When I Saw You [AU]

John sighed and nodded, giving her a grin when he saw how excited she was. He looked back to Belle to see her nervous of being left alone. "You'll be fine, Belle... You're strong enough for this. I promise," He smiled at her and kissed her forehead before going with Marina into the castle. His mentor was a man named Lyle, whom worked as a secret assassin for the royals. "Johnathan! What a wonderful surprise. Who's this lovely lady?" he questioned towards Marina, a warm smile on his lips. "Mr. Lyle, this is Marina. Marina, this is my mentor, Mr. Lyle. He's teaching me -- ... How to skin those deer!" He smiled brightly.

--

Belle fiddled with her fingers behind her back, her eyes searching the ground nervously before she bit her bottom lip and peeked her wide golden eyes towards the dark haired boy. She squeaked when she met his gaze and ducked her head again, timid that even looking at him would cause him to hurt her.

Marina linked her amr with John's as they walked towards the castle... She needed to be careful, so no one could see her, all alone with a stranger boy. But she was so amazed by everyone on the castle. There was so many people around, and they looked so different... She stopped when they met John's mentor, and she got a little shy around an adult. ''Nice to meet you, Mr. Lyle'', she bowed slightly, blushing a little when he called her lovely... She was far from lovely with her hair messed and the hem of her dress dirty. ''You must be a great hunter, Mr. Lyle... I was told that skinning a deer is a very difficult task'', she said politely, looking up to the man.


Eric watched while John interacted with Belle, and completely ignored the other girl... She seemed to act like Cinderella, and he was done with those kind of girls.... At least until the week was over... He knew he was going to be weak, and willing to play around with Cindy and Gaston when it was all over. He smirked seeing the way Belle acted, and couldn't help but chuckle a bit... ''You're Belle, right? You're weird'', he teased after hearing the soft sound she made. ''Are you hungry? I stole some cheese from Sir Complains a Lot'', he mimicked. ''C'mon, follow me'', he said and walked back to his corner, looking ahead from his shoulder to check if the girl was following him.

Lyle chuckled a bit and arched a brow at John, surprised he had come up with such a good alibi. "Well, when you've been hunting for as long as I have, lass, you can practically skin anything," He said with a charming grin. John smirked a bit and looked down before over to Marina. "She wants to see the knights tournament. When are they jousting?" He questioned. "Now, actually, lad. Come right this way," He murmured and led to them to the arena that had been set up for the knights. They hadn't started yet, but were getting ready to. "Right in time," John murmured. 

--

Belle blushed when the boy called her weird. She wanted to object, but didn't want to speak out against him. However, when she found herself alone, she squeaked again and followed after him quickly, not really looking where she was going, so she bumped into him and turned her wide, bright, golden eyes up onto his blue ones, apologetic.

''I think you have been hunting for a long time... You look older than papa!'', she said after studying the man's face for a moment. She nodded when John said the reason they were there, and smiled sweetly up to Lyle. Once on the arena, she grinned to John, ''Yes! Do you think we can get some seats?'', she asked, peeking at the grandstand. There were a few ladies over there, and she wanted to meet them... But again there was a tiny chance one of them knew her father.


Eric heard her and smirked, turning his gaze forward as he saw the girl finally moving. He whistled lightly while he headed to the corner, and he whined a little when he felt someone bumping into him. As he turned, he saw Belle, looking up to him... She looked like she was going to get punished for what she did, or it was what looked to him, ''Hmm, are you alright, Belle?'', he asked.

John looked around and pursed his lips. "Come with me," He smiled and took her hand as he walked down to the grandstand. He took a seat and pat the one beside him for Marina. He knew he wasn't technically supposed to sit there, but everyone knew who his mentor was. Everyone knew to leave him alone. "These good?" He asked.

--

Belle bit her bottom lip until it was puffy from so much biting. "Yes," She whispered, though her eyes were confused as to why he was asking about her well being when she had so clumsily run straight into him. "Are... You... Okay?" She asked, her tone unsure, as she hadn't spoken to anyone but John in so long that she wasn't sure what was okay to say. "Sir," she quickly added.

''Where?'', she asked, but held his hand back tight as he walked her. She smiled seeing where they were, and sat by his side. Marina looked around, and noticed how the other didn't approach them, and she was glad for that. ''That's perfect, John'', she chimed, and looked to the two knights getting prepared, ''Oh my, this is so exciting!'', she giggled.



''Oh, she speaks!'', Eric teased, and frowned... ''Please, I'm not a Sir, yet... You can call me Eric'', he introduced himself. ''And I'm okay'', he winked and walked them to the stall, where he put her horse into an empty spot... ''So you like horses?'', he asked, trying to keep a normal conversation with her.

John smiled a bit and looked down to her hand on the bench near his. He then turned his emerald hues back out towards the knights and shrugged slightly. "You've never seen this before?" he questioned.

--

Belle blushed a bit and ducked her head back down, though she did watch how he handled her horse. She smiled just slightly -- the twitch at the corner of her lips the only glance of a smile she gave. She walked over slowly and hooked her hair behind her ears. "Yes..." she said shyly. ".... His name is Phillip," She murmured, gesturing to the horse he had just put in the stable for her.

Marina bounced her feet lightly, and turned her gaze to John with a smile, ''No... I only read about it. We don't have this kind of event in my town, and I have started to sail with my father just a few months ago'', she said with her eyes back to the arena. ''I presume you have seen many of those, since your mentor lives here in the castle... Who is he, the royal hunter?'', she asked, looking at John throught the corner of her eyes.



''Hi there, Phillip! He's a nice horse'', he patted on the animal's mane before getting some water and hay for him. ''Do you have any friends, Belle? Except your big brother, of course...'', he mumbled the last part, ''I have friends, and they aren't as quiet as you are, but I think I'm the most talkative among them'', he rambled... Perhaps Charlotte was more talkative than him, but he was sure she was the most annoying.

John nodded and smirked a bit. "Yeah... Hunter," he mused, chuckling a bit after. "He's very good at his job, so everyone likes him. And, they like me, since he's my mentor," He murmured, shrugging his shoulders. "What about you? What does your father do?"

Belle shook her head at his question and fiddled with her fingers before looking at him with a little more confidence than before. He didn't sound dangerous. Just a little annoying. "You talk a lot," She countered, a tiny smile twitching at her lips again. "I stay home and read..." she said softly. "You... take care of the horses?" she asked.

''I don't know about your mentor, but I like you, John'', she said with a small smile as she turned her dark hues at him. ''You want to know about me? Okay!'', she chimed, ''I lost mom when I was too young to remember of her, it's just papa and I. Papa is a great merchant, and travels across the seven seas. I star to sail with him this year'', she said with a smirk, and looked back to the arena when she heard a trumpet. ''John? What's happening?'', she asked quietly, resting her hand upon his at the bench.


John chuckled a bit, ''You're not the first person to say that to me'', he smirked. ''Staying at home is boring, and reading?'', he scoffed, and turned his blue hues at her, ''Yes, I take care of horses since I saved Cinderella's life from one'', Eric grinned, ''I don't like to brag about myself, but I'm pretty good on calming them''. Then he walked to his corner at the stables and fished a small bottle from his satchel. ''Do you want some?'', he offered. There was wine on the bottle. Eric was aware a 10 years old wasn't supposed to drink, but he wanted to be like the knights, and they all drink wine, or whsky.

"I like you, too, Marina," John said quietly, smirking a bit and looked down to their hands when she put hers upon his own. "Oh, well... They're about to start jousting. Jousting is when they both sit on horses with long poles. They run at each other, and the one who can knock the other off wins," He explained.

--

Belle bit her lip and blushed as he called her hobbies boring. Her golden hues stayed locked on him as he moved around, though. She watched absently and played with her brown curls. When he offered her a drink, she tilted her head and then nodded slightly. "Sure," she murmured and walked over closer, taking the bottle and taking a sip. She coughed and made a face, scrunching up her nose in distaste. "What is that? It tastes terrible," she muttered.

Marina listened to John quietly, and then to the man who started telling all the great deeds that knight has done. People started cheering at one side of the arena. Another man started telling about the other knight, and more people cheered him. They were very good at telling all those stuff. The knights got ready, and Marina felt her stomach in knots when they aimed their poles against each other. ''I can't see it!'', she whimpered, and hid her face on John's shoulder. 



Eric smirked when Belle accepted the bottle, ''This is going to be fun'', he thought to himself while Belle took a sip from his drink. He bursted in laugh when she coughed, ''That's wine! And a little girl like you shouldn't be drinking it'', he smirked, and took the bottle back. ''It's terrible at the start, but you get used to the taste.'', he explained before taking another sip, and saving the rest for later.

John smiled a bit when Marina hid against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close. "It's alright, Marina... Neither of them will really get hurt," He assured her. 

--

Belle made a face as he laughed at her. "I'm not a little girl!" she complained, stamping her foot against the ground. She snatched it back from him and finished the bottle before smirking a bit and handing it back to him. Of course, the moment she realized she was no longer acting respectful and quiet, she shied back a bit.

''A-are you sure?'', she chimed shyly, turning her gaze up to him, before looking back to the arena. She winced at the noise one of the poles made while crushing into the chest of the knight. She tensed for a few seconds and sighed in relief seeing the man was alright.



He laughed harder seeing the look on her face, but his laughes died when she took his bottle and drank the rest of it. ''Hey...'', he pouted, knowing he was going find a way to get more of wine for himself later as he stared down to his bottle... However as he looked back to her, he frowned, seeing her becoming shy again. ''What's wrong? Why you act like you're going to get punished at any time?'', he asked.

John chuckled and nodded. "I promise," He assured her and watched as the two knights went at it. He grinned and then looked down at Marina. "See? I told you so," He teased.

Belle bit her lip and ducked her head. "Ladies shouldn't disrespectful the male," She said simply. "Shouldn't talk back or even make eye contact," She mumbled. "Bad girls get beaten until they obey," She said as if reciting a set of laws.

Marina giggled and rolled her eyes... ''Don't get so cocky, John....'', she murmured and looked at the knights, getting ready for another round. She didn't know why, but she decided to look up to the other people around them... She gasped and tensed, as she turned her gaze back to the arena... She saw a very familiar face, Fa.


Eric rose an eyebrow and made a face, ''You are really weird, Bells''. He murmured, alrady giving the girl a nickname... ''You shouldn't be worried about those shit around me... God knows how many pranks I played, and how I talk back or disrespect my step-father'', he chuckled... ''The only law around me is that you must have fun'', he grinned.

John looked towards her as she seemed startled. He arched a brow and followed her gaze to an older woman. He made a face. "You know her?" He questioned.. "C'mon. I don't want you getting caught," he mumbled and took her hand. He then led her down to where the knights got to sit on the field up under the stands in a private section. No one objected to the boy and girl sitting there. 

Belle bit he lip and smiled just a bit. "Okay..." She murmured. "I haven't had fun in so long," she admitted. "My brother is trying to teach me to ki-- Er... Hunt. I don't hurting animals, though," she sighed. "That's no much fun."

Marina nodded quietly, afraid that Fa could intervene and drag her back to her father... He could feel her piercing eyes staring at her back, and she wasn't sure if she was gonna to tell him or not about her and her little adventure. She took John's hand gladly, and smirked when they got into a more private place. However, she got intimidated with all those knights and leaned down to whisper next to his ear... ''Are you sure they won't bother if we seat with them?'', she leaned her head towards the knights.


Eric nodded to himself, ''Okay... Since you're the one lacking of fun, you decide what you want to do... Don't think of your brother, and what he wanted you to do... Just think of yourself...'', he encouraged her... ''But we can't leave the stables, since I have some responsabilities in here, and I will be in a big, big trouble if I sneak away again... And now I'm done talking, since I know I've talking a lot... So'', he sealed his lips with a small smirk.