I'm sorry! I really am!

Someday, maybe I will write a story where Rapunzel's father isn't an antagonist to their love story. Today is not that day. I feel bad, since I honestly like Thomas in the movie! I told myself it wouldn't happen again after Among The Stars… but it keeps happening.

Chapter 12

It seemed like such a simple question. Three words. Four syllables.

What's a soulmate?

Jack opened his mouth… but he couldn't answer. He couldn't find his voice – which was probably a good thing, since he didn't know what he would say even if he could.

Everyone was looking at him and Rapunzel. Even the three dragons – though that might have been his imagination.

Rapunzel face turned bright pink, and she averted her eyes. Her embarrassment was strong enough to wash over him through their empathy link.

"You don't know?" Nightlight asked.

Which did not help Rapunzel's embarrassment at all. She shook her head.

Looking at Hiccup, Jack silently begged for help. But Hiccup shook his head, holding his hands up in defense. He looked at Astrid, but her expression made it clear he wouldn't be getting any help from that quarter.

So much for friendship, Jack thought, turning his attention back to Rapunzel.

Now the shock it worn off, it made sense, actually. Ever since the Bennett Inn, he had been wondering why she hadn't said anything. She didn't seem like the type to ignore finding her soulmate. And her excitement at the prospect of seeing the Autumn Palace made it clear that she had never given thought to the fact marrying him would bring her into the Winter Court (if she didn't end up in the Spring Court).

He almost laughed in relief, realizing that her silence hadn't been a rejection – just ignorance. But his emotions were too riled up for him to laugh, and her question still hung in the air.

Instead of trying to find words he didn't have, he unbuckled his hacket and pushed the heavt fabric aside, so his heart's glow was visible through his black shirt. Then he reached over to push his clock back over her left shoulder.

"It's this," he said, touching over both their hearts. "It means we're connected."

She looked down at the fingertips that rested over her heart, then at his, her green eyes wide.

Jack was hyper aware that the others were still watching. Even Stoick seemed to realize how serious this conversation was, since he sat in his mother's arms without squirming.

"Basically, we're destined to be together," he said, lamely. "As…" he hesitated, wondering if there was a better way to say this that didn't sound absolutely ridiculous. "As husband and wife."

Her eyes grew wider, though a moment before he wouldn't have thought that was possible.

As the silence stretched between them, Jack lowered his hands back to his sides. But she caught the hand that had been over her heart. Her gaze had gone out of focus as she cradled it in her own.

"So we're… soulmates?" she asked, as if testing the word now that she knew what it meant.

Jack nodded.

Couldn't the others leave already? Or at least stop staring?"

"Does this mean we're married?" she asked.

Jack shook his head. "No. Just that we're each other's ideal spouse."

"Of course—"

Astrid elbowed Hiccup in the side before he could go into some complicated theory that would just leave Rapunzel more confused.

"Sorry."

Rapunzel nodded. Though, knowing her, she still had a thousand questions.

"You okay?" he asked carefully, wishing he could read her expression. Their empathy link only told him she was… well, it was a jumble of emotions he couldn't begin to makes heads or tails of.

She nodded. "Is this why I know what you're feeling?"

"The empathy link," he said, nodding. "I can feel you as well, though probably not as strongly as you can feel me."

She nodded again, seeming to consider that.

"Jack."

Rapunzel jolted in surprise as nightlight's voice, but Jack's jaw clenched.

He looked back in annoyance. Really? Couldn't his brother see that he was busy?

"We need to talk," Nightlight said.

Of course they needed to talk. Sometimes it seemed as though Jack couldn't make a move without needing to talk to his brother.

He looked over at Hiccup. This time he didn't beg for help so much as he demanded it. The whole reason he had come to Autumn was so that he would have an ally. And he would need it all the more so now that his brother was there.

Hiccup looked over at his wife. "Astrid, will you show Rapunzel to one of the guest rooms, and help her get settled in? Jack, Nightlight, and I, will be in my office."

Astrid nodded, though she seemed a little annoyed about being left out of the conversation.

"Will you be okay?" Rapunzel asked, probably feeling Jack's dread.

"I'll be fine," he said, grinning wryly. "And we'll talk later."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

They all went up the stiars to the front door, and into the spacious entryway.

Compared to the Winter palace, the royal home lack size or grandure. It barely even counted as a palace. All political business took place in the Great Hall, in the city. The principal was that that the kind should have a home that didn't double as his place of work – a sanctuary where he could rest.

Years ago, Jack had asked Hiccup's father if it worked… Stoick had given him a serious look, and told him that a king could never forget that he was a kind, since he could always be considering the best interests of his people.

Jacik had taken that as a "no". He hadn't asked Hiccup yet.

The walls inside were off white, hung with tapestries that depicted Autumn's history and heroes. In the living room, one wall was taken up almost entirely by a map of the four kingdoms, and the surrounding islands. Rapunzel was going to love that, he thought. The house's wooden accents were several shades lighter than the ones outside.

They all took their shoes off at the door, before stepping barefoot onto the thick, off white carpet of the living room. Jack inhaled the familiar scent of wood and leather polishes, the lingering scent of pine, and something he couldn't identify – the one unique to this house.

If he was honest, part of why he spent so much time here was because he preferred it to the Winter Palace. It was actually a home.

Sure enough, Astrid started to lead Rapunzel through the living room, up the stairs… but her attention was captured by the map.

Jack grinned, glancing back over his shoulder as he followed Hiccup and Nightlight down the short hallway that lead to his office. The same one his father had used.

It would never be Jack's favorite room in the house. He had too many memories of being lectured by Stoick.

"Just because you're a second prince doesn't mean you don't have to think about what's best for your people," he had said, more than once. "A ruler protects his own."

Words that resounded through Jack's head every time he stepped over the threshold.

The furniture had been changed around in the two years since Hiccup had taken over. More books, more stray papers on every surface, and the prototypes for some of Hiccup's inventions. An intricately carved replica of Toothless hung from the ceiling.

Toothless himself had followed them in, and now settled on the rug by the fireplace. A green Terrible Terror was curled up in the embers of the fireplace, its scales streaked with grey and black ash.

Jack sighed as he sat in one of the arm chairs in front of the desk, while his brother sat in the second.

Hiccup sat a couple pieces of wood in the fireplace. The Terror squawked indignantly at being disturbed, but it shot a puff of flame at the logs. While the wood caught, the small dragon retreated into a back corner of the fireplace, curling up in the warmth of the flames.

Meanwhile, Hiccup took his seat behind the desk.

"You never do anything the easy way, do you, Jack?" Nightlight asked, shaking his head.

"You make it sound like I try to make things harder,"

"Sometimes I wonder."

Jack scowled at his brother. But he decided to drop the subject, and instead looked at Hiccup.

"What do you think?"

Running a hand through his hair, Hiccup sighed. "She looks exactly like Queen Primrose, except for the blonde hair. But we knew the princess has that."

"Wait." Nightlight looked at Jack. "You think she's the lost princess? Why didn't you tell me?"

"because you would have told father, and there would have been an entourage waiting for me at the border," Jack said. "And that's exactly what I wanted to avoid."

"But if she's the princess—"

"I didn't know for sure when I sent you that letter," Jack said. "I was coming to Hiccup for a second opinion."

Nightlight was obviously about to say something – probably asking why Jack didn't ask his opinion.

Thankfully, Hiccup spoke first.

"You seem pretty sure now."

"I don't know where to start," Jack admitted. A thought suddenly crossed his mind, and he looked over at his brother. "Do you remember when we were young, and went to visit Spring?"

"The princess's presentation?"

"When one of the court women pulled my ear, and mom almost strangled her?"

"The princess's presentation," Nightlight nodded.

Jack leaned back in his chair.

"Then Rapunzel can't be the princess," Hiccup said, just as Jack had the same thought. "If Jack and the princess were soulmates, we would all have known."

"Were you there?" Jack asked.

Hiccup shook his head. "We already knew Astrid and I were soulmates, and I was young enough I wasn't required for appearances."

The whole purpose of the presentations was to see if a royal child's soulmate was among one of the other royal families – usually taking place when the child was about a year old. Hiccup and Astrid had just held their son's a few months earlier. (No sign of Stoick's soulmate – though there weren't many royals his age right now.)

But Nightlight shook his head. "If Jack actually did was he was supposed to. But while we were getting ready, our nurse turned her back on him for maybe two minutes, and he got out of our room. He didn't show up again until that night, when one of the court women started screaming that he had kicked her."

"Because she pulled my ear," Jack said, vaguely remembering that part of it.

"What brought this on?" Hiccup asked. After all their years of friendship, he knew Jack had a reason for bringing up any subject.

"I saw Gothel again last night," Jack said. He looked over at Nightlight.

His brother's arms had uncrossed.

"Did I ever say anything about that night?" Jack asked.

Nightlight considered for a long moment. "I was only seven. But it had something to do with the princess, I remember that much."

It was all connected. It had always been connected. He just hadn't known until this moment.

"When the guards responded to her screams, she had you by your shirt – which you were trying to unbutton to get away."

"The fact he thought of that at four is impressive," Hiccup said.

"He had practice," Nightlight said. "he got four nurses to quit by the time he was seven. And they were being paid almost double the usual salary."

Jack tried not to smirk. Or at least, tried not to let Nightlight see him smirking.

"Where did you see Gothel?" Nightlight asked, looking back at Jack.

"In the woods," Jack said. "Trying to drag Rapunzel back to the tower where she's kept her, pretending to be her mother."

"And where did you find Rapunzel?" Hiccup asked.

"In a cave. Three nights ago, when she couldn't sleep, she heard Gothel talking to a man about the fact he had helped kidnap her. She ran once Gothel was asleep."

"And you think the man is Pitchiner?" Nightlight sounded doubtful.

"When I was four years old, I heard Gothel and Pitchiner talking about the princess. Then, what, six months later the princess is kidnapped? Rapunzel escapes, and within a day Pitchiner sends me a message that the peace is over. Two days, and Thomas is preparing for war. Last night we were attacked by nightmare wolves, hours before Gothel found us in the wood cutter's cabin." Jack shook his head. "Even if I believed in coincidence, that's too much of a stretch."

"Agreed," Hiccup said.

"Then we needed to get her to Spring," Nightlight said. "Before Thomas can declare war."

"That's what I'm doing," Jack said. (Wasn't that kind of obvious?)

"Jack."

"No," Jack said, before his brother couldn't say another word. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you – because I don't want father, and the council, or anyone else, involved. Marching into Spring with an entourage is not going to help anything."

"What alternative is there?" Nightlight asked.

"The plan Rapunzel and I agreed on," Jack countered. "We'll go over the Equinox Mountains, and I'll take her into Corona. Even on horseback, the two of us will move faster than an entourage. If everyone is involved, it will just look like a set up."

He really didn't like the way his brother was looking at him. Nightlight's green eyes were too sharp for comfort. They always had been. Someone, he was able to read Jack better than anyone else.

"You want the credit."

Jack's entire body tensed at the quiet words. The accusation.

"That's why you don't want an entourage. Because you want everyone one to know that you found the lost princess."

Jack rubbed his forehead with his fingertips, not looking at his brother. Not looking at anything except a knot in the wooden floor. The same one he remembered looking at pretty much every time Stoick had brought him in here for a lecture.

Nothing new.

"Jack!"

He exhaled in frustration, nervous energy reaching the point where he could no longer sit still. He stood up, stalking over to the far wall.

For a moment, he stared at the off white wall.

"She's your soulmate. And you want to use her," Nightlight said. "Just to make sure everyone knows… what? That you were in the right place at the right time?"

"Or maybe it's because she's his soulmate," Hiccup said.

Jack looked over at Hiccup from the corner of his eye, Not turning from the wall, but wondering how close his friend was to the truth.

"What do you mean?" Nightlight asked.

"It's common knowledge that jack is barred from Spring," Hiccup said. "He's not allowed over the border, let alone in the palace. Thomas's dislike is because of what he thinks happened to his daughter, and for some reason he takes it out on Jack. If Hack isn't there when Tomas accepts her as his daughter – if the Spring Court doesn't see their hearts glowing – Thomas will find a way to keep them apart.

"There's still a risk that they'll think you're trying to put an imposter on the Spring throne because she's jack's soulmate. But she looks so much like her mother, that argument shouldn't hold too much weight. Still, if you make a production of it, they're more likely to suspect foul play. The fewer people know about it, the better." Hiccup looked over at Jack. "Am I right?"

"Of course you're right," Jack said, finally turning from the wall. But he faced Hiccup, rather than Nightlight. "But that wasn't my line of thinking."

They both waited for him to elaborate.

He sighed in frustration again. "Nightlight is right: I want the credit. I've never wanted the credit. I've never asked for it. You know more about what I've done than anyone else, and I've asked you not to talk about it."

Hiccup nodded. Because that was their agreement.

The whole reason they were friends was because Jack could tell him things, knowing that Hiccup wasn't going to examine the politics of the situation. He was honest if he thought Jack was wrong, but not because of laws, and treaties, and ancient customs.

It was why Jack hadn't felt close to his brother since they were young.

He looked back at Nightlight. "I know what they say about me. And yeah, I want the credit, because for once, I want them to know that I'm not just the paranoid failure of a second prince. Just once, I want them to admit I was right about Pitchiner."

"What will that really help?" Nightlight asked, his voice rising in frustration.

"it will help when he's Spring's Prince Consort."

Jack inhaled sharply as he heard the words. And somehow, the air tasted different.

Sure, he had known. In abstract. In the way you look at the alphabet and know what comes next without actually looking at the letters. You know what X is without looking at the shape of it. Then you see look at it, and seeing the stark black and white of it is different than the abstract knowledge of knowing that it's there.

He had known what marrying Rapunzel would make him. But he hadn't actually used the words "prince consort" in his thoughts, because he hadn't actually thought about marrying her, except knowing that it probably would happen.

"Paranoia's not exactly a pretty trait in anyone," Hiccup said. "Let alone in the person expected to perpetuate the royal line."

"Winter's history attests to that," Jack muttered. More than one ruler had been ousted from their throne because a sibling decided that their paranoia wasn't in the people's best interests.

He tried not to give much thought to the "perpetuate the royal line" part. That was just too bizarre to think about at the moment.

Hiccup nodded.

"Jack's right. Everything he's done – the squirmishes he's stopped before they could start, the people he's helped. Most people don't know the half of what he's done. Even you." Hiccup met Nightlight's gaze. "He's never asked for credit. This time, for all our sakes, he needs it. Even if that weren't the case, he's earned it."

"Thank you," Jack muttered.

Nightlight shook his head. "Hiccup. You said yourself: jack's not allowed across the border. If they catch him, they'll ask questions after they arrest him – if they don't kill him and call it an accident. There's too much that can go wrong. And how do we know that's not exactly what Pitchiner wants?"

"Because it's not dramatic enough," Jack said. "Or personal enough. He won't let me fall unless he's there to see it, kick me when I'm down, and preferably deliver the killing blow."

"And if he's the one telling Thomas Winter has his daughter, then he's in the court," Hiccup said. This time, he met Jack's gaze. "He'll let you get that far."

Jack nodded. It was why he had already calculated.

"How can you be sure?" Nightlight asked.

"Because those are the rules of the game," Jack said. "Everything else is just to make it more interesting."

"How can you call this a game, Jack?" Nightlight asked. "It wasn't a game when he almost killed Emma last year."

"You don't have to remind me," Jack snapped. "I was there. But to him, it is a game."

"Which means, as long as we play by the rules, we have a chance of winning," Hiccup said. "Pitchiner has always wanted war. We stand on the brink of it now – closer than ever."

"Which means this is the end game," Jack said. "All or nothing."

Hiccup nodded.

"Do you realize how many lives you're playing with, Jack?" Nightlight asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

Of course he knew. It haunted him every time he thought about Pitchiner, and the game he had somehow been dragged into.

"Yeah," he said. "That's why I'm doing to end it. We've come full circle. It started with Rapunzel. And that's where it's going to end."