No servant had ever requested an audience with me under such unusual circumstances—at nighttime and alone in my bedchamber. Plus, it was customary to bring all concerns to the king’s council, not to me. Yet the maid’s smile eased my worry. She was about the same age as my mother, and her brown hair was streaked with gray.
“Of course,” I said. “Come in.” I pushed the door open wide.
“Thank you, Princess.” The maid curtseyed and entered the room.
I closed the door and we moved to a couple of chairs near the hearth. She waited until I sat and gave her permission to follow suit. After several seconds of silence, she asked, “Do you remember me?”
A memory flickered in my brain, but I was unable to pin it down. “I’m sorry, I don’t.”
“Your cousin and you often played in the closet under the stairs by the kitchen.”
I gave a little gasp. “You’re the kitchen maid who bandaged my knee when I was younger.” I smiled at her. “Do you still work in the kitchen? I haven’t seen you in years.”
“They have me working in other areas of the castle.”
“That may be, but I’m certain I would have seen you somewhere. It is, after all, not such a large castle as all that.”
She smiled. “I’ve been away, and sick. I’m better now.”
Something still nagged at me—something I should remember—but I squeezed her hand and said, “It’s good to see you.”
“You and your cousin were both special to me.” She tipped her head with a sad smile.
I gripped her fingers tighter. “Thank you.”
She laid her other hand on top of mine. “I’m sorry to intrude at this late hour, and in your bedchamber, but I needed to speak with you.” She took a deep breath. “Your life is in danger, Princess. The same person who wanted to destroy Rapunzel is after you.” Her gaze held mine. “You must flee from here.”
“What are you saying?” I pulled my hand away.
“That’s all I can tell you for now, but you must leave the castle immediately.”
“What, without saying anything to my parents? Without an attendant or guards? I can’t just go,” I sputtered. “A guarded castle is the safest place to be.” I stood. “I must ask you to leave.”
She got to her feet and grabbed my arms. “Your cousin isn’t dead.”
I stared at this woman. “What did you say?” I looked directly into the maid’s eyes, watching for any sign of deception.
“I assure you, your cousin isn’t dead. She’s alive and safe.”
“How do you know such a thing? Her parents have scoured the kingdom for her.”
“There is no time to explain, Princess. But I know she is safe and well and that you shall see her again.”
Chapter 2
Snow-White and Rose-Red
in Classic Fairy Tales Retold, by Helen Cresswell
There was once a poor widow who lived in a lonely cottage. In the garden were two rose trees, and one of them bore white flowers and the other red. She also had two daughters, and one was called Snow-White and the other Rose-Red.
The children were so fond of each other that they went everywhere together. When Snow-White said, “We will not leave each other,” Rose-Red would answer, “Never so long as we live,” and the mother would add, “What one has she must share with the other.”
Where Is Rapunzel?
Dear Snow,
It’s been ten years since I’ve seen you. I keep writing these letters in hopes that someday I’ll be able to give them to you. For now, it’s not safe to contact you. My guardian says nobody can be trusted and that my life is still in danger. She won’t even tell me her name, so I can’t reveal her identity in case they find me. So, I’ll write to you as if you were here with me. I keep these letters in a wooden box I carved myself. When we meet again, I’ll give you this box and we can relive all the adventures we’ve missed in each other’s lives.
I get so lonely in this room by myself. If I scrunch my toes, I can make it twenty-eight steps across. I’ve walked the space thousands of times. I even counted the cracks on the ceiling and the patterns in the stone walls.
From being confined alone for days without end, I’ve picked up compulsive habits like counting freckles on my arms. I even counted the brush strokes I used on my long, blond hair. It takes the better part of my morning to groom and style it by myself.
Do you remember seeing that tiger locked up in that traveling festival when we were children? It paced along its cage wall. I feel much like a caged animal. Sometimes I think I might go stark-raving mad, but I’ve found things that bring me out of my gloom, like dancing and exercising. Most of my time is spent choreographing dance routines. I also practice self-defense skills like fencing.
I never had the opportunity to dance with a partner—unless you count the ones in my imagination. In my mind I’m an expert dancer and the star of the ball. I make up dance steps and invent names for them. The ballroom in my imagination is beautifully decorated, and the dresses and men’s costumes are stunning.
Oh and guess what? I can also speak Urdu, Chinese, and Flemish now. And I’m a really talented potter. And sculptor. And I have three bonsai trees that are doing quite well. Plus I can do lovely scharrenschnitte—cutting pictures out of paper with scissors. I just made you your tenth wall-sized cut-work piece. Also, I’ve had ample time to learn to play the harp and the alpenhorn and the zither.
I’m sixteen years old but in some ways I still feel like a child. Since I have spent the last ten years in this small room of mine, I have a great deal to learn about life outside the tower. Occasionally they let me out of my room to walk the gardens and exercise, but other than that, I never leave the tower. No matter how many books I read, I’ll never know what it’s really like to live a normal life.
My room has everything I need—a warm bed, clothes, and food, plus books and other things to occupy my time. My guardian, who had become like a second mother to me, took me and hid me away when I was six because people wanted to kidnap me. She has protected me all these years. I can’t tell you who she is, since she pretends to work with the would-be kidnappers. She wants to learn their next move, so she can keep me safe.
Snow, I long to break free. I long for you and me to be together, talking of boys and gowns and balls. I long to dance and to perform those little plays, as we once did for our parents. I miss our trips to the seaside and the north.
Please take care of yourself, and of your parents and mine. There isn’t a day that passes where I don’t wish I could go home. My guardian keeps telling me it’s not safe to return to the castle. She says I may have to stay in the tower for many more years. I keep track of the days by scratching tally marks on the wall next to my bed. The counting keeps me from going crazy.
Or is it making me crazier? Who knows? Wait, maybe it’s because I keep talking to myself . . . .
Love,
Your cousin Rapunzel
Chapter 3
Snow White’s Last Memory of Rapunzel
We used to play in the closet under the stairs behind the kitchen. Rapunzel would get the blankets to make a tent. I was in charge of sneaking books out of the library to hold down the corners of the blankets. At six years old, we were just learning to read, but we loved the large, leather-bound books. By the light of a small candle, Rapunzel and I traced along the printed words and visualized the action. Hour after hour, we spun stories in our heads.
One day, the kitchen maid, Theresa, flung open the door and found us. She giggled as we attempted to hide the pile of books under a blanket. “Princesses, you must get back to your lessons upstairs before your fathers come looking for you,” she said, her green eyes smiling down at us. “Hurry, please.” Theresa reached for my hand and pulled me out of the closet. “If you study hard, in no time at all you’ll be able to read those books and understand all the words.”
That was motivation enough for Rapunzel and me. Beaming, we scurried upstairs to finish our lessons.
<
br /> After Rapunzel’s disapearance I continued to learn, but I rarely read just for fun. The delight had disappeared, along with my cousin.
Now, ten years later, Theresa had returned to tell me my life was in danger.
Rescue Mission
}Snow White}
For the first time in a decade, I left the castle unaccompanied by my customary ten soldiers. It was wonderful but scary to step outside the protective walls with only the maid, Theresa. As soon as she had said Rapunzel was alive, I’d draped my long red cloak over my shoulders, wearing only my nightgown underneath, and followed Theresa down the servants’ stairs into the kitchen.
Outside, she led me along a trail to the edge of the forest. I heard a neigh just before we came upon two mares. They stamped their feet as if ready to go.
“Hurry, Princess,” Theresa urged. “We must be quick before someone notices you are gone.”
“Who wants to hurt me?” I asked as she helped me into one of the saddles. The horse shifted restlessly beneath me.
“A person who will stop at nothing to rule the kingdom.”
“Who?”
Theresa climbed onto the other mare before answering, “Someone I knew long ago.”
“Where is Rapunzel?”
“In a safe place.” Theresa turned her horse down the trail, which headed deeper into the forest.
“Are we going to her now?” I called, not moving forward.
Theresa reined her horse to a stop and whirled to face me. “We must go, Princess. Please. There is no time to explain.” She looked past my shoulder as if wolves nipped at our heels.
Feeling nervous, I followed her into the forest. A few minutes later I asked, “When is the last time you saw Rapunzel? How do you know she’s still alive?”
When Theresa didn’t answer, I realized I may have made a terrible mistake in leaving the castle with her. But this was the first hint that Rapunzel had survived, and I had to see it through.
Theresa and I rode silently along the path. Moonlight sparkled through the claw-like branches of the trees. The breath of night had cast its quiet spell upon the land, and the only sound was the crunch of twigs and leaves beneath the horses’ hooves.
Every half minute or so, I turned to watch the trail behind us for cutthroats or robbers. The spires of the castle still loomed in the distance. My mind screamed that this was a bad idea, and several times I considered turning the horse around and galloping back to the castle.
Instead, I imagined my reunion with Rapunzel. In my head she was tall but had the same brown eyes, the same splash of freckles across her nose, and the same long blond hair as when we were six. We could pick up just where we left off before she vanished. Of course, we would still be best friends.
Theresa trotted along in front of me, and I followed closely where the forest became thicker.
“How much farther?” I asked after we had been riding for at least an hour.
“We’re almost there,” she said.
“Please tell me where we are going.” I leaned forward.
She slowed her horse a little and looked back over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Princess. The less you know, the better. By saving you, I put Rapunzel in danger, and I can’t risk putting both of you in further jeopardy.” Her eyes turned forward and her horse quickened its pace.
I shivered, wondering if I was being abducted just like Rapunzel had been. “What do you mean?”
Theresa looked again over her shoulder but didn’t slow. “Nobody can know I helped you.”
“Why?”
“You can’t trust anyone. People who claim to be your friends are often your secret foes.”
“Do you believe someone in the castle wants to destroy me and my cousin?”
“Yes, I do,” she said. “I found a letter containing plans to kill the princesses and take the throne.”
Things were starting to make sense. “Why not tell the king?” I asked.
“Because this plot involves more than one person. I don’t know how far the string of evil stretches. Any message I send to the king might end up in the hands of the very person I meant to avoid, putting the king and your parents in peril.”
I mulled over her words, wondering if she was right, then asked, “How do you know this?”
After a long moment of silence, Theresa said, “Because the one who wanted your cousin executed is a person I know well.”
Executed?
“I used to respect and admire this individual,” the maid said, continuing to draw out her words. “My older sister was everything I wanted to be and more.”
“Your sister?” I exclaimed.
“Yes, she was a very gifted child and always had the determination to be the best at anything she did.”
“Your sister wanted Rapunzel dead?” I ducked my head to avoid a branch.
“She wasn’t always wicked,” Theresa replied. “It wasn’t until she lost her chance to marry the king that she dedicated her life to seeking vengeance. And all over the matter of sleeping on a pea. Can you imagine that? It seemed foolish to me, but to my sister, it was everything.”
“She was going to marry Rapunzel’s father?” I asked.
“Yes, my family comes from a line of royals in the eastern kingdom. My sister had been promised a marriage to the king—a union that would have brought great wealth to our family. When the king fell in love with someone else, our family was desolate. My sister wanted revenge.”
“So, why did she want to kill my cousin? What did Rapunzel do to her?”
“She wanted Rapunzel’s parents to suffer as she did, by losing their chance for happiness.”
“Is your sister the one trying to overthrow the kingdom?” I asked as I guided my horse over a fallen log.
“She and the brigand who finally became her husband, yes.”
“Are you close to your sister?” I asked carefully, then looked over my shoulder, trying to guess how long it would take to ride back to the castle.
“I pretend to be close to her only to know what she’s planning.”
“Who took Rapunzel in the first place? Was it your sister? And are you a spy?”
“I’ve told you too much already,” Theresa said. “You only need to know you can’t trust anyone. Many recruits have joined their army.”
“Who else knows about Rapunzel?” I asked.
“Only a few.”
“How can you be sure? You said not to rely on anyone.”
“I’ve taken precautions to guarantee their trust.”
“Are you taking me to see Rapunzel now?” I asked again, desperately wanting to see if she was safe.
“Not yet.”
“Then where are you taking me?” I asked in frustration.
At that moment, we rounded a bend of trees. In front of us stood a large manor. Its ashen walls almost glowed in the dark. A lone beacon flickered from a window in a tower that was several stories tall. The glow beckoned to me.
“I’m sorry, Princess,” Theresa said.
Suddenly, something hit me hard on the back of my head. My vision blurred and I slid off the horse. As my eyelids began to shut, the light I had seen in the window became a tiny pinpoint behind my closed eyes.
How could I be so stupid? I thought just before darkness closed in.
Chapter 4
Rapunzel
by the Brothers Grimm
Her husband was alarmed and asked, “What ails you, dear wife?”
“Ah,” she replied, “if I can’t eat some of the rampion, which is in the garden behind our house, I shall die.”
The man, who loved her, thought, sooner than let your wife die, bring her some of the rampion yourself, let it cost what it will. At twilight, he clambered down over the wall into the garden of the enchantress, hastily clutched a handful of rampion, and took it to his wife. She at once made herself a salad of it and ate it greedily. It tasted so good to her—so very good that the next day she longed for it three times as much as before. If he was to have a
ny rest, her husband must once more descend into the garden. In the gloom of evening, therefore, he let himself down again. But when he had clambered down the wall he was terribly afraid, for he saw the enchantress standing before him.
“How can you dare,” said she with an angry look, “descend into my garden and steal my rampion like a thief? You shall suffer for it.”
Rapunzel—Still in the Tower
Dear Snow,
I can look out my window, which seems more like an arrow slit, and see a small valley with a garden and surrounding forest. In the distance is the waterfall that comes down out of the mountains to feed the spring from which we get our water.
It’s a beautiful little garden with grass dotted with flowers and flowering bushes. I can even tell you their Latin names because I’ve had time to memorize all of them.
Once a week, my guardian lets me out of the tower to work on my combat skills with my trainer. They feel it’s necessary for me to be trained in order to protect myself from danger. First, my guardian braids my long hair and wraps it, like a crown, around the top of my head to make a pad for my helmet. I put a mask of black cloth over my eyes before I dress in my arming coat, so no one will recognize me. I must always wear a mask outdoors, and for safety’s sake it is better to stay inside as much as possible.
My guardian has asked that I never use her name, to protect her identity in case of spies. Everyone thinks evil men kidnapped me from the castle, which is not true. They are protecting me. But when they first took me from the castle, I thought they were mean and awful. They rode like the wind with me slung over a saddle. My head bounced up and down, whacking into the horse’s ribs, and I almost threw up. When we stopped, the men pulled me off the horse, then took the bag off my head just long enough to replace it with a mask.
Then they locked me in this tower. I cried and kicked and pitched fits, but neither the men nor my guardian would take me back to the castle. I used to try to get away, and only after my ninth escape attempt (which was almost successful) did they sit me down and explain things. They told me that their goals were to protect me and to help me develop the skills to defend myself.
Rescuing Rapunzel (The Princess Chronicles Book 3) Page 2
