David and James stared at the strange man in the corner. "Who the hell are you and what do you want" David asked. The man laughed stood up and bowed. "Rumpelstiltskin at your service your highness and it's not about what I want. It's about what you need" Rumpelstiltskin said. The brothers looked at each other. Of course they had known of the dark one. Their parents had told them about him and that he was not to be trusted under any circumstances. David pulled out James's sword and pointed it at Rumpelstiltskin. "We want nothing from you. Leave now" David demanded angrily. Rumpelstiltskin just laughed. "So much anger. You sounded just like your father. He would be proud or then again it's you so probably not" Rumpelstiltskin said laughing. That pissed David off. He charged at the dark one and pinned him against the wall. He held the sword to the dark one's throat. "David don't" James called out from his place in the bed. "I am nothing like my father and never will be" David said ignoring James.
"Of course your like him. His blood runs through your veins whether you like it or not" Rumpelstiltskin said pushing David off of him. He walked over to James who started coughing. "I'm not here about dear old dad though. I'm here about your brother" he said patting James on the back as he continued to cough. "Stay away from him" David said once again pointing the sword at the dark one. Rumpelstiltskin just laughed again. "King Midas has the cure for your brother. He needs someone to slay a vicious beast for him" Rumpelstiltskin said. "He's not slaying any beast for you" James answered. "What type of beast" David asked. James looked at David shocked. "David no. Remember what mom said. You can't make a deal with the dark one" James said. "The big ferocious kind" Rumpelstiltskin answered David's question. "You can save your brother. King Midas would give you the cure if you killed this beast for him. This is your brother's only salvation. Simply kill the beast" the dark one said.
"David don't agree to this deal. It's a trick" James said. "Yes turn me away but then your brother dies and you are left with your mother and your father who quite frankly hates your guts. Also you'll be left the knowledge that you could have saved your brother and chose not to. If you agree the kings knights will show you where this beast is. All you need you to do is deliver the beast's head to Midas" Rumpelstiltskin said. David thought about all of this. The dark one did have a point. His mother couldn't find a way to save James. This was the only way and he wasn't going to lose his brother. David lowered the sword. "Just one question. What's in it for you" he asked walking closer to Rumpelstiltskin. "That's my business. You should be more concerned with what you get out of this deal. "You do this, your poor brother over here is saved" Rumpelstiltskin said patting James on the back again. "That's only if King Midas hands over the cure and stop touching me" James said to Rumpelstiltskin.
"The King will hand over the cure. I'll make sure of it" Rumpelstiltskin said. David thought about it again. This was a pretty good deal. He knows his mother said never to trust the dark one but this could save James's life and that's all he cared about. "Your brother will be saved and you, should you survive, you will be the one who saved your family. Now don't tell me you don't want that" Rumpelstiltskin said. "He's lying David. There's something he's not telling us" James said. Rumpelstiltskin waved the hand that was behind his back out of David's sight and James started coughing uncontrollably. "James" David yelled running up to his brother. Rumpelstiltskin looked at the naïve prince expectantly. James finally stopped coughing. "I don't have a choice, do I" David asked. "Everyone has a choice, dearie. Just make the right one" Rumpelstiltskin said. David nodded his head. "Fine you have a deal" he said. James shook his head. "David no I don't want to be saved like this" he said.
"James I have to do this. If I don't you will die and I can't lose you" he said. He turned back to Rumpelstiltskin. "I accept your deal" he said. Rumpelstiltskin smiled and clapped. "Perfect" he said. "There's only one problem. My father put a power dampening spell on me. I can't use my powers" David said. Rumpelstiltskin laughed. "That's not a problem. That's a easy fix" he said and he waved his hand at David. David felt his powers coming back to him. "There you go. Now you can use all of your powers" Rumpelstiltskin said. David nodded. He turned to James. "I'm going to come back with the cure" David said leaving the room. "There's one more thing" Rumpelstiltskin said. David stopped in the hallway and turned around. "Don't let anyone know your actually a dragon. They will kill you" Rumpelstiltskin said. David nodded and ran down the hall. Rumpelstiltskin stood there smiling. "If anything bad happens to David because of this I swear I will hunt you down and make you pay for hurting him" James said.
Rumpelstiltskin turned around and walked over to James. He smiled at him. "Don't worry you and your brother will be fine. Nothing is going to hurt him. I am a man of my word after all" Rumpelstiltskin said and smiled at James with a smile that creeped him out. He didn't trust this little imp and if David was hurt it wasn't going to be good for the dark one James would make sure of it. Rumpelstiltskin just kept smiling at the injured prince. This was too easy like taking candy from a baby. Now all he had to do was wait for David to get back with the cure. Rumpelstiltskin disappeared leaving James worried for his brother and hoping this wasn't some trick and they didn't just get played.