Chapter 01
"Can you believe it, Eugene? We're married!" Rapunzel certainly sounded excited, confusing a certain thief who turned it all around.
"Um, yeah, for like... two months. Where have you been?" his voice was practically dripping with sarcasm, and that fact alone made Rapunzel giggle. Getting out of bed and stretching her arms, the formerly lost princess let out a huge yawn.
"I know, I guess I just... forgot!" At that, Eugene could do no more than face-palm before moving on to his own question. "So what do we have planned today, Punz?"
"Punz?" she asked incredulously. "That's awful even for you. Now get out of bed, we've got to go meet with some officials from the Northern Kingdoms."
"Awww, do we have to?" Eugene practically begged. He oh so hated meeting with delegates, and he didn't bother to keep it a secret around them. "Royals are so boring, they have no sense of adventure!"
Ignoring his pleas, Rapunzel simply ripped the covers off of their bed, causing him to let out a drawn out groan. "Oh please, it's only going to be for half an hour! Besides, I've heard that one of them is magical!"
"Magical? That is the silliest thing I've ever heard," retorted Eugene, to which his wife cleared her throat and pointed at her hair. " . Well that doesn't change anything, I'm not going."
"I'll make you a deal, Flynn," Eugene perked up at the use of his old name, "if you come with me, I'll do that thing you like with my feet." At that, he perked up much as he possibly could, making Rapunzel giggle.
"How dare you try to bribe me!" he feigned hurt, Rapunzel rolling her eyes at him. After a couple of seconds, though, he let his facade fall and grinned widely. "Alright fine, you win. But if I get bored, you can forget about kissing this gorgeous face for a week!"
"Not much of a loss," she quickly retorted, walking into their bathroom and shutting the door. On the bed, Eugene's jaw was dropped at that.
"Man, I'm such a bad influence..."
"Whew, thank god that's over!" Eugene exclaimed, earning an elbow to the side. "Ow, what was that for?!"
"Just because," Rapunzel laughed. "Besides, even if the queen was a little... strange, they were both very nice." Eugene couldn't argue with that. The two put up with his antics much better than any royalty he had met. Well, aside from his loving in-laws, of course. So, deciding to throw caution to the wind, he made a suggestion he knew Rapunzel would like.
"Maybe we could go visit them some-"
"OH MY GOSH DO YOU REALLY MEAN IT?!" Rapunzel exclaimed so loud that Eugene began to wonder if the Northen Kingdoms themselves could hear her. Seeing the look of shock among not only his face, but the faces of many townsfolk, she giggled sheepishly. "I mean, um, yeah. That would be... great."
"Yeah, I uh, I got that. And so did the rest of the known universe," Eugene replied, his face still painted in shock. That had been... loud. "I'm glad you're excited, though. Really. We haven't left the kingdom since our honeymoon, so it'd be nice to see a change of scenery."
As the couple continued walking through the town square, a familiar face was spotted by Eugene, and he made a point to walk over, dragging Rapunzel along. "Captain Rommel, it's so nice to see you!"
"Eugene, be nice," scolded Rapunzel, pinching his ear. "Ow! Sorry..."
"Boy, she sure has you whipped, Fitzherbert!" the captain laughed, to the chagrin of Eugene. "Staying out of trouble, I hope?"
"But of course! Flynn Rider died in that tower, and Eugene Fitherbert is no troublemaker!" Eugene exclaimed, prompting Rapunzel to elbow him in the side again. "Alright, most of him."
"Well I'll still be keeping my eye on you," Eugene and Rapunzel watched him walk away. As soon as he was out of earshot, Eugene turned to his wife. "That guy's never gonna trust me, is he?"
"Nope!"
"Well, to quote this princess I know, 'not much of a loss'."
"You're gonna hold that against me, aren't you?" Rapunzel grinned, prompting Eugene to stroke her cheek lovingly. "That hurts, Zel, it's like you don't even know me!" Eugene feigned hurt again, only this time Rapunzel seemed to fall for it.
"You're right, I guess I'm just-"
"Of course I'm gonna hold it against you!"
Almost instantly, Rapunzel grabbed Eugene's ear and pinched it as hard as she could, refusing to let go unless he apologized. After a few moments he did, and she released her grip. "You've got quite a grip there, Blondie."
Chuckling to herself, but ignoring him, Rapunzel started walking again, Eugene quick to catch up. "So Eugene, were you serious about having lunch with them?"
"If it makes you happy, babe, then I'll do it," he quickly responded, a smile stretching across her face as a result. Reaching over, she took her hand in his as they walked. "So what else is on the agenda for today, Princess Rapunzel?"
"Well, Prince Eugene, we have to meet with a representative from Weave Fargo Bank to discuss the new tax policies."
"Awwww, but that's boring...!"
Ignoring him aside from a giggle, Rapunzel continued on. "After that, we'll be having lunch with my parents-"
"That's a little less boring."
"And our last activity will be a museum tour. Something about an ancient artifact," she added, instantly catching her husband's interest.
Trying his best to sound calm and uninterested, but filing miserably, Eugene began asking questions about it. Rapunzel did no more than laugh at his silly antics. For the rest of their walk, the two elected to remain quiet. They had grown accustomed to taking peaceful walks with one another, and it was a relaxing way to relieve stress. Eventually, though, the two found themselves staring at a familiar building.
Eugene was the first to speak. "Man I hate banks."
"Don't you mean Flynn Rider hates banks?" Rapunzel grinned, quickly walking to the double doors, Eugene right by her side. "Actually, banks hate Flynn Rider," he corrected her. As he opened one of the doors and watched her walk inside, he let out a sigh. This was definitely going to be boring.
"Thank you for meeting with me, your majesty." The man sitting across from the royal couple was tall, but portly. The uniform he was wearing almost seemed to tight, and Eugene was struggling not to laugh at it. "As you know, the current tax policy for Corona is set to be renewed. However, I think it would be in our best interest to rework it."
"I'm not sure I understand, Mr. Holmes. The current tax policy has been in place since, well, since before I was born. What could possibly be wrong with it?" Rapunzel asked as nicely as she could. To his credit, Mr. Holmes smiled at her and andswered as politely as he could.
"Are you familiar with our policy regarding imports from other kingdoms?"
"Um..." Rapunzel was clueless, but thankfully Eugene jumped in. "I am. Generally, whenever we import or export goods, a tariff is placed on them. The tariff is equal to six percent of the shipment's value. Is that right?"
Mr. Holmes looked pleasantly surprised, as did Rapunzel. "Why Mr. Fitzherbert, I had no idea you were so educated about our kingdom's policies! The problem with this policy, however, is that it doesn't have a clause for war."
"Excuse me, but... war? Mr. Holmes, I highly doubt Corona will ever go to war. We have strong relations with almost every kingdom in the world!"
"Princess, you misunderstand me. The war clause I have in mind would remove all tariffs from exports to kingdoms that are at war."
"Because a kingdom at war can't afford to pay the tariffs?" Rapunzel guessed, to which Eugene nodded. "That's right, Blondie."
"It is my belief that if we instate a new policy with this war clause, our relations with other kingdoms will only strengthen. But of course, the decision is yours to make."
"I suppose nothing bad could come out of it. Just give me the papers and I'll sign off on the policy!" Rapunzel sounded giddy, making Eugene chuckle. Even with the most boring of matters, she always found a way to get excitement out of it. Over the next few minutes, he watched her sign what seemed like an endless amount of documents. When it was all over, and the two had said their goodbyes to Mr. Holmes, it was time to move on to the next item on their checklist.
"So Eugene, I hear you promised Rapunzel a dinner with the Queen of Arendelle." Eugene couldn't help but chuckle at his mother-in-law.
"Heh, I'd be surprised if you hadn't heard, to be honest."
"Rapunzel has been rather chatty about it," agreed his father-in-law, William. "I've never seen her this excited, have you, Mary?"
"Aside from when Eugene proposed to her, I never have," the Queen replied, wiping her lips with a napkin. "It's clear that you have her well-being in mind, Eugene."
"Huh? What makes you say that?"
"Oh, come now, do you honestly expect me to believe you made this promise because you wanted to?" Mary questioned him, chuckling at the end.
"Well... no, not really," he admitted, making her laugh outright. "I've never found royals fun, I guess. No offense," he added, catching the glares of his in-laws.
"None taken, we try our best to be as loose as you and Rapunzel, but politics can be so tiresome," William replied, taking a sip of wine from his glass. "Where is Rapunzel, speaking of?"
"Oh, she said that she wanted to read up on our monetary laws. You know, boring stuff," Eugene added dryly.
"Boring stuff that you know about?" Mary countered, to which Eugene chuckled. "Lady, just because I know about it doesn't mean I care about it."
At that, both William and Mary laughed. They knew that all too well themselves, and definitely understood where he was coming from. For the rest of their lunch, the three talked about many things, from Rapunzel's tendency to be intrigued by the smallest of details to the upcoming museum tour that she and Eugene would be a part of. But eventually, the time came for the three to say their goodbyes.
"We have got to get together again next week," Eugene said half-jokingly as he walked off towards Rapunzel's room, leaving the King and Queen to themselves. Truthfully, he was looking forward to the next time they sat down and had lunch together. It was always a fun way to waste time, and was much better than eating alone. After a few moments, he reached the door to Rapunzel's room and knocked on it.
"... and to your left, you'll see one of the most famous paintings of the eighth century, 'The Shriek'."
Tuning out the tour guide for their group, Eugene leaned to his right and whispered into Rapunzel's ear. "You told me this was going to be fun."
"You're not having fun?" she whispered back, hoping she hadn't disappointed him. And somehow, that sad stare she gave him melted his heart on the spot. He wanted to do nothing more than hug her, but all he did was assure her he'd try to find fun in it. How hard that would be, he had no idea. After a couple more seconds, the tour guide began walking again, the group following him.
"And over here is our prized possession, the legendary 'Diamond of Dragon Cove'." The name alone caught Eugene's attention, and he made his way to the front of the group to get a closer look at it. "The story goes that a dragon had been terrorizing Corona for centuries.
"After almost three hundred years, however, a brave knight finally rose to the challenge and slayed the beast. In its home, he found this diamond, which was considered but a legend until it was found about three months ago."
"That thing looks like it's worth more than the entire kingdom," Eugene quickly added. "If I know my jewels, and I do, that thing weighs almost two pounds."
"Very keen eye, Mr. Fitzherbert," the guide smiled. "When it was brought in, we weighed it at over eight hundred grams."
"Man, I can't believe a diamond like this even exists..." he replied, not looking away from the gorgeous jewel. "How much is it worth, do you think?"
"Our jewelers are still working on estimating a price, but needless to say, this diamond will likely never find a buyer."
"Yeah, no kidding," Eugene replied, still staring at the jewel. Nobody seemed to notice the small flash of light the jewel gave off as he continued to look at it, and the guide cleared his throat, beckoning for everyone to listen to him.
"Well, I do believe it's time to continue the tour. If you'd all follow me, please?" the tour guide requested as he began walking off, everyone following after him. That is, everyone but Eugene and Rapunzel. She couldn't help but notice that he seemed almost entranced by the diamond. Not only that, but he seemed short of breath.
"Eugene? Are you okay?" Rapunzel asked, Eugene turning to look at her. "I'm fine, I think. Just a little stunned that a diamond like this exists."
"Um... Eugene..." Rapunzel recoiled a bit from seeing him, only serving to confuse him.
"What's wrong, Blondie?"
"Do your eyes normally turn gold?"
"Huh? What do you mean? My eyes are brown, babe."
"No, Eugene, look!" Rapunzel began sifting through her handbag, pulling out a tiny mirror after a couple seconds. Taking it from her, Eugene held it up to his eyes to see that they were indeed golden. They even had a slight shimmer to them, which freaked him out.
"Huh. Well that's new."
A/N So this is my first story that I've submitted to this site, and I'd love if you guys dropped some reviews on it for me. I plan on having it be my first story to cross 100k words, as well as my first non-pony story that I complete. ^^