Chapter 9
Eventually, Cassandra makes it to bed.
She sleeps for a few hours. She isn't sure how many. She tells herself it's enough.
Nothing she had investigated the night before seemed out of the ordinary, and so she'd finally joined Rapunzel a couple hours later.
Not so surprisingly, Rapunzel is still asleep by mid-morning. The princess has always slept in late, and Cass is an early riser.
Not wanting to disturb her - because they both know Rapunzel needs the sleep - Cass occupies herself with her journal in the meantime. She sits up against the headboard of the bed, delicately tracing cursive words onto the parchment pages – words that not even Rapunzel had ever been allowed to lay eyes on.
After a while, the tavern rises to life as Cass begins to hear voices downstairs and through the walls next to her. Clanking silverware can be heard as other travellers presumably dive into their meals. She can smell eggs and chicken, and freshly baked bread seeping through the gap beneath the door. It isn't until then she realizes how much her stomach is grumbling.
Rapunzel should be awake soon, but Cass supposes she should get out of this stuffy room and eat something while she waits. Curiosity gets the better of her and the thought of whatever else may be cooking downstairs gets her on her feet.
The fact that the door to their room can only be opened with a key brings Cass a huge sense of ease. She quietly locks it behind herself as she leaves.
Rapunzel will forgive her for that. There's no way she's leaving the princess alone in there unguarded, with who knows what kind of thugs may be lingering nearby. She'll be back in a few minutes.
The rest of the second floor seems to be empty besides the two of them, with everyone else presumably already moved on with their morning. It's darker and much quieter up here than downstairs.
Cassandra peers over the railing of the gap that opens up to the floor below. Just as she'd presumed, it's full of people, eating and chatting pleasantly amongst one another, unaware of her observant eyes. The sunlight shining through the windows is much more comforting than the darkness and the rain from the night before.
Just as she moves toward the staircase, Cassandra turns her head when she hears shuffling from somewhere down the narrow hallway.
When she peers down it, there's no one to be found. It sounds like there are footsteps somewhere around the corner at the end of the hall, the floorboards creaking softly.
Her first thought is that it's merely someone else renting out a room here. That would be the most logical explanation, considering she clearly isn't the only person here. Then she realizes that whoever it is may not want to be found, because they're here to bring Rapunzel and Cass back to the castle.
Or maybe – they've somehow found out that the princess is here, and they're planning to rob her or kidnap her or worse.
Or maybe Cass' mind is just playing tricks on her.
Her paranoia ultimately gets the better of her. Just to be sure, Cassandra tiptoes toward the source of the noise with caution.
As she gingerly places one foot in front of the other, her palm finds the handle of her sword holstered on her hip.
When she reaches the corner, she presses her back against the wall and holds her breath.
The footsteps have gone quiet now. It's deadly silent around her. But somehow, Cassandra knows there is someone waiting just on the other side of this wall. She can feel it.
With a deep breath to steady her heartrate, she musters up her courage, and jumps out into the open.
There's no one there.
Cassandra walks forward in confusion, peering through the shadows. All she sees is a closed door in front of her leading to one of the other rooms. What? She could've sworn…
Then there's a shuffle behind her and Cassandra suddenly whips around. Next thing she knows, she's pinning someone against the wall with one arm and pressing her sword against their throat with the other.
"Ah! Okay, okay, take it easy—" he stammers in a panic.
"You'd better think twice about sneaking up on people like that," growls Cassandra.
"You're right, I'm sorry! Just watch the face, will ya?"
She glares hard at the face just a few inches in front of hers, her eyebrows heavy and teeth snarling.
He's yielding his hands in the air and squeezing his eyes shut, anticipating whatever blow the girl may throw at him next. His head is turned away from her and pressing further into the wall behind him.
Though she's shorter than him, she clearly has the upper hand. However, her expression softens once she recognizes his wavy locks of brown hair and the scruffy goatee lining a defined jaw – one she's only seen in wanted posters around the kingdom.
"Wait a minute," Cass steps away as she takes a better look at him, though her blade remains pointed just below his chin. "You're Flynn Rider. Aren't you?"
"Would you put the pointy sword down if I said no?" he squeaks, body still bracing for impact.
Cassandra groans, fully lowering her weapon. She takes a step back. "I should've known I'd find you in a town full of crooks." She turns away from him while piecing it all together.
Flynn releases a relieved sigh just as she does, finally able to breathe again somewhat. "Uh… I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"No. You don't," says Cass.
A muffled and authoritative voice suddenly breaks out from downstairs, snapping Cass out of her thoughts.
"I was gonna say I don't recall double crossing you at any point," continues Flynn. "Or… doing anything else with you, for that matter," he clears his throat awkwardly.
Cassandra warily steps out from behind the wall and peers down to the floor below, listening closer. To her horror, numerous armoured guards are entering the tavern one by one – Corona guards, each gripping a halberd in their gloved hands.
They sound angry. And they're clearly looking for someone.
Flynn presses a palm to his own throat as if to double check whether he's bleeding or not. "Man, for such a small woman you really have quite the grip!"
"Shh!" Cassandra shoots an arm out and pushes him up against the wall again.
They stand shoulder to shoulder with their backs against it, hidden from view and holding their breaths.
Cass peeks down below again.
There's three, no – four of them, thoroughly investigating the place and interrogating every person in the room. And at the head of the group is none other than the Captain himself – Cassandra's father.
"….and if anyone is withholding information, they will have to answer to the king himself!" he threatens.
"Ugh, great," Cass mutters under her breath. "Looks like our time's up."
Swiftly, she sneaks back the way she came while the voices continue below them.
"Whoa, whoa, wait a second—" Flynn whispers back, stumbling after her.
Concealed by the shadows, she hurriedly unlocks their room door and swings it open. "Rapunzel?"
The princess is sitting upright on the bed, her legs hanging off the edge. She's facing the door and rubbing a fist over tired eyes. She was just about to get up.
For a moment, Rapunzel's lips tug into a smile at the sight of Cassandra. Then she notices another figure poking his head through the doorway behind Cass' shoulder. Puzzled, Rapunzel frowns. "Flynn?"
"Blondie?"
There's a few moments where the three of them all stop and stare at one another with shocked expressions. Then Cass shakes her head and strides toward Rapunzel with determination.
"No time for reunions. We gotta go." She grips the princess' arms, pulling her to her to feet.
"Why? What's going on?" Rapunzel glances between the two of them with worrisome eyes.
"The guards are here," informs Cass.
Flynn leans back into the hallway, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "Uhh… are they after me or you?" He realizes he should probably close the door now and hurriedly shuts it with his backside. He turns the lock, enclosing the three of them in the small bedroom.
"Let's not stick around to find out," decides Cass.
Rapunzel turns to her hopefully. "What's the plan?"
"Search the area! Leave no stone unturned!" The muffled voices are getting louder and clearer.
"Plan, yes. Plan sounds good," agrees Flynn in a panic.
"On the balcony. Hurry!" Just as Cass says that, heavy footsteps can be heard running up the stairs, just on the other side of the door.
Rapunzel and Flynn waste no time in running out the back door of the bedroom and out onto the small balcony. Cassandra follows closely behind.
They all peer over the edge of the railing outside, judging the distance from here to the ground.
"Okay. Now what?" Rapunzel pants.
They're only on the second floor, but now that Rapunzel looks at it, the ground of the alleyway below looks a lot farther away than she'd thought. She's not so sure they can just jump down there without one of them breaking something.
"We can jump down onto that rooftop there!" Flynn points to the building in front of them. The alley between the two buildings does look a little threatening, but Flynn has jumped further.
Cass whips her head around back the way they came.
The guards are shouting. Any second now, they're going to start kicking down that door.
When she looks to a panicked Rapunzel again, the princess is staring at her expectantly. She looks terrified.
In that moment, Cass realizes Rapunzel is relying on her to get them out of this situation. Somehow, in those wide green eyes, Cass sees all the fear and hopelessness just as she did the day before in the meeting hall. Just as she does every time the king chastises Rapunzel, punishes her, finds some new way to control her.
Whether the guards are here for Flynn Rider or the missing princess, they're going to capture all three of them.
And if they take Rapunzel back now, they'll be sentencing her to a lifetime of imprisonment. She'll go back to the castle, her father, her marriage. The thought of it terrifies Cassandra almost as much as it does her.
But the king won't punish Cassandra. He'll only punish his own daughter.
Suddenly, a new wave of confidence washes over Cass as she decides that she is not going to let that happen. Not when it's her job to protect the princess.
"I can cover for you guys but you gotta be quick," says Cass.
"What? No!" Rapunzel protests. "What about you?!"
"The only way is up or down. Take your pick."
"Cassandra—"
"Rapunzel, trust me, I can handle my father," she insists. "And I don't think you wanna be around when that happens." She shoves Rapunzel toward the railing. "Now go!"
The princess only stares back at her with tear-filled eyes.
Reluctantly, Rapunzel forces herself to turn around and peer over the edge once more. With a pounding heart, she watches Flynn waste no time in climbing over.
Effortlessly, he pushes himself off the wall and leaps down to the next rooftop, landing with a grunt.
Much more hesitantly, Rapunzel scurries over the railing after him.
She stands on the other side of it with quivering legs, gripping the bars behind her back. The last thing she wants to do is let go. She isn't afraid of heights. It's leaving Cass behind that terrifies her.
"Come on, Blondie! Jump!" Flynn shouts over to her. He's reaching his arm out over the edge, ready to catch her.
When Rapunzel looks back the way they came, Cassandra is already gone.
With her heart in her throat, she closes her eyes, inhales deeply, and leaps off the edge.