Chapter 7: Varian in the Corridors

"Come on, Ruddiger. This is our only chance!"

Varian ran as fast as he could through the corridors.

He looked back, seeing Pete and Stan follow him, as fast as they could as they wouldn't stop sneezing and had trouble seeing properly doe to the pepper in their eyes. . To get rid of them, he threw some of the greasy ham slices he still had in the pocket of his apron, on the floor. And just like he hoped, they failed to see where they stepped and slid on them, falling on their backs with their legs spread high, while still sneezing.

Varian chuckled as he kept on running.

It had been easy to snatch the pepper pot after having everyone turning their attention towards the flying turkey he threw at the King, for then to hide it among the ham slices. The ham slices itself were only a way for him to gather enough greasy stuff to make his leather gloves smooth enough for him to slip through the handcuffs to free himself while Pete and Stan was arguing. They were so easy to fool once you did it right. And blowing the pepper in their faces and then hitting them as hard as he could by swinging the handcuffs around to give himself s grater leap gave him the opportunity he had been waiting for after all this time.

Now all he had to do was getting out of the Castle without them following.

He knew his way around several places in the castle thanks to Cassandra, and therefore it was easy for him to find the right way to go. He knew there was a back door near the laundry hall where he had been throwing the sheets and who knows what else. If only he were quick, they would loose track on him. He didn't have much time, as he knew they would sound the alarm as soon as possible now. They had gone far enough with security around him for him to realize this much. They would most likely get assistance right away.

But he would manage to outsmart them. He had done it before, and he could do it again. He had even outsmarted the King himself. He couldn't help but smirk by the thought. Oh yes, he would manage. Even if it meant he would have to go slow.

As he passed another corner, he saw an open window and thought first to climb out, but seeing the maids do laundry right outside he threw that thought away. Too much noise, he thought. Instead he took two more ham slices and threw them towards the window, hoping the maids were too busy with their work to pay attention to him where he kept running.

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What Varian failed to notice in all the excitement, was that Ruddiger had gotten some of the pepper spilt over him, and was unable to follow his master in the beginning when he ran in opposite direction as they had been going, as he too was busy sneezing. He tried as best as he could to follow up, but he found it hopeless. Very soon, he failed to see where he had gone, and had to try sniffing him up, something he found a little difficult after so much sneezing. So he found himself looking around, hoping he would spot something that could lead him to his master.

After a little looking he heard some light footsteps behind him and he turned around to hopefully find his master. But as he looked up, he found not his master. At some point it could have been his master, but it wasn't. Too short. Not right hair. Not at all right wearing, but the rest not so far away. But this other one was approaching him, and as Ruddiger didn't know him, he turned on his heel and was about to run off when he felt a pair of light, but surprisingly strong hands grab around his tail.

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"Well, I better go and inform Her Majesty about the arrivals." Nigel said.

"I believe that would be wise." the Captain said. "I seem to recall that the Queen and the Duke are rather..."

"The Duke dislikes that Her Majesty is originally from the people." Nigel explained. "The relationship was even further stained after they refused to consider his nephew Prince Daniel as an alternate solution as a successor while the Princess was still missing. Which is why the Duke would have been expected a moth in the future. During the current situation with the Princess, It is wise to consider the alternative."

"Hm..." the Captain. "If you ask me..." he looked around to see if anyone was near. "The Duke has always been quite a snob. Imagine, six years older than our own King Fredric. It could have been a possibility that he would have been our king instead."

"How peculiar." Nigel said.

They didn't get anywhere else with the conversation as a sudden sound caught their attention.

It was the sound of someone sneezing.

"He... he can't have go-go-gah-" another sneeze was heard. and the Captain immediately recognized Pete's voice.

When they got around the corner, they spotted Pete and Stand, searching through the doors in the corridors while sneezing.

"Are we playing hide and seek, soliders?" the Captain said loudly to them. "Or is it hide and sneeze?"

Both guards froze as they heard the Captain and hurried in up straight position and called out "Captain!" Both were red eyed and hard of breathing, and they both sneezed in unison the next second.

"Can anyone of you give me a proper explanation to what is going on here? The Captain demanded with loud voice.

"It is..." Stan held a finger under his nose, both to wipe it, and to prevent another sneeze from coming. "The prisoner, Captain..." he coughed. "He is..."

"He is..." the Captain waited furiously.

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"I know you did not expect me this early, Fredric, but my daughter insisted on coming here earlier to let you know." the Duke said as he put his spoon down on the plate.

"I can understand why you couldn't wait." Fredric said.

"And in that occasion, I felt it necessary to ask you a favor. " the Duke continued as he ate the last piece of his cake. "And it involves the Queen!"

"Arianna?" Fredric blinked confused.

"Of course, Fredric. I see no reason why she couldn't be the one preparing Annabelle for the marriage? After all, your own daughter is... away, so I believe there is nothing else occupying her for the moment?"

"Erhm..." Fredric hesitated and cleared his throat, hoping to put the right words to the situation. "I... I understand your need, and I do not want to stand in the way for such... needs. But I am afraid that now... I don't know how much you've heard about our... situation here..."

"Dear cousin..." the Duke interrupted. "I am perfectly aware of the dreadful circumstances that you've gone through. And of course, Nigel informed me of how the Queen almost got brutally murdered!"

Fredric had to choke a moan thinking of Nigel and his big mouth. All of a sudden he felt a need to find the very apple Varian had brought with him in his mouth and stuff it into Nigel's own mouth. Or maybe his cousin as well.

"But I believe that our... dear Queen would need a kind of distraction to get her mind off that horrible happening."

"Oh, poor, poor auntie." Annabelle said, suddenly getting a sad face. Fredric looked shortly at her, wondering where this sudden concern for Arianna came from, as she until now had been more concerned with how Jonas treated her, or her surroundings.

"So... the Duke continued. "I have a feeling that this is just what she would need through the traumas."

Fredric felt he had to take control over the situation and rose from his chair, looking down at his cousin as he spoke. "Listen, Walponce. I must make myself clear this instant. You know that we will be more than willing to help our closest family whenever there's a need. But I know that, especially after such a time, Arianna won't like at all to be taken for granted like this! I will have to talk with her, and prepare her about it before we just throw her into such a task!"

Duke Walponce's face tightened up all over and looked like he was about to stand up himself and answer when someone came ahead.

"But uncle, if I may..." Annabelle rose from her seat. "I can assure you that I will give poor auntie all the time she needs to recover from this. I am not going to be pushy about this, I promise." As she spoke, she made her way towards him, and took his right hand in her and touched his shoulder with the other. "You must forgive my father. He is just so terribly exited that I am to enter the alter soon. You know how he always wants things to be nothing less than perfect? And especially when it comes to me?" She spoke with a sweet, enchanting voice that differed from the lightly nonchalant way of speaking from their entrance. "I'm quite certain, when Rapunzel finally marries, you'll be exactly the same. I can see it before me. A have a feeling you'll be ten times worse."

At first, Fredric was speechless, but as he looked at her and softened. "I... I suppose you are right, Annabelle." he said smiling. "I will be ten times worse."

The mentioning of Rapunzel's wedding brought back allot of memories. Like when Eugene proposed that very evening, over half a year by now, and Rapunzel; how she at first looked like she was about to burst of happiness before suddenly storming out of the room of fright. Despite this King Fredric had seen how deep the love between his daughter and the previous criminal were, and had stayed strong all the way. He had no doubts at all that when Rapunzel finally were ready, it would be the two of them.

And he would not mind at all. Despite Eugen's lack of manners and absolutely taken-for-granted-attitude, he had become rather found of the young man. He had brought a bit of sprite along with him that cheered them up in tough times. Despite the Captain's long grudge towards him because of his criminal past, even he had managed to build some respect for him. At the moment, his grudge was pointing towards Varian, with reasons far more personal than he had had with Eugene.

Thinking of Eugene, and then Varian forced him on to a thought that had been lingering far behind in his mind. Eugene had explained very specific during his stay how he had become who he was in the past. He had become a criminal because he felt a need to fill the lack of love and affection in his life, because he felt that nobody cared for him.

And his friend Lance, whom had become a rather common presence in the Castle, probably must have felt the same way, as the two of them had been spending their stealing time together. But he had been reformed and had changed his ways, and had become rather helpful to Kingdom, and was, Fredric thought to himself, a rather nice guy. He hadn't forgotten how Lance had invited him to join them the night during the comet shower, treating him like a equal. Because of this he managed to overlook the constant borrowing of his own clothes and things that Eugene's old friend would occasionally try on himself, although always put it back again at one time; he bet Eugene made sure of this.

And now Varian... feeling ignored, alone and betrayed, had turned to bad for the same reasons, and being a witness to what would become his father's fate... Could he even blame him?

There were still allot of good in Eugene. Fredric even looked upon him as a son, or at least a son-in-law. And Lance too, for that matter, a friend. And not to forget the rough men that had helped them in the blizzard, the thugs whom had been among Rapunzel's very first friends outside the tower. He hadn't regretted on giving them a chance despite his doubts when his daughter introduced them. Therefore, he failed to give up hope that there were still good in Varian, after everything Rapunzel had told about him. He realized that it was because of this very reason he failed to even think of the trial towards the young alchemist, that so many were hoping to come soon.

His deep thoughts were interrupted by a high, squeaky voice.

"Dad, look what I found!"

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By the time the Duke and his company had reached the subject of her, Arianna had reached her and Fredric's bedroom and was leaning back at the couch as she wasn't ready for bed yet.

There were so many things going through her mind right now, and she struggled to get her thoughts under control. The nightmares hadn't stopped. Every night she was terrified that he would come back again and tie her up again. How could a young boy, a child, have this affect on her? She who had longed for the opportunity to be a mother, so roughly taken away from her so many years ago, and now again. Now she was having such fears because of a boy younger than her own daughter?

It was almost the same dream every night. Somehow, she was being stuck, one way or the other. She was walking in the castle. She was alone in the dark, the castle walls around her, when they suddenly would start moving; moving towards her. Attempting to squeeze her.

She would wake up!

Then the window, any window, would shatter around her. She held her arms up, preventing them from hitting her. Then she would look around, and suddenly she would find herself beside of a grand rock, so tall she failed to see the top of it so high above. She was chained to it by her ankle. Suddenly she heard a rumble from above, and she saw falling rock, rocks about to fall right over her. She would duck, a poor attempt to shield herself from the incoming... and she would hear his voice, squeaky and loud, evil as he was laughing.

"You will never escape ME! NEVER."

And in every single of her dreams, there was always a voice who would speak in the background. She never really saw who it was, but she had a feeling she knew it, knew it very well. It spoke coldly and harsh to her, saying the same sentence call over again.

"You're a horrible mother! Horrible!"

Then she cried out loud.

And then she woke up from that loud cry.

Another dream. Had she dozed off? She hadn't noticed. She hadn't meant to fall asleep. She rubbed her palms gently. All of a sudden she hadn't realized how tired she really was. It was about a month and a week since the whole kidnapping scenario, and with so many nightmares it was hopeless to get enough sleep. Just the thought that Varian were in the castle, even far beneath them, in the dungeon made it hard to even relax. She had managed to get a hold on herself the whole morning when she gave apples to Ruddiger, and by noon during the lunch, but the effort had taken all her straight away and now she felt like a when she was just a little girl and had been on a long walk all day, and was exhausted and just felt a huge urge to...

She startled herself when what was meant as an inhale ended up as a sniffle. She touched her face. It was wet with tears. When had she started crying?

It was ridiculous to think that way, that a child could be as dangerous as he had proven to be, but that's what she felt right now. Even more ridiculous was it that Varian was safely locked up in his cell far beneath where she was every night. The worst was that when Rapunzel had begged them to loosen up his captivity a little bit by having him moved to a more open cell where Ruddiger could come and go and Varian could get fresh air and sunlight; she had been terrified by the thought of him getting loose from a chain in the first place.

And yet, seeing him in such a condition? What kind of mother would...

"You're a horrible mother!" the voice rang in her ears.

"No!" she pushed the thought away, hiding her face in her hands and was unable to choke a sob. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there when she heard a knock on the door.

"Your Majesty?"

The nasal voice of Nigel felt like a loud drum to her ears, even though they had the door between them. "Just a moment!" She called out, surprised of how calm she sounded. She gathered herself enough to find her handkerchief, wiped her face and blew her nose quickly before she took a deep breath. "Alright!" she mumbled as she breathed out.

"Your Majesty, please! It is important!" Nigel's voice was desperate and pleading. Without answering, she walked towards the door and opened it.

"Your Majesty, thank goodness, I... Oh? is everything alright?"

"I... dozed off. I haven't slept well." she said, rubbing her eyes, frustrated that they exposed her. "What is it?"

"I have to inform you that the Duke of South Corona has arrived early because his daughter is getting married while Varian unfortunately managed to freed himself, and..."

Dozed as she still was, she was unable to follow and shook her head. "Nigel, what... Varian is... marrying whom?"

"No Your Majesty. The Duke' s daughter Annabelle is the one to be married, and..."

"Nigel, can you for once perform yourself short and concrete? I am not capable of handling any jibber jabber right now!" She hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but her nerves were on the edge of breaking.

Nigel stood up straight and breathed in before speaking. "The Duke of South Corona has arrived with his family, and Varian has escaped!"

It took Arianna a few seconds to take in what he said. Then she wasn't able to follow anything as she suddenly felt how her surroundings suddenly blurred around her.