Ch. 14
The kingdom of Arendelle was in uproar. The news about a possible war was roaming through the streets.
Their , supposed-to-be new ally, the kingdom called Aeromath had called war upon them. Jack told the people to calm down and that he would come up with...
"A plan..." Muttered Jack.
He was standing in his study, looked out of the window. Rain was falling down from the sky. Before they knew it summer would be over. He would miss it, but this time next year would be summer too.
A knock on his door caught him out of his thoughts.
"Jack?" Elsa peaked out from behind the door.
"Come in." Said Jack.
Elsa walked in. Jack's eyes immediately went down to her stomach. In the last few months Elsa surely got a bit...bigger.
She stopped in front of his desk. "So...how are you doing?"
"I'm..." Jack noticed his voice sounded a bit hoarse. He coughed a few times before speaking up again. "I'm okay, I guess."
Elsa noticed how worried he looked. And tired.
"Jack, you should really get some rest. You-"
"We are waiting for a response from Aeromath. If not, then we are setting up troops around Arendelle."
"Ja-"
"Arendelle has a big army. We actually have a change of winning this."
"JACK!"
Elsa suddenly stood next to him. She grabbed him roughly by his shoulders.
"Get some rest..." Elsa muttered. "Please...I can't bear to see you like this." She hung her head low.
Jack's eyes widened. She was right. He was forgetting how important he was to others. His eyes softened. He put his hand under her chin and lifted her head up.
"Sorry, Snowflake." Said Jack. "I'm just...just too stressed about all of this."
"It's all my fault." Whispered Elsa. "If I..."
"It's not. He had bad intentions from the start. You couldn't have done anything. You..."
The door swung open as a guard ran into the room.
Elsa and Jack quickly stepped away from each other.
"Your majesty!" Yelled the guard. "We've captured a spy from Aeromath! We found him hidden onto one of our boats!"
"A spy? Where is he?" Said Jack.
"He is in the chambers in one of our cells of course. Would you like to speak with the culprit?"
Jack nodded.
"Then follow me."
Jack followed, along with Elsa close behind him. They went down the stairs to the cells and stopped in front of the cell in which they could make out a silhouette of someone. That person stepped out of the shadows into the lights. It was a man with brown scruffy hair and dark eyes. He was wearing clothing that looked like it was bought centuries ago.
"Well, I'll be damned." Said the man.
"This man, identified as Richard Stol, was on one of our ships." Said the guard.
"Oh, can't I introduce myself to the king and queen?"
"What were you doing on our land?" Asked Jack, ignoring the man's remarks.
Richard snickered. "Oh...does it really matter? Soon this land belongs to Aeromath."
Jack kept a cold glare on the man. He was not even blinking once.
"Again, what were you doing here?"
"I..." Richard put his hand onto his chest. "Was addresses with an assignment."
"An assignment?" Elsa, who had been hiding behind Jack, finally stepped forward. "What kind of assignment?"
Richard looked up and down her body. He licked his lips and grinned malicious.
"Whoa, now I know why our king wants you! You are truly one hell of a-"
Jack lunched forward and punched him through the bars.
Richard cursed and grabbed his nose.
"You don't have the right to talk to her like that." Said Jack. "Especially to a queen."
"Geez, I get it..." Blood dripped from his nose. It was probably broken. His hands were covered in his own blood. He was still holding his nose as he spoke.
"The assignment was to eliminate the upcoming heir."
Elsa felt her feet become cold.
"The heir?" Asked Jack.
"Yes, our king wants her to bear his children. He told me to kill the child when it would be born. However, I wanted to be more creative and murder it while it's still in the womb. But king Adrian told me that she wouldn't be able to bear them anymore."
"That sick bastard..." Jack clenched his fist.
"I...I need some fresh air..." Elsa whispered and she ran away.
Jack glared at the man. That Adrian would go this far...now the guy was a threat to his wife...Anna, Kristoff, Tooth, Sandy, Aster, Kai, Gerda, Elsa...everyone he knew wasn't safe from the man. Jack had to come up with a plan. Especially now that no one he knew was safe...
"Guard!" He suddenly turned around to face the guard behind him.
"Yes!" The guard jumped up.
"Get every council member to the council room! Now!"
"Yes, your majesty!" The guard ran off, leaving Jack behind with the man.
"You won't be able to protect them." Said Richard.
Jack walked off, leaving the man behind. Richard screamed after him about how weak Arendelle was, but Jack wasn't bothered to turn around.
Elsa stood inside the stables. She went outside for a second, but forgot that it was raining. So she quickly went inside the stables.
She saw Sven chewing on some carrots. Elsa walked over to hem and petted him on his head. Sven made a sound and nuzzled with his nose against her blue dress.
"So, Sven." Said Elsa. "You like carrots, hm?"
She kneeled down and carefully grabbed a carrot. She held it by the moose's mouth. Sven immediately pulled it out of her hand and gnawed it down.
"Good boy..."
"HEY!"
Elsa jumped up when she heard another voice from behind her. She turned around to see Kristoff.
"Oh, Kristoff...you almost gave me a heart attack!"
Kristoff laughed awkwardly and scratched his head. "Sorry...but it is cute how you're bonding with my buddy here."
"I wasn't exactly bonding..." Elsa wiped her long, loose hair back. Kristoff noticed how wet she was.
"Did you...?"
"Yes, I went outside into the rain. I needed some air, but I forgot that it was raining."
"You forgot?" Kristoff chuckled, but stopped quickly when he saw Elsa's worried face. "Are you okay?"
"Just heard from a spy we caught that king Adrian wants to kill my baby, so yeah, I'm okay."
"Wha..." Kristoff was at a loss for words.
Elsa chuckled dryly and leaned against a pillar. "I just want this all to end. Jack is not sleeping well, I can see it... He is a good king...he worries about the safety of everyone. Me too...but..."
"Don't worry!" Said Kristoff all of a sudden. "I will protect you, along with Anna."
"I heard you planning to marry her." Said Elsa.
Kristoff blushed a little. "Uh, yeah...I am. I even got Jack's permission, so after the war, I'm going to propose."
"Good for you." Elsa stretched her arms out. "Well, I am going back to the castle. The cold isn't good for the baby."
"Says the ice queen." Said Kristoff.
Elsa smiled and rolled with her eyes. She walked off, but as she passed Kristoff she heard him say:
"You are a very strong woman, Elsa."
She stopped for a second. "I'm not strong, I'm stubborn."
Kristoff stared after her as Elsa walked off. Sven looked up from his carrots and tilted it's head in confusion.
Jack was with the council in the room. They were standing around a big table with the usual map of Arendelle laying on it.
"I have a plan, gentlemen." Said Jack. He put his hand down onto the table. "We need to put a camp up close to Aeromath. There we might be able to attack them and weaken their defenses."
"That might be a good plan, sir, but what about the citizens?" Asked one of the men. "You must be expected to engage in battle if needed."
Jack looked down. "Queen Elsa will be in charge while I'm gone."
"What if we get attacked?"
"I don't suppose we will get attacked at this point. King Adrian must prepare more if he really wants a war."
"I see..." Said another man. "Then let us prepare."
The next morning Anna skipped through the big hallways. She was humming happily. Dating Kristoff was the best thing ever. He was such a good catch! She didn't even remember why she was in love with Hans in the first place. Maybe it was because she never understood love?
Anna shook her head. She skipped further and stopped in front of Jack's bedroom. He was always such a sleeper.
Time to wake him up.
Anna wanted to knock on the door, but suddenly she heard a few voices yell against each other.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!"
"I'M TELLING YOU NOW, AREN'T I?!"
Anna leaned with her head against the door. She could hear Elsa and Jack argue.
"I want you to stay, dammit!" Yelled Elsa.
"This is something I need to do for the kingdom!" Yelled Jack.
"THEN WHAT ABOUT ME?! WHAT ABOUT YOUR FAMILY!"
Anna flinched when she heard something break. It sounded like glass or something.
The door opened up. Anna stepped back in surprise. Elsa was in the doorway. Her eyes were red and her hair was messy. She was wearing her usual ice dress.
"Anna?!" Elsa her eyes widened. She then shook her head and pushed Anna out of the way. She ran away from her through the hallway.
"Elsa!" Jack ran out of the door, but Elsa was already gone. He stopped in his tracks and looked over at Anna.
"W-what happened?" Asked Anna confused.
"Well..." Jack bit down onto his lip. He hadn't told Anna yet. Or even the citizens. But this was his sister. He wanted her to hear it before everyone would start gossiping. "I...I and the guards are going to set up camp close to Aeromath. We might be able to weaken their army if we take them on."
"T-then...you're going to battle?" Asked Anna. Her lip started to tremble.
"Not for long. Just a couple of months."
Anna swallowed hard. She knew that Jack might go to battle one day. But she never thought that it would be so soon.
She gathered herself up. She shouldn't cry. Especially now. Jack was trying his best to save everyone. She should be strong in this time.
Jack pulled Anna in a hug. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"Really?" Asked Anna with a small voice.
"Really."
Elsa ran all the way into the town. She ran into the bakery of Tooth.
"Ah, Elsa!" Said Tooth as the girl ran into the store. Her smiled faded though when she saw how sad Elsa looked.
Tooth immediately ran towards her. "Elsa what's wrong?" Asked Toothiana with concern.
"Jack...he..." Elsa couldn't speak any further. She tried her best to hold her tears back. Every customer in the bakery was staring at their queen.
Toothiana grabbed her arm. "Let's talk somewhere private."
"Okay." Said Elsa.
Toothiana took Elsa to the small kitchen in the back room. She pulled out a chair and sat Elsa down. She herself sat down in front of the girl.
"So, now we're away from those prying eyes..." She handed Elsa a small napkin. Elsa took it and blew her nose and dried her tears.
"What happened?" Asked Tooth.
Elsa stared at the ground. "I...Jack...he...he is going to take down the defenses of Aeromath. With a portion of our guards..."
Toothiana kept silent as Elsa looked up at her with tears in her eyes.
"We got into a fight..." Elsa whispered. "I mean, what do you expect? Just when our livest...it looks like everything is going fine...then this happens...I just wanted to live a long and happy life with Jack...not this. He is going to leave me...what if he doesn't come back?"
"Elsa..." Whispered Tooth. "I'm sure..."
"Don't try to calm me down. We all know how this-"
The door suddenly opened up. Jack stepped into the room. He was holding a bouquet of flowers in his hands.
Toothiana stood up. Elsa looked away. The room started to get colder.
Tooth walked towards Jack and put her hand onto her shoulder. "I'll leave you two alone. Don't scream too much, I have customers."
She walked out of the door and closed it behind her, leaving the two of them alone.
"Elsa." Jack grabbed the other chair and sat down in front of her. He laid the bouquet down on the floor.
"Don't expect me to forgive you." Elsa looked away with tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, but this is my duty as king." Said Jack. "I love to stay with you and live happily ever after, but you know that it doesn't work that way."
"I know, jerk." Said Elsa.
Jack leaned forward and grabbed her hands. "Don't worry. I'm very skilled. I won't die."
Elsa turned her head back towards him. "You better! Seriously, leaving me while you made me pregnant!"
"Don't throw any accusations!" Said Jack. He sighed. "Look, I'll just be gone for three months."
"Three months?!" Elsa jerked up and drew her hands back. "Three months?!" She repeated.
"We need to set up camp and-"
Elsa wanted to shout, but she kept her voice low. "Three months?...I..."
"I'll write you." Said Jack.
"Huh?"
"As long as letters come, I'm alive."
Elsa sighed too. "Okay, fine."
Jack chuckled. He slid down from his stool down to his knees. He kneeled down in front of Elsa and grabbed her hands. He looked down at her belly.
"In three months it will be five months old, huh?"
"Five months old? It hasn't even been born yet." Said Elsa. Jack looked up with her with a sweet smile that made Elsa blush for a second.
"In the olden days they would count it's age from the moment that it started to grow in the stomach."
"Really?" Elsa giggled. "That sounds really dumb."
"It's not. In Corona they sometimes still do that."
"Well, we live in the modern days, so we are going to count when it is born, not now."
"Okay, okay, Els. But don't look at me when the baby looks a bit old."
Elsa rolled with her eyes. Jack leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on her stomach. It felt a bit cold.
"I love you." Jack said. He stood up and helped Elsa up.
Elsa blushed. Snow fell down from above her head. Jack grinned. It was cute how embarrassed she could get.
He leaned closer and whispered into her ear;
"Until the day I die."
A few days after, every citizens was gathered around a group of the guards and Jack. They were saddling up their horses. Some horses weren't carrying people, but just a lot of bags.
Woman were crying and saying goodbye to their loves ones. Their husbands, their boyfriends or just their brothers.
Elsa , Anna and Kristoff were standing next to each other. In front of them stood Jack, with his horse by his side. Anna was holding onto Kristoff. She was crying a bit. Elsa was just holding her hand down onto her stomach. She was not crying one bit.
"I'll return in three months."
"Oh, okay..." Anna sniffed. "Then...then...be safe."
"I'll take care of her, don't worry." Said Kristoff with a sad smile.
Elsa stepped forward and gave him a sweet kiss on his forehead. She stepped back again with a blush.
"Take care, Jack." Said Elsa.
Jack nodded. He jumped up onto his horse.
"Alright. Men, we're leaving!" Yelled Jack to the guards.
Every guard jumped onto their horses. A horn was heard as the men rode off to Aeromath.
Jack looked back over his shoulder. He saw Elsa, Anna and Kristoff wave at them. But then they disappeared in the big crowd.
They rode through the gates of the Kingdom. Then onto the path. Arendelle got smaller and smaller. Jack looked forward.
I need to concentrate. He thought. No need to look back.
"Are you alright, your majesty?" Asked one of the guards. The man's name was Hazzard. Actually that was his last name. His first name was Frederick. He had red hair and brown eyes. He looked at Jack with worried eyes.
"Hm?" Jack shook his head. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."
"It is hard to say goodbye." Said Frederick. "Especially when she is pregnant, huh?"
"You don't even have a wife." Said another men, whose name was Rick. Rick was big man with a scruffy beard and a rough Scandinavian accent.
Frederick turned his head back forward. "I know, just saying."
"It was nice of him." Jack stared forward. "At least some people can be polite." He directed this at Rick who went silent and rode a bit to the back.
Frederick smiled at Jack. He made a quick nod with his head. "Thank you, your majesty."
"No problem, mr Hazzard."
"Call me Frederick." The man extended his hand. "Mr Hazzard is what my sister calls me..."
"Your sister calls you mr Hazzard?"
"I-I mean the kids...not that I have kids, I mean that I love to have kids, but I'm just no good with woman, the cooties..."
"Stop." Jack held his hand up.
Frederick grinned awkwardly. Jack sighed and lowered his hand. This man...he remember him of Anna. She was always so awkward.
Jack grabbed the man's hand and shook it. "The name is Jack."
"Your majesty, I couldn't." Frederick withdrew his hand. He looked a bit embarrassed.
"Please, so many people call me majesty. It will be nice to have a change of pace."
"But princess Anna, Kristoff the ice-man, the queen, and everyone in the bakery calls you by your first name."
"Yeah, but another 100 guards and staff members call me 'King' or 'Your Majesty'."
"Alright, Jack." Frederick looked back forward. "I have a sister back home. Her name is Suzanne. I call her Suzy. She is just 15 years old. Our parents died years ago. So, now I'm the man of the house. Even though Suzy can stick up for herself..."
"I see. Anna can beat her in a fight." Said Jack with a little grin.
"Wanna bet?" Frederick said. "My sister is pretty tough. Yours was crying when you left-"
Frederick quickly covered his mouth when he realized what he had said to the king.
Jack laughed. "Touché, my friend!"
Frederick smiled a bit. The wind blew roughly through his hair. The group of brave men were already riding through the forest. Within 5 hours they would set up camp. Then they would be close to Aeromath...well...close? They would still be up to 10 kilometers away from Aeromath. But if they took down those defenses, that would mean that Aeromath had a weak army. And if Aeromath had such weak defenses...then they could surely defeat the king.
Jack felt confident in his actions. There was no way that they could fail.
After they left Elsa was called on by the council. They explained to her that she was in charge for now.
"Just for now!" Said one of the council members.
Elsa was sitting outside in the garden with her new friend Jenny. The girl was part of the staff, but she had no duties for today. Jennifer was humming a song. She looked at the sky and was kicking her legs up and down.
Elsa looked at the garden. Today it wasn't raining. But the rain from a few days ago made every flower in the garden bloom.
"Nice weather, hm?" Asked Jenny.
Elsa smiled a little at the girl and nodded. "Yes. It is."
"A-are you okay, Que- I mean Elsa?"
Elsa ignored her little mistake about her name. "I guess..." She turned her head towards Jenny. "Why?"
"Because you're...kinda out of it."
"I'm not...I'm just worried about being in charge...Jack is so good at being king. I'm a little nervous."
"Ah, you'll do fine." Jenny swiped her long hair back.
"But I don't know if-"
"Don't worry about it!" Jennifer stood up. She giggled and turned around. "Wait here, I got a small gift for you!"
"A gift? Jenny, you really don't..." Before Elsa could speak any further Jenny was already away.
Elsa sighed. She was really happy that she actually made a friend of her own. Sure, she had Anna, Toothiana, Aster, Sandy and Kristoff...but they were all friends through Jack. For the first time in her life she made a friend herself. And it was pretty nice. Jennifer was a kind girl, after all.
Jennifer came running back with a wrapped up box in her hand.
She sat down and handed it to Elsa.
"Here! For my new friend!"
"Oh, Jenny, I..."
"Just open it."
Elsa opened up the small gift. She gasped when a small plushy teddybear fell down onto her lap.
"It is for the baby. Or you know, for when you feel alone at night."
Elsa blushed and smiled, while holding the small teddybear in her hands.
"Thank you so much, Jennifer!" Said Elsa. "If only I could repay you..."
"You don't have to repay me, Elsa! I just gave you a gift, I don't need anything in return for it!"
"Oh, you will get something in return for it!" Said Elsa. She stood up. "I'm going to cook for you!"
Jennifer sweat dropped and almost fell off the small bench.
"EH?!" She exclaimed.
"I read it in a book!" Elsa held her finger up as if she was teaching a child. "If your loved one gives you something, like a present, then be a good woman and cook!"
Jenny narrowed her eyes a bit. Elsa noticed and giggled awkwardly.
"Haha, y-yeah, the book was pretty old..."
"No kidding." Said Jennifer. She stood up too. "Elsa...you are pregnant. You shouldn't make anything for me...after all, you're also the queen."
"Statuses don't matter right now." Said Elsa with determination. "I'm going to..." Her face suddenly lit up. "Oh! I know something!"
"Huh?"
"Oh, it will be such a surprise when he gets here!"
"Who gets here? What are you..." Jennifer saw Elsa just run into the castle. "H-hey, Elsa!"
Elsa ignored her calls. She ran to Jack's study room. Everything was still there.
She went to the desk and opened up the cupboard. A bunch of papers were laying in there. Elsa grabbed a bunch of them and lay them on the desk. She also grabbed a pen and some ink. She sat down in the chair and started to write down onto the paper.
Elsa smiled to herself. This was the perfect gift for her friend. She knew that this would work.
She stopped scrabbling down on to the paper. Her name was written down onto the small paper.
Elsa stood up. She ran down the stairs again with the letter in her hands. She was walking out of the castle. Elsa was going to their post office...well...post office...it was more like a shop where people could pay for a bird to send their letter.
She walked into the store. It was pretty small, but nice. A woman with long brown hair was standing behind a small counter. Behind her Elsa could see a lot of doves and other birds in cages. A few people were sitting on a bench, some of them would receive a letter and wait for it for days.
" Queen Elsa." Said the woman. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, I wish to send this letter." Said Elsa.
"Oh?" The woman grabbed the letter from her hands. "I hope it's not another war, right?"
Elsa shook her head. "No."
The woman giggled. "Okay then." She put the letter in a chocker. She then walked to the cages. Her head turned towards Elsa.
"Your majesty, I need to know to what country or town the letter needs to go before I can choose the bird."
"Corona." Said Elsa. "I need the letter send to Corona."
The soldiers set their camp up. They were now 50 kilometers away from Aeromath and decided to rest for the night in the small forest.
Jack was just done setting helping the others with their tents. He sat down on the ground to take a breath. Frederick sat down next to him.
"I'm sure they will be done with dinner soon." Said Frederick. He looked at the guard who was in charge of cooking some beans.
Jack nodded. He looked at the sky. The sun was slowly setting. He was thinking about Elsa, Anna...they must be missing him. Normally Elsa would be scolding him at this time for overworking himself. And Anna would be out with Kristoff or something...
"Dinner! Dinner!"
Jack stood up with Frederick. They walked over to the benches where the other knights were sitting with their beans.
Jack sighed.
He somehow felt like something terrible was about to happen.
TO BE CONTINUED!