After some time sitting in the silent hallway, appreciating the break to ponder the circumstances (but with no way to improve them until further notice), Kristoff heard familiar footsteps coming up the stairs.
Anna appeared with a plate filled with food, and sat herself next to her future husband.
"Is she awake?" she asked softly.
"Don't think so," Kristoff answered, not wanting to disturb her if the answer were no.
Anna took a bite of food.
"You can go back down with Elsa and the others," Kristoff offered, but Anna waved him off.
"She can show them around the castle just fine. I want to make sure she's ok."
There was a pause, and Kristoff accepted the food that Anna offered.
"Did you sleep all right?" she asked.
He nodded. "Pretty much. You?"
"Always," she answered with a chuckle.
She leaned against Kristoff's shoulder, chewing and waiting.
Finally, the door creaked open, and a head popped hesitantly out of the room.
Kristoff froze, but Anna stood up quickly.
"Good morning! Would you like some food?"
Mari hesitated, then nodded. Kristoff held out a plate for her; she grabbed something sweet and took a large bite.
"Wow. The food here is good," she offered simply. They laughed.
When she finished the food, Anna spoke first. "Do you want to come with me on a tour of the castle? We have some other guests here, and my sister is showing them around."
Mari nodded, and the three of them set off.
On the way down the stairs, they ran into Kai.
"Queen Anna! Your sister is here, and I thought she could sit in on the meeting this afternoon. When you get the chance, find me and we will go over the schedule."
"Of course. Thank you, Kai."
Kai acknowledged Kristoff and Mari with a nod, then continued up the stairs.
Anna and Kristoff continued, but Kristoff turned when he realized that Mari had stayed on the stair.
"Something wrong?" he asked, and Anna turned as well; but Mari, eyes wide, whispered to Kristoff.
"She's the queen?"
"Oh! Yes," Kristoff said simply, realizing that he had forgotten that part of the story. At first, it had been purposeful, so as not to intimidate her even more; but now, it seemed harmless.
"Wait-does that make you...a prince or something?"
Kristoff laughed. "No. I'm just me. I grew up in the mountains."
"Then how are you marrying a queen?"
"I ask myself that quite a bit, actually," Kristoff chuckled, and Anna rolled her eyes.
"It's a great story. I'll tell you some time!" Anna added enthusiastically, and Mari smiled shyly. Then she turned back to Kristoff, her eyes fierce.
"Why did you lie to me then?"
"I didn't lie. I said the queen was nice and not scary. And I said my fiancee worked in the castle. I just didn't mention that her job was...as the queen," he shrugged.
Mari blinked at him, then continued down the stairs. "Still…" she muttered under her breath.
Kristoff and Anna shared a look of uncertainty, then kept going. Mari looked around, taking in the elaborate decor of the castle. Kristoff was surprised, having seen other children visiting the castle, that they didn't have to ask her not to touch the suits of armor or slide down the bannister (Anna had not even mastered that instruction yet).
They met Elsa, Ryder, and Honeymaren coming from the kitchens.
"Oh! Mari, this is my sister Elsa, and our friends Ryder and Honeymaren. This is Mari."
They exchanged greetings.
"I like your dress," Mari said to Elsa. "So are you a princess, since you're Anna's sister?"
"Something like that," Elsa smiled.
"She's more of a snow queen," added Anna.
"A snow queen? What do you mean?"
As an answer, Elsa waved her hands to construct a small giraffe out of snow. She gave it to the awed child.
"WOW! You can make SNOW? That's amazing!" She examined the giraffe, and showed it to Kristoff and Anna, who offered their admiration as well.
"Can other people do that too? 'Cause one time, when I was little, it snowed in the summer. And then it just went away and no one ever explained why! Isn't that weird?"
They all laughed.
"That was me," Elsa offered sheepishly. "It was an accident. The snowstorm went pretty far, though, didn't it…?"
"If we hadn't been stuck in the mist, we might have been snowed in as well. I still wish I could have seen that," Ryder added.
"Yeah, well, we can see Elsa's magic now," Honeymaren offered.
They had a fairly enjoyable tour of the castle, with Elsa and Anna alternating between giving historical information and recounting adventures as small children and within the past few years. When they entered the ballroom, Mari asked all about the types of parties that happened there, and twirled around joyously as they described the typical scene.
"...And sometimes, if you ask Elsa really nicely, she can turn the ballroom into a snow playground!" Anna had taken Elsa's arm, and Mari turned around and looked hopefully at the elder sister.
"If you insist…" Elsa said with false reluctance, waving at the ceiling until a gentle snow fell.
"Wow!" Mari was the most vocal, but they all enjoyed the scene of gentle snowfall and larger snowbanks forming around the edges.
As if on cue, the door rattled open, and Olaf trotted in.
"Snow! I love it! What's the occasion? Oh! Ryder and Honeymaren are here! Hi, everyone! Did you bring this feral-looking child with you?"
They exchanged uncomfortable looks. Mari, who hadn't heard, turned around and saw the snowman. She did look a bit feral-her hair was wild, her old frock was torn in places, and she was covered in a general layer of grime from her travels. She rushed over, and Kristoff caught her arm as she almost slipped on the snow.
"A snowman! ...AAH!"
When Olaf moved, Mari jumped back.
"Hi! I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs! What's your name?"
"...Mari…" she said hesitantly, now hiding behind Kristoff's arm.
"Elsa told me that some people find talking snowmen slightly scary at first. I'm trying to learn to come on less strong. How did I do?" he asked Elsa.
"Fine, Olaf," Anna answered while Elsa explained.
"I built Olaf a few years ago, and because of my ice magic, he came to life!"
She crept forward toward the snowman.
"Warm hugs?" Olaf offered.
Mari nodded, and tentatively hugged the snowman.
"Okay. I like him," she said, turning to the others, who smiled in return.
"Ooh, is Sven back?" Olaf asked Kristoff.
"Yep, he just returned from Northuldra."
"Why don't we go and say hello?" Anna offered.
"Who's Sven?" Mari asked.
"My reindeer," Kristoff explained.
"And his best friend!" Olaf continued. "Sven tells great stories and gives Kristoff all kinds of advice and helped me learn how to read. Kristoff never would have been able to date a princess without Sven."
"That's...probably true," Kristoff admitted.
"That's nice," Mari observed, which made Kristoff smile.
They all headed outside, with Olaf and Mari leading the way and the others following closely behind. Anna grabbed Kristoff's hand.
"She really seems to trust you. And I don't blame her. You're a good man to trust."
Kristoff blushed. "I think you and Elsa are far more interesting to be around. And Olaf, of course."
"Even if that's true, having someone to trust is more important when you're in a strange place. I'm glad that you found her."
They continued to the stables, where an excited Sven was eagerly reuniting with Olaf and meeting the young girl.
"Olaf! I missed you! And what's your name?" Kristoff provided in Sven's voice.
Realizing that Kristoff was talking for the reindeer, Mari looked around in confusion, then laughed and played along.
They brought Sven and his new reindeer friend back into the castle, where Anna and Elsa left to attend their meeting. The others shared favorite tips about reindeer care and training while Olaf read to Mari from one of his favorite novels.
Kristoff, who was struggling to focus on the conversation anyway, was interrupted by a tug on his sleeve. Mari gestured for him to lean down, and she whispered to him.
"Do you think my mom will be mad that I'm gone? Or worried about me?"
"Oh! Don't worry, we sent some of the royal guard to find her and tell her you're here. If everything is all right, she can come and get you, or we can bring you home."
The child nodded and went back to Olaf.
He didn't want to make any promises. Mari seemed too young to be left alone for extended periods of time, and yet didn't seem to be worried by her mother's extended absence. Kristoff knew that life in the mountains was more relaxed than life in the city, but it was still disconcerting to hear about a child alone in a home without food. He would be surprised if Mari's mother had not come into harm, or some other circumstance that had prevented her from returning home.
When Elsa and Anna's meeting had finished, the group shared an early dinner and then a game of pictionary-chosen after a heated debate about how Elsa's magic and Olaf's ability to rearrange should be handled in charades.
Their game was interrupted by General Mattias, and Anna got up to greet him.
"Do you have news for us, or do you want to join the game?" she joked.
Mattias remained serious. "Could I talk to you outside for a moment?"
Anna met Kristoff's eyes and gestured for him to join her.
Once they were outside, Mattias spoke.
"We found Mari's mother."
"Oh! So, is she coming here, or should we take Mari to her?"
Mattias shifted uncomfortably.
"It took a while, because she had left town, presumably to find work, but she was in a pub and a bit...uh...intoxicated. She asked for Mari to be returned to her home, but the guards were worried about leaving such a young child alone. The mother didn't seem bothered. Said Mari was old enough to care for herself."
"What? She's eight!" Anna interjected.
"Exactly. We explained that if she couldn't care for the child, we would have to leave her with someone else who would."
"And?" Anna prompted him to continue.
"She didn't seem too bothered. Said she'd done the best she could for the girl, but she needed to live her own life."
Kristoff was following the conversation, but silently. For some reason, it all seemed to be happening further away, like he was receding back into his mind somehow.
"How could she do that? She really just...didn't care?"
Mattias sighed. "Look. I don't have the experience for myself. But from what I've been told...parenting is tough. Some people just aren't cut out for it. Especially when life has dealt them a particularly difficult hand."
There was silence before Mattias continued.
"Now, we just need to decide where the child will go. Find a family to care for her, at least for the time being."
"Why does she have to go anywhere?" Kristoff interjected suddenly, surprising himself in addition to the other two.
Anna looked at him with a combination of love and surprise, while Mattias looked back and forth between the two and then cleared his throat.
"Maybe I should leave you two to talk. There's no rush to make a decision-but we can talk again in the morning?"
"Yes, that sounds perfect. Thank you, Mattias," Anna answered, and they walked the general to the door.
When the large castle doors had swung shut, Anna turned on her heel, eyes blazing.
"How could someone just do that? Just leave a child to wander around like-like-"
"Like me," Kristoff finished weakly.
Anna's eyes softened before she continued, "Which is why you're so willing to help."
"Look, Anna, I spoke rashly and out of turn and I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that, or commit to something...Obviously I'm a guest in the castle, and I have no right to just invite someone to stay, especially with everything else happening right now, and I want you to know that-"
Anna interrupted him with a kiss, as she generally did when he started to babble.
"Kristoff. You're not a guest. You live here. And maybe it's kind of crazy, but...something feels right about having her here. We both know what it's like to lose parents, and to be alone, and...it's not like we don't have space, I mean, there are plenty of rooms…and when have we really gone very long without doing something crazy?"
"Like Mattias said, we don't need to make a rash decision. Maybe we just...think about having her stay? And who knows, maybe her mom will change her mind and come back."
"Right. We'll have to make sure she can contact us if that's the case," Anna added.
"Okay. So for now, we just...go back to the game?"
"Yes. Back to the game. And there is no way you're winning this one!"
She took off toward the others, and Kristoff followed behind, calling out, "That's what you said about charades!" And earning himself an angry look back from his betrothed. He rolled his eyes and kept walking.