Chapter 28: Varian Confused

So we are more or less stuck all of us. Good time for writing though. That's the plan anyway. Struggling to manage chapters for all my stories. Typical to get stuck on some of them in important turns. I wish you all a healthy quarantine time and pray we get this Corona-issue (can't help but laugh a little at the choice of name) over with as fast as possible. Now, back to our boy and HIS issues.

Also, better give the note; Although the young maid has been named by the writers as Faith now, I am keeping the name Karen as this is how I feel I know her now.

"Captain, this is getting us nowhere!" Nigel complained. "I bet the animal is already long gone." The snobbish advisor were not the type to get his clothes filthy or waste his time crawling on the floor, and looking for critters were far on the bottom of his list of important doings.

"I doubt that very indeed." The Captain said as he got up on his feet after looking under a curtain. "One can say many things about Varian, but the raccoon is another case. It has never been locked up and could have fled anytime it wanted, but it has remained by Varian's side ever since we arrested him."

"But that means that if he's not anywhere ..." Nigel became all white in his face and grabbed a hold on both his cheeks. "What if Varian has managed to find him before us and get then get out of the castle? He could be anywhere, and..."

The advisor never managed to finish his sentence as he suddenly heard the sound of someone huffing and puffing behind him. As they turned around, they found Violet panting as she ran towards them, and then stopped to catch her breath. Her face and neck were red from exhaustion and her eyes were panicked. "Gentlemen... Thank goodness I found you..." she wasn't able to finish her sentence as she begun coughing.

"Violet, what on earth..." the Captain said and turned to face her.

"Have you seen Karen?" she cried out when she managed to swallow to moisture her throat.

"Yes, I did see her, Violet." Nigel said and got small eyes and place his hands on his hips. "But she refused to follow my instructions of going to her room, and..."

"So where is she now?" Violet interrupted him.

"She..." Nigel found himself unable to answer her question. "Like I said, I saw her a while ago..."

The plump elderly maid sighed. "Captain?"

"I... Karen was in the corridor further away with both us and the Majesties not long ago, and I doubt the Majesties would leave her unprotected."

"At least tell me you have taken care of the prisoner?" she said and turned to the Captain with folded hands.

"We... have yet to find him, Ma'am." the Captain replied.

"What...?" her up shaken red face lost all color. "But... your guards ensured me that you had... caught him already!"

Now it was the Captain who lost color from his face. "And which of my guards were that?" the Captain asked, doing his best to remain calm.

"Those two who never manage to explain themselves properly!" Violet said, getting more and more frustrated.

"Sounds like Pete and Stan..." he said and facepalmed himself. "What AM I going to DO with them?"

"But... Could it be that someone else had found him?" Nigel said hopeful.

"And not let me know about it? Violet! Wait!" the Captain said frustrated as she ran past them. "Where are those two baboons now?"

"I left them at the kitchen to look after the food while I'm gone." she said as she looked back at them.

"The kitchen?" both the Captain and the advisor cried out, eyes threatening to pop out of their eyes as they exchanged looks and raised eyebrows.

"Well, I couldn't leave the dinner unattended, could I?" she said and hurried on away from them.

"Well, that was just..." the Captain frowned and turned on his heel. "Someone has a bit of explaining to do!"

"Captain, where are you going?" Nigel cried after him.

"To the kitchen!" he replied and begun running to the direction Violet had come from. "I need to get to the bottom of this..." And by that, he disappeared around the corner.

As he watched the Captain and the maid go in opposite directions, Nigel found himself left in the middle, uncertain of what to do next. As he hated to be ignored, he let out an angry cry and looked up at the roof and sighed. "Maybe my mother was right. I should have become a secretary. Less stress and less... running." Then after a short pondering, he found it necessary to take actions, and concluded that since the Captain had already gone to the kitchen, he found it wisest to follow the maid. So he too made a turn and ran.

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"So... Let me see if I've got this right..." Varian gesticulated and twirled with his hands as if it would help him get control of the situation. "My dad has... gone with Princess Rapunzel on her important journey to... far away somewhere to look after her, while Your Majesty's supposed to... look after me?" He pointed a naked finger towards himself as he looked at Fredric with blue eyes full of questions.

Fredric nodded and faced the boy with a smile. "Correct! That's correct. I gave my word that I would... make sure you were alright." This was only half the truth, but he knew that Rapunzel would have wanted him to make sure he was comfortable. And at the moment, this was the only possible way he could keep his promise to his daughter. And the only way he could explain his father's absence without giving him another shock.

But Varian didn't seem convinced and gave the King a skeptic look. "Well, I must confess that I find that hard to believe!"

"Well, can you think of any other logical explanation to come up with, son?" Fredric said, and suddenly stopped himself when he saw that the boy was about to start thinking. "No no no, by the way, don't think! It's not good for your condition. Just believe me when I say that you don't have to worry about yourself, or... or anything!"

"Eh..." The boy found himself unable to reply, and let out a frustrated moan. "But... that doesn't make any sense. I..."

"Don't tell me you doubt His Majesty, Varian?" Lars broke in, looking with small eyes and a calm smile at him.

"No no no, I-I didn't mean... I'm sorry, I don't want to sound like I'm ungrateful, it's just that... Why didn't Your Majesty just tell me that from the start?"

Fredric looked at Phineas again, and the old physician turned towards Varian and spoke.

"Listen, son..." Phineas broke in, placing a hand on his lanky shoulder, making him turn around to face him. "His Majesty didn't want to do anything to push your brain into remembering too much when you're still hurt. And I don't think it's a good idea to let you know too much too fast either. After all, we saw you react rather badly when you tried it just now."

"But... couldn't we just try again? I'm not afraid..." Varian tried, but Phineas gave a short grunt to interrupt him.

"We can, and we will...When I say so. We must let you heal first. Think of the wound in your head. Do you think it will stop bleeding if we keep poking it?"

"No!" Varian felt almost dizzy by just thinking of the blood he had seen today.

"Right. It needs to be left in peace so it can mend. And that's what your brain needs as well. Just let what little you have learned now sink in, and then we will take it all in time. Alright?"

"Eh..." the boy looked down on his lap of crossed legs, where Ruddiger had taken place on his apron during the explanation, and put his naked hand on is fur, unable to hold back a frustrated and dissatisfied moan as he made a face.

Phineas sat down in front of him on the bed. "Come on, lad. I had the impression that you trusted me, scientist to scientist?"

Varian looked up at him again. "What? Why, I- don't get me wrong, I do, of course. It's just..." he struggled to find words, then after a moment he let out a heavy sigh and looked up at him with lost eyes. "I'm not sure I like this."

"Why, you have nothing to be worried about." Phineas laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a friendly smile. "I promise that we will revile to you what you need to know, but not today. You cannot rush the brain before its ready, no matter how much you disagree. And when it..."

He was interrupted when Varian suddenly bent forward and got a rather painful expression on his face while giving a loud moan. Ruddiger woke up from his doze and immediately became alert, jumping some steps away and looking at him with deep concern, and a little frightened.

"Are you alright, Varian?" Fredric said, suddenly deeply worried as he approached next to the bed. Lars too got concerned, and all three watched him, suddenly worried that he had another fit of headache. But then a loud, rumbling sound made them all realize what was the matter.

"Oh gosh-oh..." Varian held both hands on his belly and bent forward, his face all twisted. " Aaah... Feels like I haven't eaten for a year. Where... where did that carrot go?" He franticly begun looking around for the carrot he had found in his sleeve a while ago.

Fredric couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh of relief, not only because it wasn't anything serious with him, but because he finally showed sign of normal appetite. "Ah, at last..." he whispered to himself, but covered his mouth quickly, hoping the boy didn't hear him.

Phineas laughed. "But lad, I'll make sure to get you a proper meal. Right, Your Majesty?"

"Certainly!" Fredric replied, relieved that nothing were severely wrong with him, and that they could change the subject. "I will see to it at once." Then he turned around and headed for the door.

"What?" Varian forgot about the carrot and looked up at the King with a look of disbelief. "But your Majesty, there's no need..." He were interrupted by his belly rumbling again. "Quiet with you!" he said and gave his belly a nudge.

Fredric couldn't help but laugh a little himself as he gave him a last look. "Now son, I can't let you go around hungry, can I? My dau... Eh... Your father would never forgive me. What kind of hospitality would that be?"

The boy was about to object, but Lars stepped in front of him.

"Varian, I think you should just let yourself be taken care of now in your state." Lars smiled as he walked to his side. "Have some food and a good night sleep, and tomorrow morning, when we've all have had some rest, I'll bring Daniel and visit you again. Doesn't that sound like a good idea?"

"Eh..." Realizing that he was tied up all over, Varian leaned back on the bed with a sigh. "Alright." he said, trying not to sound frustrated.

"That's good, son. Take care in the meantime." Lars said and gave Varian a gentle rustle in his messy black hair. Although when he turned around to leave, he got startled when Varian squeaked a sneeze behind him.

"Perhaps..." Phineas failed to keep back a chuckle. "A meal and then a bath so we can wash that pepper out of your hair, what?"

"Eh..." Varian wiped his nose with the back of his still gloved hand, rather embarrassed. "If you say so..."

Fredric had to cover his mouth to hide a chuckle, as he had a slight idea of where that pepper had emerged from. Something told him Varian had gotten a slight taste of his own medicine after all.

"Pepper?" Lars sighed. "Has Daniel started already?"

"Huh?" Varian arched an eyebrow at him.

"What on earth do you mean?" Fredric asked as he opened the door.

"Well, you see..." Lars begun, but he stopped right when he and Fredric were about to leave the room. All four in the room got all silent as they all became aware of the sound coming from the reception room.

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"Violet! Please stop. I need an explanation on this." Nigel caught up with her and blocked her way and spoke with the most demanding voice he was able to give to get her attention. "Violet! I need to you to tell me something! Did you see Karen after Her Majesty and I told you about the prisoner? Because if you did, why on earth did you not warn her about him? She didn't seem like she understood the danger at all."

"Yes, I did see her. But..." She suddenly lowered her gaze and looked shameful."I am afraid I forgot all about that when we found that poor boy in the kitchen."

"A boy? In the kitchen?" Nigel's eyes became wide as eggs.

"Yes. And what a dreadful condition he was in. Didn't look like he had much of either food or care for weeks. Not to mention how much he needed a bath." She wrinkled her nose.

"Oh for goodness sake!" Nigel gasped and grabbed a hold on his hair from both sides. "What did he do?"

Violet gave a short description of how Karen had been startled and struck him down with the frying pan, fainted by the sight of his own blood and how they had carried him to the sick room. Nigel's jaw threatened to hit the floor by the time she was finished.

"So he WAS the boy in the sick room! Thank goodness! Then he is located after all!" He drew his breath and let put a sigh. "So she managed to single handed take Varian down with nothing but a frying pan? My word, what a daredevil that girl has become."

"For goodness sake, Nigel, what are you..." But then she stopped herself and blinked. "But... do you know Varian? Then maybe you can tell me how he got in there in the first place?"

Nigel had to struggle not to faint and made some odd chocked cries before he was able to speak. "But in the name of the sweet sun, Violet... Have you any idea of who that boy is?"

"No, but it appears that you do! Would you care to share it with me?"

Nigel drew his breath deeply through his large nose, and looked at her with strict eyes. "Dear Violet, you better prepare yourself for a shock!"