"How's it looking doctor?" I jokingly ask Adrien who is examining my healed leg.
He holds up a finger signalling for me to stay quiet all while his attention remains on my leg. I look down as his hands turn my leg from left to right checking every bit of the old wound. The whole thing is covered with a big scab, some pieces haven't reached that stage yet but at least walking has become easier, and I can now put more of my weight on the foot.
But, it has been strange not being able to go back to the castle. It was only last night as I was laying in bed looking out my window that I realized how special that place had become for me. Months ago I found it to be a terrifying place occupied by a ferocious beast and other inhabitants that I thought were there against their will. Now... now it's like a home to me and its residents are my family... most of them anyway.
After a while, he removes his hands from my exposed leg and looks down at me.
"And?" I ask getting tired of this stretched silence.
He smiles and nods. "It looks good. It's getting better and lucky for everyone, mostly you, it didn't get infected."
"Hoorah for me!" I cheer. I pull my dress down so that my legs are covered again and I get up off the bed. I'm about to walk toward my door because I know that there are a lot of chores waiting for me, for both of us, but when I see that he isn't moving I decide not to go.
Still sitting on my bed, he nervously rubs the back of his neck and looks up at me with concern shining in his eyes.
Sighing, I fold my arms so that my hands are resting on my hips. "You're worried about me aren't you?"
"No I'm not," he quickly responds.
I shake my head and smile. "You and I both know I was going to get better at some point and I would have to start going back."
This drives him off my bed and soon he's standing right in front of my face. "You can't steal that book again."
"Why not I've been doing it for months?"
He shakes his head. "You don't understand Valerie. You haven't seen Gaston these last few days. He sits in front of that bookshelf all day and night starting at that book. It's almost as if he's obsessed with it."
"He's never been like that before," I mumble with a face flushed with confusion.
Adrien nervously bites his lip and tugs at a few strands of his unruly hair. "He has been this way before. When my grandfather was still alive someone broke into Gaston's house and took some things. When my grandpa and I went to help him fix some of the damage all Gaston would do was sit by the bookshelf and look at the book with the purple cover. I remember he was so worried that the person took it but when he saw it was still there he decided not to let it leave his sight. He even snapped at my grandfather when he tried to get Gaston away from the shelf."
I look up at him with wide eyes and my mouth agape. "And you only tell me about this now!" I yell.
"Keep your voice down," he hisses.
"Don't tell me what to do you could have told me that Gaston has some creepy addiction to this book before you allowed me to keep taking it!"
His jaw sets in anger. "I would have but then again I thought you were a good thief and wouldn't almost get caught. Besides, it's not like you would have listened to me even if I did tell you!"
"That's not true."
"Really? Well then answer me this, now that you know about his obsession are you still going to go and take that book?"
Without a second thought, I say, "Yes!" A harsh realization is pulled in front of me, he is right I would continue to steal the book no matter what it might cost me.
He shakes his head and brings his hands in the air in a motion that almost mimics strangling something. "You are so frustrating you know that right? How can you keep doing this for some random people in the woods? Dammit, Val, what if Gaston attacks you?"
"Then I'll deal with it because those random people in the woods have become like family to me! He has become family to me!"
"Who is he, Val? And why the hell is he so important to you that you'll risk your life to help him?"
"He..." Suddenly, I hear the distinct sound of footsteps storming up the stairs. I quietly watch as my door flies open and a very angry Pierre storms in. With hard eyes and a furrowed brow, he looks back and forth between Adrien and me.
"What is going on in here?" he asks, his eyes narrowing toward the very little space between Adrien and me.
Adrien takes a deep breath and steps back a few paces. "It's nothing, Dad. We're just having a minor disagreement."
"Well, your minor disagreement is disturbing our customers and me. So knock it off and come downstairs to start your chores." He turns to me, "Both of you."
"Yes, Dad," Adrien quietly mumbles. Without looking at me again he follows his dad down the stairs toward the backroom for his day of punishment.
Looking out my window toward the distant forest that hides a breaking castle I hear Adrien's words play out in my head over and over and over again.
Who is he, Val? And why the hell is he so important to you that you'll risk your life to help him? What is Beast to me? What has he become?
"I don't know. I don't know what he is any more. Because the other day I saw something in him that wasn't there before," I whisper to my empty room before heading off to start my chores and make my new plan to steal the book.
Adrien wasn't wrong when he told me that Gaston has an obsession with the book. He hasn't moved from his seat in front of the bookshelf. Not once in the past hour that I've been watching his home from the shadows of an alleyway as he moved to get himself some food, or water, or even go to the bathroom. From here I can see he is muttering something and each time he does this his finger is out, tracing the spine of the purple book.
At least he doesn't have any traps set out this time. I hope.
Rubbing my cold palms together I try to decide what I'm going to do to get the book away from him, all without exposing myself or getting hurt. Easy.
Just as I'm about to take a step forward I hear a rustle behind me. I spin around and squint, trying my hardest to see what, or who made the sound I heard. Another rustle echoes from the end of the alleyway, and deep within the darkness I can just make out the figure of a man. Resting my hand on my hip where I keep a knife I silently watch as he starts to shuffle toward me with an obvious limp. Just because he has a limp doesn't mean he isn't dangerous Valerie. Never trust a stranger, especially in the dark. The wise words from my father are what make me keep my hand hovering above the knife.
"What do you want?" I ask the man as he continues to shuffle closer and closer to me.
"You figure out what you're going to yet?" he asks.
An intense sigh of relief trails out of me when I hear Adrien's voice; however, my relief is quickly replaced by concern when he finally steps into the dim light created by a nearby torch. His face and the exposed skin on his arms are covered in massive bruises ranging from light to dark blue and cuts, some of which are still surrounded by dried bubbles of blood.
I cover my mouth with my hand and tears well up in my eyes. "What happened to you?"
"It's nothing, just a scuff up with my father. I'll be fine." He tries to wink but the bruise around his eye prevents him from doing so.
Anger bubbles within me and I want to run back to the inn and give Pierre a piece of my mind. Sofia and I did briefly hear the shouting this morning while we were in the kitchen preparing lunch but neither of us thought that it was worse than that. At least I didn't.
I step closer to him and start examining the wounds. "Is this... is this because of the argument we had this morning?" A large part of me wants him to say no, but I know that my wish won't be granted this time around.
He shakes his head but his eyes say yes. He doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't have to say it, but I know that's what he means.
"I'm stuck. I don't know how I'm going to get the book away from him and I... I need help," I say doing my best to change the subject.
He smiles at me about as wide as the cut on his lip will allow and without saying a word he walks over to Gaston's door and knocks on it. He doesn't move. Adrien turns to look at me, and I shake my head.
"Uncle, help me please!" he calls out as he knocks again.
The desperation in his voice triggers a response from Gaston, and I watch in amazement as the old man slowly walks over to the door. A few seconds later it is pulled open and Gaston quickly starts attending to the injured Adrien.
Using the darkness around me I sneak over to the window and hop right in, only after making double sure that there wasn't a trap. I listen to Gaston run water in the kitchen and talk with Adrien while I quickly grab the book and hurry back out the window and toward the stables.
I smile when I see Maurie and Fabienne standing by the door of the castle. As soon as Dante comes to a halt, I jump off of him and run toward them. Fabienne is the first person to reach me and she wraps her strong arms around me and gives me the warmest hug I've probably ever gotten.
"You have no idea how good it is to see you, juene," she says.
"If it's anything close to how much I've missed you then I understand."
She pulls away from me, and I'm quickly pulled close to Maurie.
"How have you been? How's the leg?" he asks like an attentive father worried about his daughter.
"Good as new," I say as I pat my leg. I hurry back to Dante and grab the book out of the satchel attached to his saddle. "Brought you a gift."
He held his hand over his heart and smiled as he took the book. "Much appreciated." With the book in hand, he hurries into the castle and off to his study with Fabienne and I trailing close behind him.
"So how have things been?" I ask as we reach the study which seems to have been locked up since I was gone.
I watch as both of their faces start to show concern and anger. Maurie's brows furrow, and Fabienne's lips purse.
"What happened?" I ask.
Maurie leads us into the study and quickly closes the door behind us. He turns to me with a grim look on his face. "Belle attacked Beast after you left the last time."
A wave of coldness rushes through me and I know for a fact my skin must be as white as a ghost. "What?"
"She was angry about how he defended you and she lashed out. Used some sort of spell against him. He was rolling in pain all night," Fabienne says with some tears in her eyes.
Lowering myself into the nearest chair I shake my head. "How could she do that to him? I thought she loved him."
Fabienne shakes his head and sits down beside me. "People do crazy things when they're in love."
"No, people do crazy things because they're crazy," Maurie says as he rushes around the room with his head buried in the purple book.
Fabienne turns to him smiling, "I recall you doing a lot of crazy things to get my attention are you saying you did all of that because you were crazy."
He looks up at us silently for a minute or so before he finally says, "Okay maybe you do have a point about love making you crazy. But being crazy also makes you crazy and that girl is just crazy."
"Who's crazy because if you're talking about me my mom said I'm the way I am because I'm special," Amelie says as she hurries into the room swiftly followed by Miss Potts and Charles.
"Don't worry, darling, we're not talking about you."
She smiles and then runs over to me also that she can hug me.
"Hello, Amelie," I say as I wrap my arms tightly around her.
"It's so good to see you awake and not collapsed on a bed," she giggles.
Smiling, I nod and then move on to greet Miss Potts and Charles. It's a simple greeting composed of a swift hello and a slight tilt of the head.
"So who were you talking about if it wasn't me?" Amelie asks as we all find a place to sit down.
"Belle most likely," Miss Potts answers before either of us can.
"You know, Potsy, for someone who finds gossip to be putrid you don't seem to be displeased that we were doing it," Fabienne says while smirking.
Miss Potts scoffs and shakes her head but I can make out a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
"So you heard what she did to him?" Charles asks me.
I nod, and they all look to the floor with sadness and anger in their eyes. "He has gotten better, right?" I ask.
Maurie turns away from his book and looks at me, "Yes, and apparently, he's not on good speaking terms with her."
"Why would he be she attacked him?"
Silence washes over the room before Fabienne says, "This isn't the first time she's done something like this and he forgave her quite quickly after that. But this time... well... things are different. He's different."
From the corner of my eye, I see Maurie send a smile my way. I want to question him about it but a voice in the back of my head told me to wait.
"Where are you taking me?"
Maurie and Fabienne are walking at the speed of light in front of me, and I have to push myself to keep up. Neither of them answer me and continue to silently lead me through the passageways, and up some stairs and didn't stop until they took me into the room where I saw the rose.
I turn to Fabienne, "Seriously what is going on?"
Smiling she grabs my shoulders and leads me to the table where the rose sits. I look down at the flower and my eyes widen in shock when they land on the fallen petal.
I turn back to look at the now smiling couple, "How?"
Maurie walks over to me. "We're not entirely sure. It happened a bit after the night he stood up to Belle."
I look back down at the petal and shake my head in disbelief. "Whatever you must be working on with that book is working. Maurie this is incredible."
Even though he tilts his head in a small appreciative manner I can tell that there's more he isn't telling me. Call it intuition, a skill gained from years of living with brothers who lied through their teeth and made keeping secrets a game.
"What aren't you telling me?" I ask him.
He puts his hands behind his back and starts swaying side to side like a child trying to keep something from their mother.
Fabienne sighs and roll her eyes. "Just tell her, mon cher. It can't hurt."
"There's not much to tell. We don't know exactly what is breaking the spell... but... we have a theory."
"What's the theory?"
They look at one another, and then eventually Maurie says, "You, Valerie, you're our theory."
A wave of shock and confusion washed through me and I'm sure my completion resembles that of a ghost. "Excuse me?"
"Things haven't been the same ever since you started coming over. He's been different ever since you started coming over," Maurie explains.
"What he's trying to say is that maybe you're bringing out a side of him that needed to come back to break the spell," Fabienne says.
I shake my head and back up until my lower legs hit the table. My hands fly back and use the wood to keep myself from collapsing to the floor.
"That can't be right. I can't be the secret to breaking some ancient spell okay? It's just not possible. You've got it all wrong... all wrong." As I mumble the word wrong over and over again I shake my head.
Fabienne rushes closer to me and wraps her arm around me. "It's just a theory, it might be wrong. We might be wrong."
"I think you might be because it just can't be possible."
Without saying goodbye to either of them, I rush out of the room and start trying to make my way back to the entrance so that I could leave. Maurie had to be wrong. He just had to be.
As I turn a corner I see a wave of dark hair before a slim figure bumps into me. The figure lets out a very feminine gasp before she hisses out the words, "Look where you're going next time."
A sigh escapes from me when I look up into Belle's hate-filled eyes. "Funny, I was just about to suggest that you should have done the same thing."
Her glare grew colder and she took a menacing step toward me. "You seriously need to watch your mouth around me. I only have so much patience when it comes to insolence like this."
"Why should I be worried after all you only seem to go after people who have had to spend years suffering your constant presence and have a habit of letting you act like a spoilt little brat. Why's that darling, too scared to stand to go up against someone who won't take your bullshit?"
Her body trembles from anger and her fists are clenched so tight that her skin holds the completion of snow. "I'm not scared of anything, especially a little peasant like you." A smirk appears on her lips. "In fact how about I show you what happens to people who insult me."
She raises a hand and just as she's about to start muttering something I watch as a paw swings out and knocks her hand out of the air. The two of us turn to the side and see Beast glaring down at her with his teeth bared.
"I think you've had enough demonstrations this week, don't you."
Belle shakes her head and scoffs. "What is happening with us? We used to be so good together, and now you're just throwing it all away for what... her?" she asks as she points to me.
His eyes widen for a brief moment but he shakes the look of shock away. "Don't put our problems on her. They were there long before Valerie started coming here, it just took a while for me to see it. Now, I highly suggest you walk away."
"You can't be—"
"Now!"
She looks between the two of us for a minute before she flicks her hair and storms off into the darkness.
I turn to look up at him, "Thank you."
He shrugs. "You shouldn't be attacked because you decided to stand up against her."
The amount of pain in his eyes tugged at my heartstrings. And I can see that it's not just about the incident between him and Belle, this is a pain developed over the years. I should know I have the same thing I simply choose to hide it better.
"Neither should you," I say.
He presses his lips into a thin line and rubs the back of his neck. "You heard what happened."
"Yeah."
With his fists clenched and his head moving from side to side he starts to pace back and forth in front of me. "I thought they would keep that to themselves."
"Really, why? I've only known them for just over two months and I know that none of them can keep their mouths shut. Especially Charles and Miss Potts, you would think that man would be all modest but I'm sure he and Potsy sit in a corner somewhere and gossip."
"Potsy," he chuckles.
I laugh. "Yeah, I guess I'm catching on to it. Don't tell her though."
"My lips are sealed. But I get your point about them. I don't know why I thought they wouldn't tell you... maybe I was just hoping they wouldn't."
"Why wouldn't you want me to find out? I know you and I don't have the greatest relationship with all the... attempted murder in the beginning." A smile tugs at his lips, and even I can't help but let out a chuckle. "But I thought you and I were getting into a good space. One where I would even consider you and a friend. I don't know much about having friends but I've heard that they don't keep secrets from each other."
"I..."
"You what?"
He casts his gaze to the floor. "You are probably one of the bravest people I've ever seen in my life, and I've lived a long one. You stand up for yourself and others like it's nothing and you don't care about what could happen to you. I've never been like that. I'm not brave."
"But you are." Before he can protest I say, "You stood up for me a girl who tried to kill you against a woman who has been by your side for a very long time, one that you love. You stood up for me and yourself, that's brave. Even now you admitting all these things to me makes you brave." I take a deep breath. "I don't know who told you that you aren't brave but that person was lying to you."
His gaze shifts away from the floor and back up at me. He doesn't say anything back to me but even through the silence, I know that we just reached a new level of friendship.
Unbeknown to the couple in the passageway their whole interaction was seen by Fabienne who had followed Valerie in the hopes of trying to calm her down. She watched as Valerie stood up to Belle, and how Beast stopped her from attacking Valerie. She saw him open his heart to Valerie and saw her comfort him. If Maurie's theory is right then surely this interaction will result in something.
With this thought in mind, she silently rushes back up to the room where she left him. Luckily for her, she arrives just in time to stand with him and watch the second petal break off the flower and float to the ground within the casing.
Maurie looks up at her and smiles. "It's Valerie."
She smiles back at him and nods. "It's Valerie."
Meanwhile, up in another portion of the castle, another woman is muttering the same words as she holds her hand over her heart. But while their tone is one of happiness hers is filled with hate, and her mind thinking of all the ways to solve the issues that should have been taken care of long ago.