How Charming

Chapter 18

I got everyone out of the dungeon cells. Felicity and Elisa begin to stir, although they haven't gained consciousness. Everly is still out cold on the floor, Jack swears that she has a pulse, so there's still hope. "Well, what now?" Logan asks, and I think we're all asking that question, because no one has an answer.

We walk upstairs, the ballroom is empty, the guards that have gotten out unscathed are at their regular posts, the ones that were not unscathed were getting medical attention. I go to the throne room, my uncle is nowhere to be seen. He's always been a coward, so the idea he's run away isn't surprising to me. However, I am met with Christian's face. He walks by my side, but we exchange no words.

Logan and I go to our dad's room. We're expected to be greeted by the same sight as always, but instead, he opens his eyes. "Dad?" I say astonished.

"What's going on?" He asks us.

He's alive, I start crying out of joy. The sound of his voice, bringing a wave of warmth and comfort over me. "You've been in a coma. For ten years." Logan says.

My dad looks around to observe and take everything in, before saying, "Adelaide and Logan. You've both grown a lot." We nod, the relief of his recovery slowly turning into awkward silence, since none of us know what to do. "Where's your mother?"

Logan and I look at each other nervously, unsure of what to say. We both speak in unison, "She's in the tower."

The idea makes him bolt out of his bed. "Careful." I warn.

"There's no way I'm letting her be in a tower again." He says, before marching out of the door, regardless of the fact that he hasn't walked in ten years, causing him to be a little wobblier than anticipated. However, he managed to walk without falling, which astounds me. He found a horse and hopped on, "You two want to come?" He asks with the smile I've missed dearly.

I hop on a horse, and Logan cautiously does the same. I have to ride faster than usual in order to keep up with my dad. Logan ends us lagging behind. Within a few hours we are at the tower, ignoring the fact that it's nearly pitch black out. Instead of climbing up the tower, my dad simply calls, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair."

I hear a squeal of "Eugene!" Before she wraps her hair around a hook, and slides down. She comes down, and then she sees us. Except this time it clicks. "My babies." She comes over and hugs Logan and I, exactly how one would expect a mother to. "I'm so sorry." She whispers to us.

"Mom, you can let go." I say, and she reluctantly does.

"It's been too long. But that doesn't mean you two don't owe some explanations about the blood on you." She says, as she hops on dad's horse.

We're back to the castle in a few hours, and for the first time in a while, everything feels okay. Then I realise we left everyone in the castle unattended. Ashton was waiting for us by the entrance. "Felicity is awake now. Elisa will be up any second. They're both doing fine." Ashton says, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

"What about Everly?" Logan asks.

"Well, she's alive." Ashton says cautiously. "But she's paralyzed waist down." My heart sinks like a pit. I know that she's probably miserable.

We walk into the castle together, and head towards the room where they all are. Elisa stirs, before opening her eyes. She looks at us all expecting an answer. "We did it, she's dead." Jack says in response to the question she didn't ask.

Elisa draws a breath. "Oh, I must get going. It's been a pleasure, but I do now have business to attend to." Elisa says swiftly before getting up, and walking out. Everyone sits there in awe that she's spoken, and even more surprised that she just left.

We all go to run after her. Jack is carrying Everly. "Elisa, are you going to explain this?" Jack asks.

"Jack, I'm thankful for you, I truly am, but I must go. I'll try to keep in touch." Elisa says before being escorted away by a young man, who looks too much like her for them not to be related. The swans and geese that had once followed her, were nowhere to be seen. She left us with more questions than answers, and we all headed back inside.

Jack sets Everly back down on a bed. Jack was the most shocked out of any of us, probably because he was the closest to Elisa. Everly seemed surprisingly okay with her new position, but I was afraid to ask her feelings on the matter.

Gabriel enters the room. "Felicity?" He questions, shocked to see her. Felicity runs up and hugs Gabriel tightly.

"Everyone meet Gabriel, my fiance." Felicity says giddily.

"Now doesn't seem to be the right time for that." Gabriel says, and I see his eyes wander over to me. Which makes my heart flutter just a little bit. "Oh, I was going to say that the advisory board is here waiting for the royal twins. They're in the meeting room."

Logan and I take our time as we head to the meeting room. This meeting is happening far too quickly for my taste, because it can only mean one thing. They're deciding who gets to assume the throne. My parents are already in the meeting room as well as twelve advisors. By the end of the meeting they decide that my parents have been through too much and are too out of touch with the kingdom to rule. My brother being the next in line will assume the throne, however because he's only sixteen, the royal advisors will have to vote on any decisions he makes regarding national security until he turns eighteen.

Logan was visibly mad about the decision as we left the meeting and returned to our friends. "I'm pissed off." Logan exclaimed as he slammed the door.

"You're pissed? Not tiddlywankered?" Jack was amused, it was nice to see him smile.

"No, I'm mad as shit." Logan sighed as he face planted on the bed, beside Everly.

A wicked grin spread across Jack's face, it made me smile too. I think everyone was smiling except for Logan who was face down on the bed. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" Jack spoke smugly.

"It was horrible, almost as bad as looking at your face." Logan snapped. Everyone laughed, it was warm. I felt like I was finally home.

For once in my life everything was right, or almost everything.

And that is how we lived happily ever for now.