Inga securely shut the door to her room after Frederick delivered the letter and sat down by the window. She couldn't remember what she had been doing before he knocked on the door a moment before, but he was probably right that she needed to get outside. A change of scenery would help, or at least something to focus on besides her thoughts. The same thoughts had been playing over and over, and she needed to find something else to think about.
She looked at the letter. She knew the writing. Frederick seemed to understand enough to know not to open it. The date on the letter was a few days after the previous one, so not a reply to her most recent letter. She wasn't ready to read it, but she could guess what it was: he had found time to speak to his parents privately, and either they had told him the truth, or he wouldn't know the truth, and now she couldn't tell him. She wanted to tell him. It was going to eat at her until she could say something to him.
She hadn't done anything since the party except changing into her nightgown, and she had quickly fallen into a restless sleep. She had woken up with a terrible headache yesterday, which made it easy enough to tell everyone that she wasn't feeling well. She tried to forget what she now knew about her mother. She tried not to think about what she had said to her father.
Of course, telling herself not to think about something never worked.
I'm sorry, Papa!
She remembered telling him that in tears after Lars had left.
Let's get you to bed.
That was all he had said to her before taking her inside and finding Gerda to make sure she would be looked after. He had told her mother that they shouldn't tell her right then, that it wasn't the right time. She had certainly had too much to drink, she couldn't deny that. Even so, how could she have let herself jump to those conclusions about Lars and her father? It was her father. She rarely saw him talk with anyone outside of their family, and he certainly didn't have a reputation of any sort among anyone she had ever heard mention him. And she had often overheard people gossiping about her family when they thought she was too young to understand, but no one had ever mentioned her father, except perhaps to say he had been unsociable.
Of course, when a prince or a king had a secret like her mother's, it was never very much of a secret, was it? Half the time they gave the bastard a noble title, and even if they never acknowledged them, nobody cared unless they tried to take the throne. But a queen? Even when they had secure power and position, the most obvious cases were still hushed up, records destroyed, people paid off. What would people have thought about her mother if this had been widely known? Inga had heard whisperings about the Southern Isles from visiting diplomats. Would they have made a claim to the throne? She had once overheard some visiting diplomats who hadn't closed a door entirely. "I don't know why the Queen is so afraid of the Southern Isles. That supposed marriage he claimed was never valid to begin with, and even if it had been, it was never consummated." For some reason, she had remembered those words, even though they didn't make sense to her at the time. During her lessons that same afternoon, she had asked her governess what "consummated" meant, and her governess had told her she must mean "consumed" and explained that word, instead.
Everyone had been lying in little ways for years. Her mother had kept the truth from them, of course, but could she blame her? Even if she hadn't been queen, she could have been ruined, forced to spend life in a convent or begging in the streets. Perhaps some actresses could get away with such a thing. That's why "respectable girls" couldn't go into such careers, wasn't it?
Her aunt, it seemed, had been involved in all of this, too, but somehow, that bothered Inga less. Her aunt was a mysterious person, really. Of course she would have secrets.
And what of Corona's involvement? How many of them knew? The Crown Princess had been involved from almost the start, but it was never clear if she had told anyone else, even her husband or the King or Queen.
Some leaves blew against her window, startling her. She realized she had been sitting staring at the letter for a while, so she went ahead and opened it.
Corona, September 30th, 1864
Dear Inga,
It's been a week since I last wrote, and you probably haven't even gotten my letter yet, so I apologize for sending two letters before you even have a chance to write a reply. I hope everything is well there. I have the feeling that I will get your next letter as soon as you've received my last letter, at least, I hope so.
Since you're probably wondering, I finally did have a chance to ask my mother some of your questions about the time your mother visited Corona, but she said there wasn't very much to tell, just a series of balls and then winter in the countryside. So now I'm even more curious, since there are much nicer places to spend the winter if you're already traveling. Have you learned anything more?
However, my real reason for writing again, is that my family have decided to go ahead and send me and my sister on our Grand Tour very soon, possibly by the beginning of October, and they decided to make Arendelle the second stop. You'll get the official word some time soon, I imagine.
Sincerely,
Henry
Inga felt herself shaking, and quickly set the letter down for fear she would crumple it. She wondered if his reply to her last letter would come before he arrived. The thought of writing a reply scared her; she couldn't tell him anything, not yet. Henry obviously knew nothing, but his mother, at least, knew everything. What else could she write about?
She placed the letter inside a book she had tried and failed to read the day before, and collapsed back on her bed. She forced herself back up, and found her simplest dress from her wardrobe. Edith, or was it Kate, had once told her that it made her look just like a shopkeeper. A very nicely dressed shopkeeper, the other one had quickly added. She wanted to blend in, and not be noticed if she could help it. She really didn't know where she was going. She would walk somewhere. Perhaps it would help clear her thoughts.
She escaped through the kitchen door, seeing no one on the way. The weather was pleasant, with an unseasonably warm breeze coming off the harbor. It was market day. Inga spotted an unfamiliar face at an apple stall and walked over, smiling as the merchant addressed her as "Miss." She bought an apple to have as a snack, and one to take with her, then kept walking out of town and up along the cliffs. As she got higher, she could see a ship approaching the harbor, but couldn't identify it from the glare. She thought about taking a closer look later when she was back in town.
"Inga!" Elizabeth called from the field.
Inga looked over and saw a picnic set out, which Elizabeth and Mrs. Nilsen were sharing. She walked over hesitantly. Did Mrs. Nilsen know that Inga had been told? Your mother deserves happiness, she had told Inga when they had met in Corona. It had seemed an odd thing to say.
"It's so good to see you!" Elizabeth exclaimed as Inga walked over to their picnic. "I was really worried about you. I'm sorry I couldn't get away from my mother. Lars said you were upset about something, but he didn't say what. Never mind that, she and my sisters are on my father's ship, on their way to Wesselton."
Inga looked over at Mrs. Nilsen, who looked suddenly tired. Trying to smile and look unaffected, Inga sat down between the two. "Thank you for your concern," Inga managed. She pulled out her apple, taking a bite to avoid having to say more.
Elizabeth looked over at her before starting to speak. "How are you feeling, Inga?"
Inga carefully finished chewing the piece of apple in her mouth, staring out at the fjord, trying to think of how truthful she wanted to be. "I'm fine, really. I mean… No, I'm fine," she sighed. She was sure it was obvious that she wasn't fine.
Mrs. Nilsen looked over at her sympathetically. "My dear, if there's anything you need to talk about, perhaps later you can come see me."
"Um, thank you, but-"
"Inga, you can talk to me, too," Elizabeth interrupted innocently. Mrs. Nilsen looked knowingly at Inga.
"Of course, thank you," she replied nervously, quickly taking another bite from her apple.
The picnic lunch had been consumed, and Inga did her best to help them pack things up into their basket. She paused as they were heading down the hill.
"Were you heading somewhere else?" Elizabeth asked. "We're going back into town, and you're welcome to come with us."
"I… I really had no plans," she admitted, joining them on the walk down. She could always believably claim not feeling well and return to her room once they got there. She watched the ship that she had seen on her way up move toward the inner harbor as they walked along. The glare of the sun on the water made it hard to see, but she thought she noticed official Corona insignia on the sails, but that made no sense. Their naval ship had left the day before, and no other ships were scheduled to arrive for several more days.
As they approached the center of town, she saw that the ship was already docked. She had heard people grumbling in the past about how slow the harbor master was, and supposed they were finally fixing whatever they needed to in order to speed things up. As they got closer to the harbor, she spotted Lars crossing the square, and she wasn't ready to talk to him after the other night. She was going to say something to Elizabeth and Mrs. Nilsen as an excuse to leave, but there was enough of a crowd from the market that she simply stood back a moment and lost herself in it.
She saw Frederick talking to Meibel, and Elizabeth and Mrs. Nilsen had gone over to Lars. A messenger ran from the ship into the castle. Inga stood indecisively by a market stall, doing her best to blend in. The stand next to her was full of squashes of various colors and shapes, some of them familiar, others new to her, and she wondered what the unusual looking ones might be good for.
Looking up, she saw Frederick leading a group including Lars and Elizabeth from the docks to the castle. She was focusing on Lars, who held back to walk with Mrs. Nilsen, and then saw Elizabeth walk on to join the young woman at the front of the group who was walking next to Frederick. As they passed near the stall where she was standing, she suddenly realized the young woman was Hilde.
"Hi," she heard behind her. She whirled around, knocking over some of the produce in the stall to see Henry smiling nervously at her. "Are you hiding from me?"
She stooped down to start picking up the vegetables that had fallen. The merchant had come around, and was scowling at her.
"I'll pay for this," Henry told the man, before stooping down next to Inga.
"I buy stuff here all the time, it's not a big deal," she grumbled. She felt warm, and she told herself that it was just the sun, even though she had been standing in the shade for several minutes. "Sorry," she added, realizing she had spoken too quickly, "It's just… I wasn't expecting to see you so soon. I only got your letter this morning."
"And I got your last letter while we were at sea yesterday," he replied, looking at the bruised gourd he had picked up from the ground. "Are you going to explain that sometime? My mother also got a letter that just showed up seemingly out of nowhere, right before they decided to send us on our trip earlier than planned." He glanced up at her half smiling.
"Oh," she muttered, placing another squash up on the stall while the merchant bagged them up. "I suppose I should tell you, shouldn't I? I would like to get letters from you sooner."
When they had picked up the last of the fallen squash, Henry helped her up. She looked around the square while he settled with the merchant, who handed him the bag of various squashes. She didn't see Frederick or the others, though she did see Meibel still watching the ship unload. Meibel would probably tell Kate and Edith if she saw Inga.
"I could take those to the kitchen," Inga proposed, still in a bit of a daze, "though our cook always complains when those green ones are too big like these."
"Does it matter?" Henry asked, somewhat confused.
"When that kind gets too big, they're just flavorless and bland. But people in the market always seem to buy the largest ones they can find." She wasn't sure why she was telling him this. She wished she could just say thank you and be done with it like other people seemed to do.
"I see," he replied, looking around, holding the bag of produce. "I'm sorry, I didn't even ask where you were going. I was following everyone into the castle, but-"
"I should be heading back now. I'll go through the kitchen so that I can leave these there," she said, moving to take the bag from him.
"I can carry it," he said somewhat defensively. Inga shrugged with acceptance as they began walking toward the castle, not sure why he felt the need to do this himself.
"I guess I should ask how long you'll be here," she offered as conversation. She wasn't sure what she should ask. They had never said anything about the ball in any of their letters. Did he think about it?
"A few days," he replied sounding oddly sad, "maybe a bit longer, depending how things go."
"What sort of things?" Inga asked, unsure of what answer to expect.
"They… they didn't really tell us much before we left. I think it's got to do with that ambassador situation you told me about," he explained as he shifted the bag of vegetables to the side away from her. "All I can say for certain is we have a few candidates from the Diplomatic School with us."
"Really?" Inga swallowed a bit, not wanting to think about what Henry had taken to calling 'the ambassador situation'. "Surely they didn't need to send you for that," she added. She saw his face tense up and immediately regretted her choice of words.
"They didn't," he admitted, "I suppose I should have stayed back."
"I didn't mean it that way," she apologized, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad you're here."
"You're sure you won't be looking forward to my departure, too?" Henry stopped and smirked at her.
"What do you mean?" she asked, moving her hand away.
"Your last letter, you were looking forward to the Maldonian prince leaving, I think? Or was he not so disappointed?" Henry gave a half smile, clearly trying to make light of the situation.
Inga felt dizzy, and looked away as she leaned on the stone wall of the bridge. "I forgot I even wrote that. It seems so long ago now."
"Wasn't it just a few days ago?" he asked, frowning.
"It was. He was horrible, and I'm glad he's gone... I'd almost forgotten about him, though," Inga paused as she realized the truth of what she was saying. She looked through the gates and caught a glimpse of her father talking to Frederick and Hilde, and wanted to do her best to get inside without being seen. "Thank you for helping me with those," she said, grabbing the bag of squash from Henry. "I should take them to the kitchen now. You should go catch up with everyone. I'm sure I'll see you later." She hugged the bag of produce to her chest and hurried to the side door to the kitchen.
Anna walked down the hall to Inga's room. She knocked at her daughter's door, but heard no response.
"Inga? I can come back later," Anna called through the door.
"Mother?" Inga stood behind her in the hallway.
"Oh! You went out?" Anna asked, "Is everything okay? I hope Frederick didn't cause a problem with that letter this morning."
"What? Yes, um, no… I mean, yes, I went out for a walk. Frederick suggested it, and the letter was for me, it wasn't a problem." Inga looked down at the gourd in her hand she had saved from her delivery to the kitchen, fiddling with it nervously.
"You're getting letters from Corona? What about?"
"Do you really expect me to tell you?" Inga glared.
Anna took a breath. "I'm sorry. You… you don't have to tell me everything, of course."
"Um, good. Thanks." Inga fumbled with the gourd during the uncomfortable silence that followed.
"What's that?"
"This?" Inga looked at what was in her hand. "Oh, our cook said this one was just decorative, so I could keep it if I wanted. She's going to figure out how to use the rest of it."
"Did we get an order of squash?"
"Um, not exactly… it's… it's something I saw at the market."
"Why did you buy squash at the market? How much did you buy, exactly? Oh, never mind-" Anna stopped herself. "I came here to let you know that we're having a small formal dinner tonight. A ship just arrived from Corona this afternoon, and it will be… everyone from Corona here on official business will be there, if you understand what I mean. You may come if you like, but we can make excuses for you if you'd rather not."
"Everyone from Corona?" Inga asked in an oddly eager tone. "Who will be there, exactly?"
"Would you like an official list?" Anna tried not to sound exasperated. "I can ring for Kai. I think he'd just like to know if you'll be there or not."
"Please tell him I'll be there," Inga told her quickly, walking to her door. She paused before going inside. "I'm sorry for what I said the other night. Most of it, anyway."
Anna stared silently at the door after Inga had closed it behind her. She hadn't expected Inga to agree to come to dinner. Asking had been a courtesy, and she had meant it as an excuse to check in on her. But she had checked in on her, hadn't she? Once again, it wasn't the conversation she had intended to have. She sighed as she turned and went back to get herself ready for dinner. Tonight's dinner would not be the time to talk to her.
"What was she doing buying vegetables?" Anna looked around to check that she was alone, realizing that she had said this out loud. As much as she could understand her daughter's desire for privacy, especially right now, some of her behavior was simply confusing.
When Anna was back at her room, she found Kristoff already inside changing for dinner. He looked over as he heard the door open, smiling a bit.
"Did you know about the visitors?" he asked her.
"No. I don't think anyone knew. Did Kai tell you about the dinner?"
"Yes. Is it going to be as awkward as I think? I get the idea that Corona has made the decision for Lars about taking up our offer."
"Probably even more awkward."
"What, does he know now?"
"No, I'm very certain he doesn't, he… no, he doesn't know." She paused. "What I meant was, Inga told me she'll be coming."
"You talked to her?"
"I suppose you could call it that."
"How is she?"
"She went out today, so I suppose that's good. She kind of apologized, and I wasn't even going to ask her to. She's right to be angry."
"And she wants to come to dinner tonight? Does she know who will be there? I mean, not just Lars, but the last I heard, she was still rather annoyed with Ambassador Meyer for all the talk about trying to set her up with Prince Henry. I mean, he seemed pleasant enough for the two minutes I saw him today, but..."
"Yes, I know. She won't tell me anything one way or another. But she wants to go. I'll ask Kai to see how he can work out the seating."
"Inga, you made it!" Frederick shouted happily as she walked into the dining room.
Their parents hadn't arrived yet, and it seemed that Anton and Peder were still too young to be invited to this dinner. The only person in the room besides her brother that she recognized was Ambassador Meyer, who quickly ended his discussion with the young men sitting near him when he noticed her enter the room.
"Good evening, Your Excellency," she greeted him.
"Your Highness," he replied, standing up to bow, the other men quickly following suit. "If I may be permitted, this is Mr. Weber, special emissary from Corona."
Inga nodded as Mr. Weber bowed. She waited for him to introduce the others, but he seemed to be finished. "Your Excellency will excuse my curiosity, but I didn't get a chance to see tonight's guest list. Will you introduce me?"
"Oh, excuse me, Your Highness. These are the young men that Corona has sent as candidates to be my new private secretary."
"I see," Inga replied, doing her best not to let her face show any sign of emotion. After all, she remembered, Prince Henry had told her he was traveling with candidates for the position. She took a slow breath to keep her voice steady. "And, Your Excellency, will anyone else from Corona be joining us this evening?"
"Their Royal Highnesses will be here shortly," he replied. Inga nodded. "Oh, and of course, Mr. Nilsen. He informed me that he is escorting his mother and young bride to your General's house for dinner tonight, but he will be here, as he is still my employee for now."
"Thank you, Your Excellency," she replied, sitting down next to Frederick at the opposite end of the table.
"Inga, did you know Corona was sending a ship here?" Frederick whispered to her. "Was that in one of your letters?"
"No," she replied. "I mean, he said they would be coming at some point, but not this soon-"
"Ha!" he laughed a little too loud, "I knew it was him!"
"Wait, what?" she glared at him, realizing what he had done. Before she got a chance to say more, the door opened, and Kai announced her parents' arrival. She retreated into formality to keep herself steady: stand up, curtsey slightly, sit back down when her parents sat down. She felt their eyes on her, but she was afraid to look up. A footman came around to fill the glasses, and she held her hand up before her glass was even half full to stop him, when she heard the door open again.
"Oh, good, Lars is here!" Frederick whispered to her as the proper greetings and acknowledgements were made once again. She nodded blankly, thankful that he had to sit at the other end of the table with the Ambassador and the others.
The door opened once more. Kai stepped inside for the announcements. "His Royal Highness, Prince Henry of Corona, and Her Royal Highness, Princess Clothilde of Corona."
They stood up. The Prince and Princess bowed to the Queen, greeted her father, and then walked over to their side of the table. Henry shook Frederick's hand heartily, and then walked over to Inga. This was all protocol, she reminded herself, trying to breathe calmly. Without thinking, she held out her hand to Henry. He looked her in the eye as he took her hand in both of his and kissed it. She swallowed.
Hilde cleared her throat behind him. Henry gave her hand a subtle squeeze before dropping it, and walked over to acknowledge the Ambassador and Emissary who were bowing to him along with the others from Corona.
"I'm so glad to see that you're feeling better," Hilde smiled as she clasped her hands and kissed both her cheeks. Inga reciprocated, and then sat down as Hilde left to greet the others.
Inga tried to pass the dinner by focusing on minutia, not thinking about either the situation with Lars and her parents or whatever had just happened with Henry. Frederick was to her left, Hilde to her right. Her mother was at the head of the table next to Frederick, and their father on her other side. Henry was sitting across from her, next to her father. Normally at a smaller formal dinner like this, she would have been seated in between her father and any foreign guests, as something of a buffer, but her mother must have spoken to Kai about changing the seating arrangement. Henry did his best trying to make conversation with her father. She caught herself smiling, thinking that her father would probably get a good laugh if Henry shared the story of how they met, but of course, he couldn't do that in this company. Inga sighed, realizing her father was looking at her again. She had let herself feel happy.
She wasn't hungry. She moved the food around on her plate enough when anyone was watching, and then allowed each course to be removed along with everyone else's. The Ambassador's voice was overpowering any time he spoke, with other conversations pausing even when there was no interest in what he was actually saying.
"Yes," Lars replied to the ambassador without noticing the other conversations had temporarily stopped, his voice rising, "I'm aware that Maldonia is interested in renting out their consulate building in New Orleans at a very good rate. How can I make it clear that would not be an option at this-" he looked around and realized everyone was looking. "Excuse me."
Inga was thankful for the dessert set out in front of her. She still wasn't interested in eating, but she could focus her attention on it.
"Lars," she heard Henry speak through the silence, "what about Boston?"
"What about it?" Lars replied.
"They've got ice," Henry added hesitantly.
"So do we," Frederick laughed, "no offense, but you might have noticed that."
"I mean…" Henry took a breath, looking helpless.
Lars piped in, "Henry, are you talking about the ship building? They've got ships for transporting. I don't think Arendelle has enough of those."
"Oh, good point," Frederick hemmed, as several others around the table nodded and began discussing the point.
Hilde leaned over to Inga smiling. "If I didn't know better," she whispered quietly in her ear, "I'd think someone was trying to impress your father."
Inga did her best to ignore Hilde's implications, feeling unsteady even though she was sitting. This was dessert. She could make it through dessert. Everyone else was busy talking; she didn't need to.
As soon as the guests began standing and milling around the room, Inga did her best to quietly slip away. She wasn't tired, not exactly. As she walked toward the gallery, she heard a group talking right outside the gallery door. The Ambassador's voice was once again overpowering, as he spoke to the Emissary and several others. Without looking, she jumped behind the nearest curtain into an alcove before she could see who else was with them.
The alcove was just large enough for her skirt to miss bumping into the curtain when she was inside. She stared at the familiar red velvet curtains that she hid behind during so many childhood games of hide and seek. As the group moved along, and even the Ambassador's voice faded, she heard a soft chuckle behind her. "Hello again."
Inga just avoided making a sound as she swung around and saw Henry sitting at the window in the alcove with her. "What are you doing here?" she asked breathlessly.
"I was on the Ambassador's tour of the castle, and I stopped here to look out the window. I've never seen an aurora before."
"Oh, yes, they're very pretty," she acknowledged. "You've really never seen them?"
"We're too far south," he reminded her. "But nevermind that, I suppose I'm being rude. Would you like to sit down?" He stood up and gestured at the bench next to the window.
"I'm- Actually, yes, thank you," she answered, carefully sitting down.
"May I?" he asked, motioning to the spot next to her. She nodded.
"I'm sorry if I was rude," she blurted out.
"Rude?"
"This afternoon."
"No, no you weren't," he insisted. "I hope… I hope I didn't embarrass you."
"What?"
"Hilde, she was saying-"
"Wait… What?" Inga stammered, looking out the window.
"Just… she thought I, um… might not have been, um… entirely appropriate before dinner?"
"That was… fine." Inga gulped a bit, looking at the colors out the window.
"It was nice to meet them," he said.
"Who?" She looked back at him.
"Your parents," he replied. "They seem nice. I can see why my parents speak fondly of them."
"Oh…" she tried to think of something to say in response. "My father usually doesn't get stuck sitting next to foreign guests."
"I suppose I should feel special." he laughed.
"Or I should feel guilty," she sighed.
"What do you mean by that? I really didn't mind, and I hope I wasn't talking his ear off too much."
"I'm usually the one to sit next to him, mostly since he likes having me translate if someone tries to pull something on him, but I said some things to him I shouldn't have said the other night, and I don't think he's forgiven me."
"I didn't pick up on anything like that, but I'll take your word."
Inga sat for a moment trying to decide whether to change the subject.
"What did you talk about when you weren't suggesting we import ice?" she smirked.
Henry buried his face in his hands. "That's not what I- Why do I even bother? I'm not really supposed to be here, certainly not in any official capacity."
"What do you mean? I thought your parents were planning a grand tour for you two."
He looked up. "They were still planning it when they mentioned sending the emissary here, and I suggested we just get a head start. I… I really don't know what I was thinking."
"It's fine," she said, putting her hand on his. "You caught me at a bad time, I guess. It's... things... I've learned some things, and… it's been weird."
"I'm sorry to hear that," he murmured, putting his other hand on top of hers. She looked down, remembering the dancing in Corona, and the feel of his arm steadying her when they went out for some air. She was glad he wasn't asking for more details. That could wait. She found herself yawning, and leaned her head on his shoulder.
Inga stood at the edge of the fjord, watching a man approach on horseback. It was the sneering redhead, the one she had seen in so many dreams, ready to abduct her again. This was a dream. She knew it.
"I know who you are!" she shouted at him. "Go away!"
"I'll always be here," he mocked, "you can't make me go away!"
Suddenly, she felt someone come up from behind and grab her, handing her over to the man on horseback. In a panic, she looked to see that it was Prince Tarkan handing her over. She couldn't move or scream anymore as she was taken away.
"Inga?" She heard a voice calling gently, then felt a touch to her shoulder.
Inga opened her eyes, looking at the ceiling. It wasn't the ceiling of her own room: even in the early morning light, that much was obvious.
"Inga?" She heard again. It was Henry's voice. She suddenly recognized the molding at the edge of the ceiling: she was in the Palace in Corona. She looked to her side. Henry was there in the bed next to her. "You were having that nightmare again, weren't you? Come here." He reached over to her.
"What am I doing here?" she asked in a panic.
"What do you mean? You live here, of course."
"Inga?" She felt her shoulder being shaken. "Inga?" It was Henry's voice again.
"What?" She startled, catching herself, grabbing at Henry's arm. They were sitting on the seat in one of the window alcoves. She was sitting closer to him than she remembered.
"You fell asleep," he explained. "I'd like to keep watching the sky here with- um, but I should probably get back to the Ambassador's tour before they notice I'm gone."
"Wait, I fell asleep here?"
"Yes," he chuckled, "I guess I was kind of boring."
"Just… here? Nowhere else?"
"Um, yes?"
"And we were just talking, right?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "I think I'd remember."
She paused, the image of him from her dream a moment before intruding into her thoughts. "Have you ever… have you ever had one of those dreams where you think you've woken up, but it turns out you're still in a dream?"
Henry smiled. "Definitely. Once, I had a dream where I woke up three times before I was really awake. Some of the dreams I woke up into seemed really normal, which was the funny part. What were you dreaming about?"
"Nothing in particular," she lied, feeling her jaw quiver slightly, "but I suppose I should get going now."
"Do you think you'll be okay?"
She nodded and thought for a minute as she stood up, holding his hand as he stayed seated on the bench. She almost felt disembodied, and wondered if this were yet another dream. Was this any more real than the bedroom in Corona, or the men on the fjord? Grabbing Henry's face, she kissed him. As their lips met, she heard a muffled yelp from Henry, and realized this wasn't a dream. Henry looked stunned. She quickly let go of him, wishing she could disappear entirely.
"Sorry," she mumbled, stepping backwards into the curtain.
"Wait-" he managed to say. "What was that?"
"I'm sorry, let's just forget that happened," she apologized, still wishing she could just disappear.
"I guess, okay," he said, looking down. "If that's what you want."
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused by his response.
"I wasn't ready for that, I guess, but I… I don't really want to forget about it." He looked up at her.
"Oh…" She felt herself shaking. "Well, um, let me know when you're ready?" She was ready to run away and hide, taking a step outside the curtain. Henry stood up and followed, taking her hands and looking into her eyes.
"Henry?" Frederick called out. Inga slipped her hands away from Henry's. "There you are! Your sister noticed you were gone and sent me to look. Do you- Oh, Inga? I thought you went to bed."
"I was on my way," she replied, swallowing her feelings of panic. "I got distracted."
"Well," Frederick replied, looking confused, "Anton and Peder are meeting up with me in the library, should I tell them you're coming?"
"No, I really will be going now," she said, trying to turn her nervous energy into a convincing yawn. "Thank you, and good night."
"Good night, Inga," she heard Henry as she was nearly to the other end of the hall.
