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Of Emeralds and Golds

Chapter Two

Rumpelstiltskin actually was a man, well an imp of his word. He always kept his side of the bargain even if the other side tried to cheat him. Well, when they did cheat him or even try, those were rather fun times too. But before all of that, he liked tempting those desperate souls with what they wanted most and then he took from them more than they could give. It was all business and a neat one at that. Give and take.

This was the first time though, when the whole process was going the other way around. This time someone was offering him something, tempting him and asking for a price in return. He snorted; it wasn't a very costly price to him at all. Not the first time someone asked for a child from him. But to be that specific about a child, my my, Talis certainly was very demanding. Then again, it was to be expected from a former Dark One.

Talis was called That Dark One though after his grand sacrifice. The fool gave up all his power for a girl he fell in love with, but that was after he got almost killed by a dragon. Oh yes, he went to slay a dragon for the stupid girl, the girl wasn't even that pretty and he did not even ask for a price for slaying the dragon. What kind of a dealmaker was he?

Regardless, Talis asked for something very small and was going to give him something big in return. Rumpelstiltskin thought it was a good deal, so he went off in his search for that child. He searched and waited and looked for three months.

Every desperate soul that he came across or called upon him, he looked into their children, none of them was a baby girl with black hair and green eyes. Either one was too old, or too sickly, or eyes that weren't the right green, or hair that was more brown than the right shade of black, and each and every time he did find a child, he had to reject it and start searching all over again. The more time passed the more frustrated and determined he got. This was a simple deal there was no way in hell he was going to back down from completing his end of the bargain, especially when some like That Dark One challenged him. So he searched through villages and villages and finally he came upon his desperate soul with the baby.

There was a merchant, a greedy merchant who was going through a very rough time. Business was going through awful times and he was desperate. He was a drunk and a very awful man with an awful temper to match, his previous wife had died, fell down a flight of stairs, funny though her bruises told a different tale. To make things worse his new and very young wife was pregnant and she was very sickly. He already had five daughters from his late wife, and not a single son. He did not want one more useless mouth to feed. He was hoping his new wife would give him a son that he truly deserved.

The night his wife went into labor, Rumpelstiltskin was nearby, he had a very strong feeling, he giggled madly, call him intuitive if you will, but that was the babe he was searching for and after a lot of screaming and long hours, a very loud cry was heard throughout the house. The merchant was in the local pub drinking himself silly as usual, so when the midwife sent word for him, he stumbled home to see the face of his new son. To the merchant's utter disappointment and rage, it was another girl. He barged into the room his wife lay resting in to yell at her. The woman, his useless wife had died on him. He was already drunk and so very angry.

He yelled and screamed and cursed his newborn child. He almost threw away the midwife physically out of his house who was so very scared that the man would strangle the newborn babe. The midwife was a little worried though; the child had not yet to make a sound after her first cry. All this yelling was not disturbing the babe at all, maybe she was deaf, the midwife wondered. But the merchant would not let her stay around even for a moment to check on the babe.

So the midwife left with her payment and hearing the merchant throwing around things and yelling such horrible things. He wanted to throw the babe away, cursing his wives and then he was drunkenly babbling about his loss in the business. That was when Rumpelstiltskin came in and offered him a deal, a successful business for ten years in exchange for the babe girl. The foolish man of course agreed immediately handing him the baby girl, even offering his other daughters. Rumpelstiltskin had sneered, what use had he with such useless daughters of a drunken merchant? He just wanted the babe. Stupid man thought Rumpelstiltskin after the man signed the deal, just because he would have a successful business for ten years did not mean the business would remain successful after the ten years ended.

Rumpelstiltskin was giggling madly and in utter triumph as he stalked into the woods with the small baby wrapped in a blanket in his arms. He got her and soon he would get that book and start working on the curse. His mind was hyper with his ambition, he stopped for a moment. Thinking things through. That was when the bundle in his arms squirmed just a little and a slight coo was heard.

He looked down and moved the blanket away to finally have a look at the babe who had made him go through such a long chase to obtain her. She was very pink, like all babies were, and her lips were pouty and her nose very tiny. She had lots of silky soft pitch black hair on her little head, he smirked evilly, just the right shade of black that hair was. She wouldn't open her eyes, Rumpelstiltskin scowled.

He knew her eyes were green, but still he needed to see it. No need to take even the slightest chance to be humiliated in the eyes of the great Talis. She still kept her eyes shut. Stubborn baby. He tickled her soft delicate pink cheek with a finger, she scrunched up her nose, but did not open her eyes. He frowned and then called out softly, "Dearie, you better open those pretty eyes of yours or old Rumpelstiltskin is going to be very mad. And trust me, you do not want to see a mad Rumpelstiltskin."

The baby pursed her lips and scrunched her nose once more and there was even a little frown between her eyes, Rumpelstiltskin was sure she would open her eyes, so he waited gleefully. He waited for ten heartbeats. Then he scowled blackly, the stubborn thing didn't open her eyes at all. She wasn't deaf, she was reacting to his words after all. He could use his magic on her, but then she would not be a baby of sound health, touched by magic, that would be a deal breaker for someone like Talis.

He sighed and continued to stare at the babe, waiting for her to open her eyes. He decided to bribe her, like all the humans, she must be greedy as well. So he told her slyly, "You open your eyes now, dearie and I shall feed you honeyed milk. You must be hungry. Go on, open your eyes."

He waited, she didn't even move a muscle. She was lying in his arms, utterly content. He grunted, silly baby, sleeping in an imp's arms, had she not sense of danger or self-preservation?

He shook her a little in his arms, again, no difference. Finally he had the cleverest idea. He decided to appeal to her feminine nature. No woman could resist compliments and flattery and she was a woman, only a very, very small one. So he cleared his throat and said charmingly, "Oh please my beautiful little lady, open your beautiful eyes and look upon me, show me the erm…heaven in your breathtaking eyes. If you don't, then I uh…am afraid I may perish with sorrow, I think."

Being charming and flattering a babe was one of the most awkward things he had the misfortune of doing. But would you believe it? The baby, she blew air through her tiny pink lips and scrunched up her little nose and then parted her eyelids for the smallest of a fraction and then closed them again. She did it a few times and Rumpelstiltskin waited with his breath held in, she finally opened her eyes. They were truly beautiful. Such a vibrant green, and quite unnatural for such a newborn. But she had those eyes and she kept them focused on him. Unwavering green eyes stared at him, not even the least bit scared.

Rumpelstiltskin stared into her eyes for the longest time he felt. She might be a child untouched by magic but there was something magical about her. As if she held all sorts of fire in her. He was stumped for a moment; he could not see her future at all. It was blurry. He sneered as he kept his eyes on her, she would be Talis' child soon, that was what must be clouding her future from his sight. She was a clever little thing though, he could tell by the way she was staring at him. He was just about to make a comment about how stubborn she was when it happened.

Her pouty little lips turned down into a little frown and she squirmed a little in his arms and then she opened her mouth. The devil take her, she had the most vicious and painful weapon in her arsenal, this babe. She screamed and screamed and screamed, unfaltering and loudly. Rumpelstiltskin's whole body trembled for a moment and he almost dropped her. He hissed at her, and started hushing her and rocking her, but she did not stop. She kept on screaming, not a tear in sight but she kept on screaming.

He wondered if she was in pain, but that did not seem to be it. He viciously shook her to shut her up, but she got louder. His ears were hurting and a spiking headache was building up right behind his eyes. Why would she not shut up? She was a horrible baby. His vicious mind cackled, let the great Talis deal with this spawn of demon; after all he did exactly what the deal held him to. This was the baby Talis wanted, not his fault if the baby is a human equivalent to a demon spawn.

All the birds flew away as the baby screamed and screamed. How could a small thing like that make such loud noise? She could beat a banshee. Why wasn't she tired already, wasn't she a baby who sleep all the time? Why wasn't her throat hurting already? He walked faster with her in his arms, if she kept this infernal screaming up then he was sure an angry mob would surely start chasing him. Not that a mob of any size or of any amount of rage could hurt him. He was The Rumpelstiltskin.

He scowled at the babe, her face was scrunched up and red as she kept on screaming without stopping. He wanted to muffle her mouth with his hand, but that might suffocate her. He groaned in utter pain, his poor ears. They had started to ring slightly. The sooner he handed this banshee spawn over to Talis, the sooner he could go as far away as possible from this screaming.

Moments later he let his magic take over him and he appeared in the forest where he had that meeting with Talis. He growled threateningly at the babe as she continued screaming and he practically ran with her towards the clearing where he was hoping Talis would be, if not he would track the bastard's house and dump the baby and snatch the book and just leave.

This time he could not sneak upon Talis, hell he couldn't do anything, the screaming was warning everyone miles away of a banshee arriving. He walked in the clearing and saw Talis standing there, tall and proud and so utterly relaxed. Not a hint of emotion on his cold face. Not happiness over the babe, or nervousness over his appearance, nothing. Talis merely stood there regarding him with cold green eyes the same shade as the demon spawn's glinting fire in the light of the torch he held.

Rumpelstiltskin snarled and flew right into his face and smiled maliciously, "Here, oh great Talis. Take your baby. Black hair and green eyes, a healthy baby girl, congratulations."

He practically threw the baby into Talis' arms and Talis although unprepared, caught the baby with a single arm and held her to himself with great care. Rumpelstiltskin was just about to snarl out for his payment, but what happened next made his jaw drop. There were very little things left in the world that surprised him, but this was clearly one.

All Talis did was hold the squirming bundle to his chest with one arm and suddenly, everything was quiet. The demon spawn shut up. Rumpelstiltskin huffed with disbelief and then scowled. What did he do make her stop?

He growled at the slightly smiling blonde, "How did you make her stop?"

Talis shrugged and answered, "I did nothing."

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head violently and asked coldly, "No, you did something. She wouldn't stop before. Which spell did you cast on her?"

Talis blinked once and then answered nonchalantly, "No spell, but I did smile at her. Maybe she is a sucker for pretty smiles, who knows?"

Rumpelstiltskin glared at the bundle in the other man's arm. Stupid babe, tried to torture him, did she? He would one day make her pay for that. She just didn't know it yet. He sneered and then looked back at Talis and smirked evilly and asked in his usual flamboyance and asked, "There is now the small matter of my payment, Talis."

Talis nodded once and them bent down and put the torch on the ground. Carefully maneuvering around the baby held by his arm, he took out the old musty book somewhere out from his cloak. Then he held it out and spoke clearly and loudly, "I, Talis hand this book over to thee, Rumpelstiltskin."

Suddenly there was the briefest and palest of light that flashed from the book. Rumpelstiltskin walked over to the other man and stood a little farther away, then with a quick glare at the bundle in his arm, Rumpelstiltskin plucked the book and jumped away. Talis blinked and asked, "Is there something wrong, Rumpelstiltskin?"

Rumpelstiltskin opened the book with a flourish, flipped through a few pages and then looked back at him, his face arranged to look like a grinning devil. Then he cackled madly and answered back, "No problem at all, dearie. I believe the only problem is in your arm right now. Good luck with her."

The next moment he was gone. Talis sighed and then with both of his hands, he held the warm, squirming and cooing bundle closer to his chest. He peered into the bundle and stared. He smiled softly and whispered, "I believe I just fell in love all over again. Hello, daughter mine, from this night forth you are the joy of my life and I will try my best to be the man who could deserve you as a father."

He watched her captivated, as she blinked at him with eyes that he saw everyday in the mirror, and then she cooed at him softly. He touched her soft cheek with his calloused finger tip, she was so fragile and he swore that he would try his best to make sure she was always protected. She was watching him with the same rapt attention. He hugged her closer and gasped when her small hand grasped his finger into a tiny fist. He smiled proudly; his daughter was a strong little thing.

The musical voice in the wind whispered in his ear, "You daughter is beautiful, That Dark One."

He whispered back, not taking his eyes of the babe who was now pursing her lips at him, "She is. I am a lucky man, a beautiful wife and now a beautiful daughter."

The voice suggested, "You must raise her in the manner that would make her a match for him. She must possess all the qualities and skills that she will need in her perilous future. She must be prepared."

Talis frowned and stated stubbornly, "I will not raise her as a good little soldier. She is my daughter. She will be raised with love and support. I will raise her as I would raise any of the children I had sired and in no manner different. Just because she has a destiny, she will have to complete certain tasks and face dangers, or the matter that she is no of my own blood, makes no difference to me."

The voice was silent for a few moments and Talis wondered if he had offended them. But who cared? He was right and he would not regret that, damn them and their purposes. Nothing mattered when it came to his family. The voice said, "Well answered, Talis. For those very reasons you were chosen to be her father. She will be a very happy and fortunate child with you as her father."

Talis hummed a little to his daughter, who looked a little drowsy. The voice asked, "What shall you name your daughter, Talis?"

Talis answered softly, "As if you don't already know. You are the one who sends me all those visions."

The voice persisted, "That does not mean you do not have a choice. You could change things just as easily now."

Talis snorted, "I don't think so. That would change everything. But all I can tell you now is that her mother will name her. Nora gets to pick our daughter's name."

The voice whispered, "Good decision. Women are better at naming children then men."

Talis chuckled a little wickedly, "Answered like a woman would."

The voice huffed a little and commented, "She is a clever little thing, your daughter."

Talis smirked proudly, "Smart as a whip, my daughter is. Did you see how she scared the devil out of Rumpelstiltskin back then?"

The voice warned a little gravely, "He will be back for her, you know."

Talis answered nonchalantly, "I know, I have seen it, remember? Besides, it's in her destiny. She will be prepared by the time he shows up and he won't know what hit him. I will make sure of that."

The voice whispered, "You are not worried, Talis?"

Talis snorted, "I am the one who left the loop hole on purpose in the contract. I know these things, was a dealmaker before, remember? I told him I want a child, a particular child. I did not specify for how long I get to keep her. I never said I want her as my daughter. He can come back after a few years and take her very easily."

The voice asked, "Why are you not vexed about it? I expected you to be very upset about that."

Talis answered, bending to pick up the torch with one arm, holding it away from the baby, "Because I know Rumpelstiltskin. He won't be back for a child. He has no patience for them as you have seen. He will be back in twenty years or so, long after my daughter has grown up. By then things will change very drastically."

The voice complimented, "You have very sound thinking."

Talis smirked, "Isn't that why you picked me?"

He started walking back through the forest. He made his way back home, to his warm hut holding the sleeping babe tight to his chest. He knew that by now his wife must have woken up and pacing back and forth in front of the fire place worrying herself sick because of her missing husband. He smiled as he thought how big a surprise she was about to get.

The voice whispered one final time for the night in his ear, "You were right though. Your daughter did scare the ghost out of Rumpelstiltskin. Good girl, your daughter is."

Talis couldn't help it and started chuckling loudly as he walked on.