"You wanted me to see me, Your Majesty?"
"Eugene, Eugene...someday soon, you'll be my son-in-law. There's no need for such formalities in private. Please, you can call me Fred." King Frederic chuckled.
"Of course. Fred. Right. Well..." Eugene ran a hand through his hair and tapped his boot lightly against the marble floor.
Was it strange, was it odd that the King requested to see him so deep into the evening? The wedding arrangements were still being made, the guest list being drawn up, the formalities of a proper royal wedding ceremony being relayed to both himself and Rapunzel...did Frederic have some advice for him? Wisdom to impart? Threat to declare? Eugene nearly swallowed his Adam's apple.
"Ever since the first rulers of Corona united the people under one banner, they took special care to have only their most trusted allies serve as personal counsel. These men and women were granted special privileges, serving with authority equal to the royal family themselves. Eugene, it my solemn duty and sovereign right to extend this position to you - I want you to serve as my Hand of the King."
Frederic solemnly affixed a small broach on the left side of Flynn's hunter green vest, bowing his head ever so slightly.
"I, Frederic of House Corona, Second of My Name, King of the Praetians and the Land Below the End, Defender of the Realm and Keeper of the Elvenstune, hereby declare you, Eugene Fitzherbert, betrothed of my daughter, Rapunzel of House Corona, First of Her Name, to be my Hand of the King."
Flynn drew in a sharp breath. The King's voice echoed softly off the walls of the chamber, the faint sounds of the night seeping in through a partially open window. The bark of a far off dog crept between Flynn and his thoughts of Rapunzel, the kingdom, as well as his newfound responsibilities.
"I don't want to be rude," Flynn started, toying with the new pin on his vest, "but shouldn't this appointment come with a bit more-"
"Pageantry? Pomp and circumstance?" The king finished. "I wish that were the case, Eugene, I really do. Unfortunately, circumstances dictate that the exact opposite happen. I'm not as youthful as I once was and I need to be certain the Kingdom of Corona is in good hands."
Flynn stared again at the gift the king had given him. The circle that surrounded the well-worn pin was a rough copper color, faint hints of gold sparkling in the room's limited light. A gnarled hand gripped an uniformly crafted sword, cementing the demure opulence that the position must entail. How could this have happened so quickly, so soon? Wouldn't this affect his marriage to Rapunzel?
"Why wasn't there already a Hand of the King?"
"There was."
"Oh."
Frederic began walking down the corridor, his shoes clicking in rhythmic step against the floor. Somehow, Flynn knew he was to wordlessly follow the king. There had been one occasion, back at the orphanage, that he had gone to ask Miss Lonrahem a question on milk delivery day. Until five seconds ago, that had been the most awkward moment of his life. He solidly wished it still could be.
"Many centuries ago, there was disunity among the people of our respective cultures," Frederic lectured in subdued exposition, "Coronans, Arendellians, Westerguard - despite the common ancestry of our forefathers, the rifts between us existed. That is, until the coming of the threat from beyond the Valley of Nec Alab."
Flynn raised an eyebrow. "The Valley of Nec Alab? From the fairy tale of Anesus and Kole?"
"It's not entirely a fairy tale, Eugene. As with all works of fiction, the truth is oftentimes stranger. Yes, to the far west of the continent, beyond where even the bravest of soldiers would never march, there lies the Valley of Nec Alab." Frederic paused in his step, standing to gesture toward a map on the wall Flynn had never noticed hanging there before.
"There was a real life Anesus and Kole, a knight and his squire who rode on a sacred mission from Queen Janessa the Just. The Queen was being told through her foreign contacts that a great terror lay to the west, unlike anything that had ever been seen before. A conquering force threatened even the order of nature herself."
Flynn's eyes went wide. He stumbled back a bit before bracing himself against the far wall.
"The legend of the Horned King and his Cauldron Born?! The ones that Anesus and Kole barely drove back with the aid of the Elvenstune and the Rock Trolls?!"
The King turned, locking eyes with his Hand and narrowing his gaze.
"Not legends, Eugene. Exaggerated over time, yes, but not legends in the slightest. The combined might of the Troll Magic, sustained by the power of the Elvenstune and the military cunning of Anesus and Kole, drove the Horned King back beyond the Valley and successfully cast a spell to prevent him from returning to our lands.
"Before Anesus could successfully help Grandpabby lock the seal of the spell, the Horned King cast three curses on those who would imprison him. Due to the first curse, the Rock Trolls lost territorial control of their most sacred land, the I'Etrisia. The second curse placed a strange magic in the hands of Kole's descendants, one that imbued them with a generational curse; the magical, yet unstable, powers of ice and cold. The third, and the most terrifying, was the Millennial Malintention."
Flynn blinked. He had never heard of any of this particular part of the story, but he did know that Rapunzel's cousins' Kingdom of Arendelle's capital sat on a fjord known as the Estrisia. It was also rumored that Princesses Elsa and Anna, who would be directly descended from Kole's lineage, were recluses in a closed up castle. That could all be coincidence.
"So...what is the Millennial Malintention?"
"A most powerful spell, one that may have actually rendered the Horned King himself completely powerless after expending that much dark energy. Over millennia, the Malintention would need to incubate, grow, feed off of its surroundings, before being able to come into existence and welcome the Horned King and the Cauldron Born back across the sealed Valley of Nec Alab."
"Then we find and neutralize the Malintention? If we do that, then the Horned King can't cross back to our lands."
"That's the problem. No one knows exactly what the Malintention is. Is it a weapon? An artifact? A building? Does it rest in the bottom of the sea, or high on an unseen mountain top? Not to mention…"
"Please don't." Flynn started to sink against the wall. "Don't tell me what I think you are going to tell me."
"The Horned King holds the bones of the Chimera."
Flynn's head fell.
"That's quite ironic, you know." Frederic mused.
"What is?"
"The very tale wherein Anesus and Kole banish the Chimera is the first mention in any fairy tale of the inspiration of your nome de guerre, Flynnigan Rider. Had it not been for his stealth and lightning quick reflexes, the cursed beast might have very well made a quick lunch of Sir Anesus and Kole."
"He was always so resourceful, respected, yet just as easily suspicious and secretive. Defeating the Chimera alongside Anesus and Kole was supposedly his first act of true heroism. I always hoped to command that kind of-"
Frederic cut Flynn off with a gentle hand on his soon to be son in-law's shoulder.
"You might be known to the world as Flynn Rider, my boy, but Eugene, you are head and shoulders above the man described in those fairy tales. You are a genuine, authentically honest, kind, and good man at heart - all things no one could ever really attribute to the Flynn Rider of the fairytales. It is why I chose you to be my Hand."
"I doubt I could stand down a fire breathing beast with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and the tail of a serpent like he apparently did." Flynn huffed, rising back to his feet and approaching the map on the wall.
"You may not have to. The Chimera herself is not an inherently evil being, but rather, subject to her master. The Millennial Malintention is the means to her resurrection, so if we can discover what it is and neutralize it, we may not have to worry about it whatsoever."
Flynn rubbed his hands together, eyes scanning the map that laid out the known kingdoms.
"So….the Malintention lies somewhere in our kingdoms? We just need to discover it and figure out a way to stop it?"
"Precisely. But we will have help. Grandpabby of the Rock Trolls swore to us that he and his people would be loyal to the fight against the Horned King and the Cauldron Born, should they ever return. Luckily, these events just happen to coincide with the coronation of Princess Elsa in Arendelle, a mere stone's throw from where the Trolls reside."
Frederic opened a nearby trunk and began rummaging through it, pulling out fine looking purple, black, and gold fabrics.
"These were the finer luxuries of my ancestors of House Corona, House Arkin, and House Wisterny. You will require some diplomatically worthy garments when you are traveling with Rapunzel to the Coronation of Arendelle, especially serving as my Hand." Frederic commented.
"Speaking of Rapunzel, I wonder how she's going to take all this in. She has been through so much-"
"She already knows."
"Already knows what?"
"Everything."
"What do you mean, everything?"
Frederic chuckled softly.
"Eugene, from the moment you returned with our daughter, we have resumed preparing her to assume the throne. As it became evident that the two of you were destined to wed, we have been grooming you as well. Someday, Eugene, you will be Prince Consort of this kingdom, but we must first be sure you have the mettle to be up the task.
"Rapunzel has been privy to all this information, including the decision to appoint you as my Hand. She is in full support and well aware of the nature and purpose of your trip to Arendelle."
Flynn nodded. Of course, it only made sense. Despite her sweet nature, Rapunzel was a royal at her core, and she needed consistently aware of the information most important to the security of Corona.
"Accompany my daughter to Arendelle, Eugene. After the coronation, seek out Grandpabby and the RockTrolls. When you have received their counsel and Parcel, return to Corona and we can move forward to discover the location of the Millennial Malintention."
"Of course, Your Majes- er, Fred." Flynn collected himself and made his way to the door, gently lifting the handle.
"One moment, Eugene." The King removed his amulet from around his neck, and spun the center of it until it clicked open. He remove the golden center and pressed it into his Hand's palm.
"Upon their return, Anesus, Kole, and Grandpabby split the sacred Elvenstune into five Parcels, so that it would be forever guarded and free from making any one ruler too powerful. The cornerstone of this castle contains one Parcel, as does this portion of my amulet. When you retrieve Grandpabby and his Parcel, it is only a matter of time before the Elvenstune is reconstructed and we have a better chance of discovering the Malintention and destroying it."
"Understood, my king," Flynn bowed deeply. His pocket seemed to weigh five tons and he slowly exited the room, tracing his route back to his personal chambers.
Frederic waited until he heard Eugene's footsteps become completely inaudible, then turned back to the map. He slowly ran his finger along the border of the known lands and the Valley and Nec Alab. His eyes glazed and his hand trembled. He listened intently for anyone approaching, guard or otherwise.
Hearing nothing, King Frederic began hitting the map, a bit harder with each strike. As the bruises wore down his knuckles, the king turned and flipped the table furiously . He lifted the nearest chair and savagely smashed it to pieces against the map, then threw the trunk and its contents across the room. Frederic gazed at the destruction he caused, his angry soul still not content. He sank to his knees, heavy sobs rocking his massive frame, his weeping both loud and haunting.