Varian And The Seven Kingdoms (One Shots)

Chapter One: What the Alchemy?!

Scribbled notes, blueprints and rough sketches of my latest irrigation systems were scattered around me on my desk. Alongside those were the new and improved pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers formulas, written in illegible chicken scratch. This was the big moment, I though while cautiously pouring the contents of the vial onto the delicate combination of the chemicals that I had been working on making the brown substance turn thicker and transparent. I grinned, sighing in relief.

"It worked!" I jumped out of my seat, dashing out the door, yelling for my dad.

My dad was so startled at the sight of me, I must have looked nothing short of a mess. But a warm crinkled smile creeped up on him as he saw the vial I was holding.

"Dad, I got the formula right!" I said out of breath, from a mixture of happy but exhausted triumph.

"You better go tell Rapunzel then, she'll be relieved to hear the news, it's been keeping her up for weeks," he said.

Nodding I started stuffing my bag with my notebooks and loose pieces of paper, exited to be able to be of some assistance to the princess. Ruddiger noticing my excitement trudged alongside my ankles curiously.

-

As I walked through the kingdom of Corona with Ruddiger at my heels, people would stop at their tracks, children would gawk, and teenagers would walk faster when they saw me. It was clear that even though three years had passed since my... my rise and fall of villainy- If we have to put a name to it. The people in this kingdom still haven't fully forgiven me, and with good reason. I haven't forgiven myself. Rapunzel thinks they have, she really does. But we all know better.

I stopped at the gates of the castle, the guards on duty; Staley with his scrawny physic, untidy brown bob, freckles and pencil think eyebrows; Pete the owner of an incredibly thick mustache, and a square jawline, were ones I knew well. I passed without any inconveniences. It was the king, Fredrick of all the people I could have bumped into, that interrupted my otherwise pleasant walk to the princess chambers. He was admiring an oil painting of a Seal, with a fond glint in his eyes. However, when he turned to greet me all the warmth seemed to be blown out of him, like a candle encountering a gust of wind.

"Oh Varian, I wasn't expecting to see you today" he said gruffly, his short but bushy eyebrows set downward in discontent.

"Yeah, well the thing is that I've finally found a solution for the crop dilemma, Sire-" I unbuckled the vial with the thick transparent substance, practically beaming when I presented it to him.

He on the other hand was not exited, in fact his eyes widened in fear, his face scrunching up in disgust. "Get that out of my face, boy."

"Sorry, sir"

"You know how I feel about your..." He paused swallowing thickly, "Experiments."

"I know how you feel, but I promise this substance is completely safe-"

A sharp laugh made me stop my pathetic stammering, "My daughter may think you're reformed, but I don't buy your act for one second."

"But Sire, I promise I've grown-"

He waved his hands frantically as if to swat a fly, causing me to snap my mouth shut. "You know nothing about growth, boy" He growled.

No, I suppose I don't.

Then as if remembering something, "Luckily, we were able to strike a deal after your 'redemption', one step out of line and..."

"And you tell my father, Quirin, everything. Everything I did when he was... stuck" I said, my jaw tightening.