Prologue
A/AN: Sometimes keeping secrets can come with deadly consequences. They can tear apart lovers and families so is it really worth it to keep a secret? Belle finds out the hard way that everything comes with a price and not always the kind you're willing to pay.
Belle Stiltskin should've been happy with her life. She had a loving husband who had a successful trade that kept her belly full and a roof over their head, but she wasn't. She loved her husband. He was perfect in every way to her but there was still a distinct hole in her heart. She felt it every time she walked through the village and children ran around her feet or when she heard a newborn's cry. Her hand would always gravitate to that empty place below her heart. That place she prayed would be filled every time her husband spilled his seed inside of her but it never happened. They had been married for over three years, and she was still barren which was the worst curse imaginable.
Belle sat by the fire finishing up her knitting, a pair of booties for her best friend Ruby's baby boy that would be born in Sprintime. She was so engrossed in her task that she didn't hear the sound of the old wooden door shut, letting in a bit of winter air.
She smiled faintly when she felt her husband kiss her temple lightly, signaling he was home. He sat down in the chair adjacent to her, propping up his bad leg, the result of a birth defect.
"How are you fairing today my Belle? Did you have a good time with Ruby?" he inquired to the beauty, laying her knitting aside.
"Yes, we had a good time together. I think she's ready for the baby to be here because her feet swell. She always has to keep them propped up and can't go anywhere." Belle enlightened, him, staring at the flames licking the hearth.
She looked up when she felt her husband's hand on her thigh, "We could try tonight my Belle. There's no sense in giving up." he smiled with warm brown eyes that touched her heart.
"I want to believe it's possible but it's been over three years Rum…Maybe it's time we face the facts that we're not meant to be parents. I cannot bear to see my monthly blood, a painful reminder of what other women have that I don't." she sighed, placing her hand over his.
"These things take time my Belle…You must have faith." he encouraged kneading her thigh with his calloused hand, sending delicious shivers down her spine.
"I had faith but it has gotten me nowhere." she sighed dropping her knitting needles on the ground as he moved behind her, planting a warm kiss on her neck, foretelling of many wondrous things to come.
"I have faith in you…in us…" he whispered huskily in her ear, laving it with his tongue. She moaned leaning forward in her chair to give him better access to her neck.
"Show me Rum…" she pleaded her mind wandering to blissful events that would follow lingering kisses.
"A pleasure milady." he whispered before hoisting her in his arms. She was light and even though his bad leg protested, he would never deny his wife the luxury of holding her.
"Don't talk to me like I'm some princess…" she muttered against his neck before he deposited her on their straw mattress.
"You're not a princess but a queen…My queen to be exact." he continued kissing down her neck towards her bosom. He undid the laces, pulling them open with his warm hands intricately exploring her skin. She moaned into his kiss as clothes came off slowly.
They spent the night wrapped in each others arms, cherishing the warmth their bodies emitted, keeping out winter's chill. His fingers danced against her abdomen, their silhouettes dancing against the wall from the single lit candle.
"At the end of summer we'll have a boy…" he kissed her temple as he held her close under the worn wool comforter.
"What makes you so sure?" she inquired, gazing up at him with inquisitive blue eyes.
"Because I have faith…I have faith in us." he assured her, turning over to face her.
"And you're sure it's enough?" she queried, her mind still full of doubt.
"Yes, it will always be enough." he smiled, holding her close. He snuggled into the crook of her neck, his wispy hair tickling her skin. She closed her eyes, letting her hand rest across his back, the candlelight extinguishing itself as it burned down.
~X~
They met when she was just seventeen. Her father had apprenticed her to partake of his trade. He was the best spinner in all the land, and Maurice, the town butcher wanted his daughter to have a trade that suited her.
She trained under his hand for six months when her father tragically fell dead with a heart attack. The plan was for her to move to another village and work under two spinsters, but that plan fell through. The ogres ransacked the towns, and the men were sent off to a war they'd never return from. Rumplestiltskin wasn't considered to be a qualified soldier because he would slow down the army. He was a cripple, and Hoarder wasn't interested in enlisting cripples, but he was interested in her father's shop and its furnishings so it was taken. She didn't even receive a settlement for her loss.
Belle hadn't planned on marrying Rumplestiltskin but it seemed like a good choice. He was nearly twenty years older than her, but he treated her kindly enough and even though he was a cripple, he would provide her with a stable living. He would take care of her and a crippled husband was still better than a dead husband. More than half of the townswomen were widows after the wars, so Belle counted herself lucky.
They lived on the edge of the village and were ousted by most of the town, but Belle didn't mind. She never cared for many of the townsfolk because most were close-minded about her bookish ways and the little education her father provided her with. Women weren't meant to have a voice, but Rumplestiltskin wasn't like other men. He bought her books when they had a little money leftover from a good sale at market and listened intently to her ideas about politics and a new world.
He had given her so much, and even though they shared a life full of love, she still wasn't satisfied. Her heart still wasn't full because she couldn't give him a child. She heard two women talking in hushed whispers in the market place. She had gone into town to buy bread from the bakery and cheese from the farmer when she heard the two old women talking. She knew she shouldn't eavesdrop but her curiosity got the better of her.
"I heard he has the power to grant anyone their hearts desire." the first woman whispered to the other.
"Does he do it for free?" inquired the other woman.
"Of course not! Everything he does comes with a price!" the first woman exclaimed.
"What kind of price?"
"Whatever suits him but if you have something he wants, then he will do anything you want." the first woman said rubbing her hands together for warmth.
Belle couldn't take it anymore as she finally emerged from the shadows, confronting the two women. They both looked at her startlingly but curiously as well.
"I'm sorry for eavesdropping on your conversation, but I heard you say something about a man who grants wishes?" inquired Belle to the two women.
"Certainly my dear but what can a poor spinner's wife offer a sorcerer?" inquired the first woman snidely.
"Please tell me where I can find him." she pleaded holding out fresh bread. She watched the old woman lick her lips before snatching the bread away.
"He lives on the North mountain in a large castle. It's about a three day's journey from here, but I wouldn't risk it until the king's road is cleared. You'd die of frostbite the first day or the wolves would claim you." she chided, stuffing a piece of the warm loaf in her mouth.
"Thank you…" Belle respired, running the other direction certain of what she must do at the first sight of Spring. She and Rumple wouldn't be childless the rest of their lives if she could offer this mysterious sorcerer the right price, and she was willing to pay anything to have what she desired most.
A/AN: Please review and tell me what you think! I'm not sure how long this story will be but this is going to be a Spinner Rum AU with Belle in the picture from the beginning.. No Milah and no Baelfire will be in this story! Please review and tell me what you think!