In Castle Arendelle's great hall, its residents were discussing recent events over dinner, as well as learning about the guest, the fire mage Evantus.
"So, Evantus," began Anna, "Where are you from?"
"Well, most recently I've been just drifting from place to place." Evantus replied, "Always traveling, never staying in one place too long."
"Okay," interjected Kristoff, "Where are you from originally?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Evantus smirked. "I see you are suspicious of me. Rightly so, too. If someone with the power to shoot fire came knocking on my door, I'd be suspicious as well. Of course, I get the feeling that you wouldn't trust me even if I couldn't shoot fire."
"Good observation, but it didn't answer my question." replied Kristoff after swallowing a bite of meat.
Evantus laughed. "So it didn't. Very well. If you must know, my homeland is the kingdom of Setrin."
Everyone at the table grew silent and cast their gazes downward for a moment upon hearing this, with the exception of Kristoff, who looked confused.
"I..." began the queen, "I'm sorry. It must be a painful memory."
"It's okay." replied Evantus with a chuckle. "It can't be helped."
"I've never heard of Setrin before." stated Kristoff bluntly. "Where is it?"
"Never heard of it?" asked Evantus. "Have you lived under a big rock your whole life?"
"No, more like with a bunch of smaller rocks." replied Kristoff, his face giving off no impression that he was joking.
"Ah... I see..." Evantus trailed off, confused by the statement.
"He was raised by rock trolls." explained Anna.
"Oh, okay." Evantus quipped, apparently satisfied with that answer and not requiring further information. "Well, then, sit down, kid. It's story time."
"We are sitting down. At this table."
"Oh, right. Ahem, Setrin was located across the sea, a good extra week's journey past the Southern Isles from here. Setrin was actually once a valuable trade partner of Arendelle. That is, until around ten years ago when it was completely destroyed in one day..."
"No one is completely sure what attacked the kingdom," continued Elsa, "But the most popular belief is that is was a massive fire-breathing dragon."
"I thought dragons were just a myth?" inquired Kristoff.
"No one knows if dragons are real or myth," replied Evantus. "No one has ever seen one. Or if they have, they didn't live to tell about it."
"So, then it wasn't a dragon that destroyed your kingdom?" asked Anna.
"I'm not sure what it was. My memory of that day isn't great. I remember playing with my parents when a group of strange men came to visit. I can only guess that they had come to take me away, because my parents hid me in the closet instead of sending me to my room, but I peeked through the keyhole. They talked back and forth for awhile. Then, one of them drew their sword and attacked my mother, but my father stepped in the way of the strike and was killed. I ran out of the closet and when my mother turned around to tell me to run, they lopped off her head. One of them must have struck me in the head after that because I blacked out, and when I came to, I was stuck underneath a bunch of wood. I burned it off of me and found myself in an unknown place and everything around me was on fire. Before me lay the charred remains of my kidnappers. I searched around, but there was no one left alive. No buildings were left standing, everything was burnt to ashes. I found my way to a forest where I wandered around aimlessly, starving and crying, with only my powers to prevent predators from taking my life. Eventually I was found by a group of miners and they took me in. I still don't know what attacked, but it destroyed the entire kindgom in one day, and as far as I know, I'm the only one who survived."
"Oh," Kristoff said, almost at a loss for words. "I'm sorry I brought it up. It must be a horrible memory."
"It's alright!" replied Evantus cheerfully in an attempt to lighten things back up a bit, "Nothing can be done about it, and you didn't know, otherwise you wouldn't have asked, right? So there's no sense feeling all remorseful about asking a question." Evantus paused to take a bite out of an apple and swallow. "Now that my whole backstory is out in the open, though, there's something else I need to discuss." He turned his attention towards Elsa.
"Of course," said Elsa, her tone of voice betraying a faint hint of eagerness, "ask me anything you need to know."
"The first thing I need to know is if your powers are the result of some spell put on you or if they're natural, as in you were born with them?"
"I was born with my power." Elsa replied simply.
"Okay, and have you noticed anything unusual about the times you lose control over them? has anything specific been happening during those times?"
Elsa thought about it for a second. "Nothing particularly out of the ordinary has happened, at least not consistently enough for extraordinary circumstance to be the direct cause. Sometimes it happens regardless, but I seem to lose control whenever I'm very stressed out about something."
"Okay, and one last question. About how long ago did you start losing control over your magic?"
"Hmmm," Elsa pondered. "Around the time I caught a cold during Anna's birthday, I think."
"Thank you. I'll spend the next few days drafting out a training schedule. I'll be communicating with you as well in order to find out your normal schedule and when I'm finished, I'll show you my draft so that you can make any necessary changes."
"Sounds good. Just let me know when you're ready and I'll direct you to the room where you'll be staying."
"Many thanks, your highness." Evantus stood from his chair. "I think I'm ready to retire for the night right now, actually, so please, lead the way."
Elsa stood and headed towards the door. "Right this way. Kristoff, Anna, I'll be right back." Evantus followed, leaving Kristoff and Anna sitting in the hall.
"I still don't trust him." Kristoff blurted.
"Why not?" asked his fiance. "He seems fine to me."
" I don't know, I just get this feeling he's hiding something. Like, maybe Hans found this guy and is paying him to spy on us or something."
"Oh, Kristoff, everyone's just out to get us in your eyes, aren't they?"
"Just a bit, yes. I personally prefer my paranoia over trusting others. It keeps me on my toes and ready for anything."
"Hey guys!" Olaf busted in through the door, the sudden noise causing Kristoff to jump in his seat a bit.
Anna chuckled. "Sure thing, Mr. Ready-for-anything,"
"What are we talking about?" asked Olaf.
Elsa opened the bedroom door. "Here it is, your bedroom for the course of your stay here."
In the room was a bed in the back left corner, lined with red colored fine silk sheets with elegant patterns stiched into them, with matching pillows. Next to the bed stood a white nightstand with gold trimming. In the right corner stood a privacy screen similar to the one in Anna's room. By the screen, an ornate mirror was hung on the wall, and next to it was the wardrobe closet.
"It's pretty minimalistic for a castle bedroom," remarked Evantus with a smile on his face,"I love it! Thank you!"
"I thought something simple would be more to your liking. Think nothing of it." replied Elsa. She stepped aside to let him inside, and as he walked past her, she noticed that his hair was nearly shoulder-length, reaching most of the way down his neck.
"Breakfast is an hour after dawn, so don't be late, " Elsa instructed. "Sleep well."
"You do the same, your highness." Evantus replied with a smirk as Elsa closed the bedroom door, leaving him to make himself comfortable.
The Southern Isles was a busy place. Prince Hans's father, upon hearing news that Arendelle was cutting trade ties with them, was marshalling a force to invade the country. Since Hans was the only one of his sons who had been to Arendelle before, the king placed him in charge of overseeing the invasion force. The first thing Hans did upon receiving this duty was order for more ships to be built in order to be able to bring more soldiers. He spent most of his free time starting out into the ocean in the direction of Arendelle.
"Prince Hans!" exclaimed the squire, rushing to the prince's side, "The Maelstrom has finished construction, my lord, and a crew for it must now be determined."
"Excellent, " Replied Hans, "Bring me the remainder of our men so I may handpick the crew myself."
"Yes, sire." The squire rushed off to gather the remaining soldiers. Hans looked off into the distance.
"I swear, Elsa and Anna, I'll have my vengeance for what you did to me. Soon, your kingdom will belong to me."