Chapter Text
It had been several years since Corona’s princess had been kidnapped.
Despite the passing of time, Arianna still got up early every morning and asked if there was any news before breakfast, despite the clear orders to wake them if there were any. Every morning, she was disappointed.
Every morning she would return to her bed, cry for half an hour before mustering up a fake smile for her kingdom.
Frederic on the other hand hid his emotions behind a stoic expression. He refused to mourn; it was too early to mourn, now was the time for action. The first orders he gave each day were to search another corner of the kingdom. His strategy room was now reserved only for the search of his daughter.
Corona as a whole mourned the princess. Though they did not know her truly, they knew if she wasn’t found it would mean the end of a bloodline. There was no way Frederic would risk Arianna’s life again, not after such a close call.
Which meant if Rapunzel didn’t show up... well, nobody knew. An uncertain political future brought mourning for the kingdom.
Every festivity that passed was a shadow of what it once was, with the King and Queen doing their royal duties with notably forced smiles and speeches clearly written by advisers.
On this fateful day, the captain of the guard was following a trail, a tip, a hint. However, he hadn’t yet told anybody; too many trails had been dead ends. He feared bringing hope to a kingdom who could no longer afford to lose it.
Meanwhile, in a hidden tower, the lost princess did not know of all the sadness her absence brought. Tears streamed down her face, but they were not born from the weight of the kingdom.
“I said no,” Rapunzel’s older sister Cassandra said with a stern expression and arms crossed.
Rapunzel screamed, throwing a full-blown tantrum. She’d asked Cassandra to cut her hair short so it wouldn’t get in her way, but Cassandra had explicit instructions from their mother never to do such a thing. And Cassandra let Rapunzel get away with a lot, but never disobey a direct order from their mother.
“You can cry as much as you want.” Cassandra used a stool to put the scissors on a shelf out if the girl’s reach. “It’s not happening.”
Cassandra slowly walked back, picking her little sister up and carrying her towards the fireplace so she could sit on the floor and be warm at least. “You cut your hair!”
“My hair isn’t magic.”
“It’s not fair!”
“You’re right, it’s not. When it’s dark and scary, I can’t see in the dark. All you have to do is sing.” Cassandra threw a blanket over her sister.
“But I don’t remember the words. There’s too many.”
“You do,” Cassandra whispered.
Rapunzel was three years old, and she played dumb a lot. Mostly for Mother. She hated the healing incantation; she loved it for a year but soon it got old. She knew the words by heart and all Cassandra had to do was say ouch to prove it; Rapunzel would come running. But she pretended not to so Mother wouldn’t make her sing it.
Cassandra walked into the kitchen, looking at what she could make for them for supper. Mother wouldn’t be back at the tower for a few days. Meaning Cassandra, the responsible mature older sister of seven years, was in charge of Rapunzel’s and her own well-being.
She picked up some oats, but before she could even consider the option, Rapunzel screamed.
“What?”
“I don’t want porridge!”
“What do you want?”
“I want cupcakes.”
“I can do bread.”
A pause. “Okay.”
Cassandra nodded, pulling out flour to start baking bread. Being an older sister was a lot of work.
The captain saw the tall woman with the long black hair, living alone in a cottage in the woods. He’d been told she left looking older than when she came back. Suspicious, but not proof. She definitely did not have any kids inside the cottage, which destroyed captain’s main hope, yet he stuck around, spying from the bushes and taking notes.
He wondered where she went? Maybe it was a spa? Some type of skin treatment? Maybe he could use it. He rubbed his forehead; the stress of keeping the kingdom safe was building up the longer the princess was missing.
The moment he laid eyes on her as she came back, he knew that whatever she had been using was nothing short of magical - it had transformed her in a way that surpassed any spa experience. He left the cottage, his mind filled with a sense of determination as he retraced his steps back to the castle, hoping that this trail would finally lead him somewhere.
Upon his return, he brought an overwhelming number of guards who launched a full-scale raid on the cottage.
Gothel was charming and flirtatious, questioning what they were looking for without letting her concern show.
They didn't find anything that pointed to dark magic or a kidnapped princess; they did, however, find evidence of a child.
“There is evidence of a child in the residence. Can I ask who this child is?”
“My daughter, Sir.”
“And how old is your daughter?”
Gothel shrugged. “Around five, I think.”
The captain looked at his file. “There isn’t a child registered living at this address.”
“Oh... Well, I must have forgotten, silly me”
“Where is this child now?”
A pause. “She’s with her father.”
“Where would that be?”
“Oh, far away. She’ll be back.”
The captain looked up. “We’re going to have to take you in for interrogation.”
“What?”
“Not registering a child upon its birth is a major felony here in Corona. It’s a child safety risk and seeing as you cannot prove to us the safety of this child, you are under arrest for the time being. Answer all our questions and you’ll be free in no time.”
Gothel wasn’t prepared to fight off this many guards. Hopefully, others would be more influenceable than this captain.
She soon learned the child’s safety was just an excuse. The questions they asked didn't line up. They knew she was up to something, thankfully she figured they had no idea what.
The issue was that it didn’t take many days for her to start ageing in the cell. She needed to get to Rapunzel, to her flower, to the sundrop and its magic.
But she had no way to get past the metal bars, too solid.
She began to pace, began to negotiate with guards, began to beg.
Eventually she told them a tale of her daughter, who was very, very sick and in the tower for her protection with her little sister. She told them she needed to go care for them.
Captain told her if she gave them the location he’d bring the girls back.
Gothel begged, refused, but after a few more days, she caved.
The captain would never bring the girls back to Gothel. And Gothel would not receive any further punishment. She would simply be left in the cell as her body aged at an alarming rate over the coming week. A slow yet just death.