I walk down the palace hallway with Dandelion hopping along beside me. Dad had said to come to the throne room as he had some 'big news' to tell me. I stop as I notice Qurin walking out of the throne room with Varian following him from close behind.
"Dad, none of that was true! Old Corona's being destroyed!" Varian exclaims, running in front of his father's path.
"Old Corona will endure," Qurin says, pushing past his son. "You'll have to trust that I can handle this.
"H-how can I trust anything when my own father just lied to the king's face?"
"That is enough, Varian," Qurin says through gritted teeth.
"Yes sir." Varian whispers.
Qurin stomps away leaving a very upset-looking Varian behind. I quickly run up to him. "Varian? What's going on?"
"Those black rocks...they're destroying our village and my dad isn't even doing anything about it!" Varian explains, running his fingers through his black hair.
"Why wouldn't he tell my dad? I'm sure he would do something to help."
"I-I don't know. I don't know, (yn)."
Just then, Rapunzel pokes her head out of the throne room's door. "Varian? (Yn)? Is everything okay?"
"No!" Varian's voice wavers. "No, it's not...Rapunzel, we came to see your dad about the rocks in Old Corona."
Rapunzel looks confused. "Yeah but your dad just said-"
"Raps, Qurin lied," I say, looking at my sister with worried eyes.
"Things have gotten worse." Varian looks away.
"How much worse?"
Varian shuts his eyes and looks down. I notice his lip quivering. "A lot worse." he barely whispers.
I wrap my arms around Varian and pull him into a hug. He hugs me tightly and nuzzles into the crook of my neck.
"Don't worry, Varian." Rapunzel gently says. "I haven't forgotten about our agreement. We're gonna figure out the mystery behind these rocks. Together." Rapunzel puts her hands on Varian and I's shoulder. "Just give me until our father returns. Everything is gonna be okay. I promise." Rapunzel says with a smile.
Varian looks at Rapunzel with hopeful eyes and smiles.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
"We hope to make it to the mountain retreat by noon." Our mother says with a smile.
"I am so excited for you guys!" Rapunzel exclaims, wrapping her arms around mom.
I nod. "You guys deserve this trip. We'll keep things in order here."
Mom hugs me. "Thank you, sweetheart."
"Take good care of them, Max!"
The horse whinnies in reply. I stroke his fur and give him an apple. "Good boy."
Eugene walks up to us. "You two kids have fun now." He says with a chuckle.
Dad still looks very nervous as he walks out from behind the carriage. He looks at the group of pub thugs who had come to bid the king and queen goodbye with worry. "Are you sure you two will be alright? Your mom and I can always stay. We have plenty of anniversaries to come, you know."
"Dad, we'll be fine. It's just two days. What could possibly happen?" I grin.
Mom nudges dad. "She's right, Fredric."
Eugene's old friend, Lance walks up to us. "Don't worry, your majesty." He puts his hands on Eugene's and Rapunzel's shoulders. "We've totally got everything under control."
I giggle as Pascal nervously shakes his head.
As we bid our final farewells to our parents Lance triumphantly throws his hands in the air as the royal carriage exits the courtyard. "KITCHEN RADE!!" He exclaims, already running back into the palace.
The rest of the thugs follow behind him and Cassandra quickly pulls out a sword and begins to chase after them. Eugene and I exchange a glance before chasing after the angry handmaiden. "Cass WAIT!!!"
"MAKE GOOD CHOICES MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!"
:-:-:-:-:
"I was so darn certain that I'd got this...but I'm not this...not yet..."
I walk through the halls petting the fur of one of the kittens that had overrun the kingdom and stop when I see Rapunzel standing in front of our family portrait, looking completely dejected. "Raps? Is something wrong?" I quietly ask.
Rapunzel looks at me with sad eyes. "(yn), how am I ever going to be queen?"
"What are you talking about?" I sit down against the wall and pat the spot next to me for Rapunzel to sit.
She sighs and sits. "Today was a disaster! All of those people came to me for help and I only made things worse!"
I set the small kitten in Rap's lap. Rapunzel gently strokes his white fur and slightly smiles. "What's this for?"
I shrug. "You looked like you could use a kitty." I place a hand on her shoulder. "Look, Raps, nobody is expecting you to be the perfect queen on your first day. You're bound to make mistakes, and that's okay. The important thing is that you learn from them."
Rapunzel pulls me into an embrace and I grin. "Thanks (yn)." She softly says. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
:-:-:-:-:-:-:
I snuggle deeper into my blankets and the story from the book I had borrowed from the library captivates me more and more with each word. I was still amazed at how exciting fantasy was! I let out a happy sigh. Today all I'm going to do is read my book, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me.
The door to the study flies open and Rapunzel is beaming at me. "(YN)!"
"Rapunzel? What's tangled your hair?" I joke.
"(Yn), look! It's snowing!" She happily spins around and points to the window. "Isn't it amazing?"
I chuckle. "Haven't you seen snow before?"
"Well, yeah. But I've never actually gotten to be outside in it! Will you come outside with me? I have to make a snowman."
I sigh. "But my book..."
"...will still be here when we're done." Rapunzel finishes for me.
"Fine." I smile and stand up to grab my snow gear.
After Rapunzel and I have changed, we head to the courtyard where a decent amount of snow and the people of Corona have accumulated. "Loyal subjects of Corona, as your temporary queen, I officially declare today..." Rapunzel pauses for dramatic effect before throwing her arms into the air. "A snow day!!"
The people cheer and Eugene clears his throat. "And as your temporary king, I-" The former thief is cut off when I throw a snowball and hit his face. I laugh and Eugene sarcastically chuckles. "Ha ha ha...nice shot..." He mutters.
We play together in the snow for the rest of the day, until the sun begins to dip below the horizon, casting a silvery golden glow on the courtyard. Cassandra and I set up a small bonfire, and the kingdom's blacksmith, Xavier, joins us to tell stories of long ago. The children gather around and nestle close to me as I pass out marshmallows and roasting sticks for them.
"Has it always snowed this much?" Rapunzel asks as she and Eugene join us by the fire.
"Only once, at least, according to legend," Xavier says with a mischievous grin.
"Legend?"
"The legend of Zahn Tiri." Xavier announces, throwing another log into the fire and causing it to roar to life. "Eons ago, an evil warlock had a deep hatred for Corona and cast a spell which caused a blizzard to sweep across the land. The storm destroyed everything in its path. All would have been lost, had it not been for the ancient engineer and inventor, Lord Demanitus."
"Oh, I know him! I've read about Demanitus in the castle's books." I say.
Xavier nods. "He is still as famous as he was back then. Demanitus was a revolutionary inventor. Using both magic and science, Demanitus built a massive subterranean machine deep in the Corona mountains. This mighty device had the ability to change direction of the wind, and pushed the flurries out to sea." Xavier smiles. "The day was saved. Zhan Tiri had, indeed, been defeated. But some say the curse of the storm lives on and is simply waiting to strike again.
"Waiting?" Rapunzel asks. "For what?"
"For Corona to be at its weakest." Xavier hisses.
"'For Corona to be at its weakest?'" She skeptically asks. "But it is only a legend, right, Xavier?"
Xavier chuckles. "My dear, every legend is born of truth."
I stare at Xavier with wide eyes, mesmerized by his tale.
Eugene sighs. "Wow, bravo. Way to keep the party going as always Xavier."
The wind harshly blows, and everyone stumbles back from the strong force. The icy chill of the cold nips at my exposed nose and cheeks.
"Okay, um, I think for everyone's safety we should all head indoors!" Rapunzel announces.
We begin to usher everyone inside of the castle as we hear the familiar sound of horse whinnies. "Max?" I called.
I gasp as Maximus enters the courtyard, struggling to make his way through the harsh winter snow. The horse wasn't pulling the royal carriage.
He was alone.