"Raoul, rouse the courtiers and tell them to prepare for a journey of at least a few weeks."
Don was jubilant as he sat back against castle wall. He had just returned from his visit with Elsa, and could barely contain his excitement. She had finally given him leave to propose, as she said that the time was right.
Though it was my idea to introduce her suitors and my courtiers. He thought. Hopefully some good matches can be made.
Johannes, Georg and Dieter, who along with Raoul were the only ones to know of the reasons for his trips, approached.
"What's going on, Don?" Johannes asked. "Is it time?"
Don nodded happily, letting a groom take Maximus.
"We are to arrive three days from now, thirty men including myself, and all twenty of my courtiers. We'll leave tomorrow morning. Dieter, I'd like you to take care of procuring our supplies. Georg, the Guard shall ride with me. Though I want Raoul to remain behind as Castellan. Johannes, get with the stable master and prepare enough carriages for our guests."
His orders complete, his minions trotted off to do his business. He went to his room, and was surprised to find someone already sitting there, while one of the windows hung open.
Lady Catherine sat, looking serene and pretty in the filtered sunlight from the windows. She wore breeches instead of a dress
"My Lady, how did you get in here?" He asked, going to the sink to wash the dust of his travels from his face.
She stood looking at him with humor filled eyes.
"I am a good climber, My King." She laughed, before her face turned serious. "I bring important news…"
Don whirled on her, concerned.
"What sort of news?"
Her hand went to her belly, and her long thin fingers trailed across it.
"I missed my monthly cycle, My King," She said, and for a moment Don didn't understand, but Cat cleared that up for him with her next statement, "I am pregnant, My King. It is yours."
Don's jaw fell open and his eyes shot wide. A storm opened up inside him, a storm of confusion, of fear, and of happiness.
I'm going to be a father? He thought incredulously.
"What… How… Are you sure?"
She nodded definitely. Stepping slowly closer to him.
"I have a feeling that you've found another lady love, haven't you, My King?" She said suddenly. "Is it the Queen of Arendelle?"
Don looked into her eyes, and for a moment saw the anger and horror that would come down upon Elsa when she found out. Then he nodded, slowly.
"I thought so… I need to go north to speak to my father." Cat said, frowning slightly. "He was angry at first, when he heard what I had done… But he came to see the advantages of being the grandfather of a king's bastard…"
"Don't… My lady…" Don stuttered, his head swimming. "This is a completely shock to me… But, I am… Happy."
"I… know that you said you would make no promises to me," Don was shocked as she began to weep, "But… But what of this child? Our child, My King?"
Don froze, his mind seemed to cease working for a moment, while he tried to think of something to say. His mind kicked back to life, as he made a decision.
"Cat… I will not marry you," He said, catching her as she sagged slightly, "For I do not love you. But this child, nor you, will ever want for anything. If… if Elsa and I have children, then he or she shall be raised with them. I will acknowledge him, and you. Kneel, My lady."
She fell to her knees in front of him, looking down at his feet, but he reached down and lifted her chin up so that their eyes met once again. He released her chin, before drawing his sword.
"I, King Donner the First of Valdiston, Mossberg and Arskall, do hereby grant you the title of Duchess of Highbend, to hold said lands in my name forevermore." He said, naming one of his large, new holdings to the south, "Do you accept, My Lady?"
Tears flowed from her eyes, and hope flared behind her eyes.
"Yes." She whispered, wrapping her arms around his legs. "I accept."
He rested a hand on her head, letting her weep for a few moments more.
"Come now, Duchess," He said, pulling her to her feet, "There is much for us to do. We will go and speak to Raoul, who will detail a guard for you." He hesitated for a moment. "It may be best if… If I do not meet the child until it is a few years old, so that I may get my own house in order. Then I will make the formal acknowledgement."
"You need me out of the way so that you can put a few babies into your new wife, isn't that right?" She said sardonically. "By the time the child is revealed… She won't be able to step out of the relationship… How cold and calculating of you, My King."
Don smiled wryly.
"It's not even that… I just want to avoid the awkwardness for as long as possible." He said, leading her down the spiraling staircase.
"What? She's been seeing Donner?"
Kristoff recoiled from his wife as she exploded into a fit of cursing, the likes of which Kristoff had never heard before. He'd been warned by several of his acquaintances that pregnancy could alter a woman's mood… But this was just ridiculous!
"Is she stupid? She saw what he did to Hans," She yelled, "He's dangerous! We… We need to put a stop to it! Bring her here right now, please Kristoff."
He stood, rubbing his stump, before disappearing out the door. He found Elsa sitting in her room with the door open, humming a hauntingly familiar tune.
"Elsa… Your sister wishes to speak with you…" He said tentatively as she looked up.
"What about, Kristoff?" She asked, a small smile touching her lips before she noticed the look on his face. "Is it the child? Is something wrong?"
He shook his head as she rushed past him and down the hallway. He trotted behind her, but fell back as she neared the door.
"What's wrong, Anna?" She said, pushing the door open.
"What's wrong is that you've been seeing that monster!" Anna yelled, red faced with anger. "How could you, Elsa? He's murdered people! And now he's trying to conquer Arendelle! Will you just hand it to him on a silver platter?"
Elsa froze, her icy dress, which she had chosen to wear only in private, began to shimmer and crackle, before splashes of purple began to clouds its clear bluish tint.
"What… what do you mean?"
"I mean, I asked Kristoff to follow you and see what you were doing! To make sure you weren't doing anything stupid!" She yelled. "But you were! How can you stand to see him, Elsa? Have you to been having sex? Is this some kind of an affair? Are you pregnant?"
Elsa took a step back, nearly bumping into Kristoff.
"You… you were spying on me?" She looked at Kristoff, a hint of anger beginning to form behind her eyes. "How dare you!"
She looked accusingly at Anna, her face contorting, and angry tears flowing down her cheeks.
"After all that he did for you!" She said, her dress beginning to change to a reddish color. "He saved you, twice!"
"That doesn't forgive what he did!" Anna shot back, her face turning a bright shade of red. She pulled the covers back, rolling to her feet. "He is a murderer! And you've been sleeping with him!"
"I'm a murderer, Anna!" Elsa hissed. "I kill a man a few days before Donner saved us! It was Prince Helmut of the Southern Isles! I'm a murderer! Will you call me a monster? Am I? Well?"
Anna stepped back, falling onto the bed, eyes wide with shock. Kristoff went to her side, putting an arm around her shoulders. He looked up at Elsa, feeling anger of his own rising.
"Stop it, Elsa." He ground out.
"No, you started this!" She clenched her fist, and the temperature of the room began to sink. "I love him. I can't help that, Anna. I feel for him like you feel for Kristoff… Sending him away was the greatest mistake I ever made! Can't you see that?" She leaned forward, hand touching her heart. "Can't you?"
Anna shook her head.
"No, I can't, Elsa." She said. "And I think it would be best if Kristoff and I… Leave."
Elsa stood up straight, he eyes hardening again.
"Then go, Anna. Speak with Kai, and you'll have anything you need. Go wherever you want."
Then with a rustle of her dress, she darted from the room.
Elsa barely made it back to her room, slamming the door with enough force to make a picture jump from the wall and smash onto the carpet. She covered her face with her hands, as tears slid down her face, and she slid down the frame of the door.
"You really shouldn't cry like that, Queen Elsa." A voice said. "It's very unbecoming."
She looked up suddenly, as the vaguely familiar voice sounded from the chair in the corner of her room. The warm brown eyes that peered out at her, seeming to laugh at her, made her lip curl in anger.
"How did you get in here?" She managed to strangle out, standing and holding her hands in front of her, ready to strike him down. "Guards!"
"My Queen, you seem to think I'm some kind of fool. Your guards have been put to sleep, though they will awake some time from now, they shall be fine." His eyes flashed as he leaned forward. "And I mean you no harm, I come only as the bearer of news…"
Elsa nearly snapped and sent a sheet of spikes towards him, but held back for a moment.
"What sort of news?"
"The news that the Queen of Arendelle and the King of Arskall are lovers, of course."
Her heart sank, as did her hands, as he spoke those words.
"I don't know what you're talking about…" She said, her voice unsteady. The Prince laughed.
"Oh, don't play coy with me. I saw it with my very own eyes."
Elsa recoiled in disgust, her hand going to the door handle, ready to make a run for it, but as she began to turn it, the Prince spoke.
"If you leave, I will tell all of Arendelle, and anyone I meet that the Queen of Arendelle has been… a little promiscuous. If you don't follow my directions, I will do the same."
Elsa stopped, releasing the door handle.
"What directions?"
"Why, you must marry me of course." He said gaily, sweeping his hands across him. "But it is not your kingdom I want, it is you. Your powers." He paused, his face becoming more serious after a moment. "There is a darkness coming, a darkness that must be fought."
A darkness… Elsa thought, her eyes widening slightly. Could it be that…?
He held out his hand, palm up, and looked directly into her eyes.
"You and your lover are not the only ones with powers. But fire and ice are what will stop the darkness… A storm can only bring darkness, not send it away."
Elsa backed up against the door, as flames shot from his hand, a towering blaze that began to scorch the ceiling. The flames seemed to have a life of their own, and she could have sworn she saw hands, arms and faces appear in it, before they disappeared.
With a flick of his wrists, the flames disappeared suddenly.
"How… How did you get your powers?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"Long ago, my father, the High King of Paix, was a young man." Jacques said. "He was overshadowed by his own father, Frances the Great, and wished to make a name for himself…"
Elsa kept herself pressed against the door as the Prince stood, a tiny blue flame erupting from the tip of his finger. With it, he began to trace something along one of the walls.
"… He traveled throughout our lands, and even beyond, striking out into Spain, into Germany, even traveling down into Africa several times to hunt the great beasts that dwelled there." He paused, continuing his sketch. "But no one sang his name in bars. He was still 'the son of Frances the Great'. Until, that is, he heard tales of a monster so terrifying, so menacing, that it had slain a thousand men," He finished his drawing, and Elsa exhaled slowly as she saw a great winged creature, with its wings extended, "A dragon."
"My father searched and searched, alone, and with only a single spear and a horse, until he found the beast's lair." He sat on the arm of the chair he had vacated a few moments before. "A great valley, filled with caves and situated near a great herding range. He labored through the bones of its recent kills, finding not a single human among them, and soon found himself face to face with the beast."
He stretched his arms out wide, seeming to enjoy his little monologue.
"A hundred feet from snout to tail, with wings half again as great. It lay curled in a valley, seeming to take up its entirety. He threw his spear, aiming for the beats heart, but the spear simply bounced off the thick scales. Then, as the beast roused, my father stood, knowing that he could never make it far enough away before the beast roasted him."
"But let me guess, the beast didn't roast him?" Elsa said sarcastically.
"Good, good! You're catching on!" He said. "Yes, instead, the dragon spoke to him. Telling him that he was the only man never to have fled when his meager weapons didn't harm him. As my father waited to die, the dragon instead picked him up, and flew high into the sky. 'This is the land I hold dominion over, as far as the eye can see', the dragon said. 'But I am old, and there are no more of my kind living here, and the journey to find one would likely kill me. Instead, I shall bequeath to you, the greatest gift a dragon can give a man.' And he gave my father one of his teeth, one that held the dragons' venom, which he used to breathe fire, and told him to drink deeply."
"So… your powers were born of… dragon's venom?" Elsa said tentatively, actually slightly interested in what he had to say now, before mumbling to herself, "Troll tears… the blood of a mermaid… and dragon's venom…"
"What are you saying, Queen?"
"This darkness that you speak of… Who told you of it?"
The Prince smiled, resting a hand under his chin, supported upon his other arm.
"Well, that would have been my Master Vritra, who I spent a large portion of my youth with. He taught me how to control my powers, since, as you know, fire is incredibly hard to control."
"Master Vritra?" Elsa asked uncertainly.
"The dragon, Queen Elsa." The Prince said, and Elsa gasped. "Who better to learn how to control fire magic then from the source?"
He… he learned how to control fire from a dragon…
"I think you are laboring under a false assumption, Prince Jacques," Elsa said, her resolve firming, "That you are the only one laboring against the darkness. King Donner also prepares for this darkness, gathering forces to himself." She paused and took a breath, as the Prince stood suddenly, fists clenched. "And I will marry him. No matter what. Now please, get out of my room." She opened the door, before saying finally. "And I will not tolerate being spied upon anymore. If I catch you at it, I will make you regret it."
Flames leapt from his hands, before he extinguished them. His eyes were hard as he stalked past her, pausing for a moment when he came abreast of her to say.
"I will not be the one who regrets how this conversation turned out, Queen."
And then he was gone, disappearing down the hallway.
Elsa closed the door, before collapsing on her bed, sobbing into her pillow.
It's all too much.
Maximus whinnied as they came over the hill that lead down to Arendelle, and Don stopped for a moment to take in the expanding city. He saw people swarming all about, saw the great wooden carcasses of ships being built, and saw the new houses that had sprung up since the last time he visited…
He smiled as the column stopped with him, looking splendid in their uniforms. The great open topped carriages that his courtiers rode in squealed as their drivers locked the brakes.
"Alright, raise the banner, Johannes."
His retainer nodded, raising the large flag. He'd had it specially made for this trip, and it fluttered in the slight wind coming off the sea. The raging bull of Valdiston pranced triumphant in a field of blue, holding between its horns the cross of Arskall.
It snapped in the wind, as his group began the long climb down the slopes, the horse's hooves clopping on the cobblestones. People looked up in surprise as the long line passed by, with the vaguely familiar Prince riding at its head.
"That's the liberator of Arendelle, the Storm Lord!" Someone yelled, and he soon found himself riding through a crowd of adoring people. He smiled, accepting handshakes and even kissing a few proffered babies.
Georg rode forward as the crowd began to press in, many trying to get a good look at the man who had saved Arendelle.
They don't know how much blood I have on my hands… Don thought, as Georg began to fulfill his function as herald.
"Make way! Make way for King Donner of Valdiston, Arskall and Mossberg!" The crowd parted slightly, allowing them to make it to the long bridge that connected the castle to the mainland.
Don dismounted, taking a moment to look out into the bay, at one of the ships exiting the bay. The flag at its rear, the golden crocus upon a split field of green and purple, marked it as an Arendellian ship but…
His eyes alighted on two figures at the stern of the ship, two familiar figures.
Why are Anna and Kristoff leaving? He thought, as he lifted his hand to wave. Neither of them returned the wave, and instead stepped away from the stern rail, and into one of the cabins. That's… strange…
But he couldn't be seen to hesitate, not in front of the crowds that were even now closing in around him, beginning to push him across the bridge.
Captain Oberon, flanked by six guards, impeded his progress.
"What business do you have here, King Donner?" He asked, as his guards thumped their short pikes on the stone.
"I have come to call upon Queen Elsa, as she asked me to." He furnished the letter she had written him, and given to him during their last visit. "May I enter?"
The Captain read the letter, before turning his long face to nod at his guards, who stepped aside.
"You may enter, with two of your guardsmen." He looked at the approaching group of courtiers, who were giggling and laughing gaily as they approached. "The… ladies may enter as well. The Queen is in the great hall."
Don nodded, striding past him and into the castle.
Alright, I might not be able to post any new chapters for a few days. I'll try my best too, but it's unlikely, my mother just passed away today, and I'm going to take some time to mourn her.
Hope you all like the chapter. Don't forget to review.