Chapter 11

"I think I look so much better in that uniform, don't you agree, my lady?" Ian was smiling as he admired himself in her mirror.

The only answer he got back was a loud scream.

Ian frowned and hurried into the hidden room off the sunroom.

"Your Majesty?" he asked, curiously.

Greta looked up, her face red; her eyes shooting daggers at him. "What is this you brought me? There's nothing in any of these bottles," Gothel fumed, as she threw the wrapping to the floor. "And where is that flower? I thought…"

Ian looked into her eyes and frowned. He walked to the table where Greta had assembled the three large bottle which he had been handed hours ago.

His confused gaze met hers. "I don't know, my lady. I was assured that these were exactly…"

"YOU WERE ASSURED?" Gothel screeched. "WHO WAS IT THAT ASSURED YOU?"

Ian was about to mention when Gothel waved her hand. "No, don't tell me. It doesn't matter much anymore. What matters is my stepdaughter is still alive somewhere."

Ian smiled. "The Guards will find her, my lady, and they'll find whoever did this to you."

Gothel looked up, her eyes wide and a small smile playing around her lips. "I wonder, Ian. I just wonder. The girl's outsmarted me at every turn. She's well hidden; that one is. But there is another, someone that I have trusted all this time. Someone who assured me that..." She never finished the sentence. The Queen shook her head as she turned her back on Ian. "I have enough elixir to last me until the summer and I can squeeze a bit out of the cuttings," she said, thinking aloud. "I'm not sure how long I can go without it. I'll have to start planting…."

She turned around to face him, never realizing her mistake until she caught Ian's glare. His brows were furrowed in confusion.

The Queen smiled and waved her hand at him again. "Never mind about what I just said, Ian," she laughed nervously. "Those guards have never failed me and as far as I know, they will never fail me."

She stroked his hair. "Go, my love, I will call on you again when I need you."

Ian was still frowning. He reached out to touch her arm, but she stepped away. "No, you've got to go. I will call on you soon, Ian, as soon as possible as a matter of fact. It won't be too much longer, especially if those guards come back empty handed."

Ian bowed and opened her chamber door. He looked back for one split second hoping to see her face once more before he left, but she had disappeared. He sighed and shook his head as he closed the door behind him.

XXXXXXX

"What's this? Rapunzel asked as Vlad placed a package of white muslin in her hand.

"I found this on one of the hunters, Miz Fitzherbert," the thug answered. "Don't know what it is exactly, just something I thought you'd be interested in."

Rapunzel heard the clinking of glass as she accepted the package. She unwrapped it and stared at it intently. She stared at it intently. Three large filled bottles of a clear liquid that she'd never seen before. A golden flower sat to the right of those bottles. She frowned and shook her head, but stopped and looked up, remembering something, something that she didn't want to remember.

"We've got to hide this, Vladamir," she said, wrapping up the bottles again. "We've got to keep it safe so no one gets a hold of it; especially those guards." She looked up. 'I'll give it to Eugene to put away. I know just what to do with these."

Vlad looked at her and and nodded, stepping out of her way. "I'll follow you down to the stables, make sure everything is alright."

"No, Vlad, everything's okay. I just need some time with my husband alone. I want to show this to him alone if you don't mind."

Vlad nodded and turned to walk away.

"Oh," Rapunzel said, rewrapping the bottles. "What about our three friends?"

Vlad turned to face her and smiled. "All taken care of, just as you and Mr. Fitzherbert instructed. The guards should find their horses on the side, but I'm sure that's all they'll find. Who knows how long they'll wander around those woods?"

Rapunzel smiled and picked up the package. "Eugene will be glad to hear that one, Vlad. Go downstairs and have yourself a drink, you've earned it."

With that, Rapunzel ran out the door clutching the package tightly in her hand. There was something important she had to tell him, something she'd been holding off for a while now.

XXXXXXX

Eugene smiled as he brushed off their horses. He could get used to this life, even if he really wasn't used to this. It was so peaceful, so unlike anything he was used to. Hustle and bustle, that's what he knew. Running away from everything, he was used to that too.

He looked at Suede and rubbed his hand across her nose. "Good girl," he whispered handing her an apple, which she gobbled up in a second. The red horse whinnied and Eugene gave her a pat on the side and started to walk away.

He started to pick up the rake and started to tidy up the barn, then he wanted to go upstairs to bed beside his wife. He adored her and he knew now that he wouldn't be able to make it through this life without her by his side. Princess or no princess, he wanted her and he wasn't going to let her go. Not now, not ever.

Gothel would never get hold of her, never. Eugene would make sure of that.

He couldn't let anyone know about the dangerous game he was playing, him, Bastian and the twins. He never intended to get Rapunzel involved in all of this, he really was supposed to knock her off balance for a while, it's just that Gothel got in the way. At first, the idea to accept sounded reasonable, the Queen was willing to pay and so he took on the job. He never intended to hurt the princess, he was hired to keep her safe and out of trouble. He was to rejoin Bastian and the twins when that assignment was over and concentrate on the original agreement he made.

Well, Eugene thought, no matter what's happened, she'd be safe, he'd see to it. He wouldn't let the Queen harm the only woman he ever loved, no matter whose side he was on.

"Eugene, Eugene," he heard his wife calling, as she burst through the barn entrance. "Look what Vald found," she called out. He could hear her foot steps as she came closer and he knew that eventually he would have to stop running.