Twisted: A Rapunzel Story

Plants and Babies

Once upon a time, there was a lovely kingdom, ruled by a king and queen. They were getting older and needed an heir to the throne. And so the king and queen conceived a child.
During the pregnancy, the queen had cravings. She craved many exotic things like coconuts or kiwis. She also craved things that were grown nearby, one of which being the rampion plant.
The nearby location of the rampion was about 2 miles (3 kilometres) away from the palace. It grew in a personal garden of medicinal herbs and spices of a witch. The king knew he shouldn't take from personal property, even as the king. But the queen was very persistent, even more so in times of pregnancy. So the king asked for the witch to sell some of her rampion plants to him for a very unfair price.
"At that horrible rate, I might as well give it to you!", the witch said. And so she did in fact freely give the king the plants because she knew it was for a good cause. This is because, at the time, Velma the witch was pregnant with her own child and knew the pain of pregnancy cravings.
The queen absolutely loved the complete feeling her stomach got when she satisfied the craving. This process of giving rampion and eating it continued throughout the nine months.
When it was done, the queen and witch delivered within the same week. Except, the queen's baby didn't survive because it's lungs failed five minutes after birth. The little girl didn't live very long at all after that.
When the fact of the miscarriage sunk in, the king and queen were devastated. They were also hesitant to try again. What if a second try would be a waste as well?
They turned to the joyous baby girl Velma birthed. She was so beautiful, with tufts of platinum blonde hair already poking out from her scalp. Her giggles made the king and queen very depressed. All they could think of was the baby that was lost to them.
Then the king had an idea. He had gotten the rampion plants from the witch without trouble, right? That must be because I'm king!, he thought. Because I'm king, I can get anything for my darling queen! That includes the baby that will soon be our little girl.
The king took his five best knights, suited them up in armor with swords, and marched down to Velma's witch hut.
When she opened the door, she was very surprised to see this mini battalion on her doorstep. Velma then worried, for the king's guard only suits up for war or decision-making unease.
Velma heard his demand, but was dumbfounded. Baffled. Confounded. "My baby? Why? I've been loyal to the crown by freely giving my rampion, paying taxes, everything! Is it so much to ask to keep my baby?", but the king didn't listen. He just marched into the house, leaving the five knights to guard her.
When the king returned to the doorway, Velma was crying. Her baby, her everything was being taken away from her? Now that all of her family was killed by dark witchcraft and her husband died in combat for the kingdom- her baby that was all she had left and the last memento of her husband- was being taken away, she felt unable to go on.
Velma had then decided to take her baby back.

All day, Velma had packed her house up. She knew once she did this there'd be no coming back to it, so she took everything. As she looked back at it, canvas bag at her side, she knew she'd regret nothing.
She snuck into the highest tower (where the royal bedroom was). The baby was in a crib, sleeping peacefully. When Velma picked up her stolen child, the baby woke up and cooed at her. "Shh, now. It's going to be okay," the mother comforted. She snuck back down the stairs, outside, and as soon as the tree line was in sight, she ran for it, platinum blonde hair flying behind her. She knew her family had left a tower in her name somewhere to the north, she just hoped it wasn't too far.
All the while, the baby bumped against her mother's chest and slept with a smile on her face.
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