Rapunzel didn't know what was going on. She was doing her best to support her family, but she hated that she was left in the dark. Eugene was struggling and trying to figure out how to save his father from whatever was going on with him. Her dad was stressed and something big seemed to be going on, but he refused to tell Rapunzel a word about it, because he didn't want to cause her stress.
Rapunzel just wished that she knew what was going on. She was supposed to help her boyfriend with any problem he had, but because the situation was complicated she couldn't even know what the problem was. She was going to be queen someday, in charge of the entire kingdom, and yet her dad still felt the need to keep her safe from the ongoings of Corona. Rapunzel was trying to be patient, but she was starting to get frustrated.
Rapunzel was pacing around her room, running her fingers through her hair. She had paints and canvases out, but she hadn't touched them. She was too stressed to paint, which was infuriating, because painting was what she did when she was stressed and needed to calm down.
"I just want to help them." Rapunzel ranted. She looked to her mom, who was sitting on her bed and had been listening to her. Rapunzel appreciated the listening ears. Cassandra had heard this rant a dozen times, and she was clearly losing her patience and sympathy, and Rapunzel was getting sick of hearing Cass tiredly say that her dad and Eugene had a right to their privacy, and they weren't obligated to tell Rapunzel everything.
Rapunzel knew that people needed privacy, and she was trying to learn how to give it to them, but she didn't think that was what was going on here. This wasn't an embarrassing secret. There was something traumatizing and important going on, and if they would just tell her what it was then she could help.
Arianna gave her a small smile as she pet the bed next to her. Rapunzel sighed and sat on the bed next to her mom. Arianna held up a hairbrush, a questioning look in her eyes. Rapunzel instinctively felt her chest tighten, but she nodded and turned so her back was to her mom. Arianna adjusted herself and gently began to brush Rapunzel's hair.
It felt nice, just like always, but Rapunzel still had a hard time letting anybody else brush her hair. Especially her mom. It reminded her so much of Gothel and the way that she'd used and hurt Rapunzel. She didn't want to let Gothel control her life anymore. Rapunzel loved the feeling of somebody brushing her hair. She'd even loved it when Gothel had used to do it. She didn't want to lose that, so she'd been slowly trying to ease herself into the feeling.
Arianna had so much patience with Rapunzel. If she got upset and needed a break, Arianna would back up and give her the space she needed to calm down before they gave it another try.
Maybe Rapunzel was a little too stressed and frustrated to handle doing this today, but she wanted her mom's comfort, and she was so tired of being afraid.
"I don't know if this helps, but your father isn't opening up to me either." Arianna said quietly. She was clearly trying to offer support and comfort to Rapunzel, but she could hear the pain and frustration in her mom's voice. Arianna was just as happy about being kept in the dark as Rapunzel was.
"But you're his wife." Rapunzel thought that it was more understandable and acceptable that her father tried to restrict her knowledge, out of protectiveness. And Eugene had already explained why she couldn't be involved with what was going on. "And the queen. Aren't you just as in charge of the kingdom as dad is?"
"I should be." Arianna agreed. She sounded much calmer, or possibly resigned, then Rapunzel expected. "And I usually am, but when it comes to some matters, your father feels that things are too sensitive to share."
Some matters…meaning not just now.
"Has dad done this before?" Rapunzel asked. Her dad was always so protective, but this seemed extreme for him.
Arianna took a deep breath and paused in her brushing. "Just twice before. I barely remember the first time, because it was when I was pregnant with you and incredibly sick. Your father was crazy with worry and obsession to find a way to help me. He calmed down for a bit after he found the sundrop. The second time was shortly after that, when you had been taken."
Arianna sighed and put the brush down. Rapunzel turned to face her and was taken aback by how stressed her mom looked. Her mom always seemed to be in complete control.
"Seeing your father like that, it scared me. I felt like I didn't know him. I knew that he was acting out of worry for you, but I didn't like the person that he became. If he'd stayed that way for very long, I would have probably left him. I couldn't take it."
Rapunzel was a little frightened. Had her dad really been so different? "What was he like?" She was almost scared to know.
"He was cold and distant." Arianna said. That certainly sounded like what Rapunzel had noticed about her father now. He tried to hide it, but Rapunzel noticed. When he spoke to Quirin, he was downright cruel."
Quirin? Rapunzel sat up. Eugene was working with Quirin to help Varian and Eugene's dad. He'd said that Quirin didn't like the royal family, and Rapunzel hadn't understood why. What if it had something to do with what had happened between Quirin and Rapunzel's father all those years ago? And what if whatever was happening with her dad was connected to what was happening to Eugene's dad?
"Cruel how?" Rapunzel asked. She almost didn't want to know, but she had to. She needed to know what was going on.
"Well, I wasn't there for the whole conversation." Arianna said. "I want you to keep that in mind. What I heard is missing a lot of necessary context, but it worried me." Arianna smoothed out her dress and closed her eyes. She was bringing up the memory. "It was the first time I'd ever met Quirin, but I'd heard of him before. Your father told me that he was the one who told him about the sundrop and where to find it. He spoke of him like they were old friends, but when I first saw Quirin it seemed that they despised each other."
Arianna stood up and began pacing the way that Rapunzel had just a minute ago. "I don't know how the conversation started, but when I entered the room Frederic was sitting on his throne while Quirin was bowing before him, not out of respect, but out of fear and force. I think that Frederick might have been under the impression that Quirin had been involved with your kidnapping. I entered the room just in time to hear Frederick say that if Quirin didn't return our family, then he would see to it that Quirin saw for himself how it felt to have his family taken from him."
Rapunzel felt a rush of fear for Varian's wellbeing. It took her a long moment to realize that this had all happened when she was a baby, and she was older than Varian. He wouldn't have even been born yet. Had her dad been talking about Varian's mom, or had there been somebody else her dad had been talking about?
"What did Quirin say?" Rapunzel asked. If he was anything like his son, Rapunzel doubted that Quirin would have listened to something like that without putting up a fight.
"That's part of what concerned me. He didn't say or do anything." Arianna said. "I don't think he felt that he could.
"As soon as your father noticed me there he told Quirin to remember who he was, and then he called in the captain to escort him away, as though he was a criminal." Arianna said. "I tried to demand answers from Frederick, but he dodged the question." Arianna shook her head. "I was tired of doubting and fighting him, so I backed off."
"You just gave up?" Rapunzel couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What if dad did something to Quirin's family?" As she said it Rapunzel realized how ridiculous she sounded. She really didn't think her father would ever do something like this, but there had to be a reason why Quirin hated their family.
"I tried to look into that." Arianna said. "I researched Quirin and his family, just to find out who and where they were. I wanted to keep an eye on them and make sure they were okay, but I couldn't find anything. Our records are usually very thorough, but as far as the books are concerned Quirin just appeared in our kingdom out of nowhere. I didn't want to give up so soon though, so I went to talk to Quirin myself."
"What did he say?" Rapunzel asked.
"At first, nothing." Arianna said. "He was defensive and angry for the longest time, and incredibly cautious. After a bit he started saying weird things that I didn't completely understand. Just pointed comments that I didn't think had any deeper meaning, but I think Quirin must have been testing me, because for what seemed like no reason he calmed down and relaxed. He looked at me almost as though he pitied me. Eventually Quirin said that he had siblings, and they were in trouble, but there was nothing he or I could do for them right then."
Rapunzel frowned slightly. "Eugene said that his dad was in trouble." He'd also said that Varian was in trouble too. It was simple phrasing, but it was really starting to bother her.
Arianna stopped in her tracks and gave Rapunzel a questioning look. "His dad? I thought that Eugene was an orphan."
Rapunzel grimaced. She hadn't been thinking. It had just come out. Well, she didn't think that anything bad could happen from telling her mom. Rapunzel couldn't just hide the fact that her boyfriend's father was alive and needed help. Yes, Eugene had asked her to keep it secret, but he'd seemed most concerned about her father not knowing. Rapunzel didn't think that Eugene had anything to worry about from her mother.
"Yeah, it turns out that Eugene's dad is alive." Rapunzel said carefully "That's why Eugene left, because he wanted to help him."
Arianna's eyes narrowed. "Frederick told me that Eugene left because he was given a special assignment. The way he said it, I thought it had something to do with what has been on his mind lately."
Now Rapunzel was just confused. A special assignment? Rapunzel knew that wasn't why Eugene had left, so why did her dad think that was the case?
What was going on?
Rapunzel considered just storming out of her room and demanding answers from her dad, but as she started making her way towards the door she heard a sudden thud against the window. Rapunzel jumped and turned, only to see nothing at the window. Rapunzel walked to the window and opened it, stepping out onto the balcony. She immediately saw the source of the noise.
It was a black bird, sprawled on the ground. Worried that it had hurt itself, Rapunzel knelt on the ground and started to carefully pick up the bird. As soon as her fingers brushed against its feathers it jolted to awareness and just hopped right onto her hand. The bird cawed loudly and gave her finger a little nibble that was probably supposed to be playful and affectionate, but it was pretty sharp.
"Well, hello." Rapunzel stood up, bringing her hand up to her shoulder so the bird could hop onto it. "What are you doing here?" Rapunzel noticed that there was a rolled up paper tied to the bird's foot. It was a note. "Do you mind if I take a look?" Rapunzel reached for the note, and when the bird didn't hop away or peck at her, she untied it and opened it up as she stepped back into her room. She immediately recognized the handwriting.
"It's from Eugene." Rapunzel smiled as she sat on the bed. It hadn't been too long since Eugene had left, but she still missed and worried about him. Rapunzel felt relieved, excited, and terrified as she read. "He says he was able to find his dad, and they're out of immediate danger and trouble." Rapunzel frowned slightly as she continued reading. "He wants me to meet up with them so he can tell me something important."
"You sound concerned." Arianna said.
"I'm not really concerned." Rapunzel tilted the note slightly, as though this new angle might explain things more. "Just confused. He specifically says that he wants me to come alone, without any guards." Rapunzel wasn't scared of talking to Eugene with some privacy, but the note implied that it wasn't just him, and Eugene had been the one that had been teaching Rapunzel to be more cautious when going out. She couldn't count the number of times he'd told her to avoid going places all alone, and how many times he had said that she should never go anywhere if it was specified that she needed to go alone, and yet here he was asking her to do that very thing.
Arianna hummed thoughtfully. "And you're sure that's Eugene's handwriting?"
"I'm positive." Rapunzel said. It was a unique mix between a barely legible scrawl that somebody who wasn't used to writing might have, and the fancy, curvy writing of somebody who was more concerned about making writing into art than making it legible. Both of these elements made reading Eugene's letters feel like deciphering a code or translating an ancient language.
"Well, I don't know how I feel about letting you go alone." Arianna said sternly. "Why would he insist on not having guards accompany you?"
As she was staring at the letter Rapunzel took note that Eugene's letter implied that she would be talking to him and others. That probably included his father, but also might include Varian. If the boy was there, then it made sense why they wouldn't want guards to come. As far as the guards and most of the kingdom were concerned, Varian was a criminal, and he'd be arrested and taken away the second they laid eyes on him. It wouldn't be a very good conversation if they started a fight right away.
"Eugene wouldn't have sent a note if it wasn't important." Rapunzel said. "I think I need to talk to them."
"Well, at least let me go with you." Arianna said. "I would like to meet Eugene's father for myself, and it will make me feel a lot better about letting you go."
Rapunzel thought that it sounded fair, but it wasn't exactly her decision to make. She grabbed a stray piece of paper that she had lying around and wrote a quick note on it, telling Eugene that she would love to meet him, but that her mother wanted to come along. Rapunzel wanted to know if it was okay. She took this note and tied it to the bird's foot.
"Can you take this back to Eugene? Rapunzel asked. The bird made no indication that it understood her, but it took off into the air and flew out the window, almost running into it all over again. "Well, I guess we'll see how that goes."
Arianna sat with Rapunzel as she waited. It was nearly an hour later that the bird came flying back. At first Rapunzel thought that the bird had just brought back her note, but when she untied the note she saw that there was more written on the other side of the paper. It was a short response.
"Eugene says that you can come." Rapunzel said. "But he doesn't want you to tell dad about any of this. And he wants us both to go with an open mind."
"I'll certainly do my best." Arianna said. "Where are we meeting him?"
"In the woods outside Old Corona." Rapunzel said. She looked towards the windows. It was starting to get dark out. "Do you think dad will let us go?"
Arianna just smiled. "I don't need his permission to enjoy an evening out with my daughter, and Frederick learned years ago that I won't tolerate a guard escort just to go for a walk."
Rapunzel smiled, feeling a very familiar thrill. Sneaking out without a parent's approval, it was just as exciting as it was the first time, though Rapunzel knew that her father wasn't as abusive and manipulative as Gothel had been. Still, this was fun, and the fact that she was doing this with her mother made it feel safer.
Rapunzel and Arianna immediately made their way out. The bird remained on her shoulders as they started walking. They briefly considered getting horses, but that might attract attention that they might not want, and give Rapunzel's father or the guards the chance to figure out what they were doing and insist that they didn't go alone. The sooner they got away from the castle and capital the better.
Besides, it really was a nice evening. Rapunzel brushed her hair behind her ear and just breathed in the cool air. She and her mom talked as they went. They didn't really talk about anything in particular. It was just casual chatting that Rapunzel frequently tried to do with Cass, but was more often than not pushed away.
They were about halfway to Old Corona and night was beginning to settle when she heard some talking off the beaten path. Somebody else was out and about. Rapunzel's first instinct was that it was a threat, but she pushed it down. It was still early in the night, and plenty of people traveled who weren't thieves and crooks. What if whoever it was needed help? It just didn't feel right to not even check on them.
Rapunzel smiled and cautiously, but optimistically, stepped off the path and towards the trees. She walked past some bushes and around a corner to find two men arguing. One of them looked like the very image of what Gothel used to warn her about, but Rapunzel wasn't going to judge them before she even properly met them.
The bird on her shoulder seemed excited to see the two men, but Rapunzel believed that this bird would be excited to see anybody. It flew to them before settling on the larger man's shoulder.
The frightening looking man was kneeling on the ground. His companion was pacing around, scolding him, though he looked more concerned than angry.
"Your stubbornness is going to be the death of you, Hector." The pacing man said.
"If you're only now just figuring that out after these past twenty five years, you're even more blind then I thought you were, Edmund." Hector said irritably. He suddenly froze and whipped his head around to look towards Rapunzel. He growled at her. She just smiled in response.
"Hi." Rapunzel said brightly. Do you need help?"
"No." Hector said sharply.
"Yes." Edmund said. The two of them glared at each other for a long moment before Hector sighed and rolled his eyes. He gestured for Edmund to continue. Edmund turned back to Rapunzel. "I'm afraid that my brother is injured, and he refuses to accept my help."
"I don't need help walking." Hector said.
"You can't even stand." Edmund gave his brother an unimpressed look.
"Just give me a minute." Hector snapped.
"I've given you all day." Edmund said desperately. "The only reason I'm not ignoring your protests and carrying you is because I know you'd pout and complain about it, and would probably ignore me for the next several days." Edmund turned to Rapunzel. "If I believed that Hector would be willing to open himself up to anybody else, I would do it without hesitation, but he's alone enough as it is."
Hector rolled his eyes. "And here I thought that being able to take care of Horace would get you to calm down from taking care of us."
"Just because my son is back doesn't mean that I will push the rest of my family aside." Edmund said. He knelt next to Hector. "And I will tell you that as many times as it takes for you to believe it."
"Whatever." Hector grumbled.
"Is there something we can do to help?" Arianna asked. Rapunzel hadn't realized that her mom had followed her.
"I don't know." Edmund said. "My brother is stubborn, and cautious of others. If he won't let me help him just get to his feet, I don't see why he would accept your help."
Rapunzel hummed thoughtfully. "Well, what if I don't exactly help him, but I help Hector to help himself?"
Hector looked intrigued. "What are you thinking?"
Rapunzel looked around until she saw a tree with firm and low hanging branches. She pointed to it. "If we can get you to that tree, you can pull yourself to your feet without help. Is that okay?"
Hector was quiet for a long moment before he nodded. The tree wasn't very far away, but it took several minutes to get there because Hector still refused Edmund's help. Hector, with Rapunzel's and Arianna's help and encouragement, scooted and nudged himself until he was sitting next to the tree. He reached up and tried to grab the branches, but they were just out of his reach. Rapunzel pushed the branch down so it was low enough for Hector, and he was able to pull himself up.
Hector groaned in pain, but he looked content with himself. Edmund was just annoyed.
"Forget what I said earlier." Edmund said. "Your stubbornness is going to be the death of all of us."
"And yet you keep me around for reasons that none of us are able to understand." Hector said. It sounded like playful banter, but there was something in Hector's tone that made it sound like he was at least a little bit serious.
Hector took a deep breath and took a step forward. His legs shook a bit and he seemed in pain, but he was able to walk on his own two feet. Still, Edmund hovered nearby, just in case Hector faltered in his steps, and Rapunzel was planning on doing the same.
"Where are you guys headed?" Rapunzel asked. "Maybe we can travel together."
Edmund looked completely lost, but Hector thought for a second before pointing towards Old Corona.
"I don't know where we were going, but we came from that way when we left the others." Hector said. He looked at the bird on Edmund's shoulder. "Hey, Hamuel, you think you can find Horace?"
Rapunzel and Arianna looked at each other before turning to the others again. "You know this bird?" Rapunzel asked.
"He's mine." Edmund said. "He remained with my son when we left." Edmund frowned slightly in confusion. "Though I do not understand what he's doing with you."
"He came with a note from my boyfriend." Rapunzel had brought the letters with her. She offered them to Edmund. He took them and read them over slowly. Finally Edmund looked at Rapunzel.
"So, you're the young princess that has taken my son's heart." Edmund said carefully. Rapunzel's breath got caught in her throat.
"You…you're Eugene's dad?" Rapunzel said quietly.
"And you are far kinder than I ever expected from the heir of Corona's throne." Edmund said in a tone that Rapunzel just didn't understand.
Hector was staring at Rapunzel. He looked suspicious. Edmund handed him the letters, and after Hector looked through them his suspicion became annoyance.
"I guess we're doing things diplomatically after all." Hector looked at Edmund. "You know that my plan will work."
"It would." Edmund agreed. "But I trust my son, and he trusts this young woman. I think the least we can do is give her the chance to prove herself."
Rapunzel swallowed thickly and leaned closer to her mom. She was a little nervous. She'd just met these men, and they seemed to know so much more than she did right now. Well, that was what she had come here for. To get some answers. She just had to take a leap of faith.
"Well, it's great to meet you." Rapunzel said sincerely. It was nice to see that Eugene's father was actually okay, though she was a little thrown off by Hector. He and Edmund called each other brother. Did that mean that Hector was Eugene's uncle? Somehow that made even less sense to Rapunzel than Edmund's relation to him.
"And you, young lady." Edmund said. He looked at Hector. "We should go. We don't want to keep our family waiting."
Hector scoffed to himself. "Varian's probably freaking out."
Rapunzel grimaced when she heard her mom's small gasp. She'd suspected that Varian would be involved in this conversation, but she hadn't told her mom yet because she had wanted to bring it up more gently. This was definitely not how she had wanted it. Well, they were all diving headfirst into this.
It was time to sink or swim.