Abducted

An Unknown Foreign Beauty

Chapter 10- The Tower

"Sleep, Blondie, sleep." his voice was ringing in her ears like a lullaby. His lips were pressing soft kisses on her neck, while he was murmuring her name.

"No." The princess opened her eyes to find his chocolate orbs looking into hers. They were warm, tender with love, as if asking if it was okay to kiss her again. His breath moved a stray hair on her forehead, tickling the skin there."Naughty girl." He laughed. "It's midnight. You must sleep now."

"No." She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back. "If I fall asleep then you'll go away."

"I'll be here."

"Liar."

"No, I promise."He whispered again, gently closing her eyes with his rough hand. Her skin absorbed his warmth in the cold night and her eyes were closed.

"Rapunzel…Rapunzel."

The princess jolted awake with the knock at her door. Her eyes opened to the golden morning light. Unknowingly, her arms moved to her side only to find the emptiness beside her.

It was only a dream. The dream chased her every night. Every morning she woke up in her cold lonely bed. He was never there. A drop of tear landed on the pillow from her big emerald eyes, startling the sleeping chameleon there.

"Crick."

Pascal's defensive noise brought the princess back to the reality. She instantly scooped the sleepy chameleon in her palms and tried to smile, "Rise and shine, Pascal." In the answer Pascal made another annoying noise, clearly saying that he wasn't so eager to get up so early. "Alright, you sleepy head." She hung her legs by the side of her bed, placed him back to his place over the pillow. "I'm going to have the breakfast without you." Pascal seemed not be much affected by her threat. He was already back to his beauty sleep, snoring peacefully.

A sigh escaped her from her mouth. Last night she fell asleep in Eugene's arms only to find it as a dream in the morning. Why did the mornings come? Couldn't the nights last forever, letting her to live with her happy dreams?

"Rapunzel, sweetie. It's almost eight o' clock in the morning." the queen's sweet voice chimed from the other side of the door. She was getting late again. Rapunzel slid down from the bed quickly, rushed to the bathroom, and quickly splashed some water on her face. Then she quickly rushed near the wardrobe, grabbed the first dress she found and quickly slipped it over her head.

"We're waiting for you at the dining all." the queen sounded a bit impatient "It is almost eight ten."

Oh, my gosh. Rapunzel's eyes moved to the grand clock over the mantel. No, not again. Hurried, she picked up the shoes and rushed toward the dining hall. And when she made to the dining hall, she was welcomed by a warm hug from her mother. "Good morning sweetie." "Good morning, mother." Rapunzel said and grinned. Soon her smile disappeared when she turned to the person sitting next to her.

"Good morning Edward." She said disdainfully. In the answer she got a wide eyed expression from the prince. "Princess." Edward could only open his mouth.

"What?" Rapunzel tried to look innocent.

"What have you done?"

"What?" Rapunzel was really confused now.

"Your shoes." Edward's face looked like a pure disaster. "What's wrong with you lately?"

Instantly, Rapunzel's eyes moved to her feet. She was wearing shoes of two different colors- red in the right, yellow in the left. Her face turned red. She had never done anything like this in last eighteen years. What was happening to her? How could she make such a mistake?

"It is not the fashion." Edward stabbed at his pasta and took a mouthful of it. "Certainly not for this morning." Rapunzel frowned. Sure she hadn't much high idea about this weird prince's fashion sense, not when he was wearing a horrible prink suitt.

"Mother, I'm sorry. I…just.. ok, I'm going to change it now." She said quietly.

The queen was a sensible woman. She could feel her daughter's embracement. The color on her cheek said it all. Quickly she rose from her seat and took her hand. "It is alright, dear." She patted her shoulder, smiling, trying to cheer her up. Rapunzel's face was still red from the embarrassment. She cupped her chin and tilted her face so that she was looking into her eyes. "I didn't mind."

"A nice fashion. Very innovative." The king added.

Slowly the cloud disappeared. And very slowly a smile spread across Rapunzel's face. "I don't appreciate it." Edward shook his head, before the king's angry glare could stop him. In fact it was true that the king had never seen his daughter in this way before.

She was once again wearing the lavender dress which was horrible wrinkled; her golden hair was sweeping the floor behind her. She seemed too tired to wear her usual braid today. Moreover her every step looked tired.

The king decided to cheer her up with a smile. "Have you slept well, my dear?"

"Yeah.." Rapunzel's head shot up with his question. She looked at him and tried to smile "Yes, father. Yes…"

But the dark circles under her eyes didn't agree with her words. Even when she moved towards her chair silently, she looked too much preoccupied. Even she forgot about the order of the seats in the table. She pulled the chair next to the queen. The king exchanged a tensed look with his wife. She was thinking the same.

"Err.." And their fear came true with Edward's sudden interruption. "I think the princess much sit beside her consort."

Once again Rapunzel's face turned red. Not another mistake. "Oh, yes." Her eyes moved quickly from her parent's sympathetic gaze to Edward's not so amused face. She quickly pushed back the chair that she had drawn and moved to the one next to Edward.

As the servants began serving the dishes, Prince Edward took a spoonful of pasta from the dish and began gathering them in his plate. The King couldn't even trust his own eyes when he finished half of a bowl in a few minutes. He eyed his wife, who coughed, "Um… Prince Edward, are you enjoying your breakfast?"

"Not much." Edward took another mouthful. "I don't know why the cooks serve so cheap things here. In my palace we are used to serve the most expensive pastas. But after tasting the horrible foods in the jungle, it tastes good."

In other times the king would have burst into laughter by now, but this time he began to feel very annoyed with the prince. Why on earth this man couldn't stop talking about money? It wasn't that he bought them all with his donation.

"This pasta costs me fifty gold."

"Ours cost hundred." Edward took another mouthful. "They must be better, don't they princess?"

She wished, she had Midas's golden touch. Unfortunately she hadn't. So she smiled. "Yeah, that sounds wonderful." But her smile was so false that pained her lips. And her fake expression never escaped the fair queen's eyes. Her eyes moved to her daughter who was swirling the noodles in her plate idly, not even interested in the tasty morsel in the dish. It was her favorite dish; the queen ordered the royal cook to prepare it since her return. But she hadn't yet touched it. The look in her eyes was so hollow, that sent a chill through her spine. She had seen that look the day she returned. But she didn't know why. Somehow she could feel her daughter wasn't as same as before.

"You are not eating, dear." At last the queen decided to say "Is the food too bad?"

"No, not at all." Rapunzel took the fork and stabbed at the noodles, and began pushing them into her mouth.

"You better eat that princess." Edward nodded with his big yellow grin, taking another mouthful "It is lot better than Rider and the Snuggly Duckling."

And that worked. All of a sudden Rapunzel's face turned white, the fork slipped from her hand, scattering all the foods on the table.

"Are you feeling sick?"But the queen's green eyes were almost teary, and she was ready to rush beside her daughter. But the king's gentle pressure on her arm stopped her.

For the last eighteen years, the king knew his daughter well- the always smiling face that greeted him in every morning, the shiny eyes that made his days bright, and the bubbling words that filled his heart with warmth. And he knew she was acting strange, something was bothering her.

"I'm alright, father and mother." Rapunzel sighed when she looked at her parents. The king smiled sympathetically.

"I know the abduction is still bothering you." The king's voice was soft. Tear clogged at her throat when the King reached over and placed his hand comfortingly on Rapunzel's.

Bothering? Yes, this abduction would bother her for the rest of her life. But how could she live like that, bothered by a secret? She was tired, really tired.

"But you did well my dear. May be we can talk about your great adventure." He suggested "In the library?

Her eyes moved to her mother who also gave an affirmative nod. Possibly her father was right. She really needed to talk about it. She was tired of bearing the weight of this secret. Maybe this would stop the war, may be her father could fix everything, or may be her family could get rid of this price tag prince.

Rapunzel smiled a little. "That sounds wonderful, father." She said. She quickly stood to her feet "if you excuse me, I'll talk with you later."

"Of course, dear." The Queen said, relived to see her daughter smiling again. "I'll see you later."

"Oh, of course mother." Then Rapunzel turned to her father "Let's go."

'So my dear… ready to go?" But it wasn't the king who spoke, it was Edward. Rapunzel bit her lips as he stood up from his chair and slipped his hands into hers.

Rapunzel tried her best not to plummet the man. A minute ago he had just ruined her breakfast and now he was trying to ruin her conversation with her father? It was really intolerable. May be he had donated money for her army money that didn't give him the right to stick his nose in everything.

She gave her father a helpless look. The king understood.

"Actually." The king sighed, giving a side way glance to his daughter "Will you give her a few minutes alone, so that I can talk with my daughter privately?"

Edward's grin disappeared. He eye moved to the royal man and then to the princess next to him.

"But sire…" He objected "We made this adventure together. It isn't fair that you'll hear about her part alone."

"I can hear your part later." The king continued, and then looked at Rapunzel "Come on darling."

"I thought the king of Corona is a fair ruler." Edward murmured, letting Rapunzel's hand go, who, quickly rushed near her father and slipped her arm into his.

"At least he must be grateful to his daughter's rescuer." Edward continued when they turned to leave.

Blood crept up to the old king's face, turning his cheeks bright red. That was enough. Rapunzel couldn't take anymore. So she decided to speak. "Well, Edward. We'll tell our story together."

"But darling…" The king tried to protest. "You wanted the moments alone."

Rapunzel's soft pressure on her father's arms stopped him. "It's alright father. Edward and I shared an adventure together. Without him our story will not be complete."

()()()

How long? He thought. For almost an hour he idly swirled at the food on his plate the breakfast, having not touched a single morsel of it. He simply stared down at the tasty pasta the cooks had wiped up for the royal family, stabbing at the noodles with his fork, allowing the savory sauce the noodles were drenched in to slide down into an oily pool.

"How long?" he asked himself again. It was only a week since they parting but already it began to seem like a decade to him.

Then how long they expected him to live without her?

He stared aimlessly to the deserts that had been served already. It was his favorite but it didn't look as appealing as before.

Not when he was living without her, alone.

When she left, he returned to his own home, the Naldora castle. He thought may be the reality would change him. Once again he engaged himself training the new bunch of army that had to be ready for the next battle against Corona. But all the training, all the sword fighting seemed less important. Things got worse when an amateur soldier managed to defeat him in a duel. He engaged himself into more and more tasks with a hope that they would help him to forget her.

But it was a mistake.

Instead her face became more and more vivid in his mind. Her smile, her gestures, her moves kept chasing him every moment. All of a sudden the realization splashed over him. She was his world. Without her, he'd just be so…so… "Empty.." He spoke out loud.

"Eugene, what are you saying?" suddenly a voice broke the line of his thoughts. Eugene's head shot up to find the white bearded man sitting before him- his uncle, King Aragon.

"Um…Yes, Uncle?" Eugene tried to look innocent, quickly turning his attention to his plate.

"I've a report that you're not doing your duty properly." King Aragon fixed his brown eyes upon his nephew. "What's wrong with you lately, son?"

"Um…" Eugene swallowed hard, trying to avoid his uncle's eyes "Nothing."

"I know you're upset about the princess of Corona, my dear." He said softly."And I'm sorry that you've failed your mission."

"I'm sorry, uncle." Eugene whispered.

The King reached over and placed his hand comfortingly on Eugene's. "Well, you'll do better next time, son." The king comforted "Why don't you go and lead the next troop to Corona?"

And the words made Eugene almost gasp. He raised his eyes from his plate to find King Aragon's eyes shining with hope. "You are our best fighter, Prince Eugene. I know you'll be successful this time". Eugene's body tensed. Leading an army to Corona. No. He could never do that.

"I can't."

"Why son?"

"I..err.. actually…" he stammered in the middle…what should he answer. The king's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Is it a girl matter?"

"No..No…" Eugene tried to plaster a big grin upon his lips "Oh, uncle, no girl. No girl. I just need a little bit time."

"Oh." The king also grinned this time, patting Eugene's shoulder "Then take your time, son." Then he stood up on his feet and turned to leave.

When he was gone, Eugene let a sigh to escape. A narrow escape. Again.

But how long he could avoid the situations like this? "I can't…" he breathed the word out loud, clutching onto the table for support. "Oh…Rapunzel…" He swallowed and shook his head. No. This was ridiculous. He had promised himself he would keep their relationship secret. Or he would stay safe for her. He had to stop…For Rapunzel.

He'd do whatever he could to make her happy. Whatever it took. She was the most important thing to him, and he repeated that to himself over and over again as he pushed back the chair and stood up on his feet. Taking in one last deep breath he began walking down the hall. He'd go out into the courtyard to ease his nerves.

Or perhaps see if he could take Maximus out for a ride.

REVIEWS? FAVES? FOLLOWS?

Sorry for the errors and typos. I'm not so good in English.

This chapter is totally a crap but I'm so busy lately so I can't improve the writing quality. Sorry for this long absence. But my exam is going on so probably the next update will take a while. Thanks to all the people who are reading, faving, reviewing this story. Stay tuned.

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