Chapter 23
Rapunzel gingerly climbs over the railing of her bedroom balcony, perching atop it with her legs dangling off the edge.
She peers over her shoulder at her dark bedroom behind her, silent and empty and devoid of whatever life it had served her as a child. She'd never known another bedroom. Despite the sometimes horrible memories of this place, a part of her will miss it – the one thing that was ever truly hers to keep.
The nightly chill sends a cold breeze blowing her hair back, creeping into her hood and down the nape of her neck.
She looks down over the balcony, beyond her feet and the brown buckled boots she wears. The darkness of the night casts shadows on the shingled rooftops below. It's turquoise color glows in the dim light of the blue moon.
With one last breath, she pushes against the railing and leaps off the edge.
Somehow, she lands silently enough on the slanted surface below and doesn't end up completely toppling over. The leather pack strapped over her shoulders weighs her down as she lands on her feet. She falls forward onto her hands and knees.
Once she stands, she quickly peers around herself, scanning for guards or any sign that someone had heard that. The one place they don't patrol around here is the rooftops. Though, she sees the guards marching silently on the ground below and knows the ones outside her bedroom door are positioned there still, unaware of her escape.
She hopes for her sake they will stay that way. At least until she finds Eugene.
The prison is below the castle, hidden deep within the basement tunnels and far away from sunlight. It'll be a trek for her to get there – unnoticed at that. But she knows exactly where it is. She knows this castle all too well, like the back of her hand. Rapunzel had always been too curious as a child - of which her father had never let her forget.
Somehow, Eugene is still alive. Despite the scuffle that had happened at the hanging and their eminent capture afterward, Rapunzel realizes the guards or the king himself could have just killed him then. At one moment, she thought she'd be killed herself, and Cassandra too.
Instead, much to their relief, Eugene had only been sent back to the cell he had previously spent the night in.
Rapunzel's hopeful mindset tells her it's because her father has suddenly found a speck of mercy for the boy. But if she's being realistic, she assumes he will be killed tomorrow, and their failed plan of escape had only ended up postponing his death. At least it counted for something.
Cassandra and Rapunzel – well, they were let off the hook, solely for being the king's daughter and the Captain of the Guard's daughter.
Though, Rapunzel supposes they will face some sort of punishment in the next day, or maybe that idea only springs from her own fears.
The two girls had, however, received disapproving looks from everyone, like children being scolded on schoolgrounds as they were marched into their own home with their hands shackled behind their backs.
They'd been escorted to their own quarters and now, Rapunzel is not only forbidden to leave her room, but also to see her lady in waiting, at least for the time being.
Rapunzel shimmies her back against the towers of the castle and leaps over the gaps between the rooftops.
She'd never been afraid of heights but being up here still leaves butterflies in her stomach. She composes her mind and tells herself, if Eugene can do it, so can she. If anything, jumping around up here only brings her the satisfaction of accomplishing something she's always wanted to do.
Through the darkness, she notices a veranda circling around one of the towers, surrounded by a slanted roof. There's an open archway on the other side of the railing that leads back into the castle.
She'd only aimed to get out of her bedroom. Finding a way out of the castle itself is another factor Rapunzel hasn't yet figured out.
Making her way toward it, Rapunzel jumps down another level.
She climbs over the railing soundlessly, examining the balcony cautiously once her feet have touched the floor.
There isn't anyone inside, at least from what she can see. There is only a dark and wide hallway that trails left and right, clear of nightly patrols for the moment.
It's deathly silent as Rapunzel sneaks her way through the corridors. As she rounds a corner, her heart leaps out of her chest when she finds someone walking toward her.
After peering through the shadows, she realizes it isn't a guard come to send her back to her room, but rather a familiar face that she isn't certain she should be relieved to see right now or not.
They stop as they notice each other, and Rapunzel's heart is pounding in fear. "Mom!" she gasps.
Arianna nearly jumps at finding her daughter here at this time of night, neither of them expecting to run into the other. The queen looked like she'd been on her way to somewhere important, only to be interrupted.
At first, Arianna looks stunned to find her, and she gasps quietly. Then her eyebrows relax once she takes a better look at Rapunzel.
The princess scrambles for an excuse as to how she had gotten out of her room, and why she is dressed in a cloak, backpack, and a pair of trousers she doesn't think her mother has ever seen her wear. She'd be murdered on the spot if one of her handmaidens caught her dressed like this in the castle.
Instead, she can't think of a single thing that would sound remotely convincing. Judging by the heartbroken look Arianna is giving her, Rapunzel knows there would be no point in lying. She's already been caught.
Somehow, after everything that happened in the square earlier today, Arianna knows exactly what her daughter is doing. Rapunzel sees it in her face.
"I have to do this," Rapunzel tells her sternly. "I'm sorry."
She hasn't spoken to her mother in days, not with Rapunzel being confined to her room when she wasn't forced to attend the execution. But Arianna has watched everything unfold from afar since Rapunzel had first gone missing.
She almost expects her mother to get angry, or try to convince her to stay, or tell her father, but she doesn't.
Instead, Arianna purses her lips knowingly. She extends her hand out to Rapunzel, revealing something in her closed fist that Rapunzel didn't realize she was holding.
It's a ring of rusty silver keys.
Rapunzel glances down at it, then up at her silent mother with creased eyebrows. "What's this?" she asks.
"I've temporarily dismissed the guards outside the lower prison," Arianna explains, her voice hushed to ensure no one hears them. Her words echo within the vast corridor of the castle. "You haven't much time until they return."
For a moment, Rapunzel stares blankly at her, wondering if she is hearing correctly. It isn't until now that she realizes Arianna had been making her way to Rapunzel's bedroom. "Wh-what do you—"
"Do you love him?" Arianna interrupts. There's nothing bitter about the way she says it. Rather, her wide eyes seem somehow enchanted and there's a sad smile lingering on the queen's lips.
"What?" The princess shakes her head in disbelief, unsure how to answer that. Though, she should have known her mother would catch on to why Rapunzel went to such lengths to ensure Eugene escaped. She wants to deny all of it, but she can't lie to herself, and she definitely can't lie to her mother. "I—I don't…"
"My biggest regret when I was younger… was that I never took a chance," laments Arianna. "I was too afraid. Because I knew that everyone around me would try to stop me. So now I am giving you yours."
Rapunzel finds herself entirely speechless. Initially, her heart bursts with happiness from her mother's support. Yet at the same time, it breaks for her too.
"Oh, my sweet girl…" Arianna steps closer and takes Rapunzel's hands in hers. "You are the bravest… and strongest woman I have ever met." Her wide eyes glisten and it makes Rapunzel want to cry too.
Rapunzel latches onto her mother's fingertips with all the love Arianna had done nothing but give to her for all eighteen years of her life. It isn't until now the princess truly comprehends the idea of potentially never seeing the woman who raised her again.
As Arianna stares into her eyes with tears and a heartbroken grin, Rapunzel releases a choked sob. "Mom…" Her throat tightens and her voice cracks as she speaks.
Their foreheads fall against each other's and Arianna cups Rapunzel's face in her palms. "I love you more than anything in the entire world. Which is why I must let you go… if you choose to do so."
Rapunzel hands come up to rest atop hers. She closes her eyes, weeping softly, "I love you too."
They mirror each other in inhaling deeply, breathing in what may be their last moments together for a long time.
Arianna plants a soft kiss on Rapunzel's forehead, then strokes her thumbs across the girl's cheeks, wiping her tears away as she had always done since Rapunzel were a child.
The queen steps away from her. She somewhat composes herself, but there are still tears in her eyes as she says, "Go now. Quickly. Before it's too late."
Rapunzel sniffles as she asks with worry, "What about dad?"
Arianna grins at that before deciding with a small shrug, "He'll learn to live with it."
Despite her crying, Rapunzel beams as a sudden wave of excitement washes over her. She tightens her fingers around the ring of keys in her hands, holding them against her chest with hope.
"Go," Arianna whispers.
Rapunzel gives her one last apologetic look before turning and fleeing as fast as she can down the dark corridor.
The dungeon is even more dark and unsettling than Rapunzel had imagined.
The giant wooden door with creaking metal hinges at the edge of the basement had always been locked and heavily guarded when she was a child. All she knew was that whatever had been hiding down there, just below her feet, had been strictly forbidden.
She realizes now it had been for good reason.
But this prison is different than any other in the city. This one is colder, darker, lower, and completely underground - meant only for the most dangerous of criminals, most of which are facing a death sentence. That is, if they haven't already died within the prison walls first. Once inside, there's no coming back out.
The basement lacks any guards just as her mother had told her. She doesn't know much time she has left until they come back. Hurriedly, she inserts the rusty key into the door and unlocks it.
As Rapunzel slowly steps through the door with her head down and her hood pulled low over her eyes, she feels her heart pounding and her body shivering from whatever lies ahead.
The heavy door creaks as it falls closed behind her, the sound echoing hauntingly. She's encased in darkness.
The prison is uncomfortably silent, with nothing but the sound of dripping water echoing from within.
A long and endless hallway lies ahead of her, trailing into a black abyss. The stone walls are cracked and damp. The concrete floor is covered with murky puddles. There are no windows, no sunlight to brighten the various cells boarded with iron bars.
The walls are dimly illuminated by flickering fire lit torches, providing just enough light for Rapunzel to see a few feet in front of her.
She grabs one of them off the wall near the door, holding it out in front of her to guide her path. She swallows nervously as she begins to walk.
Rats scuttle and squeak along the floor and the eerie sound leaves Rapunzel shuddering. Her boots splash through a thin layer of water that has flooded the ground as she makes her way down the hall. Her footsteps echo and Rapunzel holds her breath in fear of breathing too loud.
The cells themselves are covered in shadows, and Rapunzel avoids staring into the dark voids for too long. Though, curiosity gets the better of her and she peers into one of them as she walks past.
She notices a burly man with red hair and a scar on his face sitting slumped in the corner on the other side of the bars, looking miserable and half asleep. There's another man sitting on the opposite end of the same cell, with identical red hair and an eye patch.
He slowly raises his chin as Rapunzel walks past, but she looks away instantly when he momentarily meets her eyes.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, Rapunzel thinks she recognizes the silhouette sitting against the wall in one of the cells.
She warily stops in front of the iron bars, fearful of saying a word in case it isn't him. She raises the lantern up next to her face as she peers inside.
"Rapunzel?"
The familiar sound of Eugene's voice makes her exhale with relief. As she looks closer into the darkness, she recognizes him immediately. The sight of him ignites a sense of comfort that she'd forgotten how much she missed.
He pushes himself to his feet, out of the shadows and into the light. As he rushes toward her, he hardly believes his own eyes. A part of him thinks he might be dreaming. "How did you get down here?"
The flickering firelight illuminates his face as he grips the bars, standing inches away from her now. The dried blood on his face is mostly gone now but the bruises remain around his nose along with the dark cut in his lip.
"My mother…" Rapunzel says, still not entirely believing her own words, "She helped me."
Eugene notices the gloomy look in her eyes and the way her gaze falls as she says it. He notices the flushed pink color of her freckled cheeks and the way that her tired eyes appear as if she had just been crying.
"Oh, Eugene…" she whispers, reaching a hand through the bars. Her fingertips delicately stroke the side of his bruised face, "What did they do to you?"
He doesn't flinch at her touch despite the lingering pain. Rather, he melts into the feeling of her skin against his and wishes she'd never let go.
Rapunzel assumes what had happened. Though the Stabbington's are mostly to blame, Eugene would be lying to say the guards didn't have a part in it too.
"Ah, it's—it's nothing," he shrugs, releasing a breathy chuckle. "You shoulda seen the other guy."
He smirks at her despite the circumstances. The fact that he's able to joke about it eases her mind somewhat.
Determination overcomes Rapunzel's voice as she remembers they don't have much time, "I'm getting you out of here." The sound of keys jingling fills the dungeon as she frantically begins unlocking the cell door between them.
With his heart in his throat, Eugene had thought he'd never see her again. He'd thought it had been over.
Spending an entire night in this cell, he'd accepted that he was going to die here, and she would forget all about him soon enough. Rapunzel is the last person he'd ever expected to find in a place like this, but seeing her here now, with the thought that maybe everything will be okay, it sparks a sense of hope in him that he can't explain.
Then he remembers the moment she'd apologized to him in the midst of battle within the town square, and their failed escape that came after it.
"Hey," Eugene reaches his hand through the bars, placing it atop hers and stopping her from fumbling with the keys. When she looks up at him, his expression softens, and he flashes her a grin. "I'm sorry too."
A moment passes, before she smiles at him too.
After a few tries, Rapunzel finds the correct key that clicks into place and the cell door swings open with a screech.