Touch of Gold: (Rumpelstiltskin) (Tangled Tales Series Book 4) (8 page)

Chapter 11

Olivia cursed herself inwardly for even thinking that fool knight meant to help her in the first place. She stood in the ladies solar with her handmaid on one side of her and her father on the other. The room was full of onlookers, but she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Kin anywhere. She’d been awoken and escorted down to the ladies solar by two guards earlier.

A spinning wheel was set up in the center of the room. Distaffs, tall wooden spindles that held the wool until it was ready to spin, leaned against the wall. There was several looms set up for weaving. Trunks loaded to the brim with bolts of fine silk of every color were an impressive sight as well. Exquisite tapestries lined the walls, and sewing baskets filled with thread, needles, shears, and thimbles filled the side tables. And taking up a good half of the room were a dozen barrels of raw wool.

The baron looked to be a wealthy man and it angered her to think that his greed for gold would be the nail in her coffin.

“Do you see Lord Kin anywhere, Ruth?” she whispered to her handmaid. Ruth looked around and shook her head.

“Nay, my lady, I don’t.”

“I didn’t see him in the great hall this morning, either,” said her father. “Olivia, mayhap he left during the night. There’s a good chance he’s not going to help us after all.”

“Or mayhap he’s fast asleep in his chamber, trying to sober up,” she said with a stiff upper lip.

There was commotion on the other side of the room, and she looked over to see the baron enter with Kin right behind him. Kin’s face contorted, and he acted as if he were having a hard time standing and walking.

“See what I mean?” she said. “He’s still so drunk that he can’t even walk straight.”

His squire entered the room behind him – with bare feet.

“My lady, his squire isn’t wearing any shoes,” the handmaid pointed out.

“I don’t care what either of them do; I’m done looking to them for help.” Olivia scanned the room, hoping to find a second exit. She had to get out of here before the baron asked her to spin wool into gold and discovered she couldn’t do it.

“There you are, my dear,” said the baron. He approached with Kin and his squire walking carefully behind him. The squire stubbed his toe on the corner of a trunk and proceeded to jump up and down holding his foot. When Lord Kin turned to see what happened, he about fell over and had to grab onto the boy to regain his balance. “Are you ready to spin wool into gold and show us all how you do it?” asked the baron, totally unaware of what was happening right behind him.

“I – I . . .” She struggled with what to say. Everyone was staring at her, and she felt her knees knocking together beneath her skirts.

“She can’t,” said Kin in a loud voice, and she cringed to think he was about to tell everyone the truth.

“She can’t?” asked the baron, and Olivia moved closer to her father, planning on grabbing his arm and running from the room as soon as the baron turned his head. “Why not?”

“She told me it is a talent she has, but it doesn’t work if too many are watching. Didn’t you say that, Lady Olivia?” Kin’s eyes bore into her, and she wasn’t sure if he was berating her or trying to help her in some way.

“Baron Pettigrew, if I may?” asked her father, but she held a hand up to stop him from talking. His talking was what got them into this situation in the first place.

“Nay, Father. This is my skill, and I will handle this, but thank you.”

“Are you sure, Daughter?” asked her father, meaning well. But if she let him spin another lie, there was no telling what would happen. At least with Lord Kin’s lies, they might be more believable since he was an ally of the baron.

“Baron Pettigrew, what Lord Kin says is true. I can’t spin the wool into gold with all these people watching.” She held her breath, waiting for the baron’s response.

“Oh, I see,” said the baron, rubbing his chin. “Everyone out,” he said. “My betrothed will spin the wool into gold for my eyes alone.”

“What?” she asked, her heart jumping into her throat.

“My dear, you can share your secret with me since you will be my wife soon,” said the baron, settling himself on a chair as the onlookers left the room. “After all, there shouldn’t be any secrets between a man and wife, don’t you agree?”

“I – I guess not,” she said, looking over to Kin. When the baron turned his head, she mouthed the words
help me
.

“Everyone out,” said the baron again. “Handmaids and squires as well. You too, de Bar.”

“I’m not going to leave my daughter,” protested her father stubbornly.

“Father, I think it is best if you go.” Olivia laid a hand on his arm and whispered to him to try to escape without her. Then she turned him toward the door and gave him a small push. He reluctantly left her behind.

She saw Lord Kin turn and whisper something to his squire and for a moment she thought he was going to leave her too. But then he turned back to speak to the baron.

“Since the girl is under my care while I’m visiting your demesne, I will stay as well,” he told the baron.

“Oh, I don’t know,” said the baron looking over to Olivia.

“Lord Kin can stay,” she said, releasing a deep breath when the baron agreed to it. At least if she had a knight there to protect her when the truth came out, perhaps she’d have a fighting chance after all.

“Well, let’s get started, my dear,” said the baron. “Here is a spinning wheel, distaffs, wool, and everything you’ll need.”

“Yes,” she said with a nod of her head, walking over to the other side of the room. She picked up a small drop spindle and some raw wool, realizing her hands were shaking. She could spin wool forever, and it was never going to turn to gold. She had no idea what to do and was thankful when Kin finally interrupted.

“I’d like to learn how to spin wool first if you’d be so kind as to show me,” said Kin.

“Of course. I’d be happy to,” she answered, bringing the spindle and wool over to the men.

“De Bar, is this necessary?” grumbled the baron.

“It’s a good idea,” Olivia told the baron. “I need to spin wool for a while first before I’m able to turn it to gold,” she said, hoping he was going to believe it.

“How long does that take?” asked the baron, impatience lacing his words. “I have a dozen barrels of wool I want turned into gold by morning.”

“A dozen?” she asked, almost choking on her words.

“Yes. Did you want more?” He sounded serious!

“Nay!” she spat, and the baron looked at her suspiciously.

“You can really do this, can’t you?” he asked.

“Of course, I can,” she lied. “But I – but I – ,” her eyes sought out Kin for help, but he wasn’t even paying attention. Instead, he’d taken off his boots and sat down on a chair and was rubbing his feet.

“Lord Kin, since I’ve already explained this all to you on our journey over here, perhaps you’d like to tell the baron the answer to his question while I prepare the wool.”

That got his attention. Kin’s head jerked upward so fast she thought he would fall from the chair. She smiled coolly, and turned and busied herself with the wool.

“Yes, de Bar. Please do tell me what she means,” said the baron.

Kin was caught off guard and didn’t know how to answer. His feet ached, and he was so tired from being awake all night, that he couldn’t think straight. Thankfully, he realized, his squire had done what he’d instructed and caused a disturbance down in the courtyard. Shouting came from outside the open window, and Kin could smell smoke.

“Is something burning?” asked the baron, jumping up and running to the window. “By the rood, there’s a fire in the stables! Guards, fast, put that fire out,” he shouted out the window.

“Is something wrong, my lord?” asked Kin, coming to the window as well.

“Unless you’re blind, you fool, you can see my stables are on fire. Hurry, let’s get out there before the fire consumes everything.”

“Of course,” said Kin, turning to leave, but Olivia’s hand on his arm stopped him from going.

“I’ll need Lord Kin’s help to move the barrels,” she told the baron. “If you don’t mind, I’d like him to stay here with me.”

“Fine, fine,” said the man as he hurried from the room. As soon as he left, Olivia ran over and closed and barred the door. Turning back, she was surprised to see Lord Kin’s eyes closed as he stood leaning against the wall.

“Wake up!” she said, and his eyes popped open. A large distaff of already spun yarn that was leaning against the wall fell over when he jerked awake, and he reached out and grabbed it. There came a knock on the door at the same time, and she turned around and called out.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Quaid. Let me in,” said the squire.

“Let him in,” said Kin from the other side of the room.

She did as ordered and the squire entered carrying a pair of boots. “I brought you some boots, my lord. Now can I have mine returned, please?”

“Why is Lord Kin wearing your boots?” asked Olivia, closing and barring the door again. And what is your plan to get me out of here before the baron discovers it’s impossible for anyone to turn wool into gold?”

“I was wearing his boots since one of mine fell apart,” said Kin. “And I’m not going to tell the baron that it’s an impossible task because it isn’t.”

“Stop it,” she said, thinking he was jesting until she turned around and saw him holding a distaff. All the yarn wrapped around it was made of gold!

“How did you do that?” she asked, walking over to take a closer look. Kin left the long rod leaning against the wall and kept his distance from her for some odd reason.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Kin. “You don’t need to know. All you need to know is that I’m going to spin the wool into gold for you, and everyone will be happy in the end.”

Kin saw the look on Olivia’s face, and it said to him that she thought he had lost his mind.

“How can everyone be happy?” she asked. “If the baron gets what he wants, that means I’ll have to marry him.”

“Isn’t that what you want?” asked Quaid, inspecting the golden yarn. “You’ll be the luckiest, richest girl in all of England.”

“That’s right, I agree,” said Kin.

“Until you leave and I can no longer produce gold.” She crossed her arms over her bosom and stared Kin down as she followed him around the room. He seemed as if he were afraid of her and was keeping his distance. “Will you still consider me the luckiest girl in all of England when my head is alongside my father’s on the baron’s spikes?” she ground out.

“She does have a point there,” said Quaid, nodding his head.

“Quaid, I’d like you to leave me alone with Lord Kin, as we need to have a little talk,” she told him.

“Of course,” said the boy, heading for the door, until Kin stopped him.

“Nay!” Kin shouted. “Quaid stays. He’s my squire and won’t leave unless I order him to do so.”

“That’s right,” said the squire, putting down the boots in his hand, and picking his up off the floor and donning them.

“All right, then stay.” She walked over to inspect the golden yarn. “Make more of this,” she told Kin.

“He can’t,” said his squire.

“What do you mean?” She swung around to face Kin. “Are you telling me this was an accident? Don’t you even know how you did it?”

“It happens when he’s tired, angry, or distracted,” Quaid informed her. “Or at least, that’s all we can tell for now.”

“Is this part of that witch’s curse that your brothers were talking about?” she asked.

“I think it might be,” said Kin. “We haven’t had time to figure it all out yet.”

They were alerted to the sound of voices from the corridor, and the latch moved as someone tried to enter.

“De Bar, are you in there?” came the baron’s bellowing voice from the other side. “Open up.”

“Nay, don’t let him in,” whispered Olivia, feeling frantic.

“I have to,” Kin told her. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have a choice.”

“Are you going to help me or not?” she asked.

“I told you I would, now just have some faith in me.” Kin walked over and opened the door, surprised to see not only the baron but also his brothers, Wolf and Arnon as well.

“Brother,” said Arnon, pushing past the baron into the room. “So good to see you.”

“What are you two doing here?” It was evident now that Kin had been correct in assuming he’d been followed on his journey here. He should be angry that his brothers were interfering, but decided their presence was welcome. He needed more help in not only distracting the baron but also figuring out this blame curse.

“We were passing by and noticed the stable fire,” said Wolf. “Good thing we offered our help or your horse might have been caught in the flames.”

“Lightning?” he asked and scowled at his squire. Quaid just shrugged his shoulders in return.

“Bid the devil, you’ve done it,” said the baron noticing the large distaff of gold yarn from across the room. He rushed over to inspect it. Wolf and Arnon looked at each other, and then Wolf went over to join the baron.