Cover by daisycrowniall

Rapunzel's POV

"And that's everything?" Eugene asked as he slumped in his chair. He had just gotten back from catching the Stabbington Brothers and scheduling them on a ship to the Southern Isles. It had taken him and the guards until eleven in the morning to get them, but thank goodness they were out of our hair.

I had just finished telling him about Jack Frost and Elsa, but he wasn't taking it in that well. I was a little desperate to get him to understand.

"Yes, and I know it may be a little hard to believe, but you have to trust me on this," I whispered as I knelt on my knees next to him. He grabbed my hand from his lap with both his hands and kissed it ever so softly and squeezed a little before he spoke again.

"Okay, Rapunzel. I know how much this means to you. I'll help you find your sister," he said with a smile as he stood up.

"Oh, Eugene! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you so much," I squealed when I jumped up with joy. I pulled Eugene to me by his collar and gave him a strong kiss before I saw Father walking towards us.

Eugene quickly pulled away and gave me a charming smile before he gave his attention to Father. I soon did the same.

"Your Majesty," Eugene said to him before giving a small bow. It wasn't necessary for Eugene to address him, but he did it anyways.

"Eugene, we are family. There is no need for that," Father said to him, laughing. Then his gaze settled on me, and it wasn't a friendly gaze. He had something serious to say to me. "If it's not any trouble, Rapunzel, I would like to see you in the royal garden at two o'clock sharp. We have some things to discuss."

My bubbly facial expression faded. I didn't like talking about serious things. And I had other things to worry about, like finding my sister.

"And please, come alone."

^^^

I sat on one of the benches that were scattered around the royal garden, fiddling with the mini flag of Corona that Eugene had gotten me a few years ago. I was so nervous about what Father would say when he got here.

I saw Father walk down the stone path lined with flowers. He was looking down and had an old-looking book pressed to her chest. When she looked up, I guess he was surprised to see me since I'm always late for things, especially meetings. He made her over to the bench and sat down next to me. Then he sighed and looked at me in the eyes.

"I have to show this to you," he said. Father sounded nervous, which was odd because he always had a steady voice.

He opened the book and dust flew out at us. It made me cough. Father moved the book away from me to dust it off, then brought it back to me. And when I looked at what Father was showing me, I was amazed and hopeful.

"This is a transfer certificate. It's your sister's."

I took the red piece of paper from the book and scanned it for a kingdom name. But there were burn marks where the name should have been. I felt a pit in my stomach.

"Don't get discouraged now. Since this certificate it red, it either came from the Netherlands or the United Kingdom. So you have it narrowed down to four countries."

My face lit up with joy. I didn't know what to say. This piece of paper was one of the only clues I had to find my sister.

"Thank you so much, Father! But how will I search for her? It'll cost too much money to have a ship take me to these countries."

"You'll take The Maiden. It's one the ships that we use to trade goods. It'll take you to these countries and a couple extra, but it'll be fine."

"Are you sure? Doesn't that ship take prisoners back to where they came from?" I was hoping that the Stabbington Brothers wouldn't be on The Maiden, but most likely, they were.

"Yes. One of the places it visits are the Southern Isles. I'm sorry, but if you want to find your sister, this is the only way."

I bet I wouldn't even see them during the trip. Everything would be fine.

"I'll go with Eugene, Pascal, and Maximus if they allow him on. I won't stop for anything, Father. I'll find my sister."