“Of course I’m taking you to Moon Eye, you fool,” Hughes drones, and to his credit, he doesn’t even sound surprised to be called out as a member of the People’s Dagger. He steers Eugene into a parlor that’s almost insultingly larger than the guest wing’s, one that’s leaned really hard into butterfly motifs.
“I’m not leaving Rapunzel on her own.” Eugene digs his heels in. “Enver wanted to question her, and I’m not goinganywhereuntil—”
“She’s safe.”
The familiar distorted voice comes frombehindhim.
He turns and finds Moon Eye, mask, hooded cloak, and all, standing with their hands on their hips in the yawning void of a hidden passage, one that grows only wider as the bookcase that was obscuring it continues to grind aside.
Eugene sorts his new avalanche of questions in descendingorder of priority; Rapunzel takes precedence over Secret Tunnel in the Parlor at the moment. “How do you know that? The last I saw her, she was with Verette.”
Moon Eye hesitates and looks over their shoulder.
“If you think I’m leaving this palace without her—”
Rapunzel herself steps out of the passage, wearing the same kind of gray cloak as Moon Eye, a torch in one hand.
“I’m fine, Eugene,” she says. Moon Eye pushes their hood back and lets a long, pale, iridescent braid spill over a shoulder. Then, as his head reels and the mask falls, Rapunzel adds, “Becausethisis Verette.”
Fifteen
Rapunzel
Rapunzel points to the moth charms still in Princess Verette’s hair. They didn’t have time to change when Eugene threw the ball into chaos; she just hissed,“I know you’re Moon Eye,”to Verette, at which point the princess hauled her over to the royal wing. Or, more accurately, a hidden passage in the royal wing, one that connects to the guest wing, among other places. They spared a moment to collect a drowsy Pascal and Rapunzel’s sketchbook from her room—if their quarters are searched, Rapunzel doesn’t want them finding her drawings of the tree—and then bolted back for cloaks and Verette’s mask. “These charms are called verettes. And this kind of moth—”
“Is a moon eye moth. Well, don’t I feel sheepish.” Eugene looks from Hughes to Verette, connecting the dots, as Rapunzel passes Verette the torch. It seems like decorum has largely flown out the window with the introduction of a masked vigilante princess, so Rapunzel might as well ditch her shoes.
Verette’s already rattling off orders to Hughes. “Tell Father that to make up for the disaster of the ball, I’m taking them out on my pleasure barge for the evening. If you can find Minister Cressien, send him down to the palace docks too. Master Sulian’s already gone to get Leona. We just need to buy time for Father to cool off.”
“Willhe cool off?” Rapunzel asks.
“He ordered the guards not to hurt you, only take you to him for questioning,” Eugene points out.
“Oh, Eugene.That’swhy you made a scene?” Rapunzel stands on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “My hero.”
“I told Councilor Persevault you asked Fitzherbert to saber the champagne and he misunderstood, if it comes up,” Hughes drawls. “Any further instructions, Your Highness?”
Verette shakes her head. “Just—be safe. You know how he gets.”
Hughes’s mouth pulls tight. “I do. Safe travels to you as well.”
He leaves, shutting the parlor door behind him, as Verette motions to the empty tunnel. “Follow me. While we’re walking, you need to remain completely silent, and move as quietlyas you can. Any questions?” Eugene opens his mouth and she says quickly, “No, it’s not because of giant rats. Those were just made up forTales of Flynnigan Rider.”
“You’ve read it!” Eugene says delightedly.
Verette rolls her eyes and passes the torch back to Rapunzel long enough to pull her moth mask back on. “Only like a hundred times. Now no more talking until I give the all clear.”
It’s a long, taut walk in the narrow tunnel, and all Rapunzel is certain of is that they’re headed downhill. The passage connects to a wider stone tube, and at first she assumes it’s a pipe, then rules that out because it’s bone dry, then reassesses when she sees the same glittering residue on the walls as the fading waterline of the Starlight Spring.
They’re traversing the pipes that feed the fountains. The ones that haven’t run for two decades. No wonder they’re all parched.
It isn’t until they reach a junction and switch to a different set of pipes that Rapunzel understands why Verette wants them to keep quiet. As she pads beside a thin trickle of entirely mundane water, sprinklings of dust and dirt periodically rain down from above them.Somethingis moving in the earth overhead. And Rapunzel has a pretty good idea what.
Finally they reach a metal ladder that stretches to an iron grate. Verette climbs up, pushes it aside, and waits for Rapunzel and Eugene to follow. They’ve emerged into a dark, close alleyway; the briny mist, creak of timbers, and slop of waves betray how close they are to the shore.
Verette moves the grate back into place, then leads them out onto the long arm of a lonely dock, and sighs, “We’re in the clear. Sorry for the quiet, we can’t risk alerting—”
“The roots?” Rapunzel blurts out.
