Once Upon A Time ~ Book 1

Chapter 26 - Rumpelstiltskin's Prison

Grumpy lead Charming, Cinderella and her Prince through the dark, dirty mines.
"Why are we down here?" asked Cinderella, nervously.
"We need a place to keep him." he husband replyed.
"Rumpelstiltskin is the most dangerous man in all the realms." Charming explained. "He needs his own special prison, so we converted the mines to hold him."
"But how will we get him here? He's eluded all forever." said Cinderella.
"His strength is also his weakness." said Grumpy. "His deals. He can't resist making them, and we already know whether wants to deal with next. You."
"We've sent word with one of Snow's bluebirds. He's accepted a meeting with you. You're gonna tell him that Doc heard something with the stethoscope, two heartbeats." said Charming. "You're going to tell him it's twins." said her husband.
Charming continued. "And if he wants both, which he will, you propose a new deal. Grumpy." he nodded to Grumpy.
He took from under his cloak, a narrow, wooden box. He opened it. Inside was a beautiful quill, with a red feather and a gold tip.
"A quill? I don't understand." said Cinderella.
"The blue fairy cast a spell on it. Whoever signs with this will be frozen, their magic made impotent." explained Grumpy.
"All you must do is get him to sign the contract." said Charming Cinderella looked at him, uncertainly
"Ella, this man is a scourge. You will be doing the entire land a service." said Charming.
"But should we even use magic? Isn't that what's causing these problems to begin with? What I'd this magic also has a price?" argued Cinderella.
"Then I will pay it." reassured her Prince. "I will do whatever is needed to save you and our child." he held Cinderella's arm.
"Let's go." said Charming.
They continued walking, Charming at the lead. He opened a old wooden door and stepped into another tunnel through mine, there was a dead end, huge bars lay by the end.
"I hope you like it. A lot of Drawf blood went into it." said Grumpy to Cinderella.
"You sure this'll work." said Cinderella.
"Once he's in there, he'll never get out. You'll be safe." reassured Charming.
Her Prince held both her arms. "I can do this, Ella.
"Okay. Let's get him."

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Emma drove quickly down the road, Henry in the passenger seat.
"I told you." said Henry pointing out the front window. "It's her car."
Emma looked ahead, to see Ruby's red car, by the side of the road.
Emma pulled in near Ruby's car, they got out of the car, quickly and ran towards the car. The car was nearly on its side.
"Ashley?" called Emma, she looked in through the open window to see the car abandoned.
Then suddenly there was a cry from near by. Ashley sat by the ditch, in the grass. "My baby." she cryed. "It's coming."

Emma drove the car once again, this time Ashley in the front and Henry in the back.
Ashley let out a scream.
"Is the baby really coming?" asked Henry.
"Oh, yeah." answered Emma. "Don't worry the hospital isn't that far."
"No! No, no, no! Take me to Boston. I can't go back there." panicked Ashley.
"No, we don't have four hours. Trust me, I know." she chuckled.
"I can't go back there, please. He's gonna take my baby." she cryed, through the pain.
"I won't let that happen." she said firmly. "But do you know what you're asking for if you keep this child? Are you really ready?"
"Yeah."
"Are you sure? Because I wasn't."
"You weren't?"
"Nope. If you want to give this kid its best chance, it's gonna be with someone who is ready, so know what that means."
Henry listened carefully in the back.
"Your whole life is gonna change, and once you decide tha it's yous, this running away can't happen. You have to grow up, and you can't ever leave. Understand?"
"Yes. I want my baby."

******************************

Cinderella stood alone, hooded in the garden of the castle. It was dark and the only light was a few flickering torches and the light from the moon.
"Well, well, well." said a voice from near by. "Your starting to show." said Rumpelstiltskin, standing next to a little rock garden. He drunk from a little flask.
Cinderella walked slowly towards him.
"A little bird told me you wanted to speak."
"Yes." she pulled her hood down. "I'd like to alter the bargin."
"That's not what I do." he still held the flask in his dirty hands.
"But I think you'll want to. I'm having twins."
He turned quickly to her and threw the flask behind him. "Is that so?" he walked closer.
He chuckled, evily. "Let's have a look." he danced over to her and felt her stomach. He chuckled again. "And you would, what? Give up both?"
She nodded.
"Why is that, I wonder?"
"My husband, he's having a hard time. Our Kingdom is poor. We're losing money. Our crops are dying." she walked around the garden. "We can't support ourselves or our people."
Rumpelstiltskin listened, carefully.
"And you would trade your other child for comfort?"
"I can always have more children. But I can't make crops grow where the soil is dead." she walked towards him. "In exchange for our other child,...." she held out a scroll of parchment, as he did before. ".......you will see to it that our land is one again fertile. I think it's more than fair."
"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Yes, yes. It is. If what you're saying is true." he bent down and read the contract.
"It is. And all you have to do is sign on the dotted line." she held out the beautiful red quill.
He looked at the quill. "What a lovely quill." he said taking it. "Wherever dis you get it?"
"It's from our castle."
"You know, the only way to stop me is through magic." he stepped closer.
"I'm not trying to stop you."
"Of course you're not. Because as we all know, all magic comes with a price. And if you were to use it to, say, imprison me, then your debt to me would only grow." he pointed the feather of the quill at her. "And we wouldn't want that, now would we?"
She turned her head as the feathers touched her chin. "Just sign the contract, please."
"Are you sure you're happy with this new arrangement?"
She held up the parchment.
He looked at the scroll of parchment, took it and chuckled, evily. He stared at it again. "Then so it shall be." he signed the bottom of the scroll, but as he lifted the quill from the paper, he froze, dropped the parchment and blue light surrounded him.
"Thomas!" shouted Cinderella.
"No one breaks deals with me, dearie." said Rumpelstiltskin, paralysed.
Two horses and a gaurd rode towards them, pulling a cage.
"No matter where you are, no matter what land you find yourself in, I assure you, I will have your baby." he stared at her, rage in his eyes.