Teaser

 

He had come back.

He was not a figment of my imagination. He existed, and he was here.

I put my hand over my mouth. In one moment, I wanted to cry out, to sing in joy, because he was real. In the next, I was utterly terrified of him, for I knew not what brought him here. I wanted him to go away. I wanted him to stay as he was, wanted to make out every line, work out every detail of him.

He did not move at first, then pushed back the hood of his riding cloak and there was moonlight enough to see his face. To gleam off the line of his jaw. To frame the width of his shoulders. The cloak blew against him in the breeze, swirling around him as if it wanted to touch him.

In a word, he was magnificent.

He raised his arm in a wave. Before I could think about what I did, I waved back. I could not help a burst of laughter. He really did exist. He really did.

With a thud, my chamber door slammed open and Mother came in. “Rapunzel, what is all this noise?”