Prism

The Glass Mountain

It was blisteringly hot at the top of the glass pyramid. Servants had erected a canopy to protect Rapunzel from the direct rays of the sun, but it did nothing for the heat rising in waves off of the glass. If anyone managed to get the golden apples, they'd be lucky to hold onto them for more than a few seconds – the metallic coating was already heating up.

Mounted knights milled around in a dusty field below the pyramid, clucking to restive mounts who snapped irritably at each other when they got too close. There were approximately thirty of them, all clad in full plate armor and bedecked in their tournament colors. From this high up, only the plumes waving from their helmets and the colors of their mounts – verified by Moira to be completely free of magic – distinguished them. Rapunzel felt a bit sorry for them, as they must have been baking in that armor, but she wasn't inclined to be too charitable. After all, they had chosen to be here.

The sound of hearty greetings drifted up to her ears as Prince Eric's distinctive white charger pranced onto the field, and she bit back a curse. If he won, she didn't know what she would do. Maybe run away – Arianna said that the dragons always welcomed new princesses.

Rapunzel scanned the crowd again and groaned softly to herself. Maybe she would run away regardless, and let her father choose one of her cousins as his successor. They were a rowdy bunch, but surely one of them would be a suitable ruler. They could hardly be worse than someone like Prince Eric, who didn't know how to take no for answer.

Her chin lifted. No. Running away would be shirking her duty, and her foster parents had taught her better than that. Besides, she wanted the chance to make the country a better place – she just didn't want to do it with a husband by her side.

A horn blew down below and the knights snapped to attention. Rapunzel leaned forward to see a herald stride out to the base of the pyramid. "Hear ye, hear ye! This marks the first day of the contest to win Princess Rapunzel's hand in marriage. The knight to make it to the top of the glass mountain and gather all three golden apples will be declared the winner!" He took a deep breath and lifted his horn to his mouth. "The first knight to attempt the climb will be Prince Edward!" With that, he blew a long, low blast on the horn, and a knight mounted on a chestnut stallion trotted forward.

Rapunzel propped her hand on her chin and watched with interest as the stallion pawed at the glass, then sniffed it. The knight kicked him, and he snorted before gingerly placing one hoof on the glass. Another hoof followed, then another, until he was standing with all four feet on the mountain. This seemed to reassure him, for when the knight kicked him again, he willingly trotted forward.

Or, at least, he tried. He was no more than six feet off the ground when his hooves lost traction, sending him sliding back downwards. The knight spurred him forwards again, and he obeyed, but the same thing happened.

The herald raised a hand. "Thank you, Prince Edward. Prince..." He consulted a scroll in his hands. "Prince Orion, you are next." As Prince Edward retired with sulky grace, another knight trotted forwards.

After the first five knights, Rapunzel gave up watching. None of them could make it more than a few steps before sliding backwards, and none of them accepted defeat gracefully. When it was Prince Eric's turn, he galloped straight at the mountain, crouching low over his charger's neck. For a second, as the white stallion pounded up the slope, Rapunzel's breath caught. Would he be the one to summit the mountain?

Then he, too, slipped back downwards, plumes flying. His mount whinnied in frustration.

Rapunzel heaved a sigh of relief. At least she wouldn't be forced to marry Eric, though she had no guarantees that the knight who managed to climb the mountain would be any better.