He supposed it would do no harm to admit it, but it was a carefully guarded secret all the same. He loved being summoned by royals. Perhaps this stemmed from those older times when he felt like no one was more responsible for his situation like those who were above him, oppressing him and forcing him to live in a way that was beneath humanity as well as him. He liked knowing that they were suddenly the ones in debt to him, bowing and begging and pleading with him to answer their heart's greatest desire. He had the power and he reveled in it, even when they didn't know exactly what they were face to face with.
"You're the Dark One?" King George questioned, keeping his distance by the fire.
He smiled. "One would assume…" he commented motioning to indicate his body as proof. He did love being summoned by royals but this one in particular brought him glee in a way he didn't know it could. King George, the man he'd seen at the party when he'd first met Cora, the time had finally come for him to call on him and he had a feeling that he knew exactly what he was going to ask for. And he would be quite happy to provide it. The False Prince was, after all, a key figure in his plans. This meant that it was imperative that he keep the King just as happy as he was. "Your Majesty," he flung out his arms wide and bowed low to the ground. "Rumpelstiltskin, at your service!"
"That's fine," he dismissed. "I didn't summon you here for pleasantries. I asked you here for a reason."
"Most do." He stood up tall again but continued to glare at King as he moved so formally about the room. Back straight, hands clasped behind him. A perfectly well put together gentlemen, everything a king should be! If it weren't for the fact that he turned his back on him so often. He had confidence in himself; he'd give him that. But his walking meant fear and unease, and turning around meant he dealt with it as a child who thought that if they simply kept their eyes closed, the monsters they feared lived under their beds would think they were asleep and leave them in peace. At his heart, he was an ignorant man.
"I'm not about to waste time. I'm going to get right down to the matter at hand."
"Ah, a trait I wish so many of my clients shared!"
"I need a baby," he stated simply, ignoring his final comments and turning to face him so that his foot stomped in place with the finality of his request.
"A baby!" he laughed giddily. He loved it when a prophecy came together the way it should. But still, it would be fun to twist knives into the heart of this royal and to see just how honest he would be. "Most King's would simply use their Queen's to fulfill such a request. Did your father never take you aside and tell you about that?" he teased as he threw an arm up and began to recite: "The Birds and the Bees? The Eel and the Cave? The Man and the Woman?"
"Are you quite finished?" he interrupted. Oh, now he was a lucky one. He needed him, and so he was one of the few who would not snap his neck for such a comment, but that didn't mean it made him want to help out of anything more than an urge to get back to Baelfire. "Such crudeness. Of course, I know how babies are made; that's why you are here. The Queen and I, we can't have children…Annie she…"
"Doesn't want a child?!" he toyed. If he hadn't interrupted, he might have admitted to him that he knew exactly why his dear Annie would never have a baby. Now he was just content to play with the man. "Well, now I'm doubting your skills at sealing the deal. That seems like something that a King should address before the wedding."
"Of course she wants a baby, you vile creature!" he shouted. "She wants a child more than anything but…"
"Oh! Let me guess!" he begged enthusiastically circling the man. Finally, he came up on his shoulder just so he could whisper in his ear, "Curse."
King George stiffened as he hadn't been before. It was visible and surprising. That straight posture was how he looked relaxed? What an uncomfortable life.
"By her sister," George admitted. "A foul woman who was jealous that I chose Annie and not her. She didn't tell me until after the wedding."
"Ruthless sister," he commented, flopping down into the chair by the fire and putting his feet up on the ottoman.
"Clearly. At first I…I didn't believe it, I would never have assumed her sister capable, but after all these years, I've come to see that it must be true."
"Now that's a sister who would make a good partner." He summoned an apple from nearby and took a bite with a hearty and unnerving crunch. For as formal as he was he could see the King longed to scream at him as he had before. But he was winding down to his ultimate deal, now he was on his best behavior as he prepared to ask for what he wanted.
"The curse…it was something that was drunk, are you familiar with it."
"Well, of course," he muttered, hoping the poor lad felt stupid for asking. "'Twas a former Dark One who invented the Curse of Infertility." Nimue as a matter of fact. She been a very…sexual being, in her time. But she'd had the good sense to be sure she wouldn't reproduce. A blessing on the world, as far as he was concerned. The spell was so simple any witch of even the mildest magic could do it. And once it was added to a drink just one sip would do the job. And a very good job it did. Odd…since Nimue, no Dark One had ever had a child…perhaps that was something that could be passed down through the curse. He hadn't even thought of that before he and Cora made their deal. Maybe it was lucky she hadn't taken it.
"So, you must know if it has a cure!"
He smiled as he tossed the rest of the apple into the fire. "None that is readily known." There were a few suspicions on how it could be cured, but there were no easy answers. Most of those involved gruesome sacrifices no person who ever wanted a child would be able to accomplish or healing waters that almost always had guardians. Better infertile than dead.
"That's absurd!" George sneered. "The Dark One who invented it didn't make note of how to reverse the spell?"
"Afraid not."
"Ridiculous! What kind of being does such a thing?"
He rose to his feet again, feeling, for the first time in nearly one hundred years, the voice on Nimue laughing in his skull. "Well, it was meant to be permanent," he explained with obvious gentility as if he was explaining something as simple as why the sun came up in the morning to a toddler. "Knowing how to reverse the spell kind of defeats the purpose of placing it…"
A rogue muscle twitched in his jaw. "Annie always said it never mattered, but…it matters."
"But of course!" he declared. To a woman it may matter differently than a man and to a pair of royals it would matter differently than it would for peasants. Everything mattered. The trick was knowing why. "Without a Prince of your own who shall ever inherit the Kingdom? Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you have a cousin! Weak, little man; short, pale, balding…"
There went that muscle again; twitch, twitch, twitching away at the suggestion. Yes, suddenly, he understood the significance of that rope he'd seen that was tied from Queen Eva's womb to his head. That was all this was bound to be for him, a matter of the mind, not the heart. As a father, it pained him to know such a child would grow up with a man such as this, but as the Dark One, it comforted him to know the child would be fed, clothed, and well cared for and loved by all others. False Prince or not, he'd be a Prince, and that came with benefits.
"Tell you what…" he muttered as he began circling. "I've got a solution to your little problem…"
"A cure? We'll try anything!"
"Oh, no, no, no, certainly not! But you know, there is more than one way to have a baby, dearie." He stopped spinning and finally came to rest right in front of George, prepared to do business the proper way. Only the poor King looked nothing but confused. "Oh, well, perhaps I should say there is more than one way to 'acquire' a baby."
He brows suddenly furrowed together. "You mean steal one?"
"Steal?! No, no, no, of course not! I'm no Black Fairy! I'm not a monster! I am simply a man of deals and trades; one thing, for another."
"So…you would make a deal, convince a family to turn over their own baby…I'm not looking for a child, Rumpelstiltskin, I need a newborn, someone to raise and bring up without any knowledge of his true origins."
He gave a small bow of acknowledgment. "And so you shall have it. I do agree with you. Children with memories would make for a very risky deal in this case."
"But who would do such a thing, who would hand over their own flesh and blood for mere trinkets?"
Ah…the minds of the royal. They had all the intelligence in the world, but none of the understanding of the world. "Anyone will do anything when you're desperate enough," he admitted. "Leave the details to me. You'll have the child you seek…"
And the one that he needed him to have.
"About the payment…"
"So glad you mentioned it!" he cried suddenly excited once more. "For if you are summoning me, you must know, all magic does come with a price! And it's always such an ignoble thing to have to bring it up myself."
"I understand the cost. I also think that I have an idea of what will suffice. But it will be a fair amount of time until it can be prepared."
He narrowed his eyes. No payment? "Well, it would be a fair amount of time before I could procure a child, then," he challenged.
The King didn't bat an eye. "So we're in agreement then?"
He was almost speechless. They hadn't actually come to an agreement. He never agreed to anything without knowing what exactly he'd be getting in return, but…he could see the King wanted to keep it secret, perhaps on the off chance he couldn't get what he needed. And this wasn't like an ordinary deal. This was a deal for Bae. He knew whatever it was would work in the end and get him one step closer to seeing his son. Whatever he offered would be fine, but he couldn't let him know that. Allow one royal some leeway, and suddenly they'd all want it.
"So much mystery…" he commented, tapping his fingers together as he stared. "I don't ordinarily agree to a deal without knowing the reward-"
"I'll make it worth your while," George pressed. As he thought…the King didn't want to tell him. Well then, in that case, he'd take the price out in trade, after all it wasn't just an ordinary baby that he needed to procure but the right baby. He had a feeling he knew where to look but also had a feeling that now wasn't the time. If time was the key, then so be it.
"You've intrigued me, Sir. You have…" as he stepped forward he moved his fingers at the side of his head, a useless motion to him but magical enough that it allowed him to focus, to pick out the Seer's voice, to think about the child, and to find the number associated with it. Three.
"Three years!" he declared.
The King's eyes went wide, and while he was able to contain his shock enough that he didn't drop his jaw like a dog, his mouth did open a bit.
"Three years! That's absurd! That's-"
"Ah, ah, ah!" he replied, waving a finger in front of him. "I could always make it four." A gamble. His heart raced as he offered it, knowing that four years wasn't right. It was a sign of his nerves that he began to think of ways, loopholes to get around that all the while hoping the King would be silent on the matter. He was. "We all have our burdens, your wife's is infertility, mine is my own, and yours is time. We'll call it interest on whatever it is you owe me."
The King narrowed his gaze and straightened once more. The muscle in his jaw twitched. He was a very unhappy king, indeed. But if he could wait over a hundred years to see Baelfire, then he could wait three years for an heir.
"You better be as good as they say you are, Dark One."
He smiled. "Better, Dearie, much better. You have three years until I return with your child. Be sure to have everything ready or else…well…you are not the only couple desperate to have a child."
"What'll I tell my wife? The Kingdom?"
He let out a giddy laugh. He loved details that weren't his concern. "What you will…I'm sure you'll come up with something!"
"You won't help me?"
"I'm already helping you! Helping you lie to your wife isn't part of our bargain!" At that, he swept into a long, extended bow. "Three years, Your Majesty!"
Then he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Whoa! Wait a second Treatian, Snow White is already born, but we're three years away from David being born?! Seriously? You got it wrong!" Nope. I did not. Yes, shocking I know, I hadn't realized it myself until I began writing but it's completely true. Snow is older than David and in a somewhat significant way. How do we know that? Rumple's crystal ball. I know, it seems kind of strange, but if you follow the timeline, you can't deny it. When Regina rescues Snow and marries her father Snow is 10. After Regina is married she starts working with Rumple on her magic and it is during one of those lessons that Jefferson brings Rumple the crystal ball. It is then with that same crystal ball that Rumple helps David's Dad find James when the boys look to be about 6. There is no way that it works any other way than for Snow to be older than David. Otherwise, he'd have to use the crystal ball before he got it. So, keep that shocker in mind as we go forward. Snow White is a cougar. Get it, girl.
Thank you MissAmande, Grace5231973, and Jennifer Baratta for your reviews on the last chapter. This one makes me super nervous. Not because I'm worried about it, but because right up until I wrote it I could have sworn we saw this scene in the show. I was convinced that we saw George and Rumple make the deal for the boys on the show. But I searched and couldn't find the clip, I researched and couldn't find any evidence that we saw it, I rewatched several episodes with James and David and George expecting to see it...and never did. One would think that would be enough, but it's still got me nervous. So I'm hoping that no one comes back saying "we saw that clip in episode X." If you find it, I'll obviously have to rewrite this chapter and a few other things. Fingers crossed. Peace and Happy Reading!
