A/N - I think this is going to be a much harder story to write. My muse has been seriously damaged. Still I'm going to persevere - your reviews will help of course!
By the way - in case you were wondering, Milton is the name of a second horse that features in the Tangled computer game so the characters can have a race. I've been doing my homework!
Chapter One – Milton
Eugene sat up too, a little concerned by the intensity of the princess's admission.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I have never been happier," she said, giving him a large, reassuring smile. "I just... there's still so much out there I haven't seen or experienced yet."
Eugene looked at her. She had spent a year being a princess; being the perfect princess; his perfect princess. She had learned so much, and achieved even more. And she still yearned for more.
"I can show you the world!" he promised.
She giggled. And then Eugene knew that Rapunzel had been thinking about this for a long time. She probably had a plan already in place. He smiled, but then the smile faded.
"What about your parents?" he asked, quietly. "They've only had you back for a year. They won't want to lose you again so soon."
"I talked to my mother last week," Rapunzel reassured him. Later, too late, Eugene remembered how good Rapunzel was at politics. She had been completely honest, but had not exactly told the truth.
Eugene had been right about one thing; Rapunzel had already made plans. She explained in a breathless, excited voice. She had been reading about a rare natural phenomenon, seventeen miles south of Corona: a waterfall with blue-green water at the top, turning red at the bottom when it mixed with the clay base. It would be the perfect place to start.
"To start?" Eugene repeated. "Just how much do you want to see, Blondie?"
"Everything!" Rapunzel enthused. Eugene shook his head and rolled his eyes, planting a kiss on the princess's forehead.
Rapunzel had planned their sabbatical down to the smallest detail. Eugene was almost frightened by how like an escape the premeditated break seemed and how long it had been anticipated. Her release from the tower had been only slightly more desired.
Eugene rowed them back to the shore and escorted Rapunzel up to her rooms. He bowed low and kissed the back of her hand in what had become their nightly ritual. The biggest difference tonight was the knowing look she gave him as he backed away towards his own suite.
Rapunzel requested her chamber maid braid her hair tightly before retiring. They would be leaving at dawn, and she couldn't afford the time to tie her hair out of the way in the morning. As soon as the maid left the room Rapunzel closed the door and barred it with a heavy chair. She pulled two satchels from beneath her bed and placed them next to the window. They were already full of clothes and provisions for their trip.
She hardly slept that night for excitement. She slept with the curtains open, so the first hint of sunrise woke her. She placed the satchels across her body, one on each shoulder. Her braid made her hair unusable as an abseiling tool, but Rapunzel had already worked out the solution to this by storing a regular rope beside her balcony. It took hardly any time at all for her to use her expert climbing skills to reach the gardens and she moved swiftly and silently in bare feet to the stables.
Her face lit up and her heart leaped when she saw that Eugene was waiting for her, as she knew he would be. He stifled a yawn, ran a hand through his own rumpled hair and then, remembered his manners and took the satchels from Rapunzel's shoulders.
Even out here Rapunzel had been prepared. There were two horses ready for use; Max and Milton. Milton was a smaller, grey horse, the temperamental opposite to Maximus. He stood docile while Eugene lifted Rapunzel gently into the saddle. Max on the other hand stamped his hooves, until Rapunzel shot him a warning look.
"Quiet Max!" she hissed. "Let's not wake the whole kingdom!"
She kicked her heels into Milton's flanks and then she was gone in a flash of gold, lavender and grey.
"Come on, Max," said Eugene. "There's no stopping the princess once she's made up her mind!"
Milton, in addition to being placid and even-tempered, was also a younger horse. Maximus didn't appreciate the competition and rode hard. Eugene was afraid his kidneys were going to be jolted out of his throat by the time they had reached the five mile marker and he had to call out to Rapunzel for a break. Dismounting, his knees almost refused to hold him up.
"You're keen to get away, Goldie," he said, "I'll give you that. What aren't you telling me?"
At last Rapunzel looked guilty. She slid down from Milton's back and the horse resumed his default setting of silent observation. Maximus snorted and glared suspiciously at the younger horse; he found it unnerving the way Milton just stood there.
"Rapunzel?" Eugene asked, when the princess didn't say anything. "What did your parents say about this little excursion?"
"Eh owe noh," Rapunzel mumbled. Eugene frowned.
"Pardon?"
"They don't know!" Rapunzel repeated, louder. "I talked to my mother, but it would break her heart knowing I wanted to leave them, even for a short time. I couldn't tell her. I lost my nerve."
"It's not too late," said Eugene. "We can still go home and explain."
"No," said Rapunzel, decisively, climbing back onto Milton's back and turning the horse towards their destination. Eugene's shoulders sagged. Maximus nudged his back, hinting that he should remount.
"You don't understand, princess," he said, softly, trying a different approach. "They're going to think you've been kidnapped again."
"I left a note..." Rapunzel said, in a small voice, as if this would make things right. Eugene's heart melted. He leaned across to her and stroked her cheek.
"It's a good job you are so easy to love," he said as they set off again. "Maybe we'll be lucky enough to get back before they worry too much."
And maybe I'll be lucky enough for the king and queen to let me keep breathing when I waltz back into town to return the lost princess. Again.