Nomad

New Home

"I can't believe we can finally rest and start anew." Someone said with relief.

"Hopefully once you have the opal, the land out there will be healthier." Floyd said thoughtfully.

"King Edmund seems nice!" One of the kids said.

"Yes, he does seem to be much nicer than King Frederic, at least." Her mother said.

"Who's that pretty lady in the painting?" A boy asked.

"She kind of looks like you, Eugene." Lance remarked, nudging him.

Eugene stared at the painting and walked over to look at it closer. "...Yeah...kinda'."

King Edmund came back in. "Alright, Hamuel is off to send the letter. Now—oh!" He stopped short, looking at Eugene.

Eugene looked back at him. "Who is this woman?" He looked back at it. "She feels...familiar."

King Edmund walked over to him. "That...is my late wife. And...your mother."

"Mother?" He looked back at him.

"Yes. You...are my son. I lost track of you after sending you away with your nanny for your safety twenty-five years ago." King Edmund explained.

"...You...You think I'm...lost track?" He frowned. "What happened to...?"

"I do not know, but you look...so very much like I used to..and your nose...it's so much like your mother's." He walked forward and reached out to cup his face with one hand. "I...Alexis would be...so proud of how you have grown."

"I..." Eugene faltered, then looked up at the painting. "Do you have other pictures?"

"Yes, yes! I can show you all of them! I can show you one of you, even! I-I also collected wanted posters of you over the years. I could never keep track of you, my ravens could only follow your trail, but they brought so much back for me and...I have been wanting to see you again, but also...afraid." He admitted.

"No way! Eugene, you're a prince?!" Rapunzel cried.

"Yeah, looks like you're not the only one with a royal family you grew up not knowing about." Eugene chuckled. "But..this place does feel kind of familiar. And this woman..." he looked back at the painting, "she...might actually be my mother." He looked at King Edmund. "What happened to her?"

"The Moonstone Opal had been a little..." he sighed, "over the past decade, before everything fell apart, the Moonstone Opal had been going a little...berserk. Rocks bursting out of the ground, and a death plague...your mother fell to the plague, as did so many others. It was her death that made em turn against the generations of traditions and seek to destroy the Moonstone Opal." He turned to Varian. "But, if Quirin has found another way...then, we will all be fortunate. You seem to be a good boy with a kind heart."

Varian smiled shyly. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

King Edmund smiled. "Well, why don't we get everyone settled in? Varian, you can stay in the suite Quirin and his mother used to use."

"Do you have a place for royal guests?" Cassandra asked. "Rapunzel here is the Princess of Corona."

"Oh! Yes, I do believe we have the suite that King Rolph and his son Quirin used to stay in when they visited. It shouldn't be too badly damaged. I'll escort you there. And, uh...Flynn?"

"It's Eugene, actually. The orphanage called me Eugene Fitzherbert." Eugene nodded. "...What did you call me?"

"Your birth name was Horace de Lune. You can...use that again, if you want." He offered.