Royal fanfare was kept to a minimum as the King's carriage swept towards the castle.
The ranks of the guards that led the procession were at full operation, and the walls and people of Corona looked untouched. Along the route to the palace, the royal carriage had been greeted with joy and welcome. Clearly, the citizens were currently unaware of the dire situation.
Good, King Frederic thought. That would give him more time to settle matters before things got out of hand. There was no telling what Varian's next steps would be, and his with his history, it did not bode well. The King would launch a full-scale investigation, finding out how Varian had managed to escape and what his plans were. But first...
The carriage rolled to a stop at the top of the path, and on the steps of the palace stood Queen Arianna, her worry at her husband's well being adequately covered by the required regality the royals (except perhaps the princess herself) had to display in front of their subjects. A weight lifted off her shoulders when the King descended from the carriage, no worse for wear.
"My darling queen, are you alright?" Frederic approached and embraced her gently, looking her over for hidden wounds or worries.
Arianna smiled. "I'm fine, dear."
The king felt stronger knowing his queen was by his side and in good health. The reports of guardsmen could be faulty, or incomplete.
Regarding the guardsmen: "And the guards, the people, were any injured in the escape?"
"No, no one was hurt," Queen Arianna reassured.
"This time." King Frederic frowned, holding her close. He could not fully banish the memories from the last time Varian had kidnapped and threatened the Queen. Only having him locked up had assuaged his fears of her disappearance, and now that the villain was on the loose again...
Sighing, the King motioned forward the Captain of the Guard.
"Take a battalion to Old Corona. Set up camp and lie in wait." Pausing, King Frederic considered what little they knew of the situation. "We do not know what he wants, but we know where he will return eventually. If he is already there, he will find that the tools he might have thought he would have at hand have been since confiscated. Bring him in."
A throat cleared behind him. Nigel stepped forward with a stately bow. "Your majesty, clearly we cannot contain him. Perhaps a more... permanent solution should be considered?"
Frowning, King Frederic thought on it. It was true that Varian was proving to be more than a handful. He owed it to his old friend to make sure the boy was set on the right path, but perhaps there was some truth in Nigel's words. Anyone else would have earned a death sentence, or exile at the least. They had been more than charitable, and if the boy were allowed to keep his life, he should be grateful that any other punishment could not be as severe.
"I will take your counsel into consideration." A thought occurred to him. "We should sent a falcon to Rapunzel, warning her of the situation. There's a chance he could seek them out, though it is unlikely he would know where they are. We cannot be too cautious."
In truth, he would prefer to bring her home, immediately.
"As you command, Your Majesty."
The three travellers stood frozen, watching Varian for any further movements. Cass had drawn her sword, standing ready between Varian and the other two until it was somewhat certain that he was well and truly unconscious. There was still no indication of what the glow had actually done. It was an unknown they didn't need on top of the already uncertain situation.
Cass shuddered, the blue glow having reminded her of the very glow the rocks they were following gave off. If Varian could control them...
Then he wouldn't need to be here, Cassandra realized.
Unless Varian was going for revenge, the only reason he'd need them is if he were still trying to free his father, a task they weren't anywhere near accomplishing. Truthfully, she wondered if freeing the body of Varian's father would be a good idea in the first place. She hoped that she was wrong, for Rapunzel's sake if no one else's, but as her own father had said, it wouldn't be surprising if he were dead already. Why put so much effort into a task that would just end in tragedy?
Additionally, if he could control the rocks in the first place, Varian wouldn't have attacked them in the way he had. He was too smart to overlook a tool like that, unless he had something against using it...
Cassandra shook her head. She was thinking herself in circles, and there was no proof that Varian had done anything malicious since waking up. Even so, she wasn't keen to let her guard down.
"You two get some rest," Cass decided for them, seeing the hesitance and fatigue in the others' eyes and stances. "I'll keep first watch over him."
Nodding, Rapunzel put her hand on Cass's shoulder in thanks, making her way to the tents they had set up around the fire. Eugene following suit a few moments later, casting one last look at their current prisoner. Pulling up her own pack, Cassandra readied herself for the next day, always keeping one eye on the sleeping alchemist.
He looked almost peaceful like that.
Varian startled awake from a dream he couldn't remember. He trembled, cold sweat running down his back as he tried to steady his breathing. Whatever it was, he was almost glad it had slipped beyond reach again.
During the night, the creature from earlier had curled up next to his leg, but had woken when he had, chirping in confusion. It offered a strange sense of comfort, and Varian would take what he could get at the moment.
"'s alright, boy." Varian murmured. That seemed right again, in that off way that he couldn't put his finger on.
The raccoon, for its part, looked thrilled, running a short distance away and returning with a shiny red apple. Was it trying to reward him for something?
He laughed lightly, his headache from the earlier night having dulled to a low throb that he could almost ignore. "Sorry buddy, I can't really take that right now. But thank you."
Varian was thanking a raccoon. He tried to discern why this didn't seem odd to him, but came up blank. Well, it wasn't much odder than waking up tied to a tree with no recollection of having gotten there and having a frying pan waved in your face.
The raccoon set the apple next to his leg, prodding it forward every few seconds as if the binds around Varian's arms would magically disappear and he would take it. After a few moments of this, it huffed, curling up again. Cute thing.
"You're up."
The scary woman from earlier sat across the clearing from him, sharpening her sword. She looked tired, like she had lost a night's sleep. Varian could sympathize, though he'd be more sympathetic if she didn't constantly look like she were considering attacking him.
"Yeah." Varian laughed nervously. "Bright and early."
When she didn't respond, Varian felt his anxiety grow. What were they planning to do with him? What was going on?
He squashed down the urge to struggle against his binds, the sudden need spawning from his growing fear. The raccoon chittered, curling up in his lap, as if sensing and responding to his emotions. The sharp look the scary lady gave the two of them at that did not help matters.
After what seemed like ages in the silence, the other two finally joined them. The blonde, 'Raps', had a smile plastered on her face that screamed 'I'm trying, but this isn't genuine'. It only served to unsettle him further.
"Good Morning," she started, looking to the scary lady, and motioning her forward. "We got off to a rough start yesterday, but we're hoping we can move past that. You see,"
Raps hesitated, before pushing forward. "We knew you, in the past, but a situation, well, it got out of hand." She laughed, nervously. "And we had to make sure no one got hurt or lost or otherwise uh... inconvenienced?"
Varian squirmed, not liking the atmosphere, or the approaching swordswoman. "Does that have anything to do with my memories?"
"Yes!" Raps was overly pleased at the easy question, responding with more enthusiasm than was strictly necessary. Or maybe that was just how she was... "So, we've decided to, er, help you help us while your memories return."
At that, the scary lady cut his binds, and Varian rocked forward slightly, not expecting the sudden lack of pressure. He opened and closed his hands, trying to get the pins and needles that flooded them out. Before he could do much more, the swordswoman had taken his hands and slapped cuffs around the wrists.
"I sense a lack of trust," Varian pointed out blandly, looking down at them. There was a segment of rope attached to the middle of the cuffs, serving as a potential lead to keep him within a certain distance from where it was tied or held.
"Well," Raps began, fiddling with her hair. "Without your memories, we don't know what you may get up to. It's a safety precaution, for all of us."
Well, that certainly was one way to spin this, Varian supposed.
"Right." Varian opened and closed his hands again, the cuffs a little too big. He could probably get out of them with a dislocated thumb, but that wouldn't exactly help the situation at that moment. "Um, what should I call all of you?"
"Oh! Right," Raps seemed to have only realized at that moment that he wouldn't know what to call them if he didn't remember anything. "I'm Pr- er, Rapunzel. This is Eugene," She gestured towards the uncomfortable looking man who had been standing there allowing the others to act.
"Hi, nice to, uh, meet you?" Eugene tried, before realizing that didn't quite fit. He stopped talking after that.
"And I'm Cass." The swordswoman walked over and tied the lead to one of the horses. There was plenty of loose space to comfortably walk near it, but not enough to go much further.
"This is just temporary," Rapunzel tried to reassure. "Just until we can get a little further out and make sure you aren't a danger to yourself or others."
"Um... Okay?" Varian looked at her, uncertain, and saw something crack.
"Oh, this is ridiculous." Rapunzel marched forward, taking out a small key from her bag.
"Raps, what are you-" Cass started, before sighing. "Of course you are."
Rapunzel unlocked the cuffs, frowning at the small lines that the rope and metal had left on Varian's skin. "We won't need these, will we?"
Varian stood shocked, trying to process what just happened. "No, ma'am."
"Just Rapunzel, please," She smiled at him, a little more genuinely this time.
"Blondie, are you sure?" Eugene finally spoke up, but didn't speak out of anger or fear. He almost seemed relieved.
Rapunzel looked at Varian again, staring into his eyes. He didn't know what she was looking for, but she seemed to find it.
"I'm absolutely positive."