Child of the Moon.

~Chapter Thirteen~

Eugene stepped out into a long hallway lined with stained glass windows. A long carpet led to a massive door on the other end of the hallway. The former thief looked up in awe at the windows. They were portraits of what appeared to be warriors.

"Are those..."

"Yes," Edmund affirmed. "They are all the kings and queens of this kingdom's past... and your ancestors."

Eugene was about to ask why there were so few of them before he remembered what Adira had told him that night when he had found her with Hector while the warrior was asleep. Royalty were also members of the Brotherhood and swore themselves to the Moonstone, therefore they lived for hundreds upon hundreds of years.

The king led Eugene down the hallway, naming each and every ruler that they passed and telling him something about their life. He stopped for a moment longer when they reached the final window. Edmund said that the man it depicted was his father, King Benedict. Eugene didn't need to be told anything about him; he'd already heard plenty from Hector, and he was positive that the late king was a great man, but it didn't really matter at the moment. All Eugene wanted was to get a move on so he could see Rapunzel.

Finally, Edmund pushed through the ornate entrance door and into another room. This one appeared to be once a dining room of sorts. A long table was placed in the middle of the room. Empty chairs surrounded it. There was another decorative door on the far end of the room. Art was placed all around the room, though quite a bit of it had been destroyed by the black rocks that came up from the floor and punctured the walls.

But what caught Eugene's attention was the huge painting that hung above and even larger fireplace. The painting showed a more youthful King Edmund. He wore regal clothing and stood next to a beautiful young woman. Her chocolate brown, wavy hair flowed freely down her thin body. Her dark eyes sparkled in a kind and loving smile. She wore a flowing dark purple gown and a delicate black crown.

King Edmund walked up beside Eugene when he noticed the younger man staring at the portrait.

"That's your mother," Edmund said in a fond but sad tone. "Beautiful, isn't she?"

Eugene didn't respond. Edmund gave him a few more seconds before leading him over to the door.

It opened into a grand, circular room. All around the room were ceiling-high, stone statues of the same men and women who were shown on the stained-glass windows in the hallway. They all stood stern and proud, and it was like they were looking down on you anywhere you stood in the room.

Across from where Eugene was standing, he saw yet another large door, but this one looked more threatening than the others. More jagged shapes were carved into the stone. There were several large locks on it, and it looked far heavier than the other doors in the palace. The door looked like it was a warning to all who approached it.

"Right," Eugene huffed. "I'm gonna go ahead and assume that's where the Moonstone is, so let's just go find Rapunzel, and-"

"What?" Edmund interrupted. "No!"

"But you said that once I told you what our mission was, you'd talk to Rapunzel!"

"Son," The king sighed as he laid Hector down gently on the cold floor. "You have to understand: Your mother was killed by the Moonstone. If it weren't for the opal, she would still be standing here, and you would have lived a happy childhood as prince of the Dark Kingdom.

"The Moonstone is dark and unpredictable. It corrupts and destroys everything that it touches. I lost the love of my life because of it. I won't see the same happen to you.

"What do you think will happen to your princess when she attempts to neutralize the Moonstone as you said? What do you think it will do to her? I tried to be rid of the opal and look at what happened to me and my people. You have no guarantee this plan of yours will even work! All you have is Adira's word. Think about this, son! You barely even know her! She hates the Moonstone and would do anything to be rid of it! Why would you risk the life of your partner and friends?"