Varian's Tale: A Tangled Fan Fiction

Chapter 8

Thea was in the throne room, wrists shackled together, like Varian’s had been when she first met him. The king sat in his throne, the Captain of the Guards stood in front of her, two guards stood beside her, and there were at least four more by the doors. Despite being terrified, Thea was in awe. The castle was the biggest building she'd ever been in. The second biggest being Varian’s house. It was huge! Amazing! Incredible!
“Your Majesty,” the Captain of the Guards announced, snapping Thea back into reality. “We found the boy, but he escaped. My men did manage to catch a girl we think was working with him.”
One of the Guards pushed Thea forward. “I can walk myself,” she snapped at one of the guards, shooting him a glare. The guard glared back at her.
The king sighed. “What's your name?” he asked Thea.
“Mine?” Thea asked.
“Yes,” the king said.
Thea debated for a moment. Should she say her real name or make one up?
“Your name, now,” the king ordered.
“Althea,” Thea decided. Whatever, it worked.
“Althea,” the king said. “You are aware that the boy you were with is a wanted criminal, right?”
“I am now,” she stated with an eye roll.
“Were you before now?”
“Maybe,” she shrugged. “Why does it matter?”
“Yes or no?” the Captain of the Guards demanded.
“Yes,” Thea sighed. “He told me.”
“Where is he now?” the king asked.
“Don't know, and even if I did, I wouldn't say,” Thea stated.
“Why not?”
“Because we're friends and that's what friends do.”
“Captain take her to the dungeon for now,” the king decided, sitting up straighter in his throne.
“Sir,” the Captain started.
“Now,” the king ordered.
“Yes sir,” he said, starting towards the door. The two guards pushed Thea towards the door as well.
“Again, I am perfectly capable of walking myself,” Thea snapped.
“Just walk,” the guard on her left ordered.
“I'm trying,” Thea pointed out. “You're just making it a little difficult.”
“Quiet,” the Captain ordered.
Thea rolled her eyes, but kept her mouth shut as she was led through the castle. The fluffy carpets turned to hard stone that then turned to a narrow wooden staircase that led down, down, down. The dungeons.
Thea suppressed a shudder. It was dark down here. So dark. So so dark. She swallowed. What was that scampering? A rat? She didn't like it down here. Not one bit.
The Captain led her down to an empty cell. It was small and dirty. Three of the walls were dark, dirty, stone bricks, and the fourth was metal bars and the door. A hard, lumpy looking bed was hanging from one of the walls.
“In,” the Captain ordered, standing to the side of the door. Thea hesitated for a moment, and the guards behind her shoved her in. She winced as she hit the cold, hard ground, feeling that her hands were now scraped up. The guards closed and locked the door before Thea got up off the ground and left without a word.
Thea forced herself into a sitting position, trying to steady her panicked breathing. She was shaking. This cell was too small, too dark. Calm down, Thea, she thought to herself, fingers going to fidget with one of the many little braids in her head. “Calm,” she mumbled to herself, closing her eyes.
In, out, in, out, in, out. Deep breaths, deep breaths. Thea opened her eyes and forced herself to her feet, immediately, the room started spinning. Thea put one hand on the wall, feeling her pockets with her other hand. She normally kept something for nausea on her. Nothing, her pockets were empty. She felt the panic return. No, she needed that medicine. She forced herself onto the bed before she passed out on the ground or something, and curled into a ball.
She didn't want to cry. She didn't want to scream. She didn't want anyone to think she was freaking out, but that's what happened. She screamed and cried into the musty mattress. She called the guards names, the Captain worse names, and the king the worst names she could think of. She didn't care what the guards or other prisoners thought of her. She hoped the king could hear her from his sparkly royal chair. Eventually, her throat hurt too much to scream anymore, and she had no more tears to cry. She sat up and curled herself into a ball, hugging her legs to her chest and burying her face in her knees, dry sobbing.
---
“I'll go talk to her,” Rapunzel told her father.
“Rapunzel,” her father said. “We don't know anything about this girl. She could be dangerous.”
“So I'll talk to her, learn about her,” Rapunzel said. “Please, Dad?”
The king took a deep breath, considering. “Fine,” he said.
“Yay!” Rapunzel said. “And don't worry, I'll be careful.”
“Though I would feel better if someone was with you,” the king added.
“Okay, I'll bring Cass.”
“Alright, but Rapunzel.”
“Yeah, Dad?”
He pulled her into a hug. “Be careful,” he whispered.
“I will, Dad, don't worry,” she promised.
Rapunzel made her way down the stairs to the dungeon, for once seeing why shoes might be useful. Her mind flashed back to when she's locked Cass and Eugene in a cell together to try and force them to get along. They hadn't been locked up nearly as far down as she and Cass were going now.
“This is the floor,” Cass said as the stairs ended. She led Rapunzel down the hallway. Most of the cells were empty and Cass stopped outside of one of the few that wasn't empty. A girl was curled up on the bed, hardly moving.
“Is she alive?” Rapunzel gasped worriedly.
“Yeah, Raps, I think she is,” Cass said. “The real question is is she awake?”
“I am,” the girl mumbled, looking up.
“Oh, good,” Rapunzel smiled. “Well we’re going to come in, Alright?”
“Well hurry up,” the girl snapped. “Unless you want me to escape.”
“Here we go again,” Cass muttered, unlocking the door. “Stay put, kid.”
She rolled her eyes at Cass as the door opened. She didn't move at all, save for her eyes, following the princess as she walked into the cell. The girl’s eyes were a muted blue because of the lack of light in the cell, and they were ringed with a red puffiness, as if the girl had been crying. Cass came in after and closed the door, then leaned against the bars next to it.
“So,” Rapunzel said, not quite sure how to start this conversation. “Um, I'm Rapunzel and this is Cass, and we just want to talk, so, what's your name?” Rapunzel asked.
“Thea, “ the girl muttered, playing with one of the little braids in her dark hair.
“Well, Thea, it's nice to meet you,” Rapunzel said. “Oh, and I love your hair, with all the little braids, it's really pretty.”
Cass cleared her throat. “We don't have all day, Raps,” she said. “Get on with it.”
“Oh, right,” Rapunzel said. “Thea, where are you from?”
“Oh gosh,” Cass muttered. “Raps can I take care of this?”
Rapunzel frowned. She wasn't doing anything wrong, was she? “Oh, um, okay, I guess...”
“Alright kid, listen up,” Cass started. “You said you were friends with Varian, right?”
Thea nodded.
“Great, now where is he?”
“Why do you even care?” Thea snapped.
“Because he's dangerous,” Cass snapped back. “So where is he?”
“He's not dangerous,” Thea argued. “He's not. He's a nice person, a really smart, really funny person who is hurt. Okay? He's just hurt.”
Cass raised an eyebrow. “You two a little more than friends?” she smirked.
Thea frowned. “No, we're just friends,” she said.
“Mhm,” Cass smirked. “Sure. Now, if you actually cared about him, you'd tell me where he is.”
“Why? That seems counterproductive,” Thea said.
“Where is Varian?” Cass demanded.
“I don't know!” Thea shouted. “I don't and you can't change that no matter how much you try!”
“You're sure?” Rapunzel asked gently. “No ideas?”
“Oh I have an idea,” Thea smirked. “But I'm not going to share it?”
“Why not?” Rapunzel asked, frowning.
“Because he's my friend and you don't betray your friends,” Thea said. “Just like you don't break promises,” she added quietly.
Rapunzel winced. She'd broken a promise. She had, she knew she had. She was trying to fix it. She was trying really hard. “I... I guess you have a point,” she said. “Do you need anything before we leave?”
Thea bit her lip. Chewed on it for a second. “Um, before I got here, I had stuff in my pockets-”
“No,” Cass interrupted. “Not happening.”
“Just one thing,” Thea whispered. “It's a vial of pink medicine.”
“Medicine?” Rapunzel asked. “Are... are you sick?”
“Sort of,” Thea shrugged, glancing around the cell.
“What's wrong?” Rapunzel asked, ignoring Cass’s sigh.
“It's nausea medicine,” Thea said.
“Why do you need it?” Cass snapped.
“So I don't pass out every time I try to stand up,” Thea snapped back.
Cass rolled her eyes. “We'll think about it,” Rapunzel said. “See you later, Thea.”
“Or not,” Cass shrugged, holding the door for Rapunzel who shot her friend an annoyed look.
“We'll see you later,” Rapunzel repeated firmly as Cass closed and locked the door behind her.
“I'll be right here,” Thea muttered. “And please bring the medicine...”
“We'll think about it,” Rapunzel promised. “Bye.”
“Bye,” the girl said quietly.