Rapunzel, the One With All the Hair (15 page)

I watch Prince Benjamin (or Ben, as he has insisted I call him from now on) digging into his morning meal. He looks well rested and happy. I must look the same. The bed in my guest room last night was like a cloud. Granted, anything would have been better than what the witch threw together for me, but I could have slept on that bed for days, even without a sleeping potion to keep me there.

It is so glorious here, with the jugglers and with the colorful tapestries showing generations of Ben's family. And the nonstop food! I could smell it cooking before I came downstairs. But most of all, everyone is so welcoming. They must know I am not from noble stock, yet they treat me as one of their own because I am a friend of Ben's. I am about to take my last bite of honey cake when I hear raised voices outside the Great Hall. A courier rushes in, and fast on his heels are my parents!

I jump up and my mug of tea nearly spills into the lap of
one of the ladies-in-waiting who has been attending me. Luckily she pulls her skirts out of the way just in time.

“There she is!” Mother yells gleefully. She starts running toward my end of the table, pulling Father along. Their clothes are rumpled from the long trip, and they look exhausted, older. But their faces are glowing.

“Mother! Father!” I run to greet them and we meet in the middle in a group hug.

“Oh, my baby,” Mother says, “you had your first haircut and I wasn't there for it!” Her eyes fill with tears and I hurry to assure her that, really, the haircut wasn't as special as she might imagine.

Father takes my shoulders and says, “Rapunzel, can you ever forgive us? We have been miserable since you were taken.”

“Do not blame yourselves,” I tell them as Mother wipes away more tears. “You were tricked by the witch as well. Mother doesn't even LIKE rampion.”

“That's true,” she says, sniffling. “I don't.”

I finally notice that Ben and his parents are standing a few feet away, watching. I lead my parents over to them. They bow, and Ben and the king nod graciously in return. Ben looks so regal when he does that.

“This is the boy who rescued me,” I tell my parents. I
expect them to either bow again or put out their hands to shake his, but instead Father envelops Ben in a bear hug! I flush with embarrassment, but Ben only laughs.

The page Andrew appears at Ben's side. “Pardon the interruption,” he says, “but we have two more arrivals who would like to say hello to the prince and Rapunzel.”

We turn around to see perhaps the oldest man I've ever seen, walking side by side with the greenest. It's Steven! MY Steven! At his appearance, gasps of surprise fill the room. Mothers pull their children close. But I squeal and run up to hug him. Ben and Elkin do the same with the old man. Minus the squealing, of course.

“Rapunzel,” Ben says, turning to me and Steven, “this is the hermit who first sent me to find you. He said to listen for my destiny, and that's when I heard your singing.”

“And this,” I say proudly, turning Steven to face him, “is the man who was so kind to me in the tower. He risked his life for me.”

We all shake hands in a big circle, grinning.

“How did you know to come here?” I ask Steven excitedly just as Ben and Elkin ask the same of the hermit.

The two men look at each other, and the hermit asks Steven, “Shall we tell them?”

“Tell us what?” Ben asks jovially, his hand resting on the old hermit's shoulder.

“Well,” the hermit says, “my part in the story begins the same day that these two young princes, shall we say,
visited
my home for the first time. Steven here had run past my cave earlier that day. He was ranting about a witch, and a girl locked in a tower. The poor man was terrified and miserable that he had left the girl. He made me promise that I would get help for her. He had run so far and so fast that he could not tell me how to find the tower again. I promised I would do my best, and off he went to find his family.”

I can tell by their wide-eyed expressions that my parents are having a hard time taking all of this in. I reach out to take one of Mother's hands in mine, and then Father's in my other, like I used to when I was a little girl. I look up at Steven with tears in my eyes. “That was so thoughtful of you.”

Steven's face turns the light purple that I know means he is embarrassed.

The hermit continues. “I did not know how to proceed. How could an old man like myself travel the Great Forest? Before long, you two fine lads showed up and, while you were in the back cave admiring my art, I heard the singing.” He turns to me. “Your singing. Then the prince bemoaned the lack of adventure in his life, and I knew I had my solution. I did not tell him what I knew of the tower and the girl, for then it would not have been his story. When I heard all the castle guards thundering in the forest yesterday, I inquired what the cause
was. I learned the witch had been foiled, so I went in search of Steven to let him know it was safe to come out of hiding.”

“But how did he find you?” I ask Steven.

He smiles. “People who live in caves tend to know where the other cave dwellers are. It did not take him long to find someone who led him to me.”

I beam at Steven. “So our escape plan worked after all! Just a little differently than we'd intended.”

We laugh. Ben laughs, too, and says, “I knew it was too good to be true! Now they'll have to put both of your names in the song alongside mine!”

“No, indeed,” the hermit says, suddenly serious. “This story is yours, and that is how it shall remain for the rest of history.”

“Far be it from me to break up the revelry,” the queen says, sweeping up behind us, “but the warm parts of the meal are getting cold, and the cold parts are getting warm. The new arrivals must be famished from their journey.” She ushers us over to a newly set table. As Steven takes his seat, a young boy tentatively sticks out his hand and rubs Steven's arm. Steven smiles and says, “Nope, it doesn't rub off.”

The boy giggles and his mother grabs him away, apologizing.

“It's all right,” Steven says. “The first time I saw one of you, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, too.”

“Steven,” I say gravely as the bowls of turtle soup are placed before us, “I tried to save your spoon, truly I did. But my trunk is still in the tower.”

“On the contrary,” a voice says. I look up to see Andrew behind me. “In her fury, the witch hurled your trunk at the guards below. It burst into pieces, and everything was covered in ink. But one of the guards managed to salvage a small silver spoon from the mess. I suggested it might be important to you. I believe it is waiting for you up in your room.”

“Thank you, Andrew,” I tell him, my eyes filling with tears as Steven squeezes my hand affectionately.

“You have found good people,” Steven whispers as Andrew resumes his position a few feet away from the table.

“I know,” I whisper back, stealing a glance at Ben, who catches my eye and blushes.

“While we are all gathered here,” the queen says, rising from her seat, “has anyone happened to see my new purple silk robe? It has simply
disappeared
from my chambers.”

Andrew slowly backs out of the room while Ben, Elkin, and I slink down in our seats. Elkin coughs and says, “Er, funny story, Aunt. You're going to laugh….”