Siblings of Corona B2:Life In the Castle

Chapter 7

"How are ya?"  Eugene asked.  The three siblings were sitting on Rapunzel's bed.  Cassandra was sewing a wrip in Rapunzel's dress.  She was just sitting there, waiting for it to be fixed.

Cassandra gave him an annoyed look before going back to sewing. Eugene wandered about the room, whistling "Ode to Joy".

"Oh, come on, Cass.  You can be a little nicer to Eugene," Rapunzel said.

"Probably," Cassandra retorted.  "Hey, Fitzherbert, I need to get this done before the coronation, so do you mind throwing your pity party someplace else?"

"Look, CassAndra, I know you don't like me for Rapunzel..." Eugene began.

"Oh, that's not true,"  Cassandra looked up as if she slightly shocked by the idea.  "I don't like you for anyone."

Eugene put his hands on his hips.  "Can you get anymore annoying?"

"Cass... Eugene," Rapunzel moaned.

"You don't say!  Well, I mean, we can always bet," Cassandra added innocently.

"Oh, don't you start," Eugene crossed his arms.

"Would you two just shut up?  This is overly ridiculous and just a super inappropriate time to just squabble!"  Varian snapped.

The others looked at Varian in surprise.  He turned his back to them, hugging his legs, whimpering.  "Woe, Varian, we didn't mean to get your toes warm..." Eugene set a hand on his shoulder.

"No, I'm sorry... it's just..." Varian squeezed his legs tighter, obviously trying not to cry.

"Just what?"  Rapunzel asked.

"Nothing.  Sorry, I'm just really making this worse,"  Varian mumbled.

"It's not nothing," Cassandra frowned.

Varian sighed, looking at his hands.  "Something's wrong with my incantation.  I wasn't even using it earlier and I touched a flower with my bare hand and it wilted.  It's not doing it now, and it didn't work with my gloves on, but what if it gets stronger?  Or does it again and I can't control it?  Does Rapunzel still have the capability to heal to undo it if I mess up?"

"Varian, why didn't you tell us earlier?"  Rapunzel asked.

"I was worried you'd be scared," he admitted.

"We're going to help you through this," Rapunzel said.  He gave a weak grin.

"Hey, you guys almost ready?" Arianna asked as she popped her head through the door.

"Oh, hi Mom," Rapunzel smiled.

"You three left so quickly after breakfast I-"

"Do you want some alone time?"  Eugene offered.

"Only if you don't mind," she said.

"No, you're ok.  I think I promised Lance something anyways, I just can't remember what exactly..."  he mumbled as he walked out.

"I didn't have a chance to give this to you," Arianna finished.  She handed each of the siblings a blank journal.  She handed one with words to Rapunzel, who began to read it out loud.

"18th of July... We embarked on a safari to the most remote plains of the third continent.’ ‘21st of May... Had to take shelter in a hidden cave to escape the fury of a violent storm.’ ‘12th of April... Helped villagers rebuild their war torn homes.’ Mom, is this yours? Did you actually do all this?"  Rapunzel closed the book and handed it back to her mother.

"Rapunzel, before I met your father, I was so much like you. I had no idea what I was supposed to have in this world. So, I went out and found my own way.  Your father is right about one thing. You will be queen someday, but only you get to decide what kind of queen you'll be. And no one can tell you the best way to make that decision."