Okay, okay... Shit. It has been a freaking month since I posted. I am so sorry, I've been really stressed out lately because of school and I had no desire of writing something. I wrote this chapter in I don't know, three weeks I guess and it is not good at all but I can't bring myself to change it. I promise the next one will be better!
Austrian: Sorry for the late update, my friend. Enjoy the chapter :)
CHAPTER 5: The Meeting
"You idiot!" the young man who was around Emma's age shouted loudly at Jack and then trapped him in a tight embrace.
Elsa raised her eyebrows. Seems like no one cared about the fact that Jack was a prince, everyone treated him like a normal person. She really liked how he didn't patronize people. The young man was obviously a servant in the castle, but they seemed close... If only people were Jack, if only they didn't have their nose in the air.
"Ow! Jamie! I can't breathe!" Jack squeaked and tried to retreat, but the brunet guy just wouldn't let him go.
Then, across from the hallway, a black-haired woman, who had colorful hairpieces attached to her hair, basically ran toward them. Jamie broke the hug when he saw the woman who seemed a bit older than Jack and Elsa. Now, the woman was the one who crushed him into a loving hug. "Jackson Overland of Northern Island! Where the hell were you?!" she screamed at him with a chiding tone.
"Elsa... This is my best friend Jamie and my mother Toothiana, Tooth for short." the prince ignored their comment and introduced them to the amused woman from Arendelle.
Tooth rolled her brown eyes. "I am not his mother... I was merely worried about him." she grumbled, but her behaviors from earlier showed the opposite. Sure, it was impossible that she could be his biological mother, but Tooth seemed she was a motherly figure to Jack, Elsa discerned that in a brief moment.
"Nice to meet you, Elsa!" Jamie squealed excitedly, she found herself having an enthusiastic handshake with him.
Then, she was pulled into a hug by Tooth. "I hope you like here!" the woman chirped happily.
"Guys, don't scare her off!" Emma opened her mouth for the first time since they had arrived at the castle and saved Elsa much to her relief. She wasn't used to that much of friendliness from people she has just met.
"Oh, yeah... Sorry." Jamie stuttered out as he rubbed the back of his neck and blushed for some reason.
Tooth's face stiffened, her cheerful expression no longer remained. She fixed her servant outfit and cleared her throat. "They are waiting for you in the meeting room." she declared, almost with an uncharacteristic dark tone.
Jack's eyebrows formed to a scowl as he nodded slowly. "Alright... We should go then." he said calmly and gestured Elsa to follow him.
"I am also coming." Emma remarked behind them and soon, she was walking next to them.
After a couple of minutes, they ceased in front of an enormous door. Emma stared at Jack and her, implied she was waiting for them to make the first move. Elsa turned her head to Jack. The prince let out a deep exhale and slowly opened the door. Then, they entered with heavy steps.
"Elsa!" Honeymaren yelled out her name as soon as she saw her. The brunette basically jumped on her, clasped her arms around her.
"Hi Honeymaren." she greeted her, hugged her back as she sent Pabbie a look also to greet him.
There were six people in the meeting room and now that they've arrived, they were nine in total. Jack, Emma, Honeymaren, Pabbie, North, Sandy... Elsa only didn't recognize two of them: a guy who had auburn hair and sparkling green eyes and a woman was also auburn-haired. A particular lock of her hair was fallen into place over her right eye. She had a heart-shaped face, the most beautiful gray eyes that Elsa has ever seen. Judging from both of their elegant postures, they were probably royals.
"Elsa of Arendelle, I take it?" the guy stood up from his seat and approached her. The woman has already been standing, but she didn't remove her position, simply eyed at them.
"Yes, your Majesty." Elsa replied and bowed at the guy, who she presumed, was the prince.
"Elsa, this my big brother, Aster. We call him Bunny because he adores Easter." Emma informed her casually. Seems like, in this castle, no one cared about formalities at all.
"Well, I am okay with both of those names... But don't you dare to call me Kangaroo like that stupid bloody show pony." Aster growled in annoyance.
Elsa had a guess about who was this stupid bloody show pony was. Her lips curled up a little, she turned her head toward Jack... He was supposed to stand next to her, but he wasn't there. The platinum blonde felt herself frown a little. She raised her chin and shifted her head leisurely.
"You are okay." the auburn-haired woman breathed out, Elsa could swear that the lock of her hair, which was over her right eye, loosened a little.
The young woman reached out to his arm and clutched it, he didn't pull away, instead, he chuckled and a smug grin formed on his lips. "Of course I am okay!" Jack declared with his usual carefree voice.
The woman crushed him into a desperate hug, she was clenching him tightly. "I-I thought..." she stammered, her voice sounded shaky. Elsa realized her body was also quivering a little.
"I am sorry for being late... We were having a snowball fight." Jack admitted with a serious tone and embraced her back.
The woman slowly broke the physical contact between them and turned around to face the others. Her eyes were watery but she didn't attempt to cry. She approached Elsa with a tiny but kind smile one her face. "Thank you so much for helping us. My name is Katherine, it is an honor to meet you, Elsa." she introduced herself in a friendly manner.
Elsa smiled politely at her. "It is also an honor, Your Highness. However, you don't have to thank me. I was merely a help." she remarked and pushed away the question which was bothering her... What was the relationship between Jack and Katherine?
"Merely?" North snorted and shook his head. "Ho-ho-ho!" he let out a strange, loud laugh and fixated his blue eyes on Katherine. "My dear daughter-in-law, Elsa, Honeymaren and Pabbie helped Sandy and Jack to fight with an evil creature!"
Elsa's jaw opened, shaped in an 'o'. She stood there, next to Emma, was totally frozen. Her features stiffened as she remembered to control her mimics. She wasn't going to be weak. Nevertheless... Daughter-in-law? Katherine and Jack were married? Jack wasn't wearing a ring, nor did Katherine!
She didn't know why, but her heart felt a little heavy, it was aching for an unknown reason. Not that she had... romantic feelings towards Jack, because she definitely didn't, but still...
"King North, we did nothing. Unfortunately, I am afraid, the problem isn't solved, not quite a bit." Pabbie declared the grim truth with a monotone voice.
"Grand Pabbie is right. After what Jack and I had seen..." her voice trailed off, she was struggling about choosing the right words.
"We saw a castle, laying on the North Mountains. I am not kidding. Elsa can testify." Jack continued to explain instead of her, he seemed dead serious. Regardless, a second later, he flashed her a brief, warm smile. The platinum blonde shuddered as she avoided him.
"What!?" Bunny, the older prince gasped in disbelief.
"Impossible." North muttered under his breath, Honeymaren furrowed her eyebrows, Pabbie, Katherine and Sandy though, they have just remained in silence and their faces were completely impassive.
"Okay, let me comprehend. First, someone attacked Einstök and killed people. Then, you guys fought with a demon horse, lastly, you saw a freaking castle that we had no knowledge about its existence." Emma summarized everything, she narrowed her eyebrows while an irritated look was spreading over her face.
"Pretty much." Jack muttered.
The platinum blonde let out a low sigh and bit her bottom lip. "I have a proposal."
"Elsa, " Honeymaren said calmly but her eyes reflected her alarm. "No."
The young woman ignored her friend and continued. "I propose to go to the castle and meet the person who is in charge, as an ambassador." Absolute silence greeted her, so she once again opened her mouth to reason-
"I am coming with you." the young man, whose beautiful blue eyes full of determination stated sternly.
She blinked, felt rather... confused and disgusted at the same time. Baffled because he managed to easily digest her not-so-bright plan and immediately jumped into a confusion. She was disturbed because of the implication of spending more time with him was enough to make her uneasy. Nonetheless, she was also pleased because she was aware of her kinda lunatic idea, but Jack supported without hesitation.
He supported her. But why? Throughout her life, only a few people supported her, her parents, Anna, Honeymaren. Why did he help her, even though they have met just a couple of days ago?
"Are you two have lost your minds? You can't just go there and attempt to communicate with the enemy. We have no information about them!" Aster growled, Elsa somehow knew he was going to contend and she couldn't blame him for it.
"You are right, your Majesty. But what else we can do? Wait for them to burn another village down to ashes?" she argued back.
Aster averted his green eyes away from her and exhaled in frustration. "I agree with Elsa, we can't just sit around and do nothing." Jack stood up for her.
"We can proceed with planning our strategy and war tactics. We need to defend the kingdom." Emma pointed out firmly.
"Still, we have no idea who we are dealing with." the platinum blonde asserted stubbornly.
"You are not leaving." the king commanded with a strict tone.
Elsa frowned in determination and raised her chin, stared icily at the king. "King North, you've insisted on my help. I represent Arendelle and Northuldra, this evil power also concerns my land." she spoke confidently.
"Dad. She shouldn't go alone. I am faster than anyone else, I can fly. If something happens, I will manage to snatch us off and leave." the younger prince reasoned, once again stuck up for her.
"Jackson-"
"For once, let me handle it. I am not a kid anymore, I may seem irresponsible but I can help." Jack cut his father off and insisted persistently.
"That's a suicide mission!" Honeymaren cried. "I am coming with you, Elsa." she announced while she was touching her shoulder.
The platinum blonde's lips formed into a small smile. She felt flattered by the fact Honeymaren was risking her life for her, just like that. "Honeymaren, Jack can carry only one person in the long term."
"I can't stay here while your life is in danger. I... I can't." the brunette woman mumbled in despair, her gaze dropped on the floor.
Elsa wrapped her arms around her, then squeezed her a little to show her affection. She broke the hug shortly soon after and directed her gaze at the royals of Northern Island. Now, Jack was also standing next to her, his shoulder was inches away from hers. She didn't turn to him, but she could see that he was once again flashing her a smile from the corner of her eye.
"I still didn't give you my permission." North straightened up from his seat and raised an eyebrow.
Elsa was about to respond, knowing him, Jack would probably too but both of them halted when they witnessed Katherine, suddenly collapsing on her seat, she placed her palms on her forehead and winced in pain. She seemed natural, definitely not dramatic, as if she was used to this.
"Katherine? Are you okay?" Emma asked in concern, Aster being the closest person to Katherine, took a step and nudged her arm gently. She let out a low groan, began to massage her forehead. Slowly, she raised her head and eyed at Jack and Elsa with her absurdly calm gray eyes. Elsa couldn't help but feel nervous under her gaze.
Katherine stood up and began to walk toward them. She stopped in front of Elsa, her features weren't reflecting any kind of emotion. But then, almost lazily, the princess' lips curled up in satisfaction although Elsa was still feeling awfully uneasy. "You..." Katherine started to talk, caused her to have goosebumps.
Katherine's little smile turned into a wide grin. Once again, Elsa could have sworn that the lock of her auburn hair loosened. "You are just like him, " the princess let out a genuine laugh. "Jack! You are not alone!"
Elsa felt her eyebrows knitting together, she let out a sigh of relief. Nonetheless, she was surprised by Katherine's reaction, even shocked. How could she discover her powers unless someone had told her? Jack nodded eagerly and chuckled whole-heartedly, his lips trembled, he closed his eyelids and when he opened them, she could see the hint of a tiny... tear. "I know." he mumbled under his breath.
"North, they should go." Jack's wife (Elsa still found that fact weird) whirled her head to the king and declared with that collected voice of hers.
North furrowed his eyebrows, his stern expression was reflecting his displeasure. "Katherine-"
"It started. Elsa... She is the last piece." Katherine interrupted her father-in-law gently but also firmly. Everyone in the room, except for North, Pabbie, and Sandy became confused because of those words as they were questioning what she had meant.
"I am the last piece of what?" Elsa questioned her with bewilderment.
"Tooth." Katherine called out the maid's name and avoided her question. "Stop eavesdropping and just come in."
The door creaked a little, Tooth entered the with a strained grin on her face. "I am sorry you Majesty." she apologized sheepishly.
The princess didn't say anything and sent a glare at North. The king nodded silently. "Be careful, Jack and Elsa."
"I don't understand anything." Aster finally remarked to indicate that he was waiting for a proper explanation.
"We'll explain." North began.
"When the right time comes." Sandy spoke for the first time since the meeting had started. After his words, nobody spoke a single word while Elsa was staring at the room with dull eyes.
Whatever they had implied, she knew that she was already a part of this war.
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