Machinations

The night after the battle, Phineas heard sounds of laughter from the palace and rejoicing. It was a bit premature if anyone had asked him. Yes they had taken Duke Egbert Lundar of Craterron captive, but Phineas was still free. Then they still had some of their forces along with the city people who had escaped with them.

With the addition of those minute men, their numbers were still diminished, but not as much as the palace might think. The spineless Lundars at the manor were threatening to pull out if Phineas didn't find a way to get the duke back. He, after all was who they were fighting for, the promised king in replacement of King Edmund and Eugene. Without him they didn't care a lick what happened to Corona.

He had to give it the royal family, if they had only executed the duke, the Lundars would have wanted to avenge him. However, as it was, he was only captive, so now the Lundars would not fight until he was returned safely. It was smart. Yet he was still going to outsmart them somehow.

So it was time to visit his palace spy and see if he could ascertain any inside information that could help him leverage the situation. He had never gone fully back to his manor after retreating from the battle. He had sent the others back, but he would let Rebekah figure out all that mess. She was entirely capable.

He had waited close to the manor, on the far end of the wood, until he was sure that the Guard and everyone had left. He knew it was extremely risky to come back this close to the castle. Borrowing a cloak from one of the city citizens who had joined them, he left his horse out in the woods and took on the shape of a travelling beggar until he reached the outer rim of the castle grounds again. From the boisterous sounds of the palace, the Guard had their guard down right now. There were a few men posted outside, but not half as many. And the men posted outside, looked like they were also doing something with their mouths. What was it they were doing? Eating? It would have been a good time for a surprise attack had they been able to regroup and the Lundars not been so spineless.

He sent the signal to the spy. He would think that after the battle today she would be on high alert for him so he hoped she would be on the lookout for it. After what seemed like mere minutes she came before him. "I was able to get away for a little while because everyone is distracted, but I can only stay momentarily. They may look for me."

"Understood. Although I am beginning loose faith in you. Didn't you hear any word about the ditch?"

"No sir, I promise." She had heard by now of how Eugene and the Royal Guard had won the battle with a giant ditch. "It must have been all talked about behind closed doors sir. I swear."

"And what about Wolfgang? They figured out he started the fire!" He was loosing his ability to control his temper and voice more and more. He had to stay quiet. He couldn't wait for the day when he wouldn't be sneaking in corners anymore!

"I couldn't stop the princess from investigating without arousing suspicion lord! And," She decided to state boldly. "You all have not come to see me in a while."

Phineas raised his eyebrows at her boldness, but that was why she was a good spy. She was right too. They had been too busy preparing for battle and passing off coded messages to supporters.

"Very well. Any news for me?"

"Well...it seems like the princess may have taken a turn for the worst. She slept nearly the whole day even though she knew her husband was in battle."

"Seems like? That seems like a definite turn for the worst to me. No question about it."

"Well she might have just needed sleep. She was up late into the night trying to find this." She tossed the book she found Rapunzel had earmarked in the library to Lord Humphert.

"What is this?" The lord asked.

She nodded at the earmarked page. He turned to it. When he saw it his eyes lit up with fear. The princess was too capable! She nearly uncovered all the truth! Yet then realizing he had the evidence in his hands, his face turned to a look of satisfaction.

"You did well to give this to me."

"What is it? What is it's significance?"

"You don't know? Well then, never you mind. It's of no importance to you. Though I am surprised that you are bold enough now that your spying has crossed over into stealing from the palace."

"I am as deep into this as you are my lord."

"We'll see about that."

She curtsied. He dismissed her and left to find his horse.

During the feast Eugene and Rapunzel laughed, Eugene's arm around Rapunzel's shoulders, and her fingers threaded within his. The cook had started preparing the big meal late afternoon, but it was ready by nightfall and the celebration lasted until the moon had fully risen. They all listened to individual tales from the battle. It seemed that the young guard Armon Schmidt was showing real promise. He had hung onto a Lundar, who had fallen in the ditch, twice his size, before Eugene and the others returned to help. King Edmund had trained him on how to do so. The table hushed as Eugene and Edmund told their perspective of the fight. Rapunzel felt so sorry for Edmund. A chill went through her as she heard how close Eugene had come to violence. She was glad Edmund had been there to talk him out of it and visa versa considering Egbert. She also hated how close Eugene got to the rushing hordes before they fell through the ditch. "Eugene, you're more than bait you know." She told him.

"Are you kidding? Do you think I would let anything happen to a face as handsome as this? It would be a travesty to all mankind!"

"Eugene I'm serious." She said more quietly as another guard picked up telling his tale.

"We have another back up plan to winning this besides you sacrificing yourself."

"You mean Varian's crop preservation machine, once it works?" Last they had heard he wrote them saying that he thought he had turned a corner and found a possible solution.

"Yes! And-" she said ever quietly in his ear so no one could hear outside of themselves. "we have the blueprints. I want to show you those after we finish here."

However before the feast was over, she fell asleep again. She was able to wake up just enough to thank the Royal Guard for their service and offer some encouraging words before saying her good night.

The next morning at the crack of dawn, the book was the first thing she looked for. King Frederick gave Eugene the morning off, so for once he was able to sleep in. It was with an effort that she didn't wake him up to tell him once she couldn't find the book. She waited until he found her in the library. She still told him good morning and asked how he was, but Eugene could tell she was very agitated.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Eugene it's not anywhere!"

"The blueprints?"

"Yes! My father said he saw them as well. He ordered the servants not to touch them!"

"Well could it be that someone didn't hear him? Maybe the book is just back on the shelf?"

"That's the thing! I had the servants look for it back on the shelves and they said all the other books are back in their original order except for that one."

"Maybe someone misplaced it."

"No Eugene."

"No?"

"No I think someone purposely took it. The servants who knew about these books knew how important they were. They wouldn't just take it out of here without telling me."

"So you're saying there's another thief? In the castle? Besides me?"

"Eugene." Rapunzel laughed in spite of herself. "You're not a thief any more and no, I think it's more than a thief."

"What do you mean more than a thief?"

"Whoever took this book would have only one reason to take it. It would be to hide it or give it to Lord Humphert so that we couldn't confront him with it." She repositioned herself. "Eugene I think we have a spy in the castle."

They looked everywhere for the book just in case. They left no stone unturned. They questioned all the servants to see if anyone knew where it was. The servants who had been around King Frederick that night swore they had left the books just as they were, just as he had ordered.

It seemed the Humpherts and the royal family were at an impasse. Interestingly enough, a letter from the Humpherts, requesting negotiations for the return of Duke Egbert Lundar, arrived at the palace right away. The palace wrote right back saying that they knew the story about the catacombs wasn't true. Blueprints had been found and to surrender immediately. The next correspondence mockingly asked if they had any proof. Lord Humphert knew they didn't. He also reminded them that the war was not only about that. The palace wrote back that the other factors of the war, were based on only on contingencies, like food and Rapunzel's health, that hadn't materialized into the worst case scenarios that Lord Humphert had painted. Truth would find a way to reveal itself regarding the lord's son, and then people would loose confidence in the Humpherts.

What truth? Wrote back Lord Humphert. He insisted that they had no proof. When they wrote back threatening to attack and reveal the truth themselves, Lord Humphert boldly offered for them to peaceably search the house if they would only release the duke. It was a lie of course. Even though the offer had to be tempting to the royals, he knew that they would never release the duke when it would only give his side more motivation to fight again. It was only a ploy to buy time.

He knew that the royal family didn't know that the Lundars were flat out refusing to fight without the duke. It was a card he kept close to his chest. The royal family could not know they had such a great advantage. The king gave Lord Humphert one last chance to surrender before he said he would choose to attack the manor. He gave the lord a deadline to respond. With a possible spy in their midst, they had to be careful about how they planned this attack. The ditch had somehow been kept as secret, but who knew who was listening?

Meanwhile, Rapunzel was getting more and more lethargic lately. They all had to admit to themselves what they hadn't wanted to admit. She was getting worse. They called the doctor in. Doctor Kravtiz looked at Eugene with a straight face. "There's no doubt she's taken a downward turn lad. But she's extremely close to birth now. It will be a toss up whether or not she will give birth in time." Eugene sat down. He didn't like the words "toss up" when it came to Rapunzel's life. The doctor did give him his personal opinion on the matter. "I have a feeling that no matter what happens, the princess will fight it out until the last minute."

When Eugene went to visit Rapunzel, she reassured him. "It's ok. It'll be alright Eugene. Everything will work out." He hoped so. If they didn't resolve this conflict with the Humpherts soon, they'd both be fighting in different ways. They set out to try to figure out who the spy was, but to Rapunzel's frustration her health didn't allow her to help as much. Eugene had to take over most of the efforts. He didn't have Rapunzel's rare gift of diplomacy fostered by directness. He was getting nowhere. There was mounting frustration on both sides. The deadline was getting ever nearer.

Finally King Frederick approached Eugene. "Eugene, I just spoke with Rapunzel. We think you should talk one last time with Duke Egbert and see if he will be reasonable. He might not have known the catacombs were a lie, and that there really is a chance that Wolfgang is alive. Maybe if he sees the truth for himself, he will give up this quest the Dark Kingdom's throne and call all the other Lundars off."

"Yeah, I think he sees what he wants to see, whatever I tell him." Eugene rolled his eyes, thinking of their past confrontations. Then he realized he was in the presence of the king. "With all due respect your majesty."

"You need to at least try Eugene."

So Eugene took a trip down to the dungeons. "Hey there Egbert!" He greeted when he got to the duke's cell.

The man barely looked up. "What do you want?" He asked sullenly.

'Hmmm how to go about asking someone hostile to stop a war?' Eugene thought. He wasn't exactly sure how to do this. "So how are they treating you down here? How's the leg?"

"Eugene, just get on with what you want. We both know you just didn't just come down here to talk."

"Hey you called me Eugene! That's a good start right?"

"You really do like the sound of your own voice don't you?"

"Well yeah, doesn't everyone?"

"Horace!" The duke yelled Eugene's birth name to signal to him he should get on with it. The name echoed off the walls startling the other prisoners.

"Aaand we're back to Horace. Look Egbert, Eggy, can I call you that? Ok maybe not. Egbert. We found blueprints of the Humpherts' manor. There are no catacombs. We have a feeling they lied to you Egbert."

"No you are the liar!" Egbert snarled. "I saw Rebekah Humphert open a trap door. I saw her go down beneath the house. She was extremely distressed when she came back up!"

"That is really interesting information! We should have talked to you sooner it seems!" Eugene realized he wasn't making anything better.

"Look, Egbert I know we got off to the wrong foot. Nearly everyone does with me! My own wife hit me with a frying pan when we first met! But we are trying to offer you freedom and a way out of here if you will say that you will stop this fight. You've got to believe me, that the blueprints we found, showed that trap door, but it also showed a secret cellar. It said the secret cellar doubled as a dungeon lair in bygone days. They may be hiding away Wolfgang alive down there."

"And yet you come here without any such blueprints in hand. Do you even have them?"

"No," sighed Eugene. "They were stolen."

"Pathetic! Pathetic liar! If your wife Rapunzel survives this, she will see the truth about you after this war, eventually. That you are nothing but a bloated malignant tumor that has attached himself to this family and needs to be removed! Your braggart ways belie nothing but an infestation of a bloviating parasite. Your false acts of bravery wouldn't even be necessary, if the ineptitude of your past character had not already instigated half the conflicts that surround the royal family!"

There was a half second of silence before Eugene responded.

"You know, you're really good at vitriol! You know that? No really, the insults are quite flowery. I feel like I should write some of this stuff down."

Inwardly however, Eugene felt a little stab of truth in what Egbert said. If he hadn't been a selfish thief before, would Vrott have turned against him? Would Phineas be able to so easily convince others that he had been neglectful in his duties to the point where Wolfgang perished in the fire? Would Egbert himself have judged him so quickly, or would he have been able to see who Eugene was trying to be now? Eugene tried to fight it but knew on some level Egbert was right. His past reputation had carried on with him to the present. He shook it off for now. He had to protect Rapunzel and her family. His family.

"So I guess your answer to helping us in this war and calling the Lundars off the fight, would be a no? Right?"

"No!" Egbert's voice echoed off the walls again, his conviction apparent.

"Ok I'm still unclear. Sorry, it was how I phrased the question. Was that 'no' you won't help us? Or 'no' you won't, not help us?"

"Get out of here!"

"Ok loud and clear now!"

The pressure was too much. The thermometer burst. The Lundars had generously agreed to give Varian all their bronze travelling trunks. They didn't know why or what for but they were glad they could do something. They felt a little guilty for not helping out in the fight.

Varian was now hard at work trying to figure out with the blacksmith what temperature bronze melted at. Whatever the temperature that was, it was obviously too hot for the thermometer to read, judging from the shattered remnants of the instrument. Varian would have to do this the old-fashioned way.

He hated wasting any more of these crops, but he had to see if this worked. He took a bronze travelling trunk, placed the crops inside. With the blacksmith's help he made sure that the trunks were bolted down so that the crop were sealed in an airtight way. Then he took his amber making machine and encased the bronze trunks entirely with the amber.

Now to see if this would work. He used a torch to melt down the amber. He prayed that the amber would melt faster than the bronze. Just like mercury reacted to heat faster than glass! The amber started melting off, but the bronze was ok! It was hot, but still very solid. With gloves he and the blacksmith raced to unbolt the trunk to see if the crops had survived that initial blast of heat. Did the bronze protect it enough? Did any of the amber melt through any cracks of their bolts and damage the plants within the trunk? They opened it up and the crops were perfect! They were perfect! "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Varian shouted, the blacksmith and Quirin celebrating with him, dancing inanely. They didn't care! Amber apparently melted faster than bronze! They could use these trunks to store the crops, encasing them in amber and then melt the amber off once they were ready! "But wait!" The blacksmith said. "How long do you think the crops will last in there?"

The blacksmith had a point. The crops were not directly encased in the amber like his father had been. Would this be enough of a vacuum seal to get them to last and travel well? Even in the rain? He would use a few weeks to test if they started to degrade any, once they were in the bronze travelling trunks and sealed by amber. For now though, this was a victory! He needed to write princess Rapunzel!

Rapunzel listened as Eugene told her how Egbert reacted with sad regret. She rubbed a hand on his back. "I guess maybe on hindsight, it wasn't the greatest idea to send you down to talk to him, considering your history." She admitted.

"Yeah, no kidding." He observed passively. Rapunzel expounded on what she meant.

"I guess the thought behind it was, that if someone he had just tried to kill, offered him a second chance, maybe that mercy would affect him in a good way."

"I think with some, that might have worked, but with Egbert I think it just wounded his pride a little more." Eugene related. Rapunzel nodded. She grabbed his hand, "I love you. You are still my dream."

"I love you too." He said back. "And you are mine." After a while, her husband left to go to tell the king. 'Egbert was sure being stubborn for having a broken leg and being held in a jail cell.' She thought. "Your majesty!" Her handmaid, Charity just came in holding a letter. "A message from Varian!" Rapunzel read the letter with great speed. "Ahh!" She squealed. Varian had figured it out! He was in the final stages of testing, but it was going well. If it all panned out, he would travel by carriage in a few days time. If she could have, she would have leaped from her chair. He would be here before the deadline of the final battle. She would need to write him back. She grabbed her pen and then she realized something. The letter had already been opened when it was handed to her.

Charity had been anticipating this good news from Varian with her all this while, had read through much of their correspondence along with Rapunzel. After a while, it was obvious that Charity was so giddy with her in this that Rapunzel allowed her to take a peek at the correspondence before it got to Rapunzel. Especially since Rapunzel had been sleeping for long swatches of the day now and sometimes it took her a while to get through all her mail. She hadn't thought anything of allowing Charity to do this, at the time. They had become friends. Not the type of hard fast friends that her and Cassandra had been, but close enough to share things together. Now she wondered if she was remiss in doing so.

There was a spy in the palace. Was it Charity? She hated to think like that. However the truth was that she didn't know who it was. Rapunzel knew that Varian's new discovery had potential to stop the war because it would show the people that they had an answer to the food shortage problem. However if she wrote him back to come here and her correspondence was somehow intercepted by the spy, the Humpherts might find him and sabotage the whole thing.

They had already shown they were quite capable of sabotage and covering their tracks. Or worse, they might hurt Varian. She thought of maybe coding a message to Varian instead, like he had done. Something the Humpherts or their spy wouldn't figure out, but what if they did figure it out? She was writing to Varian after all. It was no secret what he was working on or why. And this latest letter had already been opened. In addition it was only a week and half before the deadline King Frederick gave to the Humpherts. By the time her letter got to Varian to warn him, he would have to leave immediately to make it on time with the carriages before the potential battle.

With all the prep and time it took to travel, it could be likely that the battle could be happening on the day he arrived. He might get hurt travelling through the fray. And the crops could get lost that way as well. She had to think of who she was saving here. Was she saving her family's reputation, or feeding her kingdom? If she wrote Varian to warn him to wait to come until after the deadline, either way it was likely he would have safe passage through Corona. If they won, the Humpherts would no longer be a threat. If the Humpherts won, they wouldn't stop Varian either. His discovery and crop preservation method stood to benefit all.

As much as she yearned to write Varian to come immediately, to save her family, the Royal Guard and others from another fight, they would all be lost without food. It was not a risk she could take. She wrote Varian to warn him to stay away until the deadline and potential conflict was resolved. She didn't send it yet. She would need to check with her father to make sure they would be in agreement, but she thought he would be. He had let her be in charge of the whole thing after all.

She knew for now he was busy talking to Eugene. She would talk to him after he was done. She hid the letter in a desk drawer. This was one of the hardest decisions she ever had to make. "Guess we have to wait a little longer before we get to see Varian's machine Pascal." She stroked the lizard's chin. "At least he figured the solution out!" And at least, no matter what happened to her or her family, Corona would be fed. The heavy decision made her drowsy and her head hurt. She needed to sleep now. "I think I'll take a quick cat nap Pascal."

Phineas met with his spy again for tabs on Rapunzel and if there was anything he could do to meet this deadline. He did find out that the princess was worse. If only he could buy time enough in case the inevitable happened and he would be next for line after King Frederick anyway. "Is there anything else?" He asked with almost a growl. He was running out of options. The spy really didn't know what to tell Phineas. She searched her mind for anything that had happened recently. "I know Captain Fitzherbert visited Duke Egbert again in the prisons to see if there was any way he would turn and call the other Lundars off the fight."

"And?" Phineas bristled.

"He was unsuccessful."

"Why the royal family insists on trying to show compassion instead of going for the throat is beyond me. They could have tortured Egbert until he agreed to it. His leg is already broken! They could have already attacked me, instead of giving me this deadline to change my mind! Really!" Then he realized that was it. Their compassion.

"Wait! That is it!" He told out loud to the spy. That was their perceived strength to turn against them. Eugene had played that trick on them. In their zeal to vanquish the royal family quickly, he had baited them to chase them into the forest. Now he would turn this around on him.

"What is it?" The spy asked. Phineas looked at her.

"I will write the royal family that I will agree to this deadline. Only in a different way. I will challenge the Captain of the Guards to a duel just between the two of us. It will be a way that the royal family doesn't have to involve anyone else in the fight, as it only risks one. If he wins the duel, we will drop this fight and allow them access to our manor. If I win the duel they will give us back Duke Egbert and we will carry on this fight! The royal family and Fitzherbert will be sure to take the deal. They get squeamish about risking the lives of others."

"A duel? But isn't that risky sir?"

"Don't worry I wouldn't be unintelligent enough to challenge Fitzherbert to a real duel." He divulged to her. He trusted her. She had stolen from the palace for him. "It will be a trap! I will let the blowhard pick the place to duel, but then all my forces will converge on him. We will capture him, and then demand the duke back! When they return Duke Egbert Lundar to us, we will kill him! Or maybe we'll just kill him anyway whether they return the duke or not. That should embolden the Lundars and demoralize the royals!"

The spy shifted.

"You don't think it will work?" he asked her.

"I do think it will work my lord."

"Good! I don't have to tell you what will happen to you if you suddenly decided to play turncoat."

"Yes my lord."

"This should buy us enough time until the princess dies. She was a worthy foe, but she doesn't have the Sun Drop any longer. So from what you tell me, I think this time she faces death, she won't be so lucky."

"Yes my lord."

"And Ethel?" Lord Humphert called the spy back. She was one of Rapunzel's handmaidens. "You better pray I win this or you know what happens to you if they capture me."

"Yes lord." She was clear.