Rumpelstiltskin: Child Eater

Late that night, as the royal couple slept, someone arrived at the palace gates. He was the son of a woodsman who lived in the forest.

“What do you want?” the guards asked the dark-haired boy.

“I need to speak to the king and queen. I have news that may bring them some hope in these dark days. I heard a name.”

The guards looked at each other, and then rushed the boy into the palace. Word raced on ahead of them, and the boy was met by an eager royal couple. He bowed low to them, but they dismissed such etiquette offhandedly.

“What is your name, lad?” the king asked not wanting to seem rude.

“Eric,” the boy said.

King Lancer watched the green eyes. There was something strong in their depths despite their youth. They had seen something horrible. “How old are you?”

“I’m eleven, Sire.” It was obvious he knew hard labour for there was a roughness about him. Yet, despite his age, he was already quite handsome.

“Please, what news do you bring?” Queen Arabella asked fearfully. “You have a name for us?”

“I think I do. Maybe. It’s hard to be certain, though I did find something strange and disturbing as I travelled through the forest.”

“Go on,” the king urged.

Eric took a deep breath. “Deep in the heart of the darkest parts of the woods, I found a hut. Out in front, there was a fire that glowed with an ugly green light. The smell that came from it was horrid, and I wish never to smell anything like it again so long a I live. One of the first things I noticed about the area was that there were no animals. None of them would dare go close to a frightening place like that!

“And then I saw him, the man who lives there. He looked more monster than man, I thought. As I watched him, I saw . . . I saw. . ..” He shuddered at the awful memory. “He gutted and roasted two small children, tying their bloodied skulls around his neck! It was terrifying! What kind of person could do something so awful?” he gasped, forcing back the tears that threatened to leak from his eyes.

“It’s him,” the white-faced Queen Arabella breathed. “Continue, Eric,” she prodded gently.

“I was about to leave when he started to dance and screech. At first, I couldn’t make out what was going on, but then he started to sing.”

“What did he say?” King Lancer asked, leaning forward.

“He said,

‘Today I’ll brew, tomorrow I’ll bake.

Soon I’ll have the queen’s namesake.

Oh, how hard is it to play my game,

For Rumpelstiltskin is my name!’

“There were more verses, each one fouler than the last,” Eric said to end. “Though I dare not repeat more.”

The king and queen sat shocked for a moment before finding their voices. As one they spoke. “Rumpelstiltskin?”

“The name of the beast,” Edgar mused from where he stood in thoughtful silence.

“Oh, thank you!” Queen Arabella said, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his face. “You dear, dear boy! You have saved a great many lives this night.”

“Indeed!” the king agreed. “For your services to Douran, you shall be greatly rewarded.”

***

When the horrible man arrived the next day, they were ready.

Queen Arabella sat beside King Lancer, the Princess Aaleyah on her lap.

“This is your last chance, lady queen. When you cannot guess my name, I’ll be taking your pretty daughter home with me. So? Begin.” He eyed the small child the whole time he spoke, not blinking even once.

“Kunz?” the king asked.

“No.”

“Heinz?” the queen tried.

“No.”

The king met the gaze of his queen, taking her hand in his and offering her his full support.

Arabella nodded. “Could your name be, Rumpelstiltskin?”

The horrible beast of a man said nothing for a tense moment. All in the room held their breath and watched as his face slowly turned a violent shade of red. He growled something no one could understand, and when he turned his eyes on people gathered, they were burning with a fire fuelled by hatred. “The devil told you! The devil told you!” he screamed as his body began to contort. In horror, they looked on as his body warped and twisted. Bones rose out of his skin as spikes along his back and shoulders, and the skulls hanging around his neck chattered as though trying to speak.

“What’s happening?” Princess Aaleyah asked, her eyes wide with fear.

The king and queen could only shake their heads in terrified fascination.

“How dare you!” His voice was now more of an animalistic howl. “Your blood will be mine!” With a flourish he grabbed the queen and princess both, and fled the castle.

“After them!” the king cried.

At his word, men raced after the rapidly fleeing figure.

“Eric,” King Lancer said to the boy who stood horrified beside him. “I must ask something of you. Will you lead me and my men to that creature’s lair?”

Eric turned his green eyes up, gulped back his fear, and nodded. It was only a few short minutes later that the chase was on.

***

Queen Arabella prayed for the safe deliverance of her and her child.

Princess Aaleyah whimpered.

“Here we are,” Rumpelstiltskin said, tossing them on the ground.

They had been brought to the terrible cabin Eric told them about. The cabin was hideously wrought, but it was the clearing before the house that frightened her the most. True to his story, the place smelled fouler than anything she’d ever smelled before; like death, rot, decay, and something thankfully unknown to her. The smell wafted up from the bones that littered the ground beneath them. She nearly retched.

“Mommy? I’m scared,” the young princess sobbed.

“Hush, dear one. Daddy will come for us.”

“Welcome to my home, lady queen. You should be honoured. You’re the first adult I’ve allowed to visit here.”

She shuddered, her arms tightening their hold on her daughter. “How horrid.”

He chuckled. “Feel free to soak it all in. After all, this place will become your burial chamber.”

“Wh-what are you going to do to us?” she asked in a trembling voice.

“First, I’m going to roast and eat your child as you watch on. Then I’ll offer you as a sacrifice. Your pure blood will flood this earth, and hers will flood my veins.”

He reached forward and yanked the princess from her mother’s arms.

“Mommy!”

“Aaleyah!”

He threw the young girl to the side and then turned on her mother. Grabbing the queen by her hair, he hauled her roughly across the clearing.

Arabella kicked and screamed as he dragged her to a post, but he was too strong. He bound her with thick, course ropes which burned as they rubbed viciously against her fair skin. “Aaleyah, run! Please, have mercy on my child!”

He smote her on the cheek, causing bright stars to erupt in front of her vision. In the distance she heard the terrified screams of her daughter.

“You monster,” she spat, tasting blood in her mouth. “How could you do such cruel things to so many innocent children?”

“It’s simple, really,” he said, tying the crying princess’ hands and feet. “Innocence tastes delicious. And children embody innocence and purity.”

With a word, green flames sprang up around the dark cauldron at the clearing’s centre. Slowly, he chanted words of a strange, unnatural language as he raised a curved black knife above his head, the point poised to drive into the princess’ heart.

A bugle sounded, blasting through the horrid chant.

Queen Arabella lifted hopeful eyes in time to see the royal army burst through the trees. The fight that followed was one of the bloodiest the kingdom of Douran had ever known. Men and horses fell by Rumpelstiltskin’s unholy strength. Soon the earth was drowned in a thick layer of dark blood.

Eric slipped away from the king’s side the moment the hut had come into view. His eyes were sharp, and he could make out the silhouette of the queen bound to a post off to the side of the clearing. It was to her side that he now raced. As the first clashes of battle rang out through the night, he had cut through her bonds.

“Eric,” Queen Arabella said in relief.

“Save your child,” he told her. “I must help the king.”

Without hesitation, she ran as fast as she could to where her child lay screaming.

“Mom-my!” Aaleyah hiccup.

“Come on, my dear one. Daddy has come to save us.” She scooped her child up in her arms and made a mad dash for the safety of the trees.

Eric, meanwhile, found himself a stroke of luck. He was directly behind Rumpelstiltskin whose attention was fully on the king and the royal army. Using all his skills as a woodsman, he snuck up entirely unnoticed until he stood only a few feet from the horrible man’s unguarded back. With all the strength he could muster, he plunged his hunting knife deep into the evil man’s exposed back, avoiding the protruding bones as best he could.

Rumpelstiltskin roared, flailed his arms, and flung his attacker back.

That was all the distraction King Lancer needed. He drove his sword forward, burying it up to the hilt through Rumpelstiltskin’s heart.

Screaming, Rumpelstiltskin threw King Lancer, the sword remaining firmly embedded within his chest. For a moment, it seemed the sword had no effect, that nothing would be able to kill him. Then, in a final act of defiance, Rumpelstiltskin tore himself in two, causing his own end.

“Arabella! Aaleyah!” King Lancer cried worriedly as he scrambled back to his feet.

“We’re here!” the queen called. She ran into her husband’s outstretched arms and let him kiss her deeply.

“I’m so glad you’re both safe,” he said, stepping back to place a kiss on his daughter’s forehead.

“We almost weren’t.”

“It’s all thanks to Eric. That boy’s a hero twice over. He’s done so much for us.”

Queen Arabella looked around at the carnage, tears in her eyes. “How horrible. So many deaths.”

“Where is he?” Aaleyah asked suddenly.

“He? Who?” King Lancer asked, kneeling down to look his daughter in the eye.

“The boy with the green eyes.”

Sure enough, upon looking around more closely, Eric was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, Lancer, you don’t think. . .?”

“He can’t be dead,” King Lancer said decidedly. “Seek the boy,” he commanded his men. “And check the house for any signs of any children who may yet live. When we have saved all we can, I want this place utterly destroyed.”

“Yes, Sir!” the soldiers hailed in unison.

They found Eric lying unconscious against a tree,

“Eric? Wake up, child,” Queen Arabella said softly.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. His gaze met that of the king’s first, and then he turned to see the queen. “Did we win?” he asked groggily.

Princess Aaleyah threw her arms around his waist. “You’re okay!” she said happily.

The king laughed. “Yes, we won. It’s all thanks to you.”

Eric smiled first at them, and then at the young princess still wrapped around him.

“Your majesties,” one of the captains called to them. “Some yet live. We will return them to their families. You should head back as well while we deal with the rest.”

King Lancer nodded. “Come. Let us leave this foul place.”

The kingdom was saved that day from a terrible curse that had spanned across generations. With the cycle broken, Douran finally found peace.

Eric was made a hero, and when they grew up, he and Princess Aaleyah were married. King Lancer and Queen Arabella were the greatest rulers Douran had ever seen. The man from the forest was quite forgotten, the memory of him destroyed forever when his home was burned.

And everyone lived happily ever after.