The Battle
Eugene had stayed out in the forest all night going back and forth, back and forth. He hoped he was making the right decision. Finally he saw the sunrise. He knew he couldn't stay hidden forever. It was time to face whatever came his way.
"Where is everyone?" Lord Humphert asked Captain Vrott. They travelled through the forest during the dark of the early morning hours and had arrived at the castle grounds at only the first bit of light. The battle was set at midday, so they had hoped to catch the Royal Guard unaware, but were only met by two shaking guards, kneeling and begging them not to attack. The two guards were all that remained. They explained that after yesterday, the captain lost heart, and fled to the woods.
The rest of the Royal Guard was sent out after him to retrieve him. They were out pursuing the elusive man, even as they spoke, hoping that they could catch him and bring him back to fulfill his duty. "What?" Vrott laughed. "So the Captain retreated before there was even a battle eh?" The men around him laughed too. 'See I have humor too!' Vrott thought vindictively. "Well then, we may just be able to conquer the castle without much of a fight."
"Look! Another royal guard is coming back from the search!" One of the castle guards pointed out. The royal guard, riding ever closer to them, shouted out, "They found the captain! He and the Royal Guard are returning here. They are just beyond the bridge!"
'Now here is the fight!' Vrott thought. "C'mon men, the day is ours! Our opponent has already fled once! Let's meet them now before they get back here and show them a real taste of our strength!" The treacherous guards and Lundars rallied behind Vrott, thrilled that their enemy was demoralized and they would see victory so easily.
Duke Egbert Lundar couldn't believe it. He had been right about his second cousin Eugene Fitzherbert along. The mad king, King Edmund had been probably been out all night too trying to convince his son to come back. He let out a dry laugh. What an odious man! The pair of them deserved each other! He rode with his giant black horse galloping beneath him, ever determined. He had unhitched it from the Lundar caravan they used to arrive here. He was relieved to be out of that monstrosity.
Even with how marvelously huge the caravan was, it was still a tight fit for all of them. They had taken it to be a signal for all those in the city that supported them, to gather, since the large caravan would be difficult to miss, even in the dark, for those looking for it. The Humpherts had gotten word to supporters on the outskirts of the city to thank them for their sympathy and support during this dark time, and that even up to the day of the battle, the Humpherts would be in "mourning". It was a coded message to gather in the dark of morning. The people on the outskirts clandestinely passed the message along to other supporters. Now a rag tag batch of city dwellers ran with them too in their pursuit.
The caravan was cumbersome, so once they were satisfied that the city dwellers had seen their signal, they had abandoned it behind one of the outer shops of the plaza. The guards and most of the Lundars went on foot the rest of the way to the castle grounds where they had found the two guards.
The caravan was also the only way to get here with speed since they didn't have a calvary. Indeed, the other horse Egbert was not riding was still tied to the Lundar caravan. The other Lundar horse was not being used now, because the Coronans seemed too short for it and he hated risking even one of their unique breed in battle. Only Lord Humphert rode his own horse. The same thoroughbred that caused so much suspicion the day of the fire. Captain Vrott was more than miffed that as captain he had not been given a horse, but he had only become captain on their side through betrayal. He would have to earn his stripes.
On foot, the renegade guards, city dwellers and Lundars rushed towards the bridge that tunneled through to the forest, on the lookout for the lily livered Captain Fitzherbert and the rest of the Royal Guard. Duke Lundar and Lord Humphert pulled back as they let their men carry on with the battle. They were gentry, related to royalty, not soldiers. They oversaw, but the loss of one of them in battle could prove disastrous. As the troops ran onto the bridge, the Royal Guard began to become visible at the other end, but Egbert was looking for one man in particular.
It wasn't hard to find him after a while. Eugene Fitzherbert showed up right in front of the bridge, standing only a few feet away from the end of it. He had no horse. He was just standing there, with the sword in his hand, but it was not raised. What was he doing? Had he lost his mind, or his nerve? The men were going to hew him down right where he stood and claim that victory for themselves. 'No.' Egbert thought as heat surged through him, a consequence of the momentous buildup of writhing anger from all their past, unresolved confrontations. 'No.' He thought again. Egbert had to be the one who took the captain down. "He is mine!" The duke suddenly roared and galloped frantically towards the prince-consort to cut him down. He was going to end this war and take the throne now! Lord Humphert followed. He didn't want to appear to be a coward. Despite the fact that Egbert and Lord Humphert were on horses, they were still a ways away from the forest, so the men on foot got there slightly before to attack.
And they fell.
Some headfirst, feet first, body first, into a hidden ditch, dug right in front of the prince- consort and the Royal Guard. Some tried to fan out from the bridge to escape, but only fell into lengthy extensions of the trench. Duke Egbert tried to stop his horse in time, but it was too late, the animal was going too fast. The horse fell head long into the ditch, and rolled on top of Egbert's leg. "Ack!" Egbert cried, as with a crack, he knew his leg was broken.
The horse, long legged and strong, was miraculously able to find its footing again and climbed back out. "Hmm nice horse!" Eugene called down to him, patting its neck to comfort the spooked animal. "Don't you dare touch it!" Writhed Egbert from his place in the ditch. "Don't worry I have my own horse!" The odious man laughed. He whistled and Maximus came gallivanting over. He mounted him with a smile. Some the royal guards loyal to the king were capturing those who had fallen in the ditch, but some of the Humpherts' troops had escaped. The captain called to the rest of his men who were not already occupied. "C'mon men, if you're not already busy, let's chase down the others! Hey! Good to be on the other end of this!"
Lord Humphert himself, unlike Duke Egbert, was able to anticipate the ditch, and his thoroughbred leaped over it to escape. "Retreat! Retreat!" He yelled.
"No! No! No! I am the one who is supposed to say when we retreat!" Captain Vrott whined. No one was listening. Eugene, the Snuggly Duckling group and the guards routed the escaping men far enough away to remove them as any kind of threat to the castle. Once they were satisfied that the men were not returning anytime soon, Eugene looked back. He knew he couldn't keep chasing them all the way through. The other guards would be struggling now to keep hold of their captives, and there was one captive in particular he couldn't afford to let escape. He was afraid that some of the Lundars back at the ditch would climb out and help Egbert get away. He whistled to the Guard out there with him. "Let's get back! Save it for a later day. Got to get to the others."
When he travelled back he needn't have worried about Duke Egbert Lundar at least. His dad was standing over him with an ax, making sure he didn't escape. They rounded up the captives to take to the castle prisons. They netted a good amount. The loyal royal guards went back to get a stretcher for Egbert. He would not be walking for a while.
"I don't get it! You were supposed to have fled!" Egbert spat out at Eugene.
"Nope that was just the cover story." The prince-consort elucidated. He hopped down from Maximus, then into the ditch and crouched down by Egbert.
"It was always the plan to dig a ditch. You have to travel through the bridge to get to and from castle grounds and the forest. So I knew you all would have to land here somehow. Some nice country folk donated their time, pitchforks and shovels to help us dig this out all night." The ditch was not only deep, but long. It stretched out from the mouth of the bridge, several feet in both directions.
Eugene, the guards, the Snuggly Duckling men, and the volunteers from the country, all went back and forth, back and forth in the forest for good part of the night digging this trench out. They kept a look out for the Lundars and Humphert troops. When a guard alerted them that their caravan was approaching they stopped their digging and Eugene dismissed the country volunteers back to their homes. He and the princess agreed they didn't want them getting hurt. "It was a stroke of luck that you all took that caravan here. If you had come on foot you might have seen us all hidden in the woods, and then the battle might not have been as effective." Only Lord Phineas Humphert rode outside of the caravan on his horse, and he rode directly behind it.
"But, but, but," Egbert flailed around for his words, searing pain in his leg. "We travelled here through the bridge to get to the castle grounds and we didn't fall through then! Don't tell me you dug this part of the ditch and concealed it, in that short amount of time!"
"Well almost." said Eugene. " For my part, I was just going to intercept you in the ditch as you travelled through the forest. To allow you through to the castle grounds first, and then back, was a last minute decision thanks to Rapunzel and King Edmund." He smiled as if enjoying a good memory, but offered no further explanation. Egbert bore a look into him. "What you want all the details? Oh alright!" He stood up. "Earlier this month Rapunzel wanted me to check with all the shop owners in the plaza for some...other information. I found no answers for the information I was originally seeking, but a kindly shop owner, who will remain unnamed, told me that you and your entourage were sneakily conspiring to secretly conscript people to your cause within city walls!" He made an astonished face like he couldn't believe it. Then shrugged. "It confirmed what we already knew from one of your loud mouthed guards, but the shop owner gave us a little more information. You all were so desperate to outnumber us with people from the city, you were keeping with the agreed battle date so that everyone would know when to meet. However the Humpherts are indeed weasley! There was a secret message going around that you were pushing the time up to sometime after midnight instead of midday like agreed! You could have sent us a memo you know! It's rude to show up that early!"
"But what does that have to do with how we got to the castle grounds without falling in?!" Egbert sputtered.
"Hey patience! I'm getting to that. Since now we knew you were coming under the cover of darkness that meant we could be under the cover of darkness too. We could hide from you while you travelled to the castle. My dad here," Eugene put a hand on King Edmund's back, "Thought it would be a clever idea to allow you all to get through to the castle first and then somehow bait you to come back to chase us through the forest. That way when you travelled from the castle grounds through the bridge to the forest, your numbers would be funneled even more so, into one spot. More of you would likely fall into the ditch. We got the information about the modified battle time, just in time for my dad to send for his most favored engineer from the Dark Kingdom. That was Rapunzel's idea! You know, the engineer who built the impossibly lengthy bridge, over that gaping chasm back at your hometown, among other things?"
"But I don't-"
"Hold on, hold on I am almost there. You really need to learn patience you know." He went on. "So the engineer designed a makeshift support structure in the ditch, to allow you to be able to travel over it temporarily. He had to assemble it by lantern at the beginning of the night. He showed us how to quickly disassemble it and conceal the ditch again, before he headed back to the Dark Kingdom. It worked like a charm! You all rode right on top of it without a single hitch! Even with all that weight from the caravan! That engineer guy is really good, you know? So anyway, the two guards at the front gate were supposed to distract you until we disassembled the structure and concealed that part of the ditch again. Then the third guard sent the signal to them that we were ready for you all. It was still really risky." Eugene looked at his father. "We were so worried that we weren't making the right decision. Any number of things couldn't have lined up the way we wanted. For instance, if you all hadn't pursued us first but just gone to attack the castle..." He pursed his lips. "The castle door was well barricaded and my father and some Snuggly Duckling guys stayed behind to give you all some trouble in case that happened, until we could arrive, but I thought Vrott wouldn't be able to resist a fight. And I was right! So you see everything worked out!" He looked at Egbert's leg. It was twisted the wrong direction. He whistled. "We have a really good doctor who can look that leg for you, you know."
"You cretinous wretch!" Egbert screamed. "Wait until I get back to the Dark Kingdom! I will kill that engineer! We paid him to build that bridge with our money!"
"Hey, it was some of my money too!" King Edmund said.
"Oh you won't be going back to the Dark Kingdom for a long time. You will be staying right here in Corona with us for a while, to rest up and heal that leg of yours. Your stay will be the courtesy of the castle prisons."
Varian and Quirin found themselves cloistered together along with the blacksmith in a very stuffy, hot forge.
"So how high is the heat needed to melt bronze?" Varian shouted over to the blacksmith over the roar of his kiln. The blacksmith looked at him like he had asked him how fish fly. "What do you mean how high? I just heat it up as intensely as I can get it until the metal melts."
"Well what temperature is it?" Varian asked.
"Temperature?"
"Hold on!" Varian said, running out of the forge back to the quarters he had here. The blacksmith looked at Quirin, and Quirin just shrugged. He was done explaining his son. His son was able to explain himself. Varian fumbled through a variety of instruments he had packed in haste before leaving Corona. He never knew what he might need. He searched through odd instruments, trinkets, something that poked his finger, he sucked it in his mouth and then "Ah!" He found what he was looking for! He ran back to the blacksmith's with it raised in his hand. "This! This is what I am talking about! Temperature that you would read from a thermometer."
It was a long glass tube with weird red liquid inside. He fumbled it around a bit as he stumbled into the forge. He almost had a heart attack, when he almost dropped it, but recovered it just in time. He handed it to the blacksmith. The man studied it with acute fascination. The red liquid was already moving up the markings of the little glass tube on its own! Watching it, the blacksmith almost dropped it himself. "What witchery is this?"
"It's not witchery! You see this glass tube?" Varian took the thermometer back. "So as a blacksmith you know that glass expands in heat right?"
The blacksmith looked at him dryly. "I'm not dumb boy."
"No sir, I'm sure you're not! I mean, no offense meant! Anyway, this red liquid in here is also a metal. It's just a metal that's liquid at normal temperatures."
"There's that word again."
"Right, well just think that the red liquid is a rare metal that is liquid normally instead of solid. But! Just its thermal expansion coefficient is larger than the glass tube's!"
"You lost me again. Look, I recognize your dad! He's from here. He tells me you were raised in Corona. Did you grow up speaking a different language? Are you speaking English?"
At that, Varian decided go about it a different way.
"Ok you know how metal expands and changes when you heat it right?"
"There you go thinking I'm dumb again."
"Sir I'm just saying the metal mercury is expanding inside the glass tube because of the heat around it. It is going up in the tube because it has nowhere else to go. Glass isn't changed as fast by heat as mercury. The further the mercury travels up, it means the heat is more and more intense. See these numerical markings on the tube? It is a way of measuring the intensity of the heat, or lack of intensity, and it's called temperature!"
"Wow! Well look at that! I've never heard of such a thing. Who'd thunk?" He took hold of the glass tube called the thermometer, marveling at it.
"Did you invent this?"
"No sir, a man named Fahrenheit did."
"Huh! Well I know nothing about-"
"Thermometers." Varian filled in helpfully.
"Right thermometers. But you are welcome to try reading the temperature - see I remembered that word! Anyway, you are welcome to try reading the temperature of how intense the heat is when the bronze melts."
"Thank you sir! That means a lot! Although, I need all of the Lundars' bronze travelling trunks before you melt them!"
"All of them?!"
"Son!"
"They may serve useful for what I am doing!" Varian tried to explain.
"Varian," Quirin began to say with a disapproving tone.
"Well wait a minute, wait a minute Quirin, before you get upset at the boy." The blacksmith intervened. "The Lundars don't know yet what they are going to do with this bronze. Maybe armor again, currency or tools, but they haven't decided. I do also know they feel like they owe a great debt to Corona. The majority of Lundars were invited to Corona for a celebration, and then when they left, the country was on the brink of war, thanks to one of their number." The blacksmith turned to Varian. "He may want to talk to the Lundars to see if this would be something they would be willing to sacrifice for Corona."
"Varian? If this is something you want to do, you need to take charge of it son. Are you willing to make this request of them yourself?"
"Oh yeah!" Varian quickly concurred. His father looked at him a little. "Not that I won't be respectful about asking, knowing what it costs them."
"Good." Quirin agreed. Bronze was expensive. Varian was almost an adult. He was cutting the strings bit by bit, but the boy still needed be aware of things.
"Could you point me the direction of the Lundars sir?" He asked the blacksmith. He would need to find them to get on this right away, and the Dark Kingdom was a place you could get lost in.
"That reminds me Egbert, speaking of the Dark Kingdom," King Edmund began. They had just informed the duke he would not be going back there. "I understand you were trying to get rid of Eugene to get the throne, but what were you going to do about me?"
Egbert looked at King Edmund with undisguised repugnance. "I figured the death of your wife left you half mad, if I killed your son it would take care of the rest."
At hearing that, King Edmund raised his ax high in the air and poised it to strike at Egbert. "Huuaahh!"
"Whooaa! Whoa!" Said Eugene, grabbing his father's arm to stop it in the nick of time. Egbert was already on the ground. This wasn't about self-defense anymore. "We don't do things that way. It is not Rapunzel's way."
"Son!" King Edmund protested, the downward tension still in his arm holding the ax. "If you leave all your enemies alive you will exhaust yourself trying to fight them all off again when they come back to haunt you."
"That may be so dad, but Rapunzel's the princess and I believe in her. We're leaving this one alive."
His father sighed in disagreement, but resigned himself. He let the tension out of his arm, even though he did not put it down yet. "I know you love her, son."
Suddenly King Edmund let out another wail and dropped his ax mere inches from Egbert's head.
Egbert's scornful look instantly melted into fear. "Dad!" Eugene admonished. Yet when Eugene looked he saw an arrow in his dad's only arm. He looked for the shooter. It was Vrott.
Vrott was being handled by two of the other guards the last time he checked, but apparently he knocked down both and stole one of the guards' crossbows. Some of the guards had crossbows, but their archery hadn't much improved since he had been a thief. He thought on top of everything else he needed to help them improve upon, he might need to get them all eye exams.
Vrott wasn't much different. He had shot his dad's arm, but from the look on the former lieutenant's face, and considering the proximity of Eugene to his father, the traitor had missed his target. He had been aiming at Eugene. Eugene looked down at Egbert and the ax by his head. Egbert barely knew Eugene. It easier to see how he could make the worst assumptions about him. However Vrott had seen the gradual change in Eugene. He had seen him risk his life more than once. He had fought with him briefly. He knew how Eugene and others almost died in the charge against the demon. He had seen Eugene's condition after fighting the fire. The fire that Vrott was considerably unhelpful in fighting himself. And Vrott had to have known that something was up with the story the Humpherts had spun about Wolfgang.
And yet Vrott had shot at him. Eugene had been aimed at plenty before, to the point where now he didn't take it personally, but never to where his father became collateral damage. He looked at his dad's wounded arm, his only arm, since the other one had been blown off during the blast decades ago at the Dark Kingdom. He saw the pain of anguish on his father's face. It made an anger he didn't recognize rise within him. The whole thought process only lasted a few seconds.
Eugene grabbed the ax by Egbert's head and swung it full force at Vrott. King Edmund had been giving Eugene training with the ax and sword. Vrott turned to flee but the ax scraped against his cheek grazing it. Eugene had not missed. It was a warning shot, but as adrenaline pumped through his veins, he wondered if he should pursue him all the way, even as Vrott fled. He moved to run, but King Edmund held him back with an effort. After watching the transformative anger play out on his son's normally laid back face, he realized his daughter-in-law had a point. "Let him go son." King Edmund told Eugene, wincing as he used his arm. "Let him go. Your princess has a point." He sighed. If he had not been holding his arm up so long deliberating whether to kill Egbert or not, the arrow might have missed. "Violence begets violence." He ruminated.
Eugene relaxed and Edmund let go, when he could see his son's normal self again. The arrow still stuck out from his arm. "First things first." King Edmund said.
He bit down and tore the arrow out of his arm with his own mouth. He spat the arrow out. "What?"
Eugene shook his head in astonishment. "Nothing."
"Son?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you go get my ax?"
By the time they returned to the palace it was hours after midday, when the original battle time was supposed to start. They had to round up the captives, taking them to the prisons, including Egbert. The Duke of Craterron thought he got a private cell due to his social status but really it was so that he could have a place for his leg to recover. True to their word, they got the doctor down to look at it, and it was put in a cast.
Beforehand, the doctor also looked at King Edmund's wounded arm. After he cleaned it and staunched the wound, he assured Eugene and Edmund that he would heal, but he would not be able use his arm for a while. It dampened the day's success, but Edmund wouldn't have Eugene moping around on his account! He implored his son to still celebrate and to remember to acknowledge the men for their part in that. After the guards were given 'thataboys' and commendations, it was decided that a victory feast would be held.
They hadn't captured everyone, but they won this battle. They also hadn't eaten all day and sustenance could help them forward to whatever they faced in the future. Eugene went to the stairway in order to see Rapunzel. He wondered where she was, as he thought she'd be the first to greet him, but instead it was King Frederick and Queen Arianna congratulating him. King Frederick caught him at the base of the stairway just before he raced up. "You should know she's still asleep son."
"Still asleep?" It was late afternoon.
"Yes, the doctor has already been to see her. He seemed to think there weren't really any changes to speak of in her condition." That wasn't precisely what he said. He said that she seemed a little worse for wear but it could be blamed on her late night, and the lack of food the day before. "I wouldn't worry about it too much," He imparted to Eugene. "She was up late trying to help you by finding those blueprints. So she's just catching up on sleep. She found them you know!"
"She did!" Eugene hadn't meant for her to stay up looking for them when he told her 'Don't give up.', but still this was great news! He hoped she was doing ok.
"Yes! I will let her tell you about it. She might be awake by now."
He started to climb up. "And Eugene?" The king caught him. "If she is awake, the doctor said to make sure she eats."
"Understood your majesty."
He looked for her in her old room first, knowing that when she first fell ill they had let her rest in there to recover, but was relieved to find her in their room. "Phew." Maybe she really was just catching up on some shut eye. She was still sleeping with Pascal ever by her side. The lizard was awake and when he saw Eugene he squeaked nosily in greeting. He was glad Eugene had made it out. The princess' eyes fluttered open. She was still a light sleeper it seemed. "Eugene!" She greeted. She sat herself up. "Hey sunshine!"
"Eugene you're back! You're ok!" She clasped her hands around him. Then a clouded look passed over her face and she looked out the window. "Wait you're back? How long did I sleep? I slept through the battle?" That meant she had been too late to circumvent it with the blueprints she had found. She wished she hadn't fallen asleep! But she guessed by the time she had found them it was too late anyway. "Is everyone ok? What happened out there?"
"Yes it's ok, your dad told me what you were up to last night princess. You needed your sleep. And everyone is ok! Well, in a manner of speaking." He amended thinking of Egbert and Edmund. "We won!"
He apprised her of everything that happened, but while he talked he noticed she was a little pale, and though she made efforts to listen attentively, she didn't seem as energetic or engaged as she normally was. Still she was a ray of sunshine. "That's amazing Eugene!"
She had hoped to stop it, but she believed in her husband and the plan they had pieced together. "I knew you could do it! I knew our plan would work!" The memory of what she had found last night came rushing back to her. "Eugene! I found the blueprints to the Humphert manor last night! You won't believe what is actually below the house!"
"I knew you'd find out! What is it?"
"Well there aren't any catacombs! What there is, is a trap door!"
"No catacombs huh? Surprise, surprise. They lied. But a trap door?"
"Yes because the trap door was meant to go down to a secret cellar where the owners could escape during times of war or distress. And in the history of the house, it said that the cellar sometimes doubled as a dungeon lair! Eugene I have a feeling that Rebekah Humphert is visiting her brother down there, but not to mourn. They are hiding him in there!"
"That would explain a whole lot. Sunshine this is great news!"
"Yes! We need to go now and confront Phineas! Tell him that we know the story about the catacombs is false!" She struggled to get out of bed.
"Sunshine?"
"What?"
"When have you last eaten?"
"Um, breakfast?" She answered. "Alright, breakfast yesterday." She confessed.
"Yeah me too. And some of the guards. Rapunzel, we need to eat. You need to eat."
"Oh alright." Rapunzel gave in. "But right after that we see Phineas and give it to him!"
"Sounds good!" They heard a large bump and several muffled shouts, followed by a noisy clatter.
"What is all that?" Rapunzel asked suddenly on alert.
"Oh! That? Yeah nearly the entire Royal Guard is downstairs, along with the Snuggly Duckling men, your parents and my dad for a celebratory feast."
"What? A celebratory feast? That sounds like so much fun! Let's get down there!"
Cool relief assuaged Eugene. She was alright after all.
"C'mon on Eugene! What are you waiting for?"
"I'm coming sunshine!" Pascal used all his strength to push her wheel chair out the door. "You're fast even in that wheel chair! You know that?" For now, he was going to forget all about trap doors, secret cellars, dungeon lairs, and instead, eat!