On the day a hræsvelgr had appeared on the horizon, the denizens of St. Claes had been curious at first, followed by confused as it had neared the castle, and finally concerned as it had made to land inside the walls. Unlike Viren though, this massive bird had no intentions of wreaking havoc upon them. Thankfully, Demeer had sent plenty of warning about this hræsvelgr including that his name was Aethon, and a companion to Avonlea's new court mage. So, instead of panic, a small group made up of Rumple, King Maurice, Belle, Estienne and a few servants had gathered to greet their new arrival.

Aethon had gargantuan wings of blue feathers which lightened towards the edges, and an eagle-like head. He was easily taller than the portcullis and could surely inflict a great deal of harm and damage in only a few moments should the mood take him. Aethon wasn't the sort of bird to be trifled with for sure.

The creature lowered one wing after a few moments so a woman wearing an excessively large witch's hat could slid down to the ground. She petted Aethon's feathers a moment in thanks then turned her attention to King Maurice and his small entourage. This was the new court mage then. Demeer had told Maurice two things about her beyond her name; the first was that her choice of clothing might have been considered too risqué for the more reserved of people, while the second was that she was somewhat lax in her etiquette. Frankly nobody had cared all that much, as long as she wasn't insane or evil like Haldor Tvon had been, that was good enough for Avonlea.

She strode towards them with calculated steps in a dress of black and red leather which happily showed off her large cleavage and a short cape of the same material. Her hair hung golden from under that large hat and her amber eyes could surely bore a hold into a man if angered. Something about this woman reminded Rumple rather strongly of Regina; perhaps it was the stern expression or simply the red lipstick so dark it may as well have been black.

"King Maurice," she began with a lowering of her head rather than the traditional bow or curtsy – lax in her etiquette indeed. "I am Flavia Rudbeckia, your new court mage here on the Grand Mage's orders." She lifted her head and proffered a small scroll which were her written orders no doubt. "I am honored to serve you and Avonlea."

Maurice took the scroll bearing Demeer's hamster seal and unfurled it, read the document quickly then passed it to Estienne for his perusal. It was about time the kingdom got a new court mage, especially after the tower had been rebuilt and risk of dragons attacking had been nullified.

"We are pleased to have you. I hope you do my kingdom proud, Lady Flavia."

"As do I."

Many royals might have been irked by the lack of a 'your highness' on the end or the way Flavia met his eyes but, with Demeer's insistence on just how competent a mage she was, and the fact his daughter had just married a demon lord of all things, Maurice couldn't have cared less about a touch of premature familiarity. He'd been told fire was Flavia's forte and judging by her dress and fiery nature, had no reason to doubt it.

Maurice gesture to Estienne who'd still been reading the document. "This is Estienne, he is my marshal, please direct any issues or questions you have to him. This beauty is Princess Belle, my daughter." Belle offered a polite smile. "And this is Rumpelstiltskin -"

"The famous Dark One." She finished for him. Yes, she certainly reminded Rumple of Regina but he'd not go corrupting Flavia the way he had with her. "I have much I would like to learn from you, My Lord." Oh, so he got some proper etiquette. "Mostly your potion craft methods. The Grand Mage spoke so very highly of your skills."

"I don't do show and tell, dearie."

Belle rolled her eyes. "Forgive my husband, he thinks he's funny. I've had the maids ready the tower for you and stocked the workroom. I hope it will be to your liking. I'm sure Estienne can find a suitable place for your hræsvelgr to call home."

"Very kind, thank you. I would like to asses the damage to the castle's warding as my first act. I'm sure the Dark One has thoroughly increased security, but I'd like to examine it myself for my own peace of mind."

Since it was a perfectly understandable request, Maurice had allowed it and Flavia had soon gotten to work with Estienne as her tour guide. While Flavia's arrival had certainly been a good thing, it meant that Rumple had lost his quiet place to work and would have to source a new one. That was most of the reason he'd ended up with the Dark Castle, it had doubled as a monster's lair and quiet, though lonely, place to work and spin. Living out his days at Kalecaster Castle didn't seem viable either, the Church would use it as a reason to go after control of Avonlea and Rumple had no desire to live with his father-in-law. Maybe he'd take over Rutherford Tower to ensure no demon lord worshippers got the idea of trying to open up another portal. Unfortunately, that place wasn't designed for a family to inhabit. Ah well, that was a problem for another day's Rumpelstiltskin.

~X~

While Flavia got settled, Maurice saw to correspondence and Belle indulged in reading to the children, Rumple had gone in search of the Hatter. The man had been beyond patient with Rumple when it came finally getting that portal open, and Rumple respected him for staying as strong as he had. However, it had been Phria who'd given her husband an idea, and that had been purely at random.

Jefferson hadn't been all that difficult to find, he'd hold himself up as of late in his rooms sewing new hats as some kind of coping tactic. Rumple threw open the door and sauntered in as though he owned the place all while Jefferson carefully cut fabric with a pair of silver scissors. By this point there were six completed top hats lined up neatly on a worktable, one of which had been made of deadman's silk and actually intrigued Rumple due to the magical possibilities such a combination could result in.

"Hiding from your wives already, Rumple?"

He breathed out a laugh. "Not quite, dearie. The new court mage has finally arrived. Imagine the Evil Queen but blonde."

"Scary beyond all reason then." He mused without looking up.

"Regina has never been scary, dearie, certainly not beyond all reason."

Jefferson hummed in agreement. "Maybe a blonde Queen of Hearts then?"

Rumple had absolutely no desire to hear, think or talk about Cora if he could at all help it. The woman once been special but that had turned into a dim and distant memory long ago. Just a mistake of the past and nothing more.

"The new court mage isn't why I came," he said swiftly to move the topic along. "I thought you might be interested to know that I have an idea of how to power the portal."

Jefferson stopped dead at that, swallowed audibly then spun around to face Rumple with a desperate look in his eyes. Grace had been alone so long with only her caretaker for company and protection; how lonely she must have been, how scared.

"Tell me!"

Rumple hated that desperate look for it reminded him of the centuries of desperation he'd felt while searching for Bae.

"It was something Phria said that got me thinking. The other Dark One who was here used darkness dragons by the bucket full, Tvon used a plethora of Halinox's artefacts. While Phria agreed to have the Valkyries search the Lost Island of Zoniroh, that doesn't seem practical. Yet, that is only three of the four demon lords. Ravavena is very much alive and contained in Akula Prison. She's filled with dark magic and just sat there, so why don't we use her?"

"We could do that?"

"Sure, dearie," Rumple shrugged. "She is just sat there after all."

It was as though the sun had risen for Jefferson, Rumple actually saw the man's mood brighten as he again found hope to cling to. Long ago Jefferson had cared about little other than gold and fun, but then he'd married and had Grace. The moment that girl had been born Jefferson had begun living for her; Rumple had felt much the same the day he'd first held Bae in his arms. Cut off from the Darkness and having made a promise to his son, Rumple knew he'd reunite Jefferson and Grace without seeking a deal as it was the right thing to do and he was way overdue for a few positive acts.

So, with a light at the end of the tunnel, Rumple and Jefferson began to put into motion their plan to gain access to Akula Prison and haul Ravavena across Dreymyr to Avonlea. The plan may have sounded simple enough, but there was a great quantity of red tape to get through and Demeer would have to approve it all first as he had authority over the prison despite it being located in Worynheim.

Meanwhile, Maurice had been under pressure repeatedly by the Church to out the Dark One and 'do what was right' for his people. Of course Maurice had ignored the Church for the most part, but he knew that the more people in positions of authority on his side, the less likely the Church would be to do something brazen and deadly.

That was how Rumple, Belle and Phria were invited into a chamber only the King have ever entered before. This chamber was known among the castle's servants only as the 'mirror room' for good reason. Inside was a fairly large circular room of gray stone with ten rectangular blocks seemingly fashioned of marble free-standing in a semi-circle. These structures resembled cheval mirrors and stood at at least seven feet. The mirror room was an apt name, but Maurice preferred the name his father had used; the Conference Hall. It was soon explained that these structures were actually large versions of the communication crystals Rumple had seen elsewhere – most notable by the Watchers in the Osgar Hall Caverns – and used primarily to converse with other royals.

Rumple hadn't been surprised to learn of their purpose, not when he'd felt the magic contained within them. However, it was why he and his new brides had been summoned that held his attention. In the mirrors were numerous people. He recognized some while others were unknown to him. The mirror closest showed Demeer in some darkened room lit only by sconces with Vice-Captain Ravenscroft over his left shoulder, while the two central ones revealed King Artem with his son, and Prince Horatio with, who Rumple assumed, was his father King Nathaniel. Then there was the one at the far end which showed King Gasper who'd returned to Greenwood shortly after the wedding. Everybody else was clearly royalty judging by the crowns, but Rumple couldn't name them. Maurice introduced those unfamiliar to Rumple from left to right: Benedikt Sunringham, King of Gralia and a surprisingly humble man who valued family over gold. Nalessa's Silas Ralshire, the youngest sovereign amongst them with a face of stone to hide his inner thoughts; then again, one needed such an expression when one's family had been acting as a buffer between Drazvans and Vita Tree followers since before the Faith War. The twin queens of Worynheim, Renata and Winifred von Austein, a redhead and blonde respectively who'd clearly gotten functioning as a unit down to a fine art. Cylvera's Kotryna Molinari dressed in red and clearly prepared to kill should the situation arise. Belle had mentioned her once or twice and, while she could likely be a fearsome foe should she wish to be, Rumple suspected she was smart enough to not pick a fight if she didn't have to. Lastly, all the way from Balmund, was King Huw Levisay whose eyes screamed suspicion. Seemed the only royal who'd not been included was Reginald de Soria but, as Olgarth's king, that made perfect sense.

"And what has earned me an invitation to this little gathering?" Mused Rumple.

"So it's true," began Silas as he looked over Rumple. "The Dark One is real."

Rumple gave a flamboyant bow which caused his wives to smirk behind their hands.

"Yes." Maurice confirmed. "This is the Dark One Rumpelstiltskin and husband to my daughter. His return to our realm is no joke, nor is it a threat. I know there has been so much rumor swirling that it is difficult to ascertain the truth, so allow me to make it clear. He will not come for your kingdoms, nor does he intend to enslave like the other demon lords."

Kotryna huffed. "You expect us to believe that?"

That comment caused the meeting to descend into each royal attempting to speak over the others until Demeer had lost his temper and cut through it all only a millisecond faster than Rumple himself.

"Enough! Your Majesties, I understand that this is a lot to take in. I have known Rumpelstiltskin a long time now and have seen who he is for myself unlike the rest of you. He cares not for baubles or titles, nor is he the sort of man who'd play a game of subterfuge with us."

Rumple smirked. "He's right, dearies. If I wanted your lands or your crowns or anything else from you, I'd just come out and say it."

"Why call this meeting, King Maurice?" Huw demanded as he rested his head atop his fist, a crown studded with that many large jewels must have surely been heavy and prone to causing neck ache. "What purpose does it serve?"

"To prove we have no need to fear Avonlea and that the people of Dreymyr can coexist with Rumpelstiltskin, of course." Gasper sighed.

That caused the meeting to descend into chaos once more until Kotryna firmly refused to take nothing but reassurances at face value and promptly severed her connection. Frankly nobody could really argue with her way of thinking. Those who had opted to support Rumple had so far only done so because they'd seen what he was capable of and had his intentions proven for them. Caution and skepticism were wise things to hold close and Rumple wouldn't begrudge Kotryna for it. As expected, she'd not picked a fight, simply refused to choose a side even if she had thrown out the word heresy at one point. For the second time that day Rumple had unfortunately been reminded of Cora.

While they still held their own reservations, as time went on and the discussion intensified, it became clear that both King Silas and King Benedikt would choose to support Rumple because of their friendship and faith in Gasper and Artem, rather than the numerous reasons Demeer had presented. These were the level-headed royals who respected the old kings and could see the wisdom in their words. King Nathaniel's support had been a foregone conclusion from the start, Horatio clearly had his father's ear and, having such a bureaucratic mind, had likely been whispering in it since his return from Bichelberger. That left Balmund and Worynheim undecided. If something like this had occurred in the Enchanted Forest or any other realm, Rumple almost certainly wouldn't have cared less, but in Dreymyr where he'd built a family and wrestled back some of his humanity, it damn well did matter. The more royals there were willing to accept Rumple as the Dark One and agree to this non-aggression pact of sorts, the less backers the Church would have to mount a war against him. This wasn't about protecting Rumple himself or even Avonlea, this was about protecting the commoners and avoiding the Church throwing them forth as cannon fodder.

"When my sister and I were children, our father took us to tour Akula Prison." Renata said softly which pulled all attention to the red-haired queen. "King Aodhan was a strong-willed man not prone to changing his mind, so his advisors' complaints fell on deaf ears. There is a strange atmosphere to that place, a heaviness which is almost suffocating at times. We didn't know what caused it at first, but the further down we went, the stronger it became."

Winifred leaned forward to continue; these twins really had become almost disturbingly in sync. The blonde's voice was slightly higher than that of her sister, but otherwise they sounded the same.

"Renata and I asked father when we couldn't hide our fear any longer, and he told us it was dark magic. That it had permeated through the prison, spread to the rocks and even the air. That the fear we felt was our bodies warning us of the danger we strode toward. Many will wonder why our father took us there, his advisors certainly did." She paused a moment clearly remembering a sadly missed parent. "He did it so we knew what a true threat was, what real evil was. So as we had smelt and tasted it."

"Is there a point, dearies?"

Both Belle and Phria wanted to scold their husband for his disrespect, but knew they should have been used to it by this point and so let the topic go. Rumple wouldn't suddenly grow polite unless some bizarre spell backfired.

"The point," said Renata. "Is that our father gave his daughters the best understanding of evil and where it comes from that he could and, while obviously dangerous, powerful and surely conniving, Winifred and I do not feel the same overwhelming turpitude from you. That coupled with the fact the Grand Mage and King Artem have opted to support you freely, has allowed us to conclude we shall as well."

Rumple let out a little sigh as his mind muttered quietly to him: 'So, basically a long-winded way of saying you agree to this little treaty. Likely also realized aligning with me even just in name affords their tiny kingdom a new level of protection.'

When attention finally turned to Balmund as the last holdout, the response was significantly swifter and didn't require listening to a trip down memory lane. King Huw made it abruptly clear he had no desire to be friendly with the likes of the Dark One, yet neither did he wish to cause conflict unnecessarily. That Balmund would have been entirely surrounded by supportive kingdoms had probably entered into it a little as well. Therefore, King Huw asserted that he would not support Rumple as the majority of the others had chosen, but rather remain neutral until he'd had enough time to build his own opinion of him. That was good enough for Rumple, he'd take what he could get; especially since all of this meeting had come without a deal requiring something of him.

Ultimately, the hard work of Demeer, Artem, Horatio and Gasper had gotten the results they'd wanted, and left Rumple with just one openly hostile kingdom and Cylvera only confrontational if it became beneficial to Queen Kotryna. Ensuring the other royals didn't attack or back the Church while proving that Rumple had no intention of rampaging had been the whole purpose of the meeting, and a successful meeting it had been.

~X~

Rumple had found himself laying in bed on his back with nothing but night ambient sounds to stave off the silence. Both his wives lay in slumber on either side of him, Belle snuggled into him while she snored lightly and Phria curled almost into a ball. This was actually not all that usual. They didn't take turns exactly, but both warming his bed really wasn't a common occurrence. Two wives. Rumple still often found himself fixated on that. He'd had it pointed out numerous times by various parties that it was fairly normal in Dreymyr, that it was practically mundane, but Rumple still clung to his life in the Enchanted Forest and how such a thing would have been viewed there. There it would have been little more than an arrogant and lowly act of a misogynist. To make matters worse, him being the Dark One would have just led everyone to assume he'd forced these women to be part of his disturbed harem. It wasn't the Enchanted Forest though and Rumple would have to accept that one of these days. If anything, Belle and Phria had forced him.

To avoid focusing on something he'd already devoted far too much time to, Rumple turned his attention to Ravavena in Akula Prison. There was quite some red tape to cut through and a long conversation with the Twin Queens to be had before Rumple got anywhere the prison. Back in his home realm, he'd have just popped in and done as he pleased regardless of the consequences, but Belle had made him promise not to put the new positive reputation they'd begun to build for him in jeopardy, and who was he to refuse his beautiful Belle? So wait for Demeer to sort through the bureaucracy he would.

None of that stopped him wondering about the other demon lords though. The Little Disaster they'd called Ravavena - maybe that would have been a good alias for Regina in the early days. All Rumple knew about Ravavena was that she was an elf who'd tried to convert the ogres into her soldiers and almost succeeded, also that she was the most recent demon lord to appear even though that had been hundreds of years ago. Then there was that she'd seemingly been the easiest to defeat, which begged the question of why she'd been imprisoned rather than executed. Notwithstanding, the situation had proven itself rather beneficial for his and Jefferson's needs. Ravavena would make a fine battery for the portal.

"You're thinking so loudly." Phria mused as she stretched out from the ball she'd been nestled in and cuddled into him like a mirror of Belle.

"It's a habit." He quipped.

"What's on your mind?"

"Ravavena."

The beautiful pantherian breathed out a laugh and couldn't help teasing her husband. "Planning a third wife already, are you? Quite the collector of women."

Rumple refused to dignify that with a response so simply continued with his thought process aloud.

"How powerful is she?"

Phria shrugged, her green eyes closed as she rested her head atop his shoulder. She'd have much rather they'd simply slipped back off into slumber and talked about it in the morning, but Phria knew Rumple well enough to know he'd lay there all night thinking at the top of his voice if they didn't.

"Before my time, but very. I don't know if she had a plan exactly, just kept recruiting and assimilating territory that she didn't seem to do anything with." She practically purred when Rumple began to absent-mindedly card his fingers through her hair at the base of her white ears. "Halinox wanted to control everyone and everything, while Ivosanch wanted to watch the realm burn. Ravavena though?" Phria sighed a moment. "Most say she wanted the same as Halinox but I never quite believed it. I've only read history books, but I always thought it looked like she was just going through the motions."

Rumple let out a thoughtful hum. He fully understood that there were an uncountable number of roads leading to total corruption and darkness. Hardly any villain set out with the intent of being one. Those roads were just so easy to saunter down, and only when one was too lost to retrace their steps did one realize the mistake they'd made. That was the problem with darkness, eyes had a habit of adjusting to it so quickly that people forgot it was dark at all.

"Will using her for your spell kill her?" Phria questioned quietly which caused Rumple to lift an eyebrow.

"Possible but unlikely. The pain will make her wish it did though. Why?"

"I suppose I've come to see being a demon lord doesn't automatically equal abhorrent evil." She snuggled closer to his golden-green chest.

"I'm an anomaly, darling, I assure you."

That had Phria chuckle. "I don't doubt it."

She stretched up to kiss the corner of his mouth then settled back down and insisted he slept. He supposed it would probably be for the best, another damn meeting had been scheduled for the following day; though he'd been assured there'd be significantly less royals involved. Gordana wanted something, he'd deciphered that much, and part of him knew it would involve the final quest he owed her.