Mogra laughed; a deep, throaty sound that made my stomach flip and my skin prickle. I shivered. She was beautiful again, like a poisonous frog with its lurid colors. In fact, now that I looked more closely, her form was not exactly as I remembered it. It was a little like a caricature painting from memory, with the details exaggerated.
“Oh, no, no, no… I don’t think so. The cat has caught your bird and will scratch out your eyes as well. Rapunzel is lost to you. You will never see her again.” If I had any hope left that my mother would regain her sanity and her honor, the last of it was snuffed out like a dying candle. But that did not matter. My first priority was Rapunzel.
Remembering the time that Mogra had raised her hand and conjured a ball of fire, I spread my fingertips, watching as cold blue flames engulfed my hand like a gauntlet. I felt no pain, only a cold, stinging sensation. Conjuring fire and light was one of the first things I had learned to do – it had amused Rapunzel when she was a child. Now, maybe it would serve to protect me.
Mogra looked surprised, but not at all afraid. “You dare to use magic? Against me? You foolish girl… I am more powerful than you will ever be!”
Tired of her posturing, I charged, prepared to burn Mogra’s face or arms with my hand in order to take the dagger from her. Inches away, I rammed into an invisible wall, unable to move forward. The gauntlet of fire that coated my hand flickered and my wrist throbbed with pain, the old injury making itself known.
She laughed again, but this time the sound only served to make me angrier. I tried once again to press through the invisible barrier, but with no success. After another push, Mogra appeared to grow bored with me. “You are becoming an annoyance,” she said dryly. Rapunzel began to struggle against her grip, pressing into Mogra’s side and causing a startled look to cross Mogra’s face. “You can’t possibly…” she muttered to herself, and then turned back to me.
“Hold still!” she shouted at me, lifting her hand and pointing it at me, palm facing outwards. The air was driven from my chest as a heavy force tossed me backwards, pinning me against the far wall of the bedroom. Dazed, I tried to move my arms, but my weak attempts were useless.
“Now, about you.” Mogra began a curious examination of my lover, checking her pulse, her temperature, and even looking under her tongue and into her eyes. I tried once again to free myself as she cupped Rapunzel’s breast in one hand, the other trailing along the strip of skin between her hips. Even though the touches did not seem sexual, they infuriated me. I did not want Mogra to touch Rapunzel for any reason.
“I thought so,” she said to Rapunzel, all of the dark amusement gone from her voice. “I was going to separate you from dear, precious Ailynn forever, but I think I will keep you together. It will be much more satisfying when she realizes…”
Finally, she turned back to me. I made one last attempt to free myself, but I was still helplessly stuck to the wall. It felt as though a giant boulder was sitting directly on top of my chest and it was hard to breathe. “I have decided to let you keep your little whore after all. She is tainted and worthless to me now. Both of you will be gone soon. I can’t leave you here to disrupt my plans.” Again, Mogra lifted her hands and dropped the knife, her lips forming ancients Words, Words of Power that ran together like a song. Finally free, Rapunzel ran to me and clutched my hand.
Before I could move to defend myself, a loud howling sound exploded in my head. Both of us were whipped across the room, over the balcony, and up, up, up into the sky, carried by a strong gust of wind. Rapunzel screamed, but the sound was lost in the cold air blasting across our faces and arms. She squeezed my hand, which had miraculously stayed in hers, and I squeezed back, unable to do anything else.
I turned my head down and saw… nothing. There was no sign of the ground below us, just an endless expanse of blue, only broken by the occasional wisp of white cloud. I panicked and started to struggle away from Rapunzel, but she pulled me closer. ‘Don’t look down!’ she mouthed, keeping her eyes shut tight.
Too late, I thought. I followed Rapunzel’s example and closed my eyes so that I would not have to see how high up we were. If we were going to fall to our deaths, I did not want to watch. Slowly, the howling tongues of air that licked at my skin and tore my clothing like claws began to soften, drifting farther and farther away. I sank deeper into the darkness behind my closed eyelids. The last thing that I was aware of was the tight grip of Rapunzel’s hand.
…
I awoke next to a river, my face warmed by the bright sun above me. The grass was soft and comfortable, and I took in a slow breath through my nose, enjoying the sweet, earthy smell. I could not remember losing consciousness, but the aches and kinks all over my body told me that I had probably fallen here.
Some adventurer and rescuer I am, I thought, disgruntled and irritated with myself. This is the second time I have passed out now… first when I saw Cate in half-shape and again after that terrifying flight. The flight… Rapunzel!
Frantically, I opened my eyes flung out my arms, searching for Rapunzel. I was relieved when I felt a warm body pressed next to mine. I sighed gratefully when I felt her even, steady heartbeat against my shoulder. My frantic movements had not roused her.
Slowly, I pulled myself up into a sitting position and looked around. We were in some kind of beautiful hidden clearing. There was a bright, clear river that gurgled cheerfully along beside me. The grass and sky were beautiful, too, and the colors were vivid. There was also a small, neat little cottage nearby. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered to myself. I could think of nothing else to say as I took in the wondrous scenery, which was tinted with the excited hum of spellwork.
Finally, I felt strong enough to try and stand up. I stumbled to my feet, ignoring the painful stretching of my muscles. Suddenly, a voice called out to me, and I whirled around to see who was there. Standing several feet behind me was an old man wearing shabby brown rags. He grinned and I noticed that he had only a few of his teeth left.
“Arim dei,” he said, greeting me politely. I glanced worriedly at Rapunzel, who had not yet opened her eyes. However, the stranger did not seem threatening, although the scent of magic clung to him strongly. “Isna every that two lovely girls are falling into the middle of my back yard. No indeed, not every day.”
“Well, it certainly wasn’t a pleasant experience,” I mumbled, not sure of what to say.
The old man laughed, but it was not a cruel laugh. His eyes crinkled at the corners, further reassuring me of his good intentions. “Flying in the sky is for birds, not young ladies. Dinna worry. I will be seein’ to you and your friend. I was after knowin’ your Maman.”
My eyes narrowed. “I would appreciate that,” I said, wondering whether I should mention that it was my mother’s fault that we were here in the first place. I finally decided that he deserved to know, since Mogra might come looking for us at a later date, although I could not fathom why she had sent us here to meet this strange man. “You should probably know that she is… not the same. She sent us here.”
“Ah, no, she wasna sendin’ you here. I was doing that my own self.”
I frowned at him, confused. My aching back did nothing to improve my mood and I was still worried about Rapunzel. “What do you mean?”
“Your Maman was tryin’ to send you to the timeless sands of the Old Desert. I stopped the great wind and called it here instead.”
My eyes widened. Bordering the southwestern part of Amendyr, the Old Desert, much like the Forest, was so large and well known that it did not need an official name, although many colorful descriptions, like the timeless sands, were often attached to it. Although I knew many advanced magical spells, conjuring something from nothing was impossible, and if Rapunzel and I had landed in the desert, which was inhabited by nothing but rolling grains of white sand, we surely would have starved without food or water.
He seemed to sense my nervousness, because he said, “dinna worry, er… sorry, I am not knowin’ your name.”
“I loved her once,” he said, a shade of regret darkening his features, although he still seemed far from menacing. “Many, many years ago. But she would not have me. She would not have anyone. She was a great woman. I am sad to be seeing her consumed by the darkness.”
He noticed the surprised, almost pained expression on my face and reached up to pat my cheek with a twisted old hand. I accepted the gesture of comfort, feeling leathery skin touch me briefly before pulling away. “The fault was not all hers, little one. Her only sin was greed. That was the doorway through which the darkness was entering her. It overpowered her.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” I admitted, but paused when I felt a cool shadow pass overhead and looked up into the sky. Dark clouds were beginning to drift in front of the sun, blocking it from view. Immediately, I sensed the loss of it and gave Rapunzel another worried glance.
“Will you help me take her inside?” I asked, gesturing at the cottage. “I assume you live there.”
“Of course,” he said. “Rain’s comin’.”
“Rain?” Rapunzel asked, stumbling over the word as though it tasted strange in her mouth. “What?”
“Falling water from the sky,” the old man said teasingly.
I looked down at Rapunzel and smiled, relieved that she was all right. I started to approach her for an embrace, but something cold and wet fell onto her shoulder, diverting her attention. She reached over to brush it off, but more of the drops started sprinkling her skin. “Here, let me help you,” I said, bending to my knees and helping her to stand. She grimaced with discomfort, probably feeling just as battered and bruised as I did. The old man, despite his slightly hunched back and thin shoulders, also offered a hand to help steady her. She accepted it politely, pulling.
“Thank you, sir,” she said. “I hope you don’t consider me rude for asking, but who are you, exactly?”
“Sometimes I am hardly remembering my own name nowadays,” said the old man. “But it’s Doran. Now, follow me.” With those words, we hurried through the rain and into the little cottage.
…
Chapter Eight:
“Thank you for taking us in,” I told Doran, my hands wrapping around a steaming mug of tea. Rapunzel and I were seated at the old wizard’s table with warm blankets draped over our shoulders to help us recover from the cold rain.
“You are welcome.” He set a mug of tea in front of Rapunzel as well. She smiled gratefully, imitating me and folding her hands around it to keep them warm.
“We are both very grateful,” I said, including Rapunzel in my thanks. “I promise that we will not intrude for more than a day.” I did not want to unintentionally strain the old man’s hospitality.
He shook his head. “You will be needin’ to stay for longer than that,” he stated matter-of-factly.
My eyebrows lifted in surprise. “I will?”
Doran nodded. “You must be learnin’ to defend yourself, young witch. I will teach you battle magic.”
“Battle magic?” I parroted, blushing when I realized that I was only repeating his words. I had plenty of my own. “Why do I need to learn Battle magic?” I asked him, not oblivious to the worried look that flashed across Rapunzel’s face before she lifted her mug of tea to hide it
“For fightin’.” The obvious-sounding answer made me feel foolish. I knew why I needed to learn battle magic. Remembering how easily Mogra had immobilized me was frightening and embarrassing. If she had not changed her mind about killing us… I recalled her strange examination of Rapunzel, but pushed those thoughts aside. There would be time to think it over later.
As though she was reading my thoughts, Rapunzel added, “She won’t leave us alone. When she finds out that we weren’t stranded in the desert, she will come after us.” My stomach flipped nervously. It was not a matter of if Mogra found out, but when. There was no question that she would follow and confront us, if only to regain her pride. It would be bad for her image if her enemies began escaping alive – even when those ‘enemies’ included her own daughter.
“I think that learning some battle magic would be a good idea,” I said cautiously. I was sure that Doran’s teaching would benefit me, but I had not been able to make many decisions for myself recently. The last two days had been unpleasant to say the least, not counting the brief hours that Rapunzel and I had stolen in each other’s arms. After a year of waiting, everything seemed to be happening at once, and I felt like I was spiraling out of control. Even though I did want to learn new ways to defend myself, I felt like I had not been given the option to refuse, only adding to my helpless state of mind.
“You will stay for a while,” said Doran, leaving no room for argument. “I will be teaching’ you how to protect yourself, Ailynn. Then, I am thinking that you should go and find your friend Cate.” I was surprised that he knew Cate, and took it for granted that I knew her as well. I shouldn’t have been. He was a wizard after all, and although I doubted that he could see into the future himself, Cate could. Perhaps she had told him that we would fall from the sky in his back yard. That must have been an interesting conversation.
Rapunzel turned to give me a questioning look. “A member of the rebellion,” I explained. “She saved my life.” That answer seemed to satisfy her for the moment and she faced forward again. It surprised me how little time we had spent talking after my return. Most of it had been spent making love, sleeping, undoing Mogra’s binding spell, and riding on the wind. I resolved to tell Rapunzel more about my year of traveling later when there was time.
“If she is a friend of yours, then she is my friend as well,” said Rapunzel.
“I would like to see her again, but we will go wherever you want to…”
Rapunzel shrugged. “A camp full of fighters and Ariada sounds like a safe place to be if Mogra decides to come after us.”
I turned to Rapunzel, studying her curiously as I realized something. “Wait, you know what the rebellion is?” Trapped in the tower with no one but Mogra and a lustful nobleman’s son to talk to, I was surprised that Rapunzel understood what I was referring to. I had not heard of the rebellion until I left the lonely Forest and traveled out into the neighboring villages.
A frown tugged at Rapunzel’s lips. “Mogra told me. She was very excited about the new creations she made to fight them. I suppose I was the only person she could tell.”
“She is still experimenting with magic?” I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.
“Yes. She enjoyed describing them to me.”
“No more questions tonight. There is a mattress and blankets in the next room by the fire that you are welcome to,” said Doran, sounding weary. He got up from his chair, putting a hand to his lower back. I did not take the abrupt departure personally. I knew that aging was hard on the body. He probably wanted to rest, especially after using his energy to redirect Mogra’s magical wind. “Sleep well, young witch,” he added, looking at me. “I will be teaching you tomorrow and you will be needin’ your strength.”
When we finally retired for the night, Rapunzel and I shared the mattress that Doran had left on the floor by the fireplace. It was comfortable despite its small size. “It feels strange to be sleeping somewhere other than my bed,” Rapunzel said quietly as we lay in each other’s arms. “I can hardly believe that I am finally free.”
“But you believe the part about riding on a great wind and landing in a magical clearing made by a funny old wizard?”
Rapunzel sighed and shifted closer to me. In the dim light, I noticed that she was frowning and used my thumb to smooth out the worry lines that creased her forehead. I felt guilty for teasing her. Staying in one room for that long was unimaginable to me. I had spe
nt a lot of time in the tower as well, but at least I was able to leave at night. “Are you frightened?” I asked. “This is your first night away…” I hoped that Rapunzel had not grown afraid of the outside world during the time she spent locked up.
Rapunzel shook her head. I could feel the movement against me. Her hair was long again and I reminded myself to trim it for her tomorrow. “No. I am a little unsure of myself, but not afraid. I am glad to be out of that tower… but mostly glad to be with you again.” Her whispered words warmed my cheeks and made my heart beat faster. “I will miss my drawings, though. I wish I could have brought them with me.”
Remembering the drawings made my eyes widen in the dark. It pleased me to know that Rapunzel had missed me enough to draw so many pictures. Coming from her, they did not seem threatening or invasive, even the erotic ones. It had also boosted my confidence when I noticed that there were no drawings of Byron in the stack.
“Maybe they are still there,” I said, trying to offer her some comfort. I doubted that Mogra would take the time to destroy them. She did not go out of her way to cause destruction unless it benefitted her.
“I don’t want to go back there. I never want to see that place again. I can make new drawings.” A soft hand made contact with my side, rubbing in a slow circle. I shivered at the touch. “My drawings of you will be even better now that I have seen the real thing.”
“You can draw anything you want,” I said, kissing her forehead as my fingers traced a line along her hip. “I am sure that your new drawings will be beautiful. You are beautiful.”
“I want to draw everything… but you are my favorite subject.” The fire had almost burned to ash and embers, and so I was surprised when her lips found mine in the dark, but not unwilling. It soothed some of my hurt feelings to know that Rapunzel wanted me enough to initiate contact.
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