Page 38 of Rumpelstilzchen

With one final, arduous heave, he disappeared from view, and was immediately enveloped by the numbing embrace of the dark, where he floated, weightless… and free.

There, in the nothingness, Rumple took stock. How long had he craved this moment? How long had he endured, fuelled by the hope that one day he would be out from under the Queen’s thrall?

Shapeless, he stretched out his shadows and relished the knowledge that he could finally go anywhere he pleased, except… Rumple tensed. Boy.

With practiced ease, he stole through the throne room’s looking glass and coalesced all in one rapid motion. The instant enough of his shadows were through the gilt frame, Rumple materialised. He hadn’t checked to see if Queen Schön might be present. Without her black magick to bind him, he no longer cared, but all was silent. Too silent.

Rays from the early morning sun spilled in through the stained-glass window at the opposite end of the ostentatious room, and they bathed everything in shades of red. His eyes darted across the polished floor to the countless bobbins stacked along the eastern wall. The golden thread his shadows had wound neatly upon them glowed with the heat of embers ready to burst into flame. A red that matched his brewing worry.

The stool before the spinning wheel, where a short while prior his shadows had cloaked Boy in their hold as they worked their magick, sat empty and void of life. The red light in the room burned brighter still.

He cast his gaze to the right, over the ornate screens that poorly hid the dais and its hideous throne from view. Last time he stood here, Rumple had transformed it into a feasting table and splayed Boy out upon it. He had collared him with his magick, and with it he’d promised his protection, but where was his Heart now?

Rumple edged forward and slowly scanned every nook in the room in case his human was tucked away in a corner, hiding. When each step yielded no sign, and when he found Boy’s worn-through shoes abandoned, his anger simmered over.

Shadow magick warped the red hue that filtered through the window and twisted it into a blood-like substance that ran down the walls in gothic horror. The hollow of Rumple’s chest pounded in senseless violence.

Where. Was. His. Heart?

The chillingly familiar sound of a tongue clicking in displeasure reverberated throughout the room, and Rumple’s body.

“I wondered how long it would take you to get here, Pet,” sang the Queen’s disembodied voice.

At the moniker, his shadows formed crystalline structures akin to ice within him that grated over one another when he slowly turned on his heel to face the large looking glass above the hearth. No lancing pain accompanied her appearance, but he felt its phantom sting regardless.

“Where is he?” Rumple gritted out from between clenched teeth.

No longer subjugated by the searing press of her black magick, Rumple stacked his spine, squared his shoulders, and raised his chin. Defiance and hatred swirled within him as he locked his gaze on Queen Schön’s pale blue eyes.

Silence stretched between them, one loaded with the promise of death.

The muscle under her left eye twitched, and Rumple took it as confirmation that she knew exactly where Boy was. Iron-willed as she was, however, he also knew she would never tell him. With a hand bereft of gloves and rings, she smoothed over her flyaway blonde hair, and Rumple sharpened his gaze. The only times he knew her to remove her jewellery were when she was invoking black magick.

In anticipation of defence, his shadows swelled. After all, he didn’t know what had caused the spell she had bound him with to break. Was it possible she could recast it?

Thick shadowed tendrils oozed across the throne room floor until it resembled an ocean, and Rumple an island. They filled the hearth and extinguished the remnants of the fire that had kept Boy warm, and they wrapped around the gilt framed looking glass with menacing intent.

Queen Schön arched a shapely eyebrow, but it was the view of her private quarters behind her that held Rumple’s focus. The scrolls and parchments on her usually organised shelves were pulled out and strewn carelessly. Crystals and dried herbs lay scattered between the pages. A chaotic mix of runic scribbles and Wiccan symbols were etched into the floor where wooden splinters had been forced upright in the rush to carve them. Her calm and composed demeanour, then, was nothing more than a facade for her madness.

Whatever had caused the spell to break was clearly unintended and had taken her as much by surprise as it had Rumple.

“You are in no position to ask me questions.” Her lilting tone took on a hard edge. “Traitor.”

His shadows tightened around the frame, lifting it from the wall.

“Do you take me for a fool, Pet?” She spat the name with venom and held up a short length of golden thread that she pulled taut between her thumb and forefinger.

His shadow magick fed on his own fear and sucked the remaining heat from the throne room. The temperature plummeted. Rumple’s shaky exhale was visible in the space between them as a white cloud of unease. Was that…?

“Your little human told me everything,” she continued.

Confusion hit Rumple like a physical blow. Why would Boy…? Ice formed inside the throne room and solidified the red ichor that dripped down the walls.

“You didn’t expect that.” Queen Schön could barely tamp down her glee, and it fuelled his hatred. “Betrayal begets betrayal, it would seem.”

Rumple’s hands formed fists so tight that the leather of his gloves creaked and his knuckles throbbed. Memories of Boy kneeling between his legs in serene surrender invaded his mind, as did the knowledge that his human was willing to sacrifice his life for his family’s survival. Contrary to the Queen’s claim, Rumple trusted that Boy would never betray him.

“After all these years together, I know you well. Humans rarely hold your interest, and it always ends in bloodshed.” Her cold stare hardened further. “Mark my words, Pet. I will discover what makes this one special. He freed you from my thrall, and as a consequence, he will take your place.”