Once Upon A Time
After Dagian promised Bae that she'd stay for him, it felt like things had changed in the household. Bae treated her more warmly now. He stayed with her for long hours while she got some of the household chores done and he listened to her as she talked about his grandfather and the stories he'd told her as a child.
And finally she learned what had happened that made Rumpelstiltskin what he was. They'd come to conscript Bae, and Rumpelstiltskin had been manipulated by a beggar to get control of a knife and kill this…dark one by a blade that could control him. Rumpelstiltskin had been desperate…he had to be or he would've realized that this must've been a trap. Rumpelstiltskin had succeeded and now he was…that thing.
But Bae didn't hate his father, nor was he scared of him which Dagan didn't understand. Bae was scared of his unpredictability however and the threat that he served to other people.
And Rumpelstiltskin to his credit had become incredibly more tolerant with her after her promise as well. He didn't insult her or hang her leaving over her head. He started talking to both of them at dinner and soon they found they were all talking…
It could be tense and awkward and they weren't speaking of anything of importance but at least they were all talking.
And if she was going to stay there then she'd at least like to have an estranged husband that talked to her instead of one that just outright ignored and insulted her.
So they entered their little...family relationship. IT wasn't healthy and she didn't trust Rumpelstiltskin as far as she could throw him after he brutally killed Dauis but it was a relationship and it was far better than the one that they'd had almost a month ago.
Dagian shivered as the sleet pounded against her relentless and the wind nearly blew her over, she wrapped the dark brown cloak around her for warmth and forced herself to endure the last few steps into the main cabin
They were entering the worst part of winter. Her father had told her of her memories of the times he was stationed in the mountains for a year and it was one of the most horrible winters ever recorded. This winter was mild compared to what he'd seen but it was one of the worst she'd ever faced.
She turned as soon as she entered the door and forced it closed; she took off her cloak and hung it up. She wished her husband would listen to her and build a back door so that she could get in easier. Especially during now. They weren't verbally or emotionally battling as much now that she promised Bae that she would stay but it could still be tense. She would bring it up again but she doubted he'd do it.
"Ah, darling there you are."
The hair on the back of her neck stood up at the term of endearment and she turned. There were three men standing in front of her husband. One noble and two servants by the look of the clothes. Bae stood off to the side, and chopped vegetables for dinner. She watched him for any sign of trouble but he didn't give her any indication that these men were here to hurt them.
Rumpelstiltskin gave her that eerie smile that almost made it seem like he was fond of her and held out his hand towards her, "May I introduce you to my wife, Dagian. "
She kept her face emotionless as she accepted her husband's outstretched hand and allowed him to pull her to his side.
"Gentlemen," she greeted. If it wasn't for her own position of being trapped here with her son then the baffled and horrified looks on their faces as they no doubt imagined them consummating the relationship.
"Our little guest here is having an issue with his wife conceiving child. He apparently isn't the one with the difficulty," Rumpelstiltskin told her.
She understood the implication immediately. A barren wife put a king in a very vulnerable position. If he couldn't conceive an heir then it opened the door for several other candidates to take the throne.
"Can you heal her?" the man demanded.
"Oh no dearie, I can't," he started but stopped and tilted his head as if he sensed something, "Dagian darling, could you help our son?"
Bae looked up as if he were about to protest but a look from his father stopped him. Wordlessly Dagian moved next to him, she would've protested as well but she sensed some kind of urgency in his voice.
Rumpelstiltskin turned back to the men, "You don't have a wife, do you?"
Dagian looked at them in confusion.
Rumpelstiltskin's face darkened and he lowered his voice dangerously, "Who are you and why are you here?"
The man pulled out a knife and before Dagian realized what was going on, it was plunged it in Rumpelstiltskin's chest. Dagian instinctively grabbed her son by the shirt with one hand and grabbed the knife in the other and backed away from the men.
One of the servants started toward her and she froze for a second before racing towards the door with her boy in tow. The man was much faster than slammed his hand against the door as she opened it. It slammed closed and she swung the knife. The man stepped back but she caught him in the chest and abdomen. He cried out in pain and slammed his fist hard against her face. She collided with her son and then her head connected hard with the table. Lights danced before her eyes. The one grabbed her by the collar of her dress and pulled her off her son and she hit the floor again. She tried to crawl away, but the soldier grabbed a handful of her dress, forced her on her back and straddled her with a dagger in his hand.
"Forgive me," he whispered and changed his hold on the knife so that he could slit her throat, "We have our orders."
Rumpelstiltskin grabbed the man's head from behind and twisted it so hard that it snapped. She held her breath as he pulled the body off her and didn't release it until Bae was at her side.
"Are you alright?" Rumpelstiltskin asked and then looked at the bodies that littered the floor.
"I'm fine," she pulled away from him and stumbled back. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she was shaking so badly that she wasn't sure that she could stand upright for very long
"Dagian!"
"I'm fine!" she shouted a little more forcefully than she should have.
"You've hurt your head," Rumpelstiltskin moved her toward one of the chairs; "You need to sit down."
She let him sit her down and put her head in her hands. She could feel blood by her temple and cringed because her husband noticed it as well.
He hovered his had above the wound and she pushed it away. She didn't want him using magic on her, "No."
"Just let me-"
"No!" she said more forcefully.
Rumpelstiltskin frowned and turned to his son, "Attend your mother, I'll take care of this."
She didn't move until her son was at her side, "Mother."
She grabbed his arm and checked him over, "Are you hurt?"
"No," he put something from a green bottle on the cloth and pressed it against her head, "Papa was there."
"If it wasn't for him then it wouldn't have even happened," she said bitterly.
"Maybe," Bae said slowly as if he was thinking of the right thing to say, "But he did show concern for you. He hasn't done that since he brought you here."
Dagian kept her eyes trained stubbornly ahead of her. Bae was a child, he didn't understand.
He didn't understand.
Dagian spent the next couple of hours soothing Bae till he finally asleep. And even then, that was fitful and so she stayed up there with him in the loft with a heavy wool shawl wrapped around her frame. Bae liked the chill and claimed it helped him sleep. She didn't understand that, she liked it being warm and that's why there was a part of her that actually enjoyed sleeping in the main cabin because it WAS actually much warmer.
When she was certain that her son was asleep, she allowed herself to cry in both fear and relief. She kept her sobbing as quiet as possible as not to wake Bae but now that entire she could think about was how close they came to dying.
"Darling."
She tensed. It wasn't mocking this time, and her hair didn't stand up on the back of her neck and she saw his concern in his eyes.
She wiped the tears from her face, and felt her face become emotionless "Is it done?"
He sat on his son's bedside and rested his hand on the boy's head, "There were two others on the road waiting for them.
She saw that despite his dry appearance, his clothes were soaked and she see bits of frozen rain melting.
He looked at his son and she could see the loyalty and love he had for the boy, "They've been taken care of."
"Good," she stood and moved to the ladder.
When she reached the bottom, she heard her son and husband whispering together. A minute or so passed and she heard her husband climb down the ladder, "He'll be sleeping for the rest of the night."
"You shouldn't use magic on our son."
"He wasn't going to sleep tonight darling, you know that. I figured at least one of us should."
She looked down and realized that some of the blood from her head wound had dripped down her face earlier and onto her dress.
The faint smell of blood and the constrictions of the dress became too much and she ripped at the laces in the back in an attempt to get it off. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, she just wanted it off.
"Dagian," Rumpelstiltskin grabbed her wrists, "Stop."
"Get this off me," she demanded.
"Alright," he waved his hand and the laces of the dress disappeared, she pulled it off and threw it in the fire.
The chill of the room swept up her arms but she welcomed it.
Her husband wrapped the long heavy shawl around her underdress and corset, "You're in shock dearie. You need to stay warm
She shot him a look that she was certain told him everything that she was thinking. Was this something that they had to look forward to when he was dealing? What if they came after Bae? What if next time they weren't so lucky and he wasn't home?
He put his hand on the undamaged side of her face, "Are you hurt anywhere else?"
"No."
The fire brightened a little as the remains the dress fell further down the pit.
"You told me that our family wouldn't be hurt if we stayed with you," she accused
"I know."
"You were wrong."
"I can see that," he placed his finger against the wound and examined it to see that there wasn't blood, "It's not so bad dearie. It'll bruise for a little while, maybe it'll scar but it will hardly be noticeable."
"Well add it to the list," she whispered and went to sit on his bed. Sitting everywhere else would've been closer to where the bodies had been.
She noticed that his hands trembled slightly as he watched her, "Goodnight dearie."
He moved to kiss her cheek and she turned her head and caught his lips with hers. She knew she was risking a lot with how violent he was and his temper, and she knew that she would regret it. She knew it wasn't going to be like it had been when he was human.
This…wasn't going to be making love.
She didn't care though. She just didn't want to be alone tonight.
He returned the kiss briefly and then pulled back as soon as he registered what they'd done, and searched her face, "You know this is a bad idea, dearie."
"I know."
She felt his hand move from her shoulder to the back of her head and for a second she was worried that he'd give her the same treatment that he'd given the man that attacked them.
But he pulled her toward him and brought her lips to hers. The hunger and need that she could almost taste in the gesture shocked her and she almost changed her mind but she could tell that his need to forget what happened for almost a brief instant was almost as much as hers.
He kept his mouth on hers and without looking towards the curtain, gestured for it to close with his hand.
