By Irith Ayllistira


THE HANGING


Jasper led Rapunzel through a well-lit corridor. The castle was empty, for the moon now shone high above the cerulean blue roof. She still wore the ragged, black-laced clothing, ripped at the shoulders and showing her legs up to her thighs. He opened a door to the right and pushed her inside the room. It was dark but smelled of clean sheets and the burning of the little fireplace at the corner of the room. Rapunzel was breathing heavily – her insides still hurt but the wounds and bruises were now healed; what hurt her most was the light touch on her arm, the burning of Jasper's fingers on her skin, the sound of his voice, the glance of his jade eyes upon her body.

"Do you like it in here?" he asked with a sarcastic tone. Rapunzel walked across the room, feeling the soft carpet under her toes. So that was the room of a princess. She didn't even feel the curiosity of exploring her huge room further – the feeling of the prince's presence behind her fill her with panic, the irrational fear of more pain.

"I—" He went beside her and placed a kiss on her neck. It could have been gentle if his hand didn't trail around her waist to cup her breast. She jerked away and tripped on the floor, only to fall upon the soft feather-mattress. Jasper smirked and leaned forwards, placing one knee between her legs . His gaze raced down her body, from her chest to her core, down to her slim legs. Rapunzel closed her eyes in fear, and felt the trickle of salty tears on her cheeks.

"Get dressed" he said in a harsh tone. Rising, he opened the wardrobe and picked a dark purple dress.

Throwing it on top of her half-naked figure, he added: "You look like a whore."


Rapunzel curled inside her bed. She still wore the purple dress that Jasper had ordered her to wear, afraid of him finding out that she had refused his order. She was terrified. He was her husband-to-be. Her parents were far away and when they returned, she would tell them all the story – how about Gothel sold her to Jasper and had her raped on that jail. But what if—What if they didn't believe her? They probably had known the prince for many years and Rapunzel was just a girl that had come from an unknown place, bearing unknown words. Even if she was their true daughter... would they ever believe her words?

She covered her head with the pillow. Oh, how she wanted to be in her tower again, unaware of her mother's true identity, content with the life she had in that place, where she could paint, read and play with Pascal...

Pascal. How was Pascal? She had left him in the tower, thinking she would be back soon enough. What if Gothel had hurt him? What if she had found out about him and killed him?

Rapunzel wept. She had been so stupid, wanting to see the floating lights. Now those lanterns seemed so small compared to the huge problem she was in. Eugene could be dead, Pascal could be dead and her future was now laced with the unbearable thought of infinite suffering. She had exchanged all that unquestionable happiness with the only, silly choice of having Eugene take her to see the lights. If he didn't climb her tower that morning, she was probably still in her room, wondering about the world out there.

"Are you hungry?"

Jasper leaned against the door, arms crossed against his chest. Rapunzel slowly removed the pillow from her head and observed the man. A very, very small part of her mind humiliatingly admitted he was a fine man; beneath the harsh words and the rude gestures, there was something remarkably princely about him; the way he moved and stood; his delicate but manly hands, adorned with thin gold rings had a special way of touching things. The clothes he wore were always impeccably smooth; his skin, flawless, with no signs of beard.

He was a fine man, indeed. And that thought, the smallest hint of denied attraction deeply stored in Rapunzel's heart filled her with shame. Nonetheless, he was her rapist and therefore the person she most hated in her life.

"I asked, are you hungry?"

Rapunzel didn't answer. She didn't remember the last time she ate; the last thing she had tasted in her mouth was the blood from the gashing wound Jasper had made when he bit her lip.

"No."

"You need to eat."

She smiled at the sentence. Was he now worried about her life? Worried that she might lose some weight?

"But I am not hungry."

"Nevertheless, you will eat."

"I really don't feel like—"

"YOU WILL DO AS I SAY!"

As he bellowed that sentence, Jasper strode towards the bed and grasped her bare thighs, ignoring her pleadings and her tears. Instead of pushing them further apart, he pulled the girl towards him and slapped her twice, pulling her hair in the proccess. Eventually Rapunzel's mouth found its way across his wrist and with a loud clench of her teeth she bit his arm.

Jasper yelled in pain and retreated, leaving Rapunzel sprawled on the bed, looking at his hand. Satisfied with the line of blood that started to trickle down from his wrist she reached for her pillow and threw it to his head, searching franticly for any other heavy object that could leave him unconscious. Finding none, she jolted up and ran for the door; she whimpered when a strong pair of muscled arms grabbed her by the waist, the blood that gushed from the mark on his wrist staining her dress. She fought back, kicking and punching his stomach whenever her fists got loose from his grip; her struggle seemed to continue for hours until the prince kicked her knee, forcing her to fall on her back, spread on the floor. Rapunzel lept out towards the door, trying to rip away the uncomfortably complicated dress that he had forced her to wear.

Pulling Rapunzel by the tail of her dress, Jasper made the girl trip and hit her head against the hardwood door. Rapunzel felt a throbbing, flooding pain pierce through her skull; even her sight was affected, dotted with large, white blurs and the inability to detect light.

"YOU WILL DO AS I SAY, YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

He threw her to the floor and kicked her in the stomach. The pain was so intense that Rapunzel felt conscience drift away for a couple of seconds: she was unable to fight anymore or even cry. The strength in her body had left her, once again.

Jasper slammed the door, leaving Rapunzel curled in fetal position, her back against the wall. She struggled for air, feeling that her lungs had lost the capacity to retain oxygen. Dragging herself to the bed post, Rapunzel tried to rise, thinking that perhaps in a vertical position she could be able to breathe – when she found out that she couldn't, panic started to overwhelm her. She threw her hands around her throat in helplessness, a shrill sound escaping through her lips. She needed to breathe, she couldn't die now! Her hands tried to reach out for something, anything to hold on to. It was when she started to grasp at her hair, shacking uncontrollablly, that she felt something moist just above her ear.

When she glanced at the palm of her hand, the sight of her own thick blood made all air leave her lungs. The gold locks from the right side of her head had gone red and the blood started to run down her neck, soaking the remains of her cloathing and the carpet underneath.

As she rose her trembling hand, trying to touch the wound on her skull, strength abandoned her body and she blacked out.


After a sonorous, rewarding click!, the window's lock broke open, falling to the ground with a loud thump. After searching around Rapunzel's dressing table, Eugene had found a box full of bobby pins with which he had been trying to break the lock that held together the shutters of the only small window. Being a very capable thief and a real handiworker around locks, Eugene had been famous for being able to pick almost any door, chest or gate in the whole kingdom. To much of his surprise, he had found out that the iron lock that Gothel had put in the window was incredibly complex and difficult to break open; but then again, it could be the mind-numbing drugs talking.

Flinging the window open, Eugene bent towards the sill, analyzing his situation. He had climbed that tower before with little effort and would be able to do it again. Although it was a long distance from the ground, with the help of a few objects scattered around the room he would be able to set up some kind of climbing tool that would let him lower himself down to the ground. But then again, feeling his limbs so numb and his mind so foggy, he couldn't simply trust his sense: if he somehow hurt himself, he would be completely unable to rescue Rapunzel.

"Where do you think you are going, sweetheart?"

Maintaining his cool composure, Eugene slowly turned around.

"Just admiring the weather, I believe."

Gothel frowned.

"Oh, snap the humor, you bastard! You are not leaving this tower, unless I say so."

Eugene politely nodded, closing again the shutters behind him, careful about making the absence of the lock going unnoticed. He had been in that tower for hours and after an awful amount of encounters with Mother Gothel, he had quickly perceived that the best way of getting out of there was not by the means of force or brute strength, but by the means of his own expert silver tongue.

"Who raped Rapunzel?"

The question was simple and the words hurt in his mouth. The bare thought of thinking about it made Eugene's insides twist with anger and repulse – and that was the exact same reason why she was so willing to talk about it. Seeing the sparkle of humiliation and desperation in the thief's eyes made Gothel feel so satisfied.

"You mean Jasper? Her husband-to-be?"

Eugene clenched his fists behind his back. Husband-to-be? What kind of sick joke is that?

"What do you mean?"

Gothel laughed amusingly.

"My love, don't tell me that you never considered what Rapunzel was." Smiling at the confused expression on his face, she added "Rapunzel is the lost princess, you bastard!"

"—What?"

"You are such a fool. Think about it. A girl trapped in a tower, unable to leave it and see the world out there. Her mother, forbidding her to see the floating lights, released every year in honor of the princess's birthday. The match of Rapunzel's anniversary and the day the Lost Princess was born; Rapunzel's healing powers and extraordinary long hair. If you never considered such a thought, you are more idiot than I thought."

"I—" It all made sense now. He had been so blind! How could he not link every piece of the puzzle together? Such an obvious conclusion to such an obvious situation.

"Well, apparently you didn't think about it, which says two things about you: One, you are a fucking idiot. Two, you are honest enough to travel with a girl without the promising expenses of a royal matrimony. Which brings us to the question your just asked."

Eugene felt his throat dry out.

"The man that raped Rapunzel is her husband-to-be, prince Jasper of Corona. Their matrimony was arranged long before she was born and well, when she did, I took her out of her little crib. He has been waiting his whole life for her return – only when she marries him will he be able to inherit the throne and therefore become King of Corona after her father."

Eugene felt liquid anger burning in his veins. Struggling to keep his cool, calm features, he asked:

"Why returning her to Corona after keeping her hidden after all these years?"

"I never expected that the bastard would sneak out of the tower a few days ago. I never even consider the thought of her disobeying my orders— After she was completely exposed to the people in the kingdom, the only thing I could do was hand her over to her parents – while being considered a hero for returning their loving daughter and restore the kindgom's peace once again."

"They will believe her if she tells them otherwise."

"They won't. What value is the word of a girl I say I found lost in this horrible, dark world? What value is the word of the most wanted criminal in the whole kingdom, the one who stole the crown of the own princess I have just returned? Can't you see? Rapunzel is eighteen years old, barely a child. Her words are meaningless against the power and intricate policies of Corona. No one will listen to her. And neither to you, if you are even thinking about escaping."

"What about Jasper?"

"Jasper is the most trustworthy person in the entire kingdom. People in Corona saw him grow up in instead of the Lost Princess. The king considers Jasper is own son! Even if Rapunzel has the king's own blood coursing through her veins, what value is her word compared to that of the dearest friend of the royal family?"

"It has no value" concluded Eugene, laying against the cold wall. There was no more hope. Even if he was able to leave the tower, no one would believe their words, his and Rapunzel's. And Jasper could become a very dangerous rival, one that could lock Eugene forever in jail or even send him to the gallows to complete the job undone. Just thinking about his sweet, little girl, tortured by the hands and body of that fucking bastard.

He had to find a way out. Or else Rapunzel would suffer until the end of her life.


A/N: 1st - Thank you very much, unsigned annonymous reviewer, which I have no means to thank for the two reviews. I'm really glad you're liking the story so far, so keep on reading! :D

2nd - Wanted to apologize for the delay but I guess chapters will come slower now that I have a lot of things to work on, as well as "Shush" my other Tangled fic.

3rd - Reviews normally nullify the topic above! I post fanfiction to let fans read my stories. If I have an empty audience, I'd rather write for myself. Moral of the story: If you like this story, review!