~ Rapunzel Goes Home (extended edition)
~ Chapter 051
~ The Seneschal and Mother Gothel
Rapunzel was lying in her pretty palace bed, it didn't have a canopy like her bed in the tower had; it was shaped like a whale. Guards surrounded her room.
The princess couldn't sleep, after having been put to bed by her real parents and Eugene. She was undoubtedly tired, meeting all those people was overwhelming, and they all seemed to love her, especially the children. They had been waiting for her for so long, it was so hard to deal with all that emotional energy. They said they loved her but did they really? Mother had said she loved her, too.
Yesterday at the end of the Jubilee she had fallen into bed and slept immediately for all she had a nap in the afternoon. But today she had found no sleep. It was all so exciting and so new. She felt unworthy of all this and deeply humbled.
She was also afraid to sleep. Sleep brought nightmares, and they were so much worse then any she had ever had before. She actually woke up screaming all the time now, even from naps, unless someone woke her up.
Even the worst thunderstorms, where the lightning licked at the bowl her tower sat in and the thunder echoed and echoed, were as nothing compared to these nightmares. They had given her rosemary tea before bed to help with the nightmares, but it tasted awful, and it hadn't worked yet.
When her parents had tucked her in tonight she had lain quietly and kissed them goodnight. After everyone was gone and the curtains pulled and guards stationed she pulled out the box she had bumped her head on.
On it was note, "For memories. ~Eugene"
Pascal climbed up to her shoulder and gave a squeak; asking what was inside. She opened it, and smiled, it was a small paint kit. One thing that drove her crazy about her new room was how fancy, but totally bare it was. The walls had huge open spaces, which were framed in with fanciful borders; they were just calling for something to fill them.
Now was a good time. Hopping out of bed and padding over to the wall on the end of her bed she started with her tower. After painting grass and the waterfall, and starting up the base she realized how she really didn't know what the Tower looked like on the outside.
The first time she left she had been too excited at leaving to look back. When she got home it was dark and only had an outline of how it looked, and the last time...
The last time had been too painful to look back, so much had changed, Mother was gone and so was her magic hair, everything that she had known that made her special was left behind. Her Tower had been nothing more then a prison, but she missed it so much.
Rapunzel was special here in Corona, but it wasn't the same.
Well, she wasn't looking for accuracy anyway and painted the Tower as she knew it from the inside. It didn't take long to finish a rough version of the Tower, she'd have to wait for the paint to dry anyway before adding details.
But first she added a long line of bright yellow, with a curl at the end, to remember her hair by. She missed her hair so much too, so many times, these past two days, sometimes she had wanted to hide in it, but more often she had wanted to heal someone, there were so many people with injuries she could have helped once.
She had had some quiet time today, ostensibly for a nap, but she had spent the whole time crying for those people. Mother had been so selfish, we could have helped so many people and it wouldn't have hurt her to have shared. It isn't as though she could only heal once a day or something.
Mother...
Rapunzel rolled the brush between her fingers. She could already feel the memory of her fading. All the new things were crowding her out. A part of her wanted that memory to go away, but another part of her said, "Do you, really? For better or worse she raised you and you called her Mother and you loved her."
There were tears in Rapunzel's eyes. She had to paint her, but not here; not out in the open all the time. Looking around she choose a spot next to one of the windows, she could cover Mother with the drape and see her only when she wanted too.
Moving some hair that wasn't in her face, she set to work.
"Good morning, your Majesties, Highness, ...Eugene," said the seneschal, Mortimer Danberry, poking his head in, "Would you like the morning report, sire?" He had stopped trying to get the royal family together without Eugene, he wasn't a royal and shouldn't have access to this information, but he was always with the princess and since she was always with her parents…. Well, there was no use in trying to exclude him.
"Yes, Mortimer, now is a good time, before things get too busy. But first look at what Rapunzel painted last night." Pointing to the unfinished painting of the tower. Mortimer was shocked that she had painted on the walls, but she's a princess and they can do just about anything. Captain Taygon had told them to expect the unexpected but painting on the walls, was unexpectedly unexpected.
"Very nice, your Highness." he said before turning around. He started to open his folder and turned around.
Files spilled down as his eyes caught sight of another painting, almost hidden by a drape. It was a stunning woman with raven black hair and a red dress and he knew her.
"W-who is that?" he asked pointing with a shaking hand.
Everyone turned around, they hadn't noticed that picture, being occupied with Rapunzel and the other painting on the opposite side of the room.
"Um, that's Mother," said Rapunzel shyly. "I am beginning to forget what she looked like, so I painted her before I did. Please don't freak out. I am not sure if I want to keep it, but I don't know if I want to forget either."
They considered the painting. She was tall, Rapunzel had painted her life-sized, her arms outstretched like she was ready to give a hug, it was the one way she wanted to remember Mother, ready to give love.
He was mouthing the word no, finally, "But I've seen that person."
"What!" shouted everyone.
"When we were searching for you I saw her, I met her as I was tracking down a lead on a blonde child. I found her in a broken down pub in the forest. She claimed to be just passing through to King Stefan's kingdom. I remember her because she was quite comely and very scared of all the guards and hubbub from the kidnapping. I didn't check the baby since she was obviously not even close to the look of the kidnapper. "
He fell to his knees in front of Rapunzel, "Your Highness, I'm so sorry, I was so close to you, I could have saved you and spared you so much pain. I failed you, I'm so sorry." He began to sob into her skirts.
Rapunzel was completely shocked by all this. She had no idea how to react, but she tried to help. "Please, it's okay, I'm home now, please, stop crying."
King Leonard came around to be next to his faithful seneschal. "Mortimer, it's okay. It was an impossible task, you couldn't have known that the kidnapper could change her very age. That she would look so different. Someone get a copy of the wanted poster."
One of the Lock Guard removes a copy from his pocket and hands it to the king. "Thank you."
He unfolds it and holds it in front of his faithful seneschal. "Look Mortimer, look. This is the face of the kidnapper that we saw, old and wrinkled with sunken eyes. She only vaguely looks like this wanted poster. She is obviously not old. Please, Mortimer, don't blame yourself for something you couldn't control."
"But sire, I was within arms length of your stolen daughter," tears streamed down his face. "All I had to do was reach out and flip back the blanket and she would have been safe."
"No, she wouldn't have been, you'd be dead." Eugene spoke up, grimly.
Everyone looked at him now, as he leaned forward. "The kidnapper would have killed you and all your men too and everyone else in that pub, to keep Rapunzel."
"But…" started Mortimer.
"BUT, I fought her!" Overrode Eugene, standing, planting his fists on the table.
"I fought her and lost every time." Eugene stabbed a finger onto the table.
"I don't care how many men you had with you; you and they would have died. I was the greatest thief in the kingdom, she also defeated the Stabbington brothers, two of the strongest toughs in the kingdom."
"Starting with nothing more then a satchel with a crown and a wanted poster in it, she found us, turned the Stabbington brothers to her purposes and then twisted everything we did, so that Rapunzel wanted to go back to the tower, and the Stabbington brothers and I would be hanged for our crimes." Eugene strode over to the painting and gazed at it for a moment, feeling his hate of her flowing through his veins. Then he turned savagely back to the seneschal.
"If it wasn't for good, smart Maximus and the Pub Thugs, her plan would have worked and the only evidence that she had been involved would have been a whiff of her perfume on the bodies. She was a terrifying opponent because I didn't even know I was fighting her. Had you turned back that blanket, you and your men would be dead and Rapunzel would still be in her power. You, sir, are the luckiest man I have ever met."
Mortimer wasn't exactly sure how to take that compliment.
"He's right, " said the King. "We've put more wanted posters out for her then even Flynn Rider, she was the only other person to breach the palace defenses and we know she was a formidable opponent. I, for one, am glad you are still with us."
"Mortimer, I knew you cared for us and her, but I never knew how deeply that went, thank you." said the queen, with a sweet grateful look on her face.
The king held out his hand to help his good, faithful seneschal up. "Come, let's have the morning report, we have a big day ahead of us."
~ End of Chapter 051
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Author's Note:
Rapunzel's relationships with her mothers are complex, so this touches on that.
This also finishes a little thing with the seneschal that just went to all kinds of fun places. When I wrote it, oh so long ago now, it was something to add some color to this new character. Mortimer had been in charge of the search for the flower so or course he'd run the search for the princess, I thought it would be fun if he got close to Rapunzel. But he grabbed hold of that plot thread and ran with it. This is a fun scene.
When you stop to think about it Gothel is a really terrifying opponent. Granted, she isn't Maleficent who had a delicious, studied, dramatic cruelty to everything she did. Gothel on the other hand has a casual, almost unconscious evilness that is breathtaking, mainly because it isn't showy at all. You'd almost dismiss it to bad luck, then to blame her when you find yourself dead. Even if you told someone about her, no one would believe you because there would be no evidence she was even there.
She really wouldn't be very comfortable with the other villains, because she really did love Rapunzel.
