The Huntman settled into Arendelle surprisingly well- with help from a few people particular. One was Arendelle's Master of Ice, Kristoff, the husband of the former Princess Anna. He had had difficulty adjusting to the palace life as well, having grown up in the woods with his reindeer Sven and the local trolls.
Kristoff had been helpful- but the Huntsman found he was already mostly adjusted to Palace life from his years with the Evil Queen. It was the freedom that got to him the most.
Belle understood that all too well. She had sequestered herself in the Palace library at first, coming out as infrequently as possible.
"It's almost like the library Rumple gave me." She confided to him. "In here, I sort of feel like my time in the dungeons was all a bad dream."
Slowly, she had familiarized herself with the library. Her dreams of adventure had long since fled, and now she longed for familiar things. Books, libraries and stories were all things she'd held dear, even as a child.
It didn't take long for the other castle occupants to notice this, as the initial work to get the refugees seen to subsided into a routine. Anna had been the one to think of a way to help Belle adjust to living in a community again- by offering her a job as the official librarian for the school.
"What?" Belle had spluttered. "What school?"
Anna grinned unrepentantly. "Wow, I guess you haven't heard about it. We kind of run a school for magic here, although we're still working out the basics. There's been a lot of magic popping out of the woodwork since we thawed out. The school is out for what the Queen calls 'Summer Vacation', but we're going to be starting up again next week. If you want to stay for a while, you may as well have something to do."
Belle had protested at first, not being sure what the librarian for a school for magic was supposed to do, but she acquiesced in the end. It was good for her, having something to do and contributing to life in the city.
The Queen Swanwhite stopped by as often as she could to see how her guests were settling in, but she and her steward were busy sorting out the refugees who wanted to leave immediately- one a woodcutter whose children were banished to the Infinite Woods. That, restoring hearts to the prisoner's without, and keeping up the running of the Kingdom took up too much time for her to stop by as often as she wished.
Instead, she took to sending her son- Henry.
"Hi Mister Wolf! Good morning Mister Huntsman!" The young boy greeted, cheerfully turning a title into a name. "Do you want to meet the trolls? See the Ice Palace? It's totally safe once you're up, it's just the journey that's tough."
"Maybe another day Henry." The Huntsman smiled. "It smells like rain, and we don't want you getting sick. Anything else you feel like doing?"
He listened carefully as Henry enthusiastically began detailing the adventures they could have in the Palace, between the ice rink in an old gallery, a bicycle ride through the halls, or helping Belle in the library. Every day the boy would show up and plan a grand adventure for the Huntsman and his brother to share in- sometimes dragging other people in as the day went on. At first, he'd thought it was just Emma's way of checking in on the Heartless Huntsman.
Then, he realized that Henry was lonely. His family were all so busy with Regina's former prisoners and state business, his friends were usually busy at home, and he was too young to go out exploring himself. In sending Henry to him, Emma ensured that Henry had someone looking after him, while also making sure that the Huntsman had help adjusting to Arendelle.
"How about we go to the Stables?" The Huntsman picked. "And then the library after lunch."
"Cool!" Henry grinned widely. "I'm sure, today's the day we find you a first name Mister Huntsman."
The Huntsman laughed- Henry had decided his 'top-secret-mission-to-help-Mister-Huntsman-get-used-to-Arendelle' included getting him a proper name. This wouldn't be the first afternoon spent trawling through books in the library for 'the perfect name'.
"Sounds good to me Henry." He agreed amicably. "But I think we'll have to go without my brother."
Henry looked around for the wolf, just noticing he'd vanished. He huffed a sigh, clearly exaggerated. "Did he leave to go hang out with my mom again?"
"Most likely, yes." Huntsman nodded. "He likes seeing the courtiers react. And the Queen feeds him well."
Henry reached for his hand as he began leading the way to the Stables. "You know," He began, tugging lightly on the Huntman's hand. "You can call her Emma. She won't mind."
The Huntsman pulled Henry back slightly, so that the boy faced him. He crouched slightly to look Henry in the eye. "Maybe I'm just waiting for a name of my own for her to use in return. It wouldn't be fair, if I could call her by name and she had to keep with a title."
Henry beamed. "Deal."
The Huntsman regretted this deal, several hours later. The light was fast fading from the sky, and the library was lit by a fireplace and several magic lamps. Henry was flipping through books, scrolls, anything he could get his little hands on.
"Humbert? No. Aleksandru? Sounds like a prison sentence. Yarrow? Sounds familiar. What's yarrow?"
"It's a plant." The Huntsman told him. He would have tried to tell Henry more- but previous experiences in trying to distract Henry from his quest had proven fruitless. The lad was determined not to leave the library until 'Mister Huntsman' had a first name to go with his last. Or until he passed out on one of the books, that was a possibility too.
The Huntsman decided to try one last tactic. "Henry, why don't we have a break? I've got a few questions for you."
Surprisingly, that worked. Henry put the book to one side with care and looked up, rubbing his bleary eyes. "Like what?"
"Well." The Huntsman began, groping for a decent question to ask that would hopefully distract Henry long enough for their break to last as long as possible. "Your mother mentioned the Kingdom she grew up in didn't have forests like ours. Do you remember it?"
Henry shook his head. "No, it wasn't a Kingdom. It was another realm. There wasn't any magic there except for me and mom. I'd just been born when we fell through. I mean, I'd literally just been born, and a portal opened in the floor and sucked us both in."
"Really?" The Huntsman said, raising his brow.
Henry nodded seriously. "Really. Mom found herself in the middle of nowhere with nothing except the clothes on her back and a baby and a blanket in her arms. We're really lucky she worked out she had magic, otherwise we would have both died. After that, she hung around the ice palace, working out how her powers worked and the limits. We were there until I started walking, when mom decided to try and find someone else, because someone had to have built that palace, right? That's how she found Arendelle."
"And ended the Great Winter?" The Huntsman asked.
"That was mostly an accident. But yeah, basically that's it." Henry agreed. "I'm lucky it happened, otherwise I wouldn't have Mom. She was going to give me up you know."
That, the Huntsman didn't know.
"I wasn't in a position to raise a child." The Queen's voice broke in. "So I was going to give him to someone who wanted a child to raise as their own. I wanted him to have his best chance."
Both of their heads snapped to the doorway where she stood, holding a box in her hand. A familiar box.
"Mom!" Henry called in surprise.
The Huntsman swallowed, hard. "Is that…?"
"Your heart." Emma nodded. "It was difficult to get through the spells on the lid, but we've finally managed. I brought it here as fast as I could."
The Huntsman was aware of his head nodding, but couldn't speak. His throat seized and his eyes blurred, focused as they were on that seemingly innocuous box.
Emma walked forward to where the Huntsman and the almost-Princeling sat, opening the lid of the box as she handed it to him.
"I think we should move to the lounger before we put it back in." She said quietly, moving her hands to clasp his forearms. It helped ease the shaking, so he nodded to her suggestion. She released one of his arms and put her hand on his back, gently guiding him out of his seat and onto the lounger.
"How do I…?" He started. "Just, shove it in?"
She squeezed the forearm she still held, nodding. "Just press it where it should be. It'll go back easily. Do you want us to leave?"
There was an enquiring whine. Blinking the tears away, the Huntsman looked up. His brother stood next to the white-clad queen, and Henry hovered behind them, biting his lip.
He shook his head, reaching out. "No. Please stay. All of you."
At some silent agreement between the three, he found himself pushed back so that he was reclining on the lounge, with Emma and Henry on either side, each with a hand on his upper arm, and his brother lower down on his left, his head resting intently on the human's thigh.
Taking a deep shaky breath, he met their eyes once more- and then took the glowing red heart out of the box, letting it fall away to the side once it had been relieved of its treasure. Slowly, he brought his hand to the centre of his chest- and then pushed.
The heart slipped in far easier than he'd thought it would, all those years without it. It was what came with it that hit him hard. All those years of dulled emotions, the constant despair he could feel lurking at the edge of his mind came rushing through him, memories flashing as his anger, hate, self-loathing, desperation- there seemed no end to the tide.
But then there came new emotions- awe at an arm entwined with his, amusement at a parting comment tossed over a shoulder, hope at the sight of those soldiers storming through the Dark Palace, and joy at the taste of freedom.
Wariness as they gave him a room in the castle- was this simply another cage? But he had his family here, what was left of them. And Kristoff had shown him the quickest route to the woods, which while different from the ones he'd spent most of his life in, were comfortable. Kristoff had even shown him the Ice Harvester's cottages, in case a bad storm blew up unexpectedly and everyone needed to get to shelter quickly.
"Anna's idea." The ice-harvester had told him, an utterly besotted look on his face as he mentioned his wife. "It's been working pretty well as a place to stay for the workers at night as well, so they don't have to hurry up and down the mountains between dawn and dusk. It's for anyone caught on the Mountain, so don't be shy about barging in. Wolf too."
He'd have never been permitted to enter such a shelter before, storm or no storm.
Fondness. Joy. Camaraderie? And the faintest flutter of hope, growing stronger.
Henry's adventures, the boy looking up at him with gleaming eyes and a grin. The everyday greeting of 'Mister Huntsman', and the search to find him a name to use. Belle, slowly coming out of her shell as she got used to people seeking her out for help, occasionally singing as she dusted the shelves. Anna as she almost caused a dozen minor disasters racing through the hallways, undoubtedly late or else seized by a brilliant idea that simply couldn't wait. Elsa's soft laugh as she watched the children play in Summer snow, Henry teaching the younger children to make Snowmen. The Snowman Olaf, complaining that Sven the moose had tried to eat his nose again.
And Emma Swanwhite- as beautiful as the day she'd rescued them, but far less mysterious. The constant updates on the boxes, as well as the other refuges, delivered to him throughout the day. The way she rubbed at her neck after a long day, aching from the crown. The smile she bestowed when she saw him and Henry together, and the mischievous grin as she related how her day with his brother went.
Was this…. Happiness? Belonging?
He came to himself, gasping. Emma and Henry's hands clutched at him, keeping him down on the lounge. His brother had settled on his legs.
"Are you okay?" Henry asked, face pale.
The Huntsman nodded between breaths, his lungs aching for air as if he'd been chased.
"It can be difficult, getting your heart back." Emma explained to Henry, one hand leaving the Huntsman's shoulder to stroke his hair gently. "Everyone's different, but the longer it's been out, the harder it is to adjust. It's why we moved to the lounge, I didn't want Huntsman to get hurt."
The Huntsman leaned into the gentle touch, his breathing starting to slow. He thought…
This is what Home feels like.
And succumbed to sleep, surrounded by people he cared for and who cared for him in turn.
The Next Day
"I think we're going about this all wrong Henry." The Huntsman said earnestly, one hand absently stroking the wolf half on his lap. This time, they were both on the bed in the Huntsman's appointed quarters.
Emma, a fairly skilled healer(-in-training she insisted), had asked him to take it easy and not leave his room until after lunch, and to take it easy for a few days. With the revelations he'd had upon the restoration of his heart, he'd been happy to agree.
Thankfully, Henry had decided to keep him company. Or been appointed to keep an eye on him, either way he was there and they were continuing their search for a name.
"You think?" Henry was curious.
The Huntsman nodded. "We've just been looking for names. Any names really, that will hopefully fit on me. But we should be looking for a name that we feel fits."
Henry nodded dubiously at this.
"So, maybe rather than just looking for names, we could look for the meaning of names?" The Huntsman continued.
This time, Henry's nod was more certain. "Okay. What sort of meaning do you want?"
He waited, expecting something cool like Wolf, or Wood, or Forest- the world the Huntsman knew and loved from before.
Instead, the Huntsman smiled shyly. "Perhaps something to do with home? A new name for a new place and all."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Emma announced from the door. She held a tray of food in her hands, with two maids behind her. One was full of raw meat, the other fit for a growing boy.
Emma ignored the bright blush on the Huntsman's face as the meals were settled, but didn't bother to hide her own pleased smile from him.
"You should ask Belle to help you, school still hasn't officially started up again and it'd be a good challenge for her. I don't think there were any baby name books in this realm before the one I wrote." She advised them.
"You wrote a book Mom?" Henry asked, looking up from his food.
Emma smoothed the bedcovers as she answered. "It was while we were in the Ice Palace and I was trying to decide your name. I couldn't keep calling you Baby, you were growing too fast. So I wrote down all the names and meanings I remembered from our realm."
She frowned, considering. "I think Elsa put it to the scholar group that was double checking how everything had changed, to see if they could find the names I'd written in this world. Not sure what happened to it after that."
The dark maid spoke then, even as her colleague walked out. "It was updated and published, your majesty. Lady Enrica thought it was a fantastic idea and commissioned it herself, with as many additional names as she and her scholars could think of."
She shot a sly look at Henry. "Your copy after all, was sadly lacking in girls names."
She curtseyed and left, Emma following with a cheerful "Good Luck!" tossed behind her.
The two humans left behind exchanged grins, and dug into their lunch.
"Your majesty." Her pagegirl whispered, passing her a slip of paper. "A note from the Huntsman."
She nodded her thanks, even as she listened to the debate between her advisors on who to send to Snow White's Wedding.
When she had a brief moment, when Lady Enrica and her husband butted heads over the practicality of sending one of their Queen's versus the dramatic impact of sending Queen Swanwhite, she looked down at a dark cursive- what most in this realm would think of as an untidy scrawl. And she smiled, a true, joyful smile that lit up the room- or would have, if the room hadn't been distracted by Enrica and Ragnar.
Throughout the meeting, which was eventually adjourned to be continued the next day, she kept sneaking glances at that little, precious slip of paper, rereading the message as often as she dared.
Graham Huntsman of Arendelle.