Ravishing Rapunzel (Passion-Filled Fairy Tales, #6)(35)

Her mother ignored her, walking away. She went upstairs, and Rapunzel wondered what she was doing. She could hear her clomping around. A few moments later, the older woman returned, her cloak drawn tight. She walked toward Rapunzel and said. “We shall see what he does,” Gothel said. And then, quicker than Rapunzel had imagined, her mother had drawn a pair of scissors from her cloak and snipped Rapunzel’s braid clean off.

“Mother!” she shrieked.

“You are no child of mine, acting like this,” Gothel said. “I am banishing you, my dear. You will have to raise your child on your own, and when the toil of labor and the hardship of your Bradyn’s abandonment become too much, simply curse his name and call upon me, and I shall be there for you in a heartbeat, as all FaeRisen are for wronged maidens. But as long as you insist on believing his lies, and insist that you were right to lay with him because of his false promises of love, I cannot help you.”

“Mother,” Rapunzel said. “Please.” What her mother was saying made no sense. “If you met him, you would see,” she said, but even as she said the words, she knew they weren’t true. Her mother would see only what she wanted to see.

“Goodbye, Rapunzel,” her mother said, as she raised the hood on her cloak. Her eyes glowed red. Too frightened to look into them, Rapunzel closed her eyes. She heard her mother speak strange words, and then her voice stopped.

Rapunzel’s quickened heart thumped beneath her chest. Nervous sweat beaded on her brow. She swallowed, fortifying herself for what she would see, and then opened her eyes. She was in a field in the middle of nowhere. She didn’t see the tower or anything familiar. To the west, she could see a town.

This couldn’t be. She turned slowly in a circle, looking in every direction, hoping to spy something — anything — that was the least bit familiar. But there was nothing. She felt the beginnings of panic. Where was she, and what was she to do? “Mother?” she called out, her voice timid. Surely her mother hadn’t really cast her out alone. Alone, where she knew no one.

“Mother,” she said again, this time louder. She waited. There was no response. “Mother,” she called again. She waited. Still nothing.

She took in a breath full of air. Her illness. Would she be alright here? She supposed her mother had admitted she was never really ill, so no sickness would come. Even though she had intended to leave her mother, she’d always planned to have Bradyn by her side. Would she be able to do this alone?

In the silence that surrounded her, she realized with dread the answer had to be an unequivocal yes. She swallowed and looked toward the town. It was the closest place, but it was also full of people. She wondered if it would be safe there, but then told herself to banish those thoughts. She had to stop believing in the lies that Mother Gothel had told her. She couldn’t do this alone, but she didn’t believe she had to be alone. There were people in the town, she was sure. And some of them had to be kind like Bradyn and Giselle. Getting to that town was the most important thing.





Chapter 15 – A Twist


Bradyn felt on top of the world as he prepared to head back to the tower. He was about to leave the little inn where he stayed on days he didn’t visit Rapunzel, when booming knocks rattled his door. He stepped back, startled and called out, “Who goes there?”

“It’s me,” the voice on the other side of the door called.

Bradyn laughed, jogged over, and opened the door.

“Hello, brother,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

Garrett shook his head. “No, the question is, what are you doing here, still? You’re supposed to be strengthening our alliances, and instead you’re weakening them by hiding out, rather than visiting the king and queen, and more importantly, their daughter.”

Bradyn sighed. He supposed he wasn’t being particularly responsible by visiting Rapunzel, rather than going on to the kingdom of Kruse. “They knew I fell ill on my first visit, so that’s not an offense. I suppose I shouldn’t have lied to father. I shouldn’t have told him I was going back. But I sent no word ahead that I was going. They are not expecting me there.”

Garrett sighed. “No, you have sent no word, but father sent a page to check on you, and was shocked to learn you weren’t there. He sent me to look for you, so I tracked down Johan, who said you stayed here when last you came to these parts. And I suppose this is where you’ve been going on your recent disappearances, too. What is going on? Why are you deceiving father?”

Bradyn took a deep breath as he considered his options. He could tell Garrett the truth or concoct a lie. Only, given that he and Rapunzel intended to leave today, lying seemed a futile option. “I’ve met a girl.”

Garrett grinned. “It figures,” he said.

Bradyn shook his head. “No, it doesn’t figure. I met THE girl, the one I want to marry.”

Garrett raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been wooing her?”

“Of course! But there are a few issues. Her situation is delicate.”

Garrett folded his arms across his chest. “What have you done, brother?”

Bradyn shook his head and scowled. “Nothing,” he said. “I’m not a delinquent. I’ve done nothing but woo her. Only, her mother would prefer she be sheltered. That’s all. It’s been delicate getting around that, uh, restriction.”