"I want to go to the castle." Rapunzel awakes early Tuesday morning with this declaration. The days of darkness had been long, filled with doctors poking and prodding, friends reading to her, Eugene and her mother doting over her and her father fretting and desperately trying to command the Kingdom of Corona with such limited resources.
Never a peaceful moment, the cottage and surrounding property resonating with sound, reminding Rapunzel of a circus. She knew that if she could just get to the castle things would be quieter. Yes, true there would be more people but with such a larger space for everyone to occupy, she might have a chance at resting.
And she needed the rest. Since she had gone blind 3 days ago, she had almost ceased to sleep. She tried everything she could think of to get to sleep – sleepy tea, counting sheep, being read to – but all to no avail. In the evenings she would drift off for a half hour or so, and then lay wake for 3 hours only to repeat the process. Exhaustion was setting in and she knew if she could see she would be hallucinating at this point.
Eugene sleeps through the proclamation, his snoring evidence of this fact. Nights of fretting over her had finally taken its toll on him. No matter, Rapunzel thinks, I'll just walk down the hall and get my mother.
She hadn't counted on the fact that with the room filled with vases of flowers and who knew what else she wouldn't make it the two feet to the door. Falling wasn't new to her. She had been falling pretty regularly for a week now. But falling with no one at her elbow to catch her?
Rapunzel lies in a heap on the floor. She may not have her vision any longer but she still had her voice. "Help!"
Eugene snores louder.
Marta and Gretchen rush into the Princess's room. They gently lift her to standing allowing her to regain her balance.
"Princess, what is it you need?" Gretchen asks timidly.
"Take me to my mother. Please." Rapunzel tried to never order the servants. She preferred to ask. But her mind was muddled and she couldn't remember everything lately.
"Of course, Your Highness" Marta agrees quickly. "Let me just hold your elbow here and I will guide you. The Queen is already in the living room this morning."
The Queen looks up from her reading as Rapunzel enters. Before she even has time to greet her, Rapunzel starts in.
"Mother, I'd like to go back to the castle today. It's too noisy here, I can't sleep and I know Father will not leave and take this…this circus away unless I go to the castle. So let's get dressed, get packed and get out."
The Queen is a bit surprised, not so much by the request, but by the bossy tones in Rapunzel's voice. She had never heard her make demands or complain in the past. "All right dear. Let's make a list of what you need to take with you. We can start the process of getting everything packed up to take you home."
"Not home, Mother. This is my home. But yes, the castle. We must go back to the castle."
Hours later Rapunzel feels regret deep in her stomach – or is that motion sickness? Regardless she wishes someone would have tried to talk her out of leaving her home. But everyone seemed relieved. From Marta to her father to Eugene – they all were happy she had chosen to go. So why did none of them just ask me to go to the castle? How long would they have just stayed cramped up in our tiny cabin?
The carriage comes to an abrupt halt. Had Eugene not been holding her against his chest Rapunzel would have taken another tumble. "What's going on?" Eugene asks aloud to no one in particular. He knows they couldn't have made it all the way quite yet.
The door opens and one of the many men in the entourage pokes his head inside. "Sorry for the delay, Your Majesty, but there appears to be a problem at the front of the caravan. Perhaps, sir, the Prince could help us deal with the situation?" The man implores the King for Eugene's help.
The King hesitates to send his son-in-law into an unknown situation such as this. He looks over to where Rapunzel has buried her face in Eugene's chest. "I will come." The King doesn't dislike Eugene or wish to see him hurt, even though he does blame him for not having his daughter near him on a daily basis. He feels a fierce protection for both Eugene and Rapunzel and chooses to deal with the trouble, whatever it may be, on his own.
The King quickly strides to the front of the dozen carriages. Before reaching the front, though, he can already hear the angry voices. He hoped the guards were doing their duty to protect them from these intruders.
"Where's Flynn? We demand to see Flynn!" Angry Voice One sneers.
"We know he's here. We have our sources that have informed us and we will see him!" Angry Voice Two chimes in.
"Wouldn't want anything to happen to that pretty pretty princess of his, now would we?" threatens Angry Voice Three.
Reaching the front now, the King marches towards the trio of bandits. "I'm the King. What seems to be the trouble here? I'm sure this can be resolved without anyone involving my daughter."
"We have to see Flynn Rider." Angry Voice Two is a bit more timid with his request this time, eying the tall king and suddenly realizing that the soldiers have begun to surround them on all sides.
The King tilts his heads towards his men, indicating they tighten the perimeter a bit and several rush off to check the status of the princess. "This really isn't a great time right now for our family to be stopping here. Perhaps you could make an appointment and we can see if Prince Eugene will have a moment to spare with you later this week." Emphasis clearly laid on the Prince Eugene part. The King wanted these Ruffians to know that Eugene was no longer a thief, no longer Flynn and no longer interested in dealing with their type. He was the Prince and as such deserved their respect.
The three take two steps back. They really do want, no need, to see Flynn. But perhaps they went around it the wrong way. They quietly confer and decide to hold out for talking to Flynn without an audience. At least they know where he is going; he must be headed to the castle. It should be easy enough to infiltrate that place. The guards there used to be lax, perhaps they still are. No need to make a scene and get arrested today. Just make an appointment they don't intend to keep, but give a semblance of listening to reason. Bide their time, yes, indeed.
"All right. We'll, um, make one of those appointments you mentioned." Angry Voice One agrees. "How about Saturday at three?" he suggests.
"That will be fine. I'll be sure to let him know. Thank you for being reasonable. Now if you'll kindly step aside we'd like to continue our journey." The King leaned over to his right hand man, Brummell, and whispered in his ear. "Please have two men follow these 'gentlemen' and be sure they do not come to the castle until the appointed time."
The ruffians turn and run off into the forest, anxious to get back to their current hideout.
"There you are, dear." The Queen scolds as the King re-enters the carriage. "We really must be getting home. Everything okay out there?"
"Yes, my dear. It's just fine. No need to fret, we'll be going again momentarily." The King sits down next to his wife and pats her knee in reassurance. No need to worry the occupants of the carriage, he thought to himself. I will speak to Eugene about this matter soon enough. But he was concerned. It had been several years since anyone had referred to Eugene as "Flynn Rider". Just thinking the words made him a bit queasy to his stomach. He didn't like who Eugene used to be, but had come to peace with it. However, he despised the reminder of what had been. He only hoped that Eugene hadn't involved himself with these types of people again. If he had….well, the King didn't want to think about what could happen.
"We'll be going again soon, my sweetheart", Eugene whispers to his wife. But that's what she was afraid of – motion. She had just begun to feel a bit better and now the nausea will pick up again.
"I wish Pascal were here." She murmurs softly. "He always did know how to distract me best." A sad smile spread across her face. It had been two years since the passing of Pascal but she still missed him. She thought back to the day he had died.
"Eugene, come quick! Something's not right!" Eugene and Rapunzel had still been living in the castle at that time - newlyweds who didn't know what they wanted out of life.
Eugene raced down the hall with Rapunzel, certain he would find whatever was "wrong" in Rapunzel's world would be something he could easily fix. But what he saw as her went into their room gave him a shock and a bit of a scare. Rapunzel sat on the floor, surrounded by her maids, holding a very still Pascal in her hands. "Eugene. Do something. Why isn't he moving?" Her voice cracked, terrified of the unknown.
Eugene slid to the floor next to his wife and put his arms around her. "Shhh, it's okay, honey. I'm so sorry to have to tell you this" he hesitated, knowing this was her first experience losing someone she loved. Oh, she had been saddened at Mother Gothel's death, but not really. Once she thought about it, she realized that woman had been the cause of all her pain, all her lost time with her parents, and of course, she had murdered Eugene as well. But now to lose Pascal? How could he tell her that her most beloved Pascal was gone forever?
Rapunzel noticed his pause, sniffed her nose and looked up at him. "What is it, Eugene? Do you know what's wrong with him?"
Tears already pricking at his eyes, he sighed "Rapunzel dear, Pascal has….has died. His body is like that because he doesn't have any life left." Eugene choked the words out over his thick tongue.
Sobs shook Rapunzel's body as the reality of his words sunk in. Gone? Pascal dead? But he was all she had left from her previous life. Everything else here had been brand new. Meeting everyone, getting used to everything – so different from the quiet life in the tower with Mother Gothel. But Pascal? He had been her constant. What would she do without him?
"Perhaps, I can heal him with my tears. I brought you back from the dead!" But her tears covered the limp chameleon at this point, almost drowning him and nothing changed. She had lost her magic – first out of her hair and now out of her tears.
For two days Rapunzel sat in their royal room, unable to come out, not wanting any visitors save for Eugene bringing her meals three times a day. On the third day, she dried her tears, stepped into the hallway, squared her shoulders and made it to the breakfast table. The other occupants of the room were surprised to see her, but tried to hide that fact. "You okay, honey?" Eugene rushed to her side and placed a loving hand on her shoulder.
She smiled up at him – a real smile that lit up her entire face. "I'm wonderful, my Love. My grief has passed and I'm ready to live my life."
Rapunzel wonders now if that moment had been the best to make the next decision, but the past is past. It was that day that she told Eugene she wanted them to live away from the castle for a few years. She wanted to enjoy their married life just the two of them. No servants, no parents, no chef – just Rapunzel and Eugene forging along in life, being a "normal" couple.
The carriage rocks back and forth, the steady rhythm lulling Rapunzel to sleep. Ah, sweet sleep.