Don't You Fret, My Dear

Issues

The queen sits us all in the study. Rapunzel and Eugene sit in one of the daybeds, holding hands. The King takes a seat at his desk, and the Queen sits next to me on the other daybed. She begins to speak.

"This is an important family meeting. No questions until Frederic is done talking. We will answer what we can, and Katt will answer what she feels the need to." I'm a little nervous about that last part since I'm relatively clueless about the situation. 

"Okay, " the king starts," everyone, I don't know if you've noticed or it or not, but something is not right in the kingdom. Something is effecting us, something dark. It's hard to explain quite what it is to you all, but the effects have been obvious. Eugene, you've lashed out several times in the last couple months, and we've all noticed..."

"I don't remember that at all." Eugene interrupts. 

"That's another problem too. I know you guys remember the Dark Kingdom. Well, we're dealing with something of theirs that is entirely new. They're reaching us in ways un-explainable without even stepping foot in the kingdom. Katt, if you could please take over..."

I look around. The queen shares a look of concern. Rapunzel and Eugene look even more concerned and confused. 

"Well, I'm from the Light Kingdom, or one of their islands that is, Gazovia. We, um, we train to fight the soldiers, from Crules, from the dark kingdom. We were mostly told...how...they attack people and how to fight them. We trained with swords..they didn't tell us much else on how to fight,"

"All I know is from legends, battles between all kinds of magic. I've never seen it for myself though. I really wish I could tell you more. All I was told before being sent here is that I'm needed in some way, but they didn't tell me in what way. I just got out of training..."

I started spilling useless nonsense. The king sensed this and began to speak.

"Yes, well, luckily we've been through attacks from the Dark Kingdom before, so we have some knowledge of how they work. I'm sure your Kingdom's reasoning for sending you here will appear in time. Any questions, anyone?"

"Are they planning to attack us physically again? Should we warn anyone?" Rapunzel asks, dread in her voice. 

"What do we need to look for? Why aren't we on high alert?" Eugene butts-in. 

The queen interjects, "We believe this is aimed at the royal family. None of the townsfolk have mentioned any strange goings-on, and you know we've encouraged them to speak up ever since our first run-in with the Dark Kingdom." 

"We're doing what we can," King Frederic begins, "this doesn't seem the same as before so we're trying a new approach. I hope you guys can breathe a little easier now that there's no more secrets." 

"Father, no offense, but you just told us there may be another kingdom after us, and then told us to breathe easier..." Rapunzel argues. She's holding her husbands hand tightly. 

"Yes, well. I was hoping at least you'd want clued-in. But there is need to be on alert. Rapunzel, Eugene, Arianna; look after yourselves. Inform Katt of anything strange. I have told the palace guard we have special help from Gazovia and that we will be holding meetings to develop a strategy. As of right now, just keep an eye out and try not to worry." 

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After King Frederic dismisses us from the study, he and the queen head to bed whilst Rapunzel and Eugene head to the kitchen for a late-night snack. 

"You want to come, Katt?" Rapunzel asks. I really want to, but it doesn't seem like a good idea. I know I played games with them earlier, but the meeting with the king reminded me I'm here for serious business and probably shouldn't be cozying-up with the princess and prince-consort so soon. Plus, there's some weird tension between Eugene and I, and I don't want to deal with it at the moment. 

"It sounds fun, but i'm exhausted. Long trip, I guess. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Goodnight!." 

I head to my room, except I don't. I realize walking through an unfamiliar palace, at night, in the dark, makes it easy to get lost. I walk down a hall when I hear some men's voices. I hear them mention my name...