When Belle opened her eyes again, she was back in the castle. Standing in the middle of the library, she looked around. There were four people around the room removing books, dusting them, and then putting them back. As a young woman looked over her shoulder, she spotted Belle. With a gasp, she exited the room.
“Excuse me,” Belle called after her.
The young woman didn’t stop. Belle was about to approach one of the other three when the young woman returned with someone familiar.
“Mr. Kandel?” Belle said acknowledging the thin man with the gold-plated mustache.
“Belle?” The uptight looking man looked even more uptight. “You’re not supposed to be here. What are you doing here? Oh no, none of this is right.”
“I’m here to see the Prince,” Belle told him.
“But you can’t see the Prince.”
“Why not?”
Mr. Kandel looked knowingly at each of the servants gathering around them. “You wouldn’t understand. I’m afraid that there is a curse on this castle and we don’t have much time to break it.”
Belle became excited. “Yes. That’s why I came.”
“That’s why you came? What does that mean?”
“I chose to come here. I am a part of the curse now,” Belle told him. “I’m just like all of you.”
One of the servants gasped.
“No, this isn’t right at all. Are you saying that you aren’t asleep in the castle?” Mr. Kandel asked.
“No. I’m afraid I’m not. The old woman who cursed the castle cursed me as well. But I have information for the Prince about how to break the curse. I must see him. I know about the rosebush and I know that we don’t have much time.”
Mr. Kandel stepped into action. “Gather everyone immediately,” he told the young servant who had retrieved him. “And you, fetch the Prince,” he told another. Mr. Kandel turned back to Belle. “So you know about the Beast having to fall in love?”
“I do,” Belle replied.
“I was hoping that the Beast would fall in love with you. I have to admit that I never suspected it would be the Captain. I’m sorry. If I would’ve known, I wouldn’t have pushed so hard to get you and the Beast together.”
Belle looked at him surprised. “Are you saying that you are the reason that I fell in love with the Beast?”
Mr. Kandel smiled proudly. “Well, not entirely. I’m not that good. But I did my best. I have to be honest, I don’t know why it didn’t work.”
“I do. First of all, the Beast wasn’t in love with me. He had always loved Captain Bernard, even when they were kids.”
“Yes, that was a surprise.”
“Second,” Belle continued, “the old woman who cursed the castle tricked you.”
“She tricked us?” Mr. Kandel asked.
“I’ll tell you all about it, but not before the Prince arrives,” she assured him.
Mr. Kandel led Belle through the many hallways into the music room. As they stood there, two dozen people entered.
“This is Mrs. Stich, the castle seamstress,” Mr. Kandel told Belle.
Belle looked at her delighted. “Were you the one who made all of those beautiful dresses?”
The thin woman smiled. “You flatter me, my lady.”
“Not at all. The yellow dress was my favorite. It was so beautiful.”
Mrs. Stich giggled. “It was my favorite too. But it was such a pleasure to once again make a dress for a beautiful girl like you.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Stich.”
Mr. Kandel then gestured towards a short round woman. “And this is Mrs. Potts, the cook.”
Belle moved to her and took her hand. “I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the meals you made.”
“It was a pleasure, dear. The Beast was always so bland in his tastes. Being able to cook for you allowed me to mix things up. It made me feel alive again.”
“Well, you’re cooking made my stay wonderful, Mrs. Potts,” Belle told her.
It was then that Belle heard feet shuffling on the wooden floor. She looked up and saw him. It was Prince Renaud. He was every bit as good looking as she remembered. She felt her pulse quicken just looking at him.
“Is she here?” The Prince said scanning the room excitedly for Belle.
When he saw her, he froze. Their eyes met and both felt a lump in their throat. The Prince looked at her with such longing that it almost brought tears to Belle’s eyes. It took everything in her to remember why she was there. Pulling herself together, she began to address everyone.
“I’m sure that everyone here remembers me,” she said with building confidence. “As I understand it, you all played some part in me falling in love with the Beast. Well, congratulations, you succeeded. I fell entirely for the Beast but as you all know, it wasn’t enough to break the curse.
“Now you see that the Beast is with Captain Bernard.” Belle looked at the Prince as she said that. The Prince averted his gaze feeling ashamed.
“I know you all are now hoping that the love that the Beast and the Captain have for each other will break the curse. It won’t. It’s not that their love isn’t true. It’s that the old woman who cursed you didn’t tell you the complete truth.
“You see, the curse was dependent on love, but it isn’t the love that you think. The curse will end when Prince Renaud loves the Beast.”
There were murmurs through the crowd as they began to understand what Belle meant.
Mr. Kandel was the first to respond. “Belle, I don’t think you understand what’s going on. The Prince is the Beast. The Beast is Prince. They are the same person split into two.”
Belle turned to the thin man. “I understand exactly. The curse was always dependent on how the Prince felt about the Beast. It was simply the old woman’s wickedness that made you think that it wasn’t.”
Mr. Kandel looked around confused. “But if it was always about that, why does the curse continue?”
Belle softened her voice and looked at Prince Renaud. “It’s because of the way that the Prince feels about the part of himself which is the Beast.”
“And how is that?” Mr. Kandel asked leading everyone as they turned to look at the Prince.
With all eyes turned on him, Prince Renaud lifted his chin, locked his hands behind his back, turned and walked out. Everyone looked at each other in wonder.
Mr. Kandel was about to follow the Prince when Belle touched his arm stopping him.
“Please, allow me.”
The thin man twitched his gold-plated mustache and allowed Belle to leave.
Belle ran into the hallway catching up with the Prince. Walking side-by-side with him, the two continued as they cut through the castle.
Prince Renaud was the one to break the silence. “Belle, you look well.”
“As do you, Prince.”
The two fell silent once again until they were at the main entrance of the castle. Passing through the door they both emerged outside. Unlike Belle remembered, outside of the castle was bright. The sun wasn’t up but there was definitely enough light to get a good look at the grounds.
Belle continued to follow the Prince as he walked.
“I have to admit,” the Prince began, “when you chose him over me I was disappointed, and even a little upset.”
“I only chose him because of the things you said about the Beast. I don’t understand. Why do you hate him so much?”
The Prince lifted his chin and thought about the question. “When I was a little boy, my mother meant everything to me. To me, the sun rose and set for her. She could do no wrong in my mind and I knew that she loved me unconditionally.
“When she fell sick, I didn’t know what to do. I felt so helpless and alone. The day that I was told that she was gone was the worst day of my life. I was inconsolable. I would often run and hide not wanting to see anyone or have to face that my mother was truly gone.
“It was once when I was hiding in the stables that I saw a boy about my age. He was wandering around the stables as well. Even at my young age, there was something about him that drew me to him. I watched him as he went through his chores. When he was done, he placed a saddle on a horse and rode off.
“You have to understand that he and I looked the same age and yet my mother would never have let me simply saddle a horse much less ride it unattended. I admired that boy wanting to know who he was. So thinking he would be there the next day, I returned.
“It was the second time that I saw him that I spoke to him. Talking to him I felt an unusual excitement. Even at that age, I knew that I was feeling something different. Something not normal. I couldn’t stop visiting him, though. I couldn’t be around him enough.
“Years later when my young body started turning into that of a man, I felt my feelings for Bernard change even more. I was falling in love with him. I knew that boys weren’t supposed to fall in love with other boys, but I couldn’t help it. He had become my world. We saw each other every day and I told him all of my secrets as he told me all of his.
“The first time I kissed Bernard it was like I was waking up for the first time. It was magic. Thinking we were being so secretive, we made arrangements to meet at a certain spot in the woods. Someone must have overheard us because when we arrived, we didn’t know it but we weren’t alone.
“We were both so innocent. We kissed each other tightly pressing our lips together. I undressed his strong muscular body and he undressed mine. That was the first time I had ever seen him naked. It aroused me more than I could’ve explained. We were both young so we didn’t know what two boys did to show their love, so we just pressed our young naked bodies against each other. It was wonderful.
“It was then that someone stepped out from behind the trees. Out of everyone in the world, it was my father, the King. I was humiliated. My father was a busy man. The idea that he would take time out of his schedule to come here and see this was mortifying. He didn’t even take the time to have dinner with me. Him seeing me like that tore at my soul.
“He flew into a rage seeing his son naked and grinding upon another boy. He lunged at me and struck. The force of his blow knocked me to the ground. He then went after Bernard striking him repeatedly.
“Well, that was the boy I loved. What was a boy in love supposed to do? I threw myself at the King. Here I was this skinny, naked boy trying to fight this monster of a man. It was ridiculous. I couldn’t stop him. He beat Bernard until the boy I loved fell limp. I think my father thought he had finished him.
“He then ordered me to get dressed and to leave the only friend I had dead in the woods. I complied. I had to. He was my King and my father.
“Life with my father became much more difficult after that. He told me that he was going to turn me into a man. He tried to beat whatever feelings I had for Bernard out of me. He took every opportunity he had to humiliate me. With every day that passed, I learned to hate the part of me that had loved Bernard until eventually there was barely a part of me capable of love.
“When that old woman set the curse on the castle, it was almost a blessing. All of the stuff that I had hated about myself was taken out of me and made into the Beast. I no longer had uncomfortable thoughts about the men in my court. The only people I found attractive were the women.
“I mean, I understand how bad the curse is for everyone else in the castle,” the Prince said concluding. “But if breaking it means that the Beast will again become a part of me, then I’m not sure I want it broken,” the Prince said assuredly.
Belle, who had been listening dumbfounded, realized that they had stopped walking. Taking a moment to look around she recognized where they were. The Prince had taken her to the rosebush with the eternally blooming flowers. She remembered what the old woman had said about this plant. In it contained the humanity of everyone from the castle.
“The old woman told me that everything that is human is being sucked out of you and placed in these flowers. Is that why the Beast was so angry when my father picked one?”
“It is. But it isn’t just my humanity that are in these roses. It is that of everyone who was cursed by the hag that night. When your father picked it, he made it certain that a part of our humanity would never return to us even if the curse was broken. There is nothing upon which I agree with the Beast, but in his anger over what your father did, I understand.”
Belle looked at the beautiful roses again. “Do you suppose that that is where my humanity also resides?”
“You said that the old woman has cursed you too?” The Prince clarified.
“It is the only way that she would have allowed me to come here to speak to you.”
“Then I suspect that your humanity resides in the roses as well.”
Belle examined the rosebush looking for signs of hope. There was only one bud left and it had already begun to open. If she was ever going to break the curse, she would have to act fast.
“Tell me something,” Belle began. “Have you seen Captain Bernard since he replaced me in the castle?”
The Prince looked at Belle with conflicted sadness. “I haven’t. I was there the day that your father came to get you. I watched it all. But as soon as I realized who it was, I averted my eyes and walked away.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I don’t know. I guess that I’m afraid that I might feel something for him again, that I might not be any better than the Beast.”
“Tell me,” Belle began gently. “Would you be willing to meet him?”
“Meet him? How?” Prince Renaud asked disturbed.
“It doesn’t matter. I am just asking if you would be willing to meet him as a request from me.”
Belle touched the Prince’s forearm and looked vulnerably into his eyes. The Prince felt his resistance waiver. He grabbed her hands encasing them within his own.
“Belle, I have never felt for anyone the way I do for you. I would prefer to spend an eternity in here with you than a lifetime out there without you. So, I must ask you, if I were to fulfill your request and meet Bernard, and then, let’s say that I discover that I still have some type of feelings for him, do you think your feelings towards me would change? Could you love me if I was part Beast?”
Belle understood what the Prince was asking. He was right to ask. After all, what was so wrong with Captain Bernard? Hadn’t she been in love with him until she found out he had once loved another man? Would the same fate befall her feelings towards Prince Renaud and the Beast?
“To be honest, Prince, I don’t know how I would feel. You’re right. I do have feelings for you. But I also still have feelings for the Beast. In spite of the fact that he sent me away to be with Captain Bernard, I am still in love with him. Perhaps that hints to how I would feel.
“Of course, the relationship I have with you is different than the one I have with the Beast. With the Beast I feel a deep, caring love. With you, I am the one who feels like a beast.”
Hearing that, the Prince slipped his hand behind her neck, tilted her head back and kissed her. The sensation of his soft lips on hers sent a spray of tingles racing around her body. Touching every part of her, they eventually settled between her legs.
She wanted desperately wanted to make love with the Prince again. She couldn’t, though. At least, not now. They weren’t the only two affected by this curse. Belle had a duty to everyone in the castle. Hell, she even had a duty to the Beast.
Belle lowered her chin pulling her lips away from Renaud’s. “Will you meet with Bernard, please?” She asked as if surfacing from a haze.
“Will you be there with me?” He asked starting to waiver.
“I promise that I will be there and I will not leave your side.”