paradisalogs | so full of this adventure;

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henry mills

so full of this adventure;

Who: Henry and YOU
What: INVESTIGATION
When: Sometime this afternoon
Where: Out in the castle courtyard
Rating: pg for fairytale nonsense

[Henry is doing research.

Between all he castle's changes and Arya's loss, he hasn't had a lot of time to do it. But today he's doing it out in one of the castle courtyards, because the library was stuffy, and the pup Robb gave him was antsy. He has books all around him, and a journal separate from the castle's open in his lap, where he's taking painstaking notes. August wanted to rewrite his book, the book the castle took from him, and he's going to make sure it's as complete as possible.

However, a disproportionate number of the books are open to 'Rumpelstiltskin.'

Henry's wolfdog pup, still full of energy, is running about around him, pawing at dirt and sticking his nose into bushes (and occasionally Henry's lap). But he never wanders too far away from Henry himself.

He comes close to nudge Henry's shoulder with his nose, and Henry reaches up to pat his head.]

Don't worry, boy, I'm almost done. We can race after.

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{ The damn wolves, they're everywhere. She can't seem to visit any of the children she might have grown fond of without risking some kind of dog that makes her legs turn to rubber and her stomach to ice.

She stops as soon as she spots it, though close enough to catch the names of some of the books. Names that mean nothing to her. ]

That is quite a large number of books to read in only one day's time, my lord.

[Henry looks back over his shoulder, presumably towards the person she's addressing, and then back to her. He smiles a little, confused.]

I'm only reading parts of them. And I know a lot of the stories already, so it's not that bad.

Do you speak German, then?

No. These are in English.

[beat]

I can ask where the bathroom is in Spanish, though.

[ Dead eye for a moment, and then she dares to step closer so she can lean to look. ]

Though the name is German, that is why I ask. [ It's spelled Rumpelstilzchen but spelling was so iffy back then anyway she wouldn't even notice or care the difference. Saying it in her head is enough to know. ] Are you researching goblins, or the name?

The story. I know Rumpelstiltskin. [He pauses, frowning at the page.] Well, sort of. I think this story is different from the real one.

[ She raises an eyebrow. ]

What story is this? I fear I have not heard it.

Really, never? Spinning straw into gold, that story? [He's just double checking. It's not that uncommon for him to run into people who haven't heard them.] Maybe you don't have them in your world.

[ Anne's eyes widen a bit in curiosity and she shakes her head. She may recognize the German influences of the name, but the story is from a couple centuries after Anne's time. ]

Mayhap. Will you tell me this story?

[He brightens. He always likes it when people want to listen to his stories.]

Yeah, sure. [He shifts a little where he's sitting.] Here, come sit.

[ Anne would probably like several Brothers Grimm stories, honestly. But she is a fan of books as much as the next... The only difference is that these types of frivolous books are not so readily available in her time.

So she sits, though it takes a moment of arranging so that she can keep as much of her skirts clean as possible. They are poofy, you bet, but she smooths it out. ]

You have my rapt attention, my lord.

[Henry flips the pages of the book back a few so that she can see the illustrations. He squares his shoulders, and makes his voice drop a little deeper, like a proper storyteller.]

Okay. So, once upon a time, there was a girl who said that she could spin straw into gold. She couldn't, not really, but when the king found out, he kidnapped her and trapped her in a room, then ordered her to spin all the straw into gold by morning. If she couldn't do it, he was going to kill her.

[DUN DUN DUNNN.]

For such a useless boast, and to lie to a king, is it any surprise?

[ Okay maybe killing her is a little harsh but not so harsh that Anne looks horrified at the concept. Stupid bitches need to get out of the way.

Ahaha Anne check the mirror. ]

What happened next?

[.... Okay, he's just going to keep talking. He's friends with Arya, it's not the first time he's heard people talk that way.]

She spun and spun the straw, but there was nothing she could do to turn it into gold. When she'd almost given up hope of giving the king what he wanted, an imp suddenly appeared in the room with her. He told her that he knew the magic that could spin straw into gold, and that he could-- [remembering what August told him earlier, he amends mid-sentence:] teach her how to do it.

For a price.

[ Did you just compare Anne to Arya did you really. Anne would foam at the mouth if she knew.

Yes, an imp, or a goblin, that sounds about right given the name. She touches her fingertips to her chin while she thinks over what possible prices could be. If it's a legend, it would have to be something ridiculous or the most important to her. ]

Not her hand in marriage? [ Because how else would a gross thing like that get a wife. ]

[Henry makes sure there is a significant enough pause for the suspense.]

Her firstborn child.

[ That hits her in her gut, though the only visible response is her placing a hand over her belly while she watches, waiting for the rest of the story.

All manner of fae tend to be wicked, after all. This is not unheard of in tales. ]

She agrees to his deal. She doesn't really have the option not to. So the imp teaches her how to spin the gold [he skips over this part as best he can. He sure doesn't know the whole story, here] and she spins the whole room to give to the King in the morning.

[This is where it starts deviating from what actually happened, big time, not that he knows that.]

She keeps spinning for the King, and then eventually she marries his son, the prince. They live happily for a while, until she has her first baby and the imp comes back to get his end of the deal.

But what if it is a son? They would never allow their first born to be taken, especially not a son.

[ Much as she loves Elizabeth, this is still the way of the world for everyone else...at least in her time. ]

[Henry shakes his head.]

A deal is a deal. The imp doesn't let anyone go back on their deals.

Then, how did they proceed?

She promises him all the money she has, everything she made from spinning the gold he taught her to make, if he'd let her keep the baby.

He won't take any money, but eventually he tells her that he'll let her keep the baby if she can guess his name in three days.

Is she given any hint?

Nope. She just has to guess. That's why he offered, because he thought she'd never get it.

It is a true trick, indeed. There is no way to guess a name like that. Fitting for an imp.

[ LOL look at her getting all indignant for fake people. ]

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