Step 1 - Do not fall in love with the Princess.
Step 2 - If you fail step one, do not let the Princess know
It wasn't that Cassandra hated Eugene. He was a buffoon. Cocky and obtuse and just a little bit on the side of uncultured (just a little bit, really), a man that she wanted to throttle as often as not. No, no, it wasn't that she hated him. In fact, she could respect him. Sometimes. When he had his moments of decency.
It was that Cassandra resented him.
She resented the way Rapunzel looked at him and the way he made her laugh. She resented that he got in the way of her job. She resented that he'd gotten there first.
Resting her chin on her hand, Cassandra watched Rapunzel as Rapunzel watched Eugene tell one of his exaggerated stories. There was a light in Rapunzel's eyes, a loving fondness that was almost too painful to watch. Her soft lips were set in a delighted smile, and her face was alert and attentive. Cassandra knew that face very well by now and it was no less beautiful than the day they'd met.
Part of Cassandra's job was keeping Rapunzel happy. Days like this, she hardly had to do anything and it made her feel conflicted. Rapunzel was happy, even if Cassandra wasn't the primary source of that. She should be happy for her. She was happy for her. So why did she feel like she wanted to jump off the nearest battlement every time Rapunzel and… And now they were kissing. Of course they were kissing. This hadn't been a problem at first, but lately...
Excusing herself, Cassandra left, pulling her bonnet off as she made her way to her room. There was another part of her job that was very important. She absolutely not even a little bit in no way could fall in love with the Princess.
Step one? Failed months ago.
Which left step two, in that Rapunzel could never find out. As a corollary, neither could Eugene. The only thing worse than pining for Rapunzel while standing next to her would be pining for Rapunzel from a convent because Cassandra was pretty sure that Eugene would relish the chance to get rid of her.
When Cassandra was frustrated, she did one of two things. She cleaned, or she trained. Choosing option two, she changed into her tunic and trousers, grabbed her sword, and headed down to the barracks training ring. And yet, as usual, she couldn't get the Princess out of her mind.
It was impossible not to be drawn to Rapunzel. Her naive innocence, the sheer light she exuded, and her earnest desire to help literally everyone had been like catnip to Cassandra. The girl who'd grown up alone, and the girl who'd chosen to distance herself from others. She must have lasted a good five minutes before she'd volunteered to be her Lady in Waiting. Cass liked to tell herself that it had simply been a way to help her get into the guards eventually and honestly Rapunzel had needed all the help she could get.
"Hey Cass. Want a partner?"
Cassandra lowered her sword and looked over at Rapunzel, who was standing outside the ring with her trusty frying pan and a cocky gin. "I wouldn't want to hurt you, Raps."
Rapunzel spun the frying pan in her hand and gave Cass taunting smile. "Sure you shouldn't be worried that I'd hurt you?"
"You couldn't hurt a fly," Cassandra replied, a little too much fondness creeping into her voice. Despite that, she fell into a ready stance. "Okay Princess, show me what you've learned since last time I laid you out."
Rapunzel always led with her left foot, and today was no exception. But she followed up her lead in with a clever swipe at Cassandra's shoulder and looked really proud of herself for it. Rapunzel could actually be pretty scary when armed with a frying pan. Even though Cassandra had been frustrated and angry at Rapunzel upstaging her during the tournament, watching her fight like that had been distracting for reasons that Cassandra tried not to think about. Because if she thought about it, she'd get distracted, and if she got distracted...
"Ahah, got you!"
Cassandra found herself on her back with Rapunzel on top of her.
This was fine.
"I'm a bit distracted Raps, but that was some good work!"
The smile that beamed off of Raps face was blinding. Cassandra's eyes dropped to her lips and she could recall at least one dream that had started exactly like this. Step two, failing. "Do you think you could get off of me, thanks?"
Giving Cassandra a sheepish look, Rapunzel got to her feet and offered her hand. With barely any time to acknowledge the fact that she missed Rapunzel's weight on top of her, Cassandra took the hand and let herself be pulled up.
"Wow, you hardly ever let me help you!" Rapunzel wrapped her arms around Cass. "I must have hit you harder than I thought."
"Nah," Cass waved her hand. "Consider it a prize for knocking me down."
"I wonder what else I could win."
Though the question was entirely one hundred and fourteen percent innocent, Cassandra bit her tongue, surprised at herself for where her mind just went. When had this gotten so hard to ignore?
Training was out, it was time to resort to plan b. Cleaning. Disentangling herself from Rapunzel, she absently brushed the dust off of her trousers. She met Rapunzel's eyes then found herself looking away. "Make me a list. Or we could do a bet."
"A bet??" Rapunzel noticed the way Cassandra had looked away, but she didn't say anything about it. She chewed on her lip, not wanting to press Cass. She'd learned her lesson and she'd just have to wait for Cass to come to her.
Cassandra picked that moment to look back at her, which did nothing to help how she was feeling. "I know, I sound like Eugene. I think I've been around him too much. Like I caught something."
"That's great though!" She hugged Cassandra again, then bounced back on her heels. More than anything she wanted Cassandra and Eugene getting along. They were her Most Important People, the people she loved most in the world. Besides her parents, of course, and Pascal. She really just had a lot of love to give.
So she loved the idea of both Cass and her boyfriend getting along and happy and there'd be slumber parties and they'd tell ghost stories and then cuddle under the blankets and watch the stars through the window.
That was it! "I know what to bet."
"We don't even have a contest yet."
"We'll figure that out later. But if I win, you have to come to my slumber party."
"I'm sorry, Raps, what?" She already spent the night once in awhile, when Rapunzel's nightmares were particularly bad. So Cass didn't know what Raps meant by a slumber party unless she wanted her to stay the night, and then she only needed to ask.
Rapunzel folded her arms, making her best impression of a smug person. "You know. Me and you and Eugene and Pascal. We can turn my sheets into a fortress. Tell ghost stories, play games."
It was hard enough being alone in bed with Rapunzel. Being the third wheel to both Eugene and a chameleon was not her idea of a good time. Cassandra could just imagine laying there on the floor while the Princess and her boyfriend snogged on the bed. If there was any torture she couldn't survive, that would be it. The Iron Maiden sounded pleasant in comparison.
"Are you okay?" Reaching out, Rapunzel put her hand on Cassandra's shoulder. "Something is bothering you and I'm here. I'm always here when you're ready."
Rapunzel was still figuring out her boundaries with Cassandra, and her heart was in the right place. It could just get a little frustrating when she got perceptive like this. Cass knew she'd have to be firm to get Rapunzel off of her back.
She stared at Rapunzel, then gently dislodged her hand and squeezed it. "I'm fine. Like I said, I'm a little distracted. When I'm ready to talk about it, I will. I promise."
Since she would never be ready, Cass couldn't possibly break that promise.
"Okay, but in that case you lost the bet so we have to do the slumber party anyway."
Rapunzel gave Cassandra the puppy eyes and the lip bite and she caved. "All right, all right. I'll do your slumber party! This wasn't even a game, but you're stubborn enough to win whatever game we actually play so I'll concede right now."
It was almost worth it for the resulting squee and if Cassandra was honest with herself, she was kind of looking forward to it.