Fairy Tales Retold

by Jamie Campbell

  I returned back down to the garden and headed for the door to the outside. Carefully and quietly, I pulled the wooden boards away and stepped out. My fear was overpowered by my anger. I wanted to get to the bottom of what was happening.

  Skirting around the curved walls of the tower, my soft footsteps were deliberate so I wouldn’t be discovered. I kept going until the man was in my sight. He had golden colored hair and his pure white horse stood at his side. This was the same man from the forest.

  “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” he called out in a smooth singsong voice. I wanted to roll my eyes, he was so cliché.

  I thought Rapunzel would know better, yet before I knew it, she was leaning out the window and letting her long red hair fall down the side of the tower. If the man reached up, he could just about grab it. It wouldn’t be long before he could climb up it as a ladder and reach her.

  There was no way I could let that happen. He was only trying to fool her so he could kidnap my precious girl. I was the only person Rapunzel knew, she was naïve and would trust anyone without knowing better. She hadn’t experienced the worst of people like I had.

  They spoke for some time about nothing. The man talked about the weather and how beautiful it was to walk through the trees. At least I now knew where she got all her ideas from. She probably didn’t even want to go outside until he came along. He was a bad influence on her at the very least.

  Yet I knew his motives would be far sinister than just wanting her to run through the trees. The moment he had Rapunzel in his grasp, he would take her away and sacrifice her for his king. That would only happen over my dead body.

  I had seen and heard enough. I crept back inside and boarded up the door. Climbing the ladder, I made sure to make enough noise so Rapunzel knew I was coming. Her little meeting with the man was over, I would make sure of that.

  “Ah, Rapunzel, help me in,” I said as I reached the top of the ladder. She hurried over from the window, guilt crossing her fair face. “Look at all the food I have picked from our garden. We will feast tonight.”

  “It all looks very good, Mother.”

  I placed all the vegetables on the table and started to prepare them. “You deserve a good meal, you have been so good lately that I wanted to give you a treat.”

  Rapunzel cast her eyes downwards, not meeting my gaze. At least she was feeling bad about deceiving me. I only felt a little guilty myself playing her like I was. She was a good girl. If the man wasn’t manipulating her, then she would still be my sweet little girl.

  “How about shelling these peas for me?” I said, giving her something to keep her hands busy. She was going to bite all her fingernails off otherwise.

  “They look very nice,” she commented.

  “Only the best for my girl.”

  She smiled at my words. In that moment, all I could see was the little redheaded princess I had watched grow up over the years. She was always so sweet and innocent. It tore at me to fight with her. And what I was prepared to do next was going to hurt her more than anything she could imagine.

  CHAPTER5

  I could only think of one thing to keep the man away from Rapunzel. If he was going to use her hair to climb the wall and take her from me, then I was going to cut off her hair. He would have no way of climbing to the top of the tower then.

  I knew Rapunzel would never willingly let me cut her hair. She had never had it cut since she was a baby, not even a trim. As a result, the red mane was long and beautiful. I had to braid it for her every day just to keep it out of her way. It would pain me just as much as her to see it shorn from her head.

  But we had to stay safe at all costs. I picked up the scissors and crept into her room. I had to walk on my tiptoes so I didn’t make any noise. If Rapunzel awoke and discovered me, my entire plan would be ruined.

  With nothing but the candlelight to see by, I kneeled by her bed. She was sound asleep, her little eyelids fluttering as she dreamed. I hoped she was only imaging sweet things and not that awful man. He didn’t deserve to be in her dreams.

  Very gently, I teased out her hair from underneath the blanket. It really was lovely, like a fiery, silky mane. It was a pity to get rid of it but we all had to make sacrifices. Without further ado, I started snipping it off. Strand by strand, the braid came apart in my hand before it was completely removed.

  I picked up the hair, it had to be over twelve feet long, and left the room. I made sure to lock the door behind me. When Rapunzel woke up, I didn’t want her to be able to leave the tower. I knew that would be her first instinct.

  I draped the hair over the back of the kitchen chair, fastening the shorn end so it wouldn’t unravel. I went to bed myself, just waiting for the new day when I could finally get rid of that man for once and for all.

  It was Rapunzel’s scream that awoke me in the morning. I ignored her, she would forgive me eventually when she realized I was right to protect her. The queen would back me up, she might have done the same thing herself if she was in my position.

  I had to wait until midday until I heard the male voice carried through with the wind. I snuck over to the window and crouched down with the braid in my hands, waiting.

  “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” he called out. In her room, Rapunzel started banging on the door again and calling me every bad name under the sun. I tuned her out, I thought I was getting very good at ignoring her at that stage.

  Careful so I couldn’t be seen, I threw Rapunzel’s braid out the window and secured it on the shutter hook. In my best sweet voice, I said: “My love, climb my hair.”

  The hair strained, he had taken the bait. Climbing the braid like it was a rope, the man walked up the side of the tower. I desperately wanted to look out the window and see where he was up to, but I couldn’t risk being seen. If he saw just a glimpse of me, my entire plan would fail.

  I waited patiently, watching the hair as it strained on the shutter hook. It only had to hold for a few moments more and then it could loosen. Just a few minutes, that’s all it would take.

  I had given him enough time. I stood, looking over the ledge. The man was almost at the window, almost close enough to kidnap my precious Rapunzel. I couldn’t allow that to happen. I let the hair tie go, unraveling the braid from the hook.

  The man and the braid went crashing down to the ground. He landed with a decided thump, so loud it shook the walls. As I peered over the windowsill, I felt no sympathy for him lying on the ground. He shouldn’t have come after my Rapunzel. He was being punished for his wicked ways.

  A smile spread across my face, the man would not return again. I had honored my vow to the queen and protected the princess. I had done it, I had saved her.

  Two men hurried over to the man as he groaned in pain. They tended to his injuries, trying to prepare his body so they could take him away. They glanced my way, seeing me smile in the window as I watched. I hoped they would hurry so I could explain what I had done to Rapunzel. If she listened to me, she would understand why I had to do it. I would make her understand, even if she refused to.

  I continued to watch as the two men placed the unconscious man over their horse and started to move away. As they did, I could see the emblem on their tunic. It was a fleur-de-lis with a single feather crossing through it, one I was familiar with. That same emblem I had seen a thousand times in my life. It used to be on my clothes too. That emblem belonged to the king and queen.

  I stumbled back from the window, what had I done? Were those three men really from the palace? Did I really just injure one of my own fellow people? I didn’t want to believe it and, in truth, it confused me more than anything. Were they really from the palace, sent by the king and queen themselves? Or did they just steal those clothes from one of my people?

  Deep in my heart, I knew the answer already. The uniforms and armor fit too well, like they were tailor made for those men. Rapunzel’s parents had sent them into the forest and I had injured one of them.

  “Please
let me out, Mother!” Rapunzel yelled from her room. She was sobbing, I could hear it in her voice. “I promise to be good, please open the door.”

  If the knights were walking freely in the forest, did that mean the war had ended? Did I somehow miss the sign of safety from the palace? There was no other reason for the knights to be so contentedly walking out in the open. I had to get to the palace.

  I opened the door and Rapunzel raced out. Her glorious red hair was just a short bob around her perfect face now. I felt sick to my stomach seeing it in the daylight.

  “I’m sorry Rapunzel, please forgive me.”

  “You cut my hair!” She yelled at me, her eyes red from her crying. “Why would you do such a thing?”

  “I had to stop that man, I thought he was going to kidnap you.” How could I make her understand everything?

  “He was nice to me, he loves me. He would never kidnap me, I would have gone with him freely. You had no right to do that. What have you done to him?”

  “He fell and the other knights took him away,” I said guiltily. Yet the man was not the highest item on my priority list. “I need to tell you something and then we must leave the tower.”

  Rapunzel stared at me with a mixture of confusion and hatred. I would have to beg for forgiveness later. “What could you possibly tell me that would make this alright again?”

  “You are a princess, Rapunzel, you are the heir to the kingdom.”

  “Huh?”

  I tool a tentative step closer to her and guided her to a seat so we could talk. I feared she might faint after hearing the story in full. “The night we had to flee the palace, the queen came to me with you. You were just a baby and she feared you would come to harm in the attack. She couldn’t guarantee your safety if you stayed in the palace. So she entrusted me with you. She told me to flee and only return once I received the signal that it was safe.”

  “The queen gave me to you?” She was having trouble forming sentences with her words. It was a lot of information to take in.

  “She did. She made me promise that I would do everything in my power to keep you safe and then return you to the palace. For the last sixteen years, I have been keeping that promise.”

  “But you cut my hair.”

  “To protect you from the man.”

  She pulled at the uneven strands on her head. If she let me, I would have to straighten it up later. Hopefully it would grow back fast.

  “And I’m a princess? A real life princess?” I nodded my head, glad it was slowly starting to sink in. “You aren’t my mother?”

  “I thought it would be better if you thought me your real mother. You wouldn’t miss your real parents then.”

  “You’ve been lying to me all this time. I knew you were and you kept denying it.” She stood, angrier than I had ever seen her. And she could throw some mean tantrums when she was a toddler. “I hate you! I’m going to the palace and finding my real mother. I never want to see you again – ever!”

  She stormed over to the trapdoor and I let her go but stayed right behind her. “I’m coming with you, I’m not letting you go alone.”

  “You can never tell me what to do. Never again.”

  “I still have to honor my promise to the queen and keep you safe. We will go to the palace together,” I replied, resolutely refusing to let her get herself hurt with her impetuous actions.

  “You will do no such thing. I never want to see you again.” She threw down the ladder and started climbing. I was only one rung behind her the entire way.

  She tore down the wood barring the door and threw it aside like it had caused her great pain. I was certain she would like to do the same to me, given the chance.

  We burst outside and she started stomping in the opposite direction of the palace.

  “The palace is this way,” I pointed out, nodding in the other direction. She gave me a look that would have made me burst into flames if looks could kill before turning around and stomping the right way.

  I kept pace with her, refusing to let Rapunzel out of my sight. She might not have liked it, but there was nothing she could do about it. We were going to the palace together, whether she liked it or not.

  CHAPTER 6

  We walked for two days straight before the palace came into sight. After sixteen years, my memory was a little fuzzy on how to get there. Rapunzel accused me of pretending and tricking her so we wouldn’t get there but I wasn’t. It seemed like I couldn’t do anything right in her eyes anymore.

  I knew I had caused Rapunzel such distress that she wouldn’t want to know me any longer. I was resigned to the fact I had lost my adopted daughter. I couldn’t be angry with myself though, I had kept my promise to the queen that I had made that horrible night so long ago. I never broke my word.

  “Look at that, we’ve been walking for two days and no-one has tried to kill us yet. It must be a miracle,” Rapunzel said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and bit my tongue, refusing to be pulled into another argument. If we had been attacked, the joke would have been on her.

  My feet were getting as tired as my patience but we kept going. I’m sure Rapunzel walked swiftly just so I had trouble keeping up with her. If she still had her long braid, I would have tugged on it to slow her down. I couldn’t do the same with her new shorter hairstyle.

  Finally, we found ourselves standing at the gates to the palace. They had aged since I had last seen them, but I guess I had too so they couldn’t be blamed.

  The guards on the door barred our entry by crossing their swords in front of us. “Who goes there?”

  “It is I, the witch of the palace. I have returned after sixteen years and need an audience with the king and queen,” I replied, in my most formal voice. I prayed Rapunzel would be silent at my side. If something had happened to the royal couple, I didn’t want her revealing herself as the princess. I should have warned her, but she probably would have just done the exact opposite of my asking.

  The guards peered closer, squinting in the sunlight to see me better. The one on the right was too young to know me, but I recognized the one on the left.

  “Bragard, it really is I,” I said again, using his name to jolt his memory.

  His lips turned from a grimace into a grin. “It really is. Welcome home, witch.”

  I curtsied my thanks and they uncrossed their swords, allowing us to enter. We walked through the stone corridors that had once been my home. My stomach was a knot with nerves at returning. I wouldn’t believe we were safe until I laid my own eyes upon the king and queen.

  “You didn’t tell me you were a witch,” Rapunzel whispered in my ear. She had been sufficiently nervous herself to grip my arm as we walked. She wasn’t as brave as she once thought. It made me think of the little five year old I used to teach how to pick strawberries.

  “Everyone thinks I’m a witch but I have no power,” I explained. “I am just an ordinary woman.”

  We reached the doors of the throne room and entered carefully. The guards did not stop us, despite our disheveled appearance and dirty clothes.

  Seated on their respective thrones at the end of the room was the king and queen. They carried a few more wrinkles and grey hairs, but it was them. I would recognize them anywhere.

  I curtsied as I approached, showing them my respect. Rapunzel mimicked by actions, curtsying behind me. For once, she remained silent.

  “Your Majesties, I have returned,” I declared. They both looked at me like I was a ghost from the past. The queen rose from her seat, barely able to believe what she was seeing.

  “Thalia? Is that really you?”

  I nodded my head. “And I bring with me Rapunzel.” I stood aside so they could see their daughter for the first time in sixteen years.

  The three of them stared at each other, cautious and disbelieving. Rapunzel looked just like her mother with the porcelain white skin and fiery red hair. Nobody would be able to deny they were mother and daughter.

  “Rapunzel?” The queen breathed in a voi
ce so quiet it was difficult to hear her.

  “Mother?” Rapunzel said tentatively. “Are you really my mother? Am I really a princess?”

  With tears running down her cheeks, the queen moved forward and enveloped Rapunzel in a tight hug. She openly sobbed with happiness. “I never thought you’d return.”

  “She locked me in a tower,” Rapunzel replied, nodding my way. “She cut off my hair.”

  The queen let her go and took two steps to stand in front of me. Her look was so stern that I suddenly feared they might blame me for holding onto her for sixteen years. Even though it wasn’t my fault, perhaps they wouldn’t see it that way? Maybe my future lay in the dungeons of the palace with nothing but a dirt floor and moldy bread to keep me company. I suddenly feared being there, something I had never felt before in the throne room.

  “My queen, you didn’t give me the signal to return. I waited. Every day, I waited. You have to believe me. I wanted to return just as much she did,” I rambled quickly. If I was now fighting for my life and freedom, I didn’t want anything left unsaid. I would speak now and never hold my peace.

  The queen took a step closer and gripped me by my arms. Her hold was so tight that I could never escape it. She was far stronger than she looked in her grand gown.

  “My queen-” She cut me off.

  “Thalia, thank you,” she said. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was sincere. I started to relax. “You have kept your promise and your word to me. You have returned my daughter when it was safe to do so. She owes you her life and I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for us. This kingdom will continue because of what you did.”

  I wanted to cry with relief. Not just because it looked like I was going to be spared the dungeons, but because I had finally fulfilled my promise. I was free now, released from my prison of duty. Oh, and the kingdom would continue to reign with the princess restored to her title.