??? ???????? ??? ??? ?????????: Varian (Tangled

Before I tell this story, I might as well preface by saying it's likely that you're more familiar with my older sister, Rapunzel.

I'm sure you know the story, princess of Corona, and her incredibly long magical hair with legendary healing powers, stolen away from her family by the villainous mother Gothel and kept locked in a tower far from home.

All of Corona for many years grieved over Rapunzel's abduction, and as far as the kingdom knew, the only heir to the throne was gone forever, never to return, leaving no one to proceed their rulers.

But little did Corona know, just about four and a half years later I was born. I'm Sabrine, by the way.

After a few years and no sign of Rapunzel returning anytime soon, my parents, King Frederick and Queen Arianna, grew worried that by the time Rapunzel did return, if ever, there wouldn't be any family waiting for her (and mother being one of two sisters had always hoped that Rapunzel would have a sister as well), so they had me.

You're probably wondering by now, "Sabrine, with your older sister having the healing powers of the sun, what sort of powers do you have?"

Perhaps the power of the stars? Or the power of a planet, like Jupiter? Or perhaps the power of the moon? (The last is a difficult conversation for a different time.) While those are great guesses they're all completely wrong.

But for context, after Rapunzel was born, a little part of the sun drop lingered in my mother's body, a little part that would end up in me (which as you'll see will make my life significantly more difficult.) In the early years of my life the impact of the sun drop wouldn't prove to have done much to me, other than add a blonde stripe to my brown hair.

You might assume that because I grew up the way Rapunzel was supposed to, safe at home with our parents, that I got a drastically different childhood experience from her. But we would actually have ended up in very similar environments in the early years of our lives.

Rapunzel would be in her tower, confined to that space, while her kidnapper/mother/situation forbade her from leaving. I would only have it sort of better, Being confined to the entire palace, and also forbidden to leave.

You see, after losing their first daughter, our parents decided they weren't going to take any risks. They chose not to tell anyone of my existence, only the palace staff were aware of me, but they proved to be exceedingly trustworthy and the secret of the second princess was kept.

Of course, I've been incredibly privileged to live in a palace my whole life. But as you can imagine, after staying in a castle most of your childhood, things become quite repetitive.

At a certain point, I had read every book in the royal library, climbed every tree in the courtyard, and learned every maid and courtier's life story.

So I quickly discovered, and found interest in the secret passageways of the castle. And at eleven, I had stuck out for the first time.