The Nameless Trickster: A Rumplestiltskin Retelling by Rebecca F. Kenney

Author:Rebecca F. Kenney [Kenney, Rebecca F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-26T16:00:00+00:00

17

I barely have time to unpin the annoying hat from my hair when two guards burst into my bedroom. “Come with us.”

“What? Why?” Instinctively I back away, my mind racing. Where are they taking me? To the King? He couldn’t possibly want sex again so soon.

The guards hurry me through the halls, down the long passage connecting the House of Bounty to the palace, and along a vaguely familiar route down to the lower levels, beneath the King’s residence. This time, instead of a jail cell, they take me to a corridor lined with storage rooms and shove me into one. It’s hard to tell the room’s dimensions since it’s piled high with straw, but judging from the width and length of the vaulted ceiling, the space is huge.

To the left and right of the doorway are boxes of bobbins, and on the bit of the flagstone floor that’s not covered with straw, there’s a spinning wheel and a wooden bench.

“You will spin all this straw into gold,” announces one of the guards. He points to a bell-cord by the door. “Ring this if you need food, drink, or the privy. You have tonight, tomorrow, and the following night. By dawn on the second day, it must be done.”

“I can’t do this.” I search his eyes, desperate for a sign of understanding, of pity. “I told the King my magic takes time to replenish. I won’t be ready for this task for months.”

The guard exchanges a malevolent smirk with his companion. “His Majesty thought you might make an excuse. He says that if you cannot accomplish this task within three days, your friend Shenya will suffer the removal of her tongue and genitals, and she will serve you for the remainder of your time in the House of Bounty.”

Cold horror clutches my lungs. I can’t breathe—can’t speak.

Shenya, mutilated, silenced, and forced to serve as my maid? It’s unthinkable.

“Shall we fetch the girl for the procedure?” asks the guard. “Or will you accomplish the King’s will?”

“I can’t do it. I told the King as much.” My voice is strident, desperate, angry. “He can’t do that to Shenya. She has a magical gift… she’s one of the potential brides.”

“Her gift is of little use to the King, and he has other concubines,” replies the guard coolly. “Will you obey His Majesty and perform the task he has set for you?”

I grit my teeth, infuriated by his apathy. I want to smack him. “As I’ve said, I can’t perform the magic again so quickly. But for my friend’s sake, I will try. Would you please give the King a message? Ask him to come and speak with me, or grant me an audience so I can explain my abilities and beg for his mercy and patience. Unless he wants me to overtax myself and die trying to save my friend.”

Neither guard replies. They only shove me into the storage room, slam the door with a resounding clang, and lock it up.

No. This can’t be happening.

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