Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons [COMPLETED]

Chapter 9

When Ria had first woken up, Rapunzel was wide awake and hard at work. She sat on a pile of sacks all filled with potatoes. She peeled yet another potato and let the skin fall into the bowl resting on her lap. Occasionally, she would drop a piece on the floor where the waiting Pascal would snatch it up and drag it to his hiding place between sacks.

She brushed her bangs out of her face and was reminded again of her friends. Usually, she would have had to push back a whole lock of hair from her eyes, but now, thanks to Merida, Rapunzel only had to worry about her bangs.

While Rapunzel was glad that Merida and Hiccup hadn't been captured, at the same time she also wanted them here to help her figure out the shadow man's strange words. Or just to be here. It would be nice to have someone she knew here. Especially since her Viking bodyguard - a teen girl - was always watching Rapunzel with those unnerving black eyes and her hands never losing their iron grip on the ax.

"Time to feed the prisoners," the girl announced in her monotone voice.

"I know," Rapunzel replied calmly. I think I can do my job without you having to remind me. Rapunzel moved to the center table and sliced the several potatoes she had peeled for the second and largest level of the prison. The Viking girl had brought with her a list for the cells on each prison level that contained prisoners. She and Rapunzel tread silently up the staircase while Rapunzel carried the tray filled with plates for the prisoners.

The second floor - the top floor - was probably the cheeriest floor in the prison (if any place in a prison can be called cheerful). The first and second floors had one barred window per cell to allow light in. But the second floor had skylights placed at even intervals along the halls and corridors. Sunlight filtered down through the skylights and created columns of light for Rapunzel and her guard to pass through on their rounds.

However, any cheerful factors were lost on Rapunzel as she dropped off a plate to each of the filled prison cells (there weren't as many as she had expected). With every step she took, her heart pounded louder and louder. Each drop-off brought her closer and closer to . . . Gothel.

Gothel stood holding the prison bars when Rapunzel came to her cell. "My precious girl! You don't know how glad I am to see you!"

Rapunzel glared at her "mother." However, Gothel continued chatting, blissfully unaware of any resentment.

"I have been so worried about your safety. See?" She pointed to a spot on her forehead. "I've gained a wrinkle from worrying. But I know that a simple song can cure -."

"Is it true?" Rapunzel asked, her voice surprisingly hard.

Gothel paused and finally saw the enmity and hurt in Rapunzel's eyes. "Is what true, dear?"

"That you lied to me."

"What?!" Gothel's eyes widened in shock, and for once, Rapunzel could see how fake she was being. "Now, when have I ever lied to you?"

"My entire life!" Rapunzel couldn't keep the hurt out of her voice. She could see clearly the lack of any similarity between their two faces or their personalities. "You told me that you were my mother!"

"What?!" Gothel pressed herself up against the bars. "Why, of course, I'm your moth -."

"DON'T lie to me!"

"Who gave you the idea?" Gothel demanded.

"The shadow man told me."

All anger melted away from Gothel's face. She looked vulnerable and exposed. And her silence only proved her guilt.