Chapter 6
"Rapunzel. It has been brought to my attention that you have been no where to be found within the castle walls on more than one occasion these past few weeks, despite my guard's thorough investigations regarding your whereabouts," King Frederic announces to the small audience before him.
He sits in his velvet chair trimmed with gold at the head of the rounded meeting table. The queen is seated to his right, with the Captain of the Guard on his left. Cassandra is next to her father, dressed in her formal handmaiden's dress, with Rapunzel next to her. They all face one another in their seats, forming a large circle in the centre of the room.
The meeting hall is cloaked in silk curtains draped over towering stained-glass windows. A candle-lit chandelier hangs above the round mahogany table in the centre of the room, its studded jewels sparkling. Polished tile floors glisten in the sunlight, decorated with a deep crimson rug. White walls are lined with handmade paintings and stone statues on podiums.
Two pairs of royal guards are positioned near each set of double doors that lead into other rooms of the castle. They stare blankly ahead as the meeting progresses, their posture entirely rigid like lifeless mannequins.
Rapunzel had reluctantly joined the rest of them after her father had ordered a last minute assembly, not giving her much of a choice. They've had dozens of these before, and each one gets more boring than the last.
She had hoped this one would consist of some good news, like maybe her father had finally decided to call off the wedding, for example. Though, she can't say she's ever expected him to be so generous.
"There has also been recent word of Flynn Rider's whereabouts not far outside of Corona," Frederic continues.
The name makes Rapunzel's heart skip a beat. Surely her father hasn't found about her entirely coincidental meeting with the thief, has he? What else could this be about?
"Though we are still in search of the princess' crown, we are lucky he did not decide to harm the princess herself. Still, there is no telling where or when the crime in this kingdom may incline." The king then focuses his attention onto Rapunzel, though his booming voice still announces to the rest, "Therefore, for the benefit of your safety and protection, I have seen to it that some changes are hereby made within the castle."
There's an uneasy feeling in Rapunzel's stomach, anxious of where this is going. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good.
"Rapunzel. From this day forth, you are not permitted to leave castle grounds without being attended by one of the kingdom's guards," he declares.
"What?" Rapunzel blurts.
"Captain, you will see to it," Frederic nods to the man seated next to him, unbothered by his daughter's reaction.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"But—" begins Rapunzel.
"If anyone reports to me that you have been found outside the castle walls without an accompaniment, I will have to reconsider your privileges of leaving castle grounds at all. Is that clear?" Demands Frederic, his tone and expression nearly emotionless.
Rapunzel's palms press down onto the table. "Dad, you can't—"
"Is. That. Clear?" His fuming eyes glower across at her. His voice remains disturbingly level while he speaks.
She's seen that look in his eyes before. It's a warning – don't make a scene.
Suddenly, Rapunzel is entirely aware of the rest of the people in the room and the fact that they are all staring uneasily between the two. It's uncomfortably silent as they all anticipate what she might do. Everyone holds their breath tensely.
Rapunzel's breath quickens as she only sits there, silenced. But she doesn't want to cry. She's past the tears. Rather, she wants to scream.
As her blood boils, she finds herself desperately meeting eyes with the only person in the room that is able to bring her ease, besides her mother.
Perhaps Rapunzel is seeking some sort of comfort from Cassandra, or maybe she just wants reassurance that she isn't the only person in this room that believes this is utterly ridiculous.
Cassandra's wide eyes are staring directly at the princess from her seat, eyebrows creased and jaw open. She's clearly upset for the other girl, but she too hopes that the princess won't make a scene. At least not right now. Rapunzel can already hear Cass' voice in her head, pleading with her not to argue.
Rapunzel holds her tongue.
She doesn't answer her father. Instead, she lowers her chin, and folds her hands in her lap.
"Good," Frederic exhales with relief. The rest of the group seems to breathe with him. "Well, that's settled then." With that, he calmly rises from his chair, scraping it loudly against the tile.
The lingering guards instantly perk up, returning to full attention.
The rest of the assembly members rise to their feet after him, all folding their hands in front of themselves.
Arianna orderly follows her husband toward the doors.
"As you were, Captain," Frederic nods to him as he brushes past. "Cassandra."
Cass nods respectfully as the king passes her, though it's more out of habit than anything.
As the heavy doors of the meeting hall swing open and closed, Cassandra and Rapunzel uneasily meet eyes once more.
The princess remains unmoving in her chair, defeated.
Cass opens her mouth to speak.
"Cassandra. With me, please," orders the Captain as the guards disperse and shuffle back to their previous posts.
She glances at him then apologetically back at Rapunzel. "Yes, father." Cassandra obediently follows the Captain out of the room, leaving Rapunzel staring hopelessly after her.
Rapunzel carefully pushes open the wooden doors to the palace stables, its hinges creaking softly above the silence.
The night sky behind her is a deep blue canvas peppered with stars. The air is clear and warm, with the rest of the castle entirely asleep - aside from the princess herself, who hadn't planned to sleep a wink tonight.
The sapphire moonlight illuminates the interior of the rustic wooden building, forming dark shadows along the walls and dirt floor.
Rapunzel momentarily crouches down to tuck her dagger further into her boot, completely hiding it from view.
The various palace horses huff softly in their stalls as she treads along them with a leather bag hauled over one shoulder.
Her cloak drapes over her slender frame, shielding her from the breeze as she pulls open the stall door leading to her own horse, Fidella.
Gripping the reigns, Rapunzel walks the animal out into the aisle and lifts the leather saddle off the wall. She places it onto Fidella's back and clasps the straps around the horse's torso, her thoughts spiraling into a silent rage.
Rapunzel had hoped she'd feel better about the marriage by now, haven been given time to process it all and hopefully find a way out of it one way or another. And just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, it did.
After what happened in the meeting hall earlier today, she's completely lost hope of anything ever getting better for her around here.
As a child, oftentimes she was able to dodge whatever ridiculous obstacle her father threw at her, whatever it would have been. She's had plenty of practice at it, but this time is different.
All Rapunzel has been able to think about since then is the fact that her own wedding is only getting closer by the day and her parents still haven't called it off by some miracle. Not that she'd expected they would, but she'd dreamt of it.
Her mother has at least made an effort to talk to Rapunzel about it and do everything she can to comfort her daughter on the subject. Rapunzel knows it pains her mother all the same, but she also knows that even being the king's wife, Arianna won't be able to talk Frederic out of this.
He's made it brutally clear that the marriage is happening whether Rapunzel likes it or not. In fact, he's hardly spoken to Rapunzel since the day she'd fled the dinner table in a distressed rage after finding out about it. And when he does speak to her, he's merely giving her orders like she's one of his guards, and not his own daughter.
As much as it pains her to admit it, no one is going to help her out of this situation. No one except herself. At least, not anyone that has the power to.
"Isn't it a little late for a riding lesson?"
Rapunzel freezes at the voice she hadn't expected to hear behind her. She whips her head around with her heart momentarily in her throat, until she recognizes Cassandra's familiar figure standing in the doorway.
Cass' voice is casual and smug as usual. Rapunzel couldn't be more used to it. She's leaning her back against the wooden post of the archway that leads back out into the courtyard, with her ankles crossed and her arms folded across her chest. She takes a loud bite out of the apple held limply in her hand.
The moonlight illuminates Cassandra's face just enough for Rapunzel to see the knowing smirk plastered on her lips.
It irks Rapunzel realizing that she's been caught. By Cassandra at least, but still. She thought she'd been careful of not leaving a trail. Then again, she should have expected Cass would find her. She somehow always does.
The princess sighs audibly with relief upon realizing that it's only Cassandra here and not anybody else - thank goodness. She'd been so caught up in her own scattered thoughts that she hadn't realized how quiet it had been before.
Rapunzel turns her attention back to her horse, unbothered, and continues to buckle the straps of her leather pack to Fidella's saddle. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"I could ask you the same thing," says Cassandra. She's no longer wearing her regal handmaiden's dress, but rather trousers, boots, brown leather gloves, and a forest green cloak tied by a thread in front of her collarbones.
Rapunzel freezes, her shoulders deflating with hopelessness. She momentarily closes her eyes, hating that she has to say this. Slowly, she drops her arms, and turns to face her. "I'm leaving, Cass. It's not forever, I just… need to be on my own for a few days," she says somberly, avoiding the other woman's gaze. "I can't stay here any longer. Not right now."
To be honest, she hadn't thought it through how long she'd be gone. She doesn't have a clue where she's going, or what she's hoping to find out there. Except for the relief of clearing her own head.
Being in that castle day in and day out is just a reminder of the inevitable marriage that creeps up on her by the minute, as well as the fact that her father doesn't even trust her to go outside anymore. Not that he ever did.
As hopeless as it is, she isn't married yet. And Rapunzel will do anything to take her mind off of reality even if it's just for a little while.
A part of her expects Cass to tell her how much of an idiot she's being for thinking she can run away from this. But the silence that follows and the fact that Cassandra doesn't seem to have reacted to that makes Rapunzel question herself.
Cassandra studies the other girl for a few moments before shrugging and saying simply, "All right."
Rapunzel blinks. Whatever she'd expected, it hadn't been that. "Wait, what? Really? You're not even gonna try and stop me?"
Cassandra takes another bite of her apple, still chewing as she asks with confusion, "Why would I?" She pushes herself off the wall and strolls toward Rapunzel.
"You heard my father. He forbade me to leave the castle without a babysitter, which is basically the same thing as just never letting me leave ever."
Cassandra holds out the half-eaten fruit to Fidella, who slurps it out of the girl's palm happily as Rapunzel continues to ramble with annoyance, "I mean, he may as well just lock me in a tower and never let me see daylight again."
"You're right. It sucks," Cass chirps, wiping her saliva coated hand on her trousers.
"And… you're not mad?" asks Rapunzel.
"Well, if you disregard the fact that you weren't gonna tell me, then no, I'm not mad."
Rapunzel exhales. She was hoping that wouldn't come up. "I thought it would be best if you didn't know," she explains apologetically. "I didn't want them punishing you for my mistakes."
Everyone in the castle knows the two of them have been inseparable basically since they could walk. Whatever one of them knows, the other is usually in on it too. Rapunzel couldn't live with herself knowing Cass might potentially take the blame.
Cassandra laughs, "Okay. You should know by now that you can sneak around them as much as you want, but not me. I've been running circles around you since we were kids." The competitive tone of her voice is reminiscent of a time they'd fight over who was the faster runner.
"So… you're not gonna tell anyone, right?" Rapunzel asks.
Cass turns her back and begins to wander away. She inhales deeply, "I won't tell anyone… on one condition."
Rapunzel watches her approach the white stallion at the opposite end of the stable – Cassandra's horse, decorated with a golden trimmed bridle and Corona's emblem embroidered into the leather. She swiftly draws the sword from the weapon holstered on its saddle, the blade ringing audibly throughout the stable.
"I'm coming with you," Cass declares confidently.
Rapunzel stares in bewilderment at the mischievous glint in the other girl's eye. "Uh… No, you're not," she insists, as if there is no argument on the matter.
"Yes. I am."
"Are you crazy? My father will know you helped me. Don't you think it would be even more suspicious if he found out both of us were gone in the morning?"
"What more can he do to you?" Cass wanders back toward Rapunzel, sheathing the sword into the holster on her belt. "He's already forcing you to get married to some lousy prince who probably can't even tie his own shoes."
Rapunzel's gaze follows Cass, who walks right past her. "It's not me I'm worried about. You've been training to be a royal guard your entire life. If your dad found out you did this for me—"
"Look, Raps," Cassandra hooks her boot into Fidella's stirrup and hoists herself up onto the animal's back, swinging one leg over the saddle. "As your lady-in-waiting, it's my job to protect you and that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Besides, you said it yourself. You're forbidden to leave the castle without a bodyguard. And I'm, well… half a guard." She peers down at Rapunzel with a raised brow and a smirk, "So really, we're not breaking any rules, are we?"
Rapunzel shrugs hesitantly. She looks away with a grumble. "I guess not."
"Well… are you just gonna stand there or what?" Cassandra extends a gloved hand down to her, her other one already gripping the reigns.
Rapunzel only stares up at her with a pouting glare, finding no choice in the matter now. As much as Rapunzel insists, there's no changing Cassandra's mind. She'd learned that a long time ago.
So, Rapunzel rolls her eyes, sighing in defeat. Without further words, she reaches up and latches onto Cass' wrist.
The other girl hoists her up onto the horse in one swift motion.
Rapunzel adjusts herself comfortably on the back of the saddle, wrapping her arms around Cassandra's torso.
"So," Cass beams with satisfaction, "Where are we going?"