Page 80 of Down from the Tower

As we walk, I try to contact Legs again. She might not be happy that I’m bringing a missing princess wanted by the Mad Queen to see her, but I’m not sure Rapunzel will listen to reason. She’s insistent that the gardener in the letters is Legs, and to be honest, I think going to see her is a good idea. If Rapunzel’s magic can’t help me, perhaps Legs has some sort of plant that’ll help push the gold out of my chest once and for all.

“We’ll shadow hop after your lunch settles,” I tell Rapunzel, interrupting our silence for the first time in hours, “then we can camp out on this side of The Barrens. We should be at the garden by tomorrow.”

Rapunzel nods, her eyes skating over me. I’m beginning to realize that as fun as rolling around in bed with her is, sex is as much of a distraction as it is a release for this girl. She opens her mouth to say something, but a sound carries on the wind, catching my attention.

Voices.

I grab Rapunzel, dragging her in close to me, and she moves without complaint. The shadows wrap around us, hiding us, and just in the nick of time too.

“...high treason,” a man says, bursting through the trees just steps away from where we’re hiding. Immediately I recognize the green on their coats, the crest sewn to the breast. “He’s going to go after the King and can’t be bothered to send us along on a ship.”

“Not everyone will fit,” another man says. “Too many people are needed to seize the Kingdom of Gold. Now, I ain’t sure if Modred is worth all the trouble, but it’s a nice excuse to get the King to make his next move. That princess did us a favor.”

“No, she cursed us,” another argues, glaring at the first two. “Now we have to do Arthur’s dirty work.”

“If we find her, Arthur says we can use her,” another guard says, and it’s alarming that this is the second time I’ve heard a member of Camelot say those words. Arthur isn’t afraid to trade in skin to get what he wants. “I know the girl’s got some magic, but I’d like to show her my personal gift.”

My brow twitches, and Rapunzel’s hands grip over mine, keeping me from reaching for the scythe.

“She’s not going to sleep with you,” another says. “And I wouldn’t risk upsetting Arthur. He’s on a bender until he has Midas’ head.”

“That’s why we’ve got to let the Flowerborne go in first,” the first voice says. They’re almost past us and around the bend. “They can mimic enough people to climb the walls of Tressa and infiltrate. Let the flowers do the hard work, I say. The people are nothing but puppets. They will die for the King.”

“They better,” the second man says. “I ain’t gon’ be in Tressa if the Mad Queen tries to infiltrate. I told Arthur she’s using us for grunt work and she will swoop in if she sees something that interests her. We’ll spill the blood yet she wants to be the one to claim Tressa.”

My eyes widen. Arthur retaliating against Midas after the death of his nephew is one thing, but listening to talk about the Mad Queen storming in and taking the land for herself is another. That would give her control points on both the north and south end of Mystica.

If that happens, she could expand further than the Red Woods and into the Endless Sea. It can’t be allowed to happen.

The gears in my brain spin, and if I didn’t need to call Ray before I absolutely do now. There’s still the sounds of footsteps in the distance, and that small group is nothing compared to what else is coming across the land.

They are going to try and seize Tressa any way they can. As bad as that is, only one crucial point sticks out to me.

The Queen is on the hunt, and so is Arthur. If Rapunzel intends to go back home, it will be infinitely harder to sneak her in with two conflicting armies at the walls of Tressa.

She does a good job pretending the conversation we overheard didn’t rattle her. She stays calm as I hold onto her, shadow hopping us out of the danger zone before she can protest. Her voice seems to disappear the closer we get to The Barrens, and I know she’s lost in thought.

As bad of a place as it is, Tressa is her home. And her loyalty to the kingdom is unmatched. She continues to worry her bottom lip as we travel, dragging her fingertips over my skin from time to time like she needs the connection.

Usually, I hate excessive touching but she is the only exception.

“You’re not my first kiss,” she tells me, shattering the silence that blanketed us for over an hour. “Not by a long shot.”

I glance at her. That’s nothing like I imagined she was going to say. I quirk a brow in her direction. “Oh? Did the palace guards risk life and limb to play with the princess?”

She blushes, but there’s a tiny smile on her lips. “Occasionally. They never stayed long. Anyone who meant harm to me was banished from the castle, and it took a lot of work to even get close to me in Tressa. But when I was about ten, I kissed a kitchen boy for sneaking me an extra snack. He did it three more times before he was moved to the guard squad.”

“How sweet,” I groan. “Nice to see you weren’t a complete recluse in that tower. Some physical touch is good.”

She shoots me a look, picking at her fingertips as we move. “It wasn’t so hard to find a guy to sleep with me either. They were eager the older I got, and none of them were dumb enough to brag about it for fear of the King’s wrath. I got two of the palace guards to come to my room when I was a teenager and spend the night with me. They were… nice.”

I snort. “Nice like me?”

“No,” she says immediately, her gaze sliding to mine. “Nothing like you.”

“Well, to be fair, Golden Girl, they were barely at the crest of adulthood. It’s not fair to compare the two of them to me.”

She sticks her tongue out, breaking some of the tension between us. I thought those guards and the encounter with the swan would put her into a mood well into tomorrow. This banter was a nice surprise. “Once I was old enough to start seeking a husband no one would touch me. Too much danger for a princess who no one particularly liked. I tried a few times with the guys from before, and even a few of the palace guards, but they wouldn’t bite. The fear of Midas was greater than any of the temptations I could offer.”

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