Abducted

An Unknown Foreign Beauty

Chapter 26- Doomsday conspiracy

"Are they here?" the queen asked, and the guards nodded negatively. "No!" As soon as she rushed near the door, the guards quickly positioned themselves to prevent the queen from escaping. "Please, you've got to let me out of here!"

"Your highness." This time the captain decided to step forward, "You heard the council. We can't let you out of here."

"But they are in danger!" She stressed. The naked worry in her face didn't escape the captain's eyes. And it confused him once again. It was the tenth time she questioned him about the arrival of the runaway couple, and was provided with the answer no. For what she did for an enemy prince was sufficient to destroy her reputation as the queen. Then why she was so worried about them?

"And we already have a group of highly trained professionals searching for them." The captain continued slowly and steadily, "They're searching them everywhere."

"But this is different!" The queen persisted; feeling like every second that ticked away was a second closer to Gothel and her evil son reaching her daughter and her husband. "Sure, you might find them, but are you sure that you'll find them alive. There are many people against them. They could…" she trailed off, not wanting to think about that right then.

However, the captain took her sudden silence as something totally different, and he chuckled. "Your highness, you're stressing yourself for no reason. Who on earth is going to kill them?"

Finally, the queen couldn't take being refused anymore. "How about Queen Gothel and Prince Edward?"

Both the captain and the queen fell silent, and the queen was pleading inside her mind that this would finally make the captain come to his senses…

The captain finally shook his head. "What makes you to think like this, your highness?"

()()()

Eugene was awakened quite rudely with a harsh kick to the side, and he gasped as he opened his eyes blearily.

"Nice to meet you again Rider." A familiar voice spoke. Through the haze that clouded his mind, he recognized the voice- Marcus Stabbington. Oh, God, what was he doing here?

Eugene tried to focus, and his head throbbed violently. A lump had already been formed at the back of his head where he was struck last night. His surrounding became more defined as he tried to focus, and the pain in his head became severe. He tried to bring his hands forward to touch the back of his head, but found his wrists had been bound behind his back to a tall pillar in the middle of a large room. It seemed like an old house, because he noticed a bed and a pile of books at a corner. But that wasn't much of his concern. He struggled against the restrains, only to find it as a fruitless effort.

"It's so pity to see our former friend in such condition." Eugene turned his eyes to his former companion who was crouching in front of him with a fake sympathy on his face.

"What…" Eugene straggled against the ropes once again, only to fail one more time, "What do you want?"

The elder Stabbington adjusted his eye patch to it's place, and pulled himself to his full length, before landing a punch on Eugene's stomach. "Revenge."

Eugene groaned as his mighty fist hit his guts, but there was no way to prevent it. He tried to curl up in fetal position to defend himself, but he couldn't. Because his feet were bound too.

"Why?" The only thing he could ask through the pain that blurred his vision. Blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth, and he could taste it inside his throat. His back was aching badly, and he could feel something warm running from the back of his shirt. The mute Stabbington's sword slashed his skin last night.

"Because, I asked them." An oddly familiar voice spoke, and Eugene tried to look at the owner of the voice, but he couldn't because his restrains didn't allow him to move much. But he didn't have to wait long, because a tall, dark figure stepped before him from the shadows.

"Edward." Eugene whispered, although he knew it was obvious. But he didn't expect him to follow him here too.

"Oh, my dear brother, Yes." A crocked smile laced Edward's thin lips, turning his handsome face into a horrible one. "It was always me."

"Since when?"

Bewildered, Eugene glanced around him, his cousin and his former companions. The Stabbington twins walked beside Edward, and joined his laughter. "The day I understood who you are, brother."

"So you had them following my every move?" He spat. "You used Stabbingtons for your own benefit?"

"They joined us willingly.' Edward raised his eyebrows, "They are not so happy with you either, brother. Your enemy is my friend. Isn't it obvious?"

The sense of betrayal overwhelmed him. Through all he had gone, he didn't expect this. He thought everything happened because Edward only wanted to marry Rapunzel. But his eyes told him there was something else. "But why Edward? We're brothers."

A sharp punch landed on Eugene's jaw, and he tasted blood.

'No, we're not." Eugene flinched at Edward's sharp tone. His face turned vicious with anger as he spoke, "For you my parents were divorced, Eugene. I grew up hearing how good you are at things while I was treated as a loser. My mother cried every time you beat me. And my father announced you as the crown prince of Naldora, which was actually my rightful place…"

"It wasn't my idea, Edward." Eugene tried to sound calm, "Uncle Aragon chose whom he thought worthier…"

"Stop." Another punch was sent his way, and Eugene bit back a cry of pain as Edward's foot hit his ribcage as well.

"I know you made him to do it." He screamed, "You poisoned his mind. You told him to drive me and my mother away from the palace. And when I tried to make my mother proud by marrying Princess Rapunzel, you stole her too."

Eugene could only blink. He had no idea that these much poison Edward held in his mind. Pity and loathing both filled his heart simultaneously. He remembered how much hatred he saw in Edward's eyes when they confronted in the battle in the Castle Naldora two months ago. And he killed his uncle King Aragon too.

"Is that why you killed your father, my uncle King Aragon in the battle?" Eugene asked slowly and steadily.

'Yes," Edward laughed viciously, "Because I hated him."

Eugene watched him as his murderous laughter filled the room. He just couldn't tolerate it anymore. He struggled against the rope again, but once again it held him where he was. Pictures flashed across his mind. He remembered Rapunzel's sleeping face in the abandoned cottage. What happened to her? He closed his eyes briefly, and opened them only to find Edward's dark eyes watching him intensely.

"Thinking about your princess, brother?" He leaned forward, so that his nose almost touched his, "Mother is taking good care of her." He smiled.

"What?" Eugene gasped; the thought of Queen Gothel with Rapunzel gripped his heart. "You can't…"

"Yes, I can…" Edward smiled, gripping a handful of Eugene's hand, turning his face up to look into his dark murderous eyes. Eugene quickly looked away, trying to downplay his terrified expression. "Leave the hair, Edward."

"Oh, yes!" Edward let go Eugene's hair, and smiled cruelly, "But that'll not stop me from getting your princess. I assure you she'll be my wife by the sundown."

"You can't." Eugene spat, "We're married. We've proof, witnesses."

"Oh, yes." Edward signaled the Stabbingtons and they both exited from the room. Edward moved forward, and his ominous shadow blocked Eugene's view, "Unfortunately, I got all of them right here."

The door behind them opened, and the Stabbingtons entered again. In their arms, they were carrying another man, old, and Eugene's breath caught in his throat when he saw the face of the new prisoner- the priest.

"We got him before the royal army got him." Marcus Stabbington laughed, securing the old man to another pole bedside Eugene. The old man gave him a helpless gaze, and Eugene threw a murderous glare to his captors.

"Why, Edward? Why him?"

In the answer Edward moved forward, and kneeled in front of his cousin. His dark eyes mocked sympathy while he traced the line of Eugene's throat. "The reasons I hate you, brother." His fingers closed around Eugene's neck, "And the reason I want to see you dead. The reason I want to turn Rapunzel's life into a living hell."

"Edward, don't…" Eugene chocked as his fingers were tightly pressing his throat, "Don't do that to her. You can have me, but not Rapunzel. She is innocent…"

"Is she?" Edward released his throat immediately, and Eugene was caught up with a coughing fit, thus coughing more blood out of his mouth.

"Edward, you can have the kingdom, the throne…" Eugene whispers, tears gathered at the corner of his eyes as he struggled against the rope, "But just leave Rapunzel…"

"If you never came back or crash my wedding, I'd have thought either way. It is too late, brother." He growled, his voice was dripping venom. He turned to the doorway, and closed the door from outside where the Stabbington brothers were standing with burning torches.

"Let's finish the work that we failed to do two months ago." He ordered. The Stabbingtons obeyed. And the cottage ignited to life immediately.

Fire immediately surrounded them. The orange flame licked the straw roof above them, devouring it almost immediately. Eugene fought desperately at the ropes that bound him to the pole. A thin flame was running towards him from the walls, and the old rag carpet beneath him immediately caught fire. Eugene tired to fight back the panic as the fire licked at his bare feet.

"Fitzherbert!" Another voice desperately called him. Eugene turned his head to find the old priest desperately fighting against the ropes. The corner of his white cloak had already caught fire, and it was gradually moving upwards.

"Hold on, Father." Eugene screamed as he felt the heat of the fire around his wrists. Fire caught the pole too, licking his wrists mercilessly. "Ah!" he let out a yelp of pain, as it was singeing the hair at his wrist. Beside him the priest was trying to hold back the cry of pain. Fire caught his loose sleeves too. Smoke filled the small room, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. Eugene's head swarmed, black dots danced across his vision as he desperately pulled against the ropes at his wrist for one last time. The ropes were burnt already, so that his hands. With a snap it jerked loose, managing another cry of pain from Eugene's lips.

The smoke was suffocating, and it clouded his vision too. He desperately tried to move forward through the smoke, following the priest's voice. When he reached him, the old man's white cloak was on fire.

"Father," Eugene called the old priest desperately, when he reached him. He threw the burning cloak away from his body only to find him unmoving. "Father, look." He called once again, but the old man remained as unresponsive as before.

"No!" he gasped. No, the priest couldn't die. Not now, not when his Rapunzel's life was in danger. He tired to lift the old man in his arms, but they were pretty useless with all the blisters and raw areas all over them. He tried to breathe, but the situation was getting more and more suffocating. His head swarmed again, as he tried to lift the unconscious priest, with every ounce of energy he had left, only to fall back in defeat as another coughing fit overtook him. Waves of nausea washed over him; he tried to fight through it as he moved forward with the unconscious priest. He felt like his lungs were going to burst.

For a moment Rapunzel's face flashed across his mind.

And then the burning roof collapsed over them.

()()()

Rapunzel awoke surrounded by pitch black darkness.

Her whole body ached like crazy, especially her head, which was throbbing violently. Her mouth tasted bitter, and when she swallowed the bitterness increased. She tried to shift a bit, and immediately cringed at the coldness of the stone floor beneath her skin. She moved her throbbing head, swallowing the bitterness in her mouth, and tried to take her surroundings. The roof above her was high, too high that she couldn't actually see the material from which it was made. The room was big enough to hold at least a village, but it was empty. Strangely empty. The memories of the morning began to coming back, and she suddenly became fully aware of the purpose of her being here.

Eugene? What happened to Eugene?

"Don't worry, flower. You're perfectly safe here." A voice spoke from the other side of the room. Rapunzel squinted to adjust her eyes as the bright light flooded the room, accompanied by a tall, dark haired woman carrying a lamp in her hand.

Mother Gothel.

She remembered the moment when she followed Gothel to her carriage, to search Eugene. She offered her a drink, and then…

"Where am I?" She whispered, as Gothel moved beside her with a brush in her hand. "Safe with me, darling." Gothel whispered, kissing her head. She sat down beside her and gently began brushing her hair; hummed the healing song until it made her hair glow.

"Where am I?" The princess asked again, roughly moving Gothel's hands away from her hair.

"In the tower of Naldora, dear." Gothel smiled softly, "The tower where prisoners were kept away from public eyes. But it was long ago, when I was the queen of Naldora." Rapunzel looked around her; the place seemed familiar in an odd way. Yes, she had seen it when Eugene showed her around his kingdom. The secret underground prison, where traitors were kept until their death. None of the world knew about it except few of the Naldora royal family. Eugene was the last living person who knew about it.

Her heart trembled. That meant she was a prisoner. But why? She turned to look at Gothel's face. She looked younger than before. Understanding her question Gothel only smiled, "You're right, Flower. You're my prisoner."

"Why?" Rapunzel tried to stand, only to find her feet chained to the wall. A sensed of betrayal overwhelmed her. She trusted this woman. She loved her like her mother. But why? Was she the one who plotted the whole conspiracy all the time? Oh my god! How could she not see this? Gothel happily moved near the door, with her red gown trailing behind her like a moving pool of blood.

"Because I need your hair, flower." She smiled casually as she turned to the door, "And don't worry about my son Edward. I'll find another bride for him soon. Much better than you."

"You can't…" Rapunzel hissed through her clenched teeth, trying to pull at the manacles that trapped her feet. But it was of no use. The shackles were secured to the wall permanently. "Eugene will find me soon." She spat.

"Eugene! Huh!" Gothel let out a vicious laugh, which echoed across the stone wall horribly, "I've taken care of him too, Flower.

No… Rapunzel's breaths grew short and rapid at the thought, and, consumed with fear, she decided she couldn't stay in here one more second. Immediately, she let instinct take over, and began jostling, kicking, and clawing at the chain that surrounded her feet with all her might. "Eugene." She cried, but her cry only echoed across the stone walls around her.

"He can't hear you, flower." A smirk laced her lips as she patiently watched her worthless efforts to free herself. "He is as good as dead by now."

Wide eyed, Rapunzel watched her leaving. And the darkness surrounded her again. She knew it was true. No one would find her here; no one would hear her cry. She was doomed to stay here, forever.

Without her Eugene.

REVIEWS? FAVES? FOLLOWS?

Plz, Plz, Plz, I love them a lot…

I suggest you to reread the last part of the previous chapter, because a few paragraphs are added there, some scenes that I left out when I updated it previously. Sorry if any errors are overlooked. It was written in so hurry.

Only two more chapters to go. And the next one will be the climax. So stay tuned.