Becoming Rapunzel

Family

We rode for hours along a dirt path through the rolling fields of southern Varia. Everything began to look the same. Valeria squirmed in my lap, content to feel the rocking of the horse beneath her. I was unsure of myself and was at first stiff and rigid in the saddle until Ansel told me it would only make my muscles burn later. I tried to relax.

Ansie was unhappy at his confinement in the makeshift sling Ansel had made for them. He wriggled and squirmed, always trying to leap from the saddle. I hoped Ansel had quick reflexes in case the boy somehow wriggled free.

"How far is it to Erding?" I asked.

"It's roughly eighteen leagues as the crow flies, but I am taking a slightly longer route to not push the children too hard," Ansel answered.

"So how long does it take to journey twenty-two leagues?" I asked.

"I would guess about three and a half days," Ansel answered. He looked over his shoulder. "Ulrich, Segfrid? Three and a half days?"

They nodded perfunctorily. His guards had not spoken since we began our journey. I wondered if they were angry with me or Ansel.

We stopped every few miles to give the children and horses a rest. I was also grateful for the break. The first time I got off my horse I almost fell over. I grabbed Valeria and stumbled to catch my balance. Segfrid caught my elbow and righted me. I smiled my thanks and checked on Valeria. She seemed none worse for the wear, so I waddled over to the nearest tree by the side of the road and plopped unceremoniously down in its shade. It was hot and I was sticky with sweat. I helped my daughter out of the sling and encouraged her to walk around. She glanced back at me, anxious at the changed landscape, but I urged her to toddle around.

Ansel strode toward me, completely unscathed from the long ride, and smiled. My stomach rose to my throat as he took a grassy place beside me. Ansel also pulled his twin out from the sling. Ansie wobbled on his feet and glanced at us quite cheerfully. He made it his mission to either push his sister down or pick all the long blades of grass in the area. I watched them, grateful for the respite.

The soldiers walked the horses in a circle, then let them mosey over to lush patches of grass. Just as I began to feel my muscles release some tension, Ansel stood up and announced it was time to move on.

I bit a groan back as I took Ansel's offered arm. Ulrich helped me mount, then handed Valeria to me. She was unhappy. All the movement and change had thrown her world off kilter and she expressed her disapproval in the form of whining and wailing. Ansie, who had until then been content to watch the world around him, now joined in his sister's cries.

"What is the matter?" Ansel asked me over Valeria's wails.

"She is tired and worried," I replied.

"Can you make her stop?" he asked. "She is bothering Ansie."

I snorted. "Nay, you cannot just make a child stop crying. She will stop when she is too tired to cry any more. And the same goes for Ansie. The twins always cry with one another."

Ansel rolled his eyes. "I cannot travel like this."

There were a few choice words from the soldiers behind us, but I ignored them.

"Well there is no other way to travel," I snapped, the heat and noise sucking my patient from me. "So either we stop for the day to let them rest or we keep riding until they wear themselves out."

Ansel's mouth plunged downward and he did not respond to me. His horse picked up speed. I swallowed my own frustration and urged my horse onward.

The twins cried for two hours straight.