Chapter 18

Prince Rollan stood inside the horsebox mounting the horse saddle on his stallion, then led him out of there and tickled him under his chin, making him whine.

„We're going on a walk again, what do you say?" Asked Rollan watching Valiente shake his head, then they heard a female voice whistle and the Spaniard turned around to see Gerda come along with a small bag towards the duo.

„Good morning," Greeted the young girl seeing Rollan lift his hand to wave at the friend.

„Good morning, Gerda," Greeted the raven-haired prince. „Are you ready to go?"

„Yes, I am," Responded Gerda, then Rollan got up on the horse and looked down at Gerda, which placed her hands on the saddle and climbed up from the side. „I'm almost there," Gerda mentioned, then positioned herself behind the prince and glimpsed above his shoulder.

„Have you a suggestion on where we should go first?" Asked the prince rolling his eyes back at the girl, which shrugged her shoulders.

„I don't know. You're the one on the lead," Stated Gerda making Rollan nod.

„I will just go on. Follow Valiente's own instinct,"

„That will do it," Spoke Gerda, then held herself on the back of the saddle as Valiente began to trott along the ground to the exit, where they crossed the bridge.

„Did you sleep well?" Questioned Rollan making Gerda nod.

„Yes. What about you?"

„I did most of the time. I'm not very used to the mattress from here,"

„Well, I understand that. Are the ones you have softer?"

„They're sort of the medium. You lie on it, sink a little into it. You basically got the best of both worlds,"

„Good," Commented Gerda glimpsing above the bridge at the water as the horse crossed the road with them on the back.

„How long have you been working here at the castle?" Questioned the Spanish prince turning his head aside to the girl.

„I think three years," Responded Gerda. „I was 15 when I got here and princess Anna had shortly left. Never had the chance to get to know her enough, but I know her through Elsa's eyes. A curious, energetic person and friendly person,"

„So you and Princess Anna basically have never interacted before?"

„No. Also during the lifetime, I was at the orphanage I've seen her twice a week, her parents passed away. This was on the time I wasn't working there thought,"

„How did you get the luck to work here at the castle?" Questioned Rollan. „Was it because you resembled the princess?"

„There was a show at the school and each orphanage had the kids and teens living there sing to win a price to help sustain their orphanage and gain donations. Queen Elsa was present as well at the VIP places and I think Gerda was there as well. I had noticed both at my group's turn talk with each other half of the song and I had the odd feeling, they had been looking at me the entire time," Explained the blonde earning a nod from the prince. „They went to look for me at the said evening and asked me questions, wondered about what I had been planning for the future and they offered me to come to the castle to do simple jobs and support Elsa. Elsa and I became friends over the weeks, I've got to try other things at the castle to help her and the others out and here I am now,"

„And you're going to continue to be here?" Questioned the raven-haired making Gerda shrug her shoulders.

„Have you got a suggestion, what else I could do?"

„No, I just thought you could have an idea,"

„I will wait a few more years. If I find something else before, well I'll discuss it with Elsa. She sure supports me just the way I supported her during this time,"

„She will without a doubt. I'm not sure if she shows it in front of everyone, but she's got a good heart. At least I feel like it's that way,"

„You are right. She is just a little hesitant in aspects, that make her feel uncomfortable,"
„According to Gerda she never was like that before. It was just at the time around their teenage years when her parents passed away that she closed herself to the world more,"

„Yeah, she mentioned me that,"

„She also commented you anything about it?" Questioned Gerda making Rollan nod.

„You know I commented about my mother as well. That I could understand her pain," Commented the Spaniard making Gerda nod.

„Right…." Spoke Gerda neutral, then Rollan pondered from seeing her in that state

„I'm sorry about your past fate," Rollan apologized. „Not knowing what happened to your parents in the past is worrisome and sad,"

Valiente whined loud, making Rollan nod. „Even Valiente agrees," Added Rollan, then Valiente stopped and moved his head at Rollan. „Right boy?" Valiente puffed making Rollan understand he wasn't right. „Come, don't be a killjoy,"

Valiente looked forward, then neighed while Rollan wondered about what the horse wanted to tell him.

„What's going on boy?" Questioned Rollan watching the stallion move on foot forward making Rollan nod. „You want to show something?" Asked Rollan, then looked back at Gerda, which shrugged her shoulders afterward Rollan nodded and the stallion ran further shrieking Gerda, which packed the Spaniard by his arms.

„Where is he going?" Asked Gerda noticing Rollan, which was surprised as well.

„I don't know. He must have found something important," Stated Rollan looking at the road they were passing by, afterward they turned left into the main road passing beside a carriage that was being pulled by two horses carrying passengers.

„Your horse is riding on the wrong lane," Commented Gerda making Rollan grin embarrassed, then Valiente slowed down and the duo encountered a small shop, which was meant to sell shoes.

„You want a pair of shoes?" Questioned Rollan making the horse shake his head. „Queen Elsa?" Questioned the prince, then the stallion moved his head at the window making Gerda have an idea, of what the horse meant.

„I think we're supposed to get in there," Commented Gerda making the horse nod. „See?"

„Gerda?" Questioned Rollan looking at the horse, which let out a short whine and Gerda got down slowly, thereafter Rollan offered the woman his hand to get down while the other one she had behind the saddle.

Gerda approached the store to glimpse through the window door, then twitched her eyebrows as she spotted at the left side of the store the counter, where the brunette woman Una stood putting into shelves several pairs of shoes for display.

„Hey, that's the woman we met at the market selling sho…..." Spoke Gerda looking back to see Rollan fly off the horse as it sat down on the ground „es…."

„Valiente? Porque fue eso?" Gasped Prince Rollan perplexed about the stallion's deed, which neighed in a laughing-like manner making Gerda chuckle at the situation, then reached her hand to help the man up.

„Thanks," Responded Rollan, then cleared the dust off his pants and Valiente pushed Rollan with his nose against Gerda making both fall on the ground and hit their foreheads on the other. „Oy!" Complained Rollan followed by a chuckling Gerda, which helped Rollan get to the side and look up at the horse slightly annoyed.

„Aww, I love his banter with you," Confessed Gerda admiring the horse's treatment of Rollan, which got up along with Gerda.

„What were we talking about?…...Right, If you feel like you need to talk about what happened to your parents. I'm here," Offered Rollan making Gerda smile, then the door got opened back and it was a customer, which was about to leave with a pair of shoes.

„Oh the Prince of Alicante, right?" Asked the customer catching Rollan's attention which looked at the man, then stepped back to bow down.

„At your service," Responded the prince, which smiled at the educational greet towards the villager. „I've seen you've got there a pretty choice,"

„Indeed. She's one of the best shoemakers here in Arendelle. You sure won't regret getting here one or two," Commented the villager making Rollan nod, then let the man move along and let Gerda enter first before he followed her into the store.

„I beg you pardon, for this other interaction," Apologized Rollan. „I'm certain this was now the last time,"

„It's okay," Commented Gerda chuckling. „One or two more people sure will be interested to talk to you or Prince Hugo. They're curious about you,"

„Indeed," Added Una making the duo smile. „What brings you two here? Did you like my shoes?"

„My horse led me here. I'm not sure if he likes shoes, you or if there's another story behind this," Spoke Rollan.

„It sure is the latter one. He threw Rollan off his back," Commented Gerda making Una grin and look at Rollan, which passed his hand behind the neck.

„We'll figure it out," Commented Rollan. „All we were doing was talking and he suddenly on his own ran her with us. As if he wanted us to know something we don't,"

„You know some animals are quite smarter than we think. Maybe there is something he knows, that we don't," Una commented making Gerda nod.

„We were talking about our moms we lost over the years ago. My mother I barely remember. I only know I was brought up here at the orphanage, cause I had been found at the coast I believe along with others. I never found out what happened to my parents afterward nor before," Explained Gerda as Una listened, then she furrowed her eyebrows at her explanation and moved back at the counter to open a treasure box to rumble through it.

„What is she doing?" Asked Rollan making Gerda shrug her shoulders, then Una took her arms out of it again, then scratched her head pondering about, where exactly she had left what she was going to look for. „You're okay, ma'am?" Asked Rollan approaching the woman, which nodded.

„Yes I just don't remember, where I stored a mirror, I've been looking for," Commented Una, then Rollan looked at a wall, which had various mirrors hanging on the wall, then he bit his lips confused at the woman's question.

„There are some on the wall….." Mumbled Rollan making the woman nod.

„I know, but I'm talking about a special mirror," Commented Una approaching the two, then looked at Gerda to see her glimpse neutrally at the store owner. „Can I ask you a private question?"

„Yes I just can't promise an answer to anything," Gerda warned making the woman smile a little.

„How old are you at the moment?" Questioned Una.

„I'm 18," Answered Gerda. „I was born in the year of the dragon is the only thing I know,"

„You know, I got separated from my daughter after a shipwreck and this is almost 18 years ago. None of who helped me get on my feet knew anything about it," Explained the woman. „Are you sure there's more I should know about you?

„I don't know my real birth date. The orphanage set it on the 15th August,"

„My daughter's original birth date is the 14th of March," Added Una. „You never know your real birth date?" Questioned the woman making Gerda shake her head.

„I really don't have a lot of info from my orphanage. This is really everything they've got from me," Commented Gerda making Una nod, then Gerda placed her hand on Una's shoulder. Rollan felt sad about the two women, then glimpsed at the woman and remembered the thing she was looking for.

„Mi'lady, where exactly did you see the last time, this mirror you've been looking for?" Questioned Rollan. „How does it look like?"

„It's a small one and it has on the backside the name of my late husband on it," Explained Una to the Spaniard, afterward she remembered it and smiled. „I know where I left it, follow me to the back," Ordered the woman, then walked to the room behind the counter and she got to a peg, where she had an apron on it with a pocket in the middle and she moved out of it a small pocket mirror with the name on it. „Oh there it is," Spoke Una, then held it tight to her chest making Rollan smile.

„Did that belong to your husband?" Asked Rollan making the woman nod.

„You know, this mirror is very special. This one is magic, it shows you the true person behind somebody. I thought about if I would show this Gerda we could know if she's who I've been looking for or not,"

„And that works?" Questioned Rollan curious, then Una showed the mirror to Gerda and she looked at the image, where she saw her reflection along with Gerda's, which changed showing humans on a ship along with other refugees standing on the middle of their small ship as they were stuck in a great wave in the middle of a storm. One of the humans held a warmly covered baby tightly to the body, then the woman fell aside along with a few other passengers and the head was uncovered and Una's face was recognized from there. It was shown her yelling along with the other passengers as a wave slapped the boat on the side throwing water onto the top of the deck, sending from the side four humans out of there shrieking the passengers. Una held the baby under her chin, warping her face in fear from their possible death on sea and another wave crashed their ship throwing it aside beginning to flood the ship, taking several humans out of the ship, including Una. Another wave pulled the ship to get upside down and they tried to swim away, missing the vehicle land with the deck on top of them. Una missed a hit luckily with a few other passengers, which tried to keep themselves up on the shallow. Una held the baby above her head, while trying to swim with her other arm away from the ship looking for a way to get to safety, then they got flushed away by another wave sending then across the water, some disappearing through the process.

A while later Una was flushed into the coast along with a few other humans, lying there unconscious and far away from their other side a few other victims lied there as well along with the baby Una had been carrying the entire time. One of the humans got up, then tried to wake up any of the humans, which didn't react, afterward he saw the baby had begun to cry and the man returned to take a look at the baby, which seemed to be alive and looked around seeing no one was responsive. The man ran with the baby in his arms through the forest, hoping to find help for the others and as he reached the first village, he encountered a patrolling guard and told the situation shortly before breaking down. The guard blew his whistle to call two guards in the near, then informed them, afterward the three split up and the guard immediately carried the man and the baby into a clinic to have them checked up.

„That's the clinic I've been taken by the orphanage," Mentioned Gerda looking at the brunette woman, which glimpsed at the young woman. „They had asked every woman, that had been found at the land where I was taken. People assumed I was brought to safety, while you were considered as missing," Gerda explained seeing in the video the baby being taken by another person, that lied her above a towel and began to remove the wet clothing. „Where did you find that mirror?"

„My late husband's used to be a magician," Pointed Una out turning the mirror around to present his name on its back. „He created mirrors that help you see things you wanted, solve a mystery or whatever he was able to come up with. His creations take a lot of patience and effort to make. Usually, it took him months,"

„And he was the only magician in the family?" Questioned Gerda making the woman shake her head.

„I can cure injuries," Commented Una. „There are various kinds of magician among us. Some have simple magic as I do, some have a more advanced skill as Vegard did,"

„And that's inheritable?"

„It is," Responded the brunette. „We just don't know exactly, what you're up to get,"

„This is…..woah….I was not expecting so much at once. I got in here, becauce Prince Rollan's horse had led us here and…..." Explained Gerda, then widened her eyes and looked at the window to see the horse stand there in front of the window. „Valiente must have figured it out, somehow," Mentioned Gerda, then glanced at Rollan, which shrugged his shoulders afterward he shut wider his eyes remembering the last time he was talking with the shoe vendor.

„Wait, Valiente was there when she told me about a missing baby…..how did I not think about this situation?" Asked Rollan doing a face palm, making Gerda smile a little confused.

„It's alright, Prince Rollan," Commented Una. „But I was glad about your offer,"

„At your order," Responded Rollan, then Gerda had another question to the woman.

„Oh about that, if we've got split in the end as I was a baby, did I have this name already or did I have another one?"

„Originally I had called you Kiara," Commented Una making Gerda giggle at hearing the name.

„That's actually a cute name,"

„Your father picked the name," Commented Una. „She was named after one woman that saved his life a long while ago back in Denmark,"

„You used to live in Denmark?" Asked Gerda making Una nod.

„The Southern Isles to be precise. Life there has been so awful, the taxes got higher, our salary wasn't enough to help out. One day Vegard stood up for us and decided to obtain money from the castle of the Westergaard family, the ones leading the kingdom. With help of his mirror, he always managed to get into it and escape without being noticed until one time it went wrong and he was caught,"

„Oh," Commented Gerda disappointed at the story, then Rollan widened his eyes as he seemed to recognize the story.

„Wait…...I heard the story about a guy named Venlig that acted like Robin Hood in helping the citizens and was sentenced to death by the king as he was caught," Mentioned Rollan making Una nod and Gerda gasp in shock.

„They murdered him, just because he was helping the poor, you say?" Asked Gerda making her mother nod.

„The sad reality, that some kingdoms may have those sort of tyrants ruling a place is really a tragedy. I've seen it all and when I'm the one coming to the throne in the future, I want to be fair and give the peoples the chance to make it through life without this immense suffer other kingdoms like yours did,"

„Didn't the Southern Isles get a new heir in line. The oldest son or so?" Questioned Gerda making Una shrug her shoulders.

„I have never looked back to that place. I know the eldest son is the one in line and if he was already crowned is the other question,"

„Queen Elsa or Kai the counselor, may know anything," Gerda commented making Rollan nod along with Una.

„Eventually," Commented Una seeing Gerda and Rollan nod. „Do you two want to take a seat and I'll offer you a slice of cake? Usually, around this time, I don't have many customers and we could take this chance to get to know each other, if any of you is interested,"

„Gerda could stay here, I planned to take a look around Arendelle to get to know it better and you two can get to know each other better," Offered Rollan looking at the women. „What do you think? Is that okay or shall I stay as well,"

„You can go visit the village if you'd like. I'll be fine here," Stated Gerda making Rollan nod, then Gerda smiled watching Rollan mirror her facial expression and he moved towards the door to leave the store.


The princess had along with Hans and Donny caught the next train with Malmö as their destination. Anna and Hans sat next to each other around a sheet, that had Hans' calligraphy on it and Hans placed his index finger on a sentence.

„It's really funny how long that word sounds compared to the Danish language," Commented the farmer making Anna nod.

„It was slighlty easier, than I thought copying your entire letter to the other sheet. I don't think it would be any hard to learn it,"

„I haven't spoke very often Danish with anybody lately. I've given my best from what I remember and so far the spelling is alright,"

„If your mother figures out its about you and is comprehensive is what matters now. We won't be there to see it, but I'm pretty sure she's going to be happy to know you're safe and sound,"

„She took care of me when I was a child up to the day I left. She may not have forgotten about what happened that day, but this doesn't mean I stop being her son. I just didn't know, what to do on that point as Prince Miika fell off the roof,"

„Yes. You know one good thing about this, the letter here is a good start for you to feel less burdened with the past. Eventually, if you think you can do that you could write a second or a third one explaining how you lived your life since you left. By that I don't mean, that you had such a better life, write her, that you were raised by a kind couple that accepted you as their own son and helped you through all sorts of times. At least she's aware you didn't have to suffer as much as you did back in the…..Southern Isles,"

„But how am I going to know she received my letter, if I didn't even give her my location?"

„Just write her once or twice a week. Don't worry about that,"

„I'm more worried about, if it doesn't work or if the letters somehow end up in other people's hands,"

„It will get to your mother, trust me," The strawberry blonde promised making Hans nod, then heard the Siberian dog sneeze as it had been sniffing the corner of the train wagon and the dog warped his face releasing a couple of more sneezes making the two adults laugh at the comical face the dog did from sneezing.

„Did something tickle you nose?" Asked Hans with a grin on his face, then Donny approached the duo and sat in front of them.

„I think it was the straw," Commented Donny, then warped his nose again and sneezed at the ground, making Anna chuckle

„Adorable," Commented Anna getting up on her knees to caress the dog on his cheeks followed by dropping the spiked ears down due to her attention.

„Perhaps the dust in here could have lead you to sneeze as well, Don," Commented Hans passing his finger over the ground to catch a bit of dirt, then the husky passed under Anna's arms after she had removed her arms and got up on Hans' lap to sniff him on his face, making Hans move his head away.

„Hey I already told you, I'm no a fan of getting licked," Commented Hans, but Donny still licked Hans above his nose and eyes, making him fall on his back and Donny placed his front paws on his chest to move on with the licking making Hans frown and move his face aside unpleased with the wet tongue he felt on himself. „Donny, get your hands off me," Ordered Hans making Anna chuckle as she saw Donny wag his tail showing joy from playing with the farmer, then she approached the dog and pulled him gently away, which stopped and gave one quick lick on Anna's cheek making her beam adored by the dog's deed.

„He hasn't grown used to your tongue. But you don't have to worry, he likes you too!" Commented Anna rubbing Donny under his belly making him pant and Hans sat up to look at the two with a smile.

„He really is an amazing companion," Complimented Hans seeing Anna look at the dog, which glimpsed at the princess, that mirrored his glad expression. Behind Donny on the ground lied their small baggage for their ride including a barrel bag for the arrows and the bow, then Anna had gotten an idea of a pass time for the ride.

„I think I'm going to practice using the bow," Spoke Anna getting up to pick up the bag and prepare the weapon.

Hans turned around followed by Donny, which got beside the man and watched the princess adjust the arrow on the bow, thereafter held it up to aim at the wall and released it hitting the wall in front of her.

„I did it without dropping it," Commented Anna looking back at the farmer, which gave the woman a thumb up and observed her preparing the next arrow, then took a few steps aside to be away from the middle where the first arrow had it. Anna pulled the thread back, then released the bow, which got stuck with its point at the wall and Anna raised her hand shortly in victory and went to repeat the task again.

Hans smiled at watching Anna's improved archery skills, then moved his arms behind his back to make himself comfortable observing the woman act and the duo-colored dog got on top of Hans' lap looking at him while wagging his tail.

„What do you want, boy?" Asked Hans, then Donny looked at Anna and sat down on the man's lap.

„She really likes to help people," Mentioned Donny making Hans nod.

„Besides that, she's really positive about everything. This is quite fascinating to see," Hans confessed watching the princess take another arrow from the bag, then passed her hand under her hair to keep it behind her back and prepared the bow again. Donny looked up at the auburn-haired man, which admired the Norwegian release the arrow, stinging the wall with its sharp edge.