Free TheRapunzleFactor by Viola Grace

Rapunzel’s strange circumstances led to her being a housing for energy, her parentage made her a princess. With the fate of the next Xefar queen in her hands, Rapunzel must go on a journey with a strange Duke who’s interest in her hair sparks a reciprocal fascination. Arnolth is unlike any man she has ever spent time with…but that would make sense with her being raised underground in an ant colony.

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    This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
    The Rapunzel Factor
    Copyright © 2011 Viola Grace
    Cover art by Martine Jardin
    All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
    Published by eXtasy Books
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    The Rapunzel Factor
    A Trapezium Exclusive
    By
    Viola Grace

     
     
     “Rapunzel, come. The queen demands your presence.”
    Rapunzel looked up from the documents that she was preparing. “I will be there immediately.”
    The drone clicked his mandibles and waited for her. She was completing preparations for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the ambassadorial summit that had begun her life. With the papers in order, she sealed them in her containment unit and followed the drone to their queen.
    The path they took was not a standard tunnel. When Rapunzel was handed over to the queen as her heir, new pathways were built so that she wouldn’t have to climb and slide her way around. She still had memories of clambering through the tunnels, playing hide and seek with her nannies.
    Their path took them directly to the queen and Rapunzel folded her arms against her body while lowering her head. “What may I do for you, my queen, mother of us all?”
    The small box at her neck converted her speech into the clicks and whistles that the Xefar spoke. Rapunzel had tried to learn the language as a child, but her accent was atrocious.
    The queen raised her head and spoke, her huge abdomen anchoring her to the royal chamber. “My dearest child, you are needed to obtain the strands for the next queen.”
    Rapunzel looked up and met the multi-faceted gaze of her adoptive parent.
    “I thought they were supposed to have sent that to you last week?”
    “They were. The Jarok family has not responded to my queries. It seems a more direct approach is required.”
    Rapunzel made her affirmation click. The one noise that didn’t irritate the queen. “When do I leave?”
    “Now. Pack up whatever clothing you require for decency and find out what is delaying my strands.”
    The tone of the clicks was frenzied and Rapunzel knew why.
    Twenty-five years and nine months earlier, the leman of the youngest prince of the Jarok family had crept into the kitchen and found the heap of golden strands that were reserved for the young Xefar queen.
    Tempted beyond reason, the woman fell upon the strands and consumed them, the high hormone spike imparted by the strands sent her into a frenzy and she had found her provider and kept him in his quarters for five days.
    When the leman left her lord, he was exhausted and she was pregnant. Apologies were sent to the queen of the Xefar and in return for forgiveness, she demanded that the child born