so full of this adventure;

[fantasies]

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.

Comments

[fantasies]

[.... 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.

[ensorceler]

[ 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. ]

[fantasies]

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

Her firstborn child.

[ensorceler]

[ 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. ]

[fantasies]

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.

[ensorceler]

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. ]

[fantasies]

[Henry shakes his head.]

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

[ensorceler]

Then, how did they proceed?

[fantasies]

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.

[ensorceler]

Is she given any hint?

[fantasies]

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

[ensorceler]

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. ]

[fantasies]

[He smiles a little. Not so fake, to him, but he likes it when people get into the story.]

She tried, though. She guessed and guessed and guessed for the first two days, but she couldn't get his name. Then, on the last day, one of her messengers came back in a rush.

He'd seen him, the imp, dancing around a fire and singing a song. And he'd heard the imp's name.

[ensorceler]

Rumpelstiltskin?

[fantasies]

[His smile gets wider.]

Spoiler.

But yeah, that was it. So when the imp comes back on the night of the third day, the girl pretends to think and think, and when he thinks he's beat her, she says, "Rumpelstiltskin!"

[ensorceler]

[ Okay she won't say anything this time, waiting for the next part. ]

[fantasies]

Rumpelstiltskin gets angry. So angry, he stomps and he yells and all kinds of things -- but a deal is a deal, and Rumpelstiltskin never goes back on a deal.

So the girl gets to keep her baby, and the kingdom stays safe.

[ensorceler]

And that is the end?

[ She looks surprised. ]

[fantasies]

[He spreads his hands, like 'ta-da']

The end.

[He never said fairy tales were climactic.]

Well, for that story, anyway.

[ensorceler]

It is so rare for any story involving the mischievous fae to end in such good cheer.

[ But those kinds of stories were used to keep kids in line, maybe. ]

[fantasies]

[It's his turn to look confused.]

They're supposed to. Have happy endings, I mean. Usually.

[ensorceler]

Some tales, perhaps... But the fae are mischievous, wicked things. For a human to outwit one is a scarcely heard story indeed.

But nice to hear now and again.

[ Not that she believed in fairies or anything before Paradisa. ]

[fantasies]

[Henry looks down at the book, worries the corner of one of the pages between his thumb and forefinger.]

Good always wins in the end. Even if some of the stories don't make it seem like it does.

[ensorceler]

[ Oh Henry, she wants to slap you. And hug you, because it's nice to see such naiveté. It's too bad it will, one day, be torn to shreds. She mourns for him in advance. ]

If it is such a simple win, then why so many books on the same story, the same man?

[fantasies]

[Henry smiles, though it's a little weaker than some of his others.]

I'm not trying to beat him. [Not yet anyway.] I'm just... doing research. For something else.