Chapter 3 - The Pardon
"Flynn Rider." The words felt foreign to the King as he spoke them. Perhaps it was because the King had previously refused to utter them. To the King, he had always been "a thief" and as of three days ago he had become "The Thief." Still, the King had refused to refer to him by his name, even an assumed name, because doing so would have given the Thief too much acknowledgement.
The Young Man nodded in response to the name as he sat rigid across from the King in an uncomfortable chair. The King was seated at his grand desk. It was made of dark mahogany and strewn with important papers and valuable knickknacks.
"That's Flynn, with two "n's," the King inquired as he grabbed a writing plume and put on his reading glasses.
Again, the Young Man only nodded. The Young Man appeared to be having difficulty speaking. A few hours ago, they had exchanged a few pleasant words and made light conversation out on the balcony. They had even shared a hug and the King had thanked the Young Man for returning his daughter safely. Now, the Young Man and the King had retreated to the King's Chambers. It was within these imposing walls that the Young Man had fallen silent.
Perhaps the Young Man was intimidated by his surroundings. The office within the King's Chambers was richly decorated in expertly crafted furniture, fine antiques and imported textiles. Perhaps the Young Man was intimidated by being alone in the King's presence. The King was no longer accompanied by his gracious wife and vivacious young daughter. Perhaps the Young Man's neck was sore from the sudden and unforeseeable change in his circumstances. Regardless of the cause, the Young Man had apparently been rendered mute.
The King sighed and the sound reverberated in the silent Chamber. If the King thought pronouncing Flynn Rider's name felt odd, writing it down on a Royal Pardon felt downright surreal. While the King had never called him by name, Flynn Rider's exploits were well known to him. For the past decade, Flynn Rider had scourged the King's countryside, swindling nobles, enticing women and upsetting his subjects.
The King had never seen this "Flynn Rider" in person. He vaguely recalled the Wanted Posters that still littered the landscape. They had been regularly churned out by the King's printing press. The posters had been reproduced so often that Friedrich, the King's printer and Corona's sole sketch artist, had made two boilerplates some years ago. The first boilerplate read "Wanted, Reward" and the second read "Flynn Rider, Thief." Friedrich would use the first boilerplate for the top of the poster and the second boilerplate for the bottom. He would then sketch Flynn Rider's face on the poster by hand. After the King had signed the death warrant, Friedrich begrudgingly made a third boilerplate which read, "Wanted, Dead or Alive." Friedrich was getting along in years. His eyesight was poor, his hands were arthritic and he did not like to add to his workload.
Now this Young Man was sitting nervously in the King's office. Perhaps it was because the King had never bothered to closely inspect the Wanted Posters, but the Young Man before him bared no physical resemblance to the infamous Flynn Rider. The Young Man was cleaned-up, his hair was still slightly damp and he was wearing elegant, although somewhat ill-fitting, clothes hastily gathered by the King's personal tailor.
As the King sat at his desk he looked down at the paper in front of him. The King felt a cold shiver run down his back as he pondered what could have been. To think he had almost ended the Young Man's life. To think that the writ that he signed almost caused his daughter to remain The Lost Princess. The King's hand trembled as he quickly signed Flynn Rider's pardon. He signed it hurriedly for fear that the outcome might somehow be altered. He was eager to put the whole distressing matter behind him.
Now that the pardon had been effectuated, the King put down his plume and removed his reading glasses. The King brought his hands together, bridging his fingers in front of his chin. He began looking intently at the Young Man. The Young Man appeared to subtly shift under the King's piercing gaze.
"Mr. Fitzherbert, . . . Eugene," the King began but immediately stopped himself. He wanted to collect his thoughts and carefully choose his next words.
"I feel I owe you an explanation. No, that's not correct," the King shook his head before starting again. "I feel, I owe you an apology."
The Young Man did not move but his handsome features appeared to have softened. His mouth was slightly ajar and his eyes a bit wide in surprise as he considered the words the King had just spoken. The Young Man, while still sitting up straight, appeared to be leaning slightly forward in anticipation.
The King decided to proceed, ignoring the perceptible change in the Young Man's demeanor. This time the King spoke more slowly.
"Three days ago you came into my Throne Room and callously took my most treasured possession. You took my daughter's Crown from me on the eve of her eighteenth birthday. You took the last shed of concrete evidence I had that she had existed."
The King stopped himself for a moment before continuing. "My wife's faith in her return never faltered. For her, these Lantern Ceremonies were a beacon, a lighted path for our daughter's safe return. To me, they served as a painful reminder of what I was missing." The King felt his voice crack. He cleared his throat before proceeding.
"When she was - -"
"When she was taken, we anxiously awaited a ransom. We thought, if we met the culprit's demands she would be returned to us safely. But that never happened. Many years passed and we heard nothing. And so, Eugene, I must confess to you that I had given up hope. I no longer believed her to be -" The King stopped again. This time, so he could stop shaking. The sheer force of this confession had taken the King by surprise. He had never confided this in another soul. He did not want to cause his wife further grief and had felt too ashamed to admit that he thought his daughter was no longer breathing.
Nonetheless, the King continued. "Eu, Eugene. You have to look at this from my perspective. You took all I had. All that remained of he-r." King tried pausing again but this last statement was too much for him. He had now given up all pretenses and began openly weeping.
When he was finally able to compose himself, the King stated, "You must try to understand, Eugene, what that felt like. You must try to understand the state of mind I was in, the pain your theft had caused me."
"And so, in this very room, I signed that paper," he said matter-of-factly. "Three days ago, I Ordered your execution."
"Had my Order been carried out you would have perished and my daughter would never have been returned to me. In hindsight, Eugene, I would have regretted both acts immensely."
"For years you have befuddled my guards and caused havoc throughout my Kingdom. Even so, Eugene your crimes did not merit the punishment I had decreed for you. You took something precious from me but your life is still too high a price to pay for an artifact. For this, Eugene, you must forgive me."
The astonished Young Man swallowed hard before finally regaining his voice. "Yes, Your Majesty," he responded softly.
The King stood up abruptly and the Young Man immediately followed. The King walked around his large desk and put his hefty arm around the Young Man.
"Now. I believe my wife and my daughter are expecting us for dinner," the King said with as contented smile. The King's heart skipped a happy little beat as he marveled at this novel statement. The King no longer had a Lost Princess.
As Eugene Fitzherbert walked out of the King's office, he left Flynn Rider behind along with Flynn's Pardon.
AN1: I've always been bothered by the fact that Flynn Rider would have been summarily executed without a trial. I understand that there were eyewitnesses to the crime. Even so, you should at least be given a trial for a capital offense. The fact that Flynn Rider asks the Captain, "where are we going" and then appears surprised by the Captain's response suggests to me that Flynn had expected some sort of due process and that his case was being handled differently from other cases. The other reason this bothered me was because, in my mind, it didn't jive with what we know about the King. I think it is pretty clear that the King is a nice guy and very understanding. He would have to be to let Eugene court his daughter and ultimately marry her. So it seemed, to me, out of character for the King to be condemning a man, any man, to his death without a trial. Chapter 3 of The Lost Princess is my attempt at reconciling these two thoughts. I also thought that the fact that the King had signed Flynn Rider's Death Warrant would be the proverbial elephant in the (throne) room as far as the King and Eugene are concerned. So I wanted to devise a way that they could get past this right off the bat and move on with their relationship.
AN2: This is the final Chapter to the Lost Princess. As you can see from the ANs to Chapter 2, this story unfolded a bit differently from what I had in mind when I wrote Chapter 1. Thank you for taking the time to read it. As always, if you have any questions or want to discuss it further, feel free to send me an Ask on my Tumblr or you can PM me.
JMet