"And so I said, 'Rectum? Darn near killed him!'" chuckled Eugene Fitzherbert. "Of course, that got me kicked out of that particular establishment – clearly the bartender didn't have a funny bone in his body. But hey, at least I got to sleep outside in the fresh, non-mildew air for the evening, and who can beat that, I mean…Huh." He realized that the person he had been narrating to had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Her blonde hair was strewn in silky sheets around the campfire, nearly six dozen feet of it trailing through the grass. He spotted a line of drool trailing down from the corner of her mouth; it had just started to soak his sleeve. If it was anyone else, Eugene might have thought it just a little gross. But it was Rapunzel, so it was just cute. He smiled and tucked his arm around her, sighing happily. "Good night, Blondie."

Rapunzel snorted and yawned. "G'night, Eugene," she mumbled, tugging a stray strand of hair from her lips before resuming her nighttime snooze.

Across the campfire, Rapunzel's handmaiden, Cassandra, prodded the fire with a dry stick, coaxing the flames over a fresh log. "You know, Fitzerbert?" she said in her usual, wry tone, "after traveling out here for the past six months, I think I'm finally starting to understand what she sees in you."

Eugene didn't buy it for one second, but he was still awake enough to play along. "Oh really? And what, pray tell, might you see?"

Cassandra gave what Eugene could describe only as a dry giggle. "That at least you're good for a laugh," she replied, sitting back on an old, fallen tree. "Am I right, Lance?" She glanced over at their other companions for encouragement, then frowned when she saw they were all asleep. "Right," she said with a crisp 't' at the end. "Guess I'll be first on watch tonight. What a surprise."

"Ah, come on," Eugene said. "You know you like taking first watch. You don't trust anyone else to do a better job of it, anyway."

"True," Cassandra admitted. "Well, a better job than you, at least."

"Ha, ha," Eugene droned. "And you said I was the one who was good for…" He trailed off when he saw something flicker in the corner of his eye.

Cassandra heard him stop and followed his trail of vision. "What is it?" she said, instantly serious.

"Don't know," Eugene answered quietly. He carefully shifted Rapunzel to the ground, cradling her golden head in his hands. "Sorry, sweetheart. I got to go check on something." He slowly stood and stepped past the fire, peering as his eyes adjusted to the encroaching dark. "You sure it's not your little puffball up there?"

"Nope," Cassandra gestured to her owl, who was perched atop the carriage. "Do I need to check it for you?"

"Shut up," Eugene muttered. "It looks like a bir-whoa!" He ducked his head as a very large hawk burst out of the tree, whirling in the air above the campfire. "Big bird! Very big!"

"Relax!" Cassandra snapped, leaping to her feet. "You're going to wake up the whole camp!" She stretched her arm out, but instead of her owl swooping to land, the hawk did. It was a grey hawk, unusually sized, with a pair of piercing yellow eyes and a wicked beak. A leather thong was tied to its leg, with a mahogany capsule attached. "It's one of ours," she told him, a note of surprise in her words. "I'm amazed she found us this far out from the castle." She unlatched the capsule and handed it to Eugene. "It must be a message from my dad. I hope everything's alright."

Eugene opened the capsule and extracted a rolled-up piece of parchment. "Let's see, here." He squinted at the ink.

Cassandra smirked; the hawk on her arm shifted a little. "Can you read it?"

"Better than you can," Eugene retorted, stepping closer to the fire so that he could read. "Well, what do you know? It is from your father, about…" His bemused expression turned first to disbelief, then to alarm. "Oh. Oh, no."

"What?" Cassandra insisted. "What is it?"

Eugene finished reading, then quickly rolled the paper back up. "I'm not sure I want to say here," he admitted, glancing pointedly at the sleeping princess. "I'm not sure I want her to hear this."

"Eugene?" Cassandra set the hawk loose, sending it up to where her owl perched. "What is it?"

Eugene stepped a little closer, the words coming out in a hushed whisper. "It's Varian," he hissed. "He's escaped."

Cassandra's eyes shot wide open, and her crossed arms fell to her sides. "What? Let me see that." She snatched the paper from him and read it herself. As she did, her face became hard as a stone wall. "We need to do something," she asserted.

Eugene gave an astonished cough. "Are you kidding? What can we do? We're almost to this 'dark kingdom' place, we're this close to fixing the black rock problem. We can't turn back now just because some punk kid escapes from prison. Besides," he folded his arms. "I don't think he would come after us."

Cassandra gave him an incredulous look. "Why wouldn't he? He has it out for Rapunzel! Why else would he escape?"

Eugene shrugged. "Well, not to say that I'm a crazy teenage alchemist, but if I was, I would be focusing more on finding a way to free the father I accidentally imprisoned than focus on taking it out on a princess who – and we learned this the hard way – can't do a single thing to help. This kid may be a lot of things, but he's not that deluded."

Cassandra growled in frustration, the paper crumpling in her hands. Then she sighed sharply. "We can't just ignore this, Eugene. They sent it to us for a reason."

"Then we'll be on our guard," Eugene concluded, "but we can't just set aside what we're doing here. Our mission is more important right now."

He watched Cassandra shake her head. "I don't like it. I don't like any of it." Her gaze fell on Rapunzel, lost in sleep by the fire. her expression grew somber. "We need to tell her," she said.

"It'll only upset her," Eugene protested. "It wouldn't help."

"But she deserves to know," Cassandra argued. "I know better than to keep secrets from her. Do you?"

Eugene frowned. "Low blow, Cassandra. Fine, I'll talk to her. But not tonight." He realized his hands had turned into fists at his sides, and he slowly released them. "She deserves to rest."

Cassandra shook her head again as she returned to the fire, stirring the dying flames back to life. "I don't know about you," she muttered over her shoulder, "but I won't be getting any rest tonight."

"The evidence is there," the captain reported. "I assessed the area myself. He did go to Old Corona. Somehow, he managed to leave before we arrived. We found a secret tunnel, but he's blocked it off, and my men can't find wherever he managed to escape. He's got a whole series down there - my men just get lost."

Even though it had been over a week since the boy's escape, King Frederick still didn't look well-rested. He wiped a hand across his tired face, his eyes red and beady as he observed the captain's report at his desk. Nigel, the royal advisor, stood at his shoulder, his weak chin wrinkling as he pursed his shrewd lips.

"Call off the search," the king said.

Nigel's eyes bulged with surprise. The captain swallowed wrong and started coughing. "I'm sorry, sir," he said through a blurry haze. "It sounded like you said to call of the search."

"Your hearing serves you well, Captain."

"But," the captain spluttered. "But your Majesty!"

"I must agree with the captain, my king," Nigel exclaimed, tugging nervously at his silk cravat. "To call off the search for this boy is to let a highly dangerous criminal escape justice!"

"Gentlemen," the king said patiently. He tucked the papers into a pile and set them aside. "I understand your concern, but there have been no reports of any suspicious activity that could be traced back to Quirin's son. Nor is he still present in Old Corona, which means that whatever he has set out to do, it is not to harm the people. The safety of my subjects comes first, and, at the moment, there has been no threat made against them."

The captain's face was red. "So you're asking us to let him go?!" he burst out. The king gave him a stern look, and the captain quickly ducked his head. "Forgive me, your Majesty."

"I'm not saying Varian's escape is of no concern," the king explained firmly. "However, he has effectively duped us in the past. Any efforts we make, he will most likely see it coming." He snapped his fingers at Nigel. "Which is why we will deliver the resolution of this agenda to the people."

Nigel frowned. "The people, sir?"

"The people of Corona have obtained peace, now that my daughter has returned." King Frederick stood tall, crossing his arms behind his back. His crown glinted from the sunlight filtering through the glass window, the ornate metal a ring of fire on his head. "It is a peace that I believe they won't want disturbed."

Nigel still looked confused, but the captain started putting two-and-two together. "So we let the people find the boy for us," he said slowly.

"Exactly." The king looked at the two men. "You will both collaborate on issuing a bounty across Corona. No one is to openly confront him, but a generous reward will be offered for the sighting that leads us to him."

"Yes, of course," Nigel agreed. "I'll see to it that the people are notified of the bounty."

The captain stood to attention. "And I'll make sure every able-bodied soldier stationed throughout Corona is ready."