Before the chapter BOOM please enjoy this one. This chapter has a song 'Show me the meaning'.

The next two days Eugene found himself counting his steps along his way to the other rooms of the castle, memorizing each & every architecture of the castle walls with his fingertips & even talking with Pascal. Rapunzel was constantly accompanied by her fiancée Eltor –to her lessons & her visits to the countryside. They couldn't find a moment to meet or talk. Now Eugene was sitting alone in the library with his sightless warm brown eyes focused on the white pages of the book on his lap. His breakfast remained untouched on the table. He wasn't hungry. A strange pain was constricting his throat which was worse than Gothel's dagger. Yes his world had become dark & gloomy but when he was about to find a faint ray of the light with his beloved, then another wave of darkness engulfed him again. His trembling fingers were running over the pages of 'The Tales of Flynnagan Rider, Volume 5' which she read to him two days ago. He could feel her touch still lingering to its pages & could smell her sweet fragrance into it. The white pages were soaked with his salty tears.

His head snapped up by the light rhythmic footsteps entering into the library. 'My Queen!' he dropped the book & stood up from his chair. In a week he had learned recognizing people with their footsteps. He often wondered that he had never known that the each & every footsteps bore the personality of their owners. The queen had light rhythmic steps & the king walked with heavy proud steps & Rapunzel had light feathery steps like the gentle breeze of the autumn. She was walking near him. 'Your majesty.' He bowed to show respect.

Queen Anne walked near the savior of her daughter. She watched him for a while. The dark circles under his eyes, the unruly hairs plastered on his handsome face & the stain of dried tears along his cheeks hadn't escaped her eyes. 'Ah, Eugene!' she gently cupped his chin 'Look what have you done to yourself?' she brushed away a stray piece of mahogany hair from his forehead. Eugene's heart skipped a beat. No one had ever showed such affection to him except some dreamy years from his childhood. 'I'm fine.' He tied to whisper lowering his face. Anne could see the grief written in his sightless but still beautiful eyes. She knew he wasn't fine. But she was helpless.

Their intimacy was broken by a voice from behind. 'May I talk with Mr. Fitzherbert alone?' They turned to find King Rupert standing at the door accompanied by Lord Denvan, the royal councilor. 'Can you give us a moment alone please, Anne?' Rupert gazed into the emerald eyes of his wife. Eugene swallowed hard. His heart began pounding against his ribs like a drum. 'Sure.' Anne pressed Eugene hand once & then walked out of the room.

()()()

Rapunzel was leaning against the seat of the royal carriage. She was dozed off for a while with the gentle rhythm of the carriage. Suddenly she felt an arm was encircling her waist & another was pressed on her shoulder. 'Ah, Eugene!' she giggled trying to free herself from her captor. 'Eugene is not here.' Another unfamiliar voice spoke beside her. 'What?' her eyes flew open to find a pair of dark eyes instead of the hazel eyes of her beloved. 'We've arrived to our destination.' Eltor helped her to sit up straight. 'Oh!' she rubbed her eyes & looked out of the carriage window. She was visiting the kingdom with her official fiancée- Prince Eltor for last two days. But they had exchanged a few formal words in those days. Somehow she couldn't find any word to tell him. He was so formal & much older than her. Whenever she tried to explore kingdom with her usual childish curiosity, he stopped her midway grabbing her arms & said 'Princesses must be modest.' He reminded her of her foster mother Gothel. His dark eyes made her sick in stomach.

They stepped down from the carriage. She was feeling very uneasy with Eltor's arms encircling her waist. She didn't know why but her whole body wanted to run away from him. But she was wearing a fake smile on her face & receiving the greetings from her subjects. She couldn't imagine herself doing that but she could feel the change. She could feel that she was turning into one of the fancy plastic girls of the noble families. She didn't know how long she could tolerate that.

'Princess, we'll be grateful if you kindly donate something for this orphanage.' Rapunzel's thoughts were broken by Sister Tessa's voice, the matron of Corona orphanage. 'Oh, of course.' Rapunzel came back to the reality 'I'll be glad to do something for these lovely children.' She smiled at the children in rags who were clinging to Sister Tessa's skirt. Suddenly she remembered that she had left the purse in the castle. 'Oh, no' she gasped but soon her fingers found their way to the diamond necklace around her neck. She took it off & smiled to Sister Tessa 'May be this will help a little.' 'Of course, princess.' Sister Tessa stretched her grateful arms to receive the gift from the princess.

But a rough hand caught Rapunzel's arms in the midway 'Princess, Why are you wasting this beautiful thing for these dirty peasants?' 'But…' Rapunzel stopped by the firm glare of Eltor's dark eyes.

'A princess must look beautiful.' Eltor snatched the necklace from her hand & tied it around her neck. 'Now we must go…' He pulled her arms. 'But..' Rapunzel couldn't finish her words as her fiancée literally dragged her out of the orphanage & led her into the carriage. Rapunzel struggled against hi firm grip but he was too stronger than her. The carriage door was shut behind her.

'Why are you doing this to me?' Rapunzel hissed settling herself in the seat. An evil grin crossed Eltor's handsome middle aged face 'Because you're my future wife.' Then he pulled her closer & pressed his lips against hers. Rapunzel had no idea that a kiss could be that painful. She tried to free herself from him but his hands were pressing her shoulder painfully. 'I want my wife to be timid.' Eltor whispered against her lips 'I know how to tame a shrew like you.'

Rapunzel's eyes widened with fear. She looked around her for help. But there was none to help her.

()()()

'I'll talk with my council about your pardon.' King Rupert patted Eugene's shoulder gently 'But after that you must leave the castle to find your life again.' 'Thank you, your highness.' Eugene tried to smile. But another pain began crawling into his heart. Now he was thrown out of Rapunzel's life completely. How could he bear that pain for his whole life? He had no existence without her. But now he needed to learn to live without her & alone. His weak knees couldn't bear the burden of his grief anymore. He sank into the nearest chair. Rupert could feel the pain of the broken heart of this young man. He sighed but he had nothing to do for him.

'So feeling bad, Rider.' Eugene startled by the voice of Lord Denvan 'Oh, watch your step, then. ''What do you mean by that?' Eugene hissed sensing the clear warning in his voice. 'Nothing!' Denvan replied casually. He placed a goblet in his hand 'Drink this & then you'll feel better.'

Eugene heard his footsteps fading away. He could sense something in his voice. Were they planning something? Rapunzel? A fear filled his heart. These thoughts made him thirsty. He touched the goblet to his lips to take a sip from it. But in that moment a pair of fingerless hands shoved the goblet from his hand. It landed on the floor with a loud thud. 'Who are you?' Eugene stood up from his chair but there was no one around him.

Queen Rubina ran out of the library silently.

()()()

The royal carriage stopped near the palace gate. Rapunzel got down from the carriage & ran into the palace hiding her face behind her hands. Eltor watched her going. 'Poor baby!' an evil smile crossed his lips. 'Sir, his majesty has decided to pardon Rider.' Eltor's thoughts were broken by Lord Denver's voice from behind 'So I tried to poison him but Queen Rubina had messed up everything. I really…'

But he was cut off by a slap on his left cheek. 'Fool' Eltor hissed 'I've told you not to get your hands dirty.'

'Sir' Denver threw him a surprised look while rubbing his cheek 'What..'

'Yes.' Eltor grinned 'I'm sure Rider will make a wrong step soon & then …'

'So we should watch & wait.' Denver's eyes glittered with mischief. 'Yes,' Eltor placed his arm around his shoulder 'Let's see, how long my sweet aunt Rubina can protect him?'

Like this? I'm afraid this long chapter will bore you. But It just gets longer & longer & the story too. I assume that it will be 31 chapters long. I know you'll hate me for paining you with this long story & you'll be bored with it. But I've no way but to make it longer just to reveal all the dark twists I've planned for it. Yes, this story is getting darker & darker. REVIEWREVIEW REVIEW Can you HEAR me?

EugeneloverRapunzel- thanks for acting as my beta. I can't do this without your help.

Princess Shaharazad- Thanks for complement. I always admire your writing style.

Sheep 1215- hey, your reviews gave me wings. I flew to a black hole & came back with real dark ideas.

Over the weather- Get ready for more dark chapters in future.

Deathbat6661- Ow. We're feeling same. I'm writing this although I must study for my exam too. Thanks for the predictions but I've planned much more twists beyond my imagination. Hope you'll stay with me all the time.