The late midsummer light came in through the window as Inga sat in bed reading. Henry had sent her a new book from France, which had been the last stop he and his sister Hilde had made on their grand tour. As always, the books he sent her arrived later than even the letters sent by post, and certainly not as quick as the letters they sent each other every day.

She had started reading the book the very afternoon it arrived, and had excused herself following dinner so she could finish reading it, and was taking advantage of the natural light to finish it up. It was nearly midnight, but this was summer, so of course it was still light out. She was using the note Henry had included with the book as a bookmark, and marked her spot. She was getting tired, and as interesting as she found this book, she needed sleep. But first, she would write Henry. She hadn't let him know she had received the book, and he would want to know.

July 28th, 1865

Dear Henry,

I can't believe it's almost August again. We had a little birthday party for Linne, though it was more for us than for her. I really would have preferred a small party like that, but I suppose it's nice with a big party that I'll get to see you. I'm looking forward to that.

It's been quite warm here this summer, and I've really wanted to go swimming, but I haven't quite found the time, so I suppose I'll keep suffering in the heat.

Inga stopped and shook her head. She'd had plenty of time to go swimming. Why had she told him she had no time? Time wasn't the issue. Why was she writing to Henry about something that was really an issue of clothing… or lack of clothing… she wasn't entirely sure. But then, perhaps she shouldn't be writing to him about activities involving so little clothing. Inga returned to her letter.

I nearly forgot to thank you for the French novel. It's fascinating, and I've nearly finished reading it. I'm not entirely sure I like the idea of canons sending people to the moon, as it seems quite dangerous, but I'm sure Frederick would tell me not to be so worried about that sort of thing. He was explaining the safety of gunpowder storage to us the other day. I got him to stop by mentioning some music I know he likes, so he played for us instead of talking about the navy.

She wasn't sure if she was happy with the letter, but it could wait until morning. She set down the sheet of paper and her pen, turned the lamp off by her bed, and went to sleep watching the glow in the sky fade from white to grey.

Inga didn't remember going into the mountains. She didn't see her horse anywhere, nor any sign of the reindeer. But here she was. The grass was soft and green under her feet, and the sun was warm on her face. As she walked around, the sun grew hotter, and even in the shade, it was becoming uncomfortable. She didn't remember changing out of her clothes, but she found herself swimming in the pond, just like when she was a child. But she wasn't a child. The water was a perfect temperature as she swam around. Someone else was in the pond.

"Henry!" she exclaimed. He kissed her, and she melted into his embrace. They swam to the shore. Sitting at the edge of the water, his kisses moved down her neck to her shoulders. Her breaths became heavier and more frantic as he continued, then he came back up and kissed her again on the lips.

A gust of wind rattled the window, startling Inga awake. A summer downpour rattled at her window. She was still in her bed, completely alone, and it was almost dark outside with the rain clouds. Breathing heavily, she opened the window and let the warm rain come in for a moment, closing it securely again before anything in the room got too wet.

She needed to remember herself. Her dreams had been getting more intense lately, but still, they were just dreams. Maybe one of those old gothic novels from the library was giving her ideas. She didn't particularly like those novels, but sometimes she was bored and read them anyway.

She found her letter, reading it again. She decided to get out a new piece of paper and rewrite it, hopefully to be more proper this time. The anticipation was getting to her.

Frederick sat at the table in Hudson's Hearth with his twin brothers Anton and Peder, all three of them impatiently waiting on a late lunch. The younger two were continually bouncing up in their booth to look behind them to the kitchen door.

"You know that won't speed it up, right?" Frederick asked them. His brothers' behavior was starting to bother him more than his hunger.

"Well, maybe someone will see us?" Anton suggested, with Peder nodding in agreement.

"We could have just gotten something in the kitchen at the castle if you were going to be like this," Frederick sighed.

"Like what?" Peder asked.

"Never mind," Frederick replied quickly, seeing Meibel coming over with their dishes.

"Here you go," the young girl smiled.

"Thank you, Meibel," Frederick replied, glaring at his brothers for eating so rudely without even a thanks. "Have you had lunch?"

"I had something at school this morning," she told him.

"That seems early."

"It's the same time every day," she shrugged. "But you should eat, Frederick! You know where to find me."

Frederick nodded as she ran back to the kitchen, starting on his own lunch.

"So," Anton said a few minutes later, having nearly cleared his plate. "We were going to plan something for the party?"

"Well," Frederick said between bites, "I hope you're planning something better than what you two planned for your birthday party last fall. Swimming in the pond in September was a bad idea. I'm amazed I still had all my toes when we got home!"

"So it was a bit cold!" Peder laughed. "Weren't you the one at sea in April?"

"That's different!" Frederick snapped. "We didn't go swimming… not intentionally, anyway."

Anton pushed away his empty plate. "Don't worry, Fred, we were just talking about having you figure out some music we could all play. Don't you have that friend up in Bergen who writes stuff like that?"

"I can write to Edvard," Frederick hemmed, "but the party is going to be in the courtyard and I don't think Inga will want the fuss of everyone moving inside on her account, if you're planning on having me play, too."

"You could play Father's instrument," Peder suggested.

"I haven't touched it in years," Frederick reminded him, "not since I almost broke it."

"Weren't you seven then?" Anton asked seriously. "I'd think he's forgiven you for that by now."

"Well, at any rate, the tuning never sounds right," Frederick said, trying to end the subject. The younger two began whispering something to each other until they noticed their older brother glaring at them.

"Father can help us get the piano outside," his brothers announced in unison, looking at each other.

Frederick was glad they couldn't see him rolling his eyes at this suggestion. Their father would probably agree to the idea, but Frederick really hoped it wasn't going to rain. He hated the idea of the piano ending up in the rain. It was neglected enough as it was, sitting in a corner of the ballroom like it did. He had started teaching himself to tune the instrument because it had gotten too frustrating waiting for an official piano tuner to come in. Still, their mother would enjoy hearing them play together. She had told him she liked hearing him play piano. He was asking her to accept the idea of him going into the navy, the least he could do was play for her more often.

"Look," Frederick said, "I think my friend mentioned writing something for piano and violin recently, so if you'll promise to actually practice with me when I get the music, we can do that. Do we have a deal?" Frederick tried to remember if he had actually seen either brother play from sheet music ever. He might need to help them learn the parts by ear. He wasn't sure what he was getting himself into.

"That sounds good," Anton agreed.

"Deal!" Peder chimed in.

There was a knock on the study door, startling Inga away from the reply she was composing to the most recent letter from Count Esterhazy, who still insisted on writing in Latin.

"Come in!" Frederick called out.

Kai stepped in. "Your Highnesses," he greeted them, "is Her Majesty here?"

"Mother will be back in a few minutes," Inga informed him, "is there anything we can tell her, Kai?"

Kai nodded. "I have a message from the Ambassador in America, if perhaps you can hold on to it for her?"

"Yes, Kai, I'll make sure she gets it, thank you," Inga responded, taking the letter from the steward. Frederick was looking at her. Inga had learned that Kai had been involved from the beginning with the situation to cover up Lars's birth, and was well aware of why Lars had been picked to fill the Ambassador position, but Frederick was still unaware of anything.

"What about other correspondence?" Frederick asked eagerly.

"That will be sent up as soon as they have it ready downstairs," Kai replied dryly.

"All this way with just one letter," Frederick scoffed.

"I'm sure there's a good reason, thank you, Kai,"

Kai nodded, closing the door as he left.

"What's it say?" Frederick asked her when she'd barely had a chance to read the envelope.

"I told Kai I'd hold onto it for Mother, and that's what I'm going to do," Inga informed him. "She'll be back soon enough."

"Is it about Elizabeth? I haven't heard from Lars in a while."

"I haven't opened the envelope, so I couldn't tell you," Inga said, not wanting to admit that she was afraid to read it, since they hadn't had any news yet about Elizabeth and the baby.

"I was just asking," Frederick snarked.

"Sorry, just-" Inga hated keeping the secret.

"Well, I can't see why Mother would mind if we opened it first," he said, reaching for the envelope.

"No!" Inga shouted, hitting his hand away.

"You're acting strange, you know that?" Frederick told her.

"I'm sorry. I'd like to know, too, and whatever happened probably happened a week or two ago already… it's just… Kai brought this for Mother, and we should let Mother read it first."

Frederick sighed. "Honestly, Lars did want us to get a telegraph here. I don't know why we haven't, really. I thought I convinced Mother finally back in February."

"Well, even if Mother agrees with you, not everyone on the council likes the idea. These things take time."

"Of course they do," Frederick groaned, turning around and flopping onto a chair by the window. He stared out toward the water. "And of course they can't just decide one way or another on the Succession Bill, either. I'm not complaining, mind you, I just don't like the uncertainty."

"You don't like the uncertainty? I was perfectly fine with having four brothers ahead of me. It wasn't something that bothered me. Now I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"It will complicate things, won't it?" Frederick commented, not looking away from the window.

"What?" Inga stopped, only then realizing that she had started pacing the room.

"Just…" Frederick turned around in his chair, sitting awkwardly sideways. "You know, the council… they don't like the idea of a personal union."

"You've told me this before," Inga replied, staring at the envelope in her hand, checking that she hadn't bent it. "Look, I didn't even like the idea of changing the succession before I met Henry, and I suppose you're right, it complicates things since he's directly in line for the throne of Corona."

Frederick raised an eyebrow, and Inga realized that she had just answered an unspoken question from him. She hated how he could do that. He wasn't saying anything, though.

"Anyway," Inga continued, "that's not what the council was thinking last summer. At least, ugh! I hope they weren't already thinking about that."

"Do you mean that Lord what's-his-name on the council who's always trying to impress you when he's in town?" Frederick asked, shifting in the chair again, "I remember hearing he was the main proponent of the change."

"Duke Agder," Inga corrected. The provincial duke would frequently try to impress her with his conversation by dropping titles of books and names of authors he knew little about. "I try to ignore him, and thankfully he's afraid of Father-"

"Wasn't Father the one who suggested the succession idea in the first place?"

"Well, of course. But… see? This is why I don't like any of this."

"Fair enough," Frederick shrugged, drumming his fingers on the table. "Maybe once you're twenty-one they'll give up on it finally."

"That won't stop Duke Agder, but hopefully he'll get married soon enough. He's already thirty."

"Oh, that wasn't what I was thinking of…"

"What were you thinking, then?"

"Just that they did seem to be mostly concerned about how long they'd be stuck with a regent if anything, you know, happened to Mother."

"How can you just say that like it's not a big deal?" Inga asked.

"Well, I mean, it would be a big deal, obviously," he told her, "but, well-"

The door opened, and their mother walked in.

"Mother, Kai asked me to give you this letter," Inga announced.

"Oh?" her mother said taking the letter without looking at it.

"It's from Lars," Frederick interrupted before Inga could say anything

"Oh," their mother replied, looking at the envelope. Inga could see her mother's hands shaking a little as she reached for the letter opener. She seemed to calm down as she read the letter, an Inga almost thought she saw a brief smile on her mother's face.

"Well?" Frederick asked impatiently, though Inga knew that he was genuinely worried about the news. He had never told her what he and Elizabeth had talked about at the ball in Corona the year before, but Inga knew that Elizabeth had been rather grateful that he had saved her from having to dance with several unwanted partners who seemed to think that her engagement with Lars, busy working in Arendelle, wasn't a particularly serious one.

Their mother took a deep breath, and handed Inga the letter. "Here you go, Inga. I think I need some fresh air. You two carry on with what you were doing."

Frederick stood frowning, staring at the door as it closed. Inga knew that he had no idea. At some point he would need to know, but perhaps not right now. He merely wanted to know what was in the letter. So did she, for that matter. She read silently, making out the hurried scrawl, just in case there was anything in the note that Frederick wasn't supposed to know just yet.

Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

July the fourteenth, 1865

To Her Majesty, Queen Anna of Arendelle

It is my pleasure to inform her majesty that Elizabeth Nilsen, wife of His Excellency, Lars Nilsen, Ambassador from the Kingdom of Arendelle to the United States of America, has been delivered of a baby boy, William Jan Nilsen. Mother and baby are both in excellent health.

Your Humble Servant,

Ambassador Lars Nilsen

Inga looked at the note for a few moments. Lars had written it himself, though she wasn't quite familiar enough with his writing to know just how much more hurried than usual it was. She handed the note over to Frederick.

"Thanks," he muttered, quickly scanning the note for the important information, "his writing is even worse than usual. You'd think with as formal as this is, he would've taken some effort."

"Well, there's probably a lot going on. And besides, everyone else probably got a telegraph from them."

"Oh, right."

"Your Majesty." Gerda curtseyed as Anna approached her bedroom, "are you well?"

"Oh, of course, Gerda, thank you. I decided I wanted to go for a walk, you know, enjoy the weather?"

"Of course," the old woman smiled. "Ring for me if you need anything."

"Thank you," she nodded before closing the door behind her.

She walked across the room and glanced out the window. Kristoff was walking into town with two trade guild leaders discussing something. She would write a quick note to Elsa, then she really would take her walk. What could she say, though? Did Elsa already know? Anna had avoided the topic in her recent letters. There was enough to discuss simply with Inga's party to plan.

As she took out the sheet of paper and began to write the date, she suddenly realized which day this was, of all the days. It had been twenty-two years now, hadn't it? She tried not to think about any of her decisions that evening, having spent enough years second guessing each one.

That one decision with Hans had nearly been forgotten, especially after he had been sent away. She was going to put it behind her, and pretend it never happened. After all, how many other young women had done the same with men they would never marry? No one would need to know, not even Kristoff. Certainly not Elsa.

Then one morning, about a month after that fateful night, Gerda had knocked on her door.

"Gerda! Good morning! Where is Olina this morning?"

"I gave her the morning off," Gerda said, looking serious. "Anna, are you feeling well?"

"I'm… I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"I've had to stop some talk I was hearing between the maids and the laundry staff. It's been a month and a half and… they do talk about those things, you know."

"Oh… I guess I hadn't thought about that. So much has happened, you know."

"Of course, dear. Please let me know if… I'm concerned about you, Anna."

A month later, it had become hard to deny. She had started to push Kristoff away, and eventually Elsa had called her to her study. Anna had assumed that Gerda had already told Elsa what she had begun to suspect, and Anna had immediately started talking.

"I think I know why you asked me here," Anna said as she closed the door to the study behind her.

"Which is?"

"Gerda told you, didn't she? She told me last month that the laundry staff were gossipping, because… well, you know how it is… and I dismissed it as just everything happening, since the same thing happened three years ago, and obviously there wasn't anything then, how could it be? But it's been another month and now I realize that it has to be, one month could be chance, two months is really getting hard to deny, and-" Anna stopped, realizing that Elsa was staring at her like this was completely new information. Gerda hadn't told her anything.

"Wh- wait, Anna… I called you here today because Kristoff came to me to find out if there was a reason you were avoiding him. What are you trying to tell me?"

Anna felt her stomach sink. "You're not going to tell him, are you? You can't tell him!"

"Oh, Anna… is it… it's not Kristoff, is it?"

"Of course not! I wish- I mean, no! That's not what I meant to say, but we, Kristoff and I, we haven't-"

"No, Anna, you don't have to tell me. It was Hans, wasn't it?"

Anna ripped herself out of the past and stopped distracting herself. She would write to Elsa. That was simple enough. She hadn't written to her sister in a few days, so it would be a good idea, anyway. Check in on when she was planning to come for the party, details like that.

Elsa sat on a rock by the shore, looking across the sea toward Ahtohallan. If she stayed up late enough, the sun would eventually set, but for now, the hours from afternoon to midnight all blended together, and the sun skimmed the horizon indecisively.

A familiar breeze startled her out of her reverie, and a letter fell into her hands.

"Thank you, Gale," she whispered.

She recognized her sister's scrawl instantly, wondering what details of planning Inga's birthday party she would be sharing today. It seemed like every letter the past month had been about which guests had responded or declined, and which party details Inga was whining about yet refusing to back out of.

Elsa had to agree with Anna to some extent, wondering why Inga wouldn't agree to simplify the party. Anna had mentioned that she wanted Prince Henry there, but as there was no formal arrangement between the two of them, it wouldn't look right to invite him and no other foreign guests. Elsa wished Inga would just admit to it. Gale's letter deliveries were hardly secret, and during the month that Inga had been up visiting with the rest of the family that spring, it had been quite noticeable how many letters Inga had been receiving and how many she was sending.

Nonetheless, Elsa remembered well enough the gossip that had sprung up the summer before in Corona; even while the ball for the official coronation of Henry and his sister Hilde was still going, there were whispers about how much time Prince Henry was spending with the princess from Arendelle. She knew very well that her niece had not gone with any intention of finding a marriage match, but that was certainly all that a lot of the people wanted to see. Anna hadn't been told some of the things she had overheard in Corona, particularly when no one thought she was listening. People were surprised that anyone from Arendelle had shown up to the event; it had, after all, been nearly twenty years since she and Anna had visited Corona. Since then, aside from their ambassador or the occasional naval officer, no one official from Arendelle had shown up to any event in Corona. But Inga had wanted to go last year, and Frederick had wanted to come along, and Elsa had recognized who Lars must be, and decided it was time to go back to Corona. Her niece and nephew needing a chaperone made for a convenient excuse.

Suddenly, the wind blew about Elsa again, pulling her from her thoughts and reminding her that she hadn't actually read Anna's letter yet.

Dear Elsa,

The party plans seem to be falling into place. Inga would like to know when you'll be arriving, of course. Oh, and Peder told me that you would know what he left up there last time, and to be sure to bring it with you. I have no idea what he's talking about, so I hope you really do know what he's looking for.

It seems that Inga has been writing to Elizabeth in America. I'm glad that she has a friend to write to, though I feel bad that Elizabeth won't make it to Inga's party. It would probably make the party easier for her.

I'm glad you made it to my birthday this year. I just realized, I'm the same age as Mother was-not to get morbid, but it's strange to think about now, especially with Inga turning eighteen so soon.

Look forward to seeing you again soon!

Love,

Anna

Elsa stared at the letter after she finished reading it. She'd gotten a letter from Rapunzel the week before, with word of Lars and Elizabeth's baby via telegraph to Corona. Did Anna actually know now, or not? When she visited Arendelle again she would need to ask.