King Robert finally met his daughter’s gaze. “Do you really think it’s possible?” he asked.
“I do, Papa. I really do.”
The king let go of Princess Marianne’s hand and walked to the press. He placed his hands on top of it and closed his eyes, fighting back emotion, as if touching it reawakened his memories of the queen and what the press had meant to her.
When he opened his eyes, he appeared changed. He was suddenly more regal, and hopeful. “Very well, then,” said the king, addressing the group. “I command you all to get back to work.”
Princess Marianne rushed to her father’s side and embraced him. Belle and the Prince exchanged a smile. It seemed as if the king, like his kingdom, had been under a spell, and at last, the spell had been broken.
The weather that day was foggy and rainy, as it usually was in the kingdom, which made it easy to collect enough water to test the new steam printing press. King Robert and Princess Marianne watched as the Magic Stone heated the water in the boiler.
The gears Maurice had added to the press began to turn, moving the paper toward a thick woodblock, which pressed the paper onto the inked plate.
“Incredible!” King Robert exclaimed.
“It can press the ink onto paper faster than a person can do it,” Maurice said. “But you still need people to cut the paper, set the type, and ink it.”
“Luckily, you have a village filled with people who will be eager for the work,” Belle said.
A few moments later, the block rose and the paper slid out. Princess Marianne joined Belle at the table, the paper facedown in front of them.
“Do you want to lift it up?” Belle asked the princess.
“Let’s do it together.”
Belle and Princess Marianne each took a corner. Together they drew back the paper, which was now dotted with black letters—letters arranged into words, sentences, paragraphs….
“We made a book!” Princess Marianne cried.
“The start of one, anyway,” Belle said. She held up the paper for the others to see. As she did, she caught a glimpse of the title. “It’s The Kingdom in the Clouds!”
“Oh, yes…,” the princess said. “I remember my mother reading that to me when I was young. She probably thought it was one the children at the school would like, too.”
“The author lives in your village!” Belle told her. “But it’s not Pierre LeFaux.” She told Princess Marianne and King Robert how Granny T had been swindled by LeFaux.
“Cecile would have been horrified!” King Robert said.
“We’ll change the type on the title page and reprint it,” Princess Marianne declared. “Then we’ll print copies of the book for everyone in the village.”
* * *
Later that day, King Robert and Princess Marianne finally ventured out from behind their gates. They traveled down the bumpy road to the village in their royal carriage, followed by Belle and her friends in “King Cogsworth’s” carriage. This time, Belle got to sit inside.
There were a few clouds, but they were friendly and looked like cotton balls.
“The first thing we’ll do once we have the funds is repair the roads,” the king grumbled as he stepped out of his carriage into the village square. He helped Princess Marianne down. She squinted against the glare for a moment but then raised her shoulders and tilted her face toward the sky.
The villagers who’d seen the carriages approaching had gathered in the square, and stared in shock at their royal leaders standing before them. Belle glanced at Princess Marianne and King Robert and realized they were as uneasy as the villagers.
Suddenly, Elise burst out of the crowd with Petra on her shoulder.
“Belle!” she cried. “You broke the princess’s spell!”
Princess Marianne blinked in surprise, then laughed. “She did.” The princess smiled at Belle. “She really did.”
Soon the princess and the king were strolling through the crowd, exchanging greetings with the villagers, answering questions, and sharing their plans to revitalize the kingdom and the village.
Monsieur LeFer offered to give the king a tour of his blacksmith shop. Maurice and the Prince went along to discuss the mass production of bookplates and type, a job the blacksmith and his two apprentices would soon be taking on.
Meanwhile, Cogsworth and Lumiere energetically offered their guidance to the villagers on how to fix up the square. Lumiere was especially intrigued by a space he thought would make a perfect sidewalk café. Cogsworth shared his idea to install a clock in the roof of the bakery.
Belle led Princess Marianne over to Granny T. “This is the woman I told you about,” she said as she introduced Granny T to the princess. “The author of The Kingdom in the Clouds.” Before they’d left the castle, they’d printed the title page and assembled the first several pages of the book. Princess Marianne now presented them to Granny T.
Granny T took the pages and gasped as she read the title page. “It’s…” Her breath caught in her throat.
The princess nodded. “The name of the true author.”
“Let me see!” Elise cried. Granny T handed her the pages. “It’s you! It’s your book!”
“It’s only the first few pages,” the princess said. “Once we have the press up and running in the village, we’ll give you the whole book. We’ll make enough for any villager who wants one—and a copy for my father and me, of course, which I hope you’ll sign.”
“I’d be honored, Your Highness!”
Belle watched as Granny T stared down at the title page again, her eyes glistening with delight. Belle had never thought before what it would be like to see your own name on the cover of a book. She tried to imagine it and felt a chill go down her arms. How amazing that would be!
“Petra and I want one, too!” Elise declared, tilting her head toward her shoulder, where the little bird was watching the goings-on with bright, unblinking eyes.
The princess gently patted Petra’s tiny head. “We’ll give you the very first copy.”
Before leaving the village, Belle told Elise and Granny T everything that had occurred at the castle. Elise was thrilled by every detail: Locked in a dungeon! Using a Magic Atlas to escape! And of course, breaking the “spell” that had kept King Robert and Princess Marianne imprisoned by grief.
“You should write this as a story!” Elise told Granny T. “Then you’ll have another book!”
“I would love to write another book, Elise,” Granny T replied. “And I will. But what Belle told us isn’t my story—it’s hers.”
She met Belle’s eyes when she said this, and there was a notable spark in her expression—a challenge.
* * *
That night, King Robert and Princess Marianne hosted a dinner for Belle, Maurice, and the Prince. The princess insisted Cogsworth and Lumiere join them. The two servants couldn’t help getting up from their seats repeatedly, however. Lumiere would rush off to the kitchen to check on the next course, while Cogsworth took aside the guards-turned-waiters to remind them food is served from the right and drinks from the left.
As Belle ate, she thought about all that had happened since the moment Chip had found the music box. It had definitely been an adventure, one as exciting and memorable as any she’d read in a book. She remembered Granny T’s challenge, and her mind wandered….
“I’d like to place the first order for your press,” the Prince told King Robert and Princess Marianne, interrupting Belle’s thoughts. “A large order. For books for the library Belle is building in our village.”
The king held up his glass. “I’d like something from you as well,” he said to the Prince.
“Anything,” the Prince answered. “I’ll do whatever you ask if it will help make up for having failed you when you needed me.”
King Robert paused a moment. “I’d li
ke for us to be a family again,” he said. “Can we?”
“Yes! Yes! Of course!” The Prince burst out of his chair, arms wide—then caught himself. “I mean…it would, um, give me the greatest pleasure to—”
“Oh, get over here, young man,” the king said. He stood and stretched out his own arms, one toward the Prince and one toward Princess Marianne.
Within seconds, the king held the two cousins in a tight embrace. Belle and Maurice clasped hands and watched the reunion with tears in their eyes.
“Comme c’est formidable!” Lumiere exclaimed, grabbing Cogsworth in a spontaneous hug.
Cogsworth hugged back before he realized what he was doing and broke free. He cleared his throat.
“Yes, yes. Wonderful indeed,” he said, subtly wiping away a tear.
“Well, I think this calls for a celebration!” the king exclaimed as he let go of the Prince and princess. “What’s for dessert?”
The others laughed. Belle smiled to herself. It was the perfect ending to a story….
“ ‘Out of nowhere came a furious black cloud,’ ” Belle read in a hushed voice. “ ‘A fierce wind swooped down and lifted the balloon from the castle roof. They found themselves rising up, up, up above the forest, into the sky. Michelle and her two friends clutched tight to the balloon’s ropes. Together, they watched as the castle grew smaller and smaller behind them….’ ”
Belle set the handwritten pages in her lap and looked nervously at her audience, seated on the large rug in the story time corner of the new library.
The village children stared up at Belle silently for a moment, and she felt a flicker of worry. If they didn’t like it…
“Why did you stop?” asked a little girl.
The other children soon joined in: “What happens next?” “Keep going!” “Keep reading!”
Belle smiled, relieved and elated. They wanted to hear more! “That’s all I’ve written so far,” she told them. “But I’m glad you like it.”
The children shouted out more questions, and their voices echoed against the mostly empty shelves lining the walls of the large room. Belle had received a shipment of adventure books from Paris and had brought down a selection of books from the castle library to lend, but these barely took up a quarter of the space. She knew Princess Marianne and King Robert would be sending more books soon, however, and she looked forward to the day when every shelf was filled.
“Special delivery!” the Prince called from the entrance at the far end of the library. The children rushed for the door, and their parents quickly followed.
Once upon a time, Belle would have been the first—and maybe only—person in the village to greet the arrival of books so eagerly. Now she was the last one to leave the library, and she didn’t mind at all.
When she stepped outside, she saw the Prince in front of several wagons stacked high with crates of books. As the children clamored around him, the Prince lifted down one of the crates and pulled off the top. “You can help take them in,” he said, filling each child’s arms with books. The adults pitched in to help.
“I’ll show you which shelves to put them on,” Belle told the villagers, but the Prince took her hand to stop her.
“I have another surprise for you,” he said. A moment later, a figure emerged from behind one of the wagons.
“Granny T!” Belle hurried over to embrace her friend. “I can’t believe you traveled all this way with the wagons!”
Granny T laughed. “Oh, no! I came a more exciting way—via a book!”
“As soon as I saw the wagons approaching, I took the Magic Atlas to Brumeuxville,” the Prince told Belle. “Since we ordered copies of her books for all of your story time listeners, I thought you might like to have the author here to sign them.”
“Thank you!” Belle hugged the Prince and then led Granny T into the library toward the story time corner, where the children were arguing over the arrangement of the new books. “This is the author of my favorite book,” she told the children.
“The Kingdom in the Clouds!” they yelled, clapping wildly.
“And she’s brought a copy for each of you.” The children swarmed Granny T, hugging her waist and shouting out their thanks.
Later, after Granny T had signed each child’s book, Belle gave her a tour of the library. The Prince joined the children, sitting with them on the story time rug. He smiled as they showed him their favorite passages and illustrations. Ever since his reunion with his family, joy seemed to radiate from him. Belle now knew for sure that the Beast was gone.
“The Prince told me you’ve been working hard on your book,” Granny T told Belle.
Belle blushed. “I’m trying.”
“I’d love to read it when you’re finished.”
“I’m worried about that part,” Belle said. “Finishing it, I mean. I thought I knew how to end it, but now I’m not so sure. Fairy tales always wrap up so neatly. But real life…it just keeps going.”
“Remember, a book is only one story,” Granny T said. She tapped the spine of a book on the shelf next to her. “At the start, the heroine wants to achieve something. Once you’ve answered the question of whether she achieves it—that’s the end. There might be new goals after that, but new goals mean new stories.” She ran her fingers over the neighboring books.
Belle felt a scary sort of excitement as Granny T did this, dreaming of the day when a book she wrote might be sitting in this very library. She pictured it being borrowed by a girl just like her, who would sit alone on the edge of a village fountain somewhere, imagining herself in another world as she read Belle’s words.
Belle lifted her gaze, taking in the entire library. She glanced from the now-filled stacks, to the Prince seated with her eager story time listeners, to the children’s parents and other adults, murmuring as they discussed the new books. Her mind wandered from there to King Robert and Princess Marianne, who were working together with their villagers to carry out the late Queen Cecile’s dream.
Belle turned to Granny T. “I think I’ve answered the question.”
Granny T took Belle’s hand and they exchanged a smile, author to author. “Well, then—you’ve come to the end.”
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