When the Wolfbane Blooms

Chapter 5 - A Proposal

"How are the rest of the hunting party doing?" Adam asked. "I haven't seen Monsieur LeGume in days." It wasn't an unwelcome one, but his absence had been worrying.

Tom scoffed. "LeGume's embarrassed. Not ten minutes into the woods and he started feeling sick. We left him with Avenant. He did fuck all while the rest of us were getting chased down by that thing."

"Is Avenant okay?" Adam asked before biting his tongue. He hated that the idea of Gaston being some sort of werewolf was even on his mind.

"Sure, kid's alright. He says the beast got close to him, but he shot at it and it ran off. He was a little shaken, but so were the rest of us."

"Ah! That's good."

Tom gave him an odd look. "Well, I don't want to keep you from your friends over there. I just wanted to pass gratitude along to Madame Potts."

"Yes, thank you," Adam said hurriedly, gathering the glasses. "Have a lovely evening." Tom grunted in response and went back to his drink.

Adam paused as he stood up, turning back to the hunter. He only had vague memories of the attack, but he did recall one thing.

"I must pass my thanks along to the man who shot the wolf and scared it away from me," he said to Tom.

"Aye. That was me."

Adam swallowed. He hadn't been expecting it to be this man in particular.

"Thank you very much, Monsieur. You saved my life."

"It's my job," Tom said noncommittally. "But you're welcome." Adam got the sense that the conversation was over after that. Tom didn't seem like he'd be a very talkative man on his best day, and this was certainly not his best day.

Lumiere raised an eyebrow at Adam when he got back to the table, but didn't say anything. Adam subtly shook his head at Lumiere. Lumiere shrugged.

Adam didn't know what to make of Gaston's behaviour. He thought he was a werewolf, and then he goes and shuts himself off for a week because he's embarrassed. Was he embarrassed because he was actually ill, or was he embarrassed because his temporary lunacy had proved to be wrong?

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The cool late summer turned to a chilly early autumn almost overnight. The leaves fell from the trees and cast the entire village in a golden and red glow. The seamstress, Madame de Garderobe, immediately saw a large uptick in customers seeking warm clothing and accessories.

Autumn was Belle's favourite time of year. It was cool enough to be able to work outdoors without getting too sweaty, and the nature looked beautiful as it prepared to freeze over for the winter.

The approaching winter meant that Plumette and Lumiere were in a rush to plan their wedding. The couple couldn't wait until spring, so everything had to come together in a short time before it got too cold. Since Belle was Plumette's best friend, that meant she got to help with every step of the planning. It was an easy job for Belle since the only thing that was really required of her was helping prevent Plumette from becoming too stressed.

Most of the preparations were simple. There was only one church and one florist in town. There were multiple bakers, but Cogsworth was everyone's favourite. Plumette already had one of her mother's old dresses picked out and all it needed were a few alterations. With Plumette and Lumiere taking care of most of everything, all Belle needed to be was a supportive friend.

Belle was with Plumette in town when she felt the first cold breeze of the season. She shivered slightly and then noticed that Plumette had a slight frown on her face.