Touch of Gold: (Rumpelstiltskin) (Tangled Tales Series Book 4) (10 page)

Chapter 13

“Kin, get up!” came Arnon’s voice in Kin’s ear, pulling him from his slumber. He rolled over with his eyes closed, settling himself and went back to sleep.

“Lord Kin,” Lady Olivia needs you,” came his squire’s voice next.

“Lady Olivia,” he repeated and smiled, hoping to get back to the lusty dream he was having about her. He almost did, but next came a poking sensation on his side and then his brother, Wolf’s voice.

“Do it again, Squire,” said Wolf. “If we don’t wake him, Olivia’s going to be in quite a predicament.”

Another jab to his side, and with his eyes still closed, Kin’s hand shot out and grabbed the object. He sat upright in the process.

“What the hell are you poking me with, Quaid?”

He opened his eyes to see Quaid letting go of the long distaff and jumping backward. His brothers were keeping their distance as well.

“Look at it,” said Quaid with a tremble to his voice.

“What is all the babbling about?” Kin focused his blurred vision on the distaff. Like a river flowing through it, a stream of gold started where his fingers gripped the wooden pole, and spread outward, turning the wood into gold!

Kin dropped the distaff and sprang to his feet.

“Now do you see why we refused to touch you?” asked Wolf.

Looking at his surroundings, Kin realized he was still in the solar. He’d been sleeping on the floor.

“I’m surprised at all of you,” he told them. “You all just let me roll around the floor in the dirty rushes like a rat?”

“We couldn’t risk it,” said Arnon. “And I’m glad we didn’t try to move you. Just look at the distaff and you’ll see what we mean.”

“That’s right,” said Wolf. “I don’t think Red would like it if I returned to her as a hunk of gold.” Red was the name he called his wife, Winifred – a beautiful girl with long, red hair.

“Oh, I see what you mean,” said Kin, licking his dry lips and spying a goblet and decanter of wine on a table across the room. “Quaid, I’m parched. Bring me that goblet and wine.”

The boy walked over to the table. His hand went out, but then he dropped it back down to his side. “I think you’d better get it yourself.”

Kin’s eyes shot upward. “Did you really say what I think you did?”

“It’s not safe,” Arnon explained. “The boy is doing the right thing.”

“That’s right,” said Wolf. “Your curse is too unstable. Until we figure out how it works, we can’t take a chance of even touching something at the same time as you.”

“You three are being ridiculous,” said Kin with a chuckle. “I know exactly how it works now. When I’m drunk or tired, I’m able to turn things to gold. I’m neither now, so you don’t need to worry. However, if you want me to prove it, I will.”

He walked over and picked up the goblet, filled it with wine and held it in the air. “See? Nothing happened at all.”

The door burst open, and Olivia ran into the room followed by her father. “Kin, you’re awake!” she called out.

“Olivia?” His attention was taken by the beautiful woman as she ran up to him and stopped short. Her eyes traveled down his face and to his arm, and he thought at first she was looking him over, admiring him. But she wasn’t.

“The goblet,” she said, with her eyes fastened to the cup in his hand.

“Oh, how rude of me. Would you like some wine?” He held it out t her, and she screamed and backed away. That’s when he realized that the goblet in his hand had turned to gold.

He dropped it, and it hit the floor with a clank.

“Egads, it’s still happening,” said Wolf. “You’re wide awake, and yet you’re still turning things to gold with just your touch.” All of his brothers, as well as his squire, took two steps away from him to gain some distance.

“I wonder why that happened.” Kin’s attention turned away from Olivia, and he walked over and reached out to touch the spinning wheel. Nothing. Then he ran his fingers over a basket of thread and some thimbles, but they remained the same as well. “I need to figure this out.”

“What was going on when I entered?” asked Olivia. “Mayhap that has something to do with it.”

“Lord Kin was showing us how he could touch anything, and it wouldn’t turn to gold.” Quaid relayed the information.

“But it did turn to gold,” she told him.

“And he wasn’t half asleep or drunk at the time,” added Arnon.

“But he was distracted,” came the voice of the miller, standing by a barrel of golden spun wool and running his fingers through it. He’d been so quiet since they entered the room that they’d almost forgotten he was there.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Quaid, making a large half circle as he walked around Kin and over to the old man.

“You were distracted by the beauty of my daughter, and that’s when it happened,” the miller told them.

“Is that so?” Wolf looked first at Kin and then at Olivia. “Were you having . . . thoughts about her?”

“I – I . . . well, mayhap I was,” Kin admitted.

Olivia’s face blushed, and she looked to the ground.

“This isn’t good,” said Arnon. “It could be very dangerous. We need to find a way to control your curse, and we need to do it fast.”

“You mean my gift,” Kin corrected him. He bent down and picked up the goblet made of gold and held it up for all to see. “My golden touch is my gift, and I think I’m going to use it for myself from now on. I can be rich instead of the baron. I can be richer than the king himself.”

“You’re starting to sound a lot like the baron,” mumbled Arnon.

“If a curse can be made, then it can also be broken,” said the miller, sounding to be the wisest of the bunch of them right now.

“Nay,” objected Wolf. “I’m living proof that it isn’t so. My curse has never been broken.”

“Mayhap you just haven’t found a way to do it yet,” said Olivia, walking over and picking up Kin’s mail gauntlets that had fallen from his waistbelt while he slept. “I think my father is right. Didn’t you say you were wearing these gauntlets when the witch disintegrated the book of alchemy right in your hands?”

“I was,” Kin admitted. “But why do you ask?”

“I think mayhap they are your answer.”

“Lady Olivia has a point,” said Quaid. Since you weren’t harmed at all when it happened, but the gloves turned to gold, mayhap they can protect you.”

“Do you think so?” asked Kin reaching out to take the gloves from Olivia. She carefully handed them to him being sure not to touch him. “I don’t like everyone acting like I have the plague.”

“Then do something about it,” said Wolf. “Figure out how to beat Hecuba at her own game.”

“Mayhap I will, Brother,” said Kin. “But right now the baron is about to bring in more barrels of wool, and I’ve got a job to do.”

There was noise at the door, and the baron entered followed by pages bringing in another dozen barrels of wool.

“Oh good, my dear,” said the baron coming to Olivia’s side and taking her hand and kissing it. “I am happy to see you are ready to spin more wool into gold.”

“When is the wedding?” said the miller from across the room. “You said you’d marry her if she spun the wool into gold.”

“Patience, my man,” said the baron. “She needs to prove herself to me another two times. If she can do the same as she did yesterday, then the wedding banns will be posted, and we will be married as I promised.”

“I don’t want to marry you,” said Olivia softly, surprising everyone in the room.

“What did you say?” asked the baron, dropping her hand.

“She meant she doesn’t want to marry you before she can prove herself a worthy wife,” Kin answered for her. “Just like you planned, Baron.”

“Oh. All right then.” The baron looked at them all suspiciously but nodded. “Pages, bring in all the barrels of wool, and everyone leave the room immediately so Olivia can work.”

“Don’t forget about me,” said Kin. “I need to stay with her.”

“Kin, perhaps one of us should stay as well - for precaution,” said Wolf.

“Precaution? From what?” asked the baron. But before anyone could answer, he spied the golden goblet on the floor. “What’s this?” He picked it up to inspect it. “It looks to be made of solid gold. Olivia, did you turn this to gold as well?”

“I most certainly did not.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“That is mine,” said Kin, taking it from him carefully. “I brought it with me.”

“I see,” said the baron, looking at him from the corner of his eye. “All right, everyone out of the room – everyone but de Bar – so the girl can work.”

“I think mayhap Wolf is right in saying one of us should stay,” said Arnon as the baron herded them toward the door.

“Whatever for?” asked the baron impatiently. “You know the rules. She can’t spin my wool into gold if everyone is watching.”

“That’s right,” said Kin. “Goodbye now.”

“My lord,” said Quaid. “As your squire, I feel as if it is my duty to stay at your side.”

“Go,” said Kin in a low voice, wanting them all to leave so he could spend time alone with Olivia.

Olivia watched everyone exit the room, wishing at least one of them had stayed behind. She felt apprehensive being here alone with Kin and wasn’t sure she wouldn’t end up being turned to gold by accident. She watched as Kin turned the golden goblet around and around in his hands, smiling from ear to ear. He almost seemed possessed by the thing.

“Kin, you need to start working,” she told him.

He looked up as if in thought.

“Fetch my squire for me, will you?” He sat down at the spinning wheel and took a deep breath.

“Fetch?” she repeated, hardly able to believe he’d just said that. Still, she didn’t want to be rude since he’d been kind enough to help her. “Is there a reason why you don’t want to go get him yourself?”

“Because I don’t know if I’ll turn the door to gold if I touch it.”

“You only turn things to gold when you’re tired or drunk, so I doubt that’ll happen.”

“Or distracted by a beautiful woman.” He looked over at her and winked. Then he reached out and grabbed a sewing basket full of supplies and held it up in the air. Right before her eyes, the basket turned to gold.

“Hmmm,” said Kin, peeking into the basket. “The items inside didn’t turn to gold. That’s good to know.”

“I’ll get your squire.” She ran to the door and opened it, and saw Quaid standing there.

“I figured he’d change his mind,” said the boy coming into the room. Olivia closed the door behind him.

“My lord, I’m sure you’ll want me to bring you whiskey so you can turn the wool into gold,” said the squire.

“No need for that.” Kin spun the wool on the spinning wheel. The whirring sound filled the air as the wool turned into wisps of gold right before their eyes. “However, I wouldn’t mind something to eat. Go to the kitchen and bring me back some food.”

“It’s a shame you were sleeping earlier and couldn’t join the rest of us at the meal,” said Olivia.

“If I hadn’t been doing your job and spinning wool into gold all night, I wouldn’t have been so tired and missed the meal in the first place,” Kin rallied.

“I’ll be right back,” said the squire heading for the door.

“Stop in the mews and bring me two doves as well,” said Kin without looking up.

“Whatever for?” asked Quaid in confusion. “Are you planning on eating them too?”

“Never mind what for, now go!”

A little while after the squire left the room, Kin stopped spinning and stood up and stretched and yawned.

“What are you doing?” asked Olivia, keeping her distance by standing over by the window.

“I think we forgot something, Princess,” he said. “I don’t work for free.”

“What do you mean?” she asked him. “I gave you my ring in exchange.”

“Yes,” he said, pulling it out of his pocket and jamming it on his little finger. He stroked it, and it immediately turned to gold. “But this is a new day with more work for me. If I’m going to keep your secret, I’ll need something in return.” He sauntered toward her, and she backed up as he came nearer.

“I’ll need more from you,” he said, leaning over and whispering into her ear. She squeezed her eyes closed and held her breath, not sure what would happen if he would touch her right now.

“Please,” she begged him. “I have nothing else to give you but this.” She pulled the metal circlet off her head and held it out to him. He reached for it, and she dropped it to the ground rather than to have him touch it at the same time and risk him turning her to gold.

“Now that wasn’t nice, was it?” He seemed to be toying with her and it frightened her very much. She’d upset him, and it wasn’t smart to upset a man like him. She’d have to be more careful with her words and actions from now on.

Thankfully, the door burst open, and his squire ran in holding a basket in one hand and a cage enclosing two pigeons in the other.

“I’m back, my lord and did as you instructed.” Quaid was out of breath and Olivia was sure he had run part of the way.