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With a heavy fatigued sigh, Rumpelstiltskin twirled the fussy young woman away from him relishing the brief moment of silence, before she once again landed before him. His disinterested eyes scanned the ballroom, as the latest deal seeker, Ashley, sputtered upon the travesties of having to live in the shadow of an elder sister who married into wealth.
There was nothing new or exciting in her tale. He had heard the same request a thousand times before, but when she called upon him while attending a ball at the Marchlands, well that was an environment too enticing to turn down. And besides he had recently acquired a new golden suit coat that needed to be broken in.
Her eyes fluttered around the room nervously. “And you’re sure no one else can see you, Dark One?”
Rolling his eyes, he reassured her for the hundredth time that the glamour spell he casted was intact. “Trust me if they could see me, there would be far more screaming. I assure you as far as everyone else is concerned you are dancing with a handsome respectable young gentleman.”
She scrunched her nose at him in distaste. “Well why do I have to see the real you with your scaly reptile skin and yellow eyes?”
“Because you need to remember who it is you are dealing with dearie,” he sneered before she continued on about how unfair her life had been.
As the tempo of music changed into a light hearted affair, the patrons started to bop and weave around the floor. Through the dancing crowd he spotted a lone maiden in a gorgeous off shoulder light blue dress standing alone.
Her chestnut color hair was pulled up in a bun, revealing her long creamy neck. Wistfully she gazed at the couples dancing, before staring back at the ground. He thought it highly unusual that a girl of such beauty would be unable to find a dance partner. The more he watched the solemn creature, the more curious he became.
“Who is that woman standing over there alone?” he inquired in a clipped tone, cutting off Ashley’s latest rambling of how she was a far better person than her sister. Miffed at the interruption she glanced over her shoulder.
“Only the luckiest girl in this entire ballroom,” Ashley sneered. “That is Lady Belle. She is engaged to that rich dashingly handsome gentleman over there,” she nodded toward a behemoth of a man standing across the other side of the room, surrounded by a large crowd of admirers. “Sir Gaston Lamoure.”
Rumple hated the stately brute the moment he laid eyes upon him. His arrogant smile reminded him of a bully from long ago who took joy in kicking the crutch out from underneath him while Bae would watch on in horror.
“If you ask me I don’t know how she landed him, I mean she’s pretty and all, but she has no personality. She always has her nose stuck in a book.”
Scoffing, he shook his head at the skewed point of view a woman like Ashley bestowed upon others. He never quite understood the concept that a woman’s most treasured asset should be her beauty and not her brain. His Aunties were the smartest people he ever knew, and they never relied upon a male for anything.
An indescribable feeling of Deja vu festered in the pit of his stomach as he watched the oaf flirt with the numerous women around him, while his fiancé spent her night alone in the corner. How many times did he endure the same fate, not in a ballroom of course, but in a tavern, watching Milah flirt from afar? He took one last look at the somber beauty in the corner before turning his attention back on Ashley.
He laid out the terms of his deal, her life of luxury far surpassing her sister’s for a simple favor that night. She listened intently as he discussed the price in detail of how she was to lure Gaston away from the ball, and down to the stables with a promise of a good time. He assured her that she need not sleep with him, but simply steal his clothing, leaving the buffoon alone in the buff with the rest of the dirty animals. Her brief hesitation dwindled away as Rumple placed a gold coin in her hand, with the promise of many more awaiting her when she arrived home that night.
With the deal struck, he watched in giddy anticipation as Ashley approached Gaston with a dangerous sway to her hips. Whispering into his ear, the imbecile let out a devilish smile, before leaving his disappointed admirers with a promise that he would soon return.
With the lumbering oaf out of the way, Rumple set his sights on his newest prey… Lady Belle.
Closing his eyes, his magic scanned the layout of the castle searching for the perfect spot. Deciding upon a balcony far away from the sights and sounds of the ballroom, he gracefully moved off the dance floor, whispering to a drink attendant stationed near the punch bowl, before exiting the ballroom.
Once out of the eyes of strangers, he magically transported himself to the chosen destination. If the attendant did as instructed, she would have passed a message along to Lady Belle that her betrothed was awaiting her in the library to discuss an important matter. Knowing that he could not approach her as the ever fearsome dark one, he fretted over what his appearance should be.
He didn’t want to use the same façade he did in the ballroom, surmising that Lady Belle already had her fill of the strong handsome type. He wanted something that put her at ease, but still piqued her curiosity enough to stay. Hundreds of disguises flashed through his mind, but as he heard the library door open, he made a split second decision and wore the familiar tattered clothes of an old spinner.
“Gaston?” her voice called out, as she neared the balcony doors.
‘Showtime’ he thought to himself quickly conjuring a book and taking a seat on the cold stone floor.
“I don’t have time for your silly games,” she huffed stepping out onto the balcony, gasping as her eyes landed upon him.
“Pardon me, my lady,” he quickly shuffled to his feet. “I… I didn’t know anyone would be here. I just...” He lifted the book in his hands. “I was just trying to find somewhere with enough light to read. I will head back to the carriage way with the other servants at once.”
“No, please don’t go. I was looking for my fiancé, but clearly he is not here. I’m the one intruding upon you, if anyone should leave it should be me.”
Any other lady of nobility would have turned their nose at such a peasant encroaching upon the main residence, and yet this kind hearted soul was under the impression that she was the burden in this encounter. Inwardly he gloated that his instinctual attraction towards her was indeed well founded. She was a fascinating creature.
“I’ll leave you to read,” she said, turning around to go.
“Please wait, my lady,” he called out, ensuring his clutched book was illuminated by the pale moonlight. As expected her eyes locked upon it immediately, drawing her to him like a moth to a flame.
“I’ve..,” her silky white finger pointed toward the cover as she moved near him, “I’ve read that book.”
He feigned surprise before effortlessly falling into a spirited conversation with her over the story he had purposefully chosen of a young maiden who made a deal with the devil. Their lively discussion was a refreshing change of pace from the endless grousing he had endured for most of the night. For the first time in a very long time, he found himself enjoying another’s company, a thought that both pleased and terrified him.
As she spoke, his eyes traced along the dip of her neck, landing on the delectable white flesh of her exposed shoulders. Feeling a sudden twitch in his pants, he briefly turned from her to cast a spell to alleviate the growing desire burgeoning under his trousers.
Her voice went silent, and he feared that his back turned had given her the wrong impression. As he swung his full attention back on her, his heart nearly stopped to see her blue eyes afflicted with worry.
“I’m sorry, I must be boring you. I’ve been scolded before regarding my capacity to speak too much.”
How could such an angelic soul ever feel that she was anything but a delight? His thoughts zoned in on that blithering fiancé of hers. He had no doubt that her insecurities stemmed from criticisms made by that beastly cretin.
Although she was not yet married, he could already predict her grim future with the oaf. He knew all too well the heartache and pain that came from a cheating spouse who spent their nights out drinking.
He wanted to save her from that life.
“Oh no my lady, you are no bore, I assure you. I was just thinking about the book, and couldn’t help but wonder what forbidden temptation could entice you into making a deal with the devil?”
Her brows furrowed at the question, and for a moment he feared he was being too forward, too obvious in his intent. He had never felt such an overpowering desire to make a deal with someone as much as he did with her. He wanted to feel that connection, that sacred bond that bound them together for that one brief moment, when the deal was struck. He looked down at his own hand ensuring that he was in fact still sporting the pink flesh of a spinner, and not the glittery dark form of the dealmaker.
“I…I really don’t know,” she stuttered clearly perplexed by the question. Taking a small step towards her, he knew he had to guide her down the path that he so desperately wanted her to go.
“Well, when you came out onto the balcony you mentioned you were looking for your fiancé. Perhaps you would deal for a happy marriage to him full of love and riches?”
She simply shook her head no. He listened in silent awe, as she rationalized why she would never make that deal.
“My betrothed Gaston already has more than he could ever need. Why deal for more, when he won’t share what he has now with the less fortunate? And as for a marriage to Gaston full of love…why make a deal forcing my heart to live a lie?”
Stunned by her truthfulness he found himself speechless for the first time in a hundred years.
She bit her lip, and he could see her eyes filling with trepidation that she had spoken to freely. He had never comforted another soul since Bae, and yet he found himself wanting to console her.
“I was in a loveless marriage once,” he uttered hoping his shameful confession eased her worry over sharing her own. Her warm fingers gently touched his lower arm in a gesture clearly meant to comfort him. He felt another twitch in his body but this time it was not in his pants but under his chest.
‘Love is weakness’ his inner darkness reminded him urging the dealmaker to regain control of his emotions. Taking a step back from her tender touch, he let out a shaky breath before regaining his composure.
“A loveless marriage is not a punishment you deserve my lady. No good can come from one.”
The moment he said it, he felt as though he had betrayed Baelfire once again. His son was the best thing that ever happened to him, but in that moment he would say any falsehood to make sure Belle felt hopeless enough to want to deal.
“I know if I was lucky enough when I was younger to get the chance I would have dealt for a new life, and escaped my terrible marriage.”
She was tempted by the idea; he could sense it in the curious way she looked at him. He had made enough deals in his lifetime to know when he struck a chord, and right now he was playing her like a fiddle. The art of closing the deal however was in knowing when to hold and when to release the pressure.
“Oh but what do I know, I’m just an old fool,” he sputtered.
“You are no fool,” she countered seemingly in a deep serious contemplation. “My mother used to say with age comes great wisdom.”
“Then I must be the wisest person in all the lands,” he chuckled, noting that she nodded her head in silent agreement.
“It would be nice to be able to decide my own fate,” she spoke with a whimsical sigh.
Giving her budding temptation an encouraging nod, he fought the urge to clasp his hands together in excitement.
She spoke of wanting adventure, wanting to explore other worlds, and hopefully one day finding a true love and settling down to have children.
A vision of a young boy with her blue eyes, and his brown hair crept into his conscience before the darkness pushed the foolish notion down.
As she continued to describe the life she craved, he waited in a fevered anticipation for her to wish she could make a deal for it. He was already envisioning how he would make his grand reveal to her as the dealmaker she so richly desired, when her words hit him like a punch in the gut.
“But I would never make such a deal.”
He stood silently, blinking at her in disbelief. He didn’t understand.
“But, why?” he asked, befuddled.
“To make a deal with the devil, it should be for something meaningful, something that you couldn’t do yourself, like curing someone who is sick, or helping others out of an impossible situation.” Her shoulders slumped as she continued. “Why deal to get out of this marriage, when I could easily get out of it on my own by running away? I’m just too cowardly to face the consequences of doing so. ”
He looked upon her with a muddled sea of emotions as waves of anger, attraction, disappointment, and awe pounded against his ribcage.
She opened her mouth to speak again, but an intrusive jostling sound of a door knob followed by a loud shrilling voice of another held her tongue. He turned to see a frantic portly woman, rushing out onto the balcony.
“Belle, there you are. You must come at once. You won’t believe …” He knew the exact moment the handmaiden realized Lady Belle was not alone as she quickly changed her casual manner of speaking to a more proper tone. “There has been another… incident with your betrothed my lady. Your presence is requested at this time.”
It was a pity that they already found the naked buffoon. He was disappointed that his time with this enchanting creature was coming to an end.
“I’ll be there at once, Mrs. Potts.”
Turning towards him, she graced him with a small smile before excusing herself. He watched as she followed the portly woman back into the library, before stopping at the threshold to look back at him.
Entranced by her ethereal glow, it took him a moment to realize that she was once again speaking to him.
“I hope we meet again one day.”
A lopsided grin graced his lips as he bowed his head.
“As do I, my lady.”
She was gone all too soon, and he took a moment to calm his bewildered heart. He had never encountered another like her before, and both the man and darkness inside of him were surprised by the thunderous feeling of temptation she stirred within them both. It was then and there he vowed to keep a vigilant eye out for any opportunity to cross paths with her again. One day they would make a deal, and he knew what his price would be…her.
