by A. Anders
The Prince stopped Belle before she was noticed. “I’m going to do something unusual, okay? Just go with it.”
“Okay,” Belle agreed.
With that, the Prince took Bell’s hand. Her heart skipped a beat. Her chest and neck felt warm. The heat billowed up surrounding her face.
“Are you ready?” The Prince asked her. Belle shook her head ‘yes’.
Stepping out into view, the Prince took on a new air about him. His chest was puffed out as far as it could go and his chin was comically high in the air. Belle could feel everyone’s attention subtly turn to him. She could even feel some disapproval. It all passed quickly though as the Prince led her across the room into the next.
“Prince Renaud, is that you?” Belle heard a familiar voice say from the far end of the room.
Belle looked up and saw him. It was Mr. Kandel. His gold-plated mustache twittered as he stuck his finger into the air trying to get the Prince’s attention.
“Prince Renaud, may I speak to you for a moment?”
“No, you may not, Mr. Kandel. Please make an appointment with my social secretary,” the Prince said quickly escorting Belle through an open door.
“Prince Renaud?” Mr. Kandel called out.
When the Prince and Belle were out of sight, Renaud dropped his façade. Allowing his playful nature to return, he turned to Belle and smiled.
“Come, we have to get out of here before he catches us.”
“Before he catches us?” Belle said drawn in by his infectious smile.
“He will undoubtedly have some boring task for me to do. I would much prefer to be with you. Shall we go?”
“Let’s,” Belle said beside herself.
With her hand still in his, the Prince led her down more passageways until eventually they came upon a large door centered between two windows. It was only then that the Prince let go of Bell’s hand. Opening the door, Belle’s heart quickened. There was something about going outside that felt special to her. Why was that? She was sure that it had something to do with the Beast. Belle dwelt on it until the warm sun touched her skin. She drank it in as if she hadn’t seen the sun in days.
The daylight excited her. Running through the open door, Belle raised her arms. Spinning around she let the rays touch every part of her. There was snow on the ground but the air wasn’t cold. It felt like a perfect early spring day. Belle giggled with delight.
Hearing Renaud laugh as well, Belle looked back at him. He was running past her. Descending the stairs and stepping onto the snow-blanketed ground, he left footprints. Joining him, Belle stuck her hand into the powdery snow and compressed a section of it into a ball. Without thinking, she threw it at the Prince. Her aim was straight and it exploded across the back of his neck.
“You didn’t,” the Prince said with a smile. “You are going to regret that.”
Renaud quickly gathered a snowball of his own and tossed it at Belle. She was already running away. The snowball missed her landing on the ground beside her. She took the opportunity to create another snowball and toss it back at her pursuer. It caught him in the chest.
“I’ll get you,” the Prince warned playfully.
“How could you considering you can’t aim?” Belle teased.
Hearing that, Renaud put all of his energy into catching her. Growling as he got closer, he sounded like a bear. About on top of her, he spread his arms wide and tackled her. Protecting her as they fell onto the ground, Belle giggled as she fought to escape.
Finding herself on her back, she looked up into the Prince’s eyes. Feeling a yearning to press her lips against his, she stopped laughing. Noticing her change, the Prince stopped laughing as well. He stared down at the beautiful girl beneath him flooded with emotions. He wanted to kiss her too, but slowly pulled away and climbed to his feet.
Belle, not knowing what had changed, stood and brushed the snow off of her dress. She felt a little embarrassed. Had she thought that someone like the Prince would be interested in her? She hoped that he would but who was she? She wasn’t a Princess. All she was was a simple girl from a small village. Why would a prince be interested in anyone like her?
The two continued walking this time in awkward silence. Belle wanted him to say absolutely anything. He didn’t. Not being able to stand it anymore, she searched her mind for a topic. Seeing a rose bush directly in front of her, she thought of something.
“Do you know anything about the Beast?” She asked him.
“He wasn’t always a beast,” Prince Renaud replied. “He was once a nobleman. It was his father who turned him into a Beast.”
“How did he do that?” Belle asked glad to hear him speak.
“It was when he was a little boy. His mother had died and it was his father who raised him. Apparently, still a boy, he fell in love with a commoner. His father didn’t like that. He had an ungodly reaction to it.
“Catching them together and ripping them apart, his father sent the commoner away vowing to his son that he would turn him into a man appropriate to his station. But instead of becoming like his father, the little boy turned into the Beast.”
Belle’s heart broke listening to him. “That’s terrible. That poor creature.”
“I wouldn’t feel so sorry for him,” the Prince said callously.
“Why is that?”
“Because he is a beast,” he said as if that explained everything.
About to respond, Belle thought better of it. Noticing they had stopped walking, she looked around. They were standing directly in front of the rosebush. Staring at it seemed to spark a memory. It was something about a prison sentence and it had to do with a rose. Trying to put it together, Belle reached over to touch one of the beautiful flowers.
“Wait, don’t!” The Prince said suddenly.
Belle pulled her hand away quickly. “Why not? What’s wrong?”
Renaud quickly relaxed. “It is just that these are special roses.”
“Special? How’s that?”
The Prince shook his head trying to find the right words. “They are just special. That’s all.” He reached up and gently touched Belle’s cheek. “They’re special like you.”
Belle blushed feeling the Prince’s touch. Suddenly bashful, she tried to look away. With the back of his finger, he redirected her chin so that her eyes met his.
Belle’s heart beat faster looking at him. Her skin tingled in anticipation. Parting her lips as she breathed harder, the Prince tilted her chin up closer to his.
When their lips met it was magic. Fireworks exploded in her head. All at once she realized where she belonged and who she wanted to be. She belongs here with the Prince and she wanted to be his wife.
It was as Belle kissed him that her mind whisked away and spiraled into blackness. Suddenly feeling like everything had changed, Belle opened her eyes. The Prince was gone. Everything was gone and she was again seated in a chair at the far end of the Beast’s bed.
What had just happened? Had it been a dream or something else? She didn’t know, but she had a feeling she knew who did. That person was asleep in bed recovering from saving Belle’s life. Belle looked at the Beast hoping that he would soon wake-up.
Chapter 9
The Beast stirred, winced in pain, and then opened his eyes. Staring at him from the edge of the bed was Belle. The Beast groaned in disappointment and allowed his eyes to drift away.
“You tried to get away from me,” the Beast said in a gravelly tone.
“I rescued you,” Belle said correcting him.
“I rescued you!” the Beast emphasized. “And I wouldn’t have had to if you hadn’t tried to get away.”
“You are holding me here prisoner. What did you expect?”
The Beast groaned dismissively.
“Besides, I wasn’t running from you. I was trying to get away from this place.”
The Beast looked back at Belle hopefully. “This place?”
“Yes. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there are st
range things going on here. The dishes here clean themselves. Books fly around the room. I’m not one to quickly assume such things but I think this castle might be haunted.”
The Beast looked at Belle and laughed. His belly shaking guffaw shook him until he winced in pain.
“What’s so funny?” She asked him.
The Beast collected himself. “Yes, this castle might be haunted.
A chill rattled down Belle’s spine. “So I was right?”
The Beast smiled. “Yes, you were right.”
“And you aren’t afraid?”
“What is there to be afraid of? As you said, they were cleaning the dishes. And who do you think made that meal that you were eating? It certainly wasn’t me.”
Belle looked at him shocked. “Are you saying that there are ghosts in this castle and they do the housekeeping?”
The Beast chuckled. “I guess that I am.”
“And you are okay with this?” Belle questioned him.
“It’s not like I have much of a choice. You see what’s waiting for anyone who stepped outside the gates.”
Belle lowered her eyes thinking about her father. What had happened to him? Could the fact that he was riding horseback save him? Deciding this was something that she might never know, she turned her attention back to the Beast.
“Do you know why this castle is haunted? Who are they? The ghosts, I mean.”
“They are the people who once lived here. The castle was once run by a Prince.”
“Prince Renaud?” Belle asked hesitantly.
“Yes,” the Beast said surprised. “How do you know that?”
“I’m not sure,” Belle said sincerely. “I think I dreamt it.”
The Beast, unnerved, continued.
“Well, the Prince you speak of, Prince Renaud, was said to be beautiful on the outside. On the inside, he had a heart as black as night. People described him as a tyrant.
“One day during one of his lavish banquets in honor of himself, an old woman wandered into the ballroom. He was appalled. Ordering her to be dragged off she pleaded to have a word with him. Amused by her audacity, he agreed.
“Could you spare a bit of food for a hungry old woman, the wretched hag asked? The Prince laughed at her and struck her for her insolence. He then ordered her to be taken out to be made food for the wolves.”
Belle cringed at the story. “That’s horrible.”
“It is,” the Beast said sadly. “But that isn’t the end of the story. Apparently, the old woman wasn’t what she seemed. As the guards tried to take her away, she revealed herself. She was a powerful fairy. Exacting revenge, the fairy cursed the castle and everyone in it. Those ghosts, I believe, are what is left of the Royal court.”
Belle listened enthralled by the story. “And you? How did you come to live here?”
“As I told you, I have always lived here. It seems that the hag’s curse had no effect on me. I am how I’ve always been, a beast.”
Belle thought for a while about what the Beast had said. It all seemed unbelievable, yet she couldn’t forget what she had seen. Also, she had known the Prince’s name before the beast had said it.
Could all of it be true? If it was, was it also true that she had met the Prince? He was certainly beautiful on the outside. But did Prince Renaud have a black heart?
“About this curse, was that what was affecting my father?”
“Yes,” the Beast told her.
“Will it affect me?”
The Beast averted his eyes. “I am not sure. All I can say is that it hasn’t affected me.”
“Well, is there any way of breaking the curse?”
The Beast’s body sunk into the bed disheartened. “I am feeling very tired. Perhaps you will be kind enough to allow me to rest.”
Belle felt sympathy for the ugly creature beneath her. There were more questions that she had. Knowing that she would have time to get her answers, she let the Beast rest.
Feeling hungry, she decided to get something to eat. That meant re-entering the kitchen. It all didn’t seem as scary as it once did. If the Beast was right, then the castle wasn’t exactly haunted as much as it was occupied by helpful ghosts. At least that was what Belle was going to tell herself. She had to live there after all.
The minute Belle stepped outside the bedroom, one of the candles in the hallway lit up. Belle swung towards it and stared at it suspiciously.
“Okay, we are all going to have to have a talk,” she said to all of the ghosts listening. “We’re all going to have to live here together so we need to set up some ground rules. I know that this is your place and I’m just a guest, but it seems that I can’t leave. So how about if you make it easy on me.
“I won’t go anywhere you don’t want me to, but all of the places I have to go, you all can’t do any of that floating around stuff. What do you think? Can you all live with that?”
Belle thought about what she had said. “Okay, perhaps “live with” was a bad choice of words. Do you think that we can make that deal?”
As Belle stared, the lit candle went out leaving her in the dark.
“Umm… Actually, the part where candles light up every time I enter a room, that we can keep. That’s actually pretty convenient,” she said sheepishly.
On cue, the candle in front of Belle reignited along with all the candles that led towards the kitchen.
“Thank you,” Belle acknowledged with a smile. “I appreciate it.”
For Belle, after that, the castle seemed a lot less haunted. Entering the dining hall she found food on the table. There was no hint on how it got there and she didn’t ask. Transporting it up to the Beast’s bedroom, she first helped her patient eat and then had something to eat herself.
“Should I just leave the dishes here?” Belle said aloud when reentering the dining room with the dirty plates. “I remember what happened the last time I entered the kitchen.”
Her answer was swift and not very scary. Candles lit leading her back to the Beast’s bedroom.
“Actually, I would love to return to my own room, if that is okay with you,” Belle said to whoever was doing this.
With that, the candles leading to the Beast’s bedroom flickered out and the ones leading to her own room snapped on. Reentering her room, Belle wanted to take a nap. She felt like she hadn’t slept in ages. Wondering if she would again be visited by Prince Renaud she found it hard to go to sleep.
When she did fall asleep, though, her dreams were nothing special. There was no Prince Renaud and no thin men with gold-plated mustaches. Belle woke up rested but disappointed.
Returning to the dining hall, Belle found a hearty breakfast waiting for her on the table. Everything was on serving trays. Belle carried them one by one to the Beast’s bedroom. Eating breakfast with him, the two spoke.
Mentioning how impressed she was with the library, the Beast told her that he had read most of the books.
“But some are in foreign languages,” Belle proclaimed.
“I can read in five of them,” he said with a hint of pride.
“Really?” She asked impressed. “I have never before met someone who can speak so many languages.”
“I never said that I could speak all of them,” he clarified. “Reading and speaking are two different things. Three of them I can speak fluently. One I can probably get by. And the fifth one, well, I wouldn’t be able to give directions out of a closet.”
Belle laughed. The Beast smiled watching her jiggle. He decided that he liked her. He was right to let her father go in place of her. She would be much better company.
“So is there a book in the library that you would recommend?” Belle asked.
“What type of books do you like?”
“Well, I love a great adventure. You know, swashbuckling swordsman, knights on great adventures. On the other hand, nothing beats a great mystery. So many twists and turns. Always being forced to turn the page.”
Belle thought for a moment before her eyes flic
ked back up towards the Beast. “But I guess there is one subject that I do find better than all the rest. As silly as it sounds, perhaps you could recommend a good romance?” Belle asked sheepishly.
“A romance?”
“Yeah. You know, perhaps a story of young love between a strong-willed girl and a guy who might be a little misunderstood.”