Rufezzial

A rough draft of my take on Rapunzel.

Rufezzial
I
One day, in a dark stormy village there lived a man and his wife. Their cottage was among the best in the village as most of the water was kept out of their house, save a few leaks by the windows, a near gaping hole next to the fireplace where a rouge a spark had ignited part of the logs that formed the junction of the wall and the roof. Although, as I say, their cottage was nicer than most in this village, which was lucky if it saw 40 days of sunshine a year.
The man and his wife sat one evening sipping from a winter stew that she had made for them to consume to fend off the chills. The woman sat with multiple blankets on her lap as to fend off the cold for her baby, which continued to grow inside her. Midway through her stew she stopped, looking bleak and dismal, looked at her husband and said, “Dear, I do believe this stew is lacking… if only it had a hint of cardamom we could fend off the chills for rest of the upcoming winter.”
Her husband was so overcome with love for his bride and child to be that he ventured out into the maelstrom and into the forest. He came upon the garden of the wizard that inhabited their parts. The wizard was known to be especially cruel to people he caught trespassing in his parts and especially cruel when they took things that belonged to him.
The husband saw his eyes desire, the cardamom with its tiny blue blossoms showing and the small black seeds that adorned its leaves. He walked in to the garden, almost as if he forgot to whom it belonged. As he was stuffing his satchel full of the mystical herb he heard a quiet but constant clicking. He froze. He thought he knew what it might be, but he was too petrified to turn and see. He never had to turn; before he could the wizard whipped around in front of him. The rage and disgust burned in the old wizard’s face. The long grey beard that fell from his face was scraggly and tattered in place, the wrinkles on his faces showed a man who was not afraid of confrontation.
“Apparently the lust of a common village man is enough to bid him enter my garden. Surely my reputation has preceded me and you must know of who I am. In any case, ignorance in this day in age is unacceptable.”
“Your majesty,” the man said quivering lowly to the ground, “please have pity on me, for my wife is with child and we sit next to the fire and shiver in this cold weather. We thought if we had some of the herb we could be warmed through the harsh winter and our future child would make it to see the light of day.”
The wizard made the man a deal. The man was to take all the herbs he wished but as soon as the woman was done nursing their child he was to be handed over to be in the wizards care. In fear of not only his life but also his wife and child’s he obliged.

II
In a desolate chamber at the top of a small tower sat a boy no more than 14 years of age. Though he did not look like the typical boy of the age. His brown hair was long, very long. So long as that when it was let down from the bunch he kept it in that is stretched twenty-three feet. Most wonder how a boy grew twenty-three feet in only a 14-year span. So quickly we forget that the boy was under the care of a very powerful wizard.
When the wizard wished to see Rufezzial he would call up, “Rufezzial, throw down that which I have given you!” and the boy would send his hair down for the wizard to climb up. This happened everyday of every year as the wizard went to check on the boy.
One day a young, beautiful princess was strolling through the forest with her maidservant. The princess had eyes crafted by the hand of God himself, to look into them one was lost until the princess fixed her gaze elsewhere. The figure of the princess was not merely one of skin and bones, but rather one of adventuresome proportions. Just upon looking at her near perfect figure one could surmise that she had spent a great deal of her time hiking through the forest and partaking in other adventurous tasks. As she was walking through the forest she heard the sound of a lyre and a beautiful voice accompanying it.
She sat down on a mossy rock to enjoy the music at length when she heard the noise of leaves crackling under feet at a distance not too far off. As she looked to her maidservant she saw almost an expression of horror. She turned in the direction she was looking to see the wizard talking to apparently the person who had been playing the music as it had stopped. She watched the scene of the wizard ascending into the tower and then reappearing later.
When the wizard had gone the princess went to the base of the tower and said the words the wizard had said. Immediately long lock of brown hair were dangling from the window at the top of the tower. When she got to the tower she was shocked to see the young boy sitting desolately on his stone bed next to his lyre. When she asked him why he was locked up in this tower he did not know what to say. He had been in this tower his whole life and did not know what to say. Upon hearing of his ignorance of life the princess sent her maidservant to go running back to the kingdom and send a message to the Queen about the boy. She was going to rescue him but needed some rope to descend the tower before the wizard came back. The maidservant ran off into the twilight as light dimmed and the woods began to come alive with creatures of the night.
The maidservant returned and said “Rufezzial, thrown down that which I have given you!” When the maidservant came up the ladder she had a rope in her hands but she was in the hands of the wizard.
“How dare you try and take my boy!” the wizard bellowed. Before any body could do or say anything the wizard threw the maidservant and spoke the words animam edere as he pointed his staff at her. Immediately she was dead.
As the wizard was basking his the warm glow of death that had filled the room the princess leapt forward on onto the wizard, knocking him over. She landed on top of him with on hand pressing his chest. The wizard didn’t move. As she slowly returned to her feet she slid the dagger out of the wizards chest.
The princess and Rufezzial left the tower with the body of the maidservant. They returned to the kingdom and gave a proper burial of honor to the young maidservant.

III
The princess and Rufezzial began a family together, and eventually took over the rule of the kingdom.
One day out of inspection of their territory they came upon a small cottage in a tiny village in which sat and old man and his aging wife next to the fire. The Queen saw the gaping hole in the roof and wall where most of their heat was escaping. Rufezzial on the other hand was lost in the faces of the couple. The felt a connection to them and took pity on them and their house. Upon returning to the castle the Queen ordered that the couple be given repairs to their cottage free of charge and that any need the had of the kingdom was theirs free of charge.