Golden Braids and Dragon Blades: Steampunk Rapunzel

Epilogue: Article 7, Item 22

I shuffled the papers in my hand as I made my way down the hallway in Willowbrook to the meeting chamber. When I opened the door, the assembly inside rose from their seats, their chairs scraping on the floor, feet shuffling as they came to attention.

Joining them, I stood at my designated place at the table and gazed around the room. Lucy nodded to me. William winked. And at my side, Ewan stood waiting, trying not to beam at me too embarrassingly proudly. I set my fingertips on the worn wooden table. All around its edges, it was engraved with Celtic knotwork. Each place at the table had been carved with a letter and insignia, markers of the knights who’d once stood in that place. It had taken us months to recover it, finally discovering the table hidden in the rafters of a barn. Once more, the round table had reclaimed its true purpose. I touched the faded letter A on the table in front of me. I inhaled deeply, reminding myself that I was a cave dweller no more. I had my own sacred calling, and I would see it through.

“I, Rapunzel Pendragon, do hereby call this meeting of the Knights of the Round Table to order. Please, take your seats,” I said, motioning to the others who stood around the circular table. “Let’s begin with updates. Lucy?”

“Lady Pendragon, I am pleased to inform you that we have made a discovery regarding the Ring of Dispel in the archives of a library in Brittany. It was transferred abroad. I have booked passage to the States. I’ll be meeting with a gentleman at the Smithsonian Institution when I arrive there.”

“Very good,” I said with a smile then turned to another new recruit, a Scottish agent whose line we had traced back to the house of Lot of Orkney. “Dennis?”

“I am following leads on Gawain’s pentangle shield. I’ll be headed to Norway next.”

“Very good. Thank you.” I nodded then turned to William. “And how are my Pendragon brothers?”

“An unhappy crew,” William said with a laugh. “But Her Majesty has seen to it they’re keeping busy on their little island in the middle of nowhere. Security is tight. Don’t worry, Miss Pendragon, we’ve got them locked down.”

“Thank you, William,” I said then went around the rest of the table, getting updates from the other agents gathered there until I reached Ewan.

“And Ewan. Tell us, are the Templars cooperating?”

Due to Ewan’s family ties to the grail legends, I put him on the case of tracking down the holy grail. This led him to the Templars, who were still alive and hunting the grail themselves. We also learned that they were not quite human. All in all, they weren’t bad chaps, unless the moon was full.

“I was able to provide them with some documents from my family’s personal library, accounts of the closest descendants of the grail maiden who may have had some knowledge of where the grail was taken after the fall of Camelot. They were very pleased to have it—I think. At the very least, with Agent Louvel’s help, they are willing to talk to me, so that’s progress.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

Casting a glance around the assembled crowd, I felt pride well up in me. “Very well, knights. We will continue our charge to recover the lost artifacts and wisdom of the golden age of Camelot. Her Majesty sends her salutations and thanks to all of you. We are doing the realm’s work, and she is pleased with our progress. Now, I believe Willowbrook’s kitchens have been working all morning, and dinner will be served very soon. Shall we adjourn?”

The agents—no, knights—knocked their fists on the table.

I cleared my throat then motioned to the others. Together, we intoned: “We are the Knights of the Round Table. May we be generous, brave, and bold. Made greater by the bounty we may give, we are the protectors of our Sovereign and our Realm. Forever, Britannia.”

“Now, let’s eat,” I said with a grin.

At that, the knights left the hall and headed toward the dining room.

I smiled as I watched them go. In the days after the attack, Queen Victoria had come to Willowbrook to see if I was there to usurp her. Once I had assured her that I definitely had no intentions on the throne, no matter my bloodline, I’d made a simple request…to officially re-form the Knights of the Round Table and recapture Camelot, piece by piece. Much to my surprise, she had assented. Even more surprising was Agent Hunter’s willingness to let me stay at Willowbrook Park. Since the estate was vast, it would be a good place for the dragons to grow unseen by the general public, and the perfect staging point for my venture.

Ever since that night, everything had been different. I’d spent my entire life locked in a cave waiting for something to happen…but I’d never known what shape that something would take. As it turned out, everything I ever needed lived deep inside of me. I just needed to set it free. I was a Pendragon. All that I was belonged to the realm. Well, every bit of me except for my heart, which belonged to Ewan.

I sighed contentedly as Ewan wrapped his hands around my waist.

“Suppose they’ll miss us if we don’t join them right away?” I asked.

“We’re not joining them right away? I thought you were hungry.”

“I am,” I said then turned and gazed at him.

Ewan grinned down at me. “I know that look.”

“Really? And what look is it?”

“You’re dreaming.”

“Of?”

“Mountains of bacon.”

I chuckled. “Not quite. Sometimes a lady simply needs her knight. I evoke Article 7, Item 22.”

“Are you in distress, Princess Pendragon?”

“Yes, terrible distress.”

“Really?”

“I’m very distressed you haven’t kissed me yet.”

“Ah. Well. Then I must see to that at once.” He leaned in and set a delicious kiss on my lips. My body trembled, and I felt that slight dizziness I always got whenever Ewan kissed me. As the kiss grew more passionate, I leaned toward him, my hands roving, a deep hunger burning within me. I was about to suggest that Ewan and I linger a bit longer when an annoyed click sounded nearby. And then another. And then another. And then there was a tiny, terrible roar.

Giggling, Ewan and I pulled back.

Wink, Estrid, Luna, and Merlin hovered not far away. In the few months that had passed, Merlin had already grown as large as Estrid.

“I think someone is hungry,” Ewan said, laughing at Merlin’s fierce noise.

“Make that four someones.”

“Very well, Pendragon horde. Shall we dine?”

Estrid flew to Ewan and landed on his shoulder. Clicking, she nuzzled his chin.

“Hey, that’s my knight,” I told her.

Estrid blew a smoke ring at me.

Ewan offered me his arm, and together we headed toward the dining room. As I gazed up at him, I suddenly realized that not only had I won my own Mister Darcy, but I’d won a Pemberley to boot. And with it, a future for myself that not even the likes of Elizabeth Bennet could have dreamed. Rapunzel Pendragon. Heir to King Arthur. Leader of the Knights of the Round Table. Beloved of Ewan Goodwin. Cave dweller no more.