Chapter 15: Erebos
In memory of my beloved Kiara, you were gone too soon my angel but I'll keep on moving in honor of you.
So I apologize for the long hiatus, my personal life has been kind of a nightmare these past months. I lost someone very dear to me and that left me in a very horrible state of mind. Nevertheless I do read all of your comments and I am immensely grateful for each of them. Thank you all for the continuous support as always.
So a little heads up, I tried to blend what I had originally planned with a few things from the series so this wouldn't deviate entirely too much from canon, but this is still very much AU so many things will still differ.
If I could turn back the clock
I'd make sure that light defeated the dark
I'd spend every hour of everyday
Keeping you safe
And I'd climb every mountain and swim every ocean
Just to be with you and fix what I've broken
Cause I need you to see
That you are the reason
~You Are The Reason
Darkness. That was the only thing his nebulous mind could comprehend at first. All-encompassing, all-consuming, a never ending void that swallowed every coherent thought and numbed his senses.
But there were times when the darkness was not so much a void of black as it was a hazy cloud of grey. Those were the times when he was almost lucid enough to stir his muddled brain and awake his senses, lucid enough to feel but never enough to fully wake up. His limbs were heavy, his mind was foggy. Try as he might he couldn't seem to open his eyes, but he could feel himself being moved, the sounds around him too muffled and faraway to really make out clearly.
He was being transported somewhere, that was a given. The where's and the why's weren't at all important to him when his body could barely rely on instinct, let alone reason. Was he being kidnapped? Maybe, he couldn't quite remember much of anything. In fact, when the darkness wasn't as heavy as usual, he sometimes realised with a certain feeling of trepidation that he couldn't really remember... anything at all. Of course he would forget all his incoherent musings as a heavy sleep took hold of him again and the cycle would repeat itself over and over in what seemed like an eternal loop.
The minutes could very well be eons for all he could tell. He was only vaguely aware of it. Heck, he was hardly aware of his own name. Time is an all too abstract concept when one is swimming in an abyss of nothingness. How long had he been like this? Perhaps days, perhaps weeks, maybe even months? He couldn't remember the last time he had been conscious enough to notice whether it was daytime or not.
However, Eugene would soon find out that the ignorance that his numbness provided was somewhat of a blessing disguised as a curse. Being aware was way much worse.
Gradually and slowly, oh so very slowly, the dark fog dissipated enough for him to be slightly more conscious of his predicament. He noticed it in vague hints.
A voice... no, two voices, mixing together, coming and going and filtering into his dreamless slumber. His muddled state prevented him from making out any coherent meaning behind the words echoing in his brain, but he blearily concluded they must belong to his captors.
Occasionally he would come to himself enough to notice the voices were accompanied with something else, the feeling of something being pressed against his lips, something liquid being forced down his throat; sometimes —blessedly— water to relieve his parched mouth, or some kind of broth to provide the slightest sustenance to his weak body. And some other times, when he would feel almost alert enough to move, something different would be forced past his lips, bitter in taste and thicker, almost syrupy. Eugene concluded that must be what kept him in this induced, eternal slumber. Was it a sleeping draught of some sort? No matter how much he tried he couldn't fight the subsequent drowsiness from taking hold of him only a few moments after ingesting it.
But once he realized this, vaguely knowing what was happening to him without being able to stop it was positively agonising.
Eugene tried to force himself to fight it every time the voices filtered through the haze, knowing what they came to do, but his limbs no longer responded to his brain. It was like being trapped inside himself, his body now a useless carcass vulnerable to any attack. They must be traveling far, wherever it was they were taking him, and his captors must have known of his preceding reputation. A fully conscious Flynn Rider would've long since figured out a way to escape.
Which begged the question; what had happened to him? How had he ended up in this eternal state of dreamless sleep? Eugene noticed the drowsiness was slowly dissipating and he was able to stay only semiconscious for longer periods of time, seemingly endless minutes in which his mind tried restlessly to conjure up any memories that might have been lost in the haze. They came to him in faint echoes and blurry flashes.
A castle... or was it a tower...? Thick lush woods... his worn satchel... a jeweled crown... he was supposed to do something important with it. Sell it? No... he was supposed to steal it. Had he failed? Perhaps he had been caught and they were keeping him captive to await the gallows, heaven knows he would've escaped prison had he been in full use of his faculties. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had the suspicion it had something to do with the Stabbingtons. Had they figured out his game and sold him out before he had the time to double-cross them instead?
No, something didn't add up, he felt it in his bones. There was a weird feeling that he couldn't quite place but it tugged at his heart, like he was missing something important. It wasn't so much a memory as it was a sensation, like the warm glow of sunlight shining through his closed eyelids, fighting off the darkness even though he could never quite reach it. Whenever it faded he felt empty, and something akin to yearning washed over him, as though he was grieving the loss of something precious he wasn't even aware he had lost.
The longer Eugene thought about it the more desperate he became. He needed to wake up, needed to figure it out. It felt almost like his life depended on it. The urgency that took hold of him was nearly strong enough to reawaken him.
With the stirring of his mind the faraway voices had gained some semblance of meaning and he caught pieces of a broken conversation every now and then.
"...been... the dosage...?"
"I thought it would be... would want to speak with him..."
"...he keeps mumbling that... what d'you think it means..."
"...means you haven't given him enough... will wake up soon..."
Eugene was only marginally aware that they were speaking of him, and with that thought came the startling realization that he had regained some very limited control over his own voice, his impossibly dry lips morphed around incoherent sounds that seemed to get stuck halfway before becoming full words, it felt as though his mouth was full of cotton.
His instincts seemed to know what he wanted before his brain could figure it out though, a single word tumbling past his lips.
"Mphr... Ra... Rapunzel..."
Rapunzel? The strange word rang no meaning in his fuzzy mind. It seemed important though, important enough to keep filtering in his thoughts and inspire a sense of dread. He needed to wake up, now.
Eugene mustered enough energy to force his body to cooperate, and his muscles, stiff with disuse, spasmed with every lethargic, minuscule move. With a far greater effort than the action should require, Eugene finally managed to crack open his eyes.
He was blinded by the sudden light that pierced his vision, and it took a moment for his sight to adjust to his surroundings. There wasn't much he could make out, his vision was blurred and unfocused, everything seemed entirely too shiny and the sheer effort it took to keep his eyes open was made his head hurt. With an insurmountable effort, Eugene tried to force himself into a sitting position, only for his weak muscles to give in and end up flopping right onto his back once again before he had even moved much more than a few inches.
A broken groan escaped his lips, which seemed to alert the only other occupant in the room.
"Oh, you're awake! About time." A raspy voice spoke. Eugene barely recognized this one was different from the ones he had been hearing. "I told those two morons to mind the dosage. I was starting to get worried you might never wake up."
A weak huff was all Eugene could manage in reply. Whoever his new companion was approached him and non-too-gently helped his limp body into a semi sitting position. Eugene could feel his head lolling to the side right before the other person arranged what seemed to be pillows behind his back to help him keep upright.
"Now," continued the gruff voice. "Are you able to speak?"
Eugene didn't even try opening his eyes again, a numbing headache was already forming behind his eyes. His tongue seemed too heavy and swollen to manage anything more coherent than a few mumbles.
"Hmm, I see. How about your sight? Can you focus on something? Anything at all?"
Eugene blearily followed the instructions, opening his eyes just a crack and regretting it instantly. He almost wished to be unconscious again, for how the light only served to intensify his already mounting migraine.
"Too shiny? Yes, it is to be expected." The voice grumbled again.
"Hmwha... wh-what... hap'nd?"
"A slight overdose of Moonshade." The voice —which now Eugene recognized belonged to a woman— explained. "Are you familiar with it?"
If Eugene were able to, he would have levelled the strange woman with the most deadpanned glare he could muster. What an idiotic question to ask in such a time. As it were, he was only able to shake his head slightly, an action that caused a piercing pain to burst in the back of his head, even more intense than before. He felt nauseous.
"Poison." The stranger continued, unfazed. "Administered in very small dosages it's just a very powerful sedative, enough to induce quite a heavy sleep, however just the slightest miscalculation could kill an adult within minutes. Fortunately the two idiots that brought you in had the sense to reduce the dosage by the end of the trip. Overexposure to Moonshade is not to be taken lightly."
Eugene was still at a loss. Who the hell was this woman, why were they apparently poisoning him and where the heck was he? Saying that he was starting to get more than a bit irritated would be an understatement, and there was still this strange feeling that he was forgetting something extremely important.
He tried to force his stiff muscles again into a more upright position, but a heavy hand stopped him before he had even finished the attempt.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, you're going to be feeling pretty weak and quite frankly terrible the next couple of days, I suggest you rest for now."
Eugene wanted to snap at the faceless voice, he had apparently done plenty of resting as of late. All he wanted were answers to his many questions.
The older woman didn't seem to care much about explaining any of this, despite Eugene's mumbled protests. She forced a strange liquid past Eugene's cracked lips going on and on about an antidote and some treatment to alleviate the worst symptoms or something or other Eugene didn't care much to pay attention to.
Finally, after some prodding and checking, the woman —who Eugene now assumed was some sort of physician— arranged the pillows behind him once more and promptly took a step back.
"Now, here's what to expect in the next couple of days." The stranger spoke in a rushed way, immediately launching into a long explanation that left Eugene somewhat disoriented.
"You're going to be feeling nauseous and heavily fatigued. Migraines and muscle spasms are to be expected, as well as a dry mouth and slight dehydration. It's likely your vision will be impaired for the time being, but it should return to normal in a few days. General confusion and even a spell of temporal amnesia should be expected as well, however your coordination should gradually be restored as well as your more recent memories. I will be coming for frequent check ups and should you need anything just ring the bell in the nightstand next to your bed. Any questions?"
Hell, Eugene had more than enough questions to keep the woman waiting for an hour, but he could barely pronounce his own name, let alone word his worries in a coherent conversation. The only answer he could muster was a bleary blink as his head lolled to the side once more without his permission. The older woman before him seemed to take his silence as a reasonable answer and nodded.
"Very well, I should not think it necessary to remind you as you will be too weak to even stand up straight but just to clarify," she cleared her throat. "You are not to leave this room under any circumstances. Two guards will be appointed at your doorstep at all times. Should you attempt any escapes, they will immediately know."
Eugene imagined the woman directed quite a stern glare his way, but as it was, his sight was too blurry to even focus her features correctly, so he couldn't quite tell. He silently watched the dark silhouette of the physician disappear behind a doorstep and it was only a matter of minutes before sleep wrapped its clutches around his consciousness for what seemed like the thousandth time. This time, Eugene welcomed the darkness with open arms.
The physician hadn't been wrong, to say the least. Eugene spent the next couple of days completely bedridden and feeling like a horse had ran him over. The experience was truly hell on earth, between the constant, intense headaches, nausea, and even some high fevers that left his entire body sore, it made Eugene wonder if this was the universe's retribution for all his wrong deeds. He almost missed the eternal darkness compared to what it was to be completely conscious while his body tried to fight off the effects of the foreign poison apparently still coursing through his veins. Despite slowly regaining ability to speak correctly, the physician, adamantly refused to answer his prodding questions. The older woman limited herself to visiting him twice a day to check on his progress, staying but a few minutes and avoiding any kind of conversation that had nothing to do with Eugene's present health.
He still didn't know where he was, or why he had been brought there. His memories were still jumbled and hazy, he knew almost on instinct that he had most definitely been sold off by the Stabbingtons. The last thing he remembered with some clarity was that he had been with them when he'd tried to steal that priceless crown. All Eugene really knew was that not remembering while being filled with unexplainable urgency left him feeling hollow and drained. He absolutely despised being idle and useless while his mind screamed at him to escape as soon as possible.
Even if he'd wanted to, he most definitely would have succumbed in the attempt. His body was far too weak to pull such a stunt.
The splitting headache that awoke him every day was slow to dissipate, any sudden movement made him feel dizzy and made his stomach turn, not to mention the painful spasms that overtook his muscles every time he so much as twitched. It was enough to discourage any attempts he might have tried to escape his strange prison.
As his sight gradually returned to normal he found out his 'prison' didn't resemble at all the occasional dungeon he had been thrown in every now and then. In fact it wasn't a prison at all, but quite a lush —if a bit sombre— bedroom. The furniture that covered the room seemed to be made out of some high quality wood like ebony, with upholstery made out of elaborate embroidery in equally dark colors to match. The walls were covered with elegant tapestries in black and silver patterns, giving the room an opulent, yet lugubrious air. Eugene had to wonder what kind of prison was this, and why would anyone go to the trouble of locking him inside what seemed like a guest room rather than a prison cell.
Nevertheless, there was no mistaking the fact that he was indeed imprisoned. The only source of natural light came from the wall to the left side of the room, lined with three perfectly spaced tall but narrow windows in which he could only fit his arm if he'd try to break through them.
There was nothing else worth much interest inside the bedroom, and so Eugene spent his time in isolation feeling like hell and concentrating on trying to poke his mind to recover his more recent memories. At first they came in gradually in broken glimpses, when the effort didn't leave him exhausted and fighting off a migraine. He had stolen the crown, that much he knew, he had wandered into the forest, a tower came into his mind's eye every now and then, as well as the sight of foreign and unfamiliar streets lighting up with a thousand candles, which for some reason made his heart stir.
And then, quite unexpectedly, it all came back to him in a sudden avalanche. Emerald green eyes, freckled cheeks, flecks of gold, a blinding glow. It left him breathless, as though he had been punched in the gut, the moment it all clicked in and the strange word he had unconsciously been repeating to himself finally acquired a meaning and with it a familiar face. Blondie, Rapunzel! What had happened to her? Eugene wracked his brain for the last memory he had of her. How long had it been since the last time he had seen her? Where was she —or more importantly what had happened and why wasn't he with her?
Before he could think twice about it, he stumbled out of the bed and immediately felt the ground shaking beneath his unstable feet. It took a moment for him to steady himself, but Eugene considered it quite a success when he'd spent the better part of the last couple of days barely able to even sit upright. However, he would be lying to himself if he said he could successfully plan an escape in such a state. As much as his health had progressed, even the infamous Flynn Rider couldn't escape prison when he didn't even know the basics of where he was.
How on earth was he supposed to find Rapunzel now?!
He was in the middle of panicking when he heard the telltale sound of the door unlocking followed by the now somewhat familiar sight of the physician. The old woman seemed startled at seeing him standing next to his bed instead of sprawled on the mattress, pausing at the door and blinking slowly behind her large spectacles.
"Oh, well this is a surprise." It took but a moment before her astonishment cleared and she was back to her dutiful, stoic expression. Before Eugene could even utter a single word she was by his side prodding here and there as she examined him just as every other day, asking the same clinical questions about his health.
It was enough for him to snap.
"Okay, lady, enough is enough!" Eugene swatted the older woman's hands away and took a step back, provoking quite the disapproving frown in the physician's wrinkled face. "I have places to be and matters to attend, and I've been here long enough! I demand answers; where the hell am I and what am I doing here?"
The woman's calculating eyes inspected him for a few seconds, and for a moment Eugene almost felt like she could see right through his soul.
"I suppose you do seem to be doing much better." The physician muttered with pursed lips. "Very well, follow me."
Eugene didn't even have time to argue before the woman disappeared behind the door. He was forced to stumble behind her on unsteady feet, following her into the darkened hallway just outside his room.
"Such ill manners... does not bode well at all..." Eugene heard the old woman muttering under her breath, no doubt talking about him. He decided to ignore her less than flattering opinion of him and instead focused on his surroundings. Sure enough, two imposing guards dressed in a dark uniform stood just across the door, nodding to the older woman in a respectful greeting.
"We will be going to the East Wing." The physician declared, barely pausing to acknowledge the two guards, whose only answer was to nod their understanding as they promptly moved to flank Eugene, effectively thwarting any attempt he might have had to plot an escape.
Eugene was no idiot, though. It would indeed be foolish of him to even consider escaping when he had absolutely no knowledge of any possible safe routes through wich he could disappear unnoticed. First, he needed to be familiar with his surroundings.
As he followed the old woman, he let his eyes carefully trail across every surface of the long hallways they walked through. The space was clearly big enough to suggest he was currently trapped inside a castle, or at least a very big mansion. Despite the clear attention to luxury and detail, the hallways seemed to be perpetually draped in foreboding darkness, as if a thin dark veil had been cast upon the entire building, allowing the pale light of the candles to illuminate only a few feet ahead.
The impossibly tall roofs were big enough that seemed to disappear into the darkness above, and Eugene's eyes could barely make out the structure of the vaulted ceiling. It would take a two man job to attempt an escape through the rooftops like the one he had planned for his heist in Corona's palace. He'd have to scratch that option.
Unlike the simple windows in his room, the main hallways through which they walked were lined with tall, stained glass windows adorned with patterns that seemed to tell a particular story in shades of purples and blues. The artistic craftsmanship made him think of Rapunzel, and how she would probably be ecstatic at the prospect of imagining the story hidden within the patterns of the glass. It made his heart ache.
The faint light that filtered through from outside casted shadows across the hallways that added an air of sombre opulence. All in all, despite the obvious wealth that adorned the spacious rooms, the building seemed to carry with it a contradictory sense of lavish decadence. Everything seemed too cold, too deserted, too dark, as if he was walking through the remains of an ancient abandoned castle.
The more they walked, the more dissatisfied Eugene grew with his assessment. The stained glass windows prevented him from catching a clear glimpse of the landscape outside, leaving him with no way of knowing with which kind of terrain he would have to deal with if he tried to escape. There were no obvious routes that led to any kind of exit, every arched entryway they crossed seemed to lead to an even larger hallway. The place seemed like a giant gothic maze without a clear structure.
Finally, the old physician paused before a a large double door and knocked.
It took a few moments before the enormous doors creaked as they opened to reveal a pair of vibrant green eyes set on a narrow male face, his perfectly sculpted beard and long nose adorned with a black, horizontal marking across his high cheekbones made the new stranger look rather sinister.
"Ah, Ágatha, is it time already?" The voice behind the door spoke, clearly addressing the older woman. The physician nodded, taking a step forward.
"I believe he's recovered enough. Now, do you mind?" The woman motioned impatiently for the man to open the door further. The man behind the door furrowed his dark eyebrows in distaste, but complied nonetheless, opening the door wider to let them in.
However, the older woman remained stood at the door, instead motioning for Eugene to enter first, and presumably without her. Eugene felt a strange sense of discomfort at apparently having to part with the only person that had been a constant since he'd woken up in this strange situation. He stilled himself and hesitantly crossed the threshold.
The room on the other side seemed to be a spacious sort of study, with a large, square, ebony table at the center. Eugene didn't have much time to inspect his surroundings as his eyes landed on the other occupant in the room seated at the head of the table. Tall and imposing, with familiar brown eyes and a particularly regal mien, the man seating on the other side stopped reading the documents that were placed before him and focused his attention on Eugene, his thin lips lifting into a strange sort of smile.
"Ah, there you are! I was starting to wonder when you would show up." The man spoke in a deep, rich timber that startled Eugene a bit. Was he talking to him? Eugene chanced a look behind his shoulder, expecting the strange, imposing man to be speaking to someone standing behind him and not to Eugene himself. However there was no one there, except for the other thin, dark-haired man with the vibrant green eyes that had opened the door a few moments ago, who was nowhere near the line of vision of the man sitting at the table.
"You had Ágatha a bit worried for a few days, but I was confident that you would recover in no time under her care." The tall man continued as if he were speaking with an acquaintance and not a complete stranger, which confused Eugene even further than he already was. "Moonshade is not to be trifled with, as you might have noticed. Quite a deadly wonder, as many other things that grow here."
There was an awkward moment of silence in which the other man blinked as if he were expecting Eugene to say or do something in particular, however Eugene was completely at a loss. The stranger seemed to grow impatient and motioned with his hand for Eugene to move forward.
"Do have a seat, then." He gestured toward the empty seat available across the table. Eugene remained planted on the same spot, however, wondering if perhaps he was dreaming this whole bizarre day. Never in his many years of thievery had he experienced this very strange method of interrogation or imprisonment.
It was clear the imposing man before him was not a very patient person. After a few seconds of tense silence, the man gestured toward what Eugene could only assume was his assistant, still standing dutifully by the door, and spoke again in a less cordial tone. "Hector, if you please?"
Eugene barely had time to wonder what that meant before he felt a pair of strong hands setting over his shoulders and pushing him forward, making him sit down on the empty chair that had been offered to him a moment ago in a rather forceful manner that he most definitely did not appreciate. "Hey! What-"
"I take it you have been feeling better?" The man across the table spoke once again in a detached cordial tone, interrupting Eugene's protests. "Do you care for some refreshments? Some tea perhaps?"
Eugene looked at the man before him as if he had grown a second head, his patience already wearing too thin. "I'm sorry, am I missing something? Do I even know you? And for the umpteenth time, would anybody tell me where the hell am I?!"
"Oh, of course, I suppose we should start at the beginning, yes." The man before him conceded as if they were merely discussing the weather. "You are in Erebos, otherwise known as the Dark Kingdom."
The Dark Kingdom? In his many years of adventures, Eugene had never heard of such a place before, which made him wonder if this was part of an elaborate and quite distasteful prank of some sort.
"You are also before its sovereign, His Majesty, King Harold." The dark-haired man behind him spoke, his scornful tone making it clear that he was not too fond of Eugene's lack of deference in the presence of what he now knew to be a king.
"Please, Hector, give our guest a chance." The King placated, before his eyes settled over Eugene again. "I suppose I shall have to excuse your irreverence as ignorance rather than ill will."
It was clear they had been expecting an apology for his lack of propriety, maybe a deferential bow or whatever it was that high royalty expected from someone of lesser rank. Eugene, however, had no patience for that kind of ridiculous traditions and no respect for any kind of royalty that wasn't a certain blonde princess, so he merely lifted a defiant eyebrow.
"Oh! Oh, I get it now. This must be some kind of mistake, yes."
"Mistake?" The King tilted his head in confusion.
"You clearly have the wrong guy here." Eugene continued, trying to make sense of this ever more bizarre situation. "'Cause if my memory serves me —which granted it has been failing me as of late— I have never been here before, so there's no way I can have any charges against me in this particular kingdom."
With that, Eugene stood from his forcefully assigned seat and motioned for the door. "I'll be accepting apologies for the mistake and maybe some sort of compensation for all the grievances this has caused me. Now if you will excuse me, I have somewhere else to be."
Before he could take two steps toward the exit his path was blocked by the green-eyed man the King had referred to as Hector, his menacing stare was enough to deflate Eugene's sudden burst of confidence.
"I am quite certain there has been no mistake." The King spoke in his once again cordial tone. "I will admit you were very hard to find and even harder to bring, but there was no mistake. You are indeed Flynn Rider after all, are you not?"
Eugene supposed taking pride in being one of the best thieves came with the added bonus of his reputation traveling to other foreign kingdoms. Well, it was nothing he hadn't dealt with before.
"Flynn Rider? Oh no, no, no. See, I understand the confusion, many have made that mistake before." Eugene chuckled, best winning grin plastered on his face. "But let me tell you, this nose has nothing to do with that monstrosity painted in the wanted posters."
The King seemed startled for a second before a very clearly forced laugh left his lips. "Oh, very funny, is he not, Hector? Quite charismatic indeed."
Hector didn't seem to agree with his sovereign's statement, and limited himself to forcing Eugene back in his previously occupied seat.
"My bad, I was under the impression that you had been going by that name for quite some time." The King continued unfazed. "Perhaps you would be more comfortable with your less known alter ego? Is Eugene Fitzherbert preferable to you?"
"Wha- ho-how did you...?!"
"I've been keeping track of you for quite some time." The King interrupted. "Granted, we lost you for a while after you decided to undergo a change of identity. But fortunately we managed to find you and now here we are, just in time."
The very vague and cryptic explanation that left Eugene with even more doubts than answers was starting to make his head pound again.
"You know, the healer never said anything about hallucinations being a side effect of the poison." Eugene murmured, his hands rubbing his temples.
"They are not, but that's beside the point. Let me elaborate." The King continued as he stood. "I come from a very long and ancient line of fierce and powerful warriors. Brave kings and queens that have laid their lives to protect this kingdom and the dark secrets within this castle."
The king gestured towards a tapestry covering most part of the adjacent wall, which seemed to be adorned with the faces of the kingdom's past sovereigns, and some other runes and depictions of the moon that seemed to suggest a story within.
"My ancestors and I are bound by the same duty, tied by blood magic, if you will. You do believe in magic, don't you?" The King asked, and continued before Eugene even had a chance to answer. "Yes, you ought to. Anyhow, since times immemorial, my family has had the sacred duty to protect this kingdom from the powerfully deadly magic coursing through these lands."
"Many grand kings and queens have given their lives trying to contain the magic within these walls." The King stood and walked towards the wall, letting his hands wander across the surface of the tapestry."Unfortunately, the deadly powers of this ancient curse have strengthened with each passing legacy, ravishing our land, cursing everything within its path."
"This lethal magic has claimed the lives of many, including that of my wife, and much later the life of my only son." The King's hand paused over the face of a young man depicted on the tapestry. "And now, I'm afraid it is also taking its toll on the health of my dear younger brother."
"I'm sorry," Eugene interrupted. "Not that I don't find your story very compelling but, what does any of that have to do with me."
The King turned his attention back to him, a strange look crossing his otherwise cordial features.
"I find myself in a very dire situation, you see," he continued, "I have no offspring alive of my own flesh and blood, and since my brother never married, he has no legitimate children to take his place in the unfortunate event of his death, leaving the kingdom with no heir apparent from our own immediate family."
"And that concerns me because...?" Eugene drawled, already quite fed up with this conversation.
The King's thin lips lifted into an enigmatic sort of grin that Eugene didn't like at all.
"As fate would have it, my brother does have a natural child, a bastard son." He took his previous seat back, his posture imperious and regal. "Unfortunately for all of us, that would be you."
"Excuse me?" Now that had caught Eugene's attention, and not precisely in a good way. He felt his head spin. "No... no that's impossible, I couldn't..."
"As much as it pains me to say it, it is true." The King interrupted Eugene's ramblings, and not for the first time that day, Eugene felt the air leaving his lungs in quite an undignified gasp that he tried to disguise as an incredulous, breathless laugh. As if his life wasn't bizarre enough already.
"Very funny. This is a joke right?" Eugene felt like he was quite literally spinning on the edge of insanity now. "I mean you have got to be kidding. Me the son of a- a- what is he, a prince or something?"
"Why would I be joking about something as delicate as this?" The King frowned. "I should wish this was part of some sort of theatrical amusement, believe me."
The air was starting to feel a bit too thin for Eugene's liking and he wasn't sure whether to laugh at the ridiculous irony of it all or just storm out of the stuffy chamber.
"Well, isn't this rich?" A derisive snort left Eugene's mouth. "I mean I knew my father was some highborn ass that couldn't be the least bothered with me but the brother of a king? That's gotta be whole new level of selfishness."
"Oh, no, you are quite mistaken." King Harold tilted his head, a far off look crossing his face. "Dear Edmund, your father, has no idea about your existence, I made sure of that myself."
"What?"
"I don't expect a commoner like you to know anything about the intricacies of royal responsibilities, so I'll elaborate." The King smiled, his fake air of icy cordiality contrasting with his words. "As royals we have a sacred duty to preserve the purity and name of our lineage. I understood that of course, and I expected my brother to understand his place as well. Sadly, I was mistaken. It seems my brother has the great misfortune of giving priority to his heart rather than his logic."
The King let out a heavy sigh, as if the sole memory bothered him greatly. "Edmund grew quite smitten with a simple chambermaid. Of course, she was quite the beauty and indeed had a very sweet disposition, but she was a chambermaid nonetheless."
"Granted, it is not uncommon or unheard of for a royal to take a commoner as a mistress, and I told Edmund as such." He continued, apparently unbothered by Eugene's growing frown. "I would let him keep his very foolish dalliance as long as he kept the affair discreet and promised to marry well, as was his duty. However, he proclaimed to be very much in love and would not hear of marrying another. Edmund insisted on marrying the girl, said she was the love of his life and would have her as his wife, even if it meant he had to renounce his title."
"I couldn't have that of course! Edmund was destined to marry high nobility, a countess, a duchess or a foreign princess, not a common servant!" The King exclaimed, the mere idea obviously causing him great disgust even years later. "Unfortunately, as it is the case with many lovers, he wasn't wise enough to desist temptation and not consummate his love, a union that, much to my chagrin, resulted in you."
"As soon as the rumor that your mother was with child reached me, I was adamant to put an end to the very ridiculous affair. Edmund wouldn't be the first, nor the last, nobleman to sire a bastard child but I would have no illegitimate children threatening the stability of our lineage within the walls of my own castle." The King stood from his chair, all the while ignoring the fact that Eugene's gaze was turning positively murderous by now.
He continued unfazed, "I took matters into my own hands, called for the girl, told her neither Edmund nor I would be burdened with any child of hers that came from a union out of wedlock. I gave her a generous sum to afford passage outside the kingdom and make herself scarce at the earliest convenience, and told her in no uncertain terms that she was not welcome to show her face again within my castle. Thus were the wishes of my brother and I."
"You made her believe he didn't want her?" Eugene asked, not sure if incredulity or righteous anger was his predominant emotion, but quite certain he would've liked to punch that air of cold serenity out of the King's face.
"I had no choice. A forbidden romance is better withered when pulled out from the root, otherwise the seeds remain." The King replied, clearly the matter was nothing more than a technicality to him. "I was forced to do the same with Edmund. I told him that the girl, as was expected of any jumped-up commoner, only wanted the money, power and title that came with marrying into royalty. As soon as enough money was set on the table she agreed to disappear without a second thought."
The detached and unapologetic way in which the regal man retold the story made Eugene's blood boil. Nevertheless, the King continued with his horrid tale, completely oblivious to Eugene's clenched jaw and hateful glare.
"It broke Edmund's heart of course. I assumed he would recover with time, but so heartbroken was he that he adamantly refused to marry any other, no matter how much I insisted upon it." He sighed, his brown eyes focusing on the burning embers in the fireplace on the corner of the room.
"However, everything was as it ought to be for a time. Until your mother decided to defy my orders and showed up here, uninvited, only a few years later with bastard child in tow." The memory made the King's aristocratic brow furrow in distaste. "She would have me believe that she was very seriously ill, that she had no way of providing for her illegitimate child, she asked for you to be taken in, or a few scraps of money to afford your care. As if bringing you into this world wasn't a disgrace enough for us."
"I wouldn't hear a word of it. She begged for an audience with Edmund, which I adamantly denied, then she begged for an audience with me which I also refused, I wouldn't have such a scandal break out in my kingdom, so I was forced to banish her." He turned back towards Eugene and returned to his chair, mostly unaffected.
"After that, she would never cause me any trouble again, except for a single letter that she had the gall to send." He smoothed out the papers on the table, probably recalling the contents of said missive. "A letter in which she informed me that, given the fact that she was certain death was upon her and she could not provide for her child any longer, she had been forced to drop him in an orphanage where he could be given the care and sustenance that she could no longer afford. She gave me the information and directions of the orphanage that had taken you in, and very cleverly informed me that she had made you partly aware of your origin. She made a final plea for us to take you under our care as was, in her own words, your right."
Evidently they had done nothing of the sort. Quite the contrary, they had turned their back on him when he'd been in most need of a loving family to take him under their wing. As if reading Eugene's dark thoughts, the King proceeded with his tale.
"I did keep a close eye on you after that, in case you ever got the same ideas of grandeur that your mother had before you and decided to defy my authority coming here demanding a title and a place upon my court that you had no right to ask for." His dark eyes settled over Eugene's, leveling him with a contemplative stare. "But you never did. I lost track of you for a time and when I found out you had decided to dedicate your life to becoming quite an infamous wanted criminal, I figured I had nothing to worry about."
"Fate is a fickle thing however." The King continued. "I lost my only son and heir to the throne barely a year ago, and now my brother is almost on his deathbed. I was forced to swallow my pride and bring you here myself to... ask for your aid."
Scorn didn't even begin to describe the way Eugene felt about the imperious monarch in that instant.
"Well, you really have no shame, do you?"The corners of Eugene's lips lifted into a contemptuous grin.
"Must be a family thing." The King retorted, unperturbed.
"Regardless, I am prepared to offer you a very generous offer, perhaps then we could make amends." King Harold's cordial smile returned as if he were merely talking to a long lost friend. "Until my brother recovers I need a strong and healthy successor to take his place. It needs to be you, the ancient magic within this castle can only be controlled by our family and were it to fall in the wrong hands it has the power to destroy the world as we know it."
The King walked towards a cabinet next to the fireplace, from where he retrieved a small chest, which he promptly set over the large, ebony table before regaining his seat. "Therefore, I will legitimize you, and you would be granted the title that a legitimate son of my brother deserves, along with all its benefits. You will be granted a pardon from any crime you may have committed against the crown. Your new title as a member of our royal family would grant you immunity, so any other government that falls outside our jurisdiction cannot prosecute or arrest you for any crime you could have committed before, under the threat of causing a great offense to our kingdom. I offer you a clean slate, you would be a free man, all I ask in return is for you to pledge your loyalty to me and this kingdom."
The King took out a scroll of parchment from within the small chest, and carefully extended it across the table towards Eugene, most likely expecting him to take it. The scroll, however, remained untouched on the dark surface of the table.
"No." The single syllable Eugene uttered seemed to hang in the tense atmosphere of the room for a moment.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I have to admit, you do have a lot of nerve." Eugene continued, rising from his chair. "You casted my mother out like she was the dirt beneath your boot, you refused her the help she needed to survive and let the woman your brother claimed to love die without any remorse. You had no qualms in letting me become an orphan and left me to rot in that orphanage and then when it was convenient to you, you decided that poisoning and kidnapping me to get me here would be just the cherry on top of the cake. And now you have the gall to ask for my help?! Well I'm not doing it, I owe you nor your brother absolutely nothing."
There was a moment of charged silence after Eugene's irate outburst, but the King seemed to recover his placid facade in no time.
"That would be an unwise decision."
"Yeah? Well I don't give a heck."
"Perhaps I overestimated your intelligence. You do realize what you would be refusing, don't you?" King Harold raised a thick eyebrow. "I'm offering you money, status, a castle to call your own home, a name, a lineage, a pardon from your criminal record and you are still refusing to accept it?"
Eugene refused to dignify that with an answer, and so the King continued.
"How much longer do you think you can keep up with your current lifestyle, honestly? You are quite literally toying with death now, every time you pull an even more incredulous stunt. What will happen when you get caught?"
"I will deal with that myself. I've managed to do it alone my entire life, haven't I?" Eugene spat.
"I don't see it being a very wise or sustainable way of living. Do you not care for your future? Wouldn't you like to settle down, have a family of your own, be able to give any potential wife or children you may have a surname, a name they could be proud of?"
Eugene scoffed, "Oh even if I wanted that, I doubt your name is something any child of mine could possibly be proud of."
The King frowned, leveling Eugene with an assessing stare. "If you don't care for money and a title, then what do you want?"
The flitting image of Rapunzel's bright smile filtered for a moment into Eugene's thoughts, making his heart squeeze in his chest. He let out a defeated sigh.
"The only thing I want you cannot give me, so you might as well stop trying to bribe me, I'm not interested."
"Ah, so love it is then?" King Harold concluded, as if he had deciphered something quite obvious in Eugene's guarded expression. Noticing Eugene's stunned stare, the King elaborated. "You are more like your father than you might care to know. You have the exact same eyes, and he's had the same mournful look that you have right now for years."
"Was it a lost love or was it unrequited?" The King pried. "Because unless death took your beloved, any obstacle can always be dealt with."
Eugene turned his face towards the wall, refusing to give the other man any ammunition to pry even more into his life. The calculating monarch was unrelenting though, much to Eugene's immense annoyance.
"Perhaps she was a lowlife like yourself?" The King inquired. The mere suggestion made Eugene bristle.
"She isn't." He grit out.
"Ah." The King nodded. "Did she refuse to tie herself with a wanted criminal then?"
Eugene pursed his lips, swallowing quite a few choice words he would've otherwise thrown at the hateful man before him.
"You know, with money comes power." The corner of the King's thin lips lifted into a half smile. "Who would refuse to marry a prince of the Dark Kingdom? Perhaps then you could offer her much more than what you could give her now that you are little more than a rat in the eyes of society."
"Okay, I have had it with you!" Eugene snapped. "Don't you have some other bastards of your own to pester instead of me?"
"Unfortunately, I do not."
"Well tough luck buddy, cause I'm not about to become your puppet."
"You seem to be under the impression that I am merely asking." For the first time in their brief acquaintance, the King's unperturbed expression cracked to reveal a much more sinister glare.
"Let me disabuse you of the notion that you have much of a choice in this delicate matter, my dear boy. You are either an ally or a threat." The King stood, his tall, broad body giving off a menacing front. "And you are either with me or against me."
The threatening glare lasted only for a second before a serene small smile returned to his face.
"Now, because I'm feeling generous, I will give you a few days to consider your options and hope you choose wisely. Until then..." the King motioned for his silent companion, who had remained stoic at the foot of the door the entire time. "Hector, if you would be so kind, please return our dear guest back to his rooms."
Eugene barely had any time to protest before Hector's strong arms were pushing him outside the door. As soon as they were outside the two guards that had followed him and the old physician toward the King's study stood at attention, and before he knew it, he was being forcefully escorted back to his assigned bedroom. Through the otherwise deserted hallways could only be heard the echo of his protests.
True to his word, King Harold gave him some days to ponder his words in the privacy of his comfortable new prison. Eugene spent little less than a week left mostly alone, which gave him enough time to recover completely from the effects of the overdose of Moonshade and, more importantly, to process the avalanche of information that had been unceremoniously dumped on him.
Sometimes the sheer ludicrous irony of it all still astounded him. A famously wanted thief the son of a prince? That had to be a sick joke of the universe. And yet, Eugene couldn't decipher how he should be feeling at the astonishing revelation. A part of him felt no different than before he had found out the truth, it didn't change a thing, he was still the same wanted man without a past to be proud of. But still, there was another part of him that found it hard to reconcile the life he'd led up until that point and how the new revelation of his true origin changed everything he ever thought he knew about himself.
Eugene spent his entire childhood and part of his adolescence wondering why no one in the world seemed to love or even want poor orphan Eugene Fitzherbert, not even his own parents. He'd grown up believing his mother had abandoned him after he'd become too much of a hindrance. And although once he'd become an adult he'd imagined that perhaps his mother had had her reasons, that in hindsight, perhaps she'd been entirely too sick to manage to care for him, he'd always believed firmly that his biological father had been nothing more than a selfish prick who couldn't be bothered with the son he had brought to the world. Now that he knew his father had actually been lied to and didn't even know about his existence, Eugene didn't even know if he wanted to process the myriad of feelings the truth brought within him.
Now his entire world seemed to be titling on its axis and the only source of comfort he'd grown to appreciate for the past month was gone and he had no way to know whether he'd see her again.
Rapunzel too, was a constant in his tremulous thoughts. Now that his memory was entirely recovered he had to wonder what had happened to her after he'd left her at the dressmakers promising to return. It was ridiculous to expect a horse to be able to understand Eugene's wishes but for his own sanity he had to believe that Maximus had kept his word and fetched the guards to return Rapunzel home.
What would she think of him now? Did she realize that he cared for her too much to let her tie herself to a wanted criminal and renounce to her birthright? Could she ever realize that he had left with the crown because he wanted nothing to do with it if it meant the Stabbingtons were never going to stop being a threat to them both? Or did she think he had betrayed her, like his own mother probably thought about his father until the day she died? Did she despise him now for not keeping his promise and leaving her behind?
All these questions assaulted Eugene's thoughts, robbing him of sleep, carving an even grander wound in his battered heart. The thought of Rapunzel hurting because of him was entirely too agonizing, and he had no way of even knowing if she was safe, if she had returned home, if he would ever see her again if only to tell her at least once what he hadn't been able to say before; that he cared for her too much for their own good, that no, it wasn't just attraction what he'd grown to feel for her but much, much more. It was friendship and tenderness and a devotion that he hadn't felt for anybody else before, all encompassed into one word that he couldn't bring himself to utter in her presence.
And now he didn't even know how many miles separated him from her or how to return to Corona when he was trapped in a kingdom he didn't even know existed before a few days ago.
In his darkest hours, Eugene seriously considered King Harold's offer, and if he'd do better to accept it. Not because of any desire he may have had of fulfilling his old dream of having a castle of his own and enormous piles of money to last him a lifetime, but because he truly saw no other way of being able to escape this godforsaken place. At least then he could trick the odious king into believing he would be on his side and bide his time until he found a safe way to escape.
And other times, when trapped in one of those sleepless nights, he considered the possibility of accepting the King's offer with a different plan in mind. Even if he managed to escape and return to Corona, how in the world would he be able to find Rapunzel again? If she was back home like he hoped, it would be a suicide mission to try to sneak into Corona's palace just to see her again. And then what? He couldn't ask her to run away with him, that would be too selfish of him. And they had no future together when he was still an orphan bastard at best and a wanted criminal at worst.
But, if he were to become a titled member of a foreign royal family, that certainly would change his chances. Perhaps then he would finally be worth something, maybe even enough to ask for her hand sometime in the future.
With that thought in mind, sleep finally claimed him as the image of Rapunzel's always dazzling smile welcomed him in his dreams.
After he'd recovered enough, the constant visits of Ágatha, the old physician, weren't necessary anymore. Nevertheless, King Harold didn't seem to trust Eugene enough to leave him to his own devices, and sent one of his trusted minions to replace the short visits of Ágatha and keep an eye on him every once in a while during the day. Eugene couldn't say he missed the physician's stoic presence. Actually he much preferred his new companion even though he didn't like her much to begin with.
Adira wasn't exactly what Eugene would have chosen to keep him company had he had a say in the matter. The tall woman took her duty to a fault, and though she seemed to try to make his stay a little less dull, Eugene thought she was too full of herself. She wasn't what he would call rude, not exactly anyway, but she did seem to carry this air of easy superiority that rubbed him the wrong way.
Nevertheless her presence was a little less irksome than that of the physician constantly prodding over his health. Eugene didn't trust her, not really, but a part of him was glad that it was Adira who the King assigned to keep an eye on him and not Hector with the snake eyes. At least Adira seemed a tiny bit less sinister.
The tall woman pondered her next move on the game of chess she had brought to pass the time. Eugene, being no expert, had lost the entirety of the 10 matches they had already played, and so, he inspected Adira instead of pondering his next move, trying to gauge her character better.
Truly, Eugene couldn't make out much. Adira was tenacious when she needed to be, but she didn't seem to be completely heartless. She wasn't warm whenever she interacted with him, far from it, but she actively tried to make his time trapped inside this stuffy room a bit less boring, bringing him a book or two to read or, like now, a board of chess to play while she stayed. Eugene had had far more cruel wardens in his lifetime, to say the least.
And truly, what other options did he have if he wanted to ease his worry? Biting the corner of his lip, Eugene stilled himself. What more had he to lose anyway?
"So... Adira, I have been thinking," Eugene broke the silence, interrupting Adira's musings.
"Finally! It would do you some good, I'm quite tired of winning to be honest." The woman replied, moving her knight and taking his bishop in the chess board.
Eugene decided to ignore the quip against his intelligence and continued. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about Corona, would you?"
"Corona? Hmm sounds familiar." Adira paused, her thin brows furrowing as she thought. "A kingdom, right?"
Eugene nodded.
"Well, it's been a while since we've had any contact with foreign kingdoms too far from our own." She shrugged, her dark eyes returning to the game before her for a moment before they snapped back to him, suddenly very interested in his question. She raised a scrutinizing eyebrow. "Why?"
"Oh no reason." Eugene shrugged, trying to appear as casual as possible. "I spent a while in there and it became almost like a home, I was just wondering if there were any news of interest from there, that's all."
Adira didn't seem convinced, her eyes narrowed as she seemed to scan his expression for any tell behind his noncommittal mask. Eugene tried a different approach.
"Fine, I am a very wanted man in there."
"You are a very wanted man in many other places too," Adira returned. "Yet you have expressed no interest in any other kingdoms, just Corona. Why?"
Her intense stare was starting to make Eugene feel a bit cornered. But his worry was far greater than his instinct to not reveal anything about himself, so he conceded.
"The last crime I committed before you lot kidnapped me was... quite the scandal there." Eugene rubbed the back of his neck. "I may have stolen something quite important from Corona's palace... I was just wondering if they had already figured out it was me who took it."
"What did you take?" Adira questioned, arms crossing over her chest.
"A crown..." Eugene tried very hard not to avoid her eyes.
"So where is it now?"
"I lost it." Eugene answered easily. "I wanted to know if... maybe it was returned to the palace, that's all."
"You lost it." Adira eyed him skeptically. "You went through the trouble of stealing a priceless crown from within a palace, and then you lost it? And now you're just merely curious about its whereabouts and if it was returned to its rightful place just because?"
Eugene nodded, albeit a bit less resolutely than he would've liked. The excuse did sound ridiculous when she put it that way.
"And you expect me to believe that?"
"Actually, I would appreciate it if you helped me find out any important news there might be about Corona." Eugene replied. "Maybe if the crown was found or... something else of interest."
Adira regarded him carefully for a moment, and Eugene was prepared to receive a negative answer. However she surprised him instead. "Alright, I might consider doing it."
"Really?"
"If you tell me truth." She rested her forearms on the table where the chessboard was set, as if preparing for a thorough interrogation. "Why are you really so pressed about Corona?"
"I am telling you the truth." Eugene shrugged. "I did steal a crown and then I lost it."
"And...?"
There was a moment of tense silence in which both of them seemed to test the other's will. However, finding himself in a very disadvantageous position, Eugene was forced to concede. "Fine! I stole the crown... and I might have also kidnapped the princess of Corona in the process."
"What?!"
"I wasn't planning on it!"
"So what, you stole the princess' crown while it was still atop her head and so you decided to take both while you were at it?" Adira asked incredulously.
"It didn't go exactly like that." Eugene winced. Adira raised a dubious eyebrow. "Point is, I was in the middle of trying to return the princess home when your people decided to kidnap me and now I don't know where she is and I have no way of knowing if she returned home. There! Happy now?"
"You lost a princess, I can't really say the news bring me much joy, no."
Adira narrowed her eyes, appearing to be deep in thought. Eugene tried to still as much earnestness in his voice as he could. "Would you please consider helping me find out anything you can about her whereabouts?"
"Why?"
The question irked Eugene and he took on an affronted air. "Well, because I have no way of finding out myself while I'm stuck here, now can I?"
"No, I mean why are you so insistent upon it?"
Eugene clenched his jaw. "Because, I took her from her home without planing it and I intended to return her, and now because of your pigheaded king, I left her behind and I don't know whether she made it home safe!"
An enigmatic smirk pulled on Adira's lips, as if she'd finally figured out what she wanted to know. "You care about her."
Eugene frowned, leaning back on his chair and trying to adopt an air of indifference. "Well, I don't wish her any harm."
"Because you care about her."
"That's neither here nor there, and it's none of your business anyway!" Eugene stood abruptly from his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose as he repressed a sigh. "Look, if you help me find out what happened to her, I will consider accepting your king's offer. That would be in all of your best interests, wouldn't it?"
That seemed to catch Adira's interest. She considered his words for a moment before she stood resolutely. "Fine, I'll help you."
Huh, he had expected to do a lot more begging. Before Eugene had time to say anything else, the tall woman picked up the chessboard and pieces they had been using and approached the door.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where are you going?"
She turned back to him as she reached for the door. "I'll be informing you of anything I find out when I get the information."
And with that she disappeared just as unceremoniously as she entered every day, leaving Eugene wondering if he had made the right decision to ask for her help.
Adira didn't return to keep an eye on him the next few days, which admittedly worried Eugene a bit. She didn't have a set schedule for her impromptu visits but she rarely left him to his own devices for longer than a day. He was left to his own worries with nothing else to do but read the few books at his disposal and maintain his endless cycle of anxiousness.
By the time Adira returned Eugene was positive he was close to biting his nails to their cuticles.
"Fitzherbert." She nodded her greeting, as stoic as always.
"Where have you been?" Eugene asked, a little more fretful than he would've liked.
"I have grave news."
Adira's words coupled with her serious face made Eugene's blood run cold. Had she found out something had happened to Rapunzel? What if she had never returned to the palace? What if she had been found hurt or even worse, what if she hadn't been found at all?
Before he could drive himself into a panic attack, Adira disclosed said grave news.
"Your father, His Royal Highness Prince Edmund, does not seem to be getting any better." She sighed, evidently disturbed by the turn of events. "Ágatha believes if his health doesn't improve soon, he might not resist much longer."
Eugene supposed he should probably feel something, probably the grief that a son should be feeling at the news of his father's imminent death. But he found he really couldn't feel more than a bit of pity for a man he had never even met.
"We think it might be best if you paid him a visit, before it is too late." Adira informed him. It seemed to be more an order than a request, which only served to irritate him.
"I have nothing to say to that man."
Truly, Eugene had no interest in meeting the man that had so easily abandoned his mother and never once had bothered to find out the truth. He knew if the situation were reversed, he would try everything in his power to find Rapunzel again and have her tell him to his face if she truly wanted nothing to do with him anymore, not simply trust the word of anybody else for it.
Adira's eyes softened just slightly as she approached him carefully, as if trying not to spook a wounded animal. "I understand you might be a bit resentful and hurt, but you have to know Prince Edmund is not a cruel man."
"Of course that's what his lackey would say." Eugene muttered.
"I'm not anybody's lackey." Adira frowned, clearly taking great offense in his snide utterance. "I do not serve Edmund, I am part of the Brotherhood. We are warriors, sworn to protect the magic that lies within this castle. My duty is to that magic and only that."
"Then why are you here trying to convince me to see a man that never once was there for me." Eugene raised a defiant eyebrow.
"Don't you think you are being a bit hard on him?" Adira returned a bit softer than before. "He didn't know what was done to your mother or you."
"Well he shouldn't have let himself get manipulated by his clearly cold-blooded brother." Eugene replied, a bit petulantly he knew, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was in a foul mood already and this conversation wasn't helping at all.
"He was lied to, he never knew the truth."
"Yeah? Well if he loved my mother as much as he claimed he did he should've known better than to doubt her, don't you think?" Eugene rounded on her, years of pent up resentment bubbling to the surface. "He never fought for her, never even tried to find her again."
"Your father-"
"That is not my father." Eugene interrupted, already losing his temper. "He is just a stranger that sired me, but he was never a father to me."
"Maybe if you just gave him a chance..."
"Look, he is not particularly the royal I most care about at the moment." He sighed, not the least bit interested in continuing the conversation. "Do you have any news about Corona?"
Adira remained silent, her dark eyes taking on a judging glint. After a moment she finally replied, "No, I haven't found anything of importance yet."
Eugene's last strains of patience finally snapped. "It's been days! What do you mean you haven't found anything?"
"News travel slowly from kingdom to kingdom." Adira shrugged.
With a heavy breath, Eugene let himself drop over the soft mattress of his bed, head hanging low. With no news about Rapunzel's well-being and no way to successfully extricate himself from his current situation, he felt more defeated than ever.
"Well, if there is nothing else of importance to be said..." Eugene muttered,"I'd like to be left alone, if you don't mind."
"Fine." Adira relented. She approached the entrance of the room, but paused just as she reached the door and shot him one last pitiful glance. "You know, you should reconsider your decision. I'm sure Edmund would very much like to meet you."
Eugene heard the door locking as she exited. He didn't know whether to be glad or not that he was now left alone to wallow in his own misery.
A couple more days passed in which Eugene was sure he had descended into the pits of despair. His every waking moment was spent worrying about Rapunzel, and wondering how in the world he could manage to find her again. Adira clearly was no help at all, and although the idea of accepting anything that came from the odious king that somehow was related to him made his skin crawl, Eugene was beginning to think he would have no other choice. He couldn't escape when he had two armed guards outside his door at every hour with the clear instructions to not let him outside the bedroom, and he didn't even have a wide enough window through which to escape from within his room.
The sound of the door opening interrupted his now constant state of uneasiness. Eugene wasn't even sure he was remotely glad to see Adira's face entering his gloomy room.
"About time you showed up!" He exclaimed with a disgruntled scowl.
"You know what, I'm tired, I've waited long enough and you don't seem to be of much help." Eugene continued before she even had time to speak. "Tell your king I will be accepting his offer, I will deal with this myself."
"No you won't." Adira replied firmly.
"Excuse me?"
"Fitzherbert, if you could just shut it for two seconds? I bring some rather urgent news."
Eugene felt his stomach tie in knots. "Is it about Edmund?"
"Not exactly. It's about Corona and what you asked me to find out." Adira approached him, her face serious.
Now it really felt more like he wasn't able to breathe. "What is it?"
"It appears that the princess of Corona was found and returned home successfully."
The knot in his stomach eased just a bit, and Eugene felt like he had been repressing the sigh he let out for the longest time. "Is she safe then?"
"I would assume she is, considering her betrothal was announced some weeks after her return." Adira informed, taking a seat in one of the fancy chairs nearby, completely oblivious of Eugene's internal breakdown.
"Betrothal?" He croaked, feeling like a sack of rocks had been dropped over his gut, leaving him breathless all over again.
"Yes, she is engaged to a foreign prince of some neighboring kingdom apparently." Adira shrugged.
It felt like the world had stopped for a moment, an agonising moment in which Eugene's heart seemed to split inside his chest. He should be glad, he chastised himself, he should be ecstatic that Rapunzel was safe and sound back in her home where she belonged. Instead he felt more wretched than he had ever felt before. Rapunzel was engaged, like it was logically expected of a young princess her age, and even though he had fantasised about it for just a moment, she wasn't promised to him. She would live a long happy life with another man by her side, and he wouldn't be there to see her sweet smile or sparkling eyes ever again.
Adira continued talking, as if she hadn't just ripped out a part of Eugene's soul with her words. "In any case, that is not what I came to discuss with you."
"Uh?"
"I had to inform the King about your offer and what you asked me to find out, so he would allow me to leave the castle in search for news and investigate as much as I needed." The tall woman explained carefully, her lips setting into a tense line. "It appears by doing so I made a grave mistake."
"What do you mean?" Eugene mumbled, far too distracted by his heartache to make sense of what was being said.
"Centuries ago, a single drop of sunlight and a single drop of moonlight fell from the heavens, and brought their magic with them upon this earth."
"Adira, seriously, I am not in the mood for fairytales." Eugene grumbled, his hands tiredly rubbing at his temples. All he wanted now was to be left alone to wallow in his self pity without the tall woman's scrutinising stare. "Get to the point please."
"I'll get there when I get there." She snapped, clearly not appreciating being interrupted. "Anyway, as it is the case with their respective stars, the powers of the sunlight and the moonlight are said to complement each other. They are directly opposing; the sunlight has the power to heal, and the moonlight the power of destruction."
"The drop of sunlight has never been found, but the drop of moonlight happened to fall in these lands and took the form of the Moonstone." Adira explained, "Us, the Brotherhood and the King, are sworn to protect the Moonstone at all costs, for the magic that it contains is too dangerous to be unleashed. But, lately King Harold has gotten it into his head to destroy the Moonstone and its powers once and for all. It has taken too much from him, his wife, his son and now it's taking his brother."
Not understanding how any of this had to do with him again, Eugene decided to ask the obvious. "So what happens if he does destroy it?"
"Some have tried it before, such as your own father, but no one has been successful. The Moonstone is too powerful, and anyone who's tried to destroy it has lost their lives in the attempt." Adira replied, the grave tone in her voice letting him know the seriousness of the situation. "It is believed that only by reuniting the Sundrop with the Moonstone could their magic be neutralized. But no one has found the Sundrop before, or that's what I believed until very recently."
"While I was digging into Corona's affairs to find out any news about their princess, I discovered much more than I initially expected." Adira continued, "Apparently, Corona has a very serious cult around the Sun, perhaps just as sacred as ours to the Moon which seemed curious to me. After thoroughly searching I found out they too believed in the Sundrop, which according to their own legends, they believed had taken the form of a magical flower with the power to heal any wound and cure any illness, even death. But no one had ever found the location of said flower, that is, until quite recently."
The tale seemed eerily familiar to Eugene, making an uncomfortable feeling set in the pit of his stomach.
"Sources say their current Queen Consort fell fatally ill during her first pregnancy. It was believed at the time that neither her nor her baby would probably make it, and so the kingdom began to look for a miracle; the magical flower." Adira pursed her lips in thought as she explained the next part of her complicated story. "They were able to find it, but apparently they very foolishly decided to extract the flower from its root in order to save their Queen. I have no idea what happened to the flower after that but obviously the Queen and her baby were saved, which leads me to believe the magic worked somehow."
Eugene was definitely not liking where this story was going. "Why are you telling me all of this?"
"Because, if the Sundrop is just as powerful as the Moonstone it cannot really be destroyed or used only once, but the flower was never found again, which leads me to believe one of two things;" Adira leaned forward in her seat, gesturing with her hands. "Either the King and Queen of Corona are keeping the flower for themselves, or the Queen or even the Princess herself somehow absorbed that power, making either one of them the Sundrop now, with all the magic that it possesses."
The memory of Rapunzel's glowing hair materialised in his mind, making a shiver run down his spine. Rapunzel had that magic coursing within her, he had seen it with his own eyes, had been healed by it after the shipwreck. She was the Sundrop, and now Adira seemed entirely too close to figuring it out. Somehow, he had a feeling that wouldn't be the worst case scenario.
"Why do I feel like this is quite concerning." Eugene asked, trying to school his features not to reveal what he already knew.
"Because King Harold is set on destroying the Moonstone, and if my predictions are correct, the Sundrop is in Corona, and he will stop at nothing to obtain it I'm sure."
The new information made his heart jump to his throat. "How would he figure all of this out if not by you?"
"King Harold is in possession of part of an ancient scroll that holds the secrets to the ancient incantations that activate said powers. We've spent years trying to decipher it, but no one really knows what could happen if the Sundrop and the Moonstone are reunited." Adira explained, "He knows that I was searching information about Corona and he took a peculiar interest as well. If I was able to find out a part of Corona's recent history, it is only a matter of time before he puts two and two together and comes to the same conclusions I did."
"Which means Rapunzel is in danger."
If the news about his own origin hadn't been enough to send him into a state of complete mental colapse, this was truly making an even greater effort.
"You do care about her don't you?" Adira questioned, her wise eyes carefully searching his features. Eugene was quite certain she wouldn't find much more than panic hiding within his barely contained composure. Nevertheless he nodded.
"You need to warn her. I do believe the only way to stop the Moonstone's destructive powers is by destroying it, but the King's stubborn ways could very likely lead him to go about it the wrong way." Adira urged, rising from her seat. "The Sundrop needs to be protected, we don't have enough information yet to know what could happen if both powers are unleashed when reunited."
"Great. And how do you suppose I could warn her when I'm trapped in here in case you forgot?" Eugene impatiently gestured toward the locked door.
"I will help you get out of the Dark Kingdom, but you need to trust me and follow my instructions every step of the way."
"Alright, fine, let's say we manage to escape without your insane king finding out, how am I supposed to actually get into Corona's palace and have a chat with the princess when I am still very much a wanted thief?" He questioned, trying to control the dread climbing in his throat.
"I trust you're not that dumb, if you managed to do it once I'm sure you can do it again." Adira crossed her arms over her chest. "You are said to be the best thief in many kingdoms. Or are you not Flynn Rider after all?
"I'm not! Clearly I am not, you know that!" He was vaguely aware of the shrill hint in his voice, but at the moment he found he didn't care much.
"C'mon Fitzherbert this is not the time for some identity crisis." Adira snapped. "Flynn Rider may not be your real name but you did manage to pull all those stunts without ever getting successfully captured, didn't you?"
Eugene nodded, uncertain if he had it in himself not to have a nervous breakdown right then.
"So, will you do it?"
He considered his options for a few moments. He didn't trust Adira just yet, but he much less trusted the heartless King that had knowingly left him an orphan all those years ago, so he was left with very limited options. Eugene only knew one thing for certain, and it was that he would give his own life for Rapunzel's safety without a second thought. If this was his only ticket outside the Dark Kingdom and the only way to go back to Rapunzel, he supposed he would have no other choice but to take it and hope for the best.
Taking a deep breath, Eugene nodded firmly. "Fine, lead the way."
So, next chapter we will go back to Rapunzel and see how she is dealing with her own tough situation. Hope you liked this chapter and if you did some reviews would really make me happy in these particularly difficult times for me, I am really looking forward to what you all think of this development!