Lingering hints of tortuous pain flared through Belle's work hardened body as she awoke in the miserable darkness of her fetid prison. Coldness skirted her flesh like icy knives scraping over there skin. The roughness of the coarse, black stone dug viciously into her form, leaving the indentations of a solid sleep without moving.
Curled into a tight ball in the only home she'd known for five years the girl shifted vapidly over the barren rock she called her bed. Soreness and numbness from the frigid cold and hard stone both waged a battle for dominion over her form as usual when she woke well before dawn. Normally soreness won the day, but numbness was a better option to her battered body.
Slowly prying her sapphire eyes open into the abysmal darkness, the beauty shifted from her deadened slumber. Little by little a spot of light crowded her vision, forcing illumination into her cell.
The faint light from the glass rose coaxed a ruddy glow into her cage with a bit of radiance that cast the entire prison into view. Nothing was to be seen the dreaded confines, but the light provided a small measure and warmth and comfort to her heart and body.
For a groggy moment, the brave beauty's mind danced back into the relative safety of routine in her enslaved lot. The mistress would wish for her breakfast of tea and eggs, she would perhaps have to scrub a few hall floors, and Rumpelstiltskin….
Her heart skipped as his name entered her mind.
Rumpelstiltskin.
All and once, like an out of control carousel spinning in a dizzying whirl, the thoughts of the day before hurtled back into the forefront of her mind. Splashes of her own hot blood spattered across her blurry vision as she writhed in pain, the cruel grin of her slaver stabbed like a serrated lance down upon her unprotected figure, promising more pain, and then she awoke in safety with the Dark One looming over her. He had been the first sight when she awoke from her mire of unconsciousness, her magical guardian who saved her from the snapping jaws of the wolf that was her sordid owner.
Lost in the crawling darkness of her cell a small smiled bloomed upon her lovely face. He had saved her, taken her into his sinewy arms and blockaded her vile mistress from harming her. With the utmost clarity she recalled wrapping her arms about his neck and looking deep into his sable depths before she nearly….
A black curse flew in panicked remembrance from Belle's mouth with the thought. Heat blushed in a scorching inferno through her creamy cheeks, tinting her face nearly as red as the wine rose. She had so very nearly pressed her lips to his and felt the softness of his mouth for herself. She had so very nearly delved into the secrets of his tongue and words and emotions to see what laid beneath the scaly gray-gold hide.
Vapidly rising, her back against the furthest stone wall, the beauty combed her assiduous fingers through her silky umber tresses. Knees drawn up, she laid her arms on her knees and bowed her head in shame. Why had she done such a thing? Why had she nearly kissed him?
Abruptly a knock rapped upon the thick portal of her prison, killing her contemplations. Jerking her head up, the enslaved beauty stared at the door warily as though some monstrous creature lurked behind the wood. Anxiousness leapt through her heart like a wild deer running from archers.
Thousands of thoughts of abject terror raced in a frenzy through her thoughts. Was Cora come to finish her punishment? Had she concocted some new torment to beat upon her?
"Belle?" Rumpelstiltskin called her lovely name tenuously as he carefully open the door to her cell. The heavy rusted hinges creaked with age as he pushed the door fully wide and stepped inside her habitation.
Relief tinged by alabaster flares of wariness pulsed through her heart at the sound of his impish voice. Rays of soft orange torchlight slanted in her dark cell revealing his lean, gray-gold figure standing in the doorway. His normally neat brown and black garb were wrinkled, subtly displaying he had not thought slept so well.
"Rumpel." Belle returned graciously, his name coming like a prayer from her pink lips. Embarrassment steeped darkly in her heart, but to even see him banished such emotion from her soul.
"Are you alright?" The fiend crept carefully inside her prison, his every step as though walking on glass. He hadn't meant to come in unannounced, but there had been no answer from her.
A grimace carved his thin gray lips as his sable depths surveyed her barren home. In five years he had thought something might have shaped up to what could be considered a home at least with a bed or even a bale of hay. Instead bareness and cold dominated her cage, a prison in the basest, spatan sense. Cora truly had given her nothing and treated her as such.
Laughter, terse and mirthless, fell from the beauty's mouth. "I've had better days." She admitted tremulously, her pink lips curved in a faint crescent. The pulsing and itching of her healed skin certainly testified to that! "But that doesn't matter." She waved her hand as though tossing the brief pulses of pain away. "Why are you here? I would've been up in a moment to start breakfast."
Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, the fiend looked away to the stone all about them. "I… ah… I brought you something. I mere trifle really. There's so much blood on your old gown that I thought…." Forcing his nervous stammering words to a stop past his forked tongue, the beast snapped his fingers. Rather his magic do the talking that him rambling like a fool, he spat inwardly at himself.
A purple puff of fog came to his hand in a spurt of power, bending to his once nefarious will. In but a moment, a light blue dress draped in his gray-gold claws.
Blue matched her eyes wonderfully, he thought in his own observing on more than one occasion. He adored the way the blue in her eyes seemed to sparkle and fit in with everything about her as though they willfully bent to make her even lovelier. That was the most seasoned reason for his color pick.
The new attire was clean and neatly pressed thanks to his power and bits of his dark magic was enchanted into he threads for the utmost durability.
Keeping his eyes anywhere but upon her, the Dark One held the dress out like an offering. Nervousness danced freely in his black depths as he fumbled for words. "I though you could do with another."
"Oh Rumpel its wonderful." Belle gasped delightedly. Taking the gifted garb from his gray-gold claws the beauty held the gown on her knees. Scalding tear welled in her sapphire eyes for the wondrous boon her had given her. The gift was so precious and thoughtful coming from the man who'd already given her so much. She couldn't wait to….
Dread pooled in her heart at a sudden thought that clawed into her brain. Fear scaled the brave walls of her soul, poisoning her thankfulness with black bile. Cora would not miss such a thing. The dress would be like rubbing her face in his rescuing her and ending her magic.
Shaking her head, the beauty looked up to the kind beast. Fear flecked her eyes like dark spots. "After what you've done Cora surely will…."
"Cora will not be doing anything to you." His voice cut like an icy blade through the dimness. Fury mingled with determination glittered like tongues of flames in his onyx eyes, leaving no doubt to his words. His jaw knotted angrily even at the mention of the cruel witch. "No demands, no punishments, nothing." He assured the beauty, his voice a bit gentler to her.
Touched by his words, the beauty dipped her head. Her hands smoothed over the precious garment on her lap. "I am her slave, Rumpel." She stated direly. The last thing she wished was for that fact to taint such a moment, but the knowledge couldn't be cast aside. Even she knew he had no power over a deal fairly struck. How long could he keep that promise to her? The life she lived was Cora's to do with as she pleased. How long would his bower of protection last her before Cora threatened all she held dear?
"Not today you aren't." A small grin came to his lips. "Cora left in the middle of the night, no doubt to fume where she would be safe from me." The fiends smile fell a bit, once more the protector. "And even if she didn't I wouldn't allow her wickedness within a foot of you, my Belle. I will make this right. I can't stand you being like…" He proffered hand to the unforgiving dark walls and the cold, barren floor where she slept. "This."
Getting to her feet, the beauty grinned at the magical monster. "It's not so bad once you get used to it." She jested, now free of fear of Cora looming above her head like the specter of death. If the Dark One promised something, she had no doubt in her mind he would deliver.
"No one should have to get used to such conditions." The fiend snorted firmly, his smile fading a touch. Especially not his Belle. Holding out his gray-gold hand, the Dark One smiled looked into her azure pools. "Come with me. The time has come where you no longer rot in this cage."
Too long had she been ill treated by the spell worn hands of her cruel, sadistic mistress. Too long had she become used to all the cruelties and hardships. At least he could give her a day free of labor and fears and hopefully free of the hag Cora.
Laying her work calloused hand into his scaled claw, the beauty smiled a radiant grin that belayed the darkness of her prison. Even in her cage, with him she felt freer than a dragon in flight. "I'd go with you anywhere." Adoration filled her pleasant, heartfelt words. There was no one else she'd rather venture with than he.
"Just the kitchens right now." The fiend chuckled and slowly pulled her out of the shadows just as he had done her heart. "I'll make you breakfast for once, you can come back and change, and then who knows. Magic can take us anywhere."
~8~8~
Ominous doom lingered like the last unrepentant breath of a dying soul all about Cora's malicious senses. Darkness swirled in musty, cloying gray cobwebs in the foreign castle in which she found sanctuary from her former lover. Gloom found every bereft alcove of the place and filled the barren niches with dour dread and utter hopelessness.
Specters of the dead, long ago slain, wafted down every black, listless hall, their last dying shrieks of misery still whispers upon the drafty wind.
Here was the keep of the infamous, murderous Maleficent.
If any castle in all the realms took the title of most ominous, Malifcent's haunted stronghold took the prize. Nested perilously upon a cliff-side over cold raging water that led out into the unexplored sea, the witch's castle looked out over land and sea with haughty arrogance and the threat of danger slipping out at any moment that spelled her fancy.
"Not often you come calling, Cora." Maleficent stated in blunt boredom as she swirled a thin glass filled with spirits and sat in a high-backed armchair in the atrium of her keep.
The room was a massive chamber constructed by dwarves of long ago. The ceiling vaulted upwards into darkness of the unseen rafters. Titanic windows that went from floor to ceiling adorned the back wall of the atrium so that the person in the room could look out to the frothing waters and jagged rocks far, far below.
Huffing a laugh Cora crossed her legs and leaned back in her own chair that looked carved of old dragon bones. Picking up her glass offered by the fellow enchantress, she took a tentative sip. "People in general often don't come to visit one thousand year old dragon's old friend." The harpy's lips twitched in a smirk of sudden amusement. "Unless of course they have a death with." A false friendly smile smeared her ruby red lips.
"Unless they want something." The dragon in human flesh parried back simply, under no illusions. Taking a sip of her drink she shifted in the chair comfortably, completely uncaring of the harpy's reasons.
Cora replied with a colder smile towards the powerful dragon sitting only footsteps away in her human guise. Outraged fury sparked in her black heart, but she bore the rage in stride. Letting her bile show would be one of the worst decisions she could fathom. She would have cursed the dragon any other time but Maleficent and her age old magic was needed at the moment.
"True enough." The vile Cora replied plainly. Long ago she learned not to play games with the dragon matron. The reptilian witch was much to old for such trivialities mortals played.
"What I can't figure out is why you're coming to me for anything." A sigh fled the dragon's façade of supple human lips. Tenting her dangerously sharp nailed fingers she eyed the fellow witch nestled in the other chair forged of defeated dragons remains. "Rumors have drifted on the windy currents for months now that the Dark One has chose to reside with you. All the realms from King James to Prince Eric are terrified. I can't imagine why you would need something from me when the most powerful sorcerer is calling your bed home."
Dark, unadulterated hate and fury blotted Cora' pale skin at the mention of her former lover. The night still flashed by in lightening speed before her eyes. Her healed wrist throbbed in memory of what he'd done to her over a worthless slave.
Maleficent, not one to miss the look of rage, perched a brow, her look curious. "Trouble in paradise, dear?" Her pale, disconcerting lips, holding back rows of sharp teeth and a true forked tongue, contorted into a cruel mocking smile.
"More than you can imagine." The sorceress hissed, her emotions of fury etched plainly upon her skin. In an instant the look of anger passed as though fleeting clouds over a pale sun. Gathering herself again, she tucked away the rage for later. "We've grown apart, Maleficent, he and I. He would rather spend his time fawning over a slave, my slave mind you, dotting over her smiles and whiling away the day lost in conversations with her. He's hopeless in love with the blasted girl."
A sharp hiss of inhaled breath echoed from the transformed dragon. Pity flickered like an old memory in her slit black eyes. "That indeed must sting." She agreed and heaved her shoulders in a insouciant shrug. "But I highly doubt you came here to just tell me your lover was falling for another. Heart broken peasant girls do such things, and both of us are neither. That's never been your way, Cora."
"You know me far too well." The harpy replied lowly, her eyes turned to the bubbly golden drink in her hand. A tiny smile twitched faintly at her lips before falling away. "I came here because I though you might have something that would help me devastate them."
The dragon perched a thin brow. "Why not just kill the slave? Your magic is the one she struck the deal upon. For all his vast magical prowess he has no power there where magic has already struck an accord. Those ties are even too strong from him to snap."
"That would be too easy." Cora hissed darkly in reply. The madness of scorn danced wildly in her almond eyes as she calmly stared at the dragon. Her scarlet lips formed every words specially, forging the plans of her hate. "I want both of them to suffer for as long as they both draw breath. I want regret to take hold of their hearts and squeeze until the ichor drips poisons into their blood. I want them to be so close, but know they can never have one another. That pain is what I want from them, Maleficent. Sweetly agonizing and eternal."
Malice clawed over the dragon in a wide smile that nearly split ear to ear. Such hate from her friend caught fire to her blood. Such hate did not come by everyday. Rising stately from her dragon hide chair, the wyrm lovingly stroked her staff that was always nearby.
Her sharp nailed thin fingers caressed the wood as she stared at the crystal orb atop the magical weapon. "I think I have just the thing for you Cora. Something he will not detect nor suspect until far too late."
~8~8~
Golden sun smiled happily down upon the lush lands of the realms far, far away from Cora's ominous domain. Autumn was fast moving into the season of winter. Most of the leaves laid upon the ground leaving the tress lattice entwined tangles about the barren forest. All the crops were gathered in and the fields were bereft of any goods. Arrowheads of gray geese and other birds winged their way across the eternal blue sky to the southlands for warmer weather by the sea shore. Other animals bunked down to sleep or roamed the forest and the fields for what little was left.
Peace of the season ruled the just as peaceful realms and all seemed well from under the shade of Cora's citadel walls.
"The kingdom of Queen Snow and King Charming are some of the most beautiful in all the realms." Rumpelstiltskin explained softly to the beauty. Waving his hand over the knoll they sat upon the Dark One displayed the bucolic wonder of farmsteads and forest and wilderness all below their perch.
He had of course, offered to take her to see her father, but she had refused. The pain of knowing she could only visit would have been far too hard. The moment would have been far more bitter than sweet.
A soft smile tendered Belle's lush mouth as her eyes stared out over the parcels of lands and barren fields. Plumes of gray smoke billowed from chimney tops of comfy cottages and hovels and farm animals ambled about in their neat little pens. Children screamed in their childish way of play and chased one another in the sunshine whilst adults played chess under the awnings of their homes, knitted, or did light chores.
Above them all, further away, the castle loomed like a bright beacon, offering hope and safety to all. The walls were a whitish gray and seemed to beckoned freedom rather than lord dominance over the subjects that called the realm home.
Wrapping her cloak tighter about her body, the beauty sighed softly at the lovely sight of peace and prosperity and happiness. A plume of gray, milky vapors billowed from her nose in the cold. "I can believe the claims." She nodded absently. "They rule the land well."
"And they will stay that way." The Dark One stared intently at the grayish-white stone walls of their palace. Tawny light glinted from the stones turning the walls into a shinning glow of hope. "I will not give Cora the satisfaction of her plans."
After what she had done to his Belle, helping her was out of the question. He wanted no more to do with her or her plots.
The beauty's brow furrowed slightly. Though she lived long enough with Cora she was kept ignorant of all her doings. Such things were not for slaves to know. "You mean what you and her were working on?"
"Yes." The fiend glowered at the mention of the deplorable woman, his eyes hard. "But that won't happen now. The only thing I mean to do is find a way to keep her away from you forever and then leave her fortress and never look back."
Agony lurched in his wretchedly black heart for as he basked in her beauty and her lovely smile. Other words tingled expectantly on his tongue, wishing to spout forth like a flood but he curbed his emotion. Surely the first thing she would wish was to go back home to her father. She wouldn't wish to accompany him to his castle. She wouldn't want to have the title of being his love.
Still, if he could make her happy that would be enough for him. Knowing she was glad would balm the burning of want of his soul. So long as she was unhurt and glad then he could bare the burden of words unspoken upon his heart.
Hope alit her lovely face, brighter to the Dark One than a thousand sun shinning off a millions glassy stones. "That's very kind of you, Rumpel. Thank you doesn't even come close to what I owe you."
"You owe me nothing Belle." The beast countered lowly. Heart in control of his reaction, the fiend lifted a hand to her face. He had to touch her, to make sure everything he felt was true.
His wiry talons knocked a stray strand from her gorgeous face. Her soft skin felt like heaven against his rough flesh. She was so wonderful so….
Heat surged to his face as he realized what he had done. Touching her!
Jerking his hand away like he had touched a flame, the Dark One furled his hand back and laid his knuckles firmly on the hard ground. His sable eyes looked away from her, too cowardly to see if she was disturbed or welcoming to his touch. She must have been disturbed, he concluded inwardly, his thoughts dour, who but someone dark and evil would want his hand upon them?
Delirious elation pulsed through Belle's heart as his fingers tenderly touched her flesh. Part of her wished prayed, pleaded he would not stop, but just as soon as the moment came, the soft touch was gone again.
Courage and a tinge of humor flared recklessly in her heart as his touch fled from her. He needed not to be afraid of her. Placing a hand on his thigh she tired to find his fathomless eyes. "Rumpel."
"I have something for you." The fiend interjected quickly. Surely she would say she was grateful but had no interest in his untoward affection and mash his heart into dark pulp. Surely she would. Besides, the last thing he wanted her to think was that he aided her all because he wanted something back from her.
Calling magic to his black blood, the fiend focused on an item in his mind. Power thundered through his veins as magic went to collect his prize. In an instant something cold and silver sat in his grasp.
Wind pulled away the purple smoke to the barren tree tops as the fiend produced the item. "This is what I went to gather last night." He explained softly and turned better to her to show his prize.
"A mirror?" Confusion and eternal curiosity laced her melodious voice. He had left to go find a mirror that could easily be found probably in Cora's room?
A light chuckle fell haphazardly from his faintly smiling lips. "This is no mere mirror, my Belle. Legend holds this is an enchanted mirror crafted by a sorceress in Camelot that shows one you truly wish to see. One that has your heart" He held the silver mirror out to her. "Father, friends, land, anything so long as that thing is what most fills your heart."
"Truly?" Awe crackled in her timbre. Her azure eyes were as wide as blue moons as she stared at the seemingly plain mirror.
His fingers skirted the crafted silver edges of the mirror. "I've yet to try the mirror myself." He shrugged almost bashfully and held the mirror out. "I though you'd like the honor first."
"Rumpel." Belle spoke his name with ardor, her lips turned into a smile that took his breath away. Taking the gift, the beauty held the tool in her lap.
Shaking ff her enchantress' grin, the beast allowed a smile of his own. "Don't get too excited. I don't know if it really works, but if the magic still is powerful, then by all means."
"How do I…?" The beauty looked back down to the mirror.
"Place your hands on the handle." The fiend instructed softly. "Then put the mirror up to your face, close your eyes, and let your heart do the rest."
Nodding obediently, Belle lifted the ornate mirror to her face. Her fingers flexed nervously about the silver handle as she began. Taking a deep, soothing breath for her nerves, the beauty closed her azure orbs. Let her heart do the work, he had said.
Clearing her mind, the beauty focused on her heart beat. Her pulse thundered in her ears as she sat with her eyes closed and heart open.
For long moments nothing happened. No magical flared through her nor the scent of power lingered through the air. Not even the faintest hint of magic wrapped about her or the mirror. Anyone even the smallest child could detect magic, but there was nothing to the mirror.
"Feel anything?' The fiend asked tremulously, his voice hemmed with excitement.
Belle shook her head slightly. "No. I'm sorry Rumpel I think the magic might have been expended." She stated as she opened her eyes
"I was afraid of that." A dark curse spat past his lips. Guilt speared his heart with the failure. He had gotten her hopes up for nothing more than to dash them again. "I'm sorry Belle."
"Rumpel." Laughter fell in joy from her lips. Eyes open, but hidden behind the mirror, her blue dots stared in wonder at the glass.
Thin lines wrinkled his brow as his magical expertise milled through his mind. "I can't believe the magic didn't work." The fiend spat bitterly more to himself than to the mirror.
"The mirror works." Belle stared in awe at the pane. Letting the mirror drop she blinked moistness away from her eyes. Hot tears pricked her cobalt eyes and threatened to tip down her milky skin.
Alarm broke through his black heart at her tears. What was wrong? "Is there something amiss. What does it show?"
A single tear brooked down her creamy cheek as she smiled a watery grin. Turning the mirror around, the enslaved beauty managed a tearful laugh.
Blinking in surprise the Dark One stared. He hoped to see her father, perhaps an old friend. Instead, the fiend looked to see a reflection of himself….
For a moment he thought her action some trick. Sullenness entered his heart at the unexpected cruelty of her jest. Why would she play such a mean trick? A mirror did show just a reflection and not a very fine one at that.
Scolding for her mean trick nearly left his mouth just as the glass rippled. The old glass shivered like pebble struck pond water. Silvery ripples formed over the glass showing a new image.
Looking closer he saw not the face he held at the moment but the face that stared at her when in the forest sparing Robin Hood's life. Abruptly, the image shifted again. The glass swirled like some mystic true silver before another image clear. This time the image showed him above her with a stained cloth in his hand wiping away the dried blood of Cora's torments. In a heart beat the image swirled again to show the Dark One there before her, a perfect refection of him.
"It's you Rumpel." Joy hedged the lump in her throat. "My heart loves you the most."
As the images faded from the mirror the Dark One cast his black gaze to the beauty. Awe and happiness, true happiness sparked in his fathomless ebony dot. "I thought I was alone in my love." He whispered hoarsely, his words running wild in his heart. "I thought my love was only to be given."
Wrapping his arms about her, he hugged the beauty tightly. Hot tears stung his midnight eyes as he let all his love burst forth from a heart too long wallowing in vile darkness. "I love you Belle. I love you."
Taken off guard by his grasp, the beauty let the mirror fall to the hard earth to wrap her arms about him. Falling with a dull thump, the silver gilded mirror looked upwards. In the glass of the mirror, the reflection showed the truest of images ever shown upon the glassy face.
The beast and beauty hugged one another tightly, speaking their words of love and affection that too long waited to bloom from their clandestine hearts. Finally free, they let their love run away with their passions.
The image reflected of them was nearly a perfect match for what they held dear in their hearts. Truly, only love would have donned their reflection, if not for the fog of dark purple magic that outlined the Dark One's form….