"What can you offer me this time, girl?"

It was the third time Rumple had decided to show his hairy little face. I knew what was coming, and I didn't like it.

"I have nothing to give." I answered honestly with a shrug. "I shall be hanged in the morning for my lack of skills in spinning straw into gold."

The little man shook head. "There must be something of value you ha-" he froze mid-sentence and turned to me with a malice grin, "something of value you have yet to obtain."

I raised an eyebrow at his cryptic answer, though I already knew perfectly well what he meant.

He straightened up and with an air of finality he said, "I require your first born child, if you are ever to become queen."

I scoffed and hugged my knees closer to my chest in rising anger. "Yeah right. Like I would ever grant you that. Besides, I have absolutely no intentions of marrying that man."

"He is your king. You can not deny him his wishes."

"Yeah? Watch me."

He laughed then, amused with my defiance. "If you believe you can outwit the curse that easily, you will have to rethink your strategy a bit. The Ingramens are not dumb. They will have placed you here for a reason and would not allow such a simple act of revolt to tamper with their plans."

My head shot up and I stared at the little man in shock. "You know this isn't real?"

"What are you talking about?" He looked at me as if I had gone insane.

"What you just said about Isis, you know about that? Do you know what they're planning or why they have me in here again? Do you know why the curse wasn't destroyed in the first place?"

"Uhh," Rumple began backing away slowly, "look, I don't know what you're on about, but I think you need to lie down. Did one of the guards hit you on the head during the last room change?"

"What are you talking about? You just said that the curse couldn't be defeated so easily. What did you mean by that?"

"I think there's something wrong with you, Lady. Perhaps I do not want your first born, for fear that they might end up like you and then I would be trapped in my own nightmare." He shook his head and ambled over to the spinning wheel. "Since you clearly are unable to help yourself, I will spin the last of this straw into gold for you. Once you are released, please find yourself some help. I'm sure someone, somewhere has a cure. Oh! In fact, I know of a highly skilled sorcerer who specializes in healing. Perhaps he will be able to assist you in your quest for a clear mind."

"Now I'm confused. Do you mean you don't remember any of what you just said?"

"Perhaps it was the sheer shock of my payment that drove you to the brink of insanity."

"I am not insane." I insisted.

He snapped his fingers in a sudden epiphany. "I believe I may know a way to relieve you of your temporary spurt of insanity. If losing your child truly will bring you so much despair, than I shall release you of your bond, however it will not come without a price."

"Does it ever?"

"If, in seven days time, you are able to guess my name, then I shall hand your child's life back over to you. If you were to fail however, I will be taking the child."

Seven days? I could have sworn it had only been it it had been a long time since I'd heard the story.

I rubbed my hand across my face. "You idiot, I already know your name."

"Is that so?" He seemed fairly certain I did not. "If you are so sure of yourself, why not take a guess now?"

The strange thing was, suddenly I didn't know his name. My mind became completely blank. No, I take that back. I still knew it, I know I did. It was there in the back of my mind, but I couldn't reach it. The curse was preventing me from ending the tale too soon.

"Well?" He asked impatiently, happily spinning the straw. "Are you going to guess or not?"

I glared at him. "Never mind."

"I thought you knew my name? You sounded so confident before." His smug grin only fueled my anger.

I was so close! So close to ending this tale but the magic of the curse was playing its part well. As stated in the actual fairytale, I would have to wait several days before I would come to learn his name.

I suppose there was a blessing there though. It didn't appear that the curse was going to make me actually marry the king and have the child. For that I was eternally grateful.

"Just shut up and spin the straw already."

He laughed. "Yes milady."

The next morning, the king was overjoyed to find another room filled with gold. It did not take him long to announce our engagement to the entire kingdom after that, and then there was the celebration. Oh boy was there a celebration. There was singing and dancing on every street. Everywhere you turned there were musicians and magicians, acrobats and animal tamers. The entire kingdom was in celebration of the upcoming wedding, and I hated every second of it. The king kept me locked up in my room, occasionally coming in to tell me how happy he was that I was going to be his wife and how rich the kingdom would be. Then he'd leave again with a jolly laugh.

Every night, once the rest of the kingdom had gone to bed, the little man appeared in my room, and every night, I would attempt to guess his name. I tried every fairytale character's name I could think of but nothing worked. I tried desperately to remember how the princess remembered his name in the tale, but I couldn't. If I didn't remember soon, I was doomed to play out this tale forever. I was starting to get a strange de-javu.

The remainder of my time, I was left alone with only my thoughts to keep me company. It was maddening. Between the urgency to remember his name and the fear that still crippled me, I spent most of my time curled up in the corner of the room.

I hadn't moved much at all since the day I was locked in there. On the seventh day, I couldn't even make myself get up and eat. The plate of food that the maid servant brought in everyday lay untouched on the small table by the door.

"This is the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. You'll never accomplish anything by just sitting there."

The sound of Chord's voice snapped me out of my haze and I leapt to my feet. My anger boiling to a new high as I scanned the room for the source of his voice.

"Where are you?" My fists balled into fists at my side.

"Now see, that I can't tell you."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" I spun in a circle, trying to pinpoint his voice.

"I'm not really here."

"I've heard that before." I said, backing up against the wall, suddenly weary of him.

He sighed. "Look, I'm not here to hurt you alright? I'm only here to get your butt moving. This tale was only supposed to last three days and instead you managed to make it stretch for seven. If you don't get it going soon, you'll end up stuck inside this tale forever. I doubt you'd be thrilled with that seeing as how that would require you to actually wed the king."

"Alright-y then smarty pants, enlighten me. How do I get out of this one?"

"You honestly don't remember?" He scoffed. "And here I thought you were supposed to be this powerful person with extraordinary knowledge of the tales."

"Why do people keep saying that?" I slammed my fist into the wall as I screamed, "I have no power!" Blue sparks shot from the floor beneath my feet. I sprang to the side in shock and stared at the now scorched ground.

"You wanna tell that to me again?" Chord's voice sounded amused.

"That wasn't me." I shook my head, my eyes wide. "You honestly think I made that happen? Just tell me how to get out of this tale already! Something's going on here. We need to move...now."

"Agreed. All you have to do is tell the goblin his name."

"He's a goblin? I don't remember his name. I know it, but the curse is preventing me from remembering it."

I could almost see him role his eyes. "Don't you remember anything? You're supposed to have one of the knights go out and scour the villages for him. On the third night, he was supposed to come back with news that he had found the goblin and that he'd learned his name."

"Well, clearly it's a little late for that," I bit back, "so why don't you just tell me his name?"

"Nah, the curse won't let me. I'm surprised I was even able to communicate with you this much." He sighed. "My suggestion would be to go out yourself and look for him. I have a feeling the curse will help you find him."

"And where will you be? For all I know you're not even in the curse with me. How will I find you so I can tear your head off?"

"Doesn't that sound inviting? I'm here, I just don't have a role to play in this particular tale. Depending on which one you're thrown into next, perhaps I will see you there. Although I will ask that you keep an open mind. The characters I'm forced to play - well let's just say that they aren't always the friendliest."

I breathed a laugh. "The role of villain suits you, jerk. I will take no displeasure in killing you if I have to."

"You sure know how to make a guy feel good."

I shrugged. "One of my many gifts."

"I'll see you around, Taryn. Try not to die, would you?"

Getting out of the castle was easier than I thought it would be. I found the door to my room unlocked, and the knights barely blinked as I passed. The curse was playing its part again. I allowed the magic to lead me out of the castle and down the main street of the city.

The cobbled street was crowded with people, as the week long celebration was still in full swing. Even I found myself smiling along with the festivities. If it weren't for the curse pushing me along, I might have stayed and enjoyed a few of the activities.

My feet led me down a narrow road, leading out into the woods that bordered the city. My legs were shaky and I was exhausted, but I kept going. I didn't have a choice.

Eventually, after far too long of walking in silence, the distant sound of singing and chanting could be heard. As it grew nearer, I realized it was the sound of the little man's voice. The curse's magic finally released me and I quickly hid down behind a large stack of wood a few feet away from him.

I saw him then, still dressed in that ridiculous getup, except for the trench coat which he had left hanging on a branch of one of the trees surrounding him. Behind him, inside the hill, was built a tiny house. His shoes he had left by the front door and he hopped around on one leg in a sort of dance around the campfire.

"I outsmart all the rest!

For come the full moon,

I'll claim the royal child soon

Rumplestiltskin no one will have guessed."

I got the feeling that wasn't the original chant from the tale, but it still gave me what I needed. I had the little man's name. Within a few hours, the tale would be over.

I barely made it back to my room before Rumple decided to show up. He looked very pleased with himself, as if he had already won the battle. I shook my head at his smug grin. It would not last for much longer.

"So, your highness," he bowed low as he spoke, "tonight is the final night. I hope you were able to come up with a more interesting name than the last few tries."

"I believe I have." I said.

"Good, then let us hear your suggestion."

"Your name," I paused a moment and smirked at the naive little man, who was sure he had bested me, "is Rumplestiltskin."

His head shot up and his eyes bulged out of his head. "How? How could you have known?"

"Lucky guess."

Rumple began screaming and stomping his feet. "You cheated!" He screamed. "It is the only way you could have known! You cheated!"

I watched as he tore around the room, throwing the biggest tantrum ever. He leapt up onto the bed and stomped his foot so hard it broke clear through the bottom. My eyes widened in shock but I started forward to help him out since he didn't appear to be able to do much of anything in his fit of rage. He snarled as I approached, and with one final yank on his free leg, the little man completely tore himself in two.

"What the-" I froze and stared in equal bits of shock and horror as a puff of golden dust exploded from the spot where he used to stand. When it finally cleared, he was gone. There was no sign of him. Other than the hole in the bed, no one would have guessed that a tiny little man had just been throwing a tantrum in my room.

Last nights dinner began to work its way back up my throat from the sight I'd just been a witness to. Swallowing hard, I forced it back and sank to the floor. I did not remember the tale ending like that. Then again, I hadn't remembered most of this tale at all. I could only hope that I knew the storyline of the next tale as the world around me began to fade away.

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