#twhss

He spent the first three hours trying to saw through the column with the chains of his shackles. It was an exhausting process that required him to sit up on his knees and shimmy his arms and shoulders left and right while trying to get the chain to dig into that one rivet in the ice. If he had to guess the column was roughly eight inches in diameter, and solid. He had broken out of prisons before, though usually the circumstances were easier.

By the time the three hours were done he was slumping forward, suspended by the chains, panting. His hands were wet with blood and pus from the blisters and abrasions of his efforts, and, as he scooted around the column on his knees to check his handiwork, his breath fogged out in a sigh only find a shallow divot. It wasn’t much, but it was progress. Snow could insulate, Eugene knew, ice could too, probably, but only in a small enough space.  Trying to saw through the column with his shackles kept him warm and occupied, and when he felt his strength start to fail him all he had to do was think of that liar telling Rapunzel he was dead, cuddling close to her and comforting her in her grief and---screw sawing, he needed to punch something. The thought of it would light a fire in his veins, and he wa s sure he’d get through it in the next hour…or two…or six. He tried to pace himself, but there was a panic, too. Every time he tried to check his progress, he would only find himself groaning in frustration, and, as hard as he tried to ignore it, he could start to feel the cold sink in. First it was the fact that the sweat on his forehead would immediately go cold in the air, same with on the back of his neck, so eventually it would only serve to rob him of what heat he could generate.

It finally came to a point where he could not lift his arms. He tried. He tried so hard. He thought of freezing to death here. He thought of Hans cuddling up to Rapunzel and he felt the fury rage through his nerves like lightning but only to meet with a dead end. He looked to his wrists and had to look away from them. They were a red and pink mess against the steel of his shackles. He bit the inside of his lips and slumped against the column. Just a break. Just a little break. Just for a little bit. He’d get out of here. He’d find her. He promised her he’d be back. Just a little break.

Break.

Eugene glanced down at his right hand. He had heard about breaking one’s own thumb to get out of shackles back during his days as Flynn Rider, but he had never considered it as much more than an urban legend and a bit stupid. He could only touch his hands to each other behind the column, anyway. Still, it could be faster than working away at the column. With his hands behind the column, he tentatively pushed the shackle up to his hand, wincing as it ran over open blisters. He noted the point on his hand that the manacle first met and ran his left thumb over the base of his right thumb. It seemed like a small bone, a structural vulnerability. The pain wouldn’t be that much of a bother at this point. He breathed in through his nose, promised himself he’d do it on the count of three, and shut his eyes and thought of Rapunzel.

One. She still had the long hair. It was her first time seeing the lanterns and she was just staring out at them and he had never seen anyone see so much joy and beauty in the world and there had never been anyone who made him see it like she had.

Two. Her father was walking her down the aisle, she was biting her lip with that grin and he could see her fingers tighten giddily around the king’s arm when she looked at him.

Three. It was morning. Her hair was a mess and sunlight was pouring over her and she was next to him and she was smiling.

He moved to press and wait for the dreaded snap, but suddenly there was an enormous crashing sound and his eyes opened. The snow beast from earlier roared and looked around, lumbering about the ice palace. He sat there stunned for a moment, trying to figure out the logistics of a limping giant snow monster making it up a mountain, but he wasn’t going to question it now.

“Hey,” he called out. The snow beast turned around and made a questioning sound.  It limped toward him and plopped down in front of him.

“Elsa,” at a regular volume its voice was like the crunch and thudding sound of large weights of snow falling into more snow.

“Hans took her,” said Eugene.

The ice spikes sprung from its back, its eyes glowed blue and it roared in his face, spewing snow and frost all over him and making his ears ring. Eugene wiped some snow from his cheek with his shoulder.

“Believe me,” he said, “I feel the same.”

 It puzzled at the sight of him for a moment, then suddenly perked up and looked around.

“He took her too,” said Eugene, “Look, I need you to help me out. Can you get me out of this?”

The snow beast nodded and suddenly grabbed him around the waist.

“No-no-no-no-no---Bad idea!” Eugene said before the snow beast could yank his arms out of their sockets. The beast groaned and set him on the ground.

“The chain,” said Eugene, “Can you break the chain?” Eugene rattled the chain behind the column. The beast stood up and limped around the column, then plopped down again. Eugene felt something tug on the chain, then his back smacked up straight against the column. He felt his arms get yanked and had to shout. “No—not like that!”  The snow beast let out another frustrated groan. Eugene set his palms down flat on the icy floor as far away as the chain would allow them. “Okay, see the chain? I need you to break the chain---do not, I repeat, do not hit my hands. Do you think you can break it by hitting it?”

The snow beast made a questioning sound.

“I know it’s stupid and it probably won’t work---but I need you to try,” said Eugene. Frozen water couldn’t shatter steel, everyone knew that, but at this point there was no small amount of desperation in him. Eugene heard the sound of an ice spike poking through snow. “Don’t kill me, don’t kill me…” he muttered to himself, shutting his eyes. There was a shrill shrieking sound and Eugene felt flecks of cold prickle all over his wrists. They were both still and silent for a second. Eugene slumped against the column and sighed.

“Well…” he said, rubbing the side of his head, “It was worth a sh---” He stopped midsentence and looked at his hand. It was still a bloody mess with blistered and scraped wrists, but a broken chain with feathers of frost dangled off of it. He brought up both his hands, and looked at them, broken halves of a chain dangling off both of them. “You did it…” He stumbled to his feet and turned around, using the column for support. “You did it!” The snow beast seemed rather pleased at this. Eugene let out a half-mad laugh, “Oh, I would kiss you if I weren’t a married man and severely concerned about what might be early onset hypothermia.”

The snow beast picked him up and hugged him, and Eugene awkwardly patted its shoulder and feeling his hands go numb. The snow beast set him down and Eugene hurried to the door. ‘Well come on! We got princesses to sa---Oh…”

The snow beast was valiantly limping along as fast as it could behind Eugene. “Okay…Maybe you should stay here. I need to get down to Arendelle as quickly as possible and---”

The beast tilted its head at him, then turned away.

“Woah—It wasn’t anything personal---” Eugene started to say, but then the snow beast was ripping an ice door off of its hinges and limping over to the entrance of the ice castle, “What are you doing with that door?” The beast didn’t answer but continued walking out with the door in its claws. Eugene followed behind as the creature limped down the stairs with the broken railing and limped around the summit of the mountain, looking over cliffsides and slopes and making thoughtful grunts. It was a while before it stopped at a relatively sane looking slope and set the ice door down in the snow. It pointed to the door on the ground and Eugne looked at it, thenlooked back up to the snow beast.

“What you want me to---” Eugene looked at the door, then looked down over the slope, then back up at the snow beast, who made an encouraging sound and motioned to the door again.

“Look, I know you mean well, but your ideas of mountain transportation aren’t exactly…sane. I can’t just pack up some snow and rebuild myself like you, and it won’t really be easy to get to Rapunzel or Elsa when I’m…dead,” Eugene folded his arms in front of him. “We’re going to need to find another way down the mount---Okay this is happening,” he said as the beast picked him up and set him down on the ice door.

“Look it’s a door---I can’t steer a door,” said Eugene, trying to stand up but finding the ice door teetering beneath him. He squatted down to keep the door from sliding down the slope, when he looked up and saw the snow beast raising its foot, “Wait---Don’t-don’t-don’t---”

The snow was falling even harder than before when Rapunzel stepped out into the courtyard. Kai and Gerda hurried past her back into the palace with Princess Anna’s arms draped across their shoulders. The princess looked pale, and there were streaks of white in her hair. Rapunzel moved to walk after them back into the castle, when Anna looked over her shoulder. At first Rapunzel thought she was looking at her, but as she turned around, she could see someone on the other side of the gate. She ran up to a guard. “Wait—please---could you open it for me?” said Rapunzel.

“Ma’am, the temperature’s only dropping. It’s best if you get inside---”

“I’ll only be a moment, please!” said Rapunzel.

The guard noted some obvious distress in her eyes and asked, “Are you all right, ma’am?”

“The man who brought back Princess Anna---I just need to ask him some questions I’ll only be a minute.”

The guard sighed, then motioned to another guard up atop the palace walls, who cranked open the gate. As soon as the gate was open enough, Rapunzel raced through. It was a tall blonde man and a reindeer, walking as if the entire world weighed on their shoulders.

“Wait---Wait!” Rapunzel called after them. They turned around, perking up for a moment, then slumped down disappointed as Rapunzel raced up to meet them.

“What do you want?” the blond man asked bitterly. The reindeer snorted next to him.

“You were out in the mountains, weren’t you? Did you see a man about yea tall with brown hair?” Rapunzel gestured with her hand about a head above hers. 

The man’s expression remained unchanging. “No,” he said flatly, before turning around.

“Are you sure?” Rapunzel stepped around him so that she was in front of him.

“I’m sure,” he said trying to step around her.

“We were on the North Mountain and I lost him---You didn’t see---?”

“Look I said, no, okay? What more do you want from me?!” he snapped at her. Rapunzel flinched back and he quickly noted his own aggression and stood up straight, frowning.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Are you all right?” asked Rapunzel.

“I’m fine,” he said, frowning.

“I’m sorry for bothering you,” said Rapunzel, “It’s just---if anything happened to him---I don’t know what I’d do.”

“He’s your true love,” said the blonde man, the misery seeming to settle over him heavier than ever.

“Yeah…” said Rapunzel, tucking back some of her hair.

“I’m sorry… I can’t help you,” said the man, stepping around her on once side whiel the reindeer grunted sadly and walked around her other side.

“Wait---” Rapunzel called after him one more time and he stopped and his shoulders slumped with a sigh.

“What?” He turned around.

“What’s your name?” asked Rapunzel.

“Kristoff,” he replied.

“Thank you for bringing Princess Anna back, Kristoff,” said Rapunzel.

“It was nothing,” said Kristoff.

“I’m sure she appreciates it,” said Rapunzel. Kristoff gave something that was somewhere between a chuckle, a scoff and a sigh in response.

His lips tightened. “Hey could you tell her I---” he started to say, but then thought better on it and cleared his throat, “Just…make sure she’s okay.”

“Of course,” said Rapunzel.

“Stay warm,” he said, turning around.

“You too,” said Rapunzel.

Rapunzel hurried back past the gates and the guards thudded them shut behind her. She entered the palace, rubbing her hands together to keep them warm, when she saw Kai and Gerda stepping out of one of the palace parlors and closing the door after them.

“Princess Anna---” she started to say.

“Don’t worry,” said Gerda, “She’s with Prince Hans. She’ll be fine. They just need some privacy.” With that Gerda and Kai walked down the hall.

“Okay…” said Rapunzel. She returned to the parlor with the fire and her sandwiches. She wrapped her quilt around herself and grabbed another sandwich. She glanced over at the green military cloak hanging near the fire and she walked over and pulled it on. She had to go out and find Eugene, even if she had to do it alone. She hesitated and thought on Princess Anna briefly, wondering if she should go see her or respect what Gerda had said and give her and Prince Hans some privacy.

 Eugene had told her Southern Isles princes were bad news, but he never told her why. Honestly she wouldn’t be surprised if it was a residual fear from his life as Flynn Rider. There were still some nights where he had nightmares, where he tossed and turned and muttered in his sleep, but at the same time he was usually shy about those things. It was usually something she saw in his action, the hesitation to put down silverware, his almost knee-jerk reaction of dodging out of the sight of the guards, which was rather silly considering the guards were there to protect him now. If it were a fear based in something that had happened in his life as Flynn, he wouldn’t have made a point to tell her about it. At this point he tended to treat his more thieving mannerisms as unnecessary and more than slightly embarrassing, and only very rarely did Eugene validate an opinion held by Flynn. He seemed scared.

 Rapunzel was walking down the hall  to the kitchens to arm herself  and grab some food for the journey when a thought made her pause. It was Prince Hans who brought her back. Prince Hans would know where Eugene was. He had to know. She looked over her shoulder down the hall. To hell with privacy. Eugene was out there. She was walking toward the parlor when she saw Prince Hans walking toward down the hall, slowly, with shock splattered across his face, his boots practically dragging on the carpet.

“Prince Hans?” she spoke. Her voice seemed to jolt him out of a daze.

“Princess Rapunzel…” said Hans. His voice was hollow, distance. He suddenly slumped against the wall and fell to his knees and Rapunzel rushed toward him to help him up.

“Don’t…” he said, his voice on the verge of breaking.

“What happened?” Rapunzel said, dropping down to her knees in front of him. His face tilted up toward her, his eyes wet. “She’s…she’s…Anna…she’s…” he crumpled further, burying his face into his hands, “She’s gone. Elsa froze her… I couldn’t…I tried---I tried…I thought true love’s kiss would…but she…”

“No…” Rapunzel said softly.

“She died in my arms!” his voice rang out in the hallway, rattling with sobs. Rapunzel leaned forward and hugged him and he sobbed openly into her shoulder. “I’m sorry…”  he spluttered, “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”

“It’s okay,” said Rapunzel.

“No!” He put his hands on her shoulders and looked up at her, “I should have saved her! I should have saved both of them!”

“What…?”

“I should have saved…” Hans was rubbing away his tears, when he looked into her eyes,  a stunned look passed over his face. “Oh god…No one...” he choked sob back into his throat, “No one told you?”

“No one told me what?” said Rapunzel, dread flaring in the pit of her chest.

“At the ice palace…when Queen Elsa attacked us…Eugene he---he….” Hans’ breath went short and Rapunzel seized him by the lapels of his coat.

“What happened to Eugene!?” she demanded. Hans was staring at her with stunned bloodshot eyes. “Tell me!” her voice cracked as she pulled on his coat.

“I didn’t think Elsa would attack us on sight…She threw an ice spike at me and…Eugene he…”

“No…” Rapunzel released his coat and pressed her hands to her forehead, “No, no, no…”

Hans voice went to just above a whisper, “He pushed me out of the way.”

Rapunzel was shaking her head, her shoulders collapsing inward, “No. No—he can’t be-”

“He’s a hero…” Hans said quietly.

“No! He’s not gone! He’s not!” Rapunzel was sobbing, “Eugene can’t be---!”

A soft gloved hand reached up and wiped a tear away from under her eye. She looked up at Prince Hans, sobs shaking her, feeling the world close in dark and cold and tight as Gothel’s grip around her, half coughing and half crying and muttering “No…no…no…not again…”

“Rapunzel…” Prince Hans’ voice got an edge of resolve, though it still seemed to shake as if buckling under the weight of grief, “Princess Rapunzel I promise you, I’m going to set things right.”

“Nothing can ever be right!” Rapunzel blurted out, “He can’t be gone! He can’t! I can’t lose him again!”

“Rapunzel, I swear,” said Prince Hans, putting his hands on her shoulders, “I’ll bring Elsa to justice. For both Anna and Eugene’s sakes.”

Rapunzel’s sobs had quieted to despaired little whimpers as Hans braced a hand against the wall and rose to his feet. He offered a hand out to her and she took it, tears still dripping from her chin. “He told me to look out for you…to keep you safe,” said Hans. Rapunzel froze. No. That wasn’t right. Eugene wouldn’t say that. He wouldn’t say that about someone he barely knew. And he knew Rapunzel was pretty capable of taking care of herself. Suddenly down the hall there came a rattling sound.

Rapunzel wiped the snot from under her nose and she looked up. Hans’ eyes flicked sideways and he took her by the arm and started walking down the hallway, “Come on. Let’s get you somewhere warm--”

The rattling sound came again and Rapunzel stopped walking.

“What is that?” she asked, her voice flat.

“What?” said Hans. Rapunzel broke from his grip and briskly walked down the hallway. She stopped at the door Hans came out of. The door rattled and Rapunzel inhaled sharply and seized the doorknob and tried to open it. She pressed her ear to the door and heard a faint, “Help me…” Rapunzel looked back at Hans. All the tears all the redness and wetness had left his face, the only memory of his weeping in his bloodshot eyes. He began walking slowly toward her. She tried at the doorknob again, rattling at the door, throwing her weight against it, kicking at it. “Princess Anna!” she shouted, thumping on the door. She looked back at Hans.

“Open it,” she said, her brow furrowing.

Hans only tilted his head. “What, you mean with this?” he said, pulling out a key.

“OPEN IT!” Rapunzel shouted at him, “Let her out!”

A half smile pulled at the corner of Hans’ mouth as he pocketed the key. “ I think we both know that’s not going to happen.” He kept walking toward her and Rapunzel found herself walking backwards, her eyes flicking back toward the door.

“You’re a liar,” she said, backing away, “You’ve been lying this whole time.”

“Liars…” scoffed Hans, “What do liars matter to you? You were raised by a liar. You married a liar.”

Rapunzel flushed red and lunged at him and for a moment she brought out the fear in his eyes before she was stopped short inches from his face. Strong hands grasped her arms and yanked her back stumbling. She looked up over her shoulders at two large men in red uniforms.

“Fritz, Dominik, glad you could join us,” said Hans, calmly folding his hands in front of him, “I’m going to go address the other emissaries. I’ll need the princess of Corona put somewhere safe until then.”

“Let me go,” said Rapunzel, stomping on their feet only to be hoisted off of her feet and have them flail underneath her.

“You have this habit of making demands that you should know are never going to be met,” said Hans.

“Where’s Eugene!?” Rapunzel demanded

“He’s dead,” Hans furrowed his brow.

“No he’s not. You’re lying. You know where he is,” said Rapunzel, thrashing against the two guards. Hans smiled.

“He’s right where you left him, Princess. The North Mountain. Pity he’ll freeze to death before any help can reach him though. I like the idea of Eugene Fitzherbert dying as he had grown up: Cold, scared, and alo---”

They traded off every hour throughout the night, taking turns kicking their ventilation shaft open when snow piled on it. Their heat and breath and the shelter from the wind kept the hollow of their snow-covered willow acceptably warm, and they were wearing enough layers to tolerate a lot of cold. Of course Rapunzel was out and about at the first hint of dawn, quickly munching down some more of the rations Gerda had packed them, though avoiding the Lutefisk like it was the plague. She didn’t really have the heart to throw it away either, Kai had been really excited about sharing some of Arendelle’s cuisine with them. Maybe she’d hide it or give it to a hungry animal or something. She clambered out before sunrise, when the blizzard finally seemed to stop. Everything was still but the snow wasn’t quite like powder, though it should have been. It was brittle and crunched beneath her boots. The light was cold, a little dim, but everything around her, though the sun had not yet risen, was clear. The feeling returned. The same feeling she had had walking in to the castle of Arendelle, the feeling she had in that odd moment that seemed to pull her out and away from everything and confront her with herself and that word. Late. Late. Late. Something was late. What was late? Were they too late to help? Elsa’s ice palace seemed so far away. They were so behind Prince Hans’ search party. There was no clear trail. Eugene stumbled out after her, slinging his pack on his back. He tossed her her own pack.

“I was going to wake you,” she said as he handed her the hat and she put it on, tucking her hair under it.

“You already did,” he said, tapping the top of the hat and making it fall over her eyes, “Yeah, you know, you were kind of like my own personal little heater there. Second you were gone this whole general space,” she pulled the hat back from her eyes to see him crooking his arm in the way it had hung over her, and gesturing to his side, “this whole area went ice-cold.” He looked around. The glen had changed. It wasn’t the same magical little winter wonderland it had been the day before. Warped spears of ice bristled off of the frozen waterfall, gnarled icicles clawed into the cliff faces, and their own snow-covered willow had been warped into stooping, rippled form of snow twisted by the wind so that it looked like a hooded and cloaked figure staring down at them.

“She’s scared,” said Rapunzel.

“Hm?” Eugene looked at her.

“Elsa. She’s scared. It’s just…billowing off of her. You can feel it in every inch of the this place.”

Eugene lifted one boot out of the snow skeptically. “She’s…in the snow?”

“It’s like the snow is an extension of her,” said Rapunzel, “Don’t you feel it?”

“I feel…cold, and slightly worried as to the increasing spikiness of the ice,” said Eugene, “Wait---how could she do this? We were keeping watch every hour. If Elsa had been down here, we would have known.”

“She’s not coming down here and doing it, it’s just happening because she’s…” Rapunzel trailed off, “This is just sounding like an increasingly weird theory, isn’t it?”

Eugene shrugged. “We’re thigh-deep in snow in July. Don’t worry about being weird.”

Rapunzel smiled. “I think we can put in at least a mile before sunrise,” she said, slinging on her pack.

They made about a mile and a half before they heard the howling. They were in a fog then, of course, one that frosted in their eyelashes and eyebrows and nearly left them snow-blind. They heard the howling and looked at each other, then they heard the howling get closer. They took off running. Rapunzel gripped Eugene’s mittened hand in hers.

“Wolves,” muttered Eugene, “It had to be wolves.” The wind was whipping around them as they went as fast as thigh-deep snow would allow, butt hey could hear the snarling, and the barking. Eugene suddenly sank waist-deep and Rapunzel was racing forward, still holding his hand. Her hand slipped out of her mitten when he sank down, the snow crunching up to his waist and she quickly turned around.

“Go, GO!” he said, hearing the wolves paws crunch in snow behind him, he looked over his shoulders and saw gray shapes, shadows, coming out of the wind and fog. Rapunzel ignored him and raced to his side, shoveling snow out from around his waist with her frying pan. “I said go! What are you doing? Please---!” he said. Rapunzel was grasping him as he struggled out of the snow. He still had one leg in the snow when a wolf approached them with bared teeth, stepping toward him, growling.

“Rapunzel,” Eugene’s voice was soft now, almost calm, “Rapunzel I need you to run. I love you. Please---”

“No!” said Rapunzel. The wolf leapt.

“Stay back!” said Rapunzel, trying to get Eugene’s frying pan out of his bag but only grabbing the jar of lutefisk. Unthinkingly, Rapunzel hurled it at the wolf as it leapt at them both. The jar shattered on the wolf’s face, sending stinking fish and shards of glass all over the wolf’s face. The wolf whined and screeched and rolled in the snow trying to get the glass out of its face, turning the snow pink around it, the stench overwhelming all of its senses. While the wolf was distracted, Rapunzel managed to yank Eugene, stumbling out of the snow and they took off running again with the wolves in hot pursuit.

“I can’t believe you!” Rapunzel said, as they sprinted over mountain foothills and up plateaus.

“What?!” said Eugene as they vaulted over a felled tree.

“You wanted me to leave you!”

“It didn’t look like there was enough time to get me out---”

“You didn’t think I could do it!”

“I wanted at last one of us to get away from the wolves if they got me you would have a chance to---”

“Did you even think what losing you would do to me? Losing you again?”

“I was thinking I’d want my wife to survive---!”

“GO AWAAY!” A voice that crackled like ice and howled like wind flooded into the mountain air. Then the sound echoed and distorted, like it was being sounded off into a hollow tube somewhere and Rapunzel looked off to the left to see a cave in the side of the mountain.

“Come on!” she said, racing toward the cave. Eugene followed her and they ran into the darkness. They could move a lot faster with less snow slowing them down, and the cave burrowed deep into the mountain. Even in there it was full of ice with frozen stalactites and stalagmites and delicate crystalline formations glittering on the stone. From the mouth of the cave they could hear barking, howling, sniffing, then a single long howl silencing the yipping and barking of the rest of the pack. They sat in silence, tucked away against the wall of the cave watching as the wolves sniffed about in the snow. Rapunzel motioned to venture deeper into the cave and Eugene nodded. They walked for a ways until the mouth of the cave was a very small light at their backs, yet still the cave continued deep into the mountain. As soon as it seemed they were far enough from the mouth of the cave for the wolves not to notice the light, Eugene lit their lantern. They walked silently, and a bit awkwardly, first their quietness had been required because of the wolves, but now it hung over them both. They both glanced off. Eugene glanced down and saw Rapunzel was missing her mitten. Rapunzel took off her hat and sighed, brushing her messy hair back with her un-mittened hand.

“I’m sorry for---” they both started at once, then looked at each other and smiled kind of sadly, then looked down. Rapunzel suddenly hugged him around the waist, burying her face in his shoulder. He wrapped his free arm around her.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you…” she said quietly, her voice cracked a little, “I know---I know you weren’t thinking of---I know you were willing to---” her hair fell into her face and her lower lip was quivering. Eugene pulled off his mitten and tucked her hair back with his bare hand. The stone floor of the cave was frosted over, they slipped a bit but they kept walking. A roaring sound echoed in the cave from outside.

“Don’t worry about it…” he said, “Thanks for saving me,” He rubbed the back of his head, “And…I’m sorry for freaking you out like that. Granted it’s been awhile since we’ve been in a situation like that but…I don’t tend to really….think…in those situations.”

Rapunzel was rubbing her eyes. “What?”

“When it comes down to something like that…something like what just happened. I don’t think---well, I do think---I think of you—but I don’t really think of you. Everything around me just…shuts off and I need to see you safe. I need to see you out of there.”

Rapunzel put a hand on the side of his face and he put his bare hand over hers. “I can get out of there,” she said, looking at him straight in the eyes, “But don’t think for a second I’d ever leave without you.”

They leaned in for a kiss, but then they heard a brittle, breaking sound, and the squeaking sound of the general integrity of ice being compromised. They looked down, then looked up into each other’s eyes.

“No, really, I think we’re off to a good start.”

“Not another word.”

Rapunzel was waist-deep in snow. Eugene was gripping her hands and he was sinking in to his knees trying to pull her out. There was a midmorning sun shining. He successfully yanked her out (She was practically flying) and they both tumbled backwards with her landing on top of him and powder scattering over them both, sputtering and laughing. He grinned at her. They were both wearing the gray-green greatcoats of the castle guards’ winter uniforms. Gerda had snuck them some so they could get past the other emissaries without so much as a second glance. Eugene could pass for a guardsman easily, but Rapunzel…

Rapunzel had to wear the hat.

It had fallen over her eyes as she had tumbled forward. He lifted up the brim with his thumb as some stray brown hairs fell in her face as she bit her lip giggling. She looked good in the snow. It splashed pink across her nose and cheeks and reddened her lips and made her eyes look brilliant. She was practically glowing.

“Eugene,” she said. God, only a voice like hers could make him love his own name.

“Mm?” He looked up at her.

“You’re sinking.”

“Oh,” he said. She sat up off of him and he sat up in the snow. In an instant she was to her feet and heading up the hill again. He shook his head, smiling and walked after her.

“Now Kai warned us about hypothermia,” said Raunzel as they ascended the hill with the city behind them, following the horseshoe tracks and footprints, “So you’ll tell me if you start to get dizzy?”

“Yes.”

“Or confused?”

“Yes.”

“And let me know if your hands or feet start going numb. We don’t want frostbite, either.”

“You got it. I am Mr. Magic Winter Safety. You know you don’t need to worry so much.”

“I’m not worried,” said Rapunzel as the hill sharply inclined upward into a narrow mountain path.

They hiked upward for hours, through winding mountain paths, following the footprints and hoofprints of the company that left before them.

“You know…you were acting funny this morning,” said Rapunzel as they settled down in a copse overlooking a valley for a short break.

“What?” said Eugene, feeling around in their pack for the loaf of bead and jar of lutefisk Gerda had packed them.

“You said it was bad that Prince Hans was leading the search,” said Rapunzel.

“I didn’t…when I said that---” Eugene’s hand brushed against cold metal and he looked into the pack. He pulled out a frying pan. “Rapunzel…” he said, his voice low and wary.

“It’s just in case we run into trouble, that’s all,” said Rapunzel.

Eugene pursed his lips.

“I’d think you’d be glad we’re bringing them.”

“Them?”

Rapunzel reached into her pack and pulled out her own frying pan. “To be fair…you said southern isles princes were bad news. Did….you know him from before or…”

“No,” said Eugene, “Not Prince Hans.”

“So how do you know?”

“I don’t,” said Eugene, holding out a hunk of bread to her.

“He’s engaged to Princess Anna,” said Rapunzel, taking the bread and taking a bite.

“No kidding?” said Eugene.

“That’s the word among the servants, and the party guests,” said Rapunzel, “Princess Anna wanted to marry Prince Hans, Queen Elsa didn’t agree.”

“Why not?”

“They only knew each other for a day.”

Eugene coughed on a hunk of bread. “A day?”

“They both insist it’s true love.”

“A day?”

“We had a day,” said Rapunzel.

“Two days. We had two days,” said Eugene, “And then we had a few months and then…you know the rest.”

“Happily ever after,” said Rapunzel, opening the jar of lutefisk, then immediately closing it and setting it at arm’s length away from her. The brief burst of pungent odor hung in the crisp cold air for a second and Eugene coughed as soon as the scent hit his nostrils.

“Jeez---It’s like someone stuffed the Snuggly Duckling in a jar,” he said, reeling back.

Rapunzel gingerly stuffed the jar back in the bag, before standing up and slinging the pack around her shoulder, holding the frying pan in one hand.

“Do you think it’s true love?” asked Rapunzel.

“I don’t think we know enough about Anna, Elsa, or Hans to be making that judgment,” said Eugene.

“But you don’t trust Hans.”

“You can know True Love from day one, but proposing’s a whole different story,” said Eugene, stuffing the frying pan back in his pack, then standing up and slinging on his pack as well. They followed the trail on for several more ours. They had plenty of daylight. The fact that they were in a magical winter didn’t do much to change the fact that it was still July. They talked some throughout the journey, but mostly Rapunzel just liked to look around. At one point the trail of hoof-prints and footprints led them through a glen with a frozen waterfall and a willow tree covered in crystalline droplets. “You know, back in the tower, I’d watch snow fall, but I couldn’t leave… It looked so pretty from so far away,” Rapunzel pulled a mitten off of her hand and ran her hands over the ice on the willow branches. They made a tinkling sound as they brushed against each other, “I never thought it would be this beautiful up close.”

“I don’t think we even see winters like this in Corona,” said Eugene, looking at the waterfall. He glanced down and squatted. “Huh,” he said, looking at some tracks  on the ground.

“What?” Rapunzel walked over.

“These aren’t the same bootprints as the ones we’ve been following,” said Eugene.

“Woah…” Rapunzel put her foot in one, “They’re huge.”

“They’re not that huge,” said Eugene.

She looked over to another set of prints. “Hey look! Reindeer prints!”

The tinkling sound came from the willow tree and both looked up and realized the wind was picking up.

“Something’s wrong,” said Rapunzels as flurries started falling down.

“Oh no…” said Eugene, catching a few flurries in his palm. “The tracks---the tracks!” They looked over at the trail of boot and hoof-prints, quickly fading under the falling snow.

“No! We can’t lose it now!” Rapunzel said, running over the trail, “Please stay,” she whispered, running alongside it, “Please stay…”

Eugene was running after her, the pack thudding on his back. Soon they were both sprinting, but even the deep hoof-prints were becoming shallower and shallower as the snow continued to fall. She kept running.  “No, no, no, no…” she said. The wind was howling around her, and she could see the north mountain and nestled into its side was a brilliant blue palace. “Woah…” Eugene caught up from behind her and he stood behind her, staring at the palace on the mountain.

“It’s beautiful,” murmured Eugene. The wind howled around them and Eugene suddenly felt the cold cut into him. He shuddered. “We can’t stay here.”

“The trail---” Rapunzel started to say.

“Hey---” Eugene put his hands on her shoulders, “If we want to help anyone, we need to stay alive. The second that sun sets, we’d better have shelter because it’s going to get colder. The second the sun rises, we’ll be back on our way, okay?”

Rapunzel’s mouth pressed to a thin line and she looked down.

“It’s an ice palace. It’s not going anywhere,” said Eugene.

They descended from the mountain peak back down into the glen with the frozen waterfall. The snow sucked up around their ankles, seemingly growing deeper with each steap. Snow was piling on the icy willow, hardly recognizable now, only by its vague, sweeping shapes, and the muffled tinkling sounds that came from it as the wind howled through the glen. Eugene took another step into the glen and sank into the snow up to his waist. He could feel the cold sinking in, turning his toes and fingertips numb, and sinking deep into the hollow of his chest.

“Eugene!” he heard her voice against the howling wind and felt her yanking at her arm. “Come on!”

Eugene struggled upward out of the snow and stumbled, sinking deep into snow, over to the willow, where he started to dig.

“Eugene—oh no…” Rapunzel raced over and grabbed his arm, “Eugene—stop! This is what Kai warned us about! Paradoxical burrowing---remember?”

“I thought the paradoxical undressing came first,” said Eugene, continuing to dig, “He also said snow can insulate.”

“Snow can insulate…” Rapunzel repeated after him, and then quickly set to digging alongside Eugene. They heard a tinkling and tore through, into a muted, dark little space. Eugene rebuilt some of the snow that had poured into the space, rebuilding a bit of the snow that had collapsed inward with them. The wind was muted, and Rapunzel looked around in the dark, then fumbled through her pack and pulled out a lantern and a box of matches. She lit the lantern, and suddenly their space filled with light.

“Eugene---” Rapunzel grabbed his shoulder as he built up a bit more of the snow wall to keep the wind out, “Look.”

Eugene glanced upward, then fell back against his pile of snow. The snowy walls were dimpled all over with those crystalline droplets that had hung on the willow branches earlier. Eugene mouthed a ‘wow,’ and stood up in the space. He had to crouch a bit with the way the snow formed a low ceiling over them both. The light from the lantern was caught and refracted in the glassy ice beads in the wall. Eugene walked over to the trunk of the willow at the center of their space. The wood creaked under the weight of the snow, but the structure seemed to support itself. The light from their lantern was reflected and distorted and refracted, filling the space with gold and white light. They leaned up against the trunk. Rapunzel took off her hat and her hair fell down. Eugene put his arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder. It was a small and quiet place, it felt fragile, but then, they both felt like they were at that point where everything they had was fragile.

“One of us needs to stay awake at a time,” said Eugene, “Make sure we both don’t freeze to death.” He glanced at Rapunzel and rolled his hand in a fist. “Loser takes first watch.”

Rapunzel put her hand in a fist.

“One, two, three--shoot,” they said at the same time. Rapunzel had paper. Eugene had rock. Granted, since they were both wearing mittens, and didn’t feel like taking them off, the choice was limited to rock and paper. Rapunzel shut her eyes and leaned on Eugene’s shoulder.

“It reminds you of something, doesn’t it?” said Eugene, looking at all the little lights glistening in the droplets.

The plump majordomo carried a candelabrum as he led Rapunzel and Eugene through the hallways hallways. Rapunzel kept her eyes forward, but occasionally she glanced over at windows where slivers of blue-white light were peeking through. Eugene’s arm was hooked in hers, and their fingers were interlaced. Rapunzel really wished they had handed out some gloves as well as cloaks in the courtyard, because Eugene’s hand was all she had to keep one of her hands warm, and she had to wrap the other up in the cloak to keep it from going numb. The glass was frosted over and she couldn’t see outside, but she could see her breath. Prince Hans had been right to shut the doors in this palace. Between all the cavernous hallways, there was no way to keep the whole place warm. Kai led them to a slighty smaller, narrower hallway along the west wing of the palace, to what appeared to be a hall of humble servant dormitories. There was little decoration save for a small painting of an Arendelle landscape here and there, but there was no quiet little hum of activity in these servants’ quarters like Rapunzel had known back when she was exploring her own castle. Kai lead them to a door at the end of the hall, with a small sign with something scratched out in Arendish runes on it, then he opened his coat and pulled out a small gold loop holding a brass key, a silver key, and a little white ring on it.

“You realize we’re making an exception for you,” said Kai, unlocking the door with the brass key and opening it, “A very special exception.” There was only darkness past the door, but Kai picked up a small iron lantern that had been set just past the doorway, and opened it. He lit it with one of the candelabrum’s candles and then handed the candelabrum off to Eugene. They descended a dark and narrow staircase that plunged unnaturally deep for a palace sitting so close to water. It was pitch black with earthen walls and only the stairs going down, down, down.

“My family has served the royal family of Arendelle since its first rise to power,” said Kai as they went down, “It was…a very different time then.” He stopped in front of a white door. It was white enough that, compared to the lighting of the lantern and the candles, was almost a headache to look at. Kai once again drew the gold loop and selected the silver key. He unlocked the white door and they walked into a room that was freezing. Kai set the lantern on a small glass table in the center. There was a pile of books shoved off to one corner, and there was what appeared to be some kind of statue, but it was underneath a white sheet. Likewise, the wall had several squares that were, themselves, covered up with white sheets. Kai concerned himself with a little gray door at the other side of the room and Eugene stepped alongside him.

“What do you mean it was a different time?” he asked, as Kai fumbled with the little white ring.

“Did you know the seal of Arendelle is not the original seal of the Royal family?” Kai said, still fumbling with the ring, “They adopted the device of House Blomqvist many years ago through marriage.”

“But what do you mean when you say it was a different time?” Eugene asked again.

As they talked, Rapunzel walked over to a painting and pulled off the sheet. It was a portrait of Princess Vilhelmine, but she was no longer donning the ermine coat. The painting seemed to be covered in something like white dust or frost, but Rapunzel looked up into he eyes of the Princess in the portrait. Something had changed about her. She didn’t look the same as her portrait in the book. Something about the eyes was off. It seemed like something was smeared over her face, it wasn’t blurred, but somewhat obscured, like---

“Mother I’m sorry. I’m trying to make it stop—I’m trying so hard, Mother---” It felt like a voice was screaming in Rapunzel’s head. She clasped her hands over her ears.

“Rapunzel?” Eugene glanced over.

“Herregud--!” Kai exclaimed at the sight of the uncovered portrait.

Suddenly the face in the painting warped and the white dust on the surface struck outward, suspending itself and shaping itself, and all at once there was a white figure clawing out at her from the painting, her eyes hollow and her hands like claws, reaching out at Rapunzel. Eugene was at her side, pulling her away from the portrait as the white figure reached out at her. Rapunzel was ice-cold to the touch and was stumbling back with him. The white figure was screaming.

“MOTHER I CAN’T STOP IT. I CAN’T STOP IT. PLEASE MAKE IT STOP. MOTHER STAY AWAKE. PLEASE DON’T FALL ASLEEP. PLEASE DON’T LEAVE M--”

Kai ran over and threw the white sheet back over the portrait and instantly it fell silent. They all sat there, panting for a moment. Eugene turned Rapunzel around, his hands on her shoulders. She was ghost-white and shaking. She was facing him, but her eyes were far-off.

“Rapunzel—Come on. Look at me. Say something,” he said. She blinked and then her eyes were fluttering around and she started breathing hard, verging on hyperventilation,  “Rapunzel---” he said her name again, and cupped his hands to her face, “It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re okay,” She shut her eyes and took a few deep breaths, then clasped her hands over Eugene’s, looking into his eyes. “You’re okay,” he said again. She buried her face into his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her tight.

“We can turn back if you wish,” said Kai.

“What was that?” Eugene looked over his shoulder at the Majordomo.

“I take full responsibility. I should have told you not to touch anything in here---”

“You’re not answering me,” said Eugene.

Kai sighed. “In this palace, there was a time, a very long time ago, that when the royals would sleep and their dreams would go out and pass along the walls as shadows. The magic was a good magic then. They would go hunting in their sleep, and see the hunt all the better from their beds. Kings, queens, princes, princesses, courtiers, their gamesmen and their horses and hounds...as they slept they would rush through halls lit by the moon and the auroras. It was once the only way one could sleep when the sky was awake.”

“That. Wasn’t. A shadow,” said Rapunzel, lifting up her head.

“No,” said Kai, “Not anymore.” He pulled the white ring from the golden loop and turned it over in his fingers. “You can still turn back if you wish,” he said.

Eugene looked at Rapunzel. “It’s your choice,” he said. She broke herself away from his arms and straightened up her shoulders.

“I’m seeing this through,” she said. She turned to Kai. “I want to know where the ice magic came from.”

Kai nodded. With the white ring in hand, he walked over to where the portrait of Vilhelmine now hung, covered up, and stooped down. He brushed some white dust off of the floor and stood up again, the dust resting in the palm of his left hand, and the little white ring between the thumb and forefinger of his right. He stood in front of the door at the end of he room, then held the ring out in front of his open palm, and blew across it. The dust swept off of his palm and blew over the ring, and it glittered and glimmered and a small key formed off of the ring. He glanced back at Rapunzel. “You’re sure?” he asked once more.

“I’m sure,” said Rapunzel.

 Eugene liked the library. The library meant they weren’t out in that blizzard. The library meant a roaring fire, some hot cocoa from Gerda, and no icicles stabbing out at them, but Rapunzel wasn’t happy. She was occupied, which was good, because it was clear that whatever was going on with the queen was something that intensely concerned her and seemed to upset her no small amount, and reading was one of her ways of feeling in control of a situation and centering herself, but she was frustrated. She was picking up books, flipping through them, making an excited noise when she found one that looked promising, then scoffing and putting it back. She had assigned him to the task of looking through the history of the current royal family of Arendelle, and his eyes were beginning to glaze over. It was all very boring and repetitive and depressing, and many of the names he couldn’t even pronounce. It wasn’t that different from your regular family tree, every one had its nuts. Every so often one would mention a horrible fate befalling a family member…execution, imprisonment, insanity, suicide, exile, some had fallen ill, but Eugene had traveled enough to know that most royal families had more than a few skeletons in their closets. One royal family member had frozen to death, but when he researched further into that it turned out he had fallen through the ice while skating. There were some deaths by illness, but there were too many for him to look into what disease they had died from and considering the frost forming on the windows, they diddn’t really have that kind of time. But the history felt incomplete, fishy.

 His eyes narrowed as his thumb ran down the page and he frowned. There was nothing about magical ice powers in any of the volumes of the Royal Family of Arendelle’s ancestry. There were plenty of nasty deaths and exiles and some small bouts of madness, but no ice magic. He turned the page and it tore and he sighed and looked at it, then blinked. The tear occurred just at the top corner of the page. The page had been dog-eared. Numerous times. Not by him. Rapunzel was very against dog-earing pages, since that was how she read a lot of her old books to scraps back in the tower, and he had a small scrap of paper from one of her old birthday lanterns to mark pages with anyway (You could see the corner of an orange sunray painted on it a little). He glanced over at one volume of the family history where there was a crease in the spine where it had been broken. Maybe the answer wasn’t in the text. He took the volumes of books he had already read through and spread them out across the coffee table he was reading at. Someone had read these books before him, enough not to care much about what condition they left them in, and frequently enough that some had their spines broken. The question was, what were they looking for?

“Ugh…” Rapunzel shelved another book, and walked over, exasperated, “Trolls? What is a book about trolls doing in the ‘Ice’ section?”

“Rapunzel---” Eugene started to say, but Rapunzel saw the way he was lining books out on the table and walked over.

“Have you found something?” she said, as Eugene started opening up the volumes with broken spines to the pages they had broken on.

“I think so…” said Eugene. Rapunzel went to the pile of books Eugene hadn’t read yet and began flipping through them. The pages where the glue was coming undone were the pages she left open on the table. She followed suite in opening the books on their dog-eared pages as well.

“So these were the previous reader’s most-read pages,” said Rapunzel, looking over the books. With all the books lying face-open, it was a bit intimidating to look through each page to try and find some sort of pattern, but Rapunzel scanned through the first page and gave a small “hm..”

“What?”

“Prince Fróði of Arendelle—Executed for treason,” she read. She walked off to another section of the library and got a book, flipping it ope and thumbing through it. She opened it on an illustration of a man with a silver chain around his neck and donning full armor. His hair was silvery-blonde-white. Rapunzel looked up sharply at Eugene.

“The hair!” said Rapunzel.

“Look, I know the most of your experience with magic is hair-related, but it doesn’t say anything about Fróði having ice powers,” said Eugene, he pointed to the page, “It says here he sold military secrets to Veselthonian spies during the…ugh this history is such a headache.”

“Vesel-what?”

“Some Gran Duchy. It’s called Weaseltown now or something.”

“Weselton?”

Eugene blinked. “Wait---Weaseltown and Weselton are the same place?”

“Focus,” said Rapunzel.

Rapunzel frowned and ran her finger down another page. She hurried off to another section of the library and brought back a book and flipped to the index, then flipped to a page with an illustration of a woman with silvery-blonde hair wearing ermine.

“Princess Vilhelmine,” he looked back at the page Rapunzel had been looking at. She had died of suicide. Rapunzel scanned through other pages and was running to different parts of the library, bringing back books and opening them, but it kept happening. Hours past but again and again they found out that every royal family member who suffered a horrible fate had the same colored hair. Exiled. White-blonde hair. Executed. Silver-white hair. Suicide. Silver-blonde hair. Assassination. White-blonde hair. All of the banishments and falling outs and horrible deaths in the family were tied together by pale hair.

“But they don’t say anything about winters for these royals,” said Eugene finally, when the clock was striking one and Rapunzel laid out the last of the books she could find to a young prince who had never made it to age 7 when he was smothered by a pillow in his sleep, “There’s nothing about ice or snow. Nothing about unseasonable weather or famine or bad crops…”

The door to the library creaked open and Gerda was walking in with a tray of hot cocoa. “I must say, out of all the guests at this palace, you two had the right idea,” she said setting it on a table cheerily, “Everyone’s sitting around, huddling and muttering to themselves in the great hall. A good book’s my favorite way of passing the time on a cold…” she looked at the pile of books open books scattered across the table, the open books sitting on chairs, the open books spread out on the floor, arranged by Rapunzel in chronological order, “Night.” She looked up at Rapunzel and Eugene, who looked down at the rows of open books and realized how carried away they had gotten. “You…really like reading, don’t you?” she said softly.

“Miss Gerda…” Rapunzel said slowly, “Did you know about the magic? The ice magic?”

Gerda looked up at them, then looked down.

“You did…” Rapunzel stepped forward, “You’ve been serving this family for years. Elsa isn’t the first to have it, is she?”

“No,” said Gerda, “No, she isn’t.”

“Please,” said Rapunzel, “I have to know. Where did it come from? Why has it been a secret? Is there a way to stop it?”

Gerda sighed and picked up the book with the illustration of the little prince on it. “It’s been stopped,” said Gerda, setting the book down, “It’s been stopped many, many times before.”

Rapunzel’s mouth dropped open and Eugene put a hand on her shoulder. “Rapunzel,” Eugene looked at her. Her eyes were wet and glittering.

“I’m fine,” she said, her voice thick. She shook her head, blinking away the wetness in her eyes, and furrowing her brow. “That can’t be the only way to stop it,” she said.

“It’s been the only way that’s worked,” said Gerda, her voice brittle.

“Gerda, the Duke of Weselton is demanding---” Kai was in the door, and he saw Gerda standing stiffly in front of Eugene, Rapunzel, and their pile of books. “Is…everything all right in here?”

“They want to know, Kai,” said Gerda. Kai looked between Rapunzel and Eugene. Kai instantly knew what she meant with one look.

“Why do you want to know?” he looked between them.”

“We want to help,” said Rapunzel.

Kai frowned. “Why?”

“I—” Rapunzel sighed, “I know what it’s like to have magic. I know what it’s like to be afraid of what the world will do to you if it knows about it. My magic—it…it wasn’t the same---and it’s gone now---”

“You know how to get rid of magic?” Kai interrupted her.

“No,” said Rapunzel.

“Unless you haven’t tried haircuts,” said Eugene.

“The point is,” said Rapunzel, “You can’t just get rid of magic. My magic was transferred—it’s in a different form now,” she took Eugene’s hand. She looked at Eugene and smiled, then looked back at Kai, “When you just treat it the same way over and over again---it just repeats the cycle. It just drags on.” The Healing Incantation rang in her head. Flower gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Flower gleam and glow. Let your power shine.

Kai considered her words while staring at her. “You want to end the cycle. So what do you suggest we do?”

“Well first off, we need to know where the magic came from,” said Rapunzel, “We need to know what form it was in before it was in this family.”

Kai weighed her words, then after a long while, he nodded. A smile broke across Rapunzel’s face. Kai looked to Gerda. “Gerda, if you could handle the guests for a bit, I need to give these two a tour.”

“Of course,” said Gerda, heading out the door.

Princess Anna was nowhere to be seen at dinner. Eugene was particularly proud of using all the right silverware in all the right order without so much as a glance to the other party guests, and the night proceeded in a general, agreeable, albeit a bit ho-hum fashion. Eugene made a good impression on a French ambassador, who insisted Eugene come smoke with him in the parlor with some of the other emissaries while Rapunzel was dragged off by Gerda and several ladies and duchesses to the drawing room, where Rapunzel smiled and nodded her way through pleasantries and exchanges and “You’ve never been to X? You simply must come and visit sometime our autumns are the absolute loveliest!” and so on and so forth. It was a very long night, but neither the Queen nor even the princess showed up to the drawing Room. Eventually ambassadors and officials began leaving and Rapunzel was able to use a small gap between conversations and “Oh I really must be goings” and “Oh but stay a while longers!” to slip away and walk down the hall down near the parlor with velvet curtains over the glass doors. They opened when she came near and Eugene was stumbling out in a haze of tobacco smoke responding to an equal haze of voices of well-wishes, “Come now, good man’s!” and “A Toast to Lord Fitzherbert’s!” There was a bit of a swagger in Eugene’s step.

“It’s been a pleasure gentlemen, it really has. You have a good evening…” he stpped back, swaying, and shook his head. He turned on his heel to look at her.

“Heeyy!” He enveloped her in a hug that smelled of tobacco and wine. And brandy. And porter. And kirsch. And wine again. They were good smells, all things considered, and made his hug feel all the more rich and warm. His weight started to sag on her a bit and she patted his shoulder and he rocked back onto his heels. He shook his head and rolled his shoulders. “Good…” he muttered, mostly to himself, “Good, good—I’m good.” He glanced up at her and grinned. “You’re beautiful.”

“And you’re drunk.”

“You are way more beautiful than I am drunk,” Eugene rubbed his forehead, “The good news is, the Queen’s going to have a long and happy reign.”

“Oh?” Rapunzel took his arm and they started walking down the hall, he was leaning on her a bit more than usual.

“Yes. I know because they toasted it at least 8 times. We also toasted you.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Your name came up, and then the Princess thing came up, because as it turns out there aren’t a lot of ‘Rapunzels’ in the world. So I had an inspired speech. There were tears. No lie. Then they toasted to Corona,” Eugene flourished with his spare hand, “To the good King and Queen, long may they reign. I mentioned Maximus offhand and they toasted Max and wished him the best in his illustrious career as captain of the guards and stud. Then we had to toast Pascal. I mean, you can’t toast Maximus and not toast Pascal.”

“Of course,” Rapunzel rolled her eyes. She missed the little bugger, but Arendelle was too cold for a chameleon. “Come on,” she said, moving along, “The party’s slowing down. We should head back to the embassy.”

“You should have told me coronations were just an excuse for royals and emissaries to toast themselves into a drunken oblivion earlier. I’ve been all worked up and everything.”

Rapunzel laughed and elbowed him a little.

They headed down the stairs to the main halls and entered the ballroom to say some final goodbyes, but were met with an odd stillness in the air.

“What did I ever do to you!?” Princess Anna was shouting at Queen Elsa as the queen moved toward the door, back to her sister.

“Enough, Anna,” the Queen said, hushed, not looking back.

“No—Why?! Why do you shut me out!? Why do you shut the world out!? What are you so afraid of!?”

“Anna, enough!” The queen turned and suddenly spikes of ice flared out across the floor in an arc, pointing outward at the party guests. Eugene and Rapunzel stood still and stunned along with the rest of the party guests.

“Sorcery…!” hissed the duke of Weselton.

Eugene, in his own warm and hazy mind, was seriously considering marching right back up those stairs, walking down that hall, throwing open the doors to the parlor and demanding whoever spiked his drink to step forward and immediately provide an antidote to whatever hallucinogen they dosed him with, but upon looking around at the stunned faces of everyone in the ballroom, was faced with the unfortunate reality that the ice spikes had actually happened.

 Eugene was not looking forward to ever coming into contact with magic in his life again. While his only experience with magic had been finding the love of his life who just so happened to possess magic hair at the time, he had also been stabbed over it and died and decided, three years ago, that he really, really, really didn’t like getting stabbed or dying. Granted that same magic saved him, but this icy magic seemed to consist mostly of lots of pointy things pointing outward, and he was pretty sure that wasn’t any kind of magic he wanted to get involved with.

Rapunzel was staring at the queen, who looked terrified. Rapunzel stepped forward but Eugene still had his arm hooked in hers and wasn’t moving, he was frozen to the spot. Queen Elsa slipped out the door and ran down the hall, and Princess Anna ran after her. Rapunzel broke away from Eugene and ran after them.

“Rapunzel!” Eugene took off after her. He tripped and stumbled around some long dresses of still, stunned party guests standing around, then slowed down and carefully edged around the row of ice spikes. He touched the tip of one and brought his finger away, blood budding out of the tiny pinprick. “Hoo boy…” he said to himself, before quickly resuming his speed in racing after Rapunzel. There were some patches of ice in the hallway, and he nearly fell, but he kept going, the haze of drunkenness lifted off of him not by his own survival instinct, since that instinct was screaming at him to run away from the woman who could throw out spears of ice at whim, but by the thought that Rapunzel was running after that girl.

“Rapunz—”

“Anna!” Another voice cut Eugene off.

Eugene looked to his right and saw an auburn man in white running alongside him. The auburn man glanced at him and Eugene slipped on a patch of ice and fell with a thud on the floor. The man in white paused and helped him up before taking off running again before Eugene could say thank you. “I am too tired and too drunk for this,” muttered Eugene as he picked up his pace again before being immediately thrown to the side by an enormous thug in red running alongside another, slightly less-enormous thug in red, and followed behind by the Duke of Weselton, who didn’t give Eugene so much as a glance as he ran by.

This is an adventure, Eugene Fitzherbert, he thought to himself as he started sprinting down the hall again and running into the foyer, How do you know it’s an adventure? Because you do two things on adventures: You run and you get the crap beaten out of you.

The doors were thrown open and Rapunzel was hurrying down the front steps of the castle into the courtyard after the queen, who was getting swarmed by townsfolk.

“Stay back! Just stay away from me!” the queen was saying.

Rapunzel stopped in her place. “Your majesty, it’s okay---I’m a friend---I know you’re scared…” Rapunzel was falling over her own words. She wanted to say that it was all right, but she wasn’t sure if she could. Rapunzel’s experiences with magic were simply singing to her own hair and that one time she cried, she wasn’t sure how to address someone who couldn’t control their own magic, but she wanted to try. Eugene ran up behind Rapunzel

“Everyone please, just stay back!” the Queen said again and suddenly a blast of ice flew from her hand. Eugene grabbed Rapunzel by the arm and pulled her against him, away from the blast of cold that sent ice spiking and slicking the steps of the door where the Duke of Weselton reared back, slipped on the ice, and fell.

“Monster!” he shouted, “Monster!”

The queen backed up against the fountain and the water froze and distorted into cruel, gnarled claws. Rapunzel felt a shiver go down her spine and gasped. When she exhaled her breath fogged out. The queen fled, her coat flaring out behind her, out of the palace gates.

“Wait--!” Rapunzel ran after her, but Princess Anna shoved past Rapunzel.

“Elsa, wait!” Anna was shouting, “Elsa, please!” Rapunzel ran after them, and once again, Eugene found himself chasing behind her. They were just outside the palace gates when Rapunzel slipped and wiped out on a patch of ice. She was struggling to her feet. “Wait!” She was calling after the princess and queen, “Wait---!”

Eugene ran to her side and helped her up. “Are you all right?” He looked at her palms, all scratched up and skinned and bleeding in some spots.

“I’m fine---!” Rapunzel was trying to get up to run after them again.

“Rapunzel—don’t,” Eugene was holding her wrist.

“No! Let me go!” Rapunzel was stepping forward and slipped on the ice but he kept her from falling again.

“Rapunzel—what are you doing?” Eugene finally said and Rapunzel suddenly stopped yanking against him, she was panting, her breath fogging out in front of her.

“I just--” she was saying, she ran her hands into her hair, “She’s scared. It’s always been there! It’s always been a part of her. I can see it! She just---”

“What are you talking about?”

“I was born magic, too! I had to hide, too! She’s had to hide it away! She’s--She needs…We need to help her--!”

“Just slow down and think, please,” Eugene said, putting his hands on her shoulders as she looked around, “This isn’t like your magic.” He took her hands in his and turned them over so her scuffed up palms showed in the moonlight.

“I just slipped---It wasn’t her fault,” said Rapunzel, yanking her hands back and wincing a little as she did so, “She’s scared. She needs help---”

Rapunzel was cut off when they heard a noise like creaking and shrieking, and they ran out to a raised point on the street overlooking the docks of the fjord. Ice was spreading out in massive feathered and needle-fine patterns, spiraling white around the hulls of ships, making the wood creak and spreading up onto the shoreline. Rapunzel was leaning on a stone wall serving as a guardrail, and backed away from it as frost dusted the stones and slipped down over it, the evening condensation going still and sparkling. She stared out over the fjord as the ice slipped over it, spreading and forming over itself and cracking in some spots only to re-form. Rapunzel suddenly shivered and Eugene took off his coat and slipped it over her shoulders. The sound of ice forming was eerie, alien, like metal clanging on metal muted under water, and it felt like it crept into your bones and spread outward, saturating them, then the crackles came, those brittle sounds that carried over in the stillness of the air. Rapunzel and Eugene watched as a tiny figure in a fuschia cape ran across the ice and up the mountain, with white spreading beneath her. The summer breezes had fallen still. Rapunzel grabbed Eugene’s arm and pointed at a small clipper at the docks, Eugene squinted and saw the small purple flag at the top of the mast. Suddenly white spread up from the half-submerged hull, and feathered out all along the body of the ship. The ice crawled up the mast and folded over the little purple flag. Rapunzel felt something land on her nose and looked up.

“It’s snowing,” said Eugene.

Rapunzel stared at the little clipper, the warm sunny wood now white and ghostly, and the flag of Corona now frosted over and still like a stone carving of cloth rather than cloth itself.

“Eugene…” said Rapunzel, “We can’t get home.”

Eugene felt a chill run down his spine, but he wasn’t sure whether it was fear or the cold.