Pirithous was not exactly happy when he summoned him into the tower that night. But then, when had he ever been happy to be summoned? In a perfect world, he'd have gone on using Theseus as his spy, as it was now Pirithous was all he had, happy or not.

"I have need of you," he commented as the bird-man stood before him.

"Obviously…what will your bidding be this time, O Mighty Dark One…"

He glanced up at him, very unimpressed with his sarcasm. "A little less cheek, perhaps…"

The boy didn't respond, just rolled his eyes and awaited his orders.

"I'm sending you to King George's kingdom. There's a deal I'm overseeing, and I'd like to oversee it…closer."

Pirithous rolled his eyes and shook his head. "With all your magic…why don't you just do it yourself? Wouldn't it be easier to just take my shapeshifting ability and go yourself?"

He laughed at such a suggestion. "Would you like me to?" he threatened. Pirithous remained silent because they both knew that he didn't want such a thing. Sure, it would free him from being useful, but it would also ground him for the rest of his life. He could take the power, but to never perch in the trees again, to never soar high above the clouds, feel the wind beneath his wings, they both knew he'd be unhappy with such an arrangement.

"Sometimes I prefer 'boots on the ground'…or should I say claws," he finally explained to him. "Besides…I'm a busy man."

"And I'm not?!" Pirithous argued. "My father is unwell, the crown will soon be mine, I need to take a wife, have a child, and prepare to take his place."

"Yes, and you can add serving me to that list." Whine, whine, whine, whine! It was never-ending with him! He wanted to take a wife, but he couldn't imagine one that would like a husband that whined as he did about everything. Pirithous had a kingdom to run someday, but he had the Curse of a lifetime to cast and break. A curse, he might add, that would make his rule a hell of a lot shorter than he would ever imagine. Therefore, his tasks were the ones that would take priority.

"Now listen…in King George's Kingdom, I want you to pay close attention to Prince James, stick closely to him."

"As if I have a choice," he sighed like a bored teenager.

"You don't," he remarked. "Oh! And there's this one other little thing that you might need to know. The Prince recently hit his head…if he or any of his fellow soldiers should call him 'David' a time or two…I'd think nothing of it."

"What's that supposed to-"

"Good-bye!" he shouted, sending him off to a faraway land before he could ask any more questions.

He was busy. He intended to watch David himself, of course, but out in the world, on the way to King Midas territory, he knew that it was unlikely there would be any mirrors to watch, or better yet, hear, from. Aside from that, it wasn't only David he was interested in. Now that he was positive the right twin had the crown, and his future, within his grasp, there was another person he needed to keep his eyes on.

He located Snow White in Sherwood Forest. In order to get to the Dragon, David would have to travel through Sherwood Forest, and he half expected he'd meet the Princess there. But he didn't. He shouldn't have been surprised. He wasn't quite sure how their love story would play out, but he knew that Abigail was going to be part of it. Anything that happened, he figured, wouldn't happen until after the dragon was dead and Midas' offered his daughter to David.

He kept an eye on Snow just as he did David. Sherwood Forest, Midas' Wood, King George's Kingdom, and the outskirts of her own former Kingdom…those were her frequent haunts, and now would be David's as well. If he pulled this off, then they'd be on the road for the next several days giving the pair ample opportunity to meet face to face.

David made it to Midas's Kingdom, and so the hoax began. He watched the pair's interaction, but Midas seemed none the wiser that the man before him was not Prince James. Though it helped, he assumed, that David was always surrounded by George's troops, all of whom were in on the trick, and chosen specifically to make David look good just as he'd instructed. But David…he was an impressive man; well raised. He was good. The kind of person that he could see Snow White falling for easily as opposed to James who was haughty, devious, and spoiled. It was odd how one little detail could allow the future to fall into place so clearly!

David slayed the dragon. To his own shock, he did it on his own. Not George's troops or soldiers, not the special team he'd assembled to keep David alive. David himself was the one who did the deed.

With a bit of luck and bravery and another fallen soldier's sword, he beheaded the creature with a single blow. Afterward, as was custom, the head of the beast was taken back to King George's castle. Royals and their foolish traditions…

Because David had killed the beast, that meant that it was considered his kill, his property. At the castle of King George, where the challenge was issued, that was where the deal between them had to be sealed, the official place that he had to surrender the head to King Midas, in the sight of King George. From his tower he watched as Midas and George did the talking, David stood there pretending, convincingly, that he understood the ins and outs of their movements and negotiations, though he looked a little too mesmerized the moment that Midas touched the head and turned it to gold. And then it happened. Just as he was told it would, but still surprising all the same. When the ritual called for the King to spoil the victor with riches, the daughter, Abigail, entered the room.

Words were exchanged, she looked unimpressed at the boy but eventually shrugged.

David moved forward and began to explain something with a small shake of his head before the King swallowed him up in a hug that lasted too long and yet not long enough! Something important was happening! He was telling him something, obviously enough. But by the time he'd examined the room and found a shiny surface he might peer through to hear what he was saying, it was over; the moment, the words, all of it. And that was why he always preferred to have someone close to the action. When the ritual was concluded, he wasted no time summoning Pirithous back to tell him what happened.

"It was a threat!" the bird burst out the moment he was back. "The King threatened the Prince! He took him aside under Midas' eye and told him that the would kill him, kill his mother, and burn down the Prince's farm if he said anything but 'yes' to the union with Midas' daughter! The Queen has been dead for years! Just what are you playing at?! Who is that in the Prince's clothes?!" he demanded angrily.

He ignored his outburst and kept his hands gathered together in front of him, maintaining his calm demeanor. Whatever Pirithous was feeling wasn't his concern, and he certainly hadn't sent him out there to put it all together on his own.

"Did he say yes?"

"Of course he said yes!" he shouted. "What else would there be to say?! King George is ruthless. My parents want nothing to do with his Kingdom and for good reason. I want nothing to do with it! But I need to know who I'm dealing with before I ascend the throne."

He smirked, but smiling was far from the emotion that he was feeling. He'd put it together and now knew there was a state secret going around. Soon being King would begin to color his thinking and since he'd inherited this job he didn't expect him to be as devoted to it as his dear father had. Indeed, Pirithous made dealing with Theseus look like a pleasure. Perhaps the bird was coming to the end of his usefulness as his rule drew closer. He had a brother, and several cousins that shared family blood, the loyalty he'd demanded from Theseus would work for all of them.

"Worry not, little prince. This is one change that will be of use to you. For if Prince James takes the throne with his bride, I've no doubt that the Kingdom will be a better place under his rule."

He'd hoped that words of prophecy might have had the same effect on Pirithous that they had on Clopin, but instead, the man's eyes narrowed. "Prince James, the real Prince James," he stressed, "is cut from the same cloth as his father. That…man is not Prince James."

"All will be revealed in good time."

But the dove wouldn't let it go. He could see that plain as day written all over his face. The wheels in his head were turning; pieces were coming together. But the full story was still just beyond his reach, and he felt confident that unless he talked to David himself, it always would be. Most of the soldiers who knew who he was had been killed. Midas had no idea. George wouldn't tell for that reason alone. And he was certain that David would keep his secret for his mother's sake, and his mother would keep it for David's sake. Unless David chose to tell Snow White, the secret would die with him. But he could see easily enough in Pirithous eyes that it wasn't good enough for him.

Damn.

"Send me back."

"What?!" he shrieked. "Before you were begging me to leave you be, why would you want to go back?"

"In a few days, the Prince, whoever he may be, and Abigail are moving from King Midas' current palace into his new home. But tomorrow morning the Prince is going somewhere. Before I left, he asked one of the stable hands to prepare a horse for the journey in the morning. He begged the King to excuse him from breakfast and he agreed, reminding him again not to make a choice he'd regret. What is going on? I want to know! If that means I have to go back to find out, then so be it!"

Useful information, Pirithous had always provided useful information and done good work for him, but only so long as he wasn't attached to his work. With emotions that strong, as much as he wanted to see where he would go, he couldn't allow it. Not anymore.

"Too bad!" he laughed, with a snap of his fingers the bird was back in his own bed Kingdoms away from here. With any luck he would know to keep his mouth shut. He'd hate for the family to lose their King and their Prince all at once.

I know it seems odd now, but this chapter is necessary for the next section. There were points in this fiction that I needed Theseus and Pirithous to see and hear what Rumple couldn't be bothered with. But now, it is for that very reason, that I need to get rid of him. This allows Pirithous to exit gracefully...until I have need for him in the next fiction. True story, the section that comes after is sort of boring. It's my least favorite section. But trust me when I say that if I didn't do this, it would be ten times more boring. Rumple is in the next section, but it's a disjointed story for him. If I didn't find a way to get him a little bit more involved, it would have been bad, trust me on this.

Thank you Alarda and Jennifer Baratta for your reviews on the last chapter. This is the last of the 1x06 chapters and considering where it ends you probably can guess where we're going from here. As far as this chapter goes...ugh, I'm so sorry for all the movement. It was so stupid. David goes from George's Kingdom, to Midas' Kingdom because that's where the dragon is, then he returns the dragon head to Midas, but for some reason he does this in George's Kingdom, and then he and Abigail travel to Midas' Kingdom again via the troll road. I mean, I get it, it's not really random so much as easy. The backgrounds are CGI and if they did the sane thing and have George and David go stay in Midas' Kingdom, they would have had to create a new background which isn't easy. But for the purposes of this story...yeah...I know...it's a lot of movement for really no reason. Peace and Happy Reading!