Decisions

Eugene had just finished telling the king what happened with Duke Lundar of Craterron down in the castle dungeons when a messenger from the Humpherts with a glove on a silver platter appeared. "Oh did I loose one of these?" Eugene asked picking up the gauntlet. "Wait a minute Eugene," the king said. "That is a dueling gauntlet."

He dropped it but didn't know if it was too late. He knew the rules of engagement. "There is a message with it your majesty." The message read.

"Since you insist maligning our family in our grief and then presume to attack us at our own home adding insult to injury, I, Lord Phineas Humphert of Corona, challenge Eugene Fitzherbert, prince-consort of Corona, Captain of the Royal Guard of Corona, otherwise known as Horace Moon prince of the Dark Kingdom, otherwise known as the notorious thief Flynn Rider, to a duel."

"Any chance they're not talking about me? There's a lot of names there." Eugene implored.

The king shushed him. There was still more to message. "The duel is an answer to the deadline the king has wroth. It is the more honorable way to settle our dispute and not involve our men in a matter, that should be strictly between us. To further prove to you my intention of honor, unlike the day of battle, I will let the challenged, select the place of duel." The message went on to enlist the terms of the duel, including the consequences if either side won. "Humph, the consequences are not that tempting." The king contemplated, grumbling.

"Excuse me sir?"

"I just think it's a trap. Phineas will never honor his word."

"Sire, the prince-consort did pick up the gauntlet. Under the rules of engagement by picking it up, he has already agreed to it." The servant who brought the message forewarned.

"He didn't even know what it was!" Bellowed the king. "The message wasn't even read."

"It's alright sire." said Eugene. "I should have known better. I should have seen it was a dueling gauntlet. I seen them before."

"You can't mean that you will accept this duel?!" The king roared.

"Well Phineas has a point. It would involve less people."

"But son!"

"Am I your son?" Eugene surprised himself shooting back. "I am only a former thief that has attached himself to this family. But because of me, because of my past, people have assumed the worst assumptions about me and rebelled against you and Rapunzel just by association! Vrott, Phineas, Egbert, they all have their reasons don't they?"

"Son, these words, this isn't you. I call you son because you are like a son to me."

"But you are my son." King Edmund's voice chimed in. They hadn't known he had been listening in. King Edmund looked at King Frederick and a look of understanding seemed to pass between the two kings. Corona's king left.

"Come son," King Edmund directed Eugene.

"Dad, I'm sorry I just-"

"Come on are you going to make you grab you with my wounded arm? My only arm?" He said, milking it.

They went into King Edmund's private room where he was staying. King Edmund sat down and instructed to Eugene to do the same. "Son in the two plus years I've gotten the privilege of knowing you, and the decade or so I have known of your other reputation, I have noticed your life has been threaded by a common theme. You flirt with death."

"Some would call that a compliment."

"Yes son, you are very brave. But you take it a step further. You use death as an escape." Eugene's eyebrows shot up with that one. "Dad I want to live." Edmund agreed, nodding his head.

"Yes, yes you do want to live son, you do. You relish life with every bit of joy and gratitude you can muster, just like Rapunzel. However as a thief what made you successful was that you were thrill seeking. You would get as close as possible to dangerous situations, closer than anyone else would dare."

"And here I thought it was my stunning looks, charm and acumen."

Edmund smiled. "It was that too." He paused truing to find his words. "And now in your new life, when the chips are down sometimes you are too quick to accept death." He had to explain what he meant. "Son do you remember when I almost killed you?"

"Which time?"

King Edmund ignored that. "On the gondola, when I raised my ax and we fell."

"Yup definitely remember that."

"After we fell and it was just you facing me, you asked me 'What I was waiting for?' You were just waiting for me to strike you."

"Well that was so Rapunzel could get away."

"Yeah but son, we had already fallen down a cliff."

Eugene shrugged. "You were already so close, there wasn't really much place else to go."

"Perhaps." Mused Edmund.

"What about later when we faced the demon? You were going to face that massive creature by yourself. You told everyone else to evacuate."

"Well didn't necessarily want to volunteer you all."

"Son my point is, that sometimes there are other options than death to protect the lives of those you love. You need to fight for your life a little harder! I think you know that it is sometimes better to live to face another day. If you had not lived would you and Rapunzel even be having these twins? Think of all the life and adventure you two have been through together. There is a time and place to sacrifice by putting your life on the line. And you've definitely done that from time to time. But you should exhaust all other options. You will know when that time comes." He rose. "Son it's your choice whether you accept this duel or not, but remember what I said. No matter what other relations of ours would have you believe, you're more than a sacrifice play."

Rapunzel had said something so similar to him a few weeks ago. What was it she had said to him? "You are more than bait." He thought it was. He wasn't necessarily good at recall. "I guess before I do anything, I would like to talk to Rapunzel." He decided. Edmund nodded.

He ran up the stairs and found his wife asleep again. Pascal was waving, squeaking and pointing for him to look in a desk drawer. "Alright, alright frog! You don't have to make so much noise!"

He looked in the drawer and found two letters. One letter from Varian and one letter to Varian Rapunzel had written. As he read the letter from Varian he couldn't help but shouting "Alright!" The kid had figured it out! He figured out how to preserve the crops with amber! Pascal clucked with his tongue with him to be quiet for Rapunzel. "Oh right." He hushed his voice. As he read the letter he didn't completely understand it. Something about bronze and a vacuum airtight seal, thermal expansion coefficient?

He put down that letter and took the next letter that Rapunzel obviously had meant to send back to Varian. It began with a congratulatory expressions and gratitude, but then quickly digressed into a warning. It seemed Rapunzel didn't want Varian any where near a potential battle, or anywhere near Corona where the Humpherts could still hurt him or sabotage his work. She requested he stay until after the deadline was passed and the danger was over. He whistled. He knew how much she wanted to stop another fight. This must have been a hard decision for her. Yet even he knew it was the right one.

He wondered why she hadn't sent it yet. Pascal was making more racket. "What? What is it?" The little lizard was making a triangle shape with his hands over his head. It looked like a crown. "Oh the king?" He said. This was like talking to Urf the mime. "She needs the king to see this?" Pascal gave him a thumbs up and nodded in the affirmative.

"Ok. I can do it. I guess she needed to sleep more huh?" Eugene noticed Rapunzel looked a little pale. Maybe sleep would do her good. Pascal nodded slowly, his look a little sad.

"I'll get this to the king."

King Frederick read the letter to himself. He was surprised at the contents but proud. His daughter was truly learning what it was to be a queen. "I'm guessing she wanted to make sure she had my approval before sending this. And she does. We'll send it off."

Ethel the spy was in the area and overheard. She curtsied. "Your majesty the emissary we normally use will need to get back a message on the prince-consort's response to Lord Humphert. Perhaps since it sounds like this message is urgent we should use a bird. Maybe like King Edmund's carrier crow. He would know the way to the Dark Kingdom." Other than it was important, she had no idea what the message was. She just had heard of the crow's spotty reputation when it came to delivering messages.

Lord Humphert had given her several warnings about what would happen to her if he was caught or if she was disloyal, so whatever she could do to frustrate the efforts of the palace, she would try, if it helped get Lord Humphert's suspicions off of her. King Frederick looked at King Edmund. The other king was sauntering out in the hallway after his talk with Eugene. "This is a sensitive message. Maybe it would be better if it went by air and we used a bird rather than a human. Is your crow available King Edmund?" King Frederick did not know the crow's uneven reputation when it came to carrying messages. He just knew Edmund relied on the bird often and that it had helped him track Eugene for a time.

"Hamuel?" King Edmund asked, referring to the name of the crow. "He is always ready. C'mon Hamuel can you take this message to Varian and the Dark Kingdom?"

He rolled up Rapunzel's letter and attached it to the bird's foot with some twine. The crow flew off. "The other direction Hamuel!" The king shouted. The loopy bird corrected his flight path. It was perhaps part of the king's madness that he still trusted the crow so absolutely.

Eugene had not been there for the whole exchange of the message being passed off to the crow. As soon as King Frederick had mentioned how Rapunzel would have wanted his approval on this, it clicked that something might be wrong. Rapunzel was never one to procrastinate on something so time sensitive and important that would help her family and friends. Yet she chose to sleep. And she was sleeping deeply. She had told Eugene she was a light sleeper. And when it came to being during the day, if someone made a lot of noise or moved around her, she did normally wake up. This time she didn't, even though he and Pascal had made a lot of movement and noise. As King Frederick and King Edmund were talking about passing off the message, he had already raced upstairs. He came to his wife. She breathed in deep peaceful sleep, but she did look pale. He had to make sure she was ok. He shook her a little. "Rapunzel? Rapunzel?" She wasn't waking up. "Rapunzel?"

She didn't wake up for hours and then they knew it was finally time to call for the doctor again. The doctor looked grave. "She is two weeks from her pushed up due date. Giving birth could be the cure. She may still wake up but just be in and out of it. Keep her comfortable and feed her. We'll wait this out."

The doctor was right. She was in and out. Enough to eat, and sustain herself. Since she was a fighter, sometimes she'd muster the energy to talk to them for a little, but she wasn't all that alert. Eugene had made his decision.

"I'm accepting the duel." Eugene told the king and queen.

"What?" King Frederick and Queen Arianna asked him. They were still trying to process the information. "You can't boy! It's a trap! There's no reason to do this!"

"Well technically I've already accidentally accepted it. It would look kind of bad if I declined." He grimaced in that playful way they were used to seeing. "Now I know what you're thinking. It's a trap."

"Well we said that part out loud." King Frederick said dryly.

"Well the point is, I know it might be, but here's the thing, we have to at least try. Wouldn't Rapunzel say that?"

"I think Rapunzel would tell you not do it! To find a different way!" Queen Arianna urged.

"Well I do have a plan. Listen, hear me out, the way I see it, if I win, this fight is over with right? That's huge! We have the chance to spare everyone else. And even if I don't win, he didn't say you had to surrender did he? He said, that they would just carry on with the fight. You would just be back to square one. You would still have the Royal Guard, and the Snuggly Duckling boys. You could still win the war. And maybe with me out of the picture, it would satisfy the Lundars and they would drop the fight anyway."

"Eugene!" Queen Arianna started.

"Besides whatever the outcome," Eugene continued as if she hadn't spoken, "this might help Rapunzel in more than one way. Her health worsened right after she wrote Varian that letter. If we can just get this duel over and done with, Varian may be able to return and seeing him here might do her some good. The last thing is, no matter what the outcome of the duel or anything else, knowing how popular she is with the people of Corona, I doubt Lord Humphert will touch her. In fact, I know he won't."

"What do you mean you know he won't?" Asked King Frederick. Instead of answering, Eugene asked another question.

"Well your majesty, aren't you allowed seconds in a duel?"

"Well yes." King Frederick replied slowly.

Seconds were trusted individuals of the participants of duels, that were supposed to function as witnesses to the duel and a go between for the negotiations leading up to the duel. Seconds were not to be harmed in any way. King Frederick noticed the Humpherts had not sent a second to send the message to Eugene, but just a normal courier. He was guessing trust was running low at the Humpherts. He didn't even think of assigning the boy a second. He didn't want this duel to happen in the first place! It was just Phineas' way of trying to weasel his way out of the deadline. He was sure of it.

"Well I wanted a second!" Eugene continued. "And I knew just the person to ask!"

"Hello everyone!" Lance stepped into the room waving, his girls trailing behind him.

"Did you ask Lance and his girls?" King Frederick asked astonished.

"Oh no! Just Lance. And only because I know within the rules of the duel, as my second, Lance is not to be harmed. He actually serves a double purpose. If the Humpherts try anything funny during this duel, I know he has the ability to escape and warn others. Lance here is just about a good escape artist as I am- errr...was. Lance just wanted to ask if the girls could stay here with you at the palace while all this played out."

"Well of course they can, but does this have to do with guaranteeing Rapunzel's safety?"

"As my second, I asked Lance to renegotiate the terms of duel slightly. I asked that if I accept this duel, no matter the outcome of that, or the war, that Rapunzel, or the twins, not be harmed in anyway."

"Eugene! I understand your intentions, but you can't trust him! And you have no authority to decide that! The duel might be between you two, but not the war!"

"I know." Eugene said, "Which is why I included a caveat that you had to sign off on it as well."

"What?"

"I noticed that with all the conniving Phineas does, he puts stock in paper and people's opinions to a point. He used an official contract to start this war, stuck to the relegated first battle date, and this whole time he has swayed people's opinions against us. If you sign this agreement in front of several witness and subjects of Corona, if somehow Phineas' wins, and he decides to renege on this agreement, his first act of king will have to be going against his word. I doubt he'll be able to stomach that in front of everyone, with how loved Rapunzel is by the people of Corona. It doesn't even say she has to surrender! I have a feeling she'll give him a fight when she pulls out of this!" He laughed. He said 'when' and not 'if' because he was not giving up on her. "If anything, if she's still sick after the duel and everything, it gives her more of a chance than before."

The king fell silent.

"Frederick you can't be thinking of letting him go through with this!" Arianna postulated.

She was right. Protecting his daughter Rapunzel was his weakness after eighteen long years of failure, but his daughter wouldn't have wanted this. He didn't want this.

"She's right boy. I can't allow this."

"Well with all due respect your majesty, you said it yourself, the war is under your authority, but the duel is between Phineas and I. If you don't want to agree to these renewed terms, then I will agree to Phineas' old terms. His challenge was a challenge to me only. It just happens to effect everyone else."

King Frederick rose.

"Frederick," The queen pleaded quietly.

"He's right Arianna. If he's set on doing this, according to Corona's dueling laws, which were agreed on by all the lords of the land, I have no choice but to let him. Only in an unanimous vote by all the lords, in times of war or peace, could I change the law. And I have a feeling, Lord Phineas wouldn't agree to that." He turned to Eugene. "I don't like it, but I will sign this agreement son. I will get Nigel to get me an audience."

Arianna grunted in frustration. No matter what Eugene might think, this was a death trap! There had to be a better way. What would Rapunzel do? She tried to think like her daughter.

Her daughter would try to find the spy.

Finding the spy could give them an inside edge on what the Humpherts were thinking and planning. She didn't know if she had her daughter's talents for such things, but she had to try.

Nigel gathered an audience just like requested and the king signed. Several of the servants and Corona's subjects were present. There was a solemn air to the throne room. Lance brought the agreement back to the Humphert's manor.

Phineas nearly laughed as the success of his plan was all falling into place. Of course, he agreed to not harming the princess no matter what the outcome of the duel. He knew the outcome! And he wasn't worried about afterward. Ethel, the palace spy told him that the princess was at death's door. Phineas' caution was abandoning him. His unchecked ambition gave him a new unwavering confidence that things would take their natural course, and he wouldn't have to lift a finger to make sure Rapunzel didn't get in his way of the crown.

He signed the agreement heartily and sent it back. Lord Phineas chose the time of the duel as midday. He seemed to like that time for whatever reason. Eugene still had to pick a location though. He decided to wait until last minute to tell Phineas what location he was going to pick. That way if the Humpherts were planning something funny they wouldn't have time to use the terrain to ensnare him. That and he wasn't sure where to go himself.

The week before the duel was to take place, he trained with his dad a little more. He was grateful for it. He knew Lord Phineas Humphert was classically trained at fencing and didn't know if he would have been able to go toe to toe with him before. He guessed Varian had gotten Rapunzel's message because the teenager hadn't arrived. He wrote Cassandra and Adira trying to reach them one last time. They needed to know Rapunzel's condition and why he might not be there to see them when they came back to visit. It was a good-bye letter. But the day before the duel he reserved to staying by Rapunzel. She was so close to birth. Part of him hoped that she would deliver early, so he wouldn't miss it. In her condition, he couldn't talk to her to tell her what was going on, but wondered if he should write her.

Suddenly he remembered something he had promised her long ago. He promised he would tell her what he was chewing on the day before they visited the cave at Mount Saison. The seven month deadline wasn't up yet, it was only about six months, but he didn't know if he would get another chance. He took a pen and paper and started to write.