“Hello?” A voice said to her as she lay with her eyes closed.
Belle opened her eyes not sure where she was. Staring at the man standing in front of her, she no longer cared. She recognized him although she’d only seen him briefly. It was the breathtakingly handsome man who had sat at the far end of the banquet table.
“May I ask what you’re doing here?” The man asked in a soothing voice.
Belle thought for a moment trying to figure out what he was talking about. Where was she? Looking around, she remembered. She was in the Beast’s bedroom. She was there because something had happened to the Beast. For the life of her, she couldn’t remember what, but she did remember that it was significant.
“I’m here because I am taking care of a friend,” she said thinking it sounded right.
“A friend?” The good looking man asked.
Belle heard the words spoken back to her and there was something about it that didn’t seem right. It gnawed at her a little but in the end, Belle ignored the gnawing. “Yes.”
The man looked at her amused. “Well, you certainly have interesting choices for friends.”
Belle wasn’t sure if she liked the good looking man’s attitude. He was seeming a little judgmental.
“And who are you?” Belle asked.
“I’m sorry, I am Prince Renaud. You happen to be staying in my castle.”
Belle, surprised, popped to her feet. “Prince?”
The Prince smiled. “That is what they call me.”
“Your Highness,” Belle said bowing to him.
“Oh, come on. There is no need for that. We are alone. You can save all that for my father.”
“The King is here?” Belle asked nervously.
The Prince paused suddenly realizing that he was unsure of the answer. “No, I don’t think he is.” The Prince paused again confused. “Why isn’t he here?” He asked himself. “Well, I’m sure he’s off somewhere.
“Enough about him, though,” the Prince continued. “Tell me about you. How did you come to be taking care of… your friend?”
Belle searched her mind. “I can’t really say.”
The Prince smiled. “Are you really going to make me order you to tell me?”
Belle looked at the good looking man embarrassed. “No, I would tell you if I knew. I honestly can’t remember.”
“I’m kidding. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“That’s just it. I want to. I just can’t.”
“Well, whenever I forget something I just reassure myself that if it was important, I’ll remember it. You should try that.”
“I will, Prince Renaud.”
“Please, just call me Renaud.”
Belle felt her body tingle with the Prince’s suggestion. She blushed. “Very well, Renaud.”
As she did, she looked into Renaud’s eyes. They seemed to sparkle. His lips, his cheekbones, his strong chin, he had to be the best-looking man Belle had ever seen. How was it that he was also so nice?
“Now that we have that whole name thing taken care of, how would you like a tour of my castle?”
“I would like that very much,” she admitted.
“We might have to be a little careful, though.”
Belle paused. “Are there more monsters?”
The Prince smiled. “You can say that. There are certain members of my staff who don’t believe that I should be getting to know you.”
“I think I met one of them.” Belle thought for a moment. “I think his name was Mr. Kandel.”
“You are very much right. Mr. Kandel is a good man. He simply has no idea how a young prince should be spending his time and with whom,” he said with a smile.
The Prince’s smile made Belle feel warm in an area where she had only felt warmth twice before. She couldn’t remember when. When she tired, what came to mind instead were wolves. Why would she think of that? She wondered.
“Follow me,” the Prince said before leading Belle out.
As Belle entered the hallway, it didn’t resemble the one she had entered while helping her friend. It was brightly lit by a series of candles. Descending the nearby stairs, she thought about how welcoming everything seemed. She could hear people scurrying around on the main floor. And when she got there, she saw a myriad of people busying themselves with their daily tasks.
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.