I hid in the top of the tower, making Rapunzel and I a home. It was supposed to be only temporary but the days kept passing. I was terrified of the knights, worried they might be waiting outside for us.
The signal that we could return never came from the king and queen. They were supposed to let me know when I could return their daughter.
But they didn’t. Day after day, I watched as the little baby grew into a toddler. I taught her how to read, how to sing, and how to cook. Her beautiful voice would filter through the tower as she played and sung to herself merrily. It was just the two of us, living happily in the tower with nothing but the fear of the outside to cast a shadow over our existence.
Rapunzel’s red hair grew as she got older. She never let me trim it and I couldn’t bear to argue with her. It was twice as long as she was tall and glorious. It made her look just like the queen and reminded me of her every time I cast my eyes upon the little girl.
I never thought I could love another human being as much as I loved Rapunzel. She felt like my own daughter. Her triumphs felt like my own, her fears my own too. When she grew into a beautiful young woman of sixteen, I couldn’t have been prouder.
Unfortunately, that was also the age where things started to change. Rapunzel wanted to go outside. Her whole life, I had warned her of the danger waiting beyond our walls. The world outside our safe tower was a scary place, I couldn’t bear to have her step right into it.
I never told Rapunzel of her true lineage, I thought it would hurt more than comfort her. To know you had a mother and father caught up in a terrible war was a horrible thought. I couldn’t do it to her. Better the girl think I was her real mother than suffer the loss of her actual parents.
“I’m tired of being cooped up in this stupid tower,” Rapunzel started one day. It was just an ordinary day, nothing special had occurred. Even now, I have no idea what started her insistence.
“We have to stay here,” I tried to convince her. “It’s dangerous outside. The knights from the other lands will cut off our heads if they find us.”
“But I’m so bored. There is nothing to do here. I want to go outside and run through the trees, they look so pretty from the window. Please, Mother? Please?”
She looked at me with those big green eyes she had – they were exactly the same as her mother’s too – and I melted. I wanted her to have a normal life more than anything but I knew that wouldn’t happen outside. I could not let my daughter get killed by knights.
“The trees are overrated. We need to stay here, there’s nothing more to say on the topic, Rapunzel.”
“You are so mean,” she huffed in reply.
Did she not realize how much I had done for her over the past sixteen years? Why couldn’t she just accept our fate as I had? It wasn’t like I wanted to spend my years cooped up in the tower either. Had it not been for my promise to the queen to keep her safe, I would have been out there running through the trees too.
“Rapunzel, I am not going to hear of your venomous words. We are staying in this tower until further notice. Do you understand?”
She ignored me. Like she did so many times, Rapunzel just stared out the little window. It was the only one in the entire tower. There was nothing good or safe about the outside world. The sooner she realized that, the better.
“Rapunzel? Are you listening to me? It is not safe to go outside.”
She continued watching. There was nothing but forest surrounding the tower, I had no idea what she found to stare at for hours on end. If she helped me more with the inside garden, she might find less time to worry about what was out there.
“Stop being so sullen,” I told her, in an attempt to get her to speak with me. Unfortunately, I got my wish.
“I don’t see what’s so bad about out there,” she yelled my way, standing up. “I just want to go outside and run through the trees. It’s not too much to ask.”
She stormed off to her room and slammed the door with a bang. It shook the few meager possessions we owned and made them rattle. I let her go without saying another word. She could be as angry as she wanted, I was angry too. I had given her my life to keep her safe and now I was just as much a prisoner as she was. Without the signal from the palace, we could not leave our hiding place.
As Rapunzel got even older, she was going to be even harder to keep inside. I knew it was an inevitability that one day she would disobey my orders and go outside. She was a headstrong girl, just like her mother. She would eventually work out that she could make her own decisions and deal with the consequences herself. It wouldn’t be too much longer.
There was only one thing I could do, I had to see the dangers outside myself. I had to know what would confront her if she were to step outside the safety of our tower. Better I be attacked than her. Rapunzel was the future of our kingdom, she was the princess and I, a lowly servant.
I crept over to Rapunzel’s door, there was silence behind it. She wouldn’t miss me for a little while as she sulked. Perhaps when she got hungry she would come out. Until then, she was probably hoping I would just disappear.
I opened the hatch in the floor and lowered the long rope ladder. It was a horribly unstable thing to climb but I did it anyway. I made it all the way down to the floor. Our vegetable garden grew around the bottom, the only thing that had sustained us over the past sixteen years. Everything was still growing wonderfully.
I had to step over pumpkins and potato bushes to get to the door that led outside. We only had one and it was boarded up with thick wooden beams. I had not opened it since we arrived. The wood came off easily as it had started to rot through.
My hands shook as I opened the door. The sunlight assaulted me, I had to squint and hold my arm over my head until I was accustomed to it. I blinked, looking around. There were no knights in sight, just a lot of trees.
I could feel my heart beating in my chest, it was going much faster than it should have been. I was terrified of what I might find – or who would find me. I took a tentative step away from the tower, praying I would make my way back again.
The forest was quiet surrounding me. Some annoying birds sung in the trees and animals rustled leaves around the place. So far, I had seen nothing that would make me want to leave the tower again. It wasn’t the magical place Rapunzel imagined it to be.
I entered further into the forest, my senses heightened as I listened for danger. The last thing I wanted was to bring the knights to the tower. My sole focus was still to protect Rapunzel, just like I had promised. But now she was so adamant about going outside, I had to find out if it was safe to do so. Even if it terrified me to do it.
All of a sudden, footsteps sounded through the trees. I quickly ducked behind a bush, making sure I couldn’t be seen. They got louder and I realized they were the beat of a horse’s hooves. Whomever was so close to the tower was on horseback. Somehow, that sounded even worse than just a sole walker.
CHAPTER3
I peeked over the bush and saw three men on three horses. Each of the men were wearing full armor, the sun glinting and reflecting off the silver surface. Three knights, all with swords. They probably had daggers too, I just couldn’t see them.
One of the men had golden hair, it shined in the sunlight just as much as his armor. He rode in the middle on a pure white horse. The men on either side didn’t seem as finely presented, he was obviously the higher ranking knight.
They looked around the area, trying to get their bearings. It was like they were searching for something. Could it be the princess and I? Had they heard rumors of our existence and wished to harm us so Rapunzel couldn’t claim her rightful place on the throne? Had these three men killed the king and queen? Were they sent by the invaders to find us?
I wasn’t going to stick around to find out. I crept away from the bush and then ran as fast as my legs could take me back to the tower.
The door slammed behind me as I leant against it, my breath rasping and catching in my throat. I hadn’t been that af
raid in a long time, not since I had fled the palace with Rapunzel. If those knights found us… if they knew I had the princess… if they got in… anything could happen.
I secured the door as best I could with the rotten wood. I should have got some new tree branches or something to close it permanently. It would have to do for now.
After climbing the rope ladder to the top of the tower again, I pulled it up. At least the knights wouldn’t be able to reach us up there. We were as safe and sound as we were going to get.
I sat on the trapdoor, willing it to remain closed forever. My breathing started to slow and my pulse returned to normal but the fear still remained.
Rapunzel peeked her head out the door. “What happened to you?” She said it without any concern for me. I probably interrupted her sulking.
“There are bad people outside, Rapunzel. We cannot go out there ever again.”
“You went outside?” She took a step into the room, her flippant attitude actually subsiding for a moment. “Without me?”
“I had to see if it was safe and it wasn’t. There were three knights out there, all just waiting to slice us into a thousand pieces.”
Rapunzel joined me on the floor, placing her hand on my arm to comfort me. “I don’t think they’d slice us into a thousand pieces. Perhaps they’re nice and just want to be our friend?”
“Knights don’t have friends, only enemies.”
I knew I was upsetting her but I had to make the child see it was dangerous to go outside. She was a precious girl, I couldn’t let anything happen to her. Even though we were starting to have our differences, I still loved her. I had raised her as my own and couldn’t bear to see her hurt.
The pained expression on her face and the way her rose red lips were set in a grimace tore at my heartstrings. “Help me up and we’ll make something yummy for dinner.”
She did as she was told and we spent the rest of the evening preparing the vegetables from our garden. Rapunzel didn’t mention going outside again for a long time after that day. If she wasn’t going to mention it, then neither would I. We would continue to wait for the signal from the palace. They would tell us when it was safe to return, I had to believe the signal would come eventually. Only then would I return the princess to the palace so she could claim her title and place on the throne.
Three weeks and two days later, I was tending the vegetables in the garden below. I had fixed the door so it was once again sturdy and sound. Nobody would be getting in through that door now. Not ever.
As I pulled out some deliciously orange carrots from the ground, I heard voices. It made my heart stop and my hands start to shake in terror. I crept over to the door, placing my ear over the wood to hear better. There was nothing but murmurs in the distance.
Then I realized the voice was coming from above. Rapunzel was speaking with someone. I moved up the rope ladder as quickly as my feet could take me. I don’t think I’ve moved that fast in years. All I knew was that I had to get to Rapunzel and make sure she was safe.
I burst through the trap door and saw Rapunzel at the window. She was leaning out, her voice abruptly stopped when she saw me.
I stormed over to the window and looked out myself, desperate to see what had taken her attention. On the ground was a man, the one I had seen with the golden hair and a white horse weeks earlier. He was by himself, probably slaying his fellow knights so he could claim his prize alone.
He blinked when he saw the beautiful face of Rapunzel replaced with my own. Good. I wanted to ensure he knew she wasn’t alone. I would do everything I could, even lay down my own life, to protect her. I wasn’t planning on breaking my promise to the queen for anything.
I slammed the shutter on the window closed. I would have nailed it shut if they weren’t all the way downstairs in the garden. Next time I visited the vegetables, I would bring them back up and secure the window so it could never be opened again.
“Rapunzel, you cannot speak to anyone. They are all dangerous, how many times do I have to tell you?” I was angry how quickly she could forget my warnings. It was like she barely listened to a word I ever said.
“He is not dangerous,” she insisted. “His name is Casper and he’s lovely. He has never been unkind to me, not once.”
“You’ve spoken to him before?” She realized her slip and clamped her lips together, like she didn’t trust herself to speak anymore. “Rapunzel, how can you betray me like that? What will it take for you to realize they only want to harm you? Will they have to kill us for you to understand?”
Her nose started to sniffle as the tears started to well in her eyes. If I had to yell at her to make her realize, then I would. Better she hate me than ignore me. At least then she would have a chance of hearing my words so they could sink in.
“You just want me all to yourself,” she spat the words back at me. “That’s why you won’t let me go outside. You’re afraid I’ll run away from you because you are so mean to me.”
“I’m not mean to you, child, I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“You always say that but you never tell me what’s going on.”
“I have told you, many times,” I reminded her. “There are people out there who want to harm you.”
“But why?” She pleaded and it broke my heart. I knew I had to tell her everything.
CHAPTER4
Well, almost everything. I spent the rest of the afternoon explaining everything I could remember about the palace. I told Rapunzel about all the good things in the kingdom, from the melodic music to the bright tapestries. The picture I painted of my former life was beautiful and vibrant, a stark contrast to the one I lived now.
The story finally ended with the night we had to flee. The only detail I left out was her lineage. I would not tell her about the parents she may have lost. I would not do that to her so she could grieve for them.
“So the enemies are still trying to capture our kingdom?” Rapunzel asked when she had processed the information. “Even after all this time?”
I nodded. “The palace said they would give us a signal when it was safe to return. To this date, we have not received that signal.”
“What is the signal?”
“Three puffs of white smoke, from the tallest of chimneys in the palace. They would be able to be seen for miles around.”
Rapunzel suddenly stood, crossing her arms. “I don’t believe you. Everything you told me is just lies. You only want to keep me here so you tell me terrible stories about out there. It’s not going to work anymore.”
I couldn’t believe she was speaking to me like that. After everything I had done for her, she was just throwing it all back into my face. “I’m not lying, Rapunzel, don’t be ridiculous. I want to return to the palace just as much as you do.”
“Liar! I don’t believe you. I hate you!” With those words spat at me, Rapunzel ran to her room and slammed the door. It was starting to become a habit.
I thought if I was honest with her and told her all about the kingdom and the knights, she would understand and trust my decision to stay indoors. I didn’t realize how her temper had grown as she had grown too. I didn’t know how to deal with her anymore. Any tiny pieces of control I used to have were now slipping from my grasp. If I didn’t love her so much, I would thrust her out that door so she could see the evils for herself. If I hadn’t promised the queen, I might have done it anyway just to teach her a valuable lesson. She would have come running back very swiftly, I’m sure.
There was only one thing I could do to keep her safe. I had to keep her inside the tower, even if she was going to hate me even more. I locked the door to her room and tied the key to my apron. She would not be allowed out until her head was rid of the nonsense and she could see reason again. I went to bed, hoping she would forgive me one day.
I awoke to hear Rapunzel pounding on her door to be let out. “You can come out when you will obey my orders to remain inside. I want you to promise you will do as I say.”
“I will not promise you that,” Rapunzel replied through the door. Her voice was muffled as it filtered through the cracks in the wood.
“Then you will not come out.”
She banged on the door some more. “You cannot keep me here.”
“I will do whatever I need to. I made a promise to someone once and I am still keeping it.”
The pounding lasted for four days. I slid food under the door so she wouldn’t be hungry but even that went unappreciated. As every day passed, I looked out the window, longing to see the signal from the palace so the whole ordeal could be over. It never came but I did get something else.
“Mother, I promise,” Rapunzel moaned through the door on the fifth day. “I’ll stay inside and obey your orders.”
My heart stopped, had I heard correctly? “Do you cross your heart and hope to die if you go back on your word?”
“I cross my heart.”
It was all I needed. I opened the door and wrapped my arms around Rapunzel. She hugged me back tightly, my daughter was returned to me.
Needless to say, I kept a very close eye on her for the next few days. We returned to our happy routine and everything seemed to return to normal. I could finally relax again, knowing we would continue to remain safely in the tower. I even taught Rapunzel how to watch for the signal from the palace so we could ensure we didn’t miss it when it came.
One morning, I was in the garden pulling out some vegetables for our meal. Everything was coming along so well we would be able to eat for a very long time into the future. Although, I hoped we wouldn’t have to. Surely the signal would have to come one day soon.
Rapunzel’s sweet singing cascaded down from high in the tower. It was wonderful to work to, her voice always lifted my heart. She was especially talented at it, just like her mother.
The singing abruptly stopped. In the distance, murmurs started to filter through to my ears. I dreaded what it meant. I crept halfway up the ladder, it was definitely Rapunzel talking to someone. The man was back, I knew it without having to see him.
Fairy Tales Retold Page 4