Rumpelstiltskin: Child Eater

Edgar told nothing to King Lancer. He would first find out the truth for himself. So, when the message came that the girl had arrived, he met with her in secret. The moment his eyes fell on her, he knew at least one thing the miller had said to be true. She was a like a glimmer of sunlight come to the palace that had so long been shrouded in shadow. Despite his suspicions, he found himself hoping she was more than she appeared.

“Welcome, my dear girl.”

“Thank you,” she said with a shy bow.

“What is your name?”

“Arabella.”

“I can see one thing is true for certain, though I had my doubts. You truly are beautiful.”

She blushed and cast her glance at the floor. “You flatter me, your grace. I am but a humble miller’s daughter.”

Had it not been for her dishevelled appearance, he would not have believed her. “If the rest is also truth, perhaps we shall finally have a new queen,” he commented, watching for her reaction carefully. Was she just another power-seeker, or was she honestly as innocent as she appeared? He hoped she would prove herself the latter.

She looked at him with a confused expression on her face. “I’m sorry. Um...the rest?”

He nodded to himself. “Follow me.”

“Am I to meet the king?” she asked in a wondering tone that suggested she felt overwhelmed. “Don’t you think I’m not exactly presentable in this―”

“─You cannot meet the king just yet, my dear. First, there is a test.”

“A test? What kind of test?”

He would say nothing more to her. Instead, he led her deep into the heart of the castle and brought her to a large room filled with straw. In the middle was a spinning wheel and spindle.

“Oh my,” she gasped. “What’s all this for?”

He pushed her into the room a bit harder than he’d intended. She landed roughly against the cold, stone floor. He held back the urge to flinch with guilt. “Get to work,” he said. “If you don’t spin all this straw into gold by morning, then you must die.” It was an unfortunate waste of such beauty, but lying to the crown was a heinous crime, and the law was the law. He left and locked the door behind him.

Arabella jumped to her feet and began pounding on the door. She didn’t understand what was happening. “Please,” she cried. “Please, let me out. How am I supposed to spin this straw into gold? Let me out, please. Please!” She sank to her knees, her forehead pressed against the door. “Come back,” she whispered hopelessly.

No one returned for her. Sitting back against the door, she studied the piles of straw. She knew nothing of spinning anything into gold. It had never been done, as far as she was aware. “If I don’t do as he asked, come morning I shall surely die.” At the thought, her fear grew greater and greater. She missed her father, and longed to leave and just go home. As her fear and longing meshed, she fell to weeping.

“Good evening, mistress miller, why do you weep?”

She jumped in surprise. Quickly, she scanned the room but there was no one to be seen. “Hello?” she said timidly. Perhaps she had imagined the voice.

“Why do you weep?”

Again, she tried to spot the speaker, but there were too many shadows. “Oh,” she sighed. She could feel more tears coming on. “I’m supposed to spin all this straw into gold, and I don’t know how! If I don’t complete this task by morning, they’ll kill me!”

“I can do it for you.”

She sniffed and dried her eyes with her sleeve. “Y-you can?”

“For a price.”

She looked down at herself. “You can have my necklace,” she said hesitantly. It would be a hard trinket to part with. “It belonged to my mother and is very dear to me, but I’ll give it to you if you spin all this straw into gold for me.”

“Deal,” the speaker said finally stepping into the light.

She gasped.

A man stood before her, slouched low and with a hideous face. His clothing was even more ragged than her own, his hair was mostly missing, and his eyes were dark and lifeless. A smell came off his breath making her eyes water, but what scared her most were the tiny skulls hung all about his person.

The man grabbed the necklace from around her neck and immediately she fell into a deep sleep.

***

Arabella awoke just before dawn and to her amazement, the room was filled with gold.

When Edgar arrived, he was likewise astounded. “You...it’s gold. It’s all gold!” He held one piece between his fingers and stared at it. It had been so long since he’d seen such pure gold, and so much of it.

“Now may I see the king?” Arabella asked softly.

Edgar closed his hand around the gold he held and placed it into the confines of his robe. The greed in his heart was stirred. One room wasn’t enough. They would need more. If they wanted the kingdom of Douran to be secure, if they wanted their lands to be as prosperous as those that surrounded them, they would need lots more gold. “I must ask you to wait for a while longer. There is much to prepare.”

She couldn’t believe it. She was actually going to meet the king! What kind of preparations needed to be arranged? Were they already going to make her queen? Perhaps they were planning for a celebratory ball.

All day as she waited in her gold-filled cell her imagination whispered fantasies to her. She imagined the king asking her to be his bride and living happily ever after.

When Edgar returned, she was anxious with excitement.

“Come with me.”

She followed him willingly. He brought her to another, larger room filled with even more straw. Her heart froze. “What?”

“To make sure this isn’t some sort of trick, you must spin a second time. All this straw must be spun to gold by morning, or you must die.” Then once again he locked her in. He felt bad, in a way, but his lust for gold was stronger.

“You can’t do this!” she cried as once more she began to weep.

“Why do you weep?”

She spun to face the room, her heart beating furiously in her chest. In the corner she saw the man from the night before. She gulped back her growing fear. “I...they want more gold.”

“And they’ll kill you if you don’t spin it for them.”

She nodded fearfully, not trusting her voice to speak.

“I can do it for you.”

“For a price?” she squeaked.

He nodded and stepped closer.

“My ring,” she said, hastily taking it off her finger. “It was a gift from my father. It’s very dear to me.”

He paused and then stepped closer. “Deal.”

She smelt his awful breath as he took the ring from her hand, and then she fell into a deep sleep.

***

Once more she awoke to find the room full of gold. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Edgar returned, pleased to find so much gold. With this, they were already wealthier than the nations that loomed at their borders.

“Now may I see the king?” Arabella asked, a tinge of doubt in her voice.

He said nothing but left her in the room once more and did not come back until evening. By the time he opened the door, Arabella was feeling much less hopeful than the day before. Her fears were realized yet again as he brought her to a third room. This room was bigger than the last two combined with triple the amount of straw.

“But...”

“Spin this straw into gold. If you succeed, you shall become Queen of Douran. If not, you will be killed come morning.”

She had no tears left for crying; there was no sadness, only disappointment. “This time I will die. I’ll never see my father again.”

“What price will you pay if I spin it for you once more?” the grotesque man said, appearing from around a stack of straw.

She tried to back away, but she was already up against the wall. “I have nothing left to give.”

“Promise me your firstborn and I shall help you.”

She was so numb with fear, the shock of the request had hardly any effect on her. “Surely you want something else,” she suggested.

He shook his head, his eyes never leaving her face. “When you are queen, you will give me your first child.”

Having no other way out of her predicament, she promised the man what he demanded.

“Deal.”

Immediately, she fell into a deep sleep and awoke to the room full of gold.

“And how have you done today?” Edgar said as he unlocked the door. His jaw dropped at the sight of the room. “Douran is saved,” he said under his breath. Then he saw the girl staring up at him. “If you will just come with me, I shall take you to be cleaned and dressed for an audience with King Lancer.”

Hope fluttered in her chest, breaking through the numbness. Even so, she feared that she might be locked in yet another room. To her pleasant surprise, Edgar was true to his word.

“The maids will take care of you,” Edgar said, ushering her into a well-lit room.

She looked around. It was a simple room with modest furnishings, but all of it was grander than anything she had ever seen.

“Oh, you poor thing,” an elderly woman said, fussing at Arabella’s appearance. “What has Edgar done to you?”

“I―”

“─No time for talk, into the bath with you!”

In a blur of action that made her head spin, Arabella soon found herself washed, dressed, and being led to meet with the king.

“What’s he like?” she asked the elderly maid who was leading the way.

“Don’t you worry, dear. Edgar may be a bit uptight, but he’s as loyal to the king as anyone.”

She chuckled. “Not Edgar, King Lancer.”

“Oh,” the maid said sadly. “The poor man. He’s strong yet gentle, firm but kind. He has a good heart, he does. But he is ailed with a deep sadness. I pray one day he will become the king we all know he could be.” Then she glanced back at Arabella. “Perhaps, with the right queen at his side, he will be.”