Notes before Chapter Seven

Hi, everyone! I’m very happy to get back to fanfic. As I’ve now established, Belle is bearing tremendous guilt because of what happened to her friend Anna of Arendelle. If you want to review the video one more time, here it is:

Belle isn’t the only one who has a history with Anna. Every character makes a deal with Rumple at some point, and Anna is no exception. Like Belle, she’s the second generation of her family to seek him out. Her parents went to consult him many years before. On discovering this, Anna makes the distant trip from Arendelle to find out the details. Rumple agrees to tell her, but only on condition that she remain in his castle. In that way, Anna’s deal is similar to Belle’s.

Anna breaks her deal with Rumple by escaping, as you’ll see in the video below. I’ll link to it in the relevant place in the upcoming chapter, but it’ll probably make things clearer if you watch it now.

The reason Rumple “collects” all these innocent, young women is the subject of Chapter Seven, entitled “The Prophecy.” It will be revealed through Rumple’s reminiscences, but the content of the prophecy is my invention. There are other prophecies in the TV show, but this one is all mine.

Other Characters

Candace

Rumple’s recollections will introduce other characters. One of these is Candace, which is the name I’ve given to the witch in “Hansel and Gretel.” She’s a minor character in the TV show, and because they portray her as blind, she’s known as “the Blind Witch.” This chapter will tell the story of how she lost her eyesight.

Regina

Regina is a major character in the TV show, so she requires a longer explanation. Her backstory is a brilliant mash-up of several fairy tales, and it will give you a taste of what I’m trying to emulate.

Think back to the original story of Rumpelstiltskin. A miller boasts that his daughter can spin straw into gold. The king then locks the young woman up in a tower so she can prove it. If the claim is found to be a lie, she will be killed.

The young woman despairs for her life, when suddenly, a magical imp shows up. He does the spinning for her, demanding her firstborn child in exchange. Later, when he comes to collect, he offers her one way out of the deal. She must learn his long, mysterious name.

The TV show gives the story a different twist. Instead of spinning the gold for the miller’s daughter, Rumpelstiltskin teaches her the magic to do it herself. Her name is Cora, and she ends up becoming a powerful witch.

After Cora succeeds, she marries one of the king’s younger sons, Prince Henry. They name their daughter Regina, a reflection of her mother’s grand ambitions. Through abusive tactics, Cora grooms Regina for the throne. When Regina comes of age, Cora orchestrates her marriage to the much older King Leopold, murdering the former queen and Regina’s true love to make it happen. King Leopold is the father of Snow White, and Regina will become the Evil Queen, who is mentioned in passing in Chapter One.

Like Rumpelstiltskin, Regina did not start off as evil. While she is still an innocent, she steals her mother’s spell book and summons him. He is not at all surprised at this turn of events. Cora agreed to give up her firstborn all those years ago. As an immortal, a thirty-year wait is nothing to him. He gives Regina the magical means to banish her mother from the realm.

Regina ends up surpassing her mother as Rumple’s pupil. She becomes almost as evil and as queen, has more power. At this point in my novel, she has had King Leopold killed, exiled Snow White, and is ruling her kingdom with an iron first. Rumple lets her have what she wants, but all the while, he is grooming her to cast the Curse that will bring Fairy Land to the modern world. More on that later.

The Other Servants

You may recall that when Belle arrived in Rumple’s castle at the end of Chapter Six, she observed that he “keeps no other servants.” She is wrong about that. You’ve already met Brunhilde the Valkyrie in Chapter Four. She’s more of a prisoner than a servant, but the next chapter will introduce the housekeeper and butler. Both characters come from the animated version of “Beauty and the Beast,” specifically, Mrs. Potts the teapot and Cogsworth the clock. The “Once Upon a Time” writers didn’t include the cartoon characters in the TV show, but I think they were leaving the option open, as evidenced by this picture:

Note the clock and candelabra in the backdrop. That is what inspired me to include the additional characters and to invent Brunhilde the broom. Besides, I didn’t think I could pull off a whole novel with just Belle and Rumple alone.

And that’s enough introduction for now. I hope you enjoy the next chapter!