The Witch's Tower, Tamara Grantham [best ereader for academics TXT] 📗

Rapunzel slept, the magic creating a bluish glow around her body. With her face relaxed, she looked at peace. I hadn’t seen her that way in ages.

“Will she be okay?” Raj asked.

“She should be. The spell will keep her from starving. Technically, she could sleep for a hundred years and be okay.”

“Let’s hope she doesn’t have to.”

Raj looked from Rapunzel to the prince, who still lay atop a coil of hair. “What about him?”

I stood and crossed to the prince. “This spell is different from the sleeping potion. He’ll last two weeks—three weeks tops.”

My cat, Jester, jumped down from the top of the bookshelf, startling me. The cat had a habit of scaring me. He meowed as Raj and I stood over the prince. His sleek black coat resembled a panther. Yellow eyes peered up at us. He yawned, then walked to the prince, sniffed him, and sat on his chest.

“Will you watch over Rapunzel and the prince while we’re gone?”

Raj shot me a confused glance. “You’re asking the cat to guard them?”

“Jester is very protective.” I knelt and scratched the cat’s ears, hoping the animal got the hint.

“You won’t do anything stupid, right?” My whispered voice hissed through my teeth. Jester was an idiot. If they survived, it would be a miracle, but Raj didn’t need to know that.

Purring, Jester nudged my hand, and I felt obligated to pet him. Maybe he’d understood me; maybe he would watch over the prince and Rapunzel like I’d asked. Sure, he was only a cat, but I’d feel better knowing someone—even an animal—was with her.

“I think it best if we leave now,” Raj said. “It will take a week at least to travel to the Ice Mountains, and a week more to return, and that’s assuming we don’t get into any trouble. We need to make good time if we want the prince to still be alive when we return.”

“I agree. Let me gather a few things first. Would you mind waiting for me at the bottom of the tower?”

“Outside?”

“Yes, I’d like to pack my things in private if you don’t mind.”

“Of course.” He grabbed up the coils of hair, then walked to the window where he tossed them out. As he climbed over the ledge and disappeared, a mixture of anxiety and excitement made my heart beat too quickly. I would finally be leaving the tower, but at what cost?

I turned away from the window and grabbed my large knapsack, considering what I should pack. Going on expeditions to the Ice Mountains—or anywhere outside the village—was a new experience for me, but I knew I needed to be smart. I grabbed a few loaves of bread, some dried fruit, my water canteen, some extra riding gowns, and leather breeches to wear underneath.

My mother’s spell journal still sat on the table, and I grabbed it as well. Where we were going, I knew I would need it. I also searched through the vials of herbs and potions, looking at the labels written in my mother’s perfect calligraphy. None of their contents would be powerful enough to defeat my aunts, but they would be the greatest defense I possessed. If we were forced to fight my aunts, we would lose. We would die horrifically, but I tried not to ponder it.

Before leaving, I stood at the wall of bookshelves, then knelt, looking for a wooden box. I found it on the bottom shelf. The wood grain felt smooth in my hands as I opened the lid and removed my mother’s knife. As I studied the carved bone handle, and sharpened steel blade, the danger of this quest came into focus. I would need this weapon for the creatures of Spirit Woods—for bandits and mutated animals—but that wasn’t the reason I’d searched it out.

Traveling alone with a man I barely knew was a risky, stupid move—one I only did out of desperation. If Raj attempted anything, I would be ready. I stuck the knife in my boot, then stood.

As I walked to the window, I took one last look at the room. It wasn’t much of a home, and I’d always felt like a prisoner here, but leaving meant danger. When the high sorcerer found me gone, he would send his squadrons to hunt me down. But I couldn’t afford to turn back now. I had to do this for Rapunzel. She didn’t deserve this fate.

I climbed out of the tower. Humid air thick with fog chilled my skin as I held tightly to the hair, climbing down until I reached the ground. I stepped away from the tower. Raj stood beside me, and we watched as the hair was magically drawn back inside through the only window. As I looked up at the tower, I whispered a silent prayer for Rapunzel.

May the goddess keep you safe.

Turning away from the tower, we trudged through the field toward the forest. Wet grass squished beneath my boots. I knew I was doing the right thing. But leaving her behind felt as if I were leaving a part of myself. She’d been in my life for so long. Sure, she’d been insane most of the time we’d lived in the tower. Caring for her was part of my daily routine. It had become ingrained in me. I had to admit, leaving her wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped.

By the time we made it to Willow Wood, the sun cast long shadows that stretched away from the inns and taverns. Raj didn’t talk much. We’d made a few comments to each other about the weather, how autumn seemed to be coming more quickly this year, the rainfall, but we avoided speaking about anything of substance.

When we reached the stables and gathered the horses, it was growing dark. The stables smelled of hay and horses, two scents which brought back memories of the stables in Varlocke’s castle. Raj hung his lantern on a nail, and we set to work saddling the horses.

“If we ride all night, we can make it to Grimlore Village which is near Spirit Woods.” He placed a blanket on his black stallion. The horse was a majestic Arabian, with long legs and a lean, sleek body. I patted the horse’s velvety nose as I pondered Raj’s suggestion.

“You think it’s safe to ride through the night?” I asked.

“We’ll be safe enough. I’m more worried about traveling through Spirit Woods, which is why we’ll travel tonight, then rest a few hours so we can journey through the forest during the day.”

Raj led me to the prince’s horse—a tall, bay mare who stood over me munching a mouthful of hay. She shook her head, jangling the metal buckles on her bridle.

“Don’t let her fool you. She may look imposing, but she’s a gentle giant for sure. You should have no problems with her.”

“What’s her name?”

“Sable.”

“Sable,” I repeated, running my hands over her coat, which was beginning to thicken with the weather growing cooler. “What’s your horse called?”

“Tranquility,” Raj answered, “though she’s anything but tranquil. Merek gave her that name as a joke, but the name stuck, so we kept it.”

“Were you and Merek good friends?” I asked.

“Yes, most of the time. We were like brothers, really. We fought at times, but never stayed angry for too long.” His eyes fell, and he looked away from me. “I would never forgive myself if I had to carry his body back to his father.”

“How did you come to be his squire?”

“King Duc’Line found me after one of the high sorcerer’s raids on my village. He felt sorry for me, I suppose. I was a skinny, half-naked savage in his eyes. He took me back to the castle and trained me to be a squire.”

“He took you from your family?”

“Yes and no. I’m still in contact with them. They’re proud of me for becoming the prince’s squire.”

“Did you have any say in the matter?”

“Not really.”

“Does that bother you?”

He paused before answering. “I suppose it does. Sometimes I wish I could have stayed in my village and taken my father’s place as patriarch, helped with the family’s spice business, married an Outlander girl and started a family, but life rarely works out the way we wish. I’m grateful for the opportunities I have now. I never would’ve had them if the king hadn’t taken me. Still, I miss my home. I miss the smell of my mother’s curry spiced dumplings. I miss my family.”

We continued saddling the horses in silence. I tightened Sable’s girth, making sure it was secure. I wasn’t sure what to think about Raj, although it seemed that he, like me, was also a prisoner of sorts. He’d been taken from his family, and I’d been taken from mine.

When we mounted our horses and rode away from the stables, night fell over the village. Flames flickered from the gaslights atop the lampposts, casting a hazy orange glow over the cobbled pathways winding through the thatched-roof buildings. A chill breeze blew past, blowing leaves and bits of straw across our path. The wind tugged strands of blue hair from my cowl. I tucked the loose hair beneath my