The announcements were sent out first thing in the morning: "Her Majesty, Queen Anna of Arendelle was safely delivered of a princess. Her Majesty and the infant princess are both doing well."

Lars sat at the desk in his room, looking at his stack of correspondence, including his copy of the official announcement. He was thankful that he still had a week or so before he would need to be on duty, though he suspected Mr. Meyer would want to meet with him soon to review anything important. His brother's ship was to arrive in the next day or two.

He had received a letter from Elizabeth excitedly telling him of her earlier arrival, and she mentioned that her father had been most mysterious about their itinerary.

There was also a letter from his mother. He saw the date, and it looked likely that his mother had received his last letter. He read further.

Dearest Lars,

I'm so happy to hear that you are being well treated there. The current queen was always quite friendly, though I understand that you haven't personally met her. The children sound delightful. I never realized that you didn't believe my stories, though I never saw the trolls myself. I do remember the snowman. He was quite kind and friendly, once you got used to him...

Lars supposed there might not be much more that she would know about the snowman, as she called him. The rest of her letter was talking about the upcoming coronations of the young prince and princess in Corona, all of which was information he knew through official sources.

Of course, now he had so many more questions for his mother. Perhaps the former queen was being polite, and simply had a good memory for names. Could she have actually known his mother? He couldn't figure out how that could be. His mother had never worked in the castle, as far as he knew. She had told him that very few people could even enter the castle in her younger days, let alone work there.

He stared blankly out the window. Outside he could see some of the fjord and the path he had taken rides on the previous week, and realized that an advantage of the ambassador's room with the view of the town was that he could see the ships coming into the harbor. As lovely as the fjord and the mountains were, Lars now wished he could keep watch for the Corona naval ship from the privacy of his own room.

It was nearly lunchtime. Lars decided to walk into town. Perhaps Halima would be able to tell him more, but at least he would have a better view of the harbor. The castle was mostly quiet, though he thought he could hear the new baby from the direction of the royal family's rooms. He would do his best to leave them alone today.

The townspeople were happily bustling. It seemed that all the gossip focused on the new baby. Names were discussed, but there seemed to be no consensus. Most of the family names had been used up on the older children, he heard one shopkeeper say. A young man suggested forming a betting pool, which several men and women in the vicinity agreed to. Lars decided to move along quickly.

He decided to walk along the harbor before sitting down for lunch, admitting to himself he enjoyed picking up bits and pieces of the day's gossip. He hadn't bothered looking closely at any of the ships. Suddenly, he felt a shove from behind. He turned around to see a young man in a Corona naval uniform laughing at him.

"Karl!" Lars exclaimed. "I hardly recognized you! What are you doing here so soon?"

"We had favorable winds," his brother informed him, giving a forceful hug. "We could hardly believe it ourselves, but here we are!"

"And everyone is well?" Lars asked, his hands on his brother's shoulders, looking up at him. He had always hoped he would have caught up in height by now, but at the age of twenty, he was resigned to forever being a few inches shorter.

"Yes," his brother teased, "and I know you've been getting letters from Mother just as often as I have, and I don't think you really care about the Captain except for a basic assurance that he's in good health."

Lars took a step back and looked around eagerly, afraid that he might have walked right past his own fiancee.

"No, no," Karl laughed, firmly grabbing his younger brother's arm, "she's taking her time getting ready. But I think that's a good thing, don't you?"

Lars gave an embarrassed smile.

"As for yourself," his brother scoffed, "what happened to your face?'

"What? Nothing!" Lars put his hand to his face and remembered that his brother hadn't seen him since he'd decided to grow the mustache. "Oh, this. Do you think she'll hate it?"

"Well…" Karl hesitated. "We'll leave that up to her."

Lars spotted her first. It was hard to miss the billowing skirts so out of place on a naval vessel. He tried to look calm as he walked as quickly as he could over to the gangway. Captain von der Decken assisted his eldest daughter down to the harbor walk. The captain was somewhat taller than Lars's brother, the lieutenant, but Elizabeth herself barely came up to her father's shoulder. Lars stood nervously, thinking how her hair in the late morning sun had a slightly different shade of brown from the lock she had given him before him before he left. He tried not to smile too much at her or look too frightened of her father.

"Captain," he stammered as Elizabeth stood in front of him, nearly giggling.

"Mr. Nilsen," the Captain greeted him, "a very fine morning, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir," Lars replied, attempting to sound calm.

"I'm glad to see my Lieutenant found you so quickly," the Captain smiled, "or I think my daughter would have been rather disappointed."

Lars and Elizabeth looked at each other, both feeling as if they needed her father's permission to begin a conversation.

"Captain," Lieutenant Nilsen spoke up, winking at his brother, "I believe we have some business to take care of back on board the ship?"

"Yes, thank you lieutenant," the Captain replied, giving a sly look to Lars that made him feel somewhat exposed. "Elizabeth, I trust you will be fine on your own?"

"Yes, Father," she grinned, "thank you."

Lars quietly grabbed Elizabeth's hands as he watched his brother and the Captain walk back onto the ship.

"Good morning," he smiled awkwardly, wishing he could think of something more interesting to say to her.

"So," she said, looking up at the town, "tell me where we should go."

"Have you eaten?" he asked awkwardly. "I was on my way to find some lunch."

"That does sound lovely," she smiled, taking his arm tightly in both hands as they walked up to the market square, getting as close to him as her skirt would gracefully allow.

They walked quietly through the square as people went around their business. The conversations hadn't changed since he had walked through earlier, still discussing the newest princess. The wagers over the name had gotten more organized, though, and he noticed someone had brought out an old plank and some chalk and listed possibilities with betting odds next to each name. A man went over and wrote down "Hanna," which someone had just suggested. Lars laughed.

"They won't use that one," he whispered to Elizabeth as they continued walking.

"What makes you so sure?" she asked, looking up at him.

"The oldest princess is already named Anna," he told her.

Elizabeth gave him a confused look. "I thought in your letters you said her name was Inga? Or is she not the oldest one?"

"Well, that's what everyone in the family calls her," he replied, "but that's actually one of ther middle names. I guess they don't want her being confused with the Queen."

Elizabeth looked up at him with a teasing smirk. "When you said you were being treated well by the royal family, I assumed you just meant they gave you a nice room and good food, not that you were on familiar terms with them."

"Well, they're... very friendly," he stammered. "And they really are on rather familiar terms with the whole kingdom." Though he had to admit to himself that he hadn't seen any of them on quite as familiar terms as they had been with him with anyone besides the General. But it wasn't a lie. They weren't distant or cut off from the town at all. Not anymore, at least.

They walked on for a bit, her hands still holding his arm. Elizabeth stopped in front of a statue.

"Who are they?" she gestured up at the statue, trying to read the plaque at the bottom. She had learned to understand some of the language from her time spent listening to Lars and his mother when she visited their home back when in Corona, but reading it was another matter.

"Those are the Queen's parents, as children," he explained.

"Oh? The girl in pants?" Elizabeth asked.

"That's typical for the Northuldra, I've heard. That's where the Queen's mother came from. They live to the north of Arendelle," he clarified. It was easy for him to forget how many of the details of geography and politics that he had learned in the diplomatic school that Elizabeth would not have been taught at her finishing school. He was thankful that her parents had at least sent her to a school that expected some academic accomplishments and not simply how to dress fashionably, and since her mother had grown up working in the back of her own father's shop, Lars was fairly certain that when it came to bookkeeping and accounting, Elizabeth had learned more than he ever would.

He didn't plan on ever being poor, but he didn't want to depend too much on the good graces of the aristocracy. His own mother had been lucky. She didn't like to speak about how close they had come to abject poverty, but he had pieced that much together from her stories over the years.

They stood at the base of the statue, looking at the people walking around. She slid her hand into his and intertwined their fingers.

"It's strange," she mused. "This is a smaller town with fewer people, and yet, I feel like we have so much less privacy than back home."

Lars was surprised by her statement. "Really?"

"I don't know," she replied, looking away. "Maybe it's just standing in the middle of everyone here. You were going to take me somewhere to get lunch?"

"Ah, yes, right this way!" He led her across the Square.

"Lars!" Halima greeted him at the door, "did you manage to find anything more about your family?"

"Um, I may have," he mumbled. He noticed Halima was looking at Elizabeth curiously. "This is Elizabeth. She just arrived on her father's ship from Corona."

"Pleased to meet you," Halima said, shaking Elizabeth's hand.

"Likewise," Elizabeth smiled, moving her left hand to Lars's elbow in a way that showed off her ring. The gesture was not lost on Halima.

"That's a beautiful ring," she said, looking at Elizabeth's hand, then glancing up at Lars.

"Lars gave it to me," Elizabeth smiled shyly.

"We got engaged just before I left Corona," he added. Elizabeth visibly relaxed.

"Oh, you're the one Frederick mentioned," Halima laughed, "or at least, that's what Meibel told me when that boy was here a day or two ago." Halima paused and looked around. "Where is she? I didn't think they had school today. Destin?"

Lars hadn't noticed that the General was sitting in the corner. "She came with me to visit the castle this morning, and I gave her permission to stay there so long as she doesn't cause trouble for anyone."

"Ah," Halima sighed, "I really don't think the baby should be having so many visitors this soon."

"I wouldn't worry, and Meibel only looked in briefly. You know they don't mind her visiting."

Elizabeth and Lars stood awkwardly listening to Halima and the General's conversation. Lars glanced around and noticed a small table in an empty corner.

"Is anyone using that table?" He asked, gesturing at the table.

"Not that I'm aware of," Halima told him, smiling, "and you might like some privacy to catch up."