The Inside Story

Reunion

Katie's POV

After the silent trotting of the prince's horse, Jacob's silent whispering that it would be much faster if we had used magic, and me wanting to strangle him despite being an elder; we finally arrived at a long brick tower. We were surrounded by a rich green pasture with a flowing waterfall; it looked eerily like the movie Tangled and I expected for the prince to look like Flynn Rider but his face didn't change. Wildflowers were blooming, fish were swimming in the crystal clear river with their scales glimmering every color of the rainbow, and I couldn't help but marvel in awe as the horse led us closer to the tower.

"And that's how I defeated the terrifying dragon with only my lucky blade and my horse Destiny," the prince said as he came to a stop. I yawned as he finished his story. He had told us countless stories of his brave and undying courage adventures that involves magical beasts and saving damsels in distress. He wasn't humble about it either, even now the prince was smirking at how amazing he was.

"Good to know, Prince Emmanuel," I said sarcastically. Jacob had long drifted off and I kept the prince's attention forward so he wouldn't notice a villager finding his stories dull. We were supposed to be amazed and he obviously assumed this but did people really listen to him for more than 10 minutes? I wonder how Rachel deals with him on a regular basis.

Jacob and I got off the horse first while Prince Emmanuel led his horse to a nearby tree to tie the rope around the trunk. I stared at the long ivory tower, the bricks shone with beautiful sparkles and felt rough due to the years it was built. I looked around and was confused. "Where are they? They should be here," I said as I motioned towards the hidden scenic area.

Prince Emmanuel nodded. "Yes, unless they decided to change route and go to the village that takes a fortnight to get to."

"Why are they even in this story in the first place?" I asked to Jacob, pulling him aside.

"This is where Marina first got her magic, the old witch from the story Rapunzel gave it to her. And you were the one who told her to go back to her place of origin where she got her powers," Jacob replied, motioning towards the tower.

"Wait, did she receive it at the tower or in the old witch's house? That's a big difference," I commented.

"Nimue's house. But tracing where her house is difficult, we need to wait for her to come to the tower in order to follow her, I'm assuming your friends also have the same idea."

"What do we do? Do we have to let the prince call for Rapunzel now?" I asked.

"No way. He'll probably insist on waiting until that princess sings which is his cue, man, that prince is one of the lowest points of Wilhelm and my career. He won't call her, we'll have to do it. You do it so Rapunzel will believe it's her mom calling her," Jacob said as he pushed me towards the tower.

I looked nervously at the prince who was hiding in the bushes, waiting for Rapunzel to sing. I cleared my throats and put my hands on my mouth, yelling with all my might, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" There was silence and I could only hear the birds continued chirping and the fish swimming in the brook, I looked back and found that the prince was scowling with displeasure. He was walking in a hurry, his fists clenched as I instinctively got behind Jacob.

I heard a sudden whoosh, I looked up and saw a long strand of blonde hair tumbling forward. I dragged Jacob away from the braid until I was sure we were safe, Prince Emmanuel looked confused and then the hair hit him with brute force. He collapsed on the ground and laid still, I guess that hair had enough weight to knock him out.

"Okay, that was not planned but it works. Now he can't stop us from climbing Rapunzel's hair," Jacob said as he grabbed the braid with both hands, preparing to scale the tower.