Becoming Rapunzel

Marriage

I awoke in the morn to the sound of my name. It was not Ansel’s voice that called to me. My eyes flew open in fright, and I leapt from the bed before I knew what was happening.

“Rapunzel!” Gothel called from below, frustration evident in her tone.

My heart leapt to my throat. Fear seized me. I looked at my bed, filled with Ansel’s naked body, his clothes piled on the floor. I leaned to the bed and grabbed his shoulders, shoving him awake.

“Ansel!” I whispered harshly, trying to wake him. “Mother is here! I wasn’t expecting her! You must hide!”

Ansel’s face, slack from slumber, went tight and his eyes opened wide. “What do I do?” he whispered.

I glanced around the chamber. It didn’t seem safe to hide him in the kitchen, nor any of the other chambers just in case Gothel wanted to inspect the tower. “Under the bed!” I whispered, not sure if it was a crazed idea or a brilliant one.

So my first image of an unaroused, nude man was Ansel, bolting out of bed and diving under it, grabbing his clothing to hide with him. I frantically looked around the room, trying to see if there were any signs of his stay. I saw his cloak, belt, and boots, sitting on the floor by my chest, and roughly stuffed them inside.

“Coming, Mother!” I called out, then glanced down at my own naked body. Grimacing, I searched my sheets until I found my shift, wadded in a corner of the bed, and pulled it over my head and hair. I tripped on my own braids trying to reach the pulley, and after several tries due to shaking hands, I dropped my braid over the open window and took my position by the pulley.

“What is she doing here?” Ansel hissed at me.

“Shh!” I hissed back. “Get your foot under the bed!”

Gothel appeared on the windowsill and stepped over it. She bore two heavily-laden baskets. In my surprise I had not even noticed the extra weight she carried.

“Help me!” she snapped, holding a basket out to me. I took it, then set it on the chest and grabbed her hand, helping her away from the open window.

She stopped, frozen in place in between my chest and the bed. “Did you change something in here?” Gothel asked.

My heart skipped a beat. “Nay, Mother,” I lied. Sudden pain shot up from between my legs into my bowels. I was so sore from last night.

She shook her head. “It feels different. Smells different.”

I chuckled nervously. “Nay. It is as always.” I saw Music out of the corner of my eye sniff under the bed, interested in what Ansel was doing in her hiding place.

Gothel turned to the chest, where she sat the other basket down by the first. “Here are your supplies.”

“So many!” I said, touching the sides of my knees together in an attempt to remind myself not to move suddenly. I had no idea I would be sore after my first time with a man.

Gothel ignored my comment. “I brought candles, dried herbs for you to store, vegetables, bread, jerky meat, that wool thread you wanted, and I transferred some water to your barrel in the kitchen.” She turned and began walking out of the chamber. “Well come on now, and bring the baskets with you!” she called over her shoulder. “What are you waiting on?”

Rolling my eyes, I grasped the handles and made the arduous journey down the stairs and into the kitchen, taking the steps slowly in an attempt not to stretch any sore muscles. I unloaded everything onto the counter, including some scraps of paper and an old book.