“She’s a no-good sneak, that’s why,” said Rapunzel. “She wants Hecuba to keep me locked up forever, and she wants her mother to kill you as well.”
“That’s not true,” shouted Medea. “I don’t want Marco to be hurt.” She narrowed her eyes and glared at Rapunzel. “Of course, I can’t say the same for you, big sister.”
“Girls, girls, stop the fighting.” Marco stood up, kissing Rapunzel and wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Medea looked very jealous. “If Medea wants a ride on the dragon, I think she should have it.”
“Really?” A grin spread across Medea’s face.
“Marco,” begged Rapunzel. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Of course, Medea, you have to be good if you want me to give you a ride,” he continued.
“I am good,” she said, lifting her chin in the air and looking down her nose.
“What I mean is that you have to give Rapunzel and me some time alone together.”
Rapunzel looked up to Marco, pleased with what he was doing. “That would be nice.”
“What do you want me to do?” asked Medea, not sounding sure she would agree.
“Next time I come to visit, I want you to go for a long walk in the woods or out to play. And I want you to make certain your mother doesn’t stop by here either.
“All right,” she said. “If you promise to give me a ride on the dragon.”
“I promise,” he said. “But you will have to wait until I can control it because I don’t want you to get hurt.” He fondly ruffled her hair with his hand.
“Oh, Marco, I can’t wait to have time alone with you.” Rapunzel threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. His hands roamed down her shoulders and slipped to her back. Then his tongue entered her mouth, and she let out a moan.
“I want a kiss, too, or I won’t do it,” said Medea.
Rapunzel pulled back, realizing she shouldn’t have kissed Marco so passionately in front of Medea.
“Here’s a kiss,” said Marco, leaning over and giving Medea a peck on the head.
“Not like that,” said Medea, rolling her eyes again. “That is a kiss for a child. I want a kiss like you gave Rapunzel – on the mouth.”
“Medea, that kind of kiss is only for grown-ups,” Marco told her.
“I’m almost an adult,” she protested. “Promise me a kiss or I won’t do it.”
“All right,” said Marco with a slight nod. “When you turn eighteen, I will give you a kiss on the mouth, but not until then.”
“That’s in just over a sennight,” said Medea happily, counting on her fingers the days until she would turn eighteen.
“What are you saying?” Rapunzel asked Marco, not liking the fact he was going to kiss anyone besides her.
He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Isn’t it worth it to have a few hours alone without anyone else here? Besides, I’m sure she’ll forget about it by the time she turns eighteen.”
“I suppose so,” Rapunzel agreed, hoping it was true.
“All right, Medea, you have a deal.” Marco reached out and shook her hand. “But you have to give us time alone, and as much time and as often as we want. Understand? You also need to keep your mother from knowing about it.”
“All right,” she said, smirking at them. “But once you kiss me, you will never want to kiss Rapunzel again.”
Rapunzel would have thought it just the idle talk of a child if she hadn’t seen that evil darkness clouding the girl’s eyes once more.
Chapter 15
Two more days passed and, still, Marco was no luckier in taking command of the dragon. It had thrown him off its back more times than he could count. Because of the dragon’s hurt wing – stabbed by Marco’s dagger – it was having trouble flying straight.
“I don’t know,” said his father, shaking his head. “I never had so much trouble when I learned to be a Dragon Lord.”
“I suppose I just need more practice,” said Marco. “Let me call the dragon. Mayhap, I’ll try taking it to Gillingham again. Nothing against you, but perhaps Lord de Bar will be able to help me by using his magic.”
His father sighed and then nodded in agreement. “I have failed to teach you, Son. Perhaps you are right. Go to him.”
“This has no reflection on you,” Marco told him. Looking out over the lake, Marco rubbed his ring and called for the dragon. “Lucio! Lucio, come to me,” he yelled.
“I don’t think the dragon likes that you named it Lucio.”
“I don’t think the dragon likes anything at all,” answered Marco.
He closed his eyes and tried to still his mind. Rubbing his ring, he worked hard to feel any kind of connection at all with the dragon. He had yet to feel the life force that his father said connected a Dragon Lord to his beast. As he relaxed, he saw a vision in his mind’s eye. A huge, red dragon poked its head out from behind a cloud. Marco didn’t need to look at his ring to know it was glowing. He felt the fire and the power. The red dragon rose up majestically, and Marco willed it to come to him. As it moved closer, he felt his body vibrating. Yes. This is what a Dragon Lord was supposed to feel, he was sure of it.
“Marco, the dragon approaches.”
His father’s words pulled him from his thoughts. Marco’s eyes flickered open, and the connection he had felt was instantly gone. His ring stopped glowing and his body no longer held a bloodline connected to the dragon. He wasn’t surprised to see the small green dragon there instead.
“I will be back, Father,” he said, mounting the dragon and holding on tightly. “Come on, Lucio, we are going to Gillingham, like it or not.”
The dragon hissed, spit, and bucked, but Marco would not back down. He gripped its neck tightly and squeezed with his legs as he directed the dragon toward Gillingham.
Rapunzel waited at the window, watching for Marco. It had been two days now, and he had yet to return. After their last encounter, she was anxious to see him. Because of the deal he made with Medea, they would have private time together.
“He’s not coming,” Medea told her, leaning back on two legs of a chair using a pumice stone to file down her nails.
“He’ll be here,” she said. “When he arrives, you will disappear and give us time alone, just like you promised.”
Medea chuckled. She put down the stone and stood up and stretched. When she did, Rapunzel almost gasped. The girl wore a very tight top, and there was no missing the new swells of her breasts from underneath. She also wore a short skirt above her knees instead of her usual pair of breeches.
“What are you wearing, Medea?”
“I decided Marco would notice me if I looked more like you.”
“Marco is my betrothed. He doesn’t want anything to do with you.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Medea, you are only a twelve-year-old child.”
“And tomorrow I will be a teenager. In six days, I will be an adult and Marco will kiss me and forget all about you.”
Rapunzel had to hold back her temper so she wouldn’t use her newfound powers to flip her unruly little sister across the room. No one was going to take Marco away from her, not even by using magic.
Sitting down at her dressing table, she studied her image in the mirror. Her face was void of any paint, and she wore the clothes of a man. Since Marco told her it was what was inside that counted, she had decided to be more natural. Then she looked over at Medea who was brushing her long, lush hair. The girl pushed the daisy that Marco gave her behind her ear. She put down the brush and walked over to the window, humming.
“Mayhap just a little paint to highlight my eyes wouldn’t hurt.” Rapunzel picked up her jars of colors and started to adorn herself to look like a lady once again.
It was a very rough ride. By the time Marco managed to direct the dragon to Gillingham, his entire body ached. For such a small, scrawny thing, the dragon seemed to have a mind of its own. Marco decided if he couldn’t command it with his mind, he would do it by
mere force.
Three times the dragon had turned around and started heading back to Guildford. Marco had squeezed its body tightly with his legs, yanking its neck and steering it in the direction of Gillingham instead. The thing really did not want to go.
He also used an extra two leather belts, tying himself to the dragon so he wouldn’t be thrown off again. Finally, he could see Gillingham Castle up ahead and directed the dragon toward the front gate.
“Come on, Lucio,” he said. “I have another Lucio I’d like you to meet.”
The sentries on the battlements saw him, raising their bows and arrows, thinking they were about to be attacked.
“Don’t shoot!” he called out, directing the dragon closer to the battlements. “I am Marco Drago del Rossi the Third. I am here to see Lucio de Bar.”
“Marco, is that you?” Lucio climbed the stairs to the battlements, staring up at the sky.
“Stand back. I’m going to try to land this thing.” Holding tightly to the dragon’s neck, he squeezed his legs, trying to direct the dragon downward. The dragon came close, but when it saw Lucio de Bar, it seemed to go crazy. It bucked and clawed at the air, trying to throw Marco from its back. He hung on, only managing to anger the dragon more. Smoke came from the beast’s nostrils, and its eyes turned bright red. When it breathed fire from its mouth, the soldiers on the battlements ran for cover. In one last attempt, it flew higher, then swooped down, titling and rubbing its back against the wall.
That did it. The leather belts snapped, and Marco felt himself falling. Thankfully, he landed in a wagon of hay in the middle of the courtyard. He groaned, feeling like his body was broken. Lying on his back and staring up at the sky, he saw the dragon flying off in the distance. There was no way he would get it to return now.
“Del Rossi, are you all right?” Lucio bolted down the stairs of the battlements, crossing the courtyard, and making his way to Marco.
“Father, was that a dragon?” Wolf ran out with his sword drawn, followed by his twin, Arnon, sporting his weapon as well.
“What the hell is going on?” Next came Kin, looking up at the sky. The eldest de Bar brother, Stefan, ran out of the keep with a sword in one hand and an axe in the other.
“Put the weapons away, boys,” commanded Lucio. “Marco is our guest, and also a Dragon Lord.”
“Nice of you to drop in,” said Arnon, chuckling as he put away his sword.
“Dragon Lord?” asked Stefan. “It doesn’t seem as if you know how to ride.”
“I’m learning,” said Marco, sitting up, rubbing his head.
“You call that bird a dragon?” asked Kin, watching the dragon disappear over the horizon. “Bloody hell, I’ve had hawks bigger than that.”
“This is the man who is going to save our sister?” Arnon chuckled in amusement.
“I’m not only going to save Rapunzel, but I’m going to break her curse as well,” Marco told them.
There was total silence as the brothers all stared at one another with blank looks on their faces. Then Kin started laughing uncontrollably, causing the rest of his brothers to burst out laughing as well.
“Stop it, boys. You aren’t being very hospitable to our guest,” Lucio told them.
“Most of our guests enter through the front gate,” Wolf pointed out.
“Aye,” agreed Stefan. “And they sleep in the solar instead of a wagon of hay.”
They continued to laugh, not heeding the warning of their father.
“Too bad MacKay has left for Scotland. He would have loved to have seen this.” Kin lowered his weapon.
“I tell you, I am going to rescue your sister and break her curse.” Marco slipped out of the wagon and brushed the hay from his clothes. “We are getting married as soon as that happens.”
Total silence again. Then Arnon spoke up. “The day our spoiled baby sister marries the likes of you is the day I go back to being a frog.”
“Aye,” joined in Kin. “Rap would never marry anyone who couldn’t even control a dragon.”
“We’ve heard for years that she wants to marry a handsome, rich, titled man and not a fool,” said Arnon.
“Boys, that’s enough!” Lucio turned to Marco. “This is news to me, del Rossi. I am Rapunzel’s father, and I haven’t betrothed her to anyone.”
“I asked her to marry me, and she agreed,” Marco explained.
“She did?” Wolf slipped his sword back into his scabbard and glanced over at his brothers.
“That certainly doesn’t sound like Rap,” said Stefan, still holding on to his weapons tightly in each hand.
“I swear, it is the truth. Rapunzel and I are . . . in love,” said Marco, nodding his head, liking the way it sounded. “We are going to be married, and not even Hecuba or Medea can stop us.”
“Medea?” asked Lucio curiously. “Who is that?”
“Oh.” Marco grimaced, not wanting to tell them. He had slipped up, and now there was no way he could keep it a secret. “I was going to tell you when this was all over. I didn’t want you to go back on your word of letting me rescue Rapunzel.”
“I don’t go back on my word,” said Lucio. “Now tell me, who is Medea? Is she another witch? I’ve never heard of her. Perhaps she is older than me. Is she hundreds of years old, like Hecuba?”
“Not exactly,” said Marco, looking up in the air so he wouldn’t have to face Lucio when he divulged the information. He wasn’t sure the man was going to take the news well. “Right about now,” he said as he calculated her age in his head, “Medea is twelve years old.”
“Twelve?” asked Wolf, chuckling. “I hardly think a twelve-year-old witch is something to worry about.”
“Mayhap not, but she’s aging a year every day. Soon, she will be more than a handful.”
“Del Rossi, what is all the mystery?” Lucio continued with his questions. “Is this Medea a friend of Hecuba’s?”
“I guess you could say that.” Marco nodded his head, holding his breath as he told them the rest. “She is Hecuba’s daughter.”
“Daughter?” Lucio furrowed a brow. “Hecuba doesn’t have a daughter.”
“She does now,” he told him. “And so do you. You see, Medea is your daughter. too, Lord de Bar.”
This time, when Lucio’s sons became silent, they didn’t start laughing again.
Chapter 16
I have a daughter with Hecuba?” Lucio grabbed on to the side of the wagon and sank low in the hay, taking the place Marco just vacated.
“I know I should have told you sooner, and I’m sorry.” Marco adjusted his weapon belt.
“Father, how can this be?” asked Wolf.
“It must have happened when we were locked up together, trapped in the secret lair in the woods.” Lucio seemed to search his memory, trying to remember the past.
“How could you not know about it?” spat Stefan. “I don’t believe we have another sister.” He threw the axe to the ground and shoved his sword back into the scabbard.
“Nay, it could be possible,” said Lucio, staring down at the ground as if he were in shock. “Hecuba has tricked me before, and I am sure she will trick me again. After all, look what she’s done, cursing my entire family.”
“Not to mention, she killed Mother,” growled Wolf. “I say we go after her and kill her.”
“Aye, I am all for it,” said Stefan. The scar on his face twitched.
“Did I just hear someone say you have another sister, Stefan?” asked Bonnibel, walking up with the wives of the other brothers.
“Her name is Medea?” asked Red. “I wonder who she looks like?”
“She has dark eyes and black hair,” Marco told them.
“Oh, she looks like her father,” said Freya, Arnon’s wife.
“I can’t believe this,” mumbled Lucio, still shaking his head as if that were going to make the situation disappear.
“Neither can I,” said Wolf. “You were trapped with Hecuba for a year, Father. And you were in the shapeshifting form of
a mouse.”
“That’s right,” agreed Arnon. “This must only be one of the old hag’s tricks again.”
“Nay, it’s real,” said Marco. “And Medea has powers. I’ve seen her use them. Rapunzel has powers, too.”
“Rapunzel has powers?” asked Kin with a smile. “Now we know you’re lying. The only power our little sister has is the power to get our father to give her everything she wants.”
“Yep, she was always the favored child since she was the youngest,” said Arnon in spite.
“I’ve seen her use her magic,” said Marco. “She and Medea do not get along and are using their powers against each other all the time.”
“Then, Medea is a demon,” said Stefan.
“Nay, I don’t think so,” Marco said with a shake of his head. “Even though Rapunzel is convinced Medea is evil, I think she is kind of cute. I never had siblings, but wish I would have had a little brother or sister.”
“She’s the product of light and dark magic,” Kin pointed out. “And she’s growing a year older every day. That can’t be good.”
“Dangerous,” added Wolf. “We won’t be able to trust her.”
“I am still not convinced our father sired Medea,” said Arnon.
“It’s true, boys,” said Lucio, still holding on to the cart. “I have felt another force lately, and now I know what it is.”
“How?” was all Arnon said.
“I was not a mouse the entire time I was trapped with Hecuba,” explained Lucio. “She most likely seduced me in her shapeshifting form of a young, beautiful woman. Then, when she turned me into a mouse, she took away my memory of the act.”
“I want to see this so-called sister of ours,” demanded Stefan.
“Aye, me, too,” added Kin.
“Nay,” said Lucio, getting to his feet. “I have promised Marco we won’t go near the tower until a fortnight is over. I will not go back on my word, no matter what the consequences.”
“Marco, how do you plan on saving our sister?” Arnon wanted to know. “You don’t seem as if you can even control that scrawny dragon of yours.”
Lady in the Tower_Rapunzel (Tangled Tales Book 5) Page 11
