Rumpelstiltskin

Nathan leaned down and picked up the well-loved tales of old and turned to the story that his young charge, Prince Billy, had asked him to read. These were the true fairy tales of old based on myth, magic and miracles. As he opened the book, his eyes landed on the first fairy tale and began to read.

There was once a widow miller woman named Maude who was very poor, but she had one very handsome son. It happened one day that she came to speak to King Travis, and to give herself consequence, she told him that she had a son who could spin gold out of straw. Now, King Travis had no need for more money, for his land was very profitable, however, he also had a son who had yet to marry, and this lady's son who could spin gold from straw would be a good match for his older son, Josiah. So the king turned to the miller woman and said, "That is an art that pleases me well; if thy son is as clever as you say, bring him to my castle tomorrow so that I may put him to the proof."

When the man was brought to him, the king led Ezra to a room that was quite full of straw, then gave him a wheel and a spindle, and said, "Now set to work, and if by the early morning thou hast not spun this straw to gold, thou shalt die." And he shut the door and left poor Ezra all alone in the cold room.

So, the poor millers woman's son was left there sitting and staring at the spinning wheel. He could not think what to do to save his life. His mother had never taught him how to spin the wheel, for she thought conning people out of their money was the better lesson learned in life. Now, as time passed during the night, Ezra became more distressed over the situation his mother had put him in. Suddenly, all at once, the wooden door creaked open and in came a little man who said, "Good evening, miller's son. Why are you so upset?"

"Oh!" answered the son, "I have to spin gold out of straw, and I don't know how to do so."

The little man looked around the room, and then his beady little eyes slowly looked up and down the handsome Ezra of Standish before he asked, "What will you give me if I spin it for you?"

"My late father's gold watch," replied Ezra as he took out his father's watch and handed it to the little man.

The little man eyed the watch greedily before he swiped it out of Ezra's hand and quickly put it in his pocket. He then seated himself before the wheel, and with a whirr, whirr, whirr, the bobbin was full; and so he went on till the morning light filtered through the narrow window and landed on all of the spun gold. At sunrise, the king came to the little room, and when he saw the spun golden straw, he was astonished, for he was sure that the widow miller woman was trying to con him.

Soon, he had the widow miller's son taken into another room filled with straw, much bigger than the last one. He wanted to give him another test to pass, for then he would be more than happy to give his son's hand in marriage to this very talented young man and his land would never be poor. So he again ordered Ezra to spin all the straw in the room into gold or he would die the next day.

Once more, Ezra did not know what to do and soon he began to dispair, when suddenly, the steel door opened and the little man appeared and said, "What will you give me?"

"The ring from my finger," Ezra said as he handed over his ruby ring. So, the greedy little man took poor Ezra's favorite ring and began to send the wheel whirring round, and by the next morning, all the straw was spun into a glistening gold. The king was surprised beyond measure at the sight, but he still could not believe this was true, so he gave Ezra one more test.

This time he took the widow miller's son to a much larger room, filled top to bottom with straw, and said in a gruff voice, "This too must be spun into gold, and if you accomplish it, you shall be given Prince Josiah's hand in marriage."

As soon as the iron door closed behind him, Ezra was left alone and once more the little man appeared and for the third time asked, "What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time?"

Ezra had run out of things to give when he suddenly thought of a way to trick the little man. "I will give you my first child after I have become consort to the Prince," Ezra said, knowing full well that since he was a man, he would never be able to have children and noticing also that the little man was near-sighted, that he might be able to trick him to agreeing to spin the gold for him once more.

The ugly little man squinted his tiny little eyes, and as he looked Ezra up and down, a slow wicked smile crossed his face, causing Ezra to shiver in fear. He nodded his head and once more set the wheel in motion and began spinning the straw into gold. And when the morning came, the king was so pleased by what he found that he introduced his only son, Prince Josiah, to Ezra of Standish.

Prince Josiah was a giant of a man who had given up the thought of marrying, because he had long passed what everyone believed to be the age of joining with another. He wanted to marry for true love and nothing else. His father and mother both supported this idea, but of late, King Travis had changed his mind and had begun looking for the right person for the eldest of his three sons to marry. And so, Josiah calmly went down the stairs to the main hall thinking of various excuses to use to persuade his father that he was not yet ready to marry.

As he entered the throne room and looked at the handsome Ezra of Standish, he knew in an instant that he had lost his heart forever and would love this man till the end of time.

When Ezra heard the approaching footsteps of the king's son, he became very nervous, for he really wasn't ready to settle down and marry anyone. He had heard many rumors of the royal giant. Some said that the king's son was so tall that his head touched the clouds. Many had said that his voice was great and as loud as that of an angry bear. There were even rumors of him killing the king's strongest soldier with his bare hands for looking at him the wrong way. Then there were those that spoke of the prince's fiery temper. All of these rumors were quickly forgotten when Ezra looked into the eyes that were the color of sapphires. Ezra had just lost his heart to a voice that sounded like gentle thunder in the distance and to a smile that reminded him of the sun breaking through a cloudy sky. Ezra of Standish, for the first time in his life, knew how love felt by the warm and loving look coming from Prince Josiah of the Seventh Castle.

They were quickly wedded and they were both happy with each other until one day Ezra woke up very ill. He was so ill that Josiah became overburdened with worry and sent for the royal healer.

Nathan was a tall and handsome dark man who had come with the king from a far away land called Egypt. He was once one of the Pharaoh's great healers and the Pharaoh had given him to the king in appreciation for a gift that King Travis had once given to him.

Now, King Travis didn't want to offend the Pharaoh, but he didn't approve of slavery either, so he had made a deal with the healer. He would free him and treat him like a member of the family if he would take the time to train someone on their land the sacred art of healing. Nathan had agreed and had been with the family ever since.

First, Nathan ordered Prince Josiah out of the room, knowing his worrying was upsetting his patient. Then, he moved over to Ezra and listened as he began telling him what was ailing him.

A couple of hours passed before Nathan looked up from his notes and Ezra fearfully looked back at the man he now called friend and asked the most frightening question in his life, "Am I dying, Nathan?"

Nathan shook his head and with a surprised smile on his face, he said the four words he never thought he would say to the young man sitting before him, "Ezra, you're with child."

Nathan gave out a hearty laugh as he watched the expressions pass across Ezra's pale face before he was able to speak, "H..H..How Nathan? I mean I know how and all but how, how?" he said with a motion of his hand. "I am a man, Nathan, and the last time I checked men don't have children."

Nathan smiled at Ezra and explained, "It is very possible for you to have children Ezra, for this is still the age of magic and miracles. While you were traveling with Josiah, did you come across anything strange?" Ezra shook his head. "Have you been near any little men of late?" This question caused Ezra to pause as he remembered the little man that had helped him spin straw into gold.

Ezra nodded his head yes and told Nathan the one thing that he had never told his husband: the story of the little man who spun straw into gold who had lead him to his true love. Nathan listened to Ezra's story, and when it was finished, he slowly nodded his head, "Ezra, when you told the little man about giving him your first child, he pretty much took that as a promise. The land of Seven is a very powerful realm when it comes to magic. Why even your beloved is considered a strong wizard here." Ezra nodded his head in knowledge of this. "So it is of no surprise to me that the little man took your promise to heart and cast a spell on you so you would carry a child."

"What do you think I should do, Nathan?"

"I think you should tell Josiah the truth, Ezra, and start from the beginning. Josiah may be angry at first, but you must remember that he loves you very much."

Ezra nodded his head as he watched Nathan walk over to the door and let in a very worried Prince Josiah. Josiah quickly pushed passed Nathan and ran to his love as he asked Nathan questions. Nathan quickly passed all of Josiah's questions to Ezra and quietly left the room.

Ezra took his lover's hand in his and told him the truth. Once Josiah got over the surprise of finding out his love was with child, anger soon followed, but not at Ezra. It was directed at Maude for putting Ezra in a situation that could have cost his beloved's life. He soon came back to the wonderful thought that his love was going to have a child. Their child.

"Josiah," Ezra nervously started, "Are you happy about this?"

"Happy!" Josiah exclaimed as he picked up his beloved and held him close to his chest. "Oh Ezra, you have made me very happy."

Ezra let out a sigh of relief and smiled as he settled against Josiah's warm, strong chest and felt the loving and reassuring arms of his love surround him.

And it came to pass that Ezra safely gave birth to a very beautiful boy named David.

Then one day, the little man came suddenly into his room and announced, "Now give me what you promised me."

Ezra became greatly terrified and held little David close to his body for protection. While he tried to offer the little man all the riches of the kingdom of Seven if he would only leave the child alone, the little man only said, "No. I would rather have something living than all the treasures of the world. I will give you three days, and if by the end of the three days you cannot tell me my name, then you must give the child to me."

Ezra spent the whole night thinking of all the names that he had ever heard, and sent Vin the loyal huntsman and lover to Prince Chris, to ask far and wide for all the names that could be found. And when the little man came again, Ezra began naming names: Buck, Dale, John, Christopher, Vincent, Anthony, Ron, Tony, Michael, Eric, Andy, Rick, Nathan, and so forth, but all the little man would say with each name was, "That is not my name."

The second day, Ezra asked Vin to inquire of all the neighbors what the servants where called, and when the little man came back that night, Ezra once more started naming names: Willie, Mark, Bret, Bill, William, Stuart, Enoch, Wilhelm, Chuck, Daniel, Matthew, Robert. Again, all the little man would say was, "That is not my name."

It was on the third day, while Vin was searching for names for Ezra deep in the forest, that he heard a funny little rhyme. "Today do I bake, tomorrow I brew, the day after that, the Ezra's child comes in; And oh I am glad that nobody knew that the name I am called is Rumpelstiltskin!" Vin peeked through the brush and saw a little man dancing around a merry fire while he sang his rhyme once more.

He quietly backed away from the scene and quickly made his way to Ezra and told him the tale.

When Ezra heard what Vin said, he was very pleased. That night when the little man appeared and said "Now Ezra, what is my name?"

Ezra paused in thought before he spoke, "Well is it Marvin, Bugs, Elmer, Sylvester, Tweety or Sam?"

"No, no, no, no, and no!"

Ezra held his breath and closed his eyes before he slowly opened them and with a cocky smile he spoke, "Then perhaps your name is.... Rumpelstiltskin!"

The little man screamed in terror of hearing his name and began to yell, "The devil told you that! The devil told you that." And in his anger he stamped his right foot so hard that it went into the ground; then he seized his left foot with both of his hands in such a fury that he split himself in two, and that was the end of him.

Years passed and King Travis passed away. The Kingdom of Seven was hallowed into its golden age when it was ruled by three kings. King Chris and his lover and consort Prince Vin who later gave birth to two children, King Buck and his young lover and consort Prince J.D. of the Dunnes, who blessed Buck with many lovely daughters, and finally the Wise King Josiah and his ever beloved Ezra, who christened their family with a son, and then later a little girl named Hannah after Josiah's late sister.

"What?" Nathan asked as he smiled down at the sleepy Prince Billy. "You want to know about your dad and how he and Vin got together and you say you want to know how Uncle Buck and Prince J.D. of the Dunnes came together as well?" Nathan softly chuckled as he put his book back on the nightstand and bent to blow out the candle.

"Why that young prince, are stories for another day and another time." He softly whispered as he pulled the blanket up close and tucked the boy in who was already fast asleep.

He stood and watched the sleeping prince, and then turned and quietly walked out of the room and headed for the War room where the three Kings and their lovers were preparing for tomorrow's coming battle. He wasn't worried about the battle, for he knew that the seven men would hold true and win against the coming evil.