Ravishing Rapunzel (Passion-Filled Fairy Tales, #6)(28)

Rapunzel stared, the words playing in her head over and over. “My parent’s wickedness,” she muttered. “How could their wickedness cause me illness?”

“They stole from me, child,” she said. “They stole of the secret garden. As you know, the herbs, given in kindness, help. But when stolen, when taken without permission, they curse. Their wickedness, combined with the magic of the garden, I believe, made you sick. It was one reason I wanted you. I felt guilty over causing the curse. I did not intend for the curse of thieves to impact the innocent. And I was determined to help you survive, especially after they cast you off.”

The light of the moon was bright. It shone on her mother, making her look ghostly, even wicked.

That was when Rapunzel realized. That is when she knew. Her mother was a liar. Nothing about this story was right. Though her mother gave it with earnestness, there was something about it that rang false. Her mother was liar. And if she lied about this, what else had she lied about?

Rapunzel walked over to her mother and wrapped her arms around her. “Mother Gothel,” Rapunzel said, her voice soft and sweet. “Thank you for finally telling me the truth. I thank you for taking me in and loving me, despite my illness.”

“Of course,” Gothel said, stroking Rapunzel’s hair. “You are kindness and light and easy to love.” She pulled away and pointed down below. “Join the FaeRisen dear. Become one of us, and help spread peace and justice out there.”

Rapunzel sighed, but forced a smile. “I think I would like to, but mother, let me think on it more. Perhaps after your next trip, I will have a decision. I mean, you have said it involves a life of chastity. That means I will never find love.”

Gothel shivered, as if Rapunzel had said a dirty word. “You have my love, dear. Finding the love of a man is rare. It is almost impossible for a man to actually truly love a woman. They have wickedness and lust in their hearts. I have almost never seen love that is true.”

Because she didn’t want to see it, Rapunzel realized. People didn’t see what they didn’t want to see. Not until it was too late. She saw love in Mother Gothel, but never the extreme hate for everyone else. No, she had seen the hate, but she’d dismissed it as inconsequential. She hadn’t seen that such hatred was a detriment to her mother’s worldview, that it colored everything in darkness when she should have seen light. But now, now Rapunzel could see it.

This wasn’t what she wanted. Her decision was made. When Bradyn returned, she would test his theory. She suspected he was right. Her mother had been lying to keep her here. If that was true, she would leave.





Chapter 13 – An Adventure


Mother Gothel had been gone an hour, and as soon as she heard Bradyn’s call, she’d let down her hair and waited for him to climb up. The moment he was at the threshold, she began pulling her hair up through the iron loop.

“Do you have the rope?” she asked him. “I want to do it. I want to go out.”

He was panting slightly, but he smiled at her. “You want to go out,” he said, surprised. “What changed your mind?”

She’d pulled her hair up, rather quickly. “I think you’re right,” she said, as she wrapped the braid round her head in a circle. She’d need to pin it carefully so it didn’t come loose. “I think my mother is lying to me. I want to test your theory. I want to go out and see if I get sick. If we go now, I’ll be able to tell. Usually, the sickness comes the following day.”

He nodded, and patted his shoulder satchel. “I have the rope,” he said. “But give me a moment for a drink of water. Climbing to the top isn’t as easy as it looks.” He chuckled.

He was right. She should have considered. She went over the edge of the room to the well pump that was inside. She pumped him a cup of water and brought it back to him.

“Thank you,” he said.

She nodded.

“I’m still quite amazed that your mother has managed to get a well to pump so high, and that she manages a hot stove in here. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It’s magic,” Rapunzel said plainly.

“I know you believe in that, love, but really, there is no such thing.”

Rapunzel shook her head, and she added a final set of pins to the now massive pile of hair on her head. “It is real,” she said. “I’ve told you before. The fact that you won’t believe what your own eyes tell you just reinforces what I figured out last night.”

“And what is that?”

“That we see what we want to see,” she said. “I didn’t see that my mother could be lying, not in any real way that I considered it as a possibility until I met you, until I heard her talk last night. But now I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. You don’t want to believe in magic, so you pretend the evidence of it shows something else. Only at some point, you will see it.”

He raised a skeptical eyebrow to her, but simply finished his cup of water. “I like your hair this way,” he said. “It sort of reminds me of a beehive.”

“A beehive?” she said, uncertain. “I’ve seen them in books, but never in real life. Is it good or bad to remind you of a beehive?”

“Good,” he declared. “Everything about you is good, Rapunzel.”