Ravishing Rapunzel (Passion-Filled Fairy Tales, #6)(11)

Garrett was tall, broad-shouldered, muscular, and had an imposing stare. The ladies considered Garrett handsome, and people often said Bradyn and Garrett looked alike, but Bradyn didn’t quite see it. They both had long, dark brown hair, and perhaps they were similar in physique, but Garrett was all confidence and pride. Something Bradyn had never felt.

His brother walked quickly, closing the gap between them. “It goes well,” Garrett said, a genuine smile on his face.

It figured. Garrett had all that could be asked for. He was the eldest and in line to inherit the throne. He’d been married not long ago, to a princess who was both a good alliance as well as one who spoke to his heart. Bradyn had only wished for such good fortune, but he’d found none.

“What troubles you, Bradyn?” Garrett asked, patting his younger brother on the shoulder.

Bradyn stared at his brother, unsure he wanted to unburden his soul. Well, that wasn’t exactly it. He wanted to unburden himself, but not with Garrett. Not when there was nothing his brother could do about it. He looked up at the castle and sighed. “I think I’ll tell father I’ll do it,” he said. “I mean, there’s nothing wrong with Princess Lucille, right?”

Garrett shook his head. “As I recall, she was rather fetching,” he said. “So, are you saying that you’ve had enough of your wild times and want to settle down now?”

Bradyn nodded. He’d had enough of the wild times. He’d spent too much of his childhood seeking out Rapunzel. Something about her kindness and beauty had seared a mark on his heart that he couldn’t expunge. And when he’d failed over and over, after searching every inch of their kingdom, he had decided to quell his pain in the bosoms of another woman. He thought there might be a maiden out there who could make him forget her. A woman who was beautiful and vivacious and kind who could somehow erase the memory of her. Yet, each woman he met seemed to only pale in comparison to Rapunzel.

There had been so many maidens, so, so many. All futile attempts to forget the one that had really mattered. So, a year ago, he’d stopped. No more women. He had planned to just press forward and try to forget, not through replacement, but just by moving on. But that wasn’t working either.

Finally, he realized he was too old for this. Rapunzel was a childhood fantasy. She could not have been as perfect in real life as she was in memory, he told himself. It was time for him to grow up. “I am ready to settle down,” he said to his brother. “I just ….” He paused as he thought of it. “I just want to make the right choice. You seem so happy with Abigail. I’d like that, too.”

Garrett smiled. “Abigail is kind and sweet and the best thing that has ever happened to me,” he said. “But I almost didn’t meet her.”

Bradyn raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what his brother was talking about. He’d known there’d been a bit of a fuss about the union, but he’d been drowning his sorrows in ale around the time Garrett and Abigail met. He cocked his head and said, “There aren’t that many princesses around. Mother has a list, and I’m certain Abigail’s name was on it.”

Garrett shook his head. “Her kingdom was on it, but Abigail has an older sister, Agatha. It is she who I was introduced to. Agatha and I sat through a dreadful tea and I feigned illness, and told them I needed to ride home.”

Bradyn stared at him. “I recall you were sick on that excursion.”

“I was as healthy as you are now,” he said with a grin. “But as I was leaving, Abigail rode in on her horse. I swear, she looked like a goddess warrior on that steed. She dismounted as I was insisting to Agatha that I thought it best to ride home. Well, Agatha was insisting that I stay, and she turned to Abigail for help. Abigail took one look at me and said, ‘I think he looks right healthy to head home. I’m sure he can take care of himself.’ And I knew in that instant I wanted her for my wife.”

“So, you let Agatha convince you to stay?”

Garrett shook his head. “Of course, not. Abigail was right. I was perfectly healthy and knew my own mind. I came home, but returned three days later and sought permission to court Abigail.”

Well, that must have been the kerfuffle he’d heard the servants mentioning. He was sure that he’d heard that Abigail’s father had initially refused the courting. “You didn’t give up, though,” Bradyn said.

“Nope,” he said. “Once you find the woman you want, you don’t give up on her just because it’s hard. I would have been miserable married to Agatha. And I would have been miserable if I’d just given up and tried to find someone else on mother’s list who was suitable. Suitable is never satisfying once you’ve found perfection.”

“Perfection,” Bradyn said. “She’d said one sentence to you. How could you know from that it was perfection?”

Garrett shrugged and then laughed. “I don’t know how I knew. I just did. Sometimes it doesn't take long. Sometimes you can know everything you need to know about a person’s truest nature in a single act.”

Bradyn felt that dread welling in his gut again. He’d felt it every time he was with a woman who wasn’t Rapunzel, every time he sought to take his destiny down a path that didn’t involve her. “I want to get married, but I don’t know that I want Princess Lucille,” he said to his brother.