Chapter 10

Elvira finally found the entrance and scrambled up the stairs to the main room of the tower. She heard the screaming coming from somewhere underneath the floor. She tried to pinpoint the sounds, which by now had almost disappeared altogether.

"Hello," the voice called, "is someone there?"

"Eugene?" Elvira's voice rang out. "Where are you?"

"I'm down here under the floor. There's a trap door."

"Knock a few times, Eugene,"

She followed the knocks, but still couldn't find any of it. Elvira kicked away a stray shirt out of her way only to discover that the shirt had been hiding it. She grabbed the iron latch and pulled it open, revealing an iron ladder leading downward into darkness.

"Eugene? Keep talking, loud and clear."

Opening up the hatch had let a little light in, but not much.

"I'm down here, below you."

Elvira looked again, but could only make out a small lump of something, shoved up against the cold stone wall of the cellar. He was right at the foot of the ladder.

With quick movements, she climbed down the ladder carefully. She almost stepped on him when she reached the last rung on the ladder.

"Eugene?" she called out.

"Help me," was the answer she received.

Her wings disappeared into her back and jumped onto the floor, stepping over her grandson.

"Leave it to me, Eugene. You'll be out of those binds by no time."

Using no magic, Elvira quickly loosened the ropes that bound his hands and feet. She helped him to stand and helped him up the ladder, where Eugene promptly collapsed against the tower wall.

Elvira set about boiling water and mixing the herbs she carried for a poultice. She placed a cool rag on his brow and laid a second on his wounds.

"You will need some rest, Eugene."

Eugene frowned at her. "Elvira?" he whispered. "How can that be? I know you're…"

Elvira smiled and placed a finger to his lips. "Quiet, my grandson; you need your rest. You'll need your strength for the ball tomorrow night. "

"Ball? What ball? My tickets are gone. The Stabbingtons took them and someone else who looks like me, but with…"

Elvira nodded. "Yes, with a different nose. His name is Flynn Rider, the one you named yourself after. He's a bit older than you, but you're distant cousins, through marriage. He's the last survivor of the Gothel clan."

"But his name…"

Elvira shook her head. "What you need is to lie down and rest. The Stabbingtons and Rider won't be back for sometime. I will stay with you, but I'm going to have to find out what this is all about. You have a costume for the ball I suppose?"

Eugene nodded. "Yeah, I do. It should be in the closet back there unless it was taken along with those tickets."

Elvira stood up and walked over the wardrobe and opened the unpainted wooden doors. Sure enough, there was a uniform hanging there, a Guardsman's uniform.

She pulled it out and stared at it, a tear sliding down her cheek. "Where did you find this, Eugene?"

"In the closet back at the farm," he whispered. "I figured it belonged to you. It fits perfectly."

Elvira walked toward him, draping the uniform over her arm. "It's a long story, Eugene," she said, settling back in her chair. She draped the uniform across Eugene's bed and stood up, helping her grandson to stand. They both walked toward it, Eugene leaning a bit heavily on Elvira.

Eugene was able to stretch out on the bed and moaned a bit. "You'll have to explain, Elvira. I need to know everything, especially now. You did call me your grandson."

Elvira nodded and smoothed his hair. "Yes," she whispered, "but first you will need rest. You need to get to that ball and prove to everyone who you really are. Then everything will be set right. Now, about what I'm doing here, you see…"

But she stopped as she heard Eugene's steady breathing. She nodded as she tucked him in and stared into his face. "You rest for a few hours, my grandson. You'll know the truth in a few hours."

XXXXX

"Alright boys, this is where we split up," Rider said, staring at the two of them. "Find some nice place to sleep tonight and lie low."

Sideburns turned to Eye Patch who he discovered had been already looking at back at him. Both turned to Rider.

"This wasn't how we planned it, Rider. I don't know about this."

Flynn Rider stared at the two of them. Maybe they weren't the fools he thought they were.

"What do you mean? I told you to wait for my signal, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did, but that was for tomorrow night." Sideburns answered.

"We got tickets to this thing, ya know," Eye Patch nodded. "We were looking forward to this thing."

"Alright, alright," Rider laughed. "The two of you can come inside the castle with me. You'll be my bodyguards."

Satisfied, the twins smiled at one another.

"Let's get inside and find Megan," Flynn said, looking around nervously. "She was supposed to meet me out here and…"

"And I'm right here, Mr. Rider," Rapunzel said, with a grin. She turned her attention to the twins. "Who are these two, your bodyguards?"

Rider smiled. Brilliant woman, he thought as he nodded his head. "How'd you know?"

Rapunzel kept staring at them, and then turned toward Flynn. "Lucky guess," she said. "Come on, let's go. Sorry I'm a bit late."

She glanced at the two brothers once more before she led the three of them past the guards at the gate. She'd seen them somewhere before, but she wasn't exactly sure where.

Rapunzel was nervous herself as she passed through the gate. She had to pull this off just as the three of them planned to. She knew her parents would stick by their part of the bargain and she had to stick by that.

All she needed was a little confidence and determination and with that, she'd be able to accomplish anything.