Page 33 of Rapunzel Unchained

Her mouth opened to answer.

“I mean,” I interjected, “no offense meant but, before I even knew you, I already didn’t like you. They don’t like you. So... why you?”

Rebecca’s lips ticked at the edges. “I’m not offended. I know how those guys feel about me.”

“Guys?”

“Men. Adam and the others.” Rebecca leaned against the arm of her chair and tapped her fingers on her lap. “If they hated me, it meant that my ruse worked. When Mara died, I ingratiated myself to Master Tuck and, to do that, I had to pretend to hate humans. To that end, I took on this persona.”

She laughed. “It was quite easy. I just watched the human haters that kept getting interviewed and copied them. They’re simple creatures, really. They see humans as lesser and act superior to everyone around them. When I copied them, you’d be surprised how easy people believed it.”

I hummed. I could understand that. I had to take on my own persona when I worked my way up to the king. Except I didn’t have to pretend to hate humans.

Back then, the mages were still in hiding. They already knew what I was, so hating my own kind wasn’t something I could just throw out there and be believed.

“You like Adam,” she said simply.

My head jerked to her, my lashes blinking rapidly. “Huh?”

Rebecca smiled a genuine smile at me. “It’s alright. I understand. I know what you see in him. He’s funny and kind. Yet he has a kind of domineering personality that you end up getting caught up in. It’s the same thing I saw in him. Though, my reasons for dating him were not as pure as wanting to be with him.”

The way she described him made it seem as if she actually knew him the way I did. My heart ached at the thought.

I knew it was unfair of me to blame him for being with someone before he met me, and yet, since he was engaged to her now, it only made me think maybe he still wanted to be with her. That the ruse wasn’t as fake as he claimed it to be.

“Oh, but,” she placed her hand on top of mine, “he doesn’t feel anything for me now. Maybe this will help. When Adam approached me about the engagement, he made it very clear that it wasn’t real. In fact, he was doing it all for you.”

I glanced up at her, my heart pounding in my chest. “For me?”

Red hair bobbed up and down. She squeezed my hand with reassurance. “I had to promise to keep Master Tuck away fromyou in exchange for giving me my fifteen minutes of fame.” She rolled her eyes and giggled. “That Rebecca wanted nothing more than all eyes on her and being engaged to the next Arch Mage? It was her ultimate goal.”

“Oh.” I cleared my throat, licking my lips. Part of me was thrilled that Adam had been thinking of me and yet, the other part was mad he didn’t let me know what he was planning.

“Did something happen between you two?” Rebecca leaned forward. The eagerness in her eyes made me wonder if this was what it was like to have female friends. Something I had in short supply back in my time.

I drew my hand out from hers and wrapped it around my waist. “No. Not really. I mean, we kissed.”

“You kissed! That’s fantastic.”

My head shook fiercely. “No. Not really. He almost immediately rejected it. Said I couldn’t get in the way of what he wanted.”

Her mouth pushed out into a pout. “Well, that was jerky of him.”

I tapped my fingernails on the arm of my chair. “Yeah. It was.”

“Well, don’t worry about Adam. He’ll come around. I can see the way he looks at you. Who else would become fake engaged to someone he hated just to keep you safe?”

I nodded, not knowing what to say. Adam had things he wanted to accomplish, and those things didn’t include me. No matter how much he wanted to protect me, I couldn’t forget about that fact.

Besides, I had goals of my own, and those trumped any feelings I had for him or the others.

Nothing mattered but freeing the humans. Nothing.

Chapter 17

A few days passed before Rebecca came to me in a hurry. I turned my attention from the television where the reporter talked about the new bills Arch Mage Adam had proposed. They would give humans higher pay and more vacation time.

It was something but still not enough. An itch developed from the lack of movement. We had to do something now.

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