by A. Anders
Chapter 11
Belle did not get much sleep that night. Lost in the memory of her dream, she kept thinking about how real everything felt. It was as if the Prince had truly touched her. She could feel his manhood enter her. She couldn’t even have imagined a man’s tongue bringing her so much pleasure. And even if she could have, she would never have imagined it going down there. But, on the other hand, how could any of what had happened be real?
That wasn’t the only thing she thought about that night, though. Prince Renaud had turned out not to be the man she thought he was. What type of person would say such things about anyone? And what did it say about her that she was so quickly willing to love him?
But, then again, maybe the Prince knew more about the Beast then she did. She had only known the Beast for a few weeks. And wasn’t the Beast technically her captor? Wasn’t she a prisoner within the castle? Wasn’t that at least in part because of the Beast?
By morning, Belle was determined to find out more about the creature who had taken her as his prisoner. She needed to know which of the two men were right. Was the Beast as awful as the Prince had said? Or did the Prince have a black heart?
Joining the Beast for breakfast, Belle watched him closely. Perhaps it was too closely.
“What?” the Beast asked in his rumbling deep voice.
Belle caught herself staring and tried to play it off. “What?”
“You were staring at me.”
“No I wasn’t,” she said offering a blanket denial.
“Yes, you were. You were staring at me.”
“Was I?” She said fighting to come up with an excuse. “It’s just that you have something,” she made a gesture indicating the side of his face.
“Where? Here?” the Beast asked rubbing his chin actually putting a smudge on his fur in the process.
“Oh! No. Umm…” She gestured again. The Beast wiped again, making the smudge worse.
“How about now?”
Bella winced. “Umm, yeah, you got it,” she said embarrassed.
“So, what will you be doing today, Belle?” the Beast asked as he usually did.
“You know. The usual. How about you?” She asked with added curiosity this morning.
“You know. The usual,” he said intentionally repeating her.
“Oh, okay,” she said not picking up on the impression. “Good,” she said turning her full attention to her breakfast.
Quickly finishing her food, Belle wished the Beast a good day and then scurried out. She had no intentions of doing the usual, though. This morning she had a plan. Unlike the last time when she only followed him for the morning, this time she was going to follow him all day. She was going to find out every detail of his activities. If there was something awful that she didn’t know about him, she was going to discover it.
Hiding in an adjacent hallway, Belle waited for the Beast to emerge. He exited lumbering. With his chin held high and his nobleman’s jacket over his shoulders, he strode through the room. Watching his every move, she waited for him to enter another hallway before going after him.
With every turn, Belle was a few steps behind. The Beast’s first trip was back to his room. Hiding at the end of the hallway she waited for him to come out. About twenty minutes later he exited. And then following him down the stairs and around the castle, she decided to break off her pursuit when the Beast headed outside and she knew there wouldn’t be anywhere for her to hide.
Running upstairs to the second level instead, Belle rushed to a window. Peering outside she searched for the Beast. Although it was dark, it didn’t take her long to find him. He was walking slowly across the grounds looking down as he did.
As the Beast circled the castle, Belle did the same from within. She was beginning to believe that she was wasting her time following him when suddenly the Beast stopped. He was staring intently at something by his feet.
Curious, Belle perked up. Getting as close to the window as she could, she tried to make out what the Beast was looking at. She couldn’t tell. The Beast looked up and around. Staring back at the castle, Belle hid behind the wall. Staying there for only a moment, she slowly peeked through the glass when she thought the beast had looked away.
With the Beast again staring at his feet, he reached down into the snow and picked up something. With whatever it was in his hand, the Beast made a quick pace back towards the castle. This intrigued Belle. What did he find? Did it have to do with why the Prince hated him so much? Belle had to find out.
Running back towards the stairs, she had a plan to do just that. Descending the stairs as fast as she could, she rushed through the hallways timing it perfectly. She needed to cross paths with him as if it had been a coincidence.
Entering the entrance hall Belle realized that she had done it. The main door was cracking open and it was happening with her just a few steps away.
“Belle?” the Beast said quickly hiding his hands behind his back.
“Oh, Beast. Where are you coming from?” Belle asked casually.
“I was just outside.” The Beast looked at Belle strangely. “Why are you out of breath?”
Belle caught herself. She was out of breath. It had been from all the running. “Oh, you know. I thought I saw a rat and I got so startled that I screamed and ran.”
“You saw a rat and ran?” the Beast asked confused. “Have you never seen a rat before?”
“Oh, did I give you the impression that I ran away? No. I was running at it trying to shoo it off. It’s gone now, though. There is no need for you to worry,” Belle said trying desperately to play it off.
The Beast continued to stare at her confuse. “Okay. Good. Thank you,” he replied not knowing what else to say.
“You’re welcome,” Belle said enthusiastically. “So, where are you off to?”
“Nowhere in particular,” he told her.
“Nowhere in particular? Nowhere at all?”
“No,” he said not giving an inch.
The two stared at each other awkwardly. With nothing else to say, the Beast broke the silence. “Well, I wouldn’t want to keep you. I know that you have a lot of usual things to do.”
“Yes, you’re right. Lots of usual things to do. I must get to it,” she said continuing her path towards an open hallway.
She could feel the Beast stare at her as she walked. He didn’t make a move until she was gone. Belle knew that because as soon as she was out of view, she tucked herself in the corner and listened for the Beast. He headed in the opposite direction. When she was sure the coast was clear, she again followed him.
Remaining inconspicuously behind him, Belle followed the Beast to the far wing of the castle where she had never been. When he entered a tower’s spiraling staircase, she remembered her prison cell. Was there someone up there he was keeping captive? Her heart raced considering the possibilities.
Following a few steps behind, Belle heard the Beast exit the stairs onto a platform. She slowed down not knowing what she would find. Was there something sick and twisted up there waiting for her? Did he have another prisoner? She didn’t know. And considering that there was no escaping the Beast and this castle even if she wanted to, she started to wonder if she wanted to know what he was hiding.
Unable to escape her curiosity, Belle pushed on. Her heart was beating out of her chest. She was having a hard time stifling her breath. With only one turn left, she knew that she would have to force herself to make the final step. With her body starting to tremble, she did it. Sticking her head around the bend, she was shocked by what she saw.
“What?” Belle blurted.
The Beast, who was sitting at a table at the far end of the room, looked back. “Belle?” He said disturbed. “What are you doing here? Did you follow me?”
Belle didn’t know what to say. At a loss for words, she told him the truth. “I did,” she admitted nervously. “I saw you pick something up outside. You hid it when you saw me. I wanted to know what it was. What are you hiding fro
m me?”
The Beast’s face went from surprised to angry and then ended in resignation. “Here, you can see,” he said shifting his body to reveal more of the table.
Belle looked at it from a distance and then slowly stepped forward. In front of the Beast was a lifeless bird.
“I don’t understand. Is it dead?” She asked confused.
“I am hoping that it isn’t,” the Beast said turning his attention back to it.
Belle approached the table getting a better look at the creature dwarfed between the Beast’s large hands. It was a spring bird that was probably unprepared for the sudden frigid cold of the Dark Forest. Confused, the bird had probably fallen from the sky and was freezing to death in the snow.
“What are you doing?” Belle asked him kindly.
“I am using my hands to warm it. There are times throughout the year when smaller birds like this fall out of the sky. When I find them, I do for them what I can. Sometimes I can help them. Sometimes it is too late.”
“What about this one?”
“Time will tell.”
Belle looked up at the Beast’s concerned face. His empathy melted her heart. How could she have suspected him of something nefarious? He was kind and gentle. It was he who was correct about the Prince. The Beast was the one worthy of love, not the man who talked about killing him.
“Here, let me,” Belle said cupping her hands on top of the bird. The sides of her hands touched the Beast’s. His skin was rough and she could feel the line at which his fur began. It felt unusual but not as strange as she thought it would.
With Belle’s hands on top of the small bird, the animal twitched.
“Did you feel that?” Belle asked excitedly.
“Yes.”
“Does that mean it’s alive?”
“For now, it does.”
“So, what do you do now?”
“I sit here.”
“For how long?” Belle asked surprised.
“For as long as it takes,” the Beast said with the gentle nobility of a beloved King.
Belle stood with her hands touching the Beast’s for what felt like a long time. A lot of thoughts went through her mind as she did. Certainly, she could never truly love someone like the Beast, but she could certainly feel affection for him. He was rough on the outside but his soul was the most beautiful that she had ever seen.
When the bird wasn’t just flinching but again moving freely, the Beast instructed Belle to remove her hands. The Beast did the same.
“Now what?” Belle asked sheepishly.
“Now we offer it a little something to eat and a place to stay.”
“Will you release it afterward?”
“Not just yet. The Dark Forest is wide. In all of my tries, I have yet to escape it. I worry that the same is true for the birds that find their way in. I do what I can to get them to full strength. If they choose to fly away after that, I wish them well.”
“And if they don’t choose to leave?”
Belle wasn’t sure but it looked like the Beast had offered her the hint of a smile. Without a word, the Beast got up gathering the little bird in his hand. Carrying it further down the hall, Belle heard an array of chirps. It was coming from a cell like the one she and her father had occupied. The bars on this one, though, were covered with a thick blanket.
“Would you like to come in?” the Beast asked reaching for the door.
“Yes please,” Belle replied gratefully.
When the Beast opened the door, the birds’ chirping increased dramatically. There had to be fifteen or twenty birds within the space and three of them quickly darted for the Beast perching on his shoulders.
“I have a new friend for you all,” he told them before lowering the recovering bird onto a handmade nest.
The Beast turned back towards Belle. “Would you like to hold one?” He asked her.
“I would love to,” she said excitedly.
“Then, hold out your finger like this,” he said demonstrating.
She did as he instructed. Immediately a bright red bird flew over and perched on her finger.
“Oh my goodness,” Belle exclaimed delightedly. “It’s sitting on my finger.”
Belle looked over at the Beast and this time there was no mistaking it. He was smiling.
Approaching Belle, the Beast took something out of his pocket. Holding it up to the bird, the bird began to eat. Picking at it, it eventually took it from the Beast. The breadcrumb was almost as large as the bird’s head.
“There is no need to be greedy, Benjamin. You know that there is lots to go around,” he told the red bird.
“Benjamin? Is that what you’ve named it?” Belle asked him.
“Yes,” he said entertained by the bird who both wanted to eat the breadcrumb and remain on Belle’s finger.
“Did you name all of them?”
The Beast looked up at Belle. “Just the ones that have been with me for a while.”
“And how many is that?”
“Perhaps ten.”
“Taking care of these birds, is this what you do all day?” Belle asked beginning to see her captor in a new light.
“Not all day, of course. I do spend some time walking the grounds as you must’ve seen. And sometimes I do some reading. But these birds do occupy a good amount of my time. They are my friends in an often lonely world.”
Belle’s heart broke listening to the Beast. She knew what being lonely felt like. She wondered if either of them needed to feel lonely again.
Chapter 12
Captain Bernard slowly rode his horse down the path that once led him towards the city. He had considered not returning to Belle’s hamlet. Even the thought of her brought him pain.
They had shared something so wonderful and intimate together. But as quickly as their intimate encounter arose, Belle’s feelings seemed to wither. What was most painful of all was why things had changed. Belle had acted like she could love him forever until he had shared with her his greatest secret, that he had once loved another man.
Belle’s rejection was devastating for Captain Bernard. He couldn’t escape from it fast enough. Still holding out hope that he could ingratiate himself to Belle by finding her father, he had left for the city. But unable to find him in a week or even two, the Captain fell into a despondent state and couldn’t get himself to return.
It was only after the Captain thought about Belle’s well-being that he was able to summon the courage to again face the woman he loved. Certainly her father had to have returned from wherever he had gone by now. But if he hadn’t, it was about this time that the Captain imagined that she would be running out of food. Even if she couldn’t love him the way that he loved her, Captain Bernard wanted to make sure that she was safe and happy.
Slowly riding into town, the Captain kept his eyes peeled for Belle. Not seeing her, he stabled his horse and headed to her home. Walking the cobblestone streets, the village girls waved at him. The Captain smiled and nodded back. He considered how easy it would be to find himself a wife if that was all he wanted. The problem was that his heart wasn’t easily swayed and Belle had been the only one able to move him in years. Belle, it seemed, was the Captain’s curse.
Ascending the stairs in front of Belle’s home, the Captain straightened his jacket, lifted his chin and knocked confidently on the door. After a moment passed without a response, he knocked again.
“Belle?” He said listening for any sound within.
When the house remained silent, Captain Bernard turned around and scanned the village again. Perhaps she was out fishing or doing errands. As much as the Captain wanted to see her, he knew that he didn’t have to. The only thing he needed to know was that she was safe. There had to be someone around town who could tell him that.
Deciding that the tavern would be the first logical stop, the Captain headed there. It was approaching evening so it should have been starting to fill up.
“Captain Bernard?” A sturdy, round man yelled fr
om the side of the room. The Captain turned and nodded at him.
As he made his way through the room, a number of the men patted him on the back and smiled. He knew that none of their reactions were because they liked or cared about him. Bernard was the Captain of the guard. In their eyes, he was a man of great power. Everyone wanted to be associated with a powerful man. Everyone, that is, except the one person who knew more about him than anyone else, Belle.