Rapunzel's etiquette instructor had advised against going barefoot, but it wasn't like she presented herself barefoot in the company of visiting dignitaries.
She had never needed shoes, having lived in the tower all her life. It seemed unnatural to wear them now. It seemed especially unnatural to wear the high-heeled, pointed-toe shoes that the royal dressmaker, Herr Kleid, insisted were so fashionable. She had done her best to grow accustomed to wearing shoes, but they seemed too much trouble.
She had wondered outside one day soon after moving into the castle, wearing an intricately made pair of slippers. It had been raining the night before; by the time she walked back inside the castle, the flowery pattern and bejeweled buckles were barely discernible underneath the splotches of mud.
Rapunzel happened to meet Herr Kleid on the corridor, who instantly noticed her shoes.
'Your Highness!' he squeaked, horror-struck to see Rapunzel's shoes. He began to turn an ashen and Rapunzel instantly knew she had done something wrong. It was only then that she looked down to notice her own shoes.
'Oh!' Rapunzel exclaimed aghast. 'I only went outside for a short walk. I didn't realise they would get dirty so easily.'
'No matter, Your Highness,' Herr Kleid bowed, making a weak attempt at a smile. 'Please give them to Frau Art, we'll see if there's something we can do.'
Rapunzel looked back to see Herr Kleid walk away, patting his sweaty brow dry with a handkerchief.
When she handed them to Frau Art, her lady-in-waiting, Rapunzel knew that the shoes could not be salvaged. Frau Art's shocked expression at the shoes made that clear. Frau Art's countenance reminded her of Herr Kleid's and Rapunzel felt her stomach churn remorsefully once more.
The slippers, however bothersome they might have been, were pretty little things that had evidently had a lot of work put into them. Rapunzel felt guilty at ruining them and resolved never to ruin another pair again.
From that day onward, Rapunzel would take off her shoes as soon as she stepped out of the castle, dangling them on her fingers as she walked. Eugene laughed at her when she explained why she would take her shoes off as soon as she stepped out of the castle and why she had Ada, a young kitchen maid, be ready with a damp cloth for her feet when she walked back in through the kitchen door; but Eugene had not seen Herr Kleid's face that day.
At least now Rapunzel could enjoy the feeling of the ground on the pads of her feet. She enjoyed the tickling lushness of the grass, the grainy texture of the dirt, the hard cobblestone roads and even the viscous feeling of the mud. At least Herr Kleid had no reason to complain; by then, every time he passed her in a castle corridor, he looked down at her spotless shoes, beamed and bowed deeply.
As fall approached in at the kingdom, Rapunzel noticed the wondrous change in the foliage. She had seen it before from the tower, but she had never enjoyed the feeling of the autumnal leaves crunching under her feet. She noted with some resentment, that her feet, which had up until recently been so soft and smooth, were now growing callused. Her heels now had the texture of Eugene's rough hands. While it was a trait she admired in Eugene's hands, it was not something she liked on her own feet.
Rapunzel and Eugene frequented The Snuggly Duckling even now that they were becoming more occupied with state affairs. Eugene sat cross-legged against a tree, hands behind his head watching Rapunzel. She was indeed a sight to behold, holding her light green gown up slightly as she vigorously scrubbed her bare feet clean on a vestigial patch of green grass.
'Why can't you just put your shoes on inside The Snuggly Duckling?' Eugene sighed, his eyes gleaming with laughter.
'Not to insult the proprietor or patrons of the Snuggly Duckling, but that floor isn't exactly the cleanest. I believe I must have stepped in something truly vile this time . . . some sort of grey slime,' Rapunzel shuddered. 'I think this is even worse than that time I stepped in horse manure.'
By the time winter approached, the soles of her feet were quite hard. Perhaps what bothered her most of all was that the thickness of the skin on her soles didn't allow her the same sensitivity she had before. Not that she took many long walks in winter. Rapunzel found that she could hardly tolerate the freezing snow, even through the thicker skin on her soles, although after a certain point Rapunzel began to seek out the snow.
Her feet had begun to itch lately. At first it was nothing but a light tingle that she could ignore. That tingle evolved into an infernal itching that she sometimes tried to alleviate with the numbing cold of the snow.
Spring rolled around, and brought with it rain and renewal. Everything around the kingdom seemed to be blooming anew. Rapunzel wished she could say the same for her feet. The skin on her feet was peeling and the itching was worse than ever.
Rapunzel was in the cozy study her parents had set up for her, when Eugene called upon her one fine day, asking her out for a walk. They had not been out walking together since the beginning of winter, before the temperatures dropped drastically. Rapunzel wanted nothing more than to promenade with Eugene, but her feet looked a fright.
She had no excuse as to why she would not walk barefoot. She couldn't very well admit that the only reason she was actually willing to wear shoes was to hide the monstrous sight that was her feet. What would Eugene say when he saw the skin on her feet – red, scaly and cracked? She preferred not to find out.
'I think not today,' answered Rapunzel, refusing Eugene's invitation.
'Why not? That's not like you,' Eugene furrowed his brow in puzzlement.
'I just have so much to do. You have no idea of the amount of work that's piled up for me in the eighteen years I've been absent.'
Rapunzel smiled. Eugene was not convinced. Deciding she must have a good reason for refusing to go out on a day as gorgeous as that, he gave her a brief, sweet kiss and left.
As Eugene shut the door behind him, Rapunzel sighed. She sat on the chair behind her desk and took one of her feet from its hiding place. Pascal, who was perched upon her desk, made a squealing sound as he looked at her feet.
'Oh, Pascal, you're right. I think they're getting worse,' Rapunzel lamented. 'I have to tell someone.'
Not knowing who else to ask, Rapunzel went to the library to find her lady-in-waiting, Frau Art. Frau Art, a young woman distantly related to Rapunzel, had been Rapunzel's closest companion since her arrival in the castle.
Frau Art was standing in front of a bookshelf as Rapunzel walked into the library.
'Your Highness,' Frau Art curtsied and smiled.
'Art, I need your help. I think I may have a medical problem.'
'What might that be, Your Highness?'
In reply, Rapunzel took a foot out of a shoe and showed her the offending appendage. Frau Art's eyes widened in surprise.
'Might I be allowed to summon the royal physician at once?' hardly waiting for Rapunzel's affirmation, Frau Art rushed out of the library.
An hour later, the royal physician, Herr Gesund, was examining Rapunzel's feet in her chamber. Herr Gesund was a tiny, bespectacled old man.
'Yes, yes. Classic case of tinea pedis. Colloquially known as athlete's foot,' he mumbled.
'Is there anything for it?' Frau Art asked.
'Oh, yes. Yes, tea tree oil. Very effective. Should work within a couple of weeks. Luckily I happen to have a vial here in my bag,' Herr Gesund said reaching into his bag and pulling out a small, brown glass container. 'But might I request, Your Highness, that you no longer go barefoot. That's probably what caused it in the first place.'
'Barefoot?' Frau Art echoed.
'That'll be hard to do. I simply can't ruin another pair of slippers,' Rapunzel bemoaned.
'Pardon me, Your Highness?' Frau Art queried.
'It's the reason I've been going outdoors barefoot. Herr Kleid was horrified when I ruined the first pair. To be perfectly honest, I was also glad to have an excuse to remove my shoes. I'm so unaccustomed to them.'
'Your Highness, that's really not appropriate,' Frau Art advised.
Frau Art's solution was to commission some leather boots from a shoemaker. The shoemaker, Herr Schuh, had been in the castle to measure Rapunzel's feet and assured her the boots would be ready quickly. Within a week, Rapunzel had the shoes she had requested.
Her new boots were obviously less fashionable than anything Herr Kleid had ever given her, but were infinitely more comfortable. The leather was soft and supple, and upon putting her loosely-bandaged foot inside the boot, she thought she might not mind wearing shoes so much.
Rapunzel gladly accepted Eugene's invitation to go out walking as soon as her new boots arrived. She didn't quite know how to explain the ordeal of her rotting feet to Eugene, so she said nothing. Eugene noticed the new boots and he gave her a teasing look, but remained quiet and offered her his arm.
There was now another maid charged with the task of caring for Rapunzel's feet. Every night before bed, Rapunzel's feet would be washed, dried, exfoliated and moisturised. Her feet were quickly recuperating and she was glad to see them being restored.
A few weeks later, Eugene and Rapunzel went on a particularly long walk. They stopped to rest at a clearing blanketed with wildflowers. Rapunzel was confident that her feet were now as healthy as they ever. She kicked off her boots and lay back beside Eugene, letting the leaf-filtered sun shine on her face.
'Well, well, ' Eugene began, running his fingers over the top of Rapunzel's feet. 'I was starting to think I'd never see these dainty, little feet again.'
'Why? Did you miss them?' Rapunzel quipped.
'Of course,' Eugene responded. 'It reminds me of when we first met. Remember the way tentative way you first stepped out of the tower?'
Rapunzel smiled at the memory.
'I think I loved you from then,' Eugene grinned as he leaned down to kiss Rapunzel tenderly.
A/N: I appreciate constructive criticism. If you haven't got any, please review anyway.