Chapter 3- Preparations
Today was the day of the first marriage in the kingdom of Corona in almost thirty-five years. It was also known as Eugene & Rapunzel's wedding. The people of Corona were invited to the wedding, as a symbol of the kindness of the young princess. The sunlight broke through the heavens and for a moment everything was perfect.
However, the day was far from peaceful, as raised voices echoed out of the window of the north-east tower. "Dammit Aurora will you just wake up!" yelled the southern drawl of Miss Charlotte le Bouf, "You'll crease the dress!" "Sorry", yawned Aurora, "I haven't had a good night's sleep since, you know, the curse". Charlotte's expression softened, "It's all right, just be more careful next time". Aurora nodded, smiled and turned back to the mirror, and tried to help Pocahontas pull back her long ebony hair into a ponytail.
Charlotte le Bouf, had taken it upon herself to become the wedding planner of Eugene and (soon-to be) Rapunzel Fitzherbert, after missing out on Tiana & Naveen's swamp wedding. Although Eugene and Rapunzel were initially hesitant, Charlotte had proven to be surprisingly helpful in planning the wedding.
Somehow, she had magically coerced Chef Louis to be the caterer for the wedding, and she had hired the servants from the Enchanted Castle to be the decorators for the wedding after hearing about the wonderful job they did for Belle & Adam (Beast). Charlotte's exquisite taste had also helped in the designing of the bridesmaids gowns; midnight blue with a white sash draped around the skirt.
Belle had agreed to be Rapunzel's maid of honour, as the two had become exceedingly close; they had formed a bond over their mutual love of books. The remainder of the Disney princesses had also become involved in the wedding as Rapunzel's bridesmaids, excluding Ariel who had to tend to unknown trouble in Atlantis, but had sent her love to the bride & groom, and Sebastian & the Atlantean orchestra as their wedding band. Now, after several rather forced wedding rehearsals dictated by Charlotte, the day had finally arrived, and nerves were beginning to bubble.
"Snow dear, don't go near the apples if you're trying to avoid them", sighed Charlotte, running her hands through her hair, "Belle can you just stop reading for five minutes? You are the maid of honour after all. Rapunzel can you get out here, we still need to get you into your dress".
"Coming", called Rapunzel, as she emerged from behind a silk changing screen. It had been almost four years since Eugene had stumbled upon Rapunzel's tower and helped her escape from Gothel. Even though four years had passed, her hair still remained the same pixie cut that Eugene had done in the towers , but it still remained the dark brown of her mother, who had passed away just last year. The only reminder of her time in the tower was a small scar she had received from the broken mirror on her left arm.
"It's going to take me a while to get into this thing", smiled Rapunzel. "That's why we brought the birds silly" said Charlotte, "They still help Cindy get ready even now she lives in the palace with Charming". "And they do a very good job of it too", grinned Cinderella as she tickled the bluebirds under their chins. "How do you think Eugene is doing?" inquired Charlotte, "In my own slightly imperfect experience, men can get a teensy bit flighty before the wedding". "Slightly imperfect"?", said Tiana with hints of suppressed laughter in her smile, "You almost married Naveen's servant who YOU thought was Naveen". Charlotte turned a deep shade of crimson, mumbling about how he seemed quite charming. "Do we need to remind you on the sound he made during the proposal?", said Tiana, now laughing with glee. Charlotte responded by hitting Tiana with a pillow, and eventually it escalated with all of the bridesmaids, the bride and the wedding planner committing feathery assaults on each other.
The air was soon thick with the sight of falling white goose feathers, and the sound of laughter ringing out like a bell. Rapunzel was standing in the centre of the mess, happier than she had ever been in all of her years in the tower, but not as happy in the four years she had been together with Eugene. "To answer your question Charlotte", Rapunzel said with a mischievous grin, "I'm sure Eugene is as happy as I am".
"Eugene breathe in and out okay", said the calm voice of Phillip, as he watched the future prince consort heaving on the bed. "Just don't fre-
"I know I know don't freak out", snapped Eugene, "Those were the words Rapunzel told me right before she revealed her magical glowing hair that could heal people". Eugene tried to stand up, only to find himself staggering about ten steps forwards like he was drunk, before being helped back up again by Phillip. "Thanks", said Eugene, trying to calm himself for what was possibly the most important day of his life. In just a few hours, he would be marrying Rapunzel who he would die for (again), but he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
Bad things had happened to him before, him being a thief and all that, but he was quite sure that it was not a good sign to have a nightmare of the women who kidnapped Rapunzel & tried to murder him the night before his wedding. Eugene felt a shudder run down his back, as he flashed back to the nightmare:
"Eugene!" screamed Rapunzel at the top of her lungs. Eugene tried to get towards her, but found himself chained to a post instead. Looking around, he realised where he and Rapunzel were, with a look of sheer horror etched onto his face: The tower.
"Eugene look out!" screamed Rapunzel, her eyes alit with fright. Before any of them could act, a searing pain erupted from Eugene's lower left stomach."Aggh", he cried out in pain, as he struggled to cover up his wound. "Now it's your turn flower," sneered a too familiar voice.
Stepping into the dim light, emerged Mother Gothel, except she was not the familiar youthful women, whose beauty was cold yet painfully beautiful, that Rapunzel was used to. Instead, here she could only be described as being a hag; leathery skin sagged around her face, her arms littered with brown liver spots, dreary stone eyes stared out at the two of them with intense hatred. In her right hand, she held a stiletto dagger, with the blade dripping in a scarlet substance; blood.
Gothel gave a small wicked smile, and glared at Rapunzel. "He did this to me flower", she said as she gently stroked the dagger between her bony fingers, "It's his fault that I look like this now, but no matter. Now I'm going to make him suffer before he dies, and I'm afraid my dear, that involves YOU". Gothel stepped towards Rapunzel, grabbed the miserable girl forward, and brought the knife into her chest. "No!" Eugene roared like a wounded animal as he watched his beloved being mutilated by her so-called mother, but what he saw next sickened him the most.
Rapunzel was slumped on the ground behind Gothel lying in a large pool of her own blood limp & unmoving. Eugene had to fight the urge to throw up at the sight, and he could feel hot tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes. "You bitch! How dare you do that to Rapunzel! She took care of you for eighteen years and this is how you repay her!" snarled Eugene. Gothel just stood there and smiled with a dark delight, as Eugene spat and writhed about in front of her, the blood beginning to pour steadily from his own wound.
"Eugene", mumbled Rapunzel, her face as pale as ash, as her chest began to rise & fall much slower than normal. "Rapunzel hang on", cried out Eugene, and suddenly the chains holding him back broke from the walls. He tripped & stumbled over to Rapunzel, nearly slipping numerous times in blood, and he cradled her cold body in his arms. "Eugene", murmured Rapunzel, her voice barely audible. "Hey baby", said Eugene in response. Rapunzel's hand came up to touch Eugene's face gently, and whispered, "You were my new dream", but before Eugene could reply with "And you were mine", Rapunzel's hand dropped down onto the stone floor, and Eugene could feel her heartbeat slow down to a stop.
What happened next was just a mess of sound and colour. He could just recall Gothel sneering, "Don't cry Rider", and feel a sharp blinding pain at the back of his neck. All he could remember after that was his body slumping down next to Rapunzel's, and his entire world fading to black.
Sweat pouring down his fore-head, Eugene woke up with a start and looked around rapidly at his room, wondering & worried that Gothel was here in the castle, just waiting to get revenge. After a while, he was able to calm himself down. Gothel was dead, she wasn't coming back to hurt Rapunzel, and she wasn't in the castle now.
But every time Eugene tried to close his eyes and go back into blissful sleep, all he could see was Rapunzel's heart in Gothel wrinkled claws, her body slumped on the floor behind her slowly and painfully dying. Eventually he managed to nod off for about an hour, although by morning he was extremely sleep deprived.
Sleep deprivation had not helped the next morning, when he almost walked in on Rapunzel before their wedding, nor had it helped when he had almost fallen head-first out of a tower window and had to be helped back to his room by Phillip who had agreed to be his best man. After telling Phillip about the dream, Eugene had begun to hyperventilate, as the thought of Gothel returning and hurting Rapunzel was too much for him to handle especially on the day of his wedding.
"It was just a dream", said Phillip "Aurora had similar nightmares when Maleficent died. For about a year and a half, all she could see when she closed her eyes, was those glowing green eyes in the fire, leading her to her near-death state, or sometimes just death. Other times she would find my body, impaled by the thorns that surrounded her father's palace, or sometimes it would be Maleficent murdering the two of us. I can't tell how many times she woke up screaming or when I had to shake her awake. But they eventually went away, and now they are nothing but a memory. Your fears feel real now but they will go in time". "I know you're right, I just can't stop thinking that something bad is going to happen", sighed Eugene. "It's been four years and I haven't dreamed about her at all since then, but I guess it could be stress from the wedding ".
Phillip smiled ruefully and said "That's all it is okay, but now you need to get ready for your wedding". Eugene thanked him, and Phillip left, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something out there, was coming. And it would definitely make him freak out.