Page 15

RAPUNZEL

A s we rest beneath the sprawling branches of an ancient oak, I sigh in frustration, tugging at the knots in my braid. After our travel today, it has become terribly unruly.

Ren shifts back into his two-legged form and kneels beside me. “May I?”

Surprised, I nod. His touch is gentle as he undoes my braid, combing through the silken strands with his fingers, carefully working out the tangled knots.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“Of course.”

As he continues to brush out my hair, Ren tells me stories about his life. He’s hilarious and I find myself laughing almost every time he opens his mouth. I can’t remember the last time I felt such joy.

When he’s finished, I twist ribbons back into the length as I rebraid it, to make sure it doesn’t drag on the ground when I walk. When I’m done, Ren shifts back into his massive Fox form.

As I lean against him, I find my thoughts drifting to Glinda—Drusilla, I keep reminding myself. Sadness stabs at my chest. I cannot stop thinking about her betrayal.

Ren lays his foreleg over my waist, draping his tail over my body like a blanket to protect me from the chill night air. With a heavy sigh, I nestle into his thick fur, his warmth and masculine scent a soothing comfort for my troubled thoughts.

“Are you warm enough?”

Unable to speak through my sadness, I nod.

He is silent for a long moment, tilting his head to one side to regard me. “What’s wrong?” His voice hums through my thoughts again.

I squeeze my eyes shut against the pain. “Everything I thought I knew was a lie.” My throat tightens. “I thought Glinda was protecting me. That she saved me.” I shake my head. “But she was Drusilla all along. I cannot believe I was so foolish to trust her.”

A soft, rumbling sound vibrates through his chest. Not quite a growl, but something close to it.

“Do not blame yourself,” he murmurs. “She manipulated you so you wouldn’t question her.”

I shake my head. “The other thing I cannot understand is: why did she wait so long? She had years to take me and leave. All those opportunities she must have had—why didn’t she seize them sooner?”

Ren’s expression grows thoughtful, his fox ears twitching. “Perhaps she was hesitant because she knew how fiercely your family loved you. Maybe she believed that taking you sooner would’ve brought unwanted attention and danger to her plans.”

He brushes his muzzle along my shoulder, reassuringly. “Pretending to protect you—working for your family—it gave her a measure of control. She probably thought it was the safest way to remain close to you at the time.”

I nod slowly, processing his words. Even so, I’m ashamed of how na?ve I was. “She told me I was safe with her, that the world beyond my tower was full of danger and people who would hurt me. That the evil Goblin witch was still out there, searching for me.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “But the bad witch was always her. And I never even saw it.” I look at him. “But you did. And I’m not sure I would have believed you if she hadn’t revealed her true nature.”

His breath is warm against my skin as he nuzzles my side. “You cannot blame yourself, Rapunzel. She stole your memories to imprison your mind. She made you dependent upon her so she could keep you in the tower.”

“But that’s just it. I’m free, but I’m not.” I shake my head. “Without my memories, I still feel like I’m trapped. I may have escaped the tower, but my memories are still held hostage by Drusilla’s spell. How can I move forward when I don’t even know who I truly am? Where I’m from?”

“When I was a kit, I wandered too far from home once. My mother always warned me about human trappers, but I didn’t listen. I thought I was fast enough. Clever enough to avoid any danger.”

He lets out a small huff of amusement. “But I was most definitely wrong.” He shakes his head.

“I got caught in a steel trap. Not one that snapped closed, thank the gods, but one meant to hold its prey alive.” He shudders.

“I remember the feel of the cold metal against my fur. Panicked, I clawed at the bars until my paws ached and bled. But nothing worked. I was trapped. I’ve never felt so helpless. ”

My heart aches for him. “That must have been terrible.”

“The worst part wasn’t the cage itself. It was the waiting.” His voice softens, something raw beneath the words. “I was scared and alone. I didn’t know what would happen to me. Whether I’d be sold, killed, or left there to starve.”

My chest tightens as I imagine it. “How did you escape?”

“My father found me. And he didn’t scold me for running off or tell me I was foolish. He freed me from the trap and carried me home.” He turns his gaze to me. “And when I told him how scared I had been, he told me that ‘a fox is not meant to be caged.’”

He exhales slowly. “ I still remember the moment I stepped out of that metal prison. I promised myself I would never be trapped again.”

“And you never were?” I ask, curious.

Ren tilts his head, considering. “Not physically. But I’ve been trapped in other ways. By duty… by the weight of the expectations of my family.” His ember-bright eyes flick to mine. “But it was different from when I was caged, because I had a choice. And now, so do you.”

I swallow back the lump forming in my throat. It doesn’t feel like I do. Not really. Without knowledge of my past, how can I navigate my future? Drusilla stole so much from me.

I’m desperate to recover my lost memories. I want to claw through the fog in my mind, to piece together the fragments of my past, hidden by dark magic.

“I wish I could remember,” my voice quavers as I curl my fingers in Ren’s fur, anchoring myself to the only person I can trust. “I want to know the truth about who I am.”

“We won’t stop searching for answers.” His voice is quiet but firm.

“Whatever she did to you, whatever she tried to bury—if there is a way to uncover it, we will find it.” Ren nuzzles me again.

“I’ll do whatever I can to help you find the truth.

To help you break free of every cage she ever put you in, Rapunzel.

Not just the tower. Not just her lies. But every part of you that she tried to keep locked away. ”

A lump forms in my throat as I blink back tears. “Thank you, Ren.”

“Always, my amira.”

Despite his words of conviction, I still worry. “What if Drusilla comes after me?”

A low growl rumbles in his chest. “I will die before I allow her to ever harm you again,” he says, and something about his vow fills me with warmth. “As soon as the sun rises, we’ll head for my home. The farther we get from the tower, the better.”

For so long, I felt so alone—a person with no past and no future. But now… there is Ren. I don’t know what the future holds, but I have hope, and I know that I’m not alone.