Captive (A Rapunzel Retelling) Book 4 of the Fairytale Book Series

Chapter Two

Zipporah's home, the royal castle, had been taken under siege by foreign rioters who were fully armed with swords and flaming torches.They'd stormed through the front gates and everything, shouting and demanding the crown; they even killed several guards. Being only nine years old and not used to such things, Zipporah had been naturally frightened. Her first instinct had been to find her parents in all the chaos. But Gertrude, Zipporah's personal tutor, instead pulled the princess behind a tapestry, which happened to hide a secret passage, and helped them both get to safety. Gertrude had bravely led Zipporah through a series of confusing passages inside the castle walls to the western courtyard behind the royal garden in the direction of the dark forest.

Having rushed out in a hurry, Gertrude had managed to bring a few necessities from the castle: some bars of soap, a hair brush, a basket of food she'd snuck from the kitchen, a skin of water, and a couple of warm cloaks. As they exited the passage into courtyard, and made their way out of the garden, Zipporah cried-silently so not to alert the enemy invaders- for her beloved parents as she and Gertrude escaped to the forest, with only the crescent moon's faint light to guide them.
"Where are we going, Gertrude?" Zipporah asked frequently as night was giving way to the light of morning.
"Somewhere safe, Princess," was Gertrude's response, each time getting more drawled from annoyance.
As they reached the end of their long walk, Zipporah's feet ached with blisters. She had left the castle wearing a lacy nightdress and silken slippers. Both were muddy and full of holes, and the slippers hadn't been made for trekking the bumpy forest floor. So when Gertrude finally announced they'd arrived at their destination, Zipporah nearly fell over with relief-and exhaustion. Her eyes were so heavy she could barely open them; she didn't even see the place Gertrude spoke of.
The next thing she knew, she woke up curled up in a ball on the stone floor of a strange room, while Gertrude was sitting at an oak table mixing something in a large wooden bowl with a spatula.
"Where are we? How did we get here?" Zipporah asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.
Gertrude only smiled and shook her head. "It matters not. What matters is we are safe, and more importantly you're safe, Princess."

Bewildered, Zipporah stood up and cocked her head at her tutor, who was now pouring the contents of the bowl into a black iron pot. Gertrude carried this pot over to the cooking fire/ fireplace and stirred some more, her face smiling sweetly at the princess.
"Gertrude, where exactly is...here?"
Gertrude let out a soft exhale, the way grownups do when they have to keep themselves from getting irritated at an annoying, or in this case, curious, child. Zipporah's middle-aged tutor stood up straight, taking the spatula out of the pot as well, and answered the question courteously.
"We are in a tower. A tower of protection, in the middle of the forest that will keep those rotten rebels from ever finding you or harming you. It's a secret place no one knows of, so as I said, we are perfectly safe." Gertrude ended her explanation with a sweet smile that to Zipporah seemed to be a bit forced.

"A...tower?" Zipporah looked all around her, then behind her towards a single window with wooden shutters. She ran up to it to look out. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was blue, just like always, but when she looked down the world spun beneath her feet. The window had to be over fifty feet above the forest and ground below.

Zipporah walked back over to Gertrude, her heart pounding. "What about my mother and father?" she asked earnestly, her hands clutching the back of a chair for support, her head feeling a bit woozy. She hadn't found her balance since waking up, and her legs and feet still ached terribly from all the walking they'd done earlier. Not to mention finding out she was in a sickeningly high tower."Will they be able to find me? Will they come for us when the bad men have gone?"
Gertrude's eyes seemed to harden at this, for reasons Zipporah didn't know. The older woman quickly changed her expression and gave her trustee a curt half smile. "Perhaps...when they are able. But I'm sure, for now, they would much rather you be safe."
Zipporah looked down at the floor and frowned, disappointed. She already missed her mother and father terribly.
"Worry not, dear!" Gertrude's voice rose a few octaves as she chirped as eagerly as a songbird after a rainstorm. Zipporah was so surprised that her eyes quickly looked up at her now overly enthusiastic tutor, who was also now her guardian, she realized. "Your parents might come for you soon enough, but for now, let's not fret. Why don't you go to the cupboard and get the table set while I watch the pottage."
Zipporah did her best to smile and be cheerful as she crossed the other side of the kitchen to fetch the wooden dishes from the cupboard. Though her heart felt heavy with thoughts of her parents, she knew God was looking out for them and her during this difficult time. Until then, she had to be patient and wait for His will...

Zipporah hummed softly to herself as she swept the main tower room floor with the long handled broom, her gaze directed outside the window. A few birds had perched near the window box garden flowers and were digging in the soil for worms beneath the full bloomed gardenias and petunias.