The summer morning lit up the minute hand of the clock tower as it moved over to the digit twelve. The hour hand finally rested on nine. The cloudless, blue sky made a perfect summer day for picnics and family-time. The lush green trees and new young plants and grass were a relief for tired eyes.
Alex was catching up to all the work he'd missed out on the past days. He was in the castle courtyards, speaking with one of the court's officials about the cases he had missed. The official fumbled with a huge pile of papers in his arms, so Alex took a little break and thought about everything that had happened until that point. Mattias was handling security today, and was scheduled to meet with him at ten in the morning. Yelena was staying for a few more days in Arendelle under the excuse of 'liking it in the bustling city'. It wasn't a false excuse as she genuinely liked a change of scenery, but Alex, Agnarr and Iduna knew that she was only staying to be closer to her daughter and granddaughters.
Their last conversation on the bridge an hour past midnight had resulted in them agreeing to reveal the secrets, but only in their time. Agnarr had taken Alex's word that he wasn't going to say anything about this to anyone. Alex wasn't planning on telling anyone about anything, so he gave his word to them, on the condition that he be allowed to break his promise, only if an emergency were to arise. It did take them quite some time for them to agree, but in the end, they accepted. Alex was in no way interested in trying to break the promise he'd made and hoped that he would never have to.
The only problem was that Alex was not likeable in even the least of ways. Thus, gaining their trust was going to be very hard. This put an extra task in his already quite significant pile of work, as they had already gotten off to a bad start. Alex considered it a miracle that Anna, Kristoff, Elsa and the others actually were able to even call him their friend. He didn't blame Agnarr and Iduna for anything, since he knew that he himself wouldn't be able to trust his own shadow or clone.
"Alex!" Kristoff's surprised voice made him look back toward his friend. "When did you get back? I thought you'd be gone till this evening or something?" Kristoff said confusedly, but happily nonetheless. His hand moved to the back of his neck, and his grin indicated a small amount of nervousness.
"Midnight. You were both asleep, so we thought it best not to wake you up," Alex replied smiling and dismissed the court official who was still fumbling around some documents. He knew when Kristoff wanted to talk to him about something important.
They wordlessly set down the path to the front gates of the castle.
"So uhm... I've been meaning to talk to you about something," Kristoff said as Alex waited patiently for his question, although he wondered what he'd ask. "Considering that Agnarr and Iduna are back, and that they are Arendelle's former rulers, do they still have claim over the throne? I mean...no...that came out wrong..." Kristoff panicked at hearing his own words.
Alex laughed, knowing that his nervousness had taken the best of him yet again. That line, if uttered by another person, would've sounded way more creepy and possibly, with murderous intentions.
"Of course they have the claim and rights to rule over Arendelle again!" Alex informed him.
Instead of anger or sadness like most princes would show at that statement, Kristoff beamed with happiness.
"So I won't have to take the throne?" Kristoff's eyes were hopeful as he emphasized on the 'have' word.
Alex knew where this conversation was going. He played carefully with his words.
"No, you are not in any way forced to take the throne," Alex said slowly, "But you do have a claim to it, in-case they don't want the throne back."
He knew that Kristoff never wanted the throne, and he had only asked for Anna's hand in marriage. At the time he proposed, he had absolutely no idea he was probably going to be a future king. Sure, he had known somewhere in his heart that Elsa would no longer rule Arendelle after making peace with the forest, but he had been strongly believing against it.
When Elsa announced it, that's when he felt the jolt, and so did the other Arendellians. At first, he was extremely happy for Anna, since she always had a certain liking to lead people, but then he felt his stomach drop like lead when Elsa looked at him, willing him to understand his position. The dread settled in. Not because he was afraid to become a leader, but afraid that if he did something wrong, the people may not forgive him, or even worse, not forgive Anna and Elsa for appointing him in the first place.
He had seen Elsa's struggle with the kingdom for three whole years, and he always deeply admired her for facing such terrifying things without even blinking in fear. He truly loved Anna, but Elsa was like a sister and a role model to him. He was hopelessly faraway from the levels of authority she had, and to even think about himself as royalty felt weird.
"Umm...Kristoff?" Alex asked worried at his prolonged silence, snapping him out of his thoughts. Kristoff looked mildly surprised at noticing that they had walked back near the castle entrance and were close to the porch.
"Yeah I'm... I'm…" Kristoff didn't know how to tell him all that. He sighed, and took a deep steadying breath. "I don't think I'm ready for the throne Alex," he said, somewhat loudly and desperately. "I mean, how can I even compare to them?"
Kristoff's back was toward the open castle doors now, and Alex was standing facing him, thus allowing him to see the full view in the castle. Alex saw a woman dressed in blue descend down the porch stairs, beckoning him to stay silent of her arrival. Alex had no intention of revealing anything.
"They're both so well versed with how to rule a kingdom, and they've learnt it from practically age five!" Kristoff rambled on, having no idea of Elsa's presence as she came to a halt right behind him, her face more amused than worried. "I'm still not well versed in laws around here and the complex history, I'm nowhere near as handsome or princely as other royals, I'm
not as strong or a respectable ruler as they are and neither do I have any experience with dealing with problems that other people face…" His ramble was quickly turning to desperation and panic, "not to mention talking to other royals, which I'd definitely suck at and…"
Whatever he was gonna say was lost in a muffled yelp as a huge pile of snow fell directly over his head, burying him, and fully and soaking him in cold water.
He quickly jumped out of the freezing and wet mass and was shocked speechless when he finally noticed Elsa standing beside him with a stern, forbidding expression on her face.
Alex couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"Wh...why did you do that?" Kristoff said, half reproachfully and half hurt.
"You needed a cooldown, so I gave you some ice." She mused humorously, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
"I guess the cold water was a bonus?" He grumbled to himself, making Elsa raise her eyebrow as the burly mountain man shivered slightly.
The atmosphere returned back to seriousness.
"You were saying?" Elsa asked.
Kristoff sighed defeatedly and admitted everything in a normal level of voice, unlike before, where he was freaking out.
"...I don't think I am ready for the throne yet Elsa. I'm just a commoner who has no idea of any royal etiquettes. I'm not sure I'll represent the kingdom wisely." He looked down at his own feet, feeling ashamed of himself. He had been dating a princess for the past three whole years, and never once had he tried to learn the ways of royalty.
Her expression softened. She knew exactly how he was feeling, because at one point in her life, she had felt the same way.
"Kristoff," she spoke solemnly, "there is no need to feel terrified of taking up the throne."
He immediately went defensive, "I'm not afraid!"
His face was red, sweaty, his eyes dodgy and his voice pitched higher than usual.
Honestly, Elsa was very concerned at the obvious lack of lying capabilities of both the monarchs who were going to rule the kingdom. Not that she wanted them to be liars and tricksters, but sometimes it was necessary for the welfare of the people.
She gave him a look and he cracked under it a very brittle piece of chalk. He wasn't difficult at all!
"Okay I'm afraid. I mean...I have absolutely no idea what people expect of me, or what you expect of me."
"The only thing I expect you to do, is to follow your heart," Elsa said in a soft voice, almost like an older sister would speak to her little brother. "You never saw me struggle with making decisions nor did you ever see me doubt myself to be a queen."
Kristoff had been listening to her with rapt attention, taking each word to the heart and thinking deeply about it, so Elsa continued, "What you saw me struggle with, was recognizing what my heart wanted me to do, and nothing more."
She moved closer to him and placed both her hands over his upper arms and maintained eye contact. "I have a feeling that this will be a lot easier for you."
It was a huge compliment given very subtly.
He knew that it was her indirect way of saying that he would be a better ruler and a better person than she ever was.
Kristoff knew exactly what she was trying to tell him, and he'd never been happier at that even though he disagreed. The simple line lifted his heart from the bottommost pit of his stomach and brought it to his eyes in the form of tears. Though they didn't show, she seemed to know their presence.
The next thing Elsa knew was that she was swept in a soaking wet embrace. She was slightly surprised, but would be lying if she said she didn't expect that to happen at all. No pain shot up her back as Kristoff avoided the region of fire.
Contrary to one of the popular rumors, her wounds did not magically heal in a matter of seconds. She may be a spirit, but she was more a human physically.
They broke apart in just a few seconds.
Kristoff still had his doubts, "It's all fine about trusting your heart, but I still don't know the etiquettes and the royal stuff."
Elsa laughed. She somehow knew that this moment was going to come when she first saw him kiss Anna three years ago after she showed him to his new sled.
"That's why mother and father have decided to help you both through this if you need any," Elsa said.
"Wait, really? They've accepted the throne?" Kristoff asked again, looking slightly hopeful.
"No. They have informally denied their claim, but have agreed to help you lead," She told.
"Oh," Kristoff seemed slightly disappointed, but also was very happy at the thought of learning to be a king with Agnarr and Iduna's help.
"I'll uh, I'll just speak to them once, just to you know...clear things up a bit. Not that I don't...you know," Kristoff stuttered trying to express his point.
"I know. Go on," Elsa smiled warmly and nodded toward the castle.
He gave them a small smile in return and immediately headed to the direction of his room before going to his in-laws. He didn't want to wear his cold and sodden clothes for such a huge point of discussion.
"That's a pretty huge decision to be taken in just a day, you know?" Alex asked Elsa when Kristoff was out of sight.
"I know, but I don't think they wanted to take up the throne from the beginning," she replied, somewhat distractedly.
Alex shot her a questioning glance.
"I hope we're not being pushy toward Kristoff. I'm just not sure if he even wants the role of a king," she expressed.
"It's quite true that he doesn't want to be the king, but it's also true that he is, and would be happy being one all the same," he replied. "He knows he has his freedom in choosing to be a king or not."
This made her smile slightly.
"Funny how the last guy Anna fell for wanted to take the throne by force and the current guy literally needs to be forced to take the throne," Elsa said sarcastically, making Alex chuckle.
"So what next?" She asked, moving to a serious tone.
Alex took a deep breath.
"Mattias asked me to meet him at Hudson's Hearth at ten. Not exactly sure for what, but I think it might have something to do with the page from their diary," Alex informed.
Elsa nodded in understanding.
"How's the reveal plan coming along?" Alex asked.
"Anna's opinion is to hide mother and father in the castle until the rumor spreads a bit farther. She's planning to add some fire to the rumors by spreading information of some sightings around the kingdom and forest areas," Elsa told him.
Alex was about to say something, but was interrupted by a soldier posted at the western dock gates who came up running toward him. "Sir! A fight has broken out at the docks. It's too big for a few soldiers."
Alex swiftly moved toward the docks with Elsa in tow.
"Who?" She asked the soldier.
"Our own are fighting the Northuldra," he answered breathlessly, making Elsa's blood run cold, one question burning through her mind. 'Why?'
They quickly reached the site of the fight.
It was a small mob of fifteen Arendellians with sticks and stones, trying to get to the Northuldra group of about eight people, all standing at a defensive stance. Just five Arendellian soldiers were blocking their path from reaching the sun tribe, but Alex saw more coming down the other alleyway. He also noticed Mattias and Yelena sprinting down the road from behind the horde of the Arendellian aggressors. Mattias was blazing furious at the sight and Yelena looked concerned and also slightly afraid.
Alex didn't have to wait long to see a huge wall of ice blocking the way of the mob as Elsa stared them down angrily. It was very rare to see her truly angry, but when one did see her like that, that person immediately knew that things were going to get seriously grim.
The mob started to back away at seeing the former queen, but were immediately surrounded by Arendellian soldiers.
"Arrest all of these DAMNED PLEBS, NOW," Mattias growled, seething with anger at seeing one of his best, and oldest friends inside the mob.
The mob's anger immediately turned to desperation and fear. They had broken the queen's orders and were now going to face the consequences.
There were now around thirty Arendellian guards at the scene. Fifteen of them grabbed the mob members, the other ten restrained the onlookers, and five soldiers formed a shield wall near the barrier of ice.
The leader of the mob was yelling something at Elsa along the lines of, "Your parents…" and "Northuldra…"
Elsa recognized him as one of Runeard's hardcore supporters and was surprised that her parents had anything to do with this. She remembered his name to be Erik.
Anna had already told every citizen of Arendelle about Iduna's true origins, and they had all taken it quite well.
She called him forward and ordered him to explain what he was yelling about.
At this point, she saw Anna, Olaf and Sven come running down the opposite street with a few soldiers in her tow. Anna looked surprised to see that she had already returned, but she shifted her attention to the current matter.
"Why do you think your parents have been sighted only after the mist lifted?" Erik spat. "It's suspicious isn't it? Maybe they somehow entered the mist. Maybe your mama always had the powers to take down the mist but she didn't! She was Northuldra after all, wasn't she!"
"What do you mean by that?" Anna asked with a warning in her voice to speak properly. He didn't obey.
"I'd wager my head that the Northuldra have been keeping king Agnarr prisoner all this time. I bet he's afraid to enter the kingdom because the Northuldra are hanging around here just to hunt him down! And I friggin' bet that, that girl Iduna sold 'im out for forgiveness for HER OWN SINS!" Erik yelled.
His last words were followed by a resounding crack as Mattias's fist connected with his jaw. He fell to the ground, his hand clutching his jawbone. A soldier gruffly grabbed him by the collar and started to drag him in the direction of the jail cells. He fought against it.
Anna and Elsa were horrified at his accusations. Alex had to restrain Sven from trampling him down and crushing him. Olaf stood there with his eyes widened in disbelief.
Elsa recovered quicker than Anna. "Take him away," she ordered. Hearing that, Erik burst into screaming obscenities at the sisters while the soldier was trying to drag away.
"Let me go Jonathan!" Erik yelled at the soldier who was dragging him away. Apparently, he was one of his best friends, but duty came first.
Erik turned back to Elsa, raised a finger and screamed, "YOU'RE NOT THE GREAT RUNEARD'S HEIR! YOU'RE NOT WORTHY OF BEING AREN'S HEIR! YOU'RE A MONSTER!"
Anna, Mattias, Alex and Sven didn't have to move a muscle. Jonathan let go of his collar, grabbed the back of his head, and bashed the hilt of his sword on his nose, then delivered an uppercut making his teeth bleed and then landed a hard punch on the same spot where Mattias had punched him earlier, breaking his jaw in earnest this time.
He fell to the ground again, this time writhing in agony. Jonathan and two other soldiers grabbed him angrily, hoisted him up on his feet and led him off to the prison in one of the deeper dungeons.
Elsa stared mercilessly after him. He may insult her however much he wants, but he doesn't get to insult her family. She calmed herself down and quickly brought down the ice barrier to reveal eight shocked people.
Alex could hear the collective sigh of relief from a few of the onlookers. Some of the Northuldra were in there too.
Honeymaren made her way toward Anna by breaking away from that group of eight people. She had a look of pure desperation on her face.
"Anna, Elsa I swear we don't have anything to do with this," she said pleadingly, her voice almost breaking. Tears threatened to gush out. "I know this for a fact. We haven't imprisoned anyone. Please believe me I…"
She was cut off by Anna putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I know, Honeymaren," Anna said smiling at her. She then looked down at her own feet, "I'm so sorry for what happened right now, I...I had...thought I won't be disappointed in my people today."
The last statement struck extremely hard to every person who knew her, especially Elsa.
She knew her sister could get mad at things, storm off, get sad, but what she had never seen Anna be, was disappointed.
"No Anna it's fine. It was just...a very small group. I know you never intended that to happen. There is nothing to forgive," Honeymaren said definitively, earning a small smile from Yelena.
Anna smiled warmly, thanking her silently with her eyes. "So who's hungry!" She asked happily, looking around.
Almost everyone cheered at that. They knew that when she asked that, there was going to be a party at the castle courtyards where everyone gets to bring what they cooked and share a delicious meal. They immediately got about bustling to prepare a meal for the party.
The Northuldra were shaken, but relieved to see Anna's actions.
"Well, one thing he said is definitely true," Yelena told Anna.
"What's that?" Anna asked, confused.
"That you're not Runeard's granddaughter," Yelena smiled proudly.
Anna beamed. She never planned to be.
Elsa kept a hand on her shoulder so she turned to face her. "Now that's my little queen." She said proudly.
Anna laughed and swept her into a bone crushing hug.
After separating, Elsa could finally gasp for air.
"Honestly Anna, I think I'm getting thinner because you keep hugging me so tight!" Elsa said half laughing, half breathless and half in pain.
Anna giggled, "Well I'm the only reason you can maintain that slender shape or you'd be fat as Kai by now with all that intake of chocolate."
Elsa tried narrowing her eyes but ended up in a fit of laughter at imagining herself as large as Kai.
Her gaze travelled to Alex talking concernedly with Mattias. They were keeping their voices low so no one could overhear them. Mattias was holding some strange object in his hand and Alex was observing it closely.
Elsa silently communicated a message to Anna about that and strolled over to the duo. Anna was inclined to follow but a small crowd of people gathered around her.
"General Mattias," Elsa greeted.
"Ah, your highness," Mattias greeted back with a slight bow.
She smiled and looked curiously at the object he was holding. It was some kind of a shoulder badge. It had a golden plated shield like shape and held a strange looking symbol on it. It was a small pentagon with daggers protruding from each vertex. There was a small downward facing triangle in the centre of the pentagon.
Mattias noticed her gaze and explained, "We found it in the room where the cards had been kept. I suspect that this is the work of whoever the holder of this badge was."
Alex was lost in deep thought. "The Eight Kids," he said, "is a group of premium assassins. They are well known for their exploits in the underworlds. From tiny peasant and farmer assassinations to larger royalty murders have mostly been achieved by them. They are one of the best people to hire if you want to kill someone and don't want it all traced back to you."
Elsa was not comfortable with the idea of royalty-killing-assassins roaming freely around the kingdom and especially the castle, but she wasn't new to that idea.
"How do you even know all that?" Mattias asked.
"Let's just say, I was once a very renowned assassin too," Alex grinned nervously at Elsa, who just shook her head smilingly.
Mattias was quick to recognize the situation. "You mean, you...were hired to...you know…"
"Yes Mattias. I WAS hired to kill Elsa the first time I met her in the coronation halls," Alex confirmed. Mattias just gasped at the horror.
"What! By who?" He asked immediately.
"By a certain merchant who held a grudge against all of Arendelle's royalty for suddenly cutting off trades and closing down the kingdom," Alex explained.
Mattias looked at him doubtfully and then looked at Elsa to confirm that she's not a ghost. Alex was known to obey the word he gave, no matter what.
Alex chuckled. "Relax Mattias, the contractor is long since dead and I have no reason nor motivation to complete that contract, which is not gonna pay me anyway," he added sarcastically.
Mattias raised his eyebrows, "Any point in asking how he died?"
"People believe that he stabbed himself with a knife because he was overcome by depression. There's also rumors that he had gone crazy due to the last heavy loss in trading markets," Alex smirked impishly.
Mattias gaped for a second and then turned to Elsa, "And what do you believe?"
"I believe he got a bigger contract," she stated immediately, waving her hand toward Alex.
Mattias's jaw dropped open. Elsa definitely did not seem to be the person to take revenge.
Alex chuckled. "The contract didn't state to kill anyone, but it happened in an 'accident'. Apparently, I like working overtime."
"Does anyone else know about this?" Mattias asked with widened eyes.
"No, but I'll be having a word about this with Anna and Kristoff at some point in the near future," Alex admitted.
"She's gonna kill you," Elsa said.
"I know. Let's enjoy the time we have left by hunting down this enemy," Alex smiled and winked.
"Wow, you're a seriously talented demon, aren't you?" Mattias wondered.
"Yep. One of the best," Alex confirmed proudly.