Two: The Tower

The first time I came to, I opened my eyes and saw the tiles of the ground that my face was pressed against right before I was hit hard enough to pass out again.

The second time I was slumped in a dark room. It didn't really count as a room. It might have been a closet or something similar. There was no light and everything hurt. It felt as if my hand had been slammed in a door and my head was throbbing with pain. "You! Are not! leaving this tower! Ever!" A woman was shouting. The pain in my head was keeping me from keeping my eyes open. I couldn't help passing out again.

The third time, something woke me up but I don't know what. I looked around but I couldn't see anyone. I was tied to a chair. I looked down at my bindings as I struggled. My eyes followed the golden bindings up into the rafters.

"Is this...hair?" I asked out loud as the thought passed me.

"Struggling… Struggling is pointless!" A small lady's voice came as my eyes reached the end of the golden hair. I squinted against the light that was pouring in from the sun roof above me as the girl hopped down from the rafters. "I know why you're here and I'm not afraid of you." She said, hiding in the shadows.

"What?" I tried to squint against the light to try to see who she was. Did I know her?

She walked into the light, holding her head up high in all of it's beauty and asked gently, "Who are you and how did you find me?"

"Aha." My eyes were stuck on her big green eyes. My mind was stuck.

"Who are you and how did you find me?" She asked more vehemently, raising a frying pan over her head.

I cleared my throat. "I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you. But may I just say," I wanted to sweet talk this beautiful lady and maybe live through this ordeal but a kiss never hurts. "Hi." I flashed a dashing smile and bounced my eyebrows. "How ya doin'?" Maybe she knew me already? "My name's Flynn Ryder." She looked more confused than wooed. "How's your day goin'?"

"Who else knows my location, Flynn Ryder?" She spat my name like it was the name of a poisonous bug that she didn't care for while she swung her frying pan toward my face, threateningly.

"Alright, Blondie." I said, trying to put my hands up in submission since schmoozing clearly wasn't working.

"Rapunzel." She scowled.

"Gesundheit." I quipped. "Here's the thing. I was in a situation, gallivanting through the forest. I came across your tower and-" At that moment I realized the satchel with the crown was gone. "Oh.. oh no!" I looked around, gripping the armrests on the chair I was tied to. "Where is my satchel?"

The blonde girl smiled proudly and folded her arms. "I've hidden it somewhere you'll never find it." I looked back at the pot that my eyes had skipped over a moment ago.

"It's in that pot? Isn't it?"

Before I knew it, the pan hit me over the head again and everything went black. Again.

The fourth time, a lizard was sitting on my shoulder with it's tongue in my ear. I jumped up and rubbed my ear against my shoulder. "Would you stop that?" The girl was standing in front of me with the frying pan under her arm.

"Now, it's hidden where you'll never find it." She said without a moment's hesitation. "So what do you want with my hair?" She tossed some of her hair behind her as she circled me. To cut it? Sell it?"

"No." I leaned away from her and her frying pan. "Listen. The only thing I want to do with your hair is to get out of it." I remembered I was tied to a chair with her hair. How much did she have? "Literally." I struggled against my bonds for illustration.

"Wait." She straightened up and paused. "You...You don't want my hair?"

"Why on Earth would I want your hair?!" Exasperation bubbled up in me. "Look, I was being chased. I saw a tower. I climbed it. End of story."

"You're telling the truth?" She pointed the frying pan at me but it was less threatening this time.

"Yes!" I just wanted to get out of here alive. I didn't know how many times I'd been hit over the head, who put me in a closet earlier, or what else had happened to me while I was unconscious. The lizard appeared on her shoulder and ran down her arm onto the frying pan and squinted at me. I leaned away as it stabbed it's tail in her direction and looked back at me. She took the lizard in her hands and stepped away from me, whispering to it.

I've got to get out of here. I looked over my shoulder and saw the window where I'd come into this crazy room. I tried moving the chair toward the window.

"Okay Flynn Ryder," I froze at my name. "I'm prepared to offer you a deal."

"Deal?" She was crazy.

"Look this way." She yanked her hair so the chair spun in the direction of a mural framed by red velvet curtains. "Do you know what these are?" She revealed a painting depicting the lantern festival for the Lost Princess of Corona.

"You mean the lantern thing they do for the princess?" I asked even though it was obvious.

"Lanterns." She sighed, looking back up at the painting. "I knew they weren't stars! Well, tomorrow evening, they will light the night's sky with these lanterns. You will act as my guide. Take me to these lanterns and return me home safely. Then, and only then, will I return your satchel to you. That is my deal."

My head was already spinning from the multiple beatings, but guiding someone (that was holding me hostage) through a kingdom that I was wanted dead or alive in was not a fun concept. "No can do. Unfortunately, the kingdom and I aren't exactly 'simpatico' at the moment, so I won't be taking you anywhere." Mistake. Her face contorted back into a scowl.

She hopped down from where she had been standing next to the mural. "Something brought you here, Flynn Ryder." She walked closer and closer to me. "Call it what you will. Fate. Destiny."

"A horse." I deadpanned.

"So I have made the decision to trust you." She ignored my quip and continued.

"A horrible decision, really."

"But, trust me when I tell you this." She pulled me toward her so that my chair was only on two legs and our faces were only inches apart. "You can tear this tower apart, brick by brick, but without my help you will never find your precious satchel."

I cleared my throat, "Let me just get this straight. I take you to see the lanterns, bring you home, and you'll give me back my satchel?"

"I promise." The last time I'd heard someone say they promised anything was back in the orphanage. Promises just aren't made anymore. "And when I promise something, I never ever break that promise." I lifted an unamused eyebrow. "Ever."

"Alright, listen. I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice." My schmooze tactic was back. "Here comes the smoulder." I squinted my eyes and pouted my lips before looking back up at her. Her face remained unchanged. "This is kind of an off day for me. This doesn't usually happen. Fine! I'll take you to see the lanterns!" I gave up. In her excitement, she let go of the chair that had been on it's front two legs, letting it drop.

"Really!? Oops."

"You broke my smoulder." I mumbled into the floor.