2 - Three Lilies

The following first week of school passed in a hurry. Elsa was very busy trying to catch on to the robotics classes, but somehow she had managed not to understand very much of what she had learned so far. Every time Robert had started his lecture, Elsa's mind had started to wander away from class. She had had trouble sleeping lately, having nightmares waking her up in the middle of the night. She didn't know where they came from, but the dreams always seemed to be forgotten when she woke up. To keep up her façade and to not look like a zombie at school, she had to wear plenty of makeup to school. She hated it – most of all she hated how coffee already had become such an addiction. The consequences of her slack were obvious when her first assignment had returned. She received a C. Had it been anyone else other than Elsa or other really focused fanatics, it wouldn't be a thing to worry too much about. However, to Elsa, it was a total disaster. For once, Elsa knew that the grade was not something she could just fix by trying to read the homework several times – she had tried it already, for the whole week. She knew there was something somehow troubling her elsewhere – she felt it in the other classes as well.

Elsa was deeply in her own thoughts when someone poked her gently on the shoulder in the cafeteria. She had been sitting alone today, as Jasmine was preoccupied with her secret love interest (Elsa couldn't pronounce his name in the proper way so she thought it was easier to give him that title) and Anna had for the first time in forever actually not texted her about meeting for lunch. Elsa found it strange, but she had sought comfort in the Robotics books trying to figure out what went wrong in her assignment.

When she looked up, Hiro was standing next to her, looking at her nervous.

"Hei der," he said, clearing his mouth.

Elsa had not seen much of Hiro recently. He had dropped the robotics class after the first day, because it had been to awkward for him with his brother there and he had said it had been far too easy. Since then, he had been deeply preoccupied with his Norwegian books the last couple of classes Elsa had seen him in. She smiled when she heard his strongly accented Norwegian and answered with a chuckle.

"Hei, Hiro."

He cleared his throat and tried again, very concentrated.

"Jeg er ikke flink til det norske språket." I am not good at the Norwegian language.

Elsa gestured for the thirteen year old to sit down and smiled again, however he continued to stand up. He looked almost red in his face.

"Vil du hjelpe meg?" Would you help me?

Elsa curved up her smile. "Ja, selvfølgelig skal jeg hjelpe deg, Hiro." Sure, I'll help you Hiro.

He gave a sigh of relief and sat down next to her as quickly as possible.

"Thank god. I'm butchering your language. Elsa – I need to pass this class. I want to graduate this year. It's the only thing stopping me."

"You want to learn senior level Norwegian in one year? Isn't that taking it too –"

"I need to do it."

Elsa sighed. He was extremely determined.

"Very well," she said, but then hesitated. Hiro waited and looked at her.

"But then you would have to help me with something as well. Could we meet tomorrow after school?"

"Yeah, sure."

When Anna and Elsa had arrived home in the castle, Anna dropped her backpack to the floor.

"Man, I'm so exhausted," she sighed. "Didn't sleep a wink last night."

Elsa chuckled silently. " Me neither."

"Really?" Anna blinked. "Who did you text with? You look so fancy with that make-up."

Elsa rolled her eyes. Anna was in a sort of denial when it came to Elsa's lack of social skills. Anna would never expect Elsa to have trouble sleeping because of an assignment.

"No one," she scowled. "Just… have had trouble sleeping lately. "

Anna groaned, as though she was surprised by the fact that Elsa hadn't been up late because of friends. She took up her backpack on her one shoulder and asked if Elsa wanted to sleep for a few hours before dinner. Elsa politely said no, as she wanted to be tired when it was time to sleep tonight. In fact, Elsa had other plans. From the back entrance, the walk to her room was short, and as soon as the white doors with traditional blue patterns opened, she quickly changed her clothes to something more comfortable than the dress she was wearing. In a matter of 5 minutes, she was wearing tight jeans, a dark green t-shirt, hiking boots, and an Icelandic sweater swayed on her hips, ready to wear for when it would get colder in a few hours. She called Kai, her advisor, and asked if he could tell the housekeeper not to prepare dinner for her. She had errands in the hills.

Before she could do the walk to the hills, she needed flowers. She found white lilies the most beautiful and knew exactly who to buy them from. Elsa walked out of the castle from the back entrance, her hair still in her usual tight bun, fastened the small backpack on her shoulders and set out.

She didn't mind that she had to wear sunglasses to keep people from staring at her. The late summer sun was shining, which kept the weather comfortable and her reason to wear them seemed less obvious.

As the Arendelle Castle was about fifty metres out on the fjord connected only with old stone bridges to the town centre, Elsa could have a unique look at the old town and the surrounding mountains, when she started walking into town. It was quite a remarkable city, it dated all the way back to the Viking Age. It was most famous for the wooden church attached to the castle, which one could only find a few other places around Scandinavia. Indeed, even in the castle library, one could find books written in older Futhark, possibly written down in the early middle ages. There had always resided royalty in Arendelle. From the Viking chieftains in the start of the first millennia to the time when the kingdom of Arendelle was annexed by Norway, and the royal families joined their houses. Since then, the Arendelle castle had been used either as a summer residence or a residence for the younger brother or sister to the monarch. Such was the case for her father, Erik, who was the younger sibling to her uncle, King Haakon. The king lived in Oslo, the capitol. Elsa never really associated herself with the capitol city. She found it intriguing and exciting to visit, but it was not her home. It was not Arendelle. What could compete with friendliness of the locals, the beauty of the fjord reflecting the Northern lights, or the spectacular view from the North Mountain?

When she came to the town centre, the flower shop she was looking for was right next to the city hall. Inside the neatly decorated shop, she found the face she was looking for: Gerda. The kind florist was the wife of Kai, and from time to time she helped at the castle. She was one of the most warm and gentle women Elsa had ever known. Anna and Elsa always loved teasing both Kai and Gerda about their names: It was the name of the two main characters in a fairy tale she used to love to read with her parents. When the shop's bell rang, and Elsa entered, Gerda looked up from her scribbles at the desk and smiled as soon as she saw the guest.

"Your highness," she stood up from her seat politely.

"Hello, Gerda," Elsa beamed. Elsa had always tried making Gerda call her by her name only, but had stopped after six years of constant attempts.

"How are you? You look like you are ready for a trip to the hills."

Elsa smiled. Gerda knew exactly why Elsa was here.

"I believe I am," she nodded, "I just need-"

"…your three lilies. Of course."

Elsa nodded again. "You know me too well."

Gerda walked from the desk to Elsa's side. "I know just the thing. Come with me."

Elsa followed Gerda to the back of the shop and out into a little courtyard. This was highly unusual, and Elsa had never seen the place before. It was beautiful – everywhere one would look, one would see various flowers in a wide range of pots and little wooden boxes.

"Gerda, where are you taking me - ?"

The florist chuckled. "The most lilies do not bloom at this time of year."

"Oh," Elsa blushed, "I'm sorry, I didn't know. Do you know if there is any–"

Elsa was interrupted when Gerda pulled out a gardening scissor from her trousers.

"This," Gerda gestured to the whole courtyard with the scissor, "is my own little personal collection of flowers."

She bended down to a pot of roses next to her and cut off a yellow dead leaf. "I'm very proud of it. But mostly I'm proud of what I planted just there last fall." She pointed over to a pot standing in the middle of the courtyard. She let Elsa walk there herself. Four gorgeous white lilies with leaves as big as hands popped up from the pot.

"Oh, Gerda – they're beautiful."

She came up to Elsa quietly.

"They're especially for you. Say hi to your parents from me, will you?"

Elsa's eyes became a little teary as Gerda picked three of the flowers up from the pot making the one left seem extraordinarily beautiful. Gerda gently handed them to Elsa.

"I will," Elsa promised.

The Arendelle hills were a relatively small green landscape and park in the outskirts of Arendelle, two miles from the castle. It was a quiet place located a bit higher from the ground than the valley in which Arendelle was, and from the hills one could see the whole town, the castle, and the fjord with the mountains in the backdrop. It was a historical place. Elsa had been here many times before, but usually was here when she wanted to clear her head. Mostly the hills were covered with grass and only a few bushes next to the large gravestones that were also evident here. It didn't take long for Elsa to find her father and mother's gravestone. They stood – side by side – on the biggest hill of them all. Her parents had been beloved throughout the kingdom. Her mother, Therese, had been a kind and very beautiful woman, and the people had called her the finest treasure of Norway. People had also said that Prince Erik had been lucky to have met her before his older brother, King Haakon, had, as he was rumoured to have been extremely jealous of their relationship. Whether or not this was true, Elsa did not know and she had never asked her uncle. However, as King Haakon had been a bachelor throughout his whole life, the people almost made the rumour a fact. Her father Erik was a kind man as well, and Elsa had looked up to him as every girl looks up to her father with pride. There was so much to live up to. Elsa sat before the stones, clearing her mind. Her father had been involved in many things while he was alive. He had been the head organizer for a humanitarian organization and helped thousands of people worldwide. She wished more than anything that she could be like him – to make a difference somewhere.

"I will be good," Elsa whispered in the fresh air. "I won't fail you, dad."

She slowly rose from the grass and laid two lilies on each gravestone. The stones were big, so Elsa had to tiptoe. She took a last look at the two stones, folded her arms, and shivered. It was getting rather cold. It wasn't really that the cold usually bothered her, but she always dressed for the occasion. Elsa was very practical in that way.

Now, there was only one thing Elsa needed to do. She still had one lily left. She turned around and gasped when she saw who stood right behind her.

"I'm sorry," Tadashi said quickly, "I'm afraid I'm lost."

Elsa stood completely shocked. Had he heard what she had just whispered? Did he know about her parents?

The American pointed at the big map in his left hand. "I don't know which way to return to Arendelle."

Elsa blinked a few times and approached him silently. "You are lost, you say?"

He nodded. "I tried persuading Hiro to come join me and look at the beautiful surroundings, but he's been on his computer for most of the time since we landed in Norway."

"That's okay," Elsa said, quickly trying to brush off her shock. "I can help you with that."

He showed her the map and she tried to point out to him where they were. He seemed to quickly understand her instructions. "If you follow that road to the castle, you should quickly be on your way home."

"Thanks," Tadashi smiled. He looked around when there was a small awkward silence.

"It's quite a place here, isn't it?"

Elsa smiled solemnly. "It's something."

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Elsa looked at him sceptically at first, but then nodded as she saw how profound he looked. He bit himself in the lips before he could ask her anything.

"Is that where your parents are laid to rest?"

He pointed gently to where Elsa had been sitting before. Elsa looked to the ground, feeling stupid for believing he had no idea of her lineage or status.

"Yes," Elsa answered dryly.

Tadashi slowly put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

She looked at him confused. She wondered why he didn't flinch or react to the fact that she had just confirmed her status to him.

"I really am," he continued.

The conversation had taken a complete turn. But Elsa didn't want any condolences, she had had too many of them.

"You don't have to –" Elsa tried to stop him.

"My parents died many years ago as well; Hiro doesn't remember. I do though."

Elsa looked at him again, surprised at how the conversation had made yet another turn. Elsa found it strange that he could tell an almost complete stranger this story. He was a very direct and mature person.

"I'm sorry."

"As I told you, it's many years ago. If there's one thing I am happy about, it's Hiro not remembering when the accident happened. I was quite young myself, really."

Elsa immediately felt a great sympathy for Tadashi and his younger brother. She knew she could share her story with him as well.

"Our parents died three years ago in a shipwreck on their way to Svalbard. I'm afraid both Anna and I remember very clearly. That's why I come to the hills every once in a while. I… sometimes need to clear my head. "

Tadashi folded his map together. "Elsa – if you ever need anyone to talk to about it, you can come to me."

Elsa smiled at him gratefully. "I might hold you up on that."

Tadashi nodded friendly and gave her smile back. To change the subject, he packed the map back in his rucksack and pointed at the lily in her hands. " So… Who is the last lily for?"

Tadashi looked at her curiously. His look was that of an innocent interest. Elsa curved up her lips a little, thinking how nice it was of him to ask such a question. Not everyone would have thought this far. Elsa decided to award him the honour of showing him what he wanted to see, but she wanted to keep his interest intact and let the mystery linger for a while longer.

"I will show you something."

She gestured for him to follow her down a small path near the pine forest. Tadashi didn't ask any questions while slowly following the crown princess into what seemed like only a dense forest. In a matter of seconds, they were in a clearing. It was a simple place, but Elsa found it intriguing and strangely comforting. In the middle of the clearing, a quite tall stone stood, lonesome. There was nothing except the stone and the grass surrounding it. The two of them approached it. Elsa looked up at Tadashi and stopped before they could read what it said on the almost completely white stone.

"So… did you know the hills are only a burial place for the royal family of Norway?"

Tadashi nodded thoughtfully. "I think I read it somewhere in a tourist guide."

Elsa walked closer to the stone, now being able to read it.

-Malinn. 1519-1539—

Tadashi started walking very close to the stone to inspect it. He then circled around it, trying to figure out something. Elsa looked at him with bemusement. She found it impressive how he could focus in such an intense manner. He was much like his younger sibling. Or, his younger sibling was much like the older brother. He came up to her and looked at the inscriptions again.

"I understand what you mean. She has no titles, no signs of being noble. Not even a last name. Although… I can't really tell, because of the runes underneath the inscriptions. I can't read them."

Elsa answered the hidden question quickly. "The runes tell us the exact same as the Latin letters. Her name and the years she lived."

Tadashi touched his chin with his fingers and kept looking at the stone.

"Tough one to figure out."

Elsa nodded. She liked that he was patient enough not to ask her the meaning of why she showed him this. He let her talk.

"What always intrigued me was that this place is so neatly kept. The grass is cut, the stone is not mossy like some of the others… Someone must be taking care of this place. I've asked around, and no one knows anything. I don't know why, but she must feel so incredibly alone here. I can't help but wonder… who was she? Why is she here?"

There was more to her interest of this place than simply the mystery she told Tadashi, but she couldn't say that. She hadn't told that to anyone.

He looked at her with kind eyes.

"It's quite a mystery."

Elsa nodded again. The two stood silently for a few moments.

"She is the one who deserves your lily, huh?"

"Yes," Elsa answered with a small smile.

"I think that's a kind thought."

Elsa chuckled. "Thank you. It's a strange thing, really. Do you want to put it there?"

"Strange, but a good thing," Tadashi argued and nodded at the same time. She handed him the lily and he slowly placed the white flower on the top of the stone.

He smiled at her and started walking away slowly.

"Just… give me two seconds," she told him, "and I will show you your way back."

"Sure."

He backed away and waited for her at the beginning of the forest, close enough to see what Elsa was about to do, but without seeing any small details. Elsa turned her attention towards the stone again. She looked at the inscriptions with narrow eyes.

-Who are you, Malinn?

She slowly took up the lily from the stone; a cold wind touched her cheeks comfortingly.

- And why do I always feel like…

She slowly placed the lily on the stone again, with her head leaning to the right to observe the flower.

… we are somehow connected?

From the top of the stone, frost sprang slowly towards the flower and crept up the sides of the stalk. It gave the white flower's leaves a bluer hue. Elsa's right hand still touched the stalk and the frost crept up her index finger and ended at her hand wrist, when she finally cut off the contact with flower.

Elsa sighed silently and turned away from the stone. She came up to a slightly shivering Tadashi with a faint smile and nodded for him to go with her.

"I'll follow you back."

-.-.-.-.-

Hello. Hello. I'm sorry the update is so very late. It's been summer and on vacation I prefer reading, not writing when I'm laying in the sand. But I'm back - and so ready for this story. CHEERS.