Chapter Forty-Five: A Night of Disasters
King Triton, ruler of Atlantica, lord of the sea and a currently enraged grandfather stared at me with his trident raised into the air. And all I could do was gape back in awe for what seemed an eternity. I pictured him thrusting his trident into my body as memories of my father teaching me how to spear a fish several years ago came into my head.
"Be very still, Fredrik," Papa said as he held the spear just above the water's edge. "Wait for the chance, and when you find one…" With one swift move he brought the spear down forcefully into the fish below. He pulled it out and there it was: a single fish flicked wildly in its last agonizing moments. Its blood dripped down from the pointed end of the spear and fell in droplets on the water below. "Do not hesitate. Strike with one motion. Don't let it have a chance to escape…"
I wondered if King Triton's father taught him the same technique on how to spear humans with his trident. I hope he did so he would know how to make one thrust, quick and clean. Let my agony be short and my blood pool into the ice that I created that eventually became my doom. I only hope my death would satisfy him and he would be content to leave it at that than go to war against Arendelle.
I felt the spikes of ice cease from rising around me and dissipate into harmless sea foam. A warm hand enclosed my arm and woke me from my stupor. Aunt Elsa stood between me and this god-like creature.
"Your majesty," she said in a voice that was calm yet entreated for indulgence. "I most humbly beg for your pardon for this most unfortunate accident."
The King of the Sea glared at her but only for a moment. His attention quickly turned to the little mermaid that was now free from my ice but was still shivering. Admiral Westergard reached a hand out to assist her out of the water but King Triton stopped him from further approaching by pointed his trident at him.
"STOP! Who are you? How dare you touch her?!"
My heart plummeted and for a moment I thought Admiral Westergard would be the one speared through instead of me. Any man would have shrank and cowered back but Admiral Westergard after pulling back slightly managed to stand and bow with grace.
"My sincerest apologies, your majesty," he uttered steadily. "I only wish to assist her. If you please, she needs immediate medical attention from being encased in ice."
King Triton's anger melted and concern marred his face as he scooped Melody in his arms and held her close.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" he asked tenderly.
"J-just c-c-cold, Grandpa. I-it's okay… C-captain Westergard is my friend. He can help."
"Please Sire, she needs to get dry and warmed quickly," Admiral Westergard explained. "If you will allow me to take her to land and to her mother, I can better help her."
"Alright," King Triton said. He summoned the little row boat we used earlier with a deft movement of his trident and gently placed Melody in. His trident emitted a gold light as he pointed it towards her. The light enveloped the young mermaid and transformed her tail into a pair of legs that peeked underneath the little green dress that magically appeared and wrapped around her body. Admiral Westergard got in after her and took off his coat to drape around her shoulders.
King Triton then pushed the boat towards the nearby shore with the magic of his trident. Aunt Elsa and I trailed after them by walking on the bridge of ice my aunt carefully made across the water.
"Sebastian!" King Triton called out to something in the sand when he reached the shoreline. "Get word to Ariel through that bird friend of hers that Melody and I are here. Tell her what happened and have her come to me immediately."
Something small moved in the sand near him. I glimpsed a red crab that crawled at an amazing pace towards what appeared to be a seagull perched lazily among some nearby rocks. The seagull took off quickly towards the castle with a noisy squack.
King Triton made sure his granddaughter was safely helped off the boat before his fierce gaze reverted back to my aunt. "You are responsible for this?" he accused her menacingly.
"Forgive me Sire," Aunt Elsa pleaded. "It was an accident…"
His eyes flickered dangerously before they morphed into a mixture of anger and disgust.
"You!" he spat at my aunt as if she was something filthy. "You're that woman that my Ariel said had come between her and her—"
"It was me!" I suddenly cried out for I couldn't let my aunt stand there and be accused of something that she was not to blame. "I-I'm s-sorry Sire, I caused t-the ice. I-I d-didn't mean to. I j-just lost control."
"Lost control!" he thundered as he turned back to my aunt. "He has these powers and he couldn't control them? Is this your child?"
"My nephew," Aunt Elsa answered. "But I take full responsibility for any harm."
King Triton glared at her and I expected him to point his trident at her but another voice stopped him.
"Please Sire, Prince Fredrik's only a child," Admiral Westergard entreated after he gently laid Melody to sit by a nearby smooth rock. "I assure you he had no intention of hurting Melody or anyone. It was just an accident. As his commanding officer I take responsibility for him."
I fought back the tears that stung at my eyes. This was all my fault and yet both Aunt Elsa and Admiral Westergard rose to protect me without a second thought. I couldn't let them take the brunt of this. As much as I feared King Triton's wrath I came before him on my knees on the sand.
"Please don't blame them, your majesty. It was all me. I was angry at someone else. I let it get to me and released my ice without thinking. If you need to punish someone, then my life is yours to take." I lay my head down and waited for his trident to strike.
"I'm alright, Grandpa. I don't think he means any harm. Please let him go."
"Stand up and look at me, boy!" King Triton said. I obeyed and to my surprise his expression softened. "I don't kill children. But I'm giving you a warning. You're fortunate Melody was not severely hurt, for if anything happened to her I won't be as lenient. I hope you remember this well and be more conscientious of your actions in the future."
"Yes Sire," I said. "I assure you it will never happen again."
"And you two," his gaze shifted from my aunt to Admiral Westergard. "As you admit to being this boy's guardians I will hold you accountable if anything like this occurs again."
"We understand your majesty," Aunt Elsa said humbly. "Thank you and you have my word: I will take care of this personally."
"So shall I, your majesty," Admiral Westergard seconded. "Again, my most humble apologies."
I expected I would be punished severely by my aunt and Admiral Westergard after this. I can foresee myself scrubbing the Alexandra's decks all the way home. But anything they give me would be less than what I deserved. Once again, my stupidity over a girl got me into this and put the two people I look up to the most and the rest of Arendelle in a bad position. I was horrible. How could I even think of ruling Arendelle one day if all I do was mess things up? I felt my own self-loathing envelop me but I shook it off. There would be time enough to wallow in these thoughts. Right now, the most I could do was face this and do the right thing as courtesy demanded.
"I am sorry your majesty," I said again to King Triton before I turned to the girl who was still wrapped tightly in Admiral Westergard's coat. I solemnly bowed before her and tried to steady my voice as I spoke the first words that came into my head. "I'd like to formally apologize to the Princess of Tastris and Atlantica for hitting her with my ice and… for every moment after."
I heard nothing from her that I feared she was glaring up at me with cold anger as was her right. But when I finally looked up I found her staring at me and she didn't look at all hostile. In fact, her gaze seemed a little dreamy and her cheeks seemed to be redder than normal. Or maybe it was just the trick of the light.
I met her eyes and that seemed to startle her. She backed away towards one of the jutting rocks which threw her feet off-balance. I instinctively grabbed her by the arms to steady her before she fell onto the sand and I found myself inches from her face.
"S-sorry," I muttered.
She looked away but not fast enough that I didn't see the definite reddening of her face. We both stepped away from each other at the same time.
"I-I'm okay," she said. "Really… no harm." I noticed she began tucking invisible strands of hair behind her ear in a gesture that seemed involuntarily self-conscious but I didn't observe further. I didn't want to give her grandfather any more reason to think I was rude by staring at her inappropriately.
I suddenly became aware of people approaching us from the village. I caught their half-intrigued, half-frightened expressions and I could hear them whispering:
"What's going on?"
"What happened to the lanterns? Why did they all fall from the sky?"
"Look it's the Snow Queen and her ice prince nephew!"
"Did they cause the lanterns to fall?"
"No, look it's that other one! He has a fish's tale!
"It's a mermaid!"
"No, it's a merman! He has a beard."
"It's the King of the Sea! He caused a storm that made the lanterns fall! I saw it!"
"Is he here to harm us?"
I noticed too that people onboard the various ships in the docks in the distance were also turned to our direction. I could feel the general mood of fear and curiosity among the growing crowds. I realized that I just ruined a kingdom's entire festival and from the looks of things, the situation can rise to sudden panic if left unchecked.
My aunt stood regally and addressed them. "It's alright, everything's fine. We sincerely apologize for the interruption of the festivities. His majesty, King Triton, ruler of Atlantica is here and we are honored by his presence. He comes for a diplomatic visit in peace. Please, if someone could just tell Queen Rapunzel so he can be welcomed properly."
Her calming words seemed to have the right effect for people began to disperse though a few still lingered on to stare at the powerful Sea King who didn't seem at all bothered by the attention.
Suddenly, a figure pushed past between the remaining bodies along the shore. Queen Ariel ran with her red hair flying in the wind and unmindful of her enormous pink skirts that were stained by dirt and sand. King Eric followed at her heels. The Queen of Tastris arrived first and she immediately hugged Melody to her chest.
"Are you alright?" she gasped frantically at her daughter. "Scuttle said you were frozen!"
"I'm fine Mother," Melody replied. She looked rather embarrassed. "Really, it was nothing."
But Queen Ariel wasn't content with her reassurance and continued to assess her thoroughly. When she was satisfied that her daughter was indeed unharmed, she turned to my aunt.
"I told you before, you stay away from my child!" she spat angrily. I have never seen anyone look at Aunt Elsa with such open loathing that I was startled. "What have you done to my daughter?!"
My aunt said nothing but I knew she was fighting off the urge to hide away. Queen Ariel's outburst caught people's attention and began to stare. I could tell the curious onlookers eagerly waited for something to happen that could be the source of juicy malicious gossip later on.
"Ariel, this is not the place—" King Eric half-whispered as he noticed the crowds but his wife wouldn't hear of it.
"Don't you dare defend her!" she spat at her husband before she turned back to my aunt. "It's not enough that you put my husband in danger when you got him to fight for you in your stupid war. Now you freeze my child! You… you…"
"Ariel, it wasn't her," Admiral Westergard said and stood protectively in front of my aunt just in time. I feared if someone didn't stop Queen Ariel she was about to call my aunt indecent names and the gossips would have a field day. "It was an accident and Elsa's not to blame. I apologize for this incident, it is partly my fault. Please, Melody is alright but the important thing is for her to get dried and warmed up as soon as possible."
His words seemed to have an effect on her for the younger queen took his advice but she turned momentarily to her father.
"Daddy, will you be alright?" she asked.
"Just go get Melody warmed up, I'll handle this and I'll wait for you here."
Queen Ariel nodded and gave one last withering glance at my aunt before she let herself be led by King Eric who carried Melody in his arms.
They haven't gone far when a galloping steed went passed them and I recognized it as Maximus, the royal horse who played an important role in the first meeting of Queen Rapunzel and Prince Eugene. He bore the royal couple on his back.
Queen Rapunzel bowed before King Triton and exchanged quick polite greetings but I could tell she was troubled. She turned to my aunt. "I need to talk to you. Now. It's urgent."
We left Prince Eugene to converse with King Triton while Queen Rapunzel led myself, my aunt and Admiral Westergard near the water's edge where we couldn't be overhead by the onlookers and the Sea King.
"What happened?" Queen Rapunzel demanded.
Aunt Elsa shook her head. "It's nothing. It was just an accident. It's totally unrelated to the lamp. We're so sorry for ruining your party. Fredrik accidentally froze Melody and King Triton arrived. He got angry and made the lamps fall—"
"I'm not talking about that!" Queen Rapunzel cut her off. "What did you do to my crown?"
"Your crown?" my aunt asked as she stared with wide-eyed confusion at Queen Rapunzel's head.
That's when I noticed it. Her crown had a missing stone, the one in the middle that was the biggest. And its shape looked all too familiar.
"It melted!" Queen Rapunzel cried. "The stone in my crown melted as if it was made of ice when I held the lantern up right next to it before I released it! Please tell me you replaced it with ice and you have the real one in your possession!"
"I didn't!" my aunt declared. "I never touched your crown or replaced it with ice! I had nothing to do with it!"
But I did! Oh my God, I did! The missing stone on Queen Rapunzel's crown was the exact same shape and size of the diamond Peter asked me to make for him yesterday. And I remembered seeing Peter touching his mother's crown this afternoon through the mirror. He had all the time in the world to replace the stone with my ice-made diamond!
"It was me!" I cried out. "I'm so sorry! I didn't realize what it was!"
My aunt turned to me frightfully and shook my shoulders gently. "Fredrik! What did you do?"
I quickly explained to them what I knew and I was in near tears of fright by the time I ended.
"It's okay Fredrik," my aunt reassured as she held me tight. "It's not your fault. Let's just find Peter and get that stone back. Who did he say it was for?"
"He said it was for a girl, he didn't say who."
Queen Rapunzel bristled angrily. "Don't ever take my son's words at face value. He has a way of twisting them. I'm the girl! It was for me so I wouldn't find out he replaced it while he took the real stone somewhere else. Eugene and I are going to kill him! Now what could he possibly want with that stone…" Her words trailed off abruptly and a look of shock suddenly lined her features as she stared at something behind us. "What is that?!"
I turned around and saw something unusual in the night sky: A ship. Flying.
King Triton, Prince Eugene and even the remaining onlookers all caught on and stared with fascination at the air-born ship.
"It's the Jolly Roger!" Admiral Westergard gasped. He turned to my aunt. "Remember my odd friend Crochet? That's his ship!"
"You mean the one obsessed with fairies?" Aunt Elsa asked.
"Yes," Admiral Westergard replied. "He was here for the conference. I saw him at the Snuggly Duckling."
"So did I," I declared. "Peter and I met him at the Snuggly Duckling a few days ago. He told Peter about this land where you can't grow old and you can only get there by flying using..." I stopped as I dreadfully recalled his words. "Fairy dust… that is encased in stone in a protected place… in Corona…"
Admiral Westergard slapped the side of his head with his hand and turned pale. "Oh no! Why did I not bother to listen to him! I thought he was just a rambling lunatic! It all connects now."
"You mean, the stone in my crown contains fairy dust…" Queen Rapunzel began.
"That enables anyone who gets sprinkled with it to fly and get to the land of eternal youth and fairies…" Prince Eugene continued.
"And that same dust that made that ship to fly came from the one that imprisoned the lamp…" Aunt Elsa said.
"Which means, anyone who has been in contact with that ship and with its dust can possibly now be capable of opening the lamp," concluded Admiral Westergard grimly.
Oh great! Our big problem just got bigger. For a long time we all stared at each other without saying anything.
"What is going on here?!" King Triton demanded.
We all looked at him guiltily but no one spoke a word. Everyone didn't seem know how to begin to tell him the dangers we were now facing.
"Mama! Papa! He's gone! HE'S GONE!"
The childish cry ripped our silence. I turned to see ten-year-old Princess Rampion, Queen Rapunzel and Prince Eugene's eldest daughter nearly run over several people with her pony. But she didn't seem to care. She jumped down and ran towards her parents. She was in tears and she held a piece of paper in her hands.
"What happened?" Queen Rapunzel cried as she realized how distressed her daughter was. "Who's gone?"
"Peter," Rampion sobbed. "He ran away!" She thrust the paper she carried into her parents' hands. The Coronan royal couple both turned pale as they read it and pain registered in their faces. Queen Rapunzel collapsed to her knees and openly burst into tears while she hugged her crying daughter to her chest.
"What happened?" Aunt Elsa asked as she tried to embrace her friend. But Queen Rapunzel couldn't speak through her tears. She gave the paper to my aunt. Admiral Westergard and I came up behind her and read the words that I recognized were in Peter's untidy scrawl:
Dear Father and Mother,
I can no longer bear to live the way you want me to. If I stay, I will only disappoint you further. Please don't look for me. I have found a place where I can be who I am and I know I can be happy there. Flynnigan will make a great king someday.
Peter
I now understood why Peter had taken the stone. He wanted to go with Crochet to the land of unending youth and that sneaky captain most likely offered him a place on the ship if he can get the stone from his mother's crown. That dirty rat! Peter used me and I fell for it!
"He's there, on that flying ship! I just know it!" Queen Rapunzel sobbed. "How he could do this to us?"
"We can get him back," Prince Eugene said to his wife as he embraced her. "I'll get him back and drag his sorry hide back here. Hans, Elsa, I need to borrow the Carpet."
"Oh course," Elsa said as she soothed her distressed friend. "Oh Rapunzel, don't worry. I'm sure Eugene and Hans can find him and get him home soon."
"And when I do, I will skin him alive for his stupid scheme!" Prince Eugene said in a tone that lost all mirth. His next words were dead serious. "This is the last straw for him. He is never leaving his room again until he learns to take responsibility for his actions!"
"Well let's just make sure he keeps away from Heinrik and that lamp," Admiral Westergard said. "If he's been touched by that fairy dust, he might be one more person to worry about. Come on Eugene, let's get Carpet and get him—" He suddenly stopped and turned to point at the sea. "Look, it's Lorens."
Ensign Lorens came rowing towards the shore on a small boat from the Alexandra. He no longer waited to get the boat on the beach. Instead, he jumped into the water and half-swam towards us. He emerged with his uniform dripping wet with the magic mirror in his hand. From the way he moved, I could tell he was apprehensive and almost in a panicked state. Even before he spoke, I could tell that as bad as things stood tonight, it was about to get worse.
"I think the lamp's been opened," he declared.
Author's Note: Things are about to get grim from this chapter on. Expect a lot of trouble as our heroes are put to tests (and there will be a lot). Thanks so much for all your support. I think I have to mention the other fanfic I started that's related to this called "Ever After." I've put it into temporary hiatus because I've hit a snag in the plot and I would continue it after I finish this one. I plan to make it something of a parallel story to this one that would reveal some of the missing in-between scenes that Fredrik won't be able to see.
