Elsa tapped the surface of the desk in her study with a gloved finger, the twins' duel rooted firmly in her thoughts, its intensity lingering like a heavy fog on her mind. She couldn't seem to wrap her head around the fact that the polite gentleman she had met at the banquet was the same person she had seen in the courtyard fighting with all the grace and style of a trained samurai.
It isn't completely unheard of for a prince to be trained in swordsmanship… at least in some kingdoms… but Sophie, too? It's just so strange. Could they really be –
A rap at the door interrupted her train of thought. "A moment, Majesty?" Captain Holdt poked his head in, revealing a fray of messy red hair. He had bags under his eyes and his face was lined with worry, a sight foreign to the young queen as the captain was rarely ever stressed or anxious.
"Yes, Desmond, is everything alright?"
"I'm afraid not," he said, stepping into the rooms slowly and pausing. "One of my guards didn't report for dinner. He's still missing. We've searched the castle grounds thoroughly and he's nowhere to be seen. At this point, it's looking like a desertion."
"What!? When was the last time anyone saw him?"
"He reported for training this morning, I remember him being there, but he went missing sometime during the session or shortly after." The captain rubbed his eyes. "I just don't understand. I've been part of the Royal Guard for nearly twenty years now and never once have I seen anyone even think about deserting, especially considering the consequences."
Elsa frowned. It was true, desertion from the Royal Guard was a capital offense and if this man was found, he would be charged with the highest of crimes, either put to the chopping block or sentenced to prison for the rest of his life. Even with the looming threat of persecution, to think that a Royal Guard would defect was utterly baffling, considering it was a one of the highest honors of the military to directly serve the royal family and the men under Captain Holdt's command were always treated extremely well.
"He must have had quite a good reason to put his life on the line," Elsa said.
"Aye. He knew the risks, all my men do." He paused and scratched his chin. "Actually, there's something that's been troubling me, I can't seem to get it off my mind… the missing guard, his name is Liam. Remember, I mentioned him to you yesterday? He's the one from Astor."
Elsa went pale. "You don't think…"
"I'm not sure, but it is a huge bloody coincidence, isn't it? A prince and princess show up to my combat training, turn it into a gladiator ring, and the only man in the guard from their kingdom happens to desert the same day? Something doesn't seem right, if you ask me."
The future queen tapped the desk with increasing vigor. "You're right… but what could it mean? There are a million reasons a guard might choose to desert. I don't see why the appearance of his former royal family would make him suddenly decide to leave."
The Captain grunted. "I don't either, but something's strange about it. Not that it's my business, Majesty, but how much do you know about these guests of yours, anyway?"
Elsa was slightly embarrassed at the question, but did her best not to show it. "Clearly not enough. But if this Liam is found, I would like to speak with him. Keep up the search and thank you for letting me know, Desmond."
"Of course. I don't mean to pry into royal affairs, but Princess Elsa, it is my duty as your guard captain to keep you safe, and I just want you to be cautious. Don't get mixed up in something… or someone you can't handle. I will be watching for anything unusual," he finished with a salute and dismissed himself, leaving Elsa alone to her thoughts, the fog in her mind growing ever denser.
Soon after, she sprang into action, pulling out all the documents and books in her study and scouring the pages for something, anything she could find related to the kingdom of Astor. She searched through every history book, every trade record, every treaty, every novel, but after hours of relentlessly looking, she couldn't find a single mention of even the word "Astor." Eventually she extended her search to the castle library where she was met with the same luck; it was as if the mysterious kingdom didn't exist at all.
This makes no sense… I remember father mentioning his visits to Astor… surely I'm not imagining that.
The princess resorted to asking Abram, assuming the man must have some knowledge that she didn't. After all, he had invited the twins to the banquet in the first place. She found him in the east hallway and made a discreet inquiry about where she could read about Astor, hoping he wouldn't merely tell her to ask Sophie or Aaron.
The old man scratched his head. "I don't recall having any records pertaining to Astor itself besides the trade agreement your father made with King Harold many years ago. However, I do believe that Agdar, rest his soul, kept a journal whenever he went on diplomatic visits. Perhaps he made some notes about it. You might be able to find it in his study," he told Elsa who thanked him and rushed off to follow the new lead.
She made her way to her father's study, the same room where she had met Aaron only two nights ago, and began searching for something that looked like a journal. After digging through many of the old king's papers and books, eventually the blonde stumbled upon a rather large and old leather-bound book buried in a drawer. She gasped when she opened it to see pages and pages of her father's handwriting scrawled in ink, chronicling every voyage he ever went on since his early days as King. Determined, she scanned the pages for any mention of the word Astor, and after what seemed like an eternity of hurried page-flipping, she finally found what she was looking for.
July 15th, 1835
Today we finally set sail for home after leaving the final destination in our trip to the western kingdoms, Astor.
This particular visit stood out to me as it was one of the strangest I've been on. The capital of Astor, a large city called Calidae, is located by the ocean, luckily. We were able to sail there directly from Breymoore, arriving on the docks near the palace sometime in the early morning. The first thing I noticed upon disembarking was the awful heat – it was even worse than the weather in the southern isles and I was sweating like a pig as soon as I set foot on solid ground. It was unnatural, unlike any other place I've ever been to.
The second thing I noticed was the state of the city juxtaposed to the enormous palace. It looked as if that one building was worth tenfold the value of the entire rest of Calidae. There were run-down buildings and terribly maintained roads, even in what appeared to be the central trade district. I saw broken street signs and trash in every corner. The smell was awful and everything looked so worn out and old, as if there hadn't been any renovations to the buildings or equipment in years.
The palace, on the other hand, was absolutely stunning. If I were to put twice the amount of speciedaler into my castle, it still wouldn't be half as extravagant as the palace of Calidae. It made me think that the royal family must be extremely selfish to live in such luxury while the rest of the city remained impoverished. I would never leave my capital city in such bad condition – but alas, in the west, I am nothing but a guest with little authority, so there was nothing to do but keep my mouth shut and act as if nothing was amiss.
The third thing I noticed was the distinct lack of people, despite the fact that it was light out and the city was clearly lived-in. I could count the number of average citizens I saw on one hand. It was almost eerie, I must admit, as if everyone was in hiding. I figured there must be a law or some type of rule that citizens were not to come in contact with foreign kings – however, I chose not to ask. To be honest, I was rather eager to get my visit with the King over with.
To my relief, the Sinclair family, the royalty, was fairly normal. I would say they were even quite likable. King Harold was a soft-spoken but authoritative man, and I found myself getting along with him rather well. His wife, Queen Alma, was incredibly hospitable and kind. I actually enjoyed both of their company as we spoke. They did seem rather hesitant to discuss the politics of their own kingdom, but eventually we were able to set up a trade agreement and I kept my questions to myself after that, not wanting to offend my new allies. They were secretive, but polite, and I figured that their business was their own and prying would not look good for me or the kingdom of Arendelle. God knows I am no stranger to keeping secrets when it comes to ruling a kingdom, and my thoughts went to my daughter Elsa as my suspicions grew. I figured that whatever they were hiding, it must be important, and I can understand that.
I found out that the King and Queen had a pair of young twins, a boy and a girl; I believe their names were Aaron and Sophie. Harold also has a younger brother that apparently lives there as well. I did not have the pleasure of meeting him, although the way they spoke of him, he was not the most sociable man in the first place. I did find it a bit strange, however, that they never even mentioned his name.
Despite the strange quirks of the King and Queen, I left the throne room feeling much less uneasy than I did when I arrived. I ran into the young prince on my way out of the castle looking rather down; apparently his sister had just beaten him in a duel. To my surprise, he told me they both were practicing swordsmanship at an age no older than twelve! Imagine that! I wondered what Anna and Elsa would say if they heard that there were other princesses learning to fight. I probably won't tell them – Anna doesn't need any big ideas, she is already a ball of pure energy as it is.
I gave him some encouragement and told him to not look so sad which seemed to brighten him up a bit. The boy was a good kid, very polite and well-behaved, not unlike my own children. I couldn't help but contrast him to the princes of the Southern Isles. I came to the conclusion he would be a better King than any of them would be. I suppose having a twin sister to keep him in check has taught him a thing or two – there is something powerful about that type of sibling relationship, especially for two unique children like them.
The rest of the day was rather uneventful as we prepared for the long journey home. I don't think I'll return to Calidae anytime soon - or Astor at all, for that matter. It was overall a very strange place. However, I do wish them luck and hope that King Harold fixes whatever issues his kingdom is suffering from, whether it be financial or otherwise. If not, it might just be up to little Aaron to do so.
The entry ended there and Elsa looked up from the book, satisfied. It was a stroke of good luck that her father had the foresight to record his thoughts and Elsa was glad she found his journal. His encounter with the Sinclair family raised some new questions, but Elsa was relieved to find out that her father had at least liked Aaron and Sophie when he met them. Agdar had always been a great judge of character and it made Elsa feel better under the assumption that he would have trusted the twins if he were alive right now to make the call.
Still, Elsa's curiosity about Astor was far from quelled as she closed the journal. She returned it to its proper place, making a mental note of where she left the large book so that she could find it and read more of her father's thoughts later, before walking back to the residential wing in search of the twins.
As Elsa walked through the lengthy hallways of the castle, she thought about how much she wished she could talk to somebody about everything that's happened in the last few days, but she was at a loss. Her relationship with Anna was still stunted and awkward and the only person that now knew about her powers was the one causing all these confusing feelings in the first place. Regardless, she was less alone now than she had ever been, and for that she was thankful.
If only it could last...
Author's notes: By the way, in case you're curious - 'speciedaler' was the currency used in Norway during the time period of Frozen. The more you know!