Chapter 14
Rapunzel and Eugene escape through the tunnels beneath the castle.
It's a different path than she had taken on her way to the prison, but they figure it's the best way to avoid any patrolling guards and assume the winding underpass must lead somewhere.
He follows her as she attempts to figure out which direction they are going with what previous knowledge she has of the castle, despite never being down here in this particular area before. Their only guiding light is the lantern that Rapunzel holds out in front of her as they navigate through the darkness.
Eventually, she slows to a stop, her mind occupied and lost. She searches for the words she wants to say and Eugene notices her hesitance.
"Rapunzel? What's wrong?" He asks from behind her, his words echoing within the silence.
She turns to face him, taking a breath. "When we get out of here… I'm going with you."
Though his voice is soft and tired, Eugene beams at the sound of those words. "You are?"
"I should have just left with you from the start. Then none of this would've ever happened." Her voice cracks at the end of her sentence, her face crumpling as she unintentionally becomes upset again.
"Hey…" Eugene places his hands on either side of her arms, dipping his head down in front of hers to get her to look up at him, but she doesn't.
"This is all my fault," Rapunzel weeps, wiping her cheeks with her hand.
"Hey. This is not your fault," Eugene strokes a strand of hair away from her eyes. "I shouldn't have asked so much of you so soon."
"I came back for you," she says, "And then… I don't—I don't know what happened."
Eugene presses his lips together as he recalls his encounter with the Stabbington's. He has a pretty good idea of what happened to her, and it makes him fume with rage all over again. He hadn't known she'd actually come back though. "I'll explain later. Right now, let's just focus on finding a way out of here."
She nods, sniffling. "Okay."
Finally, they come across a dead end with an iron ladder leading upwards. As they climb to the top, they find themselves poking their heads through a wooden hatch that leads back into the castle.
They climb up one after the other, ensuring there are no guards or servants wandering around.
Rapunzel recognizes the room they emerge into to be a storage cellar nestled within the basement, filled with clustered wooden crates and barrels. She recognizes it from her childhood, though she can't say she ever noticed the hatch that blends so well into the wooden floor.
Now, all they have to do is find a way outside.
After that, Rapunzel isn't certain. They decide their best bet is to find Lance and the ship he and Eugene had meant to sail on – the one Lance had managed to pirate with help from a band of thugs, before Eugene's capture, of course.
Lance had managed to get away during the hanging. At least, that's what Eugene assumes, knowing him as well as he does. They hope to find him at the dock if he hasn't left already. They don't have much time left to find out.
Rapunzel silently follows Eugene through the castle, until at one point she halts in her tracks upon remembering, "Wait… I have to talk to Cass."
As they tiptoe through the various rooms and corridors, they manage to make their way unseen to Cassandra's quarters. The fact that they both have experience sneaking around here makes it surprisingly easy.
Rapunzel knocks softly on Cass' door.
Thankfully, there aren't any guards outside her room. It's clear Rapunzel is the only one out of the two of them that they felt needed to be locked up and guarded.
The princess fears she might not even be in there, until the door clicks softly in front of her, and it slowly swings open.
She finds Cass on the other side, her hand still gripping the door handle. She hadn't been sleeping. Her lights are still on behind her, and she's wearing her blue handmaiden's dress with her hair loose.
The perplexed expression on Cassandra's face upon finding the two of them standing at her door in the middle of the night makes Rapunzel wince, because she can feel Cass telling her that she should be in her room right now, and he should be in prison. Or dead, in fact. With those exact words. She expects Cass to start lecturing her about it any second now.
At first, Cassandra looks like she is about to murder Rapunzel for that reason specifically, before remembering that a guard could show up here any moment now and murder all of them.
So instead, Cassandra sighs loudly and rolls her eyes, cursing ever becoming best friends with the most stubborn, reckless person in the entire world. She isn't even going to ask.
"Get in here now. Both of you." She pulls Eugene and Rapunzel into her bedroom with an unamused tone of voice.
Once Cassandra closes the door behind them, she doesn't say anything more. Instead, she turns pointedly to face Rapunzel with her arms crossed across her chest. She's wearing the same disapproving look that Rapunzel knows Cass has given her before, and the silence that follows is deafening somehow.
Rapunzel slowly walks toward her, feeling awful. "Cass…" Though she knows Cass refuses to show it, Rapunzel recognizes the glint of hurt in the other girl's eyes as she stares silently back at her. It comes with knowing each other for their entire lives.
Despite it all, Rapunzel doesn't need to explain what's going on here. Cassandra already knows.
"I'm sorry to drag you into all this," Rapunzel grabs Cassandra's hands, "And I can't thank you enough for everything that you did back there. But I can't stay here any longer." Rapunzel peers over her shoulder at Eugene standing behind her. She sighs softly before stating with confidence, "I'm leaving Corona. And I don't know when or if I'll ever be back."
Cassandra glances between them for a few moments, her face almost expressionless. "Both of you?"
"Yes," says Rapunzel, before excitement reaches her voice. She takes a step closer, "You can come with us."
"What?" Cass blinks. "I... I can't."
"Cassandra—"
"Rapunzel. Don't." Cass tells her sternly, dropping Rapunzel's hands and stepping away. She pinches the bridge of her own nose in frustration. After a while, she lowers her arm, exhaling at length. "I'm so close to becoming a royal guard. I've been training for it my entire life. Raps… running away is your dream. It's not mine."
"I just don't wanna hurt you," Rapunzel murmurs.
Cassandra feels her heart flicker with warmth at that. Somehow, she had seen this coming, at one point or another. It was only a matter of days, after everything that's happened.
They both know it wouldn't be entirely healthy for Rapunzel to continue to stay, and Cass knows she wouldn't be able to stop her even if she tried. The princess is known to never do what she's told. Cass had always hated that about her.
So she doesn't try, because not trying will make all of this so much easier for both of them.
"Look… you said you owed me a favor. Well, do this one for me," Cass forces a smile, though it is genuine. Her voice softens as she says, "Go. Don't worry about me, okay?"
This is what Rapunzel has always wanted, and all Cassandra can ask is for the other girl to be happy, even if it means goodbye. Having to finally say it after years of anticipation pains her to no end.
Rapunzel stares up at her with tears welling in her eyes, before she pulls the other girl into a tight embrace. Cass squeezes her eyes shut and latches onto her just as desperately.
After a while, Cassandra pulls away.
She brushes past the princess, stopping in front of Eugene. Cass feels her own eyes begin to glisten, but she blinks it back and swallows her emotions down, just like she always has done. "You take care of her for me out there." It isn't a request, but a demand.
It makes Eugene smile that she feels the need to even tell him that. He nods at her regardless, "I will."
Rapunzel and Eugene don't speak as they flee through the woods in the dead of night.
By some miracle, no guard or wandering villager catches them on their way out of the castle and through the village. So they run without looking back until they're certain they are far enough away from the kingdom to be considered somewhat safe.
The princess peers warily around herself more often than she needs to. She expects her father to somehow find them out here and bring them both right back to that horrible dungeon. But he doesn't, and she almost doesn't believe it.
Instead, all she sees are the silhouettes of leaning trees in every direction and a thick fog that doesn't allow them to see how far they've come, or how much further is left. An owl hoots eerily overhead and the leaves are rustling above them from the wind.
The dock is a couple hours from here, hidden on the shore around the outside of the mainland. Eugene knows where it is, but the mist that obstructs their view leaves him questioning his own navigating skills that he had once been so sure about.
Everything about this feels surreal. They don't know what they're doing or how they had managed this, or where they are going to end up after this is all over. It's thrilling and terrifying and exciting all at once.
The entire time, they are left with the feeling that somebody is watching and trailing close behind them, and neither have been able to settle their nerves since they'd left the prison.
Eugene holds the glowing lantern in front of himself as they walk quickly, far from relaxed.
He peers over his shoulder at Rapunzel, finding her a few paces behind and struggling to keep up. She hugs her cloak around herself from the chill.
He slows to wrap his arm around his shoulders, guiding her until she is instead walking in front of him because seeing her makes him feel better.
Eventually, the shore appears in the distance. As they walk through the edge of the trees, a huge shadow on the water emerges from within the fog.
They recognize it as the hull of an enormous ship, with white sails towering high in the sky and extending far above the trees. It's parked stationary along the small dock that Eugene recognizes instantly, secluded away from everything else just as he remembers.
In the distance, there are people lingering on the sand outside the vessel, as well as a small flickering campfire, it's smoke rising in the night. The bandits' soft chatter reaches their ears as Rapunzel and Eugene walk closer.
Seeing it all and their familiar faces feels like finding a beacon in the black sky.
"So, you made it out after all."
Rapunzel and Eugene peer upward toward the gravelly voice coming from aboard the ship.
Lance is up on the deck, casually leaning against the railing with his arm resting over it, his other fist planted on his hip.
"We got a little sidetracked," Eugene tells him with a smirk.
Lance only gives them a nod and a knowing grin, finding no need to ask for an elaboration. He knew Eugene would make it out of there. He always does.
"You're just lucky I waited," Lance jokes as he saunters along the deck, still peering down at them. "And just in time to set sail."
Eugene wanders up to the wooden ramp connecting the ship to the shore, with Rapunzel following closely behind him. "I don't suppose we have room for one more?"
Lance chuckles, beaming down at Rapunzel at the bottom of the incline. "Well, I was wondering when I would see you again."
"Likewise," she smiles.
"Hell knows we could use a hand like yours around here. But hey, any friend of Flynn's is always a friend of ours," says Lance welcomingly.
Eugene turns to Rapunzel, before bowing theatrically and extending his arm out, "After you," he says, flashing her a charming grin.
Rapunzel places her palm atop his as he helps her step onto the ramp. Eugene follows behind her as she walks to the top.
"Welcome aboard… Milady," Lance tells her once she steps onto the deck.
Rapunzel's stomach bubbles with excitement as she peers around the ship. She gapes at the magnificent white canvas sails that loom overhead, connected by dozens of ropes that tie to the masts.
She remembers stepping aboard a vessel like this when she was younger, having to travel to neighboring kingdoms with her father. Though, this one isn't filled with royal guards and decorated with Corona's emblem on every post and sail.
Rather, this one is completely different. It feels different, knowing that its destination lies in a world unknown rather than a mere neighboring kingdom. And instead of her father, she is stepping aboard it with the one person she thinks she'd be okay spending the rest of her life with.
The rest of the crew pack up the camp and climb aboard soon after.
Men dart across the main deck as they shout orders to one another. They lower the sails and raise the anchor as Eugene guides Rapunzel up to the quarterdeck by the helm.
The ship drifts away from the dock as the sun rises. A blend of pink, orange and yellow sky paints the horizon as the morning light cascades over the sand.
The pair stare out at the endless blue ocean while they slowly sail into open water. The soft waves are sparkling as the sunlight reflects off the ripples, and seagulls have begun to caw high in the sky.
"So, Blondie… You ready to see the world?" Eugene smirks from beside the princess, his hands on his hips triumphantly.
Rapunzel inhales deeply, breathing in the scent of saltwater and fresh morning air.
She closes her eyes as a gentle breeze crashes against her skin. When she opens them again, she is content.
Everything in her life has led up to this moment right here, and it is even more enchanting than she ever imagined. No dream or fantasy she has previously conjured in her sleep could ever overpower this feeling of sincere euphoria.
Rapunzel nearly jumps with giddiness as she finds herself grinning widely from ear to ear, "I can't wait."
For the first time in her entire life, she is free.
A/N: Expect an epilogue soon!