Rapunzel glanced at Kyra with a nervous smile. “Of course not,” she breathed and my heart swelled.
The Princess rounded on me again with a curious frown. “Why are you after Gothel? Who are you?”
Aladdin elbowed me in the ribs. “Tell her.”
I pressed my lips together, unsure what to say. Or if I even should. What did it matter who I was? I wanted Gothel gone, just like she did. That was the only thing of importance.
“I can show her?” Kyra offered.
I nearly rolled my eyes. “The Princess wouldn't recognise me even if-”
Aladdin wished it and Kyra waved her hand, dissolving the magic masking me in an instant.
My heart fell into a frantic beat as Rapunzel looked upon my true face. I expected a blank stare, a vague nod. But her eyes widened and she walked forward, tears springing to her eyes. “I know you.”
Sharp thorns seemed to grow in my mouth as she reached out and brushed her fingers over my cheek. Her eyes glittered, never blinking as she stared on and on. “I thought you'd died because of me.”
“I was meant to,” I grunted, reaching out to pull her hand from my face, but my fingers lingered on her wrist instead. “Aladdin saved me. He was in prison for thieving.”
Move away, idiot!
“Yup, a fact I don't recall you thanking me for by the way,” Aladdin said coolly.
Rapunzel dropped her hand and I stepped back, my treacherous heart needing some space.
“Aladdin of The Forty Thieves.” He thrust his hand in between us, offering it to Rapunzel. “It's my pleasure, Princess.”
Rapunzel took my hand hesitantly and I grinned at her.
“The Forty Thieves?” she asked slowly. “As in, that group of cutthroats who terrorise the North Quarter?”
“You wound me,” I teased. “The Forty terrorise the whole of Osaria, not just the North Quarter. I’ve even heard a rumour that one of them managed to infiltrate the palace and is trying to steal the Princess’s heart.”
“That sounds like a pretty outrageous tale to me,” she replied on a breath of laughter that didn’t quite cover how thrown she was by all of this.
I still hadn’t released her hand and I stepped a little closer, leaning in as if I was going to tell her a secret.
“Do you think he might succeed?” I murmured.
Her amber eyes met mine and beneath the obvious shock that filled them I thought I could detect a glimmer of something else... intrigue perhaps.
“That sounds like something you’d hear in a fairytale,” she replied eventually.
“Well all the good stories have at least a little truth to them,” I said, leaning a bit closer.
Cassian cleared his throat and I sighed dramatically as I released the Princess’s hand and stepped out of her personal space.
“As you can tell, Cassian is the bore around here. Ever a stickler for the rules.” I moved to clap him on the cheek and he batted my hand aside irritably.
“If being honourable and behaving like a gentleman makes me a bore-”
“It does,” I said firmly.
“It does a bit, Cassian,” Kyra agreed, holding her thumb and forefinger close together.
Rapunzel laughed again as Cassian muttered something beneath his breath which definitely contained the word asshole. “This is insane,” she murmured.
“Aladdin likes insane,” Kyra said. “He told me so, right before we jumped from the roof.”
“You... what?” Cassian frowned between the two of us and I grinned in response as my gaze travelled over Kyra in the wet clothes which were clinging to her body in a way I didn’t mind at all. The fact of which had nothing to do with why I hadn’t wished for us to be dry yet.
“Aladdin was still crying when I found him so I cheered him up by getting him to jump from the roof with me. After he got dressed of course - he couldn’t very well jump from the roof while naked, he could have taken someone’s eye out.”
Cassian laughed before he could stop himself and I couldn’t help but join in.
“Why were you naked and crying?” Rapunzel asked her eyes flashing with accusation as she looked my way.
“Don’t take everything Kyra says too literally,” I said. “I was in a bad mood and in the bathhouse. I wasn’t crying. I haven't cried in... well not since I left the orphanage at least. Showing that kind of weakness can get you killed where I come from.”
Rapunzel’s lips parted in shock. “Really?”
“Life’s not so pretty outside of your ivory tower, Princess,” I replied, shrugging it off.
“So when I said The Forty were cutthroats, was I right?” she asked, taking a step away from me towards Cassian.
I didn’t miss the fact that this knowledge about our true identities had instantly made her more willing to trust him than me.
Here lies the class divide in its purest form. Until she’d known the truth she saw me no differently than him but now that she did, I was already a little less. And I had no doubt the longer she looked at me now the more she was going to see it even though she’d been blind to it before.
“Well, not all of us,” I said, honestly.
“So you’ve never killed anyone?” she pressed.
I pursed my lips, half considering a lie then deciding against it. If she was going to marry me she may as well know who I was.
“I’ve never murdered anyone,” I said truthfully.
“But...?”
“But I have killed a few people in the name of survival. Six in total, all of whom came for me with the full intention of ending my life. The first was a big bastard who tried to steal my day’s worth of loot when I was twelve. He thought he’d save himself the work of pick-pocketing himself for the day by robbing me.” I shrugged.
Rapunzel’s mouth fell open and I caught Cassian looking at me with something irritatingly like pity in his eyes.
“None of that,” I said, snapping my fingers at him, refusing to let him look at me like a victim.
“Twelve?” Rapunzel asked eventually.
“For Osaria’s sake.” Why did I mention that bit? “Yeah.”
“You were just a child. How did you cope with-”
“Killing someone is a lot easier than it looks,” I said dismissively. “Certainly a lot easier than dying anyway. If you’re ever faced with that choice then I’m sure you’ll find out that you agree.”
“I agree,” Kyra said gently. She was the only one in the room who wasn’t looking at me like I needed a hug and I could have kissed her for it. To be fair I could have kissed her without an excuse but as that didn’t seem to be on the table I’d just accept the look in her eyes at the moment which was one I hadn’t really expected; pride. “You’re a survivor,” she said firmly.
“So are you,” I replied with a grim smile.
Her lips twitched with amusement. “We’re the same.”
Rapunzel looked between the two of us with a faint frown.
“You don’t have to put up a front,” the Princess murmured. “You can be honest about how you feel and where you came from.”
“I wish I could be honest,” I muttered. Being truthful didn’t come to me as easily as lying these days.
A faint prickle ran along the back of my throat and over my tongue. I frowned, pushing my tongue to the roof of my mouth in an attempt to rid myself of the sensation and it slowly passed away.
“And you said you’re an orphan?” Rapunzel asked eventually.
“Well, technically I think an orphan’s parents are supposed to be dead but as neither of mine took the care to leave any personal information when they dumped me at St Josiah’s it’s hard to be sure. I like to think of them as dead though; I hope they both died utterly alone without a soul to love them in this world, just as they left me.” I clenched my jaw shut, wondering why the hell I’d just been so forthright with them about that. I wasn’t sure I’d ever shared my feelings on the people who had brought me into the world with anyone before.
�
��That’s...” Rapunzel’s lips parted and she tried to reach for me but I stepped back.
“I really don’t want any pity,” I said, firmly. “I just want to make sure I’m never helpless ever again. And to be able to sleep without nightmares for once.”
“You get nightmares?” Kyra asked, tiptoeing forward.
I shook my head. “Yes.” Why the hell did I just say that?
“About what?” Cassian asked.
“Starving. Freezing. Egos finding me. Dying alone.” I bit my tongue hard enough to draw blood. “What the hell is happening to me? Forget I just said all of that,” I barked.
“You wished to be honest,” Kyra breathed.
I frowned at her as I tried to work out when I was supposed to have done that.
“Will you truly let Rapunzel rule alone as Empress if you marry her?” Cassian asked quickly.
“Yes. All I want from her is her body and her money.” I slapped a hand over my mouth. “Kyra, I wish I wasn’t honest anymore!”
“You want to be dishonest now?” she asked with a frown. “Won’t it be very confusing if you just lie all the time? Someone could offer you food and you’d want to say yes but then you’d say no and-”
“Do you truly intend to help us destroy Gothel?” Cassian barked.
“I do,” I said and both he and the Princess looked relieved at my answer but I was almost choking on the next words and I couldn’t hold them back any longer. “At least until I decide it’s too dangerous at which point I’ll probably leave without saying goodbye. Hell, Kyra just undo it, let me be as honest or dishonest as I like with no interference!”
Thankfully the brush of her magic slid over me before Cassian could come up with any more smart ass questions. I scowled at my so-called friend as silence fell between the four of us.
“Sorry,” Kyra breathed, her green eyes sparking with fear. “Please don’t... don’t put me back in the lamp.”
I stared at her, unable to believe she thought I was even considering it.
“The thought hadn’t crossed my mind,” I said in a low voice. “I promised you I wouldn’t do that to you unless you asked. But it’s nice to know you hold as little faith in me as my old pal Cassian here.”
I let out a huff of irritation before turning and heading away from them, deeper into the maze of books contained within the library. I knew I was an asshole and I hadn’t exactly been trustworthy in the past but since I’d met Kyra and Cassian I’d pretty much kept my word on everything I’d promised them. Their lack of faith in me was pretty uncalled for.
I wandered between the stacks, reaching the table we’d been working at before. Cassian had left heaps of books out to trawl through but the finely written pages were nothing more than gibberish to me.
I moved on, heading deeper into the shelves until the light was stolen enough that I couldn’t make out anything on the spines.
“I’m sorry,” Kyra breathed and my heart leapt as I squinted into the dark.
“Shit, Kyra I didn’t know you were here!” I hissed.
“Sometimes I’m not sure I am either,” she admitted.
My eyes began to adjust to the dark and I found I could make out the shape of her standing before me, close enough to touch if I just reached out.
“I might have cheated a bit to get ahead of you; I turned to smoke,” she explained and the amusement in her voice made me forget my irritation with her.
“So you don’t think I’m gonna send you back inside then?” I asked, tapping my finger against the amulet I wore which we both knew was really the lamp.
“No.” She shook her head and a faint sheen of light caught on the edges of her damp locks. “It wasn’t really me who said that. It was the other bit of me; she acts tough but I think she’s really just afraid. I haven’t been able to truly trust anyone in a very, very long time. But I do trust you, Aladdin.”
“Maybe you’re a bad judge of character then,” I teased though I meant it. I definitely wouldn’t describe myself as trustworthy, it kinda went against my job description.
Kyra’s hand reached out to me in the dark and I flinched as it landed against my chest. Her fingers felt cool through the thin fabric of my shirt and my heart leapt as if it wanted her to feel it.
“Don’t sell yourself short,” she murmured, her breath dancing across my skin.
I opened my mouth to say something dismissive or taunting but I couldn’t quite force the words to rise to my lips.
She still hadn’t released me and my traitorous body wouldn’t step back despite the fact that I knew I should. She didn’t want me. She didn’t need me. At least not for anything more than her continued freedom from the prison I wore around my neck.
The air between us was thick, thrumming with her magic and something wholly her.
“Earlier,” she began softly. “In your room, when-”
“Is there any chance that I’ll be getting even a little help with researching Gothel tonight?” Cassian called from somewhere back in the direction we’d come from.
Kyra’s eyes flared with magic at the interruption and it was as if they glowed for a few seconds. Her hand fell from my chest and she stepped away, seeming to have forgotten she was trying to tell me something. I wanted to reach for her, pull her back to me and demand she tell me what it was but I didn’t. I couldn’t risk seeing that same answer in her eyes as I’d found before.
“Sorry, Cassian!” she called. “We’re coming!”
Kyra took a few steps in his direction and I chewed on my cheek as I tried to decide whether or not to follow. Rapunzel was clearly brimming with questions and I wasn’t entirely sure whether she was ready to hear all of the answers yet. We came from such different worlds and while I’d always known that hers existed, she’d been happy to stay blind to mine. Until I’d come along to slap her in the face with it that was. But I guessed that denying her the answers now wasn’t going to help me out in the long run so I needed to head back and face their questions, even if they did make me pretty damn uncomfortable.
With a sigh I started following Kyra back the way I’d come, squinting towards the flickering light which dimly lit the end of the aisle we were in.
My foot caught on a pile of books which had been stacked alongside a shelf and I cursed as they tumbled to the ground.
“I can’t see a thing down here,” I muttered and an orb of blue light sprang to life instantly as Kyra saw to my desires.
She turned her wide eyes on me briefly and my stomach flipped over. I quickly looked away again, not wanting to revisit these ideas while we had company, or ever, and my gaze fell on the spine of a book to my right.
A large silver symbol which looked vaguely familiar stood out on the spine and I reached for it instinctively, dragging it from the shelf.
Kyra drew closer to me, peering down at the book with interest as I flipped it open. More of those symbols stood at the top of each page with lines of normal writing beneath each one.
“Is this what I think it is?” I asked, turning the book so that she could read it.
Kyra studied the open page for several seconds and a wide grin captured her lips. “Let’s show Cassian,” she said excitedly before turning and running back towards him and the Princess.
I jogged after Kyra with the book in hand as she moved away from me, bringing her light with her.
Rapunzel had dropped into a seat at the small table Cassian had been using for our research and he hovered awkwardly by the chair beside hers. I wasn’t sure if they’d been talking about me and my poor lowborn life while I was gone but I guessed they had by the tension in the air as I reappeared.
“How long have you been stuck up here in this room?” I asked Cassian as I slammed the heavy book down on the table before him. “Because I just found what you’ve been looking for without even trying.”
“Where did you get that?” he asked, his lips parting with surprise as he fell upon the wealth of information I’d uncovered.
“You should
n’t doubt me by now, mate,” I said to him cockily. “I always get what I want.”
“Did you wish for it?” he asked skeptically.
“No,” I replied indignantly. “Although now you say that I’m thinking maybe I should have.”
Kyra’s eyes widened and she looked at me guiltily as she seemed to realise the same thing. I stifled a laugh as I realised she would have been able to summon books holding the answers Cassian so desperately sought within moments while he’d been pouring through useless information for hours.
“But Kyra can’t just summon knowledge into our heads, can she? We have to learn for ourselves,” I said, covering for her before Cassian could pull his nose out of the book long enough to figure it out too.
Kyra opened her mouth to protest and I pressed a finger to my lips, throwing her a wink. She giggled in response before slipping into the chair beside the Princess.
Rapunzel raised an eyebrow at me and I gave her an innocent shrug as I dropped down too, leaning back in my chair and stretching my arms over my head. My wet clothes were starting to grow uncomfortable and I plucked at my shirt with distaste.
“Would you mind drying me off now please, Kyra?” I murmured.
No sooner had the words left my lips than her magic began to flutter around me. The white outfit I’d been given for the brawl disappeared and was replaced with a dark blue shirt and trousers. Kyra switched her own outfit for a dress in precisely the same shade as my clothes and Rapunzel stared at the two of us in undisguised shock.
I pushed my newly dried hair back with a word of thanks and quickly worked three of the silver buttons open below my neck.
Rapunzel’s eyes had widened considerably and she seemed to be at a loss for words.
“Like what you see?” I asked her, flashing my dimples.
“I’ve never witnessed magic like that before,” she murmured.
“I know,” I agreed, “Kyra is something amazing.”
“Look, here,” Cassian, interrupted urgently. He’d turned the book to face us and he held the folded page I’d stolen from Gothel beside it. “This rune means embodiment or the securing of a soul, the description talks about the heart being the house of the soul while it resides inside a living body. I think by devouring them she is able to absorb their power thus further sustaining her own survival. This bone must belong to one of her victims.”
Forbidden Fairytales- The Complete Series Page 45
