Chapter 1

A Warning of Sorts

I outstretch my slender fingers on the exquisite, mahogany table. I tap each finger twice to ease my restlessness. The tutor drones on about table manners.

Tap. Tap.

Tip. Tap

Tap. Tip. My fingers create their own rhythm.

Tap. Tip.

Tip. - A gleam of light catches my eye with this tap. The sunlight gleaming through the large, expensive-looking window shines down on the sun-shaped rock on my finger. My perfect diamond engagement ring. I smile and feel the warmth of the sunset coming in from the window.

"Princess, did you hear me?" The tutor looks over her small spectacles at me.

I feel my cheeks redden. I hadn't heard a word she had said. "I'm sorry," I squeak, "I just can't seem to concentrate today."

My tutor tries too hard to hide her aggravation. I see right through her mask, which shows a fake smile that I know, is hard for her to create.

"I was explaining that importance of the placement of you and your fiancée at the dining table."

"Ahhh…." I internally roll my eyes. I often get frustrated with these silly castle rules. I mean, who cares where Eugene and Rapunzel (me) sit when we are eating dinner?

Oh Eugene. And just like that I'm daydreaming again.

I imagine his strong hands gilding me across the dance floor, something so simple yet so complex of an emotion I cannot control it.

Shivers of thrill run through my body at the thought.

His warm smile that shares a secret as deep as our love slides into my brain. I can almost feel his arms embracing me, pulling me closer to him.

And I see his eyes; so full with endless desire- I hear aknocking ever so slightly.

I look up at the chamber door a few yards and Eugene is leaning against the doorframe. He has a sly smile smirk on his face that hints at what he is thinking. He mouths, Need help?

I plead to him with my eyes. They say, This is so boring! Please help!

A small nod and I know he understands. A second later he leaves the door in haste to go down the hall.

What could he possibly be up to, I wonder? As I try to tune into what the Tutor is saying, I hear an enormous crash coming from a little while down the hall.

The tutor jumps, and I hear running. As the tutor looks over her shoulder out the open door, I see the guards rush by one way, and if my eyes don't fail me, I saw a Flynn Rider-shaped silhouette sneak by the other way.

I try to conceal a laugh that's building up inside me as I picture the scene beyond the door. Eugene knocks something over, sneaks away, and leaves the guards to find broken shards all over the floor, leaving them wondering how it could have possibly broken and how it will be replaced.

The tutor gets up and starts to rush out the door. "I'm going to check this out." She warns. "Stay here, Princess." She steps into the hall and walks off.

I'm free!, I think.

Although I hate to disappoint people at the castle, I hate even more to make Eugene's clever plans useless. I rush out the door in the direction of the crash. I dart out, wondering where Eugene is, and crash into someone. I almost shriek when his hands cove my mouth. Eugene laughs. I push his hands away and laugh quietly also.

And suddenly we are pulled into a dark corner of the hallway, and his arms encircle my waist.

"I waited for you all day." He whispers. "I couldn't go on any longer."

"Neither could I." I whisper back and place my arms around his neck. We lean in closer and he presses his warm lips to mine before I can have another thought.

"I love you." He moves his lips towards my ear and whispers in it.

"I love you, too." I happily sigh. Why couldn't I spend every second with him?

"C'mon Princess, lets watch the sunset." Eugene grips my hand and pulls me out from the corner and glides me down the skinny, regal path.

Finally we are out on the ledge between the towers of the castle, and we make it to see the last few rays of sunlight slipping into darkness. It's beautiful. As the stars begin to appear, I feel a familiar nuzzle on my foot. I look down. Pascal smiles up at me. I fondly pick him up and rest him on my shoulder, although I know very well he could have scurried up there on his own means. Today he turns into a shade of pale orange, matching my peachy dress that hangs off my shoulders.

I follow Eugene to the dining room, because it is about time to be served dinner. The room itself is very large, and although only four and a half people eat in it (The half is Pascal. Shhh. No one knows.). Just the king and queen (a.k.a. my mom and dad) and Eugene and I sit at the marvelous expensive table. Once or twice I've invited a servant to join us but they either decline or my lady-in-waiting disapproves. I've learned since that the officials eat in a separate dining room, and the servants in yet another. I wonder why we can't all eat together.

While Eugene and I wait for my parents to arrive, we make unimportant small talk like a princess and her (future) prince are supposed to do. Sometimes I wonder about all these rules I'm supposed to follow now that I'm a princess. If I were the one to make the rules, I'd let every last girl out there, whether or not they were treated as horribly as I once was, be treated like royalty. Someday, when I will rule this land on my own, perhaps I will make that into law. Perhaps.

When my parents arrive dinner is served, and we quietly discuss our day. My father brings up the topic of theft, and everyone in the room tenses up. My mother's eyes dart around the room, my hands tighten their grip on my fork and knife and Eugene looks down, fidgets with the food on his plate. We all know Eugene used to be Flynn Rider, the greatest thief in the kingdom, before he met me and changed his ways. Of course my father wants to punish the thieves, but Eugene's story proves that the thieves need second chances. So we are always extremely careful when regarding this topic, because no one wants to upset one another. I note that Eugene always looks guilty of all his earlier crimes when we talk about this, but I feel sympathy toward him however.

Whenever Gothel had told me that Eugene was to be hanged for his crimes, I couldn't even think about how horrible it would be. I believe no one should have to face that torture. The fear is unbelieveable. I can tell.

"I want each criminal to have a hearing with a private council I pick out." My father states calmly.

I swear I can hear each one of us breath out a sigh of relief, even Pascal, at my toes. This was a good sign. My father was compromising all o our ideas and dealing with the theft appropriately in this way. I liked his idea.

I smiled up at him and said, "Very well, father. That's a wonderful idea."

"Thank you." The smile he returned said so many things. It was simple appreciation. It was an approval of his daughter. And it was also a sense of regret for missing so many years in his daughter's life. I didn't blame him though; it was my magical hair, when I still had it, which caused my life as a princess to be turned upside down.

But now that my evil foster 'mother' Gothel is gone, the whole kingdom can relax. She caused probably the biggest of our problems (well, mine at least) and we defeated her with the simplest of actions. It's like in those mystery books (I've read two or three) when the clues are right in front of your nose.

I went on daydreaming again and the topic of conversation at the changed from the awkward subject of theft to the upcoming festival. My ears perked up at the sound of it.

"My I paint a picture for it?" I interrupted whoever was talking and looked at the king and queen.

"Why of course, honey, that's what you do best." My mother looked over at me. "Where will it be though?"

I thought about that. I'd already filled up half the walls around the castle (inside and out) with my art. Where would I put a new piece?

"Maybe I could create a flag?" I questioned.

"That's sounds like a great idea. How about a few, then?" My father laughs out.

"Of course!" I laugh back.

"Wonderful!" My mother said and soon we were all smiling and laughing.

I caught Eugene's eyes with mine and held them there. Just the both of us, smiling and laughing, happy for the moment.

Soon dinner was over and we all walked back to our chambers. On my way back to mine, I heard Eugene sneak up behind me, and almost-just almost-snatch my crown. But before he could, I whirled around and shouted "Gotcha!"

It would have been the perfect victory if my new irritating shoes did not slip on the floor. Seconds after I slipped, I landed in Eugene's arms. Ok, ok, this was perfect too.

He pulled me up to him and whispered in my ear, "My princess is catching on."

A shiver slid strait down my spine, along my back down to my toes. I could barely feel my legs, which were caught up in his arms.

We stood there for a moment, me in his arms, staring into each other's eyes. Too soon, Eugene put me back down and we parted for the night.

Back in my chamber, I silently brush and brush my hair, even though it is too short to do anything with, and it's already too soft. It's just an old force of habit. Pascal jumps onto my bed and I talk to him quietly.

"Pascal, what do you think I should paint for the festival?" I look down at him. He turns his normal shade of lime green, points to himself and smiles wildly.

"No! Not you, silly!" I laugh, "There's enough of you in here."I point to all the walls with my numerous paintings, and my sketchbooks, every page filled with a drawing or two, of anything I felt like sketching. It's only been two months for me in this castle, but I've already filled up every blank space with every type of medium there is to offer here. I've drawn everything I've ever seen, whether it's in my old tower or somewhere in my crowded chamber.

I looked at Pascal again. He was curled up on my bed, fast asleep. I picked up the adorable chameleon and placed him on my nightstand. I soon after climbed into bed and turned off the light. But I couldn't fall asleep.

There was something bothering me. I really had no idea what it was, but it was keeping me from drifting off like usual.

I filtered through my brain, trying to find what was worrying me. There was nothing I could think of.

As the night grew longer, I started to be afraid that the problem of why I couldn't sleep wasn't something I was entirely aware of. No. It was something subtler, more like a strange warning of sorts.

This ominous feeling eventually moved to the back of my mind, and I could finally find slumber.

As my consciousness slowly drifted away, my dreams were anything…but...normal.

shapes. distinct shapes. fade. sun. a sun.

purple. yellow.

hair, shining. blinding.

warm. grass. now free.

today. yesterday. tomorrow.

familiar faces. me, its- suddenly I'm pulled into something deeper than a collection of images and memories.

I'm standing in front of a mirror. I look different. It takes me a moment to realize that it's my hair. It's back to its long blond form. I reach up to my head to stroke it but all I feel is the spiky brown clusters I've had for two months now. I get confused, and then I see that the mirror is showing what I used to look like but its not literal. In the mirror I notice that Eugene stands a few feet behind me. I turn around to face him but there is no one there. I realize again that this is another illusion of the mirror.

In the mirror, everything is brightly colored, vivid, and spectacular looking, while on my side, everything is dark and dreary. I am alone. I am all alone. I pound on the mirror ignorantly, hoping to somehow switch spots with the happier version of myself. Nothing happens

Why am I here all by myself? I sink to the ground. This time the Rapunzel in the mirror does not imitate my actions. She stands there, with a smirk on her face, mocking me.

"You can't get back what you have lost without paying." The mirror-me snipes and everything goes dark. The last things I see are her eyes-my eyes- staring down at me.

I wake to find that my candle is still lit, and I blow it out. Sliding back under the covers, I slip back into my subconscious.

mirrors. mirrors everywhere. crowns, jewels shine.

satchel.

mineyourshis. I…

clouds, trees, leaves.

water. boat.

water. lantern.

water. water.

cool, sensual.

cool. joyous.

A rainbow of intimate and strange colors-then it's the festival, I'm standing in the middle, but I just appeared here.

Everyone is dancing around me. I try to walk through them, pass by them.

I can't. But I'm only stuck for a minute.

Then I'm above the crowd of dancers, floating in the sky. It's surreal.

As I watch the dancers go in and out of complex positions and formations I start to see a pattern of a picture forming.

Over and over again the people dancing seem to form a flower blooming. So familiar.

I cannot remember what I found so familiar, for the picture faded away before I could put my finger on it.

But I do remember that I felt like this dream was a warning, the way it had repeated again and again. I could no figure out why it would be forewarning me, however, so I disregarded it.

If only I'd known then how important a warning it was.