The Queen was making excellent progress with her magic, simply excellent! In the last year or so, as Snow White and her dear father began to travel more and the Princess became dedicated to riding, Regina was filled with a bitterness that egged her on her progress. She didn't like the King, but she was a woman, his wife, and he could sense her needs. She needed attention. She desired approval, craved the ability to be good at something, anything that might make him glance her way. In the end, the Dark One's approval was all she was left with. Her growing talents helped and sometimes, when she wore her tight low cut gowns, those helped too. There once was a time that she questioned everything, took her steps slowly, and it was a struggle to get her to commit to anything other than their lessons. Now things had changed. Now she obeyed every command he gave to her, took risks that frequently paid off when coupled with her desperation, and late at night when he checked in on her in her quarters, he saw her practicing. Better yet, she had a lair, a workspace of her own now. A room she'd created with her magic, ready and full to the brim with boxes for hearts that she was slowly collecting. Mostly they were her servants, nobodies who had seen something they shouldn't, but every now and then, when she found someone was particularly irksome and she could get a private moment with them, a heart was taken. She was now the proud owner of a soldier's heart, a noble's heart, the heart of her step-daughter's favorite tutor, and after the most recent bell in a far away Kingdom, a princess's heart.
And he couldn't have been prouder.
The progress she was making was good, it was leaps and bounds ahead of his own. The curse he needed her to cast still eluded him. He looked for it always, constantly. But so far, there had been no luck. He tried to calm himself day after day. He tried to tell himself that between his searching and Jefferson's searching they were bound to stumble upon it. And there was still time. There was lots of time left to find it, but that didn't change the fact that he knew he'd feel a lot better on the day that he held the curse in hand. Though his books and visions helped him know some of the ways he needed still to prepare Regina, he knew that he couldn't truly know anything until he saw it for himself. And then came the task of convincing her to do it. Regina wasn't her sister, crazed and desperate to please that she'd ruin an entire realm for him. No, Regina was going to be a tricky beast. He was going to have to stoke the animosity between her and her step-daughter so that it grew until she resented not only her Snow White, but the entire realm for supporting her. He had to make it so that the curse was her only option at "winning". For that he had to be sure the board was set and every chess piece was in his control. And he wasn't going to do that until he had the damn curse in hand!
A knock at the door suddenly summoned him from his thoughts. It was a good time for visitors. Summer had passed just enough that hiking up the great mountain to see him was no longer a terrible burden, but it was before the cool of Winter set in up in the higher altitudes making it perfect. All this translated to was "a beautiful time" for those seeking the Dark One's assistance, and a "busy time" for the Dark One himself. He couldn't wait until Winter truly came, and he could leave this chilly existence for more travel…hopefully this season he'd find his curse. Until then…
He heard the knock on the door, but his mind was too busy spinning nearly as fast as his wheel that he couldn't be bothered to get it. Instead he simply allowed his magic to unlock and open, if the fool wasn't brave enough to step inside and find him then he didn't want whatever it was he sought hard enough to be worth his time.
"Hello?!" someone called. "Is anyone here?"
He didn't respond. Partially because he didn't know how. He recognized that voice, he recognized it and felt his stomach drop and his heart begin to race. That was the Shepherd. It was David's father. He lived weeks away from him, what on earth was he doing here? Had something happened to David? And why was he so fearful of that if James was the one he was supposed to be worried about?
"Six years ago, you took my son!" he called, his footsteps as well as the echo indicating that he was in the room. Obviously the open door had been easy enough to follow. "And now I need your help."
Was that it? Could he simply be unaware of the issues surrounding the King's boy and wanted his other son back? That was something he could handle. A simple spell would be all he needed to ensure James stayed safe and arrived back in the hands of his father the King?
"Well, I'm sorry! A deal's a deal!" he laughed, smiling over his worry as he worked the wool in his hand. "Can't give you back the boy."
"I'm not asking for that," he replied. "But James...he's missing. I want you to help me find him."
Missing. Was he really? The boy would only be about six now, he'd not thought to check in on him as often as he had Regina over the years though now he knew precisely what he'd be doing when he got up from his place at the wheel. Double-checking what the hell King George was doing that a six-year-old prince was able to go "missing". The boy was important, he couldn't afford to lose him. Luckily, whether he knew it or not, the boy had another father who appeared was more than willing to help in his search. Perhaps he would be able to get James back where he needed to be without ever having to leave this castle. And a good thing too, he knew that blood was the best, often the most dedicated, to finding what they lacked. Perhaps dear Robert was just what the boy needed.
"Ah. And what would you offer me for this little feat of magic?" he questioned.
"I have nothing to offer!" the man proclaimed. Honesty. He could always appreciate that.
"Not much of a negotiator, are you?"
"You owe me," he stated in reply.
"So..." Finally, he stopped his spinning and turned to face the poor father. "You finally grew a spine…"
"I think I finally became a father," he corrected. "I'd do anything to see my boy...and tell him I'm...I'm sorry."
Ah…so a father he had become. And a truthful one at that, for his advance was often times enough to make strong men suddenly weak but as he walked toward him Robert didn't take a step back. the poor man rocked a little unsteady on his feet, perhaps, smelled of stale alcohol, certainly, but waver out of fear? Not at all. He had to look away from such a man. For a moment he feared and hoped he might look into the eyes of his own father and hear words like that, for just a moment, he heard those own words repeating over and over in his head, one of the things he was determined to say to Baelfire again, one day, when they were together. Perhaps then his son might break this terrible tradition they had in their family. But the truth was that Robert was neither Pan, nor the Black Fairy, not Baelfire, nor him! And, in fact, he owed him nothing. It was a good transaction, clean, fair, and honest. But he hadn't expected the parents to always see it that way. Having Robert here, now, it was proof that time had finally arrived. How good for dear Ruth.
"You know, I don't have time for maudlin stories! And everything has a price," he insisted suddenly, perhaps a bit too loudly. That was certainly not the character that Robert needed out of him at the moment. And frankly, he had a sudden desire, looking at Robert, to get him out of this castle and dispose of this memory at the wheel. Clearly the hopes of a child never really died, just hid themselves well. "Although I-I could be persuaded to help you in exchange for, uh...one hair off your head. Small things can have great power!"
Robert nodded. "Fine. It's yours." Good, the sooner this was over the sooner he could figure out what was actually going on. He couldn't use a mirror charm because he didn't know where the boy was to look in a reflection, nor could he use the blood of his father because that kind of spell took far too long, a locator potion or spell would never work as his father had nothing of his and frankly, following something around in that way would look a tad suspicious. Instead, he summoned the glass ball to him and looked deep inside of it.
Though sound was still elusive this little toy had come in quite handy since he'd acquired it. He was able to easily see the reason the Wizard had gained such notoriety through it, despite having no magic himself. In fact, it had done the very thing he'd wanted it to do. Through this very crystal ball, he'd seen the Apprentice. He'd seen the house at the bottom of the mountain that Jefferson had described and confirmed his suspicions. The old man in the red robe was, in fact, The Apprentice. Somehow, he'd managed to hide his house and his presence from right under his nose. But the crystal, being magic that didn't belong to him, was something the Apprentice could not have prepared for. Of course, he didn't dare approach the Apprentice or do much more than watch him in this ball at the moment. For now, the Apprentice believed that it was he who was watching him and not the other way around, which meant that for once the Apprentice was right where he wanted him to be. There was no telling what he might do if he was caught and gave him the idea that he knew where he was. He was closer than any Dark One had ever been to conquering that old fool. Now was the time for patience. Among other things of course.
As he gazed into the crystal ball, he focused on Prince James and the images that came to it were not ones he expected, but made sense all the same.
"Curious…" he commented as he watched the image of a brown-haired boy crawl out of bed, dress hastily before grabbing a rucksack, and then leave his bedroom quietly so as not to wake the guard who was sleeping outside.
"The boy wasn't abducted at all. He ran away." The images changed, the boy meeting some very unsavory men, men who snuck him on a ship and then laughed about it after he was hidden. The place they'd taken him, an island, one that he was aware of only because he'd been watching Jiminy, who was keeping an eye on Geppetto, who had recently invented a wooden puppet the Blue Bug had brought to life only to have it run away to the same place. That incident had left both Geppetto and Jiminy in great distress, but gave him not a care for there was still no sign of the dark-haired man who would know his son. What were the chances that both Pinocchio and James would both end up on Pleasure Island…this was a situation that would require watching.
"But where he went to...you don't want to follow."
"Why?! Where is he?!" Robert insisted as he set the glass bauble aside.
"In a land built from temptation. And I have an extra ticket in."
In the palm of his hand, he produced a ticket for the man that would get him on a ship that would take him to James. Robert lunged and he was quick to pull it away. A deal was, after all, a deal; no matter how simple and cheap the pricetag.
"Ah! Hair first!" he insisted. Robert leaned forward willingly and allowed him to pluck one hair from the top of his head with barely a wince, for the moment he'd plucked it off, that was the moment Robert took the ticket from his hand. A perfect exchange. "Our second deal is now complete," he concluded stepping up to Robert. Still the man showed no sign of fear or anxiety. Instead, he offered a small bow and muttered a quick "thank you" before grabbing the bag at his feet, dragging it to the door, and leaving.
He reclined against the table as he left and inspected the hair he'd plucked. "Small things can hold great power…" he muttered in a singsong voice, mocking his own words. Of course, they were true words, small things could have great power but as he looked this small hair in his hand over, he was more than confident that this thing, had no power at all. Not for him. He had the very strong urge from the Seer that Robert would be dead soon, and with his interest laying mostly in the False Prince, Robert was of no consequence. And so, he felt nothing when he brushed his hands and let the hair float to the ground where it would turn to dust. Right along with Robert. But…perhaps, because of this, he might get the chance to know the son he'd allowed him to take, if only for one brief moment before his life was extinguished, perhaps he might become in that moment the father that his son's deserved. That was all he ever hoped for himself, that someday, when the moment came he was face to face with his own son again, he might become that very same thing. Someday. Someday.
"Someday...may we all be reunited with our sons…"
There was really no other place I was comfortable putting this chapter. I know we kind of talked about this before in a previous post but, refresher...Snow White is older than David in a somewhat significant way. This chapter, when paired with the 2x05 chapter, proves it. We know that Snow White is about ten when Regina comes into her life, marries her Dad, and becomes the Queen. In the last episode, we saw Jefferson bring the crystal ball to Rumple (while Regina, who it is explicitly stated is the Queen), in this episode we see him use that crystal ball to get James back. From the looks of it, James is about six or so. And yes, in the series there is no way to tell how far apart these two episodes fall, but I wanted to keep it fairly soon after because while "Snow is older than David in a somewhat significant way" she's not older than him in a creepy "robbing the cradle" kind of way. When they're adults they don't look too far apart in age so I couldn't have them be ten years apart. I was happy with putting this chapter here and making them a healthy 4-5 years apart.
Thank you MerlockVonBaron, Jennifer Baratta, Alarda, and Grace5231973 for your comments on the last chapter. I'm interested in your reaction to this one. At its heart, this chapter wasn't too terribly significant in my book, but the meaning behind it certainly is. I think what's most important is the confirmation that the Apprentice is living close to him. How will that be important...you will soon figure it out! In the meantime, I hope you'll think this chapter is okay! Peace and Happy Reading!