Tangled Oneshot Prompts Challenge

Things Aren't What They Seem

Tangled AU. Prompt from Pinterest. More details at the bottom.

Please enjoy!

◇◇◇◇◇◇

The last time Varian had seen his father, was when he was eight. His dad, Quirin, left to follow the rocks in hope of finding his wife, Varian's mother, Ulla. There was always an occasional letter, but it only ever held news that there was no luck and that he would still not be returning.

Obviously, Varian had not been raised by his parents, due to their family's unfortunate position. Instead, his father left him in the hands of the Ruler of Corona, King Fredric. Most would think Varian lucky to be raised as a prince in the castle, that he was living the dream. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

The king had lost his wife before she gave birth, meaning the queen died along with their baby. Thus, this left the king a widower and without an heir. He never brought himself to marrying again. So when he took Varian under his wings, many believed he'd chose Varian to be the next heir. It was yet to be decided still seven years later.

That was fine to Varian. He had his own plans. Although, said plans tended to get him in trouble, but it also brought some good. He had a brilliant mind and was perfect when it came to strategy in stopping the Evil Witch, Cassandra, Daughter of Gothal; the one who plagued the kingdom with destruction. However, it was also his genius brain that caused minor damage himself. Never on purpose, of course, but in an effort to help with the rocks more than asked, things seemed to get a little... tense...

Varian hissed in pain as he let himself sink into bed. He had not meant to make that fire. He had easily taken it out and had warned the king that he wouldn't know the results of the test. Apparently, the king didn't seem to care, so Varian took the risk and continued the experiment on the rock. As always, it backfired. Despite Varian warning King Fredric that it could happen, the king still called him reckless.

The teen would have stopped the experiments long before because Cassandra had proved that science wasn't the way to destroy her black rocks. There wasn't really anything the king could turn to, so he told Varian to continue. Yet, despite Varian's reminders and warnings that it would eventually cause some damage to continue, Fredric didn't listen. Therefore, Varian never stopped and now it caused a fire and it was his fault for being "immature, reckless, and not thinking about the consequences". He knew none of this was true, but there was no arguing with the king.

Luckily, there was no serious damage or anyone that got hurt by the fire. Though, that didn't seem to save Varian from a hard punishment that he didn't deserve. That's what made it worse to him. The fact that he never typically earned one when he received one.

In the eyes of the people, Fredric was the hero of Corona, the man who ran everything to save his people and Varian was just a basic sidekick. Although, that assumption about the king was rather true, no one who truly knew him called him a hero. Even Nigel, the king's most loyal subject, was disgusted of how cruel the king had become. Nigel was rather strict himself, but Fredric had seemed to overstep his boundaries. The Royal Adviser saw Varian as a bit of a reckless boy himself, but agreed with the gossipers that he was always dealt with too harshly.

In the end, none of these voices mattered. It was always the king's say, so Varian had to bear it. He covered his head with his blanket, biting his lower lip. He sniffed, trying to hold back a tear that was slipping from his eye and forget about the scorches on his hands that Fredric burned there as an unnecessary reminder for him of the dangers of fire.

When the sound of the door opening reached his ear, Varian stiffened. He expected it to be Fredric to come and speak with him. He would play it that Varian was in the wrong, but Varian was convinced otherwise. However, he realized all too late that it was not his honorary father.