It wasn't working.
Belle slammed the book in frustration and slouched in her seat. She had drawn the curtains half closed around her in her favorite window seat in the Library - a habit of hiding while reading she picked up as a child and just never broke. Now a days she had no reason to hide away in order to be able to complete her chosen book in peace, but Belle still found herself curling up in the window, curtains partially drawn with just the tips of her shoes poking out. Maybe it was sentimentality, or perhaps some traditions would just never die.
Usually when Belle had something on her mind and wanted to push it aside, she picked up a book and got lost in the story. Often a happy ending and an adventure were just the thing to get her spirits lifted.
When Belle's mother died, it was her sister Josette who had placed the first book in Belle's hand. It was her eldest sister's way of keeping Belle distracted from the rushing groups of nurses and maids moving in and out of their mother's sick room. She remembered sleeping so soundly for the first time in weeks with the book clutched loosely to her chest, dreaming of happier days and childish adventures with Pirates.
But now when Belle picked up a book and escaping into the story, Belle found herself merely skimming the pages idly, the words fuzzy in her vision. For the past hour she had been trying to finish another chapter of the newest addition to her current book rotation - an exciting adventure novel with pages that smelled like a musky cellar and left Belle's fingertips a bit black from the aged parchment. Usually this was exactly the sort of novel Belle could easily finish in a single day, however on this day after reading the same paragraph for the fifth time, she realized that the words on the page were no longer making sense and finally she gave up with a frustrated groan.
It was too quiet, she decided as she stood from her spot. The bones in her back cracked as she arched and stretched her arms over head.
"I need to get outside." Belle murmured as she pressed her forehead against the cool coloured glass and watched as the last of the light slowly died away behind the high mountain peaks in the distance.
Belle missed the smell of the trees that surrounded her manor home, the dew on her Mother's roses, and the familiar smell of her Father. She reached her hand upwards and began to twist and turn the blue gem on her necklace, the woven gold chain still sparkling like new and Belle smiled down at her own little piece of magic, before frowning at the remembrance of what it represented. She was never to leave. She wasn't sure the boundaries of the magic necklace, was it just the castle walls she couldn't cross? Was the outdoors entirely out of the question? She had forgotten to ask at the moment, too afraid to think clearly. She refused to even test it by stepping out the front doors in case she evaporated into thin air, or was ripped to shreds by magic...
Belle dropped the sapphire stone and stepped out of her window seat, turning to face the fireplace in her new home. She could almost picture Maurice relaxing on the sofa with his large legs resting on an ottoman, burgundy slippers with the hole in one of the toes on his feet, and a glass of scotch in his hands. Maybe he would be smoking on his pipe, a habit he tried to hide from Josette who would no doubt be scolding him if she had entered the library. She found the habit unbecoming, making sure her fiancé knew how she felt as well, complaining about the atrocious smell (a scent that Belle secretly loved).
Belle smiled a bit as she imagined the 'disappointed Mother' face Josette would put on while scolding their Father. However her smile faded when she realized she forgot which shade of blue her sister's eyes were. Were they the same shade as Rosalind's or darker?
Belle inhaled a shaky breath, and wiped away unshed tears as she tore her gaze away from the sofa where the image of her Father began to fade. That was the problem. Every time she tried to picture her loved ones she would come to a blank with the details slowly fading away. That frightened Belle even more than any haunted hallway, or horror story Rumpelstiltskin shared, just to see her reaction. She even forgot what it was like just to be held by her father, cuddling with him on his chair and reading together under the fading light. Even Rosalind and Josette's constant bickering over frivolous things like boys and dresses made Belle ache for home.
She looked around the large library of the Dark Castle, glancing upwards at the stacks upon stacks of books that reached to the very top of the high ceilinged room and contemplated wandering upwards to find a new book. She had only been able to categorized only a small percentage of the lower stacks and had yet to even step foot higher up. Toward the right side of the massive stone fireplace was a spiral iron staircase that Belle headed over to. She climbed upwards, the clicking of her heels on the metal of the stairs the only sound echoing in the vast library.
The dust on the second level was thick and coated the ground and shelves in a thin layer of white. Belle sneezed several times as her skirts disturbed the layers of time and began to examine her surroundings.
In between each of the stacks was thick green curtains drawn tightly together, similar to the curtains that kept the windows in the main hall from letting in any natural light. Belle reached out and felt the soft velvet under her fingertips and marveled at the softness even under years of dust.
Curious as to what the curtains would reveal, she grasped the bottom of the curtain and slowly lifted the fabric to reveal a massive oval mirror. Belle's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the gilded mirror, for she had expected a window in the very least. With a frown Belle dropped the curtain and moved down the length of the isle to the next curtain. The exact same velvet fabric reached to the ground, and she lifted it to find yet another gilded mirror.
Between each stack was a green curtain and behind each green curtain was an identical mirror.
"Do I even want to know..." Belle stated standing back away from the final mirror.
This was not the first time she had found a mirror hidden under a curtain or drapery. Of course Belle had found it quite strange, an oddity to add to the mystery of the castle. Once she had a mind to ask Rumpelstiltskin why he hid his mirrors. Was it his reflection he didn't like? Maybe the mirrors held cursed people Rumpelstiltskin threw in when they broke a deal. Belle had shuttered at the thought, and always either forgot to ask or chickened out the last minute.
"Tomorrow, I will ask him tomorrow." She said to the empty room with a firm nod of her head as she traced a finger along the spines of several hard covered books. Each was ribbed in elegant golden detailing, the beautiful craftsmanship sending a tiny jolt of awe through Belle with each examination.
Belle pulled out a bright green leather bound book and idly skimmed through it before a twinkle of light caught her eye from behind the empty space on the shelf. Something was jammed at the back and hidden by the books. Placing her open book on a lower shelf, she reached in slowly and grasped the handle of a small mirror. The silver edging and handle were a dull grey, and around the handle there was a delicate thorny vine pressed into the silver, the vine twisting around the rim of the mirror and led to a single rose at the top. An ornate lion with worn features captured the handle of the mirror in its mouth and Belle traced a gentle finger reverently along the creature.
The mirror itself was dark and gave off no reflection which Belle attributed it to the age of the object, frowning at the murkiness of the glass. She delicately flipped the mirror over to study the back and she found faint lettering lightly pressed to the plating. Belle squinted her eyes as she tried to read the intricate cursive.
'Welcome Beauty, banish fear,' Belle began to decipher, her index finger keeping track of her location. 'You are Queen and mistress here. Speak your wishes; speak your will, swift obedience…' Belle's frown deepened as she tried to catch the last few words; however the silver was so corroded that she was unable to read it without a thorough cleaning.
"Did you forget about our Dinner?" Rumpelstiltskin's voice echoed down below and Belle jolted and quickly slid the handheld mirror into one of her dress pockets before leaning over the banister to look downwards to where Rumpelstiltskin stood. He was thumbing through the book Belle had been trying to read earlier, the dragon hide jacket he wore only while doing deals tossed over the back of one of the leather couches next to him.
"I didn't know you would be back so soon." Belle said brightly, perhaps too brightly, and she tried not to grimace at the obvious falsity in her voice as she rested her forearms casually on the mahogany handrail.
Rumpelstiltskin looked upwards and narrowed his eyes.
"I said I would be gone for three days."
"It's only been two." she replied.
The corners of Rumpelstiltskin's mouth lifted into smug smile, and he tossed the book carelessly on the table, ignoring Belle's grimace at the rough treatment of one of her books, before folding his arms across his chest and looking upwards to Belle.
"Missed me Dearie?" He grinned.
Belle raised a single eyebrow and smirked with good humor,
"Don't you go off flattering yourself just yet Rumpelstiltskin. I was merely stating the obvious." She let out a quiet laugh before pushing lazily off the banister and headed toward the nearest iron staircase.
"As I was about to say, I thought you would be gone for three days so I haven't yet started dinner. It may take a while..." Recently Belle had picked up the habit of preparing a meal every night, even though it was not one of the tasks Rumpelstiltskin had given her. At first Rumpelstiltskin had been suspicious of her cooking, sniffing and poking it with wariness as if expecting it to attack him, however after a while of Belle's persistent need to cook food (rather than allow magic to provide for them because how healthy could that be?) he had given in and silently devoured every meal she prepared.
"There's no need, I've already cooked for the two of us." Rumpelstiltskin stated with a casual wave of his hand as he headed toward the exit. Belle was halfway down the staircase when she stopped abruptly and stared at him in surprise.
"You what?"
Rumpelstiltskin didn't turn around as he responded,
"Dinner. It's already been made. If we hurry we may be able to eat it while it's still hot. That is, if you intend on joining me?" Rumpelstiltskin stopped at the doors and turned his head toward Belle who was still staring at him with wide eyed amusement.
"You cooked?" she said incredulously,
"With my own two hands." He responded with a sarcastic wiggle of his fingers.
"For the two of us?" she clarified as she got closer.
But any playfulness disappeared from Rumpelstiltskin's countenance when she stepped onto the main landing and he narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth turning down into a slight frown.
"Did something happen while I was away?" he asked, eyeing her carefully, "You look sad..."
"What?" she asked in surprise. Was her recent bout of loneliness that obvious? Attempting to school her face into a look of indifference, Belle let out a half hearted laugh and tried to think of something to say while simultaneously fighting the sudden urge to cry again.
Once upon a time she would have jumped at the chance to voice her feelings. I'm so lonely here; I can't remember what colour my sister's eyes are. I need someone to hold me and tell me everything will be alright... All these things crossed through Belle's mind and for a quick, horrifying moment she worried that Rumpelstiltskin would be able to read her thoughts.
He remained where he was before her with a look of what appeared to her to be concern and Belle had to bite her lip to stop her from telling him everything she was feeling.
"No. Nothing happened while you were away. As you can see I didn't burn the place down." she said with a quick gesture of her hand.
"And as for the whole looking sad thing well I..." She faltered for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders, "I just got so wrapped up in this story and well... It had an emotional ending. There's no shame in crying over a good read." Belle attempted a look that said see I'm fine so stop asking, but apparently it wasn't that convincing as Rumpelstiltskin only looked at her with disbelief. In an attempt to change the subject Belle nodded upwards to one of the covered mirrors,
"There are a bunch of mirrors up there, in between each stack. I counted at least 25, all of them covered." It wasn't really a question but Belle felt herself waiting for an answer anyway.
Rumpelstiltskin continued to look at Belle with suspicious eyes, but slowly she felt the tension die away from his countenance. When he still didn't respond Belle took a few steps forwards until she was within hugging distance from Rumpelstiltskin. Belle mentally chastised herself when she felt herself leaning towards the other warm body in the room and was thankful that Rumpelstiltskin didn't appear to notice.
He's the only person you will ever see for the REST of your life. It is perfectly natural to want to be around the only other person you will ever know, Belle chanted to herself, though a part of her knew that it still felt wrong for her heart to feel lighter the closer she got to Rumpelstiltskin.
He basically bought you like a slave. He is a monster who enjoys torturing people, another part whispered.
"Did you know they were there?" she asked, snapping herself back to the present and leaning back away from Rumpelstiltskin.
"Of course I knew they were there. I know everything." He said dismissively as he spun around on his heel, once again heading back out the doors of the library. Belle let out a relieved breath and followed one step behind.
"They're covered." She reminded him.
Rumpelstiltskin gave an un amused snort as a response which caused Belle to purse her lips.
"You cover all your mirrors. Why do you cover the mirrors?"
Belle and Rumpelstiltskin crossed the large hallway with beautiful stained glass to the entrance to the enchanted stairway.
"I don't like being watched." Was his casual response and Belle was struck dumb for a moment.
What did THAT mean?
The two of them made their way silently down the spiral steps, and before Belle could come up with more probing questions they were entering the main hall. She was surprised to find two place settings at the table and a second chair in addition to Rumpelstiltskin's own.
Usually Belle served Rumpelstiltskin like her own maid's did back at the manor house, waiting just a few steps behind his elbow, ready to be of service until he finished his plate. Then she would collect the dishes and taking what was left for herself, she would eat alone in the kitchen afterwards. This time however it was clear that she would be joining Rumpelstiltskin for dinner, and a flicker of hope sparked within Belle as she thought that maybe this would become a more permanent ritual. I always hated eating alone.
Belle couldn't help the surprised smile tugging at her lips as Rumpelstiltskin politely flicked his wrist to magically pull back Belle's chair so she could sit easily down without her skirts getting caught in the chair legs.
Rumpelstiltskin tilted his head in a playful nod as he pushed in her chair for her, theatrically procuring a white serviette from thin air and handing it over to Belle. She let out an amused laugh and with an equal level of playfulness made a dramatic point of smoothing the serviette upon her lap before eyeing the beautiful looking roast placed before her.
"Why thank you." She said coquettishly, before serving Rumpelstiltskin a portion of the roast before helping herself.
The meat was cooked to perfection and Belle found herself unashamedly reaching for more after her first plate was empty. What did it matter now what she ate now? There was no one to judge, no one to care. Back home she would have already been given disapproving looks from both her sister's accompanied by passive aggressive comments on keeping a slim figure.
Oh Belle, I wish I had your ability to not worry about NOT fitting into my dresses. You're so brave. Rosalind would say. As if that was the bravest thing in the world.
Thinking about her family made the small smirk beginning to form on Belle's lips at the thought disappear and she stared at the now empty plate, once again noticing the same heaviness that had formed within her for the past few days.
"So," Belle cleared her throat and turned her attention to Rumpelstiltskin, "What's the occasion?"
Rumpelstiltskin cocked an eyebrow and took a long sip from his wine,
"I'm sorry?"
Belle leaned forward with her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hand,
"We just shared a lovely dinner that you cooked. Slaved away for a while no doubt." she emphasized with a grin, "What's the catch? Was it poisoned?" she teased.
Rumpelstiltskin looked offended for a moment and opened his mouth to protest, but seeing the light-hearted smirk on Belle's face he grinned and sunk more comfortably back into his seat.
"That would be a breach of contract Dearie. And besides, good help is hard to find these days." He responded with a wrinkle of his nose and gentle lift of his lips; the closest thing to a genuine smile he ever gave Belle.
Belle's own smile grew wider and she felt that heaviness lift just a little bit from the pit of her stomach.
"Really though, this is all highly unusual behavior, even for you." Belle said soberly and Rumpelstiltskin looked at her fully then. He appeared to debate his next words for a bit and Belle found herself once again leaning forwards in anticipation.
"It's March 23rd. I always cook dinner on March 23rd." He said quietly, tearing his gaze away from hers and lifting his goblet up to down the rest of his wine.
"What's so special about March 23rd?" Belle heard herself asking and immediately winced at the intrusive nature of her question. But if Rumpelstiltskin was offended at her bluntness he didn't let on.
Instead he surprised Belle when he smiled a very human smile, his eyes glued to the table as if in a happy trance.
"It was my son's birthday...Is." He clarified
Belle could feel her mouth gape open in surprise. The Dark One has a son? For some reason Belle had never thought that the Dark One could have a family somewhere. Suddenly her mind raced back to the children's bedroom, the carved wooden horse and the closet of clothing.
Rumpelstiltskin had a family. Belle looked critically at him then, from head to toe and tried to imagine what a small version of him would look like. Does his son also have grayish green skin? Was magic something that ran in the family?
"You have a son?" she asked in a shocked whisper, wondering if she misheard.
"Had a son. He died." He responded bitterly.
The pain in his face and voice was as clear as the water in the fountain at her old Manor house. His jaw clenched tightly and his lips thinned out, but it was his eyes which betrayed his grief. Belle was surprised at the humanity there. Slowly she averted her gaze and stared a small scar on the top of the table, trying to think of what to say.
Rumpelstiltskin had a son; a son who died.
Belle's heart swelled with unbridled compassion as she thought about what that must be like. She had lost her Mother but that seemed natural, this was something that did not feel right.
Words alone didn't feel like enough to express her sympathy for the man who once was a father, and so without another thought Belle reached out and did the first thing that came to mind. With gentle fingers, she slowly wrapped her hand around his own on the arm of his chair, and gave him a gentle squeeze.
She was surprised to find that Rumpelstiltskin's hand was warm and the skin not as rough as it looked but soft like normal human skin. When she looked up, she found that Rumpelstiltskin was staring at their joined hands in surprise. She expected him to recoil from her touch, perhaps yell at her or flip the table, but he just stared quietly at the connection between the both of them.
Rumpelstiltskin looked up at Belle, appearing as though he were trying to think of something to say to her.
"Belle..." he began, but his words fell dead upon his lips as he quickly looked away toward the doors that lead to the entrance hall.
She could feel the tendons of his hand flex underneath her palm and when he turned back to look at Belle, she saw that familiar aloof darkness once more shadow his face. Pulling his hand away from hers, Rumpelstiltskin stood and flicked his wrist, magically removing the empty dishes from the table.
"You should go." He said dismissively as he headed toward his spinning wheel.
Belle gaped at him in surprise and was about to protest when he shot her a look of warning.
"Go to bed Belle. Your services are not required at the moment."
She pursed her lips and frowned at him showing him her disapproval at being dismissed so hurriedly, before slowly standing from the table. Rumpelstiltskin immediately turned to his wheel and began spinning, ignoring Belle as she slowly walked over to the back doorway and pausing.
"Goodnight Rumple." She said quietly, noting the way Rumpelstiltskin's hands paused briefly before continuing with the wheel as before. With that Belle shut the door behind her, making her way contemplatively down the hall and to the set of stairs that would lead to her bedroom.
Upon entering the room Belle remembered the battered mirror within the depths of her pocket and pulled it out, surprised that she hadn't felt the weight of it during dinner. An enchanted mirror perhaps; one that felt weightless when required? Belle laughed at her own silly imagination and fiddled with the handle. Magic mirrors, corridors that disappeared at will, straw turning into gold. It was highly possible that this mirror held some sort of feather light enchantment and that realization made Belle smile to herself. Anything was possible with Rumpelstiltskin. Even the possibility of monster's with families…
Belle slowly crumbled into the small window seat in her room, placing the tall stack of books sitting precariously on the edge of the pillowed top on the floor. Pulling back the curtains and letting the moonlight drift through the panes she thought about Rumpelstiltskin's son and the small dusty shrine to the boy that died. He had gotten so angry at her when she asked about it, and now she understood the importance of that room.
Don't make excuses for him. A voice inside her head told her, but Belle couldn't help remember Rumpelstiltskin's sad expression at dinner, how he didn't pull away from her comforting touch. He allowed her to comfort him. That was a giant leap forward in their relationship…
Movement in the corner of Belle's eye made her draw her attention away from the half crescent moon and downwards. A figure was walking swiftly up the lane toward the castle, hooded in a dark cloak that reached the ground. Belle let out a sound of surprise, and she pressed closer to the glass in order to get a better view of the Dark Castle's visitor. The cloak reached all the way to the ground covering the person's feet, and they moved so smoothly that Belle could almost imagine that they were floating across the muddied cobblestones like an apparition.
The last person to show up to the Dark Castle had been practically tortured by Rumpelstiltskin and Belle felt herself going cold at the memory of the man, pulling at the skin covering his mouth with his eyes bulging out of their sockets.
The figured disappeared around the corner of the nearest tower and Belle immediately jumped from her seat, determined to catch a glimpse of the visitor. Rumpelstiltskin had told her to go off to bed, so rather than make her presence known, Belle opted to sneak downwards as quiet as she could and for a moment she had flashbacks to when she would sneak off into the night to visit the baker's son. Back in another life.
As she neared the front entrance, voices from the main hall where she left Rumpelstiltskin rose upwards to where Belle was standing at the edge of the wide staircase. Straining her ears didn't work to hear the words, so Belle quietly tip toed down the staircase closer and closer to the large doors of the main hall.
They were opened slightly and a gash of light ran across the cold marble steps and drew upwards toward the high ceilings. Belle couldn't help but frown at the trail of muddied footprints that lead from the entrance doors to the main hall and she cursed at the visitor for being so disrespectful.
At least wipe your boots off at the door. Belle thought as she glanced toward the front doors where she recently placed a bristled door mat she had found a few weeks prior. Just for such an occasion.
"It's not worth it..." she could hear Rumpelstiltskin's voice say and Belle bit her lower lip at the tone. It was not the voice he used when he was dealing with strangers, but was closer to the lower more human one he used when he was speaking with Belle.
"We worked hard to get here. We've been in this, TOGETHER, since the beginning. And now your backing out?" a female voice said.
Belle stood straighter at the lower and melodic voice that carried through the doors. Even though it was clear this woman was upset about something, she spoke in calm tones that made her sound both hypnotic and dangerous at the same time, and it sent a shiver down Belle's spine. She didn't want to get closer to the door and risk being seen, but Belle found her curiosity was too strong and slowly she inched forwards, lifting her long skirts so that they didn't rustle too much.
"The price is too high. I'm not backing out; I'm merely suggesting that perhaps there is another way."
Belle could finally see Rumpelstiltskin's and the back of the woman standing close before him. The woman had jet black hair piled high atop her head and an elegant deep violet dress that shimmered ever so slightly in the torchlight. Belle could practically taste the magic radiating off the woman, similar to that of Rumpelstiltskin's though it was not as heavy, but still just as dark.
She couldn't see the woman's face, but she could tell by the rigidity of her back that the woman was not too pleased with Rumpelstiltskin.
"This is the only way; you and I both know this." The woman hissed. The calm tones in her voice were now laced with anger as she balled her fists at her sides, long red nails digging into the palms of the woman's hand.
Rumpelstiltskin's nostrils flared in anger as he stared down at the woman. Belle saw the corner of his mouth twitch before he took a step closer.
"She is your daughter. Are you sure this is what you want?"
Belle held her breath as the two stared at each other in silence. To Belle's shock the woman leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to the side of Rumpelstiltskin's mouth, his eyes closing momentarily and his lips thinning into a slight grimace. She expected him to rage at the woman, to hit her with a burst of magic and throw her against the wall. A small part of her wanted him to and she blinked at the horrid thought. Instead he stared quietly at the woman for a while before sighing.
With a quick flick of his wrist he magic'd a small scroll from thin air and held it out to the woman, but before she could grasp it he pulled it back out of her reach.
"Remember, it's not ready yet. There are still a few things that need to be collected for it to work. And then there's the matter of price..." he trailed off before once again holding the parchment out to the woman. Without hesitation she snatched the scroll out of his hands and fervently unrolled it, appearing to scan it quickly before making it disappear in a magical puff of purple smoke.
"Thank you Rumple. Soon we will both have what we want." She said before turning and heading to the doors where Belle had slowly inched closer and closer to. Quickly realizing that the woman was about to expose Belle she quickly ducked away into the shadows of the entrance hall.
The woman marched out of the room, her swift movements causing her purple skirts to billow behind her. Snapping her fingers the woman magically opened the front door, letting in the howling rain that had just began to pelt downwards outside. Suddenly she stopped in her tracks and Belle found herself frozen in terror as she slowly turned her head and stared right at the spot where Belle was hiding.
Belle felt her mouth go dry as the woman's cold black eyes appeared to bore into her own.
She was older than Belle had expected, with slight aging around her eyes and mouth. However that did not detract from her obvious beauty, with thick dark hair, pale skin contrasted by red lips and dark eyes framed with long black lashes. But there was a chilling danger about the woman that made Belle shiver once more. Very slowly the woman smiled at Belle, a smile that looked more like a warning to Belle and didn't quite reach her eyes. The woman then turned around and left the castle, doors banging shut behind her with a mere wave of the hand.
"See something interesting?"
Rumpelstiltskin's voice snapped Belle out of her trance and she jumped when she realized he was standing right next to her. In a trance she must have wondered out of the darkness and into the light
"I'm sorry." She apologized quickly, her cheeks burning with embarrassment, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop..."
Rumpelstiltskin raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her.
"Who was that?" she asked quietly.
Rumpelstiltskin inhaled slowly, as if dreading the answer. He glanced over at the front doors before replying in a quiet voice.
"Cora."