9 May 2024

This was a fun one. I saw a post somewhere (Tumblr, I think) with a prompt of a fae lady requesting the individual’s firstborn, and the individual asking when she could come meet their parents, taking it as a wedding proposal. That reminded me of Rumpelstiltskin and the story I started back in 2022 and never continued. This… doesn’t line up perfectly with that, and it is designed to stand alone, but I do think it’d be cool to eventually forge them together into one larger short story.

Desiree sighed as she stared at the massive room filled with straw. This… this sucked. Even with all the tips and tricks her fae friend had taught her the night before, it would still be a close thing, spinning all this to gold be morning.

And it wouldn’t stop there. Desiree knew as long as the King thought he could squeeze more gold out of her, he’d keep forcing her to spin. No, she needed a plan, a way to free herself from this wretched tyrant.

She hadn’t gotten far into her musings when the door opened and Prince Theodore–or Teddy, as he was more commonly known–stepped inside. “D-Desiree? We n-need to talk.”

Desiree spared him a glance. He was short, with curly brown hair, and he couldn’t stop wringing his hands. He looked nervous at the best of time, but his shaking was even more visible now. She focused back on her spinning. “What is it?” She was perhaps a bit more curt than was strictly proper when speaking with royalty, but Desiree felt she had plenty of reasons to be upset.

“F-father said if you succeed, h-he wants me to m-marry you. K-keep you close.”

After that bombshell, Desiree did stop spinning. “Well, shit.” At Prince Teddy’s shocked expression, she added, “Ah, sorry, it’s just… You’re nice enough, don’t get me wrong, and you don’t look bad or anything. You’re just…really not my type.”

Teddy nodded, and even sighed with relief. “I… That’s good.”

One eyebrow raised, Desiree got back to spinning. “Oh?”

A furious blush burst across Teddy’s face. “I… um… Do you know Lady Alexia?”

“I’ve heard of her.”

“Well, we are – were – engaged. She’s… she’s amazing, and… I-I want to make her happy.”

Alexia, huh? She had a reputation as a beautiful, albeit domineering woman. She was also one of the few nobles actively trying to make life better for her citizens. Desiree eyed Teddy and nodded to herself. They could be quite cute together. “So, what are we going to do?”

Teddy hemmed and hawed, but in the end, he could only shrug. Desiree barely restrained a groan. She hesitated a moment longer before she sighed and pulled out her fae friend had given her.

Not even a second after she blew it, a hunched figure appeared in the middle of the room. He was only a couple inches taller than Teddy, with ears that were far too large and eyes that were far too sharp. His beard was long and scraggly, in desperate need of a trim, and his clothes were worn and full of patches.

For all that, though, Desiree was growing rather fond of him. Unlike most fae, he didn’t bother with a glamor; what you see is what you get. That was a kind of honesty Desiree could respect. He had a dry wit, too, that she had grown to appreciate over the last couple nights they’d spent together.

When he arrived, he looked between Desiree and the prince and scowled a little. He glanced around the room–twice the size of the one he’d helped with the night before. “The king sure is a greedy one. I wonder what all this gold is for?”

Desiree eyed Teddy, but he just shrugged. Guess the prince wasn’t privy to the king’s secret dealings. Desiree sighed and turned to the fae. “That’s… actually what we need your help with. If this continues, the king’s just going to get greedier. We read a way to… deal with him.”

Teddy blanched at that, and the fae turned to him. “Is there a problem?”

It took a second for Teddy to catch his breath. “N-no. It… it hurts, a bit, but… My father i-isn’t a good man. Or a g-good king. She’s right.”

The fae looked at Teddy with newfound respect. “And what do you have to offer?”

Desiree grimaced. What few items she had of sentimental value, she’d already given him. What hadn’t been taken by the king or her father, that is. She kicked at the small pile of gold she’d already spun. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in the gold I’d spin from this room, would you?”

The fae just gave her a flat look, at Desiree deflated. Then Teddy offered, “What about me? I-I’m the prince, I’m sure–”

“Anything you offer comes from the king’s hand, and I’ll not force the man to pay for his own assassination.” He grinned cruelly. “No matter how much he may deserve it.”

Teddy gulped, swallowing his words, while Denise graned and banged her head against the spinning wheel. “Well, what’s your idea? What do you even want?”

For a long moment, the fae said nothing. Finally, he replied, “A child.”

Stunned, Desiree sat up and stared at him. “A child? You want a child?”

The fae nodded. “Your firstborn.”

It felt like Desiree’s mind had jammed up. “Is… Is that some weird marriage proposal fae use?”

For a moment, no one spoke. “What.”

“It’s just,” Desiree tried to explain, “among humans, we at least ask people out before talking about marriage, much less having kids together, and I’d kind of always dreamed my proposal would be a bit more romantic, and I only just figured out I kind of like you that way anyway, and–”

It was at this point Desiree realized both men were just staring at her in stunned silence. Her face boiled red as she closed her mouth.

Eventually, the fae turned to Teddy. “But… aren’t you two…?”

“Apparently, I’m really n-not her type,” the prince replied flatly. Then he scratched his cheek with a shy smile. “A-and… well, I’ve got someone else in m-mind, too.”

The fae opened his mouth to say something only to close it again. He turned to look at Desiree, who turned even more red, if that was possible. “I… um.” He blinked, then said, “I’m going to go take care of things. Let’s… let’s discuss payment later.”

He vanished, leaving Desiree and the prince alone together. After a long moment, Teddy said, “W-well. At least I f-feel better about being awkward sometimes.”

Desiree promptly sank her face into her hands.