I got this prompt from Aurimynonys, who got it from elsewhere… You get the drift. I decided to take Aury up on the offer for a prompt. This one is inspired by:
Duende - Unusual power to attract or charm.
And is it just me, or is anybody else getting a sudden attack of dyslexia and reading that word as 'denude'?
Everyone knows about Rumpelstiltskin. He's a magic-spinner, a deal-maker, a trickster. But that's what makes him safe.
She knows he won't hurt her, not now that she's officially his hard-won property. Like any other shrewd businessman, he'll keep her safe and sound until he finds some other use for her, something that's worth at least as much as he paid to get her in the first place. That thought gives her strength, lets her hold her head high and look him in the eye when he threatens and cajoles. It lets her smile, because now she can see all his tittering and squealing as just that, with no clever threats underneath to dangle over her head.
At least, that's what she thought. But now a new threat is creeping into her mind, more insidious and ingenious than anything she could have thought of herself.
He's enchanting her. Ensnaring her mind. Turning her into a fawning, obedient maid. And if she didn't know any better, it just might work.
It's in the way his eyes drift over her when she's looking away. In the lines of his shoulders, in the curve of his jaw, in the way his form-fitting pants show off every taut muscle from his waist to his boots. It's in the smug twist of his grin, which sometimes turns shocked and confused for just a second, without warning.
There's spells too—he's a master of magic, after all. She's sure that must be what makes her heart race when he passes by her, what makes her draw in a long, heavy breath when he leans over her, what makes her fingers ache to touch him when he's close. His crafty spells wind their way into her dreams, filling her nights with the sorts of twisting, luscious images that she'd be scandalized to talk about.
She'd hate him for it if she didn't enjoy it all so much.
Besides, it's all a trick, and she knows it. She knows better than to be fooled by the likes of him. But if he knows she knows, he'll switch tactics for sure. Who can say if she'll be strong enough or clever enough to resist whatever devious ploy he thinks up next?
No. Certainly not. Better to play along. Let him think his spell worked. Let him catch her staring longer than any proper servant should. Let him watch her nibble at the corner of her lip as his spell plants more unrighteous thoughts there.
Let him do his worst.
She'll be right here, enjoying every minute of it.