"Where is Maurie and Fabienne?" Amelie asks as she walks around the table placing a knife, fork, and spoon next to each of our plates.
"Late, as per usual," Miss Potts snaps as she slowly walks around the table and resets the cutlery because Amelie didn't do it up to her standards.
"Do you think they'll join us tonight?" Charles asks.
"Probably not," I say.
Shifting in my seat I think back on the last three days. Maurie and Fabienne have had streaks in the past where they ignore all of us but that's mostly because they're too lost in a bubble of their love to notice us. But this... this is different. Yes, they are whispering to each other in dark passageways but they quickly stop when they notice any of us... especially me. I know they're hiding something. Something big or else they wouldn't be going through so much trouble to keep their conversations private.
As soon as the table is set to her standards, Miss Potts rushes to the kitchen and wheels out the trays of food. The warm aromas waft through the air, and we all smile as she dishes out some of her famous beef ragu and what Maurie likes to call 'the grey stuff'. I don't trust it, but he claims it's delicious.
We follow our usual routine by saying a silent prayer and then start eating. Charles and Miss Potts engage in a quiet and polite conversation, and Amelie hums one of her old songs while she mindlessly plays with her food; meanwhile, I try to wrack my brain as to what Maurie and Fabienne are hiding from us. I'm so focused that I don't register that the room has fallen silent and all eyes are trained on the doorway behind me.
"Starting dinner without me, now that's just rude," Belle says sarcastically.
Using the reflection on the back of my spoon I watch as she crosses her arms over her chest and slowly walks to her seat at the other end of the table. Her hips sway back and forth as she does so and she sends a deliberate wink in my direction. I roll my eyes and continue eating my food without sparing her another thought, or at least I try to.
Belle has never been one to be quiet when it comes to her anger. If she's angry she wants anyone and anything to know she's angry. For example, right now as I try to eat my dinner and ignore her she purposefully makes sure each of her movements is loud and causes a disruption: when she sits she drags her chair, as she dishes up her portion of food she scrapes the spoon against the bottom of the dish, and when she starts eating she makes loud and dramatic sounds of enjoyment. For quite some time none of us say a word knowing better than to push her anger further. It's a challenging task, especially for Miss Potts who looks like she will explode.
"There appears to be two residents missing. Do tell, where are those little love birds?" she asks.
Miss Potts turns to her, "We're not sure, but you know how those two are they just can't keep their hands to themselves."
Belle laughs and she lifts her glass of wine to her lips. "And the Lord knows how you tried to convince them to do that. Keep their hands to themselves I mean."
"I simply tried to teach them good etiquette."
"No, what you were trying to teach them was to grow up and be old and lonely hags like yourself," Belle snaps.
Just as Miss Potts is about to snap back at her, Charles leans forward and inserts himself into the conversation by saying, "Is there a reason you have decided to join us tonight, because if I recall correctly you too have been missing from dinners these past few evenings."
All attention shifts back toward Belle and we watch as she tries to come up with an answer. After taking a few more sips of wine she says, "I was simply trying to come up with the best way to apologize for my most recent... transgression. And, to quote your words Miss Potts 'there is no right way to say you're sorry. All you can do is tell your truth and hope for the best.'" She looks up at me, "My dear, words cannot express how deeply I regret what I did to you the other night. It was wrong, but I was just so angry at how you treated me in front of everyone—"
"Oh, so this whole thing was my fault. You're blaming me for your attack!" I yell.
"Oh course not, I would never suggest such as thing and I can't believe you would think that about me." She stops for a moment and wipes away a few tears that are pooling in the corners of her eyes. "I am sorry for what happened and I promise you it will never happen again. Can... can you ever forgive me?"
Silence reigns supreme and the room awaits my answer. Looking between Belle, who is crying, and the rest of the group, who are either rolling their eyes or shaking their heads, my mind becomes frazzled as to what I should do next. I can forgive her and put this whole situation to rest, or I don't forgive her and... well honestly I don't know what. I look down at my plate and carefully weigh my options. Suddenly, a small voice rings in my ear, don't give her the satisfaction.
Looking back up at Belle I shake my head and say, "I can't forgive you, not yet anyway."
I can see the wave of shock flow through her it's evident all over her face. "You can't be serious."
"I am serious, Belle. You used your magic against me and years ago you promised me that you would never do that again."
"That is not true."
"Yes, it is."
"No, it's not. We never had any sort of discussion like that. Why are you lying right now?"
I scoff and shake my head. "I'm not lying, you always accuse me of telling false things when you're the liar here."
"I am not a liar and I honestly cannot believe you would say something like that to someone you claim to love. I want you to apologize to me right now!"
"For what?" I ask with a small chuckle.
"For making up false things about me. You know how I feel about people spreading lies about me and you have emotionally hurt me by doing so. I want an apology."
"You're insane, woman, honestly insane," Miss Potts laughs.
Belle looks flabbergasted at the unexpected intervention and she looks back and forth between myself and Miss Potts. She does this for a minute or so before she says to me, "Are you really going to let her speak to me that way?"
"How do you expect her to speak to you?" I ask.
"With a lot more respect than that. Would you let her talk to you like that?"
"If I deserved it then yes I would," I say with a firm nod.
She scoffs. "You know a true king would never let his subjects talk down to him like that." She stays silent for a second or two before saying words that I honestly thought she would never say, "I know your father certainly wouldn't have. Maybe if you were more like him things would be better."
Her words are like razors cutting into my soul shredding it into smaller pieces that bleed and cry out in pain. The sound of cutlery hitting the floor echoes through the room quickly followed by Charles, Miss Potts, and Amelie all voicing their disgust at her comment.
"How could you!" Amelie screams.
"How dare you," Charles growls.
"That was an utterly disgusting thing to say and you should be ashamed of yourself." Even in anger, Miss Potts remains the definition of etiquette.
I curl my paws into fists, clenching them so hard that my claws pierce the scarred skin. I stand up towering over the chair like... well... like a monster. Glaring at her with stone-cold eyes I say, "How dare you try and suggest that I should be like that... that... beast! I am not my father nor do I ever wish to be! He was the true monster that reigned in this castle!" A small sob breaks through me as images of him surge through my brain. How dare she try and tell me to be more like the man who spent every minute of his existence thinking only of himself and damning others. Once I regain my control I turn toward Miss Potts, "Thank you so much for the dinner it was lovely." I turn back to Belle, "Before I go I want you to know that any chance of me forgiving you for what you have done has just gone out the window completely."
With my hands still rolled into tight balls and my jaw set in anger I turn on my heels and rush out the room into the dimly-lit passageway.
As I walk along the darkening passageway toward my room I hear the hushed voices of Maurie and Fabienne. Their whispers are furious, filled with purpose, and just like they have been for the past few days they stop as soon as they both notice me peering in from around the corner. As I walk into the room they turn away from each other and look at me with the fakest smiles I've ever seen.
"Hello," Fabienne greets me sweetly.
"If you're here to tell us about dinner we were just on our way to join all of you," Maurie says.
At the mere mention of dinner, I growl. "If you want to join that hell hole, you're more than welcome. I'm not going back."
They look at one another with concern and curiosity.
"What happened?" Fabienne asks.
"Belle joined us at dinner and tried to 'apologize'. You can imagine how that turned out." They nod. "She also..." I sigh and dip my head so that I'm looking at the floor.
"She also what? What did she do?" Maurie asks.
I look up at him, anger set in my eyes. "Miss Potts spoke against her. Belle tried to get me to tell Miss Potts that she shouldn't speak to her like that. When I said no she asked me if I would let Miss Potts speak to me like that. I was honest about it and said yes I would if it was something I deserved. She... she went on to say that a king would never let anyone speak to him like that and that my father certainly wouldn't, and that I... that I should be more like him."
They both gasp, and Fabienne covers her mouth with her hand. Maurie shakes his head and his hands curl into tight fists.
"How dare she," Maurie hisses.
My whole life, okay maybe most of my life, Maurie has been like a true father to me. He knew my relationship with my father was rocky, to say the least, and he knew that my father could be a monster. A monster who not only harmed his child but also allowed another to do so. So I know that hearing that someone said to me that I should be like my father hurt him.
"It doesn't matter any more, she just wants to get under my skin. Which she clearly succeeded with," I say the last part with a chuckle but it's disingenuous and comes out more sad than amused.
Fabienne walks over to me and places her hands on the sides of my arms.
"That's not your fault. You didn't know what kind of level she would stoop to."
I nod and decide to continue on my walk. But, as I reach the door I hear Fabienne whisper, "We should tell him what you saw. He needs to hear good news now more than ever."
I stop dead in my tracks and turn back to them. "What did you see?" I ask Maurie.
"Nothing," he quickly responds while giving Fabienne the side eye.
I cross my arms over my chest. "It doesn't look like nothing. What has been going on with the two of you? You've been acting so strange lately. "He opens his mouth to try and speak again, but I know what he is going to say so before he can even utter a word I snap at him, "Don't try and tell me it's nothing."
Maurie closes his mouth, and they quietly look at one another silently speaking, trying to decide if I should be allowed into their little secret. It makes me wonder what they could be hiding.
Eventually, Maurie sighs and gestures for me to follow him and Fabienne. We walk down the passageway and up some stairs. They take me up to the room where the rose is kept. Just before I can ask them why they brought me here I see something that I will never forget.
One of the petals has fallen.
I stand in the doorway with my paw over my mouth and tears of joy welling up in my eyes. Fabienne and Maurie stand off to the side and silently watch as my feet eventually allow me to move. Little by little I walk toward the table and as soon as I reach it one of my paws removes the case from over the rose and picks up the petal.
I turn to face the quiet duo. "How?" That was the only word that could come out. There are many more I wish to say but this was all that made it through.
"We're not entirely sure how, but..." Maurie says but his voice trails off.
"But what?" I ask as I put the dying petal back where I found it and recover the rose with its casing.
Maurie remains silent for a while, and I can see how hard he is thinking about what he's going to say next, but before he can try and speak Fabienne starts to speak up, "We think-"
"We don't think anything. We don't know why the petals are falling," Maurie harshly interrupts her.
"Petals?"
"It looks like another one is starting," she says while she nods toward the case.
I bend over and look at the flower. She's right, another petal is starting to break away from the rest of it. A warm smile breaks out on my face and the tears that were welling up were starting to run down my face. "I can't believe this is finally happening," I sob.
Fabienne rushes over to me and places her hand on my back like a mother comforting her child. Looking down at her and through my slightly blind eyes I can just make out the smile on her face and her tears that were also falling.
We stand in silence and cry with joy. My tears come to a stop when my brain finally registers their theory of Valerie being the reason my curse is starting to break. I wipe them away and look over at Maurie.
"You don't know the reason why?"
Maurie shrugs. "No, I've tried wracking my brain but I can't think of anything. We will figure it out one day but for now, we can rest assured knowing that we will be free soon."
We will be free soon. Powerful words but whether or not they were true, well, only time will tell.
"I guess we'll have to see. In the meantime let me know if any more petals fall and. I might regret this later... but Belle cannot know that we know about this. With the way she has been acting lately, there is no telling how she'll react to this." I look at Maurie, "Does she know about this?"
He nods. "I don't think she knows that I know. She tried to hide it from me and she looked like she was trying to do some sort of spell. I don't know what kind of spell though I didn't hear any of the words."
She knew all this time. She knew the curse was breaking and she didn't want to tell me. As angry as I want to be the voice inside my head betrays me and tries to tell me that maybe the spell she was doing the one that Maurie knows nothing about was to help more petals fall. Maybe she wants to be free just like the rest of us. I can only hope.
"Okay, let's just keep this between the three of us. We can't tell the others... especially Amelie."
They chuckle.
"Don't worry, we know that if you want to keep a secret you don't tell Amelie."
With a smile on my face and joy in my heart, I look back down at the rose's fallen friend hoping... no praying that many more will join it soon.