Ravishing Rapunzel (Passion-Filled Fairy Tales, #6)(7)

With that, they walked home through the forest. Upon arriving home, her mother put her in bed and made her soup, even though Rapunzel said she felt fine.

Later that night, however, Rapunzel felt awful. She vomited, sprouted a fever, and then had chills. She was miserable. Her mother stayed by her side the entire time, wiping her brow and singing her sweet songs.

“Oh, dear child, we must keep you away from the outside air. There is much miasma about, and it does affect you so much worse than others.”

Rapunzel nodded. She’d been too greedy trying to go out two days in a one month, and she wondered about Bradyn, too. Had he brought unhealthy air with him? He was so kind, and she’d so enjoyed having a friend, but she worried she’d caused herself more misery. She’d been wrong to disobey her mother.

She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

When Rapunzel next awoke, she was in her same bed, but the surroundings were different. The walls of the room were curved. In fact, as she sat up and looked around, she realized, the room was a complete circle. There were two windows in the room, on opposite sides. Rapunzel stood up, and walked over to the window. When she looked out, she gasped. She was high up in the air. She took a step backwards, still shocked.

“Oh, you’re awake,” she heard her mother say.

“Where are we?” Rapunzel asked.

“Your new home, of course,” her mother replied with a smile. “I thought our little cottage was secluded enough, but there was still that awful miasma that makes you sick. Here, we’re far far away, and higher up, where the air is clear. I don’t have to worry about you leaving unsupervised, either. Isn’t it lovely?”

That wasn’t the word that had come to Rapunzel’s mind.





Chapter 2 – Royal Lands


Bradyn was impressed by Rapunzel. Mainly because she was so normal. All the people in the castle treated him in ways that he realized weren’t quite normal. Always solicitous, always trying to use their treatment of him to curry favor with his parents. But not Rapunzel. She was genuine, something you had to search for to find in the castle, and sometimes even then the search was fruitless. Only now, she had disappeared.

Bradyn had gone to the clearing every day for the past two weeks, but Rapunzel wasn’t there. He’d even searched deeper into the woods, but to no avail. He found a little cabin back there today, but it was empty. It was as if she had vanished, and he felt, for some foolish reason, that it was his fault

“What’s wrong, Bradyn?” his mother, the queen, called to him. They were seated at the large royal table for dinner. His mother and father were each at a far end, and his brother, Garrett, sat across from him. He turned to his mother, noticing her plate was almost clear. He looked down at his own plate, which still had a full helping on it.

“Nothing’s wrong, mother,” he said.

“Yes,” his brother chimed in. “Bradyn’s just normally an oaf who doesn’t understand he needs to eat to live.”

Bradyn scowled, while his brother chuckled over his own licked-clean plate. Their mother gave Garrett a look that silenced his laughs. The queen turned to her other son. “You should eat, dear.”

“I’m not hungry,” Bradyn said. Garrett looked as if he planned to open his mouth with another quip, but then glanced at their mother and thought better of it.

“Dear child,” the queen said to Bradyn, her brow knitting in worry. “We must get you to bed if you’re ill. We cannot have illness here.”

“I’m not ill,” Bradyn said. “I stopped in the kitchen earlier, and cook game me a snack. I am fine.”

His mother grimaced and patted the edge of her dark hair neatly piled on top of her head in some fancy do. “I’ve told her not to give you food.”

“And I am her prince. I commanded her,” Bradyn retorted. “She should follow my commands, should she not, father?”

The king, a large man with blond hair, was chewing on a large piece of mutton. He swallowed and said, “Of course son.” The king looked at his wife. “He’s almost a man and he should be able to command food when he wants it.”

The queen looked as if she wanted to roll her eyes. Instead, she forced a smile. “Garrett manages to eat his food,” she said.

Garrett smiled angelically.

Bradyn decided to change the subject. “Father, I’ve been exploring our lands,” he said, trying to seem earnest and interested in his kingdom.

“Yes, son, that’s good of you.”

“Our lands — I mean those that are the royal family’s lands, go beyond the castle, in the rear there, all the way to the stream?”

The king nodded. “Yes, son.”

Bradyn smiled, but his father had just confirmed what he’d been afraid of. It was his fault Rapunzel wasn’t there anymore. She and her mother had been illegally on the king’s property. The mother must have realized who Rapunzel had seen and taken the girl away. A rush of sadness hit him as he thought about his new playmate, lost to him forever. He wanted to see her again. He should get to see her again, because he was the prince and he wanted it. But mostly because Rapunzel was different. She was so very unlike the other girls. She listened and wanted to learn. She also asked questions, so many questions. And, it didn’t hurt that she was beautiful, that she had the face of an angel.