Tangled The Series Story: In The Shadows

Chapter 8: Rapunzel's POV

Rapunzel beamed as she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, guys. I feel much better knowing you two are running it."

"Of course!" He bowed.  "It wouldn't be the same without the little man yelling at me whenever I visit."

Cassandra grabbed him by the back of his shirt and started dragging him out of the room. "Good to know you're willing.  We're starting the search party now."

Kiera and Catalina jumped out of their chairs to follow them.  Eugene stood up from his seat and looked at his fiance.  "I'll start gathering the guard."

The crowned princess nodded before she rubbed her temple.  Her head still ached, but she was brought back into reality when she felt Eugene set his hands gently on her shoulder as he stood behind her chair.  "Rest," he said gently.  "You still need to recover."

She set her right hand on his and laid her cheek on the other.  "I will," she promised.  "But first, I need to check on something."

He kissed her cheek before leaving her in the room alone.  She leaned back in her seat and looked up at the ceiling.  How was it that she managed to let Varian down again?  She was right there and yet Andrew still took him.

What was even more puzzling was why was she even alive?  Why didn't Andrew kill her when she passed out?  Would it not make taking over Corona easier for them?  Or maybe their plans had changed, but why let her live?  Perhaps they figured murdering an almost queen would put even more attention on them and feared the entire kingdom would rage down on them?

It was true.  She had been very passive when it came to the Saporians.  War was the last thing she wanted and the last thing Corona needed. Especially after all the magical battles that kept plaguing her kingdom.  Yet she was ready to declare war, only hesitating because of the state her country was in.

The crops were still not enough, even if the black rocks had all but vanished.  Her castle was constantly missing a wall somewhere.  Her guards were getting back into shape after all the attacks.  Her parents still hadn't gained all their memories, leaving her to be currently the only one eligible to sit on the throne.  And Varian, their Royal Engineer, her friend, was in enemy hands.  The list just kept going and she wasn't certain how much more she could handle.

Rapunzel...

She snapped her eyes open and looked around the room.  But no one was there.  A strange feeling of familiarity hit her and a shiver ran up her spine.  The voice sounded so familiar, yet foreign to her at the same time.

Standing up, she ran a hand through her brown hair as she gave a nervous chuckle.  "See?  No, you're starting to imagine things."

Rapunzel left the room and went straight to the castle infirmary.  She gently knocked on the door where she was met by a nurse.  The woman looked surprised to see her there.

"Your highness?  May I help you?  Do you need more herbs for your headache?"

She shook her head.  "No, but thank you.  I'm just here to check on the recruit that was with me.  Wanted to make sure he was holding up ok.  It looked like a nasty wound."

The nurse waved her hand.  "It looked far worse than it was, your highness.  He's doing just fine.  But he's behind the curtains in the far end of the room if you want to see him yourself.

"Thank you," Rapunzel replied before heading towards the bed the nurse had pointed at.  She passed a few sick servants and guards and made sure to give them all a wave.  When she reached the bed, she peeked around the curtain.  Riley was sitting up in his bed, his head wrapped in bandages.  She grinned.  "Hey, Riley, right?"

He looked up, surprise crossing his face.  "Yeah."

"I just wanted to come by and see if you were ok.  You had a pretty nasty hit on the head."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, setting a hand on his head.  He passed her a sheepish grin.  "I'm not even concussed.  It was just a nick from a sword.  They kinda drugged me when I was trying to fight them off you two..." Riley paused and a guilty expression crossed his face.  "Some guard I turned out to be."

Rapunzel crossed her arms.  "Excuse me, but I believe I passed out before you did.  You have nothing to be ashamed of!"

"Yes, but I'm supposed to protect you.  Not the other way around, your highness."

She shook her head.  "Well, think of it this way.  I'm supposed to protect my kingdom.  Varian's gone and you got hurt.  You both are part of this kingdom and I did a terrible job protecting you two."

"But that wasn't your fault," he argued.

Rapunzel snapped her finger.  "So what makes you think your situation is any different?  You did your best, didn't you?  And we both made it out alive.  I'll take that as a win, won't you?"

Riley gave a hesitant nod.  His brows creased together.  "But... Why are we alive?  Wouldn't you think the Saporians would have killed you the first chance they got? And me?  What would be the point in sparing me?"

The same questions that had been circulating in Rapunzel's head had finally been vocalized.  Unfortunately, she didn't have any answers or any clues to help answer them. All she could do was sigh.  "I don't know.  Perhaps they need me alive, but..."

"But that doesn't explain why they went through the trouble of drugging me rather than running a sword through my neck," Riley finished for her.

She tapped her chin in deep thought.  "I don't know what the Saporians are planning, nor do I know their customs very well.  But we will get to the bottom of this, and we will find Varian."

"And I would like to help," Riley said.  "I want to join the search party."

"But your head-"

"Will be fine.  I know I'm not supposed to start my job as  a guard until next week, but what better time than now?"

Rapunzel tilted her head.  The tone of his voice was familiar.  It was filled with guilt and determination.  Very similar to Cassandra's earlier that day.  His eyes were an open book, telling her that she could do nothing to stop him.  Not that she intended to.

But her curiosity had been sparked.  Riley acted as if he and Varian were very close.  However, she had never heard Varian talk about him.  To be fair, Varian rarely ever talked about people in general.  They weren't his forte.  Considering that Old Corona was a small village, it wouldn't be wrong to assume that he and Varian had known each other for years.  Perhaps their whole lives.

She passed him a grin.  "Very well then.  You'll have to find Cassandra and Lance.  They're most likely gathering the guard at the entrance.  If the nurse permits it, you can tell them I sent you."

He beamed.  "Thank you, your highness."

Rapunzel wagged her finger.  "Nope!  Just Rapunzel to you.  A friend of Varian's is a friend of mine.  Don't worry about the formalities."

Riley frowned.  "Forgive me, your highness.  But I wouldn't exactly say we're friends."

Her eyes widened.  "Oh... Uh... What are you then?"

He shrugged.  "I don't know, but I wish I did.  I wish I could say we are friends.  It's just... Things are complicated.  But I'm hoping to fix that."

She nodded.  "I see.  Feel free to call me Rapunzel anyways.  You fought to help me and Varian.  That's enough to tell me that you mean well."

"I... Uh... Thank you... Your high-er-Rapunzel...."

The woman smiled.  "Don't sweat it."