Rescuing Rapunzel (The Princess Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  “Yes, I delivered the message,” he said.

  “Did you see the king?”

  “No, they wouldn’t let me inside. I gave it to the guards.”

  “What if the king didn’t receive the message?” Theresa had told me that many people at the castle could not be trusted.

  “I thought about that,” Maddox replied. “I told the guard I would wait by the castle gate for a response from the king. It took awhile, but the guard finally returned with a note.”

  “What did it say?” I asked eagerly.

  “I don’t know. The note was sealed.”

  I lost patience. “Well, where is it?” Why didn’t he tell me that in the first place?

  Maddox lifted one corner of his mouth in a grin, then removed a small white envelope from his pocket and handed it to me.

  I studied the royal seal on the back and traced my fingers over the picture of the kingdom’s symbol of a tree. I envisioned my father sitting at his desk the way he used to when I was little, using heated wax to drip and imprint the royal seal on his business letters. Knowing he would’ve been the one to seal the note in my hands made me feel closer to him than I had in a long time.

  After carefully pulling the wax away from the folded paper, I opened the letter.

  Our dearest Rapunzel,

  Your mother and I are so grateful you are alive and well. Words cannot express our joy.

  Even though we yearn for you to immediately return, please stay where you are. It is the safest place for now. We will come for you soon.

  Love,

  Your father and mother

  I read the note twice. A teardrop slipped from my chin onto the paper. I missed my parents so much.

  “What did he say?”

  I looked up into Maddox’s expectant face. The irritating, judging boy had gone, leaving only the kind, gentle boy.

  “They said I can’t go home right now.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I’ll be fine.” The tears on my cheeks gave away the lie. My heart hurt inside my chest.

  “I don’t completely understand what’s going on, but I’m still sorry.” Maddox hesitantly placed a hand on my shoulder. Just as quickly he withdrew, but I still felt the warmth of his touch.

  “Thanks.” I wiped away my tears.

  “Are you going to the harvest dance tomorrow?” he asked.

  “I don’t really feel like going.”

  “It will help take your mind off of things.” Maddox moved away to walk the small perimeter of the clearing. “What were you doing out here hiding behind the trees?”

  “Exercising.”

  “It looked like you were training for some kind of fight.”

  “It’s something I do to strengthen my muscles.”

  “Do you need a partner?” He stopped in front of me again and held up his hands in a fighting position.

  “You want to exercise with me?”

  “Are you afraid of some competition?” he asked with that charming half-grin.

  “No. Are you afraid of losing to a girl?” I teased, grateful for the distraction from my parents’ sad note.

  “Maybe I should tell you I’ve never lost to anyone, including all of my brothers.”

  “Then it’s time someone brought your ego down a notch.”

  He gave a little smirk and took a fighting stance. I noticed he bounced more on his left foot and held his right arm closer to his face in defense. Realizing he was left-handed but pretending to be right-handed,I swiped my left leg against his right. As I expected, his less dominant leg buckled and he fell to the ground.

  “I wasn’t ready,” Maddox said, then jumped up.

  He still pretended to be right-handed, so I reached over with my right arm and grabbed his left hand. I twirled around to his back so his arm was caught under his chin. I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his waist and yanked hard on the arm I held. He reached for me with his right arm, but since it was weaker, I kept my grip. Moments later, he gave up and fell to his knees. “Fine, you win.”

  I loosened my grip but only slightly. “What did you say? I couldn’t quite hear you.”

  “You win!” he said between ragged breaths.

  I hopped off his back. “Don’t underestimate a girl, especially one who’s spent the past ten years training.”

  “I’ll remember that.” He bent with his hands on his knees, panting.

  “Did you really think you had me fooled by pretending your right hand is dominant?”

  “It usually works with my friends,” Maddox replied. “They think they’re beating me at first, but then I shift positions and overpower them.”

  “Next time, don’t bounce your left foot so much, and don’t keep your right hand close to your face.”

  He lowered his eyebrows as if studying me. “I’m impressed.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I wonder if you dance as well as you fight.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Can I claim the first dance for tomorrow night?”

  I froze. Exercising and training with him was one thing, but dancing with him was another.

  “I can’t wait to see you do the country swing,” he said.

  The what?

  “We better start heading back to the house.” He turned to leave, completely oblivious to my silent reaction.

  “Maddox?”

  He stopped to look over his shoulder. “What?”

  “Why are you so calm about everything? About my father, my home . . . about who I am.” I said the last part slowly, wondering if he really understood what it meant.

  Maddox shifted his feet. “Right now everything is a blur. I’m sure it’s all hard to believe, but at least I have proof it’s real.”

  “Nobody else can know where I come from,” I said. “Only Aunt Em knows who we really are.”

  Maddox nodded. “She mentioned that. Don’t worry. I can keep a secret. Nobody expects me to talk much anyway.” He winked at me before turning toward the house.

  My stomach fluttered.

  What am I going to do?

  Why did it have to be Maddox, and why did it have to be here in this place called Idaho? You’d think I’d been locked in a tower my whole life.

  Well, almost my whole life.

  Chapter 17

  History of Dance

  In the early part of this era, until the early 1810s, the ballroom was dominated by the country dance, the cotillion, and the Scottish reel. In the longways country dance, a line of couples perform figures with each other, progressing up and down the line. Regency country dances were often preceded by a brief march by the couples, then begun by the top lady in the set and her partner, who would dance down the set to the bottom. As they reached the top, each couple in turn would likewise dance down until the entire set had returned to its original positions. This could be a lengthy process, easily taking an hour in a long set.

  An important social element was the calling of the dance by the leading lady (a position of honor), who would determine the figures, steps, and music to be danced. The rest of the set would listen to the calling dancing master or pick up the dance by observing the leading couple. Jane Austen mentions in her letters instances in which she and her partner called the dance.

  The cotillion was a French import, performed in a square using more elaborate footwork. It consisted of a “chorus” figure unique to each dance which was danced alternately with a standard series of up to ten “changes,” which were simple figures such as a right hand moulinet (star) common to cotillions in general.

  The Scottish reel of the era consisted of alternate heying (interlacing) and setting (fancy steps danced in place) by a line of three or four dancers. More complex reels appear in manuals as well but it’s unclear if they ever actually caught on. A sixsome reel is mentioned in a description of Scottish customs in the early 1820s and eightsome reels (danced in squares like cotillions) occur in some dance manuscripts of the era. —Wikipedia

  The Harve
st Dance

  }Snow White}

  Aunt Em assured us that the dance would be the best place for us, safer than staying alone at the house. So, Punz and I left a note telling Hansel and Gretel where we were and asking them to wait for us at Aunt Em’s home.

  The harvest dance was held in the neighbors’ barn. They stacked hay bales around the sides, leaving a big wooden floor for mingling and dancing. A group of musicians played in the corner, but their songs were much different than what we had at the castle. Many of these musicians played a strange type of string instrument, and their music was very lively and fast. Sometimes I didn’t know whether a song was a dance or a race.

  Aunt Em explained that the event was also a costume party, to celebrate the upcoming holidays. She gave me a yellow mask to match my yellow dress, and Punz wore a stunning turquoise mask that complemented her beautiful, long blond hair. Punz was hesitant to wear the mask at first, because for ten years she had to wear one whenever she left the tower. She got a little teary eyed explaining that this mask was far more beautiful than her old one. She placed the turquoise mask on her face and smiled.

  When we first walked into the barn, an older woman greeted Punz and me. “Welcome. Are you new in town?”

  Keeping up my pretense of suffering from amnesia, I looked at Punz, who said, “We’re just visiting.”

  The woman had bright-green eyes and long black hair. She smiled and reached into a bag on the floor by her feet. “Here is a welcoming gift for you.”

  “You don’t have to give us a gift,” I said.

  “Oh, nonsense.” The woman brought out a shiny red apple and held it up. “This enchanted apple will grant your every wish.”

  “If only that were true,” Punz muttered under her breath.

  I laughed. “That sounds just perfect.”

  The woman smiled big as Punz and I tried to contain our giggles. We managed to thank her but didn’t accept the apple.

  Someone yelled, “Sara, Rachel!” so I turned. Across the way, Dorothy motioned for Punz and me to come over.

  “We’re going to have so much fun,” squealed the little girl as we joined her. Her adorable costume was a checkered blue-and-white dress with red shoes. Her wild hair had been tamed into two braids down her back. She grabbed my hand and Punz’s. As she pulled us farther into the barn, she said, “Stick with me tonight, and I’ll warn you which boys to avoid.”

  “Dixie!” one of Dorothy’s friends shouted as she came running toward us with their other friend in tow.

  “Alice! Wendy!” Dorothy gushed. The three friends hugged. “Are you ready for tonight?”

  Alice and Wendy wore blue dresses. Alice wore a pair of rabbit ears. “Of course I’m ready,” she said, “but Wendy’s costume keeps falling apart.”

  “My wings won’t stay on.” Wendy turned around to show a pair of wilted wings barely fastened to the back of her dress.

  “I can fix it,” Punz said.

  “Girls, this is Rachel,” Dorothy said, pointing to Rapunzel. “Her mom and my aunt know each other, so she came to visit us.”

  “Awesome,” Alice replied, smiling at Rapunzel. “This town is overrun by boys. We need all the feminine support we can get.”

  “Yes, I’ve noticed you are slightly outnumbered,” Punz said, as she glanced to where Dorothy’s brothers were huddled together on one side of the room.

  “And they’re all big and annoying,” Dorothy added with a wrinkle of her nose.

  Wendy gave a small smile. “They’re nice to look at, though,”

  Yes they are, I agreed silently.

  “Eew, gross,” Dorothy said. “I can’t believe you said that.”

  Wendy’s eyes went wide. “What? It’s true, they’re all cute.”

  “Stop.” Dorothy waved her hands in surrender. “I can’t take this anymore. If you keep talking about my brothers like that, I’m going over to the refreshment table.” She started to walk away.

  “I’m just kidding, Dixie,” Wendy said. “I promise I won’t talk about your brothers anymore tonight.”

  Dorothy turned back.

  “Only a little bit,” Wendy said under her breath, but Dorothy still heard her.

  “Wendy!” she whined.

  “Fine! I promise.” Wendy held her right hand in the air in a promise.

  Dorothy stepped back toward the small group of girls. “Good, now we can have a fun night.”

  Punz and I smiled as she fastened the wings on the back of Wendy’s dress. “How did you learn to sew so quickly?” I asked my cousin.

  “One can gain many skills when there’s nothing else to do to fill her day.”

  “I’m sorry,” I offered.

  She used her teeth to cut off the thread. “Don’t be sorry. What’s done is done. Besides, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

  “I know,” I said, “but I don’t know what else to say.”

  With the wings securely fastened to Wendy’s dress, Punz grabbed both of my hands and looked me directly in the eyes. “You don’t have to say anything. Just stay with me and don’t leave me alone.”

  “I think I can do that.” I squeezed her hands.

  She squeezed back. “Good.”

  Her eyes suddenly went wide. “Which reminds me, I almost forgot. I wrote to you almost every day when I was in the tower. I saved each letter in a wooden box I made. I wanted to give them to you when I saw you again.”

  “Really? Where are they?”

  “At Aunt Em’s house, in the room with the magic door.”

  “I can’t wait to read them.”

  “I always knew I’d see you again so I could give them to you.” Rapunzel squeezed my hand again.

  Dorothy gathered us all close. “All right girls. It looks like the party is starting.”

  The musicians had been playing nonstop since we’d arrived, but none of the guests were dancing. Until now. One of the Atwood brothers had taken the initiative for the first dance. His partner was a pretty blond girl. Of course blond. When the couple turned, I could see the boy was Sunny, one of the twins.

  Once the other guests realized they wouldn’t have to be the first couple, more people joined Sunny and his partner on the dance floor. Sanders, Sunny’s twin, followed close behind, and even Bash, his face the color of a ripe tomato, led a girl onto the floor.

  I watched other men and boys walked up to girls and offer an invitation to dance. It was much simpler than how we did it back at the castle. First of all, a dance or ball always opened with a dance led by a member of the royal family. Since Punz’s father, the king, was getting too old and my father was ill, the first dance often fell to me. I always hated how stiff and awkward the dance felt. Here at the harvest dance, I smiled at the guests’ relaxed and happy manner.

  “Would you like to dance?” a voice asked nearby.

  Still observing the couples dancing, I hadn’t paid attention to anything else until the same voice spoke again. “Sara, would you like to dance?”

  Oh yes, that’s me! I turned. There stood Eddy, wearing a peculiar hat decorated with a skull and crossbones. I wondered briefly if he had taken to piracy. “Me?” I asked, even though he had said my fake name.

  He laughed. “Yes. I’m not into dancing with my little sister or her friends. Too young for my taste.” He grinned at Dorothy and cuffed her playfully on the shoulder.

  He held out his hand to me, and I stared, almost like I was a stringless puppet, as my hand reached out to his. As he led me to the dance floor, I wondered, How did that happen?

  The song was a bit slower than the previous one but still much faster than what I was used to. Eddy placed his right hand on my hip, sending warmth crawling up my side. I placed my left hand on his shoulder, and he grabbed my other hand and held it nearly at shoulder height, with our elbows bent. Then he pulled me closer—much closer than was ever allowed back in Fenmore Falls.

  He moved in circles while guiding me across the floor. There wasn’t really any rhyme or reason to the
pattern, and we didn’t exchange partners like some of the dances back home. Instead, it was just Eddy and me, weaving through the other couples who attempted to do the same thing.

  After I felt comfortable with how the steps rambled, I dared to look up at Eddy. He seemed lost in thought, staring off to the side of the barn. I followed his gaze to the mean girl, Lindsey, whom I had met at the raspberry field.

  I should have felt relieved, since I had a boyfriend. But honestly it made me a little sad that Eddy liked Lindsey. Sometime soon I needed to sit down and really think about Aleck and what he meant to me. But not now. I gathered my strength and said, “You should ask her to dance.”

  Eddy startled a little. “Who?”

  “You know who,” I said. “You can’t keep your eyes off her.”

  Although I knew I was doing the right thing, it still hurt to see him smile and sigh as he stared at Lindsey again. The moment we shared in Aunt Em’s room must have been nothing, or maybe I had imagined it.

  “One minute she seems to like me, but the next she acts like she’s not interested,” he said. “I don’t get it. Women.”

  “Don’t give up. You’ll never know unless you ask her.”

  “You’re right.” Eddy straightened his shoulders. “I’ll do it. I’m going to ask her.”

  He released my hand, but I held on tight. “Not yet,” I said. “At least wait until the song is over.”

  “Sorry.” His sheepish smile caught me right in the chest. Aleck never made my heart feel like a bird in a cage, battering to get out. What was up with that?

  “You don’t want to seem too eager,” I remarked.

  “You’re right,” he said, his eyes still focused on Lindsey.

  I gave in to jealousy. “Since you have to endure the rest of the dance with me, can you at least act like you’re enjoying it a bit?”

  “I’m so sorry,” Eddy said, finally giving me his full attention. “I’m being an awful dance partner.”

  “I understand.” But I really didn’t. Lindsey was rude, just like some of the social climbers at court.

  “So, are you liking the party?” Eddy asked in an obvious attempt to steer the conversation.