Chapter Nineteen

I stared after him, a little disappointed. He hadn't said good-bye. He hadn't asked me if I would be all right or if I needed anything.

He had just found out that his mother was dead. It was selfish of me to feel hurt about the neglect of these small matters compared to that.

After I closed the door, I sat inside the dark, damp closet, getting cold but unwilling to come out for fear of being seen by Rumpel. I didn't expect a fireplacebut some warm clothes would have made a great difference. I had no idea how many hours passed. My candle went out. My teeth began to chatter.

Suddenly, I heard Rumpel's voice outside the door. "Gilo! Where are you going?"

There was a silence. I heard Gilo's voice, high and breathless. "I…I…I was…going to see you."

"Whatever for?" Rumpel sounded puzzled.

Gilo stuttered, "One of the children was…was…making a noise…so I told…told him…that…if… if he did not obey me and go to sleep, I would… would complain to you and…you would punish him. But I didn't…actually mean it. I was just…pretending, just to get the point across. You… you caught me."

He did not sound convincing.

Rumpel, however, didn't question his honesty. "You get frightened so easily, Gilo," he said, sounding amused. "Look at how pale you are. You are now worried that your little stratagem will get this child in trouble. Fortunately for you, I haven't the time for discipline right now."

I waited for a couple of minutes. Then my door opened and Gilo entered. The candle shook slightly in his hand as he handed me a dark blue blanket. "I didn't think of it before."

"Thank you." I tucked my knees up to my chin and wrapped myself in the blanket. It was large and soft, thick and warm. I wondered if Rosalie had a blanket to cover her.

I decided not to bother about that. I trusted Gilo to take good care of her. "I heard you speaking to Rumpel."

Gilo said nothing. The candle was steady now so I knew that his hand had stopped shaking.

"He leaves every night and returns in the morning?"

"Yes. But always at a different time. And then he sleeps for part of the day."

There was a silence. Gilo said, "You wish to sleep. I'll go."

My heart sank at the thought of the long, silent hours ahead of me. "I'd like you to stay a little but you probably wish to sleep..."

"No," Gilo answered and his voice had too much relief in it for me to doubt his sincerity.

I took a corner of the blanket and spread it on the ground next to me and he sat down with a nod of thanks. "Won't you tell me how you ended up here?"

"Your father summoned me to the palace because he'd heard that I could spin straw into gold."

"Can you?"

I rolled my eyes. "No. I told him as much. But he really…really wanted me to…demonstrate my talent."

Gilo smiled bitterly. "You mean he ordered you to do it or be jailed."

I nodded.

He sighed. "I had hoped that grief would change him into a better man."

"Grief doesn't have to change people for the better," I said. "Grief nearly destroyed my father. When my mother died, he used up our last savings to drown his sorrows in drink and hasn't stopped drinking since. My sister and I grew up taking care of each other."

Gilo nodded.

"But I love my father," I said. "Strange, isn't it?"

"No," Gilo said. "I love mine."

We looked at each other, surprised.

I went on to tell him about my bargain with Rumpel.

"Surely you planned to marry someday," he said. His tone was not accusing but I wondered what he really thought of me.

I explained. It was strange. I was used to keeping this intimate, painful thing to myself. Only, somehow I didn't mind telling Gilo.

"So he came and took your sister's child instead?"

I nodded.

"I'm not sure that is according to The Rules."

"I suppose a magic person doesn't have to follow rules," I said bitterly.

Gilo shook his head. "No, you don't understand. There is a set of Rules that Rumpel must follow. I've heard him curse these Rules many times but he always follows them regardless."

"Like what?"

"Well, he isn't permitted to simply kidnap children. He has to make a bargain with the parents first. That is one Rule. Thereare others."

"What happens if he disobeys the Rules?"

"I don't know. But go on with your story."

"I drank the wine from the flagon he is always carrying, became very small and here I am," I finished.

Gilo frowned. "Became small? Does his drink do that?"

"Yes. Didn't you know?"

Gilo shook his head, his brown curls bouncing. "No. I've watched him drink that wine every day for the last nine years. It never made him any smaller. Maybe the wine helps him remain small. Maybe, without it, he would be a giant."

I shivered. How was that for a cheerful thought?

Chapter Twenty

Well, there. I had shared my story. It sounded nightmarish to me now. Had so much really happened in one day? And what would happen next?

Gilo did not say anything about how unfortunate I was. He accepted that I was here to stay and turned his thoughts to the practical. "You can't stay here tomorrow," he said, looking around at the dark, small space. "You must spend your day in the room with the rest of us."

"I am sure Rumpel will welcome me with open arms."

Gilo didn't laugh. "I will bring you more of that wine. Rumpel keeps it in his room. If you shrink enough, you can hide among us and no one will know."

"You can freely enter his room?"

"Yes, I've been there many times. The first time, he invited me in and showed me around."

This surprised me. "What does he keep in there?"

"The same things that ordinary people keep in their bedrooms. Clothing, books."

I hid a smile. When Gilo mentioned ordinary people, he must have meant the ordinary rich. We peasants rarely own books, and when we do, we certainly do not keep them in plain sight. Even after Olin had given me the Book of Names, I had kept it in an obscure drawer with the few other valuables that I had.

He continued. "He had a chest that contained weapons. He asked me if I wanted to take any."

I was beginning to understand. "And the whole thing was just meant to demonstrate how powerless you would be against him even if you snuck into his room in the middle of the night and picked up a weapon."

Gilo nodded. "Yes. I did think about…" He hesitated.

"About what?"

His voice grew softer. "About taking one anyway and using it on myself."

"But you…you wouldn't!" I blurted out. "Not you."

Gilo's eyebrows went up. "I suppose not."

I realized how foolish I sounded and my face grew hot. I hardly knew him, so how could I declare what he would or wouldn't do?

It's just that ever since I had first heard about his sacrifice, I had created in my mind an idea of the kind of person he was supposed to be. And that person wouldn't allow despair to drive him into using a sharp dagger as an escape.

But Gilo wasn't the courageous child-hero of my imagination at all. He was complicated. I wanted to tell him that I had not meant to judge him but I didn't know how.

I changed the subject altogether to something more pleasant. "Dance," I said.

"What?"

"The picture you could use for D. Dance."

Gilo took up the new topic of conversation. "That won't work. They don't understand what a dance is."

"Have you never shown them?"

"No."

I grew excited at the thought of doing some good in this gloomy place. "I could show them if you like. I could even teach them. They would love it. All children love to dance -"

"No!" Gilo interrupted, sharply.

I stared at him.

"They mustn't see you, mustn't know you are here. Ever. It will be difficult but there is no other way. If any of them speak of you to Rumpel, he will find you in a matter of minutes."

He was right. "I understand."

There didn't seem to be much else to say. Gilo went to get several wine flagons from Rumpel's room. He came back with them and with Rosalie, who was crying again. I took her into my arms, wrapped the blanket around her and soothed her back to sleep. Then, I handed her to Gilo, put a couple of the flagons on the shelf, and drank from one.