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Chapter 28
"So Elsa hurries back into the grotto and tells me to hide. Less than a minute later, a young guard jogs into the grotto and I recognize that it's Joshua. Elsa steps out of our hiding place first and addresses him and then tells him that I need to see the King of the Northern Isles as soon as possible."
"Why's that?"
"Elsa said that the King was dying and apparently I was the only one that could temporarily take over the throne until Eva turned twenty-one."
"Why?" Rapunzel replied with a confused expression, "That doesn't make any sense."
Eugene took a deep breath that was a mixture of exhaustion and anxiety. He intertwined his fingers with Rapunzel's and then locked eyes with her, "Rapunzel, Eva is my half sister. Her father is my father. That is why I am temporarily ruling the Northern Isles until her birthday in January."
"...Sister..." Rapunzel let go of his hands in disbelief, "...you...have a sister?"
"Half-sister, but yes." He nervously chuckled, "Trust me, I was just as surprised as you are. I mean, after all this time thinking that I didn't have any family..."
"You actually were royalty after all..." Rapunzel cocked her head to the right, "Well, I guess I've been in those shoes before." She looked back up at him, "But why did you have to take the throne? They could have had an absent rule until January. I mean, Arendelle had no ruler during the three years between the King and Queens' death and Elsa's coronation. What's so special about the Northern Isles?"
"Arendelle was in much better shape and had a sturdy parliament established, unlike the Northern Isles. Also, Eva was engaged to one of the princes from the Southern Isles, but Jeremiah was forcing her to marry next month, before she turned twenty-one. That way she would lose most of her power once she and her husband were inaugurated."
"But that still doesn't make sense, why would she lose her power? My mother was married before she was inaugurated but she still has power."
"Because Corona wasn't your mother's homeland and both of your parents were inaugurated at the same time, making them both the King and Queen of Corona. While Eva on the other hand-"
"Is trying to retain control of her own kingdom, like Elsa marrying Hans after she was already queen. Hans isn't the King of Arendelle, he's the King Consort, making him less powerful than Elsa. But if Elsa and Hans married before the coronation then they would both be the King and Queen of Arendelle."
"Exactly, which would have lessened Elsa's power. And the same thing applies to Eva, which is why she wants the wedding to occur after her coronation."
"Yeah, I get that part but..." Rapunzel furrowed her brows, "Why doesn't she want to share her title? You and I are going to share the title whenever we become King and Queen of Corona. Why is she-"
"You know," Eugene let out an irritated breath, "You weren't this skeptical when I told you about the mermaid-"
"The mermaid isn't trying to take you away from me!"
"Seriously?! Is that what you think is happening?"
"I don't think, I know because it's already happened!"
"How-"
"Eugene, you have literally been here less than seven hours and you are already begging to leave for another two months. What about the harvest? What about Christmas? What about me? I mean look at me!" She gestured to her large belly, "I'm huge, I'm in my third trimester, and you've been absent for most of the pregnancy. You can't even begin to imagine what I've gone through..." Eugene dropped his eyes and hung his head without giving a response. "Eugene?" Rapunzel tilted her head so that she could make eye contact with her husband, "Eugene, I'm not trying to guilt trip you, but I feel like that's the only thing I can do to make you stay." She scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, "This is not what I had in mind for tonight...I don't want to spend our first night back together arguing."
"Me neither."
"Well, at least we agree on that." Rapunzel let out a tired sigh, "How about we put this matter aside for now and discuss it when we aren't completely exhausted?"
"I think that's a wonderful idea." Eugene's eyes softened as he tilted her chin up.
"Okay then-" Her sentence was cut off as Eugene gently brushed his lips against hers. She involuntarily let out a small sigh as she closed her eyes and let her husband's gentle kisses whisk her away from the real world. Every kiss, every touch, every sensation made her pulse quicken and the waves of bliss cleansed her soul.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she felt his velvet lips brush against her ear, "Is this better?"
""Y-yes." Her trembling voice barely above a whisper, "Eugene..." A twinge of panic shot through her as she felt him unbuttoning her night gown, "Eugene!"
"Hmm?"
"We can't do this. You're still recovering and I'm, well, six months pregnant."
"So?"
"So, neither one of us is in any sort of condition to...you know."
Eugene pulled away from her and gave her a skeptical look, "I thought this is what you wanted?"
"I do..." Rapunzel brushed the back of her hand against his cheek, "But maybe at a later time."
Eugene's body relaxed at the touch of her hand and he carefully watched her expression, sensing that she was hinting at something else. It took him a few moments but realization finally dawned on him, "What changed your mind?"
"Family...you do for family, Eugene. And as long as you're back before the baby's due date..." She let out a reluctant sigh, "I guess, I'm fine with you going back."
"You must be the most understanding woman that ever existed. Thank you, Rapunzel." He reached forward to give her a hug but his arm awkwardly moved Rapunzel's, "Can you please take off the handcuffs so that I may give you a proper hug?"
"Oh, right." Rapunzel turned to her nightstand drawer and searched for the keys, "You know, maybe Father and Mother might be able to help sort things out as well? Maybe reestablish a new treaty with the Northern Isles?" She pulled the keys out and slowly unlocked the handcuffs, "This could be the key to restoring relations with them."
"See? Letting me go back may be the best decision after all."
"Don't push it."
"Psst...Anna...Anna...Anna."
"Whaaa?" Anna sleepily place a hand on Elsa's face.
"Pfft, listen..." Elsa took her sister's hand off her face and pulled her up into a sitting position, "We need to talk about your wedding."
"Now?"
"Yes, it's rather urgent."
"But it's still dark out..." Anna yawned and rubbed her eyes, "What's so important?"
"Anna, you're already twenty years old and you're turning twenty-one in June."
"That's very insightful, Elsa. I'm glad you remember my age and my birthday. Goodnight." Anna lay back down and snuggled into her pillow.
"No, you don't understand."
"Why don't you just tell me what I'm supposed to understand?"
"The Marriage Law!"
"What about the Marr-oh my gosh!" Anna sat up with renewed energy, "I need to marry Kristoff before I turn twenty-one in June!"
"We've been so busy with everything else, we completely forgot about that stupid law."
"Elsa, what are we going to do?!"
"We're going to get you two married within the next seven months, what else?"
"But Kristoff and I haven't even announced our engagement yet. How are we supposed to plan an entire wedding in such a short amount of time?"
"Don't worry. Hans and I did it in even less time, you'll be fine. We'll get you guys a wedding planner and everything."
"Yeah, but, um..." Anna nervously started to wring her hands, "Kristoff is still a little nervous about the whole joining-the-royal-family situation. So I don't know how he'll handle so much wedding craziness in such a short time frame."
"Well, you can tell Kristoff that if he decides to drag his feet on this then he's going to lose you completely."
"Ugh!" Anna fell back onto her pillow, "So I guess this means we have to get back to Arendelle as soon as possible."
"That's what I was thinking was well." A long silence filled the air until Elsa spoke up again, "We should leave tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?!"
"Time is ticking, Anna."
"Yeah...but..."
"But?"
"I wanted to hear the rest of Eugene's story. Don't you?"
"Anna, I lived the rest of his story. But fine, you can listen to the ending in the morning but we need to leave by the afternoon."
"What about the baby? We have to be here for Rapunzel and Eugene."
"If the wedding plans are going well, then we can come back in February. Deal?"
"...Deal." Anna sighed as she fell back onto her pillow, "Can I go back to sleep now? I haven't slept much lately."
"Really?" Elsa climbed back into her bed, "Why's that?"
"Rapunzel's been having nightmares."
"Probably from the stress of losing Eugene, no doubt."
"Yeah and the baby."
"The baby?"
"Mhmm..." Anna let out a loud yawn, "She's scared that she'll have difficulties birthing the baby because of what her mother went through."
"Oh..." Elsa laid her head on her pillow and stared up at the ceiling, "Anna, I'm glad you were here to help comfort her. I've heard about the wonderful things you've done here in Corona and I couldn't be more proud of you."
"Aw, thanks, Elsa." Anna started to drift to sleep before one last thought popped into her mind, "Elsa?"
"Yes?"
"You could have told me about the wedding situation in the morning, but you didn't. Why?"
"I just figured that this was an urgent matter."
"Oh okay..." Anna closed her eyes, "I thought it was because you couldn't sleep as well."
"Umm...actually-" Elsa was cut off by the murmur of Anna's snoring, "Never mind, I'm fine."
"So, hey, crazy idea. Why don't you finish the rest of your story, Eugene?"
"What like, right now?" Eugene stared at Anna while holding a small finger sandwich inches away from his mouth.
"Well, why not?" Anna anxiously looked at the clock that read 10:30.
"Anna, is there something wrong?" Rapunzel curiously looked at her cousin, "You've been restless all morning."
"I just want to hear the rest of the story. I found it to be extremely intriguing." Anna nervously laughed.
"Well, alright. But where's Elsa?"
"Who?" Anna slapped her forehead, "Oh right, my sister. She's, uh..." Getting the crew ready to depart for this afternoon. "She's just out and about. Doing her queenly duties and whatnot."
"So she's with my parents?"
"Uh, not exactly..." Anna sighed, "I guess I should just tell you guys what's going on."
"That's probably a good idea." Eugene swiftly popped a sandwich into his mouth.
"Elsa and I are planning on leaving this afternoon because there is some issues about the wedding that urgently need my attention."
"Oh no, what's going on?" Rapunzel stood up and walked over to sit next to Anna, "Is it serious?"
"Well, Elsa realized this morning, early this morning, that I need to marry Kristoff before my twenty first birthday in June."
"Because of your father's marriage law, of course!" Rapunzel encouragingly wrapped her arms around her cousin, "You have to go back, Anna. Your entire future depends on it. I appreciate you coming here to help me but you need to think about yourself once in a while."
"So you're not mad?"
"How could I possibly be mad at you? You dropped everything and came to Corona at a moment's notice for me. You've put up with every single one of my emotionally unstable moments and you brought laughter and joy into my life when I needed it most. Now, you have a wedding to plan and an ice harvester to marry. So..." She looked at her husband, "Eugene, I believe you have a story to finish."
"Alright then." Eugene sat back in his seat and continued with his story, talking about the cold ruthless water and how he fell unconscious when he hit his head. He was interrupted a couple of times when he mentioned Aquata, but Anna wasn't really too surprised to hear about the mermaid since her sister was the queen of ice and snow. But what did peak Anna's interest was the news about Eva.
"Wait, hold on...you have a sister?!"
"Half-sister, but yes-"
"Oh my gosh, Eugene! When will we meet her?! "
"Well-"
"Will she be visiting you guys in Corona for Christmas?"
"No-"
"We should totally meet up to celebrate the new year. I can ask Elsa-"
"Anna!"
"What?"
"Eva won't be travelling anywhere. She plans on taking her father, or I guess, our father's place as the Queen of the Northern Isles by early January."
"Oh, well, that's too bad." Suddenly, a wide smile grew on Anna's face, "Hold on...I think I just got the best idea ever! I'll invite her to my wedding! She's going to be queen by then so she'll be a part of the royal guest list. What do ya guys think?!"
"I don't see the harm in inviting her." Rapunzel interrupted with a smile, "It would nice to meet this mysterious half-sister that we never knew existed."
"Exactly! So, Eugene..." Anna was practically hopping in her seat, "What happened next? Were you able to meet your father in time? What about Jeremiah and Joshua? What happened to them?"
"I was able to meet my father and spend some time with him before he passed. And Joshua blew his cover and was able to arrest everyone involved with the conspiracy."
"Wow, what a happy ending. I mean besides your father dying and Joshua having to arrest his own father."
"Yeah, but it ended pretty well given the dire situation at hand." Eugene decided not to mention Elsa killing Jeremiah in order to save Eva. He figured it was Elsa's secret to tell, if she chooses to. "And none of that would have been possible if it weren't for your sister."
As if on cue, Elsa entered the room and surprisingly looked at everyone staring at her, "What's going on?"
"Eugene just finished the story."
"He did?" Elsa nervously wrung her hands together, "So you know about Jeremiah?"
"Yeah, it must have been hard for Joshua to imprison his own father."
"Imprison?" Elsa made eye contact with Eugene before revealing a small grateful smile, "Yes, it was a rather difficult situation. But Joshua did what he thought was right." She let out a small sigh of relief, "Anyhow, the ship and its crew are ready to depart, Anna. Are you ready to go?"
Anna glanced at the clock and noticed that it was already past one, "I guess..." She stood up with her shoulders slumped, "I'm going to miss hanging out with you every day, Rapunzel." Anna wrapped her arms around her cousin and gently hugged her, "We'll try to come back in February, if it's alright with you."
"Absolutely, you guys are always welcomed here." Rapunzel squeezed her cousin one last time before breaking the hug, "And thank you for everything you've done for me, my family, and my kingdom."
"Aw, Rapunzel, you're going to make me cry." Anna quickly brushed away a stray tear.
"You better not cry. I'm the pregnant and emotionally unstable one." Rapunzel laughed as she hugged Elsa, "Thanks for bringing my husband back to me. You are an amazing person."
Eugene hobbled over to the sisters and hugged each of them, "I can't express in words how much you two have done for us. So I'll just say thank you."
"Alright, I'm just gonna say it. I love you guys!" Anna threw her arms around Eugene and Elsa, "Group hug!" Everyone laughed as they huddled around one another and gave each other one final hug.
"Okay, Anna, we still need to say goodbye to Aunt Primrose and Uncle Thomas."
"Alright, alright." Anna waved to Eugene and Rapunzel as they headed for the door, "Goodbye! We'll see you soon!"
Eugene and Rapunzel said their farewells' but as soon as the door closed Rapunzel turned to her husband, "So what really happened to Jeremiah?"
"Huh?"
"I saw the confusion Elsa had on her face when Anna mentioned his imprisonment. He wasn't imprisoned was he?"
"No...he's actually, uh...dead."
"Dead?!"
"Shh!" Eugene continued to speak in a low tone, "He was going to shoot Eva in the head and Elsa and I were too far away to intervene so Elsa kinda..."
"Kinda?" Eugene gestured his hands and Rapunzel gasped, "She killed him?!"
"She didn't have a choice and she saved Eva's life. To say I wasn't surprised would be an understatement, but nevertheless I am also grateful for her bold heroic choice. But I could tell that it really shook her and I can tell that it's still bothering her."
"Oh, Eugene...I wish I knew this earlier, I could have talked to her-"
"No, I don't think she wants too many people to know about this."
"But she's a hero."
"Not in her mind."
Rapunzel shook her head with disbelief, "She needs to talk to someone. This is not going to go away on its own. At least we had each other after everything that happened with Gothel." Eugene remained quiet as Rapunzel wrapped her arm around his waist, "I also noticed that you didn't mention you going back to the Northern Isles."
"Neither did you."
"I figured that if Anna knew that you were leaving again, she probably would have insisted on staying when she really needs to be back in Arendelle planning her wedding." Rapunzel looked up at her husband's handsome face, "Speaking of which, when are you going back?"
"I should probably leave by the end of the week."
Rapunzel dropped her arm and dejectedly looked downward, "Oh..."
"I'm sorry..." Eugene gave her a hug from behind and kissed the top of her head.
"Jeremiah, please put the gun down. You don't want that thing to go off."
"I'm pretty sure I do. It just depends on who..."
"Jeremiah-"
"What's going-"
"Get back inside!"
"AHHHHHH!"
Elsa gasped as she woke up covered in a thin layer of sweat. She glanced over at the clock that read 2:46 and sat up in her bed with her heart racing as she noticed frost beginning to climb up the walls of her on-board suite. She reached for her robe and slipped it on as she headed out to the deck for some fresh air. The cool night breeze swept her hair back and instantly brought some peace to the queen. She walked over to the ship's railing and gently ran her fingertips across the smooth wood, letting her thoughts envelope her. She hated these continuous nightmares of what happened in the Northern Isles and she hated not being able to tell anyone about it. She didn't want anyone to know about what happened but she was tired of these nightmares haunting her. She let out a long sigh as she closed her eyes and let the sea breeze tussle her hair, letting the relaxing sound of the wave wash over her distressed spirit.
Slowly her mind drifted back to almost a year ago when she and Hans were on their way to Sperca. The first awkward night they shared when Elsa constructed a cell made out of ice for him and the even more awkward following day when she accidentally got caught absentmindedly checking out Hans' body. But one of her most favorite moments they shared was when they watched the sunset together a few hours before arriving at Sperca and the conversation that followed.
"Why did you come with me?"
"Pardon?"
"Well, you knew we were going to Sperca and it's pretty obvious that you don't like where we're headed so why did you volunteer to come with me then?"
"To protect you..."
"...Do you still have feelings for Annaliese though?"
"Through years and years of pushing my emotions down and away, I fear that I can no longer feel for others...my emotions are numb most of the time."
"Conceal it, don't feel it..."
"Don't let it show...How do you do it? After all these years of pushing away your emotions, you still manage to love and care for Anna."
"I never pushed away my emotions, I just learned to control them."
"But you and I both have so much baggage from our past, how can you just simply let it go?"
"Letting go doesn't mean that you don't care about someone anymore. It's just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself."
Elsa smiled as she remembered the way her words had sparked some life back into Hans' eyes. How his demeanor completely changed and how from that point on, he progressed to become the man he is to this day. A man that who, at his lowest point, would have easily killed her and her sister, now eagerly awaited for their return. A man that she could easily talk to for hours on end, a man she had fallen in love with, a man who understands her struggles. A lost broken man who was saved by giving him a second chance and by showing him kindness and love.
"Could I have done something different? I could have saved both Eva and Jeremiah..." She quietly talked to no one in particular, "Did I really have to kill him? It was so violent...so bloody...so cold." She shook her head to get the image of his limp body out of her mind, "No, I had to. He was going to kill her..." Or was he? He could have been bluffing...he could have been baiting me like he did earlier. He wanted me to stab him...
"Ugh!" She dropped her head into her hands and rested her elbows on the railing, "Why is this bothering me so much? He was a bad man. For goodness sakes he tried to kill Eugene!" She rubbed her forehead and started pacing around the deck, "I am not a murderer...I am not a murderer...I am not a murderer." She suddenly stopped and looked around the deck, making sure there wasn't anyone around to hear her. The last thing I need is someone finding out about this. With one last sigh, she returned to her room and tried to get whatever sleep she could get.
"Prince Hans, I've got your itinerary for the day."
"Okay." Hans swiftly wiped his mouth as he finished his breakfast in the study, "Let's hear it, Kai."
"You have a meeting with the harvesters regarding their final crop numbers, then you'll have to meet with the local entrepreneurs and discuss the supply and demand situation as we prepare ourselves for the upcoming winter season, and lastly the council wishes to speak to you about the trade deadline before we close the docks for winter."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Alright." Hans stood up with a smile, "Thank you, Kai."
After a quick bow, Kai headed for the door, "Will you be speaking with Miss Annaliese prior to the meeting or shall I tell her that you will see her at the meeting?"
"I will speak to her prior to." He started gathering some papers off his desk, "Thank you."
Once Kai left the room, Hans stopped what he was doing and stared out the window, thinking about how he and Annaliese had been spending a lot of time together sharing the workload that the end of the harvesting season brought upon them. It reminded Hans of his younger years when he and Annaliese were very close and he was kind of enjoying the time they were spending together.
His thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking on the door, "Yes?"
"It's me."
Hans immediately recognized the voice, "Come in."
"Good morning." Annaliese's head popped in followed by the rest of her body, "Kai told me that you wanted to see me before the meeting?"
"Yes, I just want to make sure that we are on the same page before taking on today's meetings."
"Alright. What-" She was interrupted by the sound of knocking, "Yes?"
"Pardon me, Your Highness but I have some news for Prince Hans."
Annaliese curiously looked over at Hans who just shrugged, "Come in, Kai."
"Your Majesty." Kai bowed, "Queen Elsa's ship is pulling into the docks."
"What?" Hans raised his eyebrows, "Elsa's back?"
"Yes, it would seem so. Will you be meeting her at the docks?"
"Yes, of course!" He put the papers back on the desk and headed to the door, "Oh and Kai?"
"Yes?"
"Please let Kristoff know about this. Anna could possibly be on the ship as well."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
As soon as Kai left, Annaliese piped up, "Um, Hans?"
"Yes?"
"How will you meet Elsa at the docks when we have a meeting in a half hour?"
"That's still thirty minutes away, Annaliese." He gave her a quick pat on the shoulder as he exited the room, "I promise, I'll be back in time."
Annaliese crossed her arms with an annoyed expression on her face as she watched Hans jog down the hall, "So much for wanting to make sure that we were on the same page. Elsa comes back and I'm automatically cast aside...again."
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