Prologue
Scarlett, Ysabella, and Ariel had been almost silent on the cart, probably due to shock. They had never been kidnapped before. In the middle of the night one of their maids, a small mousy-haired girl with matching eyes, had come to fetch them.
"Yah Majesties, ye must come now!" she whispered urgently, her hair flying out in little wisps away from her usually tight bun. "There is a cart waiting ta take ya outside the gard'n gate."
"It can't be morning already," moaned Ariel as she tiredly clambered out of bed and pulled on her shoes, "and where are going anyway?"
"Rebels are congregating in the Eastern Prov'nce. We fear that they might attack the palace."
"But why are we going in the middle of the night? Why not in the morning?"
The maid sighed, then responded,"Ther majesties think the rebels might have infiltrated the palace. We can't let 'em see us going"
"Are Mommy and Daddy coming too?" asked Ysabella sleepily.
"Ther comin' in a week. They have to finish up some business here 'fore they can go. Now hush. We don't want the rebels to hear us."
They crept silently through the still hallways of the dark palace and then into the darker still garden. When they finally reached the garden gate, the maid whispered," Get into the cart. If you need an' thing, the Steve, the drivah, will help yah."
"Children, my name is Eliza Gothel. You my call me Aunt Gothel"
Eliza Gothel was a tall, imposing woman, with long black curls framing an ivory face. The light from the now setting sun emphasized her high cheek bones and the small, hard set of her mouth as she looked down on the children.
Scarlett cocked her head to the side, and then shook her head so vigorously that strands of golden hair flew up to cover her face.
"I don't like that name." she commented.
At once Gothel lost her severe composure and became flustered, "You don't? Why not?"
"I miss Mommy," Ysabella suddenly piped, up her dark green eyes sad.
"I miss Daddy more" Scarlett answered, ignoring Gothel's question.
"I miss Daddy too, but I still miss Mommy. I want to go home." Ysabella said, now staring out of the window, and into the little mountain valley below. Ariel, who up to this point had been surveying the lavishly furnished tower room, now turned her head sharply towards Gothel.
Gothel sighed, and started pacing around the room, not looking at the three girls, then said sadly, "Your home no longer exists."
"Yes, it does. And I don't like you." Ariel shot back, her bright red hair reflecting the light of the sun streaming through the window.
"I want to go home. And I miss my Mommy." Ysabella added plaintively.
"She's dead, sweetie. They're both dead." Gothel responded, looking away from the three shocked faces, staring, horror-struck, up at her.
"Daddy's dead?" Scarlett asked, softly her eyes showing not sadness, but puzzlement, as if she couldn't wrap her mind around the idea.
"No, he isn't. Don't let her fool you. They're not dead. They can't be." Ariel responded sharply.
There was silence for many long moments, as the sun slipped below the mountains, and they tried to absorb the news.
Finally, decision showed on Ysabella's face. "I want to go home," she said clearly.
"So do I," piped Scarlett.
"I told you, home doesn't exist anymore, and your parents are dead. Home was burned by the eastern rebels." Gothel finally cried, exasperated. Who knew dealing with children could be so much work!
Three accusing faces stared up at her.
"No, you didn't. You just said home didn't exist anymore." Scarlett said quietly, all the cheeriness and happiness gone from her voice, and replaced by something that sounded, almost, like anger. It wasn't fiery, like Ariel's temper, just cold. And somehow, it seemed far more dangerous.
"You're parents were killed in the fighting that ensued. I'm sorry." Gothel answered, not looking at Scarlett, and instead focusing on Ysabella. That didn't help much, as she was looking at her new guardian haughtily, as if Gothel was scum that shouldn't be allowed to live. It was truly amazing that a six-year-old could manage to pull that look off.
Ariel stood up, "That's impossible. And you aren't sorry! You pretend to be, but you're not!"
How is it that these children can see straight through me! marveled Gothel, Do they have magic that let's them see into my soul or something! but out loud she just said, "I am sorry."
"I miss Mommy." Ysabella said, glaring at Gothel, supremely disdainful and aloof.
Gothel thought desperately, Why are these children blaming me for their loss? They have no reason to think I have anything to do with it! How did my family deal with their ancestor's? Maybe…. "… I'm sorry, how impolite of me. Would you like to have dinner?"
"But I don't want dinner." Scarlett whined balefully, her icy hate gone in an instant.
Ahhhh, so that's how they dealt with them. Only Ariel didn't get distracted by the change of topic. She crossed her arms and glared. I hate eight year olds, she thought suddenly, they see through all my ploys. Granted, Ariel is the only eight year old I know. Hmmmm….
"I want dessert." pouted Ysabella, losing her composure.
Thank goodness that the twins had such short attention spans, thought Gothel. Maybe all six year olds were like that. "You have to have dinner before you have dessert."
"Why?"
"That's just the way things work here," Gothel said firmly, "Dinner comes before dessert."
Scarlett thought for a second, and shook her head, "No."
"What?" Gothel replied, replied, surprised, "Why not?"
"I want dessert."
Gothel thought for a second, but then, inspiration struck, "But the dessert faeries can't come until the dinner gnomes go away."
That stopped Scarlett for a second. She ran over to the window to conference with Ysabella. They whispered for a few seconds, glancing over frequently and giggling, and then ran back to Gothel.
Scarlett took a deep breath, and then spoke, "We've decided two things. The first is that we don't like your name. We've decided to call you Auntie Thela instead."
That caught Gothel off guard, "Why Auntie Thela?"
This time it was Ysabella who spoke up, "It's a nickname for Gothel. We made it up just for you!"
"I'm touched. What's the second thing?"
Scarlett smiled, and said, "We're going to make sure that the dinner gnomes never come."
Ysabella had walked towards the door to the stairs, and opened it, when Gothel said, "I'm not sure that it works that way…"
Her protest was cut off by Ysabella, green eyes sparkling mischievously, "Don't worry Auntie Thela, we'll make it work."
Giggling happily, the twins, followed by Ariel, left the room, leaving Eliza Gothel staring at the door through which they had left.
She sent a question to the gods, or to the fae-in case one of them did happen to exist. "How am I going to deal with them?" she whispered, desperate as a human on a kelpie, running out of breath.
However, to this, the stars held no answer, and all she heard was the whistling of the wind.
"I knew they didn't exist."
"How big is this place?" whispered Scarlett. They had searched what seemed like a hundred floors to find the kitchen. Needless to say, they still hadn't found it yet.
Ysabella shivered, "What I don't like is that I don't know how it's lit. I haven't seen a single candle or torch since we arrived. But everything is perfectly well lit."
The next door that they came to was locked. They passed it by, and went into a storage room; this one filled the fine cloth that made up Gothel's clothing, and the draperies. Ariel spoke up for the first time, "I don't trust Gothel. You two aren't old enough to have gotten to it in our history class yet, but Madame Kennari told me that an old woman called Gothel kidnapped the king and queen's only child, a girl named Rapunzel-"
"That's a funny name," interrupted Ysabella, giggling.
As they entered another storage room, this one full with hair brushes, Scarlett asked, "Why does Auntie Thela need so many brushes?"
They peeked into a room filled with unworked clay, and then descended another floor. Ariel continued, "Anyway, she kept the girl in a tower until she got rescued 18 years later. We're descended from that same girl. What if our Gothel is descended from the witch Gothel? What if she kidnapped us to get revenge on our family for Rapunzel escaping?"
"What if you're just paranoid? I like Auntie Thela," argued Ysabella, "and anyway, why did she kidnap Rapunzel in the first place? Maybe she was just lost in the woods and Gothel saved her. You don't know."
Ariel tugged at a locked door and then sighed. "She was a baby when she kidnapped. I don't know why she was kidnapped. Maybe she just wanted a child. I don't know."
Ysabella smirked smugly, and tried the next door. It was full with bags of flour, and Scarlett noted, "The kitchen must be close. No one would want to cart flour 10 floors."
Ariel nodded, and they descended to the next floor. Here there was merely one door, and Ysabella opened it. It was the kitchen. They walked over to the table and were silent for a few seconds. Finally, Ysabella asked, "What are we going to say?"
Scarlett cocked her head, and then nodded. "What about 'Dinner Gnomes GO AWAY!'?"
Ysabella grinned mischievously, and nodded.
Gothel walked down to kitchen to make dinner. She figured that the children must be hungry by now, even if said they didn't want dinner. She would make these children learn to obey her. They would learn that dinner had to come before dessert. Vegetable soup might be nice…
She paused. It felt like the tower was shaking slightly, and there was shouting below her. But that, of course, was impossible. The tower was so precariously balanced, due to its great height, that enchantments had been placed on it to keep it from toppling over or moving at all. She herself had laid down the last layer of magic. The only thing she could possibly be feeling was vibrations in her magic. But that was also impossible, unless-
She ran as fast as she could, flying down the steps, the sounds steadily increasing. When she reached the kitchen she burst through the door, hair flying in a halo around her head. She was greeted by the sight of the three girls marching around the table singing, or in the twins' case, chanting, "Dinner gnomes go away!"
Every three steps they would all spin in a circle, and the chant was interdispersed with giggles and petty squabbling.
Gothel felt rather faint. "Um, children?" she asked tentatively, "Does your hair usually glow when you, er, chant?"
Scarlett's hair had been glowing with a golden light, which now faded. "Yup, and it does things too! If I want my work for Madame Kennari to be done, but I don't know how to do it, I can sing to it, and it does itself!"
The bronze glow faded from Ariel's hair as she stopped chanting to make frantic shushing noises at Scarlett. Ysabella resolutely kept chanting, the silver light emanating from her raven hair only getting stronger. Scarlett shrugged at Ariel and began chanting again.
"I still don't trust you," Ariel stated, glaring at Gothel.
"I know."