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Chapter 42: Days 34 to 38 – spinning gold

"Now listen carefully." The Queen told Rumpelstiltskin before she would leave him alone in the room. "You will spin al this straw in to gold tonight. It's no use to start before sundown; the spinning wheel only works its magic once night has arrived. You'll notice when the time comes. If you fail spinning even the smallest piece of straw into gold, our deal is broken and your village with remain cursed forever." Regina spoke the last word with extra venom, making the spinner tremble in his fears. She smiled contented and exited the room, leaving Rumpelstiltskin alone.

He looked around miserably and had to fight the tears back. The sight made him desperate. Taking a deep breath, Rumpelstiltskin took the seat by the spinning wheel. He spun it, just to watch the wheel turn. It was an ordinary, simple and old object. He could see nothing magical in it. He lifted his head a bit. There was a small window opposite him and he could see the sun slowly hide behind some hills. The sky became dark. The room became dark. Suddenly the spinning wheel started glowing a marvelous golden light. Rumpelstiltskin stared at it surprised. The wooden object looked all at the sudden new, beautiful, expensive. The golden glow illuminated the whole room. Rumpelstiltskin, remembering the Queen's words, quickly grabbed a straw. He placed the thread correctly, turned the wheel and started spinning. He gasped softly when he saw the white thread become golden between his fingers. He laughed during the process, spinning faster and with a new motivation. So it was truly possible to spin straw into gold. The sole realization of it fed him the needed hope to fulfill his task. Rumpelstiltskin would do everything he could to save Kriemont's inhabitants. He could save his son. He had to.

Hours passed slowly by and the piles of straw were being quickly replaced by mountains of golden thread. Rumpelstiltskin managed to work at an efficient rhythm, never letting his mind or thoughts go elsewhere than the thread between his fingers. He was glad to notice the straw would place itself magically next to him, so he needed not to get up and walk to the piles, sparing him precious minutes.

But after the second half of the night, Rumpelstiltskin noticed something was amiss. He started feeling awkward. He was becoming light headed, his heart started beating faster, his stomach was revolting and a general indisposition was overpowering his body. The spinner shook his head, concentrating in his work. He reasoned with himself blaming his nausea for hunger, since his last meal had been lunch. Besides he had reached those hours when the body begs to rest. But as many excuses as his mind created, deep down he knew these were not normal symptoms. It was something more profound, more worrisome. It was like something went to the core of his soul and took something precious out of it. "All magic has its price". Those had been the Queen's words. Yet Rumpelstiltskin refused to dwell on her taunting words. He ignored the numbness on his fingers, the increasing nausea and dizziness. He spun and spun and spun. And at a certain point, his right hand searched for straw but found only thin air. He looked down and saw there was no more straw lying next to him. He looked around and smiled, realizing all the straw was replaced by gold. The spinning wheel was still glowing. The sky outside was starting to lighten. He did it. He succeeded his first challenge. The deal was still on.

Rumpelstiltskin closed his eyes, finally surrendering to his indisposition. He must have blacked out for some moments, for suddenly he heard the door open itself. With heavy lids, he watched a guard enter the room.

"You did it!" Rumpelstiltskin stared tiredly at the black figure with some curiosity. The guard sounded happily surprised. He took off his helmet, revealing a young and handsome face with a head full of curls. "I'm a friend. You may call me Huntsman." He approached Rumpelstiltskin who looked at him weakly. "Can you stand up?"

The spinner made an attempt but his limbs were too numb, too tired to respond. He wanted to answer the guard, but his body had no energy to produce a sound, his tongue felt dead in his mouth. He could feel his body slide down and he would have collapsed, if the guard wouldn't have caught him in time.

"Hold on. I'm here to help you." Rumpelstiltskin wanted to thank him, but all he managed was a small smile before the world became black before his eyes.

Rumpelstiltskin woke up slowly. His body felt heavy. His head was weary. His eye lids opened with difficulty. He blinked several times, while his body slowly woke up from slumber. It took some moments to realize he was lying in a large and soft bed. He gently stirred and the corner of his eye saw a dark figure.

"Ah, you woke up." Rumpelstiltskin recognized the man from earlier. The Huntsman smiled kindly, although there was some concern in his eyes. "It's good you slept so much. I brought you food. The Queen insists you have to be fit to endure this second night."

"Why do I feel so weak?"

"The spinning wheel's magic feeds itself with the life energy of its spinner. Every time you spin a piece of straw into gold, a bit of your life is sucked out by the magic. It's the price you pay. I'm sorry. But you did a great job! There are many that didn't manage to finish the first night."

"There have been others before me?" Rumpelstiltskin's voice denounced his new worries. "What happened to them? Did they manage to finish their task?" The Huntsman looked with some sorrow and regretted immediately for slipping out that information. He chose not to answer. He knew he would only frighten the feeble man. Instead, the picked up the tray with food and placed it on the spinner's lap.

"You will be fine. But for that, you must eat. You need to regain some strength." The man's silence preoccupied Rumpelstiltskin, but his worries were distracted by the desperate grumbling from his stomach. He had been without food for too long. The Huntsman smiled at the small man's appetite. There had been, indeed, other spinners before him. Those who survived the first night often never got to see the sun rise after the second night. They had been taller and stronger than this one, but they never looked as fit as him after a night spinning. "I'm sorry, but I never caught your name."

"Rumpelstiltskin."

"Wow, that's a mouth full!"

"Yeah, I know. I get that often." The spinner smiled jokingly, while he took a bite of a juicy red apple. The Huntsman was pleasantly surprised with the man's good mood. All the other spinners would succumb quickly and easily into a depressive mood, too tired to eat, to think or to talk. This one was surprisingly cheerful. And therefore, he had hope Rumpelstiltskin would succeed.

Rumpelstitlskin almost fainted of despair when the Queen, for the second time, opened the door. The room was even more crowded than the first time. His heart sunk when he realized he had the double of straw to spin. He heard the Queen wishing him good luck and closing the door behind him. Rumpelstiltskin put his hands on his head. It had taken him all night to spin everything the other time. How was he in the gods' names going to spin all this in one single night? He forced himself to calm down and took some deep breaths. He didn't believe he could spin the first night too, yet he had managed. It was a magical wheel, after all. Maybe all he had to do was believe he could spin everything and he would. He took the seat and looked at the small window watching the sun go down. He had to believe he could spin everything. He had to believe he could break the curse. There were too many lives in steak. The sun disappeared behind the hills and Rumpelstiltskin waited expectantly till the moment the spinning wheel started glowing again.

Rumpelstiltskin stood for the third and last time on front of the door he had become too familiar with. He barely had made it the second night, his body having started complaining earlier. But the haunted faces of the villagers, of Baelfire, had kept him going and working harder. He had spun all straw just moments before the spinning wheel had turned back to its worn out appearance. The Huntsman had rejoiced later, when he finally woke up from his deep sleep. Even the Queen had congratulated him, telling he was one of the few to make through the second night. Rumpelstiltskin promised himself he would be the first one to make it through all three nights.

He entered the room and wasn't the least surprised to see the triple amount of straw compared to the first night. This time he didn't panic nor despair. He had thought it was impossible to spin straw into gold. Yet he had done it. He had thought he would never be able to spin everything in one night. Yet he succeeded already twice. He was starting to believe that, when magic was involved, everything was possible. He was still scared. He was still worried. But he had found faith in magic. And he hoped that would be enough to pass this challenge.

"Remember. If you spin everything into gold, the curse will be lifted. But if you fail…" Regina let Rumplelstiltskin the last part hang. The door was shut and he sat by the spinning wheel. He took one deep breath.

"Only one more night. For Bae." He told himself. It didn't take long afterwards for the spinning wheel to glow in its splendor and Rumpelstilstin start spinning straw into gold again.

The third night stretched out longer than the others. The indisposition started early this time, magic having already consumed too much of his life energy. Yet, he refused to surrender to his physical complaints and his mind concentrated on the thin thread between his fingers. But as the hours passed slowly by, the dizziness got worse, the nausea stronger. His heart was beating rapidly like if he was running faster and faster. At some point, he worked with his eyes only half open, the golden light worsening the throbbing in his head. He panted and could feel his heard skip some beats once in a while. But his mind refused to succumb.

There were moments Rumpelstiltskin stepped between the world of dreams and reality. He would see the faces of those who were turned into white alabaster. He would see the wheel spinning. He saw the faces of his mother and father, Thumbelina and her husband Johnathan, his nephews, Rafael and Humbert. He saw the thread turn gold between his fingers. Baelfire. There was always straw in his hand. His movements were automatic. He spun without thinking. Baelfire. His mind went blank. It was haunted by his son's face. The same image that fueled his motivation. He would not give up. He would not succumb to magic's greed.

Rumpelstiltskin couldn't feel his fingers anymore. His ears were screeching insanely. His heart beats went from slow to fast and back to slow. He gasped, desperately forcing air to his lungs. The end of the thread became golden and fell on the ground. His hand went to pick up more straw. But he found nothing. The spinning wheel lost its glow. Rumpelstiltskin looked at the floor on his right. There was no more straw to spin. He had made it. He smiled relieved and closed his eyes. He did it. He spun all the straw into gold. He broke the curse. He saved Bae. And with this last thought, he gave into the darkness that surrounded him. He felt himself hit the hard and cold floor. The last thing he heard was his name being shouted out.

The first golden sunrays announced the birth of a new day. The sky was clear, a beautiful combination of soft pinks and yellows, announcing a sunny but chilly day. As the soft morning light touched the white faces of Kriemont's inhabitants, small shinny particles came free from their bodies and gently disappeared into thin air. One by one, the villagers gasped back to life. Baelfire felt his arms and legs turn from hard stone back to flesh. The teenager stared perplexed, not daring to believe what his eyes were seeing. Just a second ago the Evil Queen had turned towards the villagers and blew on them a strange white powder. Now, he watched with great unbelief, the small dust particles detach from his grandfather's body, which, he would swear, was made out of stone just few seconds ago. He shook his head, thinking it was impossible, convincing himself he was imagining things. After the first seconds of awe, a horrible realization fell upon the teenager. His father wasn't standing next to his grandpapa. The Queen, her guards and carriage weren't there anymore. His heart started beating as an indescribable fear grew in his chest. He looked around and saw many faces, but none was his father's. In the turmoil of a village that awoke from a curse without realizing it, Baelfire spoke out the words that would bring great mystification the following hours.

"Where's papa?"

Beyond doubt, one of my favourite chapters until now!

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