Sunlight by Jill Myles Read Free Book Online

reports.”
    “…so I figured if I can find some way to break the spell, and if I get to stay here, maybe I can date Callum instead of the prince,” Hope continued. “What do you think?” The fairy godmother adjusted her bug-like glasses, peering at Hope. “No one dates, my girl. Not in fourteenth-century Scotland.
    You’re either single or married. There’s no in between.” Fourteenth-century Scotland? Was that where she was? “Well then, I either marry him or we go our separate ways. It doesn’t mean I have to marry the prince, does it? I just have to break the spell so I can get out of this tower.”
    “Callum isn’t rich,” the fairy godmother said bluntly. “Doesn’t everyone want to be rich in a fairy tale?” Rich was nice, Hope had to admit, but not if it came with that particular prince. She thought of Callum’s smile and his kiss. His touch. “I’ll take my chances being poor. It’s enough to be healthy and happy.” And oddly enough, it was. The thought of working on a little farm? It sounded horribly appealing to someone who had been bed-ridden for most of her life, unable to do more than cross a room without her chest aching. “I don’t care about money. I just want to be happy.” Muffin sighed dramatically and leaned in to pinch Hope’s cheek. “And that’s why you’re my favorite, my dear. Not a complainer at all, and such a trooper. I like you. Well, I tell you what. You work on lifting that curse, and I’ll get my reports amended so the beast doesn’t show up in a day or two.” Hope’s eyes widened. “Beast?”
    “I could have sworn there was a talking candlestick in this one,” Muffin muttered, and then shrugged her shoulders. “Oh well. I really must run. Don’t get into too much trouble while I’m gone!” The fairy godmother wiggled her fingers and then vanished in a puff of glittery smoke.
    Hope coughed, waving a hand at the air to clear it. When she could see again, she was alone, nothing but the glitter on her blankets to remind her of Muffin’s presence.
    All right, then. She just had to find a way to break this curse and she’d be free and clear of everything.
    Easy enough. Hope thought of Callum’s words last night about the evil eye. What was that, some sort of symbol? Could there be a cursed symbol hidden somewhere in the tower that made her hair grow?
    Frowning, she got up from the bed and picked up the nearest stool, studying the underside of it.
    She needed to check everything. If there was a curse, it had to be linked to her somehow. She needed to find out more about curses, but there was no one to ask. She was in this stupid tower all alone.
    Hope sighed. She supposed it could have been worse. There could have been a talking candlestick and a beast.

    ***
At sunset, her room was in shambles, everything turned over and inside out. Sadly, she’d found nothing that could have been a cursed item of some kind. No pentagrams or black crystals or anything of that sort. Of course, she had no idea what she was looking for, but everything in the room seemed sadly normal.
    And she was dejected. Of course it wouldn’t be as easy as all that. But still, one could always hope.
    At least it gave her something to do.
    A voice called up to her window. “Rapunzel! Rapunzel!” She recognized the Scottish burr in the man’s voice and her heart leapt in her throat.
    Callum! She rushed to the window and threw open the shutters. Sunlight poured in and she felt her scalp tingle, even as the hair rushed downward. Shoving it out of her face, she glanced down at the base of the tower below, a welcoming smile on her face.
    Callum stood down there, glancing up, a shuttered expression on his face. Next to him stood the prince, picking at his fingernails with a dagger.
    Her smile dimmed. Damn.
    The guardsman caught the first strands of her hair as they touched the ground and kept on growing.
    He looked up to the window. “Are ye anchored?”
    “Just a second,” she called,