Rumpelstiltskin and I stare
At my sleeping husband
He breathes but lies unnaturally still
"I wish this were not so peaceful,"
Rumpel says, and I understand why
His wife and children's deaths
Were brutal, and ordered by this
Man who locked me in a room
To spin straw into gold—or die
I wept at first, but then I began
To make bargains

"Everyone believes I have
Bested you," I say as I take his hand
Rumpel smiles, his idea: the last
Prize, my son and Rumpel's name, servants
Seeking high and low until one
Oh so conveniently finds him
Dancing and singing and his name
Is part of the lyrics
It was easy to spread the word
That in anger Rumpel tore himself apart
When I bested him

"I hope for your sake the child takes
After you, my dear" and I hear the
Fondness in his voice, the care he
Now has for me commingled with
The idea that vengeance finally
After so many years, awaits
I hand Rumpel the pillow and he
Holds it over the hated face of
My husband, the king
The struggle is brief, the king has been
Sickly—from poison provided
By Rumpel, administered by me

'How does it feel?" I ask Rumpel
Even as I draw my knife
"Like my life is complete—nothing
Else left to do" and there is true
Peace in his voice, in how he sits
Until I reach around and slice his
Throat from ear to ear, his blood
Turning the white pillow scarlet
He dies without another sound
Falling onto the king, linked in death
Just as surely as in life

All around me I feel a mist that wavers
Between blistering and freezing
Sense hands on my shoulders
This was who answered my prayers
This is who I have made the bargain with
"The sacrifice is accepted, royal breath
Snuffed out, royal blood spilled"
A king and the rival for the throne
A rival he deposed, killing his family, but not
Rumpel, even if he thought he had
"And I am free?" I ask, wanting to
Wander, wanting to be free of men
Who would trade, trick, and kill me
"Yes, but not as you imagine
Your Royal Highness"

Then the spirit screams in my voice
And guards rush in
The knife drips in my hand and
For a moment I am frozen
Then I find my voice
Blistering-freezing energy pushing it
"He killed the king, he would have
Gone after the prince next—our
New king" I drop the knife and
Put my hands over my face, crying
Because I never asked for any of this
But then I see my son, carried in by
His nanny, safe and free of both these
Greedy and vengeful men
The nanny curtsies to me, a deeper one
Than she gave me as Queen Consort
"Your orders, Ma'am?"

My next words will set the tone of the
Years between now and when my child
Ascends, so I nod as thoughtfully as I can
Then ask the guards to take care of the
Body of the king and the body of his rival
He would have been my son's rival too
How long would my boy and I have
Lived if Rumpel were alive and
A claimant to the throne?
"I must clean this blood off me"
I reach for the knife to clean too—because the
Life of a Regent is fraught with perils
Who knows when I may need it again?