Ravishing Rapunzel (Passion-Filled Fairy Tales, #6)(16)

He was sitting across from her in a comfortable chair, while she was perched on a sofa. She’d offered him a cup of tea, which he’d gladly accepted, more out of politeness than anything. He was pleasantly surprised at how tasty it was. She was a woman of many talents.

He took a sip, trying to figure out how to respond to her tale, one she clearly believed. He didn’t want to suggest her mother was a liar, but her claim the first time they’d met had sparked his curiosity. He’d spoken to his father’s doctors and none thought there was any validity to such a notion. But now seemed a bad time to suggest she wasn’t ill. “I hadn’t realized that’s why you left,” he said, deciding it was best just to discuss things that he personally felt. “I thought you’d left because you were trespassing.”

Rapunzel’s eyes scrunched together and she turned her head ever so slightly, and he loved the cleft of her chin in profile. It exposed the elegance of her neck. He could imagine himself nuzzling his lips against the soft supple flesh there. She spoke softly. “Why would you think we were trespassing?”

“Because you were,” he said plainly, and she grimaced. He realized he should have tempered his statement. “I don’t care that you were trespassing,” he added quickly, trying to look earnest. “The king has much land, and the area you were on was rarely used. I imagine that’s why your mother was there. I wouldn’t have told on you. I didn’t tell anyone at all you’d been there.”

Rapunzel smiled. “That is kind of you,” she said, taking a sip of her own tea. She set the cup down on the saucer settled on the little table in front of her. “I hadn’t realized we were trespassing. And perhaps that actually had something to do with why we left so quickly. As soon as I was even a little bit better, she hurried me away.”

Bradyn pursed his lips in debate, and then ventured tentatively. “I’ve never heard of an illness like yours. What is it called?”

Rapunzel smiled and shook her head. “It doesn’t have a name, but it does cause me great problems. Usually when I go out, it’s wonderful and I’m so happy, but the next day I’m completely miserable. Chills, fever, just awful.”

She grimaced at the memory, and he had no doubt she believed the outdoors made her sick, but it was such an odd thing. Before he could settle on another question to ask her, one that got at the heart of this supposed illness, she was speaking.

“So, what made you come here?” she asked, the question soft, kind, but an edge of desire in her voice. “I was quite sure you’d forgotten about me.”

“I could never forget you, Rapunzel.”

“That’s right. I’m a trespasser.” She let out a delightful laugh that rolled around his ears like a lullaby. “And what about you? What were you doing on the king’s land?”

“I live at the castle,” he said.

She looked impressed. “Oh, what is it that you do there? In the books I’ve read, there are all sorts of important jobs at castles. Stable men, knights, gatemen, horse trainers?”

He paused for a moment to think. “Mostly I’m at court. Nothing as exciting as you described. Though, I do like to ride. Have you ever ridden a horse?”

Rapunzel shook her head, and he regretted asking. Of course, she hadn’t. She didn’t go out. The air was bad. She seemed so accepting of it, but he doubted the goodwill of her mother who kept her locked in a tower. “I could teach you,” he said. “I think you’d like it.”

“It’s kind of you to offer,” she said. “But I can’t leave.”

“Because you’re sick?”

She nodded.

He grimaced. “Why don’t you try leaving? Just see how it goes.”

Her eyebrows squished together and she seemed irritated. “My mother won’t allow it.”

He leaned closer to her, and he noticed a scent of lavender. He wondered if it was a perfume she used, or if Rapunzel was imbued with the smell of a different flower. He tried to look commanding, the way his father did when he spoke. “Look at you,” he said. “You’re a grown maiden. Surely, you can make your own decisions.”

Rapunzel pursed her lips, looked toward the window, and leaned in toward him. “My mother is a sorceress,” she said. He waited a moment, assuming she was jesting. Only, her lips didn’t curve upward into a merry laugh. She was frighteningly serious. “She can’t find you here, Bradyn,” she said, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t even have let you stay. But I remembered you and you were kind to me. I wanted to feel just a bit of what I felt those days in the woods with you.”

He grinned. She’d felt it too. Though, perhaps he was being too cocksure to assume. “And what was that you felt?”

“Happy,” she said, a smile breaking across her face and her green eyes glinting in the light as he remembered. “Free. Like I could explore the whole world and be happy, or just talk to you forever and be happy. Like my life were full of every possibility and more.”

“But your life is filled with every possibility.”

She shook her head. “I’m sick, Bradyn, and even if I weren’t, I’d have to convince her. And I’ll never do that if she finds you here.”

He offered a crooked grin. “Then she won’t find me here,” he said. “She won’t be back for two days. Let’s spend the next day together, catching up. You would like to hear about the world outside, yes?”