A/N: I am SOOOO SORRY for not posting sooner than this. Life went crazy, I got sick, and today, my dad and I have been going back and forth, editing the chapter. It had to be done multiple times. I actually still have a stuffy nose and cough, but hey! No fever! :D Anyway, happy Mother's Day! I hope you all have a good one. :) Thanks for all the 'favorites', followers, and reviews! :D :D :D :D :D And I own nothing but the plot and characters you don't recognize from 'Tangled' or 'Frozen', which sadly includes Hunter. Enjoy! :D

CHAPTER TEN

A SHAVE AND A THREAT

As the visitors from Arendelle had already had their luggage from home taken to their guest rooms when they first arrived, Rapunzel and Eugene showed them to the rooms themselves so that everyone could change. The two then proceeded to go to their own room and change themselves, making sure not to wear anything too casual or fancy, but something somewhere in between. They had just finished brushing their teeth when Rapunzel turned her head to look at Eugene, her hands on the edge of the counter with the wash basin before them.

"You need a haircut," she noted, inspecting her husband more closely. "And a shave."

Eugene raised his eyebrows. "I do?"

"Yes. And I'm going to give you one—right now, before the festival starts," Rapunzel said resolutely. She started opening different drawers, evidently searching for the things she needed.

"Hold up," Eugene said, interrupting his wife's search.

Rapunzel looked up. "What?" she said, as though he had just prevented her from doing the most important thing in the world.

"I do not need a haircut. I'm fine, really!" He smirked. "I think you're the one who needs a haircut, actually."

"That was a really bad joke, you know. You do know that?"

"Indeed I do, Blondie."

"There it is again."

"Yes, there it was, that little thing called sarcasm."

"Really?" Rapunzel put her hands on her hips.

"Yes, really. Now, are you going to let me finish making myself look beautiful before the festival starts or what?" said Eugene.

"Or what. I at least need to give you a shave. Beards look fine on Daddy, but I prefer you with just a goatee."

"I take that as a compliment."

"Stop trying to distract me—it won't work."

"I've known that since the dawn of time, my dear." The ex-thief gave a dazzling smile.

"Come on, you." And before Eugene could object, Rapunzel had grabbed his arm and pulled him into their bedchamber. "Where's your pocketknife?" she asked him once they had both sat down on their bed.

"My what?"

"Pocketknife. Where is it?"

"Why do you want my pocketknife?"

"I'm going to shave your beard off."

"I don't have a beard."

"If you keep this up, I swear that when we get to the actual hair-removing part of this, I will take off all of your chin hairs so that your chin will be empty of anything except for your suspiciously blank and pale skin," Rapunzel stated, giving an evil smile. "And I promise some hair will disappear from your face. And I don't break my promises. Ever. Remember?"

"Indeed I do, Blondie," Eugene said warily. "Fine, do it." He reached into a pocket and brought out a small, folded blade and handed it to his wife. "But don't cut me, okay?"

"I won't." Rapunzel winked at him, which did not comfort Eugene in the slightest.

"Promise?"

"Maybe."

"Shoot."

Rapunzel laughed. "You know I'm only joking, right?"

"Maybe…."

"Okay, let's just do this. The festival starts in half an hour."

"Indeed it does," said Eugene.

"Don't talk. Or move your mouth at all." Rapunzel took the pocketknife and, slowly, carefully, but also with a deft, smooth movement that proved many years of practice, started sliding the edge of the blade across Eugene's chin. He held still, almost a statue. Rapunzel had done this with him a million times before, since they had first been married and he had needed a good shaving. He knew he wouldn't turn out ugly. He hoped….

"So how are you, Eugene?" Rapunzel asked suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, sorry. You can talk a little now, if you want. How are you?"

"Fine…?" Eugene said, slightly confused.

"I mean, really, how are you? Is there anything wrong? Anything you want me to know?" said Rapunzel. She briefly glanced up into Eugene's brown eyes before turning her own back to the task at hand.

"Honestly, I don't really know. I mean, last night was really crazy. Obviously. But…." He breathed in a small, sharp breath, causing Rapunzel's hand to slip a little, though fortunately not affect her work. "Oh, wow. I can't believe I forgot about this."

"Forgot about what?"

"I…." Eugene, for some reason, was a little uncertain about telling Rapunzel about his discovery of the book. He had absolutely no clue why. He always told his wife everything (well, except for that time he had stolen those apples… even as a prince… even for Maximus, who hadn't known where they had come from…), but now…. He wasn't sure he wanted to let Rapunzel know about this.

"Are you okay?" she questioned concernedly. His indecisiveness seemed to show clearly on his face.

"I…" Eugene repeated. He sighed. "Okay, look. You know when I told you about living at the orphanage all those years? About The Tales of Flynnagin Rider? Well, yesterday, I—"

He was interrupted by the sound of wailing coming from the direction of Lily and Benjamin's cribs.

"Someone must be hungry," said Rapunzel. "Okay, I'm done now." She stood up, brushed Eugene's face with her hand to get any loose hairs off, and went over to the twins.

"Never mind…" Eugene muttered. He watched as his wife, with a practiced motion, pulled out a crying baby Benjamin and cradled him softly before starting to feed him. He sighed as the sound of more crying came from Lily's crib.

"You can take her. You know she only drinks from a bottle," Rapunzel said.

"Okay." Eugene stood up and stepped over to the crib, taking a plastic bottle off of a shelf in a cabinet nearby. He gently lifted Lily, whose face was red and wet with tears, out of the crib. He then sat back down on the bed and put the bottle to Lily's lips. The crying ceased immediately, as if by magic.

Rapunzel smiled. "There you go."

They sat in silence for a little while, looking at the twins and occasionally each other. Rapunzel broke the silence after a while, not meeting Eugene's eyes but staring at Ben.

"Are we really ready to be parents?" she asked suddenly.

Eugene was surprised. Rapunzel had been the most excited about the prospect of a baby, and seemed to have absolutely no problem with all of the tantrums and such awakening them in the night, along with all the smelly diapers. "Why do you say that?"

"Because… well, I don't know." Rapunzel sighed. "It's just… I mean, yes, we have had these two for six months now, but I still feel so new to this whole parenting thing. And it feels like just yesterday that I came back to my parents, away from the hidden, protected life I had with Mo—I mean, with Gothel."

"Well," Eugene began, scooting closer to her, "Maybe… maybe this is one of those things where you just learn as you go. Maybe you're just supposed to wing it."

"Maybe," sighed Rapunzel. They sat in silence for a little while longer. She broke it sooner than before, saying, "Well, we'd better finish getting ready now. Come on, Eugene."

With that, she stood up, set Benjamin back into his crib, and touched Eugene's shoulder. The ex-thief lifted his eyes from Lily to look at his wife.

"Okay." He stood up as well. They began their final touches on their outfits when he realized something. "Hey, Blondie."

"Hmm?" Rapunzel asked, toying with her hair and looking at her reflection in the tall mirror before her.

"It's almost the five-year anniversary of how we met."

"And?"

"It was nearly your birthday five years ago, when we first met. And in just a few days it will be your actual birthday."

"So?"

"Happy early birthday, Rapunzel!" With that, Eugene picked his wife up by her waist and they began to dance. It was the same dance that they had participated in the day of Rapunzel's eighteenth birthday, almost, except that this time, it was just them, and there was nothing to interrupt their gliding, twirling, jumping, and leaping and separate them. They sang as they danced. And for those many breathtaking moments, everything was simply, amazingly, impossibly perfect.

Elsa was smoothing her hair into place when she heard a knock on her guest room door, which she was sharing with Kaara due to lack of space. The yellow-haired woman was in the bathroom at the moment, and Elsa was standing in front of a tall, gilded mirror, looking at her reflection. Her white-blond hair was in a soft, thick braid, accented with almost invisible snowflakes. She wore a dress that had many beautiful colors; blues, greens, and deep purples. Her icy blue eyes stared into her the one of her reflection. She looked like a queen, which of course she was, but somehow more so than usual.

"Who is it?" Elsa called, not turning her head but still staring at the mirror.

"Sir Harvey of the Royal Guard, your Majesty."

"Who's there?" Kaara came out of the bathroom, brushing her hair. She had evidently not heard the guard.

He repeated what he had just said before continuing. "May I come in, ma'am?"

Elsa and Kaara briefly exchanged looks before saying together, "Yes!"

The door opened to reveal a stately man in the uniform of a Corona soldier. He bowed. "Queen Elsa, I have just left from the dungeons, where the would-be murderer Hunter Jules has requested relentlessly to see you. I would not have followed with that request, however, he was bothering the other prisoners, and that would have just cause more trouble. But it is your decision whether or not you wish to speak with him right now, ma'am."

"Oh!" Elsa said, surprised. "Um… please give me a minute first."

The soldier named Harvey bowed. "Of course, your Majesty." He stepped out the door behind him.

"Thank you," said Elsa, just as the door closed behind him. She turned to Kaara, with a suddenly uncertain look on her face. "What am I going to do?"

"Well, go down to him, of course," Kaara said, as though it was obvious. "You should face him sometime, otherwise he might end up… haunting your memories forever."

Elsa looked even more uncertain. "Really? Are you sure? I mean… after all that happened last night…." She shuddered. The memories were too painful.

"Well, you don't have to go right now. You should talk to him sometime. It better be soon, though, because I have a feeling I know what the punishment is for attempted murder. I still think you should go now, though—but it's your decision. Like the guard said, you don't have to if you don't want to. But I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now, so I shouldn't be one to talk."

"You're making it worse."

"Whoops. Okay, then, want my advice? Go down to him. Go see what he wants," Kaara said firmly. "It's what I would do."

"But what about the festival?"

"The festival will be fine without you for a little while. I can go with you, if you want. For some moral support, you know," Kaara replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice Elsa had never heard her speak with before—as far as she remembered.

"Well… are you certain?" the Snow Queen asked.

"Of course I am. We just have to let the others know, though, in case this takes longer than we thought and they start wondering where we are."

"All right, then." Elsa took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Let's go."

"Nathan will want to come, too," Kaara noted as they started out the door. She had been doing her hair in a quick knot that now sat atop her head like a golden crown. She nodded to the guard, who bowed and started following a little ways behind them.

"Oh, yes, I'm sure he will."

"You sound like it's a problem."

"Yes, well… I—I don't know. I'm just afraid he might make things more difficult," Elsa admitted.

"Having your boyfriend facing the person who attempted to murder you might not be the best idea, apparently?" said Kaara.

"I guess so."

"Then maybe we'll just see if he wants to come, which will be inevitable, and then if he starts going crazy down there, I'll take him away so that you can have a nice, private little chat with Hunter. Oh, and with the other boys, too, because they will undoubtedly want to interrogate him. Or maybe just Eugene, it'll be quicker. He used to be a criminal—he thinks like one, even now, I'm sure, so he'll be able to ask the right questions."

"Then I guess that's what will happen," Elsa said, sighing. Then, after a moment of contemplation, she asked, "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Rapunzel and Eugene. We'll tell them first and grab Eugene, and then word will spread around pretty quickly, I'm sure. Then we'll get Nathan and go." Kaara lead on resolutely, head held high.

"Ah, here we are!" They had arrived at the door to Rapunzel and Eugene's bedchamber. They could hear what sounded like muffled singing through the carved wood. "Want me to knock?"

"Um… sure?" said Elsa in an uncertain tone of voice.

"Okay, then." Kaara did so. The singing stopped abruptly.

"Who is it?" a female voice called through the door.

"Kaara and Elsa!" Kaara said.

The door opened to reveal Rapunzel, dressed in a pink, purple, and gold dress and giving a small smile. "Oh, hi, guys!"

"Hi. We came to deliver a message and request something." Kaara cleared her throat and continued in a falsely proper manner, "Elsa here has been cordially invited to converse with none other than the would-be murderer Hunter. We wish to let you know of this and ask if anyone objects. We would also like to ask if Eugene would like to help interrogate him."

"Excuse me?" Rapunzel said, confused. Then, realizing this might be a bit rude, she added in gentler tones, "Oh, I mean, really? Oh, Elsa, are you sure about this?"

"I… I think so. It's best to get it over and done with, and anyway, we might be able to find out something." Elsa's firmness was growing, and she was becoming more and more certain about what she was doing as she spoke.

"Such as exactly why Hunter stabbed Elsa in the first place," Kaara added. Then she said as an afterthought, "Did you say the blade was black earlier? Like black glass? It might have been obsidian," she noted.

"What?" asked Elsa.

"Never mind. So is Eugene coming?" Kaara asked.

"Uh…."

"Of course I will!" Right at that moment, the said ex-thief popped up behind Rapunzel's shoulder.

"Great! Anywho, Rapunzel, just thought we'd let you know. We'll be off now to our ultimate doom, then. Or his ultimate doom, or something like that. Goodbye," Kaara said in the sort of voice that meant a conversation was over.

"Oh! Okay, um… bye, then." Rapunzel let Eugene pass her by before shutting the door as Kaara turned around.

"Okay, then, off to get Nathan!" she announced.

It was as though Nathan had been waiting extra silently for someone to appear outside his door, for the moment the two girls arrived, they heard very rushed and muffled scrambling inside. And a moment later, the door had been pulled open so hard it made a huge but brief rush of air fly past them.

"Elsa!" he exclaimed, before resolutely grabbing her waist and pulling her into a tight hug.

"Nate!" Elsa said, surprised about this enthusiasm. "Uh… what's up?"

Nathan pulled away from her, shaking his head. "Nothing. I'm just glad you're all right."

"Um, there's no reason for me not to be," Elsa said, giggling uncertainly. Somehow, the events of last night seemed to have temporarily left her mind with one brief but deep glance at Nathan's blue eyes.

"Well, you know, what with the whole Hunter incidence…" said Kaara.

"Oh. Of course."

Nathan stared deeply into Elsa's eyes and she smiled uncertainly. "What about you… you seem a little… um… crazy?"

"Crazy? What? I'm fine. I'm just worried that you aren't." Nathan hugged her again.

"Okay…." This is… odd. Nate has never treated me like this before. It's like he's… all of a sudden gotten so protective over me. Granted, I did just nearly die, and would have had it not been for Rapunzel, but this is… I don't know… weird? Wait a sec… maybe it won't be such a good idea if he comes with us….

"Anyway, we wanted to let you know that Hunter wanted to talk to Elsa. You know, dude with the obsidian knife and all," Kaara said to Nathan.

Wait! No! Kaara! Elsa cried out in her mind.

"WHAT!" Nathan exclaimed in such a loud, anger-filled voice that passing servants stared.

"Yes, Nathan, now, we were wondering if you'd like to go with us," Elsa said in a much quieter voice than him.

"OF COURSE I WANT TO GO WITH YOU! WHY WOULD I NOT WANT TO?!" Nathan shouted indignantly.

"Okay, Nate, that's enough of that…." Elsa patted his shoulder uncertainly.

Nathan looked at her and the fire raging in his eyes seemed to go down a little. "Fine. Let's go. Better find out why he did this, anyway."

Elsa looked relieved. "Great."

"Okay, now to Hunter!" Kaara said.

And so, the guard led them to the dungeons. Nathan had started running, or at least walking very quickly, and ahead of the guard. Elsa occasionally had to call him back, since he had gone in the wrong direction, but at last, they arrived at their destination.

It was dark, musty, and cold down there in the dungeons; the soft sounds of grunts and squeakings of rats and mice could be heard echoing ominously through the long tunnels. As Corona wasn't a place to raise many very bad people, there weren't a lot of prisoners there; yet there were prisoners just the same. There was a guard at the opening to the dungeons who lead them to Hunter's cell.

To Elsa, this part of the dungeons was even creepier and scarier than anywhere else in there. Maybe it was because it was deeper underground than she had ever been before, more so than most of the dungeon; maybe it was because this was the place where the man who had tried to murder her stayed, trapped.

She looked through the rusty bars to look at him and shivered; Hunter's eyes were cold green marbles, staring at her unblinkingly the moment she came into view. Even barely an hour here had seemed to suck the very life out of him, and the low, yellow light in here did no help in his pale features.

"Elsa," he said calmly.

"Hunter," she replied softly.

"HUNTER!" Nathan yelled. He ran at the bars and grabbed them, shaking them, the only things stopping him from strangling the man behind them.

"Hello," Hunter said coolly, unflinchingly.

"WHY? WHY DID YOU DO THIS? WHY DID YOU TRY TO KILL ELSA?!" exclaimed Nathan. There is no possible way to describe how he felt; a horrid mix of anger, hatred, and slight jealousy—no, not hatred, it was more than that: loathing. This man had done something with Elsa Nathan felt was only reserved for him before proceeding to stab her. He could not even describe to himself how he felt.

"Why do I need to tell you that? How she survived should be the real question." Hunter turned to Elsa. "How did you survive, anyway?" he asked in a voice so calm, collected, and yet so cold that it sent shivers down her spine.

Elsa was silent, not knowing what to say. But her eyes never strayed from Hunter's glassy green ones.

"Well, you might as well let me know sometime before my execution. You are planning on killing me, right?" Hunter asked, surprised at the slightly shocked look on Elsa's face.

"I…."

"Well, why not? I'm an attempted murderer, anyway. And sometime it'll get out that you survived a complete stabbing. It isn't even close to possible for anyone at all to be able to survive such a thing. Anyone would think it would be foolproof—including me," Hunter said evenly.

"I—" Elsa repeated. Hunter was right. People would have to know that Hunter tried to kill her; why convict someone of almost-murder if no one had nearly died? This was a problem. Rapunzel's parents, from what she gathered, didn't want people knowing about her remaining powers, but what about Rapunzel herself?

"How do you know you're going to be executed?" Kaara questioned suddenly, interrupting Elsa's thoughts. She folded her arms and gave the man behind the bars a somewhat smart look.

Hunter chuckled. Then it started turning into a full-fledged howl of laughter. "You must be joking!" he exclaimed between peals of laughter. "Really, you are stupid! You think that the king won't have a 'would-be murderer' like me executed? Do you even know what you're saying?

"Then again, maybe you aren't so stupid after all. Because you're right. I won't be dying any time soon, especially not at your hands. They'll come to get me; you'll see. Oh, just you wait, you'll see, and then you'll be sorry for harboring me. Because when they come, there'll be trouble for the people of Corona. No matter when you execute me, they will come. But if you set me free, they won't touch a soul. Be warned."

Kaara was speechless. Then she shook her head and spoke, because it seemed that no one else was going to speak. "So is that what you wanted to talk to Elsa for?"

"Sort of," Hunter said. His face was expressionless, and had been ever since they had arrived there.

Eugene took a deep breath before stepping up to the bars. "So, if you're done interrogating Elsa, we've got to ask you a few questions."

"Fire away," said Hunter in a monotone voice.

"First of all: Who do you have working for you?" Eugene asked aggressively, his face up very close to Hunter's.

"No one," he replied.

"Well, then, you've gotta be working with someone, considering what you said earlier. Who are you working with?" questioned the ex-thief.

"That is none of your business."

"None of our business! WHY, YOU—!" Nathan then used a word best not repeated anywhere.

"Language!" Kaara exclaimed.

"Whatever. Now, Hunter, you are going to tell us exactly who you are working with and exactly why you tried to kill Elsa!"

"And if I don't?"

"Well, your punishment might just be a whole lot worse," said Eugene. "So tell us, now!"

"Or I swear I will break those perfect cheekbones of yours!" Kaara added.

"My cheekbones?"

"Don't try and change the subject!"

"I wasn't."

"Anyway," interrupted Eugene, "Tell us!"

Hunter sighed a very long, very deep sigh. "All right, then, as you'll just keep bugging me about it until I relent—" Kaara and Eugene gave similar looks of outrage "—I shall tell you."

Everyone held their breaths.

"I know a person. A person who will help me on the way to greatness. And there is an army on my side that is the likes of which you wouldn't have dreamed. And they will win over you—we will win."

There was absolute, complete silence.

"Tell us more!" Eugene snarled, breaking the silence.

"I have no reason to and I won't."

"YOU WILL! YOU WILL TELL US WHY YOU TRIED TO KILL ELSA! OR ELSE, I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU!" Nathan suddenly ran at the bars and started shaking them, trying to break them, trying to get to the person who almost became Elsa's murderer and throttle him.

"I couldn't care less."

There was an even longer silence than before.

"What is wrong with you?!" Kaara exclaimed.

"Something you'll never understand."

"But why did you try to kill Elsa?" said Eugene, trying to keep from exploding, trying to keep his cool.

"So I won't feel this way anymore."

"You won't feel what way?" Nathan snapped aggressively.

"Like nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"And who are you working with? Why aren't you telling us?" asked Eugene.

"Maybe you'll find out in due time."

"Ugh!" Eugene's temper was nearly reaching the breaking point. He knew that Hunter wasn't going to tell him anything more, and it infuriated him.

"But why did you want to talk to Elsa, then? It seems like there's something more," said Kaara.

"Well, I did want to know exactly how she survived the stabbing, but as you seem to not be letting me in on that particular secret—" Hunter leaned in a little closer, staring into Elsa's eyes intently "—I just have these words: beware the moon, Elsa."

With that, he sank back into the shadows, a cold silence filling the dungeon, fear gripping Elsa like an iron claw, Hunter's words echoing in her mind over and over again….

Beware the moon, Elsa.

The girl called Red skipped along through the woods, never looking back but always forward, towards her destination. She had a smile on her face; the birds were singing, the path was clear, and she would be seeing her grandmother soon. She was happy.

Unknown to her, in the shadows crouched a creature with eyes black as night, staring at her. They never blinked. The creature growled softly, waiting, waiting for something, always waiting….

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