Chapter Two-Gleaming Evil
"Maximus, the finest jewelry shop, please!" Eugene ordered as he sat on the horse's back. The white horse looked up at the rider, giving him a look of "you've got to be kidding me." Eugene's face slumped. "Max, I don't know where to go for jewelry." The horse did not change his expression. "Just because I was a thief in the past, doesn't mean I know where all the good stuff in jewelry shops are!" he defended. He whinnied and changed his expression to a doubtful one. "Okay, you caught me, I do know where all the good stuff is. It just sounded like a good thing to yell! Now gallop you flea bag!"
The horse didn't budge. Eugene had obviously insulted his noble steed. He patted his nose in apology. "Sorry Max, got a bit carried away there. Can we please just go?" Max seemed to smile and galloped down the cobblestone road. The wind made his mane go wild, and Eugene's hair was equally messed up. Max's hooves pounded against the stone, rushing as fast as he could to Jackie's Jewels*. And the duo arrived at the shop.
Eugene made an entrance through the wooden door and the familiar curly, ebony haired woman was behind the counter. Her frame was a tad thinner from the last time Eugene encountered her and her skin was very pale. She turned around when she heard Eugene's boots hit the floor.
"Ah, well isn't it the thief coming back for more jewels?" she greeted him, with a slight tone of bitterness and sarcasm, "What do you want to take today, more rings? A necklace for the lovely princess?"
"I'm so sorry again for that," he nervously chuckled, "whole incident."
"Oh, don't be. Thanks to you, I got off work for a week, ate dinner at the palace, and when everyone heard that Eugene Fitzherbert gets jewelry from Jackie's Jewels, business boomed. If anything, you're immature and irresponsible ways helped me." She laughed at Eugene's confused look. "Well, what can I help you with today, Prince Eugene?"
Eugene dismissed the shopkeeper's logic. "I wanted to get something wonderful for Rapunzel. She's going to be negotiating with one of the greatest countries in the world and I wanted her to look the part. It was her father's suggestion."
"She's going to Runechest? Wow, that's mighty far. Anyway, I might have a necklace that would look beautiful on her." Jackie went into the back and shuffled around through her collection of necklaces that she hadn't yet put on shelves. Eugene waited patiently, his hands in his pockets so that he wasn't tempted. Somehow, he was keeping the temptation of stealing away; he had no desire to snatch anything today like he normally did when he went into jewelry stores. Like the wise man says, once a thief, always a thief. Eugene was trying to prove that idiot wrong.
The woman came back with a blue velvety box and opened it in front of him. Inside was a golden necklace with a butterfly charm, encrusted with pink and blue jewels. If he recalled correctly, it was pure gold and sapphires. It would look beautiful on Rapunzel.
"How much?"
She smiled. "50 gold pieces."
His eyes popped out of his sockets. "So this necklace will cost five times the amount of my wife's engagement ring? I find this rather unfair!"
"I find it unfair that you stole from me, but yet you still did. And anyway, you're a royal now. Just get some money."
"Get some money? GET SOME MONEY?" Eugene was outraged, his mind felt like it was going to explode. "Do you realize that just because I'm next for the throne, that doesn't mean I'm as rich as the king himself?"
"Do you realize that since you are a royal, you get a share of the castle's riches automatically?" Her eyebrow raised at him, concerned that he didn't even realize this, though it was a well known fact.
Eugene rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "That's not true. I'm not royal blood, so I don't get anything until I have that crown put atop of this crown." He pointed to his head.
"If this whole thing is Royal Highness King Edvard of Corona's idea, why don't you ask him for the money? I'll keep it in the back just for you while you get the money," she offered a solution.
He pondered this idea for a moment. He knew he had twenty gold pieces in his boot and didn't particularly want to suck up to his father-in-law today, so he thought he could negotiate first with Jackie.
He used his charming smile, rolled up his sleeves to show off his well defined muscle, and put his arm casually on the counter. "Maybe you could give me that necklace for ten gold pieces instead? Did I mention that you look rather well with the weight you lost? You look absolutely stunning today!"
She looked away from him and giggled. "Oh, Prince Eugene, you know how to flatter a woman! But, I just can't give my necklaces away, can I? How about forty gold pieces?" she proposed in a giggly, higher-pitched voice.
His teeth sparkled and he pretended to look a little disappointed...or rather, he really was disappointed but knew he could win at this game. "How about fifteen, Beautiful?"
"Ooo, if the princess knew you were sweet-talking me, she'd have your head on a silver platter. What about...thirty?"
"Twenty, final offer," Eugene said in his kindest, most attractive voice, "and maybe I'll bring back something pretty for you too." He winked and she giggled even more.
"Well, if you insist..."she smiled brightly. She lifted the box to give it to him, but before his grabby hands got a hold of the beautiful necklace, she made the box out of his reach. "Psych! You really think you're sweet-talk is gonna make the price fifty to twenty? In you're dreams, Princey! I'll keep the necklace for you at the shop, but I expect full price." Jackie smirked at him and Eugene's happy expression fell into a frown.
"You're good at this game."
"So are you. But I have an advantage: the necklace."
"You drive a hard bargain."
She chuckled. "Do you want the necklace or not, Mr. Fitzherbert?"
He paused and glared at her. They stared each other down for about five minutes and then he called it a defeat. "Fine, you'll get your money in full! I'll be back."
"Thank you, have a nice day!" she said brightly. Eugene glared at her and went out of the shop. He sighed and went to where he'd put Max.
"Alright, Max, let's-" He looked around; the horse was gone.
"Fleabag," he muttered, "Now I'll just have to walk home."
It was bright and sunny out luckily, so the journey that Eugene had to make wouldn't be too long and painful. It just would've been easier if he had a certain horse to carry him there. Plus, he was sure to have someone in the kingdom stop him and start swamping their precious prince. Not that he would mind on a normal day, but he was a bit ticked off right now.
"Jackie, that little b-" Before he finished his quiet rants, there was a scream in the alleyway that sounded like a woman was in trouble. Eugene ran towards the shady break in between shops and saw that an old woman carrying a bag was trying to fight off a petty thief. The man had a hold of the woman's bag, trying to snatch it from her. He wore all black and a masquerade mask, and there was a gleaming silver knife in his boot.
He pulled out his own weapon, "Stop in the name of the king, thief!"
The man stopped his attempts at stealing the bag for a moment and faced him. "Well well, isn't that nice? The ex thief becomes a prince and now is helping a citizen fight against his own kind. What happened to ya, Flynn?"
"I grew up. Now let go," he ordered.
"Fine," the masked thief said. He pushed the old woman down on the ground and she grunted in pain. He pulled out his dagger and challenged Eugene to a fight. That wasn't exactly what he expected.
The knife came flying towards Eugene and he ducked out of the way. Then a sword was pulled out, and Eugene tried to make a pass at him, but he blocked the metal. The swords clashed together as the two fought, the old woman standing there in both shock and fright. The thief poked at Eugene's side and made a wound, but Eugene countered with a slice at his arm. It was deep, and the thief winced in pain. But they continued their sword play, dodging each others' blows, both with the goal of winning this fight. Then Eugene remembered his other weapon that was attached to his side. He grabbed at the handle on his side, tore off his trusty frying pan, and whacked at the man's sword, knocking his weapon to the ground. The man stood wide-eyed and lifted his hands up in defeat. "You win," the man said, then pleaded, "Please, have mercy on me."
"Of course," Eugene replied and promptly hit the man with the frying pan. "I could've hit you a lot harder, there's some mercy for you!"
He turned to the old woman, who looked frightened. "Are you okay, madam?"
"Yes yes, I'm fine. I can't believe you came to help me. What can I do to repay you?" She rummaged through her bag and Eugene put up his hand.
"No payment necessary, madam. I'm just happy to know you're safe," Eugene insisted.
"Oh, but I must repay you. Maybe something lovely for the princess?"
"No, it's fine, really, it's-" He stopped mid-sentence when she pulled out a necklace: the same blue and pink sapphire encrusted butterfly necklace he'd seen at Jackie's Jewels. "Where did you-?"
"It's a necklace I've made. I've been looking for someone to sell it to, but on my way to the market place, that thief attacked me. But you've clearly shown that you are worthy to have it. So here you go." She extended her arm for Eugene to take the necklace. He looked at it, shocked.
"You made this?" He took the necklace and fingered the chain, examining what it was made of. Sure enough, it looked like the real thing.
The woman smiled. "Yes. It's a locket, the butterfly opens up. She could put anything she wants in there."
Eugene kept examining the jewelry. "Can I really have this?"
"You've proved to be worthy. Please, take it," she told him.
"Thank you." With that, Eugene and the old woman parted ways. And as the woman walked away, she shifted from the old woman to a beautiful blonde figure with a smirk on her face.
A/N: So I haven't gotten any reviews on this yet, but I decided to upload another chapter anyway. What do you think of it so far readers? I want you're opinion, I do love getting reviews :) Anyway, keep on reading, and I'll update as soon as possible!
*My other Tangled fanfiction is where I first wrote about Jackie's Jewels...if you haven't read it and want to understand the little references, check it out :)
