If I owned tangled I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.

-LostForever-

If Alexis had had her way, their son would not be named Horace. It was a terrible name, that she would not wish on her worst enemy, let alone the helpless newborn in her arms.

But she had still been so weak from the birth that she had been little better than unconscious for the last few weeks. Including during the naming ceremony.

At last, Alexis had recovered enough to hold her baby for more than a few moments between much-needed sleep. The birth had been hard and long. The healers were not sure if either of them would make it through the night.

It would take longer still for the Queen to fully recover, but the entire kingdom had been in joyous uproar at the news of their healthy new prince.

Prince Horace Eugene D'arque.

"My poor baby,"Queen Alexis thought with a half-smile as she held her son. Rocking back and forth in her cushioned chair.

Horace had been Edmund's idea, the name of the legendary Black Knight of the first D'arque ruler.

The first Queen Atalanta. Whose tales of strength and skill on the battlefield were outmatched only by the stories of her right hand and top general; Sir Horace of Dargoon. The queen's bravest and truest knight. And if the legends were to be believed, her secret lover.

Edmund had always had an exuberant love for legends and stories. It only made sense that he would want to name his son after one of his childhood heroes.

She supposed it wasn't the worst name. Over the last few months, the courtiers and advisors had been getting, to put it politely; aggressive, with their suggestions.

Chadwick, Lavern, Irving, Berthold, Brock. Just to name a few.

She shuddered at the thought and kissed her boy's forehead. Horace wasn't so bad by comparison.

Eugene was better, slightly. She thought as she cuddled her son close to her chest. After an ancient elder from a hundred years ago.

And the longer she held him, the more she thought that Eugene suited him. Well-born and Noble were traits she would like to see in her baby.

Though she had always liked the name Bastion... Well, perhaps the next one.

-LostForever-

"I don't care how my hair looks!"

She had been going after her son's hair with the brush for almost twenty minutes. Eugene had been restless the entire time. Eugene didn't care what he looked like. He didn't care what everyone else thought about him.

"Now Eugene, you must look your best today." Alexis ran the brush through his hair again. "People have been arriving all morning to come just to see you, isn't that nice of them?" Eugene fussed under her hand and pulled away.

"But mom, it's my birthday!" he wined, "Who cares if my hair is messy? and these clothes are too stiff and scratchy, why can't I just stay in my regular clothes? What's the difference?" Eugene disdainfully pulling at his polished brown doublet with silver decorations.

Alexis sighed and placed the silver hairbrush on her vanity. Eugene was leaning back and forth on a small stool in front of the mirror while she sat behind him. After a moment to decide her words, she began again.

"Eugene, look in the mirror and tell me what you see."

He frowned, unhappy that he wasn't released from his torture just yet, but he did as his mother asked. He sat up straight toward the vanity mirror.

"I see me and I see you" he tipped his head backward to look at his mother upside down.

"That's true, but I see something else too" she pulled the toddler into her lap and hugged him close. he giggled in her arms, even when she pointed at the mirror again. "I see a brave, strong, handsome prince."

Her words halted his fidgeting. Eugene stared at the mirror confused, looking for the person his mother was describing and clearly, not finding him.

"But" she continued. "If you were to go down to the fairgrounds right now, with your hair all mussed up and your clothes covered in dust and your face all dirty. No one else would see that prince. All they would see is a dirty, careless, and sloppy child."

Eugene turned to her again. Quiet and still, for the first time all morning.

"Uncle Hector said..." his daring whisper trailed off.

"Yes? It's all right sweetie. What did Sir Hector say?" she asked warmly, now genuinely curious.

"Well, Uncle Hector said, you shouldn't care what other people think about you because of how you look!"

Alexis smiled, it seemed Hector was finally warming up to his prince. About time, It only took him three years.

"Well, that is true." She tucked a loose lock of hair behind Eugene's ear. "You shouldn't let anyone's mean words about how you look, or how they think you should look, affect who you are."

Eugene looked stunned but hopeful. Had he won the argument? But his mother turned him to look at the mirror again.

"But there is a big difference between not caring about what people think of you, and not caring about their feelings."

"Wait, what? I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings!"

"I know my love." She hugged him close again. So thankful for the sweet spirit of her boy. "That's why I always want you to look your best.

Eugene's head was nodding, just a little. Alexis was starting to lose his attention, she could tell. Time to wrap up the lecture.

"When you meet with people. Whether it's those that you have known for a long time or it's your first time meeting them. You should always try to look, at the very least, presentable. Because you want them to know that you care about them. Care about them enough to put in the sometimes hard work to look nice, for them. Do you understand Eugene?"

"I think so... maybe," He spoke quietly and nodded slowly.

Alexis hugged him tightly.

"That's perfectly all right my love. It can be a tricky idea. You just want people to see you. The real you, at your best."

Eugene looked at the mirror again. His eyebrows furrowed. Eyes glancing between the vanity before him and the fancy coat his mother had laid out on his bed earlier.

A small hand reached out to touch the mirror. Eugene stared at himself intensely. Maybe still looking for that brave, strong, handsome prince.

"Ok, I'll try my best."

"That is all I will ever ask for my love." she pulled him into the biggest hug she could manage.

-LostForever-

Eugene kept his back to the stone walls. His head was low as he checked around the corner of a large-leafed bush. Sticking to the stark shadows of the late afternoon sun bleeding across the gorge, Eugene moved closer to his target.

Ever so gently, he placed his foot in a crooked stone in the wall. Then carefully slid his fingers into the crack at the corner of the aqueduct leading to the servents' quarters. with a muffled grunt, he lowered himself behind one of the larger pots in the garden. His soft leather boots not making a sound against the tiled floor. Carefully he peeked through the branches, avoiding rustling the leaves. Eugene didn't want to alert his target to his presence.

He could see the long dark hair of his mother, tied back with a scarlet ribbon. The queen was sitting on one of the many plush couches scattered around the courtyard. A dark green tea service, a tall silver pitcher, and a tray of cookies on the small table by her side. She slowly turned the pages of a thick book in her hands, her entire focus on her reading.

The prince sidestepped around the dark rose bush. A brass horn hooked to his thigh slipped into his fingers. He stepped up behind his mother, lifted the bugle to his lips ready to blow-

"Don't even think about it, Eugene." Without even turning around, Eugene could hear the smile on her face. His blow sputtered into the horn with a sad blubbering blapbp!

But Eugene quickly shrugged off the failure. After greeting his mother properly with a quick kiss on her cheek, he collapsed onto the opposite couch. Snatching a handful of cookies from her tray as he went.

"How'd you know I was there? I did all the sneaky stuff Adira and Hector have been teaching me!"

"I'm your mother, I know everything." Queen Alexis carefully placed a sprig of mint into her book to hold her place.

She reached for her forest green teacup. Taking a delicate sip as she studied her son. Stuck in that awkward place between child and manhood. Underneath his long blue coat, his short gangling limbs, desperate for a growth spurt, were draped over the settee. He started tossing small cookies into the air and catching them in his mouth. She waited until the exact moment her son threw another cookie into the air.

"Like I know you missed your last two astronomy lessons with Sister Virgo." She took another calm sip of her tea.

The prince sat up so quickly, choked on the cookie that had been half inhaled. The Queen's timing had been perfect.

Taking pity on her son, she wordlessly slid the second teacup across the table.

Eugene took the cup and downed the chilled drink in three solid gulps. Once he had his breath back, he took a moment to stare at the space between his shoes. Realizing what his mother's invitation to tea was actually about.

"She told you?" anger and betrayal in his voice.

As Alexis refilled his cup, one of her eyebrows rose. Did Eugene honestly think so little of his tutors?

"No, you did... just now."

Eugene slapped his hand to his forehead.

Alexis chuckled softly. Eugene was thriving in his stealth lessons with Adira and Hector, but her son still had much to learn when it came to the games of whispers.

Skipping his lessons, wasn't the problem.

"Now, where were you?" her tone bit sharper than she had intended.

"I thought you knew everything?" he half muttered into his teacup.

"Eugene."

He flinched at her tone. She obviously wasn't in the mood for their banter today.

"I was just hanging out around Brothers Keep." his voice raised as he answered a tad too quickly.

"Alone?" she already knew the answer, but she let the question suffocate the courtyard.

Sneaking out, wasn't the problem.

Eugene rubbed at his neck, one of several nervous tells that all but proclaimed his true feelings to the world, and more importantly to her.

"Lance and I were just..." his innocent smile shaky under the intensity of his skeptical Queen's stare. They both knew that if he had been with Lance, they wouldn't be having this conversation.

Arnwaldo Schnitz, wasn't the problem.

A moment of pause went by without even a twitch from his mother. Eugene shut his eyes and let out a big sigh. Accepting his fate.

"... I was with Stalyan." the blush on his cheeks.

That girl, was the problem.

That girl, and the look in her son's eyes. Alexis had never seen him look more like his father.

The Dark Prince was in love. What dreadful news.

The Queen had expected as much. But it still stung, her warnings had fallen on deaf ears. And soon her baby boy's gentle and sensitive heart would be shattered and trampled.

She rose from her couch to sit beside Eugene. She brushed his bangs away from his handsome face. He was due for a haircut, she thought absently. His eyes shut at the soothing action.

"Oh sweetheart-"

"She's not like you think mom!" Eugene pulled away from her. His hands twisting together in frustration, another tell.

"She doesn't care that I'm a Prince or anything. She cares about me!" he looked at his mother so desperately, his chocolate eyes were melting with dampness. Alexis felt her heartbreak.

But years of royal court life had drilled discipline into her emotions. She managed to keep her face and her voice hard and flat.

"Does she care about you or Flynn Rider?"

Eugene's face went from determined to shocked to angry to fearful to devastating regret in less than a breath. He turned away.

"How'd you find out about that?" he whispered brokenly.

"Your father and the brotherhood have more important matters to worry about than some missing bric-a-brac."

Her eyebrow raised into a disappointed frown.

"But when two sets of silverware, three fine bottles of wine, five candlesticks, seven goblets, four vases, Sir Gwalen's snuff-box, Lady Veronica's silver hair combs and a pair of my earrings all go missing within four months. All disappearing just a day or two before one of your late-night adventures across the gorge..?"

At every item his mother listed, Eugene sank further into himself. Wanting to be anywhere but on this plush couch. It hadn't seemed like so many things at the time...

"Honestly Eugene, were you even trying to go unnoticed?"

He didn't know what to say. So he didn't say anything. Feeling foolish and transparent, he thought he had been so sneaky. Eugene just stayed silent and hoped that it would be over soon.

She rose to her feet and started pacing across the courtyard.

"She asked you to try, didn't she? She told you her family was starving or that one of her other street friends was sick and they couldn't afford the medicine?"

Eugene stared at his mother

"How'd you-?"

But Alexis raised her hand for silence.

"You've taken nothing that can't be replaced, no doubt your Stalyan has already pawned everything you've brought her to prove yourself a worthy thief."

"That's not what-"

"But this game of yours stops now Eugene, that girl is lying to you. She does not live on the streets, she's not even an orphan." Her voice getting louder, her frustration and fear getting the better of her. "Her father is the head of a powerful crime family in the Seven Kingdoms, and they are both manipulating you-!"

"I know about all that!" he yelled in desperate outrage.

Alexis stopped talking as Eugene lept to his feet, staring down his own mother like an enemy. There was desperate anger in his eyes.

"She told me about her dad, and that he wanted the "Secret treasure" from the castle and how she was supposed to find someone in the palace who could get her inside, and how he made her try and recruit me -er recruit Flynn Rider to help her steal it! she's told me everything mom!"

After Eugene's tremendous outcry, silence filled the courtyard garden.

"I see." Alexis' rhythm was thrown off at the revelation. Cursing herself for underestimating an ambitious young woman. She had to take a deep breath.

"And when exactly did she tell you all of this?"

Eugene's face flickered with irritation. Alexis hadn't bothered to keep the dubiousness out of her voice.

"Last month. She told me everything about her dad." His entire body was tense and he looked half ready to storm away.

Alexis closed her eyes. Of course. She knew something had changed in the last few weeks. Eugene had been unusually quiet. More things going missing at a faster rate than ever before.

"And I told her that I was the prince." He braced himself, expecting this shameful confession to finally bring the full fury of his mother's wrath down upon him.

But his mother said nothing. It was hard to stand there under her intense gaze.

"Lie by telling the truth." She whispered it like an old mantra she could never forget.

"What" Eugene had barely heard his mother's whisper.

"Eugene, Some people." There was a catch in her throat as she tenderly brushed a loose bang behind Eugene's ear. "Some people can lie, by telling the absolute truth."

That was too much for Eugene. His face turned angry. His fists were tight. Shoving her hand away.

"She's not lying! What would you know anyway!" He shook his head and pushed past the Queen herself heading toward the castle.

"Your exactly like everyone else! You just want me to stay locked up in this nightmare kingdom for the rest of my life!"

Outraged that his mother thought he was a naive fool, and she would never allow him and Stalyan to be together. And there was no question about his father supporting the relationship.

Stalyan had been right. Of course, she had been right, right about everything. He couldn't stay here, not anymore.

They would have to leave as soon as they could.

If the prince had bothered to look back he would have seen his mother lean back against the table as she watched him leave. Her eyes were tight but dry. She looked surprisingly calm.

"Love makes us blind," Alexis whispered to herself as she looked up into the cloudy sky.

-LostForever-

Queen Alexis stood at the window of the rookery tower. Her many ravens fluttered around the room. Landing and taking off again, preening her hair and nipping at her fingers for attention and treats.

Absently she divided seed among each of the hanging feed dishes. Glancing out the window every minute she could spare. It was nearing midnight.

It had been almost a week since their "discussion" in the garden. Alexis had told Edmund about their son's activities. She had told him that it would do no good to confront and punish the boy.

But Edmund was a man of direct action. He lacked his wife's delicacy when planning. He had confronted the prince, demanded an explanation.

The fight between father and son could be heard from across the castle and had lasted for several hours. It had ended with Eugene being escorted to his chambers by Adira. The prince had been grounded and forbidden from crossing the gorge for at least three months and he was to never see the girl Stalyon again.

Eugene had locked himself in his room. Refusing to see anyone, even Lance had been turned away. Only leaving twice a day to silently collect his meals from the kitchens.

Or so it seemed. Over the last few days, Quirin had reported that food had been going missing from the storerooms. And Alexis knew Eugene was making preparations.

The Queen gazed up into the sky. The moon was full, the autumn fog thick and heavy.

Alexis gave a heavy sigh. She was sure he would try to leave tonight. "Escaping" as he thought of it currently. Ignoring the wisdom of everyone he knew and respected. Abandoning his throne and his kingdom and his family.

For love.

Alexis couldn't help but laugh sadly. It seemed that her son was the worst kind of romantic.

Movement below caught her eye. And there he is.

She was too far away to see any details, but she would know that scrawny frame and rich brown hair anywhere. No doubt the bag over his shoulder was full of stolen valuables and the pilfered food.

Eugene loaded his supplies onto one of the gondolas. Checked his surroundings one more time, and shut the door. Very slowly, the gondola began to move across the gorge. It was half-hidden by the fog. And moving so gently and quietly that even if anyone were awake at this late hour, they probably wouldn't even notice.

Unless of course, they were actively watching.

Alexis raised her arm. One of her ravens, Arden, quickly took the favored roost. Absently she scratched under his chin, he cawed happily. When she looked up again, the gondola was across the gorge. Eugene's long blue coat waving in the wind as he hurried into the forest.

She carried Arden to the window. Many of the other birds looking up with interest. Arden nuzzled the Queen for a moment, then tilted his head. Asking a question with a soft caw.

Alexis ran her fingers through the midnight plumage. Then answered.

"Follow him."

With a sudden lift of her arm, the bird took flight. Several others taking their cue and following along the same flight path. Across the gorge toward the forest.

Her ravens all loved Eugene like their own fledging. Following him around the kingdom ever since his first steps. They could always find him.

From her tall tower, she could see the imposing figures of her husband and the other knights on horseback. They would follow her birds and find the runaway prince.

She just wished it were not too late.

-LostForever-

Her ravens had started to return just before dawn broke.

Eugene was safe then.

Queen Alexis stood at the gondola station nearest the tree line. Varian clung to her like a lost kitten. The poor boy was exhausted with worry, unable to sleep.

Quirin had left his son with a few of the maids. But the child had awoken not long after Quirin and the others had left. Varian had been inconsolable when he realized that his father and both of his brothers were nowhere to be found. The poor girls were driven to desperation and had brought the toddler to the Queen.

Alexis had taken the screaming child into her arms. After ten minutes or so she had been able to distract him with charcoal and parchment. He had fallen asleep after detailed descriptions of his future inventions and several very impressive drawings.

When the sky began to lighten, Alexis had tried to leave the old playroom quietly as to not disturb the little boy. But Varian had woken up at the slightest sound. Wanting more than ever to see his big brother. He demanded to go with her.

Now they stood together, at the edge of the forest waiting for their loved ones.

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long.

Yellow sky crept over the hills just as Edmund and the others appeared from the forest.

Quirin and Hector were herding at least a dozen coarse and rough men at sword point. Hector's rhino at the rear and his bearcats circling the men, occasionally snapping at their jumpy ankles. The soldiers stationed at the cable car entrance stepped forward to assist them.

Adira was helping support Lance. The poor boy looked like a stiff wind would blow him over. His left arm was wrapped in a makeshift sling, and he was favoring his left leg.

Edmund sat upon his horse. Looking as angry and frustrated as she had ever seen him. But as he grew nearer, she could see the anguish on his face. Against his chest, half-hidden under his cape lay Eugene.

Eugene's face was deathly pale, lost in a disorienting shock. His pants were ripped and he was covered in dust and dirt. His left eye was already bruising and he had two or three shallow cuts across his face. Scraped hands clutched the king's cloak like he wanted to burrow away and never come out.

"Eugene!" At first sight of the Prince, Varian erupted into awareness. He scrambled out of her arms before Alexis could stop him. Varian stumbled toward the king's horse. He had waited long enough, he wanted his big brother, now.

Edmund pulled Dominoe to a stop. The experienced mare was more than familiar with the wild ways of human foals. She didn't even flinch when the child grabbed her leg in his efforts to get to his brother. Calling his name over and over.

It didn't seem possible, but Eugene's face looked even more miserable at the display. He turned his head deeper into his father's chest, hiding from everything.

The prisoners were under control. Quirin appeared and lifted his son. Varian seemed pleased at the arrival of his father, but he still muttered Eugene's name as Quirin led them away.

Alexis approached her husband and son. Eugene reluctantly uncurled from his father's side. Her heart shattered at the broken look in her baby's eyes.

His first love was now his first betrayal.

-LostForever-

A few hours later, Alexis was to be found at her son's bedside in the healer's wing. After some time of manic busy noise, it was quiet. The only sounds were the Queen's occasional humming and Lance snoring loudly in the next bed.

Eugene's wounds were mostly superficial. Several bandages now covered his face and hands. He had many bruises all over his body including a bad black eye that would probably last for a while.

The healers predicted that the prince would be sore and uncomfortable for at least a few weeks, but he would be back on his feet in a day or two.

He was curled up against a mountain of pillows, lost to the crash of post-battle exhaustion. At some point, Eugene had taken her hand and had still not released it. Alexis was not about to complain.

She rhythmically stroked his hair while humming some tune or other. Maybe later she would ask a servant to bring her her violin. But for now, she was in no mood to play.

While the healers attended to Lance and Eugene. Edmund had told her what had happened. She had burned with impotent rage as her husband described the depths of manipulation and cruelty her son had endured.

There was a small balm for her fury. The man responsible, The Barron, had been killed in the battle. In his rage at being foiled, he had tried to strike Eugene down. Edmund had run the man through before he could deal a finishing blow to the Prince.

The Barron's men, at least those who had survived the battle, were in the dungeons. Alexis would happily see them rot.

But the girl, Stalyon, had gotten away. Somehow during the battle, she had managed to slip away. Deep into the forest, or perhaps she would go further. Perhaps she was now all alone in the world, with nowhere to go and no one to care for her. The false story she had used to gain Eugene's sympathies, now true.

She deserved a thousand times worse. If Stalyon was ever foolish enough to return to the dark kingdom, Alexis would personally see to it that she got exactly what she deserved and more.

"Mom?"

Alexis smiled at her son. The white linen of the hospital shirt made him look slightly less pale.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" she stroked his cheek with her thumb, careful to not disturb the bandage on his chin.

Eugene frowned and sat up straighter. His hands twisting together.

"All right I guess." he attempted one of his usual charming smiles but winced when it pulled at one of the bandages. He sighed as he curled forward and held his arms.

"Pretty stupid actually."

Alexis said nothing. Once Eugene got started he would keep talking until he had gotten enough of his feelings out.

"You were right." He sounded so broken. "You were right about everything. All she wanted, no- all they wanted was the stone! And when I didn't have it... she said- she said she loved me, and I thought that I loved her!"

His voice cracked. Tears started to flow. Alexes shifted onto the bed beside her son and pulled him close.

"For months she told me that she was mine and I was hers, that I belonged with her that we belonged together! That she loved me and I belonged with her."

His voice got hard and quiet.

"And I believed her mom, I actually believed her."

He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Looking ashamed and humiliated, but he didn't pull away from her. He pulled her even closer.

"Then last night, she said that if I wasn't going to do what she said, then I wasn't worth the trouble."

he broke down into sobs.

Alexis held her son as tightly as she could. Tears pouring down her own face. That witch of a girl had hurt him so much. She wanted to make it all better with a magic kiss, like when he was a little boy. But such simple times had long passed.

"I'm sorry."

It was so quiet, Alexis thought she had imagined it. But it quickly came again.

"I'm sorry mom. For the stealing and the lying and all that stuff that I said in the garden last week. You were right about everything and I just wouldn't even listen, I'm just so-"

Alexis placed a finger to his lips. Eugene fell silent. She used a damp cloth to wipe his wet and blotchy face.

"Hush now my love. You are hardly the first teenage boy to lose his good sense over a girl. Just ask your father about how we met." she added in a teasing tone.

Eugene raised his eyebrow, suddenly very curious. But his mother continued.

"You will apologize fully for your errors in judgment. You have made many mistakes, and you will be making amends for them," she said firmly, Eugene nodded in acceptance. "But for now, that can wait."

"You were manipulated and lied to. You do not need to apologize for that." She kissed his hair. Feeling absurdly happy when he didn't pull away as he had been these past few months.

Eugene was quiet for another minute. They were both fully on the bed now. The comfort of holding each other was a soothing cure for all the stress of recent weeks.

"I thought that she... that I..." Eugene's eyes were fluttering shut. But the tiredness seemed to loosen his tongue.

Alexis smiled and carefully pulled away. Gently she lowered Eugene onto the bed.

"How about, next time you find a girl you like," She tucked him in like she hadn't been able to in years. "You bring her to meet me as soon as possible."

She kissed his forehead. Eugene smiled, already half-asleep.

"I promise I will."

"I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you, mom."

-LostForever-

Bonus

Stalyon ran as fast as she could. The fog was burning away under the bright sun but everything was still slippery with damp.

Mud caked her legs. Leaves and twigs were tangled up in her hair. Her dress was ripped stained with her father's blood.

How had it all gone so wrong?

The silly prince had taken a false name so he could explore and adventure outside his safe fortress castle. All too eager to live the life of a commoner.

So simple

Even their first meeting had been a setup. She, the poor helpless orphan girl had been "attacked" by a pair of rogues, they had been her father's men. But the disguised prince had been all too eager to rescue a damsel in distress. Stalyon would admit that he had shown great skill and had soundly trounced her would-be attackers.

He had introduced himself as Flynn Rider. A good name for a thief she had thought and had said as much. He had taken the flattery and proclaimed himself a thief.

So easy.

After that, she had played the part of the poor orphan girl to perfection. Whispering in his eager ear about how lonely she was, and how much easier her life would be with just a bit more money, and would anyone in the castle really miss a candlestick or a few pieces of silverware.

He was hers

For months she had charmed Flynn Rider into total devotion for her. He hung on her every word, desperate for her approval, a she systematically became his entire world. Every day he was willing to steal more valuable items to gain her favor.

When she had felt her hold on him weakening, she had admitted part of the truth to him. In a beautiful performance of tears and wailing.

Her father was a cruel criminal lord, who ruled his unruly empire with an iron fist.

Truth

Under her father's orders, she had been sent to steal the secret treasure of the dark kingdom

Truth

She would need help. She was to find someone who could help her get inside the castle. A local thief perhaps

Truth

With Rider's help, she could get the treasure and bring it to her father without fear.

Truth

He had been shocked and a bit angry. But with a few well-placed words she had smoothed away his doubts.

"Let's run away together!"

"We belong together, Rider"

"All we need is that treasure."

"You love me. I know you do."

"I love you."

He had surprised her by telling her the truth. Of course, she had already known who he actually was. But that he had revealed his secret life to her, revealed himself, set his vulnerability at her feet?

She was better than she had thought.

But Prince Eugene was the stupidest name ever.

He was Flynn Rider.

They would leave together. He had promised to protect her from her father. He would get everything they needed. He promised, they would live happily ever after.

She realized she had grown to like the sound of that. With a few modifications of course.

Her father's fabulous estate around her... A mountain of treasure at her fingertips... Obedient servants at her beck and call...

And of course, a handsome and devoted prince for a husband, loyal at her feet.

It would have been perfect.

But Flynn Rider hadn't listened to her. She had told him to bring the secret treasure.

And he hadn't.

A sack full of gold and jewels was fine on a normal day. But Rider's insistence that he couldn't bring the treasure even if he wanted to, and that it wasn't really valuable just incredibly dangerous, and how what he had brought was more than enough for them to start a new life together and blah, blah, blah...

Everything was a bit blurry after she had punched him.

Stalyon knew her father and his men had arrived... Rider had tried to escape... had tried to fight... her father had yelled at him for a bit, demanding where the treasure was... Rider wouldn't tell them anything... Rider was held up by two of the Barron's men, ready to take another beating.

When a dozen ravens had started diving at them.

Everything became sharp and clear after that.

The Dark King and his knights had arrived. quickly disarming or dispatching the Barron's men. Furious the Barron had tried to finish Eugene off.

Stalyon had run before the King's blade had fully pierced her father's stomach.

Her boot caught on a rock. Her mad dash brought to a grinding halt as she tripped into a muddy patch of grass. Her hair was soaked and dripping into her face.

The Barron, her father was dead. What would she do now? He had brought along all of his best men for this. The foot army of underlings and the less than trustworthy lieutenants had stayed in the seven kingdoms.

And without even a body to show as proof. They would never listen to her. Even if they would, by the time she got back alone, she was sure that her father's empire would be stripped to the bone. She was young and inexperienced and powerless.

She would find power. Enough power to claim what was rightfully hers.

Her riches, her house, her empire.

Flynn Rider...

Yes. He would be hers again. He was already hers really, he just didn't know it anymore. She would remind him. She would break him and remake him as hers forever.

Even if it took her entire life, Flynn Rider would be hers again.

"Oh my, you poor dear." a willowy voice spoke from above her.

Stalyan's eyes shot upward, she quickly relaxed. It was just an old woman. Her gray hair was held back in tidy braids. A pair of small round spectacles sat low on her nose. The pelt of some kind of animal draped over her shoulders.

In her hands, she held a twisted cane with a horned skull at the handle.

"Why don't you let me help you, dear. I'm sure we could help each other out. I'm a teacher you see. I'm sure I have a few tricks you might be interested in learning." The old woman held out her hand to Stalyon, still kneeling in a mud puddle. "Now, what was your name dear?"

She seemed perfectly harmless. The more the old woman spoke, the more relaxed Stalyon felt. Like how you should feel around a mother. She found herself smiling and taking the woman's hand.

"Stalyon"

"What a nice name." The old woman smiled wickedly. "You may call me Mrs. Sugarby."