Hey everyone!
Twenty chapters already and still going strong, thanks to your support!
In this chapter, Amandine gets her very own version of her uncle's song, called simply 'Amandine,' to the tune of 'Gaston,' but with my own lyrics, so I hope you enjoy it!
And there is an explaination of why LeFou can't defend Martine when Amandine treats her badly in public, so I hope that is cleared up.
Read on and let me know what you think of the song!
Jittery from Amandine's latest outburst at her, Martine went over to where LeFou was and wanted to talk to her mentor, since he knew he would understand and listen to her.
When he had seen the poor girl get treated cruelly by Amandine, he looked at her sympathetically, having gone through the same thing with Gaston but couldn't defend Martine, for he was still unassertive, even though years had passed since his hero's death and was also very disliked, afraid and dominated by Amandine and he was too scared to stand up to her, for fear of retaliation.
He could see himself in Martine, despite not being a relative and was willing to listen to her and give her advice as she was trying so hard to please Amandine no matter how badly she treated her.
'It's tough being a sidekick, huh Martine?' LeFou said, 'I know how you feel at the moment as I went through the same with Gaston.'
'Yeah, LeFou, you're on to it,' said Martine, crestfallen, 'I try and try but it's just not enough! You saw that she yelled at me to leave her alone and doesn't seem to appreciate what I do for her and I hate seeing her unhappy. What should I do?'
'Well, when I was Gaston's sidekick and Belle rejected and humiliated him, I sang a song about how great he was and it cheered him up in no time! I think that you can do the same for Amandine. Trust me, it'll work.' LeFou said.
'That's a great idea, LeFou,' said Martine, 'but can you tell me the words, please? And does it matter that I can't sing well?'
'Sure, anything for my good friend and great sidekick and it won't matter if it's off-key or not sung well, as long as it comes from your heart.' LeFou said and dug out a piece of parchment and gave it to Martine, who read it.
'It's a great song, LeFou,' she said, 'But is it okay with you if I change the words to suit Amandine? I don't think that what you sang about Gaston would apply to her.'
'I see your point,' LeFou said, reading the parchment for himself, 'Go ahead, Martine, cheer your dear friend up and sing about how great she is, like her uncle was before her!'
'Thanks LeFou, you're the best mentor ever!' Martine said, planting a kiss on his cheek, which made him blush. Excitedly, Martine whipped out a quill and hummed while she wrote a brand new song.
Her song in hand, Martine nervously approached Amandine, who was taking her frustrations out on her poor mother, who had put out the royal family candles in the tavern, the very thing she despised and she was letting Genevieve know it.
'Mother, why have you got those monstrosities in our tavern?' she said.
'They're for the royal family, dear,' Genevieve said. She was a mousy woman from whom Amandine got her looks from, except she had red hair in a bun and green eyes.
She was very kind, generous and friendly and never raised her voice or got angry but was very timid, easily dominated and trusted everyone, henceforth why Anton was able to get with her and Amandine was able to rule over her.
'They've done many wonderful things for us and the kingdom and had been excellent, kind, graceful and benevolent rulers. It's still nice to honour them, dear, even though we don't know why they disappeared.'
'You do realise, Mother, that these were the people who were responsible for the deaths of Father and Uncle Gaston and you're lighting those awful candles in their honour, when they shouldn't be at all!
It's Father and Uncle Gaston that you should be honouring instead! It's like you've forgotten all about them, that they don't matter to you, like they never existed in your eyes!' Amandine screamed.
'But Amandine, you never knew them and your father and I never stayed together, let alone got married and they chose to do what they did and paid the price. The king and queen didn't kill them; they brought it on themselves due to their jealousy, so it shouldn't matter to you to be angry at the royal family, dear.'
'It does matter, Mother, because if you and Father hadn't met, I wouldn't be here to be adored and doted on by everyone! Now, get those disgusting, ugly, badly-made lumps of wax that represent the people I HATE so much out of my sight!' Amandine screamed and poor Genevieve had to obey her daughter by taking them down reluctantly.
'Oh, dear, Genevieve,' Claudia said sympathetically, having seen what happened.
'She's a good girl really; she just gets moody when anyone mentions her father and uncle.' Genevieve said and put the candles in her room.
'I'm sorry, Your Majesties,' she whispered, so that Amandine and everyone wouldn't hear her, 'I'm sorry I had a child with that idiot Anton who tried to kill you and your beautiful daughter years ago.'
Even though she loved her daughter, like a mother should, she found it too much being dominated by her and having to give in to her demands but hid her frustrations from everyone as not to arouse suspicion.
While she was in the room, she decided to retire for the night even though it wasn't late, claiming she had a headache and let her frustrations out in tearful sobs on her bed.
Martine, hoping that Amandine was calm enough to not yell at her, timidly approached her and said,
'Amandine?'
'Martine, I told you not to talk to me for the rest of the night!' Amandine shouted, 'Go away, you doofus!'
'But Amandine, you need to stop sulking about Leon, pick yourself up and get back on the horse, because I hate seeing you unhappy.' Martine said.
'And how do you suggest I do that?'
'I have a song dedicated to you to cheer you up.'
'If it's sung or played by those talentless idiots, I'm not interested! Do you want another drum on your head, Martine? Because that's what your face is saying, it's saying 'Amandine, I've given you another crummy gift that you don't want, please shove a drum over my head!' Amandine said.
'No, I won't get the Etiennes to play again since I had to give nearly all my money to them. It's a song that LeFou gave to me. He sang it to your uncle when his proposal to Queen Belle was rejected, only I changed the words to suit you.' Martine said, which got Amandine's attention.
'Why do you take advice from that idiot, LeFou? It's never any good, which is why your ideas always fail. But since it was Uncle Gaston's song, I'll listen.
But it better be good, otherwise you'll get not only a drum over your head, but a tuba as well!'
'Believe me, it is,' Martine said, 'and everyone can join in, if they want to.'
She cleared her throat and with the villagers watching, she began to sing:
Gosh, it saddens me to see you, Amandine
Looking so sad and so blue
Every guy here would love to be yours, Amandine
Don't tell me that's not true
There's no woman in town as admired as you
You're everyone's favourite gal
Everyone's awed and inspired by you
And that's truly swell!
The boys sighed admiringly while the girls looked at her like the idol she had always been to them.
Amandine didn't say anything but was still keen to listen.
Martine carried on:
No one's pretty as Amandine
No one's nifty as Amandine
No one's as enchanting as Amandine
For there's no woman in town who's a goddess
More beautiful than Aphrodite and Venus combined!
You can ask anyone about a girl who's flawless
And they'll tell you one who is so divine!
The villagers joined in with the Bimbette cousins, Adelaide, Anais and the girls picking up Martine and swung her back and forth, like she was on an invisible swing.
No one can match Amandine
A real catch like Amandine
Martine chimed in,
No one has a chest the size of Notre Dame like Amandine!
Amandine was starting to enjoy herself, pleased that Martine had given her something she actually liked, that she too joined in and sang, praising herself,
As a specimen, yes, I am captivating!
The villagers then sang,
My, what a gal that Amandine!
Niece of the great Gaston
Is it any wonder she's the best?
Never mind the rest, they are all pests!
Hearing the last line, the girls all started crying but then composed themselves and Amandine loved every minute of it, arrogantly basking in their praises and thrusting her hips at the boys, as they kept on singing:
No one flirts like Amandine
Melts the boys' hearts like Amandine
In a beauty contest, no one will win but Amandine!
The boys (except for Jean-Luc) chimed in,
For she has the most lovely body
Amandine sang again,
As you see, my chest is a lure!
She plumped up her chest, which made the boys all faint and Jean-Luc roll his eyes in boredom and disgust.
Martine sang,
Not a bit of her's saggy or husky
Amandine sang, while running her fingers down her hair:
That's right!
And my hair is so long, silky and pure!
Then, Amandine brought out all her dresses from her room, putting them against her one by one, showing them off, while the girls looked at them admiringly and wished that they had dresses like hers, sang:
No one knows fashion like Amandine
Looks as smashing as Amandine
No one wears such gorgeous dresses like Amandine
Amandine, while wearing a dress with puffy sleeves and bright, ugly colours and patterns merged together, sang:
I make even the ugliest dress look elegant!
'She sure does!' the girls said.
'Everything and I mean EVERYTHING looks good on her!' said Annette.
'She's so exquisite!' Violette said, looking enviously at Amandine's dress, 'That violet dress she always wears, I want it!'
'She could wear a potato sack and still look gorgeous!' Bridgette added.
'Too true!' the girls said.
Amandine sang again, as she poured milk into an elaborately decorated bathtub:
When I was a lass, I took four milk baths a day
To keep my skin soft and blemishes at bay
Now that I've grown, I take five milk baths
And any imperfections have stayed away!
The boys sang again
No one blows a kiss like Amandine
Sends us into bliss like Amandine
No one is such a beautiful gem like Amandine!
Holding a box full of jewellery, Amandine sang:
I use the finest jewels for my accessories!
The villagers sang the last words, while raising their mugs to Amandine:
My, what an incredible gal!
AMANDINE!
When they had finished singing, everyone cheered, the men doing so drunkenly, as they spilled their beer with the barmaids refilling them and LeFou cleaning up the mess (Claudia, Laura and Paula made him do it, since he ran the bar, rather than their daughters) and Genevieve, who had come out from her room to see what had been going on in her absence, smiled as she was relieved that Amandine was happy again.
LeFou, while mopping up beer that Francois had spilled, gave Martine a thumbs up, seeing that his idea had gone down well, like it had with Gaston and that her song was very uplifting to her.
'What did you think, Amandine?' said Martine, anxious to get her approval, 'was that a great song or what? Did you like it?'
'Yes I did, Martine, it was brilliant and cheered me up,' said Amandine, 'Well done for actually doing something that has pleased me and hasn't made me want to hit you, pinch you or insult you even if the idea itself came from LeFou, but I'll let that go.'
LeFou gave her a small smile.
'Martine, you shall be rewarded with not being hit, pinched, having a drum or a tuba over your head and insulted, so your froggy face can thank me for that, but for one night only! And you may speak to me again.' Amandine said.
'Thank you, Amandine, I'm glad you liked it,' Martine said, grateful that her song was well-received and that she was not going to be insulted or hit even if was for one night.
'And I also assume that you meant every word you said?' said Amandine.
'Of course, why wouldn't I?' Martine replied, only to realise what she had said and cursed herself for ruining the moment with her tactless comment.
But before Amandine could react, there was loud hammering on the door which opened it and Madeleine entered, having just arrived back in the village, looking wide-eyed and flustered from her ordeal in the castle and was desperate for help, which caught the attention of everyone.
'Help!' she said, 'Someone please help me!' as she entered the tavern, grabbing mens' shirts, hoping to get them to listen to her and making the Bimbette cousins, who were serving then, spill the beer they were pouring or overfilling the mug.
'Madeleine?' they said, confused at her behaviour. Something must have happened to her, for while they knew she was a bit quirky, but very sane, so it was unusual for her to be acting like a total lunatic.
'What are you doing here?' said Genevieve, 'I thought you went to Molyneaux to get some Chinese silk, why did you come back so soon?'
Hearing Madeleine mention Molyneaux and Genevieve talk about Chinese silk, the Beaufort twins looked at her, expecting the silk they had wanted so much for their never to be completed dresses but they didn't know that Madeleine hadn't actually made it to Molyneaux and not got the silk nor did they care about the state she was in as they were greedy for their luxury item, which they were never going to get.
'Madeleine,' said Adelaide, 'did you, by any chance remember to get the Chinese imported silk we wanted for our beautiful dresses, like we asked you to and generously gave you the money to do so?'
'And do not give us any poppycock excuse if you did not get it! We set you specific instructions to get us light and dark green silk with flowers on it and we would like it in our hands NOW,' Anais demanded.
'Do you hear yourselves, you two?' said Jean-Luc, disgusted at the twins' behaviour, 'Something bad has happened and Madeleine needs help and all you care about is stupid imported silk? That's greedy and selfish of you!'
'Do we look like we care?' Adelaide and Anais said together.
'Obviously not,' said Jean-Luc, for he was right, as imported Chinese silk was the last thing on Madeleine's mind (since she didn't get any), as she kept on pleading for help.
'I knew it; she forgot to get the silk, that lower class, lazy cow!' Anais said, dismayed.
'We'll never get our dresses now,' said Adelaide.
Madeleine, getting more desperate by the minute and frustrated by the ignorant, uninterested and clueless behaviour of the villagers, kept saying,
'It's got him! It's got him locked up in a castle as its prisoner in a horrible, damp dungeon! He's in great danger and I need your help to save him before it's too late! Please, I'm desperate!'
'What are you babbling about, you crazy woman?' said the blacksmith.
'Animal, vegetable or mineral?' the baker said.
'You're making it up, you silly old cow!' laughed Henri, 'Get out of here before we throw you in the Maison de Loon, with all the other patients who spouted complete nonsense about figments of their imagination!'
'I'm not lying and I'm not crazy!' Madeleine protested, 'This actually happened! It locked me up first because I went in the castle after getting lost in the forest, then he came and it let me go but only because then it locked him up! You have to believe me, it's not a joke!'
'Then speak in coherent sentences instead of your gibberish nonsense!' someone shouted in the back and everyone laughed.
Amandine had been watching the entire thing unfold in front of her, as the woman ranted on, not making much sense and flailing her arms around, like a terrible actor on a stage and it amused her seeing a normally sane but slightly quirky woman getting madder and more incoherent and decided to toy with her.
'Woah, woah, slow down, Madeleine!' she said, 'you're going to give yourself a heart attack if you carry on like this!'
'Now, tell us calmly and clearly who is locked up in a dungeon and who did it?'
'Leon is!' Madeleine cried out, which made Jean-Luc gasp in horror and feel guilty about not haven gone with him in the forest, only to hide it quickly, but the boys saw and gave him a look that said, 'You're not fooling anyone, you know.'
'He's being held captive in a cold, damp dungeon in a castle in the dark forest by a horrible, monstrous beast! The rumours and stories are true, a beast really does exist there and we have to save him, before he meets a terrible fate!'
No one said anything for a minute as they were trying to digest what Madeleine had said to them, that the tale they had heard and were told seemed to be true after all. But then again, maybe Madeleine had gone crazy and they decided to exploit that by asking about the beast,
'Was it huge?' Stephane said.
'Yes, it was the most humungous creature I've ever seen, about eight feet tall, with terrible claws, a long tail and had the features of a wolf with many parts of animals combined together!' Madeleine responded.
'Did it have teeth as sharp as knives?' the baker's son said.
'A whole set of them, sharp enough to cut diamonds with two horrendously huge fangs dripping blood and poking out of its mouth and its breath smelt like rotting cabbage!'
'Was it the same one that killed the king and queen and held the princess captive?' Pierre said.
'Uh, could be, I wasn't sure,'
'And it has Duplonk as its prisoner as well?' asked Beauden.
'Yes, that's what I've been telling you the whole time! Didn't any of you listen to me?'
'Well, if it's got Duplonk, then it saves us the trouble of giving him our retaliation for that despicable thing he did to our lovely Amandine by rejecting her! I say, let the beast eat him!' Henri said and the boys cheered and laughed, with everyone else joining in, finding Madeleine's tale amusing.
'Why is this such a big joke to you?' Jean-Luc said, furious, 'Leon is in serious danger and instead of helping Madeleine to rescue him, you're laughing, joking and wanting this beast to eat him?
I find that truly terrible and am disgusted at your behaviour and I don't care if I get kicked out of the Muscular Men! Who wants to be in a group that idolises a boorish buffoon anyway?'
'We do!' Henri said, 'and we don't care what you think anymore Jean-Luc, because you're nothing more than a pathetic fence sitter and it's only your brilliant hunting skills and third place in the Games that is keeping you in our group!
I'm going to give you one more chance to prove yourself worthy to wear the jerkin of Gaston and be my deputy but if you slip up again, you can kiss your place in the group goodbye!'
'Fine, I'll keep up my charade, only because I have no choice!' Jean-Luc said. 'But if I do leave, I'll do so of my own accord!'
Madeleine was becoming angry and frustrated at the incompetence of the villagers and their unwillingness to help her rescue Leon so she had to resort to desperate measures and call on Amandine to help her, due to her influence and ability to get through to the villagers since they usually did what she said.
'Amandine, would you be able to help me?' she asked.
Amandine, seeing the woman looking pleadingly at her, suddenly had an idea; one of many that she was certain wouldn't fail this time.
For as much as she disliked Madeleine, she was Leon's mother and she could just be the key to getting him to marry her and at the same time, exploit his mother as a lunatic as a way to persuade him to be her husband, which she wanted most of all.
'Why of course, Madeleine, you've asked the right girl and you can trust me,' she said in her most sickly sweet tone, 'I'll be more than happy to help you OUT.'
'Boys,' she said, clicking her fingers, 'You know what to do,' as Henri, Beauden and Francois, the strongest of the boys, grabbed Madeleine by the arms and feet and carried her away.
'Oh thank you so much, Amandine,' said Madeleine, gratefully, 'Maybe you do have a heart after all, maybe you are a good girl..'
Unfortunately for Madeleine, 'help you out,' was not a figure of speech and she found out too late that Amandine obviously had no intention of helping her at all, as she was literally helped out, when the boys tossed her out of the tavern like a piece of trash and she landed in the snow on the ground, quite roughly.
'Good riddance, you loopy woman!' Henri said, 'Go to the Maison and talk to the loonies there, they'll understand you!'
'Bye bye, Mad Maddie!' Beauden taunted as the boys closed the door behind them, laughing at Madeleine's misfortune.
'This isn't what I had in mind!' Madeleine shouted, as she got up and pounded furiously on the door, only to be ignored.
She was on her own now, having been seen as crazy, the last person to be considered that and being refused help, as her only son was in a dungeon as a prisoner of a beast.
'Will no one help me?' she said sadly, as she sunk down on the steps. Leon was never going to be rescued and it was all because of her that he was in that predicament.
'Oh, Leon, why do you have to suffer because of my mistakes?' she whispered into the sky, feeling hopeless to do anything for him.
Poor Madeleine, she should've known better not to trust Amandine!
The reprise for 'Amandine' will be in the next chapter and Leon will meet the rest of the enchanted objects in it as well.
Read and review and thanks to those who have done so!