Rescuing Rapunzel (10 page)

This time, when his arrow flew, its track was true and hit her windowsill.

She popped her head out. “You did it!” She grinned as she pulled the small package off the arrow.

He stood there, mesmerized by her graceful movements as she removed the package and the grin that spread over her face. Initially his plan had been to not see her at all. Send the arrow up. Ride away. Yet he was glad he had missed the first time. He had spoken to her. He had seen her smile.

She had been so tentative before. Perhaps because he had been up there in the tower with her? He might need to rethink his plan, maybe visit her more like this–just talking to her from the ground. She seemed much warmer to him.

“Would you like to come up?” she asked, jarring him from his thoughts.

“I would,” he said, “but I have to return home. I have a few things I need to take care of today.”

It was not exactly a lie, for he always had things that needed to be done. His father had given him a few tenant farms to care for. Since Nick would eventually inherit the entire province, his father wanted him to have some experience in handling the farms. Still, there was not anything he could not delay. He could have gone up but did not want to lose any ground with Rapunzel. He would trust his instincts over his desires.

“Oh.” If he was not mistaken, she sounded slightly sad. “Well, come back when you have time.”

He smiled, wanting to dance at the invitation. “I will.”

He walked to the gate and pushed it open, pausing to turn and look at her. She had already opened the package and held the raven feather, tilting it to and fro in the sunlight.

“Good day, Rapunzel,” he called to her.

“Good day,” she said, “and thank you.” She waved the feather.

“You are welcome.”

Chapter 17

“I wish to help you down from this tower, if you choose to leave,” Nick said as he warmed his hands over the hearth.

“This is my home,” I said, pulling the shawl tighter around me.
 

The weather had cooled this evening–though it was rather late in the season for a cold snap–and I hoped our vegetables would be all right. Still, the night birds sang their evening songs, and the sky was dark and clear and dotted with stars.

Nick had arrived not long ago, to my great surprise and, dare I admit it, joy. I had heard the gate open and when I reached the window he was below, waving. This time I was not afraid of him.

Mother’s warning still nagged in the back of my mind, but I kept remembering the lightning bugs. She had been wrong about them. As I watched Nick put a new piece of wood on the fire, then stoke it, I wondered how much more Mother was wrong about. Surely, if Nick were here to harm me he would not be tending my fireplace?

He had had ample chances and had not done it.

He turned to look at me. “Rapunzel, do you wish to leave this tower?”

I nodded. “Of course I do. To walk in the world, to feel the grass under my feet? That seems a most joyous experience. To dance in a stream, to feel wet sand in my fingers. All experiences I wish to have.”

“Then come with me.”

“I cannot. There are such horrors in the world. Bandits, robbers, evil beings who will hurt me, or worse.” I took a few steps toward the window. “I cannot go down there. My hair alone would render me helpless.” As if to punctuate my words, the bundle of hair I had piled on the bed hit the floor with a loud thud, jerking me to the side, and I fell into the bed. Sighing, I kicked the bundle, loosening the tight pull on my head.

I could not begin to imagine trying to run with my hair hanging behind my head.

“Are you all right?” he asked, crossing the room.

I shook my head, then nodded. “I am fine. This hair can be a burden.” I kicked at one of the braids with my toe.

He came a little closer, taking a seat on the floor near the now knotted rope of hair.

“The world is not horrible.” Nick grabbed my braids and started coiling them in a neat pile.

“Of course it is. Mother told me of the wars between the provinces, the bandits and marauders in the woods, how they would as quickly kill as help you.”

I could not help watching the way he neatly worked through a tangle of the braids, as though he had done it all his life.

“The Great Wars are over,” Nick said. “They have been for a good many years now. The king’s seat is secure, and he takes great pains to make sure the White Mountains are safe.”

I did not want to believe his words, so I stared at his hands as he meticulously worked with my hair so as not to inhibit my movement. The sight flabbergasted me. “But not here. Not in the Black Forest. Here is where the awful life, the horrible–”

“You have lived here your entire life. Have you ever seen anyone in the woods before me?” He ran his hands over the braids as he finished.

I could not take my eyes off the braids. It seemed such a silly thing, to be mesmerized by him fixing my hair for me, but it stunned me all the same. Mother had never helped me. She had never taken the time. My hair had always been my burden to care for, to move around and live with. I found I could not catch my breath.

Nick continued as if he did not realize the thoughts flying around in my head. “Great pains have been taken to keep bad people from inhabiting these woods. By all the owners of the provinces around the Black Forest. Even the king sends soldiers to inspect the area regularly.”

That was so different from anything Mother had told me. I wanted to believe him, yet I could hear Mother’s voice in my head.
 

Charlatans will tell you exactly what you want to hear, instead of the truth, to sway you to their cause
.

I knew not what to believe. My heart, or what I had always been told.

“You have seen others in the woods?” he asked, making minute adjustments to the pile of hair.

“No.”

“No, you have not seen others?”

I shook my head. “You are the first person I have ever seen in the woods.”

“Do you believe that I am dangerous?”

I looked into his eyes, then at the perfect pile of hair, then back at him. “I know not,” I replied, the most honest answer I could come up with.

Nick nodded and did not quite look at me when he spoke. “Then perhaps I should go.”

No
, my heart cried out, yet I could not articulate the words. “If you feel you should.”

Nick rocked onto his feet, though he still knelt on the floor. “The last thing I want is for you to be terrified of me. Is there any way I can convince you of my sincerity?”

I shrugged, unsure what to say. My heart wanted me to tell him to stay, or at least promise to come back, but my mouth would not move.

“I see.” Nick stood, adjusting his cloak around him. He stared at me for a moment, and his eyes were dark and deep.

I do not want you to go.

Nick walked across the room to the window, and glanced back at me. “Rapunzel?”

I leaped off the bed, hoping beyond hope he would not leave. “I…”

“I need your hair.”

My shoulders dropped and I took a few steps toward him, my hair uncoiling perfectly behind me. “Of course.” I reached down to grab part of the braid to start lowering the hair out the window.

Nick touched my hand. “Do you want me to come back, Rapunzel?” His hand was hot against mine, and goose bumps stood all over my body. His breath caressed my cheek and it was only then I realized how close I was to him. I twisted but only managed to bump into his hard chest. My heart raced.

When I met his gaze, I could feel the heat there. I licked my lips nervously. His eyes darted down, ever so slightly, and again, his stare felt like a physical caress over my skin.

“Yes,” I whispered. “Please come back.”

Nick smiled. “I will.”

Chapter 18

Castle Hohburg’s marketplace burst with activity. The tents and small buildings bustled with merchants calling to passersby, declaring the wonders of their wares. Ripe vegetables shone on their tables like bright flowers. The scent of warm, fresh bread floated in the air as the bakers carried their full baskets to entice buyers. Even children wandered around, trying to sneak a piece of fruit off a cart.

Nick smiled. He had always enjoyed the marketplace. As a boy, he ran among the buildings himself, playing with Bryan and Penn, weaving in and out of the patrons. The gates to the castle remained opened, so anyone from the town just outside could come and go as they pleased, buying, selling and trading with the merchants. Keeping the marketplace safe was the only use for the soldiers stationed here these days. And the marketplace was still a wonderful place to hide.

Nick had plenty to hide from. His mother had not eased her pressure for him to marry, and none of the marriage-minded ladies had left the castle yet.

Nick headed through the stalls, watching the people he passed. It was easy to see who was there to be seen and who was there to buy. The number of people he recognized made him smile, as well as how generally happy everyone was. Or maybe it only seemed that way because he was happy. Even Kiki’s friends did not bother him as much as they usually did.

Rapunzel was warming to him. He had suspected it when she had smilingly teased his pathetic arrow-shooting skills. Then yesterday, she had said he could come back. He was not sure why that lifted his heart as much as it did, except that his desire to return was powerful inside him. While he wanted to go back right now, this instant, he forced himself to wait. Logic told him that going slowly would help her trust him.

Or so he hoped.

Whether it would help or hurt him, he could not be certain. She needed time to let his words sink in, to believe he spoke the truth. It frustrated him that her mother used terror to keep Rapunzel trapped in the tower. For that kept her there–he could see it as they had talked. She feared what could happen to her outside the tower. She feared attempting to navigate the world burdened as she was by her hair. The long locks he had coiled were sleek and lovely to be sure but they were, in truth, a chain. A beautiful one, but a chain nonetheless.

“Ahh, if only I had a bucket.”

“What?” Nick had been so distracted he had not noticed Penn approaching.

“I thought perhaps a thorough dousing would get your attention,” Penn said.

“My apologies.” Nick smiled. “Woolgathering.”

“With that smile on your face? Did you have a warm bed last night?” Penn waggled his eyebrows.

Nick shook his head. “Do you ever stop?”

He put his hands on his chest. “I am a young man of leisure, with no responsibilities and no need to think those dark, morose thoughts that occupy you and Bryan all the time.”

“You have no responsibilities because your mother does everything for you,” Nick said, jabbing him in the arm.

Penn laughed. “And I let her.” His gaze darted to a maid walking through the marketplace, carrying a heavy basket. “It allows me to be more of a gentleman.” He winked, trotting off to assist the maid.

Nick rolled his eyes and headed toward the smith’s building. Out the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of a fancy dress and heard the accompanying crinkle of the layers of underskirts women of rank wore. He let out a sigh as he walked into the shop.

The smell of freshly cut wood and the heat of metal being shaped met his nose, a harsh difference from the outside air.

The blacksmith came over, wiping his hands on a rag before greeting him. “Welcome, my lord.”

The man was at least his father’s age and had been crafting for the castle for over a generation. Years of sweat and hard work in the heat had weathered his face, though his eyes still held the twinkle of youth under thick gray brows.

“Good to see you,” Nick said. “Business been good?”

“Always, my lord.” The smith patted his brow. “What can I do for you, my lord?”

“I need to commission a present.”

“Aye, for a lady?” the smith asked.

Nick smiled. “Yes.”

The smith nodded, that twinkle in his eye sparkling even more. “What shall it be? A necklace? A bracelet?”

Nick grinned, but shook his head. From inside his cloak he pulled a sketch of the idea he had for Rapunzel’s birthday present. The smith took the paper, examined it, and the two quickly went over a few details, the smith scratching ideas onto the parchment with a coal stick, adding to the design Nick had created.

After a few minutes of discussion, the smith nodded his head. “Pretty straight forward, I believe,” he said. “However, it will take time. At least ten days. Maybe longer.”

Nick nodded. “That is fine.”

“We will have it ready, my lord.”

Nick nodded, handed him a down payment on the present and headed on his way. Outside, the smell of the blacksmith’s shop disappeared, replaced by sweet pastries from a passing baker, carrying a tray of goodies to another store.

Pleased with himself, he could not wait to give Rapunzel her birthday present. He could only imagine her excitement upon receiving it, and he grinned. Lady Eva stepped in front of him, making him almost stumble over her.