Chapter 25
Cassandra raises her tankard to her lips, taking a heavy swig of her ale. The warmth of it sinks into her stomach, easing her nerves somewhat.
She's sitting alone, hunched over a long table with her elbows resting atop the surface. Chatter and laughter can be heard all around her, the other royal guards conversing with one another and not paying any attention to the quiet girl.
The guards' camp is nestled deep within the forest, surrounded by trees, and covered by a canvas of green leaves. It shelters them from the night sky and the cool breeze, as well as whatever else may be lurking outside of it.
The wide-open area consists of many canvas tents stocked with medicine, rations, and any other provisions they might need on their mission overseas, not to mention the wall of kegs dripping with ale.
The camp is a makeshift training yard in itself, with rows of red-painted targets and practice dummies set up along the grass. Weapon racks are scattered throughout, displaying glistening halberds, swords, bows, and shields.
White horses decorated with royal bridles and saddles are grazing off to the side, hitched to a wooden fence. Flaming torches illuminate the area, the liveliness of the entire settlement drowning out the rest of the dark forest.
The storm had passed hours ago, but it leaves the grass wet along with the mud puddles at their feet. There's an earthy scent in the air - the fresh, humid kind that lingers right after a rainstorm. Residual water droplets fall from the leaves that shelter them.
Cassandra watches a few of the men from a distance, currently partaking in a target practice competition and being far too loud about it for her liking.
They're all dressed in their Corona guard uniforms, just like Cass – all of them looking exactly the same.
Most of them are drinking too, though Cass isn't behaving as obnoxious as some of them are, in her opinion. They're usually rowdy at the end of a long workday, with the majority of them being men that have been away from their wives for too long ever since they all started this mission.
Being one of the only few women on the guard, not to mention the smallest of them all, Cassandra definitely sticks out among the rest of them.
Though, the men know better than to even lay an eye on the captain's daughter. Not like she wouldn't easily break their fingers herself for doing just that. They're all quite afraid of her, actually. Therefore, everyone leaves her alone for the most part, or just treats her like one of the guys solely to get on her good side – and her father's.
Maybe she feels particularly annoyed by them today because of how oblivious they all are – considering all that Cassandra had just survived, while the rest of the guards had all been who knows where, partying and being horrible at their jobs.
It must be well past midnight by now. There's no way Cassandra would be able to sleep. Not with all that's on her mind. Not after the storm, and the battle, and the shipwreck. She usually doesn't sleep much anyway.
Despite it, she's exhausted. Emotionally and physically. Her muscles are sore. She probably has bruises in places that she wouldn't even think to look – no doubt from all the sword fighting and running she'd done earlier. Not to mention being thrown around constantly by a ship that was essentially getting blown to pieces, while she was still on it. Somehow, she can still hear the cannons and feel the violet waves crashing beneath her, as if she never left at all.
A part of Cassandra wants to drown herself in alcohol right now until she is numb, solely to avoid whatever nightmarish dreams that may come to her in her sleep. It wouldn't be the first time. But that usually just makes her sad. So, maybe that isn't a good idea either.
Unsure what else to do now, she continues to drink alone until somebody appears in front of her.
The Captain of the Guard, her father, casually takes a seat across the table, settling on the chair opposite her.
Cassandra's gaze flickers up toward him, with her tankard still raised to her lips. He doesn't speak right away, and neither does she. After a moment, Cass lowers her drink, and waits for whatever it is he is about to say.
"We found the wreck," he says. "There wasn't much left of it, but we were able to confirm that the ship was in fact from the kingdom of Ashford."
Chatter continues all around them, and he speaks in a hushed enough voice so that nobody else can hear.
"And this man you found… Considering the evidence we've gathered, and the limited information we were able to get from him, we can conclude that he is who you say he is," he continues. "The heir to Ashford's throne. The one the princess was set to marry before she disappeared."
Cass doesn't know what to say to that. Of course, she knew all of that already. With no help from him, or anybody else here.
It's been a few hours since the ship went down. After Cass left Eugene below deck, Donovan had abandoned his own ship only for Cass to dive overboard right after him. She'd swam after him as what was left of the vessel burned in flames behind them, just floating on the surface of the ocean. Thankfully, Donovan hadn't gotten far. He was too weak.
Cass doesn't know what happened after that. Somehow, she knows the rest of them made it out – Eugene, Rapunzel, and Lance. There's no way they couldn't have.
She assumes Eugene gave Rapunzel the potion. They're probably all living happily ever after right now, without Cass. Like everyone always does.
"He is being taken back to Corona in chains to stand trial," continues the captain. "I'll have a party set sail with him first thing in the morning."
Cass knows her father is giving her an opportunity to share more information – waiting for her to give him the answers he desperately needs, but she keeps her mouth shut, only sits there and listens.
"After that… well, that's up to the king. I can't imagine Frederic will take too kindly to someone that had attempted to kidnap his daughter." The captain leans back in his chair, crossing his arms and shaking his head, "Whether that means a lifetime of imprisonment or a formal execution, I can assure you, that man won't be seeing the light of day for a very long time."
Somehow, hearing that doesn't entirely ease her mind. Of course, Cassandra is relieved to hear that Donovan won't be coming back. He's getting what he deserves, and none of them ever have to see his pitiful face again.
She'd just thought that winning would make her feel fulfilled. Solving the mystery, finding the princess… After everything her and Eugene had gone through to get Rapunzel back, she'd thought she'd be happier by now.
But she just… isn't. The battle is over. Yet it feels like there's still something missing.
Maybe she didn't really win after all.
"His injuries were… severe," says the captain, masking a grimace. "Blunt force trauma, mostly. Broken nose, partial loss of eye vision. I don't suppose you would have any further information regarding how that may have come to be."
Cass' mind reverts back to Eugene, and the image of him pummeling Donovan's face into the ground just a few hours earlier. It makes her shudder all over again.
"I already told you what I know," she says, emotionlessly. She doesn't meet her father's eyes.
She never planned to tell the captain about any of this. But she had no choice but to arrest Donovan. She couldn't risk him getting away. It was either that or kill him, and Cass isn't sure she has the capacity to do the latter.
So, in order to justify it, she'd told her father the truth. The partial truth – that Donovan kidnapped the princess, and that Cass arrested him because of it. That's it. It isn't necessary to tell him the rest.
Of course, telling him also meant giving away the fact that Rapunzel is here, somewhere close by, despite the guard still never finding her. It also implies that Cass has known about it the entire time and didn't tell anyone, which implies she knew about Flynn as well.
But Cass doesn't need to tell her father for him to know that she's been in association with both of them. She knows he knows.
She's been missing from camp for days. She wasn't reporting back when she should have been. She's quieter than usual. And when she finally did come back, she'd been covered in soot and bruises with an even more beaten-up prisoner in hand, and an almost unbelievable story to go with it.
The captain figuring it all out was just inevitable.
Her secret is out. But Cass doesn't even care anymore. It doesn't matter. Nothing does.
The captain observes his unresponsive daughter, waiting to see if she is going to say anything else.
She's leaning back in her chair, staring down at the surface in front of her. Her one arm is extended over the table, fiddling aimlessly with her tankard. The other arm is tucked across her chest.
When he realizes that Cassandra isn't going to cave, he sighs deeply to himself. He leans forward again, briefly peering around themselves in a secretive way.
"Look. You did the right thing, bringing him back here," he assures her, keeping his voice gentle. "You've made your first arrest. I'll give you credit for that. And I'm sure this guy is just as much of a threat as you say he is. But I'm afraid we still can't return home until we find the princess."
Cassandra knows where this is going. She expected it. As much as she'd hoped it would be, the mission still isn't over.
She clenches her fist around her drink.
"Now, I don't know what exactly happened on that ship or why, but clearly you are still holding out on me. It can't be a coincidence that you managed to escape, yet the princess is no where to be found. So, I'm only going to ask you this once," he stares expectantly across the table at her. "Where is Rapunzel now?"
But Cassandra still doesn't make eye contact. She closes her eyes briefly, attempting to remain calm. "I don't know."
The captain presses his lips together, disappointedly. He's getting impatient. "And what of Flynn?"
"I don't know." Cassandra insists, her voice also losing patience. She tightens her grip on the tankard until it feels it might shatter within her hand.
As much as she knows he thinks she is, Cassandra isn't lying. She doesn't know where they are. She lost them after the battle. They could be anywhere by now. They could be dead. They could be sailing away into the sunset together, aiming to leave this place behind for good. Cass would do the same if she were them.
Even if she did know where they were, the guard would never be able to catch them.
But Cassandra knows what her father is doing. He's pushing her, testing her. He's doing what he always does. What he does best.
It makes her feel like a helpless kid again, who's had the weight of the entire royal guard on her shoulders practically since she was born. Not because she wanted it, but because it's what was expected of her.
"Cassandra."
It isn't until she hears that familiar, scolding tone in her father's voice that she looks up at him from beneath her eyelashes.
"You know that hiding a fugitive is against the law," warns the captain. "The very law that you represent. That includes withholding information regarding one." He leans further forward, staring pointedly at her. His voice lowers dangerously as he orders, "I am giving you one last chance. Bring Rapunzel and Flynn back to me by tomorrow morning, or you will have to be permanently removed from the guard. Is that understood?"
But all Cassandra can do is stare back at him as her heart begins to race, her expression hardening.
He can't be doing this to her.
Her stomach is twisting uneasily. She feels sick. Her jaw is rigid from trying to contain her anger, her fists stilled clenched on the table. Her throat is tightening so much now it feels like she might choke. But she forces herself to swallow it down.
Her words are trapped in her throat. She can't speak. She can't move. She can't do anything as her father's orders just echo in her head, haunting her.
After a moment, the captain rises from his seat, standing over her. "Do not disappoint me," he says, before turning and walking away.
He disappears into the crowd casually, as if none of it had ever happened.
Just like that, Cassandra is left alone.
Suddenly, the sounds of laughter and music reach her ears again, reminding her of where she is.
She hears men drunkenly singing, shouting across the camp at each other, having fun. But none of them even know she exists.
They're all in their own joyful, carefree world, while Cassandra just sits in the middle of it all, feeling like the weight of the world is sucking her down into total darkness. Suffocating her.
Her heart is pounding now. Her pulse races through her aching limbs, all the way through the tips of her fingers. Her nose feels tingly. Her eyes are welling with tears, but she blinks them back as she begins to hyperventilate.
Their voices are too loud. There are too many people around her. She can't hear herself think. She can't breathe. By the time she realizes she's panicking, it's already too late to stop it.
She can't be here anymore.
Cassandra bolts to her feet. A wave of dizziness washes over her. She stumbles into the table as she stands, releasing a whimper.
She tucks her chin down as she rushes through the camp, not noticing whether anyone is looking at her. She doesn't want to find out.
She ducks out of the firelight and into the darkness of the forest, away from the camp, and away from everyone else. Their voices fade into the distance, replaced with the chirping crickets of the night.
She begins to run.
A choked sob escapes her throat. Instantly, the tears pour down her face like a waterfall – one that had been clogged by a dam for so long, and is finally being set free.
She runs deeper into the woods with the moonlight being the only thing that guides her path. Her boots crunch through leaves and fallen twigs. She doesn't know where she's going. She just needs to get away.
But her legs are shaking so much that she can hardly hold herself upright anymore. She stumbles forward, falling into the thick trunk of a tree.
She presses her hands against the bark and lets all of her weight lean into it. She squeezes her eyes shut, her shoulders shaking as she sobs uncontrollably.
Cassandra had thought this mission would be easy. She thought that if she could just do this one thing for her father, that she would finally be enough for him. She swore to herself a long time ago that she would do anything to make that happen, even if that meant giving up Rapunzel.
But she just… can't do that anymore. Not after everything. Not after all that her and Eugene had done to ensure that the princess escaped that ship. Not after Donovan, and all that he did to Rapunzel. Not after all the pain she knows Eugene went through for this. Not after all that Lance risked to help them, or the fact that Cassandra was actually starting to like both of them.
And even though Cass didn't speak to the princess for two years, and they may have gotten off on the wrong foot the last time they saw each other, she had been hoping that maybe, just maybe… after all of this is over, they could start at the beginning again. Maybe they could try to fix things, and everything would be better between them. And Cassandra wouldn't have to be so sad anymore.
And even though Eugene had been insufferable from the beginning, she'd thought the two of them were actually starting to become friends. Or maybe it's all in her head. Maybe Cass had just convinced herself of that in order to cope with her loneliness. Because he was the first person that actually listened to her when she told him how she felt.
But Eugene is supposed to be dead. Cass knows what bringing him back here will mean. Because if she won't kill him, the captain will do it himself. There's no doubt about that. Either way, Eugene is going to die. Cassandra just can't let that happen.
She can't do that to Rapunzel. Because Rapunzel loves him, and Cassandra loves Rapunzel.
Somehow, she has found her heart torn between two words.
Her father and Rapunzel are the two people she loves most in the world, and now she's practically being forced to choose between them. It's impossible to decide what is more important to her - her father's approval or her friendship with Rapunzel.
Either way, she only has until the morning. In just a few hours, her career, her future, her relationship with her father and the princess - everything is going to change, one way or another.