Happy snow days! I haven't been in school yesterday or today (and hopefully tomorrow), so I've gotten a lot of writing in! The official word count for this story is 15 chapters and 42,928 words, and I'm no where close to being done! That's so exciting because that makes this story the longest I've ever written! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled or Narnia or Edmund or Eugene. Crap. :'(

WARNING: This chapter is extremely depressing. Like, if you cry a lot, you might need to dig out the tissues. Especially if you listen to the recommended songs: "Obliviate", "Ron Leaves", and "Farewell to Dobby" from the Deathly Hallows soundtrack. This is really sad. Not gonna lie. Enjoy and please review! :)

Chapter IX – Another Attack

Rapunzel slept fitfully when she actually could sleep. She tossed and turned all night, and was only able to doze on and off. After a particularly long period of time with no peace and sleep, Rapunzel sat up in her bed, watching the moonlight dance across the floor. The whitish blue light flickered as clouds filled the sky. Soon, very little light was left, and then that, too, disappeared, only to be filled by the gentle tapping of rain upon the windows, roof, and balconies.

The lost princess of Corona sat in her bed with the covers around her waist, shivering in her plain nightgown. She knew the reason why she couldn't sleep. It had two names: Edmund and Eugene. In her mind, Rapunzel knew that Edmund was the logical choice because there was very, very little chance that she would ever see you Eugene again. In her heart…well, Rapunzel had no idea. Her heart was showing her two paths.

The first was with Edmund. Rapunzel knew that she could be happy with him, love him even, eventually. They were such good friends already! Life would be wonderful with Edmund. Rapunzel couldn't stop her heart from racing every time she saw him, even if they weren't speaking. But, of course, that might change after the events from earlier in the day. Rapunzel can honestly say that when she walked into the garden, she didn't expect him to kiss her. She definitely didn't expect him to kiss her twice. Of everything that could have happened, Rapunzel expected her first kiss to come from a man named Eugene. Not Edmund.

The second was with Eugene. If he did come back, or she did find him, then Rapunzel knew that they would immediately be together forever. Inseparable. Rapunzel loved Eugene. She already did and she knew that. She thought that he loved her, despite what he did with Susan and however many girls he had been with before. After all, he had told her that he was beginning to see everything in a different light. Surely that meant that he was changed for the better! That must mean that he cared for her! He broke out of prison so he could rescue her from Gothel! That must count for something…

Rapunzel felt the ghost of Edmund's kisses on her lips. Had she had it her way, Eugene would have been the first to kiss her. But Edmund was her second choice. Of course, Rapunzel didn't know any other men, so they were the only two options. But they were good options! Rapunzel cared deeply for both of them.

Ultimately, she knew she would have to pick one of the two. If she chose Eugene, she would break Edmund's heart because neither even knew if she would ever see Eugene again. If she chose Edmund, she would be accepting that Eugene wasn't coming back, and if he did, he would be heartbroken because of all he did for her.

Rapunzel just couldn't win the battle that she was fighting in her heart.

She lay back down and faced the window, watching the rain fall. Each pat she heard was the name of her two male friends and a strike against her heart.

Eugene…Edmund…Eugene…Edmund…Eugene…Edmund…

This was how it was until she fell asleep a few moments later.

The following morning, Queen Susan walked through the halls, seeking out either Rapunzel or her brother. She wanted to know why neither had bothered to come and practice yesterday. She assumed that they had just gotten to talking for hours and it was too late by the time they finished. Having been in what she thought was love herself, Susan knew that Edmund was quickly falling head over heels for their guest. Susan saw that Rapunzel liked Edmund, too, but Rapunzel cared too deeply for Eugene to allow herself to fall for Edmund.

Susan wished that someone cared for her and loved her.

She turned a corner and ran smack into Edmund. "Oh!" she cried. "Ed, I was looking for you."

"You were?" he asked. He was sulking.

"What's wrong?" Susan asked, leading him over to a window seat in an alcove. The gray light from the rain and clouds filled the stain glass window. The image was of the four Pevensies being crowned by Aslan.

"I kissed her."

"You what?" Susan asked a little too loudly.

"I kissed her. Twice."

"Oh, Edmund," Susan said. "What'd she do?"

Edmund looked out the window. "She told me that she couldn't be involved with me right now because of her feelings for Eugene. I'm such an idiot."

"No, you're not," Susan disagreed. "You're a teenage boy. It's understandable."

"What did I do wrong, Susan?" Edmund asked, looking up into his older sister's eyes.

Susan read the distress in his eyes as easily as she could read the English language. "You may have just moved too quickly for her. She cares for you, Edmund. Everyone can see that. I think she still believes that Eugene will come for her."

"What do I do?"

"Be there for her," Susan said wisely. "Be a friend. Don't desert her. Don't bring it up again, but still be there for her. I guarantee that she will have rough patches because of her memories of Eugene, and she might try and avoid you at first. I wouldn't seek her out, but if she comes to you, don't ignore her. Don't push her, but don't push her away. And eventually, if Eugene Fitzherbert doesn't come, you need to step in. You never know, she might come back to you having changed her mind. Don't force her to, though. I promise you, her emotions are flooding her right now, and her heart is pushing her each and every way. And I wouldn't kiss her again, if I were you."

"I wasn't planning on it," Edmund grumbled.

"I was joking," she said dryly.

"You're not as funny as Peter, Su."

"I know," she said, rolling her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Just upset, I guess. I shouldn't have kissed her. I just thought…I just thought that it was time. I thought that I wouldn't have another opportunity like that one."

Susan opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't have the chance because a female centaur came galloping up. "Your majesties!" the centaur, Naomi, said. "There has been another attack!"

"Where?" Edmund asked, slipping into his King mode. The Just King and the Gentle Queen stood.

"Beaver's dam, your majesties," Naomi said with great difficulty.

Susan and Edmund exchanged a worried look. "Were…" Susan began, but couldn't finish the question.

"I'm sorry," Naomi said. "It was a surprise. No one was prepared. The entire area was destroyed. There…there were no survivors."

Susan sank to her knees, sobbing into her hands. Edmund stood in shock, slightly swaying back and forth. Not the Beavers…It couldn't be. "Are you sure?" Edmund finally asked. The centaur nodded. "Oh, Aslan…Thank you, Naomi…" The centaur left solemnly and Edmund pulled his sister onto the cushioned bench, wrapping his arm around her protectively. "I can't believe it," Edmund said softly. "Not the Beavers…"

"We should've been ready, Edmund," Susan said quietly. "We should've known something like this was going to happen. This can't happen again. We need to be ready. Don't you agree?"

Edmund nodded and stood, offering his hand out to Susan. She took it and he pulled her to a standing position. "I'm going to talk to Oreius. We need a battle plan. This can't go on any longer."

"I agree," Susan said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'll go write a letter to Peter and Lucy. Hopefully, they will intercept it before they get here. I'll tell them to either go to Anvard or turn back to Corona. It's too dangerous for them to be traveling right now."

"You know Peter won't listen—"

"Then I'll order Lucy to listen! I won't have them be ambushed and killed! It's obvious that these people are meaning to tear Narnia to pieces! They won't stop just because Peter is High King and says to leave Narnia alone. This has gone on for far too long. I won't let these people kill my brother and sister. Listen to me, Edmund. I'm going to tell Peter and Lucy to take an indirect path to Cair Paravel if they absolutely must come back now. Christmas Eve may be tomorrow, but I would rather have them alive and home for New Years' than dead and home for Christmas. Whoever these people are, they will kill our brother and sister. I won't stand for that."

And with a rush of skirts and a storm of fiery anger and despair, Susan was gone.

Edmund sighed and placed his hand on his forehead. He felt a headache coming on.

Peter and Lucy,

I regret to tell you that there has been another attack. This was at Beaver's dam. There were no survivors. Edmund and I do not know yet who is behind these attacks, but as I speak, Edmund is giving the order to send some of the Narnian army out into Narnia to find these people. We will find this enemy and eradicate them as we did to the White Witch's forces.

I have reason to believe that this enemy will attempt to ambush you on your way to Cair Paravel. Please, go to Anvard or back to Corona, if you must. We can celebrate Christmas when you return. I do not want to lose the rest of my family. I beg you—no; I implore you to take an indirect path home.

Edmund and I will take care of things at Cair Paravel and in Narnia for as long as needed. Please, pray for Aslan to help us. We need Him.

Love,

Susan

The Gentle Queen immediately sent a party of messengers with the tear-stained letter to Corona. She made a second copy and sent it to Anvard. If the parties did not find the High King and Valiant Queen within Narnia's borders, they were to turn back to Cair Paravel.

Susan sat on her balcony, watching the violent waves crash upon the sand. She felt her world being slowly torn down to ruins. What had she been doing while her first Narnian friends were being brutally murdered? Had she been laughing? Smiling? Sleeping? What had she been doing as the couple that led her and her siblings to the Stone Table was killed by unknown enemies? What was she doing as their lives were ending?

Queen Susan felt guilty. While she knew that Mr. and Mrs. Beaver's deaths were not her fault, she couldn't help but feel partly to blame. She should have been there for them. She should have protected Narnia better. She was the Queen! It was her job to protect Narnia. She was crowned by Aslan himself as a protector of Narnia. This was her land, her home.

Susan vowed to herself to avenge the deaths of her friends, even if it was the very last thing she did in her life.

The atmosphere around Cair Paravel was dismal for the rest of the day. Even Susan couldn't find a reason to be happy. She tried to finish the Christmas decorations (which she normally would have finished weeks ago, but with everything that had been going on…) with Rapunzel's help, but Susan couldn't focus. She was too distressed about the loss of her friends. Rapunzel hadn't ever met Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, but she knew that they must have been wonderful from the way that Susan and Edmund had talked about them in previous weeks' conversations.

Rapunzel was avoiding Edmund at all costs. She was too embarrassed and confused by her actions regarding the Just King. However, Rapunzel knew that avoidance would not solve anything, and would, in fact, just be pointless because she was spending all her time with Susan, and Susan and Edmund spent an awful lot of time together, especially after the deaths of their friends.

The rain poured from the sky and the grey clouds seemed to reflect everyone's moods. The Beavers had been well known and liked among Narnians, especially around Cair Paravel. Not to mention the other Narnians who lived in the area who were killed.

Rapunzel leaned against a wall in the throne room, looking out the stained glass window behind the dais. There were at least two dozen Narnians putting up an extremely large tree up on the dais. The thrones, Susan had told Rapunzel earlier, would be turned to face the tree when they actually celebrated Christmas, but would face the front for the time being.

She looked down at her long braid and tucked a stray lock of hair back into the closest portion of the braid. Rapunzel adjusted some of the flowers that Susan and she had strategically placed in her hair. Since it was the Christmas season, they had opted for red poinsettias to match the red dress that Rapunzel was wearing.

Rapunzel still didn't really understand Christmas. Susan had explained the holiday to her just two days before, and Rapunzel was stressing because she didn't have gifts for people. Susan had assured her, "Don't worry. I figured that you weren't ready, so I bought some things for you to give people. Just relax and enjoy the season."

That was before the disaster at Beaver's dam.

Rapunzel knew that Susan was upset about having to postpone Christmas. However, Rapunzel knew that Susan was glad to postpone the festivities if she could have her entire family safe and sound. Edmund never complained about putting the holiday off until his brother and younger sister were home, but Rapunzel could see that he was a little sad, despite his cheery looks as he put glass ornaments on the gigantic tree.

"Rapunzel!" a feminine voice called. The blonde looked up and started walking toward Susan. "Would you go get some of the garland out of my room, please? I had decorated in there, but it seems we need a little more out here. Thank you!"

Rapunzel ran out of the room and through the halls until she reached Susan's room, which was a few rooms down from her own. She carefully opened the door and looked upon the pale blue walls. When Susan said that she decorated, she meant it. There were wreaths on the windows, garland on the bed, and paper snowflakes on the glass doors.

She approached Susan's bed and pulled some of the garland off the headboard, but as she pulled the green vine off, she noticed a little box sticking out from under the bedside table. Rapunzel was about to push back underneath but she saw a sheet of parchment sticking out from the box. Curiosity got the best of her. Rapunzel leaned down and pulled out the parchment. It was a Wanted poster with Flynn Rider's name and picture on it. At least the Narnians can get his nose right, Rapunzel thought to herself.

Fully knowing that it was wrong, Rapunzel opened the box. Inside were little letters from Flynn to Susan from his time in Cair Paravel. She couldn't bear to read them, so she put everything back in the box and slid it back under the table. It would seem like Susan did still harbor feelings for the thief. That made Rapunzel's heart hurt and she felt a strange emotion rise in her. She hadn't felt it before, but it made her a little angry and hateful toward Susan. Rapunzel knew what it was called: Jealousy.

Brushing aside the envy, Rapunzel finished pulling off the garland and left Susan's room. She walked through Cair Paravel's corridors and back into the throne room. Rapunzel handed Susan the garland ("Thank you so much!") and went back up onto the dais, where she assisted in decorating the tree.

While this huge tree was mainly for show, the Pevensie family had a smaller tree in their private sitting room, and that was where the Kings and Queens spent their Christmas. All their gifts were under that tree, and they made it an annual custom so that they all spent the day in their night clothes while opening presents. Susan had assured Rapunzel that the guest was welcome for the family holiday.

Rapunzel's thoughts were interrupted by a door being thrown open as forcefully as possible. A centaur rushed in and shouted, "The High King Peter and Queen Lucy have returned!"

Peter and Lucy were extremely close to Cair Paravel (only about three hours away) when they intercepted the letter from Susan. Lucy cried for the entire journey back to Cair Paravel and Peter was abnormally silent. The rain had let up for a while, but the sky was grey, just like their moods. They rushed back to Cair Paravel but were interrupted when they were approximately two hours out.

This interruption went by the name of Flynn Rider.

And by the time that Flynn Rider noticed that he was looking straight at the High King and Queen of Narnia, he was only able to mutter two words. "Damn it."