The Light in the Dark Kingdom

An Exit Plan

"How do you do it?" She asked the light haired girl as she sat at the spinning wheel, "Did your mother teach you?"

"It just comes naturally," she said, continuing to spin straw into gold, "It helps me to relax and focus."

"Focus on what?" The girl asked, braiding the strands of straw into a bracelet.

"Finding a way out," she replied, staring at the gold.

The golden ball floated around the cell, lighting the area, "Dinner!" They heard his unique voice and the yellow glow disappeared. He flashed into the room balancing a single tray in his palm, "A meal made for royalty!" He faced Eilonwy and looked down to see the large piles of gold covering the walls, "I see you've been practicing."

"I have," she replied, her eyes not leaving the wheel, "and thank you, but we are not hungry."

"No need to be so cold, dearie," he chuckled, "I'm not the one keeping you here, but I am keeping you alive."

"Then help us escape," Snow demanded, jumping to her feet, "You've had plenty of time to explore the land without a leash, you know how to get out!"

"How long have we been here, Rumple?" Eilonwy asked calmly, her eyes finally leaving the spinning wheel.

"You, seven years. Her, two." He chuckled and placed his hand on her shoulder, "but if you aren't hungry, then I'll just let myself out."

"Why won't you help us?" Snow shouted before he could vanish, "You want your freedom as much as we want ours!"

In an instant the plate dropped to the ground, and Rumplestiltskin's hand was around her neck, holding her against the wall, "You don't know anything about what I want, dearie. Didn't I already warn you about spreading rumors?"

"Rumple!" Eilonwy jumped to her feet and pulled his shoulder back. He dropped the dark haired girl onto the ground to gasp for air, "She's only assuming, thinking out loud! We will eat the food you have brought us, and I will get these thoughts out of her head!" She glared at Snow and slightly shook her head, "Thank you."

He turned away without saying a word in response and kicked the tray across the floor before disappearing, "What do you think you are doing?" Eilonwy asked her in a panic, "No one can help us but ourselves! You almost got yourself killed, you're lucky to be alive!"

"I thought it was worth a shot," she said, rubbing her neck as she leaned against the wall.

"You better not pull another stunt like that again," Eilonwy said with a sigh as she took a seat at the wheel, "He is obviously more powerful that you think!"

"I'm sorry," the girl said, "I'm tired of seeing the same four walls! I've been here for two whole years!"

"Yes, and I have been here for seven!" Eilonwy said sternly as she turned to face away from the wheel, "I've been staring at these same four walls for seven years, since I was fifteen years old! I'm stuck living beneath my parents murderer and above their graves!"

There was a short moment of silence as she took a seat back at her spinning wheel, spinning more gold than she would ever use, "I'm sorry," Snow said in a whisper, "I didn't think-"

"I know," she said sternly without looking back.

The dark haired girl slipped a straw bracelet around her wrist and passed the other to the girl at the wheel, "Thank you," Snow whispered to her with a shrug, "for keeping me company over the years that I've been here."

"It's not like I had any other choice," Eilonwy said a bit roughly as she slipped the bracelet over her hand and tightened it around her wrist. She took a deep breath and glanced back at the dark haired girl, flashing her a small smile before returning to look at the wheel.

Her eyes widened for a moment as something formulated in her mind. In an instant, she dropped onto her knees, "He won't be back until morning," she whispered as she cleared the gold off of the movable stone, "We have to act now! I'm going to find an exit for you."