Golden Braids and Dragon Blades: Steampunk Rapunzel

Chapter 23: Pendragon

“Agent Hunter, Agent Louvel, this way,” Ewan called from not far away.

“Come with me now, or I’ll cut her throat,” Owyr seethed.

“Mother,” I whispered. Gothel wilted under the heavy steel. There were burn marks on her wrists and neck.

“Rapunzel,” Gothel whispered.

The dragon blood struck her hard.

Estrid’s tongue flickered with fire.

“Now, blood of Anna.”

I stared across the garden toward the forest. Fireflies drifted amongst the grass. The wind blew. The scents of roses, pine, wildflowers, and earth filled the air. My blood began pumping hard. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, and my skin began to warm. When I looked down at my arms, they had taken on an unearthly silver sheen.

“No,” I growled.

Owyr lifted his blade and pressed it against Gothel’s neck.

The faerie winced as the steel burned her.

“Let her go,” I hissed. My blood thundered through my body. My heart beat so loudly it drowned out my thoughts. My hair fell from its ties and fell loosely down my back. In the wind, I could swear I heard the sounds of drums, bagpipes, and harps. A deep, ancient chant called to me.

“I’m not leaving without you and those dragons. Come now,” he said, pressing the blade into Gothel’s neck once more. Blood dripped down her throat.

Energy tingled throughout my body. All around me, I felt the land. I felt the roots of the all trees in the forest touching one another. I heard the whispers of the ancient oaks as they spoke their secret language. I heard the roses call with their soft, sweet voices. From deep below, in the temple of Mithras, I heard a single, powerful voice whisper, I am.

My hair began to fan out behind me. I could see it from the periphery of my eyes, my long locks drenched in silver light. I raised my arms, strands of my hair rising along with them like dragon wings. The energy from the earth, the realm, lifted me.

“Blood of Anna, you belong with us. Come. Now,” Owyr said, but I could see the impression on his face, his eyes widening. And more, I saw a glow reflected on his skin, a silvery blue light emanating from me. “Dammit,” he swore. He shoved Gothel to the ground then reached out to grab Estrid.

“No,” I shouted. Flinging my hands forward, I tugged the magic of the land, pulling into me, directing it through me. I wrapped an invisible fist around the man, freezing him in place, squeezing him.

Estrid blasted Owyr with an inferno. He crumpled to his knees. A dragon blood himself, he wasn’t immediately toasted by the flames, but he still writhed in pain.

A moment later, Ewan, Lucy, Agent Hunter, and Agent Louvel appeared. They all stared, taking in the scene.

After a moment, Ewan called, “Estrid, I think you got him.”

Estrid gave Ewan a sidelong glance then extinguished her flame. Lucy raced forward then kicked Owyr over and immediately slapped some cuffs on him.

Agent Louvel rushed to Mother and began pulling off her chains. The agent spoke in a low tone to her. Gothel nodded as she listened then replied in kind, her voice low. What was that all about?

I closed my eyes and released the magic that had served me back to the land once more.

The land and the king were one.

That was the truth of what it meant to be a Pendragon.

The realm and I were interconnected. Its magic was there, waiting for me to call upon it. But that also meant I had a duty to protect what was part of me.

“Rapunzel,” Mother called.

The chains that had bound her lying on the ground, she ran to me and gathered me into her arms.

“Mother,” I whispered.

There was a crack as the timbers on the barn—which had been burning the whole time—gave way, the roof collapsing into the structure.

“I lent Willowbrook to the Pellinores for one weekend, and you have half of my estate on fire,” Agent Hunter told Ewan. Despite the serious expression on his face, there was laughter in his voice.

“Worse, my auto was inside,” Ewan added.

Agent Hunter chuckled.

“It was destroyed on the job. Doesn’t that make him eligible for reimbursement?” Agent Louvel asked with a smirk, eyeing Agent Hunter playfully.

He winked at her.

“Sir,” another agent said, rushing to join us. I remembered seeing her at headquarters. She eyed me then the dragons. She blinked twice.

“Agent Harper?” Agent Hunter answered.

“We’ve got the others rounded up and cuffed. What should we do now?”

Agent Hunter laced his fingers behind his back and looked from me to Ewan and to the dragons.

“This is the Pellinores’ case. Where is Agent Williamson?”

“In the front. He has some of the others subdued there.”

I exhaled a sigh of relief to learn William was all right.

Agent Hunter grinned. “I see,” he said then turned to Lucy and Ewan. “I would appreciate it if the Pellinores would advise the other agents on how your division wants this situation handled. Per your bylaws, of course.”

Lucy grinned. “Yes, sir,” she said then grabbed Owyr and yanked him to his feet. “Come along, you,” she said, pressing a pistol to his back. Motioning to Agent Hunter, she headed back toward the manor, dragging Owyr along with her.

“I need to check on my staff here at Willowbrook and arrange to send a few messages. Then I think we need to talk,” Agent Hunter told me.

I nodded.

Agent Hunter and Agent Louvel headed back to the mansion.

The three little dragons went to Mother, chirping and calling to her, rubbing their heads on her neck and hair.

“Mother,” I whispered, taking her hands. She had terrible burns on her wrists and neck. “What happened?”

“The werewolves—it was their airship I wanted to charter—turned on me, handed me over to the dragon bloods for a bit of coin. Agent Louvel found me, but we agreed that I would play the part of prisoner. We didn’t want them to know we were on to them until the agency could come to help. I stayed to buy Agent Louvel some time. If I’d escaped, they’d have come for you sooner.”

“But you’re hurt,” I said, looking at her wounds.

“I will return to the Otherworld for healing,” she said then set her hand gently on Ewan’s arm. “Thank you for keeping my daughter safe.”

Ewan smiled at me. “She kept us safe.”

“She is a Pendragon. She can’t help herself,” Mother replied.

“But, Mother, if you are returning to the Otherworld, what should I do? Should I come with you?” I asked, knowing even as I asked that it was the last thing I wanted.

Gothel shook her head. “No. This is your world. I cannot protect you forever, and maybe I shouldn’t have tried. It is time for you to live.”

I looked from Mother to Ewan and then to my girls. “Living free feels too cheaply won. No. I have something better in mind. But I’ll need permission first.”

“Permission?” Ewan asked. “For what? From whom?”

I smirked. “Well, I am a Pendragon, but I am not the queen. I’ll need permission from Her Majesty if I am to serve this realm.”

Ewan raised an eyebrow at me.

I grinned at him. “You’ll see. And it will be better than butter upon bacon.”

Ewan chuckled. “There is only one thing in this world better than butter upon bacon,” he said, and with that, he stepped forward, grabbed me gently by the waist, and planted a kiss on my lips.

I closed my eyes and dissolved into his embrace. His lips were soft and sweet, the echoes of ale and biscuits in his mouth, his sweet lemon and lavender scent under the musky tone that was him. My head felt light and dizzy. My knight. My Darcy.

As we kissed, the land around me sang, the pieces of the song I had been hearing snatches of for days coming together, building upon themselves, and slotting into place. Together, they formed one melody: the song of Britannia.