Rumple had been inside the conference hall for all of two minutes before Gordana had unceremoniously dumped her final quest at his feet. The woman was blunt if nothing else and normally Rumple appreciated that, but she'd been so abrupt about it that most others present had paled. Rumple, his wives and King Maurice had all gathered in the room while Gordana, Demeer and Prince Horatio had joined them via the communication crystals that Rumple still mentally referred to just as mirrors.
"Gordana," began Belle as she regained her decorum. "I understand the ogres are of such great danger, but what you're asking of him is genocide."
"Surprisingly, not the first time I've had such a request. She's right though." He pointed a clawed finger to his blue-eyed wife. "Just telling me to go wipe out the ogres isn't a quest, it's an assassination. Nobody has commissioned this so I cannot do it to complete my end of the deal."
Gordana opened her mouth to argue but it was Horatio who got there first with his analytical thoughts and disturbing level of efficiency.
"While correct, I and the Grand Mage have made some arrangements behind the scenes. We spoke with King Maurice regarding the Blockade and how long it is likely to stand before the ogres overrun Ten Kingdom Castle should they start another war. Frankly, it didn't sound good. The ogres control a territory larger than any other kingdom, a territory with countless unrecorded creatures and resources. Many years ago the Knightly Order mounted an expedition to see how much of the area they could take over."
Phria managed to grumble before Rumple could. "Came back chasing their tails though."
"Indeed." Horatio hummed. "You remember the Church wishes to have its own holy empire?" Rumple nodded. "Well, we can't leave the ogres to their own devices forever, they will attack again at some point, it's just what they do. However, were they to be defeated the Church would swoop in to lay claim to the territory and nobody wants that. We have to make sure that land is protected once the ogres-"
"Dearies, dearies, dearies." Rumple sighed deeply. "I'm no valiant knight intending to rescue the realm from the Church's clutches. All I need is for Gordana to give me a quest she believes no other adventure is capable of completing. That was our deal. Just asking me to exterminate all the ogres doesn't count because it isn't a registered quest. Magic always comes with a price, there are rules to be followed."
"Fortunately for you, Rumpelstiltskin, Prince Horatio thinks much as you do and already came up with something." Gordana lifted a signed quest contract and held it up so all could read it. "You owed me two quests, and I will have them both. Prince Horatio, with the backing of all other kingdoms save for Olgarth and Cylvera, as well as that of the Grand Mage, has issued the Adventurers Guild with a quest to have the Ogre Territory purged of war-hungry ogres and then permanently safeguarded from any person, organization or entity with intention to monopolize the area and further their own agendas."
Belle's delicate expression grew puzzled. "I'm sorry. Forgive me if I've misunderstood, but 'safeguard' sounds as though you wish for Rumple to rule the Ogre Territory like an eleventh kingdom."
Maurice nodded and rested a hand on his daughter's shoulder. So many years the du Marchands had been doing their best to keep the ogre savages at bay. They'd lost good people to the wars, royals and commoners alike. He'd not trusted Rumple at first and probably never would completely, but Belle had been right when she'd said he wasn't a monster. Ogres lurked on the other side of a blockade that surely couldn't stand up against them forever, yet Rumple could banish Dreymyr's fear of them and keep the Church from swapping one evil for another. The whole plan had sounded so insane when Horatio had broached it, but Gasper and Silas had done much of the hard work in convincing everybody and, as soon as Artem had come to agree with them, Maurice had realized Rumple could keep another husband from suffering the same pain he'd felt when those ogres had last tried to breach the Blockade and taken his dear wife.
"That is exactly what the Chief Commander is asking of him, my girl."
"No." All eyes snapped to Rumple. "I'm the Dark One, not a king or a custodian or a damn watchdog. There'll be no eleventh kingdom or whatever you want to call it. Think of something else."
With that he stormed out slamming the heavy door behind him. Everyone left behind lingered in a sort of stunned silence. It should have been expected, what they'd asked of him was no small task and worse still, it was one without an end. If he accepted this as Gordana's final quest, then he'd be expected to do it for the rest of time; Rumple wasn't the sort to leave himself so vulnerable.
He marched down the halls while grumbling violently to himself. Maids and pages quickly darted out of his way the moment they spotted him while a few Rose Guard knights had started to wonder if their commander needed to be alerted to the demon lord's suddenly aggressive behavior.
A king, they'd basically flashed him a smile and said 'hey, go rule that big-ass piece of land for the rest of time because politics and we're scared of ogres'. If Rumple had wanted to be a king he could have taken over every realm from the Enchanted Forest to Agrabah inside a week. No! No, he'd not be doing any of it. He'd kill the ogres for them if they wanted once it was registered as an actual quest, but none of the rest of it.
Suddenly he bounced off of something as he rounded a corner and glanced down to find Bae on his backside with his hair in his eyes. Irritation and anger drained out of him in an instant as he helped his son to his feet.
"Bae, I'm sorry, lad. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Papa. What's going on though? You look ready to punch a hole in the castle."
The teenage boy eyed him suspiciously, there would always be that tiny nugget of suspicion just waiting for Rumple to slip back into his evil ways. While he hated it, Rumple fully understood it.
"Just politics, Bae. Don't concern yourself with it." He glanced around the hallways. "Where are your sisters and Renner?"
"They're in the rose garden and don't change the subject." Arguing with Bae really was always pointless, it was only so long before Rumple caved. "Something is wrong. Tell me."
Rumple sighed and fell to sit on a stone bench pressed against one wall. Birds tweeted from their nests and warm morning sun danced in through the windows. Things were quiet a moment before Bae sat beside his father and coaxed him with an expectant expression.
"I owe Gordana a quest as part of a deal I made when I first came here. She and the royals have conspired to lock me into an unending repayment."
"Surely it's nothing bad," said Bae after a moment. "She seems nice enough and wants to help people. What does she want you to do?"
"Kill all the ogres." Bae opened his mouth but Rumple continued. "Then safeguard their territory indefinitely so the Church can't get their hands on it."
"Why is that so terrible? The Church are evil, Renner and King Artem told me some of the things they've done. Why would be keeping it from them be so bad?"
"Because it would mean making that territory its own kingdom that I would have to rule forever. I'm not a king, Bae. Why couldn't Maurice just annex it?"
They all knew why. Avonlea was already a large kingdom and adding that much new land to their kingdom would drastically change the power dynamics among the existing royals. The Church would use it as an excuse to go after the du Marchands, their kingdom and the demon lord again. Politics were always difficult to navigate and convoluted at the best of times, so if men like Horatio, Artem and Gasper had honestly thought this the easiest and best solution, then they were probably right.
Silence lingered for a great many moments, so long that Rumple rested his head in his hand. All he'd ever wanted was a loving family, something he had now and wouldn't let go. He'd played nice and gone to such lengths to increase his popularity with the general public for their sake, so they could be a family without facing threats every five minutes. Logically though, realistically, he knew those threats wouldn't ever truly halt, for he was the Dark One.
"Why does it have to be bad?" Rumple lifted a confused eyebrow at his boy. "I just mean that – well, people like Valdis and Belle are shunned for being half-breeds, right? Mira has nightmares every night about her scales being pulled off. Papa, maybe it doesn't matter you don't want to be a king or that you'd have to do this forever if you could help people." Bae swung around to face his father fully. "Papa, you promised me you'd be a better person and this is a way. Don't you see? If you have your own kingdom, it could be a haven. Somewhere people like my sisters could be safe, where kids aren't stolen and sent to fight a war they can't win." Rumple's eyes grew wide. He'd tried to protect Bae by running that night until Hordor had found them. Somewhere like the place Bae described would have been nice back then. Becoming the Dark One had been to help and his clever, kind and brave son seemed to believe he still could. "We can't have that place without magic for us to be together. I know that, Papa, and I accepted it a long time ago. Something like this could be good instead of evil if you're willing to make it good." The boy chuckled. "That and it sounds like Gordana already told you what you had to do for her so you can't turn her down, you don't go back on your deals."
How was it a teenage boy had made the best case for Rumple just going along with the latest thing Dreymyr had thrown at him? Such a smart boy was his Bae.
Bae stood then and offered his hand to his papa. "Come on, I bet they're in that big room with the stone mirrors, right?"
Rumple didn't even bother asking how Bae knew about the conference hall, not when Renner had kept having to round him and Amicia up when they'd wandered off exploring.
Slowly they returned to find chaos had descended. All of them talking over one another as they tried to figure out what they'd do now Rumple had refused them. Everything fell silent though when Bae and his papa entered the room; eager anticipation practically dripped out of Horatio while Gordana drummed her fingers on her desk nervously. So many lives were lost each time the ogres attacked, they couldn't let this chance to stop that slip away. Meanwhile, Belle and Phria simply smiled because seeing Bae told them everything would be fine, if there was one person who could always get through to the stubborn demon lord, it was his son.
After a sigh, Rumple walked to the centre of the room to address both Gordana and Horatio unwaveringly while Demeer simply watched on as though enjoying the entertainment.
"I will agree to this as long as you make two alterations." Technically he had no leg to stand on with his demands. Gordana had already told him what she wanted and didn't have to change it, but he hoped she'd not notice that. "First is that I'm not a king and I won't be referred to as one. I'm the Dark One, a demon lord, just as I always have been." Both nodded, they'd honestly got no care for which title he used. "Second: I will not be forced into this for eternity. If a time comes when I can't or won't continue at my post, I will be allowed to pass the task to another as long as they are of a similar magical power to me and can be trusted to safeguard in the way you originally intended. I'm immortal, but, if I die, Gasper, his family and the Grand Mage will select a replacement. Agreed?"
"I see no issue with that." Demeer commented fairly swiftly.
So much passed behind Horatio's eyes in hardly a second, that man was dangerously intelligent to the point it was almost terrifying. The first alteration was of little concern, it was the term 'can't or won't' used in his second alteration that gave Horatio pause. That suggested Rumple could just bail from the situation at any given moment, but finding someone both trustworthy and of the Dark One's power wouldn't be easy. Ultimately, this all seemed more about autonomy than Rumple actually being against the idea, so Horatio nodded his agreement much as Gordana had. She made the alterations to the contract and then had Rumple teleport it to Horatio for him to sign – spacial magic was so much easier when he could see where things were going.
"So, just like that, we have an eleventh kingdom?" Phria questioned from her place beside Belle. "I hope you came up with some way for this to be announced, because it's quite a big bit of news and I doubt everybody will simply go along with it."
"Worry not, Captain." Horatio assured. "My fellow royals have discussed that as well. As for this new kingdom, since it doesn't have a king exactly, let us just name it … the Demon Lord's Domain. Nice and simple." Maybe a little too simple to be perfectly honest. "I shall leave you now, there is much to be done."
With that, Horatio's mirror went dark and the hall grew a little quieter. Gordana insisted he dealt with the ogres as soon as possible before she and Demeer vanished as well. Rumple hadn't planned on leaving Dreymyr now he'd found Bae, had no reason to go through the twenty-eight years with Regina and everybody else, so he supposed he should have been grateful to have something to do that wasn't brooding and glaring.
~X~
Having opted to leave the announcement and prompt fallout of the new domain of the demon lord to those who'd started it, Rumple had gotten to work eliminating the ogres. Belle had been correct that Gordana's request sounded like genocide, but she'd specified 'war-hungry' in the commands she'd given him, so Rumple just had to kill those with the will to fight; any who turned tail and fled clearly didn't possess the will and could be ignored. Loopholes, Rumple did enjoy those. Ogres were violent and powerful beasts, but Rumple's magic dealt with them quickly enough just as they had when he'd stopped the war in the Frontlands. Eventually, the only ogres remaining had retreated to a long stretch of mountains in the southwestern part of his new domain and would likely stay there; especially if they knew what was good for them. Then there had been the two archipelagos to clear out, the northern one had been barren of just about everything except for some teratects and peptusini, while the southern one had been filled with volcano fissures and home to round bugs galore, as well as scythe scorpions which, until one had launched at him, Rumple had thought only resided in Sandspear Desert. This new land he'd been entrusted with was full of dangerous monsters but none were a real threat to Rumple. Amazing how an uncomprehending level of power silenced the cowardice.
Disposing of all the war-hungry ogres hadn't taken all that long, just a few days, it was what Belle had requested that had taken almost two weeks and help him from returning to his beloved family. Nobody had ever been able to map the Ogre Territory – well, Demon Lord's Domain now. They'd gotten a vague outline of the coast from some braver sailors and the Valkyrie Naval Unit, but that was it. Belle had been the one to insist he created a proper map while Phria had agreed and simply said: 'All rulers should know every inch of their kingdom no matter how large'. To be perfectly frank, Rumple agreed with them. That was how he'd ended up playing cartographer while his family sat in Kalecaster Castle awaiting his return. There were numerous rivers, forests, mountains and other landmarks that surely needed names, but Rumple cared little for it. He'd been forced to watch over the land rather than name each plant and rock.
"It'll give Belle and Phria something to do." Rumple mused to himself as he carefully drew out a surprisingly smooth section of northern coastline.
There was a large forest just the other side of the Blockade which reminded Rumple much of home so, in a moment of bizarre nostalgia, Rumple had bestowed the title of the 'Enchanted Forest' upon it. This would be the only thing he named, something to remind him of where he'd come from. The flatlands and marsh to the south, the lakes and rivers to the east, they didn't matter, just that one forest.
Something dawned on Rumple then, something he'd not thought about until that moment. He couldn't reside in Kalecaster Castle forever. For starters there were too many people wandering around and Belle continuously worried having him there would seem like Avonlea wished to make a political statement that they'd got their own personal demon lord to use as a weapon. Then there were the children, they weren't used to being around so many people and didn't understand what was expected of court life. There was also Phria to think about, having the Captain of the Valkyries take up residence wasn't sustainable, she was a leader and should have appeared as non-bias as possible: that said, marrying the Dark One hadn't really seemed all that non-bias. Didn't matter where Rumple went, his presence would seem like a threat or an alliance. He'd faced something similar back in his realm, that was part of the reason he'd chosen to live so high up in the mountains where people couldn't just stumble across him. An idea struck him then, an idea which probably should have graced his brain much sooner. The Demon Lord's Domain was his now and all rulers lived in their own lands. Bae had wanted a haven for people like Belle and Valdis, so why shouldn't Rumple make one?
All the mountains cuddled the more southern coasts, however, a large lake sat not far from the Enchanted Forest's southern side. There Rumple set to work using earth magic to create a vast dome in the middle which he flattened the top of and carefully began to construct a castle. It was his finest work built with determination and all he'd learned of Dreymyr's magic. Tall towers and turrets topped with a pale blue, a bridge which lurked under the water until summoned and a large garden for Amicia, Semiramis and Valdis to play in while they drove Renner insane. Underneath he constructed a vast vault which surely could put the Mages Guild vault to shame. This was the only other thing he'd care to name, for this was the Dark Castle born anew. The one back in his realm had simply been a place to store his collection and hide from the world. This new one though, which he'd surely isolate himself as much as possible in regardless, was a home for his precious family. Bae had been right, they could still have a safe place to live. Cut off from his curse as he was, Rumple no longer cared for amassing power but rather longed for that sweet family life he'd fantasized about when he'd been nothing but a lowly spinner. Regina, Maleficent, Cora, they'd all surely think he'd gone insane – well, more insane. They didn't matter now though, they were another realm's problem and at least he'd installed a savior into the curse Regina would cast without him. Soon the new Dark Castle was complete and Rumple knew it would stand eternal as a haven for those he loved just like Bae had wanted. Amazing how the Dark Curse seemed so pointless now. He'd prepared himself for another thirty years before he found his beloved boy, yet there he was staring at a castle he'd built for them. Whatever good deed he'd performed in some past life to have earned this one blessing, Rumple would eternally be grateful for it.