Reddest Rose

Chapter Ten

She had to find the rose.

Belle knew that it was the cornerstone of the curse, and with how Beast had been since their lovely night of dancing, she wanted to free him from it that much more. He'd been kind and gentle, and was spending days with her in the gardens. He was allowing her further and further from the castle, always accompanying her in the shadows of the thick, full trees; and when she became gravely ill one night after a meal of eels and roast beef, an illness that persisted for several days and forced her onto a diet of weak tea and crackers, he slept on the floor at the foot of her bed. He tended to her more tenderly than her own father.

So when he continued to ask for her hand, she was having a very difficult time saying no.

Adam was elusive and his visits sporadic. They spent their nights together, and while she enjoyed the intimacy she was having a much harder time actually feeling anything for him. He didn't seem to mind. While they kept each other warm, he always inquired after the Beast. He encouraged her to spend time with him. So it was with a heavy, pounding heart that she put thoughts of him aside and crept through the East Wing. Now she was on a mission, and had a plan in mind. Shivering in the darkness without a candle and without any light for guidance, she felt her way along the hallway and finally found her way into the room Beast had chased her from. The air was still. It was empty now and she made certain of it before making a beeline for the rose.

There seemed to be fewer pedals now, as if it were dying. The ones lying on the table were dry and dark. Her stomach knotted painfully as she lifted the glass dome and set it aside, then glanced around once more Beast before reaching out a hand and plucking the rose from midair. It was warm in her hand, and she cradled it in her palm before slowly and gently beginning to close her fingers around it. If she destroyed it, he would be free! This was what held the curse! Belle closed her eyes and felt the bulb begin to give way when -

"No!" Beast roared from behind her, grabbing her wrist so hard she was certain she felt the bones fracture. "What are you doing? Belle, what are you doing?" She dropped the rose into his waiting paw and cradled her wounded arm. Her wrist felt like it was on fire, but it was the look on his face that struck her. She had never seen pain etched so deeply into anyone's features, and to see his eyes - of all eyes - fill with tears as he cradled the flower to his chest, she didn't understand what to do.

"I was trying to help," She whispered.

"Just go."

"Beast, please forgive me, I didn't -"

"Get out! I never should have brought you back!"

He didn't have to tell her twice. She fled from the East Wing back to her room, where she threw books and food and anything she could think of into the chest. She changed out of the beautiful gown she was wearing and into the blue one she'd arrived in, patched moth holes and all, then sat on the bed and took stock of what could possibly get her home safe. It would be impossible to ride Phillipe home, and here he was much better cared for. The mirror she would take, as well as the ring that had guided her, but...her time with the castle was finished. The sound of Beast's anger finally reached her and sent a shiver down her spine.

It was then that she really saw the size of the chest. If she bent her arms just right, she could certainly close the lid over her head. So that was precisely what she did, clutching the priceless mirror to her chest as she thought of her father and her home.

So it was, when Beast broke through the door fifteen minutes later with Lumiere and Cogsworth begging at his heels, he found a cold hearth and an empty room.

"Belle, tell us again how you got away!" Pauline begged as Belle nursed their father. For more than a week she had been struggling to break his terrible fever. He cried out for her even as she ran cool water over his face, and on the few occasions he opened his eyes and saw her he merely turned his head and wept.