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Chapter 4

The bell over the door let out its tingling sound as Bradley Ward walked into Gold's shop. Peeling off his gloves, he placed them in the pocket of his long black wool coat and greeted Gold with his usual smile. Stretched to his full height of just under six feet, short beard, and long white hair tied back in his usual style, Bradley Ward struck an impressive figure. In the old world, he looked exactly how everyone expected a wizard to look. With his deep, calm voice and spare, unexaggerated movements, he acted exactly how everyone expected a wizard to act. The Farini people thought of him as their patron wizard. When practitioners of magic heard of Renik they immediately called him the pet wizard of the Farini and tended not to take him seriously. Rumplestiltskin still chided himself for listening to these rumors and learning the hard way that wizards who actually went far enough to anger the Farini wizard, never tried to do so again. A practitioner of neutral magic, Renik had the power to work with, counteract, and twist dark and light magic alike to fit his own purposes. Unlike Rumplestiltskin, who made deals with anyone desperate enough to meet his price, Renik pledged his services only to the reigning monarch of the Farini realm. This made him the power behind the throne of the largest realm in the old world and was the reason the Farini empire could claim to be wealthier than even Midas' kingdom. Even though Gold now knew exactly to whom he was speaking, the man's words still put him on edge.

"Ah, Mr. Gold or now that our savior has come to town, should I say Rumplestilstkin?" His booming voice reverberated around the shop.

"Well, if it isn't the mighty wizard Renik himself" was Gold's reply as he immediately hid his discomfort at the man's knowledge of his true name. "I take it you never lost your memories, have you?"

"Of course not, someone had to keep our Evil Queen a little off balance all these years. And now that both of us know who we are, I'll come to the real purpose of my visit." Ward moved closer to the counter and clasped his hands behind his back. He looked like a lawyer ready to present his opening statement before a jury.

"For some unfathomable reason, you seem to have ended up with something that belongs to me". His voice carried a note of laughter as if this was a silly misunderstanding barely worth mentioning.

"And what might that be?" Gold's trademark smirk was firmly in place even as his blood began to boil with anger.

"You know perfectly well what, or in this case who, I am talking about. As soon as Emma does what she is supposed to do, I'll be taking Leena back."

"I have no intention of giving her back, Renik" Gold answered in a pleasant and friendly tone. The angry piercing look in the eyes of the two men the only sign that they were not talking about the weather.

"I am afraid that would only accomplish making things difficult for Leena. You know that what is mine always comes back to me eventually." This statement was delivered with a helpless shrug of Ward's shoulders. "Now, now, do you really have any reason to argue?" He continued before Gold had a chance to reply. "Won't you be busy taking care of what is yours? Which by the way, no thanks to you, I pulled out of Regina's dungeon right before the curse hit."

"I didn't know Belle was alive" Gold whispered all trace of levity gone.

"That is obviously true since you were the one who told me she was dead when I came to visit you in that prison cell you insisted on inhabiting. By the way, I have yet to hear a thank you for the spell I wasted all that time creating. You know that invisible room I set up in your jail cell, the one that provided you with three meals a day, gave you a change of clothes, and made it feel like all the dirt from that disgusting place had been washed off your body."

"I never asked you to do that, Renik. Now tell me about Belle." By now Gold was almost growling at the man standing in front of him.

"Ah, yes, if I remember correctly, when I specifically asked if there was anyone you wanted protected from the Queen's wrath before the curse was cast, you told me that your maid was dead. Not, mind you, "the queen told me she was dead", not "I heard she was dead", not one thing that would give me the slightest indication that the Queen could have taken her prisoner." When Ward turned and saw the grief and darkness in Gold's eyes he waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal.

"Fine, fine, anyway, there I was simply checking the queen's dungeons for anyone interesting she may have imprisoned there when this girl starts yelling that she won't tell me anything about Rumplestiltskin even if I offer to rescue her. To make a long story short, I managed to calm her down, get her out of that cell, and change the life Regina had planned for her to something a little more tolerable like putting her to work with her father at that little flower shop."

"Thank you." The words were a sigh of relief on Gold's lips.

"Now you see, this is exactly my point. You have a chance to start a new life, maybe even a family, with Belle. There is no reason for us to argue over Leena."

"What do you want with Lee?"

"My plans are my business but I will give you a clue. You destroyed our world, Rumplestiltskin, and I intend to raise it up again. Farini royals aren't meant to lead a life of solitude and isolation at the Dark Castle. They are meant to be out in the world as warriors and heroes."

"Ah, of course, you want to restore the Farini Empire, with no one but yourself as the power behind the throne once again." Gold interrupted Ward's speech. "You are married to the woman who was the Farini Queen before the curse. You do not need Lee, no matter who she looks like." Gold finished quietly.

"I am afraid I don't agree." With that, Ward started walking towards the door but turned around as he spoke his last words. "Make it easier on everyone, Rumplestilstkin. Do what you have to do to make Emma believe, find your son, marry Belle, have your happy ending with my best wishes, but remember this and remember it well, what is mine will always come back to me."