Chapter 1
The door made a banging noise. Frightened by the sudden noise, I shot up to my feet. I took out my pocket watch and held it up to a lantern on the wall. It was 03:25. What is someone doing at the house at this hour, I thought. But, more importantly, why was I still awake? I looked to the door, sucked in my breath, and walked to it. I opened up the door, and...
Well, before I get into that, let me get a bit into the basics first. I'm Jeronimus Krogh, also known as Mutton Chops (Although I don't have them anymore), and I live in my father's old house with my family, Norma, Jorge, and Belinde. My Uncle, Jeronimus the first, lives across the street from me. I call him Bear, but I digress, as my family won't show up much in these memoirs. You may have read my earlier memoirs, about what has happened after the events in Arendelle happened. Two years have passed since I inherited the house from my father, and the two years have been somewhat tough. For a few months at first, we had to deal with the Wolf's goons, who was the monster that killed my cousin.
Soon after, I taught Jorge how to defend himself with a sword, and told him that, if anything happens to me, he'd be the one to protect the house. I put my faith in him, and I didn't know that it would come in handy now, 2 years later.
Back to the present, I was standing at the door, and opened it up. I expected Uncle Jer, as he usually takes night walks, but I was surprised to see... nothing. I craned my neck to the side, looking for the mystery knocker. I could barely see anything in the dark. I just about closed the door, when I heard a small "Hello!" squeaked out. I looked down. It was a short man, with a cap on his head.
"I'm looking for a... uh... Mr. Jeronimus Krogh?" He said, adjusting his glasses. I nodded and told him to continue. "I have a... uh... message here from the Queen of Arendelle, she wishes for you to see it." I grabbed the letter, walked back to the table and set it down. I looked back at the man, and gave him a stare, as if inviting him in. He bumbled, "Oh, uh, yeah, uh, I don't think I want to come in, I'm only the messenger. So uh, heh, don't shoot me, heh. Okay?" He looked at me for approval. "Get it, like, shooting... the messenger...?"
I nodded, "Yeah, I understand. If you aren't staying, I suggest you take your leave. I have to turn in soon." The man nodded, and then scurried off the steps, down into the street. I looked at the letter on the table, I was unable to read that at this hour. I set it down on the table again, and stepped into the bedroom. Strangely, that night, I had a dream of grovelling to Queen Elsa of Arendelle, for forgiveness. I am still overwhelmed with guilt for what I almost did to her. It was the heat of a moment shot, and I was just following orders.
I awoke a few hours later, obviously still tired. Norma wasn't in bed, I assumed she was out making breakfast. I stepped out of bed, pulled on my clothes, and walked into the living room. Norma was sitting on the loveseat, reading the letter. She looked confused.
"An invitation to Arendelle? What's this about? Jer, do you know?" She handed the letter to me, and I read it over, it read:
"To whom it may concern,
This is a formal invitation to Arendelle from Queen Elsa herself. These are not given out handily, so if you recieved this, you may either be happy, or upset. The reason you have recieved this is as follows..."
From that point on, the letter was handwritten, and explained that I had somehow wronged the Queen (which I did), and that I shall come apologize, (which I will). I read over the letter, and included was a ticket for a luxury ship, which looked a lot better than the ship that I had used for Arendelle before. Norma stood up and held my arm, and asked me what it was about. I explained it to her, and she understood.
"So, you're going to leave us here alone once again?" she asked in a joking manner. I nodded, and giggled. She scrunched her nose, and then went over to the kitchen. "Well, you should look for when the boat is departing, so you can get ready." I looked at the ticket again, and noticed the time. It will be leaving in about 12 hours, as I guess it has arrived already. I looked at Norma, and told her the time it will be leaving. She looked surprised, but then immediately replied, "Well, you had better get ready, tell the kids where you're going." I nodded, and immediately went to pack.
As I packed up most of the clothes I needed, I grabbed a book from the bookshelf, and placed it in my bag. I slid my bag over my shoulder, and talked to the kids for a short time, saying that I'd be back in a bit. We hugged, and then I ran to get a meal before I left. I ate for a bit, talking with my family. I left my sword with Jorge, and then gave him a pep talk, telling him he could do this.
I ran out of the house at around 4 hours before the ship was slated to leave. I walked down to the dock, looking around at the town for the last time before I would be in Arendelle. I stepped onto the ship, looking around and smelling the sea air and smiling. I must have stood there for a bit, before the same short man who I had seen before was at my side. "Well, you're here early, but that's okay. We'll take off earlier, too, then."
I nodded and headed to the underdeck of the ship, and I noticed that this really was a luxury ship. I set my bags down and laid down on the queen bed in the room. It was early, but I was still really tired. I fell asleep quickly, ready for whatever will come in the next few days.
Over the next few days, I was treated with the utmost respect by the crew, who allowed me to write in the room all day, and just never do anything. Honestly, the lack of work was satisfying. We arrived in Arendelle about a week after we departed, with no bad weather had over the past week.
I grabbed my bag and stepped off the ship, it was early morning once again. I looked at the castle, it seemed pretty. I gazed at the town, everything seemed as if I had never left. I walked up to the castle, and looked up at the mighty structure. I reached for the door handle, and opened it up, planning what to do in my head. I decided to look for the first assistant in the house, and talk to them about meeting with the Queen.
Without my mutton chops, I doubt that the Queen would be able to recognize me, nor would anyone. I clutched my bag, when I walked into the grand foyer of the castle. I noticed a woman sitting down on a chair, reading. I looked around, and I decided to approach her.
"Eh, excuse me miss..." I said, hoping she'd hear. She did not. I tried to call out for her a few more times, before I finally tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped.
"AH! Hey... what'd you do that for?" She asked as she turned around. I looked at her. She was a bit shorter than me, but not too short. Her hair was brunette, down from an updo, and swept across her face and behind her left ear. I looked at her, inquisitively. "Are you new here? I don't recognize you from the coronation a few years ago." She blushed pretty quickly, and then turned back around, I'm not sure if she's used to strangers talking to her.
"Oh, uh, well, you know, we were working our bones off before Elsa became queen, that I, you know, thought I needed a little break. I was beat tired and slept throughout those next few days. At least the music was good!" She explained as she slowly looked back up at me. "What's your name, anyways?"
I replied, "Jeronimus Krogh, former Weselton Duke guard." She looked at me, and nodded. "I'm Anca, daughter of Gerda and Kai." She thought for a second, and then exclaimed, "Wait, you didn't see me at the coronation, and you were a former Weselton Duke guard...!" She looked excited, "You were Mutton Chops, weren't you?! The guy who almost killed the... Queen in her... ice... palace..." She slowed down as she thought about what she said, but the excitement returned, "Oh, but you've met Hans, right? Please tell me you did!" I nodded as she grew incredibly interested.
"What was he like? Was he handsome? Did he say anything about brunette hair? How'd you meet him? Did you like him? Was he handsome?" She asked in a barrage of questions. I used a hand motion to stop her from continuing, and then said, "He was okay, but he tried to kill the queen for personal gain." She looked at me confused, "But you did too, didn't you?"
I shook my head, "Not for personal gain, for family." She nodded, "Uh-huh. Well, you know, I'm not saying what he did wasn't bad, because it was, but just, I'd be damned if I said he wasn't handsome. I mean, I saw him there and thought, 'oh my God, look at that face,' you know what I'm saying?" I nodded slowly, as she seemed to be trying to convince me that he wasn't too bad. I then had to ask her, "How old are you, anyways?"
She replied quickly, "21!" I nodded, and then went to walk on, but realized something. "Wait a second, if you weren't at the coronation, how did you see Hans standing there?"
She stood for a second, and then replied, "Uh... I may have been admiring him from afar. What do you need, anyways? Talk to the Queen, right?" I nodded, and she said, "Well, come with me. You were here for my Hans gushing, so I guess I should help you out a bit."
We were walking to the throne room as she tried to make small talk. "Erm, so, do you like music?" I nodded, "I love music, if I wasn't a stronghand, I'd be doing that with my life." She looked at me and said, "Oh, man, I know, I keep trying to convince my mother to let me play some violin, but she keeps saying that I should stick to assisting the queen. I'm so tired of it. And it's not like I'm bad at violin either, one of the musicians here taught me how to play a few years ago, I've been playing in my room a bit." I nodded, feeling a bit glad we had found a common trait. She talked a bit more about violin, Hans, reading, and a few other things, when she finally said, "Okay, we're here! The throne room."
Elsa was sitting down at the throne, and Anca walked in front of me. "Follow me, and don't say anything out of line. Say nothing if you understand." I didn't say anything. "Good, now let's go." We walked towards the throne, as Anca tried to recompose herself. I heard her whisper to herself, "Breathe... don't get too worried, say who he is and then step aside." As we approached the queen, Anca breathed, and said, "I present to you... Jer, Jeronimus Krogh of the..." She turned to me quickly, "Where are you living now?" I whispered, "Denmark." She nodded. "Jeronimus Krogh of Denmark! That's who I present, yeah." She stepped back, and looked down, as I stepped forward to talk to Elsa.
As I looked up to Elsa, she had a look of anger in her eyes. She must have still been upset. I opened my mouth to talk, when Elsa cut me off, "Anca." Anca jumped and tensed up at her name being called. "Could you go get Anna for me, please?" She relaxed, nodded, and skipped off to get Anna.
"Before you ask, we are going to talk about what it will take for us to forgive you. We will begin negotiations once Anna arrives."
The negotiations were not pretty.