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Chapter 10: Wanted

It was mid-afternoon and I figured I was about halfway back to the DarkCastle. I had been walking along the road trying to think of a way to convince Rumplestiltskin that I not only loved him but that I wanted nothing from him but his love in return.

I could beg him to believe me, but that didn't work out so well last time…

I could remind him that our deal was for me to stay with him forever, but I felt that would be a weak argument…

I could try to strike up a new deal with him…

That seemed to be my best shot. Now all I had to do was hammer out the finer details of what this new deal would be. I would continue to stay there forever, taking care of the castle and of him. I wouldn't ask to go to town or to leave the castle unless he wanted me to. I would never use a mirror—he could toss them all out if he so wished. All I would ask for in return is that he be honest with me and not push me away…

I realized that ultimately I would just have to wait and see what his reaction was to me being back. If he was happy I may not even need a plan; but if he was angry who knows if a plan would even do me any good.

Even though it seemed futile, I kept thinking through the possibilities anyway. I felt permanently on edge and thinking through plans helped to ease my mind a little—it gave me the illusion that I had control over what would happen next. But what happened just moments after thinking that proved to me that I had no control whatsoever.

I heard a noise, definitely a horse, and then the shuffling and slight clinking of metal hitting metal—like a chain, or armor continuously striking itself.

Terrified I lunged into the shrubbery that lined the road. The trees were too far away and weren't dense enough near the road to provide adequate cover for me. I curled into a ball in a bush and hid myself as best I could.

There were two of them, each on his own horse. They stopped just a little further down the road from where I was hiding. Through the leaves of the bush I was in I could see most of what they were doing. One dismounted and looked around. I immediately recognized the black armor and ostentatious (if not somewhat foolish) helmets. These were two of the queen's guards.

I strained to hear what they were saying.

"It's been three days and we've got nothing!" The one on the ground huffed out.

"The old ladies said they saw her at the pub in town yesterday. That isn't nothing. She's got to be around here somewhere…" The second man said and I felt my heart stop. Two old ladies? In the pub in town? Yesterday? Were they looking for me?!

"Where?! In the forest? Do you want to poke around in the forest for another three days? Be my guest! I'm done!" The first one was yelling. They had already been looking for me for three days? I was glad that I didn't decide to stay in town for another night—they would have found me for sure. And those gossiping old ladies: they did sell me out!

"The forest is really all that's left to search. We've already looked through the town and they said that she was headed this way. You don't think she already made it to his castle, do you?" The second one said with fear evident in his voice as he looked around. I pushed myself closer to the ground when he glanced my direction.

"Well, I'm not going to go knocking on the Dark One's door to ask if he's seen her."

"But then what are we going to do? If we don't find her the queen will rip our hearts out."

"We'll tell the queen that the girl's dead."

"But she wants her brought back alive."

"I know what she wants! But I can't spend another day wandering through the forest looking for a girl who probably is dead."

"I don't know…"

"We'll make a solid story—tell the queen that we were looking for the girl and we found her, but she was already dead. Dehydrated or starved or… or something. There's plenty that could kill a dumb girl in the forest."

I bristled slightly at his comment. I wasn't dumb! But then again, I also wasn't dead, so I guess his comment didn't really apply to me.

"What about her body. Surely the queen would want to see it for herself."

"We'll say that wolves got to her. Tore her body to pieces. We can plant some evidence near the town if we need to."

"It's too risky. The queen will know we're lying and she'll feed us to wolves as punishment, but only after she rips out our hearts."

"If you don't agree to tell this story with me and to make it convincing, I'll kill you and tell the queen that when we found the girl you killed her, so I killed you."

This was a terrible conversation to listen to. There was talk of murder, of death, and the possibility of some poor girl being killed to look like a dead me. I felt like I might throw up, but I knew that I couldn't draw any attention to myself. I had no idea why the queen would want me, and wanting me alive was only a very small comfort after hearing these two guards talk about her ripping hearts out and torturing people as punishment.

I listened as they argued some more about being found out by the queen. The timid one insisted that they check closer to the DarkCastle and take another sweep around town before heading back to report their lies to the queen. And after a short while the agitated one agreed. I only hoped that nobody would be harmed on my account.

. . .

I wove in and out of the trees surrounding the road after my close-call with the queen's guards. I didn't want to go too far in for fear of getting lost again, and I didn't want to stay in plain sight on the road for fear of capture should the guards reappear.

I kept a close watch of my surroundings and tried to make as little noise as possible. If they were going to check the forest some more there was still a possibility of running into them again, but I had to keep moving. Their appearance had already wasted precious time in my progress toward the DarkCastle. I was nearly jogging to make up for the delay and even so I could see the sun was starting to dip below the tall mountains on the horizon and the sky beginning its soft descent into twilight.

It would be dark soon enough and I had no intentions of staying out here another night, especially with the possibility of having company.

I was perspiring, but my quickened pace was paying off. The DarkCastle had been visible to me at a distance for about an hour and I had been making steady progress in getting ever closer.

Pinks and oranges were mixing in with the white clouds and the blue hues of the sky as sunset commenced. I was a mere 100 yards from the entrance of the castle when my body froze.

In the lingering light of sunset I saw two figures emerge from the forest. They were a mere 50 yards farther from the castle than I was—an easy distance on horseback.

. . .

I knew when they spotted me. One of the men pointed right at me and shouted something. I ran, with the sudden burst of adrenaline, as fast as my legs would go. My only thought was to get inside, to get to the castle before they did.

My dress felt restrictive and it didn't take long for me to feel out of breath but I wasn't going to stop running until I was either inside the castle or the guards had captured me. Although they had the advantage of being on horses, I had a shorter distance to travel and a moment's head start while they recovered from the surprise of actually finding me.

I could hear them shouting things, telling me to "stop in the name of her majesty, the queen" and I knew that they were gaining on me, but in moments I would reach the platform to the front door. Then the unthinkable—but unsurprising—had happened. I felt myself falling. As I reached the platform my foot caught on the step, my momentum propelling me forward.

I stumbled wildly toward the door. I threw my arms out to brace myself for the impact but still crashed roughly into it. I leaned my back against the door and took a moment to look at the guards. One had slowed down—I assumed it was the timid one—but the other was still coming closer, his horse trotting up to the door, intent on taking me from where I was meant to be.

"Rumplestiltskin! Rumplestiltskin!" I was screaming and banging on the door. My hand fumbled around on the surface until I found the knob and turned it desperately.

I fell backwards through the doorway. The guard slowed his horse, suddenly unsure of whether he should pursue me or turn back. I landed roughly on the tile of the foyer and I felt a tiny bit of relief as I watched the guard pull back.

"The queen will be happy to know where she can find you!" He spit out with a sneer, his final attempt to exert his power. Although his words alarmed me I shifted enough to kick the door closed.

I had made it. I was home.

I leaned back on the floor and tried to calm my body and ease the stitch in my side that burned from running. The door had been unlocked. Had it always been unlocked? The thief had been able to get in and steal the wand, and only a desperate fool would enter the DarkCastle without permission.

I was a damned desperate fool.

. . .

I thought that the commotion would have roused Rumplestiltskin, but I could hear nothing save my own breathing. I called out for him again.

Nothing.

I did notice the statue that had unknowingly become my savior when I left: the armed horseman with a bent bow and missing arrow. I fished the two remaining coins I had from exchanging the arrow out of my night-gown-turned-traveling-bag and set them on the pedestal.

Out of habit I wandered into the spinning room, expecting to find Rumplestiltskin leisurely sitting at the wheel spinning, but the room was painfully empty.

Everything seemed to be exactly as it was when I had left. There was a little bit less straw in the basket at the wheel, but the book I had read aloud to Rumplestiltskin was still sitting on the cold, dark hearth. I noticed that the mirror had been covered up again. I was tempted to take off its cover and have a little chat with the queen, but from what I could tell it was a one-way means of communication.

I continued to wander through the remaining rooms on the ground level hoping that maybe I would find Rumplestiltskin resting in a chair or having tea in the dining room, but I had no such luck. The kitchen, the library, the lounge, the dining room: all empty. He must have been out on business.

I sat morosely at the dining room table in what was typically my chair. I could see that some items had already begun collecting a fine layer of dust. I looked around at the various trinkets and noticed that something was different.

On a pedestal where there used to be a large and ornately decorated golden chalice there was a small, elegant—yet simple—tea cup.

I crossed the room and upon further inspection I had no doubt in my mind that this was the very cup that I had chipped my first day at the DarkCastle.

I thought it curious that it should be on a pedestal instead of in the kitchen. On my second glance about the room I noticed that the glass cabinet which housed many of the trinkets that were a bit more delicate had several empty spots and the doors to the cabinet appeared to have been ripped right off.

What in the world happened here?

I hoped that there hadn't been another thief. Nervous that if a thief had come here he might still be in the castle, I took a spear from one of the suits of armor and quietly surveyed the ground floor again. Once I felt satisfied that it was clear, I continued systematically searching the castle for an intruder but more hopefully for Rumplestiltskin.

My search ended at the dungeon. My room. The mat, blanket, and pillow I slept with were still in the room. So was the tray for tea with the tea pot, the plate my toast had been on, and an empty saucer—the cup, as I had already seen, was in the dining room.

I finally took the night-gown/bag off of my shoulder, untied it, and lay it on my blanket. It would be far more comfortable to sleep in that than to continue sleeping in my day clothes.

. . .

I had ended up back on the second floor and gasped at the wreckage I apparently overlooked while searching for an intruder.

Something must have made Rumplestiltskin very, very angry. There were bits of smashed glassware, overturned furniture, torn fabrics, and all manner of mess. I threw what I could in the bin, straightened his bed sheets, and put his soiled clothes in the laundry basket.

The best thing I could do while waiting for Rumplestiltskin to return was to get some of my chores done. If nothing else, it might show him that I truly wanted to stay. Once I felt that his room was adequately straightened, I picked up the laundry and headed for the basement.

I lit a fire in the lounge once the clothes had been washed, and hung them on the line as I always did. As I looked about the lounge I found a book about cooking near the chaise.

I sat down and began flipping through the pages. It was calming and comfortable to be back to my routine. It almost felt as though I had never left and the last three days had been nothing but a bad dream.

The comfort I suddenly felt had made me unaware that someone had entered the castle, traversed through the halls, and stood silently in the doorway to the lounge.

By the time I had realized I wasn't alone it was too late. I was immobilized. Completely unable to move or speak.