● Maddy ●
"You don't look pleased," was Maddy's smart remark once the sweaty and oafish steward had left. Gibbs was a good man, easy to manipulate and even easier to keep quiet, qualities the Westergard girls found very important. He was competent enough, and Maddy liked having him around. He was old and not the sharpest tool in the shed, so none of her slutty sisters wished to share a bed with him, which was also good. It was tiring having to fire attractive male servants just because some of her sisters were like dogs in heat.
The Queen's chambers were spacious and very luxurious. It had plenty of windows thanks to the amazing view that overlooked the sea and the rocky shore, the curtains were probably never drawn in this lit up room. Maddy currently occupied the King's chambers, she could because she was second in line and Astrid was not married so no one else was using them. The King's chambers weren't as nice in her opinion, a lot darker than this sun-bathed room, but she couldn't complain to Astrid or anyone really. At least it was better than the room she'd shared with Astrid for years, but her sister was never too far away; the Queen's chambers and the King's were connected by a bathroom.
Astrid placed down her cup of tea on the table, making it clink loudly. One of these days the cup would break and Maddy would laugh till the end of her days. Her sweet sister was altered, an unusual sight and one she immensely enjoyed. "Of course I'm not pleased! You read the damn letter, did you not?"
Laughing in her face would spell D-O-O-M, so Maddy kept the bubbling laughter to herself. But having Astrid this angry was so rare, such a precious thing she wanted to enjoy every second of it. Few things made Astrid loose her cool, and who would have thought little Lena's latest adventure would be one of them?
Growing up she hadn't paid all that much attention to the youngest of her sisters, she never had. Around the time the sixth one was born she'd sort of stopped caring. Helena had been but a pink little baby the first time Maddy had got a look at her, a silly drooling baby not worth her attention. Maddy had been almost a woman grown when the thirteenth sister was born. And then she grew into this aggressive little girl, who spent far too much time with manly Katherine for her own good. Oh, and the 'gardener's daughter' joke they had going on for two years. Rowena was the mastermind behind it, but Maddy had just sort of gone along with it like everyone else. She was a horse freak, too. That's pretty much all she knew about the girl.
Cecile claimed there was more to her than that, but Cecile was insane and listening to all her random babbling always left Maddy with a headache. If Cecile had been right in the head, maybe her and Astrid could have formed a little clique of them three- they were the three oldest, after all. But Cecile was crazy and Astrid was Astrid, so her 'alliance' dreams were for naught. It was every sister on her own, pretty much. Except for the two sets of twins, they had that special bond of sharing the womb or whatever nonsense. The two bastards also got along well with the ones close in age to them, she knew Lena to be close with Johanna.
"Yes, but I don't get what you're so worked up about?" Maddy picked up a biscuit from the untouched tray Gibbs had brought them earlier. Every Tuesday was tea-party-of-two-with-Astrid, it was her sister's passive-aggressive way of reminding her who was in charge, that if she tried anything to hurt Astrid or take her throne she'd pay dearly for it. The permanent reminder on her face was enough, she thought bitterly. Looking at the ugly scar on the mirror everyday was enough. But Astrid was Astrid. "We'll pay that silly king to get her back, Lena will plead for his forgiveness, all that tedious stuff. Then you can marry her off to that gross fifty-year-old baron and she should die a happy lady."
Astrid's eyes were two glaciers as they bore into Maddy's. It was a look she was used to, but one she did not like. It was scary. It reminded her of Rowena, and even if that sister of hers was years younger, it still made her uneasy. "I'm afraid you ought to check those eyes of yours, sweet sister." Oh, boy, it was the cold-bitch tone Astrid liked to use before unleashing hell upon the listener. The sweet sister just made it more dangerous. "You see, they're not asking for a ransom. They are demanding a trial."
At Maddy's silence, Astrid continued, "It appears Helena tried to kill not only the king, but also his brother, the prince."
Maddy met her sister's cold look meekly, with the biscuit between her fingers, "Didn't she go to a coronation? Are we talking about that?"
"Yes, we sent her as a representative of the Isles... the letter provides no details of exactly what happened. They are asking for someone to go and- well, get her." Astrid was gone again, her blue eyes fixed on the window behind Maddy. She didn't like it when her sister got all thoughtful like that. It usually spelled T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Lena had got into trouble. Why would she do such a thing? Maddy knew better than trying to seize a kingdom by force, boy did she know. What pushed the freaky horse girl to do a thing like this? Maybe she wasn't that freaky horse girl anymore, Maddy realized. Lena was eighteen now, how easy she forgot. She wasn't the same little girl she once knew. Everyone called her Helena now, her proper full name. "It will be very interesting to hear what happened," Astrid said in that same empty tone she used when her mind was elsewhere.
"Indeed," Maddy nibbled on the biscuit, suddenly not as hungry anymore, Astrid's heavy brooding seeped it out of her. It was like talking to a wall when she got like this. She got unresponsive, and when she did speak it felt like she was talking to herself. Poor Gibbs for having to deal with her, serve her all the damn time.
"Question is..." Astrid returned just as fast as she'd been gone, her blue eyes fixed on Maddy's, with her hands folded across her lap, "Who do we send?"
"Not me," Maddy felt like a kid again, saying 'not it!', back when she and her siblings actually played games. It was usually Sonja who said it last, and she ended up being it. "And obviously not you, Your Majesty. You're ever so important here," she hoped Astrid was still gone enough to not detect the last bit of sarcasm.
"Let's see, who's available- or close by Arendelle... so far up north," Astrid wrinkled her nose in distaste. That's why they'd sent Lena. Even if it was June, nobody wanted to go so far from home, but the thirteenth princess had volunteered very eagerly. For her assassination plans, was it? Gods only knew what she had intended, if this was just a big misunderstanding or what.
"I think Cristina's nearby," Maddy said indifferently, she even casually picked at her nails for effect. But inside she was grinning. She only wanted to provoke Astrid, see what she would say to that. The difference between the twins was amazing- Sonja was this pretty girl with nothing but air inside her head, while Cristina was an attack dog in disguise.
"I didn't know you hated Helena that much," Astrid said dryly, un-amused by the suggestion as expected. It would be like sending the royal executioner with axe in hand, free to rampage on foreign land.
"Weeell, you asked me who was nearby," she shrugged innocently, and smirked at her one and only older sister, something none of the others could say. "I simply answered you truthfully."
Astrid shot her a look that could wilt flowers, and it only made her smile wider. She took a bite out of the biscuit, while Astrid rubbed her temples in annoyance, "In all seriousness, Maddy. Who do we send?"
"Let's just send a servant with some bribing money or whatever. Why does it have to be one of us?" Seriously, she was sure all sisters had better things to do than rush off and save Lena from whatever mess she got into. They could even send Gibbs, maybe the Arendellans would take pity on his lame self and let their little sister go.
Astrid was still not amused, and she let her know by intensifying her already very intimidating glare. "They are specifically asking for one of us. Preferably me. It literally feels like you did not read the letter." Maddy shrugged at that. She'd never been good at reading comprehension. All she'd gathered from the message was Helena, trial, immediately. "Arendelle does not need our money, either. They are a rich kingdom and- gods dammit, why did Helena have to go and fuck with them? I swear if they break off relations with us because of her-" she slammed down her fist on the table, making the cup she left there rattle. As always, the cup endured.
"We don't know what happened, calm down. Maybe it's a big misunderstanding. Do you think Lena capable of murder?" Maddy was looking into Astrid's eyes, because you were always supposed to do that, but where she really wanted to look at was the tea cup. The one Astrid always manhandled but never seemed to break. How could something so fragile endure so much?
Astrid scoffed and broke eye contact to pick up her cup of tea once more. Now Maddy was free to inspect the thing for any chipping, any cracks- but the cup looked as good as new. Did Astrid put an unbreakable spell on it or something? "I think every single one of you capable of murder," the Queen said, none-too kindly. She paused for a second, before adding, "Well. Maybe not Sonja. Or Johanna- but the rest of you, absolutely."
"You wound me," Maddy said, with a hand over her heart. But her sister was not lying. All Westergard girls had that- that thing, that thing it took to kill. Not many people were born with it, some grew into it- she pictured the faces of her sisters, all different and yet so similar. Yes, she thought. They are capable of taking a life. From the oldest- she almost smiled at Astrid. To the youngest- and she got a little sad, thinking about Lena. It was a little tragic, truth be told.
Astrid had the cup close to her lips, but she was not drinking it. Her eyes were vacant again, in deep thought. At least she was not looking out the window this time. She wasn't completely gone again, she started to speak slowly, in a wondering tone. "Do you remember King Adgar?" the way she said it, one would think she was talking to herself.
Maddy didn't feel like she was being addressed, but she answered all the same. "The old King of Arendelle, wasn't he? The one that died at sea with his wife?"
"Three years ago," Astrid said, her eyes still blank, the cup of tea still hovering near her lips but not touching them. "And now his son is king... King Elliott," Maddy remembered the elegant signature at the bottom of the letter. Yes, the new King of Arendelle was Elliott. Maddy didn't care about him, he was like half her age. Probably twenty one, since he'd just been crowned. Barely a man grown. Astrid lowered the cup, not having touched it once. Her icy eyes landed on Maddy's bewildered ones. "I don't know a damn thing about this Elliott. Why is that?"
Maddy shrugged because, hell if she knows. She cared little about other countries that weren't her own. "They closed the gates of Arendelle like ten years ago? Maybe Elliott was sickly?" Trying to hide a sick heir was not unheard of.
Astrid chewed her lip, a habit Maddy thought her sister had dropped years ago. These news had really rattled something in her sister, and it was both unnerving and delicious to watch. "I knew everything about Adgar." True, Astrid liked to keep tabs on every powerful country that could potentially be a threat. "But I know nothing of this Elliott, other than the fact that he is now king and that blood of mine tried to murder him." Oh, yes, Astrid loathed not knowing things. It bothered her to no end and it brought Maddy great pleasure to watch her sister not have the upper hand for once.
"There's something fishy going on," Maddy offered, tiring of their conversation quickly. She had better things to do, and tea-party-of-two-with-Astrid was among her least favorite activities. Ever since Mother had died, Astrid took it upon herself to shoulder the responsibility of caring for all the other sisters in her cold sort of way, she didn't exactly love them, but if someone threatened a member of her family Astrid could be vicious to protect them. She suspected their beloved queen may have a soft spot for Lena, being the youngest and all.
Astrid stood up abruptly, almost bumping her knee against the table. She walked over to the window, clasping her hands together, "I will find out who this Elliott clown is. I want to know everything there is to know about the new King of Arendelle."
"Have fun doing that," Maddy said, raising her almost empty cup in a cheers fashion. Their meeting seemed to be coming to an end, it seemed. Good, Maddy didn't have the patience to tolerate another hour of her Majesty's brooding. She was a pain in the-
Maddy almost dropped the cup when she felt her sister's cold fingers on the left side of her face. The queen trailed the thin line of her scar, from eye to chin, unbearably slow. She hadn't seen her move. The younger girl froze immediately, feeling violated to her core. Literally no one was allowed to do that. Even Maddy herself avoided touching it as much as possible, her husband was strictly forbidden of touching that side of her face. The last time Astrid had touched the scar, had ran her fingers down the skin- it had been the day she got it, all those years ago.
"I hope this stunt Helena tried to pull has not given you any... ideas," Astrid dragged her fingernail down to Maddy's jaw and gripped her chin with two fingers. She tilted the girl's head up, forcing her to look into the queen's icy eyes, "Hm, Madeleine?" her voice was soft, bordering on a hiss. It spelled D-A-N-G-E-R.
"It- of course not! I would never-" Maddy jerked her face away, so shaken up by her sister's actions she felt tears pricking at her eyes. She looked up at Astrid's face, and instead of seeing the middle-aged woman that her sister was, she saw the young self again, with her golden hair and dangerous eyes. That girl whose shadow she'd lived under her whole life. Maddy stood up as well and backed away towards the door. "I would never betray you, Astrid. You... you know that," you made sure of that. She felt like Gibbs when the clumsy words fell out of her mouth.
"Do I, Maddy?" Astrid was blatantly staring at the scar now. The reminder of what happened if you messed with the ruler of the Southern Isles. Maddy almost shuddered remembering the moment she got it, the words her sister had uttered before dragging that knife down her face. A permanent lesson.
Maddy gingerly put a hand over it, shame pooling in her gut. She hadn't felt this bad about her scar in years. The illusion of Astrid's younger self lasted a couple more seconds, before she was back to her graying-hair self. But those blue eyes had never dulled, never lost the cruel glint, they remained as bright as ever. She was still that blonde demon who thought she could conquer the world from all those years ago. The regular, almost forty-year-old Astrid smirked before looking away, back at the window, "You may go, sweet sister."
She'd shown weakness in front of Astrid, and it was going to cost her. Even after all those years, the damn scar still had a huge impact on her, and Astrid knew it. The bitch probably relished on knowing the effect it had, just how badly one touch affected her. To make things worse, now Astrid felt threatened by her because of what Helena did- tried to do. Things Astrid felt threatened by didn't last very long. "What are you going to do?" Maddy ground out, forcing her hand away from covering her scarred face.
"First I'll find out more about this King Elliott. Then I shall send my reply, depending on what I find out." Astrid's eyes shifted back to meet hers. "And then I'll send one of our own with terms."
"Who are you sending to Arendelle?"
Astrid smiled sweetly, and in a very Cecile-like way, she said, "Wouldn't you like to know."
● Andy ●
They made it halfway across the bridge before Krista realized someone was following them.
They crossed the actual open gates- Andy still wasn't used to it, they had been closed for so long, having them open was almost surreal. He could come and go as he pleased. Everyone else, too, seemed to be enjoying the open gates. Elliott's ice rink from the Great Thaw was still standing to provide some entertainment before the summer festival, so the people of the village got to enjoy the winter activity in June. You'd think the people of Arendelle would be sick of ice and snow, but they weren't.
Some of them, Krista had told him, still didn't believe half of what had happened. Their king? The one that had been a shy little prince, with magic? No way. It must've been one big illusion, they said. The fjord frozen in the middle of the summer? A trick. Snowmen coming to life? Trick.
Elliott would convince the nonbelievers eventually. There weren't many, but the snide comments he sometimes caught when walking by always made Andy angry. What other proof of his brother's magic could they want? Seriously.
A few guests from his brother's coronation still remained in Arendelle, they were going to stay for the festival. Most of them had left the second their ships were ready to sail, they hadn't been big fans of the early winter. Andy knew Elliott was worried about what word they'd bring back to their countries- would they see Elliott's power as a threat? A weapon? It made him nervous to think about.
Andy hadn't been to last year's summer festival. He'd seen the traditional fireworks from his window, but that was it. He didn't go to any food stands, or to any live music- he'd stayed at the palace with Elliott. Back when his brother had kept his distance. Andy had recently found out Elliott's power was greatest when a solstice was near- summer, winter, it didn't matter the season. Elliott had explained that's probably why he'd been able to create things like the Blizzard Dragon.
"And the rest of the year?" Andy had asked.
"I don't know, this was the first time that I've... done something like this." Had been Elliott's answer. Which Andy guessed was true, it was unlikely Elliott had got the chance to experiment much with his powers before Andy had short of pushed him to reveal them for the world to see.
He hadn't told Elliott that he knew the... well, the truth. About the accident from years ago. The truth that he'd forced out of Krista, the old memories that had come back to him only after being... frozen alive. Andy hoped Elliott would tell him himself, when he was ready. Andy would wait. The prince had also had not told him about seeing his parents while being, again, frozen alive. He was probably going to keep that one to himself. He still didn't know if it was real, or if his dying mind had just made it up.
The last thing he wanted was more lies and stuff between them, but it was a delicate situation. But Andy was confident they'd get there, eventually. Maybe with tortoise steps, but they would get there-
"We're being followed," Krista mumbled from the corner of her mouth, pulling Andy out of his thoughts. The way she said it, he felt like they were on one of those spy novels he liked to read. Actually, it'd be very fun if he and Krista were spies, if they went on missions and stuff? He wondered how the ice harvester would feel about running along the rooftop of the palace, swinging from one window to the other. It'd be so cool. Andy grinned at the idea.
He couldn't tell if she was playing or being serious, so he spoke out of the corner of his mouth as well and avoided glancing her way. "How many?"
They rounded the corner of the bridge and Andy saw her risking a glance behind them. She quickly faced the front again, "Just one."
Andy frowned, "Is it General W? Is he playing chaperone again? Because I specifically told him-"
Faster than he thought humanly possible, Krista tackled him behind a lettuce stand, which caused the cat that had been napping there to hiss and bolt away. He would have complained that she broke his back by doing that, but she'd landed on top of him, both of her hands pressed against his chest, which was not bad at all. A broken coccyx was the last of his concerns with Krista's body pressed against his. They were hidden behind the table stand, and had a good view of all the people passing around.
"That one," Krista whispered. To Andy's disappointment, she rolled off him and peeked over the lettuces, "The blond man."
Andy kneeled next to her behind the vegetables, scanning the crowd for their stalker. He was easy to spot: long, shaggy hair and a thick beard. He was so tanned, he didn't look from around these parts. The man suddenly looked lost, he kept getting on his tiptoes to crane his neck above the crowd, looking for something. Looking for them.
Andy's heart was beating faster than what was probably healthy. Lately it had been doing that, working overtime, it felt like. Maybe it didn't want to be frozen again, so it kept moving, thump, thump, thump. Andy slid back down against the stand. "How do you know he was following us?"
"He was," Krista narrowed her eyes at the man before sliding down next to him. "Jon told me that a foreigner asked around for me."
Jon, Jon... the name was familiar. Ah, the man that was Krista's friend, the fisherman. He lived on the village, they had been to his house the day the Meltlings had invaded it, the day General Winter had stayed behind to stop them. That Jon. He'd been trapped inside his house because of Elliott's ice storm.
"Foreigner? What does he want with you?"
"I don't know." But maybe Krista did know. She was biting her lip, probably a thousand thoughts ran through her head from the worried look on her face. Andy grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze, let her know that whatever it was she could tell him. Her bubble of thought popped with that, and she gave him a nervous smile. "It's- I'm just- he's probably nothing, Andy." Obviously, it was something and it did matter.
Andy's eyes widened, "Really? 'Cause he's standing right behind us."
"Shit-" Krista instinctively moved backwards like she'd been burned, the sudden action caused her to bang her head against the stand; thus causing an avalanche of green produce to rain down on top of her head.
It took the prince two seconds to process what had just happened.
Andy roared with laughter, picking off green leaves off Krista's head with a shaky hand. The blonde was pouting in annoyance and embarrassment. The prince was still laughing when Krista's pout transformed into a glare; but she looked too cute to be taken seriously. She picked up one of the offending vegetables from her lap and threw it at him, but it just bounced harmlessly off his chest as he continued to laugh.
"You- you look like- like a baby troll that- oh, gods," Andy twirled the leaf between his fingers, wheezing with effort. He hadn't laughed that hard in a while.
"Bulda will be so glad to hear that I finally resemble my family," Krista made a face, referencing Pewter, the little baby troll Andy had met when he'd first met her family. The green patch of grass on his stone head did look similar to the blonde's leafy-situation. Krista's dry tone only made Andy laugh harder.
After another second of full-on glare from the ice harvester, Krista finally cracked a smile. And then she giggled, Andy's laugh more contagious than the flu. And then she snorted, which in turn caused Andy to almost cry from just the sheer happiness he felt. It's what he'd wanted, what he'd so desperately needed after so many years of solitude; someone to laugh with at stupid things, talk about everything and nothing, just... gods, Krista.
"Hello?"
Out of reflex, Andy shot up to his feet, he whipped around to face the customer that had arrived at the stand. Now that he thought better of it, the owner of it was nowhere in sight. It probably looked like Andy was in charge.
"Um. Hello." Andy said awkwardly, brushing off a stray leaf that had landed on his shoulder. He could only imagine how he looked; teary eyes and face red, random chunks of lettuce here and there. He was quite the sophisticated prince. His eyes widened when he realized who the customer was.
It was that man, the supposed stalker, with his blond hair now in a ponytail. He was maybe in his mid-forties, but his weathered face made him look way older. His eyes were dark brown, a sort of cool contrast to his darkish skin and light hair. He was holding a squirming cat in his arms... the cat that had been napping behind the stand before Krista and Andy startled it. Did the man just kinda chase it all around the village or?
Suddenly Andy felt nervous. "W-whatever it is you're selling, we don't want it," he sensed Krista starting to rise beside him, but he pressed his hand against her head, keeping her down. It's the stalker, stay there, stay hidden! If this were a spy novel, they'd probably be dead.
"'We'?" the man raised a thick brow, and Andy made a choking sound. Yes, they would be very dead if this were a novel. Krista didn't appreciate being pushed down, so with even more force she sprang up, sending leftover lettuce flying everywhere. Crap.
Krista shoved a finger at his chest, "Why were you pushing me-"
"Krista?" the man smiled, and Krista froze. Almost in slow-motion, she turned her head to face the man. "Krista Bjorgman?"
When the blonde did not react, Andy gently lowered Krista's finger which was still raised and digging painfully into his chest. "Krista?"
"Idon'tknowyou," she blurted out, so fast he barely made out the words. Plain recognition flashed across her face, but not the good kind. Andy felt a pang of dislike towards the strange man, Krista almost looked afraid. She ducked out of the stand and ran for it.
"Krista!" Andy called, but she didn't turn, didn't stop. The prince gave the bearded and confused-looking man a pointed look, "You stay here, you- don't you go anywhere!" and he was already tripping over his feet, in pursue of his soon-to-be-more-than just a friend.
+++ I was channeling Cersei Lannister when writing astrid, if ur familiar with game of thrones u know what i was sort of going for.
++So apparently the names of Elsa's and Anna's parents are King Adgar and Queen Idun, so that's gonna be the name of Elliott's and Andy's parents :)
+ i have final exams, so maybe i won't update for a lil bit but i'll do my best to do so
thank you for reading!:)
