A/N: Sorry for the short delay, but yesterday I was really tired and had a lot of things to do. Anyway, here's the chapter ;)
As usual, thanks for reviewing, following and faving(?) :D
Being quiet wasn't exactly something they were good at.
Nope, the thugs definitively weren't quiet guys, thought Eugene as he crouched behind a bush. Still, they were giving their best shot at it, hoping the ambush would go well. They'd decided the only way to free the Princess was to reach the guards and ambush them, since getting into the palace, wherever it was, would be more complicated and would have had less chances to work. They'd left their horses in a clearing and procedeed on foot, mindless of Max's protests, once they'd been close enough to the group to hear them talk. They'd anticipated them and were now waiting. Waiting for the guards to come, and fall right into their trap. A trap that, to be honest wasn't anything special: they would just jump out of their hiding places and use the surprise effect at their advantage. Eugene's heart started beating faster as he heard the small group approach. There were about a dozen guards, so they weren't going to outnumber them, and all of the guards were riding a horse, which was a problem. Eugene thought about Max, wondering how angry the horse was at him. He knew he'd wanted to come, but how could a horse hide between bushes? If the ambush was to work, then they didn't need any complications.
Eugene made a silent promise to buy him a whole bag of apples once they got back home, hoping they would be enough to earn his forgivness.
The voices grew louder and the Prince Consort glanced down at his frying pan. He'd come unarmed, and none of the thugs had been willing to give up hier weapons, so they'd let him choose the best he could find among the few spare metal objects they'd brought along. His eyes had brightened when he'd seen the frying pan, as he'd thught he'd found just the perfect object to defend himself with (even though an ambush was mostly about offense, but nevermind). Now he regretted not having chosen a weapon before he left the castle, and he justified himself with the fact that been too shocked to actually make an inventory of what he was going to need during his quest, which was true.
The frying pan would have to do, especially since they were about to put their plan into action. He heard the horses' hooves hitting the ground at a slow pace, and sharpened his hearing, ready for the signal, which wasn't late at all. He heard the whistle loud and clear, and jumped out of his hiding place, finding a horse to block his path. He didn't think about it twice, and hit the horse on the head. Both the surprise effect and the hit left the horse rather confused, and while his rider tried to steer him away from Eugene, the former thief hit him as well, making him fall to the ground. One down, eleven to go, he though. The thugs were fighting the rest of the troop, while the guards tried hopelessly to fend them off. Being on horseback wasn't an advantage, after all, since the animals had started freaking out and had become difficoult to control. Plus, the thugs were all quite tall, and they had no problems reaching up to hit the guards with their swords and truncheons. It was going far better than he'd have hoped for, it looked like they had a chance to pull it off!
Eugene would've analyzed the situation better, hadn't it been for the one thing that was on his mind: Rapunzel. They'd decided it would be his privilege to find the Princess and free her, so he left the others to take care of the guards and glanced around, trying to spot his wife. He couldn't find her, but he kept looking, moving around to check some hidden spots and refusing to believe that they'd gotten the wrong group of soldiers, while the thugs kept battling the guards, none of them intrested in him the slightest bit. That's when he heard a muffled scream. He started in the direction the scream had come from, and she finally came into view. Rapunzel was being dragged away by a guard, who pulled the rope that was tied around her wrists with one had, while with the other he pulled another girl's rope, which handcuffed her in the same way as the Princess. It looked like the soldier thought he was dealing with two subborn goats rather than two human beings. Eugene felt the urge to break his neck, but laid the issue aside, and took a good look at his wife, making sure she wasn't hurt. Fortunately, it didn't seem so.
"Rapunzel!" he called, as he sprinted towards her. He was so happy to see her! It felt like when he'd climbed the tower to save her from Gothel: seeing her had filled his heart with joy, but, at the same time, noticing she was tied up and held prisoner, had made it sink, and left him quite confused and stunned. This time he wasn't surprised at all, and he hoped that'd help him score a better result than the previous time.
The soldier saw him and, without missing a beat, unsheathed his sword, letting it gleam in the sunlight that filtered throught the thick foliage. Eugene stopped and replied by tightening the grip on his weapon, bringing back to his mind flashes of when he'd gotten the best of all those royal guards at the dam with Rapunzel's frying pan. They examined each other for a handful of seconds, then the guard jumped forward and tried to push his blade clean through Eugene's stomach, but he moved sideways just in time and blocked it with his frying pan. Rapunzel gasped, as she saw the combat develop, her mind replaying over and over how Gothel had stabbed him. She tried to ignore those thoughts and concentrated on hoping everything would go well, since there wasn't much else she could do.
The guard kept thrusting his sword at Eugene, but he kept avoiding it, moving quickly and trying to predict his opponent's next move. Knowing they couldn't go on dancing like that forever, Eugene streched his arm to the right and bent his wrist to hit the soldier's right temple, in the attempt to knock him out, but the guard ducked, avoiding the blow. The Prince Consort lost his balance and, while he was busy trying to get it back, the soldier got back up and thrust his sword to Eugene's left, knowing he would never be able to block it. The blade ripped through Eugene's clothes and bit his skin right under his ribs, just as he'd managed to steady himself. Rapunzel gasped again, and would have rushed to her husband's aid if she hadn't known that it would just make things worse. Eugene gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the pain, and made the mistake to glance down at his wound, to check how serious it was. The guard saw his chance to take him out and made a move to stab him in the guts.
Rapunzel read the look in the guard's eyes and cried "Eugene!", in the attempt to bring the Prince Consort's attention back to his opponent. Eugene turned instantly and saw the blade coming forward. He ralized it was too late. There was no way he could avoid that strike, but he still wasn't ready to surrender, so he jumped backwards, and heard the sound of a stone hitting metal. He was very confused, not knowning what had caused that sound, and saw the soldier was at least as clueless as him, his arm frozen in the middle of the blow that had been supposed to be Eugene's death. But while he wondered what had happened, the guard wondered who had made it happen: who had thrown a rock at him?! Eugene saw the other girl, her hands free from the rope that had been tying them, holding a couple of stones, and understood. She was on their side, and had just saved his life. She threw the rocks at the guard, and smiled slyly, trying to draw all his fury on herself. Eugene, who had guessed what her plan was, had to admit it was something very brave and mostly reckless, as most brave actions usually were. The guard, feeling outraged by how unrespectful his prisoner was, glanced back at the Prince Consort, deciding he wasn't going to go far, with all the soldiers ready to capture him and his wound, and concluded that he was going to take care of the girl first. Eugene looked at the girl in the eyes, silently thanking her, and she gave him a slight nod, her eyes shouting at him "Run!". Since her plan had worked quite well up to that point, he quickly undid the knot that held together Rapunzel's rope handcuffs and took her hand, as he begun to run back towards where he'd left the thugs. Just then his wound sent a pang of pain through his body. He cursed through gritted teeth, but kept going on, even if at a slower pace. Rapunzel noticed it and stopped him to ask, worried "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, Blondie, I'm fine. Just need a bandage, and then I'll be as good as new." he smiled, hoping she'd believe him. When her face remained dark, he added "I promise."
Rapunzel nodded, deciding arguing would be no use. She just hoped everything was really going to be alright. Sure, the wound seemed to be just superficial, but that wasn't a comforting thought as one might think. Eugene moved away a strand of hair from her forehead and said "Let's go. Your friend over there won't hold him for long."
He started jogging again and she followed, not without glancing back at Jean, who was trying to have the best in her match against the soldier, but was obviuosly disadvantaged. She knew she owed her not only her freedom, but her husband's life as well, and that she'd pay her back soon, too. Maybe even sooner than one would expect. The thougth of leaving her behind made Rapunzel feel a horrible person, but it wasn't like they had many other options. Right?
They reached the thugs and, as soon as Bruiser saw them, he whistled, signaling the retreat. The thugs stopped fighting the guards at once, and headed back into the woods, running towards the spot where they'd left their horses.
Behind them they left some really conused men, who hadn't understood what exactly had happened. Only when the guard that had fought Eugene came back with Jean, who was tied up once again (and alive only because Conall had specifically asked to make sure she came at the palace unharmed, so that he could attend her execution), announcing that those ruffians had taken the Princess, did the soldiers realize just how much trouble they were into.
Hope it was good :) I'm not very sure about the whole rock-diversion created by Jean, but I didn't have any better ideas.. As for the fight between Eugene and the guard, I did my best!
If you have any suggestions, let me know :D
