Things evolved slowly after the moment of camaraderie forged upon the errant currents of wild magic. The perilous moment wrought betwixt them had been a tenuous slender thread, ready to snap away at any moment, but instead was twined stronger into a frail frayed cord binding them in a tether of surreptitious understanding. Accomplishment brought a sense of understanding coaxing their ghosting, wary moments out of the shadows from their cloaked persons.
A careful word here, a clandestine smile there, a witty quip or two scattered about all began to manifest in the course of the days betwixt master and servant. Rarely an ill word crossed their lips and those were quickly mended over whispered apologies and gruff relenting.
Despite the darkness swarming in his bleak heart, scolding him, the Dark One was watchful over the slave of his lover, though he tried to disabuse himself from the notion. He knew he should not have felt such a instinct to protect her, and the malice in him certainly relayed that, biting into his murky soul, but he could not help himself.
There was something about the girl that drew his attention like a moth to a dancing candles flame. Always there was an excuse to aid her and without fail he leapt upon the moment that presented itself to be her rescuer.
His growled words were often those of clemency and rough kindness when Cora was not haunting about the shadows of her vile lair. Under his gaze the enslaved beauty was given a tremulous ally in her eternal thralldom. They hardly spoke to one another, but there was understanding in silence and perhaps even companionship.
When she took task to dusting the great main hall and all the bibelots within their stone and glass coffins, he would forever find a reason to spin the worthless tawny straw until she left. His sable orbs snatched curious glances of her sweeping about the room like some angel come down in the morass of filth until her chore was done and the spell of her presence was broken upon his vile heart. His always felt elated at her presence and fell back to the hallow of his chest when she departed into the darkened halls to tackle another labor.
When she attended them at their meals he made certain to keep an eye on Cora's night and day temperaments blistering inside her sensuous darkness. The magical fiend did not like to see the girl Belle punished for a simple misstep caught under the merciless gaze of his lover. Anger and disgust both simmered within him to see her caught in the grip of pain tightened and squeezed by Cora's malicious, spell clever fingers. If he could he tried to direct her anger or even send Belle upon some task in the kitchen to fetch some sort of rare item that would direct her time out of Cora's gaze.
The Dark One cursed himself a pitying fool for his aid to the enslaved beauty, but still he found himself being a saving grace when he swore he would let matters lie betwixt mistress and slave.
Day after day he tried to stop himself, to let matters lie, to not care of her plight.
Yet day after day he failed.
~8~8~
"Good morning." Belle greeted pleasantly as she appeared through a dim aperture at a corner of the main hall. A soft smile domed her lips as they did every morning now as she stared her daily chores through the dread keep.
The Dark One was often up long before Cora stirred from her plush, feathered bed and began to harangue her and bark out orders for the day. Belle had gotten used to his early rises, nay even looked forward to them from her awakening from the cold stone of her black cage.
Placing a gray-gold claw lightly upon the spinning wheel's border, the Dark One halted the circuitous cycle. Though he tried with all his beastly being not too give her notice, the fiend always paused the wheel ancient cycle just for a moment to bid her good morning. If nothing else he could at least give her a greeting that made her feel like a person and not some stupid beast meant only to labor with back-breaking tasks.
Something akin to a grin faintly split his thin lips. "Good morning." He nodded his head slightly in her direction, his eyes sparkling like black diamonds upon his scaled features.
Deep down in the depths of his sable heart, the Dark One relished in her ever tenuous greeting to him and him alone. She never bid Cora good morning. In fact she did many things about him she dared not do about Cora. While she kept her head bowed in Cora's sinister presence, she looked up at him, her azure orbits meeting his fearlessly and almost in friendship. She spoke freely around him, when about the witch she dared never open her mouth save to answer a question or broach an inquiry for some clarification. Even when he was present and she was doing her chores she pleasantly hummed about him as she toiled, knowing he would never bark at her or scold for the slight melodic tune.
They had special little camaraderie, he had she, a connection of shaky trust tenuously bound by a frayed thread about their being that slowly entangled them.
Carefully carrying the silver tray of toast and berry jam, the enslaved beauty deposited her burden to the large oaken table in the center of the ostentatious room. Assiduously laying out the spread she talked to the Dark One from behind her shoulder. "Will mistress Cora be down soon?" She queried, her voice flickering with a mellowed tinge sadness. The very name of her cruel captor filled her heart with dour darkness.
A small thrill involuntarily coursed through the fiend's dark veins. Though he shouldn't have, he had been waiting for this all morning, eager with a surprise upon his tongue. Though the surprise wasn't actually good for him, the small announcement was wondrous for the woman forever caught in Cora's sights of cruelty. "Cora will not be joining us. She's gone for the day." He informed her gently.
Finally after long weeks this was a time for words freely spoke without the shade of Cora snuffing out their contact. There communication had been in small actions since the weaving of magic, but now they could bandy words without fear of Cora jutting in or casting Belle into an arduous chore or even punish her for speaking out of her caste.
Belle turned about, elated by the news. Her heart soared freely with the knowledge Cora was spirited away to amble the realms for a day. A smile that could have lighted up the darkest mines like the evening sun beamed from her lovely features. "I see." She remarked simply, not daring to say what else flickered upon her tongue. Nothing but joy sparkled in her cobalt eyes at the jubilant news.
"She told me to make sure you kept to your chores." The fiend warned and begun to spin once more. The spokes turned into a brown blur as he motioned the wheel into the cycle. Of course, he was the one to dole out her chores and for the present he saw no duties that needed tending to. Mayhap, he smiled to himself, perhaps there was nothing that needed to be done.
Belle bobbed her head. "I will. It's just… sometimes it's good to have a little breathing room." Her breath caught abruptly as the hefty admission passed her lips. For a brief flicker of time terror and uncertainty dashed across her visage.
Was she so at ease with him about she dropped all decorum of her position? Such a thing would never void her lips if Cora was in sniffing distance of the castle. He was her dark lover, but she just admitted her want for a slower pace of chore in the keep and joy for his love being gone.
The Dark One's scaled brow knit at her words. His ebony eyes stared upon the twinkling thread thoughtfully, digesting the admittance. "You should be careful with what you say." He warned. Cora still did share his bed. He had obligations to her that he did not have to the beauty. Though he was not cruel to her, he would not stand for any words against Cora.
Belle nodded fastidiously taking the warning as any would when being cautious about a poisonous snake. "Yes." She turned back to the table and continued her work putting cream colored porcelain plates engraved with blue ivy work of flowers on the table. "Tea will be ready shortly." She placed a piping hot plate on his side of the table. "What type of tea would you like?"
"Whatever you think best." The fiend waved his scaled talons flippantly in her direction, feigning insouciance.
A giggle parted Belle's mouth. He acted as though he did not care but she knew otherwise. He always preferred a peach tea to Cora's darker stock of pungent, strong brews. "Your usual then." She hefted the silver gilded tray once more and padded out.
A smile quirked upon his scaled visage but he remained silent. He knew part of her job was to know her master and mistress' likes and oddities but the fact surprised him she remembered his odd tastes. Everyday she nervously asked her mistress what she would have though her flavors never strayed and yet every morn she brought his tea and breakfast ready and well without a word of query.
The door swept open once again as the beauty appeared in the main hall like some returning light of dawn. Peach perfume wisped through the cool air in pale gray vaporous streams curling from the curved spout.
On the chilling draft the winds of the ominous castle took the snaking fog to the Dark One, filling his senses with his favorite tea. Tendrils of gray fog coiled about his senses, alluring him with calming fragrance. A true smile waxed upon his features as he allowed the steam to coil about him.
Pouring the heady brown brew the beauty doctored his tea with two lumps of sugar and took him his chipped cup. Unlike what she did with Cora she always made an extra effort for him. Perhaps, the Dark One thought, because he was not a harsh task master to her. Thoughtfulness did have certain rewards, even from those who could not offer much.
"You don't need to bring me tea." He informed her softly as he took the chipped trinket from her cupped hands. The warmth of the cup pulsed through her calloused digits bringing a hint of heat to his wiry claws as he took the trinket.
Electricity sparked from their fingers as their hands but brushed one another in the faintest of touches. For too long the jolt had been occurring, but neither dared bring up the touch that paused their hearts tenuous beat for a few blinks in time.
Her face flushed a ruddy hue of ember upon her milky cheeks. "I don't mind." Her words came soft and bashfully as she folded her hand subserviently behind her back.
"No need for the extra trouble." The beasts sable eyes craned up to meet her gaze. Cobalt pools met his without fear. Her stare made his black husk of a heart twitch with life in his chest. Was there ever more beauteous eyes in all the realms?
Stepping away she giggled a faint laugh, her lips curved into a cheery smile. "You hardly afford me trouble master."
"Yet you always seem to stumble into such troubles." Parried the Dark One smartly, his lips curled a treasured, rare smile. Sipping his tea from the un-chipped edge, he stared at her from the rim of the gilded bibelot. "It makes me wonder have you always had a penchant for getting into terrible situations. I'm curious about you, slave, how you got into all this trouble of eternal servitude. Where did you come from, and how did you come by being Cora's servant?"
He had heard before, little snippets of Belle's past life dropped from the lips of his dark lover; a father, a kingdom, and rabid ogres rampant on the path of their war lust but not much else. The pieces were not all there, but what he could discern seemed to be an interesting tale to be told.
What had made her lot so desperate she had agreed to serve his lover for all eternity? Certainly he could think of nothing so worth such torment and servitude.
Like dark clouds over a blue sky, a frown replaced Belle's beaming smile. Claws of agony shredded at her bright heart, bringing down her joy in a slough of sorrowed memories.
Did he have to inquire of things so close to her heart?
Ducking her head the beauty heaved her shoulders in a shrug. "I come from a tiny realm by the sea." She began sadly. A melancholy laugh breathed faintly from her lips near frowning lips. "I could not even tell you which direction my old was in for Cora spirited me away. My father's kingdom and the people therein lived in happiness and peace before rampaging ogres turned their eyes to our prosperous realm. We didn't have many fighters but we tried to stave them off." Belle tossed her head as though denying the arrows of unpleasant memories entry into her skull.
Closing her eyes tightly she fought back the hot sting of tears. "Slowly we were losing the war. Many people died by the day, either by starvation, sickness, wounds or by the ogres themselves. My father was a trader not a fighter. He did his best, but his limited knowledge wasn't enough. When all seemed lost I… I contacted Cora. I made a deal that if she saved my people I would give her anything she wished. She told me plainly my people have nothing she desired but she could use a slave girl for her castle. And so I struck the deal."
Though her azure eyes were riveted shut, a hot tear slipped down her dirt stained cheeks as she relived the painfully memory. No spell or tincture could ever mend the pain from the memory and the sacrifice.
The etched brook of the tear sat pointedly upon her lovely features, a testament to her inward misery thrashing against her soul. "I… did not know the deal started at that moment. She took me from my home in an instant. Everything happened so quickly… I didn't…. I didn't even get to say goodbye to my family."
"This Is home now slave." Cora grinned maliciously to the teary eyed Belle as she thrust her into a cold cell that was to be her only place of rest. Cruelty glittering in her almond eyes branded upon the beauty, her smile a lance into her heart. Her lips curled into a wicked sneer. "You are a noble no longer. Here you are a worm I allow to live."
Belle remember the moment plainly, her mind still reeling from what had just occurred. She hadn't even seen if Cora's words were truth, or saw her dearest papa one last time before she departed. Her old life had ended then and a reign of torment began.
Shaking away the sadness that dragged her heart, the beauty opened her eyes. Tears shimmered in her cobalt depths but they did not tip from her bejeweled depths. "That's all I'm afraid. I have the life you see now." She finished lugubriously.
Coldness pooled in the Dark One's heart as she finished her tale. His mouth was a pencil thin line of gray aimed towards the blurred spokes of the spinning wheel. With all his black soul he wished he had not asked. He wish he had not let forth so much pain unleashed from the vault of her strong brave heart.
"Tragic." He muttered lowly not knowing what else to say from her miserable tale. Part of him wished to offer the most sincere of condolences his dark heart could afford, but who was he to dole out his pity to a slave. She had willingly placed herself upon the pedestal of Cora's cruelty.
Sturdily, a small smile tipped the edges of the beauty's lips. "It's not so bad now." She ducked her head shyly, her words strong even in the swamp of her melancholy.
At least now the days were not so fraught with grievous terror and lonesomeness. True, Cora was still a terror to behold but she now had at least someone to speak to on occasion who would not endow her with misery. With the Dark One she was allowed a little breathing room for error. He was not a cruel master who adored tormenting her as her mistress delighted so.
He was talking of him, the Dark One drew instantly. Exuberance not of his own dark designs fluttered like the alabaster wings of a dove in his chest. Her words, so soft and happy were meant for him. But how could such words be directed for him? He was the beastly Dark One, the lover of her tormenter. How could she possibly consider him some bright stream of light in her dour days?
"Tell me slave. Why are you not afraid of me?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, suddenly curious. His scaled claws turned the spinning device at a vapid pace. The wheel creaked sonorously with the slow turn of the spokes but neither paid heed.
Confusion knit the beauty's flawless brow in thin lines over her azure eyes. "Why would I be afraid? You are kind to me." Certainly she had been wary of his arrival at first but never afraid.
Never was she afraid of anything she did not know of first. To her, people were like books; no one could know what was in a persons heart until their truly peered inside. She had quickly learned to fear Cora, but she hadn't been terrified of her at first. Soon though she had seen what rottenness laid in that pallid husk of cruel beauty and malice.
"Kind?" He echoed the word, his tone incredulous. A scoff fell from his lips at such ridiculousness. He shook his straggly tresses. "I am many things, but far from… from kind." He spoke the word like tasting some strange elixir upon his tongue.
The brave beauty's slender shoulders heaved in a solicitous shrug. She knew better than to frontally argue the fact. He was so determined to never let his acts of goodness appear to be anything more than happenstances that benefited him. "Mayhap not kindness in your eyes, but certainly in mine. But who knows, maybe you're right. Maybe I've forgotten what kindness is."
"Matters that have saved you have been purely coincidental." He denied primly, his oily eyes glossy in the shaft of golden light that slipped through the curtains.
Laughter, full and sweet tumbled merrily from Belle's lush lips. He tried to look serious with the mask of cold hardness about his gray-gold features but seemed utterly comical in his act of stern somberness. "Surely coincidence then master."
"That's another thing." He kept his eyes riveted to the wheel hypnotic spin and the snaking thread of the straw conjured into glittering gold at his black boots. "I'm not your master. I made no deal for you. My name is Rumpelstiltskin as I believe I told you. Names have power and I do not give my name lightly. If I have given you something I think the matter only fair that you use it."
Quieter, lugubrious laughter slipped from Belle's mouth, her mouth tipped into a half grin. "Cora would never allow that." The first and last time she had dared call Cora by her dreaded moniker her head and spun for an hour.
"Cora also doesn't allow you to read books on your free time whilst she's away." The Dark One parried simply in an impish titter.
If she dared something so disastrous if she was caught why not dare his name. Besides, part of him was anxious too hear his name spoken from her mouth. He was eager to watch her lips form every letter and symbol and to feel his blood react to the moniker given from her tongue.
The beauty perched a brow. "Do you imply that should call you that when the mistress is away?" A smile twitched involuntarily at her mouth.
"I'm merely pointing out that being denied something does necessarily stop you." His dappled smile widened, caught up in her infectious grin and startling wit.
Not only was the beauty brave, but she had a brilliance to her that not even Cora could stifle with her abject cruelty. The girl's wit was as sharp as a freshly forged dagger and her intellect on par with his and Cora's perhaps even more so. Certainly the fact that she'd survived so long under her mistress's cold hand wasn't mere luck that had let her live in Cora's thralldom, but brilliance to keep her still breathing and her body in motion.
Considering his words, the beauty's lips pulled into a thoughtful half smile. He did have a point. Placing the newly barren gilt tray under one arm she gave a faint nod. "On one condition."
"Oh?" Darkness flared in his blood for a bargain.
"I will call you Rumpelstiltskin." She pointed a calloused finger to him and then to herself. "If you call me Belle."
He placed a hand on his brown brocade vest, his mouth agape in mock shock of her daring. "And when do servants start striking deals with their captors?" No malice, unlike Cora's, flared in his falsetto voice. Good nature sparkled in his ebon dots. His words were meant in jest not cruelty, never in cruelty to her.
"Since we are breaking rules." She countered with a soft grin.
Oh she was a clever one, Rumpelstiltskin noted jubilantly, extremely clever. Nodding laconically, the fiend turned the wheel faster. Another long strand of sparkling gold, new and conjured from he most unlikely source, slid between his fingers. "A deal then… Belle."
The beauty curtsied neatly, her form still refined from her days as a noble. "A deal then Rumpelstiltskin."