when will my life begin

[powershines]

In the morning, Rapunzel is not disturbed until she has had a little while to go over her coded notes from last night (letter by letter - she will learn to read this just like she learned to read printed notes, but neither task is quick) and has opened the door.

The guards posted there - they've changed in the night, she notices - tell her that she's invited to take breakfast with her parents in the dining hall.

Comments

[powershines]

Eventually Rapunzel's all done. And she sits, looking around.

[sundayfish]

"If you're waiting to be excused, no need."

[powershines]

"Oh. Okay. Thank you."

Rapunzel gets up. She thinks she remembers the way to the library from here.

[hisowninvention]

Rolan remains seated a little longer. He isn't finished eating yet.

And he does wonder if the royal couple have anything to say to him at the moment.

[sundayfish]

"You're thinking of staying a while, aren't you? Need anything fetched from anywhere?"

[hisowninvention]

"Nah," he says, smiling wryly. "I'm good with what I came with. Thank you, though."

[kindestgarden]

"If you're not going to go follow her right away - I would like more of the story of how you found her and brought her here," says Ranae.

[hisowninvention]

"How much of the story would you like?" he inquires - of Cearl, who was there when he produced the crown, and certainly seems to have caught the subtext.

[sundayfish]

"Sooner have more details than fewer, I think."

[hisowninvention]

"In that case," he says, "it all started when I stole the princess's crown."

[sundayfish]

"Why'd you do that?" sighs the king.

[hisowninvention]

"Pure impulse. The jeweler just happened to leave his window open while he stepped out, I just happened to see it, and judged I could make it from mine to his and back. So I did. I wasn't thinking about what I'd do with it, or what it would mean to you two - I really am sorry about that part. And then I fell in with those two brothers I left in the woods for you - did your guards manage to pick them up yet?"

[sundayfish]

"Got back early this morning, yep."

[hisowninvention]

"Oh good. Okay. Originally I just wanted to pass through their room on my way out of town, but they convinced me to stick around, which made me pretty sure they were planning something. And then I found out they actually were planning something - betraying me to the authorities and making off with the crown themselves, to be specific - so I preemptively dumped them in a mud puddle and bolted, and then led both them and the Royal Guard on a merry chase through the woods in two different directions, which was excitingly hard to pull off. And at the end of it when I was just getting to be very firmly sure I'd lost them all, I stumbled on this tower, which seemed like a much better place to stay the night than under a tree or in a ravine. And it couldn't possibly be occupied, because there was no door in the bottom. Silly me, in retrospect." He shrugs and nibbles on the last of his bread.

[sundayfish]

"So you climbed it."

[hisowninvention]

"So I climbed it. And there was this terrified blonde girl with seventy feet of hair. And I stuck around just long enough to have one of her excellent muffins and get my wind back, because she was very very insistent that I should climb back down as soon as possible - did that, fell off the tower from halfway up, broke both my legs when I hit the ground. She dropped her hair on me and un-broke my legs. And, well... it was golden, and it glowed. And she was about the right age. I yelled up and asked if she happened to be a missing princess, and she yelled down that of course she wasn't, and we shouted back and forth for a while and then she let me come up again by her hair to talk about it, and I convinced her that the only way she could really know was to stop taking anybody's word for it and go see for herself. So she packed up some things and we left the tower and came here, and you know the rest."

[sundayfish]

"Mm-hm."

[hisowninvention]

[sundayfish]

"If she hadn't gone with you what would you've done?"

[hisowninvention]

"I really have no idea. Although it was starting to look like bringing the crown back would've featured."

[sundayfish]

Cearl nods once.

[hisowninvention]

He finishes his bread. A thought occurs to him. He goes with the impulse.

"While I'm here," he says, "thank you for the schools. They were a big help to me when I was younger."

[kindestgarden]

"You're welcome."

[hisowninvention]

[kindestgarden]

The queen finishes her bread and kisses her husband and leaves the table.