“You mustn’t run in the dark forest, Mistress Miller,” his voice hissed near my ear. “You’re bound to hurt yourself that way.” He wore a dark cloak that brushed against the ground. A wreath made of twisted, bare branches encircled his head, which made his cheekbones seem even more angular. His eyes looked sunken but every bit as full of the churning darkness they’d held during our other meetings. It struck me as strange that even here in the evening forest, I could see the churning in his eyes.
“Let me go.” I tried to pry away his fingers but couldn’t budge them.
He grinned at me, amused at my attempts. “I’ll let you go when you give me the baby. Then you can go back to creating gold to your heart’s content.”
I couldn’t use strength to get away, so I decided to stall him. If we stayed here long enough, Hudson would come back. He had the anti-fairy sand. Maybe he could use it to free me. “How did you catch up to me so fast?” I asked. “Our horses raced here and no enemies could see the carriage.”
“Catch up to you?” Rumpelstiltskin smiled, showing his graying teeth. “Did you think I followed you?” He shook his head, and the 303/356
wreath let out a scent of decaying wood. “No point in that. Not when I knew you would return to your family eventually. My mirror still shows me where your father is. I waited near his camp and lo, tonight the trees were whispering about a carriage lumbering through.
Enemies might not be able to see your carriage, but trees can. I was on my way to your carriage when I found you on the path.” He pulled me closer to him. “Now then, give me what you promised.” I shrank back as far as his grip would allow. “We made an agreement for King John’s son. I never married him.” With his free hand, Rumpelstiltskin pulled a paper from his cloak.
“This is our contract—the very words we shook on.” He placed it in my hand, and the paper immediately wrapped itself around my arm like a snake. I tried to shake it off, but it wouldn’t let go. Pulsating, it clung to me, then sunk into my skin so the words looked like they had been tattooed onto my arm.
Rumpelstiltskin watched it and laughed. “The contract is binding.
You agreed to give me whatever I asked for within the year—including your child.” He pointed his long fingers at the sling. “And there he is.
Give him to me.”
I held onto the sling with my free arm, trying to keep Rumpelstiltskin from taking the baby. In the fairy tale, the queen cried so piteously that Rumpelstiltskin allowed her to guess his name within three days. If she was successful, she could keep the child. I didn’t have to force myself into the part. I couldn’t bear to think of Rumpelstiltskin taking my baby and leaving him to die alone in a vault. The tears and the fear came in equal measure, making it hard to speak over my sobs. “Please don’t take him. I didn’t think I would have him when we made our bargain. It isn’t his fault.” I had nothing to offer Rumpelstiltskin in exchange except my own life. “Take me instead. Please.
Please.” I couldn’t say more. The tears choked my words.
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Rumpelstiltskin let go of my arm. “Do not flee again,” he said.
“I’ve never hunted down prey like a lion, and what if I discovered I liked it? What would happen to all the innocents that walk through the forest? You don’t want that on your conscience, do you?” I gave a small shake of my head. I couldn’t run and hide among the trees, not with sparklers flowing from my head—but I couldn’t see without the light. Besides, the trees could tell him where I was anyway.
“Please,” I begged. “Give me another chance to keep my baby.” Rumpelstiltskin reached over and ran his bony thumb over my cheek. “Such compelling supplications from a fair maiden.” He leaned closer. His eyes were not brown as I had thought before. They were a deep burgundy, like drying blood. “I’m moved,” he said. “I won’t pretend I’m not.” His hand went to my chin, and he cupped it between his cold fingers. “You want a chance to get out of this bargain?”
“Yes,” I said hurriedly.
“Perhaps you would like to make some sort of wager?”
“Yes.” My hopes rose. This is when he would ask me the question, and I already knew the answer.
He dropped his hand away from my chin and smiled at me. “Do you know how I passed the time while I hid near your father’s camp?” I shook my head, tears still flowing down my cheeks. I know your name, I thought. Ask me so I can save my baby.
Rumpelstiltskin’s voice dropped to a low hum, as though telling me a secret. “I read. Would you like to see what?” He reached into his cloak and pulled out a book. I recognized it with a sick thud to my chest. It was the book of fairy tales my father had brought from our house.