this chapter is alittle violent so you are not up for it then turn back now. It goes into a little detail about what happened to Belle.
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Belle gasped when she saw the state of Rumplestiltskin's kitchen. In fact she was a bit horrified at the whole castle. No wonder she had thought it was abandoned. It looked haunted with cobwebs and dust and grim everywhere. It had taken Belle hours to clean the kitchen up enough to prepare a meal.
Belle made a simple soup with toasted bread and a piping hot pot of tea. It felt good to do normal things once again. If she could perhaps make the sorcerer see her value then he might let her stay alittle longer.
Belle carried the tray of food to the main hall where Rumple sat waiting. She shook her head at the sorry condition of the room. Belle served him his meal then excused herself, to return to the stable. Rumple knotted his eyebrows at her hasty departure. "You must be hungry dearie, won't you stay?"
"Oh no, I couldn't possibly" Belle answered looking flustered. "Well, if you must" Rumple shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to his soup. His manners were alittle rusty but he had asked, she refused and that was good enough for him.
Belle retreated to the stables as the first sprinkles of rain began to fall. She nestled down in her straw bed, listening to the sounds of the rain, thinking about how he had fixed her ankle today.
It was the best day she'd had in a long time. Her father had wed her to a monster, a beast. Gaston had taken over her father's kingdom after King Maurice's mysterious death, Just thinking about her papa caused hot tears to well up behind her eyes. He thought he was doing the right thing by giving her to Gaston, he was rich and powerful but he couldn't have been more wrong, Gaston was insane. He plundered Maurice's lands and when Belle hadn't concieved a child right away, he took to beating her. Belle realized the night of her wedding that Gaston needed to inflict pain to sate his lust. He was anything but gentle that night, shoving her down in the bed and pinning her there by her hair as he rammed into her again and again, while she screamed in pain. The next day had been worse, she had awoke to his engorged cock nudging at her sore opening, demanding entrance. She wasn't even fully awake before powerful stabs at her sensitive opening had her crying out yet again.
When a few months of this torture had went on and she had not concieved he blamed Belle. He began hitting her, He told her it would make her body more compliant. He would come for her, night after night, making her bend to his iron will.
Belle began to withdraw into her self, seeking solice in her chambers when ever she could, Gaston had told her she was right to be ashamed, if she loved him more that she would welcome his nightly visits instead of cringing when ever he was near.
Belle thought about her first attempt to escape. A party was held at Gastons estate. A masked ball, an orgy was closer to the truth , Belle thought, Men and women with outlandish outfits and wigs wearing masks, rutting with each other on the floor and in rooms, right there infrount of each other, Belle was disgusted, excusing herself with an excuse that she was ill. Gaston was beside himself with joy, even announcing to everyone that Belle had obviously concieved a son and that was why she was retiring. Belle didn't care, she had thankfully retreated to her rooms. She wound sheets together to make a rope and somehow had managed to make it to the ground, but alas, she was spotted by a stable hand while trying to take a horse.
Her actions had embarrased Gaston beyond words in frount of his guests and after the party she had recieved an injured jaw that never healed properly and was sent down to the dungeons where she stayed. Yet still, he would pay her unwelcomed visits. raping and beating her.
Belle lay in her straw bed thinking of those last months, they had been the worst. The beatings became more severe and he had taken the lash to her back. The last night of her imprisionment had been horrible, Gaston had come to her cell dead drunk, Belle's hand gingerly touched her swollen eye and bruised face were another well placed kick had left it's mark on her then. He had sawed off her hair in a fit of drunken rage while she screamed in pain, he had finally passed out in her cell on the stone floor and she had escaped as he lay snoring.
She had run blindly in the night, no food or supplies, she wasn't even wearing shoes. She had fell down a hill in the dark, breaking her ankle, trying to put as much distance between her and the mad man that was her husband as possible. A peasant family had let her ride in thier cart as they headed west for a few days. When the food ran out they had left her and Belle had wondered upon Rumplestiltskin's estate in the storm and it had turned out to be her salvation. If she could convince him to let her stay then perhaps she could find a sanctuary here from Gaston. Rumple didn't know her true name, everyone in the land knew of the sorcerer and feared him, this would be the last place anyone would look. She could dissapear here.
Belle rolled over on her side, she snuggled down into her bed, listening to the soft rain beating against the roof. She had removed her dress, it was filthy from her work, cleaning his kitchen. She could scrub it tommrow but for right now she was comfortable in her underclothes as she closed her eyes, listening to the soft drumming of the summer night.
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The soup was tasty, usually he ate whatever was available, no need to get creative when you only had to feed yourself. Rumple ate in silence, feeling that old familar guilt that had plagued him earlier, he rolled his eyes and sighed at the feeling. He decided he would bring some out to the girl, after all he hadn't seen her take any with her when she had retreated to the stable.
After finishing his meal, hae made his way to the kitchen to fix Gale a plate and something besides well water to wash it down with, He could'nt believe the transformation of his kitchen. He just stood there, taking it all in. Clean dishes neatly stacked, the wooden counter tops scrubbed clean, a sweet smell dancing under his nose as he drank it all in.
He fixed a tray and headed for the stable to take her the well deserved meal.
He saw her asleep on the straw. Quietly he sat the tray down on her little table, he walked over to her, intending to wake her. He stood over her sleeping form, as he listened to her even breathing. She lay with her hurt side under her and for the first time, Rumple could see a glimpse of what she might actually look like if she wasn't so swollen and bruised.
She had long eyelashes and full lips. She was indeed a bit pale but lovely skin never the less. this side of her had the longer hair that cascaded out behind her in waves of brown. She was wearing only her undergarment and Rumple got a better look at her slender frame. She was too thin but he could make out the swell of her breasts through her clothes, suddenly he felt a bit self-conscience, he was invading her privacy, he shouldn't be here, he was going to bring her food, not stare at her while she slept.
Suddenly Belle opened her eyes wide and screamed, "NO GASTON!" Rumplestiltskin steped back a few paces, trying to calm her down and get his heart out of his throat.
"I just brung you something to eat, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you dearie." Belle scrambled up, trying to regain her sences. She had dreamt she was back in her cell and when she momentarily opened her eyes, The figure looming over her had looked so much like her husband, Belle had panicked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, you startled me, Please forgive my rudeness" Belle said as she stood before the sorcerer. They both realized that she was in her under things and as Belle self consciencly crossed her arms over her chest, Rumple coughed as he turned around to give her privacy, he was alittle lost for words at the moment. Then the coward that he is Rumple made a hasty retreat as he called back, "I'll just go, enjoy your meal."
Belle was mortified at her outburst, here she was suppost to be winning him over, and she had practically sent him running away. "Thank you" she called out, but the only thing to hear her was the rain.