Chapter Five: A New Life
The next night, my father called upon our Royal Advisor, Monsieur Arnaud. He met Father, Gaston and I in my father's private room.
"Sire," Arnaud said with a respectful bow. "Princess, Monsieur Gaston."
"Arnaud, I have called upon you because my daughter has come up with a way to save our kingdom."
I heard Gaston's scoff beside me.
"And what was her idea," he asked in a voice that said my idea was stupid before he ever heard it.
"The Dark One," Father answered in a grave voice.
Arnaud choked on air and coughed violently.
Gaston laughed.
"Are you mad?" He said with a chuckle.
"He is the only one powerful enough to end this terrible war," I said.
"But…" Arnaud said and paused to let out a dry cough, "but at what price?'
"Jewels and gold," Father answered. "From the royal treasury."
"What?" Gaston choked.
"What's the point of riches over the lives of the people of our kingdom?" My father snapped at him.
A heavy silence fell over the room as Gaston chose to not comment further on the subject.
"Sire," Arnaud began cautiously. "Is it not too extreme to call upon the Dark One?"
"Our men are dying and there are no men to replace them," Father said. "If we want to survive, we need to summon the Dark One."
"As you wish," Arnaud said. He went to the small table my father used when he held council in the room. He pulled out a quill and parchment. He waited to dictate.
"You are all fools," Gaston exclaimed.
"Summoning the Dark One. He probably will not come. We should abandon the kingdom."
"We will not abandon our people," my father bellowed.
His face was red with anger as he glared down my betrothed.
"You have no say in this matter. My kingdom is not yours and it will not for a long while yet. Be glad I'm including you in this room."
Gaston returned my father's glare with one of his own but said nothing.
Father cleared his throat and turned to Arnaud.
A response did not come for days. The fighting kept going. Men kept dying and even the boy soldiers could help improve our numbers. The ogres had broken our walls indefinitely. They attacked continuously.
The end of summer was approaching and soon colder weather would come and slow down the few remaining soldiers we had left.
Father and Gaston were always in the war room where I was not allowed. They planned, worried, and fought. They never allowed me to share their burden. Until, one day, Father called me into the room.
"He has not sent word," He told me grimly. I already knew by 'he' he meant the Dark One.
"It was a fool's hope," Gaston said. "We must leave the kingdom to its fate."
Father glared at him.
"The Royal family must be preserved," Gaston argued.
Father sighed in defeat. Gaston stood proudly.
"I will gather everything we need," Gaston said. "We will leave as soon as possible."
"Father," I asked cautiously. "Why did you want me here?"
My father turned and stared at me with such sad eyes it broke my heart.
"I wanted you here, to tell you that there is not much hope for Avonlea. Unless He comes, we have no choice but to abandon the kingdom. Gather as many people as we can save and evacuate the land."
I choked back the lump that had formed in my throat.
Gaston nodded his agreement. He seemed pleased with the turn of events and I hated him a little bit more.
"Right," he said. "We must hurry."
At that moment, Raphael, the military advisor entered the room. He had a piece of parchment in his hand.
"Sir, there is news from the battlefield," Raphael announced as he approached my father. "Avonlea has fallen."
Defeat crossed my father's face.
"Oh, my gods," he gasped.
"If only He had come," Gaston said mockingly throwing me a nasty look.
"Well, he didn't, did he?" Father said in an angry tone. He went to sit in his chair. "Ogres are not men."
"We have to do something. We have to stop them," a knight, Pierre, said.
"They are unstoppable," my father said.
I could not bear the grim look on my father's face. I went to kneel at his side. I covered his hand with mine.
"He could be on his way right now, Papa," I said hopefully.
Father stared down at me sadly.
"It's too late, my girl," he said gently. "It's just too late."
As soon as the last word was out of his mouth, a loud banging came from the door.
I rose to my feet.
"It's him," I cried. "It has to be him."
"How could he get past the walls?" Father asked. He got up and everyone in the room went to the door.
"Open it," he ordered.
The guards followed his orders and unbarred the doors. To everyone's surprise, no one stood outside.
"Well that was a bit of a let-down," a voice said from behind us.
We turned and saw a man seated in my father's chair. He wore leather. His greenish skin sparkled in the light. His hair was long and unruly. His fingers were long and his jagged nails were dark green, almost black. His eyes were reptilian. In his hands was one of the models from the table.
Gaston approached him and aimed his sword at the man.
"You sent me a message. Something about 'help, help. We're dying. Can you save us?'" the man said before rising to stand. It was then I noticed that he was the shortest man in the room.
"Now, the answer is…" he paused a bit as he swatted down Gaston's sword and tossed the model away. "Yes, I can protect your little town for a price."
So this was Rumpelstiltskin, I thought. He was taunting and teasing as he spoke.
"We sent you promise of gold," Father said
"Ah! Now you see, I make gold," the Dark One points out. "What I want is something a bit more special. My price is her."
He pointed to me. The Dark One pointed to me.
Gaston placed a 'protective' arm in front of me.
"No," Father denied.
"The young lady is engaged to me," Gaston said and I glared up at him.
"I wasn't asking if she was engaged," the Dark One said. "I'm not looking for love. I'm looking for a caretaker for my rather large estate. It's her or no deal."
"Get out," Father ordered. "Leave!"
He angrily points at the door.
Gaston pushed me back as the Dark One passed us.
"As you wish," Rumpelstiltskin said.
Desperation raced through my soul. Our land was conquered. We had lost. Gaston and Father were willing to let our last hope walk away. I couldn't allow it to happen. My mother showed me what true bravery was and now was my moment to do the brave thing.
"No, wait…" I called after Rumpelstiltskin. He stopped. "I will go with him."
The Dark One exclaims with delight. Father and Gaston protested at the same time.
"I forbid it," Father said as Gaston said 'No'.
I fumed inside.
"No one decides my fate but me," I insisted. It was my life and my choice. "I shall go.
"It's forever, dearie," Rumpelstiltskin said adding to the deal.
I did not back down.
"My family, my friends, they will all live?" I asked.
"You have my word," he promised.
"Then you have my word," I returned. "I will go with you forever."
"Deal," Rumpelstiltskin said then giggled gleefully.
"Belle," Father said drawing my attention to him. "Belle, you cannot do this."
I turned to face him.
"You can't go with this…beast."
"Father," I said pleadingly then turned to my fiancé. "Gaston. It's been decided."
"You know, she's right," Rumpelstiltskin said from behind me. "The deal is stuck. Oh, congratulations on your little war."
He giggled as he led me out the door. He walked us only a few feet away before he waved his hand and a cloud of red-purplish smoke. One moment we were in my father's castle, the next we were in the entrance hall. The room was huge and dark.
Two grand doors opened. He led me through a great hall. Then he led me down a spiraling staircase.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked.
"Let's call it your room," Rumpelstiltskin said.
We were standing by a dungeon cell door.
"My room?" I gasped.
"Well, it sounds a lot nicer than dungeon."
He grabbed me and shoved me into the cell. He giggled as he did it. He then shut the door, locked it, and cackled as I heard him walk away.
"You can't just leave me in here?" I cried as I banged on the door. "Hello? Hello?"
I stayed in that little cell for hours. The room was empty except for a pallet. Straw layered on top and a thin blanket across the straw and another blanket laid on top the other. There was one small window high up, close to the ceiling. I watched as the darkness began to turn to light. I fell asleep as the sun began to beam at its brightest. I slept through the day and it was the opening of the cell door that woke me.
"Up, up, up, princess," the Dark One called in a childish tone. "It's time to eat."
I rubbed my eyes and stretched the stiffness from my limbs away. My stomach grumbled at the smell of the stew that was on a tray beside my bed. A thin slice of bread and a tumbler of water.
I stared at the food suspiciously and then glanced at Rumpelstiltskin.
"Go on, eat," he said gesturing at me. "It's not poisoned, dearie. I wouldn't have bothered to bring you here if I wanted you dead."
I slowly took the tray and placed it on my lap.
"Good, Good," he said. "Hurry. There is much to discuss."
I ate as quickly as I could. The Dark One watched me carefully. He was studying me. I spent the time either staring at the now darkened window and the tray.
When I finished, Rumpelstiltskin waved his hand and in a puff of smoke, the tray and its contents were gone.
"Come along," he said as he quickly left the dungeon.
He led me to the kitchen this time. The room was large, stone. There was a large stone on a far wall, a fireplace on the wall to the left of me. A pantry was in my right. The corner by the fireplace was piled up with logs to burn in the fireplace and stove.
"The kitchen," Rumpelstiltskin said. "You will become familiar with it. I hope you can quick."
"I can learn," I said.
He chose to ignore me as he walked to a door next to the stove. He pushed it open and the cool, fall air blew in.
"This will be your only access to the outside," he said.
He pointed to a water pump.
"Your only access to fresh water."
He grabbed my arm and pushed me outside.
"Don't just don't stand there, dearie. Get to work," he ordered.
I grabbed the bucket from beside the pump. I then preceded to do what I was told. It took several tries but I finally got the water to flow.
Once the bucket was full, I carried the heave bucket inside.
"Now make my tea," he said in a high pitched, playful voice.
I got to work. I lit a fire in the stove and found an iron kettle. I waited for the water to boil. I went to the pantry to get the tea. I sniffed the different containers until I found one to my liking. By the time I was out, Rumpelstiltskin was gone. A note was set near a tray that held a lovely tea set. The note gave me instructions to go to the great hall.
I jumped when the kettle whistled and quickly measured the leaves and then found a cloth to remove the stove. I poured the boiling water over the leaves and allowed it to strain through.
Then, I took what was left of the water and doused out the fire in the stove. When I was done, I carefully balanced the tray to the great hall. Rumpelstiltskin was waiting. He sat in his high backed chair.
"Finally," he said with a cocky smile. "Now that you are here I will list you new…" he paused. "Duties."
I nodded. I set the tea set on the table. The opposite end of where he sat.
"You will serve me my meals and you will clean the Dark Castle."
"I understand."
"You will dust my collection and launder my clothing."
"Yes," I said pouring him a cup of tea.
"You will fetch me fresh straw when I'm spinning at the wheel."
"Got it," I said as I carefully lifted the cup from the tray.
"Oh, and you will skin the children I hunt, for their pelts."
I gasped and dropped the cup. He had startled me with that last duty. I knew the Dark One was a horrible man but harming children was beyond what I was prepared for.
"That one was just a quip," He said to my relief. "Not serious."
I nodded and released the breath I was holding.
"Right," I said.
I bent down to pick up the cup and discovered that it was damaged.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry, but it's chipped," I said holding up the cup to Rumpelstiltskin. "You can hardly see it."
In all actuality, the chip was nearly the size of the nail on my little finger.
"Well, it's just a cup," he waved away.
I nodded and stood. I placed the chipped cup on the tray and began to prepare another to give to Rumpelstiltskin.
"No, use the one you dropped," he said almost gently and I stared at him briefly. He was being kind I never thought that he would be kind.
I quickly looked away and poured the tea into the chipped cup.
After I handed the cup to him, I stood and waited for further instructions.
"Off you go," he dismissed me after taking his first sip of tea. "Back to the dungeon with you."
"But I…," I began when he waved his hand and magicked me away to the dungeon. I huffed as I saw the door was shut. I pushed on it and it did not budge which meant it was locked too.
I spent the night awake with my thoughts. For the first time, I realized that I had seen or heard anyone else in the castle. The only ones there were me and the Dark One.
Then I began to feel lonely. I gave up everything to be here. I will never see my friends again and when I thought of never seeing my father again, I cried. I cried and cried until I fell asleep.
END OF CH. 5