Elaine beamed; it was one of her few days off. Her dress was stripped off in a hurried fashion and thrown at the weapon and old pilfered treasure laden wardrobe. From this a mannequin was pulled out, which Elaine shuddered when she touched, the leather ice cold to the touch. Even though the Crystal Cherubs had been scattered years ago because of the raid lead by Eugene and Cassandra, and informed by Joshua, it was still ingrained into her blood because she had known nothing else all her remembered life, aside from being slave to the royals who disbanded her pride long ago. She pulled the leather coat on and fastened the buckles, sighing in satisfaction at the jingling of polished silver. The slacks were next, no one understood why she dressed in small men's clothes, nor why she would prefer to be completely clad in leather but that was just to hide her own and she never gave any the confidence to press further. Elaine's boots were pulled up and stuffed with her pants. Finally, the braid she wore during her working time was taken out to let her hair billow in long ice blonde waves down her back. Black laces with beads and feathers were woven in, and her broach of white feathers and a large diamond was pinned to the collar bone of her shirt and she beamed wickedly at her reflection, taking and dabbing her finger with paint and touching some to her lips, the dark red color made her even paler. Now she was ready to be presented in all fullness to the palace staff in their horror as her relationship with Joshua gave her a great sense of pride.

Joshua lightly knocked upon her door, and any merry, wild dancing she had stopped. Elaine opened the door and fixed her hair proper and smiled sweetly at her secret intended. "Hello Cupid." Now Joshua hated his Crystal Cherub middle name, but he hadn't known his own, so it stuck, but he didn't like it. Of course, it was better than when the snobbish children who felt entitled from the town would call him brownie, chocolate, monkey man, or crooked nose. Crooked nose was the most demeaning.

Joshua smiled sweetly at her and gently, quickly bent down and kissed her cheek before drawing back to the doorway. "I was wondering if you would like to go on a picnic with me this afternoon. It's a bit of a family affair but if you're going to be my girlfriend..." Joshua trailed off, his royal influence deflating the moment his eyes caught sight of the black leather and heavy makeup. "... and it's your day off... I'll go. It's fine-"

"Wait!" Elaine snagged his arm and spun him around to her, planting a kiss full upon his lips leaving him dazed. "What if instead of some stuffy, boring, pompous picnic, what if we went on a ride through bright forest?"

Joshua shuddered a moment, from fear and from the tingling sensation left by her kiss, which left him a stupefied block. "Uh-huh... Sure. I mean," He cleared his throat and straightened himself as a guard walked down the hall. "If that's what you want to do anyways, I would be down for it." He scratched the back of his head and sniffled.

"Great, let's head to the stables." Elaine beamed with a most devious glint in her blue eyes. The time of hunger and power were never left from her, and she still felt as though she were the queen of thieves within her skintight suit. She grabbed his hand in her own, caressing the knuckles and dragging him through the palace, having to occasionally shoo off the guards that forgot for a moment that she wasn't a thief.

The pair mounted their respective horses, from their respective stables and rode off through the town, Joshua hot upon her heels. Many townspeople looked at them racing off with disgust, if he was to be their king, he needed to get his act together, and worse still if he was to be king and his relationship proved as strong as it seemed secret, then their future queen consort needed to get her own wild nature wrangled in or there might be a revolt among the people.

Neither Duke nor Lady in waiting could care as their horses galloped through town, their hair flying and faces beaming as they stared at one another and raced to Elaine's choice destination. Now had Joshua not been so smitten, he would have realized that Bright forest was the exact same place where Cassandra and Eugene had been attacked and where Flynn had died, but he was just that smitten and didn't care.

Now Rapunzel had planned this picnic for a purpose and hadn't expected Joshua to wrangle Elaine into the family affair or go running off with her, so Rather than going to the picnic when he didn't show up after an hour and castle staff said he had left with Elaine, the young Queen took a deep breath and sighed, bringing all her family into her room in the palace and closing and locking all the doors, drawing the curtains until only dim candlelight and the suspended lanterns lit her room.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, mostly... I have something I need to tell you all," Rapunzel said, sitting at the edge of her bed while Eugene sat upon a trunk and Arianna the vanity stool. "I really wish Joshua was here to hear this because I think he would have been happy... I think. Anyways, I know I've not entirely been myself lately but there is a good reason for that. I have been to the royal physician as well as Varian and all tests conclude that I am... Pregnant. Surprise...!"

Eugene blinked and stared slack jawed at Rapunzel. They thought that after so many years that they wouldn't be able to have children and yet here they were, going to have a baby. Arianna gasped and covered her mouth, tears brimming in her eyes as she rushed to embrace her daughter. "Oh, Dear this is wonderful!"

Eugene squealed when it registered fully in his mind and moved to embrace his mother-in-law and wife. "Oh sunshine! This is wonderful! It's absolutely amazing! We're going to have a little baby! And we thought that- Oh, Blondie I love you, so, so much!"

What a twist of fate! Did anyone predict this?

So Now that Rapunzel is pregnant, will Joshua still be heir and have to worry about his relationship with Elaine?

Will Elaine still retain her wild streak and spoil the Duke?

What will happen at the incoming coronation?

I suppose we ought to read on, review and stay safe, I love you guys too much for you all to get sick.

BTW, sorry for not updating, school has been crazy so get ready for a chapter bomb because these are all on my school computer so I have to get them off before the 20th. Fun. I hope to get all finished chapters published and then the rest moved onto here so I won't lose my work and so you all can enjoy, please review though, I haven't gotten any creative response in forever.