When the Wolfbane Blooms

Chapter 6 - Equinox

Lumiere and Plumette were married on what would turn out to be the last warm day of the year. The day after the ceremony would see a very early snowfall, and the sun wouldn't appear again until the spring of 1892.

It was the perfect autumn day for a wedding. The trees still held on to the last bit of their leaves before the freeze, wrapping the village in golden yellows and warm browns. The fallen leaves were softly dancing with the wind.

Plumette looked so beautiful in her dress and with flowers in her hair that Lumiere looked as if he would faint.

After the ceremony, all of the guests left the church to go to a nearby park for an outdoor lunch. The food was prepared lovingly by Madame Potts and Cogsworth.

"Belle!" Plumette called, coming up from behind Belle and joyfully wrapping her arms around her in a hug.

"Congratulations, Madame Joubert!" Belle responded, spinning around to greet her.

Plumette was glowing with happiness. "I have to thank you for all your support these past several weeks. I know I would've been such a mess without you!"

"I'm happy to have been helpful," Belle grinned. She couldn't be happier for her friend. Plumette and Lumiere had been casting longing glances and exchanging flirtatious comments for years. She hoped that now that they could actually be together that they would stop being so embarrassingly smitten in public.

"I was thinking of borrowing this English tradition. The bride will throw the bouquet behind her and whichever woman catches it is supposed to be the next to marry." Plumette winked. "Maybe you will catch it."

"I think our own French traditions will be enough," Belle said, scrunching her nose. She was annoyed that she could feel her face warming at the suggestion.

Plumette laughed and nudged her arm. "I know you, Belle. There's not a single other man in this village you would look at twice. Why not go for it?"

"I think I can handle my own love life, Plumette," she sighed, but couldn't suppress a smile.

On the other side of the park stood Adam, alone. He watched everyone mill around and chatter with one another. Most of the people there were relatives of the couple or close friends, and they all knew each other well. Adam couldn't help but feel out of place.

"Adam!" a voice called.

Adam turned to see Chapeau, Lumiere's friend. Chapeau was a lot like Lumiere; extremely friendly and perhaps overly familiar. As jarring as it could be to have a man he hardly knew call him by his first name as if they were old friends, he couldn't say that he hated it.

"Hello, Monsieur..." Adam trailed off, realising that he somehow had no idea what the man's surname even was. He had only ever introduced himself as Chapeau.

"Oh, please," Chapeau laughed. "None of that. It's just Chapeau to everyone."

Adam nodded. He felt strange about it, but he wouldn't want to disrespect the man's wishes. Besides, Chapeau would likely avoid giving Adam his last name just to force him to refer to him by his preferred one anyway. "Very well."

Chapeau gave him a crooked grin. "I saw you staring at Belle the whole ceremony," he said in a teasing voice.

"What?" His voice came out at a strange and high pitch. Adam cleared his throat. "I don't think so. I may have glanced in her direction a few times, but-."

Chapeau cut him off with another laugh. "Come on, Monsieur, it was so obvious."

"Well, what were you doing watching me when there was a wedding ceremony happening?" Adam said half indignantly, half laughter.