A Princess longing to prove herself to be as brave as any prince, a sorcerer hired to save an ailing kingdom by spinning straw into gold, and a spinning wheel.
A fairytale unlike any you have heard before.
* * *
When a magical mishap leads to Rumpel...
After two hours of riding, the fields on either side of the road gave way to a sea of trees. Vast squares of yellow stalks and green grasses were replaced with towering behemoths of brunette bark and viridian foliage.
The veiled rider had turned in their saddle, yellow eyes drinking in the sight of the capital city before it was blocked from view by the tree line.
Horse carries Rosa without complaint for three hours before they turn off the road. Calmly walking off the path and picking their way down a slope towards the sound of a babbling spring.
Rosa's head whips from side to side. "Um, Horse. Where are we going?"
Horse picks their way to the stream, before leaning down to drink.
"Oh. Woah. Wait." The saddle tilts and Rosa begins to slide forward. She scrambles in panic - "Wait! Let me get off first." - swinging one leg over the saddle and attempting to jump off.
Her foot catches on the stirrup, and she tumbles onto the mossy bank. The feeling of weightlessness sets her heart racing and she lay still where she falls the shock momentarily rendering her unable to do anything but mutely shake.
Horse is unaffected by Rosa's flailing, calmly drinking from the stream.
The veiled man disentangles themselves from the stirrups with difficulty, swiping at the veil as it falls into her face repeatedly. Rosa clambers to her feet, chest heaving like a bellows. Watching Horse drink their fill before turning and walking along the bank, nibbling on patches of longer grasses and small stalks with bundles of leaves that spread out like flower petals.
"Oh. Are we taking a break?"
A bored stare and a flicker of blue irises is the only reply Rosa receives from Horse.
Grumble. Grumble.
Rosa grabs her stomach, trying to muffle the hungry sounds with her hands. "Fine. You're right. It's time to eat."
A small pouch of provisions had been given to her by the chamberlain before she left the castle. While searching the bag attached to the back of the saddle, Rosa has to awkwardly hop to the side whenever Horse decides they want to graze somewhere else.
She thanks Rumpelstiltskin's tall stature for the ease with which she can reach the bag. Although alarm does race through her at the loud cracks that accompany her straightening her back.
The small pouch smells of leather and something acrid that Rosa's never encountered before. It is filled with hard biscuits, that look like someone started making bread but changed their mind along the way. The crust does not give beneath Rosa's thumb, they are hard to chew, and they taste like the smell of cold tea, but they crumble and melt the longer she chews them. She consumes two biscuits and puts the pouch back in the bag.
Horse nickers softly.
"You're right. Let's rest a bit."
Rosa doesn't know whether the resulting shake of Horse's head is an agreement or just a normal equine tic.
Either way, she wants to rest before trying to climb up into the saddle again. The castle stables had a ledge she could stand on, the forest does not.
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