I gave her what she wanted or more accurately, what she needed. I gave her the world. I nourished her with knowledge. I set her loose, once more, in the greatest cities of the world, touring their libraries, their universities, their museums, encouraging her to take painting lessons, music lessons, to seek out astronomers, mathematicians, lawyers, and philosophers, and to learn from them. I taught her my own arts, the art...

She paced the floor restlessly, the flagstones under her bare feet worn smooth from a lifetime of relentless steps, her dark silhouette flitting through the dimly lit chamber, mimicking her every move, clinging to the walls and melting into the shadowed corners like some menacing stalker with an agenda all its own. I watched her spin, her eyes filled with suspicion, trying to catch it off guard, pleased by the distraction...

Time passed, and as it did, I remained under her spell, a willing prisoner of both the light of love and the dark persuasion of our shared depravity and lusts. Both of us fell into our roles as if we’d been born to them, her as my insatiable mistress and I as her willing pet, both in and out of the boudoir. I became accustomed to the leash she held, both literally and figuratively. In truth, the one time I removed the col...

I spent several weeks moping about heartbroken before comingout of the fog. Nearly two months wasted as Punz grew further and further away. In the end, however, I found myself recalling how we had met and why. That was the key. If I was to find her again, I would need to draw on skills long in disuse, but not forgotten. I resolved that I would be relentless in my pursuit of my beloved. I had stalked her once and won her o...

“Good morning, my pet. I trust you slept well?” Rapunzel greeted me that next morning as she always had, her voice full of boundless energy and anticipatory joy for what the day would bring. It was one of the qualities l loved best about her; her endless optimism lay untarnished despite a lifetime of imprisonment in her tower. I made to rise from our bed with a contented sigh, puzzled at first by my inability to do so, bl...