Ravishing Rapunzel (Passion-Filled Fairy Tales, #6)(30)
When the deer had gone, she turned to him and kissed him, a smooth, sultry kiss that left her insides warm. “Thank you for bringing me here,” she said.
“I would do anything for you, Rapunzel,” he said.
*
They walked back to the tower after their day in the woods, and Rapunzel felt tired, but not incredibly awful. Bradyn thought climbing to the top would be a bit too much of a challenge for Rapunzel, so he’d climbed up first with the promise of pulling her up. But Rapunzel opted to try climbing herself. Though it was hard, she managed to get halfway up before Bradyn, who’d said he would get a sip of water, came back and found her. He immediately pulled her the rest of the way.
They’d eaten salted meat and bread and gone to bed, as Rapunzel was tired from the day’s journey. It was unlike any day she’d had before, not having walked or exercised so much in her life. Even when she got her single day of freedom, she didn’t go so far.
The next morning when she awoke, she was tired, and even a little sore, but not sick. Not in the ways she had been when she was a child. Not the fever or the vomiting or the general malaise she always felt.
She turned and shook Bradyn. “Wake up,” she said, excitement in her voice. “Bradyn, wake up.”
He rolled over and groggily opened his eyes. “What is it?” he asked, concern in his voice as he sat up.
“I’m not sick!” she screamed. “I’m not sick. I didn’t get sick!”
His worry melted away into a grin. “See, I told you,” he said.
“Yes, you did,” she grinned back and then lay back down, staring up, feeling happier than she ever had. “This means I can go out, and I can have a life, a normal life, with people, with a family.”
“With me,” Bradyn whispered.
She nodded. “Absolutely with you, Bradyn.” She stroked his cheek, warm and happy. Then the realization hit her, and she frowned.
Bradyn looked hurt. “I’m not so bad.”
Rapunzel shook her head. “No, you’re not bad,” she assured him. “It just means that my mother is bad. She’s lied to me. Or, if not outright lied, refused to consider the possibility that I would be well, just to keep me here. Just so that I would give up my life to join hers of misery.”
Bradyn’s eyebrows squished together. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
Despite Bradyn’s disbelief in magic and folklore, Rapunzel thought it was best to tell him everything. About her mother’s desire to make her a FaeRisen. She spoke quickly and he listened dutifully. When she finished, she asked him, “So you understand now?”
He nodded. “This woman took you and kept you hidden away so she could indoctrinate you into some sort of demon cult?”
Rapunzel sighed. That wasn’t quite what she’d been trying to say, but she didn’t want to argue with him, either. Her point was that her mother was dangerous and disingenuous, and his summation clearly indicated he understood those points.
He gritted his teeth and spoke. “We should leave, Rapunzel. We will be safe in my kingdom.”
Rapunzel thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. “It’s not enough time,” she said. “She’ll be back tomorrow afternoon. And she’ll immediately look for us. If she finds us while we’re traveling …”
“She wouldn’t dare attack a prince.”
Rapunzel raised a brow. “I don’t think she’s afraid of most men. Why would she find a prince any different? Especially one traveling without his father’s knowledge.”
Bradyn’s eyes widened. “You think she would hurt me?” His voice was incredulous.
“I am certain of it. She would view you as someone who tainted me.”
He stroked her cheek, and a shiver of warmth passed through Rapunzel. Her mind clouded under the heat of his touch. “And how do you view me? Have I tainted you?”
Rapunzel smiled and shook her head. Her lips graced the fingers that had been on her cheek with a light kiss. “No, you’ve not tainted me. You’ve awakened me to who I am, to who I want to be.”
“And who is that?”
“I want to be happy and free. I want to explore the world, and more than anything, I want to be with you.”
He tipped his head forward, his lips meeting hers for a simple kiss. One that was both sweet and perfect, yet still lit a fire in Rapunzel’s insides. “I want to be with you always, Rapunzel,” he said. “Come back to my kingdom and marry me.”
Marry him? Rapunzel tried not to stiffen, but his words had frozen her through. There was part of her that could see herself marrying him, living with him and being happy. But not yet. Not until she’d seen more of life, more of the world that her mother had hidden her from.
His smile faded every second she didn’t say yes to him. She forced her smile to return and said, “One day, I will marry you, Bradyn,” she said. “But first, I must leave my mother and then I must explore the world, to see it, to truly see the wonders it holds, the way we did today, and then I will marry you.”
He smiled. “Then I will show you every inch of the world you dream to see. And I will behold it through your eyes and enjoy it again as if it were brand new.”
Rapunzel smiled. “That is kind of you.”