“Actually, that’s not quite true,” I said, remembering what he’d told me in my room as he’d snatched Fae. “Remember the guy who helped us save the unicorns from the magical net in the river? That was him. He took Fae in exchange for that knife he lent me. Apparently, I told him I’d give him anything he wanted, and he took that statement literally.”
Jay winced at my words, and the edges of his mouth began to fall. “The man, or whatever he is, is the worst form of pond scum.”
“He is. I wondered why he looked so much like Luka. I guess it was his way of making him seem believable to me… trustworthy.”
“That just proves my point, though. Rumpel only turns up when people are in dire need. When they’re at their most desperate. That’s when he can get what he wants out of them.”
All the stories I’d heard about him certainly seemed to point in that direction. “My mother was in real need. I was only in need because of the unicorns drowning, although he was the one that threw that net down in the first place. It was hardly a fair trade.”
“Going back to using you to get back to your mother,” Jay said, leaning forward. “Maybe Rumple was the one who put the idea of your mother being able to spin straw into gold into her father’s head in the first place. From what your mother said the other morning, the man was a drunk. He probably picked up the notion in a tavern or something.”
“That might be true, but we’ll never know. My grandfather died years ago. I don’t know how this helps us anyway.”
“It helps because we know Rumpelstiltskin turns up when he sees opportunity. He takes people and manipulates them. Usually, the people he manipulates are at the very end of their rope. What if we hire someone who pretends to be wealthy but down on their luck? Maybe a sick kid or something? We could have them sitting in a bar telling people that they’d give every penny they have to make their son well.”
I mulled it over in my mind. There were so many taverns in the local area. Hundreds. The chances of him being in one at the same time as the person we hired were slim. Still, if this plan gave Jay some hope, maybe he’d recover quicker.
“I’ll speak to Williamson and ask him to go to the castle,” I said. “I doubt my father will be in, but my mother will. She can set this up.”
“Great, but instead of hiring one person, tell her to hire as many as she can,” Jay said. “Come up with many different reasons a person could be down on their luck. We need to mix the story up a bit, because we don’t know what it is he wants now.”
I asked Williamson to bring my mother to the hospital rather than sending her a message. I knew her well enough to know that she’d want to speak to Jay and me about the plan.
Deep in my heart, I knew it was pointless. Rumple had what he wanted right now. In the future, he’d need something else to keep him occupied, but right now, he’d be keeping a low profile. He wasn’t the kind of criminal that liked to flaunt his wins. Still, if this kept Jay and Mother occupied and gave them something to do, it would take their attention off me. I’d made a decision, and I knew that if either of them knew what I was about to do, they’d stop me. In Jay’s case, he’d either try and talk me out of it or try and come with me despite two broken legs. My mother would be even more drastic and have guards watch my every move.
When she turned up, it was with a task force of palace advisors. Usually, she wouldn’t travel without guards, but there were simply none left. With the exception of Williamson and Avery at the hospital, they all were out scouring The Vale for my baby girl.
“Williamson told me you had a plan,” my mother said, taking the only other seat in the room. Behind her, the advisors stood in a semicircle, all of them with notepads in their hands ready to write things down.
“We know a bit about Rumpelstiltskin,” Jay began. He was so much more animated than before. “We know he likes to barter, but he only does it when he knows the prize at stake is huge, and he can’t lose. He has a strange sense of what’s right. He could easily steal the things he covets, but he doesn’t. He makes people swap them for his help...”
I stood up while Jay talked and filled my mother and the advisors in on his plan. He looked so much happier now that he had purpose. My mother, too, was absorbed in every word he said.
“I’m just going out to get some air,” I said, opening the hospital door. Jay and my mother barely noticed.
“Tell Jay and my mother that I’ve gone out to look for Fae,” I said to Avery. “Tell them I’ll be taking the mother unicorn.”
I waited for either Avery or Williamson, who was also listening, to try to stop me. They wouldn’t be able to, of course, but they’d do their best. It was a mark of the seriousness of the situation that they didn’t even try.
“I’ll take you on horseback up to the castle,” Avery said. “She’ll probably be around there.”
The journey to the castle was swift, and as predicted, Zacharina was standing in the meadow near the castle. Epiphany stood with her.
Jumping down from Avery’s horse, I ran over to Zacharina.
“I have no good news to tell you, dear child. The unicorns have spread far and wide searching for her.”
“I know. I’m grateful. I was hoping you’d let me search for her. I was hoping you’d take me.”
“I’ll take you anywhere you wish. You know that, but your fear of heights...”
“The fear of not finding my daughter is much greater.”
She nodded, then bent her knees to allow me to climb onto her back. I knew before we even launched into the air that I wouldn’t find Fae. If my father, all his guards, and all the unicorns couldn’t, then I didn’t stand a chance, but by not helping to look for her, I was dying inside. I’d given Jay a reason to feel hope by giving him a task to set his mind to. Flying around The Vale was my task. If it took away some of the pain in my heart and allowed me to breathe a little more easily, at least then I’d be able to think clearly.
The gust of wind that hit my face as we took to the air made me gasp. My stomach lurched as the ground got further and further away, but I kept my eyes on the ground, hunting for any clue as to Rumpelstiltskin’s whereabouts. I didn’t even know what I was looking for. He was hardly likely to be walking the streets with my daughter.
I instructed Zacharina to head away from Shipley. The town would be thoroughly searched by the castle guards. Instead, I was going to comb the countryside for small outbuildings or tiny cottages away from other people.
Epiphany flew beside us, pumping her wings frantically to keep up. We flew for hours, dipping to the ground every so often to knock on a door or peek through a window of an isolated cottage. As the sun began to set, I knew I’d done no better than the castle guards had. I’d knocked on the doors of scores of cottages, only to be looked upon with curiosity. I guessed it wasn’t every day that the daughter of the king knocked on people’s doors.
As the sun faded in the sky, I directed Zacharina to take me back to the hospital. I’d lost my last chance of looking for Fae. My mother would never let me leave her sight ever again after pulling a stunt like this. But as the houses became denser and the hospital building came into view, a thought crossed my mind. Maybe this wasn’t my last chance, after all.
“Zacharina,” I said, leaning down and speaking into her ear. “Take me to the inn. There’s someone I need to find.”
6
18th May
It turned out that there was more than one inn in Shipley. I’d naively thought I could fly into town, walk into the nearest inn, and find the strangers who had come to see me at the palace. Instead, I walked the streets, trying to keep as inconspicuous as possible, which wasn’t easy with two unicorns in tow. While The Vale was full of unicorns, they usually stuck to the forests and meadows. The streets were practically empty due to the lateness of the hour, but the few people we did see stared at us. I saw the light of recognition in some of them. Others were so taken with Zacharina and Epiphany that they didn’t even notice the princess by their s
ide.
After a couple of hours, I stumbled into a smaller inn on the edge of town. My feet hurt, and my stomach grumbled as I walked through the front door.
I’d almost lost hope, not even knowing if the strangers were traveling using their real names or if they were even still in Shipley. The inn on the edge of town was not one of the finer establishments and not anywhere I’d expect princes and princesses to stay, so I was surprised to see Deon in the reception area. His head was buried in a book, or so I thought, until I walked closer and saw that he was actually writing a letter and using the book to rest it on.
“Deon.”
He looked up, a smile coming to his lips when he saw who had caught his attention.
“Eliana! You came to us. We were planning to leave first thing in the morning. I was just writing a letter to my wife to let her know where I am.” His voice warmed a little on the words my wife. “There’s not always a post office where we travel.”
I nodded, unsure what to say.
He stood, tucked the writing paper between two pages of the book, and placed the pen in his top pocket.
“I’ll get the others to come down. I’m sure they’ll open the restaurant if we ask. We seem to pay an inordinate amount of money wherever we go. As a result, people trip over themselves to help us.”
I nodded sheepishly. I still wasn’t used to these strange people who proclaimed to be my siblings, but were so different from me. “I’d like to talk to you all. I have my unicorns outside. I’ll go and let them know I found you.”
Deon raised an eyebrow at the mention of unicorns, but made no comment.
Less than ten minutes later, the restaurant in the inn was open, and our orders were being taken. Both Azia and Blaise only ordered a drink. Deon ordered some weird kind of salad, so I was glad when Castiel requested a large steak. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. I ordered a steak too, although more well done than Castiel’s. Nyre, the pretty little dragon, found herself a place to sit on Castiel’s shoulder, no doubt waiting to help him with his meal.
“I’m glad you decided to speak to us again,” Deon said.
“We’d given up on you,” Blaise added. Her red-blonde hair flowed around her shoulders, making her look every inch the princess she was.
“I guess you guys haven’t heard the news,” I said, playing with the edge of the tablecloth.
I had hoped they’d already heard. They would only have had to look at the cover of a newspaper to see what had happened. Wanted posters were already plastered all over town with a reward for Rumpelstiltskin’s capture. But I got the feeling they didn’t like to be seen.
“What happened?” Azia asked, sitting forward in her chair. “Fae?”
She was a perceptive one. The only one to notice I hadn’t walked in with my baby.
“She’s been kidnapped.” My voice faltered on the word, but I pressed forward. “Rumpelstiltskin took her last night… or the night before. I don’t even know what day it is anymore.”
Blaise gasped and covered her mouth.
“I’ve been at the hospital all day with my boyfriend. He tried to stop him, but Rumpelstiltskin has magic and Jay does not. Jay’s legs are broken. He’s pretty messed up. I already told you about my magic. Talking to unicorns isn’t much help when a dangerous imp is stealing your child.”
I was babbling and couldn’t seem to stop myself until the waiter came to our table with drinks. No one spoke as our drinks were handed out, but Azia held her hand out and placed it on top of mine.
“We’ll find her,” she said when the waiter had left. “This is what we were talking about the other day when we met you. Something has brought the evil back. Did this Rumpels...”
“—stiltskin,” I ended for her.
“Yes, did he ever do anything before like this, or is it out of the blue?”
“He told my mother that he’d take her firstborn in exchange for helping her. That’s why I think she took a baby from a stranger, no questions asked, when I was brought to the castle as a newborn. She never wanted to give birth in case he came for her child.” A lump formed in my throat, choking me. “He came for mine instead. My father has half the kingdom out looking for Fae. It’s in all the newspapers, posted all over town. I even knocked on doors myself, but there is no trace.”
“He won’t be here,” Azia said. “This situation is bigger than The Vale. Things like this are happening all over. Admittedly yours is the worst so far. We think it’s something to do with Urbis.”
“Urbis? You think that’s where he’s taken Fae?”
“I don’t know for sure. A friend of mine thought it had something to do with the gods.”
Castiel rolled his eyes at this, but remained silent. I could see that it was a bone of contention between the group.
“The gods?” I was a believer, but I had always figured they were too powerful to actually come to our world.
“I know it sounds odd. I didn’t believe in the gods at all, but my friend thought that at least one of them had something to do with it. She believed that the Fae and the mages of Enchantia and other magical beings weren’t powerful enough for what is going on. The only beings with this kind of power are the gods.”
I noticed Castiel wasn’t looking at her as she spoke.
“What do you think, Castiel?”
He shrugged. “I don’t believe in gods. Where I come from, nature is god. The earth, the trees, the animals. We are all enmeshed together. I don’t believe that magical beings sit on the clouds above us playing harps.”
“I know at least one that frequents the night clubs of Urbis,” Azia interjected.
A knot of embarrassment ran through me. I’d pondered this exact thing on the day in the meadow before Fae was born.
“I believe in the gods, but I believe them to be powerful in a good way. I saw Rumpelstiltskin. He looked more like an imp than a god, though he could shapeshift, and I think he might have been able to read minds, but I’m not sure. He turned into a weird facsimile of my dead husband. He could have seen his picture in the paper, though. I don’t know.”
At this, Blaise burst into tears. Azia passed her a tissue.
“You’ve gone through so much,” Blaise said. “I’m so sorry for all this. This is awful.”
“But this is what we are here for,” Azia reminded her. “This is what we are doing. We’re going to put an end to this, whatever this is.” She turned to me. “You told us the other day that you didn’t want to come with us. Am I correct in thinking you’ve changed your mind?”
“If you think you can help me find Fae, yes.”
Everyone around the table nodded. “Of course. We’re heading to Urbis, but the plan is to stop in Aboria along the way. We’ll visit the royal palace there and see if they’ve experienced anything strange lately. I haven’t seen anything yet, but I’m sure it’s coming.”
“I’m scared if I leave The Vale, and someone brings Fae back, I’ll miss it.”
“We are not asking you to abscond,” Azia said gently. “Tell your parents you’re coming with us. We try to travel incognito, most of the time going by foot or renting a carriage when we can do that without arousing suspicion, but we’re going to cities. We’re all keeping in contact with our families as best we can by mail. Tell your family our next destination is Mosa in Aboria and then on to Urbis. They can send letters to the main post offices there. Deon has been writing ten letters a week to his wife.”
“Seven,” Deon corrected. “We’re newlyweds. I got married, and then this lot showed up.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you. So are you coming?”
“I have no choice. I need to find my daughter.”
“We will find her,” Azia said.
It was strange to see how four people—people I’d only met once—cared about what was happening to me and my daughter. There was a bond between us that I couldn’t explain. They said they thought we were siblings. I wasn’t so sure, but I could feel
some kind of connection. I’d felt it the other day when they’d come to the castle to speak with me. It was more than their willingness to help me; there was a thread of energy that ran through us. I’d felt something building within me since the night I first heard Zacharina speak, but I’d been so caught up in everything else going on that hadn’t really paid attention to it. These people had told me it was magic.
Well, magic sure beat crazy, but it scared me all the same.
I associated magic with people from far off lands like Enchantia and people like Rumpelstiltskin, who used it to hurt people. Now I had some kind of magic, and I didn’t know how to turn it to good.
The waiter appeared with our food, and my stomach grumbled again. Nyre hopped excitedly up and down on Castiel’s shoulder as his steak was placed in front of him.
“Can you control your dragon?” Castiel grumbled, pulling his plate to him and trying to shoo the small purple dragon from his shoulder.
“Nyre, come here. I’ll order you something if you like, but you’ve eaten already this evening.”
Evidently, Nyre didn’t care that she’d already eaten; she was still hungry. Azia asked the waiter to bring her a plate of whatever they had left in the kitchen. The waiter plastered on a fake smile and headed back to the kitchen.
I devoured my food quickly, grateful for the full feeling in my stomach and for the people around me. I’d forgotten what it felt like to talk to people that didn’t live or work in the castle. My life had been so insular and secluded. Beneath the agony of losing my daughter, I felt a spark of something else—excitement and crippling nervousness. I was going to not only leave the castle where I’d spent most of my days, but also the Kingdom of the Vale. I’d never left the kingdom once in all my years. I had never wanted to before now, but as I thought about the trip ahead, I realized I was looking forward to seeing something new. Above all that, I’d be actively looking for my daughter rather than doing what I always did, passively sitting my tower letting everyone else do the work. This was my time.
Eliana: Remembering Rumpelstiltskin (Kingdom of Fairytales Boxset Book 5) Page 28