A/N: No, this is not dead, it's just been a long summer. I went to England and back (did a bunch of fics in between for fun) and then I started school almost immediately. Again, I've done some things, but I'm take two creative writing classes, so I have twice the amount of writing. I'm also taking Russian, which is just… well it's Russian and honestly I'm not good at learning languages. I was really bad with English (my first and only real language) when I was a kid. I don't like doing things that I'm not already good at and I had to be forced, coerced, and later tricked into learning English… glad I was, but honestly I'm glad I pushed through now… but yikes!

Also, thanks very much to the website "Catholic Wedding Help" for most of the exchanging of vows. I'm not raised Catholic, but considering the time period the characters were most likely, so I just went with it.

Eugene fidgeted with his shirt collar. He couldn't get comfortable no matter what he did. He rather wished he could blame it on the high collar on his new shirt being stiff and hot on a spring day, but he knew the material was light and incredibly nice. Even he couldn't lie about that.

So he tried to pass his discomfort off as nerves from all the reports he'd been getting now about disappearing weapons and supplies that weren't getting where they needed to go. None of this was really that odd, it was a large kingdom after all, and stuff got lost. But Old Archimedes was on edge about it, which put Eugene on edge. But truthfully outside of the stuff work room Eugene couldn't be bothered to care about that.

He even wished he could say it came from knowing another man was going to be walking Rapunzel down the aisle, and it was Prince Christian as well. Though that chafed him it was simply part of a wedding ceremony, and Eugene had figured out weeks ago that Rapunzel gushed to Prince Christian the same way she gushed to other female friends. The chatty-nature of the talk he'd walked in on made him feel smug. Prince though he might be, Christian was not someone Rapunzel had romantic interests in.

There was really only one thing left, and that was the wedding itself. Prince Frederick was getting married… and that really pissed Eugene off. The last proposal attempt had been a disaster, though one thing did come out of it: he realized that he did in fact want to marry Rapunzel.

It wasn't like he hadn't known before, per say. Rapunzel, or really a life with Rapunzel was his dream. The fact that it gave him a palace of his own (or it would be his to share once they go married and her parents died) was just a coincidence. He would have been happy even if he had to run from the law all his life so long as he got to be with her. He'd made plans to quietly find a way to stop stealing and get a job… a real job too, not like the stuff he was doing now. Then she'd told him that she was the lost princess and the rest fell into place.

But the point was that he'd killed himself to protect her. He, Flynn Rider nee Eugene Fitzherbert, a man who had literally left his partners for dead in order to have wealth had sacrificed his own life in order to give freedom to one girl. That type of sacrifice wasn't one you made for a person you didn't have a lot of dedication to.

Eugene had wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He imagined that one day he would be sleeping with her and having kids (in wedlock). He knew that he was training to work with spies to be an asset to Rapunzel once she was Queen. He even knew that there was no way he could stay in the relationship if he didn't plan to marry her, and yet somehow it hadn't occurred to him that he actually wanted to marry her.

But when you're making those kinds of realizations in such a crash and burn situation you also realize that you may have completely blown a chance at doing it right. Even if he did ask her again would she remember the last time and turn him down again? Or would she start comparing what he did in their relationship to what happened with her cousin's marriage? Honestly Eugene was certain that a lot of his agitation came from the fact that Prince Frederick was about to be happily married before him, the bastard.

He finished with his collar, glancing at himself in the mirror once more. Man, royals really liked getting dressed up. It wasn't that he didn't like looking attractive, Eugene Fitzherbert was a vein creature by nature, but those royals man… the stuff he was wearing now was possible more expensive than all of the loot he'd stolen (minus the crown) in his entire career.

With that not so cheerful (but much less painful) thought in mind he turned and left his room, heading for the chapel. There would be a large ceremony in the chapel, followed by a very party that all of the city would be attending, not that most of the city wasn't trying to fit into the chapel. The first half of the pews would be filled with the nobility and invited guests. The rest were open to the public, if they could fit in. There are already people lined up to get into the chapel when Eugene arrived to take his own seat, and he'd arrived fairly early. He wondered if the other nobles would realize just how excited the city's people were to attend this wedding.

As an ex-thief Eugene knew that this would be exactly the kind of event that he would love. People would be all pack together, all excited and distracted. Lots of purses were going to be emptied today, and not just to buy all the snacks and memorabilia local shops had made for the event.

He made his way to his seat, it was five rows back. He wasn't insulted. He was not friends with either the bride or the groom. He was invited because he was Rapunzel's date, which meant that the only reason why he wasn't in the tenth row was because of Rapunzel's status as Princess, and as the maid of honor. But Eugene still got their early so he could get an aisle seat on his row. It meant he had to jump up every five seconds to let people in, but he also would have a good view and be able to see Rapunzel when she walked down the aisle. He was on the bride's side so he wouldn't have to crane his neck to see Rapunzel when she walked by.

The wealthy trickled in, but once they were seated the common people were allowed into the back rows and the balcony. People packed in, children sat in their parents laps so there would be room for more people. It felt warm in the chapel as it was. The ceilings were very high, but it was a very sunny spring day, and the stain glass drew in the light and heat, letting none of it out. Let was less warm at the front in the reserved seats where people weren't packed in, but it was warm enough that Eugene knew it must be painfully warm in the back. Yet no one seemed to care that much. After all, how often did you get to see a prince get married?

At some point Prince Frederick came to stand at the front of the altar, and the noise settled down. Suddenly the brand new organ sprung to life, playing the procession with great gusto. As far as royal weddings went this one wasn't very big. The only bridesmaid was Rapunzel, and the only groomsman was Prince Christian. They entered, walking arm-in-arm down the long aisle. Eugene's eyes set on Rapunzel's face fairly quickly. He tried not to smile imagining that she was mentally reciting the number of steps it took to get from one end of the aisle to the other, careful not to misstep and ruin her cousin's wedding. She looked lovely too, in a dress made of the lavender color she seemed to prefer. The Prince's wedding suit was more blue than purple, but then he really was not as royal as Rapunzel.

Next came the ring bearer (Lephia's little brother), followed by the flower girls. At which point the processional changed to something just for the bride. The entire crow stood and they waited, but while the door did open no bride appeared. After a moment people started to murmur, wondering what was happening. That murmur grew when Prince Frederick headed down the aisle, people wondering if he was running away from the wedding.

A few moments later it became clear what was happening. It was traditional for the father of the bride to walk the bride down the aisle, but Lephia had no male relatives. Instead Prince Frederick had gone and gotten her, leading his new bride down the aisle. Even Eugene had to admit (though grudgingly) that this was some how very sweet, though others admitted it louder than others.

Lephia felt incredibly light headed when she saw Frederick coming down to get her. It was something they'd planned, something she'd like the idea of, but now that it was the time and date it felt scary. Everything felt scary, and yet when she saw Frederick's smiling face something in her relaxed.

There she was, dressed up more beautifully than she probably ever would be in her entire life, in a white dress with a design of spring green lace in a front slice of the dress, and green lace along the edges. Her hair had been down up with little white baby roses in her hair. She looked beautiful, but it didn't feel like her standing there. It felt like someone else, a dream that others had created for their Prince, and she had wondered if maybe she was just a dream, just an act, and if Frederick would catch on later and resent it.

But then she saw the smile on his face. Since the wedding preparations had begun she had seen his smile every often, but it was always a complicated look. He was planning a wedding, and he was planning a rebellion, and he was hurting because of who he'd have to hurt in order to do his duty to his people, and it all weighed heavily on his shoulders. She was so used to that smile, she'd just come to expect it.

But at that moment, when he came through the doors to get her to walk down the aisle the only look on his face was happiness, and the only emotion in his eyes was love. He had set everything aside for that day. So she returned his smile, and set aside her nerves. She offered him her arm and he took it, and together, they walked down the aisle, and how they glowed as they walked.

Rapunzel watched her cousin walk up the aisle with his bride, both smiling and looking more at each other than at anyone else. She wondered if it would be like that for her in Eugene when the time came. His proposal had been such a disaster that a part of her was afraid that he wouldn't ask her again, and she wasn't sure if she'd have the courage to ask him. She hoped he would ask.

She quietly pushed those thoughts aside, smiling at the happy couple. They both looked so lovely that day, especially Lephia. Her mother had taken Lephia aside the previous night. At the time Rapunzel had just assumed it was to give her the gift (and it was partly), but she'd never heard that the husband wasn't supposed to see his bride before the wedding.

"It's an old tradition," her mother said. "It used to be that the bride and groom would not see each other at all before the wedding. They would never meet until the day they were wed."

"But how could they be in love if they hadn't met?" Rapunzel asked.

"They wouldn't be. They would be total strangers, but marriage for love is not an old concept Rapunzel. In the past marriage was often used for business purposes instead," Lephia had explained. She was so happy to change topics from the lacy undergarments she'd received from the Queen.

"That sounds horrible," Rapunzel said. "What if they hated each other?"

"It happened sometimes, but truthfully most couples learned to work it out. There's a companionship that comes with being stuck with someone. Sometimes it blossoms into love, and not always. There's a reason why arranged marriages are waning in popularity. Just like there's a reason why they were so popular for such a long time," the Queen said.

Rapunzel was pulled out of her thoughts as the priest started the mass, speaking in his very clear concise Latin, not that Rapunzel knew the language (yet), but she was picking it up faster because her father liked to speak in it sometimes, and she wanted to know what he was saying. She knew this time it was about marriage, and about a husband's duty to his wife and a wife's duty to her husband. She knew the scripture too, because her father had said it in Latin before translating it for her. It sounded nice now, as it had then.

The mass ended, and the priest fixed his eyes on the couple standing before him. It was only then that Rapunzel realized he had been looking at the congregation instead of Prince Frederick and Lephia.

"Frederick and Lephia," the priest asked. "Have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?"

"I have," Prince Frederick said.

"I have," Lephia said.

"Will you honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?"

"I will," Prince Frederick said.

"I will," Lephia said.

"Will you accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?"

Rapunzel, standing so close, noticed the quiet, secret little smile the couple shared.

"I will," Prince Frederick said.

"I will," Lephia said.

The priest smiled. "Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church."

Lephia's brother offered the couple the rings, each taking to one for their partner. Prince Frederick took Lephia's hand, slipping her ring on her finger. "I, Frederick, take you, Lephia, to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life." He spoke clear, but gentle, and only to her was he blinked rapidly to try and clear unbidden tears from his eyes.

Lephia slipped his ring onto his finger before reaching up and wiping away his tears with her gloved hand. "I, Lephia, take you, Frederick, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."

"By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife," the priest said, and Lephia gasped, tears coming to her eyes now as she covered her mouth. It was as if she had not truly realized what she was doing until now. "You may now kiss your wife," the priest said, with a tiny bit of mischief in his eyes.

Rapunzel had to laugh, as did the entire congregation. Lephia threw herself on Prince Frederick, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him with more passion than either of them had ever shown publically. When they pulled apart they were flushed and breathless, but so happy.

The organ music roared with bride's processional as the couple headed out of the sanctuary, with eyes only for each other.

The party after the wedding was loud and raucous, and Eugene was very, very thankful that he was not a guard on duty. Crime in the town had nearly disappeared over night because of Maximus's influence, but this event was different. Everyone was drunk, and a lot of people had come in from outside the town, and they were very quickly taught how Corona's guard handled criminals. This meant that there were more than a few heavy twangs of frying-pan hitting skull during the party after the wedding.

Eugene had gotten very drunk (he only really drank during parties, but when big festivals showed up he really, really drank) at the weeklong event to celebrate Rapunzel's return. Now he was mildly drunk, and as such he had no idea how he'd ended up in a dance with the bride. "You happy to be married?" he asked his slow dance partner, glancing over to where Rapunzel was dancing with Frederick.

"Very," Lephia said. She and Rapunzel's beau had never even exchanged three words before.

"I can't imagine why," Eugene muttered.

"I love my husband," Lephia said.

"He's slimey. I know he's planning something," Eugene said. "You should be careful too, cause if he gets caught doing something then you could go down for it to."

"Excuse me? Go down for it?"

"Yeah, you know. I read the laws for the first time recently. If the head of the family does something, then the laws still say that the whole family can be punished for it," Eugene said.

"Those are very old laws," Lephia said.

"But they still exist." Eugene said. "Which is why you should be careful," he said.

"Those laws are only for people who commit treason. Are you accusing my husband of treason?"

"I don't know what I'm accusing him of, but I know he's guilty," Eugene said.

"And I know that you're very drunk," Lephia said.

"No, I'm only mildly drunk, mildly. If I was really drunk I'd be doing something very stupid right now," Eugene said.

"I wouldn't call this conversation intelligent," Lephia said, glad the song was ending.

"But I would," Eugene said.

"Then I feel sorry for my new cousin," Lephia muttered, pulling away from her dance partner to return to her husband.

"Eugene, are you drunk?" Rapunzel asked, going to Eugene and preparing to lead him back into dance.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry, but could I cut in?" Prince Christian asked.

"Oh well, I guess, if Eugene doesn't mind," Rapunzel said.

"Oh no, you don't understand Princess, I want to dance with your date," Prince Christian said, bowing and smiling mischievously.

"What?" Eugene asked.

"Come on, it'll be a laugh riot," the prince said, grabbing his hand and leading him out onto the dance floor. "Come on, it's a floor hopper, it's not like I asked you to slow dance."

"Aren't they going to call us queer for this?" Eugene asked.

"Yeah, but that's just a great way to get into some unsuspecting girl's undergarments, isn't it?" the prince asked.

Eugene burst into laughter. "Alright, you wild man. Sweep me off my feet!" He declared, deciding to go along with the joke.

Prince Christian laughed and led him in the dance. It was a floor hopper, but something like a tango as well, the combination of which was a very wild show with the prince swinging the ex-thief around the dance floor while Eugene made over dramatic faces at the crowd. They pranced around the dance floor before Prince Christian spun Eugene and dipped him. Eugene responded by throwing one leg up in their air like a can-can dancer as he was dipper. Then they went back to prancing.

Prince Christian did eventually sweep Eugene off his feet, holding him bridal style off the ground. "Citizens, I have found the most lucky maiden in the world for my new bride!" he shouted. The crowd roared. Eugene started fanning himself, fluttering his very long eyelashes, and blowing kisses to the crowd.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel said, laughing as she came out to greet the pair.

"Uh-oh, looks like I just found a prettier lady," Prince Christian said, dumping Eugene and stepping over the spluttering man and bowing to Rapunzel. "May I have this dance?"

"Hey, now that's hardly fair. You seduce me and then run off with another girl?" Eugene asked, getting up and dusting himself off.

"Then how about a three-way dance?" Prince Christian asked. He looked down at Rapunzel. "Have you been in a three way dance before?"

"No," she said.

"Well, then you can be in the middle, that's the easiest part, and I don't even have to explain it to you," the Prince said. "So, Fitzherbert, want to be the left?" He asked, stepping onto Rapunzel's right and putting his arm around her waist.

"Only if I can dance with Rapunzel alone when we're done," Eugene said, stepping to Rapunzel's left and putting his arm around her waist as well. And so the dance started. Rapunzel was little more than a fulcrum or maypole that the two men fought over dramatically in dance. But Eugene finally won and was able to take Rapunzel away to a slower dance. The crowd had loved the performance, and so had Rapunzel, whose face was flushed from the dance and laughing so hard.

"It's magic tonight, it's it?" Rapunzel asked as she walked with Eugene back up to the castle.

"Yes, a night of new lovers," Eugene said, repeating something he'd read once in a book. "So, how about we go back to your room and drink some tea and tuck in with a book?"

"Sounds perfect," Rapunzel said.

When the newly wed couple was finally able to break away and return to the Prince's chambers they were relieved. Of course the first thing Frederick did was start to unlace Lephia's gown.

"Put it off for a while," Frederick said.

"But he suspects you," Lephia said.

"It only means he's not a complete fool, but just let it alone," Frederick said.

"But Frederick, what if he acts on it?" she asked.

"He won't tonight," Frederick said. "So don't worry."

"But he's really worried if he said something to me now. He'll probably say something soon," she said.

"He won't," Frederick said.

"Is it ready then?" she asked.

Frederick sighed heavily. "I wanted to put this off till tomorrow," he said, turning her around so he could see her. He stopped trying to untie her dress, but now he started carefully plucking the flowers from her hair. "It will happen within the week."

"So Eugene Fitzherbert's going to die?" she asked.

"It's our best option… and I don't want to go with the summer plan, not if I can help it," Frederick said. He leaned down and kissed his wife's eyelids, letting the little roses in his hands drop to the floor. "So, forget it tonight. Tonight and tomorrow are ours just for us. After that I'll tell you everything, but for now… just let me be a normal married man for a few hours," he said.

Lephia smiled, guiding her new husband's hands to the right strings to pull to get the dress off. "Alright," she said. "I even wore something special for you," she said with a feisty grin.

"I can't wait," Frederick purred. It turned out that he really did like the Queen's special gift, though he would never know where his darling wife had gotten such an outfit.