Jack sat up in his bed with a low yawn, looking out his window he saw that the sun had definitely been up for a while. Glancing over to the grandfather clock he noticed that it was about 10am. Getting out of bed he stretched his muscles before waving his hand and creating his usual outfit for the day. Haven't had a bed that comfortable in while, so a little sleeping in should be expected he thought to himself as he walked out on to the balcony of his room. Jack smiled as he felt the warm sun on his face and the light wind that furthered messed up his already messy hair. Looking out he could see that the kingdom was lively as ever as people were going out their daily routines.
"Her highness did say that she would be busy for most of the day, looks like I'll have to entertain myself," Jack said to himself as he made his way out of his room and down the hallways of the palace. He still wasn't great with navigating the large castle but at least he knew how to get to the main entrance.
As he walked his mind went back to last night. He had to admit that he was surprised at Elsa's visit and the concern that she brought with her. I suppose it's understandable given her position he thought. She has a lot more eyes on her then most do and a huge responsibility as a queen. Truth be told, Jack had no idea what to expect from her when he first decided to come to Arendelle. At first he thought that she was rather cold and stiff. But after meeting those around her and especially after their talk the other night he knew that she was just cautious when it came to protecting the ones she cares about. She reminded him of himself when his powers first started to bloom. The lack of control and the fear that came with it. Then the terror, anger and hatred, Jack thought as he squeezed his hands together. He quickly shook his head to stop is mind from wandering too far into his past. All that mattered right now was helping Elsa control her power, and he had to admit that as of right now everything was going nicely.
"Even if she needs to lighten up a bit," Jack said to himself with a light chuckle.
Once Jack made it to the main entrance he pushed the door open and walked out into the courtyard. Stopping at the bottom of the steps he looked out and saw that the courtyard was filled with members of the guard. He counted at least fifty of them clad in their green uniforms, black boots, large round green hats with a red feather attached to them. Some of them were sparing with one another while others were chatting or reporting to superiors. Jack watched the ones who were sword fighting with each other with an interested look. They all definitely looked like they could handle themselves.
This could be interesting, Jack thought while he leaned against one of the columns by the door and continued to watch. For a while Jack stayed and observed as the guards practiced their skills, making little bets to himself on who would win the match. As he looked around he noticed that one of them was looking over at him. Jack realized that it was one of the guards that was in the throne room yesterday when he first arrived. Jack simply looked back and gave a casual wave with a calm smile. The guard narrowed his eyes at Jack and then turned walked off. Jack watched as he walked over to a man who was watching over all that was going on. The man was tall and quite large with broad shoulders, he looked to be middle aged and had a thick mustache. He wore the same uniform as everyone else only his was adorned with medals. Must be the one in charge, Jack thought. Jack observed as the guard spoke to the man while looking in his direction, they then both started walking over to where Jack was standing. Very interesting indeed, Jack thought as he stopped leaning on the column and stood up straight. They both stopped when they were in front of Jack.
"So you must be this 'Jack' I've heard so much about, I'm Henrik, captain of the guard for the kingdom of Arendelle," Henrik said with a commanding tone while looking at Jack. He may have been around the same height as Jack but he was much bigger.
Jack put his hands in his pockets. "Well I'm honored that you've heard of me," Jack said with a calm smile.
Henrik narrowed his eyes at Jack. "I heard that you disarmed two of my men," He replied while glancing over at the guard next to him. The guard keeping his glare fixed on Jack.
Jack looked down and laughed slightly before he looked back to Henrik. "In my defense I also rearmed them as well." He said.
Henrik did not find Jack's comment amusing as he continued to glare at him. "Yes...so you did. I've also heard from Jarle that you plan to help the queen control her powers."
"That is the plan," Jack said keeping his cool smile. "Isn't that a good thing though?" He asked.
"Normally yes, but she insists that no guards need to accompany her despite my protests." Henrik said with a hint of agitation in his voice.
"Well no need to worry, I'll be with her every step of the way, you can trust me." Jack said while motioning to himself.
Henrik let out a small huff. "Trust you?" He started with his voice rising slightly. "We almost lost our queen a few months ago and now you want to take her away again?"
"It's for her benefit," Jack said while crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I can assure you I only want to help, wither you believe me or not." He finished, a little agitation in his voice as well. So much for everything going smoothly, he thought.
Henrik regained his composure, folding his hands behind him he looked Jack in the eye. "Even if I did trust you, which I don't, how do we know that our queen will be safe if anything happened? The mountains can be a dangerous place." Henrik said.
Jack put his hands back in his pockets. "Well I'm no stranger to combat," Jack said with a cocky grin.
"Really? Care to prove it?" Henrik asked with a calm smile of his own.
"Sir, are you sure..." The guard standing by Henrik spoke up.
Henrik raised his hand to silence him before he could finish. "You want to be trusted, so here's a chance to earn some. So what do you say? A friendly spare between me and you?" Henrik asked while looking at Jack challengingly.
Jack looked Henrik up and down before he put on a grin. "Sure, sounds like fun." He said giving Henrik the same look.
Elsa laid her head down on the table in front of her with a soft groan. She had been up before sun rise to start preparations for her leave of absence, there was so much that needed to be done that she didn't even get the chance to eat breakfast. Rising her head up slightly and looking to her left she saw Anna in the same position as her. Since Anna would be taking over a good portion of the royal duties she had a lot to learn quickly before Elsa left with Jack. But the pace they were going at was exhausting for the both of them.
Jarle cleared his throat to get both of their attention. "Perhaps we should take a break. I think we could all use some food and chance to stretch our legs." He said while standing up and stretching.
Anna raised her hand without picking her head up. "Agreed," she said in tired voice.
With that Elsa and Anna both slowly got up and began heading down the hallways of the palace. Both very much needing the break and a chance to get some food.
"How can you do this every day?" Anna asked trying to shake off her sleepiness. She too had been since the crack of dawn which was extremely rare for the young princess.
"It's usually not this bad, it's only because I'll be gone for a while that there's this much to do." Elsa replied with a yawn.
"I really hope I don't screw anything up, there's so much I didn't even realize that has to be done." Anna said with a little worry in her voice.
"Jarle, Eirik and the rest of the council can handle most of it, but there needs to be a member of the royal family sitting on the throne. But you're better with the people then I am so I'm not worried at all." Elsa said reassuringly.
"I suppose so...plus.." Anna began as she stopped walking which caused Elsa to stop as well. "It's already worth it." Anna said happily as she looked down at her sister's uncovered hands. Anna was overjoyed this morning when she saw that her decided to no longer wear them.
Elsa looked down at her hands and smiled slightly as well. Before she got the chance to say anything Anna pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm just so happy," she heard Anna say into her shoulder.
Elsa lightly hugged her sister back. "I'm happy you're happy," she said softly.
As Anna pulled back Elsa noticed that the staff seemed to all be in a hurry headed somewhere. They were all talking quickly to each other, so much so that Elsa couldn't understand what any of them were saying but they all had excited looks on their faces. As an older maid was about to pass them Elsa reached out to get her attention.
"Excuse me but what's going on?" Elsa asked curiously. Her questioned causing Anna to look around and notice the commotion as well.
"My queen, princess," the maid started giving them a bow. "Henrik has challenged that new comer to a sparring match, there about to begin in the courtyard any moment now." She excited before she excused herself and headed off with everyone else. Elsa and Anna stood in silence for a moment, both of their eyes were wide at what they heard.
"WHAT!" They exclaimed in unison before following everyone else down the grand staircase and out the main doors of the palace.
Once outside Elsa jumped slightly at the crowd that had formed. A circle was formed around the courtyard with some staff members sitting on the fountains while guards were watching from the guard posts. Even some citizens had filled to see what was going on. Looking up over everyone Elsa saw two figures standing in the center of the crowd of people. One was Henrik and the other was Jack, both were wearing serious expressions. People were cheering for one or the other and some were even making bets.
"Elsa you have to stop them!" Anna said while grabbing her sisters arm.
Elsa thought it over for a moment before she turned to look at Anna. "I'm sure they both know what they're doing." She simply.
"What? You can't be serious?" Anna asked with a worried voice. She didn't want to see anyone getting hurt, especially in front of a crowd.
Elsa turned her gaze back to Henrik and Jack. "I want to see what he can do," Elsa said calmly. Anna looked at her sister and then slowly turned to the scene that was about to play out with a worried expression.
Henrik looked around the crowd and then back to Jack. "Word travels fast I see, hope this won't be a problem." Henrik said to Jack.
"Not at all, a crowd makes it more interesting," Jack replied with a smirk.
Henrik waved over a guard that was off to the side, he walked over holding two straightedge swords in his hands. He handed one to Henrik and then started walking over to Jack.
"Practice swords with dull blades of course," Henrik said while waving the sword around.
The guard held out the other sword to Jack. He looked at it for a moment and then waved off the guard. "No thanks, steel blades aren't really my things," he said coolly. The crowd around the pair began to buzz with questions.
"He's not going to use a sword?" A man asked in the crowd of people.
"Who does he think he is?" Another man scoffed.
The ones who had heard about Jack however were looking at each with concerned expressions. "I had a feeling you might decline," Henrik said composedly.
Jack held his right hand out as ice began to take shape and form in it. A cold chill blew through the courtyard as the ice continued to take shape until Jack was holding a sword that matched Henrik's, only this one was made of solid ice. "A practice sword with a dull blade of course," Jack said with a swing of his new sword.
The noise from the large crowd suddenly died out and silence filled the courtyard. Eye's were wide and mouths were open at what was just witnessed. This new comer was now standing in front of the captain of the guard holding a sword of ice that he created. Elsa looked around the stunned quite crowd, she knew that this would require some explaining, but for now she was to focused on Jack and Henrik.
"Wha...what?" Someone finally managed.
"Who is he?" A women asked with a shocked voice.
"How can he do that? Does he have magic like the queen?" A man shouted.
"Does the queen even know about him?" Another man cried out while pointing at Jack.
Jack heard all the questions that were flying around him but ignored all of them as he made a combat stance. Henrik in turn did the same thing, keeping his eyes locked on Jack. "Ready?" Henrik asked confidently.
Jack simply nodded before the two dashed at each other. They were off. The crowd shied back as Jack and Henrik swords found each other, a loud clank of ice on steel filled the courtyard. Even though most of the crowd was still in shock from seeing Jack form his sword, cheering began to be heard all around. Almost everyone was cheering on Henrik, but there were some cheering for the mysterious new comer. Jack cracked a smile while making eye contact with Henrik who replied with a smile of his own.
The two broke off and each took a step back. Henrik charged at Jack with his blade upheld, going to his foreswing and following it with a backswing. Jack dodged the first and met the second with his ice sword. The force of the attack sent his blade back, but not far enough to knock the blade free of his hands. Henrik struck again, pushing Jack back more. Henrik sent a arcing shot that Jack was barely able to dodge, the strike almost grazing the fabric of Jack's shirt at the midsection. It missed him by perhaps a centimeter.
Henrik staggered at his miss which allowed Jack to counter with a swing of his own. His ice sword missed, though not by much. Henrik managed another smirk, this time at the spryness of his dodge. Jack had to admit it was impressive, but this time, the sight only made him more determined to win as he continued his counterstrike.
Elsa and Anna both looked on with wonder at the match that was going. "I've never seen anyone fight against Henrik so well," Anna said with amazement. Elsa just nodded her head slowly, not breaking her gaze from the two combatants. She knew that Jack was good with his magic, but she had no idea that he was also a competent fighter. But he's not using any of his magic, she thought to herself. "I guess there's still a lot we don't know about him," Anna said softly as she continued to watch.
Jack dashed back at Henrik giving three quick strikes. The first two missed badly, but the third, a backswing off the one before it, found Henriks blade. The two were locked once again. Henrik grunted and pushed forward against Jacks sword causing him to jump back slightly. Henrik used this opportunity to feint to Jacks right and counter with a strike to the left. Jack realized he had no time to block it with his sword, and was about to raise his left hand and create a barrier of ice to block the attack but decided to jump back instead at the last moment. Jack stumbled backwards while Henrik prepared to strike him head on. Jack had just enough time to raise his sword before it connected with Henriks, without any balance, the force of the strike knocked Jack back and before he knew it he was on his back with Henriks sword pointed at him.
Jack let go of his sword and slowly put his hands up. "You got me," he said through breaths.
The crowd roared with cheers as Henrik put his sword away. He looked up and saw that the crowd was parting quickly as two figures were walking through the people.
"It's Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, everyone make a path." A guard yelled at the people. Everyone quickly jumped to the side and bowed as the sisters walked by until they were in the center.
"My queen, princess," Henrik said while bowing as well.
"I would bow to but I can't really get any closer to the ground," Jack said while gazing up at the pair.
Elsa looked down at him while trying to hide her amusement at seeing him in such a position. Anna quickly went to his side and helped him sit up. "Are you ok Jack?" She asked worriedly.
"Oh yea, just having some fun," Jack replied while rubbing the back of his head.
"I thought you would occupy yourself in town, not cause such a commotion." Elsa said to Jack with a raised eyebrow.
Jack looked up at her while trying to think of what to say, he didn't want to blame the whole thing on Henrik even though he was the one who challenged him to a sparring match. Not only did their match draw a lot of attention, he also revealed his powers to a good amount of people. Before Jack could say anything, Henrik spoke up first.
"That was actually my fault your majesty," Henrik said with some embarrassment in his voice. "I wanted to make sure that he could protect you so I challenged him. I apologize for the all the commotion." He finished, lowering his head slightly.
"And what do you think?" Elsa asked keeping her face expressionless.
Henrik looked down at Jack and then extended his hand to help him up. Jack accepted it and Henrik easily pulled him back to his feet. "Not bad...not bad at all," Henrik said with a smile while shaking Jacks hand. "Where did you learn to fight?" Henrik asked.
"Here and there, you have to pick it up quickly when you're traveling alone," Jack said casually while withdrawing his hand. "Although I was no match for you." He said.
Henrik let out a small chuckle. "Well to be honest I was expecting to be sparring while also dodging ice." Henrik said.
Jack let out a chuckle of his own. "Well you did say it was a sword fight, so I figured magic wouldn't really be fair." Jack reasoned.
Henrik laughed. "I suppose you're right. You know you're not so bad kid," Henrik said, he then slapped Jack on the back, the force almost knocking him back to the ground. Jack just gave him a weak smile.
Anna looked at the two with a soft smile, she was happy that there were no hard feelings between them. She looked around and jumped when she noticed that everyone was still watching them intently. She nudged Elsa with her elbow to get her attention. "I think everyone is waiting for an explanation," she said quietly.
Elsa looked around the crowd and jumped slightly as well, seeing that no one had left the courtyard yet. She made her way to the very center of the crowd, clearing her throat as she turned to address everyone. "I'm sure you all have a lot of questions about what you just saw," she began speaking in a professional tone. "I'm sorry that I won't be able to answer all of them. But what I do want to tell you is that yes, this man does have ice magic like myself." Elsa said.
Everyone is crowd began to look at each and speak in a hushed tone. A murmur of questions and comments began to fill the air as the people were stunned to find out about another person with magic. Elsa raised her hand to silence them. "I also want to assure you that he is here as a friend, he is going to help me with my powers. I'll be gone for a while, and while I am I'm leaving Anna in charge. I'm asking you all to trust me without knowing all the details." Elsa gazed out at the crowd of people, not really sure what kind of response to expect from them. She knew she was asking a lot but it was the best she could offer.
As another moment passed Elsa saw an short older man step forward out of the crowd. "If it's trust you need your majesty then I want you to know that you've always had all of mine." The man said with an adoring smile. Around the man others started agreeing and clapping until the whole crowd was cheering. Elsa smiled softly to everyone after hearing how much faith they had in her. I really am lucky, she thought while remembering what Jack had told her the previous night.
When the applause died down the guards began ushering people out of the courtyard while the maids and servants went back to their duties. Jack and Anna both walked up next to Elsa, the three of them watching the people cross the bridge as they headed back to their day.
"Good people live here," Anna said happily. Elsa and Jack both nodded their heads at her statement.
"My only question is.." Jack started while turning to look at Elsa. "If we're friends then how come you didn't ask if I was ok when I was laying on my back?" Jack asked flatly.
Elsa rolled her eyes at his question. "I was confident that you would be fine," she said while turning and walking back to the palace main door.
Jack turned to look where she went and gave her a puzzled look. "Was that a compliment?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Possibly," Elsa replied with a small grin before she looked at Anna. "Come on Anna, we still have much to do." She said.
"Ugh..do we have to..." Anna said with a groan as she walked over to Elsa's side.
Elsa looked to her and then back to Jack. "I trust you won't get into anymore fights?" Elsa said in a monotone voice.
"No promises your highness," Jack said with a smile.
Elsa gave Jack a dull look before turning and nodding at Henrik. Her and Anna then headed back into the palace to finish there preparations for Elsa's departure. Henrik walked up to Jack and put his hand on Jacks shoulder. "Maybe I should have been more concerned for your safety," he said with a laugh before he slapped Jacks back again. He then headed off to meet with the rest of the guards. With that Jack was now alone in the courtyard. He walked over to his ice sword that was still on the ground, picking it up, he looked it over before dissolving it into small ice particles. Looking up at the afternoon sky, Jack let out a small yawn. I can use a nap, he thought to himself before he headed back into the palace as well.