Tangled Up in You
A/N: Disclaimer still applies.
Drum roll, please; the thrilling continuation of 'The First Encounter'
Chapter Ten: Eugene's Revelation, Part Ten
The First Encounter (Part Four):
The King's Epiphany
As the king came to a stop; still arm in arm with Kat, approximately 10 feet from the couple; aware of Rupert's presence, still taking in the sight before him, his shock and amazement transforming into surety; he softly repeated his question, his voice somewhat and slowly hardening, however, as he continued; "Who is this woman?" "What is the meaning of this, RIDER?"
His mind drifted back; back to a day over seven years ago; to the day he formed a new organization; an organization tasked with renewing the search for his daughter, his only beloved daughter. His mind's eye playing an image of a portrait over and over; a portrait of a princess; a portrait of a lost princess; the portrait of his daughter, Crown Princess Rapunzel, as a young woman; this woman being remarkable among other, wannabe lost princesses, for her uncanny resemblance to the portrait.
"A remarkable resemblance not seen in any of the prior; what is it, two or three hundred others," the King remarked, silently, almost completely inaudible to those standing close.
Flashback
…
"Finally, there is one more thing…," I trailed off, my blue eyes unavoidably misting over.
Rupert; aware that the I had trailed off, looking out a window to the scene outside, yet not really seeing anything; waited patiently for me to continue; however, rather than speaking, I reached into my desk and pulled out a file, unlocked a special lock securing it closed, and handed it to him, stating, "Read this and commit it to memory; and, most importantly, NEVER reveal its contents; EVER! This is perhaps the most sacred and closely protected secret of Corona. Protect it with your life!"
He took the folder cautiously and opened it. I could see how very shocked he was by its contents, especially its title; 'Operational Contingency Plan: Rapunzel;' followed by, 'Security Classification: Alpha-One,' the highest possible military or diplomatic security classification; a security classification never, I noted he had suddenly realized with a start, before used, ever; in the recent or not so recent history of Corona, EVER! 'Operational Contingency Plan: Rapunzel;' "wow, a most beautiful name; a most unusual name for a military or contingency operation; hmm, let's see," I heard him mumble to himself, "it is definitely a proper name. I see; it is the birth name given to the…, whaat? Did I just read what I thought I read?"
Quickly scanning the folder contents again, he shockingly asked out loud; "Can it be true?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw me nodding my head knowingly.
Becoming more dumbfounded as he read, his excitement and wonder growing; his eyes quickly darting from left to right, from the folder to the me, my once misty eyes slowly clearing; I could see the gears spinning in his head as he slowly made the connection; for this folder contained many important items and documents.
Among the operational plans were other important documents; documents reporting on dismal search efforts over an eleven year period; and various potential scenarios and their responses. Also, contained within a special protective sub-folder of the main folder were small, beautifully hand painted portraits; thirty-six very special portraits to be exact, personally commissioned by my direct order; thirty-six very special portraits, each prominently marked 'ABOVE TOP SECRET;' the entire sub-folder prominently marked with more access limiting markings; 'SPECIAL ACCESS REQUIRED,' 'LIMITED TO LEVEL DELTA-FOUR CLEARANCES.' I heard him think out loud, "wow, that is the highest clearance possible;" and; as I began to grin at his discomfort, he again realized with a start; "the exact one he had just been awarded!"
I could see as he, greatly impressed by the security classification and its implication, continue to review the portraits, hear him mumble, yet again; "let's see, I count thirty-six portraits, o.k.; thirty-six portraits that portrayed the progressive aging of a girl, hmm, equally spaced to six month increments; thirty-six very special portraits that portrayed the age progression of a special girl; thirty-six very special portraits that portrayed the age progression of a princess; thirty-six very special portraits that portrayed the age progression of a lost princess; thirty-six very special portraits that portrayed the age progression of THE LOST PRINCESS. Wow; that means," I tried to stay stoic as he made the connection, "that I am holding:
Thirty-six very special portraits that portrayed," he finally realized with a look of absolute and total shock, "the age progression of the one and only PRINCESS RAPUNZEL, her royal highness!"
The final portrait, an estimation of her appearance on her eighteenth birthday; a portrait that the royal painter could not know then was absolutely and completely accurate; in every single possible way; no detail, however small, overlooked; a portrait that would one day serve to prove critical in the reunion of a lost princess with her parents. Dumbstruck by the estimation of her absolute beauty, topped as she is with golden blond hair; an overwhelming feeling of awe took over...
The remainder of the conversation became a blur; the shock of the knowledge I was entrusting to him; the shock of his assumption of command of a brand new and newly commissioned special detachment of men and a smattering of very special women, awarded secret promotions and distinctive yet clandestine uniforms and rank insignia to; the shock of his own secret promotion to the rank of Colonel, a rank, covertly displayed on his normal uniform at my order; the look of amusement on his face when he realized that while he may be just an ordinary looking lieutenant in the Royal Guard, serving at the whim of that hot headed, yet efficient Captain NEWMAN, he actually outranked him, severely; and, finally, the shock of the secret task his dedicated operators, patriots all, would undertake; while still maintaining an aura of normalcy…
Needless to say he looked like he was walking on air when he departed my presence.
Flashback Ends
As he continued to gaze, he made the connections in his mind's eye, comparing the estimation of his daughter's appearance with the young woman currently before him; amazed by the clarity and omniscience of the Royal Portrait Painter.
First, the startling emerald green eyes, eyes that matched those of her mother; second, the beautifully braided blond hair; third, the cute button nose, the freckle bespeckled nose; the perfect match to its mother's; the perfect fit of her tiara, the customed made tiara; and, most shocking of all, and still shocked by it but trying not to show it; the perfect match between that final portrait and the young woman standing before him, as if the portrait had only been completed that very morning.
She was so obviously her mother's; she, the queen's; daughter.
She was so obviously her father's; he, the king's; daughter.
He eagerly awaited the reply of the former, yes former, thief, making the connection between the man standing before him and the poorly drawn wanted posters, wondering how he felt about the various and outrageously drawn noses; the ex-thief that he knew in his heart had changed for the better; the ex-thief that he knew in his heart deserved a pardon for his unselfish act of defying the Royal Guard, especially the highly trained, highly secretive, Royal Coronian Special Forces Detachment—Solaris. He found himself remembering the events of the previous morning; an event, he now sees, he might have over-reacted to, given what he sees now.
Flashback
RIDER!
The word echoed throughout the entire palace, bouncing off walls, reverberating throughout all the hallways. The word; the name of man, a man known for his callous disregard for other people's property, to include, now, the property of someone so tragically torn from her family.
I was sitting with Kat in a small chamber off the main palatial meeting room, just one door down from the shrine erected in honor of their missing daughter, the shrine containing the one precious reminder of her, the tiara she was to be crowned with upon the attainment of her eighteenth year; surprised at the reverberating echo of the name she grew to despise as his exploits gained in daring and notoriety; both of us looking up in shock as the Sergeant Major Samuel of the Royal Guard; reported the theft of the tiara of the Lost Princess.
"No," I hear my wife exclaim, "it cannot be! Not now! Not on the eve of the most tortuous day of the year! WHY?"
Her obviously well placed internal anguish interrupted by my angry words, "When you find him, kill him with as much prejudice as you can;" my wife's anguish in stark contrast to my anger; normally well controlled, resulting in the impression of being level headed in all matters; an anger obviously driving me to see him die with the most pain imaginable.
The Sergeant Major, shocked at my outburst, nodded his assent and rapidly left, out to seek the Captain of the Guard, only known as Newman; never letting on what his birth name might be, even to us; but knowing that he would happily carry out my orders, enraged as he was at the constant almost tauntingly easy way that he, Flynn Rider, could thieve almost at will; confounding all. His native ability, however attained, puzzled me; causing me to question; "How; and, could he prove useful to the Kingdom if I could somehow clear his past record without fear of anarchy?" Additionally, I thought, "I bet he could; yes, most definitely he could."
Flashback Ends
Yet, here he is; facing the gauntlet; facing the ire of not only the King of Corona, but a bereaved father; standing proudly, not cowering in any way; ready to face the consequences.
Just in order to return the Lost Princess, his precious daughter. The ex-thief as it is obviously clear that something remarkable had happened to change him, and future baron, that he knew in his heart was head over heels in love with his daughter, something that actually pleased him for he always wanted her to marry for love as he had, it obvious to him that she felt for Eugene, as Eugene felt for her; the ex-thief who he knew would die for her if necessary; the ex-thief who he knew he could count on to assist in the defense of the kingdom; for, and he had never been more sure of anything, he knew exactly who this young girl was; a definite way of knowing for sure; Kat, his wife, being the key as she alone knew.
He, despite the lack of concrete knowledge, eagerly, and with great anticipation, awaited the ex-thief's response.
"Your highnesses," Eugene exclaimed as quietly and respectfully as he could not wishing to draw undo attention to himself, given his excitement, "I, Eugene Fitzherbert, found your daughter, Rapunzel! I am sure of it! She looks so much like her highness, the queen! Please! Believe me! I wouldn't deceive you or otherwise try to take advantage of your sorrow! As soon as you see her closely, you will know; just as I do!"
The king; involuntarily and not too unwillingly beaming happily; found it very difficult to remain stoic, the painful reminder of both her kidnapping and many false leads too real. Yet, he was inwardly shocked at the mention of her real and unknown name; as well as the mention of the true name of the criminal he had known, all too well, as Flynn Rider; the name only known to himself, the queen and two specially trained operative. He decided, after determining this woman's identity that he would delve into this apparent discontinuity.
Meanwhile; as he cleared his mind of the thoughts of Flynn Rider, returning to the matter immediately at hand; he also found the resemblance of this girl to a series of portraits too coincidental. He knew in his heart that his daughter had returned; Flynn Rider, of all people, being the most prominent external factor. "After all," he thought to himself, "if I knew anything about Flynn Rider it was this; he was no fool, having successfully eluded the Royal Guard for over ten years. Why would he come here? Unless…" Thus, he found himself walking towards her before a thought stopped him; his wife. His wife; his beautiful wife, who had provided him the strength to carry on these many years; thus, pausing briefly, he gently gestured her towards their daughter.
A/N:Yes, I know I shouldn't have stopped here, but; unlike the movie; I felt that given my story line so far, it might be possible that the king, stating state secrets and knowing how vast the rumor mill of the castle is, did not reveal the contents of the file. Thus, he has seen the matching portrait; the portrait that so coincidentally matches Rapunzel, the queen has not; she having another, and ultimately the only clue that really matters, the clue that trumps all others…; the clue; an idea courtesy of a fellow engineer. You know who you are, my friend…
A/N #2: Sooo, the king has an idea; what about the queen; how will she know?