Chapter 20
Bastian was hearing voices, the Queen's voice to be particular. Since he arrived at the Seven Dwarves, her voice was constantly in his ear reminding him of the vow he took and the promise he made to her.
As of this morning, the Queen was leaving him new orders and he wasn't really comfortable with what she was telling him.
Hold the Princess for me. I should be there today or tomorrow; we're getting close now. Don't give them to those fool twins. I've got a plan to kill her myself.
And he thought he was well rid of her.
Rapunzel would be easy to deal with, Eugene trusted him. Once the Queen arrived with Ian, the three would be able to keep them all at bay, the Thugs included. That witch had magic no one could touch; Greta was unbeatable.
The plan had been simple. Find the Princess and get rid of her, but now a different plan emerged. She obviously knew that Roland was alive or did she. She made no mention of the King. Her plans were now to find the elixir, kill the Princess and Eugene, get rid of the twins, the Thugs and Ian and it would be the two of them ruling Corona forever. He was in love with the entire plan as he was always in love with her. He couldn't escape her, he knew that now. He had fallen in love with her when Roland had first brought her to the castle and had been lovers behind Roland's back. He was part of the plot to kill the King, pretending to be his closest confidant along with Captain Rider. He reported everything back to her and they had worked closely together, the two always confined to a single room at the inn.
It would be so easy, Bastian thought with a smile. Everything would work out. All he had to do was find the elixir, well, he knew exactly where that was; no problem there. Then there was the Princess and he knew where she was as well. Eugene would be a slight problem as would be the Thugs and his cousin, but he figured he'd manage, especially with Ian and the Queen's magic.
But then there was the Queen herself. She'd have to be dealt with next. Bastian figured that he'd bide his time and take her back to the cottage where they could be alone for a few weeks. He'd get her to trust him again and then he'd do what he had to, making it look as if an accident happened. He go back to Corona with the news of how Queen Greta met her demise and surely, surely they'd reward him for a job well done, perhaps even give him the Kingship. He'd have everything he ever wanted.
It had been a good dream, maybe now was the time to put it into use.
Looking around to see if anyone was following him, Bastian headed into the deeper part of the barn behind the door to the closed room where Eugene had hidden the small oblong box. He opened the door and reached out to touch the shelf where the box lay.
The space was empty. There was no box.
With a frown, Bastian decided. Someone had gotten there ahead of him, most likely the twins. They wanted the box too, although he wasn't supposed to know about that. He had heard them talking to one another, but he had put it out of his mind, hoping that they'd gone straight as they had promised.
But Bastian should have known better. He should have realized that they'd go after it before he'd gotten there. Well, he'd track them down and take it from them, no matter what the cost.
He would do anything for his ladylove, anything at all. He never faltered, not once. And this time was no exception.
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"It's gone," Sideburns said, staring at his brother. "Some took that elixir before we did."
Eye Patch shrugged. "You think they really believed all that stuff about us going wanting to straight? Anyway, we were all supposed to clean up on that job that the Queen proposed."
Sideburns only laughed. "This would have been so much better. This thing would have set us up for life. This is the answer to everyone's dream."
Eye Patch smiled and nodded his head. "How to stay young, beautiful and healthy for eternity and all you have to do is take a sip."
Sideburns shook his head. "We should have taken it the stuff last night and left. We shouldn't have trusted everyone. " He stared at his brother. "In the meantime, we have our own plan to work out."
Eye Patch nodded. "Well, the Queen did say that we'd be taken care of for the rest of our life."
Sideburns shook his head. "Only if we listened to her and obeyed her every order. We might need her in the beginning, brother, but it won't be too much longer. The kingdom will be all ours."
Eye Patch stared at his brother and smiled. Sideburns couldn't help but smile back.
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"We'll take that off your hands right now, Eugene," Dr. Miller said, holding out his hand. "We'll take good care of it."
Eugene stared at the oblong box and sighed. He hated to give it up, but he knew he had to. The Perth Healer's Hospital and Orphanage had very generously given their permission to become caretakers of the box along with an oath to never let it out of their clutches, no matter who asked for it. They also offered to put up the King, Rapunzel and himself for an unlimited amount of time or at least until the Queen and her cohorts passed through. Shorty and Greno set the whole thing up. It had been their idea in the first place. It would be the last place anyone would look, including Bastian and the twins. He couldn't trust Bas any longer, not after Rapunzel told Eugene everything she had heard and seen between him and the Queen. There was no denying it, even though Bastian had tried his hardest.
Eugene sighed and handed it over. He knew they would take great care of it. In the meantime, it would be out of anyone's reach, including him.
"Thanks for all the care you're giving us," Eugene said. "We appreciate what you're doing here."
"My pleasure," Miller said with a grin. "I'm wondering though when you'll be here,"
"We should hopefully arrive sometime in the afternoon," Eugene answered. "The King is one of the most important treasures and he must be treated as such. In the meantime, keep these objects safe."
Miller smiled. "Don't worry, Eugene everything is under control. We will do everything in power to keep your secret."
"I'm counting on that, Dr. Miller," Eugene smiled. "We'll see you tomorrow then."