A/N: Sorry, if I took so long I've been having a bit of writer's block lately.
Eugene and Rapunzel awaited Alexandra for the information they hoped to find. But bargaining with a couple of wanted thieves seemed pretty risky, but Alexandra seemed to know what she was doing the most. Always so confident, and yet she proved to be strangely shy at times. One thing was for sure she had the talents of a natural born leader. Of course they were the only ones to know about her special hidden talents.
Finally, after a long wait, Alexandra came out with the information that they hoped to find.
"Any luck?" asked Eugene.
"All I could get from them was that their employer was extremely rich."
"What exactly happened to them?" asked Rapunzel, her voice nearly quivering from the memory of her kidnapping.
"Well… they're not being pardoned, but they're not getting out of this empty handed either."
Both the ex-thief and the princess looked at each other in confusion. Something obviously happened but no knew what.
"Mind being 'a bit' more specific Princess," Eugene demanded.
"I just had them sent to an abandoned island with some food and water and a chest filled with gold and jewels. If they manage to escape, they can do what they want with their new found fortune, until the next person arrests them."
"Is that a good thing," asked Rapunzel.
Alexandra explained that she had dealt with this sort of situation many times before and she always catches the thief in the end. And, considering her exemplary and exceptional skills, it wasn't hard to believe. But still there were a few doubts lingering about, after all the Stabbington brothers are well known for their ruthless nature and cunning skills. Fortunately for them, it was a matter of the future.
At dinner, everyone only seemed to care about the wedding between Stephan and Rapunzel. After all those years of planning, Stephan's parents wanted everything to be at its very best. And what better way to fortify an alliance than by marriage. Unfortunately, the brown-haired, green eyed princess had absolutely no interest in getting married to anyone at the moment. Especially not to that stuck-up jerk of a prince.
"So," asked Queen Cassandra, "how do you two plan on doing your wedding?"
Before Rapunzel could protest, Stephan quickly intervened, "Well, we haven't exactly decided yet mother."
Eugene secretly glared at the prince; after all, this was a forced marriage. He wouldn't have minded if Rapunzel chose him as a husband, but even he would never force a lovely princess to marry him.
Each time someone tried to speak against the engagement, Stephan would only interrupt them and distracted his parents with a different thought. This was becoming difficult, all Rapunzel wanted was to get out of the wedding, Alexandra was trying to figure out who employed the Stabbingtons and Eugene was doing his very best to support his girlfriend along with Maximus and Pascal.
"Mother, Father. Please excuse, us," said Alexandra, politely, "Rapunzel, Eugene and I have to discuss…" She tried to find the right words. "…find the perfect outfit for the wedding."
"But Rapunzel's the bride-to-be; why not let the royal tailor work on the dress dear," said the King.
"Well, it's her wedding. Why not let her help us pick our outfits? After all, I'm sure someone would like a 'perfect'wedding." Most of them thought about Rapunzel, but Alexandra was watching her brother.
Queen Cassandra and King Reginald nodded in approval, and the three quietly and discreetly left the dining room. Rapunzel was relieved to away from Stephan and her future in-laws and Eugene was just glad that Rapunzel was close by and away from that jerk of a prince.
They all headed to the private library to do a little research on rich people who like to hire most wanted criminals. Unfortunately, after hours of grueling research, no person even had a close amount to what was offered to the Stabbingtons. All seemed hopeless, Rapunzel was going to get married to an idiot, Eugene might never see Rapunzel again and Alexandra was getting a headache from all the searching.
The suspense was becoming so intense that Rapunzel felt like she was about to tear up. In fact, she actually started screaming.
"I can't take it anymore," she cried, "I don't want to get married, I don't want to be queen of this kingdom, and I can't live like this anymore." She started clinging to Eugene's vest and started crying.
He gently placed his head in her sweet, feather-soft hair. "Shhhh," he soothed, "don't worry you're not getting married yet."
"When am I getting married?" Rapunzel finally realized.
"In about a couple of weeks perhaps," Alexandra stated carefully.
"A couple of weeks!" Rapunzel exclaimed.
"How do you know?" the ex-rogue the raven haired princess.
"Stephan may be a jerk but he's my brother nonetheless."
The trio decided to take a little break and try to discuss a more comfortable subject, but as soon as they were starting to get comfortable a servant comes in. He was one of Stephan's most trusted attendants, so it was obvious who he was looking for.
The servant bowed. "Princess Rapunzel," he said politely, "your fiancé and Their Majesties requests your presence on the main courtyard."
"But…I…" She looked at Eugene.
"Don't worry about us," he said as calmly as he could, "we're not going anywhere."
Reluctant, Rapunzel followed the servant while Alexandra and Eugene were looking for answers on the kidnapping and the wedding.
A/N: Again sorry for taking so long, I've been lacking inspiration lately. Please review to your hearts content and please give me any suggestion you want.