Tangled [Hariana]

Chapter 17

Lana's dagger had been very convincing to the thug she had met outside the Snuggly Duckling. He had told her exactly how to get to the exit from the tunnel into which Ariana and Jack had escaped.

Having found her way to that very exit, Lana Parilla waited with her long dagger hidden in her cloak. She was ready to use it to get Ariana away from that thief Jack Chambers.

But when the tunnel door finally opened, it wasn't Jack Chambers and Ariana who came out. It was those two criminals she'd seen in shackles at the tavern. Lana quickly ducked behind a tree.

"I'll kill him. I'll kill that Chambers," the talking Sheeran said angrily to his brother. "We'll cut him off at the kingdom and get back the crown. Come on!"

"Or perhaps you want to stop acting like wild dogs chasing their tails and think for a moment?" Lana rasped from her hiding place. Her plans had suddenly changed.

The startled Sheeran brothers drew their swords. Lana fearlessly stepped out from behind the tree.

"There's no need for that." She tossed them the satchel she had found in the tower and watched as they removed the crown and smiled broadly. She hoped they could help her, so she offered them the crown for free and tempted them with something better.

"Well, if that crown is all you want, then be on your way," she said. "I was going to offer you something worth one thousand times that single crown." The two brothers stared at her. "It would make you rich beyond belief," Lana continued. "That wasn't even the best part." She paused, taking time to let out a hearty laugh. "Ah, well! C'est la vie!"

As Lana turned to leave, she heard a voice behind her. "What's the best part?"

Lana held up Jack's wanted poster and slyly goaded the boys. "What if it came with revenge on Jack Chambers?" The Sheerans were suddenly all ears. Lana smiled wickedly. With their help, she would get Ariana back and get rid of Jack Chambers once and for all.

—————
At that same moment, along the banks of the river, Jack and Ariana were sitting by a campfire, drying out. Ariana took Jack's injured hand and began wrapping her hair around it. This was her gift, and she needed to use it to help Jack.

Jack looked at her quizzically as she covered his hand with her hair.

"Jack. Please," Ariana said soothingly. "Just . . . don't . . . freak out."

Slowly, softly, she began to sing. Her hair began to glow. The long loops of hair that surrounded their campsite lit up the night.

Ariana:

Flower, gleam and glow
Let your power shine
Make the clock reverse
Bring back what once was mine

Heal what has been hurt
Change the Fate's design
Save what has been lost
Bring back what once was mine

What once was mine

Jack gazed in amazement but stayed silent. Something was happening to his injured hand. He could feel it. The hair felt warm and soothing, as soft and sweet as Ariana's voice.

When she finished, she gently pulled her hair from Jack's palm.

He looked at Pascal. The little chameleon signaled to him to look at his hand.

It was completely healed!

"Oh," Jack said in a wavery voice, filled with dismay.

"Are you completely freaked out?" Ariana asked, dreading the response.

Jack answered abruptly. "What? Me? Freaked out? No, not at all." The problem was—he was freaked out! He let out a little shriek—actually a thunderous scream. Then, controlling himself, he resumed. "So. That's pretty neat—what your hair does. How long has that been going on, exactly?"

"I don't know," Ariana sighed. But she did trust Jack. It was time to tell him her story. "People tried to cut it once when I was younger. They wanted to take it themselves. But when it's cut, it loses its power. A gift like that? It has to be protected. That's why Mother never let me . . ." Ariana sighed again. Should she tell Jack that she had never left the tower? "That's why I never left the . . ."

Finally understanding, Jack finished her sentence. "You never left that tower." The revelation both shocked him and made him want to protect her. "And you're still going to go back?"

"No!" Ariana replied. Then she said, "Yes. Ughhhh!" She buried her face in her hands. "It's complicated."

Quickly, she changed the subject. She wanted to know more about Jack Chambers. It turned out that Jack was the richest, most powerful man in the world. He was a man who could do anything and go anywhere he wanted. He was a man in a book that Jack—or rather, Harry—had read every night when he was a child. Over time, Harry had adopted the name as his own.

When he finished with his story, Jack stood up and stretched. "I need to get some more firewood," he said. Promising to return soon, he wandered off into the pitch black forest.

As Ariana felt the warmth of the fire enveloping her, she heard a darkly familiar voice behind her. Startled, she turned to face the cloaked and hooded visitor.