The Twelve Dancing Princesses (Faerie Tale Collection) (11 page)

She shook her head. “This is no concern of yours. None whatsoever.”

He took a deep breath and slowly tucked his mother into his chest, wrapping his arms around her small shoulders. “You do not have to be so strong anymore. If you are in trouble, let me know. Let me help you.”

She wrapped her arms around his middle, but did not answer him.

“Mother, tonight the mystery of the princesses was solved. The enchantment was broken, and it would seem two peasant men and the Lythereon kingdom are to blame for the whole. They were attempting to align families within marriage so Lythereon could overthrow this whole area.”

She gasped and pulled back. “No. No, you are wrong.”

“What do you mean? What do you know? Tell me, Mother. The whole Lythereon court is below stairs in the king’s dungeon at this moment. If there is something that is not correct, let me know now.”

She sighed and nodded. “Very well. I will tell you, because I am afraid if I do not, in their anger to get back at anyone from this kingdom, your father will be killed.”

“My father? My father who passed away years ago?”

She turned from him. “He is the only father you have ever had, Aleck.”

“He is alive?”

She sighed. “Yes.”

His heart began to beat frantically. “He is alive and you have never thought to tell me?”

“Lower your voice! The children are still asleep,” she hissed.

“But—?”

“No one knows. I have told no one. I have locked this secret within me—this possibility that he may still be alive—and have not whispered it to a soul, afraid perchance that it was all a hoax and he really was dead. But I received news the other day. Come, and I will show you.” She beckoned him into the cottage.

Aleck was quick to follow her and watched as she rummaged around in the basket before bringing out a cloth packet he had seen the other day. Within it were papers that he quickly scoured. His father was indeed alive! In Lythereon at this very moment!

But the ransom was too high.

“This is a ridiculous amount of money! Only a fool would pay such a sum. How dare they use you this way?”

“I know, I know.”

Aleck walked over to the wooden table and sat down. His eyes swam over the words confirming his father’s wellness. Tears sprang forth as he wiped his face a bit. How much had he missed that man? How much had the whole family suffered while his father needlessly suffered on his own without his family? He sat for some minutes contemplating the whole before asking, “You mentioned you would confide in me because you were afraid someone would kill Father. What did you mean by that?”

She walked over and sat next to him. “If word were to get around that our kingdom had wrongfully accused the Lythereon king of the dancing enchantment, his subjects might become angry and kill anyone from our kingdom for spite.”

“What do you mean, wrongfully accuse? Are you saying they are innocent in this?”

“Yes. The Lythereon court is as guiltless as our kingdom. They had no idea they were dancing each night, either.”

“So then, the two men? They were behind it all? Impossible! How? Why?”

She nodded her head. “They are extremists, hoping to overthrow all systems of hierarchy. They assumed the quickest way to do so was aligning the great enemies together and watching them kill each other within a few years.”

“What?”

“It is all I know—just their plot to do so. I was never given the particulars in how they had come up with the plan.”

“And why you?”

She looked at her hands. “I had received word that your father might be alive. I needed to find someone who would help me see if he was before I paid such enormous fees. I began to ask around to the shadiest of people I could find. These men are not from here, but they travel to all sorts of places and work and deal with the deadliest and most foul of persons. They saw an opening and a use for me when I approached to draw on one of their many contacts to browse the prisons and find my husband. They needed someone close to Hattie whom she would not suspect, someone who could purchase or get potions for them.”

“You did not!”

“Aleck, I had no choice! What would you have me do? Allow my husband to suffer? Besides, I am certain they used more than a few of Hattie’s potions. They would have needed to have access to much darker magic as well to succeed in all they did. Hers were probably just the catalyst to trading for greater things. But I do not know how it worked, or why. Only that it did! And now I have proof he lives.” She stood up. “But now, more than ever, I fear for his life.”

Aleck’s mind raced with many possibilities, but of one thing he was certain. “I need those papers. I must share them all with the king at this moment before he harms the Lythereon king or his court. Will you come with me and reveal what you know?”

She began to shake visibly.

“Do not be afraid, Mother. He is a good man. He will not harm you. You must trust me—and him.”

“I have no choice, do I?”

“I am afraid not.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Let us go at once. I will warn Rebecca I am leaving, and we can be off.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

ALECK SPENT A LONG while closeted with the king explaining what his mother had done and all the reasons why. He pleaded with the man to allow her freedom. When the king graciously accepted due to Aleck’s help in solving the mystery, he then took another hour or so explaining all that he knew to the other rulers—who were now more appropriately attired. The sisters were able to present gowns to the ladies, and the king had more than enough clothes in various sizes for the men. After he felt it was safe and no one would harm his mother, Aleck felt it was time to introduce her to Casey.

The women embraced and chattered so much over tea in the upstairs drawing room that he eventually slipped out the door and let them have at it. He wandered into the king’s study and was surprised to see him sitting behind his desk. “How did it go?” he asked.

The king shook his head as if he were in a daze and then looked at him long and hard. “Several people are lauding you as a hero. My own daughter has told me she will disown me if I do not allow her to marry you, and the Lythereon kingdom is sailing your father back to you, with a small fortune, in a gesture of gratitude for saving their lives. Every kingdom here is so very grateful for you, they have opened their coffers and vowed to reward you handsomely for your troubles. You, my son, have proven to be the greatest ally and friend I have ever known, and it has quite put me in a quandary of sorts.”

Aleck was amazed to hear of this and was ready to brush it all off, but was too curious not to have the king continue. “What do you mean, Your Majesty?”

The older man stood and walked over to him. “If great men like you lurk within the hearts of mere servants, what a fool I have been all my life.”

“Your Majesty?”

“Up until now, I believed only royal blood had the ability and the rational reasoning it takes to rule a kingdom, to make great decisions. And you, a simple, good lad, have proven us all wrong. You are truly a hero, Aleck. And I am proud to call you my son, hopefully sooner than later. For there is no one else I would have near me than a fine young gardener such as yourself.” The king then bowed before him.

“Your Majesty! No. No, I am just a mere man. I am nothing noteworthy at all. I simply loved your daughter enough to wish to solve this mystery. I am only grateful to be of service. Truly, I am extremely humbled to be in your presence like this, even now. My dear king, I am grateful and amazed and beyond overjoyed that on this day not only did I receive my own father back, but I was able to attain you, as well.”

The king crushed Aleck to him and pounded upon his back quite liberally.

“Now, go! Go and find my daughter and tell her I give approval to the greatest man I have ever known. And, my boy, know that your family, a family that raises such a bright, valiant son, is allowed always with us, here. Remove them from their little cottage immediately and I will set them up handsomely with their own wing.”

“But do you not realize how many children there are?”

The king threw back his head and laughed. “Son, do you not remember how many I have? Honestly, I will not know the difference one jot, and there is room enough for us all!”

***

ALECK AND PRINCESS CASCADIA were thrilled to welcome Aleck’s father home. The wedding was held soon after his arrival, to the delight of several kingdoms that came to pay their respects. The prize money from the other kingdoms was enough to support numerous families, and though Casey and Aleck attempted to pass the money to Aleck’s parents, they would never take it. However, his parents did agree to move to the grand castle to help there where needed.

Casey and Aleck cheerfully welcomed their own brood of seven thriving children to the lot. After the third was born, Aleck presented his wife with a beautiful new castle, which was much smaller, but set upon a charming hill not too far away, near a lovely beach.

Eventually Aleck’s father became captain of Aleck’s personal fleet of trading ships, and they developed into a wealthy kingdom in their own right. Many countries scrambled for Casey’s highly sought-after preserves and other fancies and desserts, and Aleck’s exotic roses and impressive florals in their own gardens and homes.

As a thank you for the cloak, Aleck had presented Hattie with the silver, gold, and diamonds he had collected in the enchanted world. Sadly, though, he realized much later that the invisibility cloak had been left behind, and he would not have access to it unless someone, somehow, made a way for the family to go back again.

Hattie was thrilled with the unique gifts, though she never sold them. And when she died, they were bequeathed back to the royal family, and are even now framed and hanging upon the wall so all who come to visit the castle can hear the tale of the twelve dancing princesses and the handsome lad whose cleverness saved them all.

THE END

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RAPUNZEL

Chapter One

“RAPUNZEL, RAPUNZEL, LET DOWN your hair, that I may climb your golden stair!”

The twelve-year-old girl giggled as she looked down from the fairy house her father, the king, had the gardeners build for her on her eighth birthday. The small home was high in the tree so she could feel like she was flying, just like a fairy. There were two ladders made of rope that led up to the charming wooden abode, but Prince Jonathan liked to tease her. Her hair reached past her feet, and he would say that if she braided it and hung it over the edge, he could climb it instead of the ladders.

“Never! Come up like a true gentleman, or do not come up at all!” she called down to him.

“You are such a spoilsport.” He grinned as he clutched the nearest rope and began to climb up.

“’Tis a good thing you decided to show yourself. I have pastries from Cook up here.” She taunted him with one as she took a large bite, crumbs tumbling to the ground past him. Some even landed on his head, putting chunks of white in his brown hair.

“Princess Rapunzel, I will now eat two for such boorish behavior,” he called up.

“With as slow as you are, they will be all gone before you get here.” She took another bite and quickly ducked inside when he increased his speed up the fifteen rungs or so of the ladder. Opening the small door to the house, she beamed a smile at him as he climbed onto the porch. “Welcome!”

“Ha!” Jonathan brushed his hands upon his trousers. “So where is mine?” he asked as he looked pointedly at the pastry in her hand.

“Right here.” She took another bite and then giggled when he chased her inside the little place. It was about six feet by eight feet. It had just enough room for two small chairs and a table, a fine old rug, and a collection of older pillows. On the table was the basket with the pastries.

He dug in and began chewing on one while holding up another. “See?” he said around a mouthful. “They are both mine. You cannot claim them.”

“I can, if you continue to drop as many crumbs as this upon my newly cleaned floor!”

“You sound like a fishwife!” He took another bite and plopped down on a cozy section of pillows.

“Me? A fishwife?” She pretended to act scandalized as she sat down next to him, her white skirts spread prettily around her.

“Whot?” He grinned. “Do you not think royalty can act like commoners, then?”

She rolled her eyes. “I do not think the two should ever be compared.”

“Fine.” In an odd moment of seriousness, he straightened his features and said, “Forgive me.”

She waited for the coming quip. Something about him being mistaken—she was not a fishwife, she was more of an ogre—but it never came. Her smile fell and she leaned back, looking into his darkened eyes. “What is it, Jonathan? Is something wrong?”

He shook his head slightly and sighed. “When is anything wrong with me?” He did not look away.

“Never. You are always in perfect spirits.”

“Precisely. So why do you assume something is bothering me now?”

“What is it? Tell me, please.”

He blinked and looked away.

“Jonathan?”

“Would you like another pastry?” he asked.

“No. I would like you to speak to me. Jonathan, ’tis not fair. I share all my secrets with you.”

His gaze met hers and he stared at her for what felt like several minutes. She waited. For once in her chattering existence, she wanted to know, really know, what he had to say. And she did not dare ruin the moment by speaking over him.

Finally, she was rewarded for her persistence.

“I have to go away to school.”

“What?” She felt as though a load of rocks had fallen upon her chest. “When? Why? For how long?”

“I have one week before I am sent off.”

“Jonathan!” She reached for his hand, something she had never done before. She could not bear losing him.

He squeezed her fingers. “I had to come and tell you. I made Father bring us here so I could say good-bye properly.”