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Chapter 27 – Day 14: Ruler of Armithil
"Lady Snow, you must wake up! Lady Snow." A young maid with golden curly hair gently shook the princess, sunken in layers of white flowery embroidered blankets. Snow White murmured in her sleep, the last images of a pleasant dream quickly dissipating.
"Is it already morning?" She sleepily asked. It felt still too early.
"My lady. The first sunlight has just risen and brought with it Lady Belle of Armithil." The maid spoke softly. Snow paralyzed for a moment, her mind awakening with a stir.
"Belle? Belle is here? Is she alright?" The princess quickly sat up, her long wavy hair untamed.
The maid nodded smilingly. Snow quickly jumped out of her bed. Belle, her friend, her dear friend was alive and well. The maid helped the princess comb her raven untidy hair and dress hurriedly. Snow had been sick and worried since the news of war had reached her father's kingdom. When Gaston arrived last week alone, regretful for losing the heiress of Armithil, Snow had expected the worst for her friend. Now, knowing that the slightly younger princess was alive, Snow desperately wanted to see her. She run in the translucent corridors of her father's castle and arrived in the court room already breathless. Lord Leopold and Lady Regina were already present. Standing next to Gaston was the brown haired princess looking pale, with rings under her eyes and a simple cut blue dress looking completely worn out. Snow run to hug her friend.
"Belle! Oh dear Belle." She said as she held the other princess close. After a short while, she departed and held the girl's hands on hers to look better at her friend's face. "You look tired." She said worriedly. Belle nevertheless smiled.
"Belle had a long journey." Regina explained Snow, looking compassionate. "She needs a bath, food and a good rest."
"Go with Snow. We'll talk about the war situation in the afternoon." King Leopold kindly spoke, caressing fatherly the exhausted princess' face. Snow White bowed elegantly and guided her friend to the guest chambers.
Breakfast was brought and warm water was poured in the bath. A magnificent dress was prepared for the royal guest. Belle stared at the maids working in making everything beautiful and to her liking. The luxury she once adored felt now empty and meaningless. What did she care if the water smelled like roses or like lavender? What did she care if she had a simple dress or a fashionable one that would make all heads turn? All she wanted was to rest, cry her heart out and fight whoever had brought misery to her kingdom.
Snow noticed something was really wrong with her friend. There was a dark shadow, a melancholic sadness hanging over her. Snow could not imagine the ordeals her friend had lived the past two weeks. It must have felt horrible to lose all you have and love in one short night. As soon as the maids were finished she dismissed them. Snow helped Belle undress and enter the warm water. The rose scent invaded the room and Belle was reminded of the red flower Rumpelstiltskin had given her not so long ago. She struggled to keep her tears back, but her lower lip was already trembling. Snow wet her hair gently with a cloth, like a sweet caress. She looked with compassion at her friend.
"Belle, my lovely Belle. These two weeks must have been so horrible for you." She said, trying to start a conversation, knowing the other princess was reluctant to speak, but needed to spill it all out. Belle blinked. Yes, she did see and live some horrible moments. The invasion, her run in the dark forest, the crossing of a scary bridge, seeing the smoke rising from burned villages and dismembered bodies soaked in blood. But she had also lived the best days of her live. For she didn't have to go through these ordeals alone. Rumpelstiltskin was always there to help, to support and to take care of her. She missed him, as she missed Baelfire's smile and youthful laughter. Snow stopped stroking her now wet hair to watch her friend was crying. She wiped a tear of her face.
"Belle. What happened?" She asked with her most loving and caring look.
"Have you ever been in love?" Belle asked with a trembling voice. Snow frowned a bit, not expecting this question. She expected Belle to talk about unfortunate events, horrific situations she had to deal with, challenges and fears, but never about love.
"No. I'm afraid I haven't." Snow said, as she sat to look better at her friend's eyes. Belle looked hurt.
"Love…Love is layered. Love is a mystery to be unveiled." Belle said, searching the words to best describe what she felt. "It's the most wonderful and amazing thing in the world. Love is hope; it fuels our dreams." Belle told enthusiastic and with a genuine smile, making her friend smile too. "And if ever find yourself in it, you need to enjoy it because love doesn't always last forever." The beauty miserably said, releasing the last hot tears she had been holding back. She miserably rested her head on Snow's shoulder, who didn't mind the wet hair. Snow caressed it and kissed Belle's temple.
"Sounds horrible." The dark haired princess said after a while. "Who was it?"
Belle told everything. She told Snow he was a peasant, a cripple and twice as old as her. She spoke about his tumultuous past, his escape from the Ogre Wars and his wife who left him afterwards. She described his kind nature, telling her friend how she thought he was most caring and generous father she ever met. She spoke of his small gestures of love. The red rose. How they almost kissed. Belle told her friend everything about Rumpelstiltskin, except his name. That was something she wanted to keep for herself. It was her little treasure. And so she opened her heart to her friend and let the tears run freely while she talked about her loved one. By the end of her tale, she was already dressed and Snow helped her into the large and soft bed.
"What about Gaston?" Snow asked as she covered her friend with warm blankets.
"He's so restricted to the military life. He's arrogant and really mean when he wants." The memories of how horribly superior and powerful he behaved towards Rumpelstiltskin only because the other man was of a lower class were still fresh in her mind. "No, I could never give my heart to someone that superficial." Belle admitted and sighed. "But I need him as an ally. I'll put up with him for now." Snow nodded in understanding. "Please, do not tell anybody of what I just said."
"Don't worry, I wasn't planning to, anyway. I'll keep it secret." She assured with a sweet motherly smile. "Now try to rest."
Curtains were closed and the room darkened. Snow exited with a heavy heart. She felt sorry for her friend. She could not understand why this man sent Belle away when he loved her. What could have possibly possessed him to reject love and act like he didn't want Belle, when he clearly felt for her? Snow White had never experienced this kind of love, but she was sure, if she ever found her prince charming, she would never do anything to break his heart.
Belle could clearly see the suppressed anger in Gaston's eyes, as well in those of her father's advisors. Some had managed to escape Armithil with great difficulties (many didn't make it, others were injured) some were already in foreign lands at the time of the invasion. Gaston summoned them, five days ago, to Lord Leopold's court. Belle saw the looks of disapproval, but let none of her insecurity slip. All the men saw was an unwavering woman revealing her opinions and vision about the current situation of Armithil. King Leopold looked at her with attention and a certain admiration. He wished in his heart that one day his daughter would too show the same determination and leadership. Even Queen Regina, whose trust she never conquered by Belle, looked also frankly impressed.
"Sending common people to the front lines is not the solution. It is an unorganized operation. Peasants cannot possibly fight back! Not without the years training a knight has. Even more children! We want to win the war, not to make sacrifices for the ogres and hope their thirst for blood is satiated so they'll leave us by their own."
"My Lady, that is not our goal." One of the advisors spoke, irritation clear in his voice. How dared she ridicule the decisions of the Great Council? She had no idea of how bad things were, how weak Armithil had become in its defenses. Sending the common folk was their last desperate resource to protect the castle. "We had no other choice. Our military strength was too weakened. We only had enough to protect the castle, the heart of the kingdom. Alas, we only had peasants and children over to protect the rest Armithil's lands."
"In that case, we should have asked for help earlier instead of sending untrained people to be mercilessly slaughtered. No wonder the castle fell! You could not possibly expect defenseless children to be able to stop the wrath of the ogres? Was this your plan? To somehow win some time, by distracting the ogres with innocent blood?" Her voice echoed in the hall and everybody was silenced. Many men in the court felt their conscious weight. Belle's words made them feel guilty. She made their decision sound exactly what it was: a crime. "The task of a king is to protect their people, not to send them to death. I'm afraid I must admit: as much as I love my father, I cannot possibly approve his decisions."
A heavy silence fell in the throne room. Belle stood straight and determined, but her heart was pounding terribly. She had just gone against all military strategies taken the last months under the rule of her father and advised by most of the men present in the court. She had scolded men with years of experience in matters of wars and politics. But she needed to put sense in the heads of these heartless men. She needed to show there were other ways, less bloody and less unfair. But most of all, she needed to impress Lord Leopold and prove she was a righteous ruler, capable and wise. She needed to convince him she was worthy to fight with. Lord Leopold suddenly stood up and slowly paced to the middle of the room, looking quite earnest.
"I believe Lady Belle has a strong point here. A king is like a father. He must take care and protect his children." He turned to Belle. "It was wrong of your father to keep the protection only to himself and let the rest of the kingdom crumble around him. I watched him make immoral decisions in the past, alas I could do nothing, for he was the supreme ruler of Armithil." He turned to the Great Council. "Lord Maurice has fallen. His daughter, Princess Belle, is the new ruler of kingdom Armithil. Snowland will aid and follow her in this war and will dispose of half of its armies to Armithil." He eloquently spoke, to the surprise of all man in the court.
Gasps and whispers were heard. The lords of Armithil bowed in deep thankfulness to the good king. Gaston stared in shock not believing what he was hearing. Not only Belle had actually managed to convince Lord Leopold to help with the war, he was sending a larger army than anybody had expected. Belle smiled happy and relieved. She achieved her first important milestone. Now, she would have to discuss the best military strategies with the council, and this would be a greater challenge.
Belle was exhausted. She, the king and the Great Council (formed by advisers of both Snowland and Armithil) had spent three long hours discussing strategies for retaliation. The king agreed in creating help camps in the frontiers regions to receive the refugees. Food, clothing and medication were to be distributed among the needed. An army was to invade Armithil from different directions, in order to surprise the enemy, while the frontier regions were to be reinforced in case of revenge. Untrained warriors were to be accepted in the army of Armithil only if they volunteered. Everybody agreed this was a safe manner in starting a counter attack, mostly because the suspicions that Maleficent was behind the attacks were almost confirmed.
Belle was praised by some advisers and one particular proud minister of Lord Maurice admitted she had talent. Belle had listened patiently to the men's advices. She would time her important questions correctly and even contributed once or twice for a better army placement in the map. The princess felt proud, but behaved graciously and modest enough for a lady. She had succeeded to impress the men. But not all of them. One in special was fuming of anger. Lord Gaston, her betrothed, was forced to endure the commands, judgments and scolding of a woman. He stood next to her, just like duty called, thanking the advisors one by one for their presence before they left. But as soon the room was empty and he was alone with Belle, his fake smiled died and he turned furious to Belle.
"What on Earth you were thinking today? Do you have any idea of how ridiculous you sounded, talking and acting like a man?" He viciously spat. Belle was taken aback. Never in his life had Gaston lost his respect to the princess.
"I beg your pardon?" Belle retorted upset. "I was merely doing my duty as princess, heiress of the throne. I believe my father did tell I was the one to bring hope and save Armithil." Gaston's eyes shrunk. She was not like this before. She never was this assertive. Sometimes she could be a bit pushy in her opinions, but never once could she retort with the same aggressiveness as a man.
"I believe you forget how things work. A princess is a Lady. Her function is merely symbolic. It's to men that compete to take decisions on matters of war." Belle felt the fire grow inside of her. She remembered the story of Lady Aurora, who once had been a great queen and was reduced to a useless status. She would not allow this to continue. She would not allow women be treated as less. And so, she took a step forward, looked straight into Gaston's eyes and didn't even bother with the fact he was towering her.
"I believe you are the one who forgets how things work. I am the heiress. The royal blood runs in my veins. I am the one who inherits the power to take decisions in any matter of the kingdom. As for you, Sir Gaston, you are a knight. You come from the Upper noble class, but no royal blood runs in your veins. The king chose you to marry me because of your military skills. But remember one thing. I can end this engagement any time. I can refuse you and instead marry someone of a higher condition. Someone that would strengthen important alliances. There are enough kings, princes and royal relatives interested in the hand of Armithils' heiress. So, unless you want to keep your chances of ever sitting your butt on my father's throne, you will do as I say!"
Belle glanced coldly for some seconds at the knight and then exited without adding a word. Lord Gaston watched her leave the throne room looking pale, with widened eyes and open mouth. She had taken him by surprised. And worse of all, she had spoken the truth. Gaston sighed provoked. Belle was the one with the power.
I loved sooo much to kick Gaston's butt with Belle's words! Yeah, girl power!
So, what did you think about introducing Leopold, Regina and Snow?
Next one will be on Rumpel.
Keep reading, keep enjoying and keep reviewing :)