All That Glitters

by Dawn Ibanez

  A low rumble of laughter echoed through the room. Ryan would have to make this one of his best shows if he wanted Kalina to survive. She was all that mattered now.

  Faust disappeared from where he stood, only to reappear at Kalina’s side. He took her hand in his. “You see child, he doesn’t really care about you. He’s only telling you what you want to hear.”

  Ryan took a step towards Kalina only to stop when a sharp pain made him double over.

  “This is all a game to him,” Satella added. Her dark eyes were full of contempt as she went to Kalina’s other side. “He uses people to get what he wants, and then he throws them away.”

  Kalina shook her head. “No. You tricked him,” she said.

  Her voice was a whisper. Ryan reached a hand toward Kalina, only to gasp when he saw his hand was now covered in green skin and long claw-like nails. He fell to his knees as he felt his own face and hair. His nose was elongated and came to a point. His cheekbones more pronounced. His hair felt coarse and oily. He looked at Kalina in time to see her step back.

  “He beguiles you, thinking you are special until he has whatever he wants from you,” Satella continued. “I was the last one. Then, he met your father and made a deal.”

  Faust wrapped Kalina’s arm around his. “I’m afraid it’s true my dear. Your goblin has done horrible things.” The demon’s eyes flashed bright red. “And I will not deal with his shit any longer.”

  Something wrapped icy fingers around his heart. Ryan screamed out in pain as he fell to the floor. His bones broke and reformed. His body contorted as he shifted from human.

  “Stop it, please,” Kalina begged.

  Faust looked at her. “You still want this piece of trash? After everything he has done?” he asked.

  She placed both of her hands on her father’s chest. “If I’m pregnant, he’s the father of my child. Please, for that child, don’t kill his or her father.”

  Faust’s lip curled as he paced away from her. Ryan could only watch from the floor. Kalina would have to face her father alone. He could only pray to whoever would listen that she succeeded.

  “I will play a game with you then, my dear.” Faust turned to her and took her chin in his hand. “I’ll play one of his games.” Faust then made her face Ryan. Her tear-streaked face broke Ryan’s heart. He wanted to do something, anything to reassure her. But he couldn’t move. Faust grinned. “Give me his real name, and I will spare his life.”

  Ryan’s back arched as another wave of pain washed over him. He never gave Kalina his name. If he would have trusted her with that, his fate would have been sealed. But if Ryan were honest with himself, his fate was sealed the moment he kissed her.

  The sad smile on Kalina’s face was something Ryan would never forget. Her heart was breaking as much as his. “He never told me his name,” she said. She wiped the tears from her face and looked at Faust. “But I’m pretty sure I know what it is.”

  One of Faust’s eyebrows arched. “Really?” he drawled. “Please tell the room your one and only guess.”

  Her shoulders were squared as she faced off with Faust. “In a world where he’s only called the goblin it could be anything. He’s centuries old. He knows magic and is willing to bargain for just about everything.” Kalina looked at Satella. “You are obsessed with him. Now, you’re fixated on our unborn child.” She shook her head. “I’m not stupid. Rumpelstiltskin is his name.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Kalina faced off again with Faust. “Am I right?” she asked.

  She didn’t like the smile that crossed his face. “You are correct my dear.” He looked past her and focused on where Ryan was. “You really didn’t tell her? Astounding.”

  Kalina heard a choking sound from Ryan and turned. His body was convulsing, and he was clawing at his neck. She was about to go to him when Faust’s hand grabbed her arm. “Let me go.” She struggled in his grip. “I have to help him.”

  “You did this to him.” Faust gestured to where Satella stood. Her beautiful face was a mask of hatred. “She cursed him when she died. For him to never know true love. He would have to hide who he was. If she ever knew the real him, he would become the very thing he hated.”

  Kalina focused her attention to Satella. The woman stood next to the table sipping a glass of wine. “Why would you do something like this?”

  Satella placed the glass on the table. “Why wouldn’t I?” she asked in turn. Her gaze stayed locked on Kalina as she approached her. “He robbed me of everything. My child, my husband, my kingdom. What makes you think I would wish him well and let him have a happy life when he stole mine.”

  Ryan started to cough. It was an ugly wheezing sound. Kalina looked at him and saw that now he was vomiting black sludge. She wanted to go to him. “So, you destroy a man because you couldn’t die?” She shook her head. “You’re no better than a spoiled child.”

  Gasps went around the room. Kalina saw Satella’s hand raise up, but before the redhead could slap her, Kalina brought up her hand. The magic she normally kept at bay leapt to her call. Satella froze.

  “You don’t get to play bitchy royal anymore,” Kalina said. Dark whispered started in her ear again. “And I will not play pawn to any of these games.” She looked at Faust. “Ryan and I are leaving.”

  A portal opened under Ryan and he fell through. Kalina looked at Faust, who smiled. “I’ll be waiting to hear from you again.”

  Kalina pushed Satella back and the portal shifted so she could walk through. She took a final glance around the room. “Don’t hold your breath, Father.”

  The last sound she heard was Faust’s laughter. She walked through the portal and found herself in Ryan’s bedroom apartment. He was on the floor, still convulsing. She went to his side and brushed his hair out of his face. “What can I do to help?” she whispered.

  He pushed her back and turned away. “Leave me.”

  His voice wasn’t the strong baritone she was used to. The sibilant quality frightened her, but she didn’t want to do as he ordered. “Ryan, please. Let me help you.”

  He turned on her. “There is nothing you can do to help. This is of my own making, so just go.” He waved his hand, and Kalina felt herself being pushed away.

  Kalina stood and wiped her eyes. She didn’t want to think about their situation. If she looked at the past hour too closely, she would do nothing more than cry. She left him in favor of going to the kitchen. Her hands trembled as she opened the refrigerator. She looked at the bottles of beer and water. The fruit Ryan kept because he knew she liked strawberries more than oranges. Her vision blurred as she saw the pizza he ordered while they were in Bora Bora.

  She pulled out a bottle of water and a sob escaped her. Kalina covered her mouth as she closed the fridge and sank to the floor.

  A soft nudge on her arm made her turn. Pizazz climbed into her lap. Kalina buried her face in the cat’s fur and continued to shake. She didn’t know what she was going to do. There was no way she could fight Faust.

  “I thought I told you to leave,” Ryan said.

  She looked at him. He was no longer in the suit he wore to the party. Now he was in the grey tee-shirt and sweatpants. “Do you think I should be scared of you or something? Is that why you don’t want me around?”

  “I don’t have the tolerance to deal with your tears, pity, and self-pity, Princess.” He waved a hand and a beer appeared in it. “I have enough of my own to deal with. I don’t need yours too.”

  Kalina looked at him. “Here’s where you turn into an asshole to drive me away. Got it.” She rubbed Pizazz behind the ears. “I’m not, you know.”

  “What?”

  “Scared of you. I wanted you to know I’m not scared of you.”

  He chuckled as he walked away from her. It soon turned into laughter. “Ryan.”

  “That isn’t my name,” he spat. “If you call me anything, you call me that.”

  Kalina placed the cat on the floor and stood. “
No.” When he rounded on her, she stood her ground.

  Something in his eyes changed. His shoulders slumped forward and the fight he seemed to be itching for escaped him. “You truly look beautiful,” he said.

  Her heart broke. His appearance was changed, but the man she knew and loved was still there. He was now a goblin for everyone to see, and it was her fault. “I didn’t know,” she said.

  He waved her off. “I was warned. I knew it would happen. If you would have said anything other than Rumpelstiltskin, Faust would have killed me.”

  She didn’t give a damn about his looks. She wanted him happy, and hers. Theirs. Their child happy too. “I’m pregnant.”

  He nodded as he crossed over to a shelf. With skilled ease, he climbed to the top shelf and found a clear liquid. “We can do something about that. You won’t want a child that looks like me.”

  Her magic lashed out before she registered what she was doing. The bottle with the liquid crashed to the floor. Kalina looked at him with horrified eyes. “What the hell are you thinking?” she asked. Even to her own ears she sounded shrill and panicked.

  “I’m thinking you don’t want a goblin for a child.”

  Kalina bit back her retort. She placed her unopened bottle of water on the counter. There was more to the situation than she knew, and she needed to know all of it. She walked to him and turned his face to hers. “I am going to find a way to fix this. And if you ever think to take this child from me, you will have a fight like you have never seen on your hands, Ryan.”

  His hand was visibly shaking as he reached for her face. Before he touched her, he lowered his hand. “You’re just being stubborn.”

  She shrugged. “You’ll get over it.”

  He lowered his head and sighed. “You’ll hate me when you see everything. I wasn’t the best person back then.”

  “Let me decide that,” she said.

  His eyes scanned her face. He looked as if he wanted to believe her, but there was something holding him back. Kalina knew there was nothing that could make her hate him.

  Except the liquid on the floor. She stepped back from him and her dress changed into a pair of jeans and a black tank top. “If you give me anything that will make me miscarry, I will never forgive you,” she warned.

  His shoulders fell even more. “Take the mirror Lucifer gave you. Demand to see my past.”

  Kalina went to the bedroom and saw the mirror on the dresser. She picked it up and looked at her reflection. “Show me Ryan’s past,” she ordered. When nothing happened, she closed her eyes and sighed. “Show me Rumpelstiltskin’s past.” She didn’t think she would ever get used to calling him that.

  The mirror misted over and started to swirl. Kalina felt a pull on her magic and frowned at the silver gift. Her head was starting to spin in time with the smoke in the mirror. “Ryan,” she called out.

  Before he answered, her legs gave out. She collapsed and looked at the mirror once more. She raised it over her head, with every intention of breaking it on the floor. But a cool leathery hand wrapped around hers. She looked up into Ryan’s grotesque face and sighed. It didn’t matter if he was handsome or hideous. His eyes still looked at her as if she were his world.

  His lips were moving, but she didn’t hear him. She couldn’t hear anything except the chirping of birds and running water. Kalina closed her eyes to blink. When she opened her eyes, she saw she was sitting under a tree with a bird at her side.

  “Rumple!” a female voice called.

  Kalina turned around and saw Satella running to the river a few feet away. She frowned as she looked at the smiling woman. None of her features changed. But here, she was happy. Satella’s beauty glowed around her, and Kalina understood why Ryan fell for her.

  “Rumple, you have to come see.” She crossed the river, carefully lifting her dress so that it didn’t get wet.

  When she reached the other side of the river, a shadow moved. A figure dropped from the tree a few feet in front of Satella. “I saw. Your king has lavished you with gift after gift. It was only a matter of time before he tried to make you his queen.”

  Kalina heard the venom in his voice. Satella blinked at him. “I thought you would be happy for me.” She reached up and touched the charm on the necklace at her throat. “This was our plan.”

  He spat on the ground. “It was your plan. Mine was to leave this blasted kingdom. The hunts are beginning again. I can’t stay.”

  Satella shook her head. “I can talk to the king. I’m sure he would let you stay. After all, it’s because of you that the kingdom’s coffers are full again.”

  The goblin in front of the queen-to-be snarled and jumped up into the tree. “I don’t care about any of that. You were supposed to be mine. Now you’ve come to tell me the kingdom is in an uproar because you have agreed to marry the very man that wanted to kill you months ago.”

  The smile from her face fell. “It wasn’t like that.”

  He scoffed. “It wasn’t? I distinctly remember you saying, please help me, Rumple. They’ll kill me if I don’t produce gold for him.” He clawed at the tree nearest him. “If it wasn’t like that, then you lied to me then. So, which is it Satella? Were you lying then, or are you lying now?”

  “Why are you behaving like this? I’m to be queen. Can’t you be happy for me?”

  “You know I wanted to take you away from here. I was going to protect you. I would treat you like a queen and keep you in jewels.” He jumped into the tree. “But instead you lied to me. You used me. And you will one day regret your mistake.”

  He ran deeper into the woods, leaving Satella by the side of the river. Kalina felt the world around them shift. The scenery of the woods around her melted away to reform as a throne room. Rumple stood in chains as he faced off with Satella and an older man that could only be her king.

  “Cure him,” Satella pleaded. “He’s just a babe. You cannot leave him like this.”

  “Everything has a price, Your Grace.” His tone was mocking and cold. Kalina wanted to go to his side. “When you piss off members of the Eternal Coven, they are bound to get even.”

  A child’s cry echoed through the throne room. Rumple disappeared and reappeared next to the bassinet and picked up the infant. “Oh, you would have been a strong one,” he said to the child. “It’s too bad your mother is a cold bitch and your father doesn’t have the balls to stand up to her.”

  “Do not disrespect the queen,” the king roared. He motioned his hand and guards surrounded Rumple again.

  He disappeared and reappeared. The babe in his arms still fussed. “How are those coffers, Your Grace.” He turned back to the baby and rubbed his pointed nose against the baby’s cheek. “You see, little prince, your mother nearly whored herself to me in order to spin gold for the kingdom.”

  “Shut up,” Satella hissed.

  Rumple looked at her with narrowed eyes. “She isn’t as strong a witch as she lets people think.” He turned his focus to the king. “Did she ever come clean about that? How I was the one who spun your gold? She did nothing but pace and cry while I reassured her that no harm would come to her.”

  The king stood and approached Rumple. “Give me my son,” he ordered.

  Rumple snapped his fingers and the baby disappeared from his arms. The king’s face went red with anger. He bellowed in rage and attacked Rumple. The goblin jumped around the throne room, laughing as the king chased him around with his sword. Rumple appeared behind a guard and stole his sword before disappearing again.

  Kalina swallowed as she watched. Rumple toyed with the king and his guards. The only ones he didn’t appear near or take a random swing at were the queen and the bassinet where the prince was once again crying. Kalina knew he was angry with Satella and jealous of the king.

  He reappeared in the center of the room, just as the king swung his sword. Kalina gasped, and Rumple looked at where she stood. He hissed in pain when the king’s sword cut him across the arm. He turned and lunged at the king.

/>   Satella’s scream brought the entire room to a halt. Rumple stood chest to chest with the king, whose sword crashed to the stone floor. Rumple stepped back and the king fell to his knees. The sword Rumple took from the guard was in his stomach. Rumple looked at Satella. “You brought this on yourself.” He turned to look in the corner Kalina stood once more and vanished from sight.

  Everything shifted once more. Kalina now found herself in a dark cave. A slim figure moved through the shadows, approaching the huddled mass on the floor.

  The mass ignited. The approaching figure stumbled back and Rumple rushed his would-be assailant. As they fell to the ground, Kalina heard fabric ripping. She wasn’t surprised to see Satella with a dagger in her hand.

  She struggled against Rumple. “Why can’t you just die?” she screamed.

  Kalina saw the hurt that crossed his face before it hardened. “Because I swore I wouldn’t let you win.” He pushed off her and snatched her knife away. “Get out.”

  Satella stood and looked at him. “You think I won?” she asked. “I have lost everything because of you.”

  “This is an old dance, Satella. You blame me, I blame you. This really is getting old. Can’t you just rule your husband’s kingdom like you always wanted?”

  She fussed with her hair. “You will never understand.” As she brushed the dust off her clothes, she sighed. “I wanted you to be happy for me, Rumple. I really wanted to be your friend. But you killed my husband and let my son die.”

  “You slighted the witches. And you know only the witch that casts a curse can remove it.” Rumple tossed the dagger away. “I had nothing to do with your son.”

  Satella curled her hands into fists. “You could have helped. I know you could have.”

  “I am willing to dismiss this nonsense as a mother’s grief. But you need to realize your own folly in his death, Satella.”

  She screamed as she jumped at him. Rumple caught her wrists as they fell back. His eyes widened when he turned and slammed her to the ground. The hands he held dissolved to reveal two tree branches. Satella smiled up at Rumple. “I hope you find someone to love one day. Someone you would do anything for. Because I curse you, Rumpelstiltskin. You will find bliss, and peace, and it will all be ripped away when the woman you would give everything for discovers who you really are.”