Page 21 of Rapunzel's Gambit (All That Glitters)

“What other squire?”

“His name’s Griffin. He heard I was heading out to rescue you and tried to convince me to take him instead of my regular squire.”

My heart beat faster. “Oh. I didn’t realize squires trade places.”

“They don’t normally. My squire knows me and the horses, but Griffin was quite insistent. But that doesn’t matter right now. We need to find a way to escape.” He threw a fearful glance toward the open balcony doors. “Can the dragon hear us?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t had anyone to talk to until now, and as you can see”—I pulled against the manacle so that the chain driven deep into the stone wall clanged—“my last escape attempt got me in a worse mess than before. He said I’ll be chained for two days as punishment for my escape.”

“We’ll figure it out, don’t worry,” he answered automatically, pulling at his own restraint and patting down his armor, searching for any hidden weapons. I copied him, also pulling at the heavy chains while knowing it was futile. “My name is Winston, by the way.”

“I’m Rapunzel,” I told him. “Sorry about all this.”

“It’s not your fault,” he told me kindly. “You didn’t ask to be kidnapped.”

“Have you heard any news from my father?” I asked. “What’s happening?”

Winston gave a final jerk to his chain, then seemed to decide his energy was being wasted. “Your father sent couriers to all the nearby kingdoms to alert them of the issue, and many are planning to come to your aid.”

“What if the dragon kills them?” I whispered, allowing tears to fill my eyes. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

He clutched at my hands. “You mustn’t sacrifice yourself in the process,” he said. “Now, let’s see if there is a way out of here.”

For hours, Winston tried everything he could think of to escape, to no avail. At first, he broke one of the clasps off his armor and tried to use it to pick the lock, then wriggled off one of his metal leg plates to use it as leverage to break the chain from the wall.

I pretended to make myself useful by searching the wall for any cracks in the mortar or chinks in the stone, then ripped a swath of fabric off my hem to wrap around my hand, trying to create a thin barrier that would allow me to slip my hand out of the manacle.

We continued to attempt escape all that day and into the night, only stopping when Pollox appeared and shoved a slightly charred loaf of bread to us, skewed on the end of one of his tail spikes.

Winston instantly broke the loaf in half and offered me the slightly smaller portion. I took it but barely nibbled at the stale bread, trying to appear hungry but still disliking the chalky texture. If Griffin had been here instead of Winston, he would have offered me the larger portion, if not the entire loaf, I was sure. Then of course, if Winston wasn’t here at all, I could have had another grand feast from the magic table in Pollox’s cave.

After his initial talkativeness, Winston lapsed into silence, still studying the chain and manacle to figure out how to break free. I dozed off around midnight, the key secure in my pocket, as Winston continued to tug at the chain.

I awoke around daybreak to the sound of trumpets echoing around the tower. Winston looked terrible. He had disassembled the majority of his suit of armor trying to break the manacle apart, and there were small areas of hair missing from his beard and scalp where he’d pulled on it in frustration.

Voices came from the meadow below, and Pollox answered, still coiled up on the tower’s roof. “Show me the gold.”

More voices floated up in a low rumble, and dust showered down as Pollox took off. A shadow passed over the window and a gust of wind swirled in to stir up the dirt as Pollox soared past, his mighty wings beating.

“They must’ve come for you,” I told him, a sad smile on his face. “Tell my father I’m thinking of him.”

“This isn’t over. You’ll get rescued.”

“Tell everyone where I am,” I begged. “Please.”

“I shall.”

Pollox stuck his head in. “You’re free to go, human,” he said to Winston, then snapped down on the chain, fangs instantly breaking the metal that the knight had worked all night to break free of. Winston tried to grab my hand, but Pollox snarled, “The girl stays. A princess is worth far more than a paltry fifty coins.”

Pollox’s tail snuck over to grab Winston by the ankle and pull him into the air. Once Winston had been removed, I calmly withdrew the key, unlocked the manacle, and waited for Pollox to finish the ransom exchange. It was more than half an hour before Pollox finally returned.

“They’re gone,” he informed me. “Are you ready to go? I’m sure you’d like a meal that isn’t a crust of bread. Sorry it was so bad.”

“Don’t be sorry. It was a good image. Are they able to see us through the trees if I go back with you? We can’t have anyone suspect if I’m supposed to be chained here.”

“The tree cover is thick, and you are small enough that you won’t be spotted on my back from the ground.”

Pollox scooped me up and took off, depositing me onto his back once we were flying back to his cave. My skirts whipped up to my thighs as I straddled the base of Pollox’s neck, and my hair blew out behind me like a banner. “Today seemed to be a success,” I called over the roar of the wind. “What do you think?”

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