"There it is."

Rapunzel did not realize she had fallen asleep against her prince's back as they rode his horse through the woods until she awakened at his words. She blinked against the sunlight, lifted her head, and looked about her.

It was mid-afternoon. The deepest part of the wood they'd been traveling through were behind them, and now the prince's horse stood among tall widely-placed trees with short grass and pale soil setting between them.

They had been journeying since daybreak, after spending the rest of the night in a dovecote along the side of the road. A dovecote that had oddly grown thorns over its door and all the openings, preventing the birds within from escaping until the prince had managed to dislodge the roof. Then the birds had fled – in time to slay a giant, as it happened! - but Rapunzel and her prince were still trapped.

Of course, Rapunzel thought with a blush, they had found ways to pass the time until daylight. Until they heard voices outside, and axes falling, and the prince opened the door to face a small group of axmen from the palace, staring at him through the thick, halfway-hacked vines of thorns that covered the door. The conversation had been very strange -

"Oh! You found us!"

"Yes, your highness – are you all right?"

"Right enough. How did you know we were here?"

"Got a message, delivered to the front gate, said to go t' the dovecote by the eastern gate, that the king's youngest was stuck there 'n' bring axes. What'd'you mean 'we'?"

"Uh – well, thank you for your service, carry on! I'll just shut the door so none of those thorns get in here - "

The door was shut, the thorns were hacked through, and the next time the prince opened the door the thicket had been cleared from the doorway and the axmen were stowing their blades and preparing to head back to the palace.

The prince shouted his thanks, and then stepped outside into the morning sun. Rapunzel heard him proclaim joy at finding his horse Hector nearby and unharmed. Then his words faded and, suddenly alarmed, Rapunzel left the bed of straw where they had been laying and ventured to the doorway.

The morning sun was warm, welcoming, but too bright. Rapunzel squinted and lifted her hand against it, and as her eyes adjusted to the glare she saw her beloved standing about ten paces from the doorway, exchanging some words with the head axmen as the three others looked on from the saddles of their horses.

One of the axmen saw Rapunzel at the doorway, turned to his companion and said something, nodding in her direction. The other axman laughed for some reason and shrugged, glancing at Rapunzel in a way that reminded her of her mother, when she was saying something cutting about a person she didn't like.

Rapunzel suddenly felt very exposed standing there in the doorway, and ducking inside brushed the straw from her hair and dress as she pressed her back against the stone wall and closed her eyes.

Hoofbeats sounded a few moments later and the prince called her name. She heard the clack clack of his boots on the stone floor, opened her eyes and saw him right before her, his fair face flushed with excitement but concern in his wide blue eyes.

"Dearest, are you all right?" he asked, placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's all right, we're free to go now. You're shivering."

Rapunzel looked up at him, felt foolish and confused, she was shivering, why? What was there to be afraid of, now? "Where are we going?"

"To the summer palace," the prince replied with his fetching smile, and kissed her cheek. "Just as I promised you yesterday! I talked to the chief axman, the giant is dead and the crown prince is with my father looking after the rebuilding of the kingdom. There is nothing for me to do but make sure you're safe and looked after, and you will be, I swear it. Hector is outside, he can't wait to get started. Let's go!"

So Rapunzel went. Of course she did, and she trusted this prince she barely knew when he said he would take care of her, even though her mother said

"You will never be safe with him!"

and those words were still ringing in her ears and at the edge of her dreams. Rapunzel had slept in security and sameness her entire life and so had no idea what a nightmare was, but the dreams she had had just before dawn were different, unsettling in a way she didn't understand, but the sun was so bright and his eyes were so blue that she decided everything would be fine if she simply took her prince's hand.

So she went, onto the white horse and away from the ruined land with her arms around her prince's waist, the scent of leather and sweat and wet grass all blending together as she tucked her hands into his sword belt and went to sleep. That had been just after sunrise. And now...

Now Rapunzel leaned a little to look around her prince's shoulder as he repeated the words, "There it is," and saw a low stone wall facing them, stretching as far as she could see in either direction. The dirt path they had taken away from the dovecote was now a cobblestone road, wide enough for two carriages to pass with space to spare, and that road led right to the center of the wall, where an archway stood blocked by a wrought-iron gate. A very small building stood hard-by the gate, and as Rapunzel watched an older man dressed in dark homespun clothes and carrying a pike stepped out of its narrow doorway.

"Oh, he's seen us," the prince muttered, and turned to look at Rapunzel over his right shoulder. "How are you doing? Did you sleep well? I tried not to jostle too much but there were some stones - "

"I slept fine," Rapunzel replied, not wanting to make the unsettling dreams she'd had more real by talking about them. She tightened her grip on the prince's waist. "Where are we?"

"The gate to the kingdom by the sea," The prince sighed, and lifted his gaze to the sky. "Breathe the air, isn't it wonderful?"

Frowning, Rapunzel took a deep breath. Her eyes widened as she met the prince's eyes in shock. "What is that?"

"It's the sea," the prince smiled. "Salt and fish and the life that grows there. Mussels and seaweed - "

"Seaweed? What's that?"

"Slippery as the blazes, that's what it is," the prince grinned. "I can't wait to show it to you, once we get past the gatekeeper. Look how he's staring at us! Well, best to get it over with. Tch tch."

The prince nudged his horse's flanks and the beast trotted forward, his hooves clicking against the cobblestones. Rapunzel kept her eyes on the gatekeeper, noticing that the whiskered fellow was indeed staring at them – well, staring at the prince – and his eyes got bigger and rounder until they drew next to the gatehouse and Rapunzel wondered that the man's eyes didn't pop right out of his head!

"Yer highness!" The gatekeeper exclaimed, and dropped an impressively low bow. "I thought that was you – where's your escort? Why ain't you at th' palace where you was yesterday?"

"It's a very long story, Roger," the prince said cordially, "Suffice it to say I had need to leave the palace suddenly, without an escort."

"An' yer still alive?" The older man's eyes got wider still. "You must have a good witch on yer side. There was a giant - "

"So I've heard," the prince interrupted, "But that's all mended now. The crown prince and the royal family are safe at the palace, and making repairs. Was there any damage here?"

"Just some roof tiles got knocked loose," Roger shrugged. "We never saw no giant, just felt a big thud just before daybreak an' figured it was another one got killed."

Rapunzel heard the frown in her prince's voice. "Another one?"

"Yeah, like that big boom we got a few weeks ago. You know. That other giant what got killed."

"Oh. Yes. I'd forgotten about that one."

"Yeah," Roger sniffed, leaning on the pike he was holding, "Some people ain't happy, two giants get killed right in our backyard an' we never saw a thing! Some came out and stood on the gate too, thought that would help, but no. Who's this?"

The prince straightened in his saddle. "Roger, I'd like to present to you my beloved, Rapunzel. She and I are going to be married."

Roger bowed. "Miss."

Rapunzel wasn't quite sure what to do, so she nodded. "Hello."

Roger grinned at her, but without a hint of the sharpness she had seen in the axman's eyes. Rapunzel decided she liked him.

"Roger here has kept the gates to this kingdom since I was a child," the prince stated fondly. "And he's had to chase me back through that gate more times than he wants to talk about."

"Yeah, you and your brothers!" Roger chuckled, and shook his head. "How under the moon the three of you all managed to get past the palace guards all them times, I never was able to figure out! But the queen was always glad I could catch you, just the same."

"The trick is learning how to climb," the prince replied jovially, and straightening in the saddle looked over the gate, where Rapunzel saw roofs and chimneys and something strange glimmering in the distance. "How are things faring at the summer castle?"

"Oh, same as always," Roger shrugged again. "Some trade's come through from the sea kingdoms, and the steward's been keeping everything running pretty smooth. Every time he comes through he complains about how boring it is, though. He sure misses when you was young and there was some royal family here! Now they only come when it's too hot at the other place."

"Yes, I remember! Well, this is very nice after all..." the prince paused for some reason, and Rapunzel thought she felt his breath hitch, as if something was caught in his throat. She was about to ask if he was all right when he cleared his throat and said, "Roger, could you please notify the palace of my arrival, and ask that the kitchen prepare a meal for us? And ask the steward to summon the ladies' maid, Rapunzel is going to need to be settled in after we eat."

"Of course, Your Highness," Roger replied, and quickly – as if he'd done this many times – he turned, leaned the pike against the guardhouse, and in a few steps was unlocking the gate and swinging it open.

"I'll send a boy right on that errand, sire," he promised as the prince guided his horse through. "Welcome home, and you too, miss. Very glad to make your acquaintance!"

"Thank you, Roger!" the prince called over his shoulder, and Rapunzel turned her head to see Roger lifting a horn to his lips. A few notes blew, and then there was only the singing of birds in the trees.

"Good old Roger," the prince muttered, and as Rapunzel once again peeked around his shoulder she could see large stone houses flanking the side of the cobblestone road, shaded by large trees that dappled the ground with sunlight. The road sloped gently downward and because of the trees was bathed in a cool blue shadow.

Far ahead she saw sunlight, and things she had never seen before, but she wasn't afraid. She tightened her grip on the prince's waist and asked, "Where are we going? To the palace?"

"Oh! No, not yet," the prince replied with another chuckle. "No, that place is going to be frantic for the next hour or so, they aren't used to any royal family here this time of year. There'll be a lot of yelling, clattering, and dust! Oh, so much dust, you have no idea, and they'll be mortified if I show up in the middle of it before they're ready. No, I wouldn't dream of showing you the palace yet. I like you, and I don't want you to run away screaming!"

Rapunzel chuckled too, and laid her chin on the prince's shoulder, her eyes on the sunlit road ahead. "So where are we going?"

The prince turned his head, and bumped her nose with his, his light blue eyes turned cobalt by the shadows and the morning. He kissed her cheek and then turned his attention forward, and as he did so Rapunzel thought she saw a tear in the corner of his eye, although he was smiling. He cleared his throat, and spoke.

"To the seashore. I want to introduce you to my mother."