The Rapunzel in a Field of Rapunzels - Part Two
Wherein the knight Lady Red Riding Hood helps rescue Rapunzel...
Hi everyone,
This is Part Two of this installment of The Red Riding Hood Saga, please find Part One here.
I hope you enjoy the conclusion to this tale!
Part Two: The Flower Blossoms
Julie and I had ridden through the forest during the day.
But, as night fell, we had set up camp so that we would not be caught unawares in the dark.
"Lady Red," Julie said, as we rested next to the crackling fire after a long day's journey, "if I may ask - why do you use a sobriquet, even though you are a knight of this kingdom?"
I looked at Julie.
She gave me a cheeky smile, and said, "I mean - surely, you don't expect me to believe that 'Red Riding Hood' is your real name?"
Usually, those who I've met on the road would not broach this subject. And if they did, then I would decline to answer.
However, Julie had shared herself with me - perhaps a little too much.
And so, I answered her, "No, I suppose not."
I told her about how I had abandoned my name when I had been framed for the murder of Princess Snow White, how I had cleared my name and found my beloved princess in a cursed sleep, and how I had chosen not to reclaim my name until my sleeping beauty had awoken once more.
"So now you're on a journey to find a cure for the magic poison that curses your sleeping princess?" Julie asked.
I nodded.
"Then why stop and help me?" she asked, "Why risk your life to help me rescue Rapunzel from that accursed witch?"
And I repeat the line that I've said to myself, and others, every time I've stopped on my journey, "Because the princess would have wanted me to."
A moment passed, before Julie burst out into laughter.
I turned and glared at her.
"I'm sorry!" she said, as she recomposed herself, "It's just..."
"Though I have no doubt that Princess Snow White would have wanted you to stop and help us," she said, "I think that, perhaps, a part of you wants to as well?"
I paused, before I turned back to the fire.
"Maybe," was all I managed to say, as I pondered Julie's words.
Had I just been using the princess as a way to assuage the guilt that I felt whenever I stopped on my journey?
Would she have wanted me to stop at all?
"My apologies," Julie said, "I see that I have caused you some feelings of unease."
"As a fellow kin with an abandoned name," she said, "I suppose that I understand the shackles of duty, along with the doubts and feelings that they cause."
"You have abandoned your name as well?" I asked.
She nodded, "In a way, yes."
"Though Julie has been my name since birth," she explained, "I have discarded my family's name for quite some time now."
"I came from a family of nobility, you see," she said, "and I had been an opera singer with some renown throughout the kingdom of my birth."
"As such, I was expected to only sing what had been deemed acceptable to sing, and to marry whom my parents would dictate for me to marry."
"I had a duty to practice and repeatedly sing only the parts that a lady of my standing could and was allowed to sing, and love was never a consideration for me."
"My voice and my heart had both been shackled by my family," she said.
"So I fled - free to sing my songs and to love my loves."
"And though I can never return to my home, for fear of my family's hounds" she said, "I am free to find a new home, only duty-bound to myself and to the ones whom I love."
And as Julie finished her story, she placed a hand on her chest and flicked the wrist of her other outstretched hand - striking a dramatic pose to end her tale.
I turned and watched the flames of the campfire dance.
"That's nice," I said.
I could feel Julie's jaw drop at my reply.
"T-That's all you have to say, Lady Red?" an incredulous Julie asked.
"I'm sorry," I said, "You've just... given me a lot to think about."
"R-Right," she said, recomposing herself again, "of course, my apologies."
"No, don't apologize," I said, turning to her. Then, I gave her a nod, and said, "Thank you."
She paused, before giving me a slight smile and a tip of her hat, "Of course, Lady Red."
We would soon retire for the night after that.
***
The following day, we continued our journey.
However, as we approached the tower, Julie stopped us from some distance away.
"The witch - she usually visits during the day," Julie explained, "so best that we wait until night before we make our approach."
And so, we tied off our horses and waited.
When night fell, we quietly made our way through the field of rapunzels, and approached the tower in the middle of the flowers.
We paused, listening and looking for any signs of the witch.
And when none could be found, Julie softly called out, "Rapunzel, ma chérie, are you there?"
A few moments passed, before Julie called out again, louder this time, "Rapunzel! It's me, Julie. Are you there?"
Suddenly, a flurry of movements could be heard from above, and a voice replied, "G-Give me a moment, Julie!"
A few more moments would pass, before a young woman would peek her head out of the window.
"J-Julie?" the woman asked.
"Yes, ma chérie," Julie said, before gesturing to me, "And I've brought some help as well!"
"R-Right," Rapunzel said, "Let me help you two up."
I watched as Rapunzel's hair grew, stretching down from the window until it reached us.
Then, just as Julie had described, the end of the hair became a seat - onto which Julie sat.
"Come, Lady Red," Julie said, beckoning me to join her.
Cautiously, I sat down on the hair...
And found it to be surprisingly sturdy.
Seeing that we had been seated, Rapunzel then lifted us up into her tower with her magic hair.
"So," Rapunzel said to me, as I got off her hair, "are you... one of Julie's lovers?"
I raised my eyebrow at Rapunzel as she blushed and looked away.
Julie laughed, "Unfortunately, no. This is Lady Red - she's a knight who's going to help us."
"Oh! Really?" Rapunzel excitedly walked up to me. She grabbed my hand, and gave it a warm squeeze, "Thank you, dear knight!"
I gave her a nod, as I pulled my hand back, "Yes, Julie explained your situation."
Surprised at my curt response, Rapunzel said, "I-I'm sorry, Lady Red - I didn't mean to offend."
"No, not at all," I responded, feeling a tinge of guilt.
But, before I could explain, Julie simply smiled and embraced Rapunzel.
"Don't worry," Julie said, "that's simply how Lady Red is."
"Now, let me kiss you," she continued, with a grin on her face, "for I have missed you so!"
The two of them kissed passionately as I turned away.
"I have missed you as well, my darling," Rapunzel said, smiling after the kiss.
But then, Rapunzel turned away and her smile dropped.
"While you were away," she said, "mother had visited several times."
"And though I had wanted to," she said, her voice filling with sadness, "I was too afraid to bring up the idea of me leaving again..."
"My poor darling," Julie said, pulling Rapunzel close to her once more, "You must have been so afraid."
Julie cradled Rapunzel in her arms, comforting her lover.
"But that's why I've brought help," Julie said, gesturing to me, "Between the three of us, I'm sure that we can think of something! Right, Lady Red?"
I nodded, "Julie is right - we will convince your 'mother' to let you leave, one way or another."
Rapunzel smiled again, "Thank you, Julie."
"And thank you as well, Lady Red," she said, turning to me, "I am grateful that you have decided to help a stranger like me."
I nodded, and simply said, "Of course."
But, in my mind, my thoughts turned to the princess, 'I should stop and help them... Right, princess?'
***
"Oh, Rapunzel! Let down your hair for me!" a voice called out from the outside, in the singsongy manner that Julie had described.
As we had planned two days ago, I quickly got into the closet and hid.
Julie stayed outside with Rapunzel, who had wanted to talk with her 'mother' one more time before we took action.
Rapunzel had hoped that, with Julie by her side, she would be able to convince her 'mother' to let her go free.
"C-Coming, mother!" Rapunzel called out.
I opened a little crack in the closet so that I could see what was happening.
And once Julie had confirmed that I was hidden, Rapunzel hurried over to the window to let her hair grow down the tower for her 'mother'.
Soon, I was greeted with the sight of Rapunzel's 'mother', as Rapunzel's hair carried her in through the window.
She was as Julie had described - though she seemed human, there was something unsettling about her... something inhuman.
And so, as Julie had done, I shall call her a witch for simplicity's sake.
The witch hopped off of Rapunzel's hair, and gave Julie a look.
"Oh! I see that you have a visitor, my dear!" she said, with a wicked grin on her face, "You know what that means!"
From outside, I could hear the sounds of something approaching us - the sounds of something climbing up the tower...
And before long, vines began to creep in from the window!
"Mother, wait!" Rapunzel cried out.
The vines halted.
Rapunzel began to explain to her 'mother' about how she had found love with Julie - about how she wanted to explore the outside world and go on adventures with her newfound love.
Julie waited patiently, being her charming self while watching the witch cautiously.
The witch... listened?
I could not tell if she was actually paying attention to Rapunzel's words or not - all I could make from the witch's face was a vacant stare and a wicked grin that seemed frozen.
Then, I noticed it - one of the thicker vines had slowly crept in as Rapunzel was talking...
And before Rapunzel could finish her sentence, the vine whipped out and had wrapped itself around Julie!
The witch's grin grew larger and her eyes sprang to life, "I think I've heard quite enough, my dear. Now, say goodby-"
I burst out of the closet and drew my rapier.
Quickly, I sliced through the vine that had grabbed Julie.
As Julie pulled off the remainder of the vine that had wrapped around her, the witch chimed in, "Oh! Another visitor! You have been busy, haven't you, my dear Rapunzel?"
The vines at the window began to move again, slowly creeping in.
"Mother, wait!" Rapunzel cried, "Please! Listen to me!"
Julie looked at me, and I nodded in return.
"Well," Julie said to the witch, with a smirk on her face, "if you want us to leave so much..."
Julie and I dashed towards the window and leapt out.
Quickly, I summoned my two wolves at larger sizes, so that they could catch us on their backs in the middle of the air.
And after we had landed safely in the field of rapunzels, I unsummoned them to conserve my mana.
Julie drew her rapier and looked up at the witch who had since approached the tower's window.
Challenging her, Julie called out, "We're outside now, witch!"
Vines formed a platform next to the window for the witch, and she stepped out onto it.
As the vines lowered her to us, she said, "My, what haughty visitors we have!"
The wicked grin on her face grew wider, and her eyes more wild, "I see that I will have to get rid of the two of you with a more... permanent solution."
"Mother!" Rapunzel yelled out from the window, "Please, no!"
Suddenly, the witch's face turned into one of anger and disgust.
"You have tasted enough of my Rapunzel," she said, her voice growing louder and louder, "She is mine and mine alone, and she will blossom for no one else other than me!"
Vines began to sprout out from the ground, surrounding me and Julie.
As the vines wrapped around each other to become stronger and stronger, I summoned my wolves and readied myself.
Meanwhile, Julie held her blade next to her lips and began to sing.
Magic staves of music flew out from her mouth and spiralled upwards around her rapier's blade. They floated above our heads as Julie's readied weapons.
A still moment passed, as we readied ourselves for the fight.
Then, the witch cried out, "Covet what you cannot have before you die!"
And the vines struck at us.
My wolves and I fought back, tearing through and cutting down the vines that came for us.
Meanwhile, like a conductor, Julie orchestrated her staves with her rapier, guiding the music along to slice through any vines that tried to attack her.
Together, we covered each other as we made our way through the onslaught of attacking plants.
Vines continued to sprout from the ground, but there was a weakness that we could exploit - the individual vines were thin, and easy enough for us to cut through.
The witch needed time to sprout and gather her vines together, and her strategy consisted of nothing more than to summon as much as she cou-
"You insolent and ungrateful child!" the witch yelled.
The vines stopped sprouting and moving.
I turned to see that the witch had been lifted up into the air - Rapunzel had used her hair to pick her 'mother' up by the waist!
"Please, mother!" Rapunzel begged from the window of her tower, "Just let us go! Please!"
Julie and I watched as Rapunzel made one last attempt to get through to her 'mother'.
The witch let out a sigh, "Perhaps you're right, my dear Rapunzel..."
"Perhaps it is time to let you go," she said.
"Mother," Rapunzel said, a smile starting to blossom on her face, "you mean..."
Suddenly, all the vines that had sprouted shot towards Rapunzel!
They wrapped around Rapunzel's body and throat, and began to drag her out of the tower.
"Time for me to nip this troublesome flower!" the witch yelled, fury coursing through her voice.
Rapunzel began to choke and writhe in pain as the vines began to constrict around her throat and body.
"M-Mother...," she begged between gasps and tears.
"Damn it!" Julie yelled.
She turned to me, "Lady Red! Get ready to catch her!"
I nodded and unsummoned one of my wolves.
Turning back to Rapunzel, Julie began to sing again - this time, a verse of an angry aria flew out from her mouth and wrapped around her blade.
When she was done, she whipped the stave of furious notes out from her blade and at the hair that still held up the witch.
Flicking her rapier, Julie wrapped one end of the magic stave around the hair that was close to the witch.
Then, with the other end of the stave still around her blade, she pulled back - as if pulling back a bowstring.
And with a thrust of her sword, she was launched into the air - her stave pulling her towards the witch as more of it rapidly rolled up around Rapunzel's hair.
"That's enough from you, you repugnant excuse for a 'mother'!" Julie yelled.
"What?!" the witch yelled, turning to see Julie flying towards her.
Julie's stave disappeared, just in time for her to pull her rapier back...
And stab it through the witch's heart.
"Y-You...," the witch gargled in pain.
Julie grabbed onto the witch, to stop herself from falling.
"And your fake, singsongy way of saying things was very annoying!" she said, as she angrily pulled her blade out.
The vines around Rapunzel loosened and dropped her.
Quickly, I summoned my wolf at a larger size under Rapunzel to catch her.
And as my wolf landed with Rapunzel on its back, I marvelled at Rapunzel's will and determination which allowed her to gently lower the witch and Julie to the ground.
Julie rushed over to Rapunzel, and helped her off my wolf.
"Rapunzel!" Julie said, "Are you alright?"
Rapunzel coughed, her hand rubbing her throat as she breathed rapidly for air.
"I-I think so," Rapunzel finally replied, as she began to steady herself.
The two of them hugged.
I looked over at the witch, who had been lying still on the ground.
As I began to walk over, I unsummoned my wolves.
Suddenly, the vines began to wilt and disperse into ashen petals, as did the tower and the field of rapunzels.
And after the wind had carried away all of those grey and dull petals, all that was left was barren ground.
The three of us walked over to the witch.
"Rapunzel, my dear...," the witch's hand weakly reached out.
Kneeling down to hold her mother's hand, Rapunzel replied with tears in her eyes, "I'm here, mother."
"You... are my flower," the witch said, "Mine alone..."
Rapunzel's face became furious, even as tears continued to stream down her cheeks.
Angrily, Rapunzel said her last words to the witch, "Not anymore, 'mother'."
Then, the witch wilted as well, before scattering into the winds as ashen petals.
***
"So, what will you do now?" I asked Julie and Rapunzel, as I finished preparing my horse for travel.
It was the next morning after we had defeated the witch.
We had travelled to a nearby town and had rested for the night in an inn.
Now, we stood outside, about to part ways.
"I want to explore the world," Rapunzel said, her voice filled with hope, "And Julie has promised to take me to a few places that she thinks I'll like, before we set off to new places that the both of us haven't been before."
Julie smiled and pulled Rapunzel close to her, "Your excitement fills me with joy, ma chérie!"
They kissed and basked in each other's love.
"And, if possible," Rapunzel continued, turning back to me, "I would like to find my parents - I would like to know who they are and why they traded me to 'mother' for some rapunzels."
Then, she paused, before saying, "If she was telling the truth about that, that is... I don't even know if my parents are still alive!"
I nodded, "Good luck - I hope you find what you're looking for."
"Thank you, Lady Red," Rapunzel said, "and thank you again for helping me get out of her grasp."
She reached for my hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze, "I hope you find what you're looking for as well."
"Thank you," I said.
"Before you go...," Rapunzel began to say, before her voice trailed off.
Her face grew red, and she scurried back to Julie.
With an embarrassed look on her face, she whispered something into Julie's ear.
As Julie listened, her eyes widened and her mouth grew into an amused grin.
"What is it?" I asked, curious.
"Oh, it's nothing," Julie said, with a cheeky smile on her face, "she was just wondering if you would like to stay with us for one more night... A night that we would spend together in the same room, you see..."
"Though," she continued, her smile softening into an understanding one, "I believe I know what your answer will be."
I nodded, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I must decline again."
Julie nodded back, while Rapunzel hastily said, "N-No, Lady Red - it's me who should apologize! I'm sorry I asked, even though..."
I waved off her concerns with my hand, "It's alright, think nothing of it."
Then, I got onto my horse.
Julie took off her hat, and gave me a bow, "Thank you, Lady Red, for helping me reunite with my love. I hope that you can soon reunite with yours as well."
She put her hat back on, and tipped it slightly at me, "Stay alive, d'accord?"
I smiled. The both of them looked back at me, holding hands and smiling.
"Oui, d'accord," I said.
Then, I turned my horse around, and left the happy lovers behind.
Epilogue: Red Ventures Forth
I stopped my horse.
Having just crossed the bridge separating my home and the neighbouring kingdom, I had finally left my own kingdom behind.
I let out a sigh, as I stared at the field ahead of me.
I had hoped that it would not come to this, but I had already searched thoroughly throughout the kingdom behind me and a cure for the princess could not be found.
I thought back to all the places where I had looked, trying to see if I had missed a vital clue or a possible lead.
But, as I did, all the stops that I had made came to mind instead - all those times when I had risked my life to do my duty as a knight while the princess slept waiting for me flooded into my mind.
I turned back and looked at the kingdom behind me - the one where the princess laid in the Glass Coffin.
She... would have wanted me to stop and help, right?
I remembered Julie's words...
And she was probably right.
"I... don't know if you would want me to stop and help, princess," I said aloud, even though the princess was far, far away.
"I think that you would, but I don't know for certain," I continued.
"What I do know, is that I want to stop and help."
"So please... Please forgive me for taking so long, my sleeping beauty," I said, as I looked back towards where she slept.
I waited...
And no answer came, of course.
I sighed, and turned back towards the land beyond my kingdom, unsure of what to do.
But then, I remembered Rapunzel.
I remembered how she had waited for Julie - placing her faith in her lover and letting Julie be Julie.
And I remembered how they had blossomed together when they were finally reunited.
Perhaps my beloved was doing the same for me?
I smiled a little, hoping that it was true.
Then, I rode on - in search of further adventures to lead me to the cure.
Commentary
So, this story had an interesting path for its creation.
I had come across the story of the real-life Julie d'Aubigny, and her talents as a duelist and an opera singer inspired the image of a duelist whose song would magically manifest as musical notation around her rapier's blade.
This image became the basis for a character inspired by d'Aubigny, who became the Julie of this story. (Just to be clear, the Julie of this story is not meant to be d'Aubigny.)
Then, the idea of Red meeting Julie seemed perfect to me - and thus was born the twist of a non-fairy-tale-based character!
At first, I had a simple story where Julie and Red would fight off a noble's hired sellswords after the noble had lost a duel against Julie (which happened because Julie had stopped the noble from pestering a server with unwanted romantic advances).
But, as I was doing research on other fairy tales for the Further Adventures, the story of Rapunzel reminded me of the time when d'Aubigny had rescued her lover from a convent.
And so, what would have been two separate Further Adventures became one.
On Julie's side of things - d'Aubigny was bisexual and seemed to be a sensual person (it is said that she took on many lovers), so it seemed right for Julie to be the same. And, of course, d'Aubigny's proficiency as a duelist and her talent as an opera singer also carried across into Julie.
For Rapunzel - as usual, I changed a lot of details from the fairy tale. About the only things that really stayed the same were that a witch had trapped Rapunzel in a tower after trading some rapunzels for her (when she wasn't even born yet), and that Rapunzel's hair was involved in getting people in and out of the tower.
In most versions of the fairy tale, Rapunzel's hair was not magic - however, as some people (such as Red and Julie) have innate magic in this world, it felt more fitting for Rapunzel and her hair to be the same.
From reading the Grimms' version of Rapunzel (as well as doing research on the fairy tale), I learned how Rapunzel's pregnant mother had such a craving for rapunzel that she refused to eat anything else and was dying because of that, forcing Rapunzel's father to make the deal with the witch to trade his soon-to-be-born child for the plants that could only be found in the witch's walled garden (at least, within reasonable distance, I assume).
The tale is vague on this, but it had struck me that perhaps the witch had done some insidious magic of her own to force this deal to be made - thus, I decided to have the witch in my story use plant-related magic. (I had also thought about making this theory explicitly true in the story, but decided to leave the circumstances ambiguous instead.)
On a grammatic note, the plural of rapunzel is PROBABLY rapunzel (like lettuce). However, both the characters and I were referring to the flower parts of the plant more than the edible parts, so it felt more artistically fitting to use rapunzels instead.
As for Red's doubts about her stops - I actually did not plan for that... until I wrote Red saying that Princess Snow White would have wanted her to stop. That's when I realized that this would be the third story to have her say that, but without any real concrete proof or knowledge - it's just her belief and something that she's said to justify her stopping to help. I thought that it would be interesting and fitting to address this before she stepped out of her kingdom for further adventures.
Thank you for reading!
I hope that you enjoyed this two-parter! 😄
Did you guess that Julie was inspired by Julie d'Aubigny?
Please like and share if you enjoyed the story!