Emma’s expression softens. “No, Rapunzel, I do not.” She leans in close. “I may even be a bit jealous of you if you want to know the truth.” At her chuckle, I playfully swat her away. “In the time you’ve been here, I’ve seen into your heart. If I felt you were unfit to rule Rygard, I would toss you in a cage and throw away the key myself.”
I believe she would.
Rygard deserves better than to replace a mortal tyrant with an indestructible one. And that might have been a genuine possibility if Sybil hadn’t taken me as an infant. If John had raised me in his shadow, I might have become like him. Cruel. Unlike him, however, I can’t easily be killed. Sybil’s spell should have saved my dying mother’s life while she was pregnant with me. Instead, the magic-infused my hair with…life.
My mother lived only as long as I was inside of her. The moment I took my first breath, my mother took her last. To protect me from my father, Sybil stole me. She cursed an entire forest and hid me deep in the heart of it. Locked me away inside a tower. And until three months ago, I hadn’t known my father was a king.
“Promise me you’ll be smart in how you conduct your affairs, Rapunzel.”
I glanced at Dax and Quinn before shifting my attention back to Emma. “I promise we’ll be careful.”
“Good.” She locks me in a fierce hug. “I feel like we’ve become sisters, and I fear for you.”
I fear for myself, but this, I don’t say aloud.
“I’ll be fine, Emma.” I set her at arm’s length. “Do I seem frightened?” I’m positively terrified. “No, I don’t. We’re going to knock John off that throne, and once he’s gone, I’ll bring you to Newkirk to help me establish my court.”
And maybe Queen Eleanor will stay after John is dead to be near her brother. With the rest of their family gone, they are all that’s left of the Redgraves.
Together, we can defeat that son of a bitch, and when this is done…
Oh, God, when it’s done.
Foremost, my goal is to be a good queen. But also to have what I never dreamed possible during those long and lonely years living in the tower.
A family of my own.
ChapterFive
“I’m going to miss this.”
Quinn’s admission shocks me, heard over the lively, and slightly off-tune, music. Arthur, his fingers flying over his gemshorn, and Kenric plucking away on a lute, have taken to entertaining us each evening since Rapunzel has breathed life into Dyhurst’s ancient keep. And after she’s learned a handful of dances, she’s forced us to rush through supper so we can bring the instruments out.
I don’t know where she finds the energy after a full day of training, but she does…
…because she’s still catching up on what she missed during her lost years.
I give Quinn a healthy dose of side-eye. “Which part, Bryce’s foul cooking or freezing your ass off in this drafty fortress?”
“All castles are drafty.” He lifts a goblet of ale to his lips and takes a hearty swallow of the strong brew before gesturing to our small, makeshift family gathered in the hall. “And all of it, actually.”
“Truth?” Tonight’s meal of over-boiled potatoes and scorched venison sits like a lump in my stomach. “I will as well.”
A smirk tugs at his lips. “Imagine there was a time when you refused to even sit here.” Quinn half-turns and raps his knuckles on the scarred surface of the long wooden table we’re leaning against. “And share a meal with us.”
The combined loss of my father and discovering the truth about John consumed me with rage. I was also still harboring a deep hatred for Rapunzel. Wrongly, I accused her of abandoning me when I needed her most. I didn’t want to infect those around me with my bitterness.
“My anger did no one any good.”
“You. Dax.” Quinn pauses. “Me,” he finally adds. “We’ve come far in a short time.” He drags a hand through his long, black hair. “Something tells me it has everything to do with a pretty dancing pixie.”
I follow Quinn’s predatory gaze and locate Rapunzel in the center of the modest hall. She is a goddess in a yellow tunic. I can’t pull my gaze from the enticing swell of her breasts above the dipped neckline as she dances a common carole along with Dax, Emma, Gavin, Bryce, and Lucian. Her laughter rises above the tune, more lyrical than any song a musician can play. And the longer I watch her, the less I see of the twelve-year-old I stumbled across a dozen years ago when she called down to me from her lone window at the top of her stark, gray tower. And yet, I still hear her melodic voice echo across that barren glade. Still remember the flutter in my belly when I caught my first glimpse of her.
And I still remember how afraid I was that she’d tumble to her death whenever she dangled her pretty little leg out that window.
When we met, I knew our lives would intertwine. What I hadn’t realized was that the tower was our first obstacle. Not even our greatest. Maybe if I had known about Rapunzel’s hair… But I hadn’t. Nor had I known she felt its magic was a wall standing between us. She feared the power. Feared herself. Feared what others would do if they learned her hair could heal the sick and the dying. More than that, the enchanted strands protect her from harm. It keeps her alive. God forbid it gets cut…
I refuse to entertain the thought of losing her.
