Princess Rumpelstiltskin | ONC 2024

Chapter Three

Rosa waits with bated breath for the sorcerer's reaction.

She knows there's a certain irony to her situation; the princess who wanted to prove she is not the weak damsel everyone sees her as, now faces the prospect of being confined to a tower for the rest of her life unless she can earn the assistance of a stranger wearing her face.

It's unnerving, Rosa thinks, seeing your own face from the perspective of another rather than in a mirror.

Rumpelstiltskin holds her body in a slightly hunched position. Something about the shape of her face or the harsh frown twisting the delicate features gives Rosa an uncomfortable feeling in her gut; not to mention the glowing white lines she can see under their skin.

While she waits for Rumpelstiltskin to speak their thoughts on her plan, she notes the little bursts of yellow and orange that travel from the corners of their eyes and race down their neck to disappear beneath the pink satin gown and reappear on their hands.

"Pretend to be you." Rumpelstiltskin's eyes twitch as they repeat Rosa's words. "Pretend to be a princess." They scoff and roll their eyes. "Me?"

"Well, you wouldn't have to do anything. Just stay in my room and read, have tea, do some stretches." Rosa begins to ramble. A lick of desperation runs up her spine, she needs their help. "I mean, I tried to go for a walk this morning and Captain Kieran told me I would have to stay in my room until our 'guest'..." a stony hand gestures towards Rumpelstiltskin, "...you, left."

"You're a princess with no duties? No parties or princes wooing your hand? Well, what can you do?"

"Look pretty." Rosa mumbles bitterly, shaking her head.

The sorcerer's frown deepens, wrinkled lines marring the smooth skin of Rosa's original face. They tilt their head back and forth slowly, contemplating. "Alright. Let's do it."

Uncertain hope bursts into existence in Rosa's chest, shining like a star but flickering like a guttering candle. "Truly?"

"I said yes." The annoyance in their voice can't snuff out the giddy feeling in Rosa's chest.

"Where's your home?"

"My what?"

"Your home. Where you live?"

"My house is a day's ride southeast. Past Turen, you've heard of Turen?" Rumpelstiltskin waits for Rosa to nod before continuing, "at the end of the trail from the lake." They emphasise the word house with a near-constipated expression on their face.

That is a two-day journey. A small feeling of unease begins to bubble up within Rosa, but she closes her eyes briefly to mentally stamp it back down.

"How will I get there?"

A sigh is the first response to her question. "Follow the road and then, after Turen, follow the barrier. It will look like a trail of green light."

"Oh, right, thank you." Rosa clears her throat. "But I actually meant to say, will I get there...on a horse?" A glimmer of childish excitement bubbles up in Rosa's chest. "I've always wanted to ride one."

"Do..." Rumpelstiltskin frowns again. "Can you not ride?"

Rosa shuffles in silence, gaze flicking to the side.

"You can't ride!?" Rumpelstiltskin fixes Rosa with a look of confused disappointment.

"My mother always said they're too tall. It's unsafe."

"I've changed my mind. This will never work." Rumpelstiltskin clasps their hands together and titters mockingly. "Let's tell daddy dearest."

"No, we can't." Rosa grabs Rumpelstiltskin by the arms, only just barely noting how thin her original arms are and the flash of mauve and orange beneath their skin. "Haven't you heard the prophecy of Roses? My mother's vision?"

"Uh." Rumpelstiltskin's eyes go wide, and Rosa's panic is mildly mitigated by guilt at the stricken look that flashes over their face.

Rosa can't tell whether the shaking is coming from her or Rumpelstiltskin.

"If he finds out what's happened, well...we don't know if it now applies to you because you're me, or if it still applies to me even though I've become you." Rosa grimaces and lets go of Rumpelstiltskin like she's been burned. "We may both end up confined...for life."

Rosa shuffles from foot to foot, nervously waiting for rejection or acceptance, the prospect of either answer equally as frightening.

Rumpelstiltskin rubs their arms while glaring at Rosa with an offended air. The flashes of yellow, fuchsia, and red beneath their skin add to the weight of their glare.

Just as Rosa opens her mouth to say, anything at all to fill the silence, they interrupt her.

"Well, this just gets better and better." They spit. "Alright, back to the first plan."

Rosa almost jumps back when they take this opportunity to be the one to grab her hand.

"Repeat after me. Past glade and dale, walk true, be swift, carry me to the place I wish."

"What?"

"Past glade and dale, walk true, be swift, carry me to the place I wish. Just say it."

Rosa repeats the phrase. Relief fills her again as the angry expression slowly begins to fade from Rumpelstiltskin's face when she does. "What does it mean?"

"I can ride. So, you will be riding my horse, they're in your stables." Rumpelstiltskin explains with the same tone as one of Rosa's previous tutors. "You have my power. So, if you say those words to Horse and concentrate on where you want to go, they should carry you straight there."

A real spell! Rosa repeats the words again under her breath, committing the words to memory.

That glimmer of excitement starts to bloom in Rosa's chest again, along with a dash of mirth. "You named your horse, Horse?"

"And?"

The good feelings flicker in Rosa's chest, doubt threatening to extinguish the flame as she notices the antagonistic bite of the question.

You need their help. Don't do anything to make them change their mind again!? She admonishes herself.

"Oh, I just thought...um...it's cute."

Relief and excitement intermingle as Rumpelstiltskin's expression smooths out, the angry frown no longer furrowing their brows. Rosa notes the slightest flush on cream skin and the smoothing of the skin at the corner of their eyes with a happy smile.

"Alright then. Here is what you need to know." Rosa kneels, clawed hands messing with the straw on the floor and forming a rudimentary map of lines and piles. "First, this is how you'll get back to my room."