Rapunzel

The Sun warmed her face and a breeze from the ocean helped her stay cool in the hot summer weather. She was sitting outside on the terrace with her mother and was given lessons on what it meant to be a member of the royal family and what responsibilities that came with such work.

"You have to understand this my girl that the people down on the streets are your people and you have to make sure they are happy and have a bright future ahead of them. Calm people are equal to a quiet kingdom; you must never forget that, no matter what."

"I will remember that mother;" Rapunzel said and felt the wind play with her pink dress.

"Your dad and I, when we found out you were still alive, that day you were standing outside the castle doors, we were so happy to know you were alive, that we decided to let you follow your own heart. In most other cases, a person of royal blood must throw away their own desires for what is best for the people."

"But why? Why not marry love?"

The lessons she received were both informative, but sometimes shocking to her as well, but her curiosity for this new life of hers made her ask so many questions."

"Because blood runs deep and if there was to be a kingdom out there that would decide to attack this one, a marriage can reunite the kingdoms to one so that no innocent blood is spilled."

"Then I should not have married Flynn?"

"As I said, we have allowed you to follow your heart's desire, but in that case you have children, it is possible that they will not have the same opportunity, which is what makes our feudal system work, but sometimes I also mean giving up on those we love the most. If it did not work in its current state, we would be in constant warfare with others who may have wished to conquer us and should we be attacked we would all be in very serious trouble my dear."

"Blood marriages are thus a way of balancing the weights for all things?"

"Yes, my girl and that is an important lesson to learn and you must never forget it."

Rapunzel was not one who could easily forget, but learning how the world worked and realizing that she had been allowed to marry the one man she loved, she was in awe, and she felt like the luckiest person in the world.

She asked, "What about Flynn?"

"What about him?"

"What will his role be, will he someday be a king?"

"No, in other kingdoms he would probably get the title of king, but that is not what he is going to be here for our customs are a little different."

"How different?"

"Not much, but when you become a queen one day, Flynn will be consort to the queen, a man who will have royal duties, but you as the queen will have all the important ones."

Rapunzel was thinking of Flynn and thought of what to say when he learned he would not get the title of king even though they were married.

She asked, "Mom did you marry out of love or was it never up to you to decide?"

"It was an arranged marriage that I first was not too happy about. That was until I learned that I was going to marry a king, and I thought this marriage probably was not going to be that bad, but I have to admit that it took a while before your dad and I really gave each other everything for that was a more difficult task."

"That I could imagine."

Her mother's long brown hair was blowing in the wind and made her look much younger then she was. Rapunzel asked: "What if something happened that would upset our people and they suddenly was out for blood. What if they stormed our gates?"

"In that case, my beloved daughter they must be cut down where they stand, but people will hate you for it if that is what is needed. You see, peasants and common folk are very emotional people who do not think with logic, and they do not have the same education that we have, so it is your duty to see that their feelings do not run out of control."

"Why are they not educated then?"

"Make no mistake my darling, some are educated, but only the few can read or write, but I think these are lessons enough for today. It is teatime."

Rapunzel loved teatime most when it came to specific events of the day. While she was still living in the tower, she have had the tower to herself when Gothel was not there. Now duties and meetings with high and low people were now daily work for her. Her schedule was such that the servants who entered her room with breakfast for her and Flynn woke her up in the morning and breakfast consisted mainly of the same type of food.

Bread, eggs, bacon, small sausages and a glass of juice to wash it all down. Then she had to get dressed and then she got lessons from either her mother or her father, and those lessons consisted mainly of her asking them questions about what it meant to be a king or a queen, in her case both, when one day she would have the power and influence of a king.

Then there were other kinds of lessons like history lessons, math lessons and astronomy as well, and she learned quickly. Being locked up in a tower and only have been fed lies made her hungry for the truth. She was also taught about tactics in military warfare, and she had even boarded a real military ship.

All that knowledge was to prepare her for life and the eventual duties, when her mother and father were no longer around.

After the lessons came tea time, her favorite time of day when she, her mother, her father and Flynn met in the same room for tea and cake, all as a family.

Then more lessons would follow, and then it was time for dinner and then she could do what she wanted to do.

Flynn and her dad were waiting for them as they arrived.

The king spoke, "So there you are, ladies, we thought you had taken a left turn at the wrong hall."

"Ha-ha, you are so funny" the queen replied.

"I am right?"

Rapunzel asked, "How long have you been here? Have you eaten cookies without us?"

Flynn said, "No, we would never do that."

Rapunzel knew Flynn better than anyone else did, and she could see in his eyes that they had been there for some time. She said nothing but smiled and sat down on the couch, looked at the table, and saw that the fine porcelain was in use and the chocolate cookies were waiting for them.

The king said, "I was just talking to Flynn about your cousins Anna and Elsa, Rapunzel. I said that after the winter in the summer episode, things have all returned to normal, whatever that means these days."

It had been a shock for Flynn and Rapunzel to see Elsa unleash her powers that way, and when the harbor froze to ice, no ship could leave Arendelle again.

Rapunzel and Flynn had been given a guest room for themselves in the days that followed, waiting for news on Elsa and Anna and what was happening between them. They had seen from a window, how Anna was transformed into an ice statue, and Rapunzel had felt her heart break, when she saw them suffer as they did, but the curse had been lifted and instead the sisters had lived and everyone could go home again if they had wanted to.

The only thing that put a damper on the celebrations was that a young mother and her child had frozen to death in the cold winter, and the woman's husband had disappeared. It made Rapunzel feel at odds with Elsa and Anna, as both Rapunzel and Flynn had seen them, skating together almost as if they did not have a care in the world despite everything that had just happened.

Rapunzel's mind had been filled with questions. What were the thoughts on Elsa in the people who had survived this whole ordeal? Those who had survived this ordeal would probably have resented those two sisters over the fact that there were two dead frozen people and someone had to pay for that, and Rapunzel would not have been surprised at all if people wanted both sisters dead.

She had a feeling that both sisters at some point was going to reap what they had sowed, and it was not a day for them to look forward to.

Rapunzel said, "Normal and normal. All the things that happened back then were not quite normal I cannot shake the feeling that this is far from over."

The Queen looked at her and asked: "What makes you say this?"

"The two people who died, I do not think it will be easily forgotten."

Flynn said: "Rapunzel is right. I think some people will see Elsa as a dangerous individual or a witch to be more precise. Maybe they will see her as a direct enemy that must be destroyed. There re just so many unknowns right now."

The king looked at his wife and said: "The letter of support we send to them, it must have arrived by now." She replied, "Yes, but do you think they will write back to us? I have to admit that the whole affair with them is quite complicated."

Flynn said," What can we do about it? If Elsa has these powers that she have and cannot control them." Rapunzel said, "It is true, I hate to say it, but Elsa could be a serious threat if she actually decided to use her powers to go on the offensive and attack us or anyone else. It could literally be a bloodbath if she ever turned evil."

The King got up from his seat, walked over to a window and looked out at the calm blue sea and then he said, "I have a feeling that there will be no peace in Arendelle just like that. I only hope Elsa knows what she is doing and no matter what, we have to send her moral support. I think she might need it now, and then we need to keep a watchful eye on her kingdom.

"Spies?" The Queen suggested.

"No, I do not think it will be necessary, but just the latest news from Arendelle. Also rumors, so we may know what is said in Arendelle."

Rapunzel took a chocolate cookie and thought about her future. When she was in charge of the Kingdom of Corona, how would she deal with her cousins herself? Would she be kind with them or try to destroy them, before they became a threat to her own people. She was sure everyone in the room thought the same thing: Elsa was a possibility in many ways than one. What if someone were to get married to Elsa and have a child with her, would that child have the same powers as Elsa had and what if that child or Elsa was used as a weapon? So many questions, and it always seemed that new ones were added to the pile. The King asked, "By the way, my beloved daughter, have you and Flynn opened all your wedding gifts?"

"No not yet father."

"Well, when are you going to finish with that?"

"There are so many that it would literally take days for us to finish opening presents."

"Well, if you do not want to open them then I will."

They all laughed at that, but then the king said: "I mean it you know!"