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Once a Thief, Always a Thief ch 11

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Chapter Eleven

Rapunzel woke up smiling.  She opened her eyes to a dim room.  The curtains were still drawn.  She sighed and stretched, groaning as she did.  She closed her eyes and mused about the previous night.  She reached for Eugene, wondering if they could repeat it.  She didn’t feel him.  She extended her arm farther on his side of the bed.  Still nothing.  She patted around and realized his side wasn’t even warm.  Her eyes shot open.  Eugene was not in bed with her.
“Eugene,” she called.  Her eyes scanned the room.  He wasn’t anywhere.
She expected his and her clothes to litter the floor, but they weren’t.  Hers were sitting in a chair, having been laid out carefully.  His were nowhere to be seen.
“Eugene?” she called again.
It wasn’t like Eugene to be gone in the morning after they made love the night before.  He always made sure he was up first and say, “good morning, beautiful.”
She threw the covers off and stood up, only to sit back down again.  Her thighs were sore.  She looked down and was surprised to see very light bruises on the inside of her legs.  
“What?  When did these happen?” she said to herself.  Eugene had never bruised her before and she couldn’t recall feeling him be rough with her.  She pushed the thought out of her head and stood up.  She bent at her waist, attempting to stretch her soreness out.  It worked a bit.
She changed into fresh clothes and left the bedroom to look for Eugene.  She wondered where he could be.  Had he gone to the library?  The kitchens?  Maybe he was trying to surprise her with breakfast in bed.
She checked the library and found no one there.  When she went to the kitchens to ask if anyone had seen him, the head cook told her no.
“Though,” continued the cook, “I don’t think anyone has seen Sir Eugene since yesterday.”
“What?”  Rapunzel didn’t understand.
“Well, some of the guards came through here with the captain, Princess.  They were asking if anyone had seen Sir Eugene during the night.”
“Why?”  
The cook looked like he chewed the inside of his mouth.  “That’s a question you should be asking their majesties, Princess.  They’re with the captain now.”
Rapunzel turned on her heel and stalked out of the kitchen, starting to grow hot around her face.
The captain.
He was more than likely spinning some story about Eugene.  He still had it in for Eugene, looking for any excuse to lock him up again.  Rapunzel was going to get to the bottom this.
As she approached her parents’ receiving room, used for personal conversations between trusted members of the court, Rapunzel heard the accusing voice of the palace guard captain coming through the cracked door.
“So, in light of the situation, I am assuming the worst and ask permission to send my men to look for him.”
“Oh, now really, Captain.”  The queen’s voice was gentle, but her tone sounded a bit warning.  “I cannot believe that Eugene would do this.”
“Yes,” the king’s voice boomed through the ajar door, “this is not something he would do lightly now.  I will not accept your explanation until I hear Eugene’s account.”  
Rapunzel’s heart beat quickened.  Just what were they accusing Eugene of?  She pushed the door open, completely disregarding all protocol as she entered.
“What are you saying Eugene’s done?”  She pointed her finger at the captain, tearing into him.  “If you’re still trying to look for a way to lock him up, forget it.  Eugene hasn’t done anything wrong.  He has the trust of the king and queen and yet you’re always-“
“Rapunzel,” her mother said sternly, placing her hand on her daughter’s wrist, lowering her scolding finger from the captain’s face.  “No one is accusing Eugene of anything.”  Her eyes moved to the captain for a brief second, scorching him a bit with her gaze.  “It’s just that something very odd happened last night.”
“Yes,” said the king, “it appears that some gold and jewels are missing from the royal treasury.  But maybe you can put the captain’s suspicions to rest.  Rapunzel,” her father looked her in the eyes, asking her to tell the truth, “have you seen Eugene at all this morning?”  Rapunzel swallowed.  She didn’t like where this was going.  She looked at the floor and twisted her fingers into her skirt.
“No.  He was gone when I woke up this morning.  I don’t know where he might be.”  The king inhaled deeply and exchanged a glance with his wife.  She let worry knit her eyebrows together.  She put a hand on Rapunzel’s shoulder.  She still tried not to assume the worst.  The queen had as much faith in her son-in-law as Rapunzel did.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” she told Rapunzel.  Rapunzel snapped her head up at her mother.
“Of course it doesn’t mean anything.  Eugene would not steal, not now.  He’s not that kind of a person anymore.  He wouldn’t do this.”  Rapunzel’s voice faltered and she swallowed the lump of emotions that was sitting in her throat.  
“I beg your pardon, Princess,” the captain said as he cleared his throat, “but once a thief, always a thief.  They can’t change what they’ve been.”  Rapunzel shot a glare at the captain.  She stood up straight and addressed the captain with royal authority.
“If Eugene was going to steal anything from the royal treasury, there’d be nothing left.”  The captain said nothing.  He bowed his head and backed away from her.
“We are still only speculating,” the king said, rubbing his chin.  “The facts are that there is gold missing and Eugene is missing as well.  Captain, have the soldiers search for Eugene, but he is not to be treated as a criminal.”  The captain clicked his heels and saluted the king.  He turned to leave, when Rapunzel had a sudden thought.
“I know what happened,” she mumbled.  The other three looked at her.
“Rapunzel, dear, can you repeat that.  We can’t understand you when you mumble.”
“I know what happened.  Two days ago, Eugene got a letter.  It had ‘Flynn Rider’ on the envelope.  I don’t know what it said, but it seemed to upset him when he saw it.  Then the Stabbington brothers escaped that night.”  Rapunzel paused, just in case the others needed to catch up.  “If I know Eugene, and of course I do, he did take the gold and jewels, but he didn’t run away with it; he went to go make a deal with the Stabbington brothers and the person who broke them out of jail.  He tried to do that same thing with the crown when he stole that.”  Understanding dawned on the king and queen’s faces.  The captain rolled his eyes.
“That sounds a bit more like Eugene,” the queen said turning to her husband.  He nodded his head in agreement.
“But if he did go off on his own and if he left sometime during the night and if he’s not back yet-“
“Something must have gone wrong,” Rapunzel said.  Rapunzel turned for the door, prepared to rush off to find her husband.  She nearly knocked the captain over, yanking at the door, where she rammed into Gerald on the other side.  Rapunzel staggered backwards, her father bending to catch her before she fell to the ground.  Gerald’s helmet was knocked askew from the force.  He saluted to his captain.
“Sir!  I have something for you.”
“At ease and fix your helmet.  What do you have?”  Gerald held up an arrow with a letter stuck on its shaft.  “Why are you holding an arrow with a piece of paper on it?”
“Because that is how it arrived, sir.  It dinged off my helmet.  That’s how I found it.”  Gerald then took the letter off of the arrow and read it out loud.  “This is what the letter has to say. ‘Come to the docks, Princess and come alone.’  It has no signature.”  Gerald held the letter out for the others to inspect themselves.  The king took it, his wife standing by his arm to read it as well.  The captain walked back over to them.
“What’s the meaning of this scrap of paper?  We cannot allow the princess to meet whoever wrote this.”
“No one even suggested that, Captain,” the king told him.  “But the author probably has Eugene.”
“And if Rapunzel does not come to the docks, what would they do to him?”  The queen looked from her husband to the captain.
“Perhaps, your majesties, we could stage it so that it looked like the princess is where they want her.  She arrives, appearing alone, but soldiers are spaced around the docks, ready to attack at the first sign of danger.”
As the other three engaged in plans and ideas, Rapunzel noticed that no one was watching her, save for Gerald, who was standing attentively.  She moved towards the door.  No one seemed to notice.  She took another step and another step.  When she was sure no one was looking, she headed for the door.  Gerald watched her as she left.
Where are you going, he mouthed.  She held a finger to her lips and slipped out the door.
“I think I like that plan better, what do you think, Rapunzel,” her father lifted his head as he asked for his daughter’s opinion.  He didn’t see her.  “Rapunzel?”  They all scanned the room for her.  Then their eyes fell on Gerald.  He gulped.
“I know nothing.”
Schultz's defense.

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