I nodded quickly, waving my hands. “I tried to tell him that, but he wouldn’t listen! He demanded that I spin straw for him, or else he’d kill me.”
Mama gasped, causing Anika to roll her eyes. “Mama, obviously he didn’t do it.” She motioned toward me. Anika’s calm was soothing to me; it felt familiar, and it was good to know that some things never changed.
“So, what happened?” Papa asked earnestly. I glanced over to Conrad, who was talking with Mr. Nelson; that would take a while.
I leaned closer to my family, though everyone in the tavern had migrated close to Conrad and we had little chance of being overheard.
“Someone helped me,” I tried to explain. “The guards locked me in a room full of straw and gave me until morning to create gold or I’d lose my life. I was sure I was going to die. But someone came. He had magic in his hands! He spun the gold for me and has been doing so ever since. He’s saving my life and expects nothing in return.”
My family didn’t look relieved by the news. “He asks for nothing? Who is he?”
I wasn’t sure how to explain who Rumpel was. “He’s a good man. Truly. He means me no harm.”
Anika squinted her eyes as she rested her head in her hands. “No one does anything for free.”
I shrugged. “I doubted it at first too. I suppose if I’d died and he knew that he could save me, he would have to live with that. Likely, he didn’t want that burden.”
“But how long will he need to help you? When can you come home?” Mama asked.
I twisted my mouth, wishing I could give them a better answer. “I think I’m stuck until the war is over.”
Mama looked about ready to cry. Papa wrapped his arm around her as he sniffed. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to put you through this.”
I shook my head quickly, realizing I had painted a bleak picture of my time there. “Don’t be, it’s been good for me. I’m enjoying my time there.”
“With the prince?” Anika wriggled her eyebrows at me.
“Is something going on between you and the prince?” Mama perked up. Funny how fast her mood changed. Hope danced in her eyes and I was sorry to disappoint her.
“Not that I’m aware of. He’s just grateful for the gold he thinks I’m spinning.”
Papa hadn’t looked eager at the thought of me and Conrad together. If anything, he looked disappointed. I wasn’t sure why, but it made me love him more.
Conrad was slowly making his way back to our table. He had worked his way out of that group faster than I thought he could. I quickly told my parents to not say a word about Rumpel, and while they looked confused, they nodded. I smiled politely at Conrad and slid over so he could join us. Now that my parents had gotten some answers, the conversation flowed easier. My mind was still trying to make sense of this picture, huddled into a booth with my family and the crown prince, while Aiden shot us looks from across the room. It was strange to see, and I had seen some crazy things recently.
I found myself wanting to tell Rumpel all about it. I wanted to tell him how all the people were staring, and it didn’t make me as uncomfortable as it once did. I wanted to tell him how odd it felt having Conrad there with my family. More than anything, I wanted to recount every detail of my conversation with Aiden and get Rumpel’s thoughts on it.
I told myself that it was the constant time spent together that made me suddenly miss him. I hadn’t spent an evening away from him in months. Half a year ago, I didn’t even know who Rumpel was, yet somehow, he’d become one of my closest friends.
I tried to pull my mind away from Rumpel and back to the present, but conversation was limited with groups of people gravitating toward us. Most wanted to be near Conrad, but a few just wanted to know where their food was.
Papa sighed as he stood up and began to push through the group of people. “We should get back to work; there will be more time to catch up in the morning.” He waved everyone off and back toward their seats.
“I’ll go make up a bed for you. Anika, you are relieved from the rest of your chores tonight; I can manage with Lolly and Oria.” Mama stood up as well. “Cosette, do you mind sleeping with your sister tonight?”
The idea of Conrad sleeping in my old bed didn’t sit well with me, just as I knew Anika wasn’t thrilled for me to sleep in hers, but there was no way around it. We said our farewells as we headed for the bedrooms, eager to be rid of the mass of neighbors. I passed by Aiden before leaving and his hand brushed mine, stopping me for a moment.
“Tomorrow?” he whispered. I nodded. Tomorrow, we would talk. He didn’t meet my eyes as he pulled away, leaving his still familiar smell behind.
With a sigh, I left the main rooms and turned toward the bedrooms, where Conrad waited for me outside my old room with his back leaned against the doorframe with the top collar of his shirt loosened and his shoes in hand. I smiled meekly as I approached him. Now away from my family, exhaustion hit me hard and I was eager to escape to Anika’s room, but it felt rude to tell him so after he had so graciously brought me home for a long-awaited visit.
I leaned against the wall next to him as I breathed out heavily. Conrad tilted his head to look at me and grinned. “Quite the day, huh?”
Something between a choke and a laugh came out of my mouth. “You can say that. It’s so strange being home. I never noticed how low the roof is.”
Conrad looked up. “The ceilings of the palace are unnecessarily high.” He was quiet for a second as he studied the ceiling before rolling his neck to face me again. “I feel I haven’t properly thanked you for everything you are doing for us. Your gold, it’s saving my kingdom. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
Guilt stabbed me as my lie burned my tongue. Was it fair that I was deceiving him? Would he care if he knew about Rumpel? Selfishly, I knew that his interest in me would fade if he knew that my hands didn’t hold magic. Was that why I wasn’t telling him the truth, because I liked the attention? Or was I protecting Rumpel?
Unable to speak, I nodded timidly. Conrad didn’t seem to mind my silence.
“I know it can’t be easy for you, leaving your home to spin gold for a cold king. But just know, I’m glad you came. You bring warmth to the palace.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. With his side still against the wall, Conrad tilted toward me until his face was closer than it ever had been. I gulped. The sound of his breathing was close to my ear, and my heart jumped.
He was about to kiss me.
I coughed as I stepped back, pulling my face away from his. Conrad didn’t look embarrassed as he turned in time with me.
“It’s been a long day, I should rest,” I said, folding my hands and ducking my head.
My feet started to leave but Conrad reached out and grabbed my hand. “Tomorrow will you come with me into the village? I want to meet more people and show you some of the work I’m doing.”
Images of him stealing boys for the army flashed through my mind, and I prayed he couldn’t see my face. My lips pursed together as I nodded, and he smiled wide. “Great. I’ll see you in the morning then.” He let go of my hand and retreated into my room.
“Wait!” I held up my hands. He stopped and looked back with eyebrows raised. “I need some clothes; these feel too extravagant.”
He graciously waited in the hall while I changed into one of my old nightgowns. It felt rough to my fingers and scratched as I put it on. I thought perhaps I should remain in my palace clothes, then immediately chastised myself for it. These were the sort of clothes I used to wear every day. I had done nothing to think that I was too good for them. I yanked it over my head and grabbed an outfit for the next day.
This was the most at home I had felt all day, standing in my old room in my old clothes with the familiar trees out the window and smells in the air. If I tried, I could almost forget about the prince waiting outside my door as I pretended this was just another evening at home. My shoes were the only things I didn’t change; I couldn’
t bring myself to take off my soft slippers.
Ready to go to bed, I opened the door and let Conrad take in my appearance. After a pause, he bowed. “Still as beautiful as any princess,” he said. I could imagine Anika rolling her eyes.
I bid him goodnight as I trudged toward Anika’s room. She would be upset with me for taking so long and wasting some of her candle that she would have kept burning for me.
Unsure if I was allowed to walk in freely, I knocked on her door. Anika answered a moment later with her hair down and lips drawn back. “I know I took a while, I’m sorry,” I began. She shook her head.
“You have a visitor.”
She pushed the door wide to show where Rumpel stood beside her bed.
Chapter Twenty-One
My mouth dropped open as all desires for sleep flew from my mind. Rumpel stood in a grey tunic with his hands by his side, clearly pleased by my confusion. His hair was straighter than usual, and he was wearing shoes. I could count the times I had seen him in shoes on one hand.
My eyes darted to Anika to see her expression. She squeezed in behind me and pushed me into the room.
“You have one minute, then I’m coming back to go to bed,” she ordered. She pulled the door between us, leaving me alone in the room with Rumpel.
I’d lost the ability to form words.
“Your sister has spirit. I thought she was going to kill me when she found me in here,” Rumpel said with a laugh.
I could picture Anika threatening him. It spoke to our differences. The first time I met Rumpel, I had been unable to move. She had tried to beat him. I wished I knew where she got her strength from.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. The shock washed out of me as I dropped the clothes I carried to the floor.
“I wanted to keep an eye on Conrad,” Rumpel said innocently.
I wagged my finger at him. “You were spying again. We talked about this!”
Rumpel shook his head and held up his hands defensively. “I promise, it’s Conrad I’m spying on.”
“It’s still spying, even if it’s for a good cause.” I paused. “Do you think he’d try to take some of the boys from the village?”
Rumpel shrugged. “Honestly? No. Your gold is helping bring an end to the fighting. It’s amazing the problems that a heap of money can fix. But I wouldn’t put it past him.”
I shuddered as I thought of all the youth that he could take. Lonely Bonnie’s son, or the Van Derson boys. I shook the images from my head. “I’ll be with him all day. He won’t have the chance.”
“Can’t say I like that, you being with him all day.”
I raised my eyebrow. “Can’t say I like him taking any of the boys from the village, so unless you’re going to guard him all day—"
“No, I don’t want him to see me. I can’t stand that man.”
“He’s quite charming, if you can get past the kidnapping.”
“So you believe me about that?” Rumpel looked hopeful.
I bit my lip. “I trust you more than I trust him. But I’d like proof before making my final decision.”
Rumpel nodded slowly. “Just be careful.”
How many times had I heard him say that to me? I folded my arms. “I don’t need you to watch out for me. I can handle myself.”
“And I don’t need you to help break my curse, but you insist on being a part of that.”
I gawked. “Because without help you’d fade to nothing!”
“Without my help, you’d be dead right now!”
I didn’t feel fierce, yelling at Rumpel in my old nightgown, so I put my fists on my waist for extra effect. He didn’t look threatened. I needed Anika’s fire, she always scared people. As if summoned, the door opened behind me opened and Anika slipped in, no doubt drawn in by the yelling.
“His Highness is trying to get beauty sleep in the next room, and I really don’t want to have to explain another angry man in my bedroom to my parents,” Anika said.
Another?
Rumpel put up his hands. “I’m sorry. Your sister can be frustrating sometimes.”
“Funny, she’s always acquiescent with us.”
“I find that hard to imagine. She yelled at me within a week of knowing her,” Rumpel told her. He cleared his throat and stood up straighter. “I’ll leave you ladies to the rest of your night.”
He bowed to Anika then walked toward the door. Before passing me, he bent his head down to whisper, “Aiden would be a fool to let you go so easily.”
Unexpectedly, tears sprang to my eyes. I wanted to be mad that he had spied on such an intimate conversation, but his comment was kind enough to ease my anger.
“Thank you,” I breathed.
He smiled gently before leaving the room, closing the door behind him. I knew he would vanish into the air as soon as he was out of Anika’s sight.
Anika. I turned to see her expression. She was already climbing into bed, unfazed.
“So, he’s the one who’s helping you,” she guessed. “He’s handsome.”
I laughed as I slid into the bed next to her. “He’s almost a hundred years older than you.”
She didn’t look bothered. “Wise and handsome then.”
I laughed again. “And stubborn.”
Anika lay on her pillow with her arm propped under her head, looking at me. “Do you like him?”
I sighed as I lay next to her on the tiny bed. Anika and I had never talked about this stuff before. I knew several of her friends were interested in guys, and I had always guessed that she might be too, but it was never something we discussed. I guess I figured she wasn’t the type to be serious about it, and before Aiden, I had never had anything to talk about.
I pretended to think about it, but there was nothing to mull over. Rumpel was cursed, and in a few months, he would be gone. Being interested in him wasn’t an option.
“I’m grateful to him, for everything he’s doing for me. And he’s easy to talk to.”
“And yell at,” Anika added.
I giggled. “Yes. That, too. But I don’t think I have feelings for him.”
“Because of lingering feelings for Aiden?” Anika asked, surprising me. I hadn’t told anyone that Aiden and I were through, and I had assumed that since he planned to win me back, he hadn’t announced our end to anyone. Anika saw more than I realized she did. At the thought of Aiden, I sighed again. He was a complicated topic. I didn’t know where we stood, or where I wanted us to stand.
“Aiden was always the practical path. There’s just so much that I don’t know now.”
“And Conrad, is that really nothing?”
I flopped down in the pillow and buried my face inside. “When did I get so many options?”
Anika laughed. “When you became the King’s most important tool in the war, as Conrad so generously put it.”
I came up for air with a grunt. “Things certainly have taken an interesting turn, haven’t they?”
“Very. Did you know that we were offered a title? Nothing grand, but Lord and Lady.”
I perked up. It seemed the King had made good on his word. “But doesn’t that come with land and a stipend?”
Anika nodded eagerly. “It does! Mama and Papa don’t want it, partly because it lies so close to the Vernes border, but also because they didn’t want to give up their tavern here. They gave the rights to me, and I can take charge of it in a few years.”
“I don’t understand how all of that works,” I confessed.
She took a deep breath. “Well, I don’t fully understand either, but the land and the manor would be ours. I’ll figure out the rest as I go. I’d need help at first, until I learned how to manage a house. It’s not a large manor but compared to this it’s massive.”
“You’re leaving the tavern, then?”
Anika looked giddy. “Not right now. But in a few years, when I’m older, I’m going to take charge of the manor and the land. Papa has already agreed to it. It’s in the hand of a steward now, waiting for
me. You can come too, it’s equally yours.”
I remembered Rumpel’s offer to take me away when his months were up. I had been debating his offer more and more as time went on and I saw little escape from the King. I doubted I would be welcome at the castle without my ability to create gold. Would I come back home, take up my old life?
A life with Anika running a manor didn’t sound bad, and I was tempted to take her up on it. In the end I settled with “we’ll see,” and let her go on telling me all she knew about the home. It was refreshing, to see her so happy about something. She had always worried me, acting distant and uninterested in our life here at the tavern. While I knew it would break my parents’ hearts to have her so far away, it would be good for her heart to be free.
Would my heart break when it was time to leave? Or would it be chained here forever? Right now, I was still so focused on navigating the palace and keeping away from the King that I hadn’t had time to figure out what I would do when Rumpel’s curse timed out, and though it may have been as foolish as it was futile, I still hoped I could save him somehow.
My childhood worries felt so trivial to me now when compared to the stress of the past few months.
I went to sleep with Anika curled up by my side and dreamed of curses and manors and magic that couldn’t be tamed. Several hours before usual, I woke up. I wanted to stay in bed, but I pulled myself out and got dressed. Today, I was going to find some answers.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The bookstore’s door was unlocked as always, and the air smelled like dandelion tea. A new rug sat beneath the bookshelves. The fire was going, helping light the room as much as the morning sun.
Old Mr. Walters sat in his chair with a pipe, rocking back and forth gently. He had a teapot and cup sitting on the small table next to his chair, and his feet were propped up to soak in heat from the fire. At the sight of me, he almost dropped his pipe.
I intended to come out before the town woke up, and before the stories of me returning with the prince could circulate. I knew that Old Mr. Walters would be awake, though; he always woke before the sun. Only a lazy man lets a thing as slow as the sun beat him to the day, he always told me.
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