The Secret Diary of Belle (Grimmoire Series)

Entry Sixty Two

I remember, when I was a very young girl, spending many an afternoon picking flowers from the garden and bringing them in to mother to place in the vase next to her sick bed. It was the only source of beauty in an otherwise interminably sad set of circumstances.

In my time, I must have picked, held, cut and arranged thousands upon thousands of flowers. So I felt rather confident going into my next test.

It was simple: Geroux would throw long stemmed flowers and I would have to catch them without crushing them.

It was not as simple as I had hoped.

In fact, it was so unsuccessful I could have opened a potpourri store and had a lifetime supply.

"A flower is as delicate and fragile as a human life," Geroux began. "The lycanthropic strength that runs through your body could crush a person as easily as those flowers. You must treat each flower as if it were a human life."

What Geroux did not realise was how much flowers had represented human life and as well as the passing of that life, to me.

And with Geroux's speech and my own history coming to the fore, I caught every, single flower. Delicate, beautiful, human.

If only he had opened with that speech, we could have saved many hours and many flowers.

* * *

It was later that day when Geroux informed me that training would end early and to dress up and be ready for tonight, as he had a well earned surprise for me.

In my room, the ornaments all helped me prepare. They knew what the surprise was, but were sworn to secrecy by Geroux.

Now that I could see the magical layer of the world, getting dressed was quite an interesting affair. I saw the door to my bedroom open, with a red dress floating into my room and then draping itself on the mannequin.

Hair clips and brooches crawled along the dresser - they didn't speak or have faces like my ornament friends, yet they had a certain innate kindness and gentleness to them.

I expected we were simply going to have a nice dinner together, but had I known the scope of Geroux's intentions, I would have worn more perfume.

* * *

When I emerged from my room, the house was filled with outside breeze. The cool air blew through the halls with an unusual force - Geroux must have opened nearly all the windows in the house.

I would usually have followed the scent of Geroux like a trail of bread crumbs, but the wind had put a pin in those plans. Thankfully, Geroux had told me the time and place. I thought I had seen all the home had to offer, but tonight's "surprise" was to be held on the outer terrace - a location I didn't know existed until today.

Down a hall, round the corner, down another hall, into a sitting room and out another door hidden behind a thick, brocade curtain, lead to the terrace and oh my word, it was breathtaking.

Atop a royal, gilded table, sat a candle lit dinner with the main course being roast boar (my wolf nose also discerned that it was a male boar). The table was filled with fruit platters, a petit four tier and our drinks were served in ornate goblets.

A crystal chandelier was suspended above the table with porcelain sconces on every pillar. Off to one side, a golden harp played itself.

The candles all stayed lit, despite the wind.

Geroux welcomed me with a warm embrace. After commenting on how beautiful the terrace was, I enquired as to the whereabouts of the ornaments. He said they were giving us some alone time.

We immediately sat down to eat as we were both ravenous from the day's activities. The boar went down a treat. The tartlets, too. The drinks refilled themselves. Heaven. I had noticed during dinner that Geroux was making eyes at me. I thought I must have been eating strangely and paid no mind to it.

We exchanged polite and pleasurable conversation, it was splendid.

After dinner, Geroux invited me to join him by the balustrade. As I approached the edge of the terrace the dense shrubbery really came into view. No wonder I never saw this terrace when I took turns around the garden, it was virtually hidden from ground level.

Geroux handed me a glass of champagne and kept one for himself.

"Belle," he said, looking into my eyes, "you have been through so much. The attack, your transformation, having the beast within take over and murder your sister and ex-fiancé. Then you made the decision to reconnect with your humanity and have spent every waking moment regaining control over yourself. The progress you have made in such a short time surpassed even my greatest expectations. That does not surprise me, one bit, because I am constantly finding new ways to be in awe of you."

"To you, my love," he finished, before offering to cheers our glasses together. I thanked him before I took a sip of my champagne, Geroux drank his in one mouthful. He placed his empty glass on the bannister and turned back to me. The next words out of his mouth nearly had me choking on my drink.

"I would like to kiss you, now."

___________

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