*Tangled Up

Chapter 1

Mareena Titanos with Ptolemus and Evangeline Samos hopped along the ups and downs of the palace roofs.

Once they arrived at their destination above the room where the crown was kept, she gazed at the village and forest in awe of the sight.

"I could get to a view like this..."

"Titanos!"

"Hold on. Yep, I'm used to it." She crosses her arms. "Guys I want a castle."

Evangeline sneered. "We do this job, you could buy your own castle."

Mareena scoffed before tying the rope around herself. The Samos siblings held onto the rope as she was lowered to put the crown in her satchel.

All of a sudden one of the guards sneezed as Mareena held the precious metal in her hands. For a second, she contemplated whether or not to make herself known.

She figured she could spare the seconds.

"Oh, Hay Fever?"

"Yeah," he says, glancing slightly behind him.

The few seconds it took for him to realize what happened, Mareena and the siblings were on the run. Like always, she felt a rush of adrenaline and excitement as the trio barreled out the village, soldiers in tow. "Can't you picture me in a castle of my own?" She whoops. "I mean, I certainly can. Oh, the things we've seen and it's only eight in the morning!"

...

Cal cleans his space with a dirty rag as he puts away his tool kit, hands slightly shaking.

He sighs. "This is it. This is a very big day, Kilorn. I'm finally going to do it. I'm going to ask her," he tells his best friend. Like always, the chameleon's gaze goes right to the hair. Not a day went by without a silent judgment on his golden locks.

Seventy feet long, glowing, magical locks of hair.

"Cal! Let down your hair!" His mother called,

"It's time." He takes a deep breath to calm his nerves. Like clockwork, he takes his hair to the open window and wraps it around a hook, letting it down for his mother to hold onto. When he sees that her foot's secured, he brings her higher and higher until she can stand on the sill and step into the room.

Cal briefly felt a surge of pride as his mother cups his face and compliments him. "My darling, such a handsome, strong man. How you manage to do that every single day without fail, it looks absolutely exhausting."

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Then I don't know why it takes so long." She laughs, and his face falls. "Oh, darling. I'm just teasing." She playfully swats his arm. So as not to show his emotions (he hates looking sad in front of his mother) he nervously laughs it off, then remembers what he meant to tell her. "All right...so mother. As you know, tomorrow is a very big day."

"Cal, look at that mirror. You know what I see?" It wasn't often he actually looked at himself, but beside his mother, he felt a bit more confident. Accepting of himself despite the hair. "I see a strong, confident, wonderful person. Oh look, you're here too." She laughs again and Cal tries his best to not look upset. "I'm just teasing, stop taking everything so seriously." Her words calm him immediately—he doesn't know how—somewhat making it easier to ask something of her. She seemed in a good mood, why not?

"Okay, so Mother. I was thinking tomorrow—" His mother gripped his shoulders and steered him towards her chair. "Darling, Mother's feeling a run down. Would you sit here?" He complied, knowing what she meant to do. Brushing his hair, she claimed, soothed her and made her feel younger.