Betrothed To Your Enemy

Preparations

"Has anyone seen my halberd?"  Cassandra asked.

"Sorry, Cassie, I haven't,"  Varian said.  "But you are here in time to help with the preparations.  They need us to pick the cake ASAP, because they decided to go all out with it and make the cake fit for a Royal wedding."

"That's a little much, isn't it?"

Varian shrugged.  "Apparently, our union is the best thing that's happened in years for the Dark Kingdom.  Guess they wanna make thos to the fullest."

Cassandra sighed.  "Wait, why are they're twenty cakes?"

"Twenty one cakes, actually.  We have to test each one and pick our favorite," Varian explained.

"What do they do with the came when we're done?"  Cassandra raised a brow.

"Don't worry, the cake isn't going to waste.  There's a special place where I'm taking them."

"Ok."

"First up is... ooh!  Lemon!" Cassandra took a bite as did Varian.  They both nodded.  "That's good!"

"I like it," Cassandra agreed.  "But I don't think Raps will.  She doesn't like lemons very much."

"Whose Raps?"

"Oh, Princess Rapunzel of Corona.  We're actually pretty close.  We would sneak out of banquets together," Cassandra explained.  "We grew up around each other, so the royal status is not really in our friendship."

"Like, me and Eugene," Varian said.

"Yes, in a way I suppose..."

"So not the lemon cake?"

"Probably not.  Though, we can have the chef make it whenever we want, right?"

Varian laughed.  "I can definitely slip in a note to the chef to recommend this one more often."

"This one is a spice cake," Cassandra read the label.

"I like this one too, but I think we should try the others," Varian suggested.  Cassandra agreed.  They settled for a strawberry shortcake.  "Soooooo, should we use gold silverware?  Sliverware with touches of gold on the handles, or just silverware?" He asked.

"I would say just the silverware, but since it's obviously not going to be a simple wedding, we should do the one with the gold touches."

"I'll check that off..."   Varian began.  "Do we want it plain gold, white gold, or rose g-"

"How many golds are there?  I mean I didn't realize that different golds had different names, but I guess that makes sense."

"Just these three," he laughed.  "Here are the examples."

"I actually have always liked the rose gold, but it doesn't go with our decorating.  We should just go with the regular gold."

"Agreed.  Now we gotta choose-"

"Is that my halberd?"  Cassandra said suddenly.

"I don't know... why does Eugene have it?"

She cracked her knuckles.  "We're about to find out."

"Just don't kill him!"  Varian called after her.

"What were planning with these... cakes again?" Croix asked.

Varian inwardly groaned, but he turned towards the man.  "We're going to load them to the wagon and take them to Monty's."

"Again?  Young man, we've discussed how improper it is for you to-"

"I really don't care right now.  Besides they always could use some cheering up.  It's not their fault.  They're just not as fortunate as us.  Besides, I promised to visit them sooner."

"You do not have the time in your sqedual-"

"I'll make time, ok?  I'll manage, but to day, this is important.  It's little Annette's birthday, and I don't want to miss that."

"I forbid-"

"You can't forbid me, so stop acting like you're over me.  So, if you really want to help, Croix, help me load the cakes."

"How dare you disrespect me!  It's Dr. Croix."

"Yes, and I'm the prince," Varian answered sarcastically.

The next thing Varian knew was that his head shot to the side as a stinging pain covered the right of his face.  He stumbled back and gently touched where he had been slapped.  He gritted his teeth to keep himself from yelping.  Then the man grabbed him by the front of his shirt, making Varian gasp.

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I know Monty would be in Corona, but I think he'd play the best at the part I need him for.  So he's not own a candy shop.