Ravishing Rapunzel (Passion-Filled Fairy Tales, #6)(24)

Rapunzel stared at him, wondering why he’d suggest such a thing. Her mother had her faults, but ultimately, she tried to protect people. “She wouldn’t do that,” she said. “Why would she lie to me? And if it were a lie, what has been happening to me each time I come back and get sick?”

He held up his left hand as if in surrender, though the way he was positioned on his side didn’t allow for him to move his other arm. “Alright,” he said. “I don’t know why you get sick, but a person who doubted your mother’s integrity might suggest she did something to make you sick.”

Rapunzel’s eyebrows squished together and she frowned.

“I am not suggesting any such thing, however. Not that your mother would lie to you nor that she would intentionally make you sick so you thought you were ill.” Despite the content of what he said, she didn’t feel like he really meant the words. He watched her a moment, as if he intended to say more, but then smiled, kissed her softly on the lips and said, “I just want us to be happy, alright? I want you to be happy.”

Rapunzel nodded. She wanted that, too.

Bradyn smiled and began stroking her arm again. “Rapunzel,” he said her name a bit as if it were a question. “You mentioned outgrowing your ailment.”

“I did,” she said

“I’ve heard of such things, too, of people who were sickly as children getting stronger as they grew. You could very well be like that, but you’ll never know unless you go out. You’ll never know unless you try.”

Lying here beside him, staring into his blue eyes, made her want to believe. “I know, Bradyn. And I’ve talked about this with Mother Gothel, but she doesn’t think I’m like that. She thinks I’ll get worse if I go out in the lower air.”

“But you stick your head out the windows up here. You go up to that garden you never let me see. That is air, isn’t it?”

Rapunzel nodded. “Well, yes, it is. But mother says the air is much better up here, and I do feel wonderful when I go up to the garden.”

“See?” he said, as if what she’d said had proven something.

“See what?”

“You can survive in this air up here, and I don’t think it will be so much worse for you down there. You should try going out. You and I should test if you’re better.” A big grin spread across his face, as he rolled off the other side of the bed and hopped to his feet. He held out a hand to her. “We should go out today.”

Rapunzel sat up, pulling her feet to her chest and squeezing the blanket tighter to herself. She shook her head. “And if I get sick, then what?”

“Then I’ll nurse you back to health,” he responded without missing a beat.

She stared at him, and he stared back, never flinching. He meant it. He’d take care of her. There was something infinitely reassuring about that.

“I promise, I won’t let anything awful happen to you, and your mother won’t be back for two more days, right?”

He was right about her mother. She wouldn’t be back, but that didn’t mean Rapunzel could leave. “There is no ladder, and I can’t climb my own hair down.”

With that, he turned and fled to the corner, grabbing the bag he had with him when he arrived. From it, he pulled a long rope.

Her mouth popped open like a fish.

“We can climb down together,” he said. “And go explore.”

His face was truly excited, but Rapunzel could only shake her head. Fear overwhelmed her at the thought of going out and becoming ill and her mother realizing what had happened. “If she found out about it …” she whispered.

Bradyn strode back to her, his bare chest gleaming in the early morning sun filtering in. He sat beside her again. “Don’t worry, love,” he said. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Rapunzel was still shaking her head though. “You don’t understand,” she said. “My mother is powerful. She knows things, and I don’t want her to hurt you.”

He scoffed. “I can take care of myself,” Bradyn said, his voice one hundred percent confident. Rapunzel didn’t want to frighten him, but she also didn’t want him to think her mother was a pushover. “She knows magic,” Rapunzel said.

“You’ve said before, but magic is the same talk as the FaeRisen. Just foolishness of those who wish to scare others. It’s not real.”

Rapunzel shook her head. “You shouldn’t be so sure,” she said.

“Fine,” he chimed in, and touched tip of her nose. “I shall believe in magic, if you will come out with me. I’ll take you to town.”

“Even if I don’t get sick, mother will hear about it,” she said, and she stroked her braid. “I’m a bit memorable.”

He sighed. “Indeed you are. You have a point there.”

“Then let’s not go out,” she said. “Not today. Maybe during your next visit.”

He frowned for a second, and then he got a mischievous glint in his eye. “Then I have another idea for today, he said, leaning forward and kissing the top of her head. The soft peck of his lips warmed her insides.

“And what is your idea for today?”

“I’ll teach you to ride a horse.”

Rapunzel frowned this time. “But we don’t have a horse, and we’re not leaving.”