Chapter 3

Now that Cassandra has been sufficiently punished for her transgressions, it is time for healing, both of her body and of her relationships.

As it turned out, Cassandra was pretty accurate with her statement that there wasn’t much worth sharing. One highly unexpected thing was that she was actually present for their wedding, though incognito.

“You wouldn’t have noticed me,” she explained. “I was in disguise and kept to the back, and I left right after the ceremony was over. The last thing I wanted was to get caught and cause a disruption to your special day.”

Other than that, the vast majority of her time was spent travelling from place to place, with no bandits or strange encounters to make things interesting, and when she was in a town or city she did basic labour jobs to help with her expenses. Well, usually. She was able to get work in places that didn’t know who she was or what she’d done in Corona. There were a number of communities who had heard of her and demanded she not stay in their borders any longer than necessary, and not wanting to cause any strife Cassandra would move on without complaint. Things changed in the Kingdom of Bayangor, however, as Cassandra found something that radically altered her plans.

“Just so you know, I wasn’t aimlessly wandering around,” Cassandra explained to her friends. “After all my screwups here I felt I needed to do some good, so my plan was to make my way through the Seven Kingdoms, search for any signs of my mother, and undo whatever schemes or uncover secrets she may have left behind.”

“You mean Gothel?” asked Eugene.

“Who else would I mean? Dad never married, it was just me and him. I can barely remember her, but she does hold the title as the only mother I’ve ever had, sad as that is. Um, no offence Raps,” she added, giving Rapunzel an embarrassed look. Had things played out differently when Gothel had kidnapped Rapunzel as a baby, she and Cassandra would have been raised as sisters. Instead, Gothel abandoned Cassandra so she could escape with the princess.

“None taken,” Rapunzel replied. “Honestly my childhood was pretty good, all things considered. She was quite loving and encouraged me to express myself in whatever way I wanted, so long as I stayed in the tower. And I had Pascal to keep me company. But in hindsight I realised all that she did was just an act to keep me obedient. As soon as I started questioning her and stood up for myself, her real personality came through.”

“Anyway,” Cassandra continued, “as far as we know, she used the Sundrop Flower to stay alive for centuries. Who knows what she was up to for all that time? What plots or machinations she may have been planning? Rapunzel and I saw what she was capable of in that secret bunker of hers we found. Those magic mirrors that stored recordings of the past were a marvellous invention. What other wonders had she discovered? What else did she keep secret? If I could find just more cache, if any existed, it had the potential of revealing so much.”

“And you found one?”

“I found one.”

Cass moved to stand and go to her bag, but winced in pain and thought better of it. Rapunzel noticed though, and brought it over to her. She rummaged through the contents for a moment before carefully pulling out a large rolled up piece of parchment.

“While I was in Bayangor an old lady experiencing a touch of senility mistook me for her old mistress, who turned out to be Gothel, though she used a different name. A long time ago she was hired to keep up the maintenance of a particular house while the owner was gone, which was most of the time. Sometimes weeks or even months went by between short visits, and when the mistress was there she was forbidden to enter. One time, though, curiosity got the better of her and she snuck into the house shortly after Gothel entered, only to find it empty.”

“Empty?” asked Eugene. “Was there a back entrance that she could have slipped out from?”

“No. Just the one.”

“Then a hidden room or tunnel?” Rapunzel suggested.

Cassandra nodded. “I couldn’t just tell the truth about being Gothel’s daughter, as that normally would have made me as old as the lady herself, but I did convince her that I was a great granddaughter and got her to let me in. Gothel hadn’t returned to this place in over twenty years but the lady dutifully kept up the maintenance of the house in anticipation of her return, or at the very least the arrival of a representative.

“It took me the better part of the day but I figured out where the secret room was. After mapping out the house I found that there was a small area in the middle of the second floor that had no way to reach it. I did find what could have been a secret door behind a bookshelf, but it could have just been the natural way the wall was built. Unfortunately no matter where I looked or what I did I couldn’t figure out how to open it.”

“So you went brute force,” Eugene guessed.

“No, I did not go ‘brute force’. Since all the interior walls were made of wood, I grabbed a saw and simply made my own door.”

Eugene smiled. “Sounds a lot like brute force to me.”

“Brute force would have been me smashing the wall down with a mace or an axe,” Cassandra explained with a bit of exasperation. “I wasn’t nearly so reckless. There could have been traps.”

“I’m sensing there’s a ‘but’ coming,” Rapunzel added.

“But,” Cass said slowly, confirming Rapunzel’s guess, “there was a trap, and yes, it went off. I don’t know if the whole floor was pressure sensitive or if I just had really bad luck and stepped on the wrong place, but as soon as I entered the room I felt the spot I was on sink a bit and across the room something tipped a flask over, pouring liquid into another container. Whatever was in it immediately began to steam, and then boil. I took a few seconds to scan the place, noticed this,” she held up the parchment, “on a small table in the middle of the room, grabbed it, and ran. I hadn’t even made it to the stairs when the room exploded.”

“Exploded?” exclaimed Rapunzel. “Were you hurt?”

“I was fine, the blast wasn’t that powerful. Didn’t even knock me off my feet. But the resulting inferno incinerated everything else there. Thankfully the fire brigade got it under control before it could spread.”

“So, what’s on the parchment?” Eugene asked.

Cass began to pull at the string holding it together but just that combined with holding the pillow over her chest was enough to cause noticeable discomfort in her back. She sighed and held it out to Eugene. “Here, would you mind?”

Eugene undid the string and unfurled the parchment. He studied its contents for a moment then looked around and pulled over a short end table and placed it down for them all to see.

“A map,” Rapunzel noted. “But of what?”

The map was lacking in any writing, not even a compass rose to indicate which way was north. Clearly it was meant to be only seen by Gothel and she would know the key details to put this map to use. Other than the topography of whatever region this was depicting, there were several dozen dots of various sizes and colours scattered around the map, and a stylized sun near one side, along what looked to be a coastline.

Rapunzel noticed the sun almost right away. “Wait, is that...?”

“The location of the sundrop flower, before it was used to heal your mother,” Cassandra answered. “And this,” she said as she pointed to one of the medium sized dots surrounded by cliffs, “was your tower.”

With those two spots as reference, Rapunzel and Eugene started to recognise other points of interest.

“Oh! Here’s the city of Corona,” Rapunzel said, pointing to the familiar land mass. Then she touched one of the larger dots. “And this must be the cottage with the underground caverns that we found, Cassandra.”

Eugene took a closer look as well. “If I’m seeing things right, that one small dot up in the corner is where you found this map, isn’t it?”

Cassandra nodded. “That’s right. I think this is a map of all of Gothel’s hideouts that she made. At least, all the ones in this region. I’m not sure how far she would have ventured away from her source of immortality.”

“And this is why you came back?” Rapunzel asked, referring to the map.

“It’s why I came back so soon. After I was out on my own for a while I knew I wouldn’t stay away. There really is no place like home, and this is home. After I toured the Seven Kingdoms and found what I could about Gothel I would have come back to make amends, both with Corona and with you.”

Rapunzel took Cassandra’s hands in hers. “There never was anything to make amends for, not with me.”

“But I tried to kill you.”

“No. At worst you tried to best me, not kill me. There were countless times when we fought that you could have simply skewered any of us with those black rocks, but you never did. If you really wanted me dead, I’d be dead.”

“Still...” The guilt Cassandra carried was obvious in her voice.

“Enough, Cassandra,” Rapunzel said gently, but firmly. “In case it wasn’t obvious, I’ve already forgiven you. Maybe it’s time you forgive yourself.”

Emotion threatened to overwhelm Cassandra as she admitted, “I, I don’t know if I can.”

“You will, someday,” Eugene said. “You aren’t the only one in this room who had a death sentence, you know. My own past is far from stellar, but I’ve come to understand that who I was doesn’t have to dictate who I am now, or who I want to become. Any mistake can be forgiven, provided the one seeking forgiveness is genuine. The fact that you actually came to the king and asked for punishment shows that you’re about as genuine as they come. One day, and it may be years from now, you will forgive yourself and leave the guilt behind. Until then, we’ll be here for you every step of the way.”

Cassandra wiped away a tear and nodded. “So,” she said once she regained her composure, “if this map really is showing us Gothel’s caches, I’d really like your help in finding and exploring them.”

“Of course we’ll help,” Eugene said, then he took the map and rolled it back up. “But not just yet.”

“What? Why not?”

“You need time to heal,” Rapunzel pointed out.

“And did you forget you’re not entirely free just yet. You still owe time,” added Eugene.

Cassandra looked at him and sighed. “Right.”

Their conversation lasted for another few minutes before a wave of exhaustion came over Cassandra. The day’s trauma had definitely taken its toll and despite being mid afternoon she was ready for bed, so Rapunzel and Eugene let her sleep in their room while they and some of the staff prepared the empty room next to theirs for her to move in to. It was already dark when Cassandra was gently awakened by Rapunzel who helped her gingerly walk her way over to her room. That was enough to drain her of what stamina she had, and she needed to take some of the pain pills the doctor had provided. While waiting for the drugs to do their thing, Rapunzel applied the healing ointment to Cassandra’s back, being very gentle and careful to not pull on the still fresh wounds and tear things open again.

It was late in the night, or perhaps early in the morning, when Cassandra woke. The pills had worn off and she had rolled over in her sleep, causing her to wake from a jolt of pain. She wasn’t the only one to wake, though. Rapunzel had set up a cot beside her bed and was sleeping next to her. Cassandra’s moans were enough to get Rapunzel’s attention and she jumped up to help her friend. She got Cassandra settled again and massaged the numbing cream all over her back. It worked wonders as the pain practically vanished, and Cassandra drifted back to sleep even as Rapunzel was finishing with her task.

When Cassandra woke late the next morning she was alone, though Rapunzel’s cot was still next to her bed. The pain in her back was bearable, just, but she took a pill anyway as it was pointless to suffer needlessly. She managed to take care of her bathroom needs and made it back to her bed when Rapunzel entered. Cassandra reflexively covered her chest but then relaxed once she saw who it was. The two of them had bathed and dressed together numerous times while she was the princess’s lady-in-waiting and nudity between them was nothing new.

“Ah, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” Rapunzel asked.

“Still sore and can barely move,” Cassandra admitted, “but I guess that’s probably normal for someone with stitches all over their back.”

Rapunzel grinned. “That’s true. So how about we help things along by putting some more of that ointment on?”

Cassandra agreed and laid down on her stomach so Rapunzel could apply the cream. The cooling effect it had was quite pleasant and Rapunzel’s gentle touch relaxed her aching muscles.

While Rapunzel massaged in the cream Cassandra nodded towards the cot and asked, “Raps, did you stay with me all night?”

“Of course I did. I wanted to be on hand in case you needed anything.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“As if you could have applied that numbing agent yourself.”

“But isn’t there a nurse or someone on staff that could do that? You’re married now so shouldn’t you be staying with Eugene?”

“You’re my best friend, Cassandra. I wanted to be here personally. And Eugene will be fine for a night. Though come to think of it, this was the first time since we got married that we’ve slept apart. I’ll be sure to make it up to him though,” she said with a grin.

The application complete, Cassandra had Rapunzel help her over to the vanity and angle the mirrors to get a good look at her back. “Oh, that really does look rather nasty, doesn’t it?” Cass commented as she looked over all the bruising and stitches. She’d never seen so much black and blue on one person before, herself least of all.

“Yeah. If this was my father going easy, I really don’t want to know what being hard would look like.”

“Well you won’t find out because of me. I’ll never do something so stupid again.”

“You better not. I intend to keep you around for a long time.”

Cassandra smiled at that. “So, Raps, did you come up with anything to solve my clothing problem, or am I still stuck being topless?” she asked as she gestured to her nude torso. Just then a knock came at the door.

“I think we’ve found something suitable,” Rapunzel said as Cass moved back to the bed to cover her chest with a pillow. “And this may be it. Who is it?” she called to the door.

“It’s Faith, your majesty,” came a muffled reply. “I have the clothing you requested.”

Rapunzel turned to Cassandra, who nodded. “Come on in.”

A handmaiden with steel blue eyes and long brown hair entered the room carrying a bundle of clothes. Faith was one of the youngest on staff, and also one of the most shy, which led to some awkwardness when Rapunzel had tried her out as her replacement lady-in-waiting when Cassandra had gone rogue. She had noticeably matured from the last time Cassandra had seen her, a little taller and thinner of face, but more curvy of body as the last of her childhood proportions had melted away leaving an elegant young woman.

She laid out the items on Cassandra’s bed; four shirts of different colours (light shades of blue, grey, yellow, and purple), two of which had long sleeves and two which had no sleeves at all. All four shirts were entirely backless, only joining together above the shoulder blade and down at the waist. With her delivery done, Faith made to leave but Cassandra held up a hand.