Edmund had never left the Dark Kingdom before. It had been odd to travel and see the lands beyond their borders, but he hadn't let himself stop to think about it for too long. Between being reunited with his son, keeping an eye on Varian and the moonstone, and making sure that Hector and Zhan Tiri were kept under control, he hadn't had time to really think about it.

Now that they were in Corona everything was different. Hector was fast asleep and hopefully there wasn't a threat of Zhan Tiri haunting his dreams. Quirin was freed and able to protect his son. The only one that Edmund had to actively worry about was Eugene, who had gone with Lance to the capital to speak with Rapunzel's father.

Edmund knew that Eugene was capable of taking care of himself. His son was smart, resourceful, and just confident enough to throw caution out the window when it was necessary. He trusted his son. However, Edmund absolutely didn't trust King Frederic.

Varian was a brave child. He wasn't afraid of jumping into action when it might be better to show some restraint. Despite this, Varian had been terrified when they'd first met. He hadn't trusted Edmund at first, and he'd seemed worried that Edmund would hurt him. He'd been hurt by a king before. Specifically, Corona's king.

Edmund could understand the temptation to use his power and influence to achieve his own selfish desires. He could have kept his son at his side, and protected his wife. Even now, after all these years, Edmund wished that he had used the moonstone like that, but he knew that he couldn't have. He was born to be a guardian of the moonstone, not the master of it. And as king he couldn't just be a husband and father, he had to act as husband and father of everybody in the kingdom.

Edmund didn't know King Frederic himself, but he thought he understood his style of ruling. Varian had told him about how he'd been treated because King Frederic had seen him as a threat. It was entirely possible that the boy was exaggerating or just didn't understand the complicated decisions that a leader might make, so maybe he wasn't the best source of information. Edmund had also heard a thing or two from Eugene though, and their stories matched.

Eugene seemed to feel conflicted about King Frederic. He tried to speak kindly of him, which was understandable. Eugene was dating the young princess, after all. Many people did their best to play nice with their potential in-laws. Especially if said in-laws had a strong relationship with their child. If Rapunzel's parents didn't approve of Eugene, would she listen to their opinions and decide to end their relationship. It was always a possibility.

Edmund could read between the lines of what Eugene said. King Frederic was over-protective of his daughter and wife. He allowed himself to get involved with petty rivalries with the ruler of an enemy kingdom. He had a wall built to protect his daughter from the outside world, but in doing so he isolated the rest of his people from the world as well.

King Frederic sounded like a kind enough man who was just a little too protective of his family, but after having his daughter stolen from him it was understandable. However, that did not make him a good king. Edmund knew how important it was to put the well-being of your kingdom above everything else, and lying to your citizens about a dangerous threat just because you didn't want your daughter to put herself in harm's way while trying to fix the problem was certainly not the best way to go about doing that.

The people of Corona should not have to suffer just because their king didn't know how to let go of his daughter.

Edmund was worried about Eugene, yes, but he didn't try to control every aspect of his life, and he'd been separated from his son for several years more than King Frederic had. Edmund wanted to march right up to the capital and speak to him, king to king, about what it meant to be in charge. He couldn't though, not yet. He had other responsibilities that needed to be taken care of.

Perhaps after the Zhan Tiri issue was taken care of, or if King Frederic found out about Varian and the moonstone and tried to use that power for himself, then Edmund would speak to him. His responsibilities had to come first though, so until those concerns were taken care of, or King Frederic directly threatened those concerns, Edmund would keep his personal desires to himself, as he knew he should.

He sat near the window in Quirin's room, looking out towards where he'd been told the castle was. While he kept his ears on his sleeping brother he kept his gaze on the roads. He was keeping an eye out for any danger or threat, and he also watched for his son.

Edmund knew that Eugene had said he would be safe at the castle, that even if the king was annoyed or frustrated that Rapunzel wasn't home yet he wouldn't hurt or punish him because of it. Eugene believed that the king might be passive aggressive, but ultimately harmless. Edmund trusted Eugene's judgement, but that didn't mean that he trusted King Frederic. He wasn't going to relax until he knew his son was safe. Only after Hector was awake and Eugene had returned would he allow himself to sleep.

Shortly before dawn, when the sky was just beginning to brighten, Edmund heard a pounding downstairs. He was immediately alert. He wished he'd kept his ax close to him, but he'd have to make do without it. He ran out of the room and practically leapt down the stairs, almost tripping into Quirin as he did so.

Quirin looked just as ready to fight and defend his home as Edmund was. He may have hung up his sword and tried to retire from the Brotherhood, but his instincts were just as strong as ever.

Quirin was holding a pitchfork. It wasn't the best weapon, but it was better than what Edmund had. Quirin held a finger up to his lips, gesturing for Edmund to be silent. Quirin took the lead and silently crept towards the front door where the rustling and pounding was coming from. The two of them stood on opposite sides of the door and prepared to strike whoever was out there. It may not be a guarantee that they were a threat, but neither man was willing to take that chance.

Quirin swung the door open. A dark, short form pounced through the door, but Edmund sat this coming and was ready for it. He grabbed the intruder and pinned them down to the ground before he registered that there were two forms, and the one beneath him was too small and furry to be human.

"Hector's bearcats." Quirin had pinned down the other bearcat. He sat up and petted the animal as an apology. "I didn't know they were coming."

"Neither did I" Edmund hadn't seen a lot of the bearcats these past few weeks. They wandered around every once and awhile, but Hector was always quick to send them on their way. They must have tracked their scent. "Hector's upstairs sleeping. You are free to join him as long as you don't wake him." The bearcats looked as excited and happy as they could, which wasn't very much, and they ran past the men and up the stairs.

Edmund stood up, offering his hand out to Quirin to pull him up too. "It's not like you to be so jumpy. You used to save that for me and Hector."

"My son's a wanted criminal in this kingdom." Quirin said bitterly. "I'm not going to relax until he's safe."

"How is he?" Edmund asked. He knew that Varian had been concerned about talking to his father.

"He's doing better than I could expect him to be." Quirin sighed. "He's been through so much. I've put him through so much. He finally fell asleep." Quirin looked at Edmund. "How's Hector?"

"Sound asleep." Edmund was happy to report. "Not a single nightmare."

"Good, that's good." Quirin nodded. He was quiet for a long moment. "Why is the demon even tormenting him? Whatever she wants, there have to be other people who are more willing and capable of giving her what she wants."

"I think part of it is that her power is limited." Edmund said. "It's easier for her to influence him because he was the one that freed her power. I think that the bigger reason is because of Hector's relationship with Varian. The boy trusts and listens to him. The whole reason why Varian took the moonstone in the first place was because Hector told him to, and he did so because of Zhan Tiri's influence."

Quirin's gaze darkened. "What does the demon want with my son?"

"It's not that she wants Varian, it's that she wants the moonstone, and someone vulnerable who she thinks she can control." Edmund said. "She thinks she can get that from Varian and Hector."

"Well, she's sorely mistaken." Quirin growled. "They may have been vulnerable to manipulation once, but they're both far too stubborn and smart to repeat their mistakes, especially if we're here to stop them from going too far."

Edmund nodded. He completely agreed. It was why he hadn't truly gotten mad at Hector for convincing Varian to take the moonstone. It may not be ideal, but if the alternative was that angry woman, Cassandra, took the moonstone instead, Edmund was glad that this was the way that things had turned out.

Edmund looked out the open door, frowning when he saw no sign of his son. Quirin followed his gaze. "It can take several hours to get to the capital from here." Quirin said. "Barely enough time has passed for him to have gotten there and back, and that's not including the time it takes to arrange a meeting with the king and speak with him."

"King Frederic wouldn't hurt my son, would he?" Edmund asked.

Quirin sighed. "From what I've heard while the royal family don't exactly view him as their own, they at least respect him enough that they would at least hear him out. If not the king, then the queen. I don't think they'd hurt him. At least for a few weeks they'll take his word about Rapunzel's eventual return. After that, it's hard to say."

Edmund hadn't realized how much he had missed his brother. Quirin had a way of speaking that was factual, to the point, and yet still strangely reassuring.

"How long should I wait for him to return before I can allow myself to be concerned?" Edmund asked.

Quirin thought for a second. "I'd wait until about noon. It's possible that King Frederic won't even see him until dawn, in which case I would expect them to be back by midmorning."

Edmund nodded. "If he's not back by lunch, I shall go after him."

"I'd show you how to get to the capital, but I can't afford to." Quirin scowled. "It's taking every bit of my restraint to keep myself from storming to the capital and giving Frederic a piece of my mind." Quirin let out a long, slow breath. "The only thing keeping me here is that I'll just get myself arrested for attacking the king, and Varian will either be left alone or he'll be arrested right behind me. I can't let my anger cloud my judgement."

"You're a good father, Quirin." Edmund said. His brother shook his head and scoffed.

"I think Varian would disagree." Quirin sounded pained. Edmund put his hand on his shoulder.

"Children often have a hard time understanding their parents." Edmund said. "Eugene is still having a difficult time believing that I do, indeed, care about him."

"To be fair, you did send him away." Quirin pointed out. He didn't even seem apologetic about implying that his king had made a mistake. Edmund hadn't realized how much he missed his siblings questioning every decision he made. "Don't get me wrong, I understand why, and I probably would have made the same decision in your shoes. I've also prioritized my son's safety above everything else, including his happiness, but as I've come to see there needs to be a balance between keeping them safe and keeping them happy."

Edmund nodded, taking in every word that Quirin said. He had a lot more experience being a father, after all.

Quirin looked back towards the stairs. "Speaking of that balance, I need to get back to Varian's side." Quirin looked guilty. "I promised him that I wouldn't leave his side while he slept."

"You thought there was a threat." Edmund pointed out. He was sure that Varian would understand.

"But now the threat's gone." Quirin began to make his way upstairs. "So I need to return to his side."

Edmund understood. He needed to return to Hector and make sure that he was well and didn't slip into a nightmare in the few minutes that he was gone. He followed Quirin upstairs, pausing for a moment to see into Varian's bedroom. Quirin was slipping back into his son's bed, pulling Varian close. The boy groaned in his sleep and curled up against his father. Quirin gave him a small, fond smile that showed softness that Edmund rarely saw from his brother. Fatherhood looked good on him.

Edmund watched them for a moment before moving on to Quirin's room where Hector was sleeping. The bearcats had made themselves comfortable on the bed on top of Hector. It didn't look comfortable to have such a weight on top of him while he slept, but somehow Hector looked more comfortable now than he did before. He'd always been comforted by the company of his animals. Edmund understood the feeling. He felt similarly about his animals.

"I trust the demon has left him alone." Edmund said to Hamuel, who was hanging upside down from the ceiling as though he was a bat. Hamuel cawed, looking unconcerned. Hamuel seemed aware of Zhan Tiri's presence and influence.

Edmund didn't know if Hamuel could hear Zhan Tiri, or even actually see her the way that Hector could, but whatever the case the bird seemed to know when Zhan Tiri was bothering Hector, and where she was. A number of times now he had tried in vain to attack her. Even if Edmund couldn't tell if Hector was having a nightmare, he trusted that Hamuel would somehow know.

Reassured that his brother's sleep was still left undisturbed, Edmund sat at Quirin's desk and grabbed a parchment. He hadn't written to Adira in a while, and with all that happened today he thought it was time that he write to her again. She needed to know about what had happened with Hector, and that Quirin was free. She also needed to know that they were in Corona and wouldn't be completely safe from Frederic until Rapunzel was home safe again.

By the time Edmund finished the sun was just starting to rise in the horizon. He watched the sunrise through the massive hole in the wall. It had been a long time since he'd watched the sunrise. It looked just as amazing as he remembered. He watched for a few minutes until he heard a groan behind him. He turned to see Hector shifting and turning. He might be having a nightmare, or he might be starting to wake up. There was one way to know.

"Hector." Edmund said. His brother immediately rolled over and squinted his eyes open to stare at him before groaning and turning away from the light. Edmund breathed a sigh of relief. If Hector had been having a nightmare he wouldn't have woken up so easily. "How did you sleep?"

"Great." Hector tried to sit up, but his bearcats pinned him down and nuzzled against him. They were excited to see him. Hector chuckled and pet them. "Yeah, it's great to see you guys too. When'd you get here?"

"Last night." Edmund said. "They almost broke the door down to get in." Hector laughed and nuzzled against his bearcats. "Was your sleep undisturbed?"

"For once, yes." Hector smiled. It was the first time since they'd reunited that Edmund had seen him look completely relaxed. He just wished that this could last. "No ghost children haunted my dreams." Hector stopped suddenly, looking surprised, before his face fell in annoyance. Above them Hamuel squawked urgently. Edmund didn't need to ask why.

"She's back." Edmund said. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, she's back." Hector closed his eyes and stretched. He seemed almost unbothered. "I really can't bring myself to care. It's so much easier to deal with her after actually being able to get some sleep."

Hector pushed his bearcats off the bed and got to his feet. "Did you get any sleep, brother?"

"Don't worry about me." Edmund said. Hector looked unimpressed with the dismissal. "I can sleep this afternoon after Eugene gets back."

"Gets back?" Hector frowned. "Back from where?"

"He went to the castle to tell the king that his daughter will be back soon." Edmund said. He thought for a moment, considering whether he should tell Hector that he would also be looking for Demanitus' chamber to see if there was any information about how to defeat Zhan Tiri. It would be preferable that they didn't let Zhan Tiri know about their plans, but she might know anyway. According to Hector, she knew things that Hector didn't know anything of.

In the end Edmund decided that while he wanted to tell Hector, he thought that now wasn't the best time. He would wait until they actually had information to share. That way he wouldn't get his brother's hopes up if things didn't turn out the way they wanted.

The bearcats, who were still curled up on the bed, sat up and looked towards the door. They looked alert. A moment later the door was thrown open and Varian came running into the room. He jumped at Hector, who caught him and threw him gently on the bed. The bearcats pounced on Varian, nuzzling him and nibbling playfully at him. Varian laughed and pretended to bite them back.

"You're a terrible influence on him." Quirin said to Hector as he came into the room. His playful tone made it clear that he didn't truly mean it."

"I'm a terrible influence on everybody." Hector chuckled. "Thanks for scaring Zhan Tiri. That was the best night's sleep I remember having."

"I'm glad I could help." Quirin said. He went to his bed and pulled one of the bearcats off of his son. "Alright, alright, there will be plenty of time for playing later. Let my son breathe."

"Thanks." Varian sat up. He looked at Hector. "So…my dad said you would tell me what happened yesterday."

Hector blinked. "Don't you think it's a little early for that?"

"We don't have to until you're ready." Quirin said. "But once Varian gets a question on his mind he's not going to let it go."

"Okay, okay, yeah, we can do that." Hector sighed and brushed some of his tangled hair out of his face. "As long as you can braid my hair, I can talk about it."

Quirin gave him a small smile. "I would be more than happy to do that for you."

Edmund considered joining their conversation, but he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He looked out the window and felt relief when he saw the approaching figures of Eugene and Lance. They were back.

"While you talk I'll see if Eugene and Lance have found anything." Edmund nodded at Hector and Quirin, ruffled Varian's hair, and left the room. He hurried downstairs again and threw the door open. It was nice to see his son back so soon.

"Son!" Edmund called out. His son was running towards him. He looked out of breath and exhausted, as though he had run all the way from the capital. Next to him Lance was trotting on Domino.

"H-hey, Dad." Eugene said breathlessly.

"Quirin didn't think you would be back for several hours." Edmund said.

"We really booked it there and back." Lance said. "One of us would ride while the other would run, and when he got tired we would switch."

"And when we got there I wouldn't stop bugging the guards until they woke up the king and let me talk to him." Eugene smirked proudly. It drew so much attention that Lance had the chance to sneak into the tunnels and grab some of those books we were thinking of."

Lance nodded and opened the saddle bag to pull out the books. He held them out to Edmund. "We can't read anything in them, but we thought Varian might be able to translate."

Edmund opened one of the books and immediately realized that he recognized this language. "There may not be a need for that. We have a number of books in the Dark Kingdom written in this same language. I'm far from fluent, but I may understand enough to get a rough translation." And here Edmund had thought that he'd never have use for studying their kingdom's ancient scrolls in his youth. His old tutors would be pleased.

Eugene looked over his shoulder, as though he'd be able to read along with him. "What's it say?"

Edmund studied the words for a long moment. He definitely didn't understand every single word, but he thought he understood enough. "As far as I can tell, it says the same thing that we already knew. Demanitus believed that Zhan Tiri was too powerful to be defeated with just magic or alchemy, so he thought to use both."

Edmund narrowed his eyes as he saw a very familiar word, one that he certainly recognized even after all these years. "It mentions the moon and moonstone." Edmund said. Every time the moon was mentioned another word would be mentioned right along with it. The same was the case with the moonstone. Edmund suspected that the paired words were 'sun' and 'sundrop', respectively.

Another glance showed that the sun and moon were frequently mentioned when magic was mentioned, especially when Demanitus started theorizing about how he could go about defeating Zhan Tiri.

"I think that the magic that Demanitus had in mind was specifically the powers of the sundrop and moonstone combined." Edmund said. He pointed the words out to his son.

"Really?" Eugene narrowed his eyes at the words.

"That's great." Lance smiled. "We have the moonstone and sundrop."

"But would they be able to work together?" Eugene frowned in concern. "Varian still has issues with Rapunzel, and I have no idea how she feels about him right now."

"They'll need to set their differences aside." Edmund said. Hector had mentioned that he thought that Zhan Tiri wanted to feed into Varian's anger with Corona and Rapunzel. They didn't know why she wanted the moonstone to fight with the sundrop, but whatever the reason was it couldn't be good. "We can't afford to have them fight."

Eugene nodded. "No matter how they feel about each other, they're both too powerful to let those feelings influence their decisions. The last time they fought they almost destroyed Old Corona, and that was before Varian even knew he had powers."

"We'll tread carefully." Edmund closed the book. "I was just writing a letter to Adira. Perhaps it might be best if we warn Rapunzel before she arrives, so she'll know what is expected." They would have to talk to Varian as well about keeping whatever feelings he had in check, but that was a lot easier to do than talking to the princess.

"That's a great idea." Eugene took the books from Edmund. "I'll leave you to it." Eugene made his way inside. Lance dismounted Domino and started to take off his saddle. Edmund preferred to take care of his own horse, but he appreciated what Lance was doing. It gave him the chance to return to Quirin's room and finish the letter.

Edmund was tired, and he knew he needed to rest, but it could wait a few minutes more. He still had work to do. Whether he was in his kingdom or not, a king's job was never finished.