One more chapter left! (unless I split it in half, because it's shaping up to be a whopper of a chapter)

There were few times in Hector's life when he could remember being so completely full, his emotions swelling inside him like a tsunami, clashing inside his chest like the ring of swords and the shout of armies, while he stood silently amidst the chaos in painful contentment. Discord warred with euphoria, leaving him in sudden peace and the knowledge that perhaps he should be reacting more intensely. The day he had been found by Edmund and brought to the castle was such a day. The day he was selected by Talya, her crooked smile filling him with warmth and the feeling that he finally belonged somewhere. The day he took his oath.

Now, as he tucked a sleeping Varian into bed, nudging his mouth shut and depositing the rat beside him, his lungs twisted themselves into knots and pressed against his ribs. Realistically, he knew Varian hadn't been aware of what he was saying. The kid had been seconds from sleep. He didn't think of Hector as his dad; rather, in his exhausted state, he had heard Hector's words and imagined them coming from the person whose approval he desired the most.

That didn't absolve him of the rampaging emotions of protectiveness, terror, parental instincts. Had he not been thinking of Varian all this time as his kid?

Noiselessly closing the door behind him, he groaned at the sight of Adira waiting for him on the couch. A knowing smirk played across her face. "Not a word," he hissed.

She held up her hands placatingly as he sat beside her. Then, dramatically, she gasped, "Is that a gray hair?"

"I said shut it," he snapped. "And you're one to talk!"

"This is natural," she shot back playfully. "Look at you, you're already getting wrinkles!"

"Keep it down! He's sleeping." He rubbed his hands over his face. "You know he didn't mean it."

"You did," she responded more quietly. "I've seen the way you act around him. You treat him like he's your son."

"Yeah, well, he's not," he snapped a bit more forcefully than necessary. "We've had this discussion before. I'm not Quirin, and that's who he needs. I'm just doing my best."

"And what exactly do you think a parent is?"

He cut her a vicious glare. "How the devil should I know?" With a sigh, he leaned his head back against the couch.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know. Just… forget it, 'kay?"

She nodded softly, resting a hand on his shoulder for a brief second before withdrawing it. They sat in silence, lost in thought, until Adira offered a gentle reminder that it was very late. Hector nodded and stood. Pausing with his hand on the doorknob, he muttered over his shoulder, "Thanks, I guess. For… for believing in me."

"I always have."

O‴O‴O‴

"Where's the canteens?"

"Aunt Adira had them. She said she'll meet us outside." Varian latched his pack shut and swung it over his shoulder. "Is everything else ready?"

"Yeah. Come on, can't leave her waiting."

They made it to the front entrance before Adira, to Hector's glee and Varian's amusement. She joined them two minutes later, and the Coronans and King Edmund exited the castle thirty seconds after that. Rapunzel leaned on Eugene, her annoying "everything is fine" face notably (and thankfully) absent. Eugene must have convinced her to talk everything out, or at least gotten her to acknowledge that something was wrong. Currently he had his arms wrapped around her protectively, resting the side of his face atop her blonde hair.

"What's the plan?" Adira asked. "Will you be able to make it back to Corona alone?"

"We should be fine," Rapunzel answered. "Now that we've made the trip once, the return journey shouldn't be so bad!"

"I hope so, for your sake. Try to avoid the Forbidden Forest this time. I won't be there to guide you."

"And for the love of stars, don't wander into random shell houses," Hector growled.

"Hah. Yeah, that's fair." She twisted her hair.

Varian turned away from the conversation and began loading bags up onto Kubwa's broad back. Artemis perched on the rhino's saddle, tilting her head as if scrutinizing Varian's packing job. Then she looked behind him, giving a low warning cry. He spun to see Lance approaching, hands raised in a gesture of peace.

"Hey, little man," the Coronan began. The tension bled from Varian's shoulders, and he leaned against Kubwa's side. "You need a hand?"

"I think I got everything, thanks. What… what are y'all gonna do now?"

"We'll go back to Corona. Cassandra's going to head that way, but she probably won't try anything until she learns more about the Moonstone. So Rapunzel needs to learn more about the Sundrop. She said there's more of Demanitus's writings somewhere around."

"Is she actually thinking about fighting?"

"She's…" Lance sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "She's starting to think about it."

Varian turned and rifled through one of his packs, pulling out a scrap of paper. He twisted it in his hands nervously. "Look…" He made a face and exhaled heavily. "I trust you. And don't you ever tell anyone I said that."

"My lips are sealed." Lance mimed locking his mouth with a key.

Varian held out the paper. "This is a translation key for Demanitus' code. I don't know if it'll be useful for any of his other works; depends on if he used the same code for everything he wrote. Don't tell any of the others you have it. But if you find something useful in his notes that they need to know…"

Lance accepted the paper and tucked it in an inner pocket in his vest. "Thank you. I won't say a word to the others. And if we find out anything that can help you, I'll do what I can to get it to you."

"Thanks."

Hector strode over. "Time to go. You ready?"

"Yeah."

Lance held out a hand to Hector, who stared at it for a moment before shaking it. Then he offered the same to Varian, who accepted a bit more readily. Throughout the last few weeks, he'd gotten used to being around Lance and receiving gentle touches on the shoulder or a helping hand. It was weird still—he couldn't imagine letting anyone but Hector or Adira touch him—but he was getting used to it. Somewhere along the road, he'd started to accept Lance as another member of their little party.

"Um, guys?" Rapunzel waved them over and pointed at something in the clouds. "Any clue what that is?"

Varian tilted his head to the side and stared at the odd sight. Something glowed far above them—was that a balloon? He'd heard of such things being used to transport people but had never gotten to see one.

The balloon—two balloons, actually—drifted lower, revealing the ship-like structure hanging between them. As the flames receded, the Brotherhood and the Coronans backed up; the pilot appeared to be attempting to land just in front of them.

Hector drew his sword. "Permission to cut them down?"

"Denied," Edmund clipped. "This could be quite fortuitous. Stay ready, though."

"Yes, my king."

The ship settled on the ground, and a plank appeared over the edge. The first person over the edge was a mime—this had to be one of the princess's friends, then.

The next two people wore the gold-colored armor of Coronan guards.

Varian yelped, ducking behind Hector. The warrior snarled and drew his sword, using his right arm to hem Varian in. Trembling, Varian pressed his forehead against Hector's back. This couldn't be happening; he had to be dreaming! How had they found him all the way out here? No, he couldn't go back; he'd die before he let them take him back!

Twin screams from just ahead of him preceded the sound of pathetic whimpering and metal rattling. Hector scoffed but didn't move from his poised position. Taking the moment of distraction, Varian peeked around him. Only two guards had appeared, and they currently lay half-curled around each other at the base of the plank where they had apparently fallen in their panic. When no one else came into view, he stepped out further despite Hector's warning grunt and looked at the guards.

Rapunzel recognized them first. "Stan? Pete?"

"H-hi, Princess," the mustached one stammered. "Is—is he gonna kill us?"

"Depends," Hector hissed. "Varian?"

Varian relaxed a bit. "They weren't… involved," he answered. "They just threw me out during the storm. The snowstorm," he emphasized, glaring down at them. They flinched knowingly.

"Ah. Those idiots."

"Please don't kick us, sir!" the other one pleaded.

Varian glanced up at Hector, who shrugged. "We met. Twice."

"I see."

"Did anyone else come with you?" Rapunzel asked. "What are you doing here, anyway? And where did you get this ship?"

Seemingly assured that Hector wasn't going to kill them, they stood and brushed themselves off in an attempt to regain some of their lost dignity. "We came to find you," No Mustache answered. "There was a rebellion in Corona. Some of the Saporian Separatists tried to overthrow the kingdom."

Rapunzel gasped. "Andrew," she hissed, clenching her fists.

"We took care of it already," Mustache assured her. "They didn't get very far. But the king was worried about you, so he sent the two of us to find you. And Ulf knows how to fly hot air balloons, so he offered to come with us."

"Well, that will save us a lot of traveling time!" Rapunzel clasped her hands together. "Thanks, guys."

Adira scanned the ship with an appraising eye. "Princess," she began, placing her hands on her hips, "Would it be possible for my family and I to travel back to Corona with you?"

"What?" Varian exclaimed.

"We gotta hunt down that thief!" Hector argued.

She nodded. "And we will. But this is an opportunity we shouldn't miss. If we return to Corona, the princess can help us free Quirin's body. If she can't, I can try to use my sword to cut him free. Then we can ask to borrow their airship and bring him here to bury him properly." Her shoulder slumped. "He deserves that much, at least," she murmured.

"Are you sure that will be safe?" Rapunzel asked. "For Varian?"

"We'll only be there a few hours, at most. And we'll stay on the outskirts of town."

"Then we'd be happy to have you travel with us!"

Hector turned to Varian. "Is this something you'll be okay with?"

"I…" Varian bit his lip. "Going back to Corona is the last thing I want to do, but… Dad's been in there too long. Aunt Adira's right. He deserves to come home one last time."

Hector nodded. "Fine, so be it."

"What about you?" Eugene turned to Edmund. "Are you coming?"

"Not at the moment, though I may join you in Corona presently."

"Got it."

They boarded the ship, Varian making sure to stand as far from the guards as possible and the guards making sure to stand as far from Hector as possible. Their arrangement worked quite nicely. As the airship rose, Varian moved to watch Ulf at the controls. "This is so cool! I've never gotten to see one of these in person!"

"Tell me how it works," Hector offered, arms wrapped around his stomach and standing awkwardly nearby while avoiding looking at the ground below or the ropes around him. "How's an itty bitty fire like that get this thing up?"

"It heats the air inside the balloons," he explained. "Hot air rises above cold air. So by controlling the amount of heat that goes inside, he can control how high the balloon goes."

"Huh. 'Kay."

The trip flew by, taking a mere two days as compared to the almost four months it had taken Varian and Hector to get from Corona to the Dark Kingdom. Hector looked more than uncomfortable for most of the trip, refusing to go belowdecks as it turned him seventeen different variations of the color green and refusing to get near the railing; he spent most of the trip curled up with the bearcats in the dead middle of the top deck.

Varian sat with Hector for most of the trip, only going below at night at Hector's insistence. To keep his uncle's mind off their current location, he talked. Their conversations drifted towards Quirin; for a trip to retrieve his body, it seemed only fitting. As Hector had shared tales of Sir Quirin of the Brotherhood when Varian needed to know someone else had loved Quirin and mourned for him, now Varian shared tales of Quirin the farmer, the leader of Old Corona, the father. He told how stern, serious Quirin had the habit of making puns at the oddest (and sometimes most inappropriate) times. How he talked to his plants. How the smaller children in the village liked to climb up on his shoulders and pretend he was a mountain.

The broken wall of Old Corona stood out against the landscape as a scar. Varian flinched but didn't look away. The last time he'd seen this sight, he'd been dragged away in chains. Now he was returning of his own will, family by his side. The last time he'd passed this wall, it had been unconsciously, held safely in the arms of the one person he trusted never to betray him. With a small smile, he reflected on how little he'd trusted Hector back then, convinced that the man would leave him or hurt him or even turn him back over to the Coronans. But anything was safer than staying put, and he had been too fragile to argue much. He'd never been more glad to be proven wrong about anything.

"Ugh," Hector muttered, leaning his head over the railing. "About blasted time. Y'all can take this death-trap back home. I'll take the long way, thanks."

Behind him, Adira sighed. "The great Hector, taken down by a balloon. That will certainly be a story for the chronicles. The sword-son of Master Talya, last of the lineage of Queen Val herself, defeated by a bag of hot air. Hey Varian, how did you say the machine worked? I want to make sure I get all the details right!"

"Ah shaddup," Hector growled, shoving himself to his feet. "I ain't losing a fight to a stupid balloon."

"No, no, we wouldn't want you to strain yourself. If you can't handle it, you travel by yourself, and Varian and I will take Quirin home. No need for you to risk your life with us."

"You don't get to tell me what I can't do," he said with a scowl, getting too close to her face. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Me going by myself and you getting to corrupt my successor. Well it ain't happening!" He spun on his heel and made for the gap in the ship's wall where Lance and Eugene were preparing the plank.

"Works every time," Adira whispered to Varian with a smirk.

The ship landed with a thud. "We'll wait here for you, Your Highness," the mustached guard—Stan?—said.

Hector and Adira stayed close by Varian's sides. As the wreckage from the battle came into closer view, he stepped closer to Hector, who put an arm around his shoulders. The two warriors silently fumed, their expressions saying everything they thought. Rapunzel and her group wisely trailed several steps behind them.

Varian coughed as they entered the house, a cloud of dust stirring up under their footsteps. He kept his head down as they moved towards the lab. Broken glass crunched underfoot; Varian wanted to look up from the floor, but the reminders of his hideous affliction were painted across every surface. As Hector moved to walk ahead of him, he fastened his gaze on the back of the man's gray cloak.

Hector pushed open the remnants of the lab door, kicking wood and stone out of their way. Varian's chest tightened, his breath coming in small gasps. The room looked worse than he remembered, his fury-induced haze blocking out the worst of that sight over a year ago. His eyes flitted around the room, taking in the barren shelves that had once held his chemicals, the broken chain in the corner—he quickly looked away from that—the gaping hole in the floor where he'd stored his final weapon; anything to keep his eyes off the softly-glowing monument to his imprudence.

A gentle hand rested on his back, rubbing up and down. "Breathe, little one," Adira whispered. He let his breath fall into the rhythm of her motions, his momentary panic subsiding. Adira dropped her arm as soon as he calmed down, her hands balling into fists at her sides. A quick glance up at her showed her jaw set and her brows drawn low over her eyes. Her lips had tightened in a deep frown.

Varian winced as he remembered: Adira hadn't seen the amber before. This was her first time seeing Quirin's body after his death.

"You okay?" Hector muttered under his breath, casting Adira a veiled look of concern masked behind a casual raise of his eyebrows.

"I'm fine," she whispered back. "I just… you warned me, but I never imagined this." Her eyes flickered down to Varian. "I'm sorry you had to stay here with him like this."

Rapunzel entered the room behind them, carefully picking her way around the broken glass. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Varian answered, voice shaking.

"This might not work."

He gave her a strained smile. "If it doesn't, at least you tried."

She nodded and started to take her hair out of its braid. "Okay. Can someone get a bucket of water? Once I start this, I won't be able to stop."

As Adira grabbed a bucket and went to get the water, Varian approached the amber, looking at it fully for the first time since he came inside. Quirin's face was contorted in pain, just as it had been every day for over a year. The unread letter—whatever his last words had been—was still clenched tightly in his fist. What had he meant to say? Was it the truth about the Brotherhood, about his past, about his family? He placed a hand against the amber. "Hey, Dad," he whispered. "I, uh… I came back. I kept my promise. I don't know if this is gonna work, but… but I hope it does. If not we'll try Aunt Adira's sword. I'm not giving up yet."

He stepped back as Rapunzel began looping her hair around the amber.

O‴O‴O‴

It had been an inside joke among the three of them for years; ironically enough, it was Quirin—Quirin, the stiffest and most reserved of the Brotherhood—who had started it. Back before they were even officially knights, and Hector had made a mistake in challenging the wrong people. When they'd found him, covered in blood and biting at anyone who approached, Quirin had grabbed him in a bear hug (half to comfort him, half to keep his arms restrained). I'm glad you're alright, he'd said. Now I'm gonna kill you myself.

To Hector, dazed and concussed, it had been the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

The amber sloughed away, Quirin's body falling to the ground. Hector stood dazed, watching as Varian ran forward and Adira tried to wake the princess from her trance—he should be doing something, realistically he knew this, but that groan… that gruff, deep, too familiar groan of pain as Quirin's arm moved to bring his hand up to his head, that noise rattled Hector down to his core and froze him to the spot.

Beside him, Adira gave up on trying to be gentle and bodyslammed the princess, who yelped and shook her head as the dark energy around her receded at last. Then Adira grabbed his shoulder. "Hector," she called, shaking his shoulder. "Hector, wake up!"

He shook her hand off. "I'm good," he huffed. "You see that?"

"I see."

Varian was sobbing, face buried in Quirin's shirt, as Quirin wrapped his arms around him and ran a hand through the boy's hair. Varian looked smaller than normal, practically disappearing in his father's embrace.

A small hand tapped his shoulder. He turned to see Rapunzel. "I'll give you guys some privacy," she whispered. "I can bring the ship back for you tomorrow." He nodded, and she slipped out with one last wave to Adira.

Quirin looked up, then, eyes widening as he saw the rest of the family. He stood, pulling Varian up with him. "Hector?" he rasped. "Adira?"

Hector stumbled forward, unashamedly throwing his arms around both his brother and nephew. This close, it was easier to notice the tremors wracking Quirin's body, the sharp smell of chemicals that lingered around him, the weakness of his grip. The last year had taken a toll on him… but he was alive. After all that, he was still alive.

"I'm glad you're okay," he muttered, soft enough that only Quirin could hear. "Now I'm gonna kill you myself."

Quirin laughed. "I missed you too," he replied.

"Oh shaddup."

Quirin looked over Hector's shoulder. "Adira."

She stepped forward. "Just this once," she relented, half-joining their hug and resting her forehead against Quirin's. They stood like that for several long seconds, taking in the feel of each others' presence again after all this time.

As they broke apart, Varian looked up at his dad, whose arm he refused to release. "Oh! The note! What did it say?"

Quirin sighed and looked down at the paper, which had fallen into the liquefied amber. "I just… I wanted to tell you how proud I was of you. And I wanted to tell you about your family, but it looks like they beat me to it." Looking back at them, he asked, "How did you find Varian, anyway?"

Hector gave a short, uncomfortable laugh. "It's… a long story."

"Aren't you officially wanted in Corona now?" Adira reminded him.

"...Yeah. But hey, so is—" He yelped as Adira stomped on his foot.

Quirin looked Varian over, frowning as he took in his son's appearance, from his new clothes to the scars that mottled his arms and face. "What… Varian, what happened? Who did this to you?" He reached up a hand to touch Varian's face but froze when the kid flinched instinctively, a stricken expression crossing his face.

Varian made a noise, half-muffled by his arm that he brought up to block his face, a heartwrenching cross between a desperate laugh and a hopeless sob. "It's been a really long year," he choked out.

Quirin's face fell. "A… year?"

"Well… a year, two months, and three days, but who's—who's counting, amiright?" He grinned anxiously and rubbed the back of his neck with his gloved hand.

As Quirin's expression grew horrified, Hector took a deep breath. "'Kay, I think we need to sit down for a bit. We'll explain everything."

The others nodded. No one trusted themselves to speak, to break the tense silence that had descended upon them so suddenly.

They made their way back into the main house and to what had been the living room at one point. As Varian and Adira walked ahead, Hector put a hand on Quirin's shoulder to stop him. At Quirin's questioning look, he murmured, "Promise me you'll hear him out. All the way."

"Is it that bad?"

Hector met his eyes sadly. "You're not gonna like it. Any of it."

Quirin sighed and nodded. "I'll listen to the whole story."

They met up with the others. Quirin collapsed in an armchair, his strength still evading him. Hector got one of their canteens and brought him some water. Then he sat on the couch to Quirin's left. Adira perched on an end table. Now that the dangerous part was out of the way, the animals were permitted to join them inside, and Riki and Kiki curled up together in the second chair while Artemis perched above the fireplace.

Varian sat next to Hector, on the side opposite from Quirin. He curled up, hugging Ruddiger to his chest, as if trying to hide himself from his father's view. Given what they were about to discuss, Hector didn't blame him. Even he wasn't sure how his brother would react.

Quirin rubbed his face with his hands. "A year? It's been… It's been a year since the storm? What happened?"

Varian curled up further into his little ball. "Do you want me to tell him?" Hector asked.

"No, I can—I can tell him."

Slowly, voice shaking, Varian began telling his solemn tale. To his credit, he left out no detail, explaining his treason and what he'd done to get back at the royal family. The adults stayed silent and let him talk, save for where Hector interrupted a time or two to guide him back from his spiraling thoughts.

Quirin rested his steepled hands against his mouth, his face as unreadable and unmoving as stone.

Varian's voice trailed away as he got to his arrest, the painful memories stealing his voice. So Hector picked up the story, explaining what they'd done in their twisted mockery of justice, as Varian curled into his side. He detailed the rescue, their journey to the Dark Kingdom, and the incident at the Great Tree—almost three weeks ago now—that brought Adira back into his life. Their journey from there to the Dark Kingdom had felt like an eternity, but it took only a few minutes to tell. And that led to the topic of the thief. Quirin raised an eyebrow at that but still said nothing.

"…So we traveled with the princess to get back here," he finished up. "We weren't exactly expecting—well, we didn't think you were alive, but I'm glad you are."

Quirin sat silently, eyes closed, breathing deeply. For a long moment, no one moved. Then, abruptly, he stood and stormed from the room. Down the hall, a door slammed behind him.

"Well, he took it better than I expected!" Adira noted cheerily.

"How the dickens did you expect him to react?"

She shrugged. "I expected him to be louder, at least."

The door opened again, and footsteps thundered down the hall as Quirin rejoined them. He clamped a hand down on the doorframe as he entered the room. "Where is my sword?" he demanded, seething.

"Why do you need it?" Hector stood, shifting to block Varian from sight.

"Hector. Where. Is. My. Sword." He leveled a glare at the younger knight that would stop anyone else in their tracks and send them running for cover. Hector, however, had been desensitized due to regular exposure from the time they were children.

"You don't need it right now."

"You tell me where my sword is—"

"You can have it back when you calm down. You're scaring the kid."

Quirin stopped, looking past Hector to see Varian. He sighed and ran his hands over his face, shoulders sagging. As Hector stepped aside, he came and knelt in front of Varian. "I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you. I'm… disappointed, yes, but not mad. You shouldn't have been left alone long enough to do half of what you did, and the fact that you were wasn't your fault."

Varian shook his head. "I made the amber," he reminded Quirin. "I was alone because I hurt you."

Quirin started to reach a hand out to him but stopped, dropping it back down by his side. "It was an accident. Varian, you never meant to hurt me. You were in danger, and I chose to protect you. Don't blame yourself for that."

"If I had just listened to you—"

"Then maybe it wouldn't have happened, yes, but you still shouldn't have been alone. It's inexcusable that you were abandoned." Quirin stood and began pacing. "I'm not angry at you; I'm angry at the adults who did this to you. The princess should have known better than to draw you into her family's problems, especially if she had no intentions of helping you. But she's still a child, herself. But…" He ran his hands through his hair, scowl deepening. "But Frederic. How dare he! For twenty years, I lied for him. I kept his secrets. And this is how he repays me? No, he crossed a line when he brought my family into this. He'll pay for that."

"I love it when he gets like this," Hector said with a grin. Adira smacked the back of his head.

"Well, we can't exactly storm the castle right now," Adira, always the voice of reason, reminded them. "As much as we'd all like to, we do have bigger concerns. Frederic can wait. So I say we make some supper and get to sleep. We should leave Corona tomorrow. Hector, write a letter to King Edmund to tell him the news. I'm sure he'll be as excited as we are."

Quirin glared out the window as if he did in fact want to storm the castle at once, but he nodded his assent and reluctantly allowed himself to be nudged back to his chair so Adira could see if he was injured any. While she tended to him, Hector shoved an armoir and a desk in front of the wreckage of the front doorway, bracing his makeshift barrier with the table and chairs. Then he grabbed the bedrolls from their packs—no one wanted to be alone tonight, and it was with unspoken agreement that the upstairs bedrooms went untouched. Varian quickly prepped a light meal of dried fruits and meat, getting the extra canteens from their bags as well. They didn't dare make a fire; though it was doubtful that anyone was around to see the smoke, it was best not to take chances in hostile territory. They couldn't go outside to the well to refill their canteens, either, but Varian showed them a small pump he'd installed inside the house, similar to what they had in the Dark Kingdom. According to him, it was a rarity in the poorer parts of Corona, though the richer towns and the castle all had such fixtures.

It was in silence that they sat down to eat, no one quite sure what to say. Hector watched Varian pick at his meal with some concern. In the last few weeks, he'd taken a turn for the worse again, ever since being kidnapped by the princess and her friends. His time at the Dark Kingdom had helped, as had joining the Brotherhood; but now, back behind enemy lines and faced with dark reminders of the demons that had haunted him for a year now, he seemed to shrink into himself. He kept casting furtive glances over at Quirin; whether to make sure he didn't disappear again or to be on guard if Quirin's mercy should be lacking, Hector couldn't tell, but he sincerely hoped it was the former. Varian had been through too much to have to worry about whether or not Quirin would turn on him. The joy of having him back alive shouldn't have been tainted with this all-consuming dread.

They would need to talk soon. Varian and Quirin had much to say to each other, words held captive by time and pain, and their wounds were too raw, too bloody to try to touch now. Quirin may have understood why Varian lashed out, but no father wanted to hear that his son had done such grievous things. And for months, Varian had demanded answers from Hector, answers that Hector didn't have, about Quirin and why he lied and manipulated and why he could never just be proud of him.

For tonight, though, those conversations could wait. When they were ready, Hector and Adira would be there to support both of them through it.

As the night stretched on, Varian's eyes began to flutter, and Hector guided him over to the couch, draping a blanket over his shoulders as Ruddiger curled up next to him. "'M not tired," the kid grumbled.

"Yeah you are. Shut up." Hector ruffled his hair. "Here, gimme your boots. I'll put them with your swords."

Varian obliged and even wrapped the blanket tighter around himself, but he didn't take his eyes off Quirin. Quirin, for his part, noticed this and moved to kneel down next to his son. Hector left to go stand next to Adira and give them some privacy. As he watched, Quirin slowly rested his hand against Varian's head, trailing his fingers through the dark hair. He murmured something too low for them to hear, but it seemed to do the trick. Varian smiled—just a small, hesitant thing, but still a smile—and reached out to hug Quirin, who reciprocated in kind and embraced him as gently as if he were a newborn shruggle.

Once Varian had fallen asleep, Quirin rejoined them, nodding towards the kitchen. They assembled there, leaned against the counters, no one quite sure where to begin.

Quirin started the conversation. "How, um… how is he?"

Hector shrugged. "Physically, he's great. Completely recovered, 'xcept for his scars. But his mind…" He shook his head. "He's got a long way to go. After what they did to him, six, seven months ain't enough time for him to get over that."

Quirin covered his face with his hands, slumping against the counter. He breathed out a shaky breath, his arms and shoulders trembling uncharacteristically—this time from the weight of the news he'd received rather than the physical strain of being trapped for the last year. "I just don't… I don't understand," he choked out. "I can't imagine… my boy… my sweet, innocent child."

Adira started to touch his shoulder but stopped. "I know this is a lot. Do we need to talk about it tomorrow? We have plenty of time."

"No! No, I…" He took a deep breath and straightened up. "Don't worry about me. I needed to hear this. I need to know. He must… he must have been so scared."

They fell silent again, each left to ponder the circumstances that had led them here.

Finally, Hector growled. "Say it. We all know you're thinking it."

With a deep scowl, Quirin rested his hands on the countertop, fingers digging into the wood. "What do you want me to say? That I'm horrified that my son could do such things? Yes, I'm horrified. He's my son. I did not raise him like that. How am I supposed to react to hearing this? How do you think I should take the news that my only child nearly murdered people? Tell me, oh wise one!"

Hector lunged forward, grabbing Quirin's collar. "You hurt him, I'll kill you."

Quirin smacked Hector's hands away, grabbing and shoving him in return. "I'll kill that tyrant king for driving him to that point."

Adira rubbed her forehead. "Idiots. Do either of you remember there's a sleeping child one room over?"

They growled but let go, stalking back to their separate sides of the small kitchen.

"We all grew up around the black rocks," Adira continued. "We've seen just how quickly a person can lose everything from them, including their sanity. It was bad enough in a society saturated with them. But here, where they spring up without warning?"

"Twenty years out of the field hasn't erased your memory," Hector reminded him. "You saw what they did to people. We lived on the edge of desperation, one day to the next. Remember that guy who tried to assassinate Adira back when she was still princess, since he lost his family to the rocks?"

"And the hospital," Adira added quietly. "The doctors refused to treat their patients if they were hurt by the rocks. Superstition and fear made them lash out. They had to be arrested and replaced."

"People become desperate when they're afraid." Quirin glanced back to the living room. "Like I said, I'm not angry at him. In the Dark Kingdom, we understood this. We worked to help people rather than just locking them away… or worse, beating them into compliance. His actions came as a result of grief and lack of guidance. They were wrong, but he knows that. What good would it do for me to turn my back on him now? I won't abandon my boy. Everything I've ever done is to protect him."

Adira crossed her arms. "You aren't protecting him alone anymore. Varian only fell as far as he did because there was no one to look out for him once you were gone. There was no one to catch him. But now he has all of us. And he'll need all of us if he's going to heal."

O‴O‴O‴

Arianna hummed quietly to herself as her pen glided over the paper. The morning sun slanted through the windows, dappling the desk in front of her as the wind outside swayed the branches of the old tree through which the little beams flitted. The previous afternoon and evening had been rather busy given Rapunzel's sudden return, her refusal to talk about her journey, and the absence of her lady-in-waiting. It was rather concerning; all Rapunzel would say to Captain Bartholomew at his questioning was that Cassandra was alright. After the chaos of the evening—Frederic's frantic overprotectiveness that nearly led to an argument between him and his daughter until Arianna stepped in, Rapunzel being uncharacteristically snappish and short-tempered, and Eugene and Lance refusing to look anyone in the eyes and excusing themselves from the room before anyone could question their odd behavior (or the wary glances they threw at the king)—it had been impossible to get any work done, so now Arianna made up for lost time by retreating to her office rather than taking her customary morning stroll through the gardens.

A knock sounded on the door, interrupting her train of thought. She quickly stashed her journal into one of the desk drawers, arranging her papers in front of her to make it appear as if she had been hard at work planning the return celebration Frederic insisted on. "Come in!"

Rapunzel peeked her head around the door. "Hi, Mom."

"Hello, honey. Come on in." She stood to hug her daughter.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

Arianna winked. "Nothing that isn't incredibly boring. What's on your mind?"

"Not much! I just wanted to see if you wanted to come paint with me."

"I'd love to." These were the moments she'd missed for eighteen years. Planning could wait for a while.

They retreated to a private garden set aside for their use, carrying paints, easels, and canvases with them. It was a perfect spot; their efforts last year had yielded an abundance of flowers, the grass was more vibrant than any other garden in the castle, and songbirds flitted through the air to land on low-hanging branches. In the middle of the garden sat a fountain designed to look like a waterfall, and a tree nearby held a swing bench. Rapunzel gasped as she entered. "You kept up with it?"

"Of course. This is our spot. I wanted it to be ready when you got home."

They set up their easels and began to work. Arianna began humming again, startled to hear Rapunzel join in with an alto part. A gentle breeze ruffled through their hair. She picked out a bluebird sitting nearby, whistling on key with them, and started tracing.

Partway through painting a wing, she glanced over a Rapunzel, who had fallen silent suddenly. A crease lined her brow, and an unusual frown tugged at her lips. Arianna peeked at Rapunzel's painting. It had started as an image of a line of flower bushes but had shifted to be a vine-draped tree.

"Honey, is everything okay?" Arianna broached the subject carefully. "You seem a bit upset."

Rapunzel opened her mouth then closed it again. She placed her paintbrush down and tugged at a strand of hair near the base of her neck that had come loose from its braid. "I—I'm not really sure how to ask it."

Placing a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder, Arianna smiled. "Whatever it is, you know I'm here for you. In fact, it won't leave this garden unless you want it to." At Rapunzel's hesitation, she motioned to the swing bench. "Come, sit. If you're not ready to talk about it, that's fine, but I'm here when you are."

They sat, turned halfway to face each other. "I want to talk about it. Um… Did you—" Rapunzel bit her lip. Then in a rush, she asked, "Did you really help Varian escape?"

Arianna's blood ran cold, and her smile fell. "What makes you think that?" she asked, keeping her voice level. Had Frederic found out? Had he sent Rapunzel here to get answers out of her?

"Is it true, then?"

"If it was," she responded slowly, "would you disagree with my decision?"

"No! I mean—no." Rapunzel's hands dropped to her lap, where she clenched her fists. "I don't. After what I saw, I think… I think you made the right call."

The tension fell from Arianna's muscles. "What did you see? Who told you this?"

"Well… I met Hector."

"Who?"

Her face lit up. "He's Varian's uncle. Quirin's brother."

Arianna gasped. "Tall man, yellow eyes? Braided hair?"

"That's him!"

"Then… did you see Varian? Is he okay?"

Rapunzel grinned. "He's okay! Well, as okay as he can be, I guess, but he's safe. Hector and Adira—oh, that's his aunt—they really love him. They're taking care of him."

She breathed a sigh of relief, putting her hand over her chest. "Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried about sending him off with someone I didn't know, but I figured anything would be safer than leaving him here. Even if I tried to hide him, I knew it would only be a matter of time before… before someone found him and took him back to prison."

Brows knitting together, Rapunzel asked, "Then… you know about—about what happened to him? And who did it?"

She nodded. "It seems you do, too."

"Yeah. I didn't want to believe it."

"I didn't, either."

"So what do we do now? We have to do something, right?"

If Rapunzel had learned the truth, then perhaps it was time to bring her into confidence. But was she still too attached to the idea of her perfect father? After what had happened in her past, after finally being reunited with her family, it might not be fair to ask her to close her heart to someone she loved so dearly. Arianna's decision had been her own, made in maturity and logic. Rapunzel might not be ready for that yet. "What do you think we need to do?"

"I think—"

"Blondie!" a muffled voice called from beyond the garden wall. "Rapunzel, Sunshine, where are you?"

They exchanged a worried look, standing and hurrying to the door. As they exited, Eugene ran past them, sweating. Lance was right behind him. They skidded to a halt and spun back around. "Ah, Blondie! There you are; I've been looking for you everywhere!" Eugene exclaimed. "Oh, and Your Majesty!" He and Lance dropped into a hasty bow.

"Is everything okay? What's wrong?" Rapunzel wrung her hands.

"It's your dad. He's sent an entire battalion of guards to Old Corona—and he went himself!"

She brought her hands to her mouth. "Varian?"

Arianna gasped. "Wait, Varian's here, in Corona?"

Eugene winced. "Um… not to worry, Your Majesty! I'm sure this will all be taken care of—"

"Don't patronize me," she ordered, fighting to keep a bite out of her voice. "Is Varian in Old Corona?"

Rapunzel nodded. "We brought him and his family back with us so we could free Quirin. And it worked! But how did Dad know they were here?"

"I don't know." Lance shrugged. "Did anyone say anything to him?"

"I didn't."

Eugene shook his head, as well. Then he groaned. "Ah, Stan and Pete! Did anyone tell them to keep their mouths shut?"

"I'm an idiot!" Rapunzel exclaimed, smacking her forehead. "I didn't even think to tell them!"

"Hey, it happens." Eugene took her hands in his. "We all forgot. But we're gonna fix this."

She nodded. "Where's Maximus? I have to go after him!"

"We'll come with you!" Lance nodded stiffly.

"No! You two are already in enough trouble with Dad. I don't want you crossing him on this, too. I can handle him."

"The little guy's gonna be terrified," he argued. "I should be there to help him."

Arianna put a hand on Lance's arm, bringing his disputing to an abrupt halt. "He won't be alone. He has his family with him. And he'll have me."

The other three fell silent, staring at her with expressions ranging from shock to complete disbelief. "Um… Your Majesty?" Eugene questioned.

"Give me a moment to change into riding clothes," she ordered, "and saddle two horses. Rapunzel and I are going to Old Corona to fix this."

O‴O‴O‴

"Kid, get up!"

Varian shot up, instinctively flinging out a fist. Hector caught his wrist easily. "We'll work on that," he muttered to himself. "Come on. We gotta move, now."

"Whaz—" Varian shook his head, rubbing his eyes. "Whaz gon' on?" Glancing around, he spotted Adira and Quirin grabbing their bags.

Hector scowled, jerking his head in the direction of the door. "Someone ratted us out. Army's on the way. They'll be here in less than five minutes. And a company went behind the wall early this morning to block our exit."

He jumped to his feet, hands coming up to clutch at his shoulders. "They know we're here? How?" he demanded, voice shaking. He wanted to scream. Why now, when they'd come so far? When they were minutes away from leaving Corona behind forever?

"Not sure. Doesn't matter right now. We kept watch at night, but we didn't think to this morning. Quirin just spotted them."

"What do we do?" Problem and solution. He could do this, right? Just like last time. Except last time, he'd had a few hours of prep time and his alchemy. "We could take the tunnels, but they don't go past the wall. We'd have to hide out in Corona. Can we make it to the coast and escape by ship?"

Hector shook his head. "Too dangerous, especially for the animals, and they'll send out alerts to have everyone watching for us."

"Then—then how do we get out?"

Quirin straightened up from where he'd been kneeling by their baggage. From this angle, Varian could see his broadsword strapped across his back. He raised an eyebrow and smiled at Adira, who turned to Hector with a nod. Hector grinned, sharp teeth glimmering, and smacked his left palm with his right fist.

Varian's head tilted to the side as he watched them. "What are you going to do?"

The three warriors smiled at him, and for a moment, he forgot how to breathe. A shiver ran down his spine as his earlier fear began to pale. An invisible charge passed through the air, carrying with it a slight shift that Varian couldn't quite put into words but that stood before him as clear as glass. His family hadn't moved, but where had once stood his dad and aunt and uncle, now there stood the Brotherhood, whole and unbroken once more. For several months, he had seen Hector's ferocity and protective nature, but it was as if the man had only shown him a fragmented shard of himself until now. Adira's kind and quirky nature hid a hurricane beneath her skin. And his dad… the man in front of him had Quirin's face, wore Quirin's clothes, but how could this possibly be the same person? Where Quirin had always been an immovable object, steady and sure and unchanging, this was an unstoppable force, cold steel in his eyes and a new strength in the set of his shoulders.

Quirin stepped forward and tousled Varian's hair. "We're going to do what we do best."

A few notes on why I took this chapter this particular direction:
1. I've never seen anyone take the moment of Quirin's freedom from Hector's POV, so I wanted to explore that a little. There's so many magnificent fics that show Varian's reaction, and I didn't want to copy any of them or repeat anything that other writers have already written so beautifully. Also, if anyone knows of another fic with Hector's reaction to this, please do tell me!
2. On Quirin's reaction: the angle I wanted to take was that of a former soldier rather than a current farmer. With everything that's happened to Varian, I wanted his reaction to focus more on what was done to him rather than what he did. They obviously still have a lot to work out. But again, there are so many amazing fics that handle that conversation in such a delicate and careful manner, and I didn't want to repeat any of that when I knew there was too much happening in this chapter to give it the weight it deserved.

Also, a shruggle is a baby binturong :)