KING Frederic curiously eyed Prince Domeric Porter, finding the Prince to be a handsome man. The young Prince who had made the weeks-long journey from the neighboring kingdom of the Hithen Empire, a realm known for its sheepherding and wool, to here, to Corona, the king was sure the Prince would be a fine match for Rapunzel.

The skies above their heads were dull and grievous. Weeny snowflakes trickled from above, melting on the young man's light brown hair and settling on his shoulders.

The king's face, wind burnt from the cold winter wind that whipped through the air, met the Prince's with a critical interest. He had heard stories of this Porter lad, how the young man was, once upon a time, engaged to a princess from a kingdom across the sea, only to be cast aside when the princess developed strange ungodly ice powers and disappeared, and conspired with a distant relative to try to take the princess's throne for himself.

He was said to have fled the kingdom, leaving his relative to the inquest and judgment.

Prince Domeric had become a man of many stories, but stories, of course, were for the gullible, and King Frederic considered himself beneath the notion of believing silly peasant lies.

"Prince Domeric," he went on. "Welcome." His voice was crude. King Frederic felt the young man almost flinch away in hesitation, playing with his pinkish-tipped fingers to keep them warm. But the boy was looking at him with what he perceived as venom in those dark eyes of his, labeling him, for reasons he could not fathom.

He half expected the boy to grow fangs, like a skin-changer, a werewolf, the commonfolk called humans who tended into beasts, cursed beings, and dig them onto his throat.

But suddenly, his face changed, as if by a spell, and the Prince smiled and sank into a sweeping bow.

"Your Highness."

It lifted his mood and Frederic loosened his clenched fist and let out a crooked half-smile. He stepped aside and his wife stepped forward.

"Might I introduce my wife, Queen Arianna?" He watched Prince Domeric swiftly move forward, releasing his right hand from the glove that now engulfed it, and stretching it out to his wife. King Frederic was attentive to notice the slight color that now flushed the man's cheeks at the touch of the Queen's palm against his.

"It is an honor to meet you, Your Grace," Prince Domeric managed in a low and steady voice. He met his lips on the back of her hand and pulled away, straightening his gait, and looking behind where the king and queen stood, hoping to spot any signs of his future betrothed, of whom he had heard many stories. That her hair was magic.

That her adopted mother for the last eighteen years of the formerly missing princess's life had been a hag, a witch, and kept the poor thing locked in a tower, and permitted the girl to keep a lizard as a companion, her only window to the outside world. Domeric bristled at the notion of the many rumors swirling about the princess of Corona. It was said that she was a beautiful girl. He had hoped that she would be here alongside her parents, that he could have met this Girl of Many Stories, as his people were calling her.

Domeric furrowed his brows as he flicked his gaze back to the girl's parents and cleared his throat, careful to choose his words very carefully to not seem too accusatory or demanding.

"Your Majesties, please forgive the request, but I was hoping that I might catch a glimpse of my beloved bride. I would very much like to meet her and make your daughter's acquaintance…?" Prince Domeric questioned, almost hopefully.

King Frederic nodded and turned to his wife.

"My love, our daughter should be here," King Frederic repeated, with just a twinge of annoyance seeping its way to the surface of her voice. Prince Domeric fell as silent as an owl. King Frederic raised a finger to call for Ser Martyn, a knight in his guard and the captain as well, a man he trusted with his life.

The taller, younger man in his mid-thirties stepped forward, and as soon as King Frederic finished speaking to the captain of the guard in a hushed tone, the black-haired soldier began to turn on the heels of his boots to head back up to the castle to fetch the princess, his boot prints messing the snow that glittered.

But before the captain could make it even halfway back up the path, a shadow appeared from the castle's side entrance. King Frederic at first thought that it was his beloved Rapunzel in her new green gown that her mother had painstakingly ordered crafted for this specific occasion. But the hope in his broad chest died when it was merely a servant girl that came barreling down the snow-covered pathway, dread and misery written all over her features.

She went past Ser Martyn and straight to the visiting Prince. King Frederic's hand fell on the hilt of his sword as the poor thing fell to her knees, trembling, fearful of the Prince's answer.

"Y-Your Highness. P-Princess Rapunzel, she…she's gone."


THE clanging of metal and boots against stone slashed the quiet and desolate hallways up the set of winding stone steps to Princess Rapunzel's rooms. King Frederic and Queen Arianna almost panted as they struggled to keep up with Prince Domeric and his men's quickened footsteps, disbelief, and worry carved onto their features.

As they entered their daughter's rooms, they looked around the vast chamber for themselves. A three-pronged candle holder on a small side table still burned brightly above an untouched flagon of warmed wine. The smell of her perfume still lingered in the air. All the windows were closed and the bedsheets unrumpled, which suggested she'd not climbed out the window like she'd had to do when that thief had helped her to escape from the witch's tall tower. The fire in the hearth was roaring in front of the bear-pelt rag that Rapunzel had always hated.

Prince Domeric went in with the serving woman who called herself Anna in a shaky voice when asked, and King Frederic saw the furious look in the young man's dark brown eyes.

How on earth could he be so calm about this? The Princess of Corona has gone astray…again.

The king and queen watched the abandoned groom stare at the gown draped across her bed.

Prince Domeric picked up the dress that rested on the mattress, his fingers slowly sweeping across the velvet fabric. It gave the king and queen a jolt to see the younger man like this.

His bride has run away from him, from them, from her future responsibilities as the realm's leader, likely with that thief of hers who appeared to have stolen away Rapunzel's heart.

No. The boy was the vengeful soul. King Frederic recognized the danger glittering behind the young man's moisture-filled dark brown eyes. Prince Domeric's silence meant more.

Men flooded the room and two weak and beaten-up guards were thrown on the floor, hands tied behind them, their teeth and blood splattering the carpeted floor beneath their feet.

The men, led by Ser Martyn, held them up, though both guards wobbled on their knees.

"Castle guards on the back gates. Said they haven't met a single soul in the last two hours."

"Is this true?" King Frederic asked in his booming, authoritative tone. Prince Domeric walked alongside his future father-in-law, the gown still in one of his hands. He stared in awe.

"We swear, Y-Y-Your Highness," one of the guards panted in a breathless voice, his purpled and bleeding lips quivering maddeningly, and there was an angry cut above his brow oozing blood from where Martyn had decked him good. "None came…none went," he whispered hoarsely.

"Where were you?" Prince Domeric asked, angrily so.

There was silence as the two guards merely bowed their heads out of fear and shock.

"Found drunk and sleepy, Highness," said Ser Martyn.

Prince Domeric slowly bent to kneel into a crouch and look at the two guards dead in the eyes.

"We swear, Highness, none came, none went," the shorter of the two guards spat, his beard caked in mud and blood, "You can inspect the locks, milord, they're—"

But the guard fell to the floor with a pained scream and a sickening thud as Prince Domeric's foot smashed against the guard's already broken face and remained there. Everyone in the room instantly tensed.

With gritted teeth and blazing eyes, the young man raised his boot and crushed in on the guard's face, again and again, and again, until King Frederic heard the sickening crunch of the bones of the man's nose as it broke. The guard howled in pain and tried to pry Prince Domeric's foot off of his face, though to no avail at all. He continued this beating until the man eventually lost consciousness, and Prince Domeric stopped his temper tantrum with ragged, heaving breaths. Everyone felt the furious stab on the man's glower, and no one dared to protest, and they let him pass towards the three-pronged candle on the table and he seized the object with an angry, shaking fist.

"Prince Domeric, this is enough…" Queen Arianna tried to soothe her daughter's suitor, but it seemed there were no words that could be said to calm him down now. The Prince threw the live candles into the fireplace, and along with it, Rapunzel's green velvet gown. The Queen gasped, her eyes widening in horror.

Everyone watched as the dress caught flames and started to smolder, causing the logs in the grate to crackle and pop as the gown fed the fire's kindling. King Frederic frowned, shaking his head.

"That was unnecessary, Prince Domeric, it was difficult to commission that gown to be made, boy," he barked at the temperamental prince in a hoarse voice.

"I don't care. Have another one like it made if it suits you," Prince Domeric spat and turned towards his men, his face contorted in grief and appalled displeasure. "She had her scent on it before she left and someone, likely that vagabond you've told me of in her letters, the wretched thief who calls himself Flynn Rider, came in to convince her to leave, Your Majesty." He moved past Rapunzel's parents and towards the door.

King Frederic knew the lad was unstoppable.

"Ah, Highness, forgive, b-but what about…?" one of the Prince's men interrupted, pointing to the guard whose nose had now just been quashed with his master's boot, his blood making a dark red stain on the floor that the maids would be tasked with cleaning it up.

Prince Domeric gave his man a funny little half-smile.

"What are dungeons for then, John? Put him in a cell, make sure he cannot leave it," he grinned. The man called John offered Prince Domeric a curt little nod and began to drag the unconscious guard out of the floor.

A couple of the princess's servant girls gagged at the gruesome sight before them, but Domeric was deaf to the women's discomfort. The Prince straightened his posture and turned to King Frederic and Queen Arianna, who was clinging onto her husband's arm and searching the man's face, as though he had any answers to give on why Rapunzel had chosen to run away from them. He only had a few to give, and he was sure she'd not like them.

There was nothing all that remarkable about the Prince from the neighboring kingdom. His hair was a rich ebony black, and his face was that of a normal, plain man who was almost a handsome chap. His eyes though did give King Frederic something to think about. They were a deep, dark brown that one could almost mistake for black.

There was little there, no surface emotion could be seen within them, but there was thought going on behind those glittering eyes of the Prince's. But what was he thinking, that was the unnerving part. The king was pulled from his thoughts as the Prince's hoarse voice reached his eardrums.

"My men and I will leave immediately, Your Highness, while the princess's trail is still fresh. In this encroaching weather, I highly doubt they could have gotten far. I will find her, Your Grace, and I will not stop until I bring the princess home. The thief you've informed me of in your letters, he had to have been the one to take her. He will be dealt with accordingly," Prince Domeric spoke coldly, his expression hardening as his brown eyes darkened in color.

Feeling a brief surge of optimism, Queen Arianna gave their daughter's chosen suitor a brave look and granted him an affectionate smile despite the gruesome display he had just displayed towards that guard who had been dragged away before worry once more captured her expression.

She studied Prince Domeric, wholeheartedly wanting to believe this young man and his words. She turned her pained eyes to him and swallowed down hard past a lump in her throat.

"What if she's no longer in Corona?" Queen Arianna whispered, choking on already bitter tears.

Prince Domeric let one hand drift to the hilt of his sword resting idly at his hip and raised his chin, jutting it out slightly defiantly and staring deep into the king and queen's stricken gazes.

Queen Arianna drew in a sharp breath and held it. Beside her, she felt King Frederic stiffen.

Never before had she seen such ferocity and determination in a young man before, like right now.

Prince Domeric's next words stuffed the chills down Queen Arianna's throat and left her speechless and pondering as to what sort of man they intended their daughter to marry once Rapunzel was found safe and alive.

"Then I shall tear the entire world to the ground, inch by inch, until I find my betrothed, Your Majesty."


EUGENE and Rapunzel had been on Maximus since Eugene had stolen the beloved horse from the stables, and though Rapunzel had never had any qualms about riding before until now, she was beginning to ache and chafe in uncomfortable places. She leaned backward into Eugene, trying to alleviate some of the pressure from her thighs, but the movement did her little good.

When they had left Corona, no one had tried to stop them, and with her body and face covered by Mother Gothel's dark navy blue cape, no one recognized the valuable hostage the reformed thief was stealing away.

The stable boy who had innocently surrendered Maximus with no questions asked had said something to Eugene that made Rapunzel believe that the boy thought Eugene was stealing one of the castle handmaidens away as a prize. It made Rapunzel's stomach turn at the idea.

Her love was not and would never be that sort of man who could fling about a woman's feelings so casually in that regard, not like she'd seen other men do. She had worn her mother's cloak for a few miles out of the kingdom's capital when they were in the most danger of being spotted and recognized by someone else.

Rapunzel had meekly protested when Eugene slowed Maximus's gait and got onto the ground outside a small hut. The people inside were courteous enough when Eugene knocked on the door and asked for the daughter of the family to relinquish a few garments of clothing, as she and Rapunzel were about the same size.

She was relieved when Eugene came back with a brown peasant gown and a thick fur-lined woolen cloak.

"You are no longer a princess, Rapunzel," Eugene told her, as his strong hands wound around her waist, and he took her from Maximus in one fell swoop.

He practically shoved the change of clothing at her chest, ignoring the burning of her cheeks, and turned around.

She quickly changed and when she turned around to face him, he cloaked her in the thick brown wool, tying the clasp around her neck protectively. He tossed her light purple dress that was worth a small fortune and would easily feed this poor family for at least a month towards the gawking and wide-eyed daughter.

"Sell it," he told them, ripping off his leather overcoat and adding it to the pile in exchange for a cloak from the man of the household. "It'll be worth more than this," he added as an afterthought, looking at the former coat that King Frederic had given him and heavily sighed.

A part of him felt as though he were giving up a prize by relinquishing that coat, with it quickly becoming one of his most prized possessions, but his jewel, his priceless treasure, was currently holding his hand now, and for Rapunzel, he knew he'd give up anything. And Rapunzel had no doubt his words were true.

He may have taken this family's daughter's only spare clothes, but he had left them with valuables they could sell to the royal crown for a sack full of gold that would make them wealthy. They'd never want for anything.

"But when they ask which way we went, lie," Eugene told the family in a harsh voice and they nodded, gratefully.

He clucked his tongue and spurred Maximus, first heading East, but then he changed his direction and doubled back to the West. Rapunzel grew confused.

"Where are we going?" she asked, as her body heaved up and down on the horse. Her body ached and screamed for relief, but she promised herself not to complain. She knew Eugene was under enough stress.

"Doveport. It's a small snow village in the North. It will be bloody freezing there, but no one goes there unless they don't want to be found," he quietly explained. "I don't trust anyone, Rapunzel, except for you," Eugene somberly explained, his grip on Maximus's reins tightening until his knuckles were white with the effort. "They will tell your parents' soldiers the truth when they come looking for you, I can almost promise you that much."

"Should we have given them our clothing together? Won't everyone know that we ran away together now?" she asked. Rapunzel wasn't sure why, but she thought they would be safer if her parents did not know their disappearances were related, though she knew even as the thought crossed her mind, how foolish the notion was.

Of course, they would figure out that she had run away with Eugene. She had stupidly come to them asking for their permission to marry Eugene when the two of them would have had a better chance of just marrying in secret.

But her handsome thief did not seem to care. She quirked a thin eyebrow at Eugene when he did not answer.

"I want them to know, Rapunzel, I would have thought that would be obvious, darling," Eugene replied gruffly, staring at her incredulously as though he thought that should have been obvious. "I want the world to know that you are mine, and I am yours, and nothing and no one is taking you away from me. Now, you should save your voice, my love. It's only going to get colder the further North we ride, and I don't want you getting sick, Rapunzel."

Rapunzel was not sure why he wanted the entire kingdom of Corona to know, but she listened to Eugene and reluctantly fell silent. In the pocket of her cloak, she felt poor Pascal start to tremble, and her heart gave a little tug.

When the sun began to rise, he slowed Max to a walk. Sometimes, he would speed the horse up to a canter, but the speed would cause Rapunzel's back to press against him and she would wince in pain, not used to being on a horse for so very long. She was sure her back was bruised by something awful from galloping the night before.

Many times, she thought she was going to fall off and make a fool of herself in front of Eugene, Pascal, and Maximus, but she leaned closer to her love, despite the pain, and wrapped her legs even tighter around the horse.

She had tried to sit side saddle when he first put her on the saddle, but Eugene had regretfully shaken his head.

"It might hurt in a dress, Rapunzel, but you're less likely to fall off," Eugene told her when he forced her leg over the other side. She grimaced and squirmed in the saddle in discomfort but did her absolute best not to make a single peep. She didn't want her love to lose his temper and snap at her when he was already under enough pressure as it was to get them to this snow village called Doveport somewhere deep in the North. And more to the point, she was not a little girl anymore. She was a woman grown at the age of eighteen. She'd act as such.

"When we're further away from the city," he said as she tried to raise her sore rump from the hard saddle, "then we can rest. Maybe in a night or two find an inn to sleep in. You can have a bed and even a hot bath, love."

She nodded. "Why are we going North and not South?" she asked, as she turned to face the rising winter sun, though even the sun in November felt cold.

"We need to be out of the way, darling. Away from prying eyes, Rapunzel. The village that I told you about, Doveport, I…I know it well, I know of a family there that will take us in. I grew up with them, in a sense, and I left the village when I couldn't take any more of the blasted cold," Eugene patiently told Rapunzel.

"When are we going North?" she asked, testing him.

"When I decide that it's safe." There was a beat, a pause, and then he spoke again. "You should probably save your voice, Rapunzel. There will be time to talk more when we are out of danger. I promise to answer all of your questions then, and I have something to give you once we stop, but I don't want to until we're safe," Eugene replied simply, and Rapunzel fell silent. She chose to trust him in this venture, as Eugene knew more about what they were doing than she certainly did, and she would just need to trust in him for the time being.

By evening, Rapunzel could hardly sit in the saddle upright. She was not used to riding for so long and she squirmed endlessly, little whimpers escaping her barely cracked lips despite her best efforts to remain silent.

But she still prided herself. Not once did she complain.

Eugene did though. He murmured all sorts of uttered curses under his breath as his breaths made puffs of cold vapor in front of his lips as he steered them into the woods.

It made Rapunzel feel somewhat better, knowing that poor Eugene must be in pain too, because every time she squirmed against him, he let out a little grunt, groan, or breathy curse, some of which were words that she'd never heard before and sounded downright foul.

She was half-tempted to ask Eugene where he'd learned such disgusting language in an attempt to lighten the mood, but she chose not to. She wondered why Eugene refused to stop though if he was in as much pain as her.

But then she remembered the sometimes haunted look in his eyes and the occasional flare-up of pain that he would get in his ribs, the spot where Mother Gothel had stabbed him, despite her magic healing up, sometimes, the wound flared up, like a phantom itch, he had tried to explain it to her once.

He knew pain and he knew it well. It was nothing to her handsome thief.

However, by dinnertime, she could take no more. They had no food, she was hungry, it was close to freezing outside as a fierce winter storm was fast approaching, and poor Pascal was shivering in her pocket.

Eugene had told her he would find her something when they stopped for the night. She agreed. She was more than a little hungry, thirsty, tired, and sore and they had nowhere to go for the night.

When Eugene heard Rapunzel start to sniffle, he forced her face to the side so he could look into her eyes.

She kept her eyes shut but she felt Maximus come to a complete stop. When the great beast halted in his tracks and dismounted, she felt his hands go to her hips again and he gingerly removed her from the animal.

"You've not ridden before this long, have you?" he asked as he set her down on the ground in front of him.

Rapunzel moaned as she tried to stretch her legs, but the pain was far too much.

Instead, she wildly looked to the left and right in the forest clearing Eugene had led them to in search of shelter from the blizzard they would be caught out in soon if they did not find somewhere, a cave, someone's home, an inn, someplace that they could take shelter in for the night from the cold.

"Of course, I have," she sniffled, wiping the coarse brown wool over her nose as Eugene worked to gather some kindling to make a campfire to eat over.

"I meant real riding, my love, the sort of horseback riding that most men do, I take it by that look in your eyes that you haven't," he called out over his shoulder as he dropped a bundle of wood onto the forest floor in front of her.

He watched out of the corner of his gaze as her fingers kneaded the sore muscles of her thighs, ignoring the worst areas where the saddle had chafed her skin.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair in anguish and chewed on his lip for a moment, wishing desperately to comfort her but did not know how. Instead, all Eugene found that he could do was tell his princess the brutal and honest truth. "Darling, there will be more pain tomorrow, worse than today, but we'll have to keep moving, love."

Rapunzel sighed tiredly in defeat and nodded in agreement with her handsome thief's words, saying nothing, leaning heavily against the rough-covered bark of the tree behind her. The scratching of the wood through her new garments was almost a welcome distraction from the pains that had been mounting from sitting in the saddle. She leaned her head back, closing her eyes and letting out a long, deep exhale, her hands still rubbing her thighs.

"Are you alright, Rapunzel?" Eugene questioned, distressed. Rapunzel bravely nodded without opening her eyes. The tension between them was unbearable.

"Y-yes," she whispered in a small and meek voice that was choking with emotion and tears. But she wasn't fine.

Not for the first time, she wished that she could shed a single tear and gather the wretched little magic droplet into a small glass vial that she could pour onto her red and raw chafed skin, but no tears were coming to her.

Even if she could cry, Rapunzel suspected with a sinking feeling of dread in the pit of her churning stomach that her tears would be nearly frozen and rendered utterly useless. She tiredly opened her eyes and looked up at him, trying not to flinch away in hurt feelings as she felt Eugene stiffen. She knew full well what her love saw as he looked at her. The dark purple bags clung underneath the skin of her eyes. She was thinner these days too, not having much appetite, and was sleeping very little, plagued with nightmares of Mother Gothel's death, over and over again.

He drew in a harsh breath and looked away from Rapunzel's ever-searching gaze. "You dreamed again."

Phrased like that, it was not exactly a question. Rapunzel hesitated, chewing on the wall of her mouth. She almost wanted to lie to Eugene and tell him that no, she was fine, but something within her felt wrong, and she could not lie. Not to the man she wanted to marry, and especially not tonight, when he had risked his own life to whisk her away from her new prison.

"Yes," she whispered, suddenly feeling small.

Eugene's gentle hands were upon her face in an instant before Rapunzel could even fully understand what was happening, smoothing wisps of her hair back away from her face and he burrowed his forehead against hers.

Rapunzel dared not move, lest she disrupted Eugene.

"I am sorry, my love," he whispered. His sweet voice was the soothing balm that Rapunzel so desperately needed, and she took in a deep, settling breath to steady the rattled nerves that currently threatened to consume her. "They must be getting worse, to keep you up at night. Is there anything that I can do for you?" Eugene asked.

Finding no words to express herself at that moment, Rapunzel shook her head no and was merely content to keep her forehead rested against his, basking in the warmth her love gave off, not wanting to move an inch.

Eugene stared deep into Rapunzel's eyes with compassion.

There had to be something he could do to ease his princess's mind. And then, he remembered them.

Rising to one knee, he carefully withdrew the thick gold wedding bands that he had purchased in the marketplace a few months ago, with Pascal's help, as the ornery little chameleon knew Rapunzel's tastes better than hers, and the lizard was oft fond of stealing her jewelry for himself, as it happened, having a fondness for shiny metals.

Pascal had picked out their rings, as it happened, and had very nearly sent the jewelry vendor into a complaint of the heart, as the old man had a disdain for all reptiles. The gold bands glittered even in the darkening sky, plain in design, and thick. He had balked at their initial thickness at first, wondering if his princess would be comfortable wearing such a ring, though the vendor had reassured Eugene when he had asked that there could be no mistake.

This ring was crafted of the finest gold that Corona had to offer and once the ring was on her finger, it would never come off and there could be no mistake that his princess would be a claimed woman. He smiled.

"Rapunzel," Eugene began in a shaking breath. "I am yours," he promised, as he held out the rings in his palm. "I was going to wait until a more comfortable time to ask, but I don't think I can wait," he began, his expression pained. "I know that you face a lot of uncertainty in your future, but if there's one thing I want you to be certain of, it's that I will always be here, right by your side. I pledge my heart, my sword, my soul, and all that I am though I may not be much for you, my princess, to protect you." He stared deep into Rapunzel's catlike green eyes earnestly. "I will shield you from harm, and guard you with my life. I hoped that you would do me the great honor of officially becoming Mrs. Eugene Fitzherbert. Forever with you is not nearly long enough for me, but it's a decent enough start. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" he swore his heartfelt oath at Rapunzel's feet.

Rapunzel smiled, her eyes showing a measure of softness that had only ever been reserved for Eugene. She breathed easier at Eugene's apparent devotion and she nodded and said the only answer that she could give.

"Yes, Eugene, I'll marry you," she whispered, holding out her left hand for him to slip the ring that was to be hers onto her finger.

Eugene beamed as he slipped the ring onto her finger and did not hesitate to wear his. Side-by-side, they looked at their matching gold wedding bands, and Rapunzel was left to marvel at how right they looked.

Pascal poked his head out of her cloak pocket and chirped a trill of little sounds in response, clearly happy, though the lizard let out a hiss as Eugene rose to his feet. Disturbed by the warning sounds the tiny chameleon in Rapunzel's cloak pocket was making, the couple turned towards the source of the noise.

Suddenly, a few yards from the clearing came the sound of galloping horses. They were heavily laden with loud armor and gear. There were at least a dozen or so, from the sounds of things. Rapunzel and Eugene glanced at each other fearfully. There was no way Eugene could fight off as many as it seemed to approach.

They held their breath and waited, while Maximus whinnied lowly in frustration but quickly got down on all fours to hide his tall frame in the brush. Closer and closer, the detachment of soldiers rode, king's men, until they were almost upon the small forest clearing that hid the two fugitives. Eugene nervously positioned himself in front of Rapunzel and held his sword at the ready, ready to defend his fiancée with his own life.

Rapunzel could only quiver in dread and cupped Pascal close to her heart, unable to even inhale a breath.

The couple scanned the distant trees that hid the clearing for any signs of approaching guards. They feared the sounds of how loudly their hearts were racing in their chests would give them away as they waited in silence.

Thankfully, to their relief, the horses and riders did not see them. The group of men raced on passed the princess and thief's hiding place, to search elsewhere. Eugene and Rapunzel knew it was almost inevitable that more men would be following them, and they were both eager to be gone from the area and find shelter.

"We need to go, my love, I know it will hurt you, and for that, I'm sorry, b-but there's no other way," Eugene told her, shooting Rapunzel a furtive, guilty look at her as he rose to his feet and held out a hand to her to help her up.

He was overjoyed when he took it and again, he marveled at how right their two new matching wedding bands looked and could not wait to make her his wife.

Rapunzel rose carefully to her feet, aided by Eugene's grip as she gingerly slipped Pascal back into the warmth of her cloak pocket. Carefully, Eugene gathered Rapunzel in his arms and sat her lightly atop the saddle.

He raised himself into Maximus's saddle as delicately as he could behind her, not wanting to jostle her.

He knew she was still in a considerable amount of pain from not being used to riding all day for hours on end, but it sadly could not be helped.

He was aware continuing even deeper into the forest and hoping to lose the soldiers' tracks would be difficult enough for Rapunzel to endure, let alone the blizzard that would be upon them soon enough.

Eugene took a moment to make sure that Rapunzel was ready, seeing that nervousness was already beginning to overtake her as she clutched onto his waist tentatively. He scooped up the reins, glad his arms on either side of her would provide Rapunzel the support that she needed, and spurred Maximus along the woodland's forest path, deeper into the woods, along the path that would lead them further North, to Doveport, to their new lives together.

To their freedom.