26 Vortnights 9: Princess

For prompt 9, I made an image of a new character, Princess Oriana Rose of Angiopel. Angiopel is part of the same world as Athaine, Princess Giselle's kingdom. In fact, Oriana and Giselle are friends, though they do not yet know about each other's predatory habits.

While Giselle is a unique case due to how she was conceived, Oriana is a member of a predatory race known as rapunzels. Rapunzels are all female, reproducing by mating with human men, and look like attractive human women with incredibly long, blonde hair. This hair is partially prehensile, and able to secrete a pleasure-inducing toxin, as well as being capable of wrapping around and digesting prey. Rapunzels are also capable of swallowing human-sized prey orally. In addition to being predatory, rapunzels also differ from humans due to their keen, hawk-like vision, quick reflexes, and natural climbing ability.

Raised as the fourth and youngest child of the king and queen of Angiopel, Oriana was actually switched with the true princess as an infant; due to territoriality, rapunzels are brood parasites by nature like cuckoo birds, replacing human babies with their own newborns and then typically either eating the human baby or abandoning it to die of exposure. Until reaching maturity, a rapunzel has normal hair that doesn't grow much faster than human hair or possess the increased durability present in an adult rapunzel's hair, and has a diet identical to a typical human, the better to blend in with their host family. However, around age 18, a rapunzel's hair starts growing much faster and becomes controllable. At this point, she also loses the ability to digest plant matter in any significant quantity, experiences a dramatic increase in appetite, and develops a craving for and the ability to consume large prey, especially humanoids. For many rapunzels, their first meal as an adult is one or more members of her host family. Oriana herself has managed to restrict herself to members of the lower class so far, like this scullery maid, but she's not sure how long she'll be able to keep up the secret.

On the topic of secrets, it's important to note that most members of other races know very little about rapunzels; few are aware of the toxins a rapunzel's hair can release, and almost no one other than members of the race are aware of the way rapunzels replace human babies with their own. Because of this, Oriana hasn't been subject to as much suspicion as might otherwise be the case.