Chapter Twenty

Madeline’s eyes were blurry as she jerked awake. “Varian!” she screamed, murder in her voice. Her vision cleared and she saw that she was laying in his workshop, shackled to a rock.

No problem, she thought, I can just snap it with a rock. But she realized as she attempted it, that she was too weak. In fact, she could hardly sit up. Her body felt weak.

“Help,” she whispered, her throat dry and hoarse. “Please-”

Varian approached her. He shook his head, chuckling darkly. “I don’t think so,” he said.

“Varian,” she said, not sure what the word was supposed to mean- a vow of revenge, a cry for help, a plea for forgiveness, even an affirmation of love.

“What?” he spat.

“I- why do I feel so…” Madeline stammered, “so weak?”

“My potion,” he explained with a hint of venom. “It was the only thing I could think of to keep you from using your powers.

“A potion…” she closed her eyes. “Why… why would you do this to me?”

“Don’t pretend you wouldn’t fight me if I let you go.”

“Varian, let me go and I’ll leave you-”

“No!” he exclaimed.

“Please- just.” She looked at him desperately. “Just… consider your actions for a second.”

“I’ve had plenty of time to consider,” he muttered, turning away. “It’s final.”

“W-what are you going to do?”

“Rapunzel, the Sundrop, will be lured here by you. She’ll shatter the amber and free my father.”

“And after?”

“Well, I’m afraid Corona will pay for turning their backs on me. And that’s when you should be afraid, Your Highness.”

“Y-your Highness!?!”

“Oh, my father didn’t tell you? You’re a princess,” he said, smiling wickedly. “Your born father was the king of a faraway land.”

“Is that why you chose me?” she whispered with the threadbare remains of her voice. “Instead of the queen, like you were going to?”

“No, you were just an easier target than the queen,” he explained, “and…”

“And what?”

“Would it make sense if I told you I was trying to protect you?” he asked.

“What? N-no…”

“Maddie-”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Madeline, I know you’d fight me with the others. And I know you’d use your power, and your power is dangerous-”

She jerked away from him. “You’re the only dangerous thing around.”

“We both know that’s not true,” he said, embracing her, and Madeline told herself that the only reason she didn’t back out was because she was too weak to do anything but breathe.

She felt her pulse rise. Her arms shook as she pulled herself out of his grasp. She tried to run, but he pulled her back to him.

“Help!” she cried, hoping that somebody nearby could hear her from inside the mansion. “He-”

She felt the cold sting of glass against her lips, then the tang of some sort of potion. The glass was replaced with the warm feeling of skin as his lips against hers forced her to swallow instead of spit, and her eyelids grew heavy as the elixir forced her asleep, helpless in his arms.