Chapter 10-Ambush!

Alas! How easily things go wrong!"

-George MacDonald

That arrow landed two feet to the side of us, barely missing Maximus' hooves. Cassandra nearly spooked, but I managed to calm her down. Much to my horror, that arrow was followed by another and another, and I could hear the loud commands of our military guard as they prepared themselves for the attack. Catherine, who had been riding with Philip, drew closer to me. "What should we do, Princess?" she whispered.

I barely heard her. I was so completely distracted by watching the guard begin to launch their own counter-attack, both with arrows and swords. And since I was the princess, all of them began to band around me. Although I was glad that they wanted to protect me, I couldn't help but feel the slightest twinges of anxiety at the thought of being caught in a circle with a bunch of attackers who likely wanted me dead. No, I'm not being pompous. Who else would they want to kill? Much as I wanted to forget it sometimes, I couldn't help but face the facts: I was the princess. And sometimes princesses aren't so popular.

Terror at the possible endings to this came over me then, now that the shock had gone. What if they managed to kill all of the guards? Who would be left to defend me? I couldn't do it myself, much to my chagrin. And annoyance. I had nothing to defend myself with, nothing (not even Hesty!).What kind of teachers or guards did I have anyway, if they couldn't even arm their princess when she traveled through the forest? Seriously. If I lived through this, the least I was going to do was to ask for a dagger. Self-defense lessons would have been better, but I would take what I could get.

Really, self-defense against possible assassins should have been one of the things I had been taught as princess before I left! I knew all of Lady Gray's lessons about etiquette would be useless one of these days, and I was right. All that knowledge wouldn't get me anywhere if I was dead. Because I can guarantee that these ruffians could care less if I knew the difference between a salad fork and a dessert fork. I mean, why would they care? They were probably lucky if they had one fork to eat with, forget multiple ones! Hypothetically, if they did manage to capture me and put a sword to my throat, how could I defend myself? What could I say? Oh, no, don't kill me? I can be helpful to you? I know all this profoundly useless dining etiquette? I'm sure that it would mean nothing to them, not when they were likely proficient in the language of hitting people till their brains fell out, and I was proficient in the language of princess manners. I'm sure you can figure out who would win here in this battle of brawn versus brains.

Just as I was thinking these very happy thoughts, I caught sight of one our attackers through the trees and I gasped in horror at his sheer size. I had thought that the Vikings I had met at the Snuggly Ducking were big, but this man was huge! And he was coming closer and closer to us. Oh, no, I thought frantically. I don't stand a chance! What am I going to do? In that instant, I knew I couldn't stand still in the circle, and helplessly hope that I would be safe. No, I had to do something, something active, something to warn them about the attacker. The guards were somehow managing to hold their own, but I knew that could quickly change in an instant.

Ironically, instead of asking the captain of the guard for help or anything like that, I looked to someone else. Quickly, my gaze wandered to Eugene. "Ah, Eugene," I began nervously. The huge man started to come closer. "Eugene!"

His eyes darted around, seemingly taking in every detail. And I could tell that he had caught sight of the man. He unsheathed his sword bravely (because he, of course, had been lucky enough to have been given one. The guards' stupidity didn't extend that far). "Rapunzel," he said. "Go!" His eyes twitched in a certain direction, but barely. I looked that way and saw a …small cave nestled in the hilltop, only a few yards away. Somehow I, not to mention the entire guard, had missed it. But was he serious? A cave? Wouldn't that be worse? I glanced at him skeptically. His expression was completely resolute though. "GO!"

I didn't want to, but I turned Cassandra in the direction of the cave and gestured to Catherine to follow me. She understood my message, and we both kicked our heels into our horses' sides. They immediately sprung into a canter, and somehow we managed to break out of the guard's circle. No, don't ask me how they missed us because I have no idea, even to this day. Maybe they were too distracted by the multitude of ambushers. Maybe they were just not that observant. I don't know. All I can tell you that is we were especially lucky. Catherine and I drew closer and closer, all the while hoping that we would be safe. We were almost at the cave when I heard the hoof beats. Fearfully, I glanced behind us, only to be profoundly relieved that it was only Eugene and Philip. I should have known that they couldn't leave us like that, not without protecting us.

Soon Catherine and I entered the cave, and we both dismounted, knowing that they would stay at the entrance to defend us if necessary. They were just wonderful that way. I spoke softly into Cassandra's ears, sweetly asking her to stay quiet. She whickered, as if in agreement. Now that I knew she would stay, I sat down with a deep sigh. What would happen now? What if the ambushers found us? What if Eugene and Philip couldn't hold them off? What if Eugene was hurt…again?

Catherine crept over to me. "I'm…scared, Rapunzel," she whispered.

Of course she was. I was, too. She was probably as worried about Philip as I was about Eugene. I was proud of them, but what they were doing definitively wasn't the smartest thing. In fact, it was kind of stupid. Brave, but stupid. They should have stayed with the other guards, where there were more numbers. Here, who knew what would happen if they were found? I could only hope that they would be safe. "I know," I said. "I am too." I let out a deep breath. "But we have to be strong."

Her eyes were vacant. "Strong…"

"Yes," I said. "And believe that they will be fine."

She came closer to me, and I could see the deep fear in her eyes. I gently hugged her. "Everything will be fine," I repeated over and over.

Now if only I could believe it myself.

XXXXXXXXXXX

I don't know how long Catherine and I sat in the cave, huddling together. It probably hadn't been any more than an hour, but it sure felt like a long time. Eternity seemed to pass until Eugene came back, with his arms propping up a wounded Philip. Catherine got up immediately with a strangled cry.

"Eugene," she exclaimed. "What happened?"

We all congregated at the mouth of the cave, and Eugene gently laid Philip on the ground. "Got him in the side with an arrow," he said ruefully. "I tried going after whoever it was, but I couldn't find them."

Catherine quickly was distracted by comforting Philip, who grew paler and paler by the minute. He seemed almost unconscious now. Besides that, I could see the blood trickling from beneath his fingers. And I knew that his wound was bad. Could be fatal, even. What were we going to do? Here we had three people who had no medicine knowledge and potential assassins outside our door that could kill us if we tried to leave.

I glanced at Eugene helplessly. His eyes were solemn. "Rapunzel," he said. "You know what you have to do now, don't you?"

I stared at him in shock. He couldn't possibly mean what I thought he meant, could he? "Uh, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking are you?" One glance told me that he did. "I don't…I mean…I can't…I thought it only worked that one time!" And only because I care about you so.

Catherine, who had been preoccupied until then, became a combination of absolute agony and astonishment as she watched us debate. "Rapunzel?" she asked, confused. "Eugene? What's going on?"

I ignored her, as I continued to stare at him. "I am, and you can," he said, his expression quite serious.

"I don't…you can't think that I…I can't" I stammered as I looked away. I couldn't meet his eyes. Not when I knew he was right, and I was scared: Scared that it wouldn't work. And scared that it would.

"Yes, you can," he repeated, and turned me to face him. "It's the only way." His eyes burned into mine.

I knew that it was, but I still hesitated. "But…but…"

"Now, Rapunzel!" he ordered as he shook my shoulders gently. "Before he bleeds to death!" Like I did.

He didn't say that last part aloud. He didn't need to.

Because I easily understood his full meaning- don't let Philip die like I did, not when you can stop it. I raised my eyes to meet his. They were filled with firmness. But kindness too, and it comforted me. "Think of Catherine," he added softly.

I looked at Catherine. She had a tear creeping out of one eye. "Please?" she whispered.

I sighed and drew next to Philip. "All right," I said. "I'll try." I took a deep breath and then sang the incantation softly:

Flower gleam and glow

Let your power shine

Make the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine

Heal what has been hurt

Change the fate's design

Save what has been lost

Bring back what once was mine

What once was mine

I closed my eyes, and imagined myself back up in the tower in order to make a tear come. I made more than one tear come, actually, because the grief I had experienced was still so present and raw. Besides that, all of that grief was manifested in Catherine and I couldn't help but feel compassion for her. A tear dripped from my face onto Philip as I imagined the arrow never entering his side. I opened my eyes and crept away. "Okay," I said. "I've done all I can do." Would it be enough? I could only hope it would be, for Philip's sake. And Catherine's. After all, I knew what it was like to watch the one you love hover on the verge of death. Hover? What was I saying? There had been no hovering back in the tower! He had succumbed to death, plain and simple. He had died. And this little incident was only bringing back the worst of memories for me: Eugene being stabbed, Eugene bleeding to death. And I hadn't been able to stop it. My eyes darted toward him. His face was drawn, and I could easily tell that he was remembering, just like me. I stared down at my hands, all of a sudden very interested in my cuticles (Okay, so I wasn't really, but I couldn't bear to look at Catherine, Eugene, or Philip. So my hands were really the only option), hoping that Philip would be healed.

We must have sat there for at least a few minutes, and I was just thinking that I really needed to clean out the dirt from underneath my fingernails before I met Prince Lorcan, when I heard Catherine sharply inhale.

My head jerked up. "What?" I asked quickly. "What happened?" He couldn't have died, could he?

Catherine, at a loss for words, gestured toward Philip. I looked, not entirely sure what I would see, and I was shocked. He was breathing deeply, though his eyes were still shut. But he appeared like nothing had ever had happened (much like Eugene had, actually). My eyes searched for any sign of what happened:

Where the arrow had been? Nothing.

Where the blood had been? Nothing.

My breath caught in my throat. "Good God," I whispered. "It worked."

Eugene placed an arm around me and drew me close to him. I sighed from both relief and pleasure. I loved it when he did this."Yes," he said. "Yes, it did." He pressed a kiss to my hair. "I knew it would."

I pulled away, surprised. "You did?" Really? How could he?

He looked petulant. "Of course! I'm sorry I was so stern with you. But I had to, Rapunzel. I knew you needed me to. Or else you wouldn't have done it."

For a second I thought about protesting, but I knew he was right. I most likely wouldn't have had the confidence if he hadn't pushed me to do it. Because he did, now Philip was healed. And Catherine was beaming with both joy and relief.

"Rapunzel!" she said. "I had no idea you could do that! It's amazing! I can't wait to tell Lady Gray when we return. She'll-"

"No!" I interrupted firmly. "No, you can't tell anyone about this."

Her eyes filled with confusion. "Why not? You could do so much good for so many people if people knew."

Any words of explanation died in my throat, so I looked helplessly at Eugene. He cleared his throat. "Catherine," he said seriously. "That's not such a good idea. I know what you're saying and it's true that Rapunzel could do a lot of good with her talent. But what's also true is that people will use her for it. In fact, that's already happened."

Understanding dawned on her. "Oh, I see," she said quietly. She turned to me. "I'm so sorry, Rapunzel. I didn't…I mean, I never…I wouldn't have ever suggested it if I had known." Worry that she had offended me presented itself on her face.

"That's okay, Catherine," I told her. "I know you didn't. But it would be best if this stayed between the three of us."

She smiled, relieved. "Four." She gestured to Philip with her hand.

I smiled back. "Right, four. But no one else."

"Yes," Eugene agreed. "Let's keep it as our secret."

We all put our hands out to shake on it, and then smiled at each other. Relief filled me that this wouldn't change anything. I could trust all of them not to tell. Nothing would change just because my tear had managed to heal somebody else again. And nobody else would ever know.

Maybe I had been wrong about that.