Half and Half

Chapter Twenty Five

"I'd hope so."

"Great," Hades said and showed Beast the letter. "Is this truly from Belle?"

Beast gently took the letter and examined every word, every loop, every bit of punctuation. There was no denying it—this letter came from his wife.

He wasn't even upset that neither he nor Ben were mentioned. Beast knew that this wasn't personal correspondence but professional, and here was no one who could separate the two better than his wife.

"It's from Belle," Beast said as he handed the letter back to Hades. "I'd bet my life on it."

Beast couldn't help but smile as Hades pulled Persephone into his arms for a hug. They had obviously been waiting for this news and the fact that Beast was able to assist in a way, even a small way, left him feeling rather warm inside.

"Congratulations, by the way," Beast said and both Hades and Persephone looked over at him. "I tried not to see the full contents but—."

"Beastie, we asked you to look at the letter to see if it was truly from Belle. We're not going to get upset that you saw something when you looked at the letter we asked you to look at," Hades said, shaking his head. "I mean, who do we look like? Queen of Hearts?"

"We do ask though that you keep the news to yourself until we have the chance to tell Mal," Persephone added.

"Of course," Beast nodded. "Secret's safe with me."

"Thank you," Persephone said. Beast nodded once more before turning to make his way out of the door. It wouldn't do to turn up late—true, he had been technically in a conversation with his boss but there was no reason to make the other workers hate him more than they already did.

Beast knew, though, that they had every reason to. Now that he had been forced to live the way they had all these years. These had been his subjects, and yet he'd abandoned them. Even worse was there was nothing he could do to apologize since how do you apologize for ruining endless lives?

Knowing Belle, though, she'll already have gotten the process started to improve the Isle, Beast thought with a small smile as he thought about his wife. I've seen the beginnings of the construction of the new hospital, at the very least they've been clearing the ground for it. And there's also been plans made for a library.

That had been something Belle had told him herself, during one of their talks. However it wasn't as much of a priority as the hospital was. The hospital could save lives, and as much as Beast knew Belle loved her books, she was also smart enough to know what needed to be prioritized.

"Well, well, well," a familiar voice rang in his ears and pulled Beast out of his thoughts. "You don't have Hades to protect you anymore, Beast."

"Gaston," Beast said, his voice cool as he looked over at the raven haired man. "What do I owe the displeasure?"

"You act like you're so much better than us, strolling the Isle as if you own it," Gaston sneered and Beast noticed a little blond boy peering out from behind Gaston's legs.

This must be Gil, Beast thought. Poor lad, having Gaston for a father.

"I think Ben and Mal are over at the docks if you want to join them," Beast said to Gil, trying his hardest to ignore Gaston's rambles. Plus it might be better if the young boy didn't see what Beast was about to do to his father.

"Don't talk to my son, Beast," Gaston sneered as Gil scurried away.

"Oh trust me, you're going to be thankful I said something to him," Beast said, his voice dangerously low.