A/N: Because of the nature of this fanfiction, there are some things that happen in canon that aren't a thing in this story. The main three things that you should know are different are 1) the black rocks never came to Corona. 2) Without the black rocks, Rapunzel's hair didn't grow back. 3) Zhan Tiri was not the one behind the blizzard.
Andrew was worried about Varian, but a very small part of him was relieved that the kid was there. While Andrew was by himself in the cell, isolated from his people and only able to think about himself and his misfortune. Everything he did he did for the sake of his people, but it was difficult to worry about the future of Saporia when he was alone.
As soon as Varian was thrown into the cell with him Andrew was given somebody else to worry about. He had somebody right in front of him that needed him, somebody that he could help. He had still been worried about his fate, but he was able to push those thoughts to the back of his mind as he focused on Varian.
He'd only meant to help the kid until he was reunited with his people. It would be nice if Varian was Saporian, because Andrew had to prioritize his people above everybody else, but he didn't have the heart to just abandon a terrified slave child just because he was born of the wrong people. If Andrew did that, he would be no better than the barbaric Coronans.
Now, looking at the mark on Varian's hand, he knew that he wasn't Saporian. Andrew didn't know who Varian's people were, but he had said that he would help the kid, and he was going to make good on his word. Until he found Varian's kin he would have to keep an eye on the kid himself. So when Varian fainted, Andrew immediately caught him. He had to get him somewhere more comfortable and make sure that he was actually okay.
Andrew looked at the guards that were escorting them. One of them reached for Varian, but Lance pulled him against his chest protectively.
"Don't you lay a hand on him." Andrew growled. "The kid's under my protection." It was only after he said it did Andrew realize how this might be a mistake. These weren't the dungeon guards that were technically not allowed to harm the prisoners. These were slavers. Andrew's memory of his time as a slave was fuzzy, but he remembered that it wasn't unusual to see people get hurt really badly.
The younger guard's eyes narrowed dangerously. He strode forward, but before he could get very far the older guard stepped in his way and gave Andrew a slight shove, harsh enough to get him to move but not hard enough to make him fall.
"Get moving," The older guard said. Andrew gave him a small, confused look before he decided that he shouldn't push his luck. The guard wasn't punishing him or giving Varian lashes for speaking out of line, and Andrew wasn't going to complain about that.
With the younger guard leading the way and the older guard bringing up the rear they were escorted on. If Andrew didn't know better he would believe that this was just a simple, small town of settlers. There were a number of small stone cabins that somehow still looked like temporary structures, but Andrew knew from his memories that they'd been standing here for the past twenty years, and probably longer. They were probably as drafty and cramped as he remembered.
The older guard told the younger to lead them to one of the cabins at the end of the mock village. Andrew took a deep breath as a shiver ran down his spine. He hadn't thought that he remembered the old cabin, but seeing it in front of him he realized just how familiar it was.
"Home sweet home." Andrew muttered under his breath. This old cabin was basically his childhood home, as much as a slaving quarters could be. He couldn't believe he had forgotten about the rusty cuffs chained to the outer wall, intended to uncomfortably and humiliatingly chain up slaves who misbehaved a little bit. Nobody was in the cuffs, but Andrew remembered somebody being chained there more often than not. He himself had never been chained there, but that was probably just because he'd been too small.
Andrew didn't falter in his steps for long, but it was enough to annoy the guards. He was given another shove, harsh enough to make him stumble, but not enough to make him fall. Andrew made himself continue. He stepped past the threshold, ducking his head to get past the low door.
The cabin was nearly empty, which wasn't surprising. It was still working hours, though Andrew knew that people would be coming back in shortly. There were a lot of strictly enforced rules in this valley, but one of the more insistent ones was that nobody, neither slave nor slaver, was allowed out after dark, with just one night a month being the exception.
Andrew had never learned why. All he knew was that his father had once told him that it hadn't always been that way. Apparently when Andrew was really young, just a few years old and too young to remember it, the slaves, even the children, worked into the long hours of the night, sometimes even until dawn. One day it had changed. As a child Andrew had been too grateful to have the chance to sleep a little more to care about the reason why.
The cabin smelled like dust and mold. Unless Andrew was remembering wrong, it was a smell that one didn't get used to with time. It was always revolting.
The only furniture in the cabin were beds lined against the walls. Andrew imagined the mattresses were infested with bugs and far from comfortable, but at least they wouldn't be sleeping on the ground. At least, Andrew didn't think that most people would be stuck on the ground. Looking around Andrew saw more scratchy blankets than he saw mattresses. There were more slaves sleeping in here than could fit, and now there would be one or two more, depending on how long Varian needed.
Only one of the beds was currently being used. A sick, elderly woman was lying on a bed, sleeping and rasping for breath. She must be incredibly sick if she was allowed to rest. Andrew wondered how overworked the other people in this cabin were to make up for the work that the woman couldn't do.
Andrew laid Varian on the closest bed. The younger guard watched them critically.
"The boy isn't supposed to be here." The younger guard said. "These quarters are for Saporians."
"It's just until the kid wakes up." The older guard said as he dragged his companion out of the cabin. "Unless you want to be the one to drag him to the Beast." The last thing Andrew saw before they left was the look of alarm and slight fear on the younger guard's face. Whatever, or possibly whoever, this 'Beast' was, they were clearly dangerous. Andrew didn't want Varian anywhere near them, but there wasn't much he could do about it now.
Varian shifted and groaned, which soon changed to a whimper. "D-daddy."
Andrew grimaced. Varian would be dealing with so much pain now, and apparently they would be throwing homesickness onto that. The kid had just arrived and he couldn't seem to catch a break.
"Afraid not, kid." Andrew said. Varian slowly opened his eyes. It took him a long time to focus on Andrew. As soon as Varian understood who he was looking at his face fell as he looked absolutely devastated.
"Andrew." Varian said quietly. He sat up, flinching as he nudged his hand against the mattress. Varian froze and stared at his hand in horror. Tears gathered in his eyes. Andrew was worried that he was going to faint again.
"Hey, it's okay." Andrew said. "I know it hurts now, but it'll heal." Andrew sat on the bed next to Varian. "Ignoring the fact that this wasn't your choice, and the Coronans are responsible for this, it doesn't have to be a bad thing. This mark means that you don't have to suck up to Coronans anymore."
Varian whined and buried his face in his legs. He looked even more upset than he had a moment ago. "Are you kidding? This mark means that I have to suck up to the Cornanans, even if I do get out of here." Varian pulled at his hair. "That's what happened to him."
"Who?" Andrew asked. Did Varian know a freed slave?
"M-my dad." Varian said. He stared at his hand. "He…he has a mark just like this on his hand. He was a slave, and I didn't know." Varian sniffled. "I should have known. I should have known there was something more, but I didn't…I didn't even consider…and now he's…" Varian let out a heartbreaking wail.
Andrew sat by Varian's side for several minutes before the kid eventually began to calm down. "Did something happen to your dad?"
"He…it's my fault." Varian said. "I knew he was hiding something from me, and I got sick of it, so I went through his things. I thought if he wouldn't tell me what was going on, then I would figure it out on my own."
Varian took a deep breath. "I-I found some old alchemy journals. I thought they belonged to my mom. There were some notes for a lot of different experiments, and I wanted to replicate them, just to see what they would do."
Varian looked ill as tears fell down his cheeks. "One of the experiments had something to do with these things called b-black rocks. I didn't know what they were, but I tried the experiment anyway."
Varian shuddered and tightened his grip on his hair, clenching it tightly. "S-something went wrong. The formula began to bubble and expand, and then it became solid, impossible to break amber." Varian sighed. "I almost got trapped in it, but my dad pushed me out of the way. He saved me, but got trapped himself."
"I-I've tried to save him, but nothing I do works." Varian sniffled. "I tried to go to the princess for help, but there was this blizzard, and I guess she had more important things to worry about, and-"
"Hang on." Andrew frowned. "I remember that blizzard." It had hit Corona about three months after he'd been arrested. Even in the dungeons he'd been aware of the storm. At the time he'd been grateful for it. Part of the reason was because it gave the guards something else to worry about than taunting the prisoners, so he'd finally gotten an undisturbed day in the dungeons. Mostly though Andrew had been glad for the blizzard because he knew that it was unusual weather for Corona that time of year, so he knew that this wasn't a natural storm.
"Were you hurt by the blizzard?" Andrew asked.
Varian flexed his fingers. "I got a little frostbite, but it mostly got better." Varian shook his head. "The blizzard was an inconvenience when I tried to get to the capital, but when I was thrown out the cold was just pouring salt in the wound that Rapunzel had stabbed into my back."
"What did the princess do to you?" Andrew asked.
Varian sighed. "She said that she would help me. I met her just after her coronation ceremony. She was going from town to town to get to know her people better. My dad told me to not do or say anything, that we didn't want any attention from the royals, but I didn't listen to him. Old Corona has always struggled, and we'd just had a really bad harvest. We needed help, and I thought that the princess would listen."
"I told her that Old Corona is always pushed to the side and forgotten about by the rest of the kingdom." Varian said with a dry, humorless laugh. "My dad was horrified that I had talked to the princess like that, or maybe he was just scared that I was talking to the princess at all. He tried to apologize on my behalf, but Rapunzel wouldn't hear a word of it.
Varian stared at the wall blankly, lost in his memories. "She seemed upset about what I said. She said that she was princess for the whole kingdom, which meant that she was Old Corona's princess just as much as she was the Capital's. She p-promised to help us. She promised that she cared about the people of Old Corona, and that she wouldn't put the people of the capital above us."
"And she broke her word." Andrew didn't need to ask. He already knew.
"My dad needed help." Varian said quietly. "I needed her help, but she didn't do anything. She thought it was more important to evacuate the capital, even though the rest of the kingdom was just as stormy and snowy as the island was, than to come to Old Corona to help me."
Varian was quiet for a moment before he continued. "My dad was trapped by the time I got back. T-that was when the guards started showing up, watching me, waiting. As soon as the guards arrived, the people of Old Corona left. They didn't want to get on their bad side. I was alone. I waited for the princess to show up. For so long I tried to tell myself that she was busy, but she would eventually keep her promise. She never came."
Andrew felt angry, both on Varian's behalf, and on behalf of all his people. Old Corona was where his people lived. How dare the princess promise to help them, only to turn her back on them and never give them a second thought. As frustrated as he was with the princess, he couldn't help but feel at least partially responsible, at least for Varian's plight.
"I'm sorry about the blizzard." Andrew said. "I'm sure my people didn't mean for you to get caught in the middle of it."
Varian finally looked away from the wall to give Andrew a confused glance. "What are you talking about?"
"The blizzard only came to Corona because of the prayers of my people." Andrew said. "We kinda worship nature."
Varian gave him an unimpressed look. Andrew just chuckled. He knew that not everybody believed in the gods of the earth that he did. Even among Saporians while they all respected nature and animals they didn't all worship the land. Even those that did believe in the old gods worshipped in different ways. Some people had a casual belief, others practiced a more formal worship. It was all up to the individual.
"I know you probably don't believe in the Saporian gods, so this apology probably means nothing to you." Andrew said. "But I do believe in it, so I still feel responsible."
"Why would the Saporians pray for a blizzard?" Varian asked.
"For me." Andrew said. "My people were grieving my arrest." Even while he'd been in the dungeons Andrew had his ways of getting news about his people. "A lot of them, in a small act of rebellion against Corona, prayed to our gods."
Varian's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, I think I remember that happening. I didn't understand what the people in Old Corona were doing. My dad told me to just leave them alone and let them cope the way they needed to."
"My people just wanted to knock the kingdom of Corona down a couple of pegs." Andrew said. "I'm sorry that you ended up being caught in the middle of it."
Varian stared at Andrew for a long moment before he just shrugged. "It's not your fault." Andrew didn't agree with him, but at least Varian wasn't mad at him.
The door was harshly thrown open, banging against the wall. Varian jumped and clung to Andrew, who stared cautiously at the door. He was expecting a guard to come in and start punishing them for something, as it was still too early for the slaves to be returning to the quarters. Andrew's breath felt like it got knocked right out of him when he saw who it was.
The man was tall. His olive skin was full of scars, bruises, and calluses. His long hair was ratty, tangled, and greasy. He looked like he had been attractive in his prime, but age and slavery had not been kind. Andrew was both relieved and horrified when he saw the man, and the way that the man was staring back at him made it clear that he felt the same way about him.
They stared at each other for a long moment before the man took a step forward. He was breathing harshly like he had run here. "Is it true what they say? Is it really you?" He approached them. Andrew got to his feet, walking to meet the man. "Andrew?"
"It's me." Andrew said. The older man looked heartbroken. He closed his eyes.
"I've always hoped that I would see you again." The man said. "But I never wanted it to be like this."
"I'm sorry." Andrew said quietly. He lowered his head. The man took his face in his hands and made Andrew look up at him.
"Do not apologize." The man said sternly, "I'm just glad to see you well." He gave Andrew a small smile. "Look at the young man you've become." The man's hands were shaking. Andrew didn't know whether it was from emotion or physical exhaustion.
"Andrew?" Varian peeked at him from his bed. "Who…You know this guy." Varian looked between the two of them. "You look like each other."
Andrew took a step back and looked towards Varian. "Kid, allow me to introduce his majesty, Albrun, king of Saporia." Albrun stood as tall and proudly as he could. Andrew smiled. "My father."
Varian looked pained, probably thinking about his own father. He rubbed the back of his hand, grimacing at the pain. Albrun's eyes were drawn to the brand. He looked shocked at the symbol there, but a moment later the shock was replaced with anger and caution that Andrew didn't understand.
"What are you doing with a child of the moon?" Albrun asked Andrew in a hushed tone. Andrew frowned.
"Child of the moon?" He looked at Varian's mark. "Do you know who his people are?"
"There isn't a slave here that doesn't know of the Brotherhood." Albrun said. "They're troublemakers and a danger to our people."
Varian flinched and drew in on himself. "I haven't even done anything yet." Varian gave Andrew an accusatory glance. "I thought Saporians were supposed to be better than Coronans, but you're still saying I'm trouble."
"I'm not saying anything." Andrew said. He gave his father a warning look. "The only people that are a danger to Saporians are Coronans. Varian's like us, so why would we act like them?"
Albrun shook his head. "You don't understand. I'm sure he's a lovely young man, but his kind tend to cause trouble, and when one person causes trouble around here we all pay the price."
"My kind?" Varian's eyes narrowed furiously, though the tears still on his cheeks took away from his attempt at being intimidating. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Albrun opened his mouth to answer, but they suddenly heard a commotion outside. There was a lot of shouting, both from guards and from prisoners. It was loud and sounded like it was only going to get worse. Andrew wanted nothing to do with whatever was going on out there, but before he could even begin to be relieved that he was inside the cabin the door was thrown open again. This time it actually was a guard who stepped in. His eyes zeroed in on Varian.
"Get over here, boy." The guard said furiously. Varian hesitated for just a moment, but it was long enough to annoy the guard. "Now!" Varian whimpered and pushed himself off the bed. He reluctantly made his way over to the guard, only to be grabbed harshly.
"We're going to be trying something new today." The guard said. He looked at the rest of them. "Get the hag. The warden wants everybody in the square."
Albrun sighed. He looked tired and cautious, though there was also a fair amount of pity in his eyes. "Help me with Ingrid. We don't want to keep them waiting." Albrun made his way to the sleeping woman. Andrew joined him.
"Does she really need to come?" Andrew asked. Ingrid didn't even look well enough to get out of bed, let alone out of the cabin.
"Everybody needs to come." Albrun said. "Presentations like this are mandatory."
"Presentation?" Andrew frowned. "What's going on?" He didn't remember anything like this happening when he was here twenty years ago. Had things really changed that much?
Albrun gave him an unreadable look. "You wanted to know why the Brotherhood was a danger to our people. Well, you're about to see for yourself."
A/N: This chapter is so heavy on exposition, but because of this AU I needed to come up with how we ended up on the same general path as canon led us. So I needed to think of why Quirin was trapped in amber when the black rocks were never a problem, and how Rapunzel knew Varian and what promise she made to him. Hopefully this chapter was okay, despite the heavy amount of exposition.