Chapter 3

"You were right, my love," the King said to his wife, as he walked into the Queen's sitting room. "I had a feeling about that boy. I won't even talk about your distant relations."

The sitting room was beautiful. The wood paneled walls were decorated with painted flowers, drawn by Rapunzel herself. Small and delicate stained glass windows depicted garden scenes and flowers. A portrait of the Royal family hung over the fireplace in the middle of the room. A collection of suns, the symbol of Corona, were displayed in a huge mahogany breakfront in the center of the room against the wall. It was the first thing you saw when you entered room. A small library held the Queen's favorite books that she was reading at the moment. The ones she'd finished were returned to the large library down the hallway.

The Queen closed the book she was reading and looked up at her husband. "Yes, my fifth cousins, the Stabbington's, will stop at nothing to achieve what they want and that includes a few accidental deaths on purpose. And we won't even mention what happened with their kids. I'm actually ashamed to be part of that family."

"Don't be my love, "the King answered, shaking his head. "It's the same in all royal families. My brother tried to wrestle the crown out from under me. I also had to take some desperate measures to keep him from taking it." The King walked over to the Queen and sat next to her on the love seat. He took her hand in his own. "What do they say? You can pick your friends but you can't pick your relatives.

The Queen smiled and squeezed his hand. "We are going to have to do something, though, my dear. They are squeezing the life out of Charon. You might have to use some of those desperate measures you speak of."

The King nodded. "We just might have to, love. We'll just have to wait and see. I don't want to take action just yet though. That's why I have Devon coming early. I want him to take a message back to the King and Queen. That's also why I'm putting this wedding on hold for now and I'll tell him that when he gets here."

The Queen looked up at the clock on the mantel. "A bit late, isn't he?"

"I would send the Guards, but they're a bit busy rounding up our loveable thief."

"Maybe you shouldn't keep calling him that, now that you know…"

"Your Majesties," one of the Guardsmen opened the double doors. "Your guest has arrived."

The King and Queen stood. "We have two we're expecting, Manfred," the King said, "which one?"

"It's Flynn Rider. He sitting in the Audience Chamber right now, bound and…"

"Loosen his ropes, Manfred, and get him out of the Audience Chamber. It's much too large for a one on one. Put him in my study and explain that I'll be there within the hour. Now, I need a few more moments alone with my wife and send the Guards out again. We need to look for a missing Prince."

"Right away, Sire," Manny said, stepping out of the room and closing the doors.

The King smiled and shook his head. He turned to look at his wife. "Does this meet your approval?"

The Queen smiled. "You'll never know how much. I just hope that you find our missing Prince."

XXXXX

The Stabbington's were almost done with the Prince; at least they finished cleaning him out of some of his gold and silver. They moved him up to their hideout, the tall 80 foot tower.

They were studying him now, amazed at his resemblance to Sideburns.

"You could get away with it," Eye Patch admitted. "It's almost as if you were twins."

"Like us?" Sideburns snickered. "So Prince Devon, how are our many distant cousins?"

The Prince grunted. He was in his long johns, shaking with cold. The tower was cold and damp, especially with the windows closed to keep out the light.

"You know he can't answer," Eye Patch said, "not with that gag tied around his mouth."

Sideburns laughed. "Where is Lisa?"

"Putting the finishing touches on your costume," Lisa said, throwing it at him. "or should I say Prince Devon's. I had to let it out so it would fit perfectly. Go on, try it on. Let's see how it fits."

Sideburns was already getting into the coat. He walked over to the mirror and straightened it. He admired himself.

"Perfect fit. Thanks sis," he said, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Now we can get out there and do some damage," Eye Patch said, but Sideburns shook his head.

"No, we play it cool for now, watch and wait." He turned to his brother. "Stay here and keep an eye on Sis and the good Prince here. Make sure the Guards don't find him, I'm sure they've got a search party out right now." Sideburns smiled. "I'll handle the rest."

XXXXX

Flynn Rider looked around the room, the King's study, he heard the orders they were given.

It was a well appointed room, with tapestries depicting mythical creatures, the King's favorite subject. He was in love with myths, any and all of them. They mingled with books on the justice system, old laws and records, a few self help journals and how to books. You couldn't get by with just a smolder, he decided. This King meant business.

He was deciding what story to use. There were three, two he made up and one was the truth. The one he used the most was the orphanage story. It made the women feel sorry for him and they wanted to do nothing but help. Sometimes they even gave him things to help him out. The other story was that his parents were so poor that they had sold him to gypsies to get money, but he soon abandoned it as no one really cared.

But the truth he kept to himself. He only knew bits and pieces of it anyway, he had forgotten most of it or rather he had blocked it out from his memory, which was closer to the truth. All he could remember was that he was running, always running and he had no idea from what.

He had no idea what he was doing here, his only orders were to wait until the King arrived and so that's what he did. If this was his first step into getting Rapunzel on his side, then he was all for it.

Suddenly, the door burst open and the King strode in. He looked at Flynn as he closed the door behind him.

Flynn gulped. It was going to be a long night.

XXXXX

Rapunzel and the Queen sat together in the sitting room, reading, but both could hardly keep their minds on their books, especially Rapunzel. The Queen watched as Rapunzel put the book down and walk over to the window to stare out at the village people bustling to and fro, rushing to finish up the day's business. She felt an arm go around her waist and heard her mother's voice in her ear. "Everything will be alright, my daughter. Things will work out, wait and see. All you need to have is a little faith."