Just to avoid some confusion, I've put together a character list:
Jonathan: King of Corona. Elinor: Queen of Corona. Robert: King of Faldonia. Nathaniel: Prince of Faldonia. Radcliffe: Robert's brother. Vivian: Radcliffe's wife. -Levi: guard. -And then you all know Rapunzel and Eugene :D
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Eugene raced down the hall. Alright, Eugene. Stay calm. It probably just fell or something. Somehow his thoughts did not help him calm down at all. He flew down a few flights of stairs and continued to run until he was outside. He couldn't get to the area under the window fast enough.
He frantically searched through the bushes beneath the window. He had to find it. He did NOT want to have to retrieve another paper from Lady Vivian.
"What are you doing?"
Eugene turned around, looking for the source of the voice. Levi stood directly behind him, his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised. "Looking for something," Eugene hastily replied.
"Oh really? The paper?"
"Yeah. I can't-" Eugene froze and looked back at the young guard, "How did you know?"
Levi reached into his sleeve and pulled out a folded up sheet of paper. "I saw it fall and could only guess what it was," Levi explained, "Be grateful. Another soldier almost picked it up, intending to get rid of it. It took a good deal of convincing to get him to give it to me."
Eugene snatched the paper and unfolded it without another word.
"'Thank you, Levi. I'm glad you've got my back.' Why you're welcome, Eugene. I'm glad you appreciate my work," Levi sarcastically remarked. He leaned forward, trying to get a look at the paper. "What is it?"
"It's a letter," Eugene said, "Addressed to King Jonathan of Corona."
Levi looked over Eugene's shoulder at the paper. "What does it say?"
Eugene was confused by what he read. "It's from the Kingdom of Krinton. It says that their part of Corona's debt has been paid off." He looked at Levi, "How many kingdoms is Corona indebted to?"
"I don't know," Levi shrugged, "Maybe about five or six."
"Is Krinton one of them?"
"Probably."
"Well this letter seems legitimate," Eugene said, "But why would two people from Faldonia be in possession of it?"
"You don't think it was intercepted before it got here, do you?" Levi suggested.
"It's possible." Eugene furrowed his brow in thought. "What are they planning? Debt papers, intercepted letters, a dagger-"
"A dagger?"
"Yeah. I think... they might. Well, I'm not sure, but they might be planning to kill someone."
"What?"
"Radcliffe said something about getting his hands dirty. Plus he brought a dagger- not a knife, a dagger- to a foreign kingdom while on a peaceful visit."
"We didn't think there was anything wrong with the dagger when we searched the trunk," Levi said, "But now that you mention it..."
Of course they didn't. Eugene had forgotten how terrible the security system of Corona was. He had so easily stolen the lost princess's crown right from under the guards' noses when he was alive and still a thief, then he was able to escape jail without so much as a scratch. Eugene crossed his arms. "We need to figure out what the rest of their plan is."
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"Hold still, princess. Just one more pin and I'll be done."
Rapunzel held up her arms and froze as the royal seamstress gathered up some of her wedding dress and stuck a pin into it. Two days until the wedding. It was so close. Rapunzel felt sick just thinking about it and all the last minute preparations were not helping her relax.
"There," the seamstress said, "You may take it off now, but be careful."
Rapunzel went behind the screen and slipped the huge white mass of fabric off herself. She carefully tossed the dress over the screen for the seamstress to take, then her maid, Amelia, came around to help Rapunzel into another dress.
Within no time, Rapunzel was on her way to the dining hall for supper. She found, when she entered, that she was the last to arrive. She quickly took her seat beside Nathaniel and mumbled her excuse about having her dress altered.
Now that Rapunzel had arrived, the food was brought out. King Robert immediately began to chat about how much he had been enjoying his time in Corona, how he never wanted to leave, and so on.
Rapunzel glanced at Nathaniel. She knew how he felt about his father's liveliness and easy social attitude. He felt that he would never be able to live up to his father's reputation. Rapunzel could beg to differ though and she felt bad that he thought so low of himself. She thought he was very kind, gentle, and wise, just a little more soft spoken than King Robert. She liked Nathaniel. She did, but not romantically. As much as she liked the prince, she could not forget about Eugene.
Eugene. She really did miss him. Her heart hurt every time she thought about him, but she still would try to remember everything about him. How he climbed into her tower for the first time, his ridiculous Smolder, the way he looked at her at the campfire, how he had held her hands on the boat at the lantern festival, how he came to rescue her from her tower, his sweet last words to her before he died, how he came back, then she remembered their supposed-to-be kiss before he left her. She dreamed every day and night how it might have felt to actually feel his kiss.
She felt herself starting to get emotional. She felt so... incomplete without him. She forced herself to stop thinking about him and turned her attention to King Robert who was still babbling on.
"...probably the finest ball Faldonia had ever seen!" he was telling Jonathan, "It was held in hopes of finding Nathaniel a perspective bride, but he just ignored every young lady in attendance."
Rapunzel noticed Nathaniel staring at his plate, clearly troubled by his father's story. His cheeks were turning pink and his droopy eyes drooped even more.
"Of course, it's a good thing he did not find a wife that night," Robert continued, oblivious to his son's discomfort, "Otherwise he would not be here to marry your wonderful daughter. Honestly there is no one any more worthy than Rapunzel for him. I wouldn't see him with anyone else."
Rapunzel felt her own cheeks begin to flush. Nathaniel stood up. "I'm not feeling well. I think I should go lie down. Please excuse me."
He walked out of the dining hall. Rapunzel seemed to be the only one who noticed the sadness in his eyes. Everyone else only seemed to notice the embarrassment. The dining hall fell into an awkward silence.
"So uh... Sir Radcliffe, do you find your new room comfortable?" Jonathan asked after a few silent moments, breaking the tension.
"Yes quite," Radcliffe replied, "They are all very lovely rooms."
"We are terribly sorry about the fire," Elinor spoke up from Jonathan's side, "Nothing like that has never happened before. You're sure there's nothing else we can do to make it up to you."
"You are very kind, your highness," Lady Vivian said in a flat tone, "But nothing was severely damaged. It's nothing to worry over."
The tension slowly began to decrease and everyone went back to eating. King Robert recovered from his confusion in his son's strange behavior and began talking again. Rapunzel watched Lady Vivian, curiously. The woman fidgeted and adjusted her bodice a good deal. Rapunzel understood the discomfort of corsets, ties, tight dresses, itchy fabric, and such, but she didn't fidget nearly as much as Vivian did. She wondered what it was that caused her so much discomfort.
Rapunzel turned her focus to Sir Radcliffe. He was not eating much and he kept staring at King Robert. Rapunzel saw a look in his eyes. She had only seen such a look once before. And that was on Gothel's face right before Eugene died. She blinked and shook her head. Sir Radcliffe's face was suddenly absent of the horrible expression and he seemed to be enjoying whatever Robert was talking about.
Rapunzel was a bit confused by it. She could have sworn she had seen that expression on his face, but perhaps she had been imagining things. It was ridiculous after all. Why would he hate his own brother?
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Oh no! You probably have a good idea of where this is going. Sorry this chapter was a little short, but it's Valentine's Day :)