Page 25 of Down from the Tower

She reaches for my hood, her fingers stilling against the fabric before she reaches back to fiddle with her long locks. It might stick out, but she has a strange attachment to her hair. Since it forced her parents to hide her way, she might have good reason to hold it dear.

Licking her lips, she turns and eyes the city. Lanterns illuminate the grounds outside of the castle, and she looks longingly in that direction. “I think they’d recognize me down there.”

“Perhaps. Do the people of Tressa ever get to see you? Do you hold an audience when your father addresses the kingdom?”

She doesn’t look away from the lights in the distance. “No. I never go out when he addresses the kingdom. It would be too easy to strike me down, or to try and abduct me, and the citizens would take whatever Midas is discussing and turn it into a spectacle about me.”

Well, he’s done a stunning job convincing the princess she deserves to be all alone. “He’s too far in your head, Princess. If you’ve hidden from the kingdom for most of your life, how will they know who you are? Long hair isn’t exactly an anomaly.”

She glances back, giving me a forced smile. “I suppose.”

“Maybe see what happens when the King doesn’t have absolute control over your mind,” I suggest, and that uncertain look appears on her face again. I think of the weird interaction with her mother and the tea, and wonder if the royals really are trying to manipulate her every move. “You never know what will happen if you don’t try.”

Before she can respond, a voice drifts up to us, cutting off anything she might say. I know she hears it too, because she clamps her mouth shut to listen in just like me. “...asking about Rosen again…”

The voice is nearly drowned out by the wind, but I hear it just as well as Rapunzel. Her eyes widen as she looks around, the Queen’s voice carrying over to our part of the roof. She must be speaking pretty loudly for us to hear her over the wind.

Rapunzel scrambles up, almost toppling over the peak and down the other side. Her balance is atrocious, but I suppose she doesn’t get a lot of practice walking around the same room. Without waiting for my help she darts off across the roof in the direction of Dorah’s voice, practically sliding off one side.

I grimace, turning and darting after her. My footfalls are softer than hers, and I watch as she completely misses her next step and nearly smashes her face into the shingles.

Flicking my hand her way, I manage to cradle her face before she smashes into the roof. Her eyes widen as I approach, looking between me and the shadows holding her as she gasps for breath, her hand pressing to her chest.

I catch up as the shadows righten her, ignoring the stunned and slightly horrified look on her face. “You need to be more careful.”

Her scowl returns, just as the voice picks up again. “I want answers. No one should be in the kingdom uninvited. You said that the barrier alerts you when someone comes through.”

“We haven’t found them yet, Dorah.”

That’s Midas talking, and Rapunzel stiffens before trying to scramble up the next tower. I catch her wrist, holding her back against me, and she twists her neck to glare up into my eyes.

Leaning in, I breathe in her ear. She shivers from my close touch, and I don’t think it’s anything to do with the cold. I don’t say a word so we can keep listening, but from the stiffness in her body I know she’s hyper aware of how close we are once again.

“How does someone hide in the kingdom?” Dorah hisses, and Rapunzel struggles against me for a moment before flattening herself into the roof, trying to edge closer despite my grip. Their voices are a little bit closer, but not so close that there’s any chance they will spot us. “They shouldn’t be an issue if they are drinking the water.”

Water?

Rapunzel tries to climb higher, and I hold her back. Another gust of wind whistles by, and it drowns out any response.

“Know anything about the water, Princess?” I whisper.

“You know I don’t, Zarev,” she breathes back.

“...answers we don’t have,” Midas says, his voice barely audible in the night. “She’s not going to stay put forever. If we can’t find out who breached the wards, she might send more spies down through the woods.”

“It’s none of her business what happens in Tressa,” Dorah hisses. “She has no power here.”

“You know that isn’t true. She might be able to break through the gold if I use my curse on her. It may not stop that bleeding heart.”

“Only because she’s barely living, Midas. That’s the only way to resist your magic.”

Interesting.

“We need to double the guards,” Dorah says, an edge of desperation in her voice. “No one in or out of Tressa until this is resolved. The traitor will have to answer for their crimes.”

“It could be a diversion sent by her,” Midas goes on. “She always wanted a reason to void our deal. So long as the wall holds, she has no power. The magic is absolute as long as I feed the spell.”

“No, she’ll only send spies to keep trying to assassinate you.”

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