skin it alive and use its pelt for a coat."
It was after this declaration, that the panther finally decided it was finished eating and slowly sauntered over to the spinning wheel standing on the other side of the room. The next thing Belle saw was a medium sized, long haired house cat, with brown fur accented with streaks of white, curled up comfortably in the basket of straw by the side of the wheel. Before Rumplestiltskin could even respond to this new development, the woman grabbed his hand and turned to face Belle.
"No you see, you got me so flustered that I completely forgot to introduce Belle to Giovanni." But before Belle could ask who Giovanni was, the woman gestured at the sleeping cat. "Giovanni is my panther-cat. He is my body guard against any magical and non-magical people who may want to harm me. Once he thinks I am safe, he turns back into a cat. You don't have to be afraid of him, in fact, you can pet him any time."
"Ahh…" Was the only response Belle seemed to be capable of making. The cat raised its head from the basket of straw and the woman turned and shook her finger at him.
"Don't you start Giovanni. We discussed the petting issue before."
"Amazingly enough, Belle," Rumplestiltskin spoke to the bewildered woman, "she is not crazy for talking to him. The Farini Wizard's spell allows them to communicate without speaking. I think she is crazy for thinking that anyone in their right mind would want to pet a huge, lethal looking panther. However, since a Farini never met a furry animal they didn't want to touch there might be some sense in making sure the beast didn't eat a child for reaching out to pet its fur."
"I am going to bring some tea", Belle discovered another few words she could manage speaking.
Marina's visit threw Belle into an emotional storm. She needed time to process what she saw in that room. All the visitors she had seen come to Dark Castle brought with them feelings of desperation and fear. Marina was the first who brought love and warmth. Instead of treating Rumplestiltskin like a monster, she treated him like family. This made Belle think that maybe Rumplestiltskin wasn't exactly who she thought he was.
When Belle left the room Rumplestiltskin sat down on the bench in front of his spinning wheel, the woman immediately sat down next to him.
"By the way, you are picking out every piece of fur that animal left in my straw." He pointed his finger at the napping cat. The cat then decided to awaken, jump up, and walk over to curl up on Rumplestiltskin's lap.
"Now, its getting fur on me," But since this was followed with long strokes to the cat's back, the animal started to emit a purr loud enough to be heard on the other side of the estate.
"Never mind Giovanni, Grandfather. I have been trying to tell you that I am getting married." Rumplestiltskin turned to woman with a serious look in his eyes.
"You decided on someone, then, Marina?"
"I decided a long time ago Grandfather, I just didn't expect him to agree when I asked him."
"Something tells me I am not going to like this?"
"You know I've been thinking about marrying Renik for a long time," and now Rumplestiltskin gently cupped her cheeks with his hands. The cat abandoned his lap for the straw basket once again.
"Is that a good idea, Marina? He is a wizard."
'I've been sure about this for a long time." The woman leaned her head against his shoulder.
"If this is truly what you want, then I am happy for you."
"Thank you, Grandfather." Marina's sigh of relief made him realize that all this time she was afraid he wouldn't accept her decision.
"Have you started planning the wedding yet?" He rubbed her shoulders to relieve the tension in her body.
"Yes," and he was glad that she was her old self again, plotting something that he was sure somehow involved him, "the wedding is three months from now, two months after my twentieth birthday."
"I'll be sure to send you some squid ink in case Renik changes his mind and tries to run away." He circled his hand and giggled in a high pitched voice.
"There is something else I want Grandfather."
"I am sure there is my sweet, now spit it out."
"I want both you and my father to give me away at my wedding."
"No." Cutting and quick, Rumplestiltskin's voice lost all trace of humor and left no doubt as to how serious he was being.
"But you attend gatherings at King Midas' and King George's court all the time." A pretty pout appeared on her face.
"Not as a member of their wedding party, sweetheart." He shook his head and pulled her to him in a hug. "You cannot publicly advertise your connection to me, Marina. You don't want anyone to associate my name with yours or any other Farini royal." Instead of answering, she snuggled her head into his shoulder and continued to cling to him.
"Your grandfather should have never brought you here when you were little." He stroked her hair with his hand and she raised her head enough to speak.
"You expected a man who never stopped thinking of you as his father to just abandon you after his mother died?"
"Yes, I did." The simple, honest words tumbled from his mouth. When he saw the surprise and sadness in her eyes he continued, "Well, if not that, I certainly expected him to leave me in peace instead of wheedling a teleportation spell from Renik so he could bring his children and grand children here to make all sorts of mayhem and commotion." At that the smile was back on her face.
"Fine, I will stop being a grandchild who makes mayhem and commotion and leave you in peace. I will reserve two boring seats for you and a guest at the King's table for my wedding but don't blame me if you decide you wanted to take part in the ceremony after all."
Marina insisted on Belle joining them for tea and it wasn't until the three of them were finished that he realized he was now invited and committed to the one festive gathering he would normally have refused to attend. In addition to that, he would be sitting with the very visible wedding couple at the very visible King's table. He somehow got the feeling that the entire discussion about walking down the aisle to give away the bride was staged to maneuver him into agreeing to attend the wedding in the first place. It wasn't until Belle took the tea tray back to the kitchen that he managed to ask the one question that had been in the back of his mind all this time.
"What do you mean a guest, Marina?"
"Well, there are still people who remember that you were married to Queen Alicia which will most likely make them curious enough to want to get to know you. So if you want to avoid unwanted female attention, you might be more comfortable if Belle was with you."
"Belle? What in the world makes you think she would want to come with me? She is afraid to be near me." He didn't quite understand the knowing smile on Marina's face.
"Three months from now Grandfather, three months from now when she is no longer afraid of you", and with another knowing look from Marina, the brown cat changed back into a huge panther and in a thin column of white smoke whisked both of them out of the room.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"We have a lot to talk about Grandfather and I'll be back to do it." With another hug for him and a warm good bye to Belle, the hurricane that was Marina, left the shop.