Rapunzel Untangled (26 page)

“You’re not going
anywhere
,” Gothel spat, coming toward them. She stumbled as she walked, blood dripping down her face.

“Fane, please,” Rapunzel pleaded, shaking him but not taking her eyes from Gothel.

Gothel lifted the knife above her head, clasped with both hands. Rapunzel threw herself across Fane.

“Now the boy dies!” Gothel yelled.

“Gothel, stop!”

Rapunzel turned at the sound of a strange man’s voice. The man was tall, foreboding, dressed in a flowing black cape. His hair and eyes were as dark as his clothing.

“Why are you stopping me, Vedmak?” Gothel said to the man, halting but not releasing the knife.

Rapunzel shuddered at the name. This evil man was the one who’d fed Gothel’s insanity. Looking at him, she doubted he was any saner than Gothel.

“You don’t want to upset the girl, Gothel. If we’re to complete the transformation, we need her happy. Move away from the boy.”

Gothel seemed to remember Fane and looked at the knife. “I can’t. In order for my daughter to return, he must die. There is too much at stake.”

Gothel gripped the knife tighter and crouched, as if to get better position. She leaped forward, and a loud noise exploded. Gothel flew backward, slamming against the wall, stunned. Gothel’s knife clattered to the floor. Rapunzel gasped and turned to stare at the man. He stepped forward and dropped to his haunches. “It’s going to be okay now.”

“Please,” she whispered, glancing down at Fane.

“I’ll make you a deal,” Vedmak said. Rapunzel’s gaze was drawn back to the man. His eyes were endless, dark swirling pools. “You cooperate with us, and I’ll insist Gothel spare his life.”

Rapunzel’s thoughts were muddled. She knew that they wouldn’t let Fane live. They couldn’t. As if he divined her thoughts, he said, “I can erase his memory, Rapunzel. He won’t remember you. He won’t remember this place. It will seem as a dream. I promise to let him go if you cooperate.” He leaned closer, and Rapunzel felt the pull of his eyes once more.

“Give me your word,” she mumbled.

He placed a hand on her arm, every line of his body and face exuding empathy—except for his eyes, which remained cold and unfathomable. “You have my word, Rapunzel.”

“No!” Gothel protested.

Vedmak’s eyes moved beyond Rapunzel to land on Gothel. Rapunzel was amazed to see Gothel shrink back beneath his look.

“Say your good-byes,” he told Rapunzel.

She turned back to Fane, leaning down to kiss him. He responded weakly, his eyes opening the tiniest slit. “I love you, Fane. I have since I first saw your picture. You made my life worth living, and I’ll never forget you.” A tear dropped onto his chin from her cheek. “Even though you’ll forget me.”

“No, Rapunzel,” he said weakly. “It’s a trap. Run.”

His body suddenly stiffened, jaw clenched, groans rumbling in his throat as he spasmed.

“That’s enough, Gothel,” Vedmak commanded.

Rapunzel turned burning eyes on Gothel, who held the trigger. Suddenly the gun was ripped from her hands by an unseen force. Rapunzel screamed.

Vedmak stepped forward and bent to scoop up the unconscious Fane. Rapunzel tried to hold onto him, but in her weakened state she was no match for the big man. He carried Fane into the dungeon that she’d occupied so recently. She scrambled to her feet and followed.

Vedmak laid him on the floor and turned to Rapunzel. “See?” he asked. “I’m keeping my word. I’ve removed the wires from him. He’ll wake soon enough. I’ll come back after we’re finished and erase his memory as promised.”

He ushered Rapunzel out of the room. She had no choice, it was the only thing she could do for Fane. She glanced back where he lay on the cold floor, his chest rising with his breaths. Vedmak bolted the door behind him, locking Fane in. He took Rapunzel’s arm and steered her away from the room.

“Come, Gothel,” he commanded as they passed where she still sat on the floor. She shot Rapunzel a glare so full of loathing and hostility that Rapunzel cringed away from her. After they passed, Rapunzel heard her rise and follow them.

 
^.*
*

R
apunzel cringed and pulled back forcefully when she saw that Vedmak led her to the black room of sixes.

“No!” she screamed. “No, please, not in there!”

Vedmak turned to her, calm. “Now, Rapunzel, I kept my word. Won’t you keep yours and cooperate?”

Rapunzel shook her head frantically.

“For the sake of your friend,” he added, his voice cold and firm.

Rapunzel froze and looked up at him. Threat was evident in his words. She immediately quit struggling.

Inside the room that invaded her nightmares was a black cot in the center of the star. He led Rapunzel to it and indicated she should lie down. Fear shook her as she did so.

“You’ve let her become weak,” Vedmak chided Gothel as she entered the room.

“She refused to eat,” Gothel complained.

“You should have taken control,” Vedmak said. “After all, you are the mother.”

Gothel’s nostrils flared at the insult but remained silent. “Shall I get the tube?” she asked.

“Only if you wish her to survive the procedure,” he said.

Gothel left the room. Vedmak turned away from her, doing something on a black table against the wall she didn’t recall seeing before. Rapunzel quickly moved to sit up and run through the open door. She was stumped in her intention by the straps that held her tightly bound. She stared at them.
What the . . . ?
She couldn’t recall Vedmak placing them on her, yet the black straps clearly crossed her chest, stomach, and legs.

Vedmak clicked his tongue, his back still facing her. “You’re making me question how well you plan to keep your word, child. Please keep in mind your friend’s fate rests on you.”

Rapunzel immediately stilled. Soon Gothel returned, and Rapunzel was forced to submit to a tube being shoved down her throat. She coughed and choked, tears running from her eyes. Once it was inserted, Vedmak hung a can on a pole next to her head and hooked it to the tube. She looked up at the can and read “Ensure” on it.

Vedmak followed her gaze. “Not to worry. It’s nothing more than nutrition.”

Tears continued to flow along with the thick liquid that ran into her stomach.

“When do we start?” Gothel whined. “You promised me my daughter.”

Vedmak turned black eyes on her. “Patience, Gothel. Tomorrow she’ll be stronger and the others will be here. We can’t continue without them.”

Rapunzel had a pretty good idea of who the “others” were. Her nightmares were becoming clearer by the moment.

* * *

Gothel sat silently next to her throughout the night. When the can of liquid nutrition emptied, she removed it. Then, two hours later she hung a new one, refusing to look at Rapunzel. This continued for quite some time. Rapunzel watched as the thin line of light around the door brightened. The room warmed up. She figured it to be around noon when Vedmak returned.

“Get some rest,” he told Gothel. “We’ll begin at six.”

Gothel smiled, the expression filled with malevolence. She left, and now Vedmak watched over Rapunzel. He didn’t seem as content as Gothel to let silence reign.

Sitting next to her, he picked up her braid, which lay on the floor off the side of the narrow cot. He clicked his tongue again, shaking his head. “You shouldn’t have done this,” he said, lifting her hair and showing her the slice she’d made. Rapunzel’s eyes widened. She’d forgotten about that and now feared what he’d do to her because of it.

“Do you know how hard I worked to put the magic into your hair?” he asked, fingering the slice, watching the motion. Rapunzel couldn’t speak with the tube down her throat. “It took many, many years of rituals. There were times it nearly drained me of my own power. And now,” his cold, hard eyes turned to hers, “one moment of childish temper may have undone all my work.” He leaned closer. “For your sake, I hope enough remains in the unharmed portion.”

Rapunzel shuddered at his words.

“I’m very close to becoming all-powerful,” he said. “You are my final piece of magic. Learning to harness a specific type of magic and manipulate it at will is the only thing I haven’t done. You’re going to help me do that, you and that hair that I’ve invested so many years in. You released some of the magic when you cut it, but hopefully not all. Once I’ve re-bound the magic to your hair, we will sacrifice you and the magic will become mine. Then I will have everything. I will be everything.”

A squawk escaped her throat. She might be naïve of most things of the world, but she was well aware of what “sacrifice” meant. She shook her head wildly, and he smiled at her. The smile was meant to be reassuring, but the intent was lost.

“Don’t worry, child, we’ll be certain you don’t feel anything.”

He stood and moved placidly away from her, as if he hadn’t just told her he planned to
murder
her. Rapunzel looked around desperately for anything that might help her escape. She glanced down at the straps that held her firmly to the bed. Realizing her panic wasn’t helping, Rapunzel forced herself to calm down, breathing deeply. and counted to ten.

Once her frenzy subsided, she manipulated her hands around until she could touch the strap. She moved her hands along the binding until she reached the metal buckle. Her eyes shot to Vedmak. He still faced away from her. She tucked her fingers up as far as she could reach, barely able to touch the edge of the lifting mechanism that would release the buckle.

Suddenly a woman entered the room, someone Rapunzel hadn’t seen before. Her eyes barely touched on Rapunzel before lifting to Vedmak.

“I’m here,” she announced solemnly.

“Good,” Vedmak answered, not turning to acknowledge her in any other way. The woman moved to the side and removed something from a hook. She wrapped the dark cloak around her, pulling the hood over her head, and Rapunzel trembled to the depths of her being. It was one of the hooded figures from her nightmare come to life.

Gothel swept into the room, already wearing a black cloak, fixing Rapunzel with a glare, smirking. “Where are the others?” she demanded of the hooded woman. “It’s nearly time.”

“They’re on their way,” the woman said. Rapunzel heard the disdain in the woman’s voice as she spoke to Gothel.

“Three others?” Gothel asked.

The woman didn’t answer, and Gothel turned to Vedmak. “Three others, right, Vedmak?”

“More or less,” he muttered.

“No,” Gothel interjected. “No more, no less. Three others, so there are six of us.”

Vedmak turned to face her. The look on his face terrified Rapunzel, but Gothel stood her ground.

“Tell me there will be six. You know the importance of the number.”

Vedmak sighed as if dealing with a child he had to reveal a harsh truth to. “It’s time to stop feeding these fantasies of yours, Gothel.”

“Fantasies?” she screeched. “You are the one who confirmed my belief in sixes. All things in sixes to bring my daughter back. The hook, remember?”

Vedmak’s voice hardened. “Nothing more than appeasing you. How else was I to get your willing cooperation? Your ideas are ridiculous.”

Gothel’s shoulders jerked back as if he’d physically assaulted her.

“Sixes are your obsession, Gothel. Not mine. And not necessary to the ritual.”

“What are you talking about?” Gothel asked angrily, pushing her shoulders forward aggressively, seeming not to notice the shroud of wrath encompassing Vedmak. Rapunzel glanced at the hooded woman and saw that she watched the two of them raptly. She unhurriedly moved her fingers along the strap again, searching for the buckle’s latch.

“The ritual we perform here is not for you, Gothel.”

“Of course it’s for me! The return of my daughter can be for no one else. You can’t back out now.”

“Oh, I don’t plan to,” he murmured ominously.

As if he hadn’t spoken, Gothel continued. “Haven’t I been working toward this with you for nearly eighteen years? Haven’t I done all you’ve asked? I’ve continued to build to appease your spirits.”

Vedmak burst out laughing, joined by the hooded woman. Rapunzel’s fingers froze in their search at the sound. There was not an ounce of humor to be heard in Vedmak’s laugh and only contempt in the hooded woman’s.

“How else could I get you to stop annoying me?” he demanded, all pretense of humor gone, his face darkening. “Your constant calls wanting your daughter back nearly drove me to the brink. Getting you to spend your time overseeing useless construction was nothing more than a means to an end for me.”

Gothel sputtered.

“You’re much easier to control when you have a purpose. I admit, when you first came to me I believed you to be a kindred spirit. It wasn’t long until I discovered you were nothing more than an insane old bat.” Gothel’s mouth dropped as did Rapunzel’s. How did he dare speak to her that way? Obviously Gothel wasn’t as intimidating to Vedmak as she was to Rapunzel. “But we needed your home and your money, both of which were easy enough to get by feeding your illusions.”

“You’re lying!” Gothel exclaimed, though her eye twitched and her voice quavered.

“No, Gothel,” Vedmak said, taking a step toward Gothel. “I’m not.”

Gothel moved toward the hooded woman, and Rapunzel slipped a finger beneath the buckle. She couldn’t lift the buckle, though. She took a breath, pushed it out, and slid her finger a bit further in.

“You see, Gothel, I doubted you would ever have a child. And I was right, you didn’t. But you did the next best thing—you
found
one.” Vedmak waved a hand toward Rapunzel just as the buckle lifted. Her heart stopped that she’d been caught, but none of them glanced her way. She held tightly to the two sides of the buckle, keeping it in place until she was sure they weren’t going to notice. “Good timing too. I was about to give up on you and find someone else. You brought me the girl I needed for my ritual, and not only found her, but kept her, raised her, fed her. Do you have any idea how much trouble you saved me? How much money? If someone saw her, it would be
you
who took the fall.”