Rescuing Rapunzel (23 page)

“It is so strange to have all this lacing in the back,” I said, nerves getting the better of me. “I have always dressed myself, you see, and I never worried about needing help with my laces.” The air hit my back, and I shivered.

“A lady of station has a maid to help her dress,” Duchess von Stroebel said, standing in front of me.

“She will learn those things in time,” Duchess von Hohburg said.

The Duchess von Stroebel glanced away from me. “Yes, yes, of course.”

“Now, where is this mark?” Nick’s mother asked.

“On the lower left shoulder,” Duchess von Stroebel and I said together. Her gaze met mine, and her eyes glimmered with tears.
 

Duchess von Hohburg pulled on my chemise. “Ah, here we are,” she said, her tone chipper.

Duchess von Stroebel stepped around me and, though she did not touch me, I heard her intake of breath at the sight of the mole.

“I know it is very ugly.”

“No,” the duchess said. “It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” She stepped in front of me, tears falling freely now. She put a hand on each of my shoulders, tenderly pulling my dress back into position. “You are my daughter,” she whispered, her voice hoarse.

I smiled at her, tears wet on my cheeks. We stood for a long moment, staring at each other, the only movement the Duchess von Hohburg pulling the laces into place.

“I suppose we can let the men back in now,” she said, walking to the door.

I could not take my eyes off the Duchess von Stroebel.

My mother.

There was elation in that thought, but sorrow as well. This woman was my mother, and yet I had no idea how to talk to her, to feel a part of her. Gothel was the only mother I had ever known, and she had found no use for me.

What if I was as useless to the duchess? I did not want to fail her, but I had no idea how to make her happy. I had spent my entire life trying to make Gothel happy and failed. How could I succeed with this stranger?

I knew nothing about being a lady and had no idea how to correct any of it. It seemed the sort of thing a girl should have been taught from childhood. Who would take the time to tutor a woman of eighteen?

Duke von Stroebel appeared at her side, wrapped an arm around her. “Is it true?”

The duchess nodded and the duke looked me over again, his eyes misty.

“We thought we would never see you again,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yet here you are, a grown woman.”

“We are so sorry,” the duchess said between her tears. The duke passed her his handkerchief.

A hand touched my shoulder, and I turned to see Nick standing there. I leaned into him, my insides swirling like a breaking storm. Nick put his hand on my hip and a soft kiss on my temple.

The Duchess von Stroebel smiled, a warm light filling her tear-stained face.

“We prayed every day that Lord Nicolas would bring you to us,” the duke said. Nick took the duke’s outstretched hand and they nodded at each other.

“Perhaps we all need to sit,” Nick said, gesturing to the chairs.

They nodded and took their original seats. I followed Nick and sat in the seat he offered me. He stood to the side, his hand resting casually on the back of the chair, his fingers grazing my shoulder. Duke von Hohburg refilled the men’s cups and a heavy wheat smell filled the air. I knew not what they drank, but my nerves were so jumbled, I wished for my own glass.

The Duchess von Hohburg glanced at her guests. “If you do not wish to speak of this now, we can–”

“No,” von Stroebel said. He grasped his wife’s hand. “We must face this.” He brought his gaze to me. “We were not able to conceive an heir, not until Madame Gothel appeared with her words and promises. We did as she asked and soon my wife grew round with child. A beautiful baby girl was born, with a thick thatch of blond hair.”

“Madame Gothel was pleased, I daresay more than I was,” the duchess continued. “She held the baby…” The hard lines in her face changed, softened. “You. She held you constantly. She was always whispering to you. Singing lullabies, we thought. We only realized after you were gone that she had been making sure you were comfortable with her, so when she took you, you would not cry.”

I shuddered, more tears springing into my eyes. “I am sorry,” I whispered, though I was not sure why I was apologizing. Nick stroked my shoulder and I patted his hand.

“She threatened a plague on our people and drought in our fields if we did not give her the child. Of course, we laughed at her and sent her away.”

“Then everyone became sick at Stroebel,” the duke said. “Man, woman, child–all fell terribly ill and many died from the plague she had released.”

Poison
.

She must have poisoned their water supply
, I thought. Gothel had said more than once that she had to put a cure in the water to be certain everyone took it. It would not be much different to use poison instead. I shuddered, thinking of all the lives lost.

For what seemed the hundredth time in the last few days, I felt nauseated, knowing that the woman who had raised me was capable of such horrors. How had no one ever stopped her? If they had, I would have had a home. The right to walk in the sunshine. A place I belonged.
 

Shame filled me, making my stomach roil. I must be like Gothel indeed if I thought first of my losses instead of all the people who had died at her hands. Died, so she could take me away.

“Why did you not come after me?”

“Fear,” the duke said. “She threatened to kill you and every living thing in the province if we tried to pursue her. We could not risk her harming you. So we hired men to find her. No one ever did.”

A tear ran down my cheek.

“Duke von Hohburg searched for you himself for many years to no avail,” my real mother said, patting her eyes with a handkerchief. “Nick then took over, even going as far as to swear on his honor to find you, or have no other.”

The breath caught in my throat at her words. “I am betrothed to Nick.” It was not a question, but they took it as such. And though Nick had said as much, to hear the betrothal discussed as such a…business arrangement stung.

“If you choose not to, Kath… Rapunzel.” The duke glanced at his wife.

She reached over and took his hand, squeezing it.

“What is my full name?” I asked.

“Lady Katherina Greta von Stroebel,” the duchess said, and her tone sounded pained.

“After your sister,” I murmured.

The duchess nodded. “Greta was a beautiful songbird, a nightingale who blessed us with her voice.” She sniffed. “She died after you were born.”

“A victim of…the plague?”

She nodded and another pain stabbed my heart. One more tragedy leading back to Gothel. My stomach turned in disgust.

“Tressey sings beautifully,” Nick said.

The couple glanced at Nick. “Pardon?” the duke asked.

My cheeks warmed. “He calls me Tressey, because of my long hair…” I reached to stroke it and felt the now-familiar pang of sadness. “It is gone,” I whispered. “I suppose he should not call me that anymore.”

“Hair grows,” the Duchess von Hohburg said.

Nick lifted a lock of my hair, sliding it through his fingers. “She may wear it any way she chooses, I shall still call her Tressey.”

He let the hair fall and grazed my cheek with his fingers. It was a simple touch, a warm gesture of comfort, but I felt it all the way to my toes. I read the same lightning in his gaze and wished, in that moment, for the meeting to end.

Duke von Stroebel glanced at the Duke von Hohburg. “I suppose the contract is still valid?”

Hohburg nodded. “I still have it, yes.”

Stroebel let out a sigh. “Then, in light of this, we should read it again, and determine how best to merge the provinces.”

I froze, staring at the two of them. I opened my mouth to speak, but Nick cut me off.

“The agreement is sound,” Nick said. “The provinces will both be von Hohburg territories.”

I snapped around to look at Nick. “You receive both provinces for finding me?”

Nick nodded. “Of course. What did you think your dowry would be?”

My stomach turned again.

I was a promise made a lifetime ago. A title to receive or, rather, a province. Was Nick no better than the women he professed to run from?

I felt no more important than a piece in a game of chess and, from the look in his eyes, he was simply measuring my value, waiting for his move.

A prickle ran through me and I turned. All four parents stared at us. I pulled away from him. Nick stood straighter, taking his hand off the back of my chair.

“Did Nicolas not explain that to you?” the Duchess von Stroebel asked.

I shook my head. “He did not explain any of the details.”

The Duchess von Hohburg waved her hand in the air. “They are merely details. Nothing for you to fret about.”

Mere details or not, it seemed appropriate to be concerned. Aside from me, everyone in this room was getting something out of this betrothal. I remained nothing more than the catalyst.

Duke von Hohburg cleared his throat, though whether he detected my discomfort, I did not know. “It has been a rather unusual morning, and I assume you and Vallya would like to retire, eh, Stroebel? We shall dine by and by, and you will be our honored guests.”

The Duke von Stroebel nodded. “Yes, that would be most kind. Rest, a meal, then retire for the evening. Carriage is not sprung as well as it used to be. I need to see to that when we return home.”

“I shall have one of my men attend it,” von Hohburg said.

“Most kind,” von Stroebel replied.

“We can go over the details later, after you are rested,” von Hohburg said.

“Again, most kind,” von Stroebel said.

The Duchess von Hohburg crossed the parlor to a bellpull, yanked on the heavy cord before returning to her seat. “Nick, if you would, take Miss…Lady Katherina back to her room, then return. I wish to speak to you.”

Nick nodded and helped me stand. I made my farewells to the von Stroebels, promising to speak to–and possibly sing for–them soon.

Nick led me from the room and I clung to him, my hands shaking, realizing how inconsequential I was to this entire meeting. “Anyone could have pretended to be their daughter.”

“No they could not,” Nick replied.

“Why not? I am no more than a pawn in the game. Do you not see that? We both are. We have been maneuvered into the positions in which we are needed. You find this missing girl and get to marry her. Me, I am promised to you as a reward for doing what they said. You get a dukedom as payment for your time. I am nothing more than a reward and a title.”

“It is not that way, Tressey,” he said.

“Maybe you have grown up with these games, but I have not. I had more freedom in my tower.” I took a few steps away from him, heading toward my room where I could pull my thoughts together. Somewhere I could think, and not be made to feel a simpleton.

“Rapunzel.” His footfalls echoed behind me, and he caught my arm after a moment. “Please, slow down.”

“Why? So you can tell me what to do too?” I snapped. My voice echoed in the hallway.

“Tressey…”

“I am not your betrothed, Nick. Katherina Greta von Stroebel is.”

I spun around, days of frustration bursting from me in tears. And of course, Kiki and her friends were standing near the end of the hall, several of them whispering back and forth.

Once again, I had done something wrong.

Maybe Nick should have pretended one of those girls was his betrothed. At least they would know how to behave.

Maybe I was better off in my tower.

Chapter 34

“Are you in love with her?” Mother asked, a glass of wine in her hand.

Nick nodded, shifting in the hard backed chair Rapunzel had just been sitting in. “I am.”

Whether she returned the sentiment was yet to be determined. Maybe he had read too much into their encounters, but in the tower he would have sworn blind that she loved him and wanted to be with him. Now, after her outburst in the hallway, he was not sure what she wanted.

And that made his heart ache in a way he could never have imagined.

His mother pursed her lips and took a sip from her glass.

“Do you not approve?”

She crossed the room and dropped into her favorite chair in the parlor. She straightened her skirt and adjusted her position.

Nick crossed his arms over his chest. “For a woman who rarely keeps her opinions to herself, you are being rather quiet.”

His mother narrowed her gaze at him. “She is where you have been going every night these last few weeks?”

Nick made one affirmative jerk of his head.

Her jaw worked as she considered. “Is she compromised?”

“No,” Nick replied. Not yet. Though he had promised Tressey he would come to her room, he was no longer sure she would allow him in.