What Once Was Mine

Chapter 4

"Rapunzle....but..but how?" The queen asked. She looked into my eyes, her own sparkling like the lanterns Eugene took my to.
"I-I escaped." I re-thought what I just said. "Actually, someone else helped me escape." I sighed. "And the lady that kidnapped me....well.....she's dead." A lump gathered in my throat. So much death.
"Well, who else helped you escape? We must bless this person!" The King boomed. The lump in my throat rose.
"He....." I felt tears in my eyes. Pressure was building in my head. I looked up at the queen with glassy eyes. She understood.
"Oh punzle I am so sorry." She said as she wrapped me in another warm hug. I looked up and the King, and she was looking down at the floor.
"He died saving me." I barley got out between tears and light sobs. "I loved him."
"I am so sorry Rapunzle. I am so so sorry. No one deserves this." She leaned up from our hug. I noticed a wet spot on her shoulder where my tears collected and soak into the expensive fabric. "I know what it's like," she continued, "to loose someone you love. Someone who was your whole life. Someone who you thought you couldn't survive without."
I knew she was talking about me.
I didn't respond. I just continued to cry. I took a seat on the queens soft pink love seat.
"I don't know what I'm going to do, my queen." I buried my face in my palms. My elbows dug into my knees.
"Rapunzle, please call me mother."
That just made me cry more.
I felt my mother's hand on my back. She rubbed up and down my spine, trying to comfort me. I suddenly longed for Robin; his touch, his face, the feeling that he gives me. I wanted that. I needed that. I shook my head in my hands.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" My mother's voice was a soft whisper. I thought about what my mother, the queen, could do to make this any better. I thought of something, a little thing, but it would make me feel better.
"Please remember Flynn Rider as a hero, not thief. He saved my life. He never hurt me, and the only thing he stole was my heart." I looked up at mother. I then looked at the King. His eyes were wide.
"Flynn Rider?" He gasped.
"Mhh..." Is all I could say without breaking into sobs all over again.
"Consider it done honey, right Marcus?" Mother said and glared at the King.
"Of course. For Rapunzle." The King adjusted his belt and glanced over at mother. I looked up at him.
"Thank you, your majesty." I tried to show as much gratitude as possible while I was still crying.
"Call me father, my princess." The King slightly bowed, turned, and walked to the other side of the room.
I shifted my weight on the love seat. Mother's hand was still on my back, rubbing up and down.
"Where is he?" She asked. I knew she was talking about Eugene.
"He's in the tower I was-" I sniffed, "I was trapped in for 18 years. He's laying on the floor d-dead. Gothel stabbed him." I said flatly. I was out of tears, and out of emotion. I just stared down at my hands in my lap. I awaited the queens response.
"We will send a battery to retrieve his body. We need to have a proper ceremony for him." She insisted.
I don't think I could handle that.
"Mother, I loved him. He died in my arms. When I left that tower, I was leaving him behind. I really don't want to see him again, even if it's in a coffin. Please don't make me go." I sobbed with dry tears.
"But Punzle...." The queen stopped. She stood up from the love seat. She turned to face me. I didn't look up. She then grabbed my forearm and forced me to look at her. "Punzle...if you truly loved him, then don't you want to serenade him as much as possible? Don't you think he deserves this?"
"Yes. But I don't think I can handle it. It's just too much mother." I exclaimed at her face.
Her face dropped slowly. "Very well. You will stay in the castle during the ceremony. I will show you to your room." She pulled up on my arm, and I stood up shakily. "Marcus!" The queen boomed at the King as we walked by him.
"Yes my queen?" He asked.
"Send out the funeral battery to retrieve Flynn Rider's body from Rapunzle's tower. Tell them to prepare it for the ceremony."
It. Now my true love wasn't even human anymore. He was just an it.
I whipped my tears from my cheekbone.
The queen lead me from her bedroom and down the long hall. At the end of the marble hallway was a blush pink door.
"Here you are!" The queen smiled as she opened the door. She walked inside the room with me. I gasped at the size of the bedroom. The queen sized bed seemed small in it. It had many pieces of expensive looking furniture, and the floors were a white marble like the queen's room. I walked into the room and the cold marble chilled my feet.
"Let me know if you need anything. The ceremony will be later tonight. You will be able to see it from your window if you wish to. Have a good night Rapunzle." The queen turned and closed the door.