The odd sisters kept watching from the dreamscape. The mirrors were flashing different images at a startling rate, telling them the story—a story they already knew. A story that had been written long before but was only now appearing on the pages of their tome. And they had a feeling their Circe was reading the book as the story unfolded. They had made sure to admonish Gothel. Circe would see. She would see their good deeds and forgive them. She would let them free. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t see Circe. They didn’t know where she was or what she was doing. They couldn’t see Nanny or the goings-on in Morningstar Kingdom, and they knew it was Circe’s doing.
Lucinda looked at the many mirrors and saw Gothel peeking in the window at the Snuggly Ducking.
She’s found them, she thought. This story is almost over.
The odd sisters watched Gothel spying in the window at the Snuggly Duckling, the foul place Flynn Rider took the flower to in a vain attempt to frighten her. He hoped the place, filled with ruffians and murderers, would make her flee back to her mother and the safety of her tower, and that he would get his crown back without having to take her to see the lanterns. But she didn’t run. She rallied the hooligans to her cause; she got the blackguards to help her.
“They’re buffoons!” shouted Martha.
“What is this tomfoolery?” Ruby said, laughing.
“Are these supposed to be the bad guys?”
“What is that little man wearing? A diaper? Wings?”
“Clever girl, she’s brought them to her side!” said Ruby, clapping her hands and stomping her little boots while spinning in a circle. Lucinda and Martha joined Ruby’s dance as they watched the images of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider appear in the mirrors, flashing like lightning. It was terrifying to the witches to watch the events unfold. Palace guards. A maniacal horse. A narrow escape. And then Gothel, talking to the small man with wings outside the tavern door.
“Gothel is going to kill the little man in the diaper!” screeched Ruby.
“Let her! He’s obscene!” said Martha.
“No, Sisters. He’s just told her where the secret tunnel from the Snuggly Duckling lets out. She’s going to find them! She’s going to find Rapunzel and Flynn.”
“No, she won’t!” said Ruby, casting her hand at the mirror.
“What did you do?” yelled Lucinda.
“I made sure they went another way.”
“You almost killed them!” shouted Lucinda, watching in horror images flashing before them in their many mirrors.
“But I didn’t! They’re safe in the cavern.”
“Ruby! The cavern is flooded. The dam is broken!”
They watched Rapunzel cry in the flooded cavern. “They’re trapped,” screamed Martha.
“I’m so sorry, Flynn,” said Rapunzel.
“Eugene,” he said, correcting her.
“What?”
“My real name is Eugene Fitzherbert. Someone might as well know.”
The sisters laughed. “There is no time for flirting, you fools!” Lucinda was screaming into the mirrors. “Are they giving up? Wait, no, listen!”
“I have magic hair that glows when I sing. I have magic hair that glows when I sing!”
“Ah! She’s figured out a way out of the cavern!”
“Smart girl! Smart girl!” said Ruby and Martha, dancing in circles and clicking their heels on the floor. “Smart girl!”
“Sisters, shhh! We’d better keep watching to make sure they get to the castle safely. Wait! Look! Gothel is at the duck door!”
“Duck door?”
“The duck door, Ruby! The end of the secret passage from the pub! Never mind! She is talking to those ruffians! Making some sort of deal. She’s up to something!”
“Didn’t you say it was already written? Why are you worried, Lucinda?”
“It’s odd looking into the future, Sisters. Though it is likely to come to pass, what we see isn’t always fixed,” she said. “So keep your eyes on all the mirrors and tell me if Gothel is up to any more of her trickery!”
Gothel was watching Rapunzel and Flynn Rider huddled together near a fire. She could see the two were becoming closer, sitting there all cozily together, sharing stories and making eyes at each other.
“Oh gods, this is sickening!” said Gothel, watching the young couple talk. They are becoming a couple, aren’t they? She had to break the bond between them. She had gone about all of this the wrong way. All of it! Maybe the odd sisters were right.
“Of course we’re right!” said the odd sisters from Gothel’s hand mirror.
Gothel snatched it out of her pocket and narrowed her eyes at Lucinda. “What do you see in those mirrors? Do you see the future? Do you know how this is going to end? All I want is to bring my sisters back! Please! Just help me. I’ll give the girl back to her parents afterwards, I promise!”
The odd sisters laughed. “Maybe if you actually loved Rapunzel, she wouldn’t be running away from you now. Maybe if you’d actually raised her and created a real home and life for her, she wouldn’t be falling in love with the first boy she met!”
“Oh! The way Circe loves you?” snapped Gothel, her words like a dagger.
“I told you not to mention her name!” said Lucinda in a firm yet surprisingly calm voice that sent a hollow feeling through Gothel.
“What are you going to do about it from the dreamscape?” Gothel snapped, standing her ground.
“Don’t forget, Gothel, one of our mirrors is in your cellar—with your sisters. Cross the line with us again and you shall see how far our fury can extend!”
“You keep my sisters out of this!”
“And you keep Circe out of it as well,” warned Lucinda. “And you’d better look to your flower. It looks like she’s falling in love,” she added before the mirror went black. Gothel heard Flynn Rider saying he was going to get more wood for their fire. She crept up behind Rapunzel and just stood there a moment, watching her flower in silence. She wondered if Rapunzel could feel her standing there, like a grim specter in the darkness. The way she’d always felt it when her own mother was near.
“Well, I thought he’d never leave,” said Gothel, startling Rapunzel.
“Mother?”
“Hello, dear.”
“I-I-I don’t—how did you find me?”
“Oh, it’s easy, really. I just listened to the sound of complete and utter betrayal and followed that.”
Rapunzel sighed. “Mother.”
“We’re going home, Rapunzel. Now.”
“You don’t understand. I’ve been on this incredible journey and I’ve seen and learned so much. I even met someone.”
“Yes, the wanted thief. I’m so proud. Come on, Rapunzel.”
“Mother, please! I think—I think he likes me.”
“Likes you? Please, Rapunzel, that’s demented.”
“But, Mother, I—”
“This is why you never should have left! Dear, this whole romance that you’ve invented just proves you’re too naive to be here. Why would he like you? Come on now, really! Look at you. You think that he’s impressed? Don’t be a dummy, come with Mummy. Mother—”
“No!” Rapunzel yelled, finally finding her voice with her mother, finding the courage to stand up to her.
“‘No’? Oh. I see how it is. Rapunzel knows best! Rapunzel’s so mature now, such a clever grown-up miss. Rapunzel knows best. Fine, if you’re so sure now, go ahead and give him this!” said Gothel, handing Rapunzel the satchel with the crown.
“How did you—”
Gothel didn’t answer her. She kept ranting. “This is why he’s here! Don’t let him deceive you! Give it to him. Watch, you’ll see!”
“I will!”
“Trust me, my dear,” Gothel said, snapping her fingers. “That’s how fast he’ll leave you. I won’t say I told you so—no! Rapunzel knows best! So if he’s such a dreamboat, go and put him to the test!”
“Mother, wait!”
“If he’s
lying, don’t come crying! Mother knows best!”
And Gothel left her flower alone, with her doubts and fears. Alone to wonder if Flynn Rider only wanted the crown.
“Yes, my little flower. Give him the crown and find out,” said Gothel in the distance as she watched her flower struggling with what to do next.
This time Rapunzel could feel her mother lurking in the distance, but she couldn’t see her or the hooligans standing beside her.
“Patience, boys. All good things to those who wait.”
In one of their many mirrors, the odd sisters watched as Rapunzel entered for the first time the kingdom, with its cobblestone paths, elaborate archway entrance, and enormous blue castle nestled on a lush green hillside. The kingdom was a vibrant, beautiful place filled with lovely muted purples and blues. And everywhere Rapunzel looked, there were purple banners splashed with gold stars. There were flower garlands and gingerbread-style cottage storefronts. It was the most beautiful place Rapunzel had ever seen. There was a magnificent mural on one of the enclaves, where little girls gathered to leave offerings for the lost princess. The mural was of the King and Queen and their daughter with golden hair. The lost princess.
The odd sisters saw Rapunzel dash off before they could help her remember. But they wove a spell to bind her, and spun their words like a web, tangling her within her story—the story of the stolen baby, the Princess who was spirited away from her true family, the little girl without a home until the day the thief brought her back. As they watched the Princess dance in the square, they filled her heart with joy and the overwhelming feeling that she was at home. She had never felt so alive.
And then it was time—time to watch the lights.
It started with one lantern. One lonely and heartbreaking lantern. Rapunzel didn’t know why it filled her heart with such sorrow to see it floating alone, reflected in the water, but then the kingdom started to shimmer with thousands of lanterns, and her heart was filled with the same joy she had experienced when she saw the mural of the royal family.
“I think she knows, Lucinda.”
“I think there’s a spark of it in her heart. I think she almost knows.”
“I’m happy we gave the King and Queen the idea to light the lanterns on her birthday,” said Lucinda, watching the lights rise into the heavens.
“They’ve been calling to her. Just as we hoped,” said Martha.
“Do you think Circe will blame us for betraying Gothel? For giving the counter enchantment to the King so his guards could get through the thicket?” asked Ruby.
“We did it to get Gothel out of that horrid place. To bring her closer to us! We had no idea it would…Never mind. Gothel is lost to us,” said Lucinda.
“Look—I think Rapunzel knows.” They watched as the young princess experienced more joy than she had known her entire lifetime.
“She will know soon. The spark is turning into a light. Her world has shifted,” said Martha, smiling at the Princess surrounded by the floating lights.
“Wait? What is that? That green light?” asked Ruby.
“What green light?” asked Lucinda. “Where?”
“Look, in that mirror. On the shore! Gothel’s hooligans!” And then the mirrors went black.
“What’s happened?” The sisters were in a panic.
“Show us the girl!” screamed Lucinda, but all the mirrors were cold and still, and eerily dark.
“I don’t understand!” said Lucinda, searching all the mirrors and finding only blackness.
“What’s wrong with the mirrors? Why have they gone black?”
Then a face appeared in every mirror. It was solemn and filled with wrath.
“Stop interfering!” It was Circe.
“We’re helping!” cried the odd sisters. “We’re helping the Princess.”
“You’re not to interfere with anyone ever again. Do you understand?”
“But—”
“It will only end in heartbreak if you do, my sisters, my mothers.”
“But—”
“Every time you try to help, something goes wrong. You are walking nightmares, a menace! Ursula is dead because of you! Maleficent has died by your hands! Snow White is forever plagued by nightmares because you tortured her as a child! You destroy everything you touch! Now please, you’ve already ruined one life in this story, and I’m afraid she is already beyond redemption. Do you really want to ruin another?”
“But—”
“No! Leave this to me! If you ever want to see me again, you will leave it alone. You will trust that the fairies and I have this handled. Do not interfere!”
“What do you mean you and the fairies?” asked Lucinda.
“I have to go now. Please, for your own sake and mine, don’t try to interfere,” said Circe, her face completely impassive.
“Can we have our mirrors back?” asked Lucinda.
“Not until the end. You can have your mirrors back at the end.”
Circe sighed. “Good-bye, Mothers.” And the mirrors went black.
“Our daughter has betrayed us. She is working with the fairies. She’s turned her back on us! Giving us ultimatums? Trying to command us! We created her! She is alive because we brought her out of nothing. We gave her the best parts of ourselves, and this is how she repays us?” Lucinda was incensed.
“I don’t understand! We were trying to help the Princess,” said Ruby.
“Circe doesn’t care! She’s the fairies’ creature now. She belongs to Nanny and the others. She is dead to us. Our enemy.”
“No, Lucinda! You don’t mean that!”
“She thinks we destroy everything we touch? She thinks we are walking nightmares? She has seen nothing!”
“Lucinda, no! We can’t hurt Circe!”
“We won’t hurt her, my dear. For hurting her would be like hurting ourselves,” said Lucinda, repeating the old words that had been said by many witches who had come before them.
“What are you going to do?”
“We are going to destroy everything she holds dear. Rip her away from those who fill her head with lies about us. Those who seek to take her from us.”
“Won’t that make her hate us even more?”
“No, it will bring her closer to us. We will have our Circe again.”
Gothel felt a terrible chill as she stood on the shore. Something was wrong. A horrible feeling of loneliness washed over her. She hadn’t felt that alone since her sisters had died so many lifetimes earlier. She almost wanted to call out to the odd sisters to see if they were still lurking behind the mirrors, but something told her they weren’t. She didn’t have to take the mirror out of her pocket. She didn’t have to call them in vain. They’re gone. She could feel it.
They’re really gone. They’ve left me alone.
She heard her mother’s words echoing in her ears again. You are destined to be alone.
Gothel sighed. She was waiting for the ruffians to do their work, waiting until it was time to call out to her flower, save her from the terrible beastly men, and from the young man who had used and betrayed her. She had arranged a grand spectacle. All for Rapunzel. A ruse. And she was sure it would bring her flower back to her, back where she belonged.
Hades! I forgot the sleeping potion! Never mind. She would bring her flower back to the tower and give her the sleeping potion there, then take her to the country house herself. She didn’t need Lucinda, Ruby, and Martha. Nothing else mattered but the flower. The flower and her sisters. Her real sisters. She wouldn’t be alone for long.
I’ll be with you soon, Sisters.
Finally, it was time. Time for the performance of her life. Time to make the commotion. Gothel would be the savior, the doting mother who saved her dear sweet daughter from the nasty thieves who played with her emotions.
Gothel called out from the darkness. “Rapunzel?”
“Mother?”
“Oh! My precious girl!”
“Mother!”
“Are you all right? Are
you hurt?”
“Mother, how did you…”
“I was so worried about you, dear. So I followed you, and I saw them attack you, and…Oh my, let’s go—let’s go before they come to!”
Rapunzel watched Eugene sail away on his boat. Gothel could see her flower was heartbroken. She believed Eugene had betrayed her and that the only person in the world who really loved her was her mother, who was waiting for her with open arms. Rapunzel melted into a heap of tears and cried in her mother’s embrace. “You were right, Mother. You were right about everything.”
“I know, darling, I know.”
“Now, wash up for dinner. I’m making hazelnut soup!” Rapunzel was back in her room, at home with her mother. Heartbroken. Her mother was acting like it was just any other day. It wasn’t. Rapunzel had thought she was going to have a life. A real life! But she was trapped in the tower again, never to leave, never to love. Her mother was right: the world was a horrible place.
“I really did try, Rapunzel. I tried to warn you what was out there. The world is dark, selfish, and cruel. If it finds even the slightest ray of sunshine, it destroys it.”
Like my sisters, Gothel thought.
Rapunzel opened her clenched fist. She had been holding on to one of the purple flags from the celebration. On it was a golden sun, just like the sun on the King’s and Queen’s clothing in the mural. Just like the suns in the murals she had painted on her bedroom ceiling. Everywhere she looked there were suns and more suns.
Then it hit her. She fell backward into her vanity. In that moment, she knew. In that moment, it all made sense.
She was the lost princess.
“Rapunzel? Rapunzel, what’s going on up there? Rapunzel, are you all right?” said Gothel, walking up the stairs to see what the commotion was.
Rapunzel was in shock. She stood on the landing, just looking at Gothel, seeing her for the foul woman she was. “I’m the lost princess.”
Mother Knows Best: A Tale of the Old Witch Page 19
