Sorry for another late update. Yesterday was my birthday and I was planning on updating then but when I got home I was too exhausted.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen

There was a strange whisper going around in the caste. The servants would glance at him or Rapunzel and then smile as if they were congratulating them. They had already gotten married. There were no more congrats to be said. Eugene shrugged it off for now. It was strange. No doubt about it. But it wasn't hurting anybody.

Then Edmund came along.

He put a hand on Eugene's shoulder. "Congratulations, son. You will make a fine father." He grinned at him.

"Father? What?" He shrugged the arm off. "What's going on?"

Edmund's expression turned. "I received word that your wife was expecting. Did she not tell you yet?"

Rapunzel was pregnant? When did that happen? She couldn't be. Unless it was another man. But Eugene knew her. She had enough dignity not to cheat on him. Still, he tore throughout the halls, ignoring the servants along the way. He found Rapunzel in their room, painting on the walls from a table. Pascal was just below her. Pregnant women probably shouldn't be standing on tables.

"Blondie, we have to talk," he began. Good everything, he sounded like Edmund .

"Okay. What about?" She hopped down, making Eugene wince. Rapunzel read his expression. "What's wrong?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "Well, you see, Sunshine, Edmund just congratulated me on becoming a father. Do you know what that's about?"

"I'm not . . ." Her hands came racing to her mouth. "Could I be? I don't know."

"What are the symptoms?" Eugene began racing around the room. He should be looking for something. But what? A book or a doctor. He wouldn't find either here. Still he paced.

"Morning sickness? I remember Mom telling me about that. Um, oh . . ." Rapunzel flushed.

He ran to her. "What? What is it?"

"Well, uh, a woman who's pregnant doesn't get her monthlies until the baby is born."

"Oh."

The unspoken question's energy bounced off the room. Pascal snuggled up to Rapunzel, giving her some comfort. Hamuel crashed into the window. That might as well happen, too. With the way this day was going. Why the heck not?

"I haven't gotten mine yet," Rapunzel finally answered, "You should ask your dad about it. I don't want to bother any of my maids. I think they're all doing laundry now or something."

Eugene nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'll ask Edmund."

He sprinted down to his father's office. Fortunately, Edmund didn't seem busy. He stepped inside, folding his arms over his chest.

"So, uh, Edmund, I've got a question for you," Eugene began, keeping his stress from his tone.

Edmund gestured to the seat in front of him. "Of course. Take a seat, Horace."

"Just wondering what the symptoms of pregnancy are. So I, uh, know what's coming." What was he supposed to say?

Edmund cleared his throat. "Well, your mother was extremely tired. She used the restroom much more often and experienced bad cramps. I recall her being extremely moody, as well. Is that all?"

"Yeah, yeah. That's good. Thanks, Dad."

Moodiness, exhaustion, cramps. Moodiness, exhaustion, cramps. Moodiness, exhaustion, cramps. Eugene repeated those three words in his head as he sprinted down the hall to Rapunzel. He threw the door open, finding her playing with her hair. She laid a hand on her stomach and pulled it away, as quickly as she had put it there. She sprang up upon seeing him.

"Moodiness, exhaustion, cramps," Eugene spat out.

She lifted her eyebrows. "What?"

"Those are the symptoms. Probably not all of them, but some. Moodiness, exhaustion, and cramps."

Rapunzel paused before, realizing, "Wait, we haven't even . . . well, you know. I can't be pregnant."

" Oh. Right." He pulled at his neck. "I guess I just sort of panicked so I didn't even think about that."

"Let's go tell them all that the rumors weren't true. Though, I do wonder how this all got started in the first place. I'll have to ask Cass."

They linked arms as they made their way to Edmund's office. Rapunzel leaned her head up against Eugene's shoulder. Servants whispered again. But this time, he listened in a little closer to find out how all of this happened.

"And I heard that there was a group planning on raiding Corona because they were afraid the kingdom had given us a bad queen, because she was unable to produce an heir."

"They have some sort of new weapon. More deadly then what they have over there. And I've been to Corona. "

"Them Coronians could'a been goners."

She looked at him. Eugene led the way into an empty room. He shut the door behind them.

"What do they mean? A new weapon?" Rapunzel began asking, "I'm not . . . I'm not . . ." She put her hand on her stomach again. "Eugene?"

"I-I don't know, Sunshine." He leaned against the door. "We'll just tell them that we lost the baby. That's it." He sprang upwards.

She shook her head, slowly. "But I'll still be considered an unworthy queen in their eyes. There were some people getting upset when my mother lost so many of her babies."

That left one choice. Rapunzel folded her arms over her chest. Reminding herself that this was her kingdom. Corona needed her. A good princess did what she had to for the sake of her people. But there were other matters at hand. Such as how they had acquired this new weapon. They could avoid all of this if they could take down the device.

After a quick discussion, the couple sent for Edmund. They explained what was going on to him. Without telling him that Rapunzel wasn't pregnant. Still, they needed to keep the people safe. Tomorrow they would have all of the servants gather together to be interviewed. The three of them spent the rest of the day telling the guards what to do. Eugene was especially interested in the guard aspect of it all.

At dinner that night (Rapunzel had definitely noticed a difference in her plate to her meals before, this one was much more healthy), Edmund received a letter. Usually the servants would save one for after they completed their meal. But this appeared to be an urgent matter. He ripped open the parchment. His cheeks paled as he read on.

"It's from Quirin," Edmund announced.

"Varian's dad?"

"From the Brotherhood?"

He nodded at the both of them and said,

"Varian has been kidnapped."

A fic? Without making my otp parents? No sweet domestic moments? Impossible!

Also whumping Varian is fun.

I hope to update sooner. School is starting soon and I'm doing whumptober this year so that's probably gonna take up a lot if my time.

Thanks for reading! I love reviews!