Belle blinked several times, and she knew where she was before his magic cleared from her eyes. The warmth of the sun touched her face and she scented the apple blossoms in the air. Rumplestiltskin had not taken them far. They were only in the courtyard, their favored place under the tree.
She looked up into his scaled face, unnerved by the intensity of his stare. "Now that we're alone, you tell me what those clerics did to upset you."
His words were an order, a command Belle refused to obey. She had little love for the clerics but to tell the Dark One of what that fool elder had accused...no. Rumplestiltskin might happily kill for the insult to her honor. She could not tell him. Alvonlea had seen so much blood, she would not add to it with a play for vengeance. Her King would be the only one to use the Dark One in such a way.
"They said nothing of any consequence." She told him, stepping away now. "Please, put it from your mind."
"You hate them." He said plainly, his strange eyes still fixed upon her. "It's coming off you in waves."
Belle frowned at his wording. He often said odd things like this and she could only wonder at what he saw when he looked on her. Could he see into her mind whenever he chose, could he know her spirit? Did his Sight let him truly see her emotions? He had promised to answer what questions of hers he could. She wondered if they could not delve deeper and let her see the world as he could see it, the wisp of magic within all things alive, the shades of light and darkness that lived in every soul.
Again, she shook her head. Took a deep breath to calm herself. "No. I don't hate the men themselves, many of them I've known since I was a girl. Some of them were sent on to Arendelle with me. I don't hate them. Sometimes...often times I hate what they represent." She said, clenching her hands into fists as she recalled all their rules and rituals and their stern warnings of a woman's place - something that had always irked Belle, for how was it that men sworn to celibacy should be the ones to decide anything relating to a woman?
"Bold words, princess."
She shrugged, still feeling unbalanced from the elder's confronting her in the library. She knew very well how uneasy the clerics were to know the Dark One walked openly loved by all in the castle, but she hadn't given enough thought on how their friendship could be seen. Yes she knew that they made a strange pair from the outside, so often seen in the gardens, and though she didn't care much for gossip she hadn't thought that anyone would be so bold as to make an outright accusation against her.
Another woman might back away from him, end her connection to Rumplestiltskin to reclaim her good name, but being the princess of a desperate country leant Belle a greater measure of freedom. The Dark One was the savior of Avonlea and Belle had chosen him as her companion - no righteous old cleric could condemn them without consequence, Belle would see to that.
The woman looked up, meeting his eyes and she felt light, any guard over her tongue fell away. "Their teachings...I don't know that I've ever truly believed."
"Ah, you doubt the faith." He blinked, seeming to realize her. "Your clerics have a word for that. Blasphemy."
The Dark One spoke the truth - but that the Dark One was here with her was proof enough to her that not everything the clerics had taught her was true and more importantly, it might mean that everything they believed was a lie. Belle did not fully trust Rumplestiltskin but she put more trust in him than in anything the clerics had taught her over the years.
"The gods did not aid us when Avonlea was hours away from being overwhelmed." Belle said, voicing the thoughts that so many in the castle shared. Faith had fallen away in the proof of the mage and his awesome power, and why not, when he walked with the people? Though chained by the cursed dagger, the Dark One was undeniably real, unlike the so-called gods of their devoted clerics. "All they did was look down on us and watch. Either they are too weak to take on a hoard of ogres or the gods do not exist."
Rumplestiltskin clicked his tongue at her. "Careful, Belle. If the clerics heard you now they'd brand you a heretic."
"Let them try. They're only men hiding behind myths of the old world." Belle huffed, feeling great relief in speaking the words that had been on her mind for so long. She wondered at that - when had she lost her faith? Or, had she ever believed or had she just gone along with the lessons because it'd been expected of her, her position? Perhaps it'd been after the death of the queen, after all her simple, childish prayers had gone unanswered that the light of her faith had started to dim.
There was a strange thrill in this, a wonderful forbidden freedom in speaking open blasphemies with the very demon the order had warned of for decades.
What do they know of him? Or me? A gaggle of fools in robes. That's all they are.
Belle smoothed her hands down her dress, wondering just how far she could take her words in his presence. They spoke of many things, but her waned faith had not been a topic between them. The Dark One was known to use people's words against them - but that was the Dark One of legend, not her Rumplestiltskin.
Perhaps it did not matter anymore - these questions of gods and belief. Perhaps all that there was, was the here and the now. And now, here she was with her fascinating companion, spirited away from the clerics of the broken faith to their meeting place in the enchanted courtyard. Belle made a choice, or truly, she realized the choice she'd already made weeks before. A deeper measure of trust. "Rumplestiltskin, you promised to protect me and for all their talk of the gods and rituals and grand punishments and the like, I would name myself safest in your company."
The demon smiled at her, flashing his fangs. "Famous last words, princess."
It was the next day that Joseph sought out the princess. The day previous had been all wrong - the elder's seizing after her while she'd been alone in the library, his accusations, his desperate warning to her and his condemning words. Joseph speared fingers through his hair, feeling unbalanced by the summer. So much had happened. The world had tipped beneath his feet in the space of days and unease held heavy in his heart.
He had known Belle for years and never before had she raised her voice to him. Never before had she warned him away from her. He had never seen fury in her eyes or such disgust in her face. Truly, she had been wounded by the elder's words, he had seen that in her eyes too.
The elder was wrong, so wrong to speak to her in such a way. I stood back and let it happen. The princess may well banish me, but I must apologize. It is only right.
Joseph made his way through the corridors of the castle, seeking her. It was early in the day, yet he had been unable to sleep, restless in his remorse, and he could not wait in speaking his heart to her. After the Dark One had forced his sick visions into their minds and vanished, the elder had flown into a despairing rage, cursing the king, calling him a mad fool, cursing the princess anew with threats of purification rituals and howling that the Dark One had infected the people, the sky, the water, the very air of Avonlea.
Joseph had lead the elder back to the clerics' wing, their brothers young and old flocking to the commotion and all of them condemned for their trouble. A rift was forming within the clerics; too much that they had believed was proving untrue. Those in the castle gave no thought to the gods, not a prayer had been said since the ogres had been ripped from the earth. Some of the younger brothers had voiced wishes to leave the order, exposed longings for a second chance at life. A life without the threat of being rendered helpless in the face of a tide of monsters. Some dreamed of taking colors in the army - there were so few knights now, and the younger clerics were feeling the need to rededicate their lives to a new meaning. Some had voiced the dream of taking a wife, of seeing their children emerge into the great country Avonlea was sure to become.
The man knew what it all meant.
Their faith was dying.
Perhaps it should.
Joseph shocked himself with the thought and quickly brushed it aside. There was no time for that, it was the princess he sought.
He paused near the library and took a breath. He felt lost. He needed guidance but the elders were as lost as he was. He could sort himself out, expressing his repentance to the princess would be a step toward making his world right again. He took another breath and stepped into the room, his eyes widening when he saw the number of shelves bursting with books - they had been near empty with the highest draped in cobwebs only weeks ago. He had been too occupied with the scene his elder had caused to notice the day before; truly the Dark One did favor the princess to conjure such gifts.
He saw her, seated at one of the three tables kept within the library, reading alone. It was true that the library was neglected over the years, but who could give a thought to reading when villages had been overrun, their people scattering across borders into neighboring kingdoms? With the threat defeated and hope for a new Avonlea spreading faster than the wind, Joseph hoped to see her library filled with those eager to read.
But before he could speak on that wonderful vision, he must first speak with the princess and prove his contrition.
"Good morning, princess." He said shakily.
"And to you, priest." Her words were polite and clipped, yet her full demeanor was distant. She clearly didn't want him there, she would rather be left to read.
Being what he was, poor Joseph had no ground to stand on when it came to facing an insulted woman. He wasn't sure what to say, he only knew that he couldn't leave her until he'd made his apologies. Still...how to begin?
"Have you slept well?" He asked, breaking the awkward silence.
Belle slammed her book shut and stood from the table, her eyes flashing blue fire. "You dare ask after my sleep when your brother accused me of inviting the Dark One into my bed?!"
Joseph took a step toward her, his hands open and his words soft. "Please, princess. He is not the voice of us all, he speaks only for himself, however misguided. He was so wrong to say what he did and that I stood by and allowed such a thing - I sicken myself for showing such cowardice when I should have shouted him down in your defense. Please, princess, I beg your forgiveness."
"Why would he say such things? The Dark One has never forced himself upon me, and surely I have never invited a man to share my bed - The Dark One or any other. I would trust you to stop any gossip that would suggest otherwise." Belle said, her words a clear command.
Belle cared nothing for gossip, but she would still rather not be the subject of talk on such a vulgar level. She was pure and would remain so until married, as was her duty. Gaston deserved better than to look upon his fiance with suspicions planted by a righteous old man. After everything her father had put him through, her friend deserved better than to be accused of such a horrible thing - he was a beast, not a monster. Belle had to believe he was above such mad cruelty.
"You have my word."
Belle took a breath, smoothing a hand down the skirt of her fresh gown. The Dark One's daily gift. "Thank you. It is my thinking that the Dark One is dark only because he has never known kindness. As he is to remain until my father has no more need of him, I have taken on trying to make him feel at home." She raised her eyes to his, "I cannot do it alone. I demand that the lot of you welcome him."
Joseph nodded, obedient and so relieved when she smiled upon him once more. He would have her smile everlasting.
"Yes, princess. I will, I swear it."
Belle straightened her back. "Thank you, Joseph. If you are true in what you say, then seek him out and when you see him, swallow your fear and smile at him in greeting."
Joseph felt uneasy with his order. The princess, he adored her, truly, but she would have him shake hands with the demon of legend. The mage was known by many names - he carried the Blackest of All Hearts, he was the Eater of Sins and Haunter of Dreams, the Demon King and in other nations he was Dealmaker but the Dark One was his most common title.
Still...
In some circles he was called the Defiler of Virgins.
Please, please, do not let it be so!
Joseph thought of Belle as he made his way toward the courtyard. The princess had often been seen to speak with him there - the courtyard was a public space, all were free to go there and take in the eternal spring the Dark One had provided the castle.
The elders of their order had been quick to paint the princess's association with the Dark One in a sickening light. Just after the defeat of the ogres, the princess was first seen to sit with the demon and it was there that accusations of corruption had come forth - some of them Joseph could not fathom, that the princess might happily feast on the demon's seed or that the mage might force himself on her like a dog. He shivered uncomfortably. Carnal pleasures were unknown to him outside of his own touch, and each time he gave in to the temptation he was ashamed of himself for the indulgence.
Perhaps he was too young or too sheltered. Perhaps he was just plain ignorant of the ways of the world, he didn't know. He believed Belle in her denial of the elder's accusation, yet he could never forget the creature amongst them in the castle. The elders had intimated the Dark One could use a mind spell to have her forget his attentions each night.
He hated to think of it, of precious Belle being ravished in the dark and forced to forget, believing herself to be pure once she awoke in the mornings. How to know for sure? The princess denied it while the demon revelled in the elder's accusation.
As his thoughts circled each other, his feet had carried him through the castle corridors and straight out to the courtyard. He took a breath of the pleasant air. So strange was the Dark One's spell, that it could be an advancing autumn outside the castle walls and blooming spring in the center yard.
He stood, searching and then found the demon beneath his favored apple tree. Dread gripped Joseph, hard and heavy in his chest.
The Dark One was holding a child, one of the castle orphans.
After accusing the princess of whoring herself to the devil, the cleric elder had warned of the demon taking a sick delight in corrupting children, that his darkness would spread to infect the innocents and make of them his disciples, deaf and blind to anything outside his wicked bidding. The thought of children being used in such a way twisted his stomach.
O gods above please don't let it be so!
He watched, rooted to the spot, as the Dark One streamed his hands through the child's hair, grooming the little girl with his claws in lieu of a proper hairbrush. For her part the child appeared content sitting in his lap, a rag doll clutched in her hands. Joseph watched them, the mage and child, seeming so content and sweet in the shade. Many of the castle orphans had come to call him new father, and here it seemed the Dark One had set aside his reservations at the name and taken to the role.
Was it as the elders claimed? That the Dark One would bed all the women, possess the castle orphans and cast a wrath over all of Avonlea for his perverse sense of pleasure? All at once, Joseph felt ice rush through his veins. The gods, would they ever come to give their aid? What new measure of desperation would it take to bring them down from the heavens?
And yet...the Dark One appeared content in caring for the girl and she, a foundling from the north, was so glad to be cared for. Joseph felt shame grip him in a strange way; the clerics, himself included, assisted in caring for the orphans by seeing to their education, teaching them the faith, but they had not cared for the children. They had not played with them or held them, instead they had kept their distance. They had been too preoccupied with their rituals and prayers to gods who had never answered. Yet this thing, this creature was showing more care for the girl than anyone else in the castle. Was it a wonder the child cleaved to him? How shameful his thoughts and realizations.
The Dark One tickled the girl and she squealed happily in his lap, and for a moment the demon seemed happy as he charmed a daisy chain into her hair. "Off you go, wee princess!" He urged her.
The girl stood from his lap and ran off into the hedge maze to join a gaggle of other children. Off they went, laughing and as happy as they'd ever been in their short lives. To them, he was no demon intent to infect the people, to the children the Dark One was the god that walked with them, the new father come in answer to their small prayers. It was because of him that the sky shined blue, their bellies were full and the adults of the castle were smiling. Children could sense things, and the orphans could sense hope even if they had never known it before the demon appeared before the court.
To the children, the Dark One was no demon or walking nightmare - he was the one who banished nightmares and what was more, he was a friend.
New father.
Now alone, the Dark One kept his place beneath the tree. Joseph took in a breath, steeling himself. The princess had ordered him to speak with the demon and form a rapport, if at all possible. An impossible thing maybe, but impossible things had happened before.
Joseph approached the creature as he would any other man. "Good day to you, Dark One."
In a flash, the demon was on his feet, a teasing smile splitting his face. "You greet me? Should I be ready to dodge a splash of your holy water?"
Joseph raised his open hands. "No, I would not-"
"Just a quip!" The mage waved him off and moved back toward the apple tree, digging his claws into the truck and scratching at the wood as he stretched, arching his back like a feline. "The water wouldn't help if you tried. Spread the word to your friends at the temple."
He nodded, "I will do. Are, um, are you enjoying your time in Avonlea?"
Rumplestiltskin raised a brow. "Is that a serious question? I am forced to be here and humiliated like a jester on the nights I am not spinning gold. What exactly do you think I have to enjoy in Avonlea?"
"Many of the court women have been seen to favor you." Joseph said feebly, feeling like a dunce. What did he know of women?
At that, the demon gestured wildly, waggling his fingers. "Ah, women. So pretty, so sweet and kind, and here there are so very many to choose from. I entertain a visit with a different woman every day! From the young servant girls on up to the repressed wives of the noblemen, I have met with them all."
Joseph nearly choked on his shock - it was true, the Dark One was cutting his way through the women of the castle!
"You - you're -"
"Making friends with pretty faces. Now, if there's nothing else, I must be off." Rumplestiltskin made as if to leave, flouncing past Joseph. Truly, he was a tiger pestered by a kitten.
"May I ask where you're headed?" Joseph asked. He already knew the answer.
"Why, to the Lady Belle, of course!" He explained. "She favors my many voices to read the full cast of characters in her books. Simple trick, and no trouble to me."
Was there a way to warn the Dark One away from the princess? Joseph didn't know of any way to do so that would not risk his life - and even if he did, the Dark One obeyed no one but he who held the dagger. For his part, their King was too preoccupied with his plans to raise the kingdom to bother about what may only be the paranoid rantings of an old man.
"Ah...yes, it has been said that the two of you keep close company."
Rumplestiltskin rounded on him, "And this is said by who?"
"It has been seen by many eyes."
He sighed heavily. "I suppose there's no way to avoid that, it is too late to render us both invisible. What else is said?"
"I don't understand-"
The Dark One scowled at him, "Don't play the fool with me, priest! Tell me, has Lady Belle been compromised in the court, the kingdom?"
Joseph thought on the demon's question. He had heard no sick speculations over Belle's reputation outside of the elders. The clerics were split on their thoughts, while the entirety of the castle was so caught up with the recovery of Avonlea, so grateful to the Dark One and so blind with hope for a future that whatever anyone thought of the connection between princess and demon, no one seemed to linger over them for long.
Joseph said as much, "No more than anyone else who has been seen to shake hands with you."
Rumplestiltskin quickly took Joseph's hand into his claw, "And now you're among their number."
Joseph did not pull from his hold. What would be the point now? Others in the courtyard could see them, the cleric and the demon, joining hands. The princess would hear of this from others if not the Dark One himself.
The demon's eyes were fully white now, glowing faintly as he looked on Joseph. "Ah, and it seems I'm not the only one to favor a lady of the court, eh? The stranger, Lai Lai Zhen! You have exotic tastes, priest, but better you favor a pretty young traveler than a pretty young boy from the choir."
Joseph pulled his hand away, startled, severing the connection between them that had allowed the Dark One to glimpse his secret. "How did you know?"
Rumplestiltskin gestured to himself, wholly smug. "Please. No one holds a secret from me for long. Speak to Lai Lai, she is not so harsh as she seems."
Joseph lowered his head, "She was once an assassin. She and her fellows were sent here from an eastern empire-"
"Do you think I do not know this? That I haven't touched her already and seen all I needed to see of her past? I know very well that she served as an assassin for a royal house. And though she may sit in with the knights, she's as lonely as you are, priest. She may be something of a guest here now but too often she finds herself without a friend. Give her this, she will favor you for it." Rumplestiltskin trilled at him, presenting a flower as delicate and exotic as Lai Lai herself.
Joseph didn't know that he could believe the Dark One. Lai Lai was so beautiful and yet so fierce. After being sent away to Arendelle had had mourned the thought that he would not see her again - his return to Avonlea had proven his worry untrue. He had seen her after the courtyard bloomed. She'd been at a fountain, drifting her fingertips in the water, a contented tiger.
She was a beautiful woman and the few times they'd spoken, she'd proven her grasp of the language to be near fluent and her mind was as sharp as her sword. And yet there was one fact that remained. "I cannot - I am sworn to uphold my vows-"
"Suit yourself." Rumplestiltskin huffed, vanishing the flower. "You won't be a priest forever, perhaps then you'll heed my advice."
"I am not a priest yet, the elders claim I am not ready." Joseph corrected gently. What did it matter? He was a young brother cleric in an order of faith that the Dark One had killed. What good was he to anyone? He would never be worthy of a woman like Belle or Lai Lai. He was near to nothing.
"Then there's still time for you to have a life of your own. Go, speak to Lai Lai while you still can. Avonlea is under my protection now, soon enough that pig of a king will pay her what she's due and she'll be off to her next adventure, hunting and defending whoever can promise to pay. I say to you, do not let her go. Charm her, court her, start a life together far from here." The demon urged.
Joseph could dream of this life with Lai Lai at his side, but he could see what trick the demon was playing - he would dismantle the order from within, plant uncontrollable suspicion in the elders and tempt the young brothers with the promise of bliss found in the arms of women.
"I cannot do this. You are only trying to use her to lure my astray." He accused. "I am bound by-"
"Your gods?" The demon snarled. "Hmm. Yes, please, tell me of your gods, they who watch and wait from the clouds as your country was eaten alive while I, the Blackest of All Hearts, the Shaded Dealmaker and Thief of Babes, the Dark One, I am the one called Savior by the remains of your people! Think long on it, Joseph, if your gods are worth worshipping or if there are any gods at all. Don't waste the rest of your life praying to a lie."
Joseph absorbed his words, each one adding to the weight of his dread. He tried, feebly, to defend his belief, yet his words were falling empty. "When I was a child, my parents spoke of you. That you are this world's greatest evil-"
"You flatter me."
"-there were also those who called you a myth but you here you stand before me. You are real, Dark One. If you are real then so still may be the gods."
As ever, Rumplestiltskin was unimpressed by this stubborn little man. It was amusing to him, shredding his faith with words alone, but in truth he'd rather be with Belle, or tending another orphan.
"Hmmm. Well, if your gods ever deign to make themselves known to mortal eyes, do you think they would be welcome here?" He spread his arms, encompassing the renewed castle, all his doing. "These all-powerful masters of the stars who let their supplicants suffer for a decade...no, what's left of your people would tear into any god that set a foot down on Avonlean soil, and the gods know it. They fear those who once worshipped them. I am the true savior here, think on that."
Stunned by the demon's words, Joseph stammered out some excuse to take his leave, quick in his retreat back into the castle. He was intent to go to the elders and relay his encounter, only he could not stand to be within the stone walls, he could not stand to hear the happy chatter, so long a sound silenced by the misery of the ogre threat.
He moved heavily, a heavy sweat breaking over his forehead. He pulled at the heavy wool of his robe, suddenly stifling as he headed out of the castle.
No, no, this is no castle of kings and men. Every stone has been touched by his magic. This is not the castle of Avonlea, we stand and sleep in the nest of the Dark One!
The man stumbled out into the crisp autumn air and fell to his knees, blackness creeping into the edges of his vision as his mind swirled.
The last thing Joseph felt before falling was a pair of strong hands on his shoulders.