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Belle knew that if the Horned King said that Cinderella was magically unable to harm them, then she was indeed magically unable to harm them. All the same, she kept her arm tight around HenWen and Tinkerbell remained on her shoulder the entire way, which was comforting. Adam kept his eyes firmly on Cinderella too, so Belle knew that he didn’t trust her to suddenly turn around and attack them at any second. Still, Belle doubted that she could do them much harm without magic – Adam was pretty strong, Tinkerbell had magic and she herself was by no means weak.

Cinderella, however, seemed so steamed over the combination of having her magic bound and being coerced into helping those who had defeated her last time she had been powerful, that she simply glared straight ahead of them the entire journey. It was only when Belle felt Carpet begin to sag slightly that she realised how far they had come.

“We should stop for a while,” she said, patting Carpet in the place where his head would be if her were an animal. “I think Carpet needs to rest.”

Cinderella snorted but the others agreed it was a good idea. Carpet settled down inside a spacious clearing and they all climbed off. Belle reached inside her bag. The King of Beljardin had been very generous and given her some more rations, so she handed around some bread and cheese whilst Tinkerbell went to collect some water.

“Or we could just cook the pig,” Cinderella muttered.

HenWen squeaked in fright and hid behind Adam’s legs.

“Don’t even think about it!” Belle snapped. “I wouldn’t have known about any of this if it weren’t for HenWen!”

“Bully for you!” Cinderella shot back. “You couldn’t just have left well enough alone, could you? You just had to kill us all!”

Adam looked back and forth between the two women as Carpet covered where his ears would be, if he had them, using his tassels.

“How can you justify killing innocent children just to keep yourself young and powerful?” Belle exclaimed. “I’m sorry you all had rough lives and felt that you missed the best years of your lives, but that didn’t give you the right to hurt others for your own vanity!”

Cinderella scowled. “I suppose you’re one of those idiots who thinks there’s more to life than being powerful?”

“She’s not an idiot!” Adam cut in, much to Belle’s surprise. “And not everyone values power. I can name two kings who know that there are better things worth living for.”

Belle was touched by this sudden display of warmth, despite her and Adam’s earlier disagreements. Cinderella laughed, derisively. “Let me guess, they think that love and friendship are much more important-?”

“They’re much more powerful than any dark magic you used to have!” Belle saw Cinderella stiffen at being reminded that she currently couldn’t use any of her magic. “I wouldn’t have been able to make it this far if it wasn’t for the fact I’m worried about my friend-!” She stopped. Thinking about the fact that they were nowhere near to finding Giselle yet was painful. She took a deep breath. “Turning your heart to stone isn’t the way to be happy, Cinderella.”

Cinderella rolled her eyes. “Everyone says that. But if you had dark magic, then you could just kill the Sea Witch right now and save your friend.”

“Well, I refuse to be a killer,” Belle began.

“You already are!” Cinderella glared at her. “Who was it that distracted us so that we missed the deadline for Chernobog’s blood payment? Who was it who made Esmeralda come back? You killed us all, Belle, whatever you might tell yourself!”

The accusation was so harsh that Belle took a step backwards.

“It wasn’t like she had a choice!” Tinkerbell snapped, flying up to Belle’s defence at once. “You’d never have stopped murdering children if she hadn’t got Chernobog to lift his deal with you!”

Belle felt like she’d been punched hard in the stomach. Cinderella said nothing else but chewed on her bread in a meaningful way, knowing her words had done their work. Muttering something about perhaps they ought to make camp now and carry on looking for the Sea Witch the next morning, Belle hurried off into the denser part of the clearing. She supposed that what Cinderella had said was true, but now she had said it, it made Belle feel like she was no better than the Coven at the end of the day. Even though Chernobog had technically been the one to age them slowly to death, Belle had been the one to cause it. It made her feel awful.

“You didn’t find any firewood, then?”

Belle looked up in surprise. How long had she been standing here for? An hour? Maybe longer? Adam looked at her, head cocked on one side. She suddenly felt foolish, smoothing down the front of her dress. “Shouldn’t you be guarding Cinderella? She might escape.”

Adam chuckled. “That’s a feisty little fairy friend you’ve got there. All Cinderella had to do was call her an imp and she knocked her out! I don’t know how, exactly, Tinkerbell just said that she wouldn’t wake up for hours.”

Belle giggled. “I wonder if we can get her to do that tonight? Not that I expect Cinderella can do much damage with her magic bound like that.”

“You shouldn’t feel bad,” Adam told her, gently. “Like Tinkerbell said, you had no choice. The Coven were a menace to everyone. I know if I’d had children and discovered that they’d been used in a bloody ritual...”

“It was scary,” Belle agreed. “My brother and sister were taken. The Coven were so cunning. Cinderella tricked them into believing she was a good person.” She shivered. “It was so easy for them to snatch unsuspecting children.”

“But those children are all alive now,” Adam reminded her. “Thanks to you.”

Belle smiled. “Thank you, Adam. I suppose you’re right.” She reached out and squeezed his paw. “I’ll find a way to change you back to a human. I promise.”

“Thank you, Belle.” Adam nodded and then dropped his paw. “I’ll help you find some kindling for the fire.”

Belle stole a few glances at him as they worked. Perhaps he wasn’t as arrogant as she had originally thought. They gathered a pile of sticks and pinecones and headed back to the clearing to find Cinderella still spread out on the ground and Tinkerbell chatting happily to HenWen and Carpet.

“She’ll be out until morning,” Tinkerbell informed them of Cinderella’s catatonic state.

“Couldn’t you have done that earlier?” Adam joked.

Tinkerbell gasped. “And have her faint in the Horned King’s presence? No, no, your Highness, that would have been very impolite!”

Belle and Adam both laughed, glanced at one another and smiled. Tinkerbell looked knowingly at Carpet, who had his “head” propped up dreamily on his tassels. Even HenWen seemed to have cottoned on to what was happening. The rest of the evening passed quietly and happily. Tinkerbell regale them with a funny story about the first time Old Doley’s whirlpool had broken down and they had suddenly found themselves joined by a family of deer, three racoons and a squirrel. Then, everyone curled up in a row and Carpet stretched himself over them like a blanket and fell asleep. HenWen was soon snoring pacefully. Tinkerbell made tiny little tinkling sounds as she slept, but they were soothing rather than intrusive. Adam fell asleep quickly too, but Belle lay awake for a while, worrying. She worried about Cinderella. She worried about the SeaWitch. She worried about her family back home, even though she knew they were perfectly safe. And she worried about Giselle.

She didn’t know when she fell asleep, but she suddenly found herself in a muddle of dreams. First, she and HenWen were running through a forest not unlike the one in which they now slept, only it was much lighter and they were surrounded by giant sunflowers. Then, suddenly, she was alone and hurrying across water, so lightly that her feet barely touched the surface. Arista was there too. She waved and then jumped into the air, turning into a whale in mid-dive and created an enormous splash. Belle blinked and then-

“Belle!”

She spun around. There, waving at her from the other side of some kind of glass, was Giselle!

“Giselle!” Belle rushed forwards, and then realised it wasn’t glass that separated them. The image of Giselle was some kind of illusion wrapped in a circle of bright magical smoke. Giselle appeared to be floating in, what was it? Liquid? More magic? Belle had no idea. She just knew, somehow, that Giselle wasn’t really with her.

“Belle! Help me!”

“How?” Belle asked. “Where are you?”

“I’m trapped! The Sea Witch-!”

“How did she get to you?” Belle interrupted before she could stop herself.

“I don’t know! But, Belle, listen to me, you mustn’t let her take the Trident! She’ll be unstoppable with it!”

“I know-!” Belle began.

“You mustn’t let her take Beljardin either!”

“I won’t-!”

“Help me, Belle!”

“Where are you?” Belle shouted, because the image was starting to fade now. “Giselle, where is she keeping you?”

“The cupboard!”

“What cupboard?” Belle cried, but Giselle faded completely and she was left staring at an empty cavern wall. “What do you mean, Giselle?”

Her eyes snapped open and Belle jumped awake, breathing heavily. Beside her, Adam stirred but the others remained mercifully asleep, Cinderella included. “Belle? What is it?”

“I dreamed about Giselle.” Belle shook her head. “She couldn’t tell me how the Sea Witch got her, but she said something about being held in a cupboard?” She frowned. “What could that mean?”

Adam blinked. “Belle...it was just a dream. It couldn’t have been a premonition...could it?”

“I don’t know what it was.” Belle lay back down, not sure she would be able to go back to sleep again now. She thought about the nightmare she had had about the Coven’s return. In a way, it had come true, because Cinderella was here, although the others weren’t, and Arthur and Kayley were safe at home now. A nasty thought suddenly struck her and she stiffened. What if Cinderella, once allowed to unleash her magic, used it to bring the rest of the Coven back to life? She couldn’t imagine that she’d bother with Esmeralda after what had happened the last time they had met, but she might want Aurora and Tiana and Jasmine back, if only so she could be in charge of them all again.

But they wouldn’t want that now, would they? Belle thought about that night they had all died. They had been pretty angry with her too. Maybe they’d get into an elemental battle and tear each other to pieces. She shuddered.

“Belle?” She felt Adam’s paw on her shoulder.

“I’m so worried, Adam,” Belle admitted. “It wasn’t easy last time. Somehow I think this is going to be even more difficult.”

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Belle.”

Belle frowned, processing his words, and then she said “Adam?” but there was no reply. Lifting her head, she saw that he had fallen asleep again. Was it her imagination or did his outline look less beastly and more human now? She smiled. The light must be playing tricks on her. “Goodnight, Adam.”

Description

Belle knew that if the Horned King said that Cinderella was magically unable to harm them, then she was indeed magically unable to harm them. All the same, she kept her arm tight around HenWen and Tinkerbell remained on her shoulder the entire way, which was comforting. Adam kept his eyes firmly on Cinderella too, so Belle knew that he didn’t trust her to suddenly turn around and attack them at any second. Still, Belle doubted that she could do them much harm without magic – Adam was pretty strong, Tinkerbell had magic and she herself was by no means weak.

Cinderella, however, seemed so steamed over the combination of having her magic bound and being coerced into helping those who had defeated her last time she had been powerful, that she simply glared straight ahead of them the entire journey. It was only when Belle felt Carpet begin to sag slightly that she realised how far they had come.

“We should stop for a while,” she said, patting Carpet in the place where his head would be if her were an animal. “I think Carpet needs to rest.”

Cinderella snorted but the others agreed it was a good idea. Carpet settled down inside a spacious clearing and they all climbed off. Belle reached inside her bag. The King of Beljardin had been very generous and given her some more rations, so she handed around some bread and cheese whilst Tinkerbell went to collect some water.

“Or we could just cook the pig,” Cinderella muttered.

HenWen squeaked in fright and hid behind Adam’s legs.

“Don’t even think about it!” Belle snapped. “I wouldn’t have known about any of this if it weren’t for HenWen!”

“Bully for you!” Cinderella shot back. “You couldn’t just have left well enough alone, could you? You just had to kill us all!”

Adam looked back and forth between the two women as Carpet covered where his ears would be, if he had them, using his tassels.

“How can you justify killing innocent children just to keep yourself young and powerful?” Belle exclaimed. “I’m sorry you all had rough lives and felt that you missed the best years of your lives, but that didn’t give you the right to hurt others for your own vanity!”

Cinderella scowled. “I suppose you’re one of those idiots who thinks there’s more to life than being powerful?”

“She’s not an idiot!” Adam cut in, much to Belle’s surprise. “And not everyone values power. I can name two kings who know that there are better things worth living for.”

Belle was touched by this sudden display of warmth, despite her and Adam’s earlier disagreements. Cinderella laughed, derisively. “Let me guess, they think that love and friendship are much more important-?”

“They’re much more powerful than any dark magic you used to have!” Belle saw Cinderella stiffen at being reminded that she currently couldn’t use any of her magic. “I wouldn’t have been able to make it this far if it wasn’t for the fact I’m worried about my friend-!” She stopped. Thinking about the fact that they were nowhere near to finding Giselle yet was painful. She took a deep breath. “Turning your heart to stone isn’t the way to be happy, Cinderella.”

Cinderella rolled her eyes. “Everyone says that. But if you had dark magic, then you could just kill the Sea Witch right now and save your friend.”

“Well, I refuse to be a killer,” Belle began.

“You already are!” Cinderella glared at her. “Who was it that distracted us so that we missed the deadline for Chernobog’s blood payment? Who was it who made Esmeralda come back? You killed us all, Belle, whatever you might tell yourself!”

The accusation was so harsh that Belle took a step backwards.

“It wasn’t like she had a choice!” Tinkerbell snapped, flying up to Belle’s defence at once. “You’d never have stopped murdering children if she hadn’t got Chernobog to lift his deal with you!”

Belle felt like she’d been punched hard in the stomach. Cinderella said nothing else but chewed on her bread in a meaningful way, knowing her words had done their work. Muttering something about perhaps they ought to make camp now and carry on looking for the Sea Witch the next morning, Belle hurried off into the denser part of the clearing. She supposed that what Cinderella had said was true, but now she had said it, it made Belle feel like she was no better than the Coven at the end of the day. Even though Chernobog had technically been the one to age them slowly to death, Belle had been the one to cause it. It made her feel awful.

“You didn’t find any firewood, then?”

Belle looked up in surprise. How long had she been standing here for? An hour? Maybe longer? Adam looked at her, head cocked on one side. She suddenly felt foolish, smoothing down the front of her dress. “Shouldn’t you be guarding Cinderella? She might escape.”

Adam chuckled. “That’s a feisty little fairy friend you’ve got there. All Cinderella had to do was call her an imp and she knocked her out! I don’t know how, exactly, Tinkerbell just said that she wouldn’t wake up for hours.”

Belle giggled. “I wonder if we can get her to do that tonight? Not that I expect Cinderella can do much damage with her magic bound like that.”

“You shouldn’t feel bad,” Adam told her, gently. “Like Tinkerbell said, you had no choice. The Coven were a menace to everyone. I know if I’d had children and discovered that they’d been used in a bloody ritual...”

“It was scary,” Belle agreed. “My brother and sister were taken. The Coven were so cunning. Cinderella tricked them into believing she was a good person.” She shivered. “It was so easy for them to snatch unsuspecting children.”

“But those children are all alive now,” Adam reminded her. “Thanks to you.”

Belle smiled. “Thank you, Adam. I suppose you’re right.” She reached out and squeezed his paw. “I’ll find a way to change you back to a human. I promise.”

“Thank you, Belle.” Adam nodded and then dropped his paw. “I’ll help you find some kindling for the fire.”

Belle stole a few glances at him as they worked. Perhaps he wasn’t as arrogant as she had originally thought. They gathered a pile of sticks and pinecones and headed back to the clearing to find Cinderella still spread out on the ground and Tinkerbell chatting happily to HenWen and Carpet.

“She’ll be out until morning,” Tinkerbell informed them of Cinderella’s catatonic state.

“Couldn’t you have done that earlier?” Adam joked.

Tinkerbell gasped. “And have her faint in the Horned King’s presence? No, no, your Highness, that would have been very impolite!”

Belle and Adam both laughed, glanced at one another and smiled. Tinkerbell looked knowingly at Carpet, who had his “head” propped up dreamily on his tassels. Even HenWen seemed to have cottoned on to what was happening. The rest of the evening passed quietly and happily. Tinkerbell regale them with a funny story about the first time Old Doley’s whirlpool had broken down and they had suddenly found themselves joined by a family of deer, three racoons and a squirrel. Then, everyone curled up in a row and Carpet stretched himself over them like a blanket and fell asleep. HenWen was soon snoring pacefully. Tinkerbell made tiny little tinkling sounds as she slept, but they were soothing rather than intrusive. Adam fell asleep quickly too, but Belle lay awake for a while, worrying. She worried about Cinderella. She worried about the SeaWitch. She worried about her family back home, even though she knew they were perfectly safe. And she worried about Giselle.

She didn’t know when she fell asleep, but she suddenly found herself in a muddle of dreams. First, she and HenWen were running through a forest not unlike the one in which they now slept, only it was much lighter and they were surrounded by giant sunflowers. Then, suddenly, she was alone and hurrying across water, so lightly that her feet barely touched the surface. Arista was there too. She waved and then jumped into the air, turning into a whale in mid-dive and created an enormous splash. Belle blinked and then-

“Belle!”

She spun around. There, waving at her from the other side of some kind of glass, was Giselle!

“Giselle!” Belle rushed forwards, and then realised it wasn’t glass that separated them. The image of Giselle was some kind of illusion wrapped in a circle of bright magical smoke. Giselle appeared to be floating in, what was it? Liquid? More magic? Belle had no idea. She just knew, somehow, that Giselle wasn’t really with her.

“Belle! Help me!”

“How?” Belle asked. “Where are you?”

“I’m trapped! The Sea Witch-!”

“How did she get to you?” Belle interrupted before she could stop herself.

“I don’t know! But, Belle, listen to me, you mustn’t let her take the Trident! She’ll be unstoppable with it!”

“I know-!” Belle began.

“You mustn’t let her take Beljardin either!”

“I won’t-!”

“Help me, Belle!”

“Where are you?” Belle shouted, because the image was starting to fade now. “Giselle, where is she keeping you?”

“The cupboard!”

“What cupboard?” Belle cried, but Giselle faded completely and she was left staring at an empty cavern wall. “What do you mean, Giselle?”

Her eyes snapped open and Belle jumped awake, breathing heavily. Beside her, Adam stirred but the others remained mercifully asleep, Cinderella included. “Belle? What is it?”

“I dreamed about Giselle.” Belle shook her head. “She couldn’t tell me how the Sea Witch got her, but she said something about being held in a cupboard?” She frowned. “What could that mean?”

Adam blinked. “Belle...it was just a dream. It couldn’t have been a premonition...could it?”

“I don’t know what it was.” Belle lay back down, not sure she would be able to go back to sleep again now. She thought about the nightmare she had had about the Coven’s return. In a way, it had come true, because Cinderella was here, although the others weren’t, and Arthur and Kayley were safe at home now. A nasty thought suddenly struck her and she stiffened. What if Cinderella, once allowed to unleash her magic, used it to bring the rest of the Coven back to life? She couldn’t imagine that she’d bother with Esmeralda after what had happened the last time they had met, but she might want Aurora and Tiana and Jasmine back, if only so she could be in charge of them all again.

But they wouldn’t want that now, would they? Belle thought about that night they had all died. They had been pretty angry with her too. Maybe they’d get into an elemental battle and tear each other to pieces. She shuddered.

“Belle?” She felt Adam’s paw on her shoulder.

“I’m so worried, Adam,” Belle admitted. “It wasn’t easy last time. Somehow I think this is going to be even more difficult.”

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Belle.”

Belle frowned, processing his words, and then she said “Adam?” but there was no reply. Lifting her head, she saw that he had fallen asleep again. Was it her imagination or did his outline look less beastly and more human now? She smiled. The light must be playing tricks on her. “Goodnight, Adam.”