Chapter 15

"The Evacuations Begin"

It had been nearly a month since Adam defied the orders of Napoleon to swear his allegiance to him. Now, those who wish to fight with us in the Seventh Coalition were preparing to say goodbye to their loved ones, their families, the lives that they would be leaving behind and possibly never return to Bretagne alive.

"Papa, what are you doing?" I asked as I stepped into my father's bedroom in the castle. He was clothed in his old military uniform, clutching a musket in his hands.

"Oh, Belle!" he gasped, turning around to face me. "I was just seeing how I look in this uniform. Do you think that…?"

"Where we are going, you won't be wearing blue," I chuckled, stepping into the room. "Still, at least you are showing respect to the true monarch…wherever he is now."

After sharing a brief chuckle, I could only think of what was to come for us.

"Papa…do you think I'm odd?"

"My daughter, the princess, odd?" he remarked. "Where would you get an idea like that?"

"Just something that came up in my mind…a question I asked you once upon a time, back when I was just the odd bookworm of the village."

"Ohh, but look at you now. The Princess of our Kingdom who stands by the side of our beloved prince."

I couldn't help but feel at least sentimental to my father's words. Still, we had to make the best of a bad situation with a war coming and all.

"I'm sure that England will be more than happy to accommodate us during this war," said Papa. "At least we will all be together…me, you, Adam, Philippe and the rest of the servants. Furthermore, I think that it will be nice to spend time with our neighbors to the north."

And he was right, we would be spending time with our neighbors to the north. Even though our parent kingdoms had been fighting each other for centuries, the English people were just as civilized as we were.

"I'm sure it will, Papa. Where exactly will we go? Will we go to another castle? It depends on what the king is offering. I'm hoping we go to Windsor Castle. I've always wanted to visit it."

"You've always had a fondness for that castle, haven't you?" Papa chuckled. "I've actually wanted to see how their beer is."

"Papa!" I remarked, not wanting my father to go and get drunk. "You promised mama that you wouldn't drink!"

"It wouldn't hurt to at least have one, Belle."

Placing a hand on Papa's shoulder, I smiled at him and promised to give him one chance at a drink of beer.

"Just one," I warned in a sarcastic, yet loving tone. "Just one."

After a brief hug, I stepped back and briefly looked my father over once more before leaving his quarters, reminding him to be ready for when we were ready to leave.

…

Stepping out into the courtyard, soldiers and servants were moving about, ensuring that we would have the necessities to survive the next few years across the channel. A trunk carrying all of my books from the library were placed onto a horse drawn cart.

"Belle!" I heard Adam cry out as he walked towards me with Lumiere and Cogsworth. "Belle, what are you doing here?"

"Just had a talk with Papa," I answered. "Have we decided where we will go once we arrive in England?"

"The King has arranged for us to stay at Windsor Castle outside of London. He says that we may have to share the castle with another royal family…Prince Christopher and his consort, Princess Cinderella of Bordeaux."

"That's nice," I said. "At least we won't be the only royals in that castle."

"Windsor will serve as our headquarters until Napoleon is defeated or otherwise. There might also be times where we will have to be at Buckingham Palace per his orders."

"Why?" I asked, slightly confused.

"If we are going to work closely with Great Britain, then we will have to spend at least some time with the king and his generals."

Suddenly, I saw Lefou and Stanley helping push out one of the cannons from the foundry within the castle.

"What about Lefou and Stanley?"

"The Duke of Gordon will be making his way down to London in two days. Once he takes them under his wing, then they will be in his service."

"I wonder what Gaston would think of this," I thought. "His former friend in a skirt."

"Kilt, my dear," said Cogsworth. "They will be in kilts, the traditional dress of the Highlands."

At that moment, a soldier came forward with news.

"Your highness, when do you expect us to leave for the shore?" he asked.

"We leave at sundown and be at the shore by morning," Adam declared. "Make sure that everyone knows that."

"Yes, sire," the soldier said as he left, saluting Adam. "And sire, there are 300 of our subjects who have joined our cause against Napoleon."

This made Adam smile in delight, knowing that a majority of our subjects were going to be on our side in England. Once sundown had arrived, we left our home behind and proceeded through the woods north towards the shore and to escape from Napoleon's wrath.

"Do you think we will ever return, Mama?" I heard Chip ask as we left in one of the carriages.

"I hope so my dear," said Mrs. Potts sadly as she looked back at the castle. "I certainly hope so."

Trying to take his mother's mind off the situation, Chip asked her an all too familiar question.

"Do I have to sleep in the cupboard when we get to England?"

All of us couldn't help but laugh at Chip's remark and saw that it helped to diffuse some of the tension that was building up. But we still had a long journey ahead of us and who knows if when or if we will ever see our home again?

…

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