by Sonya Writes
~
Cameron waited for Quinn’s report that the gold had been produced before he dared to greet Alina as himself again. He hoped that now she would be more open to eating with him and enjoying conversation together. They seemed to get along well when he greeted her as Rumpelstiltskin, so surely they should be able to get along while he was king. She just needed a little convincing and a little time. Perhaps a lot of time.
After several moments of silence, Cameron began the conversation.
“You’ve proven what your father said you could do,” he said. “So this makes it official that we’re to be wed.”
She looked at him but he couldn’t read her expression. Part of him wanted to just send her home, but he knew Marvin wouldn’t take back his agreement for them to be wed. Marvin had been trying to get Cameron to meet Alina for months before he made his silly drunken statement that night, so neither man was about to take back what he’d said. One way or another, Cameron and Alina would be husband and wife.
Alina still said nothing.
Cameron cleared his throat. “I have another room prepared for you to stay in,” he said. “Whenever you are ready to move into that room, which I assure you is far nicer than this one, all you need to do is let Quinn or myself know.”
She looked up at him. “I prefer to stay here,” she said.
She speaks!
He nodded. “Very well,” he said. “If that is your wish. However I do have one request. I would like you to come down to the dining hall for your daily meals and eat with me there instead of here. I assure you it’s a far more comfortable setting. I would like you to be more comfortable with me.”
Alina took a deep breath. “Is that an order?” she asked.
He sighed. “Not an order,” he told her. “But a humble request. Please join me for dinner this evening. I’ll invite your father as well, and I’ll send him this mound of gold as a gift with the invitation.”
Her face lit up. She wondered if she could talk her father into taking back his agreement for her to marry the king. The king had shown that he wouldn’t go back on his part of the agreement, but perhaps he would listen if her father went back on his.
“Will I see you at dinner?” Cameron asked.
“I’ll consider it,” she said. Yes, she thought. Yes, of course. I’ll see you at dinner and then I hope I’ll never see you again.
He smiled. “Quinn will let you know when it’s time. Meanwhile, if there’s anything you need, just ask him.”
~
dinner with the king
Quinn came to the tower in the early afternoon and gave Alina a new gown to wear. “King Cameron eats an early dinner most nights,” he said. “The meal will be served around five.”
Alina held up the gown. It was beautiful, but she didn’t like who it came from. “I won’t wear this,” she said.
Quinn shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t have to,” he told her. He closed the door and Alina listened as the sound of his footsteps faded down the staircase.
She looked over the gown a bit longer and then put it down. She didn’t want to dress up for dinner. Then her father might think Cameron was being kind to her and would make a good husband. No, she would go in the dress she’d worn since she arrived. Quinn had brought a new gown every day she’d been there, but she refused every one. She’d rather wear her old clothes day after day than accept any gift from the king.
Alina thought of her father. She had to convince him this marriage was a bad idea. The king might not be willing to go back on his word, but her father still had the legal right to refuse any man her hand in marriage.
She dipped her fingers in the soot from the fireplace and began rubbing dirt onto herself. She tousled her hair to make it messy and then put a few broken strands of straw into her hair.
When Quinn came to bring her down for dinner, he started to laugh at the sight of her.
“I see you’ve prepared for dinner,” he said. “Perhaps you would like a bath afterward?”
She said nothing and followed him down the stairs.
King Cameron and her father were already seated in the dining hall and waiting for her. Her father was smiling and laughing before he noticed she’d entered the room. They were talking about her and making wedding plans. But when he looked up and saw Alina in her disheveled state, he laughed even more.
“Alina, you stubborn girl! I’ve been here speaking to His Majesty since noon. I saw the gown you were offered to wear tonight, and I know Cameron has provided you with a hairbrush. Why do you insist on appearing so unseemly before your husband-to-be? I know I’ve raised you better than that.”
Alina’s mouth dropped open and her eyes watered. “But father,” she said.
“This is a joyous occasion, dear daughter. You’ve actually spun the straw into gold, and now you’ll be queen. You should be ashamed to arrive for dinner looking as you do.”
Alina burst into tears and then ran from the room. She pushed past Quinn and dashed to the tower. She didn’t know her way around the palace at all, but she remembered how to get to the tower. It was the only part of the palace that felt safe to her. But as she ran up the steps, she realized: I could leave the palace. All I need to do is find my way out and go. I could run away and start a life somewhere else.
As she turned around, however, King Cameron showed up at the bottom of the stairs.
“Alina,” he said.
She wiped the tears from her eyes.
He walked up to her and pushed the hair out of her face. “Alina, I understand that you don’t like me right now. But I would like for us to work together on changing that. I’m sorry for what your father said, and I can see that his words have hurt you.”
She kept her eyes to the floor.
“Please talk to me,” he said.
She made eye contact with him for a moment and then looked away again. “I don’t want to marry you,” she whispered.
“I will not go back on my word,” he said. “I agreed to your father’s proposal. How can I go back on my promise to marry you after everything I’ve put both of you through?” He took a deep breath and thought. He’d grown to really like her, and he had a lot of hope invested in the children they might have, but he didn’t want her to be miserable. He touched her cheek with his fingertips. “Alina, if you hate me that much, then go. Run away. No one will stop you.”
She looked up at him. “No one will stop me?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “You are no longer a prisoner here but my fiancé, and as such you have every right to either explore or leave the palace.” He sighed and looked away. “I’m going back to the dining hall to entertain your father. If you wish to join us, you know where to find us.”
With that he turned and began walking down the stairs. Alina listened to the sound of his shoes on the steps until he was gone.
He’ll try to stop me, she thought. This is a trick of some sort. But she decided to try it anyway. She tip-toed down the stairs and then looked both ways down the hall. No one was there. Alina tried to remember which way she needed to go to get outside. She crept down the hallway, turning this way and that until she found the way out. Of course, a guard stood at the door.
Her heart fell. “Well, I’ll try it anyway,” she said. “Let’s see how much a man of his word he really is.”
She walked up to the door. The man standing there nodded to her, and she passed through. That was too easy. She went down the steps and toward the gate. The men there allowed her to leave also. She kept walking.
Now where do I go? She thought. She couldn’t go to her father’s house, or he would see to it that she went through with the marriage. And there wasn’t anywhere in the kingdom she could go where her father wouldn’t eventually learn where she was.
“I have to leave the kingdom, then,” she said. She walked through to the edge of town and began walking down the road that passed through the forest to neighboring lands. Her legs were tired and she sat down to rest. H
er stomach groaned with hunger. “I am so stupid for not eating much these last few days,” she said. Then she laughed. “I probably could have stayed for dinner and left afterward.”
As she sat beside the tree and a cool breeze chilled her arms, she remembered Rumpelstiltskin. “I made a promise to him,” she said. “He probably doesn’t have many friends. He visited me and saved my life. I promised to be his friend and let him read to my children before bed.” She put her head down on her knees. “He must live a lonely life.” With her eyes closed she thought about him and what his life was probably like. Guilt for leaving entered her mind and she wondered if she should go back.
“He did insist that Cameron was a good man. And Cameron did allow me to leave.” She sighed. “Perhaps being married to him won’t be so terrible. And, if it is, I could always leave later, with an actual plan and some money in my purse.”
Alina stood and began the long walk back to the palace.
~
King Cameron sat alone in the north tower. Marvin had left thirty minutes earlier, still unaware that Alina had run off. They ate dinner together and Cameron never let on that he knew Alina hoped to disappear. She was so eager to find a way out.
He held his head in his hands and scolded himself for thinking there was any hope in his situation. He would forever be cursed to wander the night as Rumpelstiltskin. Even if he married someone else, how would he ever greet her as Rumpelstiltskin and get her to allow him the company of their children? Alina only opened up to him in that form because she needed his magic.
The transformation would begin in about ten minutes. Cameron planned to go through it in the tower that night, but then he heard the soft patter of shoes coming up the stairs. His mind raced as he wondered who it was and how he could get to his bedroom before the transformation began.
The door opened. It was Alina! She’d come back.
Alina jumped when she saw him. “I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said.
“I didn’t expect to see you, either,” said the king. He stood and reached for her hand. “Thank you for coming back.”
She forced a smile and thought about the way her hand felt in his. It actually didn’t feel so bad.
“I’m really happy to see you,” he said. He bit his lip. “I hate to cut this short, but I must go. Will you join me for breakfast tomorrow?”
She nodded.
“Thank you,” he said. “Good night, Alina.” He walked past her and ran down the stairs. There was no way he would make it to his bedroom in time. Cameron slipped into another room of the palace and hid. When the transformation was complete, he crept through the halls to his bedroom, desperately hoping no one would see him. He made it to the hidden passage in the wall and returned to the north tower to see Alina, this time as Rumpelstiltskin.
When he found her, she was leaning against a wall with her eyes closed, but she knew he was there.
“Thank you for coming,” she said.
“I’m surprised to see you here.”
She smiled. “So you heard, then.”
“King Cameron tells me nearly everything.”
She opened her eyes. “And do you tell him everything?”
He chuckled. “You can trust me, Alina. Your secrets are safe with me.”
She closed her eyes again. “I’m so tired,” she said “I walked such a long way, and I still haven’t eaten anything.”
“Why did you come back?”
“Because of you.”
He stepped back in shock. “Me?”
“Yes. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving you behind after you’ve been such a good friend to me. I promised you would see my children when I have them.” She sighed. “And besides, you insisted King Cameron would be good to me. He seemed a better choice than walking along for miles and miles to get away from here without resources or any sort of plan in mind.”
Rumpelstiltskin put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m glad you came back,” he said.
“Me too. I think. I’m emotionally drained, my body aches, and I’m starved, but perhaps tomorrow will be better than today.”
He thought for a moment. “His Majesty is out for the night,” Rumpelstiltskin said. “But if you knock on Quinn’s door, he’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
“Could you bring some food for me?”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Someone might see me, and that wouldn’t be good. You see, King Cameron is the only one who knows I live in the palace.”
She looked at him. “You’re jesting.”
“Completely serious. He’s concerned my appearance would frighten the staff.”
“That’s terrible! I’ll have to speak to him about that.”
He smirked. “You can’t. Not yet, at least. Or he’ll know we’ve met. And besides, I like it this way.”
“You do? But isn’t it lonely?”
“It’s lonely for sure, but better than terrifying everyone and being jeered at all the time.”
“You’re not so bad,” she said. “Once people got to know you, I bet they’d like you just fine.”
“I’ve been telling you the same about His Majesty,” Rumpelstiltskin insisted. “And yet you don’t seem convinced. I presume it would be the same for me relating to others. I only like to come out at night, anyhow, so there aren’t many people I could interact with regardless.”
She sighed. “Well, I’ll still talk to the king about this when I get a chance,” she said.
He smiled. “I’d prefer that you stop fussing over me and go find something to eat,” he said. “If you don’t wish to wake Quinn, you can go to the kitchen yourself and fix something to eat.”
“Will you come with me?”
“Sorry, Alina. I only wander the palace through these secret corridors, and I get my meals directly from His Majesty each day. I wouldn’t dare go into the kitchen myself for fear of being caught.”
She shook her head. “This is all so silly. One day I’ll convince you to show everyone how beautiful you are inside. A life in hiding is no way to live.”
“I agree,” he told her. “But my life is what it is. Now please, go to the kitchen and eat something. I do not wish to watch you starve to death in this tower.”
“I will make something and bring it up here,” she said. “I hope you’ll be waiting for me when I return.”
“If that’s your desire,” he said, “I’ll wait.”
She smiled. “See you soon, then, Rumpelstiltskin.”
She returned about thirty minutes later with a plate of sandwiches and fruit.
“I hope you don’t mind that I ate a bit on my way up here.”
He laughed. “That’s okay,” he said. “Why would I mind? The maids might if you’ve left crumbs throughout the palace, but it doesn’t bother me.”
“Ha,” she said. “I meant because I planned for us to eat together.” She slid the plate over to him.
“No,” he said. “You keep it. I’ve already had dinner. You’ll probably be hungry again before breakfast comes around anyway.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded.
She picked up one of the sandwiches and took a bite. “When do you suppose King Cameron will officially introduce us to each other?” she asked.
“Oh, not for a very long time,” he said.
“But why?”
He smirked. “You’ll understand one day, I think. For now it is probably better that we not discuss these matters.”
“Hmm.” She finished eating her sandwich. “I don’t like to not discuss things,” she said. “I believe it’s better to get everything out into the open and work through it. Don’t you?”
“Your father told Cameron you would make a fine queen,” Rumpelstiltskin said. “I think he was right. But there’s a time and place for openness, and a time and place for secrecy.”
“Marriage is neither the time nor the place,” she said. “It doesn’t feel right to go on leading Cameron to think I’ve spun this straw
into gold myself and that I haven’t met you.”
“Trust me,” Rumpelstiltskin said. “When he finds out, he’ll completely understand, and he won’t be a bit upset with you about all this.”
“If you say so,” she said.
~
wedding plans
The next day, Alina put on the gown King Cameron had given her for dinner the night before. She brushed through her hair and washed her face. She still wasn’t excited about marrying him, but she wasn’t dreading it as much as she had before either.
When Quinn came up the stairs to inform her that breakfast was ready, she agreed to come down to the dining hall and eat with His Majesty rather than to eat alone in the tower.
The table was already set for two when she arrived, and Cameron gave a wide smile when he saw her. He sat at the head of the table, and she sat in the chair to his right.
“I’m so pleased that you’ve decided to join me this morning,” he said.
Alina folded her napkin and stared at her plate.
“I hoped we could talk about wedding plans. I’d like to hear your input and preferences about when, where, and so on.”
She dropped her fork on the plate. “You’re going to jump straight to marriage talk?” she asked. “I don’t get even a ‘how was your night?’ Or perhaps you could ask about why I returned instead of continuing with my plan to run away from you and this dreadful marriage.”
He smiled, amused because he’d already talked with her about all of that, but of course she didn’t know it was him. He made a mental note to be more mindful about asking questions twice: once as king and once as Rumpelstiltskin. “I see you’ve found your voice,” he said. “I’m glad. And please forgive me for being so forward this morning. Alina, how was your night?”
Alina looked down at the table. “It was okay,” she said. “Why did you run off as soon as I returned?”
“It’s complicated,” he said. “I have a health issue and must go to bed early most nights. It’s why I eat dinner so early. I’d actually planned to sleep in the tower last night, but once you returned I presumed you would be uncomfortable with that arrangement, seeing as we’re not married yet.”