The prisoners of the Minotaur were always kept in the very building the maze was. It made things easier if they could simply let them out of their cell and then lead them down the hall to the entrance and lock them in. Though they only ever sent seven virgins in during the week, they always took ten simply because the conditions in the cell were so dismal there were always a few who didn't make it. The cells were cold and made out of stone. They contained no fireplace, no bed, no hay…it was simply a small square room where one had no choice but to find the least cold bit of earth and lay down there to sleep. The cell door was heavy, with only a small door on the bottom that unlatched from the outside, allowing the guards to shove a bit of bread and cheese inside every morning.
The prisoners were kept in the dark, both literally and figuratively. Once caught they remained in their cages with no indication until the night before as to whether or not they would be going into the maze. Even then, the only word they received on the matter was an extra portion of food shoved into their cell the night before with the words "last meal" shouted at them. It was cruel, but the King was a smart man who used cruelty as a veiled attempt to ferret out those who were "worthy" according to him. "You wouldn't want the Kingdom run by someone who couldn't handle a little suffering" was often his response to his critics, and somehow, for those families who had not lost children to his fun and games, the logic made sense.
He'd found out only an hour before going to retrieve Cora that Mary had been chosen as the next day's victim. He'd been doing his due diligence, but with Cora he found he couldn't be two places at once and there was a certain family of shapeshifters here who would have starved long ago if not for the breadcrumbs they ate off the streets. For a little golden thread, they were all too happy to keep watch on the prison for him, and the guards and King thought nothing of an extra bird in the room when discussing the week ahead.
"The girl, Mary…you won't hurt her, will you?"
"What do my plans for her matter to you?" he'd inquired.
"Nothing," he laughed away. "It's only…she's sweet."
The look in his eyes had not been part of his original plan, but love did tend to make men stupid. And he wouldn't turn down the extra help if he could get it, especially if it came free.
"Tell you what…tomorrow, before she's taken to the maze of the Minotaur, like all the others she'll be searched for any weapons she may have on her."
"Right, the King expects the beast to be destroyed through strength alone…it's what he claims makes a King strong, and it's bollocks to expect it from a girl like that."
"Exactly!" he'd giggled before pulling a small, lightweight knife barely the size of his thumb from his cloak. "But with this…the beast will fall."
He reached out and took it in his palm. "What? Something so small?"
"Well it's not the size that will get you…it's the poison inside the blade," he whispered behind his hand, despite knowing no one else had been in the woods to hear them. "That poison is made to destroy the witch's magic rapidly. Dear sweet Mary only needs to get one good cut in on the monster and all this, everything you see will someday be hers. Play your cards right, and it might just be yours too."
He'd laughed at the expression of shock on the poor lad's face. His secret had been discovered, and he was actually surprised by that! But how could he not know. These boys, hopelessly and romantically in love with "sweet girls", they all had the same look on their faces and the same tone in their voices when they spoke of them. It betrayed each of them in an instant.
"This little blade is essential to Dear Mary's freedom, and it just so happens that it's small enough for a dove to carry in his leg as he flies into that maze to lay it just at the door for the guards to overlook and our Sweet Champion to discover. I'll even do you one better, tonight, after she's gotten her last meal, I'll creep into the place and tell her you've left it for her. This time tomorrow, she'll be alive, and the kindness that pumps through her body will desire nothing more than to find you so that she can thank you."
Once more he looked down at the tiny dagger in his hand, he traced his fingers over the metal, and the pressure made it catch the sun and flash in front of them like a wink.
"What would you want in return?"
"Oh…" he'd scoffed, waving his hand away as though it was nothing when he was about to demand the highest price of all. Truth was he'd gotten used to having a lacky to do a bit of spying for him. He was confident there were many uses for a man, or a family with those talents. "Nothing but the loyalty of your family. If I should ever need a favor or a bit of muscle or…a carrier pigeon…just a little help of my own."
At that very moment a horn had sounded from within the walls of the city, from the castle where the labyrinth was buried. It was a sound he was only just getting used to, but one that his new friend knew well throughout his life. A tribute had just fallen. And he couldn't have timed it better if he'd tried. The boy had excepted the deal, he'd gone to fetch Cora, and now he and Cora stood in a small cold and dark cell, and he was ready to put his plans in place.
"Knock, knock!" he proclaimed loudly. "Room service!"
There was a shriek and then a gasp and the sound of rustling. His sensitive eyes could pick up the small girl who had been bundled in the corner, desperately reaching for her flint so that she might light the lantern they were all "gifted" with. Only enough oil for a few hours. That light was precious, he was almost honored she'd lit it in front of the pair of them. When she finally got it lit he watched as Cora shielded her eyes from the sudden brightness, but he simply looked straight ahead, using his magic to adjust his eyes so that he didn't come across as too human.
The poor child was shaking. Every inch of her visible skin was black and brown with dirt and mud, there were dark circles under her eyes. Her clothes were wet and tattered, and her hair was oily and disgusting. The room smelled like shit and piss, and he was certain it wasn't from the remains of her food which sat almost untouched at the little slot by the door. He didn't want to know what the girl had been laying in.
"Wh-wh-who are you?!" she demanded. "How did you get in here?! What are you doing here?!"
"Me?" he questions, touching his chest. "Well, I've come to bring you help! Salvation! You've quite the admirer outside of these walls."
"What?" she asked with confusion, her eyes suddenly falling on Cora who stood a fair distance away with her nose wrinkled. "Who is she?"
"She is of no consequence! I, on the other hand, happen to know exactly what you need to escape your fate tomorrow."
There was an instant shine to the girl's eyes as she lowered her lamp and took a step away. She was crying, and if the stains on her cheeks were any indication, she'd been crying long before he appeared.
"Don't you know…haven't you heard? My fate isn't something that can be escaped. No one survives this! No one ever has, no one ever will! This time tomorrow…I'll be dead!" she cried out before falling against the back wall and sinking down into it. The fleece was around her shoulders, just as dirty and smelly as she was. It appeared he'd arrived just in time.
"Ah…you see, that is where you would be mistaken," he urged breathlessly. She didn't need a clown or a magician or a deal maker. The girl needed a friend, something to give her hope. He could play that role.
"What?" she asked quietly, wiping her nose with her finger.
"Right now, as we speak there is a man, quite fond of you, who is placing at the entrance to your maze a small blade," he used a bit of magic to summon up an image of the dagger he'd crafted so that she could see it. After all, he couldn't have her accidentally picking up the wrong shiny object. These peasants were desperate, but desperation didn't circumvent stupid. She'd need all the help she could get tomorrow.
"Why…why would he do that?"
"Well, haven't I already explained that?" he asked. "He's fond of you. It would break his heart to see you never come out of that maze."
She sniffled, and the corner of her mouth raised ever so slightly. "It would?"
"It would…but!" he shouted before she could lose focus. "Killing the beast is only half the battle. The dagger will work, indeed all it will take is a single small scratch, and the creature will die in seconds. But the King's challenge isn't just to kill the beast; it's to find your way out of the maze again."
She didn't cast her eyes down at the pronouncement of the challenge, not the way she had earlier. Suddenly, in her eyes, there was a strength that he had yet to see from her. She had hope again. She just had to use it.
"You…you can help me with that. You can help me out of the maze?"
"Indeed I can…behold!" he held his hand out into the light and called from his tower a large spool of golden thread that appeared there before her. She let out a little gasp as she looked down at it.
"Thread?"
"Golden thread," he corrected. "It winks with even the smallest bit of light!" To demonstrate, he unspooled just a bit of it and moved it about in the lamplight. She took a deep breath and smiled at it with wonder. "Once they've locked you in and you've located the dagger by the door, tie this string to the door and let it out behind you as you move about. Once you've killed the monster, follow it back out to freedom."
She'd been smiling, but as she reached out to touch it, her smile fell unexpectedly. "But…they search me before I go into the maze! Would it not be simpler for you to just take me with you now? You got in, that must mean you can get me out with you!"
From behind him, he heard a snort, and when he looked back at Cora, he saw her smirking. "Smart girl," she muttered.
"Ignorant girl!" he corrected through gritted teeth as anger suddenly rose in him. He should have told her not to say anything. If her comment jeopardized this…
"You don't want me to take you with me."
"Why not?"
"Because what this spool offers is not only freedom but riches!" he proclaimed. "With this thread, you will survive. You will find your way out of the maze, the King will adopt you, and in only a few year's time when he dies, your family will never live in poverty again. You will be Queen. Come with me, and you may save yourself. Take this thread, and you save not only yourself, but your family, and all the little children who will never have to suffer this same fate you have for the last few days."
Her eyes dilated. Perhaps Cora's comment hadn't been so destructive after all. Deal-making was a lot like fishing. Sometimes all it took was the right bait, the right amount of temptation, reel them in…then let them lose before they took it.
"But! If you don't want it and would rather hide away with me while the rest of the Kingdom-"
"No! No, wait!" she cried as he moved away from her. He stopped walking and smiled.
"Yes?" he questioned, turning back.
Mary swallowed, hard, then found her feet and stood up once more. "I'll take it! Give it to me!"
But the second she reached out to snatch it from him he pulled it away. "Well, it's not that easy, dearie!" he cried out, shaking his head. "It never is! You can't get something for nothing you know! This thread is magic, and all magic comes with a price!"
Her eyes widened in fear. "But…you already said it! I'm a pauper, I sit in this cell with nothing! My family owns nothing of value! What could I possibly give you?"
He clucked his tongue against his teeth and shook his head in remorse. "'Tis a great inquiry, but…I'll tell you what," he muttered brightening. "I'll make you a deal. I'll give you this thread for…that shawl around your shoulders."
"This old thing?" she questioned, grabbing at it. "It's nothing…just an old stained fleece my father once owned."
"Well, if it's nothing, it sounds as though it is a deal in your favor!"
Poor girl thought it was only stained. She had no idea what it was worth or what it really was. She should have been jumping at this opportunity by now, sentimental or not, why wasn't she? Why was she holding it closer around her shoulders now as she looked around the room as if searching for some kind of other offering? None of it made sense! This was far more than enough to overcome the sentimentality it had on her heart!
"You brut!" Cora suddenly called out, moving around him and toward Mary. "This poor girl! Can't you see she's half-frozen already?!"
This was a mistake. He'd thought bringing Cora would be a nice surprise and she'd understand that she was there simply to watch, this was twice she'd spoken out, and it was the first time he could ever remember getting so angry at her he was tempted to use magic to take her voice or send her elsewhere. What was she doing? Trying to ruin this deal? And since when had she grown a heart for poor innocent girls? She hadn't had sympathy for herself when she was one of them.
"Better frozen than dead!" he pointed out. "She has nothing else; I'm merely trying to help the 'poor girl'!"
Cora stared at him, her eyes silently communicating something that he couldn't translate through his anger. What was she trying to do?
"Well yes, but…" suddenly she turned her back on him and faced Mary. "Listen…give him that fleece, your debt will be paid, you'll owe him nothing and have your life, and…once the deal is made, I'll give you this cloak about my shoulders here. Go ahead, feel it! You'll agree it should be plenty to keep you warm for tonight."
Cora was…a genius! For as soon as she offered, Mary reached out to rub her hand over Cora's covered arm and smiled. The grip her other hand had on the fleece loosened. "You'd do that? For me?"
"Well, I'd be heartless not to," she smiled. "A sweet girl like you…with that golden thread and the dagger your young man is hiding now, a nice cloak for a good night's sleep before tomorrow's challenge…you are going to be the first to survive this. And imagine their wonder when it is a woman and not a man who stands victorious before them tomorrow! You'll be more than saved, you'll be a Queen. And your family…one day they will be royalty with you."
Mary's eyes shone with wonder at the picture that Cora had painted in her mind. A smile stretched over her face as she reached up and pulled the fleece off of her shoulders and handed it to Cora. She was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
"Deal!" Mary proclaimed.
He let out a laugh as he took the fleece from her and reached out to hand her the thread while Cora unclasped her own cloak to-
"Wait!" Mary cried, suddenly pulling her hand back. He would have panicked, but as she looked back and forth between him and Cora, her smile stayed fixed on her face and still bright. "What's his name?" she asked. "The boy who is hiding the dagger for me…who is he? If I live through this…I want to thank him."
He smiled as he stepped forward and took her hand in his own to open it himself. "Theseus," he informed her as he dropped the thread into her palm and Cora came up from behind to lay her own cloak over her shoulders. "His name is Theseus."
I enjoyed writing this chapter. Not entirely sure why. Maybe it's seeing a bit of Cora's cleverness or some of the foreshadowing I got to write into it. The fleece, as you well know, is mentioned by Belle later in her section, but it's not really something that will become important to Rumple. But I felt like it was a really important chapter to see Rumple in all his deal-making glory. And Theseus and Mary...they will play key roles in this fiction and later it is Theseus' son who makes an appearance in Storybrooke. Again, no lines, we just see him once or twice to my memory. But I enjoyed taking a character that we only had a glimpse of and giving him a past. Kind of like Margery and Rolf, I suppose. Any guesses who he'll be in Storybrooke?
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Miss Amande, Grace5231973, and Jennifer Baratta for your comments on the last chapter. I'm curious about what you'll think about this chapter and can't wait to read your reviews. I'm even more curious to hear what you're going to think about the next chapter! Oh, you didn't think he was going to rescue Cora from the castle just to take her for a deal-making field trip, did you? Want to know how this adventure ends? Then we are on to the next! Peace and Happy Reading!
