Finally an update and the longest chapter yet! Sorry for the delay, work has been getting in the way plus I'm getting ready to move in with my missus soon, nonetheless here we are with an update. So here we will get a Tangled crossover which isn't all that common among other Frozen fanfics, but this doesn't have Eugene and Rapunzel as the main focuses as such. You'll soon find out so without anything else to say, here we go...
Chapter 11
Heroes and Villains
There was a joke my Dad would say that no matter what royal family you met in Europe, they'd all be related to each other and in some ways, this was actually very true. For generations there have been tales of princes and princess being sent away to marry into another royal family in some far-off land far for either political, alliances, stability or for convenient sake to produce an heir, very rarely any that was of genuine love. The more I thought about it from when I started working as a servant, I felt sorrier for royals oddly enough as their lives were to be do nothing more than the above mentioned. Granted sometimes there are exceptions in which neither of the above matter and in the terms of Anna and Kristoff, a royal would instead choose a commoner for the sake of love. Sadly, there weren't many like those two out in the many kingdoms around the continent.
I'm going off a tangent here but to get back on topic about all the royals being related to each other, Arendelle's own royal family would be no exception to the rule as over in the kingdom of Corona, they had cousins over there and it would be they who would be paying us an overdue visit. It would be a day I wouldn't forget for very different reason, in mixed way too…
Waking up early as I normally did on a warm Friday morning, I was looking in the mirror while giving myself a shave. I was wearing only my black trousers as I hadn't got round to putting the rest of my clothes on as I wanted to make sure I didn't get any of the shaving foam on my clothes and I did take the chance to look at my physical appearance and was pleased to see that most of the bad bruising I had received from the Dahl brothers had now started to heal and I did feel a lot better.
"Can't keep me down so easily," I muttered quietly to myself looking very pleased at how I looked and there was a good reason for that. The reason was that today the prince and princess of Corona were making a visit and when it came to visiting guests, everyone had to look good wherever you were a royal or servant.
Then came the sound of knocking at the door and the sudden noise not only made me jump but nearly caused me to cut myself with the knife which would've a painful and embarrassing moment. "God damn it," I hissed angrily then looked over at the door. "Hello?"
"Are you up, Aiden?" Came the sound of Kai's voice.
"Hold on sir," I replied as I went over to get myself my button shirt for the day. Why was he here so early in the day?
As I scurried over towards the door, I opened it for Kai to enter though I noticed he had both his arms behind his back as if he was hiding something. "Is…everythin' alright, sir? Sorry I'm not fully dressed yet."
"No need to apologise," Kai assured me. "I would've guessed you were getting ready for the day ahead."
"Nae harm lookin' good for visitors," I replied. "Actually, what are their names again?"
"They are Princess Rapunzel and Prince Eugene," Kai answered.
I nodded. "Ahh, thanks for that but…why are ye here to see me?"
Kai then looked thoughtful at me. "Aiden, you know how long you've been working here for?"
"God, umm…six, no, seven months I think?"
"A short time here, but nonetheless you've done quite a lot round here since you started."
I gave Kai a confused look. "Uhm, what are ye tryin' to say? Did I do somethin' wrong?"
Kai then chuckled. "No, no dear boy, on the contrary, you've helped a lot regarding the royal sisters such as that vile countess, avoiding conflict between the sisters and the Dahl brothers and that's not including the many hours of work that you've done working here."
"Well…it's all nothin'," I replied sheepishly. "Just happy to put my duties for the Queen."
"As of a result, you'll be getting a bonus," Kai added and from behind his back and showing in one hand was a bagful of coins.
I felt my heart flip at this sudden surprise. "Wait, what? Hold on…I thought ye only got a raise say a year or two after ye started working as a servant?"
"You are correct with that and you would've followed just that, however this was requested by Princess Anna herself."
"Anna? W-what'd I do to get that?"
Kai seemed to find my shocked look rather amusing if the look on his face was anything to go by. "Funnily enough, nothing on this occasion that you did, but rather what, well, she did…"
Slowly the gears in my head began to work it out. "Hang on, is this regardin' about, ye know what…?"
"About the princess'…incident, with you on Sir Kristoff's birthday…? Yes," Kai agreed and briefly shuddered at the thought. Couldn't blame him for thinking of a princess vomiting down your front. "Sorry you had to experience that."
"No harm done," I offered. "She did learn a lesson I suppose…but anyway, back on topic."
Kai placed the bag of money on my bed. "According to Princess Anna, she wanted to apologise for what she did back then and wanted to make it up to you. Thus, this bonus."
"But I—"
"Not only that, she did take into account how much you had helped out as I've mentioned before and thought with all that in mind that you deserved this at least."
I was floored. I couldn't believe after what I had just heard. After all that had happened, was Anna serious about this? "I…Does Queen Elsa know about this?"
The overseer thought for a moment. "Now you mention, I'm not aware if Princess Anna mentioned this to her, I do hope she did though…"
"Bloody hope so," I muttered. "Feels like we're doin' some black-market stuff here."
Kai chuckled and briefly looked in the mirror to adjust his collar. "Speaking of which, I'd be careful with that stuff."
"How'd you mean?"
Kai then looked over with a troubled expression. "Have you heard of the news?"
"What news?"
"There have a been a number of reports about various criminal activities across Arendelle, worryingly a large number of them too."
"H…How long has this been goin' on for?"
Kai sighed and rubbed his chin. "Started two weeks ago I believe. Admittedly I didn't think much of it, but more and more have been reporting about break in's and valuables stolen from homes."
"Anythin' bein' done to stop this?" I inquired as I had one eye on the bag of money in case it was to suddenly disappear. "Can't believe I've not heard about this."
"Not only you," Kai admitted. "I didn't want to spread fear around the castle that anyone could be targeted. Nonetheless the Queen will be acting upon this crimewave and hopefully will put an end to it."
I was left numb by this sudden news. I could understand why Kai or even Elsa didn't want to cause panic among us royal staff members, but it did leave me conflicted how to feel about this.
"Sir…Ye don't think…?"
"That we could be targeted? We can never be too careful."
Then I realised something. "Hang about, why are ye tellin' me this and not anyone else?"
"Well that of course," Kai replied pointing over at the money bag on the bed. "I'd keep it in a safe place if I were you."
"Aye, good call sir," I muttered and went quiet then. While I was thankful to be warned about any potential situation, it did feel like it couldn't have come at a worst time with our royal visitors due to arrive today. God forbid they were to get caught up in any of this.
The mood had turned uncertain and all that sudden excitement that filled me when Kai gave me that money seemed to evaporate. Wasn't his fault for telling me, but now I had to put those fears and doubts to one side and prepare for the day ahead.
"See you later, Aiden. Remember to look sharp," Kai said, giving me a pat on my shoulder before leaving my room. Soon as he was gone, I said nothing but glanced over at my, hopefully not-to-be-stolen, new money bag and prayed hope that all those rumours about criminals would not trouble us.
How very wrong I was to be…
It wouldn't be until late in the afternoon in which the royals from Corona would arrive at Arendelle after a long journey by sea. A small entourage of guards were sent down towards the harbour to meet up with them and lead them to the castle while everyone else like myself there at the castle waited for their arrival.
Despite the fact I had lived in Arendelle for a good many years, I'm afraid to say my knowledge on the family tree of the Arendelle royals and any relatives that they have is poor due to the fact that for many years when Elsa and Anna were isolated behind those gates that me and Dad knew little about them and that I hadn't bothered to do any research about the extended family when I started working here. Looking back on the latter, it seemed a silly thing to leave out but all in all, I was about to see Elsa and Anna's relatives in the flesh, and I could only ponder what they might be like.
In the courtyard, I was standing at the bottom of the steps along side Kai and another servant called Tommy with our job being to collect the visitors' luggage and take it up to their room. We of course weren't the only ones there as up at the top of the stairs near the door were Elsa and Anna who were waiting with a look of trepidation and curiosity, not sure that look was either for the visitors or if they were aware of Arendelle's recent crimewave and that visiting royals would be an easy target.
What struck me though was the sight of not only a line of guards standing nearby awaiting the arrival, but also up on the battlements where several guards standing and watching for any suspicious activity in the area. While granted it was common to see many guards out whenever we had special visitors, but it seemed to occur to me that there were a lot more than usual. Was this to do with the crime wave or that this was a special case that the visitors were Anna and Elsa's cousins was unclear to me, either way it seemed no chances were being taken.
As we stood there waiting, Kai seemed like something was troubling him and he looked over towards Elsa and Anna in which they shared similar expression as if they knew something.
"You alright, sir?" I asked.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Kai sighed. "It's just…there is something rather awkward about the arrival couple from Corona."
"What'd ye mean? Has somethin' happened?"
"No, nothing like that. You see, do you remember when King Agnarr and Queen Iduna…passed away…?"
"A-aye, horrible what happened," I stuttered though I could see that whatever Kai was thinking of did make his eyes moist and even Tommy seemed concerned about him. "W…what do they have to do with the visitors?"
Kai then drew in a heavy sigh. "If…if you could remember what happened then, they were going to a wedding, that being—"
"Elsa and Anna's cousin's wedding?" I finished for him in which he lowered his head and nodded sadly. Even though I didn't know how much he knew the former King and Queen of Arendelle, their tragic passing at sea still seemed to affect him after all these years. "Sorry if I asked too much."
"No don't," Kai insisted. "It was just a terrible set of circumstances that had to happen then. Plus, with the fact that the niece they were visiting is arriving here today just makes it feel…"
"It's ok sir," I muttered quietly.
Just then Tommy, who had been quiet in all of this, suddenly spoke up. "Here they come, guys."
Sure enough almost on cue, a loud cry could be heard coming from the stone bridge shouting out, "Make way!" At long last our visitors were here. Flanked by two guards on mounted horseback on each side, a royal carriage emerged from the gates being led by two horses with a white horse tagging behind the coach and rather than focus on the occupants of the coach, I found myself draw to that white horse which seemed to scan the area for trouble and I was sure that this horse wasn't any of our own from the stables.
When I did look upon at the convertible coach was when I did get my first look of the royal couple. There was a brunette princess, being Rapunzel, who was wearing a simple yet pleasant looking cream dress and when I got a better look at her, I could see she had blazing green eyes. However it was her short hair that caught my attention as it was the strangest haircut you might've expected from a princess as it was spikey in places and seemed to be the result of what I could only assume was a rotten haircut. Poor girl.
On her other side was the prince, Eugene, and he too had brown hair that looked more natural if I say so myself, but he had a scruffy looking goatee that looked untidy in my opinion.
And I always thought Ivar's goatee looked pretty bad.
The man also had light brown eyes and wore a long black sleeved shirt with a dark purple sleeveless jacket on top and I couldn't help but noticed that by the way he was shuffling in his seat that he looked uncomfortable in his outfit.
Eventually the coach came to a stop by the stairs and Kai motioned me to open the door for the pair in which I shuffled over to do that task. "Welcome to Arendelle and watch your step please," I greeted in the politest tone I could muster.
Rapunzel was the first to exit from the coach and she smiled at me. "Thank you," she replied and then I noticed on her shoulder was a small animal, a green chameleon with big eyes, and Rapunzel seemed to notice my reaction to the little creature. "This is Pascal," she then added, and I swear I thought the chameleon gave me a wink.
At first I thought I was drunk that an animal could do that, but then again with Sven and the sight of this mysterious white horse eying up several people around the courtyard, I was starting to realise that intelligent animals like them seemed more common than I thought. So much for a sheltered life I've had all this time. Just shortly after Rapunzel exited, Eugene followed behind and gave me unexpected pat on the back and flashed a grin at me. Judging by his mannerism, he seemed anything like a prince so part of me was relieved that he wasn't one of those stuck up or backstabbing princes that Arendelle's had its fair share of late.
"Your highnesses," Kai then spoke up towards Elsa and Anna at the top of the stairs while just then Kristoff had joined them. "Introducing Princess Rapunzel and Prince Eugene of Corona."
It was likely the first time the cousins had met face-to-face and Rapunzel seemed unsure who to greet first, though thankfully it would be Elsa that, pardon the pun, who'd break the ice. "Welcome to Arendelle, Princess Rapunzel and Prince Eugene," she said regally in which she'd do whenever we had special visitors.
It wasn't the most excitable meeting of an extended family you'd imagine, then again with Anna and Elsa having little knowledge about their extended family, no thanks to them being isolated for all those years, it wasn't hard to imagine why they seemed reluctant.
Oddly enough though it would Pascal that help the mood in which Anna caught sight of him. "Oh! Is that a chameleon?" She asked excitedly and hurried down the stairs to get a better look at him and Rapunzel had no trouble in lifting him of her shoulder and placing him in her hands for Anna to gaze down at him.
If you remember, Anna loved animals so I should've known seen she was going to take an interest in the little chameleon as soon as she saw him, plus that look of childish wonder she had when gazing at the green chameleon pretty much said it all that she was hooked.
"This is Pascal," Rapunzel stated. "He's been my friend since I was a kid."
"How'd you get him?" Anna asked, still not taking her eyes of Pascal and I could see that the little creature was enjoying the attention and even began to change colour by blending in with Rapunzel's dress which made the crown Princess of Arendelle gasp in wonder. Just like a child seeing a new toy for the first time.
"I found him when entered my tower," Rapunzel replied.
"Huh? A tower?" Anna questioned, now looking up at her cousin.
Before we knew within a matter of seconds, their small talk about each other's past quickly extended into a full blown conversation about a variety of various topics from places, mad adventures they'd had and that they were happy to see each other as cousins, all going at a mile a minute I might add and while Anna's big mouth might've been annoying at times, it had worked wonders in helping get things off to a good start.
Thank you, Pascal, for helping out in a small way.
So much was Anna and Rapunzel's quickly blossoming friendship and happy discussion that they had forgotten about the rest of us who could only look on in slight amusement of just this and it would Eugene who cleared his throat to get their attention.
"Oh! Sorry about that!" Rapunzel apologised with a giggle and pulled her husband over alongside her. "Anna, I'd like you to meet my husband, Eugene Fitzherbert."
"Fitzherbert? What a bloody name," I chuckled quietly to myself, though I quickly shut up when I thought I saw the prince giving me a glare.
Luckily he didn't have time to respond when Anna rushed back up the stairs again and this time dragged a slightly embarrassed Kristoff down with her. "Rapunzel, Eugene, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Kristoff and up there—"
Just as Anna was about to introduce Elsa, suddenly there came a voice from behind Elsa and we all turned to look behind the Snow Queen and there running down the stairs towards Eugene and Rapunzel as much as his little legs could manage was a certain snowman…
"Hi! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!"
Eugene's eyes widened in shock. "Wha…Is that a…snowman?!"
"Yes," Elsa giggled at his reaction as she made her way down to join the rest. "I made him."
"She makes living snow creatures?!" Eugene stuttered and grabbed his wife's arm as if he feared Olaf would attack him. "How is that possible and…how has he not melted?!" Of course, the only thing that Olaf was capable of attacking you with was warm hugs, but I didn't say anything as I was finding Eugene's shocked reaction hilarious.
As more greetings and pleasantries were exchanged, this was when me, Kai and Tommy began to start unpacking the luggage on the back of the coach with Kai and Tommy working together by unloading a large heavy truck off the back while I carried off two suitcases along with them. However just as we finished doing that, the white horse suddenly got right in front of our faces and we were left stock-still not knowing how to react as the horse first stared us down, then began to sniff each of us.
First he checked Tommy, then Kai and finally me in which it looked like it was looking for something, though I did notice that the horse had it's riding gear on and under it's neck there was a pendent that spelt out the word 'Maximus'.
After sniffing and checking me, the white stallion seemed satisfied and displayed a proud look to the royals.
"Don't think anything of it," Eugene grinned at the three of us. "Maximus' just checking to make sure you're not spies or bandits."
Tommy spluttered in disbelieve. "Spies?! I damn well work here!"
Maximus then displayed a pouted expression on his muzzle as if he had been insulted and Rapunzel noticed this. "Well…you can never too careful and he's only doing his job after all." She then began stroking Maximus' muzzle. "You are such a good boy, aren't you?"
Maximus neighed happily and it became clear to us that the horse was a rather vain and proud animal who was total contrast to the rather chilled out Sven. I even wonder if he'd wanted to stay in the stables if it wasn't up to his standards.
It was then that Eugene's comment of bandits made me realise something. "Are they aware of the crimewave in Arendelle?" I whispered to Kai and he shook his head in response.
Before we could say anything else, Elsa called out. "Aiden."
"Yes, your highness?" I replied.
"I'd like you to lead our guests to their room please."
"Very well, your highness."
With that said while carrying the suitcases with me, I motioned the prince and princess to follow me inside the castle, while Maximus sat there and eyed me suspiciously as we left. That horse was really starting to creep me out.
And so we entered the castle and I led them towards the wing of the castle in which was where usual visitors to Arendelle castle were sent to and at this point there is one rule that I think I might bring up whenever a servant interacts with visiting royalty or someone of an upper-class nature. The rule is pretty much simple and one that is drilled into you when you start training as a servant, lead the visiting guests to their room while not engaging in any small chat and only speak to them whenever they are expected for a meeting with the Queen; apparently most members of the upper class didn't have the time or even wanted to chat with servants which did feel rather petty in my view.
Though I could tell that Eugene and Rapunzel from these first impressions were nothing like those snooty types and seemed happy enough for such small talk, it wasn't right for some servant to strike up a conversation, though it would be them who'd break the silence as they noticed something through one of the many windows down in the courtyard.
"Thought that would happen," Eugene sighed.
"Don't tell me. Maximus?" Rapunzel asked.
Taking a quick glance over to what the royal couple were looking at, there was Maximus being led to the castle's stables by three staff members, however they weren't having any luck bringing him in as the proud stallion didn't look impressed by his living quarters. To this day I still have never seen a horse act like that for any stables.
"Hey bud," Eugene called over to me.
I was taken of guard as I didn't know how to greet other royalty other than Elsa and Anna. "Um…aye yer highness?"
"Is there any other stable that he might like?" Eugene inquired.
"Um…not really, those are the only one's here, so…yeah."
Rapunzel sighed thoughtfully. "He'll get use to it, then again him having his own private stable back home probably wasn't a good idea as it did go to his head."
This caught my attention. "Beg pardon but…his own stable?"
"Well of course," Rapunzel smiled as we carried on walking. "He is the captain of the guard's horse and he did a lot to help me and Eugene to be who we are today."
"T…that horse did somethin'?"
"How can I forget!" Eugene chuckled. "He chased me around like no tomorrow which ended up me finding Rapunzel when she was locked away in a tower."
I was left clueless by where this was going and the two of them seemed to sense that. "Ok…long story," Rapunzel began telling of how she and Eugene met which was probably the strangest get together you'd expect from royalty, then again there was the tale how Anna and Kristoff got together so I suppose it's a trope that runs in the family.
For the next minute they then told me a lot from the fact that Rapunzel once had long golden hair that, believe me here, had powers to heal and make people younger. However, when she was a baby, she was kidnapped from the palace by a wicked woman known as Mother Gothel who would raise Rapunzel as her own and to hoard her powers to keep her young, never once letting Rapunzel to know about her past. What a bitch.
Then Eugene had an interesting back story of his own to tell in which he mentioned he was raised in an orphanage and then took on a life of thieving and went by alias of 'Flynn Rider'. He went out claiming that he stole a crown than by a coincidence was in fact Rapunzel's crown and that after being chased by guards and one certain Maximus, he found the lost princess in her tower and made a deal for her to see these floating lanterns she always wanted to see. Anyway, much hijinks and one thing leading to another, they eventually got together and were now married.
And there was I thinking that Anna and Kristoff's adventure took some beating.
As they finished most of the details in their story, I was left quite stunned by it all. "Wow…that's...really somethin' yer highnesses."
As we neared their room, Eugene was giving me an odd look. "You're not from here, are you?"
Here we go again…
I sighed. "No, I'm from Scotland originally but I've lived here for most o' my life."
"That's a place near England, right?" Rapunzel's grin appeared and I was taken aback at the fact that someone was right!
THANK YOU!
"Aye…that ye. Normally I correct idiots who get it wrong but it's nice to know some people know their stuff." I paused as something about the name 'Flynn Rider' that Eugene mentioned earlier seemed to ring a bell. "Hang on a minute, sir…."
"Yes?" Eugene replied.
"Flynn Rider," I began. "I'm sure I've heard that name from somewhere…wait…is it based on, what's it called again…somethin' tales—Oh, what I remember! 'The Tales of Flynnigan Rider?'"
The brunette man's face lit up with joy. "No way! You got that book too?!"
"My Dad used to read it to me when I was a kid," I remembered. "Never thought I'd meet someone else who liked it. What bit did you like in it, yer highnesses?"
"Oh boy where to begin!" Eugene chuckled and just like what happened with Rapunzel and Anna earlier, me and Eugene began chat a mile a minute about our favourite moments from those stories and it must've been quite the strange picture to visualize. Two grown men, one a former thief now a prince and a common as muck servant boy, were geeking out over a childhood book while Rapunzel was stuck there in the middle with a look of 'Great, there's two of them now.'
After all that, we finally ended up at the door leading to their room and I lowered one of the suitcases to open the door up for them. "Here ye go, make yerself's at home yer highnesses."
Eugene then rested himself on the doorframe and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Hey, look here Aiden, how about you drop the whole 'highness' thing and just call us by our names just?"
"Huh, ye sure about that?" I questioned, only Anna had ever told me to do just that.
"Sure of course," Eugene grinned. "Anyone who knows about Flynnigan Rider means a hell of a lot to me, plus I've never liked that whole 'highness' crap to begin with."
"Eugene," Rapunzel's voice called from inside the room which made me chuckle.
"Anyway then," I began clearing my throat. "Dinner with the Queen will be within an hour's time so please remember to be down there for then."
"Thank you, Aiden," Rapunzel replied.
I found myself smiling. "So…I'll leave ye two to settle in and…yeah."
With nothing else to say I headed off down the corridor where I found Kai and Tommy carrying the heavy truck up the stairs in which I quickly pointed out to them where Eugene and Rapunzel were residing in. For once it felt good to know that there were royals out there that weren't stuck up buffoons and that those two seemed to treat me as a person and not as mud under their shoes.
However, I realised that amidst all the chat I managed to get on with them, I forgotten to tell them about the news of Arendelle's sudden crimewave. I did debate with myself that if even telling special guests about recent problems in this kingdom was really a good idea and not to get them worried. My only hope that their visit would be trouble free…
That evening the royals from Corona were having dinner in the main dining hall with Elsa, Anna and Kristoff and so far it had all gone well with Rapunzel and Anna getting on like a house on fire and Kristoff getting on well with Eugene, though the former didn't seem to appreciate some of Eugene's past exploits of thieving. Even Elsa was enjoying herself after she had finished an important bit of paperwork for this visit was more than just a jolly for the guests. Previously Arendelle and Corona had close relations with their respected royal families, however following the tragic death of the former King and Queen or Arendelle, relations between the two kingdoms went into a state of flux. Following Elsa's coronation however, there was now the chance to mend relations and Rapunzel and Eugene had been sent out to agree on the deal for future trade and other political jargon in which I won't go too much into detail with.
It was a surprise to many of us that this wasn't their first visit to Arendelle for both Rapunzel and Eugene had been here to represent Corona and had hoped for meet up, then came Elsa's sudden great freeze and…well, you know the details by now.
"Looking back on, I can laugh about it now," Rapunzel said to Elsa as they chatted about their previous visit while I was handing out the dessert courses.
"Wouldn't say so really," Elsa answered with a thoughtful expression. "I'm still amazed people are willing to forgive me after all that."
"No one got hurt though, maybe a but chilly though," Rapunzel noted. "But that's all in the past now, cousin."
Elsa sighed. "I suppose so…"
I had just then handed over Eugene's course when he gave me a friendly thumbs up. "Thanks, Aiden."
"Uh, no problem yer high—I mean, Eugene," I said sheepishly, and this did not unnoticed by Elsa and Anna.
"Is something going on?" Elsa questioned.
My eyes darted back and forth. "Uh, well…"
"It's ok I gave him permission to do so," Eugene answered for me. "This guy knows about the tales of Flynnigan Rider! Amazed to find a servant who's knows about it!"
The two Arendelle sisters bore looks of bemusement about what on earth Eugene was talking about, clearly they hadn't read that book, though Kristoff rubbed his chin in thought. "Actually…that does sound…"
But before he could finish his sentence, one of our maids, Mary, came rushing into the room gasping for air after running from wherever she had come from. "Your highness! Oh, good heavens!"
"What's wrong?" Elsa asked and rose up from her seat.
Mary was breathing heavily and looked hysterical over whatever had happened. "T…There's been a…break in…and Kai's badly injured!"
My heart stopped when I heard Kai was in trouble and everyone else at the table now stood up in shock while ice began to form around the room from Elsa indicating that she was disturbed by this news. "Where did this happened and where is Kai?!" Elsa demanded.
"T-the servant's quarters…it all happened there!" Mary stammered with tears starting to flow down her cheeks.
Without a further warning, everyone else ran out of the room towards the servant's quarters while Dominik, one of the other servants working alongside me during that moment, stayed behind to comfort the distressed Mary. I did think to help a fellow colleague there, but hearing Kai was in trouble made me determined to help him out.
As we headed through the many corridors towards that area, commotion could be heard from other members of staff who all couldn't comprehend what had just happened and to sum it all up, the whole castle felt like it had been turned on it's head and it was likely it had never experience something like this before. As we did head down into the lower reaches of the castle in which the servant's quarters were located, the rare sight of royalty heading down there only added to situation and a thousand thoughts were going through my mind over what we were to expect.
When we got there, it was worse than I thought.
The servant's quarters was a long stone corridor in which had many different rooms for each of the royal staff members living in the castle, but I and for those who arrived there that wasn't important as we all soon looked towards a small group of servants and maids gathered around something on the ground and looking flustered. It was soon revealed that that the something on the ground was a badly injured Kai and there was a gasp by the princesses in which it was seen that Kai had been struck on the head with something and was bleeding badly with a trail going down his face.
"Oh my God, Kai!" I cried and rushed forward to help him along with the others, thankfully he was conscious groaning in pain but needed treatment quickly. Thankfully Doctor Rowan, the castle's doctor, was trying his best to heal the injured overseer.
"What's happened here?" Elsa demanded as she stared at the other staff members there, her eyes showing growing fury within them.
"Some gang of criminals broke in, your highness!" Called out a servant coming out of one of the rooms. "Kai tried to stop them but…"
He didn't need to say anything as he looked down at Kai as me and some others helped him to one of the rooms to recover and just then frost began to develop around the corridor, no prizes as to guessing who was having anxiety.
"Why did they come down here for?" Anna muttered in disbelieve. "Why here of all places?"
It was a very valid question as the servant's quarters' was not the first place you'd expect when someone was trying raid a castle, though it was only when I got a better look down the corridor when the magnitude of the damage as these criminals had done. Almost every door leading to all the bedrooms here had been broken into and I horrible thought struck me in which I realised that my room would be no different to the rest and as I ran out of that room and towards my own, my worst fears were realised.
To say it had been turned upside down would be an understatement as the room looked like a pack of wolves had ravished it. The bed had been ruined and a cabinet with some draws had been dragged out and their contents all scattered all over the room as if they had been looking for something. Then I began looking frantically for something important that Kai had given me that day…
That money bag was gone.
It was an awful moment that after what looked like an unexpected treat for me had been yanked away in the cruellest of fashions and you're possible wondering where I might've hidden it. Well, it was pretty stupid…under the bed.
Yeah, looking back on it with hindsight it wasn't the best place to put as it might've been found by anyone, let alone some criminals, but it was a right kick in the teeth knowing that my money had been stolen. The only consolation I had as I shuffled out my room looking depressed was that other members of staff I could hear were all bemoaning that they had all too suffered similar fates with what I heard.
"My anniversary gift for my wife has gone!"
"They've stolen my grandmother's earrings!"
"All my prized valuables have gone!"
Those were just some of the things I heard, and I looked over to one certain room nearby my own which belonged to Ivar and I felt bad for him. The guy was away on his honeymoon (if you remembered that he married the butcher's daughter after his little…incident) and was completely oblivious to the fact that belongings that he owned had been plundered. Poor bastard was going to have the worst news when he returned.
Looking to the other end of the room, the captain of the guard and several of his soldiers had now arrived and Elsa was going over what had just happened and by her angry expression, she was far from happy at how there was now criminals somewhere in the castle.
"How can you let this happen?" Elsa angrily asked.
"Your highness, how they got in was an utter fluke," the captain of the guard responded. "We've had guards stationed all around the castle…it appears though we may have underestimated that a way in through the servant's quarters might've been possible."
Elsa may had been a head shorter than the captain, but the fury that was growing in her blue eyes would've made any brave man tremble and the sharp drop in the corridor said a lot how she felt. "Look, I don't care how they might've got in or where they are now in the castle…find them, now!"
I sheepishly walked past and towards Eugene and Rapunzel who looked more confused than anything about what was going on and that I felt rather sorry for them that they had been forgotten about by Elsa and Anna. "Look…I'm so sorry about all this…"
"What are you sorry about? You've done nothing wrong," Eugene replied.
I bit my bottom lip as I had to tell them about the crimewave. "Earlier on…I should've told ye about somethin' that has been happenin' in Arendelle of late and not of the good kind."
"Like what?" Rapunzel asked.
"We've had a crimewave," I confessed. "I didn't want to tell, or actually not sure if I was allowed to tell ye to begin with, about this as ye might've thought twice about the place…Christ, it had to all happen at a worst time too…"
The two visiting royals looked at me with sympathise expressions, then looked over towards Elsa, Anna and Kristoff in a small huddle chatting about what to do about the chaos that had happened (the captain of the guard and his forces had since left). "Wouldn't feel too bad about it," Eugene said thoughtfully. "I suppose it does add a bit of excitement on this trip."
"Erm, I wouldn't exactly think of it as that," I replied.
Rapunzel was rubbing the side of her head and I thought she was having a sudden headache or something. "Are ye ok, babe?" Eugene asked.
Then her blazing green eyes widened and a large grin appeared on her face. "Of course! I've got it!"
"Got what?" Kristoff asked with Elsa, Anna and some of the remaining staff members hanging about the corridor.
"I know someone who can help us, be right back!" Rapunzel replied happily and quickly ran back down the corridor to wherever she was going and the rest of us were all left confused. At this moment someone should've asked for Rapunzel to have a guard with her as there was the likely chance she'd be caught by dangerous criminals, but instead all eyes turned on Eugene.
"Where is going and what is this all about?" Elsa inquired.
Eugene though placed his hands on his hips and gazed at the ground saying nothing but trying to figure it out for himself. Then after a moment of thinking about it, it dawned on him and his eyes widened. "Oh…Oh, of course! Why'd didn't I think of that before?!"
"Think what?!" I asked frustratedly wanting to know what on earth was going on. Eugene though didn't need to say anything as not long later, his wife would return (thankfully in one piece) but in tow she brought down into the corridor was a certain white stallion…
"A horse?" Anna eyed suspiciously, though Maximus would let out an undignified snort.
"Not just any old horse is Maximus," Rapunzel corrected. "He can help us out who did this and where they are now."
Exactly how of horse was going to help us, let alone how Rapunzel managed to get such an animal inside the castle was a mystery, but that the latter wasn't really something that crossed out minds admittedly. The Snow Queen pondered for a moment what to make of it, but then she realised she might've had little choice. "Ok then…let's see what he can do."
The moment she said that, Maximus began his sniffing routine he had done earlier on me and began going around the corridor like a trained dog more than anything, it was unlike anything you'd seen a horse do and it became something a strange spectacle as Maximus did his thing. He carried on towards near the end of the corridor and stopped in his tracks as he saw something that had caught his attention and began neighing at his find.
Many of us headed down to where the white stallion was and when we got there, he was looking at a medium sized window that had been smashed. As I peered through the smashed window that it became clear that this was the way the criminals had managed to get through as not only was it just big enough to fit someone through it, but that it proved to be a sneaky way into the castle that wasn't thought possible.
While the servant's quarters was built looking out to the fjord and with it being a vertical brick wall on the outside, there was a small rocky beach area by where the window was the only section that anyone could've gotten in and the rocky beach led all the way around the base of the castle towards the stone bridge. How anyone had failed to notice this secret way into the castle seemed strange but one that I assured that Elsa would not allow this to happen again.
"Good boy, Max!" Rapunzel gushed and stroked the stallion's nuzzle and Maximus looked very proud of his efforts and even I swear flashed a raised eyebrow at us.
"That's solved how they got in," Anna muttered. "But where are they now?"
Soon as she said that, Maximus began sniffing his way down the corridor and then suddenly sensed something before taking off in a quick dash.
"Follow him!" Elsa ordered at me in which I nodded and took chase to catch up with Maximus up the stairs and into upper reaches of the castle.
Despite the stairs up from the servant's quarters might've not been built with horses in mind, it was astonishing that Maximus managed it like the grace of a dancer, and it was then I was starting to realise that Maximus was more than just any old horse. As I followed him into one of the corridors, there was many surprised looks from staff at the sight of some horse sniffing and scanning round looking for clues and I ignored any questions from them asking me what was going on as I was hoping to keep up with Maximus.
For the next few minutes, up and down several corridors he went acting like a deranged homing pigeon with his eyes showing absolute concentration, until then we all heard a grunt from one such corridor and Maximus sniffed the air and stopped dead. His nuzzle broke into a triumph smirk and bolted off round the corridor with such speed that I didn't even noticed that he was gone.
"God, I need to work out more," I groaned and chased after Maximus down the corridor. Then I heard shouting and the cry of a neigh in which seemed to indicate that Maximus had found something.
Then as I ran around the corner, Maximus pounced forward on two individuals dressed in all black and with the force of his front hooves, he sent them crashing to the ground along with their respected bags of loot which soon scattered across the floor.
I couldn't believe it; this damn horse had done it! The criminals were groaning in pain having hit the wooden floorboards with such a force and it seemed more painful for them as Maximus had his two forehooves pressed down on the two scoundrels making sure they wouldn't get away so easily.
"Oh! Uh…well done, Maximus," I stuttered in admiration as Maximus neighed happily that he had proven his worth to us. Not a bad thing that he had joined Eugene and Rapunzel on this trip after all.
There was nobody else there in that corridor but us, though it wouldn't be too long until everyone else would join us and I took the opportunity to look down the criminals. As I said before they were dressed in all black and were both young males not much older than me with one being a redhead and the other a brunette. They also wore bandit type masks which covered their mouths yet as they looked up at me I could see that they knew the game was up and that there was no way out, not including the fact they were being pinned down by a crazy stallion.
"Oh God, the Dahl brothers are gonna kill us for this!" The brunette lamented angrily.
"After all those great raids, in the end, we get beaten by a damn horse!" The blonde added with a groan.
At least now I knew that these were the two responsible for Arendelle's recent crime wave, yet the news they were connected to the dreaded Dahl brothers sent a shiver up my mind and the sight of Kai's horrendous injury only brought back bad memories of that infamous New Years night. I didn't seem to know how long time went past as I spent most of the time taking it all in when suddenly heard voices coming from behind.
"Maximus?" Eugene called out as I heard his voice getting closer before then he rounded the corner to see us. "Are you guys all…wow…"
"Wow indeed," I added. "That bloody horse of yours is truly somethin' else. Where can ye find more like him?"
The prince didn't get the chance to say anything as Rapunzel, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and several guards all found us and like me before couldn't believe that the criminals had been halted by Maximus.
"Who are these guys?" Kristoff asked.
"Don't know exactly but I believe these are the guys responsible for what's happened and across Arendelle," I confirmed.
The look on Elsa's face though was a picture, for someone who welded strange ice magic, made a living snowman and had a potential brother-in-law that could talk to reindeers, even the sight of a stallion catching thieves easy as that was a new one on her. She leaned over towards Rapunzel and muttered, "I can see why he is something special."
Two guards walked other and handcuffed the two crooks though I did have to hold back a giggle when the guards didn't even seem to batter an eyelash at Maximus and the stallion wasn't pleased that he wasn't getting any attention for his actions and glared at them in disgust.
Note to self, always give thanks to animals no matter how smart they are.
With all this going on, I hadn't noticed the amount of belongings that once had been in the loot bags were now all scattered all over the floor in which many were belongings from staff members, but I had my eye on once such item and I made a beeline over to collect it. My money pouch.
I was thankful as I roughly weighed it that nothing seemed to be lost. "Thank God my bonus is safe again," I said to myself thinking no one heard it.
"What bonus?" Elsa suddenly called out and as I looked over at the Queen, many eyes were on me, all except Anna who looked away sheepishly biting her bottom lip and fiddled around with one of her braids.
It became clear that the silly princess had forgotten to tell her sister about this gift and that any secret deals with money without any notice of the Queen would land me in hot water. "Uh…well…" I quickly pointed to Anna. "She did it, ask her!"
And I ran out of the way and down the servant's quarters before anyone could react to what I had just said. Anna would have to tell her sister what this all about, but it would prove not to matter in the end as not only as a dangerous raid in the castle been halted, so too would Arendelle's crimewave would go down almost overnight…and it was all thanks to that horse, Maximus. Nothing like a good breaking and entering story, eh?
There we go, Maximus shows what he can do! To me, Maximus stole the show in that film and I've always wanted to try my hand at doing something with him. Anyway until then, catch you round for the next update, we are nearly there with the story...
