The Dark King

Hell and Highwater

The Hall was smaller than that of Corona, but where Corona was full of light and made of white marbles, the Dark Kingdom lived up to its name. The giant statues, formidable looking warriors, stared down at her, their faces almost hidden in the shadows. Rapunzel was silent, but then, so was everybody else. They had been subdued all morning, the comments and voices growing quieter as they approached the castle. The sound of their footfalls rang throughout the space, so strangely empty. Rapunzel, her mother, and father were surrounded by Coronan guards on every side, three thick, but as they moved at a slow pace through the hall Rapunzel noticed how they outnumbered the Dark Kingdom guards.

She was looking around at what she could see over the top of the guards, but it wasn't until she was halfway through the hall that she could see to the front and could see the thin, crowned form of a middle-aged man on the throne. He had a thin face surrounded by long black hair. There was a tattoo on his face, over the bridge of his nose, it drew attention to his pale green eyes. Eyes that were shrewd and piercing, eyes that lingered on Rapunzel and watched her as she approached the throne.

They had only gone a few steps further when two of the Dark Kingdom guards stepped out in front of them, lowering their halberds in a cross, stopping them from walking any further.

"Hector." Her father shouted out. "Not a very polite welcome for your friends."

"I don't see any friends here." The man answered quietly in a slow drawl.

"Well, if we cannot meet as friends perhaps, we can still part that way. It has bene too long Hector since Corona and the Dark Kingdom broke bread."

"We don't need your friendship. I thought I made it clear that I do not hold the engagement valid."

Her father had been talking calmly, but Rapunzel could tell by his posture, the stiffness in his shoulders, the measured way that he said his words that he was anything but calm.

"Fine then. I am here to resolve the matter, one way or another, of my daughter's betrothal to King Horace of the Dark Realm."

"I am King!"

"I believe that you are Prince Regent, where is Prince Horace? I assume that he is still living and therefore still heir to Edmund's throne."

"It's Eugene." The voice from behind them made them all turn.

Rapunzel gasped as a flicker of recognition passed through her, no it couldn't be... and yet, there was something in the man's shape, the way he walked, the width of his shoulders and thinness of his hips, the stubble on his face and the fall of his silken brown hair. She'd only been in his company for a few moments, but it was like every detail of him had been written in his mind. As he walked closer, he stepped into a thin beam of sunlight coming from the windows high above, and then she knew for certain it was him, because nobody else could have had those molten amber eyes, the ones which glinted almost golden when the light caught them. It was the man who had robbed her.

The guards moved slightly to let him through, his eyes alighted on Rapunzel, they widened. He hesitated, just for a second, but enough for Rapunzel to know that he'd recognized her too.

"Ah, here you are, finally! Will you tell them you have no interest in marrying this girl." Hector drawled from the throne.

Prince Eugene stopped, his shoulders squared, he gave a playful smirk, bending first to one side then to the other, peering at Rapunzel past the bodies of the guards.

"Ah, there you are."

He stood up and smiled at the guard in front of her.

"I won't hurt her, promise."