"Inga," Frederick called out from the corridor, catching up to his sister just before she walked outside, "I didn't see you when I was studying today."

"Oh…" she shrugged as she opened the door, "I got a lot done yesterday and Monday, so the tutors told me to take today off."

He followed her out the door.

"So did you?" he asked, blinking at the sudden sunlight, "take a day off?"

"You didn't see me," she remarked, looking over her shoulder, "Does that answer your question?"

"Right, I guess so," he nodded, walking ahead a bit before turning around. "Speaking of Monday… Did you hear anything else about that meeting they were having?"

"I never heard anything about that," Inga admitted, "but I imagine if anything… important… was decided, they'll tell us. I was actually helping Mama with correspondence today, and I tried to bring it up, but she didn't think there was anything worth telling me..."

"You do that a lot, don't you? Writing letters for her?"

"I'm sure she'd let you help if you asked. It's not usually that difficult. You always write if someone is born or dies or gets married, and be sure to write in the correct language…"

"That's mostly French or German, I'd imagine. Maybe some English?"

"Count Esterhazy still writes exclusively in Latin."

"You can keep that one," Frederick laughed.

Frederick and Inga sat down on a bench at the edge of the garden. They could hear Anton and Peder somewhere nearby.

"Should they be doing that?" Inga asked, listening to their laughing and shouting.

"I can't see them, and I have no idea what it is, but they probably shouldn't be," Frederick admitted.

They heard Nanny scolding them, and Sofia repeating whatever Nanny said, for good measure. The twins soon came around the corner, looking dejected.

"Where's that friend of yours?" Peder asked.

"You mean Lars?" Frederick replied, "I haven't seen him today."

"Too bad," Anton said as he kicked at the dirt. "I like him, even if he does have silly hair."

"What's silly about his hair?" Inga asked. "It's not that different from yours, you know."

"Oh, I didn't mean the color, just the mustache. I don't have one of those, at least."

"And you won't for a long time," his sister told him.

"Won't what?" Lars inquired, approaching them from the direction of the courtyard.

"Oh, nothing important, just something silly they were talking about," Inga said quickly.

Frederick laughed loudly. Inga shot a glare at him, raising her eyebrows.

"Um, well, obviously I missed some inside joke, but that's fine," Lars shrugged.

"Oh, no, we were actually just talking about you," Peder informed him.

"Really?" Lars blanched. "Nothing bad, I hope?"

"No, nothing bad," assured Peder, "except Anton doesn't like your mu… oof!"

Anton had elbowed his brother sharply.

"I think neither of you gets to talk for the next hour," scolded Frederick, trying not to laugh more.

"I have a brother, you know," laughed Lars, "so I think I can handle whatever it was."

"That doesn't mean they should be talking about people we barely know," Inga interrupted, looking at her brothers. Frederick, at least, was trying to behave. The twins were both standing on the other bench, discussing the merits of climbing over the wall.

Having nowhere to sit, Lars leaned against the nearby tree. Nanny had started an English singing game in another corner of the garden with Sofia and Marie.

"Is your nanny English?" Lars asked.

"No," answered Inga, "she just likes that song. I don't know why. It's a pretty melody, but the lyrics are actually rather morbid when you know what they mean… at least, that's what Vicky told me when they were visiting here."

"Oh, you mean the one from England?" Lars half asked.

"Yes, it was a few years ago, but I kept in touch with her for a few years. Less so since she got married."

"I didn't mind that visit," Frederick added, "but I wish that their father hadn't been so obvious about his matchmaking interests. My German might not be as good as it should be, but I could tell what he was talking about, though I guess at least Louise is about my age."

"Mr. Meyer… the ambassador, I mean…" Lars clarified. "He was posted in Belgium for several years, where he got to know the king. If you think the father of your English friends was blatant, his uncle is far worse. I think Mr. Meyer has been hoping to perform the same sorts of services for you and… well..." he trailed off, knowing that was a sensitive subject.

"It's sad about their father, though," interrupted Inga. "I wrote to Vicky when I heard about it. She sent something back, but I'm not really sure if she wrote it herself. Not that I can blame her."

"Oh, yes," gasped Lars, "that was quite shocking. I mean, my father is dead, but I never knew him, so it doesn't bother me in the same way. I imagine it would be far worse-"

"Can we not talk about this?" Frederick asked, trying to sound bored instead of distressed after having done some quick mental calculations about their own father's age.

Lars stood by the bench awkwardly, and Inga sat for a while looking at Sofia and Marie dancing around in the distance, with little Karl pretending to keep up. Peder and Anton started climbing the nearest tree a dozen feet away. Frederick walked over to them and tested which branches he could reach while standing on the ground.

"Can I ask you something, Lars?" Inga inquired earnestly.

"I suppose?"

"Did your mother ever consider marrying again?"

"Um… I never thought about that. She was always so focused on the two of us, and the only other person she ever talked about was our father. Even if she had thought about it, we weren't from around there, you know."

"Well, that shouldn't make a difference," Inga sighed, "and people move to Corona from elsewhere all the time, I heard you say that yourself."

"I guess she just kind of kept to herself. Even when we had people visiting, she just wasn't very social."

"Sorry," Inga apologized, "I didn't mean to pry or anything."

"Don't worry about it," he assured her, "to change the subject, I actually came over here just now because I got a letter from my brother this morning, and they'll be arriving this week, and I thought you'd all like to meet him."

"Just your brother?" Inga asked pointedly.

"Well, all of them, including Elizabeth. I got the idea from my brother's letter that they hadn't told her about the change of itinerary, otherwise she'd have written to me first, I'm sure."

"Where were they originally going?" Frederick asked, sitting in the middle of the roots of the tree across from them. Neither Inga nor Lars had noticed him listening to their conversation.

"Various places. The Southern Isles is the big one they're skipping. That's a little worrisome, since things had been quite amicable for a while…" Lars stopped himself, "and that's probably something you should forget I said."

Inga laughed. "I don't think you'll need to worry."

Frederick frowned at her.

"Who's Elizabeth?" Peder asked, hopping down from his tree branch.

"His fiancee," Inga answered quickly.

Lars looked over at her, but she was suddenly engrossed in watching the younger children.

"Yes," Lars replied, "I haven't seen her in over a month now."

"Did you get any letters from your mother?" Inga asked.

"Not since I last wrote a few days ago, but of course there's been no time for that to reach her yet, even if there were a steamship available."

"Why can't she get the letter sooner?" Peder demanded.

"Hush, Peder," Inga scolded him.

"But why not?" he whined.

"Perhaps getting a regular steamship from here would be useful," Lars replied.

"That's not what I… oof, Inga! Stop that!" Peder protested as his sister kicked him in the shin.

"Why don't we go on a ride?" Anton suggested. The others readily agreed. Inga went to tell Nanny where they were going, and caught up to the others as they slowly walked to the stables. Frederick proudly mentioned that he had brought money with him, so they could have lunch in town on their way back. They tacked their horses, and set off from the castle.

As they left town, heading up the hill, Inga looked out over the fjord and thought she saw something at the horizon on the water.

"Stop!" she shouted, pulling up even with Frederick. "Fred, look!"

"Oh, I was starting to wonder when she would get here!" Frederick laughed, "let's go back!"

Anton and Peder quickly followed him down the hill, and Inga started to follow, then rode back to Lars when she realized that he hadn't moved.

"What is it?" Lars asked as she approached.

"What is it?" Inga repeated sternly, "We've all turned around and you're just staying there. You don't have to come with us, but I don't want to be rude and leave you here…"

"No, I mean…" Lars began, but Inga was riding away back down the hill quickly to try to catch up with her brothers.

Inga caught up with her brothers just as they were entering the castle gates. A stable boy had run out just before she arrived, so they left their horses with him and ran through the castle and down through the side door to the fjord.

The twins were first out to the shore. Inga had caught up with Frederick and he let her go outside first. The sun was almost blinding on the water.

"Aunt Elsa!" the boys shouted, running out into the water as Elsa dismounted the Water Nokk and it dissolved into the fjord with a bow. Inga stood back and smiled. Her aunt always took time with her, so there was no need to push in on her brothers. There was a lot of noise about how long it had been, and how much they had grown, and debate with Frederick as to whether he was taller than his father yet, and the boy insisting he was still only as tall as his sister.

After the noisy greetings died down a little, the group walked up the steps and back to the courtyard. Inga let them all through the door, and walked along behind them. She noticed Lars up ahead giving his horse to the stable boy, looking around seeming somewhat confused. Elsa noticed him, too, and stopped.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"Oh," Inga ran up to her aunt's side, "this is Lars, he's from Corona. He's the private secretary to the new ambassador."

"We're keeping him entertained until his work starts," Frederick added.

"Corona…" Elsa mumbled under her breath, still staring at him.

Lars blinked, realizing who he was looking at, and bowed silently, too stunned to remember the protocol he had learned.

"Oh," Elsa smiled nervously. "Please, you don't need to do that. What's your name again?"

He stood up quickly enough to feel a bit dizzy, and repeated his well-rehearsed line, "Lars Nilsen, private secretary to the ambassador from Corona."

"Nilsen…" Elsa said slowly, "and you're from Corona?"

"Yes, but my parents were originally from Arendelle," he replied.

"They left before he was born," Frederick added, desiring to be helpful, "and his father died before he was born, and he's been asking around seeing if anyone around here remembers them."

"Fred, I don't think she needs to know all that," Inga cut in. Her brother glared at her for using the nickname.

"Your mother was Margit Nilsen?" Elsa asked, ignoring her niece's interruption.

"Yes," Lars' jaw dropped in surprise, "I wouldn't have expected… she only ever says good things about you, but I had no idea you would remember her."

"I…" Elsa paused when she caught Inga staring at her. "I hope she's doing well."

Elsa quickly turned her attention to the nanny bringing over the younger children from the garden.

"What was that?" Inga whispered to Frederick, who simply shrugged and followed his aunt.