He was definitely going to get rid of her when they returned to the castle. The question was how.

Of course, even as he considered such a thing, the Seer rebelled against it, stressing that the girl was important to the future. She was exactly where she needed to be, the Seer hissed every time he imaged something new to do with her.

He didn't care. All it really meant to him was that he'd need to send her somewhere that he could have access to her. Or even somewhere that would be helpful. Perhaps he could make her a maid in King George's castle. He didn't like the idea of sending her to Regina, that gave her too much power. And he couldn't set her free because he was certain that she'd make her way back to her father and he wanted never to deal with that man again. Helpful or annoying, he had let his child go with barely a thought or argument. He didn't want him to align himself with such a being. Of course, the simplest of things to do would be just to jail her, but he found himself rejecting that idea. He didn't need her to be happy wherever she was, but he didn't want her discontent either. She liked books, perhaps there was some library that needed a maid, and she'd never even know that he'd placed her in such a wordy cage. Ironic since he felt like the pair of them were living in a wordless cage at the moment.

They were traveling faster than normal, but then so was the thief. He'd had the idea to track the wand's magic, but he continued to get readings from it only in varying degrees. Sometimes it moved quickly, other times it stopped entirely, sometimes it disappeared completely and reappeared in a place he didn't understand. The thief must have been using it. That was the only explanation for how quickly he was moving. It should have taken him a week to get to Nottingham. Instead, it had taken a matter of days and what days those had been for him and Belle. He wouldn't admit it, but he did regret taking the girl with him.

He didn't need anything more than his curse and magic, but she was more demanding. In her own defense she had made it a lot longer than he would have thought she would without eating, but eventually he'd barely been able to hear himself think over her stomach growling. He'd bought her food, water, had to stop several times a day for her to relieve her bladder behind a tree, though she never complained. She slept. That was perhaps the thing that surprised him the most. As darkness had come over them that first day she'd taken advantage of the seat she'd had, laid out upon it, and closed her eyes. He was almost certain she wouldn't actually go to sleep, but a few minutes later it was hard to deny that she was asleep. Her breath came out even and deep, and her eyes began to shift behind her lids.

He was jealous of her, of that ability to just fall asleep and let the mind drift away. He could do it as the Dark One, but he could count on one hand the number of times it had actually happened. Usually his mind was too filled with thoughts and ideas that didn't allow him that peace. And there were more than a few times that he'd closed his eyes to try and attempt to sleep and found the voices in his head grew, keeping him up. When he'd had Baelfire he'd been so new to this curse that he hadn't thought to miss sleep. Watching her now brought that jealous side out of him. It was one more reason he couldn't wait to get far away from her. He just wished he could decide what to do with her when all was said and done.

Not Regina's staff. There were several other royal families he could hand her over to, but if they knew who she was it might be counter-productive as they might attempt to return her to her father. He wondered if Jefferson needed a maid, or a nanny. He could pay for all her expenses…no, not after the last conversation they'd had ended the way it ended. Besides, Jefferson had proved himself weak enough to fall in love once, he could all too easily see it happening again with this little ball of mischief. Perhaps that library idea hadn't been so bad? Did the village have one? He'd never thought to check before. Hell, if it was the best option, he could build one himself! At least at the village he could keep track of her. And if she took the clasp on her cloak…

A summons interrupted his train of thought. Regina was calling him, summoning him to her side, probably to undo the spell he'd put on her, but he didn't dare move and leave the girl alone even with that clasp on. Regina would have to wait. She knew where to find him after all this was done.

His mind was wandering again as she sat opposite him for another day. He couldn't even remember how many they'd been together at this point. All he knew was that it had been a longer journey than he'd expected when he first departed with her. She was annoying when she was talking but just as annoying when she was silent. He could practically hear her yelling at him even when she didn't say a word and just left him to his magic.

Magic…as if that was helpful at the moment. He'd managed to track the wands magic over these last few days, but it was always erratic. He had the oddest feeling that the thief actually did know how to work the wand and was using it to his advantage, though, not very well. One thing was certain, he wasn't getting any better at using it over these days. At the moment, he could hardly track the magic. He got readings from this way and that. Though he sensed they were finally getting closer, there was no one direction that called to him. What was going on?

Help will be given to those who ask, the Seer whispered in his head. She could be nearly as annoying as the girl sometimes. Over the years, he thought he'd done a good job getting a handle on her riddles, but this was one that didn't make sense. Help…from who?! The trees? The horses? The carriage? Certainly, not the girl! She hadn't exactly been helpful the last time he'd asked her for help.

Help will be given to those who ask.

He sneered at her goading voice. Fine. But he was going to regret it. He didn't need the Seer to tell him that future.

"I'm losing track of him," he stated casually. "This forest is too thick!"

"Maybe we should return home," she suggested with sickening sweetness and feigned innocence. They'd had little conversation over these last few days, mostly because when they did, she continued to circle around to this suggestion. Had she not learned anything yet?

"What? And let the thief escape?" he questioned. "What would people think if I spared the life of someone who stole from me?"

"That there's actually a man hiding behind the beast," she argued, sitting forward.

He could have laughed. Women and their girlish fantasies! It was Zelena and that other maid all over again!

"There isn't!"

"Then why didn't you kill me when I freed the prisoner?"

"Ah…well I would have, but ah…good help these days is really hard to find!"

In the back of his head, a voice laughed at him and said something about his witty response saving the day. He ignored that voice, but only because he was suddenly caught up in his own thoughts.

Why hadn't he killed her? It was a fair question, one he hadn't considered until now. He'd certainly been angry enough to kill her, and he knew that he'd killed people for less. Why hadn't he thought to kill her? Well, there was the fact that she was going to be important in some unknown way that was stopping him…but even as he had the thought he knew this was something different. Why hadn't he killed her?

Revenge.

That was it. He was a vengeful person just as he was a murderous "beast" as she had called him. If he'd killed her then and there, it wouldn't have been half as entertaining as watching her suffer. Admittedly she didn't seem to be doing a lot of that at the moment, but she would. It would be satisfying then. At least that was what he told himself.

He shook the thought away as he suddenly heard horses in the distance probably along this very road. Horses but no hooves. Someone who was stopped. Perhaps they were who the Seer had wanted him to ask for help. Her timing could have been better.

"I think that you are not as dark as you want people to believe," she proclaimed unexpectedly. "I think that deep down, there's love in your heart and for something more than power."

He stared back at her. So this was it, was it? He was the ultimate dealmaker, and there was no mistake that what she was attempting to do was to make a deal with him. Not in anyway that mattered. Not one item for another or a service for another service. No, she was attempting to make a deal of emotions. If he turned back, then what he'd gain was the ability to "feel good" about himself. And to do it, she was attempting to appeal to his better side. The side that she was probably only betting on but did actually exist because deep down what he loved more than anything in the world was his son. But she didn't know that. And she didn't need to. Had she guessed or just gotten lucky? He didn't care. He wanted her hopes and dreams crushed.

He leaned forward slightly, meeting her there in the middle. "You're right. There is something I love…" Her eyes widened as she moved to sit closer, coming in to hear what she thought must have been a secret confession. "My things!" he shrieked, making her jump as he backed into his seat.

The horse's neigh was getting louder. They were coming up on the travelers.

Belle's expression shouted just as loudly at him now, her nostrils flared with anger as she sat back and narrowed her gaze.

"You really are as dark as people say," she scoffed at him.

He smirked. She'd merely had an unlucky guess then. His secrets were still safe. He'd like to keep it that way.

"Oh, darker, dearie!" he whispered as he sent a magical signal to the horses to stop. "Much darker!"

With the carriage stopped, he led the way and stepped out first, taking the bow with him. Thieves made names for themselves; perhaps the travelers would be able to tell him the thief's name or give him a list of who in the area was a threat.

His blood ran cold.

As he rushed Belle along, he took a glance at the men and realized he recognized one of them.

It was none other than the Sheriff of Nottingham.

I had originally wanted to put this chapter with the last one since both conversations were short, but I found that it was better to separate the pair of them. It made the story better, at least in my opinion. I hope you'll share it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Miss Amande, Jennifer Baratta, and Grace5231973, for your reviews on the last chapter. These chapters are fun, aren't they? I was able to load them up with tons of foreshadowing, and in a lot of Rumple's commentary there's just a lot of fun little gems for those of us who know what is coming. "I'm Rumple and I want to send Belle away! But I don't want her to be sad, or go back to her father, or have to work too hard..." Come on, Rumple. Clear as day! And personally I think the next chapter will make it even better. Peace and Happy Reading!