I reluctantly turned to the prince. “I’m afraid neither Rapunzel nor I have any idea where we are. Do you know the name and location of the closest town?”
I could see the curiosity in his eyes, but he showed admirable restraint. “Talbot is a half day’s ride southwest.”
So, Mortimer had sent me to the northeastern tip of the kingdom. If Talbot was south, there must be nothing north but the mountains and forests of the border with Farthendale. We were near Arthur’s home, then. What was he doing over this side of the border?
I shook the thought away. I couldn’t demand answers from a prince, even such a casual one as Prince Arthur appeared to be.
I supposed I should feel grateful—the news could have been much worse. I had tracked Anneliese west of our home in Torina, so I was probably only two days’ ride from the place where the tiger had chased me up the tree. Considering Mortimer could have sent me all the way down to the southern border, I wasn’t as far off course as I had feared.
“I need to get back to Horley.” I looked at Rapunzel. “And this stream seems to be going in the right direction. We can follow it as long as it stays heading westward.”
She looked at the prince. “We’re on a quest!”
He blinked several times. “How very intriguing. What sort of quest?”
She opened her mouth and then closed it again and giggled. “You know, I don’t actually know.”
He blinked again, and then they both turned to look at me.
“I’m looking for my sister.”
“Does she need rescuing?” Prince Arthur asked hopefully.
I sighed. “Maybe. I don’t really know.”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “It sounds like an odd sort of a quest.”
“A search for a sister. It sounds like a noble one to me,” said Rapunzel loyally.
I shrugged. “It’s a long story. What about you, Your Highness? What are you doing wandering around Astoria?”
The prince grinned. “I’m searching for damsels-in-distress, of course.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, neither of us is in distress anymore, so you can feel free to be on your way.” I didn’t expect it to work, not with Rapunzel gazing at him out of such soft, blue eyes, but I figured it was worth a try.
“I couldn’t leave now—just think of your sister! How could I abandon you when there’s the possibility that she might be in distress?” The laugh lurking behind his voice made me think that he would get on well with Anneliese if he ever met her. He seemed to share her mischievous streak.
“And besides,” he added, “I haven’t heard either of your stories yet. And with every passing moment, I feel more sure they’ll be worth the wait.”
I shrugged. “Very well, then. But I don’t want to waste the daylight while there’s still so much of it left. Come with us, if you will, but I’m starting toward Horley.”
I strode off, following the bank of the stream, and could hear them both moving behind me. I still wanted to put some distance between us and Rapunzel’s strange tower. The unusual building gave me a distinctly uncomfortable feeling.
As we walked, I tried to decide if we should make the slight detour into Talbot. Did the people of the village know about Rapunzel and her tower? Surely one of them would have stumbled on her strange meadow in the past sixteen or so years. And since none of them had ever attempted to contact her, let alone free her, did that mean they were in league with the fairy? Or possibly just afraid of her.
Either way, they might decide to inform her if we appeared there. I would much prefer it if we could be gone without trace when Gothel returned.
Within an hour, I knew that if we managed to avoid Talbot, it would only be because of the prince. Rapunzel had started limping after only a short time and would have been unable to walk at all past an hour if Prince Arthur hadn’t put her up on Aster. She was clearly going to great effort to refrain from complaining, but she equally clearly was unable to keep up any sort of pace.
I could only imagine the blisters she must already have from her useless slippers. And the only place I could think to get her proper boots was Talbot. Unless Prince Arthur stayed with us, and she rode the whole way.
I called a stop in the late afternoon after noticing the faces she was making. Maybe riding wouldn’t be possible, either. She staggered uncomfortably around after the prince lifted her down, and it was obvious she was nearly as sore from riding for the first time as she had been from walking.
I sighed. Rapunzel was proving to be even more of an inconvenience than I had foreseen. But at the same time, there was something a little enchanting about the way she exclaimed over everything we passed. I had never seen so much wonder in the everyday things around me before.
Our early stop meant we had put off the decision about Talbot, but we would have to make it first thing in the morning. Our day of walking had brought us close to the village.
As we set up a simple camp, I ordered Rapunzel to sit and stop attempting to help. The poor girl was obviously in a great deal of pain, and I was already feeling guilty for pushing us so hard during the day.
“Does it ever overwhelm you?” she asked, as she watched me light a fire.
“What?”
“The sky. All around. Everything.” She waved vaguely at our surroundings. “It’s all just so big and open.”
I continued working on the fire while I tried to think how to answer. “Sometimes, I suppose,” I said eventually.
Prince Arthur came over to join us, having finished caring for his mount. Somewhat to my surprise, he proved an efficient help at all the practical aspects of preparing for the night. Did they teach princes such skills? Or had he learned from experience? He would have had plenty of opportunities to practice if he often wandered around alone as he appeared to be doing on this occasion. I still didn’t quite know what to make of his story.
We each contributed food from our packs and were soon enjoying a surprisingly good meal, given its cobbled together nature.
“I’ve been nobly restraining my curiosity for hours now,” said the prince after taking a few bites. “And I’m afraid I can resist no longer. How in the kingdoms did the two of you end up climbing out of that tower using what looked a great deal like an impossibly long braid of Rapunzel’s hair?” He turned to me. “And where did you even come from? I’m sure you weren’t there on my last visit. Unless the princess was hiding you away somewhere.”
Rapunzel giggled. “Of course I wasn’t. Why would I hide her?”
I grimaced. “It’s all thanks to fairies. But not the usual, useful sort. Apparently, Rapunzel and I share the same bad luck when it comes to dealing with fairies.”
“You might be surprised,” said Arthur. “I’ve met an odd one myself. Mortimer, he was called. My cousin Conrad’s wife had all sorts of trouble with him.”
“Mortimer!” exclaimed Rapunzel. She turned to me. “But that’s the name of your fairy godfather.”
I sighed. “It is indeed.”
Arthur stared at me, his eyes narrowing until he suddenly let out a bark of laughter. “Ha! I knew it! Something about you has been bothering me all day. You look familiar. Don’t tell me you’re one of Rynn’s younger sisters.”
I sighed. Now that my siblings had spread all over the kingdoms, I wondered if I would be able to go anywhere without being known as someone’s younger sister.
“Yes, I’m the youngest. Penelope.”
“Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Penelope.” He smiled so charmingly, I had to look away to prevent a flush spreading up my face.
Rapunzel looked back and forth between us. “Don’t tell me you know each other!” She clapped. “How delightful!”
“We’ve never actually met, but Penny’s older sister is married to my cousin,” explained the prince. He looked over at me. “Which seems like a perfectly good excuse to do away with the ‘Your Highness’ business. If we’re going to be traveling together, you should both call me Art. Or Arthur is fine,” he
added, apparently reading consternation in my face.
“Are we?” I asked. “Going to be traveling together?”
“Well, when it comes to adventures, it seems like the place to be is with the two of you.” He took another large bite. “But I still haven’t heard your stories.”
Rapunzel clapped again. “I’ll go first.”
Chapter 5
“So, you really have five older sisters? And a brother?” Rapunzel stared at me as if she couldn’t imagine growing up among such a horde. Which, in all fairness, she probably couldn’t.
“You’re a seventh child.” Arthur sounded thoughtful.
“Yes,” I said shortly, quick to steer the conversation in another direction. The last thing I needed was for the prince to start expecting magic from me. “My parents never wanted such a large family, or to be merchants, or to have a mansion in the city. They liked living out in the forest and wanted a simple, quiet life.” I shook my head. “But simple and quiet don’t tend to characterize any situation once Mortimer gets involved. With a reward like Mortimer, you’d think my father had lopped off the head of the old lady and her granddaughter rather than the wolf attacking them.”
“And you have a twin.” Rapunzel looked dreamily into the distance. “I wish I had a twin.” She started, turning to us in excitement. “Maybe I do!”
I saw Arthur—I couldn’t quite bring myself to call him Art—swallow a smile and couldn’t resist grinning at him. His own smile surfaced as he met my eyes, but thankfully Rapunzel didn’t seem offended.
“Is it delightful to have a twin?” she asked.
“Um…” I stared into the fire as a million different thoughts and emotions rushed through my head. I’d never thought of it as delightful before. Anneliese was infuriating and stupid and inconsiderate—and smart and affectionate and fun—and more familiar to me than anyone else in the world. And she was the only one who had always been deeply interested in me and unequivocally glad I existed. I couldn’t imagine life without her. “It’s just how life has always been. I can’t imagine what it would be like not to have a twin.”
“Did she really leave without a word to you?” Rapunzel seemed fascinated by my sister. “How strange!”
“She did give me a particularly affectionate goodnight,” I said, feeling a little defensive of Liesa. “I remember it because I was suspicious at the time. I didn’t actually think she would run, though. Just that she was up to her usual mischief—filling the gap left by our older sister, Sophie, who used to be able to outpace even Anneliese in the mischief department.” I chuckled. “Before she went and married a bear at any rate.”
“Married a bear?” Rapunzel’s eyes grew impossibly round. “You didn’t mention that part.”
The side of my mouth quirked up. “That might have actually been Sophie’s biggest piece of mischief ever. It worked out for her, though. The bear was actually a cursed prince, and she’s queen in Briadell now.”
Arthur nodded. As well as his connection with my sister Rynn, he was no doubt familiar with the story due to Briadell being Farthendale’s eastern neighbor.
My mood darkened as my thoughts wandered to my twin. “I hope everything works out as well for Liesa.”
“Don’t worry, Penny,” said Arthur, his voice sounding truly serious for the first time since I’d met him, “we’ll find her.”
I kept my eyes on the flames, embarrassed that he had seen through me so easily. “She’s been gone for a long time—her trail is well and truly cold. I did manage to track her west from our home in the capital, which made me think she might have traveled to the village of Horley. So, when I arrived in Horley, I went to the main tavern and asked if anyone had seen a girl who looked just like me except with blue eyes.”
“Had they seen her?” asked Rapunzel, breaking in eagerly.
I grimaced. “I can only imagine they had since the tavern immediately broke into a commotion, and the innkeeper kicked me out of the village. I had to camp in the surrounding woods, and that’s when I ran into the tiger.”
“A tiger?” Arthur hadn’t heard that part of the story yet.
“It chased me up a tree, forcing me to call on Mortimer. Which I think sufficiently explains how I ended up in Rapunzel’s tower.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” said Arthur. “I remember Horley, I traveled through there myself. She’s your sister? The tiger girl? Oh, that’s too funny.” He went off into peals of laughter.
I stared at him, bemused, until he finally stopped, mopping at his eyes.
“This quest may turn out to be more difficult than I anticipated.” He shook his head, still chuckling softly.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“I think I know why the people of Horley responded so badly when they saw you. I passed through there a couple of months back, and they were still talking about her. Your sister I mean. Apparently, several months before I arrived, a girl had come through the village. And a traveling troupe of entertainers arrived at the same time—with a tiger as the star of their show.” He chuckled again.
“I heard lots of different accounts of how it happened, but one thing all the stories agreed on. This girl—who must be your twin—was responsible for accidentally releasing the tiger. It took off into the woods around the village and has been terrifying the villagers ever since. None of them dare go out unless it’s in armed groups, and apparently it’s eaten several cows.”
I groaned. “That sounds like Anneliese, all right. There’s no way she would have been able to resist a traveling troupe of entertainers.” I sighed. “And if the tiger was their star act, then I suppose we can add them to the list of people in Astoria we should avoid.”
Arthur grinned. “I’m starting to get the feeling it might be a very long list.”
Rapunzel was staring at me with wide eyes. “But why would she set it free?”
I shook my head. “I’m sure she didn’t mean to. But Anneliese has a special flair for getting into trouble.”
“There’s good news, though,” said Arthur. The troupe were heading south, toward Guthward, so it sounds like your sister took off northeast. From what you’ve said, I assume she would have skirted Torina, so she may well have found her way to Talbot. We should stop there and ask after her.”
I nodded reluctant agreement. I had already decided we would have to stop for some boots for Rapunzel, but that didn’t mean I liked it. Still, it would all be worth it if they had news of Anneliese.
I should have suspected her involvement myself as soon as the tiger appeared. If ever there were something outrageous going on, Anneliese would be sure to be there in the middle of it. I fell asleep with her image in my mind, torn between exasperation and affection.
The next morning, I took the opportunity to have a quiet word with Arthur as we both filled our water skins at the creek. Rapunzel had remained behind in camp, her whole attention devoted to a butterfly she had found on a nearby flower. She didn’t have a water skin, another lack I hoped to remedy in Talbot.
“It seems strange that no-one in Talbot ever found Rapunzel’s tower,” I said, keeping my voice low.
He shot me a piercing look. “You think they might be complicit somehow?”
I shrugged, surprised again to find him so perceptive. “I don’t know. Perhaps. Perhaps not. But there’s something beyond strange going on with this fairy. I’ve never heard a story like it before, and I’d really prefer not to run into her.”
He nodded a swift agreement. “I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary when I passed through there, but then that’s not too surprising. We’ll both keep our eyes open this time and see what we can see.”
We were both crouched beside the creek, and when I looked up at him, I realized our faces were only a hand breadth apart. His eyes lingered on mine.
“Speaking of eyes, yours are—”
“No, they’re not.” I cut him off. “There’s nothing magical about me.”
“I was going to say amazing.�
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“Oh.” Now I felt like an idiot. Great. Just great.
Rapunzel called my name, and I stood, turning back toward her with relief. She seemed to have transferred her attention from the butterfly to something on the ground.
“Have you seen this odd worm?” she asked me.
I hurried over, glad for the excuse to leave Arthur behind, and peered down at a long, green caterpillar. “That’s not a worm. It’s a caterpillar.”
“Really?” She sounded astonished. “So, that’s what they look like.”
“We’re going to head into Talbot,” I told her. “We need to buy you some boots and a water skin. It wouldn’t hurt to purchase some more food, either, since we have the prince’s saddlebags to help carry the load.”
Her eyes widened with excitement. “A town! My very first town! I have always longed to walk down a bustling street.”
Arthur came up behind us. “I wouldn’t go so far as to call Talbot bustling. It’s a fairly remote village, I’m afraid.”
“It will still have about a hundred more people than you’ve ever met in your life, though,” I said. “So, it might be a good idea if you stick close to us. And don’t talk to anyone.”
She frowned. “But how will I get to know them, if I don’t talk to them?”
“That’s kind of the point,” I said. “We’re not going to get to know them. We’re going to buy the supplies we need, ask around to see if anyone remembers seeing my sister, and then be on our way.” I looked between them both. “Are we all agreed?”
Arthur’s assent was more willing than Rapunzel’s, but she eventually nodded her head, so we finished packing our meagre belongings and headed toward the village. Arthur led the way this time, since he was more familiar with the area, and I tried not to stare at him now that I had the opportunity. He was tall and athletic, and the easy grace of his movements made him hard to ignore.
Rapunzel giggled in my ear. “He’s good looking, isn’t he?”
I winced. She’d caught me looking.
Her face fell when she saw my expression. “Is he not? Maybe I only think he’s good looking because he’s the only man I’ve ever seen!”
An Inconvenient Princess Page 4
