Darkness was the only thing he could remember. His last memory was Rapunzel slipping from his grip & he was falling down & down…. & then an unbearable pain in his head. Then everything was lost in the darkness.

He didn't know how long he slept in the darkness. He lost all senses of perception & everything was unusually silent around him. It scared him. But gradually he felt himself surfaced in the ocean of sounds around him but he couldn't understand the meanings. But at last his mind stopped at only one voice. His head felt too heavy like a stone & all parts of his body were extremely sore. But among all these haziness he could feel a soft small hand was tracing his face gently. He knew that touch. He grabbed that hand instinctively & a whisper escaped from his lips 'Rapunzel!'

'Eugene!' Rapunzel gasped as she saw his eyelids flickered open. Her heart filled with hope. 'Are you awake Eugene?' she moved her head close to see his face.

Although it was extremely painful but Eugene opened his eyes at last hoping to see the light. The darkness was suffocating him. But he couldn't find the light. He closed & opened his eyes for several times but everything remained as dark as before.

'Rapunzel!' a strange fear filled his mind. Suddenly he began to feel frightened & alone. 'Rapunzel where are you?' his voice sounded like a scared child. He stretched his arms forward desperately searching for his beloved. It seemed like a dark curtain was separating him from her. Rapunzel sensed something unusual in his voice. She moved closer & took his hand. 'I'm here.' She placed his palms on her cheek 'I'm near you.' Eugene found his skin touching her smooth skin. Rapunzel felt Eugene's fingers traced her face for several times. Then suddenly Eugene pulled her closer to see her. He tried hard to look into her face but his head began throbbing & at last his eyes began watering. But still the dark curtain wasn't gone.

Rapunzel looked into his beautiful brown eyes. But she gasped at the strange vacant look in them. His eyes were fixed & the dark pupils were strangely dilated.

'What's wrong with you, Eugene?' her voice trembled with an unknown fear.

'Rapunzel!' Eugene whispered at last 'I can't see anything.'

'No!' Rapunzel gasped. But she quickly controlled herself. 'It's nothing Eugene.' She kissed his bandaged forehead 'Everything will be alright. Now try to sleep.'

Eugene sighed as she began to sing a lullaby. Although Rapunzel tried to console him but he realized that he could never see again.

()()()

King Rupert & Queen Anne sighed at the sight of their daughter who was trying hard to console the former thief who really seemed very depressed with his new found condition.

'Anne' Rupert sighed 'I'm really sorry for the boy. I really owe him my daughter's life. So I decided to postpone his trial until he gets better. But unfortunately I can do nothing about the promise.'

'Rupert' Anne tilted her head to face her husband 'Can't we change the promise? They love each other dearly. Why should they suffer just for a stupid promise?'

Rupert sighed 'But if we don't want to go with a war with Naldora then, we must do it.'

'But it was only a promise, isn't it?' Anne tried to reason.

'No, dear. It was an engagement which was done officially.' Rupert led his wife out of the sick room not to disturb his daughter who was wiping Eugene's face with a wet cloth to run his fever down.

Then he placed a little velvet box on Anne palm. 'Can you forget this?' he said in a grim voice. Anne opened the box to find golden ring inside. It was nicely decorated with the eagle of Naldora & the sun of Corona. In the middle two letters were engraved 'R+E'.

It was the engagement ring given to both Rapunzel & her fiancée on the official day of their engagement.

'Yes, I remember.' Anne suddenly sank into the nearby chair. Tears were running down along her cheek. Rapunzel was already so much heart broken with this accident & it would add another burden to her suffering heart.

Rupert placed his comfortable arm around Anne 'I've no choice. The Prince of Naldora is coming here tomorrow.'

Anne remained silent. Rupert kissed her forehead. Both of them watched Rapunzel singing a lullaby & trying to put her savior into the sleep. Rupert sighed. He never wanted to break his daughter's heart but he had no other option.

Hey, Guess what R+E stands for.

Sorry for another horrible & cliché chapter but I warn you I can't write human emotions well.

11 reviews for last chapter! You guys are wonderful. If you keep them coming at this rate I'm sure it'll turn into a full blown story.

Next chapter will be a bit better, I guess (It's my 1st experiment in writing this kind of story but I say I'll not avoid my twisted pathway as my other stories)

So keep your reviews coming at this rate to add fuel to my engine (although still I've not much hope for that)

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