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 strange 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 flicked 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.”
“Well, I don’t read many of the romances, but I will give it some thought and see what I come up with,” the Beast told her. “Is that what you did before your bad luck brought you here? Read books all day?”
“I would hardly refer to it as all day. I cooked and cleaned for my father as he made clocks that he would sell. When I had free time I might go fishing where I would take a book. But I think what I enjoyed doing the most was invent things.”
The Beast’s eyes popped open with surprise. “Are you saying that you are an inventor?”
Belle smiled and shrugged humbly. “I have invented a thing or two that has made my life easier.”
“Like what?” the Beast asked intrigued.
“Well, there is a fishing box that helps me catch fish. It’s way better than just a fishing line and you don’t have to pay attention while you’re doing it. On top of that, I invented a faster way of cleaning clothes. And I’ve been working on a new way of baking bread. I haven’t gotten that one completely figured out yet but I’m close.”
The Beast looked at Belle delighted. “There is something that I would love to show you.”
“To show me? What’s that?”
The Beast shifted to the edge of the bed. “Help me up.”
“Oh no. You can show me later. For now, you have to rest.”
“No, don’t be silly. I’ve gone through much worse than that. I’m fine. Just help me up,” he insisted.
Unsure if she should, Belle did what he had asked. She helped him up and on his feet, he looked strong.
“Not too quickly, okay?” Belle requested.
The Beast looked at Belle appreciatively. “For you, I will take my time.”
The Beast led Belle down the stairs and through the castle into the basement. There they entered a workspace. It was filled with gears and screws, everything that Belle could ever dream of. To the inventor in her, this was a dream come true.
“This was where the castle’s craftsman worked. If you want it, it’s yours.”
“I do,” Belle said excitedly.
“And maybe you can show me a few of your inventions.”
“I will.”
“Good,” the Beast said pleased.
Over the next few days, the Beast regained his strength. As he did, he and Belle fell into a routine. Every day they ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner together, but between meals, they would go off doing their own thing. Belle would often toil away in her craftsman’s space. The Beast would disappear into the castle.
There was a day when Belle followed him wanting to know what he did all day. It turned out that the Beast spent the morning staring longingly through a window. Watching him broke her heart. She remembered Prince Renaud’s story about the Beast’s lost love. His longing drew her to him. His pain made her want to know him more.
“What do you dream about?” Belle asked the next day over breakfast.
“What do I dream about? Why would you ask that?”
“I don’t know. I guess it’s because when I first got here, I had some pretty crazy dreams.”
“And what were they?”
“I think I dreamed of the people who lived here before us. There was a thin man with a gold-plated mustache and someone else who called himself Prince Renaud.”
The Beast looked at Belle suspiciously. “Prince Renaud? The man with the black heart?”
“That’s just it. He didn’t seem like you described. He seemed quite kindhearted and innocent.”
The Beast huffed.
“You don’t believe me?” Belle asked
“They were just dreams. If you had met the man, I’m sure your impression of him would be different.”
“You said that you have always lived here. Did you meet him? Did you know him?” Belle asked fascinated.
“I knew him and he was exactly how people said.”
Not having dreamed about the Prince since they had kissed, Belle wondered if she had missed something in their exchange. Setting her thoughts aside, she returned to the topic at hand.
“I asked you that because, in my dream, the Prince told me something about you.”
The Beast chuckled doubtfully. “Did he? What was that?”
“He said that as a boy you fell in love with a commoner and that your father prevented you two from being together. He said it was your father who turned you into the Beast. Is that true?”
He looked at Belle surprised. “It is true.”
“Is that what you think about when you’re staring at the forest?”
The Beast didn’t reply. The pain he felt could not be missed.
“Do you think you can tell me about her?”
The Beast looked at Belle stone-faced. “It is not something I am ready to talk to you about.”
“Oh, okay,” Belle said wilting.
The Beast’s heart melted looking at her. She was the kindest girl that he had ever met. “Are you busy with some project today?” the Beast asked vulnerably.
“Nothing important. Why do you ask?”
“There is something that I would like to show you.”
After breakfast, the Beast led Belle outside. The day wasn’t as dark as it usually was. There was more of a glow in the air.
“Are you cold?” the Beast asked as Belle hugged her body.
“No, I’m fine,” she said not wanting the Beast to change his mind about sharing with her.
“Here, take my coat,” he said removing his jacket from his wide shoulders and placing it on the much smaller Belle.
“Thank you,” she said gratefully.
Belle pulled the large, thick coat around her. It smelled like the Beast. The scent might have turned others off. It made Belle feel relaxed and cared for.
The two stopped walking when they approached a rosebush. Belle looked on surprised recognizing it from her dreams. It was where Prince Renaud had taken her. It was where they had kissed. Belle’s heart thumped wondering what was going on.
“Is this what you wanted to show me?” Belle asked, her heart racing.
“Yes.”
“It’s beautiful. There are so many roses. I’ve never seen so many blooming roses on one bush before.”
“This was the rosebush that your father picked a rose from before I imprisoned him.”
Ripped from her warm feeling, Belle looked at the Beast shocked. “This is the rosebush?”
“Yes,” he said unwaveringly.
“What makes these so special that picking one could result in imprisonment?” Belle asked becoming angry.
“There was one other thing I didn’t tell you about what happened the night that the royal court was cursed.”
“What was that?”
“On the night that the fairy left, this bush suddenly grew. On it was what seemed like an endless number of buds. Now there are only five buds left. None of the roses have ever fallen. They all remained perfect and full. I believe that when the last bud opens, something will happen. I’m not sure what, but I can’t imagine that it’s good.”
Belle looked at the rosebush and then at the Beast. Was there something special about the bush? Was this why the Beast had given her father such a harsh sentence? It was beginning to make sense.
“Beast, I once asked you about breaking the curse. You never replied. Is there a way to break the curse?”
The Beast shifted uncomfortably. “On that night, the fairy said there was one thing that would break the curse.”
“And what’s that?” Belle asked breathlessly.
“Love,” the Beast admitted pained. “Love.”