Chapter 26

 

Nick woke early. He had barely slept the night before, his thoughts so wrapped around Rapunzel. He had wanted to stay. He had wanted to bring her with him. Right then. The plain fact that a lack of a rope had resulted in their continued separation seemed ridiculous. Criminal, even. He took a deep breath. He had the rope now. He would ride out to her within the hour. Nonetheless, the need, the gut feeling he had to get back there would not ebb.

His valet helped him slip on his boots. “Sir, a letter came for you last night.”

Nick paused. “From who?”

“The Count von Thalunburg, my lord.”

Nick stood, stomping into his boot as he crossed his room, looking for the letter.

“On your desk, my lord,” the valet said.

“Thank you.” Nick strode to his desk in the front room of his suite. There was the letter, with Bryan’s wax seal.

He wasted no time opening it.

And almost fell down when he read it.

Bryan had tracked Gothel into Gruenewald’s province, but lost her in the heart of the village outside Gruenewald’s castle. Nevertheless, it was not a wasted effort, for the town was alive with talk of the Duke being married. The woman in question was a mystery to the town–no one knew who she was or where she came from, only that she would arrive in less than a fortnight.

Nick knew who Gruenewald’s new wife would be.

His Tressey.

Nick’s stomach twisted at the thought of her married to that monster. His servants were notoriously clumsy, appearing regularly in town with broken bones and lacerations bearing a resemblance to whip marks. He had spent years taxing his province to breaking in order to support his lavish lifestyle and, while his people starved, Gruenewald lacked for nothing.

Almost nothing. Gruenewald was desperate for a bride. His last had died in childbirth along with the heir. And while the townspeople publicly supported their duke, they did not offer their daughters to him. A notable number of young women had suddenly been struck by the urge to visit family in other provinces around the time they came of age. Gruenewald would have to find his bride elsewhere.

A girl locked in a tower, without any knowledge of the world, would be perfect for him for she would not know how to fight back.

Nick felt ill.

He turned to his valet, waving the letter. “When did this arrive?” 

“Last night, just after you left, my lord.” 

Nick did not hesitate. He took off out the door, heading straight for the stables. A fevered need to get her out of the tower burned in him. The nightingales sang as Nick reached the stables. Fog had enveloped the land, and everything felt thick, cold, and most of all, wrong.

He should not have left her.

He had wanted to go back last night, to get ropes and return to her immediately, but he had known he would need all his faculties to get her out of the tower safely. He had been terrified if he returned without at least some sleep, she might slip and fall from the window.

Packing every rope he could find, Nick heard footsteps coming his way. He grumbled a curse. He had no time for distractions.

Of course, it was Penn. Not that he did not love Penn like a brother, but he wanted, no, he needed, to get back to Rapunzel, and soon.

He tightened Ovet’s girth, making sure his saddle was snug. The horse sniffed in approval, nodding her head.

“So, did you rescue your lady fair yet?” Penn asked, strolling into the stables and leaning against the entrance door.

Nick grimaced then shook his head. “I am heading there now,” he said as he mounted Ovet.

“You are armed.”

Nick nodded. “Something is not right.”

“Expecting trouble?”

Nick turned his horse just enough to let him see Penn’s face. “Yes.”

Penn nodded. “Let me get my horse saddled and I will be right behind you.”

Nick leaned down and clasped Penn’s elbow, relief pouring through him. Two were far better at dealing with trouble than one. Perhaps Nick’s worry was for naught, but his gut screamed the sooner he could get Tressey out of the tower, the better.

He rode as fast as he dared through the trees, though it did not seem fast enough. With each beat of Ovet’s hooves, his feeling of urgency increased. When the tower finally came into sight in the distance, his anxiety still did not recede. It was too quiet. Usually, even this far out, he could hear vague whispers of the notes she sang, enchanting melodies that led him like the ancient sirens’ song, driving him on.

Yet today, nothing.

At the tower wall, he took a moment to look around, his nerves jangling. Nothing seemed out of place, but his worries would not be quieted. He hesitated. Perhaps he should wait for Penn before climbing the tower.

No, Penn would be along soon enough. He needed to get up there.

Easing the side door open, he made his way through the thorny garden surrounding the tower as he had done so many times before, yet nothing felt familiar. He stumbled over a bush he had passed a dozen times without incident and its thorns jabbed him in the leg. An overgrown rosebush snagged his cloak as he went by, tearing off a small patch. He tripped over a vine he would have sworn was not there the day before.

Apprehension was a taut wire in his chest as he called for her to lower her hair, and his voice sounded like a stranger’s. He stared up at the window, waiting for her to appear. When nothing happened after a moment, he paced under the window, looking up every few seconds, trying to convince himself there was a reason for the delay.

Perhaps she had fallen asleep.

Perhaps she was busy with something intricate.

Perhaps she had not heard him.

He called, louder this time, and the rope of hair tumbled out the window. Relief did not come with it. Rapunzel had still not come to the window to wave at him. There was only silence from within the tower.

Something was wrong.

He climbed, the braids tight in his fingers, but even that felt different somehow. He hoisted himself onto the ledge. 

The witch stood just inside the window, eyes ablaze, holding the long braid no longer attached to Rapunzel’s head. What had happened?

Rapunzel?

He leapt through the window, automatically reaching for the sword strapped to his hip. He held it aloft, ready to attack, when he saw Rapunzel out the corner of his eye.

She lay on her stomach, still as death and her hair chopped off just below her nape. Ragged strands, splintered like straw, covered her face. He could make out the braid he had wrapped around her forehead, though it had fallen over her eyes, covering them completely.

“Rapunzel.”

She did not move. He took a step toward her, fury and grief howling in his blood. Somewhere close behind him came the unmistakable rasp of a sword being drawn. He whirled, bringing up his own sword only seconds before Duke von Gruenewald would have run him through.

Gruenewald closed the distance between them until only the cross of their swords separated them. “So you are the dandy that has been tupping my wife.”

Blood pounded in Nick’s ears as rage consumed him. With a shove, he sent Gruenewald across the room, and Gruenewald slammed into the fireplace. The thin man jumped away immediately, crying out.

Nick charged at Gruenewald, swinging his blade with both hands in a diagonal arc. With more strength than expected, Gruenewald jerked his sword up, blocking the strike. Gruenewald shoved the sword down, making Nick stumble and twist to the side. With his right hand, he brought his sword across to knock Gruenewald down again.

Gruenewald tried to out-step the sword, and Nick spun into him, slamming his free fist into the thin man’s face. This time, Gruenewald fell to the floor. Shaking his hand, Nick switched his grip for an overhead strike. “She is not your wife.”

Pain burst from the side of Nick’s head and his whole body lit on fire.

He spun, and the room seemed to spin with him. The witch had smashed him in the side of the head with the pot of water Rapunzel always kept on the fire. The steaming water singed his skin and, disoriented, he swung around, slamming his arm into the witch’s side. She let out a cry, stumbling backward and falling into the table and chairs. Rapunzel’s music box flew off the table, the contents spilling onto the floor. The music box tinkled, and the witch shoved it across the room.

Shaking his head, Nick turned to find Gruenewald.

“Perhaps she is not my wife in deed,” Gruenewald said, and shoved a knife into his side. 

Nick crumpled to the ground.

Gruenewald bent over until his face was inches from Nick’s. “Not yet,” he whispered. He straightened his jacket as he stood. “In a way, I am glad it was you.”

Nick closed his eyes but the room tossed sickeningly and he opened them again.

“Naturally, you would try to take what was mine. You Charming Nobles, you think you can have anything you want, just because of your birthright. You are no better than that wasted skin of a cousin of mine.” Gruenewald spit blood on the floor.

“I never wanted anything that was yours.” Nick swore three Gruenewalds floated over him.

“Your family has wanted my province for generations. You and Penn have been plotting my death for years.”

“No.” Nick shook his head and it only made the spinning worse. He groaned. The room drained of color, fading into a soft and gentle gray.

Gruenewald yanked Nick’s hair. “You may be one of the largest men in the region, but I have you now.” He shoved the knife deeper into Nick’s side.

Nick cried out as the white-hot heat seemed to reach all the way to his hair.

“You cannot have her, Lord von Hohburg,” Gruenewald spat, slamming his bony fist into Nick’s face.

The witch started kicking him, right where the wound was. Something cracked. Agony spiked inside him, the likes of which he had never imagined.

“How dare you!” She kicked him again.

The pain faded. Blackness engulfed the room, beckoning him.

“You cannot destroy what I have worked all these years for!” She kicked him in the head.

Rapunzel.

Nick slipped into the darkness and was gone.