Chapter 10
JACOB
HONAU
“This town is seething with stories,” I say as I enter the bookshop after another day scouting the area. Wilhelm turns to face me from where he’s writing at the desk.
“The villagers are suspicious of us,” he warns.
“Can’t exactly blame them,” I say, hanging up my cloak.
“Especially since there have been three reported deaths and another person missing since we’ve arrived. We need to be more careful.”
“We don’t have time to be careful.” But really, all I can think about is it’s been weeks since I last saw Ella.
Wilhelm stokes the fire. “A letter from the king arrived while you were out. He’s responded to our report and wants us to hunt down the wolves in this area.”
He tosses the letter and bag of coins from King Frederick onto the table. The king’s seal glows in the firelight. I pick up the letter, skimming over our latest orders.
“Appears he’s annoyed that the wolves have been eating all his game.” I pour myself a cup of coffee. “Here I thought he sent us to keep the villagers safe, but all he cares about is keeping his belly full and hunting guests entertained. He’s hardly any different from the wolves.”
“And we’re so much better?” Wilhelm shoots back. “Who are you to say who’s the better man? After all, we’re out there hunting down people and sending them to who knows where.”
The coffee is cold. I grimace.
“There’s nothing natural about the Forbidden,” I remind him, “if they’re even people.”
“Speak for yourself, Grimm,” Rumpelstiltskin grumbles as he tromps down the stairs. “With those charming skills, it’s no wonder half the town despises you.”
“He has a point.” Wilhelm nods as the old man stomps over to his spinning wheel that we set up for him in the corner of the shop. Wilhelm went to Rumpelstiltskin’s house and retrieved it to keep him occupied. Spoils the old man, if you ask me.
“What would you have me do?” I throw up my hands. “How many times are we going to have this conversation? I’m sick of it.”
“My one life isn’t worth the hundreds on that list.”
“We’re sending them to a better place where they belong, not killing them,” I remind him, plopping into the chair by the fire. “We’re saving our world from the plague they’re bringing.”
“Listen to you talk.” Rumpelstiltskin chuckles. “You want magic without consequences? Cute.”
“Enough of your commentary,” I warn him. “This conversation is between me and my brother.”
“Are you sure we’re sending them to a better place?” Wilhelm’s red-rimmed eyes narrow on me. “How can you know the Enchantress is telling the truth? She tricked us into this life, and you know it.”
“He’s got a point.” Rumpelstiltskin clucks his tongue and picks up a blade of straw. “Freebies and magic don’t get along.”
I clench my fists and look away. I can’t win this fight. I’ll always be the villain, always the murderer. Finally, in a whisper, I say, “I couldn’t let you die.”
“You should have. It would have been better than this.” He waves his hands at the manuscript he’s working on. “A curse is what you’ve given us. How many more times will you have to save my life? And is my life really worth theirs?”
“I’ll do it for the rest of my life if I must.”
“I wish you wouldn’t.”
His words hit hard, taking all the fight from me. Shaking with anger, Wilhelm grabs the Enchantress’s quill lying on the table and tosses it into the fire. Blue flames erupt from the hearth, and then the fire returns to normal. He curses the flames and storms outside.
I stand there by the fire, listening to the wolves howling into the crisp night and the whirl of Rumpelstiltskin’s spinning wheel. The crimson liquid drains through the narrow funnel of the hourglass on the mantel. The urge to find the Forbidden, hunt them down, sinks its teeth deep into my heart.
“An impossible task.” I run my hands over my face.
“Quite the snare you two are in,” Rumpelstiltskin agrees.
“Indeed.” I plop into a chair. “Hundreds of stories we’re tasked to write. There must be a way out of this life, this madness. If only we could break her curse as simply as guessing your name.”
“Guessing my name wasn’t easy,” Rumpelstiltskin says, but then he pauses, rubbing his long beard. I spy that glint in his eyes.
“What is it?” I ask darkly. “You’ve got that look.”
“Perhaps we make another deal?”
I glare, but who am I to be picky? “I’m listening.”
“I help you look for a way out of this curse, and you let me live.”
We study each other, wary as thieves. “As much as I don’t trust you, it’s a deal I’m willing to make.”
“That makes two of us.” He grins.
“I’ll let you live until you’ve nearly reached your last breath before I finish your story.” I rise up and shake his cold hand.
I return to my desk and flip my sketch to my drawing of Ella. I trace the curve of her jaw, an idea forming in my mind. When dawn arrives, I’ll visit Ella von Maier’s forest again. There’s no doubt something lurks in its woods, and maybe this time, I might see Ella.
“Pretty thing, but heaps of trouble,” Rumpelstiltskin says, suddenly appearing at my side, gazing at her portrait.
I snap my sketchbook closed. “Mind your own business.”
“Ah, but your business is now my business, right?”
Grumbling under my breath, I snatch the story Wilhelm had been working on and toss it onto my desk with a thud. Then I stalk to the fire and drag the quill out with the poker. It’s still cool to the touch and completely unharmed. No surprise, I think irritably.
I dip the quill into the ink and furiously scratch the words onto the parchment.
“The sooner the stories are written,” I say, “the sooner the curse will be lifted.”
At least, that’s the lie I tell myself.