Chapter 20

More discoveries are made and more secrets are revealed, both about and to our trio.

The translation of Gothel’s diaries was already a slow process, and it was impeded further when the only two women working on it now had a much more enjoyable use of their time together. However, once Rapunzel and Cassandra had finally gotten over their ‘honeymoon phase’ and were finally able to keep their hands off of each other, they began to make decent progress once again. Months had passed since they first found the diaries but still there was no mention of Cassandra, either directly or indirectly. With only one book left to translate, the lady-in-waiting was starting to feel a little discouraged.

“Don’t lose hope, Cass,” Rapunzel said. “Just look at this next sentence here, ‘Rumours have come saying the fool king actually tried to destroy the stone, and instead his own kingdom was destroyed.’”

“What of it?” Cassandra asked.

“I think this is referring to when the Dark Kingdom fell. That was when Eugene was just a baby, and he’s only a year or two older than you. We have to be getting close to when you were born!”

Cassandra wasn’t convinced, much as she wanted to be. “Maybe, Raps, but I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Then we’ll just have to keep working at it. I’m sure there’s something in here that will give us that final clue needed to figure out why Gothel had you. Or maybe even who your birth father is.”

“That might be asking a bit much. Considering her disdain for her own daughter, I seriously doubt she cared enough about whoever my father was to even mention him in a footnote.”

Thankfully Rapunzel’s optimism balanced out Cassandra’s pessimism and the two girls kept chipping away at their translation project. Activities outside of their translations were going well, too. The day-to-day operations of the kingdom were smooth and trouble-free, Rapunzel’s duties as queen-in-training were progressing nicely, and the ‘remote mirrors’ were finally set up, allowing for instant communication between Corona and The Dark Kingdom. The relationship between Rapunzel, Eugene, and Cassandra continued undiscovered and uninterrupted, save for the rare but welcome visits from Faith.

One day, nearly a month after Faith was first included, Rapunzel was feeling a little playful. She wanted to find Eugene or Cassandra and have a little fun, but neither could be found in any of their usual hiding places. She assumed they were together, smiling at the thought of how close they had become since first having sex, and decided on another way to scratch her itch rather than waste more time looking for them. “Mom, could I borrow Faith for a half an hour or so?” she asked when she found the hand-maiden helping the queen organise her bed chamber.

“Oh? What for?” Arianna replied.

“It’s purely selfish, actually,” Rapunzel explained. “I wanted Eugene to give me a massage but I can’t seem to find him at the moment. Faith has been learning from him, so I thought I could get her to give me one.”

“I suppose we could have a little break from this. Just don’t tire the girl out, I’m not done with her yet,” the queen said with a playful wink.

“No problem.” Rapunzel then grabbed the hand-maiden by the arm and pulled her out of the room.

Once they were out of earshot, Faith whispered, “Why did you lie to the queen? I haven’t been learning how to give massages from your husband.”

“Sure you have,” grinned Rapunzel. “Though I’m not talking about the kind of massages you’re probably thinking of.” She then lowered her voice and continued. “I want you to massage the inside of my vagina with your tongue.”

Faith’s cheeks turned red as understanding dawned on her. Then she smiled. “Yes, Your Majesty!”

Giggling, the two girls rushed off to find a little privacy.

Meanwhile, Queen Arianna found herself to be without a helper. Rather than find someone else, with whom she’d have to explain the task all over again, she decided to just go for a walk around the castle grounds and enjoy the pleasant weather until Faith returned. This time of day was particularly nice out by the gazebo, so she made her way outside and began to aimlessly wander the grounds. As she walked she closed her eyes and soaked in the warm sunshine and listened to birdsong. Frequency and muscle memory guided her steps so she was able to cover quite some ground without ever having to look where she was going. As she neared the edge of the yard, though, she heard something that was definitely not birdsong.

There was a ruffle in the nearby hedge wall, followed by a low moan. Worried that someone might be hurt, Arianna quickly rushed over and peered inside of the hedge, but what she saw was definitely not what she expected to see.

“WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE!?!” she shouted. For in a small clearing inside the hedge were Eugene and Cassandra, making out like crazy, with Eugene’s hand up inside Cassandra’s skirts doing things that Arianna could only guess at. At the sound of her voice the two lovers sprang apart and looked at her, eyes wide with fear.

“Your Majesty!?” Eugene said.

“My Queen?!” Cassandra stammered.

They immediately began to straighten out their clothes and tried to say something, anything to explain themselves.

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“We weren’t doing anything wrong.”

“Please don’t be mad.”

It all fell on deaf ears. The queen was furious and a glare was all she needed to silence the others. They emerged from the hedge, faces red in embarrassment and shame.

“Please, Mom...” Eugene began.

Arianna slapped him hard across the face. “Don’t you ‘Mom’ me! How could you, Eugene? How could you have an affair with your wife’s best friend? And you, Cassandra? You swore an oath to protect Rapunzel, and yet you betray her trust in the worst possible way? Tell me why I shouldn’t have the two of you banished, or even executed, right here and now!”

Eugene got down on his knees and bowed low, followed promptly by Cassandra. “Please, Your Majesty,” he said, “please believe me when I say I would never cheat on your daughter.”

“Then are you suggesting that I didn’t see what I know I saw? That you two weren’t kissing and touching each other?”

“No, Your Majesty, we were, but...”

“But nothing! How is that not cheating?”

“ ... Rapunzel knows.”

“Bullshit!” the queen swore. Having never heard her use any sort of foul language before, this hit the others like a hammer, causing them to wince.

“We swear it’s true, Your Majesty,” Cassandra said. “No trust was broken. Everything Eugene and I did, Rapunzel knows and approves of.”

“Like I’d believe any of that! If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable!” Arianna continued to glare at them.

“Please,” Eugene begged. “We’d rather die before hurting your daughter. If you don’t believe us, then ask her directly.”

“Oh, I will. Right now. And you’re coming with me. But I don’t want to hear a single word out of either of you until I’ve spoken with my daughter.” With that, Arianna turned and stormed off back towards the castle. Eugene and Cassandra looked at each other, clearly worried, but neither dared defy the queen in this moment, so stood and followed her in silence.

Arianna marched through the halls, heading straight for Rapunzel’s bedroom. The few staff who saw the look of fury on her face gave her a wide berth and avoided any kind of eye contact. Faith, having finished her ‘task’ with Rapunzel, was on her way back to the queen’s bedchambers when she saw them in the hall. She immediately saw the anger in Arianna’s face and knew something was up. “Your Majesty?” she asked, sparing a worried glance at Eugene and Cassandra.

“Faith. Good. Where is my daughter?” The queen didn’t even bother to slow down as she spoke with Faith, forcing the girl to start briskly walking in the same direction.

“When I left her she was heading to the kitchen for a bit of a snack.”

“Go,” the queen commanded, “bring her up to her room. I need to speak with her. Immediately.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Unnerved by the seriousness on her queen’s face, Faith gave the fastest bow she’d ever given and literally ran towards the kitchen.

Arianna, Eugene, and Cassandra were waiting in Rapunzel’s room for only a minute before the princess herself arrived. In that brief time, the queen could not stand still and paced back and forth, her anger and fury barely contained. When Eugene and Cassandra, who were standing next to each other, tried to hold hands, a glare from Arianna made them pull back immediately.

Rapunzel burst into the room with a look of worry. “Mother! What’s wrong?” she asked immediately, spying Eugene and Cassandra. “Faith said it was an emergency.” The young hand-maiden was following the princess as quickly as she could, but once Rapunzel was in the room she gently closed the door behind the princess, giving the four of them some privacy.

A little of the fury left Arianna’s face at the sight of her daughter. She rushed over and gave Rapunzel a loving embrace. “I’m so sorry, Rapunzel.”

“Sorry? About what? What’s going on?” Rapunzel asked, confused.

Still hugging Rapunzel, Arianna didn’t even bother to look at the others and just said, “Tell her. Tell her what I saw.” There was clearly an unspoken threat as to what would happen if Eugene or Cassandra tried to withhold anything.

Eugene let out a sigh. “Your mother saw us, Rapunzel.”

“Saw you WHAT,” Arianna said, letting her daughter go and glaring at Eugene.

“Saw us kissing and touching. Like lovers.”

“ ... oh.” Rapunzel said after a few seconds.

Arianna continued to glare at her son-in-law, but addressed her daughter. “Honey, I’m so sorry this happened but-WHA?” she was startled when Rapunzel suddenly rushed past her and hugged the other two tightly.

“It’s okay. Everything’ll be okay,” the princess said to them encouragingly. Eugene and Cassandra hugged her back fiercely, relieved at having her at their side.

“Honey, what are you doing?” Arianna asked, bewildered at her daughter’s reaction. “They cheated on you!”

“Mom, I’m sorry,” Rapunzel said, “but this isn’t what you think it is. They didn’t cheat. Whatever you saw them do, it happened because I allowed it. No, I encouraged it.”

“Encouraged it?” Arianna echoed. “Darling, what are you saying? That you WANT Eugene and Cassandra to be lovers?”

Rapunzel turned to look her mother in the eye, then calmly said, “Yes.”

Arianna’s rage was beginning to dissipate in the face of utter and total confusion. “I-I-I don’t understand,” she stammered. “What is happening here?”

Rapunzel grabbed a hand of Eugene and Cassandra and gave them a comforting squeeze. “We’re lovers, Mother. The three of us.”

Despite seeing them together holding hands, Arianna’s mind refused to accept what she was hearing. “What do you mean, you’re lovers? Stop speaking nonsense, Sweetie. Three people can’t be in love with each other.”

Rapunzel patiently shook her head. “It’s not nonsense. Mom. I love Eugene, as you well know.” She then kissed Eugene on the mouth. He returned the kiss, but it only lasted for a couple of seconds before she broke it off. “And I love Cassandra. Yes, I mean IN love with her.” She then kissed Cassandra in the exact same way.

Seeing Rapunzel kissing the other woman like that caused something to snap inside Arianna. Suddenly, all the fury and rage were gone, as well as her strength. She wavered slightly on her feet but before her legs could give out, Eugene and Cassandra were there on either side, supporting her.

“Easy, Your Majesty,” Eugene said, holding her steady.

“We’ve got you,” Cassandra added.

“I ... I think I need to sit down,” Arianna managed to get out.

As Eugene and Cassandra escorted the queen over to one of the soft lounge chairs, Rapunzel got her a glass of water from her nightstand. Arianna took it gratefully and took several long sips.

“I’m sorry you had to find out like this, Mom,” Rapunzel said. “We would have told you and Dad eventually, but really, when is it ever a good time to let your parents know you’re in a polyamorous relationship?”

Arianna let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Good point. But Rapunzel ... When? Why? How?”

“I’m not sure if you want the details on the how, Mom,” Rapunzel grinned. “It’s pretty much how two people love each other, except there’s a third participant.” Arianna blushed and nodded while avoiding eye contact with the others. “As to the why, we’re in love with each other, Mom, so it’d be kind of weird not to ... have sex with each other. And for the when, well, it’s hard to pin down a single moment when each of us came to understand we were in love with the others, and honestly Cass and Eugene are still working on that, but if you’re asking when we first ... consummated our relationship, it was a few weeks after our vacation.”

Arianna took another long sip of water. She slowly looked to each of the others in turn, scanning their faces for any kind of deception. They each felt a bit bashful under her scrutiny but none of them looked away. After deciding they were being truthful with her she asked, “So you all agreed to this ... ménage-à-trois?” They nodded. “And this isn’t just lust? You really are in love?”

“More than we ever thought possible, Mom,” Rapunzel replied for the group. She went and grabbed the journal that her mother had given her for her coronation, the journal she filled over the last several years. She handed it to her mother. “Do you remember what you told me when you gave this to me?” she asked.

Arianna opened the journal and flipped through the pages. Even at just a quick glance she could see that most of the entries were either about or at least mentioned Eugene or Cassandra or both of them, and it was obvious there was much love that went into those pages. “I told you that only you get to decide what kind of queen you’ll be, and that no one can tell you how to best make that decision.”

“You also told me to be safe, be smart, and above all, be true to myself.” Rapunzel again joined hands with her lovers. “This is who I am, Mom. I love Eugene, and I love Cassandra, and they both love me. And no one, not even you, can stop us from being in love.”

Arianna nodded. “I would never stop you from loving someone, my darling. I just needed to make sure it was love.” She then let out a long sigh. “Well ... I suppose I owe you all an apology. I’m sorry for scaring you with my outburst, and for slapping you, Eugene, and for threatening you with banishment.”

Eugene shook his head. “No, it’s okay, Your Majesty, I’d have reacted the same way if I was in your position. And we’re sorry for causing you such distress over this. We really should have told you.”

“Perhaps it’s best that you didn’t,” Arianna replied. “You know how protective my husband is of our daughter. He still has a hard time accepting that his little girl is married and having sex. He’s also very traditional so I’m not sure he’d be as understanding as I am about the three of you being intimate.”

“But you are okay with our relationship?” Rapunzel asked, quite hopeful.

Again the queen looked each of them in the eye. “As you know, I was a lot like you when I was young, and I saw and did a lot of things one normally wouldn’t associate with what a princess would do. Nothing like this, mind you,” she said, gesturing to the three of them, “but I was quite aware that these kinds of things did happen, rare though they may be. I never imagined such a thing to occur in my own family, and I guess I’m not opposed to it in principle. But...”

“But?”

“I can’t stand the thought of you being hurt, Rapunzel. A normal two-person relationship is hard enough as it is. It takes a lot of work and even then, sometimes you’ll still get so angry that you feel like you want to kill your significant other.”

“Been there, done that,” Rapunzel said, leaning her head on Cassandra’s shoulder and smiling. Cassandra reciprocated by leaning her own head on top of Rapunzel’s and squeezing her hand tighter.

Arianna looked at the two women and couldn’t hold back a grin. “Yes, well, just because you’ve gone down that road once doesn’t mean you won’t go down it again. But as I was saying, a healthy relationship with two people takes a lot of work. I can’t even begin to imagine how much more it will take with three people being involved. You have twice as many people to think of before yourself, to support, to encourage, to invest in. And then there’s the social aspect of things too. The general populace isn’t as open and accepting with polyamory as they are with monogamy, nor with homosexuality as with heterosexuality.”

“We know.” Rapunzel replied. “But we also have twice as many people returning our love, too. And as far as the general populace, it’s not like polyamory or homosexuality are illegal, right?”

“Technically no, but only because in Corona there are no laws about it at all, for or against.”

“So if it’s not illegal, then who cares? If someone doesn’t like the fact that we are together, then so be it. It’s not like we’re trying to force them to do the same thing. Everyone is free to like and dislike whatever or whoever they want. And even if the entire kingdom is opposed to it, we’ll still have each other to rely on.”

“It won’t be easy,” Arianna warned.

“We know, Mom,” Rapunzel repeated. “But love is worth it.”

Arianna thought of her husband and all the difficulties they’d shared over the years as well as all of the joy and happiness. She smiled and nodded. “It is.”

All four took a deep relaxed breath, sensing that their little crisis was over. A little more discussion led to the agreement that Arianna would keep their relationship secret, especially from the king, until she could think of a way to break it to him gently. She herself was still not entirely comfortable with it, but given time she was sure she’d be able to accept their rather unconventional relationship. There was a bit of a lull in their conversation before Arianna spoke up again. “So ... um ... does anyone else know about you three?”

A quick blush on all three of them revealed the truth. “Faith,” Rapunzel answered. “She caught us in bed together not that long ago, but promised not to say anything to anyone. She’s a very loyal and trustworthy hand-maiden.” She decided her mother didn’t need to know absolutely everything about what happened when Faith discovered them and kept certain details to herself. Eugene was tempted to make a joke about Faith no longer being a hand-’maiden’, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

Arianna nodded. “Lucky for you. That young lady has already proven that she can keep a secret as the rest of the staff still have no clue that our vacation was ... clothing optional. Had it been some other servant that saw you, it’s likely that the whole kingdom would know before the day was done.”

Just then, they heard a commotion outside the door. Faith’s muffled voice just carried through the door. “Please, Ma’am. You can’t go in there, the queen and her daughter are having a private conversation. Ma’am? Ma’am!” Clearly whoever she was talking to wasn’t listening.

A chill ran through Arianna’s spine. “Oh no. Not her, not now.” she said just before the door burst open.

Standing in the doorway was, of course, the queen’s sister, dressed in her typical garish travel outfit and not caring one bit for propriety. “Where’s my favourite niece?” Willow called.

“Aunt Willow!” Rapunzel shouted and jumped up to give the other woman a hug. “You know, since I’m your only niece, technically I’m also your least favourite niece as well,” she teased.

“Even if I had a dozen, you’d still be my favourite!” Willow said, returning the hug.

“Willow,” Arianna said, her voice a combination of resignation and measured calm. “What brings you back to Corona so soon?”

“Oh, come on, Ari, don’t act like you didn’t miss me!” Willow released Rapunzel and pulled Arianna to her feet before hugging her. “As to why I’m back already, well, you know I like to go where the action is, and before Rapunzel’s return, let’s face it, Corona was kind of a bore. But ever since her return, all sorts of strange and exciting things have been happening in this corner of the world. And if what happened on my last visit is any indication, then I definitely want to be a part of whatever it is that’s going on here!”

“No, you don’t!” Arianna shouted. “Nothing strange is going on, and there’s nothing to be a part of!” Her reaction definitely caught the others by surprise and they looked at her, a bit stunned. She took a moment to compose herself. “Ahem, what I mean is, Corona is still the same place as it was before. If you thought it was boring before, then it should still be boring. What happened last time was an exception to the rule, nothing more.”

“Uh-huh,” Willow said, doubtful. She could tell there was something her sister was holding back, but she wasn’t going to pry just now. “Still, I’m back for a time, if you’ll have me that is. If things are indeed as boring as my sister is suggesting, then maybe it’ll be a short visit. But if I find out my sister is lying, well, I might have to stick around a little longer then, won’t I?”

“You’re welcome to stay forever, as far as I’m concerned,” Rapunzel said.

“Nonsense,” said Arianna. “Willow has way too much energy to ever settle down in a quiet place like Corona.”

Willow grinned. “Who said anything about settling down? I’m here to liven things up!” It was then that she remembered Faith’s protests and noticed Eugene and Cassandra were also in the room. “Oh! I wasn’t interrupting anything important, was I?”

Arianna sighed. “No, we were finished before you arrived. And while we can talk some more later, Willow, it’s time Faith and I finished what we were doing before. But if I could have just one more word in private with my daughter...” Willow nodded, so Arianna pulled Rapunzel off to the corner of the room.

“Is something wrong, Mom?” Rapunzel asked.

Arianna took one more look at the others to make sure Willow wasn’t trying to listen in on them. “Not wrong, no. But you know how your aunt can be. She’s very much an extrovert, and when she talks, which she does a lot of, she really doesn’t have much of a filter. Imagine what would happen if she learned of your ... arrangement with Eugene and Cassandra. If she’s going to be around, you three need to be extra careful if you don’t want her finding out.”

“Ah, point taken.”

With that, Arianna said goodbye and took Faith back to her room to finish putting things away. Once they were gone, Willow gave hugs to the other two remaining people.

“Eugene, Cassandra, it’s good to see you again,” she said. “Though it’d be especially nice to see ALL of you again,” she added with a wink as she gave Eugene’s body a look up and down.

Eugene chuckled at her flirtatiousness. “Well, unlike our vacation, we don’t walk around naked here. But if you really are that desperate, we do have the sauna. I’m not sure if you’ve had a chance to experience it yet.”

Willow’s eyes lit up. “No, I haven’t. What a wonderful idea! It isn’t segregated by sex, is it?”

Rapunzel shook her head. “Well, there are a few times that are set aside for just men and just women, but outside of that, if you book some personal time you are free to have mixed company then.”

“Perfect,” Willow said with a big smile.

“Just so you know, if you’re expecting to see us naked, then you’d have to be naked too,” Eugene pointed out.

Willow gave a little chuckle. “Heh, you say that as if it’s supposed to be some kind of deterrent.” She then noticed the recently built door that connected their room with Cassandra’s. “This is new,” she said, heading towards it. “Where does it go?”

“My room,” Cassandra said. “As Rapunzel’s lady-in-waiting and primary body-guard, it was determined that I could best do my duty by having direct access to her room at all times, hence a door joining our rooms.”

Willow poked her head through the door and nodded. “Makes sense. Hey, Cass, seeing as how you’re always around them, have you ever accidentally walked in on these two lovebirds while they were going at it?”

“Aunt Willow!” Rapunzel protested, blushing. Cassandra blushed as well.

“Well, well. Judging by your reactions, I’d say that was a yes,” Willow said, grinning. “Don’t worry about it. It happens to most people at least once in their life.” She then thought of a very fun way to tease them and with a very naughty smile asked, “Ever join in?”

All three of the others looked at her in shock, eyes wide in surprise. Willow immediately burst out in laughter. “Ha ha ha ha! Oh, you should see the looks on your faces right now!” She laughed for nearly a minute, tears even forming as she couldn’t stop herself. “Come on, you guys, I was only joking,” she managed to get out once the giggling subsided. “The way you’re reacting is almost as if...” Suddenly her laughter stopped. She carefully looked at each of them in turn, noticing how all of them were blushing slightly and were avoiding any kind of eye contact. Then her own eyes went wide. “Oh. My. God!”

“No! Stop right there, Aunt Willow!” Rapunzel said, waving her arms. “Whatever it is you’re thinking, stop thinking it!”

“You did!” Willow nearly shouted. “You did join in!”

“No! That’s not what happened!” Rapunzel protested.

“That’s not what happened? Then what did happen?” Willow was becoming more convinced by the second that she was at least partially right. “I knew there was something going on back on the island! There’s no way three sexy young adults could spend all that time naked and alone together and not do something kinky!”

“The three of us didn’t do anything like that on the island!”

“And what about off the island?”

Rapunzel only hesitated for a moment. “No! Of course not!”

Willow picked up on the hesitation immediately and knew the lie for what it was. “Oh yes you did!” She then gasped as realisation hit. “That’s why my sister was so adamant that nothing strange was going on! Because she didn’t want me to know about what you three were up to! How did it happen? How did it start? No! Don’t tell me. Let me guess! Eugene used his silver tongue to convince you to invite Cassandra into your bed, then the two of you seduced her, though she was quite willing to be seduced.”

“That’s not what happened!” Rapunzel denied.

“No? Then was it you who convinced Eugene?”

“No!”

As embarrassing as all this was, Eugene was starting to chuckle. It was clear that Willow was close enough to the truth that she wouldn’t let it go until she had all the answers, so he decided to play along. “You’re getting warmer,” he said.

“Eugene!” Rapunzel scolded.

“What? You know she’s never going to let this go.”

Willow looked over at him, her eyes sparkling with delight at his confirmation. “Cassandra convinced the two of you to let her join?”

“No!” both Rapunzel and Cassandra said at the same time.

“The three of us is actually a rather recent thing,” Eugene said. “You know your niece is extremely lovable, right?” he hinted.

Willow nodded. She thought about the clue Eugene had given her, then looked closely at the three of them again. “You,” she said looking at Cassandra. “You fell in love with Rapunzel, didn’t you? And then she found out.” Not waiting for a response, she continued. “Then you,” she said, shifting her focus to her niece, “started to have feelings for her, too. But you felt guilty because you love Eugene and would never cheat on him. So you told him. And you,” her focus now shifted to Eugene,” you then gave them the okay to become intimate, because, let’s be honest, all guys find the idea of girls having sex with each other to be extremely hot.” Eugene gave a slight nod in agreement. “Then things grew from there until all three of you were together. How close am I now?”

Rapunzel let out a defeated sigh. “Scarily close, actually,” she admitted. “How’d you guess so well?”

Willow smiled. “I’m a people person. I know people. If you know someone well enough, you can sometimes know what they’ll do even before they themselves know, or in this case, look back at the past to know what led up to a certain event.”

“Please, Aunt Willow, don’t tell anybody,” Rapunzel asked. “We’re not ready for the general public to know about us.”

Willow gave a sympathetic smile to the three of them. “Don’t worry. I know that sometimes I can be a blabbermouth, but I also know to keep certain things private. And if you’re worried about my opinion of what you three are doing, I’m of the opinion that anything goes so long as all involved are okay with it. And trust me when I say a three-way relationship is rather tame compared to what some people get up to.”

“Would you include yourself in ‘some people’?” Eugene teased.

Willow grinned at him. “Play your cards right and you just might find out,” she said, winking.

Rapunzel instinctively moved between her husband and aunt. “What do you mean by that?” she asked.

Willow chuckled at Rapunzel’s defensiveness. “What do you think I mean?” she teased.