Chapter Four
(Lyrics in this chapter are from the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" - with a couple of alterations - from the movie The Lion King.)
We had only been at sea for a week before arriving in Arendelle's fjords. It was dawn by the time we got there on the actual Coronation Day. We weren't the only ones to just arrive either, as many ships were docking and guests were piling out.
"Welcome to Arendelle!" exclaimed the dock manager.
The lot of us followed Rapunzel off the ship and staring at everything around us. Some distance off, a boy was trying to pull away from his mother who was attempting to stuff him into a jacket.
"Why do I have to wear this?" the boy complained.
"Because the Queen has come of age. It's Coronation Day!" his mother replied in excitement.
"That's not my fault," the boy muttered and I laughed. Kids.
I turned my attention to a large man with blonde hair talking to a reindeer. The animal was hopping around excitedly like a dog and nuzzled the man's chest.
"What do you want, Sven?" the man asked, then proceeded to speak for the reindeer.
"Give me a snack."
"What's the magic word?"
"Please!"
The man pulled a carrot out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Sven. Sven tried to bite the whole thing, and the man wasn't happy about that.
"Hey, hey, hey! Share!"
Sven took a smaller bite. The man then had a bite himself, not seeming to care that the carrot was covered in reindeer saliva. Gross!
Trying not to gag, I turned away to see a tiny man walk by with two men following him. I distinctly heard the shorter man say, "Ah, Arendelle, our most mysterious trade partner. Open those gates so I may unlock your secrets and exploit your riches... Did I just say that out loud?" I stared after him, my eyes narrowing. Now what could that man be up to?
"Rapunzel! Rapunzel, over here!"
We all turned to see a girl about eighteen with strawberry blonde hair done up in a fancy braided bun and wearing a green dress run towards us. She and Rapunzel embraced right there on the dock.
"It's so good to see you, again!" Rapunzel exclaimed. She then faced us and said, "Everyone, this is my cousin, Anna! She's Elsa's younger sister! Anna, these are my friends!" And one by one she said our names. However, it was pretty awkward to be introduced as the Queen of Incantationen.
"I can't wait to show you everything! Come on!" Anna shouted, turning around.
We had only taken a few steps when I suddenly slammed into the breast of a horse, fell back and landed in a small wooden boat perched precariously on the dock. It began to tip, but then the horse slammed its hoof onto the boat and steadied it.
"Yeesh! That's gotta hurt!" said Timon.
"Hey!" I shouted in frustration. Catherine and Alyss gasped. Flynn Rider swore under his breath. Lifting my gaze, I stared in disbelief at the horse and its rider. "H-Hans?" I stammered out. Our last encounter did not go so well.
"I'm so sorry. Are you hurt?" he asked, focusing on me.
"Hey. I-ya, no. No. I'm okay," I replied awkwardly. What's he doing here?!
"Are you sure?" he demanded and I could see the concern written plainly on his face.
"Yeah, I just wasn't looking where I was going. But I'm okay," I insisted. He hopped down from his horse and stepped into the boat. "I'm great, actually."
"Oh, thank goodness," he said in relief, offering a hand. I took it and he hauled me up to my feet. "I'm glad to see you again, Aralyne." He bowed and I just politely nodded my head.
The horse shifted his foot, and the boat suddenly tipped. Hans tumbled forward on top of me, and I felt my face heat up. The horse slammed his foot back into the boat to stabilize it, and we tumbled the other way, this time me landing on top of him.
"Ha. This is awkward," I said sounding like a spazz, "Not you're awkward, but just because we're- I'm awkward. You're gorgeous. Wait, what? No! I meant -"
Hans laughed and got to his feet, helping me up again. "A little flustered now aren't you? Anyways, I'd like to formally apologize for hitting the Queen of Incantationen with my horse...and for every moment after."
"No. No-no. It's fine," I insisted, stepping off the boat, then patted the horse. "Hello, Sitron. Well, it's been, um, nice talking to you again, but I really must get going." I quickly returned to my friends' side. Catherine, Alyss, and Flynn all gave me concerned looks.
"What was that about?" Danny inquired sidling up to me.
"Nothing," I muttered peering over my shoulder at Hans. He waved at me, as did Sitron, removing his hoof off the boat. The boat suddenly fell, with Hans still in it. He landed in the water with a splash and soon resurfaced gasping for air. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
After arriving at the castle, Anna showed us to our rooms and we immediately started getting ready for the coronation. All of the males had vanished into their own separate rooms, while all of us girls congregated into Anna's. It was fun dressing up together, and absolutely hilarious when Anna, Rapunzel, and Aurora managed to get Merida into a tight pale blue dress and stuffed all her wild curls into a headdress.
"I can't breathe," she gasped out. After having my laugh, I took pity on her and removed the headdress. Of course there was nothing to do about her hair, so it was left loose.
Anna was already set for the celebration, so she helped the rest of us out. Aurora and her sisters had matching shimmery pink dresses. Anne-Marie's dress was yellow and adorable with ribbons and lace. Jasmine and Rapunzel put on purple dresses that sparkled. Sam's gown was entirely Gothic with black and purple, her hair pulled into two ponytails. Catherine wore a short, tight, golden dress with elbow-length gloves, her hair pulled up into a bun. Alyss wore a red and blue dress with long flowing sleeves, her hair in a half ponytail. And I wore a low cut, off the shoulder lavender dress. My hair was pulled back into a small bun at the back and a silver tiara rested upon my head.
"Can we go see Elsa before the coronation?" Rapunzel inquired.
Anna hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yes, I suppose so."
We all rushed out of Anna's room and followed the Arendelle princess down the hall a bit until we came to Elsa's room. Anna knocked before entering and we all filed in. Elsa was standing at a window and when we entered, she turned to face us. She was very pretty with light blonde hair pulled into a bun at the back of her head, and her dress had many colours to it.
"Elsa!" Rapunzel exclaimed, rushing forward for a hug, but the soon-to-be queen held up a hand.
"Please, don't touch me," she said in a soft voice, then looked about at all of us. Rapunzel skid to a halt, somewhat stunned. It must have been my imagination, but I thought I saw a hint of fear in Elsa's blue eyes. "What are you all doing here?"
"We wanted to see you before the coronation," Anna explained.
"Please leave," Elsa commanded. I stared at her, sensing that something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what.
Anna ushered us out of the room, and we headed off to the church chapel instead. There, we met up with the men and all took seats. To my horror, Hans chose a seat not far from us.
When the coronation began, Anna had to stand off to one side of Elsa. Honestly, the whole thing was very boring and I spaced out through most of it. All I remembered was the end. The crown was placed on Elsa's head, and a scepter and orb were presented to her on a pillow. She slowly reached for them, but she paused a moment to remove her blue gloves. The poor girl looked nervous about the whole thing as she turned to face us.
The Bishop then spoke in Old Norse. "Sehm hon HELL-drr IN-um HELL-gum AYG-num ok krund ee THES-um HELLgah STAHTH, ehk teh frahm FUR-ear Uthear... Queen Elsa of Arendelle."
"Queen Elsa of Arendelle," everyone in the crowd repeated. Elsa quickly replaced the orb and scepter and slipped on her gloves. My eyes narrowed as I watched her.
Once that was over, everyone made it to the great hall for the ball, and by then night had fallen. The music was lively and people were dancing, eating, and laughing.
I spent the evening with my friends, enjoying the whole thing until I saw Prince Hans heading my way. I didn't want another awkward moment between us, so I excused myself to get something to drink. Moving through the crowd, I suddenly got bumped by a bowing man's butt, and fell. Just before I hit the floor, a hand reached out and caught mine.
"Glad I caught you," said a familiar voice, and I lifted my head to stare up at the man I thought I would never see again.
My throat tightened and I squeaked out, "Tulio."
"Hi," he said with an amused smile.
"Hi me...? Oh, um, I mean hi," I stammered out. This had to be a dream!
"You look beautiful," he said.
I flushed, suddenly feeling very exposed in this low cut dress. "Thank you," I muttered. "Tulio, what are you doing here? I thought you were working for -"
"Shh," he shushed looking around at the other guests. I followed his gaze to see Hans watching us, glaring. Didn't the two of them have some sort of bad history? "Come with me." Still holding onto my hand, he led me outside, and I couldn't help myself. I started crying the moment we had privacy away from the party.
"What? What is it?" he inquired.
"It's like you're back from the dead," I quietly said, "You don't know how much this means to me."
"Hey, it's okay," he said lifting my face towards him and wiping away my tears.
"I- I've really missed you," I stammered out, throwing my arms around him. I felt him stiffen but then he hugged me back.
"I've missed you too."
Tulio then pulled me away from the castle all together, and took me towards the docks where we walked hand-in-hand.
"Can you feel the love tonight?
The peace the evening brings
The world, for once, in perfect harmony
With all its living things"
We climbed aboard a ship that was not being watched and I sat down on the railings facing the water. Tulio stood behind me, his arms wrapped about my waist to keep me from falling.
"So many things to tell her
But how to make her see
The truth about my past? Impossible!
She'd turn away from me"
For some odd reason, I could sense that something was off, and I didn't know what it was.
"He's holding back, he's hiding
But what, I can't decide
Why won't he be the man I know he is
The man I see inside?"
Tulio buried his face into the crook of my neck and kissed me there. It sent pleasant shivers down my spine. Gently pushing him back, I turned and hopped off the railing. With a grin, I took off running off the ship. Just as I had hoped, he chased after me.
"Can you feel the love tonight?
The peace the evening brings
The world, for once, in perfect harmony
With all its living things"
We ended up back at the castle, inside the garden to be precise, and he finally caught me, his arms wrapping around my waist. We tumbled to the ground, and he fell on top of me, the two of us laughing. I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. Surprised, he stared down at me for a moment before kissing me.
"Can you feel the love tonight?
You needn't look too far
Stealing through the night's uncertainties
Love is where they are"
The moment didn't last, though. He quickly broke it off and growled, startling me.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
"This was a mistake," he suddenly snapped. Leaving me where I was, he got to his feet and quickly vanished.
"Tulio!" I called out, sitting up, but he was gone.
Perhaps this really was a dream after all?
"Aralyne?"
"Aralyne!"
"There she is!"
I was suddenly surrounded by Alyss, Catherine, Danny, Sam, and Flynn.
"Where were you?"
"We got worried."
"What are you doing out here on the ground?"
Flynn helped me up to my feet, and I brushed grass off my dress. Avoiding their gazes, I said, "I was with Tulio." Now that I said it out loud, I realized how insane that sounded, and winced.
"What?!"
"Aralyne, Tulio wasn't at the ball."
"He can't be here. He's with Siren!"
"I know what I saw, okay," I snapped at them, "I know what I - what I felt." My lips were still tingling from the contact.
"Come on, let's get you inside," said Flynn wrapping an arm around my shoulders. That's right. He was Tulio's friend, wasn't he?
The took me back to the ball, but I was no longer having fun, or paying attention. I just kept thinking of my evening with Tulio. Standing against a wall, I watched in slight boredom as Anna pushed through the crowd towards Elsa, Hans in tow.
"Oops! Pardon. Sorry. Can we just get around you there? Thank you. Oh, there she is," said the quirky princess, "Elsa!" Elsa turned to her sister. Anna curtsied awkwardly and continued speaking, "I mean... Queen... Me again. Um. May I present Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."
Hans bowed to Elsa. "Your Majesty." Elsa gave a polite but reserved curtsy.
The princess was practically bouncing off the walls as she and Hans took turns speaking.
"We would like-"
"-your blessing of"
The spoke together, "-our marriage!"
"What?!" I shrieked.