Rumpelstiltskin circled the edge of the room, sipping from a cup of very good wine. The main ballroom of the High Castle was crowded for the Mid-Summer Feast. It was one of the few time he was allowed in the High Castle. His domain of deals and tricks, and his finesse of always coming out on top in them, had made him not so well liked in their world. Not that he cared, most of the time the festival bored him. Thought after night fall, some people found the courage, whether real or liquid, to approach him for deals.
He took another turn, smirking at Charming when their eyes met. The emPatron of Justice's/em, eyes hardened and took a half step in front of his pregnant wife. Snow put her hand on her husband's arm. Her emWise Innocents/em was clear in her eyes even as she rolled them at Rumpelstiltskin. He inclined his head at her and continued walking, listening to the gossip.
It was usually the best indicator of who would be asking for his help later that night. But he was disappointed that all the gossip was about the daughter of the emFlower Maker/em. Maurice, who was charged with making sure the human world had vegetation, both flora and agriculture, was also known to be obsessively protective of his daughter. So much so, that in the eight centuries since her birth, very few people had seen her. Charming and Snow had finally demanded that Maurice present his daughter at court.
All were speculating on what the young woman would look like, weather her roll in the hierarchy would take after her father in growing things or after her unknown mother, weather she would remain at court or return with her father after mid-summer. And a bunch of other trivial things about the girl he didn't care about.
With a sigh he retired to a dark corner of the room to wait and see if some mischief would present itself later. Taking another sip, he opened the part of his mind where his gift resided. His ability of emForesight/em was something that very few people knew about and he intended to keep it that way. As he looked over all present, one or two things appeared to him that he thought he could use. He focused on Geppetto. The emToymaker's/em heart still longed for a child. He might be able to help with that. As soon as he figured out a price he would approach him. His mind moved over to Regina. The emMistress of Vengeance/em was planning something against Snow again. He had to figure out how serious it was before he decided who he would help.
He was pulled away from his musing as a shock went around the room. He narrowed his eyes as he scanned the room. The rooms shock and attention was on the pair just entering and approaching Snow and Charming. The emFlower Maker/em had arrived with his daughter.
The others in the room had turned to whisper to each other as Maurice presented the child. For that's what she was. A mortal would say she was no more the thirteen summers. After the introduction were done, Maurice placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and guided her to one of the tables. He filled a plate for her and poured her a very watered down cup of wine.
Movement caught his eye and he sighed before taking another sip of his wine as he saw Regina making her way towards him.
"Rumple." she purred, "I'm curious what you think about tonight scandal?"
"Scandal?" he scoffed, "Nothing happening tonight even comes close to earning that name."
"Well, I find it emquite/em shocking that Maurice would do such a thing!"
"Really, dearie? With how protective he is said to be of the girl?"
"Yes, well, enough about that," she said, waving her hand in the air, "I'd thought you'd like to join me in my next bit of mischief."
He half listened to her before sending her off in a huff with his non-committal to her intrigue. He circled the room a few more time, making small deals here and there. But for the rest of the night, Rumpelstiltskin found his eyes wandering to the child.
Most only saw him as a dealer and trickster, too immersed in what they could get, or lose, from him. They never realized that he was emBalance/em. Neither good or bad, neither light or dark. The world had a natural flow and he kept it. The child was a stone in the river. And his nature was unable to ignore her unnaturalness, it slid up and down his senses, screamed at the wrongness of the girl still being a child.
He tried to decipher the fragmented images flittering in front of his minds eye. His foresight told him that the girl was important, but nothing was discernible. It wasn't until the child looked over and caught his eyes that one small piece became clear.
He saw a young woman. Her chestnut curls were pulled to one side of her pale neck, head ducked as she looked out of the top of her eyes. Incredible blue eyes framed by lush eyelashes. One side of her mouth was quirked in a knowing smile and she held out her hand.
He inhaled deeply and shook the image away. The child would earn the name Goddess when she was grown. He watched as her father saw where she was looking and tugged her to him. He leaned over and grasped both her shoulders and he told her something sternly, then pulled her to the other side of the room. If, that is, her father ever let her grow.
Rumpelstiltskin knew he should stop. This was quickly becoming an obsession. Yet he still materialized in the corpse of trees bordering a meadow full of flowers. As usual she was there, braiding flowers while her handmaidens ineffectually watched.
He sat and leaned back against a tree, ankles crossed, as he watched her brow furrow as she pick through the pile in front of her for the next flower to add to her chain. It had been just over three months since Mid-Summer. He couldn't explain it, but the image of her full grown and the sense of her future importance kept bringing him back.
He scanned the images his foresight gave him again, looking for any clue about how to balance this situation. Something to tell him in which direction her fate lay. Everything was too hazy and flickering by too fast to make any sense of it. Until that one appeared again. The one of her as an adult. It was a little clearer. He could now see that she was wearing a blue dress the made her eyes stand out even more. Her hand was held out and after a moment it beckon who ever she was looking at closer.
He jerked and banged his head against the tree when he realized that his hand was extended as if to take hers. He blinked as shook himself. He couldn't keep doing this, it was even starting to creep him out. So he decided he wouldn't come back until he figured out what to do. He looked over one more time, but she wasn't in the meadow anymore. She was standing in front of him.
"Hello," she said.
"Hello, Little One." He sat forward and they stared at each other.
"Papa said to stay away from you," she remarked, sitting down in front of him. She picked a couple of flowers out of her basket and stated braiding them. "He says you do bad things."
"Oh? If he said stay away, why did you come over?"
"Because sometimes Papa's wrong. He thinks something's bad or dangerous when it's not. He says he's trying to protect me, but..." She trailed off, and bit her lip.
Rumpelstiltskin smirked, even as his senses tingled at the feeling of wrongness the child radiated.
"So you decided to see if the monster was really a monster?" She nodded. "What if I am a monster?"
"You're not." she stated simply. He blinked.
"Oh? How do you know?"
She met his eyes and tilted her head. She opened her mouth and furrowed her brows, before shrugging. "I just do." she finished the flower chain by braiding the ends into a crown. She looked at it for a moment, before shuffling over on her knees to him and placing it on his head. She frowned and shifted it so it was lopsided. "There!"
She moved back over to her basket, and her smile was full of innocence. And it was what let him know what had to be done. He sighed.
"Belle!" The shout came from the meadow. Rumpelstiltskin looked to see her handmaidens were looking for her. The one with a liking for red clothing and the pet wolf was the closest. "Belle! Where are you!"
"Over here, Ruby!" The girl stood and brushed off her dress. He stood as well. "I have to go now." She turned to go but he put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Little One." She looked at him confused and he glanced up to see Ruby's pet wolf charging towards them. He also saw the moment that Ruby recognized him. Her eyes widened and she screamed.
"Belle, Run!"
"I really am sorry," He apologized again, before hosting the girl into his arms. "But I really am a monster."
The girls eyes went wide with shock as purple smoke enveloped them.