Evermore [The Beast/The Prince x Reader]

chapter twenty-one

With a loud growl, the Beast limped out of the library, ___ still in his arms. She was shivering violently in his arms, unable to adjust to the sudden stuffy warmth of the castle. He glanced around for anyone - any enchanted object that was near.

"Lumiere! Missus Potts!" he yelled, his voice full of fear. "Cogsworth!"

Before he made it to the staircase, he heard his servants shouting for them both. They ran out of a random bedroom. The Beast had a feeling they had been looking for them. He felt a tinge of regret for not telling them that they were leaving, but it did not matter now.

"Master!" Lumiere cried. He saw the limp figure of ___ in his arms and gasped, "Sacré bleu!"

"Oh," Mrs. Potts cried, shock tracing her gentle expression. "My! What happened? Is she alright?"

"She's freezing," the Beast explained. "You have to help her!"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Lumiere exclaimed.

Mrs. Potts nudged Chip away. "I will start up a pot of tea. Plumette, you and Madame de Gardrobe help her out of those clothes! Master, you and Lumiere bring extra blankets into your room and start up the fire! We need to warm her at once."

"Right away!" Lumiere said.

He waved the Beast forward to follow him. Plumette fluttered away to retrieve Madame de Gardrobe, and Mrs. Potts and Chip hopped to the kitchen to start a pot of boiling hot tea.

As the Beast gently placed her on the surface of his bed, he glanced at her shut eyes. Her eyelids were a pale blue. He whimpered slightly, touching his warm paw to her cheek. Her lips parted and a choked sigh came out of her throat.

"Move, your majesty," Plumette's gentle voice said, and he forced himself to step back. "You must leave so that we can undress the mademoiselle."

Madame de Gardrobe and Plumette hovered over the girl. Reluctantly, he tore his eyes from her face.

"Come, your majesty," Lumiere said sadly. "Let us check the wound on your leg."

With great hesitation, the Beast left ___ behind and followed the candelabra out of the room.

                            ...

After a large dosage of medicine and a long hour of painful stitching and bandaging of his leg, the Beast fell asleep. He fought it as long as he could, but the effect of the medicine left him drowsy, and his hours of dancing, running, and searching in the bitter cold left him exhausted.

While he slept, the objects did what they could for their friend. The girls helped her the most. Her body was scrubbed of mud, dirt, and blood with warm water. She was dried with a soft, warm towel. They tried to keep her awake as they cleaned her, but they did not attempt to wake her when she fell under.

After she was scrubbed of any filth, she was dressed in a long, fluffy white nightgown that once belonged to Plumette. She was kept on the bed, where Plumette added several layers of blankets to her. While Mrs. Potts gently helped her drink tea out of a steaming cup, Lumiere held his lit candles inches from her fingers.

She did not have severe frostbite, much to their relief, but she was in severe pain. She had scrapes on her skin from branches she had run by and through, and her fingers, toes, and palms had turned a red that bordered on turning black.

Still, she smiled. As she went in and out of consciousness, she gave her beloved friends gentle smiles. They, in return, would gently touch her arm or nuzzle against her cheek. Lumiere never left her side.

While the women and Cogsworth worked to keep her health in check, he offered her gentle looks of reassurance and soft whispers that told her that everything would be alright.

"Relax, mademoiselle," he would breathe close to her ear. "I am here with you, and I will stay. Close your eyes, my dear. Let yourself fall asleep."

If she would jolt out of her painful, nightmarish sleep in a panic, he would comfort her. Mrs. Potts would pour a fresh cup of tea and he would stroke her hand gently. She would slowly calm down as she listened to Lumiere's soft and encouraging words.

"I will not leave you, mademoiselle," he would say. "I need you to quiet down. You are fine, you are with us. The master is safe. Sleep now."

And she would.

                             ...

The Beast opened his eyes with a lot of force. He groaned as he felt a dull, yet painful throbbing in the back of his leg. Lifting his head, he looked back at his injured limb. It was wrapped in fresh bandages.

"Try not to move too much, dearie," Mrs. Potts said, wheeling around to check on him. "How are you feeling? Does a cup of tea sound good to you?"

"___," he grumbled, still groggy and out of it. He rubbed his face. "Where... where is she? Is she alright?"

"She's resting, your majesty," Mrs. Potts explained. "Much like you, she has been asleep all day. Poor thing - if you had gotten here any later, I'm not sure we could have saved her. The girl was an ice cube! What were you doing last night?"

He didn't answer. "I need to see her," he insisted. "I need to see that she is alright."

"You need to rest," Mrs. Potts insisted harshly. "Your body is spent! Leave the visits for later. Let me get some food and drink in you, your majesty, and you can sleep a bit more. Then, if you're feeling well-"

"No," he growled, and he slid off of the loveseat he had been resting on.

Mrs. Potts gaped as he stood, despite his injury. The old prince would have fallen to the floor in a fit of dramatic agony. However, the Beast was forcing himself to do something that wasn't for him at all. Mrs. Potts couldn't find it in her to stop him from going.

Maybe he could learn to love - maybe he had already.