The Moon Calls

49

After telling Trevor, Hookhand and the newlywed seals goodbye, the caravan left the wedding venue and continued on down the road to the Dark Kingdom, ever alert for any attackers. Lance held the reins, since he'd be less obvious a target, and they carried on down the road in grim silence.

Varian hated to admit it, but he was...scared. The last time he'd faced Andrew, he'd had his head slammed into a wall. And, yes, he had full control of his magic now, but it was a psychological thing. The man had put him in a life-threatening situation twice when he was still helpless.

And while every part of him wanted to make the man pay for what he did, he knew that that wouldn't fix anything. The Saporians' grief with Corona was legitimate, and fighting them and killing their prince would only make things worse. He hated it, but they had to handle this...peacefully. Try to come to a compromise.

He ran his hands through his hair and get out a soft groan. Hugo and Donella looked up from where they were playing chess and Hugo got up to sit next to him. "How you doing?"

"...We can't fight them." He said grimly. "We have to try to resolve this...Saporian thing without bloodshed."

"Do you think you can safely use your rocks to restrain them?" Rapunzel asked, walking over to him.

Varian sighed heavily. "...I don't know. She already knows I've used the rocks around him twice."

"Okay, so we'll stick with alchemy." Rapunzel nodded. "You have plenty of non-offensive alchemy we can use!"

Varian nodded. "Yeah. I'm...I'm sure it'll be okay.We just...need to get them to calm down and—"

"FIRE!" Lance yelled from outside as the caravan jolted to a stop.

They all got out and saw blue fire blocking their path between two rocky outcrops.

"...Blue fire?" Rapunzel frowned.

"...Oh." Donella said, and then they saw hawks diving at them. Hawk and Owl charged at the attackers.

"Well, well, well."

Rapunzel gasped and turned to look behind them at two familiar figures standing behind their caravan. "Look who we have." Andrew finished with a feral grin, his second-in-command with him.

"Andrew!" She stepped towards them. "...Prince Andrew." She corrected, earning a raised eyebrow. "We need to talk."

Andrew tilted his head thoughtfully. "How do you know my title?"

Donella walked over to stand next to her and Andrew's eyes widened with recognition. "Hello, Your Highnesses."

"No. Fucking. Way." Andrew's second-in-command breathed.

"Donella? How are you—we thought you and Ulla were dead!" Andrew frowned. "And you're with the Coronans?"

"Yes...and no. I am with Ulla's son, who is with the Coronans." She gestured to Varian, who walked over to join them.

"...Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. The little adopted prince?" Andrew laughed a bit. "Okay, then...Princess. You wanted to talk? Let's talk. We have an encampment near here." He nodded to his companion and she held out a hand, the blue fire disappearing. "We'll escort you there. No funny business, especially from your brother there."

"Alright." Rapunzel nodded.

They got back into the caravan and, true to their word, the Saporians escorted them all the way to an encampment. Then they parked just outside it and stepped out. The Saporians regarded them with a mixture of suspicion, confusion and relief at seeing Donella alive. Andrew led them all to the largest tent and Varian noticed black rocks all around the place.