Siblings of Corona B2:Life In the Castle

Chapter 6

"Hey, sunshine, are you in there?"  Eugene's voice came through the door.  Rapunzel sighed with relief.

"You can't let Eugene see you," Cassandra whispered harshly.

"What? Why?"  Rapunzel asked.

"He can't know anything about last night. I told you, Rapunzel. If it gets out that I took you outside Corona, I'm done for," Cassandra hissed.

"But I trust Eugene," Rapunzel frowned.

"Well, I don't trust him to keep something like this secret,"  Cassandra retorted.

"Oh come on, we've been looking for you all night," Eugene sighed.  "Hey, are you okay in there? I can hear you, you know?  Rapunzel?"

Cassandra began to stuff Rapunzel's hair in the dresser and Varian started pushing it under the bed.  "This isn't working!"  He whispered.

"Rapunzel?"  Eugened pleaded.

"We gotta let him in guys, he's hirting," Rapunzel said.

Varian bumped his head on the side table by his sister's bed.  He winced as it came crashing down.

"Stand back! I'm coming in!" Eugene roared and he kicked the door open, drawing his sword.  "Sunshine!  Are you o-Holy hair!"

Rapunzel was standing in the middle of the room holding an armful of her hair.  Varian was scrambling to fix the table, given a nervous chuckle as Eugene looked his way.  Cassandra rolled her head back as she groaned in annoyance.

Rapunzel gave an awkward laugh as she looked down at her blond hair.  "Surprised!"

Upon seeing Eugene's pale face, Varian helped him into a chair.  "Take it easy, Eugene..."

"Whoa! Ooh, mama! Ha! Okay! Okay,"  Eugene took in a deep breath.  "This is new, I mean, no! Not new. Right? Because we've seen this, obviously. That whole magic thing is involved again. It was magic right? Actually, you know what? You don't need to tell me. I'm just going to go ahead and say your hair magically grew back. I'm not going to ask how. Obviously, you don't want to tell me or else you wouldn't have to tried to hide it from me. So, I won't ask how it grew back, but tell me please, how did it grow back? Don't answer that. The important thing is you're okay. You're okay, right? Because as long as you're okay, I don't care what happened. But I mean, I care, obviously I care, but I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation. Where is the war? That you'll share when you're ready."

"Thank you for understanding," Rapunzel smiled softly.

"Oh, come on, really? I thought we trusted each other, Rapunzel."  Eugene looked hurt.

"We-I do! It's just... it's so complicated..." she sighed looking defeated.

Seeing this, Eugene stood up and put a hand on her shoulder.  "Fine, fine, fine. You know what? I can't make you tell me what happened, but obviously you're keeping something from me. But whatever it is, I just want you to know you should never feel like you have to hide anything from me. You don't hide things from the people you love. Ever."

"Thanks, Eugene," she whispered.

"Rapunzel, honey," Arianna's voice came outside the door.  The entire room froze.

"Hide your hair, woman! You gotta hide your hair!"

"So much from not hiding things, Fritzherbert," Cassandra hissed.

"Rapunzel? May I come in, sweetheart?"

"You can't! I'm... getting dressed!"

"Oh, good," Arianna sighed with relief.  She was worried Rapunzel would try to hide all day after what had happened the night before.  "Is it enough for me to come in?"

"Hurry!  Forget the hair!  Hide Eugene!" Varian hissed.

Cassandra's eyes widened with realization and shoved them both into the closet.  If Rapunzel was supposed to be getting dressed and they were in the room, it wasn't going to look good.  Especially on Eugene's part.

"Uh... not yet... I can come to you when I'm ready," Rapunzel offered.

'Of course, your dad and I want you to join us on the terrace for breakfast, with your brother and sister when you find them.  I can't find them for the life of me."

"Um, I don't know. There's a lot of stuff I have to do to get ready..." Rapunzel began hesitantly.

"Rapunzel, well, your father has something very important to share with you. He's... he's been waiting all night," Arianna tried.

"Yeah, sure, um... I will meet you there in a minute?"

"Take your time," Arianna said as she left.

Rapunzel sighed.  "That was close, but do we do?  The coronation is in two hours!  How am I supposed to cut this hair?"

Varian popped his head out of the closet.  "I have idée."

Cassandra and Rapunzel looked at each other.

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"So, uh, Rapunzel, ready for the big day?"  Arianna glanced at the large wig towering a top of Rapunzel's head.

"You bet! Already into the princess spirit. The bigger the wig, the better the princess, right? So Dad, Mom said you wanted to talk." Rapunzel thought it best to turn the subject around.

Varian looked at his plate.  Why was his heart pounding so hard?  Cassandra looked so relaxed.  She didn't look suspicious, and he supposed he didn't.  He was always pretty panicky or quiet anyways.

"Yes... Rapunzel, last night, your mother and I had a discussion. I know that I'm not always able to separate the man from the king and separating the father from the king has proven even more difficult, "Fredric sighed.  "Sweetheart, I know this new life is hard to get used to, and I'm sure that sometimes you wish I would get out of your hair."

Varian choked on his muffin.

"Oh, sweetie, you ok?"  Arianna patted his back.

"I'm good," he cleared his throat as his face grew red.  "It's a little, um, dry..."

Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"Rapunzel," Fredric continued.  "You are going to be queen someday. A great queen with a magnificent kingdom. But you know better than anyone else what a dangerous and evil place the world can be.  And the barrier keeping us safe from that is sometimes more fragile than it appears. When that evil rears its ugly head it is my job to protect Corona from it. And one day, that will be your responsibility. And I must teach you how to carry it. But that is many, many years away. Until that burden is imposed on you, I'm asking that you trust me that I know how to keep danger as far away from you and this kingdom as is humanly possible."

Varian took a drink of milk, glancing at Rapunzel.

"Do you understand? It was until last night that I realized that my methods may have at times seemed strict or unfair or..."

"Does this means I can have more time to myself without having half the royal guard over my shoulder?"  Rapunzel asked slowly.

"Well, this means I'm willing to reconsider those methods. But I make no promises," Fredric chuckled.

"I can work with that," Rapunzel grinned. Well, I should go. I have a lot of princess-ing up to do for the corporation..."

"I'll help you out," Cassandra offered, glad for an excuse to leave the awkward conversation at the table.

Varian realized he was suddenly alone  with both adults.  He picked up a muffin and began to leave.  He was much better around Arianna, and really liked her, it was Fredric that he was still uncomfortable with, though he wasn't certain why.  "I-I better get ready too, heh..."  he took off after that, walking briskly back into the castle.

"You're right, Arianna. Teenagers are a whole new frontier," Fredric said.