Rumpelstiltskin: Child Eater

Once upon a time there was a poor kingdom called Douran ruled by a sad and lonely King. His storehouses were bereft of gold, and though he was still in the prime of his youth, he had neither wife nor heir to succeed after him. As a result, his kingdom was governed by fear and darkness. Unrest lived in the hearts of the people and the land was under constant threat of war.

“What can I do?”

“King Lancer, your people need you to be strong,” Edgar, high advisor to the king said as gently as he could.

It was getting harder to keep his hold over the kingdom inconspicuous with the figurehead on the downward slope into depression. If King Lancer gave up his royal authority without someone to succeed him, no one would accept the high advisor as the next king, nor did he desire the position. War would break out and the kingdom would collapse into utter ruin. He could not let that happen.

“You need an heir.”

The king lifted his saddened eyes to look at his dark featured advisor and laughed, hopelessness permeating the mirthless sound. “Perhaps you haven’t noticed, Edgar, but the last I checked one needed a wife to procure offspring. And a wedding would cost money. Unless you have found some gold in our stores since the last time you checked, we’re simply out of luck. No gold equals no wife, and no wife equals no child. So, I ask my question again, what can I do?”

Edgar twisted the hem of his sleeve between his spindly fingers and bit on his almost nonexistent lower lip. “You cannot give in to your dark thoughts,” he said, thinking quickly. “Your people need you.”

King Lancer sighed and slumped even further in his wooden throne. He felt so old. When he had first risen to power, he had felt so alive, eager to save this dying kingdom. He’d been too young to realize the burden of the responsibility of kingship. Back then his sea blue eyes had sparkled, but now their brightness had faded to a dull grey. Once he had been strong and willing to take on armies to defend or even expand this kingdom, now he simply felt weak. Had it really been only six years since he assumed the title of King?

“My Lord?”

“Huh?”

Edgar looked at his king quizzically. “Did you hear anything of what I just said?”

“Sorry...my mind wandered for a moment.”

The advisor’s lips tightened, and he forced back a frustrated sigh. “King Lancer, hear me out, if you will. I want you to rest for a while. Concentrate on ways to help your people and allow me to concentrate on a way to help you. You do not have to do everything on your own. Trust me so that your people can trust you.”

“Very well. I’ll try.”

Edgar bowed and left the miserable King alone. Now all he had to do was find a girl, and gold.

***

Tom was a poor miller. His only valuable possession was his daughter, Arabella, a girl as beautiful inside as out.

“Daddy, Mildred twisted an ankle,” Arabella said, peeking her dirt smeared face around the door. Her twig infested golden curls bounced lusciously around her flawless face and her diamond eyes shone with worry.

“What is it you were doing?” he asked, pulling a leaf from his daughter’s hair.

Hurriedly, she tried to comb out the foliage. “The cart got stuck in the rut out back. I was helping her pull it out, but it lurched, and I fell in the bushes. But I’m okay, really. She’s the one hurt. I didn’t see it, but she screamed something awful!”

He sighed. “I pray it’s not too serious. She’s the last healthy one. Without her...” He shuddered. It was bad enough being a poor man with only two goats, worse still with one sick and the other lame. “Come on, let’s go see what we can do for the poor girl.”

Arabella practically dragged him to where the goat was lying in a patch of dirt. “What should we do?”

He looked over the injured leg and frowned.

“Is it bad?”

“It’s a sprain. She won’t be able to do much work like this. But it isn’t fatal. She’ll live to work another day.”

Arabella’s smile brightened the gloom of the day. Though the clouds covered the sky, she shone as brilliantly as the sun itself.

“We’ll have to wrap this as soon as we can. Where are the good splints?”

“All gone.”

He swore under his breath. “Alright, I’ll just have to go to town. I don’t want to use anything that could cause any more damage. Hopefully I’ll be able to find something cheap. You stay here to prep some linen to wrap her leg with. And see that the animals are fed. They haven’t eaten yet today.”

She nodded. “I pray she makes a swift recovery.”

“That’s my girl,” Tom said fondly. When had his little girl grown into such a fine woman? “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

It was a short walk into the town market and soon he was surrounded by merchants calling out their wares. Once, this market had flourished will all manner of trinkets, exotic foods, medicinal herbs, and many other wondrous things. It had been a sight worth seeing. People had come from miles around to take in the sights and sounds. Unfortunately, none of the current inhabitants remembered such days of prosperity.

Tom looked up at the towering castle. It had been built too many generations ago to count. Its spires rose majestically above the town, but it no longer gave off the aura of strength and power it once had.

Turning back to the streets, he could see how far they’d fallen. The houses were dismal and weary; the people were no better. He longed for days of colour, but he feared he would never see such in his lifetime.

He walked to one of the rundown stalls. An old woman peered up at him, her sunken brown eyes unnerving. “Umm...” he began, but the sight of the old hag only made him shudder. He turned to leave when she grabbed his sleeve. “What!” he cried in shock.

She stared at him for a moment. “It’s happened before,” she said in a voice much smoother than he would have expected.

“What are you babbling about?”

“The royal bride be warned. He craves the blood of the child.”

“Let go of me!”

“Beware falsities. A single lie leads to the destruction of many lives.”

He yanked his arm free of her white-knuckled grasp and stumbled away from the stall. Fixing his tunic, he moved on, allowing the woman and her nonsensical warning to fade from his mind.

He visited three more stalls before he found what he was looking for at the lowest reasonable price. He was just about to head home when he saw a narrow man with dark features walking the streets. Recognizing him as someone from the palace, he decided to follow him, though he knew not why he did so. It was a compelling feeling, like he needed to know what the man sought.

They ended up inside one of the town taverns where he discovered the man was Edgar, the king’s high advisor.

“Did you leave the palace and get lost?” the bartender asked. “How does someone of your status end up here?”

“Actually,” Edgar said, clearing his throat, “I’m on a search on behalf of King Lancer.”

“We have no gold either,” the bearded bartender said gruffly, and turned away.

Edgar waited for the man to turn back, but he continued to receive the cold shoulder. He never knew peasants could be so infuriating. He was trying to help them, after all.

“Excuse me?” Tom said, working up his courage.

Edgar turned to the blonde-haired man who stood only a few inches shorter than himself. “Yes?”

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help overhearing you say that you’re here on behalf of the king?”

“I am.”

“I was just wondering, what would the king need from us?”

Finally, he had found a commoner with some sense. “I’m on a mission to find something that would make everyone happy,” he said, not willing to give everything away.

Tom thought to himself, what would make the king and everyone happier than the king finding a queen? His next words spilled from his mouth before he could think of what he was doing. “You know,” he said, “I happen to have the most beautiful daughter in the entire town, perhaps even the entire world. She would make any king happy.”

Edgar eyed the man, taking in his ragged appearance. “Not interested,” he said flatly.

“But not only is she beautiful!” he cried hurriedly. For whatever reason, he felt he could not let the man dismiss him. “She can also spin straw into gold!”

He was horrified by the words that spilled unbidden out of his mouth. What was he thinking? No one could do something so obviously impossible!

The advisor stopped, his interest suddenly piqued. “She can what?”

Tom gulped. It was too late to go back on his claim now. “She can spin straw into gold?”

The advisor took in the peasant’s ragged appearance once again. “Who are you?”

“Tom. The miller.”

“Well, Tom the Miller, perhaps you’d be willing to send your daughter to the palace by evening. She shall be put to a test. If she is as talented as you say, things could change greatly for you.”

His heart dropped for he knew he had doomed his daughter. “Um…”

“Unless, of course, you are lying. In which case, I will have you taken back instead.” Edgar let the unspoken threat be filled in by the miller’s imagination.

“Of course not,” Tom quavered. “I will do as you wish.”

“Good man.”

Tom went home disheartened. What was he supposed to do? Perhaps he could take Arabella and flee the country. No, he had already made a promise. There was no running away now.

“Father, you’re back!” Arabella called when she saw him. Her smile faded at the look on his face for she could tell instantly that something weighed on his mind. “Why, what’s wrong?”

He tried to smile cheerfully at her, but he knew she could see right through him. “My dear, the king’s high advisor has requested for you to go to the castle this evening.”

“Me? What have I done?”

“You’ve done nothing wrong,” he fumbled. “It’s just...well, it seems he somehow caught rumour of your beauty. They wish to see the truth for themselves.”

“Oh,” she breathed. “But, surely there are plenty of girls more beautiful than I who can offer more to the king. We are so poor.”

She was so kind, and so pure. He hated himself for lying to her. “You must go at once. Perhaps the king shall make you his queen.”

She laughed. “Father, did you not hear what I said? Why would he choose me over all the maidens of this land? I’ll go, but don’t hope too much for such an elegant return.”

“I love you,” he said as he handed her a worn cloak.

She took it and gave him a big hug. “I love you, too.”

He watched her leave and prayed that she would return to him, but he feared that he had just sent her to her death. A tear dripped down his cheek. “Forgive me,” he whispered as she disappeared from view.