Chapter 18

"So the Thugs tell me that this place is yours, Rider," the King said, staring at Eugene. Shorty had just delivered a round of drinks to the men, compliments he said, of the Flo and Gene Fitzherbert, proprietors.

Eugene nodded. "I happened to fall in love with your daughter, Si..I mean Cuth. With Gothel coming for us, we had to change our names and adopt to a new life in a new place."

Roland shook his head. "It won't matter much, Rider, you and the Thugs don't understand. She's got a magic mirror. By now, she's probably come up with a portable one as well. She knows where Rapunzel is, she can pinpoint her location and direction in a single second. If she's still hanging around with your cousin, Bast, it will make it easier. Smyth is a great tracker, which is why I had him on my team. "

"He's turned traitor, Cuth," Bastian said. "He's fallen for the Queen hook, line and sinker although I do believe it's more a spell she's managed to put on him. She tried that with me, it didn't take or rather I didn't let it." Bastian frowned. "How did you come to marry the woman anyway?"

Roland smiled. "A serious mistake on my part, Bas. You walked away from her, I couldn't and now I'm sorry for it. She tried to kill me; poisoned me, you know. Rider was able to steal some of the elixir from her, brought me to an old cottage in the woods where he watched over me as I recovered. But that stuff is addicting, Bas. The more I drank of it, the more I needed it. I am still weak, but I need to get well on my own."

Bastian looked from the King to Eugene than back again. "So this whole thing started with Rapunzel and the Stabbingtons?"

Eugene nodded. "Cuth wanted his daughter away from Greta, no matter what. The twins were my idea. I'd heard of them, but never met them or seen them for that matter. They took up with me because they wanted to go straight. It was your wife that hired us to kill her. We agreed to it, but I couldn't go through with it. So I went with the original plan instead. I had to keep her away from the brothers here because I thought…"

"He was sure that we would kill the girl," Sideburns said. "But we couldn't do it. We wanted to go straight. And I really didn't want to get mixed up with the likes of of that evil woman anyway."

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore, guys," the King said, "what we need to do now is come up something else. That woman is on her way up her, probably with Ian and the Guards, if she hadn't gotten rid of them already."

Roland turned to Bastian. "Were you able to elixir and the flower?"

Bastian's smile turned into a frown. He shook his head. "We managed to steal it, but we…"

Eugene smiled and shook his head. "Rapunzel found it or should I say, one of the Thugs did. He handed it to your daughter and she hid it right back here."

He rummaged around a few things until he came up with the medium sized oblong wooden box. He slid open the cover and there it was; the tiny bottle of left over elixir. To the right of the bottle lay the magic golden flower. He closed the box and walked back to the circle of men. Eugene sat and handed it out to the King who refused to take it. He shook his head.

"We need to keep that hidden," Roland said. "We can't let Greta get a hold of that flower. It has to be shared with the rest of the kingdom and used for the good of the people, especially to the people who need it. It needs to be controlled so that others can benefit from its power."

The King stared at all the men's faces. "We've got to be prepared. There is a fight coming up and we'll have to stand our ground." He looked at Bastian. "You'll have to face your cousin, Bas. He's under a spell and he won't know anything but defending her. We might also be facing opposition from the Guards as well, at least some of them."

The King looked up at Eugene. "What about Rapunzel? Does she know exactly what's going on?"

"She does now," a woman's voice answered at the door. Rapunzel was bringing the second round of drinks. "So you were right, Eugene. I had a feeling she was lying to me about that elixir being perfume. There never was an odor to the stuff anyway."

Eugene waited until she passed out the drinks before he put his arm around her. "She'll be fine, I know she will. The girl has a head on her shoulders and I think she'll be able to fend for herself. In the meantime, the Thugs will be able to keep her safe."

Rapunzel frowned. "I think I'll be able to take care of myself if and when the Queen shows up. I don't think I'd fall for the poisoned apple trick that the evil stepmother came up with in the Snow White fairy tale." She smiled, looking up at Eugene. "But it would be nice to have a knight in shining armor to kiss me to break the spell and wake me up."

Eugene smiled. "You've got you knight in shining armor right here," he said, pulling Rapunzel toward him. He tightened his grip around her waist. "You're not going anywhere, Flo, not if I can help it."

And the four men watched as Eugene and Rapunzel kissed one another.

"Uh, you two," Bastian said, "watching them. "She'll be here, alright, any day. We've got to be prepared for it. And we've got to prepared for something else. You've got to remain hidden, Cuth. We can't afford slip ups. If the Queen finds you alive…"

Roland smiled and shook his head. "I've taken some steps to make her believe that I'm not. Besides which, we'll find out just how old the Queen is. Without the elixir, she can curl up and die depending on how old she really is."

"I don't think she even knows how old she is," Sideburns agreed. "I guess she'll always be the old lady to me and my brother."

Sideburns watched as they all laughed together, then he turned his attention to his brother who met his eye. He looked at the oblong wooden box across the room and sighed. If they got to that flower and elixir before anyone else did, they could make a mint and no one would know the wiser.

Maybe what the Queen gave them would probably be worth killing all these people who trusted them and believe their story of wanting to go straight. But they'd have to bide their time and strike when they could. It would all straighten itself out when the Queen got here. And she would, Sideburns knew she would.