Forgotten Magic

Chapter 38

"Wait, is that-' I ask, leaning in a bit closer as I recognize the man as Varian's so called 'assistant' during the expo.

"How did you get here?" Eugene asks.

"How indeed,' 'Shorty' begins. "The circumstances which led to my unexpected departure from Corona make for a long yet fascinating tale." I was surprised such a drunk little human could find the conscience to use such big words.

But I don't have time to wonder. Nickolas is stalking towards the scene, scowling. I duck back into the caravan. Outside, I can hear Lance literally breaking down about how Shorty ate all our remaining food.

"So I can probably assume that was Cassandra's doing?"

As I should've expected, Nickolas Chance had beat me to the caravan.

I decide to teat his nerves. "The little old man who ate all our food? Or Rapunzel and Eugene being as awkward as I've ever seen two people be?"

Now, he knows that I know what he means. So he steps forward and says, "Don't be smart with me, young lady, or so help me, I'll-"

"Okay...okay...I'm sorry..." I mutter. "It was Cass."

"What happened out there?" he asks, now that he was satisfied. I found this was what he was like. He did put business first. But he also couldn't help letting his curiosity get the better of him. Kind of the opposite of Taylor, who asked what came to their mind and then remembered whatever we were supposed to do.

"Well, Cass found Shorty in the food trunk," I say. "The one in the back. And I think Eugene proposed to Rapunzel. Or something like that."

"And Shorty is...?"

"That little old man who became Varian's assistant during the science expo," I answer, because it's honestly the first think that came to my mind. "Oh, I think he was also the decoy Rapunnzel."

I don't think Nickolas looked back too fondly of either of these events because he sort of tenses up and grits his teeth. And then he rolls his eyes and says "Oh no..."

Soon, everyone's piled up in the caravan again and we're off to Vardaros, a place I was dreading to see.

. . .

"Well, here we are."

Lance and Hookfoot burst out the caravan door, the first yelling "Vardaros, here we co-oh...ow...ew..."

I grab my cloak and pin it on before stepping out. "Told ya so." I pull the hood over my eyes.

"Wow guys, you were right!" Cassandra sassed. "This is great! What do you wanna do first? Get matching face tattoos? Or see if we can get a deal on a rusty hatchet?-"

"Oh I know," I mutter. "Let's see who can catch the plague first."

"I don't understand. What happened?" Eugene asked, a hand to the top of his head.

"C'mon guys!" Rapunzel coaxed. "Maybe it's not exactly how you remembered it, but that doesn't mean it's not a fun loving city!' She approaches a black haired girl sharpening a knife. "Hello there! We're new in town. My name's Rap-"

"Get lost," the girl mutters without looking up.

"Uh, maybe you should hold off on the introductions," Cassandra suggests. "Something tells me if word got out that actual royalty were in town, we could be in trouble."

"Y'know I hate saying this, but she's right," Eugene adds. "Let's keep a lower profile, princess. We'll go get the supplies. You guys take the caravan back up to the camp. The last thing you need is for someone to recognize you."