Rapunzel (Faerie Tale Collection) by Jenni James Page B

around her neck and held it out to him. “However, your kingdom depends upon this necklace. Your service to the crown cannot go on without the Balligryn pendant. So please—please take it.” She pushed it into his hands and stepped back.
    He let out a short chuckle. “But how did you know this?”
    She grinned and raised an eyebrow. Had he forgotten? “Because you told me the day you gave it to me.”
    He nodded as he turned it slowly around in his fingers. “I did not remember that I mentioned it. And it is true. It is the only way I can become king.”
    “Why? What does the pendant do?”
    He shook his head slightly, as if he were afraid to tell her. “Something I am not sure you are quite ready to understand.”
    “Jonathan, if you are implying even for ten seconds that I cannot comprehend the slightest silliness that you could produce from your—”
    He kissed her.
    Properly shut off her tirade efficiently enough, if she did say so herself.
    When he finally broke away, he simply said, “Because I am not a prince. I am not royalty at all, and the whole kingdom knows it. Without this gift from my father, I will never be the king he wishes me to be.”

RAPUNZEL’S JAW DROPPED. JONATHAN watched as a trace of disbelief flashed across her features as she stepped out of his arms. “What do you mean?” she asked.
    “It is not all that bad. I was simply adopted into the royal line.” He slipped the gold chain over his neck and tucked it within his shirt.
    “But—how?” He could tell she was completely bewildered. “They have always called you their prince.”
    He nodded and took a step forward, his eyes capturing hers. “Trust me.”
    She held his gaze and nodded. “Very well.”
    Jonathan held his arms out and sighed in relief when she instantly went to him. With one arm wrapped snugly around her, they walked to the bed, where a cat was snoozing.
    “Oh, is this who you were singing to earlier?”
    She chuckled. “Yes. The witch brought Hercules to me some weeks ago, attempting to cheer me up. It has worked. Now, stop stalling and explain yourself to me.”
    “In a hurry, are we?” He grinned and quickly removed several pillows from the bed, careful not to disturb the cat, and then set them upon the floor. Then gently, as if she were the most fragile item he had ever touched, he brought her down to sit with him amidst the pillows. They had so much time to make up for. These last several months without her cheerful weekly letters, he had known true heartache. Those papers uplifted him and reminded him of all he had awaiting for his future. Her words always encouraged him and gave him the hope he needed while at his lowest points away from his family. He never fully realized how much she had meant to him until she was gone. There had always been love there, always.
    He swayed them both gently from side to side as he relayed what he had always promised to keep secret.
    “My mother, the queen, gave birth to a baby boy, Prince Jonathan of Balligryn, three days before my mother, the butler’s daughter, gave birth to me. My mother, in reverence and respect of the new prince, named me Jonathan as well.”
    “But?” Rapunzel’s hands tightened upon his.
    He kissed the top of her head. “Shh. Let me continue, and then I will answer all questions you have later.
    “There was a great storm that came through the kingdom, and the castle grew excessively cold that winter. Within two weeks, many of the servants had lost loved ones. The little prince did not last the fortnight. My own mother, who still was ill from complications from the birth, died later the same evening as the prince.
    “When the king heard of the butler’s predicament, attempting to find a wet nurse for his grandson, he spoke to his grieving wife. In hushed tones, she asked to see me privately. They say that my rosy cheeks, tuft of hair, and small bright eyes nearly broke her heart. They reminded her so much of her own newly born babe, but she