𝒂𝒍𝒍'𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒖𝒗 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒚. - v x r!

2

୨୧*˚·

   (NAME) LOCKED EYES with the boy. what she noticed was how.. empty they were. "i heard you we're coming back days ago. didn't know it would be so soon." he kept his posture, sitting on the ground against the wall.

his hair was unbrushed, and his face was dirty and parts of it covered in dried blood. (name) bit her lip at the sight. she felt.. kind of bad. she shook off the thought. "i have questions i need to ask you.. actually." (name) continued. how could this be a fourteen year old? she thought to herself after.

varian sighed, "then maybe i have answers.." he stood up, dusting off his clothes. but it really didn't seem like any amount of dusting would help him. he leaned on the cell bars. "what happened to get you in here? what happened at old corona? why did my sister leave?" he laughed, "hold on, one at a time princess."

(name) rolled her eyes. "first, treason, kidnapping, threatening royalty, and.. well, attempted murder." he says so coldly, it sent shivers up (name)'s spine. varian smirked at her reaction. "second, all those things, but not in that order." he continued.

"and rapunzel left.." he sighed. "i don't really know. not that i care." he looked at (name). and he realized just how much she looked like the queen, her mother. the way her eyes sparkle — were like rapunzel's. it made him sick.

he scoffed under his breath. "seriously? i know you're not here for stupid questions." (name) narrowed her eyes, and impulsively, she smirked. "i've come to release you. actually."

she pulled the ring of keys out of her dress' pocket and shook them around. varian was bug-eyed. he watched as she twisted the key through and opened the cell for him.

the captain of the guard's eyes widened at the sight of varian outside of his cell. "stanley. i need you to show varian one of the vacant guard rooms. he can stay there.. on probabtion." varian grinned.

stanley kept his puzzled and shocked expression as he averted his gaze to (name). "b-but, princess— we can't simply.." (name) gave him a glare. stanley sighed, "i'll have it arranged, your highness."

"splendid." (name) clapped her hands and smiled wide, she set off to exit the dungeons with varian and ran back to stanley to give him a bear hug. "thanks stan!!" she waved, running backwards to varian.

varian was kind of.. amused in a way. princess rapunzel was bright, but she never rebelled against her parents like this. but he was glad too, to be released after a span of.. damn.. how long was he there for?

(name) continued to walk by him, her heeled boots making noises against the ground. "first.. we should probably get you washed up. then head for bed, we have a big day tomorrow." she smiled as they stopped at the entrance of the dungeons.

"stanley and one of the royal maids, steph, will help you out. i'll see you in the morning." she kept her smile, while varian gave a side smirk. he took her hand and pecked the back. "can't wait." varian then followed a frightened stanley.

(name) stood there, frozen, her ears feeling warm and her stomach going crazy.

"..your highness?" she jumped at the voice of steph. "steph!! oh god— don't do that." (name) let out a soft laugh. steph giggled, "sorry. are these good for varian's stay?" she held out a stack of clothes from the royal closet. (name) scanned the clothing, flipping through them like a deck of cards.

"amazing. thank you, steph." steph smiled and walked off. (name) rubbed her head, was this the right thing to do? only a few hours of being in charge and she already let a crazy alchemist criminal out. she buried her face in her hands and groaned, echoing across the halls.

🧪

knock knock! (name) sat up from bed, her hair a nest, and her night gown's dress' straps falling. "crap.. what time— HOLY GUAC, eleven am?!?" she yelled, clutching the clock in her hands.

knock knock! there it goes again. she quickly got up and brushed her hair, opening the door, "oh. hi, varian." she let out a nervous laugh. varian raised a brow at her falling straps, and the panic brushing of her hair.

"sorry to disturb princess. but steph asked me to come fetch you, she said it's almost time for uh.. something about helping the people from town?" he said more like a question than a remark. he smirked, watching her face drop.

"i-is that important?" he teased. (name) slammed the door on his face and got dressed quickly, in her favorite dress and fixed her hair a little more tidy. she dusted her clothing and stormed out, finding varian still there, leaning against the wall beside her door.

he looked.. definitely much more relaxed, than last night. and much more composed? if that's what you want to call it.

he curved his lips into a smirk again. "this is going to be such a bad thing for a princess' reputation, no? waking up so late for first day as queen."

was he this annoying last night?

(name) nudged him, almost forgetting he was a criminal. "come on, you should join me. first day for me as queen, first day for you on your journey for redemption." she gave a wink and walked ahead towards the throne room.

"how about we bet on that?" varian spoke. (name) stopped. she turned to him, "what.. kind of bet?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips. he let out a laugh, "if you manage to become a great queen before i have my great redemption.." he air quoted.

(name) rose a brow. "then, i don't know well. i'll get stuck with you, i'll be your royal alchemist, my lady." he bowed. the girl blushed a little, covering it with the tips of her fingers. "if i manage to get my great redemption before the end of the next five days.. you release me."

she hitched her breath. "what if i don't want to be stuck with you?" she giggled. he rolled his eyes, "you're the one who released me." (name) shrugged in agreement. "that's fair."

"all's fair in love and war isn't it?" he extended his hand. "do we have a deal?" he asked. she stared at his hand and back to his eyes, which happen to have a tint of sparkle back in them. "how do i know you won't be lying about your great redemption?" she bit her cheek.

the hair-stripped shrugged, keeping the hand out, "you'll just have to trust me." (name) knew it would be a mistake to, she narrowed her eyes at his hand.

"five days." she shook his hand.