Golden Braids and Dragon Blades: Steampunk Rapunzel

Chapter 5: WWEBD?

Wringing my hands, I paced the cave. Casting a glance down at the man who lay unconscious on the floor, I stopped. His shirt was wet. His sleeves, which had been rolled up, showed his arms which were covered in gooseflesh. He was cold. Grabbing a quilt from the cupboard, I covered him. He didn’t move. Pausing, I bent down to have a look. He had dark, curly hair. He was probably the same age as me. And he was handsome. Very handsome. A very handsome someone who’d likely come to kill me. Wonderful.

I rose and paced again.

What to do? What to do?

“What would Mother do?” I mused aloud.

Mother would have Estrid fry him to a crisp then toss him into the sea.

Okay, not that. Fine. Well then, what would Elizabeth Bennet do?

I shook my head. I hadn’t finished the book yet. I only got to the part where Lady Catherine de Bourgh confronted Elizabeth in the garden. Ugh. I didn’t know what to do. Should I bat my fine eyes and say something witty? I wrung my hands. With the water so high, I couldn’t leave the cave now even if I wanted to. And if I did, what about my girls? I could throw him out of the cave, but he’d drown, and I’d just saved him from drowning. And even if I did get him out of the cave, now he knew I was here, the cave was here, and he’d seen the girls. I could tie him up. That might work. I could bash him on the head with a frying pan, but that would just give him brain damage and very likely kill him. What to do!

I went to the telescope. Scanning, I spotted a boat moored at the base of the seawall just below my home.

I turned to pace once more, then spotted the stranger’s broken device lying on the floor. Metal gears, coils, and glass were scattered all around. I scooped up the pieces and went to go grab the dustpan when I spotted something shimmering in the moonlight. Lying just inside the broken contraption was a metal shard that looked like the amulet Mother wore. It was mounted inside the device, wires attached to the slim, jagged piece of metal. I picked up the broken instrument and pried the piece out, holding it in the palm of my hand.

To my surprise, the metal shimmered blue the same way Mother’s did when I touched it. It was similar, but not the same piece of metal.

I slipped the metal piece into my pocket then bent to clean up the mess. Wink and Estrid perched on the backs of the dining table chairs like vultures, each of them observing the stranger carefully. Luna, feeling more shy, clung to my hair, looking but not wanting to get too far from me.

Once the mess was cleaned up, I studied the man once more.

He wore a leather jacket on which he had a lapel pin. It appeared to be a badge of some kind. A brisk wind blew in through the cave entrance. The man shuddered in his sleep.

I looked back at Wink. “And how long should we expect our guest to be unconscious?”

She snorted at me then turned back to watch the stranger once more.

I eyed the man again. I needed to get him off the wet floor. Right now, I wasn’t sure if I needed to kill him or keep him from catching a cold. I had no idea who he was, but he had known who I was. On the one hand, maybe that meant Mother had sent him. On the other hand, chances were also good that he was there to kill me.

Odds were fifty-fifty.

Well, no, more like a seventy-thirty. It was far more likely that he was there to kill me, yet he didn’t look much like a killer.

A soft breeze blew through the cave, fluttering a curl on his forehead.

No, he didn’t look like a killer at all.

Still warring with myself, I rose and removed the blanket, setting it at the foot of the small lounging couch we’d arranged along the cave wall.

“All right, sir.” I slipped my hands under his armpits and tugged him toward the chaise. “I’m not sure if you’re here to help me or murder me, but all the same, let’s get you off the floor.”

Estrid flew to the ledge just above the couch. Orange flame flickered in her mouth as she watched the man carefully. I lifted his shoulders first. Getting him onto the chaise wasn’t easy. Boosting the rest of him up with my hip and leg, I rolled him onto the divan. He lay at an awkward and very uncomfortable angle, but still, he didn’t wake.

I looked back at Wink. “Whatever that butterfly dragon fire of yours is, promise me you will never use it on me.”

Wink chirped at me then eyed the man suspiciously once more.

I adjusted the gentleman into a comfortable position, feeling awkward the entire time considering I had never even seen a man up close before, let alone touched one. When I was done, I covered him again.

“There,” I said, brushing off my hands. I gazed down at him. His dark hair, on closer inspection, and under the light of Estrid’s ominous fireball of death, was really more amber colored. The color reminded me of a chocolate bar Mother had once brought me. He had a sprinkle of freckles on his nose and cheeks.

I frowned. He definitely didn’t look like a killer.

I eyed the silver badge on his jacket once more.

“Watch him,” I whispered to Estrid. The dragon shifted forward and glared down at him.

Moving gingerly, I unpinned the badge. The image thereon was vaguely familiar. My mind raced through the pages of my books until I recalled where I had seen the symbol before.

I rushed back to my library. I pulled a tome from the shelf then headed back into the central living space. Slipping into a chair at the table from which I could keep an eye on the stranger, I flipped through the pages of the book.

I laid the silver badge on the table then opened my tome of Arthurian tales, flipping to an illustration that was included with the tales of King Pellinore. On the king’s shield was the grail. Wrapped around the cup was the Questing Beast, the dragon King Pellinore always hunted—but never managed to slay. I looked at the stranger’s badge. There were some small differences between King Pellinore’s crest and the badge. The letters R and M had been worked into the stranger’s brooch. But there was one other importance difference. While King Pellinore’s sigil only showed the Questing Beast and the grail together, the stranger’s badge had a unique addition. On his sigil, the Questing Beast had a sword thrust through its neck.

I set the pin down and stared at the man.

I knew then what he was. For all his sweet appearance, there was a sad but simple truth. This man was a dragon hunter.

I turned to Wink.

“We’re in trouble. Find Mother.”

The little dragon chirped and, with a shiver of magic, disappeared.