“You look breathtaking,” he said, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he reached out and touched my hair. This time, I didn’t flinch.
“Thank you,” I replied, not knowing what else to say.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked.
“Yes. The pain is gone. I’m only a little weak, but I’m sure that will pass.”
“Good. I knew Anahita would heal you. She’s a miracle worker.”
Anahita smiled. “Bless you, child, for returning to us. We needed you here.”
“Only for a short time.”
“Yes, but a short time is better than none. It’s not the same without you.”
“Someday, I hope to stay longer.”
“I should hope so. Have you spoken to your mother?”
“Only briefly. She wants to speak to me tonight.”
Anahita cleared her throat, and I detected a hint of sadness in her eyes, but I wasn’t sure why. “Good. You must speak to her, but wait until after tonight, after the dancing.”
“I will, but I don’t understand. What’s so important that I must wait until tonight?”
She patted his hand. “You will see.” She smiled, though her voice took on a melancholy tone. “Now, let me greet the others. I believe Gothel is anxious to see you again, so I will let you be.”
She wandered away from us to speak to the others. Confused, I watched her go.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. When I arrived, my mother asked to speak to me tonight, but she wouldn’t tell me why.”
“It must be important if she’s waiting all this time to tell you.”
“I agree. Most likely it’s about my inheritance. They always bring that up every time I visit.”
“Your inheritance?”
“Yes. They want me to stay and rebuild our city. Get married. Claim my inheritance and eventually take the throne.”
My insides squirmed. “Take the throne? What do you mean? Are you a—a prince?”
“Prince of a decimated city. Yes.”
Suddenly dizzy, I sat atop the nearest pile of pillows, my ankle bracelet jangling with an unceremonious clatter.
“Gothel, what’s the matter?” He knelt beside me. “Are you unwell again? Let me fetch Anahita—”
“No.” I grabbed his arm. “Raj, why didn’t you tell me you were a prince?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes! Don’t you understand—that’s the reason the curse didn’t affect you when you went inside the tower. I wondered why the prince fell under the spell and you didn’t. I thought it was because you weren’t of noble blood. But that wasn’t the reason. It’s because you’re the prince spoken of in the foretelling. You’re the one who will free Rapunzel. And…” I couldn’t finish. Some things I’d never spoken of, and for good reason.
“And what?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“And what?” he repeated.
“And kill the witch who guards her,” I whispered, my voice haunted.
“What?”
“That’s what the foretelling says. I’m sorry, Raj.”
“Don’t be. That’s ridiculous. I would never kill you.”
“But I’m a witch. You’re a prince. Foretelling or not, that’s how these stories end.”
“No.” He took my hand. “That’s not how our story ends.”
I swallowed hard. He’d said our. “You mean that?”
“Absolutely. I swore to protect you and so I shall. I swear to you that I will never harm you.”
He smiled, showing his dimples, and I couldn’t help but reach up and cup his cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I supposed it wasn’t all that important. I’m hardly a prince. Not anymore. How can one be a prince if they have no kingdom?”
“But you still have your people.”
“A very small number of them. That’s true.”
“I don’t understand. Why did you leave the Outerlands when you could have stayed here to become their king?”
“Because I knew that if our people were to survive, I’d have to know more about the world. I couldn’t let what the high sorcerer did to us happen again, so I swore I would learn everything I could about war and swordplay. If he came at us again, we would have a fighting chance. Becoming Prince Merek’s squire wasn’t my first choice, as I was willfully coerced into doing it, but it suited my purposes well enough, so I went along with it.”
“But if you’re truly a prince and you broke Rapunzel’s spell, that means you’re destined to marry her and rule our kingdom.”
“Then I won’t marry her. I’ll let Prince Merek do that instead.”
“No, you can’t. Don’t you see? The only way this works is for the one who breaks the spell to marry Rapunzel. That’s the only way to free her from the tower.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s the way my mother’s curse worked. I’m sorry, Raj, but if you’re truly the prince who freed Rapunzel, then to save our kingdom from Varlocke, you have to marry her.”
He sat up straighter, his shoulders taut, the smile gone from his face. “All these spells and curses are rubbish. Why can’t we just live the way we want to without being manipulated?”
“Because that’s the reality of the world we live in.”
He turned to me, sighing, then took my hand in his. “Then let’s ignore all that for now. I say we enjoy the evening.”
I couldn’t contain my smile. There was something about Raj that was so welcoming and genuine. He put my mind at ease unlike anyone else. “I agree.”
He stood and held out his hand. I took it, standing, doing my best to shrug off the unease of our conversation. I walked with him through the room, and he introduced me to one person after another. Cousins, aunts, uncles, and dozens of giggling nieces and nephews.
“There are so many. How do you keep track of them all?” I asked.
He laughed. “I suppose it’s different from what you’re used to.”
“Very different. I was an only child. I never knew my family except for my aunts, and my memories of them were brief and hardly ever pleasant. This is like a new world to me.”
“Yes, I guess it must be. Come, let me introduce you to my mother.”
He took
