Rapunzel groaned, holding her head.  She slowly sat up, finding herself in a cell.

"Hey, Blondie," Eugene said. "How are you holding up?"

"Me? Fine… You?"

"Yeah, just a headache.  Lance and CassAndra are in the next cell.  Both say they're ok," Eugene said.

"Ok… Wait, where's Varian?" Rapunzel felt a worry grip on her chest.

"That… we haven't figured out yet.  Maybe he's in a different cell and is still out," Eugene suggested.

"Alright. I guess the first thing we discuss is how we get out of this cell." Rapunzel stood up, gripping the bars.  She looked it up and down, hoping to find some sort of weakness.

"Are you sure there isn't a crack to look into the next cell on your end to find Varian?" Cassandra asked.

"I checked, sorry," Eugene apologized.

"Did you ever try looking up for him?"

Eugene and Rapunzel looked up.  Varian had lifted off the vent from the cell above theirs.  He grinned and waved as he lowered a rope.

"Varian!" Rapunzel chuckled.  "How did you get out?"

"I didn't.  I was never in it.  Come on."

Eugene and Rapunzel climbed up the rope. They looked up to see who was helping Varian hold the rope. "Xavier!"

"Boy are we glad to see you," Eugene said as he dusted himself off.

"As it is you," Xavier replied.

Cassandra and Lance were rescued by Attila and Big Nose in the cell over.  The older sister came into the cell the others were standing in and pulled Varian in a hug.  "I was getting worried about you, please stop scaring us like that."

"Believe me, I would if I could," Varian chuckled.

"So, what do we do now?" Rapunzel asked.

"Sneak into the hidden tunnels and finish planning a better attack to regain Corona," Varian said.

"In the meantime, lead the way back," Attila said, giving Varian a salute.

"Please, I already told you that you don't have to do that," Varian muttered.  "Come on then.  Follow me, I guess."

Once they were back in the hidden rooms, they immediately went to work on preparing for battle.  "I have all the weapons and tools that will be necessary for the fight," Xavier offered. "Although, we're working on sharpening some of them.  They're a little dull."

"Great, I'll handle the weaponry," Cassandra offered.

"I'll help," Lance said, following her to the corner where the stone used to sharpen weapons was.

"What should we do?" Rapunzel asked Xavier.

"Well, that's what you're supposed to do," Varian explained.  "You're the Crowned Princess, and currently acting Queen now that your parents are kind of… out of commission…"

"Oh… um… ok…"

"Blondie, it's like any other adventure we've been on.  You naturally lead very easily," Eugene said, putting a hand on her shoulder.  "Think of it like ideas."

"And we're all here to help you," Varian added.

"Right," Rapunzel nodded.  She looked at the map of the tunnels that Xavier had laying out on the table.  "So, let's see… Do we know how many we're dealing with?"

"Not too many," Attila admitted.

"Really?  Then, forgive me for asking, but why did you wait for me to come back?  Corona is full of super brave people."

"Political complications.  It would be treason, but now that a royal member of the family is leading it, it is no longer treason, but a shift in power," Varian explained.

"Oh, that makes sense," Rapunzel said.

"You got this." Eugene elbowered her playfully.

She smiled.

Cassandra held up the freshly sharpened sword up to Lance.  "What do you think?"

"Hate to be the butter on the other end of that," he replied.  She chuckled.  "You know, I hate to be the one to bring it up, but are you ok?  I mean, you shut everyone off whenever we bring up, well, you know who."

"And that's where we end the conversation.  I'm fine."

Lance sighed.  "No, you're not.  How could you be?  Your boyfriend you've been dating for a year kinda just dumped you without so much as a proper goodbye and stole the very stone that your little brother needed."

"That was months ago."

"That doesn't make it any better."

"Lance, I don't want to talk about it."

"Ok.  Just know that there's a difference between setting feelings aside and burying them so deep, it's as if that person never existed.  It's not healthy."

"Thanks for the advice, but right now, we have a rebellion to focus on."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ok, so according to Rapunzel's plan, we're going in through that door when she makes the signal," Varian explained, biting back a cough.

"And we'll just sit here as back up.  Got it," Hook Foot muttered, sounding disappointed.  Varian chose to ignore it.

"Wait, they're pulling a carriage around the front," Faith whispered.

"That's not part of the plans," a man named Monty said.

"Faith? Got any intel? Any maids mention an outing?"  Varian asked.

She shook her head.  "Nothing.  If they weren't gossiping about this information then this is something they've kept under raps."

"Maybe it's nothing," Monty offered.

As if on cue, Lady Caine led Arianna and Fredric out of the main doors.  She opened the carriage and let them in.  Then she closed and locked it.  Caine tossed the key to Weasel and he got in front of the wagon and began to drive.

"Or it could be bad," Hook Foot said.

"Dang it," Varian hissed.  "Alright.  Faith, you watch for the signal.  Keep the plan going even if I'm not back."

"Wait, where are you going?" She asked in a panicked voice.  "It's probably a trap or a distraction-"

"That never stopped them," Varian retorted.  "I'll be fine.  It's only Weasel anyways." Without another word, he ran up behind the carriage and grabbed onto a pole in the back to avoid being seen.  Then he began to scoot his way to the side, ducking by the windows.

"Well, well.  A stow away."

Varian snapped his head up to look at the roof of the carriage.  "Caine!" How and when did she get on without him noticing?