Over the past twenty five years Edmund had come to miss the way that Hector would run off with barely a word. His brother was fierce and loyal, and also the most stubborn person that Edmund had ever met.
Hector was prone to just leaving a situation if he felt like he wasn't being listened to, respected, or even wanted. Usually he was only gone for a few hours, but sometimes it could be days.
Once, just after Edmund had announced his intentions to propose to Lidiya, Hector had run off seemingly without reason. He was gone for several months. They had all started to think that he wasn't coming back.
Hector eventually returned a week or so after the wedding. He was subdued and more prone to snapping at the smallest irritation. Edmund had tried to ask Hector what had upset him, but he refused to say a word to him.
Edmund suspected that Quirin had been able to get Hector to open up to him. Quirin had always been good at getting Hector to talk. Edmund had tried to ask Quirin what was wrong, but he had just shaken his head and said that Hector needed time.
Now that Hector had the chance to run off again after so long of enslavement, Edmund couldn't believe he had ever wished for this. His brother was hurting. That shouldn't ever be something that Edmund should want.
Edmund believed that Quirin, who was so much better than him at being sympathetic and calming, would be able to deal with Hector better. But Quirin had just been reunited with his son. Edmund didn't want to suggest coming between them.
Besides, though they were still brothers, Quirin hadn't been around for twenty years. He didn't know how much they had suffered. It would take time for their relationship to be as strong as it once was.
Until he knew that Hector trusted Quirin still, Edmund would be the one to make sure he didn't lose himself.
Edmund had expected to catch up to Hector relatively quickly, as his brother's legs weren't what they used to be. Hector was incredibly stubborn though, so Edmund had thought that he would push himself much more than he probably should.
Edmund was surprised and concerned that he found his brother just past the trees, barely out of earshot of their makeshift camp.
Hector was kneeling on the ground, hunched over, clutching his cloak as tightly as he could. Edmund sighed and slowly approached his brother, kneeling on the ground next to him.
Hector wasn't making a sound, but there were tears falling from his worryingly blank eyes. Edmund knew better than to mention the tears. He just put a hand on Hector's shoulder, giving him at least a little of the physical comfort that he so needed.
They sat in silence for several long minutes before Hector turned to look at Edmund.
"Do you ever resent the moon?" Hector asked tensely. "For taking your wife from you? Do you ever wish you didn't have to serve her?"
Edmund took a deep breath and looked up towards the heavens.
"Once or twice," He admitted. It was odd to say it out loud. He'd never said this before. But Hector would understand. "We call the moon the bringer of death. Most people believe that means she causes death. As the servants of the moon it is our job to remember that her title means that she guides the dead, bringing them from one world to the next."
Edmund closed his eyes. "But when I miss Lidiya the most, I sometimes find myself wondering if she'd still be here with me if I didn't serve such a vengeful god."
Hector was quiet for a moment. "I question her. I don't want to, but I do." Hector looked at the moon before ducking his head in shame. "She tried to warn us about the Coronans. And now she's given us a way out. Clearly she wants us to be free, but…but…" Hector trailed off.
"You can tell me." Edmund said. "You know I won't judge you."
"Why did I have to lose them?" Hector asked quietly. He pulled his cloak around him tighter. "They were just trying to help us reclaim our lives. It should have been the moon's will, so why didn't she help them? Or save them?"
Hector grew so tense that he looked like he was in pain. "It's not my place to question the moon, but I do, and yet she still finds me worthy to harness her powers."
Hector's voice shook. "I thought the moon had abandoned us after all these years. I doubted her, and I still had a vision. She spoke to me, but at the cost of Albrun's life."
Hector clenched his fists. " I've dedicated my life to serving the moon, and I don't understand her at all. Are these punishments? Are they just coincidences that she had nothing to do with? Is she sending a sign and I just don't know how to read the messages? I don't know!"
Hector shouted his last words and hit the ground roughly before he fell still again. "I don't know." He repeated tiredly. "I'm her priest. Her messenger. It's my life's work to understand her word, and I don't."
"Have you been carrying this burden all these years?" Edmund asked in a pained voice. He felt hurt on his brother's behalf. Hector didn't answer, but his silence was answer enough. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"You have been mourning the loss of your wife, son, and kingdom. It didn't seem appropriate to whine about my pets and a confusing god." Hector said dryly.
"But they weren't pets for you.". Edmund said sternly. "They were your family. May not have loved them as you did, but I still mourned with you because I didn't like to see you in such pain. Just as you grieved Lidiya with me, despite your differences."
Edmund's chest ached. He couldn't remember the last time he had talked about loss in this way. It hurt, but it also felt like there was some long overdue healing.
"Grief isn't a competition." Edmund said. "Even if my loss was greater than yours, that doesn't make your pain any less real."
Hector was quiet for a moment. He just looked at the ground before he eventually made himself look up at the sky.
"I need to meditate." Hector said. "She brought you your son back and now we're one step closer to being truly free. She deserves our appreciation. And…and I want to pray for Albrun's soul and those of my bearcats. They died warrior's deaths, and they deserve the rites of the departed."
Edmund nodded. In the Dark Kingdom, when the grieving period was over they would pray for the moon to lead the souls of her servants through the night.
Hector hadn't allowed himself to say the rites for his bearcats until he was able to do it before the moon herself. It wasn't a strict rule, but it was tradition, and Hector insisted that his old friends deserved for things to be done the right way.
"Would you allow me to join you?" Edmund asked.
Hector put his hand on top of the hand that Edmund had on his shoulder. "Please." Hector said quietly. "I'm so tired of doing this alone."
"You're not alone." Edmund said. "As long as either of us draws breath, and for millennia after, we're brothers, and I will fight by your side. No matter what."
"Now and forever." Hector muttered. It was a common vow in their kingdom.
Hector closed his eyes and began to mutter the sacred prayers that had been passed down through the generations. And if he also said a prayer of remorse, pleading for forgiveness, Edmund didn't say a word about it.
If there was one thing that Variant knew about royal heirs, it was that they couldn't be trusted. Rapunzel had seemed nice at first. She'd acted like she cared about the people of Old Corona, but when it really came down to it she only cared about herself, her family, and her friends. Like father, like daughter.
Varian used to think that Flynn Rider was so cool, but upon meeting him the man had been self-centered and dismissive from the smart. Varian knew that his dad trusted him, and so did Hector and Edmund, but Varian wasn't so easily convinced. If Eugene, or Flynn, or Horace, or whatever his name was was really on their side, he had to do more than show the basic human decency if disapproving of slavery.
Varian had thought that this two-faced trait was something shared between Coronans. Andrew proved him wrong. It wasn't a problem with the people. It was a problem with the royals.
"You're all the same." Varian muttered. He was more talking about Andrew than to him. He hadn't thought that anybody had heard him, because Adira was now arguing with Andrew, who was defensive and acting like nothing was wrong. Eugene was just looking towards where Edmund and Hector had gone.
Still, Varian's dad looked down at him and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"What was that, son?" Quirin asked.
"I thought you were different." Varian pulled away from his father's grip. He stormed towards Andrew, who looked aghast at his fury. "But you're just like her."
"Who?" Andrew crossed his arms.
"Rapunzel." Varian said. Andrew and Eugene just looked at him in shock. "You say you care, and you're really good at pretending to be someone's friend, but you stab them in the back as soon as it's convenient for you."
"I've done no such thing." Andrew growled. "And I'm nothing like that so-called princess."
Varian gestured wildly to where Hector had stormed off. "What do you call that? You pushed him away, and he's not going to trust you again, and for what? Some grass?"
"It's not just grass." Andrew snapped. "All life has meaning."
"You chose the life of weeds over him." Varian said coldly. Andrew's stubborn defensiveness faltered ever so slightly. "I get it, nature means a lot to your people, and you thought that what Hector did was disrespectful, but you didn't just disrespect him in return. You hurt him."
"...I didn't try to hurt anybody." Andrew said. He didn't sound so defensive anymore. He sounded almost contrite, but Varian couldn't forgive him. If anything, he felt more justified in his anger.
"But you did." Varian said. "You hurt him, because you only care about people if they're Saporians or someone that you can use." Tears came to Varian's eyes, because while he was angry, there was still a lot of hurt around this.
"Rapunzel did the same thing." Varian said quietly. Andrew almost looked hurt. "I thought you were different from her, but you're just the same."
Varian turned away from Andrew and went back to his dad's side. Quirin put an arm around him and Varian leaned in close. His tears started to fall as he sobbed.
"It's alright, son." Quirin hushed him as he ran a hand through Varian's hair to comfort him, just like he used to when Varian was young. "Hector will be back soon. He does this sometimes. He'll be fine."
Varian knew that his dad was right, but this wasn't just about Hector. This was about the fact that Varian had looked up to and trusted someone, only for them to hurt him or someone close to him.
Varian knew that the Saporians had looked the other way and ignored the Brotherhood when they were at the compound, but he wondered if his people would be better off if they went back to being two separate peoples. At least they wouldn't be betrayed, because there would be nobody around who could get close enough to stab them In the back.
Maybe there was a reason why the Dark Kingdom was a place of isolation. It was lonely, but it was safe.
Varian stiffened when he felt a hand on his shoulder that definitely wasn't his dad's.
"Kid, you wanna come take a walk with me?" Eugene asked gently. "I want to talk to you."
"About Rapunzel?" Varian scoffed bitterly. He knew that Eugene was probably just going to try to convince Varian to forgive her.
"About whatever you want." Eugene said. "I don't want anything from you, I just thought you might like some space, and I think it's time that I actually got to know you."
Varian hesitated. He didn't trust Eugene, but he sounded sincere, and Varian really did want to get away from Andrew.
"Okay." Varian said. He pulled away from his dad, who didn't look at all concerned about Varian going off with Corona's prince consort. Varian didn't really want to leave his dad's side, but he couldn't cling to his father forever. He might as well get used to the idea now while they were in a relatively safe environment.
Varian and Eugene walked for a few minutes. It didn't really feel like they were walking to or from anywhere in particular. They were just walking fir walking's sake.
It was a few minutes before Eugene broke the silence. "I know your dad checked you over, but are you hurt at all besides the, well, you know.". Eugene waved around his branded hand.
"Not really." Varian said. "They didn't really hurt me. Varian looked at his hands. He could see some faint burn scars from when he had that alchemy accident.
"There was one time that they wanted me to do alchemy, but I spilled and burned my hand, infecting the brand. I ended up getting sick with a fever because of it."
Eugene gave him a pained, sympathetic look. "I'm sorry you had to go through any of this. It's not right."
"The burn wasn't even the worst part." Varian said quietly. He flexed his hand. "They wanted to use my knowledge, so they couldn't allow me to get hurt. Once they understood that accidents happen when you're doing alchemy, especially without the proper tools, they had Hector and Adira work as my hands in the lab."
Varian closed his eyes tight at the memory. "I would tell them what to do, and if something went wrong, they were the ones who got hurt, and I couldn't do anything about it."
Varian was just glad that their lab incidents had calmed down after that, and nothing completely devastating had happened. If he'd been responsible for the death of his family, he would never forgive himself.
Varian swallowed thickly as his throat tightened. "I hated how useless I was there. My first day Hector was going to be punished. They gave him the choice of letting me take his punishment instead, bit of course he didn't go for it." Varian shuddered at the memory. "They messed up his legs because he didn't let them hurt me."
Eugene was quiet for a long moment before he sighed and gave Varian a sad look. "I guess this is normal for you?"
"What?" Varian had no idea what he was talking about.
"You blame yourself for things that are out of your control, and when the guilt becomes too strong you turn your anger and the blame towards someone else. Like Andrew…and Rapunzel."
Varian stopped and clenched his fists. "I…that's…are you saying that Andrew did nothing wrong? That Rapunzel did nothing wrong!?"
"No, I'm not saying that." Eugene said, infuriatingly calmly. He sat down at the root of a large tree, making room for Varian to join him, but the boy didn't move.
"Andrew was out of line.". Eugene said. "And I love Rapunzel, but I know that she messed up. Even she knows that she messed up. You have a right to be upset, even angry, but this unbridled fury that you fall back on doesn't help. All it does is hurt you more and give you more to feel guilty about, and it pushes other people away."
"I want to push other people away." Varian snapped. He didn't appreciate that Eugene was making this sound like it was getting out of his control. "Then they can't hurt me…and I can't hurt them."
Eugene raised an eyebrow at him, as though Varian had just proved his point. "That sounds kinda lonely to me. You telling me that the kid that was so desperate for attention just a year ago now wants to be completely alone?"
Varian wanted to say that he wouldn't be completely alone, because he would still have his family, but he couldn't because he knew that Eugene was right.
This wasn't the first, or even second time that something like this had happened. When Varian was younger he used to have friends in old Corona, but one of his oldest friends had hurt him. Varian couldn't even remember what the other kid had done, but it had been bad enough that young Varian had started avoiding all of his friends out of fear that the same thing would happen again.
And though things were okay between he and his dad now, they had started to fall apart before the amber incident. They'd had a tense relationship at the time that was one bad argument away from shattering completely.
What if things got that bad again, and Varian pushed even his family away? The thought was terrifying and Varian felt his legs begin to shake.
Eugene gave him a sympathetic look. He held his hand out to Varian, who hesitated just for a moment before he staggered to Eugene and practically collapsed to sit next to him.
Despite himself, Varian curled up close to Eugene. He didn't really trust or like him, but he was so tired of being alone.
Eugene wrapped his arms around Varian, just like his dad might.
"I know how it feels,". Eugene said quietly. "To not know who you can trust. And believe it or not, Rapunzel would understand too."
Varian stiffened but didn't pull away. "She trusts everybody…except me, I guess."
"She trusts people because she's more afraid of the alternative than of getting hurt by someone." Eugene said.
"W-what's the alternative?" Varian asked.
"Admitting that Gothel was right about the world being a terrible place full of terrible people." Eugene said. "I know there's a middle ground, but convincing Rapunzel is near impossible."
Varian blinked. "Who's Gothel?"
Eugene's face darkened dangerously. "Rapunzel's kidnapper. She lied to Rapunzel every day, telling her anything she could think of to keep her too scared to leave her tower. Rapunzel didn't even know she was a prisoner until she escaped."
"Why would someone do that for eighteen years?" Varian asked. He, like most people in Corona, had only been told that the missing princess had returned. There hadn't been one word about why she'd been missing in the first place.
"Rapunzel used to have magic hair that healed when she sang." Eugene said. "It could even bring people back from the dead, or give their youth back. That's what Gothel wanted her for. She wanted to use the power of the Sundrop to keep herself young."
Varian was stunned. "Rapunzel was taken from her home just so she could be forced to do something? She was a slave?"
Eugene didn't look shocked at Varian's choice of words. He just looked sad. "That's how I've been thinking about it, and I think Rapunzel has started to see it that way too. It's why I'm so sure that Rapunzel will be on our side when she knows what has been going on."
"Even if she knows her father is the one responsible?" Varian asked. Eugene grimaced.
"That complicates things, and is why I haven't been able to bring myself to tell her yet, but yes, I do think she'll still be on our side." Eugene said.
Varian sighed. "I wish I could trust her the way you do."
"Trust takes time." Eugene said. "But I can help you get there, if you're willing to give me another chance."
Varian was quiet for a minute. He didn't want to be hurt by Eugene again, but he was so tired of being alone.
Besides, Eugene could be sitting cozy in Corona's castle, but instead he was out here, helping slaves and comforting Varian when he hadn't really done anything to earn Eugene's trust or forgiveness.
"... You're giving me another chance." Varian said quietly. "I think I can return the favor."
They fell into a comfortable silence after that. Varian felt like they should go back to the others soon, because it felt wrong to not be in sight of his family, but he needed just a few more minutes of quiet.
Besides, Eugene was his cousin, even if it wasn't through blood. Technically, Varian was with his family. And even though he didn't know or trust Eugene the way he did the Brotherhood, Varian still felt safe here in his arms.