Cassandra leaned against the wall by the exit of the castle dining hall, looking down at the meal below. Her best friend, Rapunzel, was having dinner with her cousins from Arendelle. All was going smoothly and Rapunzel was happily chatting her friends, Elsa and Anna, but Cass knew that Rapunzel wanted her handmaiden down there
Cass knew it wasn't her her place to interrupt their meal. She may have been Rapunzel's girlfriend, but she knew that being with her other friends meant a lot to her.
Rapunzel looked very formal tonight, wearing her best purple gown, with the gold sequins on the back of the bodice. Elsa was wearing one of her ice dresses, one of a very formal variety with a shorter cape and fingerless ice gloves. Anna was wearing a beautiful green ball gown with matching gloves, a tiara in her hair.
Cass wasn't nearly as formal, still in her usual handmaiden clothes. Cass then noticed Rapunzel raising her head, silently calling her over.
Cass got off from the wall and walked over to Rapunzel, bowing in respect. "You sent for me, my lady?"
"Lady?" Anna wondered, her strawberry-blonde eyebrow raising. "Punzie, is something wrong with your girlfriend?"
Rapunzel chuckled. "No, Anna. Cass is just in her pouty handmaiden mode." A mode she always liked to put on around guests. Cass wasn't really the kind of girl to open up around others, only Rapunzel.
"She doesn't need to be," Elsa put in. "We're all friends here."
"I know your majesty," Cass spoke up. "But as Rapunzel's handmaiden, it's not my place to be involved in your gatherings. You are of a higher class than me. I would feel… improper."
"Oh that's just nonsense. Elsa and I have a lot of friends who are our maids and they're perfectly fine talking and having dinner with us," Anna informed her. "Come on, sit down and join us."
"Yeah, come on, Cass," Rapunzel urged. "Don't let me feel left out here." She then put on her adorable puppy eyes, the ones that always got to Cass.
Cass sighed. "If you wish, sweetie." She then sat down with them, joining the conversation. "So… what is everyone talking about here?"
"I was just telling Rapunzel about my meeting with her father," Elsa stated, wiping her lip with a napkin of ice.
"About your recent marriage to your sister?" Cass assumed. Elsa and Anna had recently been married in their home of Arendelle and had stopped in Corona on the way back from their honeymoon.
"Yes, he was very supportive," Anna added, sounding very pleased but then she looked. "Better than some kingdoms have been."
"You girls should just ignore your haters," Rapunzel said to them, supportively. "No one here batted an eye about Cass and me."
"That was because no one wanted to screw with me," Cass noted, smirking. No one dared challenge Cass, afraid they would probably break a bone or two, or all of them.
Elsa chuckled. "I can't see why you and Cassandra here haven't married yet. You're such a good couple." And Elsa knew a thing or two about people being good couples.
"I'm not the marrying type," Cass explained. "Plus, Raps here has had one wedding to last her a lifetime." Such a beautiful wedding to Eugene, but Cass and Rapunzel had still spent their time together on that day.
"Sounds fair," Anna admitted. "Kristoff was like that too when me and him were together."
Elsa looked around for one moment, curious. "Does anyone happen to know when the next course is arriving?"
"I'll check with the kitchen," Cass answered the queen. She then got up and made her way to the kitchen, opening the large wooden doors.
The kitchen itself was quite quiet, almost too quiet. There should've been more staff here, after all this was the Royal Palace. The only person there was a man, rather slender and wearing a chef's outfit, standing in the corner, preparing a roast chicken.
Cass walked over to the man, feeling everything was slightly suspicious. As she stood by the man, she noticed he was very unfamiliar to her. A smooth head of black hair, narrow eyes and a pencil thin moustache.
"Excuse me," she said to get his attention. "I have a message from the royal princesses, they're wondering when their next course will be ready."
"In a few moments," the man said, in a rather smooth voice. "I'm just adding the salad cream." Cass looked up and saw the man pour droplets of some kind of liquid onto the meat. It was a deep purple colour, clearly not the creamy colour that salad cream was known for.
Cass narrowed her eyes, trying to make out what the liquid was being pipetted from. It seemed to be a very small glass bottle, and just between the man's fingers, she could make out a set of letters
O, S, N
Cass's brain rattled for a second as she tried to make sense of what the letters meant and then it hit her.
Poison.
Cass grabbed the man's arm, snarling aggressively. "Hey, what's the big idea! That stuff is poison!"
The man looked at her with dead, cold eyes. "I wish you hadn't seen that." He then jabbed his knee into Cass's stomach, knocking her back.
Cass staggered for a moment, grabbing onto a nearby kitchen surface for support. "You're no chef! You're an assassin aren't you?"
"Yes, of a kingdom that really doesn't like it's trade partners being led by incestous queens," he explained himself. "So, if you don't mind, I'll be taking this chicken to your guests now."
"Oh I mind alright," Cass argued. She then launched forward and punched the man in the face, knocking him back and causing him to drop the vial of poison onto the floor, the glass smashing in an instant.
"No!" He exclaimed, grabbing the sides of his head in frustration. "What have you done?"
Cass picked up a frying pan, gripping it in her palms and smacking the metal instrument into the back of his head, knocking him out. "Cleaning up your mess."
As the man dropped to the floor with a thud, Cass looked at her weapon of choice. "Raps is right, these things are pretty good in a fight."
xXx
Sometime later, Cass walked back into the dining room, returning to Rapunzel and her cousins.
"Hey Cass," Rapunzel greeted her cheerfully. "What took you so long?"
"Sorry ladies, but your main course has been canceled," Cass apologised. She then dropped the unconscious body of the assassin next to her feet. "This man tried to poison your food. He was sent by a kingdom who didn't like Queen Elsa and her sister very much."
"What?!" Rapunzel exclaimed, mouth agape. "How did he get in?"
"He disguised himself as a member of the kitchen staff," Cass explained. "Don't worry, I stopped him and found the rest of the staff tied up in a cupboard."
Elsa groaned, hand on head. "I can't have a dinner without something going wrong." First her coronation, then her sister's birthday. Every occasion had always gone wrong in some way or another.
Anna held her sister's free hand. "It's alright Elsa. Nothing is ever gonna be perfect for us."
"So what about dinner then?" Rapunzel inquired. They couldn't exactly go starving after all.
Cass smiled. "I know what to do. There's a restaurant here in the city that does really great food, some of the recipes are from Arendelle. It's also where I took Raps for our first date."
"It sounds lovely!" Anna responded, her face beaming.
"How very thoughtful of you, Cassandra," Elsa admitted, getting up from her chair. "I can see why Rapunzel is so fond of you." She took her hands. "Thank you for saving our lives this evening. If you ever get bored of being Rapunzel's maid, there could be a place in the Arendelle special forces for you."
"No thank you, Queen Elsa," Cass respectfully declined. "Raps would miss me too much."
Elsa gave Cass a quick peck on the cheek. "I understand." She then turned to her sister. "Come, sweetie, we better get ready for a night out on the town."
"Yay!" Anna cheered. "I can wear my new coat."
As the Arendelle sisters left the room, Rapunzel walked over to Cass and rested her head on her shoulder. "Thanks from me too, by the way."
"All in a day's work for me, Raps," Cass replied. "Now let's hope that Arendellian Reinsdyrsteik is as good as I remember."
"Me too," Rapunzel agreed, heading out of the room with Cass, the two of them holding each other's hands.
xXx
Author's note: Second fic! This one features my sweeties Elsa and Anna. I'm not sure how Cass would react to Punzie's cousins but as they are here, they're very good friends indeed and plus, Elsa seems to like Cass a bit too.
See you next time!