7 Zarev
I let the princess sit on the rooftop with me for close to an hour. The wind blows past but she's numb to it, looking between the wall and the sea several times.
Her eyes are glassy, haunted. I've shattered her world by showing her the truth within it.
The shadows playing along my hands curl, holding tight, and I know my magic is growing tired. I need to recharge. It's one thing to hide my movements when most people can't see me, but it's another to hide a person so alive like Rapunzel.
Even when I let the shadows disappear and the living can see me, my magic is but a breath away. It’s part of me now, and if I exhaust my reserves without a break I risk making myself vulnerable.
The shadows protect me as much as I despise them. I’ve had many years to learn how to twist them to my will, and I’ve got a long way to go before I can claim to be a master. It feels like I know everything and nothing about this power all at the same time. None of the four Reapers had a teacher; we were thrust into this when Death called.
Glancing down the roof, I plan the route back. Climbing here was mostly up, so I could pull her if she stumbled. Going back to her room, the struggle will be to not to slide off.
I’m still not sure what I’m gaining by bringing her out here. There’s a strong chance the Princess of Tressa is the reason there are no dead in the Kingdom. But eyeing the wall, I suppose that could be part of the issue. It’s the only structure like this in Mystica, and of course it’s someplace I have to deal with it.
It couldn’t be Raymundo’s problem, or even Ban’s. Of my friends, I’m the one who got stuck climbing over the wall.
Rapunzel is unusual, but the wall is a monstrosity. The people of Tressa are none the wiser, but it keeps out as much danger as it locks in.
“Do you think they lie to me about other things?” she asks, her voice soft against the wind. When I look at her again, her eyes are unfocused in the distance. “Do you think… maybe no one out there wants my hair?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” I reply, her head snapping around to look at me. “If someone figured out who you are and heard the rumors, they might try to hurt you or capture you. But you’re a bit of a mystery to everyone outside of the tower. You might be able to pass as a regular civilian if you can hide the hair.”
She reaches for my hood, her fingers stilling against the fabric before she reaches back to fiddle with her long locks. It might stick out, but she has a strange attachment to her hair. Since it forced her parents to hide her way, she might have good reason to hold it dear.
Licking her lips, she turns and eyes the city. Lanterns illuminate the grounds outside of the castle, and she looks longingly in that direction. “I think they’d recognize me down there.”
“Perhaps. Do the people of Tressa ever get to see you? Do you hold an audience when your father addresses the kingdom?”
She doesn’t look away from the lights in the distance. “No. I never go out when he addresses the kingdom. It would be too easy to strike me down, or to try and abduct me, and the citizens would take whatever Midas is discussing and turn it into a spectacle about me.”
Well, he’s done a stunning job convincing the princess she deserves to be all alone. “He’s too far in your head, Princess. If you’ve hidden from the kingdom for most of your life, how will they know who you are? Long hair isn’t exactly an anomaly.”
She glances back, giving me a forced smile. “I suppose.”
“Maybe see what happens when the King doesn’t have absolute control over your mind,” I suggest, and that uncertain look appears on her face again. I think of the weird interaction with her mother and the tea, and wonder if the royals really are trying to manipulate her every move. “You never know what will happen if you don’t try.”
Before she can respond, a voice drifts up to us, cutting off anything she might say. I know she hears it too, because she clamps her mouth shut to listen in just like me. “...asking about Rosen again…”
The voice is nearly drowned out by the wind, but I hear it just as well as Rapunzel. Her eyes widen as she looks around, the Queen’s voice carrying over to our part of the roof. She must be speaking pretty loudly for us to hear her over the wind.
Rapunzel scrambles up, almost toppling over the peak and down the other side. Her balance is atrocious, but I suppose she doesn’t get a lot of practice walking around the same room. Without waiting for my help she darts off across the roof in the direction of Dorah’s voice, practically sliding off one side.
I grimace, turning and darting after her. My footfalls are softer than hers, and I watch as she completely misses her next step and nearly smashes her face into the shingles.
Flicking my hand her way, I manage to cradle her face before she smashes into the roof. Her eyes widen as I approach, looking between me and the shadows holding her as she gasps for breath, her hand pressing to her chest.
I catch up as the shadows righten her, ignoring the stunned and slightly horrified look on her face. “You need to be more careful.”
Her scowl returns, just as the voice picks up again. “I want answers. No one should be in the kingdom uninvited. You said that the barrier alerts you when someone comes through.”
“We haven’t found them yet, Dorah.”
That’s Midas talking, and Rapunzel stiffens before trying to scramble up the next tower. I catch her wrist, holding her back against me, and she twists her neck to glare up into my eyes.
Leaning in, I breathe in her ear. She shivers from my close touch, and I don’t think it’s anything to do with the cold. I don’t say a word so we can keep listening, but from the stiffness in her body I know she’s hyper aware of how close we are once again.
“How does someone hide in the kingdom?” Dorah hisses, and Rapunzel struggles against me for a moment before flattening herself into the roof, trying to edge closer despite my grip. Their voices are a little bit closer, but not so close that there’s any chance they will spot us. “They shouldn’t be an issue if they are drinking the water.”
Water?
Rapunzel tries to climb higher, and I hold her back. Another gust of wind whistles by, and it drowns out any response.
“Know anything about the water, Princess?” I whisper.
“You know I don’t, Zarev,” she breathes back.
“...answers we don’t have,” Midas says, his voice barely audible in the night. “She’s not going to stay put forever. If we can’t find out who breached the wards, she might send more spies down through the woods.”
“It’s none of her business what happens in Tressa,” Dorah hisses. “She has no power here.”
“You know that isn’t true. She might be able to break through the gold if I use my curse on her. It may not stop that bleeding heart.”
“Only because she’s barely living, Midas. That’s the only way to resist your magic.”
Interesting.
“We need to double the guards,” Dorah says, an edge of desperation in her voice. “No one in or out of Tressa until this is resolved. The traitor will have to answer for their crimes.”
“It could be a diversion sent by her,” Midas goes on. “She always wanted a reason to void our deal. So long as the wall holds, she has no power. The magic is absolute as long as I feed the spell.”
“No, she’ll only send spies to keep trying to assassinate you.”
“That’s why we have Rapunzel, dear. With her, we’ll live forever.”
Rapunzel shrinks back into herself at his words, and their voices drift farther away. Wind or not, the next words are too soft for me to hear. They sound further away when I can hear the conversation again. “She’ll level the kingdom if she gets past the wall.”
“So long as the wall is in place, Tressa is safe. Her evil reign can’t touch these lands, not with the wall.” Midas sounds certain that the kingdom is safe, more so than the Queen.
I narrow my eyes. I’d swear they are discussing the Mad Queen, but they refuse to say her name. Perhaps that's a precaution in case people are eavesdropping, like us.
“We’ll double the guards on the wall. Anyone or anything trying to come through will be shot first, questioned later.”
“You think that’ll keep us safe?” Dorah asks, her voice pitching higher.
Midas shushes her, and they grow distant once more. “It’s always safe in Tressa, so long as our citizens obey the rules.”
There’s the sound of a door closing, and I decide to peer over the top of the roof. Rapunzel scrambles to follow me, her slim body sliding against mine and tangling into the cloak.
It’s a tad distracting, but I force my gaze to the walkway on the other side of the roof. There’s a door firmly closed, and one loan guard appears from the other end. He pivots into place before scanning the area, and just as Rapunzel pops up over the rooftop I grasp the top of her head and force her down again.
“Hey!”
“Shh. We don’t need the guards spotting us.”
She scowls in the moonlight. “I thought your shadows hid us.”
“It’s a different kind of task when we’re prowling around on the roof,” I mutter, staring at the peak of the roof again. I’d like to keep watching, see if the King and Queen come back out. That conversation brought up more questions than answers. “Where are we in the castle?”
Rapunzel frowns, peering around the rooftop. There’s a chance her parents kept her so isolated she won’t be able to tell. But after a moment she meets my gaze, her blue eyes sparkling with life. “Midas' wing. Dorah is further down. No rooftop walkways on her end. They supposedly have shared chambers, but I can’t remember ever going in there. If I visit, I’m hurried through one of their doors to discuss something they need me for.”
I study her. She’s being incredibly open with that information. Perhaps that conversation got to her more than I thought. “You know that for certain?”
“Yes. My father is the only one with access to the roof like this.”
I nod slowly, listening for a few more moments. Rapunzel is just as tense as I am, waiting for something more to happen. After a few minutes of silence she begins to shake from the wind, and I suppose nothing else interesting will happen tonight.
“It’s time to go back.”
Her eyes fill with despair. “But, I-”
“If you want to do this again, we have to be careful, Princess. If someone sees us up here we’ll have more problems than whispered secrets between the royals.”
I shouldn’t even offer that. Bringing her up here is a bad idea, but watching the quiet girl come alive for a few minutes is entertaining. She has life in her, if only the people around her would stop trying to crush it.
Sad eyes peer up at me. “What about the shadows?”
“They are a part of me, Princess. And keeping myself hidden throughout the day is a lot of work. My magic is almost spent. If you want to get back into the tower and not face your parents' wrath, we need to go back now.”
For a moment, she longingly looks over the roof. I think a large part of her wants to run away and escape. But that’s not a freedom I can offer her, not right now.
I can’t even leave this damn kingdom yet. And if they are upping security it’ll be even more of a pain.
Giving her a few more moments to bask in the outdoors, I hold out my hand. “Come on, Princess. Back to the tower.”