Tangled - l.s

Chapter 25

Louis hadn't sailed away from him with the crown willingly. He slowly came to, lifting his head to find that he was tied to a ship, a gag around his mouth. His eyes widened and adrenaline shot through him. They'd taken Harry, they were going to sell him for his hair, he needed to get free-

"There he is! He's got the crown!"

The palace guards leapt onto the boat, nagging him.

Louis tried to wrench away from them and his bonds. "Harry! Where is he, where's Harry?!"

Some of the guards untied him and pulled him up, keeping a tough grip on his arms to keep him from running away. One of the guards asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Harry! They took him away, where is he?!"

The guard noticed the large bruise forming on Louis's forehead and shot a look to his comrade. He no longer thought Louis had any credibility, he was merely a thief ranting from a head injury.

"Please, you have to believe me, they took him, I have to help him-"

"Take him away. Tell the king and queen we've found the crown."

The guards pulled Louis out of the boat and to the castle, ignoring his desperate pleas for Harry. And Maximus was watching the whole thing.

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"There! It never happened." Mother Yolanda plucked the last flower from Harry's hair, undoing his braid, trying to eradicate all memory of the kingdom and his journey through it.

They were back in his bedroom in the tower, and Harry hadn't spoken a word since they started the trip back to it. He bunched up the handkerchief in his shaking hands so his mother couldn't take it away from him.

His mother patted his head. "Wash up for dinner. I'm making hazelnut soup." She stood, going to the doorway of his bedroom and drawing back the curtain. "I really did try to warn you. The world is dark and selfish and cruel. If it finds a single ray of sunshine... it destroys it."

Harry just looked up blankly.

His mother smiled slightly, and went downstairs to prepare dinner.

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At the prison, Louis had stopped struggling against the guards and asking for Harry. He was silent, his head down as they led him down the hall to his cell.

He lifted his head as they passed a cell with two inside.

The Grimshaw. His eyes flared and a new-found energy boiled up. He wrenched away from the guards, leaping over his arms so he was able to use his hands. He slammed one guard against a wall, hitting his head and knocking him unconscious, and tripped the other, also knocking him out. He grabbed one of the brothers by the collar and pulled him against the bars.

"How did you know about him?!" he demanded. "Tell me, now!"

"It- it wasn't us! It was that old lady!"

"Old lady..." His eyes widened. "No- no, Harry..." He let go of him, panicking. More guards came down, and they grabbed him, restraining him again. "No, let me go! He's in trouble! Wait- Harry!"

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I love cows nose... do you?