Raj cleared his throat as he watched me eat.
“Tell me,” he said. “How is it you came to live in the tower?”
“It was because of a fight between my mother and the high sorcerer. It was a stupid argument. Long story. You probably don’t want to hear it.”
“We have time.”
Did we? I glanced out the window. Assuming I could buy all my supplies tonight, and assuming I was able to get a cart to carry them in, I would be able to make it back to the tower tonight and be there before morning. I supposed I had nothing better to do than sit around and talk about my harrowing past. At least it made a good story.
“All right,” I said, “but it’s a depressing tale. Are you sure you want to hear it?”
“Yes.”
“Very well. Before I was born, my mother lived in a cottage near the castle. Her name was Aethel. She grew things in her garden, and she was very skilled at it. In fact, her radishes were said to be magical—they could make a person invincible.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, the then King Varlocke found out about her radishes. He started stealing them from her. After that, he did something he hadn’t been able to do before, he started vanquishing all the outlying villages around him, and then the other kingdoms. It’s how he became high sorcerer.”
“With magical radishes?”
I nodded.
He rested his fisted hands on the table. When he looked away from me, I saw the pain in his eyes. “Most of my people were killed by the high sorcerer, including many of my family. My little sister.” He breathed deeply to keep his composure. “He sacked our nation and wiped out our kingdom. He destroyed my home.”
I nodded. It was a painful subject, but no one had experienced High Sorcerer Varlocke’s wrath as badly as the Outlanders.
“My mother discovered what the king was doing,” I said. “She was infuriated, but there was nothing she could do to harm him—the magical radishes made sure of that—so she did something petty and stupid, something I’m ashamed of, and something I pay the price for every day. She cursed his only offspring, his daughter Rapunzel. She made it so that her hair would grow unnaturally long, weighing so heavy it left her bedridden. My mother created the curse so that only a prince with a noble heart would have the ability to break it.
“The high sorcerer killed my mother after she cursed his daughter, but it didn’t stop his rage. He cast a spell to kill all the princesses in the land, making sure everyone felt his suffering, and then he locked his only daughter in a tower, and demanded I be her protector as punishment for my mother’s crimes.”
“It’s true, then? You really are Witch Aethel’s daughter?”
I nodded as he attempted to look under my hood’s cowl. “And you have…?”
“Blue hair? Yes.”
I pushed my cowl back for a moment. His eyes widened. It wasn’t only the color that made it stand out, but the magic that came with it. Sparks danced through the strands, reflected in the greenish-blue color of my eyes. I quickly replaced my head covering before anyone else noticed.
A serving girl arrived with two steaming bowls and placed them in front of us.
“Onion stew,” she said, then turned away. I grabbed my spoon and took a small bite. The saltiness of the broth mingled with the sharp, rich flavor of the onion. I ate guiltily, thinking of Rapunzel stuck in the tower with nothing but moldy bread and those awful wild beets. I would return soon. She would be eating like a queen by tomorrow morning.
“You said only a prince with a noble heart could break Rapunzel’s curse?” Raj asked.
“Yes.”
“So, it is possible to break the curse?”
We were back to the curse again. Somehow, I knew he wouldn’t let it go.
“No, it’s not possible. I told you that already.”
“But you said—”
“I said a prince with a noble heart could break the curse, but there are none.”
He worked his jaw back and forth, and I couldn’t help but notice the way his muscles played along his strong jawline. Mesmerizing, in a way.
I stopped myself. I couldn’t seriously be attracted to this man, could I? No. I refused to entertain such thoughts.
Turning back to my stew, I ate in silence.
“If we were to find a prince—”
“No.”
He sighed in exasperation. “There’s got to be something. I can’t bring Prince Merek’s sleeping body back to his father without freeing the princess, and I can’t leave him inside that tower the way he is. He was barely breathing as it was.”
“Wait,” I said, my spoon halfway to my mouth. “How do you know he was barely breathing?”
“It was dark for one thing, and that hair! By the gods, I’ve never seen anything like it. He fell unconscious as soon as he saw that poor girl, and when I left, I could tell he was still breathing, but—”
“Back up. You saw Rapunzel? You went inside the tower?”
“Yes, how else would I have known what happened to him?”
“I didn’t realize you went inside the tower.”
“Well, I couldn’t have done my job of protecting the prince if I’d stayed outside, could I?”
“How?” I sputtered. “It’s not possible for anyone to enter the tower but me and the high sorcerer without falling under the spell…”
“I got lucky, I suppose.”
I eyed him. I wasn’t entirely sure he was telling the truth. He was desperate to save the prince. What if he was trying to trick me?
“Raj.” I said his name slowly. “I want you to be very sure you’re recalling last night to the best of your ability. Are you certain you went inside the tower?”
“Of course! I have no reason to lie to you.”
“Actually, you do.”
“Are you accusing me of lying?”
“I’m accusing you of remembering incorrectly.”
He sat back, crossing his arms, making his muscles bulge, which I tried hard not
