In a Manor of Speaking
3 Hours before
Hours before sunrise, Lance waited outside the Humpherts manor hidden in the woods. He had tricked the veteran guards into thinking he had left. He had guessed that these guards hadn't listened at all to Eugene's lectures on how to catch a thief. They were just as obtuse as they had always been!
He watched Ethel go into the house. It was a risk, but she was supposed to come to tell Lord Humphert that Eugene was on the easternmost side of the Mt. Saison. That way Lord Humphert and his men would try sneak up the west side to surprise him. If they snuck up the west, hopefully they would never see the loyal Royal Guard and Snuggly Duckling patrons on the eastside on the bottom of the mountain. To give Ethel a second chance and act as a double agent was the queen's idea. He had to give it to the queen. He didn't know she had it in her. They all ran everything by the king. He was furious at Ethel but eventually saw why it might be worth the risk. The one condition was that Lance was supposed to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't betray them again.
Ethel was also supposed to find out when the Humphert forces were going to get to the mountain, so that the loyal Royal Guard and others could climb up in time. At first, they were just going to climb up with Eugene and lurk in waiting close to the top. But if by some miracle Lord Humphert did come at midday, if King Frederick's guards were already cloistered together towards the top of the bald sided face of the mountain, they would be really visible to anybody Lord Humphert sent to check. So, they decided to hide out in the woods until they got the all clear from Ethel that the Humpherts' men were climbing up the mountain themselves.
Lance saw Ethel roughly escorted in, but he didn't see her come back out. Had she betrayed them again? Or did they find out she was on their side?
Just as he was about to get closer to investigate, all the Humphert forces, men, women, the Lundars, renegade guards, and city rebels came pouring out of the house. They were marching out with purpose. They definitely weren't waiting until midday. They were going to Mt. Saison right now. Where was Ethel? With all the people pouring out of the house maybe he had missed her? He was not sure. With the house being emptied he had two choices.
Either look for Ethel or go sneak in after everyone left to see if he could break out Wolfgang. He was vacillating on what to do when something happened that made his decision for him. "Hey!" A little voice whispered next him. He jumped and was glad he didn't make a noise! He looked down. It was his daughters!
"What are you doing here?!" He whispered as loudly as he dared.
"We followed you." They said.
"Well yeah, I figured that out! But why? I told you all not to go anywhere!"
"No, you told us not to go anywhere without you. We're with you!"
He smacked his face. Leave it to them to find a loophole. "This is really dangerous!" He whispered, chiding them. "You two shouldn't be here!"
"We know! We eavesdropped on the whole plan!" Red confessed. Angry gave her a look. Lance wasn't supposed to know that.
"Oh, did you!" Lance rejoined. "Well then you know it is too dangerous to be here!"
"What? Do you think we've never been in danger before? You know we have!"
"Yeah, but I wasn't your father then!" Lance stated firmly.
Despite how, the girls really didn't like being told what to do, they found that what he said gave them unexpected warm and fuzzy feelings. The fuzzy feelings didn't last, because just then those confounded hounds started barking at the back of the house. Either Lance and the girls were being too loud, or they were barking since everyone was making such a ruckus as they left. "Shoot!" Lance said.
He didn't think that the guards exiting the manor were smart enough to look for them at the front of the house when the dogs were barking at the back, but they had to get out of here. He turned to grab the girls and go, but Red was already running towards the back of the house towards the direction of the hounds barking. "Red!" He whispered after her. "Where is she going?" He asked Angry, running with her to get his other daughter. Angry just shrugged. "Red!" He called again as loudly as he dared. She was all the way at the back of the house, close to where he had first tried to break in the other night. Somehow, they avoided being seen. Angry and he panted as they finally caught up with her. "Red, what you are doing?"
"I can understand the dogs." She whispered back, her face earnestly looking up at him in the moonlight.
"What?"
"I don't know why. Maybe it's my werewolf powers? I can understand canines now because of that?"
Lance wondered if he needed to get her checked, when suddenly she howled long and forlornly. Ok, now he knew he needed to get her checked. Hopefully, any others left at the house would really think that sound was a wolf. Then miraculously it sounded like the hounds were talking back to her, barking as if communicating. She barked this time back at them. Lance was starting to panic now. "Relax!" Red told him. "Most people can't tell the difference between dog sounds. Unless they are the owners. Besides, the dogs in there are telling us some interesting information."
"What did they say?" Lance asked, going along with it, wondering if he needed to get himself checked.
"Just that they have been left in a crate for ages and they want to be let out!"
"Ok that is interesting, but can you ask them if Wolfgang is alive? And if so, if they know where he is?" Lance prodded. He might as well go with the crazy.
The exchange of barking went back and forth.
"They said Wolfgang is alive!"
"Really?!"
"And he's underneath where they are being kept!"
The dogs let them in on their location, but just as they were going to tell them how to break in, Lance interrupted.
"Oh no, I know how to break in myself!"
At this point the girls and he were committed too far in this together. He brought them with him. He broke in easily and found the dogs in their crate just where Red said that they were. He looked around. No one seemed to be checking in on them at this back part of the house. He guessed everyone was used to the dogs barking. He pushed the crate to the side.
The dogs whimpered to be let out, but they couldn't let them out just yet. Red bayed at them that they would let them out as soon as they freed Wolfgang first. Like the dogs said through Red, there was a rug underneath the crate. He and the girls rolled up the rug together. There it was! The trap door! He couldn't believe they had found it!
He opened the door and saw that there was a staircase immersed in shadows as it stretched down to the cellar, or whatever this was. It was really dark. He wasn't sure if he could get down there without a light. He thought Red might be able to see in her werewolf form but transforming into a werewolf now would draw too much attention and she wouldn't be able to fit into the narrow entrance. Suddenly Lance leaped as he heard a lilting feminine voice, he didn't recognize behind him.
"Need a light?" Rebekah Humphert stood behind him with a lantern. They all gasped preparing to be turned in. Red looked like she was prepping to transform into her werewolf self. "You will also need this." Rebekah added handing them the key to Wolfgang's manacles. They looked at her befuddled. Angry finally spoke. "Are you helping us?"
"No," Rebekah answered. "I'm helping my brother. He's the one down there."
Rebekah Humphert's hands were getting rough from all the work she was doing. Her father had completely overwhelmed her. In addition, they were running out of food to feed everyone at the manor. Her father had banked so much on victory at the first battle, that he figured that they could temporarily break into the yearlong food supply they had stored for their family and servants to feed his enlisted forces. It would just be for a month before they would defeat the king and have access to all the kingdom's stores, he told Rebekah.
Then they wouldn't have to worry about running low on food. It had almost been two months. Everyone staying here for the war was eating them out of house and home. Her father didn't seem to notice. Now in addition to the remaining group of rogue guards and Lundars who had escaped capture in the first battle, they had some lazy, slovenly city dwellers staying with them at the manor.
The city people weren't as disciplined as the guards and Lundars. They ate more, asked for more and took advantage of Rebekah serving them hand and foot. She was tired of covering for her father. Tired of nearly being caught in all his lies. Tired of all this work! When most of their impromptu guests left for Mt. Saison that night, she breathed a sigh of relief. There were only three or four city rebels left behind to guard Ethel, promising not to let her go until the appointed time, which was an hour or so before sunrise. Shortly after the others left, the city rebels heard the hounds barking. They were incessant. "You know you really should go check on that!" One city rebel said to another.
"Pshaw! You go check! I am supposed to be here to guard this woman."
"No, I am!"
"Look I think we all are." Pitched in a third rebel. "Hey, let's ask that maid around here to do it! She seems to know the layout of the house! What was her name? Bekah something?"
"Close enough," said another. "Bekah? Bekah!" They called. Rebekah knew they were talking about her. She also knew they wouldn't stop calling until she came. "Yes?" She said just keeping the petulance out of her voice.
"Can you go check on those infernal hounds see why they're barking?"
"They bark all the time!" She lied. "It's probably because everyone's leaving!"
"Well, I haven't heard them like that all the time." A city rebel commented. Now that he mentioned it, when Rebekah listened in there was a bark that sounded foreign to her. Was there another dog bothering her hounds? She better check it out. "Ok fine." She acquiesced.
"There's a lass." The city rebel winked at her. She chose to ignore him. When she went back, she was startled as she could see someone was trying to break in. She reached for something to stop them. Then she stopped herself. Did she really want to stop this? This unending fallacy that saw her mistaken for a common housemaid? Then her brother had been down there for two months! Anything had to be better than this! Maybe the king and queen would grant them mercy! She knew what her decision was, before she made it. She ran upstairs to get a lantern and the key that would free Wolfgang.
Then met Lance and the girls downstairs. Freeing Wolfgang was easy now. Wolfgang and Antonio almost cried tears of joy when they realized they were being set free. Lance was surprised that his joke about the tailor being down there with Wolfgang was actually accurate! Everyone, including the dogs, remained quiet and the city rebels were distracted by guarding Ethel at the front. They were none the wiser. Rebekah didn't even think to tell Lance that Ethel was being temporarily guarded. She really did think that Ethel was still their spy.
"Well, she quieted the dogs it seems." The city rebels commented. The said hounds abruptly made an appearance running up to the front with mad pent-up energy, after being stuck in a crate for nearly two months. It was a wonder they weren't more aggressive, but unbeknownst to the city rebels, Red had pacified them a bit before they let them go. Nevertheless, they were still wild! They scratched and pawed, ran up and down, bayed and howled. "Uck! Let these dogs outside!" They ordered Rebekah. She let the dogs bother them a bit more before she put her hand to the doorknob to comply. "Don't you think it's time to release her too?" Rebekah asked, referring to Ethel.
"Ugh I don't know!" The city rebel belly ached. "I just want these dogs out!"
"Well...if it is not time to let her go yet, they might be useful to guarding her in here too." They looked at Ethel and then at each other.
"Well what time is it? Is it close enough to sunrise to let her go?" One of them stammered.
"Yeah, yeah, it's close enough! Let her go! Just let these blasted dogs out of here!" They begged.
They freed Ethel and pushed her towards the door. She stumbled towards it and Rebekah let her out along with the dogs. Now the dogs were lapping and fussing at her. They weren't really being aggressive, but they were big and even now that she outside, she was having trouble getting away from them. Rebekah followed them outside, shutting the door behind her. She called the dogs off momentarily. They were still obedient to her. She had been the only one feeding them.
"Hey spy!" She called to Ethel in a low whisper. Ethel turned, afraid what Rebekah was going to say. She had no idea that the girl had just helped Lance free her brother. The Humpherts had not made Ethel privy to the fact that Wolfgang was alive or where he was located. Lord Phineas Humphert had always been too cautious for that. Until recently, when he told her about the trap laid for Eugene. "Yes, my lady?" She asked Rebekah.
Rebekah looked at her square in the eye in that threatening way only a Humphert could.
"I promise to call the hounds off of you, if you promise to warn the palace that the duel is a trap."
Ethel looked at Rebekah in complete surprise, but she didn't have time to ask questions about the girl's sudden change in heart. She only nodded. "Yes, my lady." She thought numbly that it really was too late, and it was too far away to go to Mt. Saison to warn everyone in time. Going the shorter way to the palace and explaining what happened was her only choice.
Rebekah thought that Ethel agreed a little too easily, but she guessed the spy always was a scaredy cat. "And Ethel?" She added, as the handmaiden began to walk away. "Tell them Rebekah Humphert told you to tell them that." Rebekah thought, that just maybe, giving the palace this information would make them decide to be more lenient on her when they found her brother alive. Ethel nodded again, saying "Yes, lady," as she took the arduous walk back to the palace.
Lofty Truths and Travels
Varian was travelling back to Corona with his dad in the carriage. It was loaded with the crops they had stored with his amber preservation method. With everything they had to do, they had gotten a slow start and were headed later than they had meant to before. Since the crops were so heavy, a few of the Lundars kindly offered to ride back with them to help load and unload everything. One of them was Elipta Lundar. She also came because she heard her half-brother had fought and been captured. She was hoping to visit him in Corona's prisons and talk some sense into him. She hoped she could convince him to call off the war.
They had just started their journey. Varian thought it was strange that he never received a message back from Rapunzel. He thought she would be so excited to hear that he had figured out a solution! He hoped everything was ok.
He yawned and stretched his arms out, while he was sitting on the driver's seat of the carriage. Something warm, soft, greasy, mangy, and moving smacked into his hand. He jerked it back in a disgusted reflex. His hand had come back with a crow in it!
He didn't think he was that tall now to catch a bird in flight! Yet on closer inspection Varian realized it was Hamuel, King Edmund's carrier crow. Even he had past experience with how unreliable this bird could be. Still, he cupped his hands together to give it more of a platform to stand on. The bird looked stunned from smacking into Varian's hand, but as it fluttered around, stumbling in his hand aimlessly, it smiled through his beak when it recognized Varian. It raised a bony foot up for Varian to inspect. The crow's foot had a message attached. Varian thought he had felt paper in his hand as well. There it was.
He detached the folded message from the bird's foot and opened it. It was a message from Rapunzel! He read through the letter and gasped at what it had to say. It was smudged in places because of previous rain but he got the gist of it. It warned him to stay away, but he couldn't do that! His friends needed his help. He looked for the for where the date was marked on the letter, but it was smudged too.
Who knows when this crow had actually been sent to give it to him? Was it too late to get to Corona to help? They were travelling to Corona the slow way by carriage. He leaped down from the driver's seat to go inside the carriage to go talk to his father, message in hand. As he did the crow squawked because it fell off and bumped along the road. Varian shook his head. The crow would be ok after it remembered it could fly.
Once inside the carriage, well, it was really a Lundar caravan, Varian was greeted by all shapes and sizes of amber covered crop containers. Some were big. Some were small. Some were rounded and wide. Some were long and skinny. Some were even different shapes like triangles or squares. The Lundars had gotten creative with how they made their bronze travelling luggage.
Now the odd assortment of goods glistened with golden resin as it was being transported to Corona, airtight and dry, the surplus of the Dark Kingdom's crops tucked inside each one. The Lundars remembered Rapunzel's kindness and understanding when they told her they didn't want to fight Duke Egbert and their other family members. It went a long way with them. In addition to donating their bronze, they agreed to let Varian and Quirin use their two caravans as well to transport everything. Quirin sat down drinking a beverage comfortably next to some amber covered trunks. "Dad! Dad!" Varian called.
"What? What's wrong Varian?" Quirin faced him alerted.
"Dad look at this letter from Rapunzel! King Edmund's carrier crow just delivered it to us!"
Quirin took the letter from Varian and read it. "Wow this is grave! If that batty crow got this to us, who knows when princess Rapunzel really meant to send this to us? Are you wanting to stop the caravan and wait a few days just to make sure we pass the deadline she spoke about?"
"No Dad!" proclaimed Varian, a bit offended. "Just the opposite! I want to see if we can get there earlier to help!"
"Varian, I understand son, but we kind of have our hands tied. We are already travelling as fast as we can by carriage. And the princess had a good reason for wanting us to stay away. We wouldn't all this hard work you did, sabotaged by people who would see us, and it, harmed. In fact, we would be going against her orders to stay away."
"That's thing Dad! She didn't order us to stay away. She ordered us to keep the crops away until the deadline for the battle passed! We don't know when the deadline is because that part was smudged along with the letter's date. Maybe we could let Elipta Lundar, and the others drive the caravan to Corona for us and go help out our friends ourselves!"
"Varian, I think that is splitting hairs. You know what princess Rapunzel meant by stay away. Anyway again, I don't see how we can get back earlier. This is our only mode of transportation."
"Actually, it's not!"
"It's not?"
"No remember dad? When Rapunzel sent for the Dark Kingdom's engineer to help them in the first battle, after he was done, she sent him back with my deflated hot air balloon. Now we have the disassembled hot air balloon with us in the caravan! I can easily assemble it and get to Corona more quickly!"
Quirin remembered all that now. King Edmund had flown to Corona on Varian's hot air balloon, but when they sent for the Dark Kingdom' engineer, Jacent, he thought his name was, Jacent had taken a horse, a carriage and King Edmund's horse to Corona with him, and he returned with a carriage, horse, and Varian's deflated hot air balloon. The hot air balloon was there with them, rolled up against some of the trunks, its basket off to the side. Quirin looked at the lad in hesitation.
"Come on dad, if we get to Corona more quickly and there is something wrong, not only could we help, but we could fly back to the Lundars and tell them where to arrive with the crops safely. You know it's a good idea!"
"Varian, this is very brave of you. It is hard for me to let you go do this, but if it is your decision to go help, I will let you go. You are close enough to being a man now. And I am proud of the one you are becoming."
"Oh no Dad!" Varian protested.
Quirin looked at him in askance. It was hard for Quirin to give heartfelt speeches. He flattered himself that Varian would be touched. Varian clarified what he meant.
"I mean, thank you, that means a lot to me, especially coming from you, but what I mean is, I want you to go with me!"
"Me?!"
"Yes Dad! If we get to Corona during wartime, I need your battle experience! Plus looking up at the skies, it looks cloudy and cold. There looks like there is a potential storm brewing up there. I may need your help to navigate."
"And that is supposed to convince me? Oh no, maybe neither one of us should go! My feet are staying on the ground where they are meant to be, and not up in the air in that contraption!"
Quirin chewed his lip and admitted something to his son that he knew Varian already knew, but it was hard for him to say out loud. "I'm afraid of heights!"
"Dad, you said you wanted to trust me more, right? I can get us there safely! I know it! And what about all that stuff you taught me about doing the right thing no matter what? And not to delay helping others out because that could result in grave mistakes? Come on, Dad you need to go with me!"
Quirin rubbed his forehead and eyes. "Varian," he started unsure, but his son was right. He already knew what he was going to do.
Madam Estrada and Faith just returned from dropping off some winter clothes they had made for the orphans. There would be more to come, but hopefully this would do for now. It was just before sunrise. They dropped everything off early, so that they could get back to the shop to open it on time. As they approached the plaza and their little shop, they noticed a graying woman was running through the town alone and sniffling. It looked like she was headed the direction of the palace. "That's Ethel!" Faith said. "What is she doing outside of the palace? I didn't think they would let her go, after what she confessed." They both reached out to her. "Ethel, Ethel, over here!" They called. "What is wrong?" Ethel recognized Faith first, then Madam Estrada. "I-I-I can't stay and explain!" She stammered. She looked extremely distraught and disheveled. Her normally coiffed hair was all out of place. "I have to get to the palace to warn them!"
"Warn them of what?" The seamstress and her assistant asked. Ethel looked at them, while she kept heading in the direction of the palace. They traipsed beside. At this point she didn't think it mattered who knew, or how she knew her information. She rattled out her story like emotions rattled through her.
"The duel between the prince-consort and Lord Humphert is a trap set by Lord Humphert! They are all over on Mt. Saison. Lord Humphert sent his forces over to capture Captain Fitzherbert early! It is already likely too late! I have to get to the palace to warn them! Maybe they can send a rider over there in time! It would have taken too long for me to get over there on foot!" She cried. "The king and queen gave me a second chance after everything I had done, to get this information to them and now it may be too late!" She blubbered that last part out more to herself than to them. She didn't know that they already knew about her confession to the queen that she was a Humphert spy. She ran off from them, her confession spurring her onward, leaving them aghast in their wake.
"I can't believe it!" Madam Estrada said shocked for the second time in two days.
"I can't believe it!" She shouted louder. Faith looked around. The other shop owners were starting to arrive to set up their shops before the day as well. They had just missed Ethel. The barest hint of sunlight was shining through to the plaza. They looked over disconcerted at Madam Estrada's outburst. She didn't care. She wanted the attention.
She grabbed the little bell tied to her shop door and ripped it off. She rung it wildly making its high-pitched peals echo through the plaza. "Excuse me everybody!" She declared. "I have an announcement to make!" Now that she had everyone's attention, she stepped out in the middle of the plaza. "Somebody get me a soap box! To stand on! Please?" She requested. The soaper of downtown Corona hurriedly brought her one of her soap boxes. One didn't mess with Madam Estrada when she had something to say! "Look here!" Madam Estrada began her speech to the arriving shop owners and some early morning passerby. "The Humpherts have tricked us all!"
"How do you know that?" Shouted some. "Yeah, their son died!" Shouted another. The people in the city still didn't know whether to believe the Humpherts or the king and queen when it came to that. There was a lot of information being bandied around. The city rebels who fought with the Humpherts disbelieved the prince-consort's story, but the rest of the people weren't sure, and debated their opinions vociferously in the square. "I bet that is a lie!" Madam Estrada gave her opinion on the matter to the crowd. "Did anybody hear of the fire spreading anywhere else other than Varian's fields? Huh? It's been two months now! How did all the guards miss seeing Wolfgang there?"
"Well, some the guards went to the Lord Humpherts' and Duke Lundar's side so they must know something!"
"Ok!" Madam Estrada didn't want to get sidetracked. She was building up to what she wanted to say. She wanted to make sure everyone believed her. "Then what about the food shortage? Is anyone starving yet?" She knew they weren't.
"Even if it hasn't affected us yet," someone yelled, "It will! The fire affected too much wheat at Varian's farm!"
"Maybe there's some truth to that, but there's also rumors that princess Rapunzel sent Varian to collect a lot more crops for us over at the Dark Kingdom!" She insisted.
"Then where is he?" A woman asked. "Where is Varian? Why hasn't he returned?" There were shouts of both agreement and defense of the rumored back up plan for food.
"Look," Madam Estrada projected her voice over the debate. There was a larger crowd now here gathered to listen. She had to get them to see what she was getting at. "You admitted yourselves that the food shortage isn't affecting us yet. But because everyone is afraid, food prices are high. You know who that is affecting? The orphans and all the charities we used to donate to! Remember how we used to be happy to do it? Did it really take that much skin off our noses to do it?"
"Skin off our noses? That sounds painful!"
Madam Estrada sighed. "It's an expression. What I mean is did it really cost us that much to do it?"
"Things are different now!" Harold the tanner cried. "We are gotta take care of ourselves! Lord Humphert and Princess Rapunzel can take care of donating!"
"Listen to us! In this one conversation we've mentioned king, queen, lord, duke, princess, and prince! We've been throwing out titles left and right lately as excuses for our actions! What about us?"
"What about us?" The shoemaker asked. "We're just commoners!"
"Yeah!" Betsy the candle maker agreed. "Everyday folk! Day laborers! Craftsman!"
"Exactly! We are common everyday folk! Day laborers! We are craftsman!" Madam Estrada latched onto the last one. She came upon something that would help her make her point. "Faith!" She called to her assistant. "Needle and thread! The biggest ones so that everyone can see!" She ordered from the apprentice. Faith ran up and gave her both items. "Thank you, Faith." She continued to address the crowd. "As craftsman, we know that it is both our tools and materials that work together to make something beautiful! And functional! As for me, a seamstress, look at this needle! The needle is like our leaders. Look at this thread! Pretend it's like us! I know that I need the needle to guide the thread to make clothing or a tapestry, or whatever else is in the design, but the needle is nothing without the thread! The needle is nothing if the thread doesn't do its part."
She took the thread and stuck the tip in her mouth to refine a straight point to it. She then took the thread and stuck it through the needle. She held the needle up by the thread, showing it to the crowd. Then just as quickly, she unthreaded the needle. Without any support, the needle fell, clattering to the soap box below. Madam Estrada engaged the crowd. "We are no longer doing our part to help! We've become so lazy, relying on our leaders to do everything for us! It has blinded us to what is truly going on! Did any of us try to help clean up after the fire? Did we know what happened for sure? Did any of us see Varian's fields? Did we try to brainstorm with the princess to see if we could try to help figure out a solution to the food shortage problem together? No! And you know what happened to the orphanage when we stopped giving? The Humpherts pulled out their donations because the orphanage refused to pull their loyalties from the king and queen! Think about what is happening to the other charities we stopped giving to!"
There were several boos. Madam Estrada was not the only one who had a brush with theft from her shop. The others did too, from other orphans, and others who were disadvantaged, and they wondered at it. "The Humpherts are the common thread to all of this! It started when they said they were patrons of the tailor! That they decided to donate all the goods he left them! But isn't it odd that he just up and left without saying anything to anyone?" She had the crowd now. She paused to let them think about it. "I have it on good word, that a spy for the Humpherts confessed that Antonio the tailor was likely harmed by the Humpherts!"
There were shouts of disbelief, disagreement, and murmurs from the crowd. "How do we believe this? What spy?" They shouted back.
"The same spy that confessed that the duel between Lord Humphert and the prince-consort is a trap! The duel is at Mt. Saison, but instead of meeting Captain Fitzherbert alone, Lord Humphert is bringing all his forces there to capture him!" Madam Estrada turned slightly from the crowd to point in the direction of Mt. Saison.
The crowd gasped. Madam Estrada whipped around feeling satisfied. They were believing her! Then she realized they were not looking at her at all. They were looking at something else entirely.
Ethel was in a frantic state when she finally got to the palace. Apparently, the palace was in a state of upheaval too. When she arrived with frayed nerves and sore heels, she was able to get in the entrance easily enough as Rapunzel's handmaid. The king and queen, in order to use her as a double agent, had not told the other servants she had been spying for the Humpherts.
She also wondered if she got in so easily because not one person was paying her one iota of attention. Everyone seemed to be most urgently busy, running around with hushed whispers, a few of them almost knocked into her. Every time she started to ask where the king and queen were, they would answer something like, "Not right now!" She tried to stir clear of rushing servants. Did this mess have to do with duel? Was she already too late? She had to see the king and queen now. She looked for anyone she might know.
She spotted Charity, Helen and Friedborg altogether at once. That was odd. Usually, they took turns being on duty on rotation. They were coming from the kitchen. Helen was holding a bowl with water, and Charity was carrying some damp cloths. Friedborg was, well, being Friedborg. "Charity!" Ethel called. The young woman looked Ethel's direction. "Ethel! Where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you!"
The young maiden then looked her up and down in barely disguised disgust. "And what have you been up to?" Ethel looked down at her dress. In the daylight she could see it was ruined and muddied at the bottom, twigs from the woods stuck to it. The dogs earlier were probably also partially responsible for the tatters. "The king and queen sent me on an errand." She said, which was in a way was true. "Some errand!" Charity exclaimed.
"Charity what's going on? Where's the king and queen?" Ethel asked directly, speeding along the conversation.
Just then, the doctor rushed up behind her, and raced up the stairs. 'Oh no!' She thought. The duel was still on the forefront of her mind. She looked down at Charity's damp cloths. "What are those cloths for?" She asked the maid. "Are they for the prince-consort? Is he already back and injured?" She asked fearfully. Then her heart sunk as she remembered something else. "Or are they for Princess Rapunzel? Is she running a fever?" Was she dying?
"You don't know?" Charity outburst. Ethel barely kept her patience. Charity was always one for drama.
"No! Can you just tell me what is going on?"
"Ethel, the princess is in labor! The twins will be born soon!"
"What?"
"Yes! Come up with me! The king and queen are upstairs with her!" She started to head up the stairway and then stopped. "Although you might need to clean up first!" She added on second thought.
"I'll just change out my dress!" Ethel quickly washed and changed. Then she went to Rapunzel's room. The queen, doctor, midwives and rest of the handmaids were already inside. The king was pacing outside of it, looking for all the world like he wished he had more to do than just wait. "Your majesty!" She curtsied her deepest curtsy in respect. The king had every reason to lock her up and throw away the key. In the hullabaloo of what was happening, she wondered if he might just do that and change his mind about showing her mercy. His eyes lit onto her.
"Ah Ethel! Back I see. So maybe our trust in you wasn't a mistake. Did you relay your message to Lord Humphert?"
"I did, your majesty." Ethel answered trying to get her other words out. The king wasn't listening. The present situation was distressing him too much.
"Good, good! So maybe our plan will fall in place after all!"
"Yes! Yes, but your majesty I didn't get to tell Captain Fitzherbert when they were coming! It might be too late!"
"Too late?" The king muttered; his attention diverted. "Oh, my goodness Ethel you are right! With Eugene out in Mt. Saison he doesn't know anything about Rapunzel giving birth to the twins! By the time he gets back here he might miss it and it'll be too late!"
"No, your majesty! I am talking about the timing of-"
"Of course, you're right Ethel! Timing is everything! We'll send for a horse and rider to go down to tell him. Carefully of course! If they're done fighting, he may be able to get back in time!"
She wasn't getting through to him. She was frustrated but she thought if the king was already sending a rider out to Mt Saison, maybe if she could just tell the rider herself. "Yes, your majesty!" She told the king. "I'll tell the rider myself!"
"What?" responded the king, seeming to come somewhat out of his stupor. "No, you stay here." He whispered to her. "I'll get somebody else to send the rider. We will want to keep our eye on you. You may have delivered the message and you may have not. Either way, you're staying here just to be safe and to prevent you from doing further damage."
Ethel sighed, as it sounded like a kinder mirror of what Phineas had told her earlier. The king wasn't finished. "In fact, you best get inside the room. The rest of the handmaids are inside expecting you. It will look odd if you're not there. The queen can keep an eye on you in there."
Ethel obeyed and the king sent for someone to get a rider. Ethel wasn't giving up. As she entered the room the queen and all the handmaidens were fussing around Rapunzel. Ethel was saddened to see that the princess, though in labor, was still not fully awake. The danger to her life still had not passed.
Earlier, while Rapunzel had been dreaming about Mt. Saison and Eugene's duel, something that was happening in real time, she made loud noises in her subconscious. It was also related to the pain she was feeling. The queen, sitting beside her daughter all night, checked on her. When she did, she realized that the time had come! She alerted everyone, and everyone came to help.
At present, Ethel was the last to enter the room. While everyone looked distracted, Ethel looked around and spotted the writing desk. She quickly grabbed some paper and jotted a warning out. Friedborg was in the room too, but not really doing anything. Ethel pulled on her sleeve. The handmaid turned silently around. "Friedborg," Ethel whispered, "The king is sending a rider out to tell Captain Fitzherbert that the princess is giving birth. See if you can catch the rider and give this note to him quickly." Friedborg could hear, but she didn't know how to read. She nodded at Ethel and quickly walked out to try to catch the rider. Ethel breathed a sigh of relief.
The queen was aware enough to see the exchange out of the corner of her eye. "What was that about?" She asked Ethel suspiciously. Ethel knew she couldn't say everything out loud. The others still didn't know she was a spy, even though she had firmly switched over to spying for the king and queen. "Oh, your majesty, the king just asked for a rider to be sent to tell Eugene the princess is giving birth. I just gave Friedborg a note to tell the rider what is happening." She phrased carefully. The note did, in fact warn the rider to tell Eugene about a different thing that was happening. It warned him how the Humpherts were already arriving.
"Oh, good idea Ethel!" The queen responded satisfied that nothing was amiss now. It seemed that Ethel was a good spy after all.
Friedborg caught the rider right before he left, a loyal veteran guard named Henry. She passed Ethel's note onto him silently. He looked at her and it. She always freaked him out with how quiet she was. It was only themselves and the horses there, so he read the note aloud, exclaiming in alarm when he got to the part about the danger. He was already planning to hurry to tell the prince-consort about how the princess was in labor, but now when he read the note he was spurred onto an even greater haste! It was fully morning now. The sun had risen completely. He had to get this message out before the enemy forces closed in on Eugene. He and Ethel did not know that Rapunzel, in her dream state, had already helped the Snuggly Ducks and loyal guards climb the mountaintop on time. He galloped off.