Author's Note
Hey, I don't actually think that this should be rated T, but I just want to play it safe.. o_0 I kind of wrote this last night and it's a kind of long one-shot. Rate and Review! Tell me how absolutely fantastic it is. :)
Disclaimer: Figure it out yourself. :) I do not own the story of Rapunzel, but I do own this story. This perspective, if it has been made into another fanfic, was not stolen intentionally, especially because I have not read any other Rapunzel stories that had it from the witch's point of view. If you think I did, it's completely coincidental and suck it.
Have fun!
I am not evil, just stern. Trespassers claim no compassion in my heart, so when the young king entered my garden without my permission of course I was angry. How many warnings must I put up for the dense? Perhaps I should install a goblin to further ward off these selfish royals?
The queen has long since been a rather unfavorable person in my view. For months as I strolled in my garden at dusk I hear only the weeps of how her unborn heir is taking too long until it could be held in her hands. I only wished that it would never be held in her arms, for that monster deserved nothing which lived.
It was an autumn day when the woman was being especially tiresome. I could hear her screams from the palace to my garden as she begged for a rapunzel plant, the plant that was particularly plentiful in my garden. I cringed at the thought of the poor fellow who would have to go through my woodland nymphs to get it. They were more violently territorial than one would think. People never learned.
Surprisingly, the king came instead of a peasant, which is the common choice of man when it comes to quests like these. Why? Because usually they don't come out alive and the poor are both plentiful and worthless. Luckily for the kingdom, the nymph must've been out somewhere gathering her meal elsewhere. I decided to confront him about trespassing myself.
"Your Highness, what are you doing in my garden?" I asked him, though already knowing his reason.
He looked up, not realizing I caught him. His face turned cerise and he stuttered, "M-M-Madame Gothel, I'm sorry to intrude, but the queen has quite stubbornly demanded the rapunzel plant, of which your g-garden grows."
My brow narrowed and I sternly looked at him. "Have I not sent many notices that forbids anyone to enter this garden?"
"You have."
"Have I not painfully installed stone fences to further ward off people who continue to encroach, although they have the knowledge of the consequences?"
"You have. Please forgive me, Madame. I understand that it was foolish of me to do so. If you could be so compassionate to pardon this fault, I shall leave you in peace."
"Do you dare question my authority? I show no compassion to those who violate this garden of mine, despite their reasoning of doing so. I'm afraid you shall face the consequences now, your highness."
"No! Please, I'll do anything!" the king begged. Seeing a man of such stature cower in fear is quite amusing.
I pondered over his last statement. "Anything?" I asked.
"Yes, anything! Just let me be," he cried.
"Offer me your firstborn and perhaps my mercy shall be granted this once. The moment it leaves the queen's womb, it shall be brought to me."
"I give you my pledge," the king said, not realizing the magnitude of his promise. He was losing his heir, his only child, his firstborn, just to save his own neck. I was glad that I was freeing a child from a parent such as this.
It came the day that the queen gave birth to her daughter. It pleased me I would have a child to give my heart to, not to mention the fact she not once tasted my beloved rapunzel plants during the duration of her pregnancy.
The child was gorgeous. Her hair was fine and soft like gossamer and her eyes were the color of rosemary leaves. As I held her in my arms, I heard the mother weeping for her child.
The queen's voice will drive me mad, I concurred, so I took the child to another kingdom far from the likes of the child's mother.
I couldn't go about naming the child Gossamer or Rapunzel, for those are strange names in Celtic lands. I settled with Guinevere, a common and pretty name for the girl and was fitting for her beauty as well.
I took the title of her godmother. Although I loved her, I was strict when it came to leaving the hills from our home by the sea. I loved her as a mother would, and probably more than her mother ever could. It came to the day when she officially became a woman and I grew more fearful as men from around the kingdom took notice of her beauty. One day, I noticed a man went so far as to kiss her, so I took her to another land where she was neither known for her beauty or heritage.
Although I kept up with my enchantments, (for I stayed faithful to my magical practices) I could not forget my lovely Guinevere. There was a young man, whom I supposed was from a noble family, that came around to talk with her. Hoping that she would abstain from male interaction, I found a tall, small castle up in the hilltops and placed my goddaughter in there. After I erased all entryways, I realized I could not give her the sunshine or talk to her unless there were windows.
After the window was created, we both were content. I could climb up and down Guinevere's hair to talk with her and she could see the sun. She promised to only let her hair down if she heard the cry,
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your fair hair, so that I may climb the gossamer stair."
We both had a laugh about the saying, for Rapunzel is a pet name for Guinevere, an inside joke if you will. Fortunately for me, she didn't understand the root of it. Also, whenever those words would be spoken, Rapunzel's hair would grow an extra few feet so that I wouldn't have to jump so high to strain her fine hair.
The plan we devised worked for a year and many months until a prince came along and heard her ethereal voice, which is ironic because her mother had such a repulsive one.
He must've spied on the poor child for many days as he figured out the enchantment cry.
Months went by in my ignorance of their many meetings. I don't think Guinevere knew anything that was happening was strange, for she didn't mention it or changed her behavior. The day when I realized something was wrong was when she mentioned one day that she was getting tight around the belly and needed some cloth for a new dress. I never increased the amount of food in her meals, nor did she seem like she was getting heavier. I looked at the growing lump at her waist and realized something unnatural happened to her, so I decided to 'leave' for a few days to study the castle.
Two days after my departure, a prince came and beckoned in his sweet voice at the foot of the castle,
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your fair hair, so that I may climb the gossamer stair."
I grew angry and I used a small glass shard to see what was going on inside the castle.
Due to my personal morality, I will not describe what happened in that room or what I saw from my glass shard, but I will tell you I grew disgusted and angry that a man could dishonor my child. She was only fourteen! I waited eagerly for him to leave the castle to rid his rotten self from the area of which my Guinevere lived.
As nightfall reigned over the earth, I bitterly called out to my goddaughter,
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your fair hair, so that I may climb the gossamer stair."
I entered the small room where Guinevere sat on her cushion on her bed. She cried to me, "Madame Gothel, you've returned! How was your trip?"
"Rather unfavorable, darling Rapunzel."
"Tell me why," she asked. No fault was found in her eyes. It was as if she didn't realize what was happening to her was wrong, immoral, and terrible in many ways. A man was using her, despite the fact that he was of royalty. I knew that the regal families were usually the most terrible from experience.
"I'm afraid that I have found out about your relationship with your prince."
She seemed slightly perturbed that I realized she was taking correspondence up with a boy. She probably thought we would just move again, but that would only happen if I was feeling especially sympathetic, which I wasn't particularly feeling that day. She asked, "Prince Otso?"
"Whatever you call that scum," I said, irritated.
"Why, Otso isn't scum at all, he's actually most pleasant. He told me he loved me. What's wrong with that?" she asked me nervously, trying to convince me that he was nice. I scoffed. Sure he loved her, but the problem was that love was as deep as a stream.
"Guinevere, you cannot carry on with this relationship."
She looked at me with a startled expression. "But I love him, too." The child was starting to be frustrating.
"You don't understand what love is."
"Do you? I don't think you've loved anything in your life! You live alone and you spend your days visiting me and doing strange things. Why must you tell me what to do?" I grimaced as these words escaped her lips.
"Please, you don't mean that."
"I want to live with the prince. I'm tired of you! You're boring and lethargic and strict and I want someone fun like Otso." Not only was her ignorance was as great as the sea; I wasn't sure if she loved me anymore.
After a moment of time passed, I finally decided I couldn't change her back to the unworldly child-like Guinevere, so I decided to give her once last chance to truly be happy with me and asked her, "So you wish to be free to wildly roam about, rather than live with your Madame Gothel?"
She nodded with fervor. I took out my wand and said sorrowfully,
"Darling child, be free as a dove
Wild and mild, express your love
Never come back to the likes of me
And by no means sing songs of glee."
I felt terrible as I cursed her out into the wilderness as a dove, but what could I do with a child like Guinevere? A puff of dust went around my goddaughter and a gossamer braid laid on my foot. My dove flew out of the window, singing a leaden tune as she looked at me with malice.
Rapunzel's room was homely and I was growing exhausted, so I slept there crying bitterly. It was a mistake to adopt this wrench. I should've let the king go with the rapunzel plant and I would've never had to go through what I was going through. I took a child away from her parents and she's been degraded to grime as a man defiled her. What have I done about it? I've turned her into a dove.
I woke up with the noise of a man softly calling out,
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your fair hair, so I may climb the gossamer hair."
I looked about the room as he said this. There was no more hair to grow, but as I thought that, I soon contradicted myself by what happened right then. The hair grew and wrapped around the hook by itself and soon the man came up to the room. He was young, handsome, and surely his hormones were at its peak. He looked at me in surprise for he was surely expecting Rapunzel, the child of fourteen with her beautiful white shining hair. But his expression didn't change. He looked lustfully at me and my disgust for him only grew.
Although I appeared young, I am quite ancient. I can look like an old hag, a young woman, or a child if I so pleased. My magic has no boundaries, unless it was to take away someone's life, unfortunately. That was something I honestly wanted to do to Otso.
Right now, my hair was as black as night and my features were one that a woman just passing adolescence might have. The only thing that would give me away were my olden eyes. Surely, I was not more beautiful than Guinevere, but beauty was not something that I was interested in. I smirked at Otso and beckoned him to come forward. Time for fun, I mused.
"Hello gorgeous. How is it that you are here and Rapunzel is not?" he asked sweetly.
"Oh, questions later. You'll get what you crave if you lay beside me and close your eyes," I said seductively.
He smiled at me, eyes burning with desire. He shut them as he laid beside me on the bed.
I quickly turned myself into my natural form; a sickly old hag with wrinkled skin and decaying teeth. I tapped him to open his eyes once again.
He had faster reflexes than some princes I knew. "AHH! You're a troll!" he screamed in terror. He sprinted to the other side of the room where the window was. He was backing up as I walked toward him.
I chanted a short spell beneath my breath,
"Falling to the thorns below
Shall blind you evermore.
Evade ye once the curse of death
But not of the deeds of yore."
The prince 'lost' his balance and fell on my rose bushes below. His eyes were gouged and he cried aloud for the light to bless him, though in vain. He was blind, never to lust upon a pretty face again. If there was anyone that deserved this, it would be Rapunzel's darling Prince Otso, who would have his way with any girl if he so pleased. I abhorred him, hated him with all of my will. Is he so low as to do this to a child? My child? And then try his luck with me?
He made Guinevere fall in love with him and hate me, made her want to leave me and never see me again, not to mention bringing her to the state with child. If she only hated me, why, I'd be able to bear that, but no. I was replaced with something loathsome and disgusting, something new, something male.
What to do but laugh or cry? I chose neither and grabbed an apple by the nightstand and bit into it, losing a tooth at the same time. Silently, I cursed and grew another tooth in a moment, but the pain was still there.
I was about to climb down Guinevere's gossamer hair and head to my cottage in the wilderness, but I realized the braid was on the ground twenty feet below. I sighed.
You can't always get what you want.