A/N: Hello all :) First of all, thank you so much for those of who are reading this story! It is such a blessing that I can't even describe how it feels when I read your reviews about it, positive or negative. I understand some are still concerned about what I'm putting our couple through. As I said to one reader who actually sent me an e-mail, I am not sadistic. I would not put our characters through pain for my pure enjoyment. That being said, the adversity they will face is essential to the story. I, like all of you, love Rapunzel and Eugene. I cannot give away the ending, but as I told said reader in an email, you can trust me :)

Thank you for all of the encouragement you have given me by reading this! The feed back - whether it be that someone favorites it, reviews, or simply just reads it in passing - has been way beyond what I expected when I set out on telling this story. I'm sorry that it's been nearly a week since the last chapter post. I'm getting ready to head back to college (later this morning actually) and I've been very busy seeing people. I hope you can forgive me and I'm thankful for your patience :)

Enjoy :)

Chapter 7

Advice and An Unexpected Follower

Sarah was concerned when she had searched for Rapunzel at the ball and had not found her. When Rapunzel's mother had not seen her for awhile, she charged her maidservant to find her. The queen couldn't leave the ball without any explanation, such behavior would be scorned as disrespectful; she didn't want to reveal the true explanation, for it would cause a frenzy of concern for Rapunzel's well being.

After failing to discover her whereabouts in the ball room, she went to check the next logical place she could think of: the princess' bedroom.

The maid tapped on the wooden door and called out her lady's name.

"Rapunzel? Are you in there?"

No response.

Sarah sighed. She hoped that Rapunzel was in her room. If she wasn't there, Sarah knew that she could be anywhere. It could take her all night to track the princess down. The maid whispered to herself as she placed her hand on the knob of Rapunzel's room, begging an ambiguous wish-granter that the princess would be inside.

"Please be here! Please be here!"

She creaked open the door and peered in to the room. At first, she heard or saw no sign of Rapunzel. Her heart sank, thinking that her wish had not been fulfilled.

Before she turned to leave, she heard a small sniffle from somewhere inside.

"Rapunzel?"

Sarah closed the door and searched the room, following the sound of sniffles as they became more clear. A weight lifted from her heart when she discovered the princess safe in her bedroom. That relief, though, was fleeting, and was replaced by concern as she beheld her highness.

Rapunzel sat on the floor between her bed and the bedroom window. She leaned against the side of her bed, her knees tucked in to her chest while she clutched a large stuffed bear in her arms.

"Rapunzel, where have you been," Sarah asked. "You're parents have been worried sick about you!"

The maid knelt beside her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Rapunzel looked at up at her. Her eyes were red from incessant weeping. Moist and dry streams of tears coated her cheeks like slimy trails left behind by slugs. Strands of hair jutted out in a disheveled fashion like when she would wake up in the morning before brushing her hair. Pascal curled up at the base of her neck's crook, watching her with a heavy, sympathetic gaze.

"What's the matter?"

Rapunzel wiped her fingers across her eyes. With each breath her chest heaved due to the loss of breath from her crying. Through the sniffles and involuntary gasps for air, she mumbled a response.

"It's all my fault!"

"What is?"

"Eugene."

Sarah's eyes grew. Rapunzel and Eugene had minor disagreements, but those were quickly diffused by Eugene's quick wit or her ability to charm him with her cutest smile and puppy dog eyes.

Tonight was different. It was the first time she'd cried after a fight. Sarah grew angry, assuming Eugene had done something to harm her highness.

"Did he hurt you?"

Rapunzel shook her head. "We had a fight. He thinks I'll leave him!"

The maid furrowed her brows in confusion. "What?"

"The Duke tried to kiss me, and Eugene saw! He thinks he isn't good enough for me!"

Sarah quirked her brow. "The Duke tried to kiss you?"

Hearing this question stung Rapunzel. Just being reminded of the moment pained her. Her face sunk back in to her teddy bear as the sobbing ensued.

Sarah stroked the princess' shoulders; attempting to impart any bit of comfort she was able. Her heart sank for the poor girl.

"Did you want to kiss him," Sarah queried.

"No," Rapunzel shouted. Sarah drew back, surprised by the defensiveness of the princess' response. Rapunzel noticed her shock and softened her tone.

"I wanted to pull away, but I couldn't. I happened so fast."

More tears began to spill forth from Rapunzel's face.

"I never wanted to hurt him!"

Sarah wrapped Rapunzel in a hug. She stroked her head and whispered words of comfort to ease the despondent girl. Tears pooled on her shirt where Rapunzel had buried her face. The muffled sobs dissipated at the hand of Sarah's delicate touch.

"Don't you worry," Sarah began. "All of this will pass."

Rapunzel pulled away and wiped her face. "How? How can Eugene trust me after tonight? What if I do leave him for a richer man?"

"Rapunzel, people who love each other fight like this," Sarah replied. "All you need to do is talk to him."

"I can't," she sniffled. "I tried to tell him I didn't want to kiss Marcus, but he wouldn't listen."

Sarah paused. Her lips puckered and twisted to the corner of her mouth as she brainstormed ideas that would solve Rapunzel's problem.

"Kiss him," Sarah advised.

Bewildered, Rapunzel's head tilted. Her sniffling stopped. "Kiss him?"

Sarah nodded with a clever grin. "Kiss him like you've never kissed him before. He doesn't believe you when you say it; show him that you love him!"

A blank, confused stare remained on the princess' face as she tried to grasp a concept so foreign to her. "But, what if he's still mad at me?"

Sarah smiled as she began scrubbing runny makeup and dried tears from her highness' face. "Rapunzel, you love Eugene don't you?"

Rapunzel nodded.

"Then who cares if he's still mad! Go kiss him until he knows for certain that you'll never kiss another man!"

A light returned to Rapunzel's eyes. At the corner of her lips, a small grin took shape. "Are you sure it will work?"

Sarah reassured her with a smile. "Sweetie, a woman's kiss is the cure for a man's wounded soul. When you kiss him he'll forget that you even fought!"

Rapunzel giggled. She glanced at her shoulder towards Pascal, who blushed so much that his complexion turned a bright red. Renewed with joy, Rapunzel wrapped her maid in a hug. "I think you're right, Sarah!"

"I know I'm right," she replied with a giggle of her own. "Now show him that you'll always love him!"

Rapunzel skipped through the halls of the palace, singing and humming to herself on her way to Eugene's door. She would be seeing him alone, save for Pascal. Sarah bid the princess well wishes, but encouraged her to go ahead without her while she returned to the ball to inform her of Rapunzel's safety. "Once we get to his room, there won't be much for me to do anyways," Sarah joked.

The majority of the palace seemed empty, with the exception of a few palace guards patrolling the hallways. Rapunzel could hear the sound of her dainty feet skipping off the marble floor. After making her way downstairs from the eastwing, and passing through the building's central lobby, she turned down the hallway that would lead her outside to Eugene's home.

While skipping down this hall, Rapunzel thought she heard another pair of feet trailing her. She stopped and turned to see who might be behind her. To her surprise, there was nobody there. Though puzzled by this, she shrugged off the sounds as some mistake to her hearing. She turned back to proceed on her mission.

Upon turning, a man garbed in black armor stood before her. Pascal fell to the floor after leaping in fright. Rapunzel opened her mouth to scream, but it was covered by the man's massive hand.

Before she could run, he pulled her in to his massive frame with an equally impressive arm constricting her movements. She flailed and shrieked from underneath the man's unbreakable grip. The man turned her outward, and her eyes widened in disbelief.

The Duke stood before her with a stoic look on his face.

"You're going with me," he said.

She shrieked as loud as she could, but the sound remained suppressed by the hand clasped over her mouth. She thrashed about, employing any method she could to free herself or call for aid.

Marcus reached in to his pocket and pulled out a thorny plant stem. With a knife he shaved off a thorn from the stem. With the blunt end of the thorn in his fingers, he pressed the point of it in to her wrist.

At first, her thrashing increased to resist being pricked. As seconds passed, though, her eyes grew heavy. Soon her body fell sedated, unable to resist any longer.

The Duke looked at his knights that accompanied him. "She's asleep. Hurry, let's get out!"

Pascal, who had become disoriented in the fall, shook himself from his daze as the Duke and his knights carried away his unconscious friend. His first thought was to run after her. But even he knew that his efforts would be futile. He needed help.

After staggering to his feet, the chameleon dashed off in search of Eugene.

A/N: Chapter 8 should be up in the next day or so. I wanted to post them back to back, but it was taking longer than usual so I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer :)