A/N - seems ages since I last updated (sorry about that). Who saw Ms Moore and Mr Levi singing at the Oscars and swooned? (raises hand).
OK - what follows is a short chapter, definitely not my favourite, but necessary to move the story along. I'm making progress, even writing during my lunch breaks at work, and we're about a third of the way through.
Enjoy - R&R x
The Green King Wakes
At first there was darkness. It had been dark for a long time. The passage of time did not register in the tomb, under the earth, but a reasonable guess suggested it had been more than a few hours. Years, decades, centuries. But if the Green King was anything, he was patient.
His men, his loyal men, had placed him hereafter that last disastrous battle. He had felt the cool marble on his back and then nothing. He knew he would lay here for a very long time. Long enough, until the world needed him to rise again. And so, until that time, he would sleep.
And then his tomb moved. The moonlight shone in through the open trapdoor and for the first time in millennia, the Green King stirred.
The marble lid crashed onto the cavern floor. The sound reverberated and the echoes took a very long time to die away. It was loud enough to wake the dead. Funny that, the Green King thought, as he sat up, stiffly.
He stretched his arms and legs, turned his head from side to side. His ancient body cracked and creaked through years of disuse. The Green King gave a yawn, and decided to try out his vocal chords.
"Viridis Rex revenio!" he cried, his voice growing louder and stronger as he repeated the phrase. "The Green King has returned!"
At the sound of his voice, the jade army shook. With the jerking movements of statues come to life, the army turned and shuffled until they were rearranged in perfect ranks, facing their king. Their eyes shone brightly as they stared at their leader, waiting for his orders.
"Have the Sun and Moon met in the sky?" he enquired. One jade soldier at the front, a small, wiry little man, ran forward to peer out of the trapdoor.
"No, my liege," he replied. And at that the Green King roared with rage. He had been woken early. Someone had failed to show the proper respect and broken the covenant he had made to sleep until the world needed him. He wasn't needed, he was awake and he was angry.
xoxox
"Did you have a nice time, Princess?" one of the guards asked as Eugene pulled the little boat against the jetty.
"We had a lovely time, thank you Nigel," said Eugene, feeling slighted. The guard completely missed the annoyance in his voice, reaching out a hand to help Rapunzel to dry land.
"It was beautiful," Rapunzel added, glancing back at the little island. She hoped that, after their little adventure, Eugene would find another, less dangerous project to concentrate on when the pressures of royal life became too much again.
Eugene also looked back at the island as he disembarked. He had heard something, he was sure, coming from the tomb. He wasn't anxious to return, but his curiosity still lingered regarding the Green King.
"The King and Queen requested the pleasure of an audience with you upon your return," said the guard, Nigel. Eugene climbed up behind Rapunzel on Maximus's back, and with one final glance over his shoulder, urged the horse towards home.
Neither of them had seen, despite their lingering looks back towards the island, the jade helmet of a soldier rising from the mound. But he had seen them, a beautiful princess with short brown hair and her prince. They had woken the Green King, and they would pay the price.
The army marched to the edge of the lake and the Green King unsheathed his sword. Inverting his hold on the hilt, he slammed the blade into the earth just touching the water. The lake bubbled and the water level dropped. The jade army marched across the lake, following in the direction Rapunzel, Eugene and the guards had taken.
As they marched they swung their banners, and swords in a carefully choreographed routine. Where their foots trod the grass died; where their swords struck the plants withered; birds fell from the sky and dark clouds gathered over the waved banners.
xoxox
Eugene noticed the storm clouds gathering as they walked up the castle steps to their audience with the King and Queen.
"Looks like we caught the best of the weather," he commented, as lightning flashed down in the distance and thunder rumbled.
Odd, he thought. There had been absolutely no indication of a storm approaching earlier that day. Usually there would have been a heaviness to the air; or a taste like tin. The animals would certainly have been agitated, but everything had been calm and peaceful. This storm boded more than just wet weather.
The guard, not Nigel this time, but one Eugene hadn't met before – there were so many guards that even after all this time he still hadn't learned all their names – opened the door to the private study where the King and Queen were waiting.
They made small talk for a few minutes, commenting on the sudden, dramatic change in the weather that day, before moving onto the main business for the meeting. Delegates from a town several miles away would be arriving later that evening. Theirs was a small farming community, hoping to establish trade with a larger kingdom, like Corona, to help themselves grow and prosper. Rapunzel would be required to attend, as she would need to learn the finer points of negotiating such an agreement. And Eugene had been requested to attend as he had once spent a productive month in the little town. Eugene read between the lines – this was his opportunity to make good on his old, not so good, ways. Besides, he had spent so much time squirreled away in the library, it was time to restart his responsibilities as the prince he would one day become.
Eugene agreed, not at all reluctantly. The Green King had been a brief distraction, with a rush of excitement, but it was over now, and Eugene was happy to move on.
Just as the King finished going over the final details, about an hour later, a guard – Eric, possibly? Eugene really had to start learning names – ran in to interrupt with some terrible news. The delegates would not be arriving; they had been attacked en-route, but the survivors' stories had been confused and rambling. Eugene and Rapunzel caught the words 'jade green' and exchanged glances.
"Your majesties," said Eugene, once Eric had panted to the end of his interruption. "I believe this might be my fault."
He quickly explained what had happened on the island, in the tomb. The Queen gave a small shriek, hands flying to her mouth. Rapunzel was alarmed at her mother's reaction and followed the woman as she ran from the room to her small private study.
"Mother, what's wrong?" Rapunzel asked, watching as the Queen rummaged in a pile of random items on the floor beside her bureau. The Queen didn't answer until she had found what she was looking for; a slim volume bound in dark brown leather.
"Mr Fitzherbert will not have read this book," she said, handing it to her daughter with care. "It is exceedingly rare and I did not want to keep it in the library."
Rapunzel turned the delicate pages carefully, her eyes widening as she took in the words. This was the much darker side to the legend, warning that waking the Green King early would spell destruction for the intruder and all standing in the way. The colour drained from Rapunzel's face. The Green King would keep marching, destroying everything in his path until he found her and Eugene and took his deadly revenge.
"Mother," she whispered, her voice trembling. "What can we do? We can't let him destroy Corona! All those people…"
"We must get you out of the castle and somewhere safe, my darling," the Queen replied. "You and Eugene. He was a thief; he must have a hiding place somewhere where he can protect you."
Rapunzel's face went blank for a moment as she thought. She stared past her mother at nothing. Then a slow smile slid across her face.
"I don't think he does have many hiding places left," she said. "But I do."