Chapter 2
"Return of the Magic Mirror"
With a favorable wind, we arrived on the coast of Great Britain at the first crack of dawn. Stepping off the ship, I found myself in a strange new land, a land that was entirely different from both Villeneuve and the castle of Bretagne. The town was called Portsmouth by name and it seemed like it was a decent shipping town. Not quite small and provincial, but it will have to do.
"Welcome to England, your highness!" called a British accented voice belonging to a British Gentleman, beckoning Adam and me to come over. "Prince Adam and Princess Belle of Bretagne, I presume?"
"Aye," replied Adam. "It is us. Who are you?"
"We are to take you to Windsor Castle," said the gentleman. "I am Samuel Crompton acting on behalf of his grace, the Duke of Wellington."
"Delighted to meet you," I said as Lumiere and Cogsworth stepped forward. "How far is it to Windsor?"
"About two hours by coach, your highness," explained Samuel. "His grace will be meeting with you when you arrive."
"Zut alors, the Duke?" remarked Lumeire.
"Yes, the Duke you ninny," muttered Cogsworth. "I can assure you that you show a little respect for the Duke of Wellington. He is our gracious host for the time being. No singing and dancing, this time!"
Lumiere pouted at Cogsworth's order, but Samuel saw otherwise.
"I'm sure his grace will want to see some non-Napoleon French customs," said Samuel. "Now gather everything you brought and be prepared to depart in one hour."
Acknowledging, we were left to gather our supplies for the two day coach ride. The only true essential that I had to care for was my father, my clothes and my books. Of course, meeting the Duke of Wellington was at the forefront of my mind as it was for Adam.
"Adam, the Duke of Wellington," I asked as we watched several Royal Navy sailors load up the coaches. "What do you think he will be like?"
"A highly respectable man," Adam sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Probably a much better man than I was when I was a monster."
He then reached under his waistcoat and pulled out something that I thought was lost forever…the magic mirror.
"Adam, where did you get this?" I gasped. "I thought that Gaston destroyed it when he invaded the castle."
"I kept it hidden because I felt like we would never need it after the spell was broken," Adam answered. "But now that we are at war, I felt it should be needed again."
The fact that Adam had kept the mirror hidden was somewhat of a miracle in itself.
"Do you think that…?"
"Once we depart for Windsor Castle," Adam said. "Right now, let's focus on gathering our belongings and our servants."
I took an enormous gulp as Adam proceeded to oversee the transfer of our supplies. Still, I couldn't help but ask myself how and why the magic mirror, Adam's window to the outside world, was hidden from me all this time?
…
By 8:00 in the morning, we were fully loaded and we were on our way to Windsor Castle. During the ride, Adam carefully studied the Magic Mirror, thinking of what he wanted to see.
"Are you going to wish for anything in particular?" I asked him, causing Adam to take his eyes off the magic mirror and give me a glance. "I'm just asking, Adam."
"Show me Napoleon," Adam said firmly and the mirror showed Napoleon with a medium sized army along with two other generals bringing their own bands. "I was afraid of this. He's forming with Marshal Ney and another general. If anything, he will probably be going towards Vienna."
"Vienna?" I asked, slightly shocked. "Why would he wait eight whole years to attack Vienna?"
"He was in Egypt, Belle, remember?" Adam remarked, showing me our greatest enemy in full glory. "Look at him, the greatest threat to our country is about to drag us more into shame than ever before."
Right away, the next thing that popped into my mind was whether or not Austria's rulers were aware of what was happening. Surely they might have had an idea considering that their capital was about to be threatened. Then there was another factor that came into my mind.
"Snow White," I whispered. "She won't know what hit her."
"Princess Snow White? She's in Prussia. Don't worry she won't be harmed in any way as long as the Prussians stay silent."
But I begged to differ because Prussia was very likely going to be dragged into the conflict and the fairest princess in all of Europe was about to be dragged in as well.
…
Meanwhile, in the forests outside of the Prussian kingdom, a small sized man with a long white beard was hard at work, sharpening what appeared to be a small knife outside of his cottage.
"Grumpy, what are you doing out here?" asked his brother, another small sized man with glasses. "Don't you see it old…er, cold? Come inside and have breakfast! We'll be weaving for bork soon…er, work soon!"
"I can't Doc," Grumpy said. "He's on the move and I must be ready. Besides, I'm not hungry!"
"He probably won't come at all, he's far away."
"Never underestimate the power of Napoleon," Grumpy said sharply at Doc, turning with a jerk. "He's worse than the Evil Queen that used to rule over our kingdom. If he lays his hands on Snow White, then Hell will come for him in the form of me! If you were smart, you would also be preparing for battle as well."
Doc stood at his brother in perplexity. The idea of fighting didn't really cross his mind, but in his eyes, he could see how Grumpy had become protective of my young equal. Putting the weapon down, Grumpy then retreated to the back of the cottage and came across a large box with a lock on it.
"Grumpy, you aren't serious?" Doc remarked.
"Bring me the key for this box," he ordered. "Do it!"
With the sound of his sharp voice, Doc did as he was told and a few moments later, he gave Grumpy the key. Bending down, he opened the box and inside were seven large rifles with bayonets.
"I never thought we would ever use these weapons," sighed Grumpy. "But we have to call upon them if we are to protect Snow White, our beloved princess."
He then looked to Doc who was left with very little choice. The Seven Dwarfs of Prussia were going to fight Napoleon but they didn't know when the time was to come.
The time would come soon enough…
…
…