Chapter 13

"Ah, finally." Desmond stood respectfully when I walked into the sitting room, though I would bet anything he would rather not have to show respect to his 'underling'.

"I apologise; my daughter needed tending to before I came to this meeting." I sat across from the King and smoothed out the skirt of my dress to keep my hands busy. He cracked a smile as he sat back down. Thankfully it was a smile of actual happiness in relation to his 'granddaughter' rather than one of a man who has discovered a secret.

"Yes, she is beautiful. You and my son have done well." I nodded my thanks, not trusting how even my voice would sound. "I called you here to apologise for the ugly display earlier."

"It's fine. A family as large as yours is deserving of its arguments from time to time." I mustered as much empathy into my expression as I could manage and hoping Desmond wouldn't take offence. Thankfully he simply nodded with a smile made from a mix of annoyance and affection for the family he created.

"I anticipated your understanding. That is not entirely why I called you here. I figured since you and Nikolai will be joining us in the Southern Isles you should be aware of the situation there." I nodded and settled in for his speech.

"I am not afraid to admit that I consider myself unlucky to have fathered any daughters at all. I don't believe that women are fit to rule, no offence your majesty, but it is particularly a belief I hold in regards to the women of my blood. My mother had two children, that being my older sister, and me, and my father died not long after my birth. Since it was her blood that was royal she was able to retain her crown and ruled the Isles for sixteen years on her own. My sister was lined up to overthrow her, but I could see the same awful personality in her that was in my mother. Before she could overthrow our mother, I did and it saved my country.

She was a tyrant. She craved power and never stopped until she had it. It was her, you know, that made the Isles what they are; she claimed the islands around our kingdom that used to have their own monarchy and subjected them to her rule. Of course to anyone not directly involved it looked like they surrendered their authority willingly, but to those in the know they were forced.

My mother killed several people in her power trip to claim the Isles, many of them former royals' children and family members. It is a little known and well-guarded tale that has resulted in my ban on a female monarch and removal of my daughters' titles. I mean sure, they are still princesses but they will never be Queens.

Anyway, that's pretty much the entire reason for any of my girls' annoyance and arguments with my sons. They are mostly content, if a little angry, since several of them have been married and moved away to their own lives.

Anyway, my eldest, Prince Albert at 36 is in the thick of everything political, even more so than me sometimes. He will be a fine King some day. You will most likely only see him once or twice during your visit.

Viktor, my second, at 35 is constantly in arguments with Albert, feeling cheated of his throne. His bone to pick with Nikolai is that I passed him over for Arendelle. I was going to have Viktor propose but he is almost as power hungry as my mother. I thought Nikolai would make a much better match for you. Besides, he's engaged to some duchess somewhere.

My eldest daughter of 34, Johanna, is one of the banes of my existence. She has tried many times to talk Albert into planning to give them their proper titles, with the allowance to become Queens, but to no avail. If any of them, Selene or Celeste would be the only ones that manage to advance and that would just be horrifying.

I'm sure you know Nikolai, 33, your husband and the recently crowned King of Arendelle.

The triplets – Alexander, Robert and Andrew. The three of them barely have an interest in living if there isn't a girl involved. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they haven't had children to some poor girls that aren't their wives. Andrew though won't like you much. The woman he wanted as his wife was always fawning over Nikolai and actually had the audacity to refuse Andrew's proposal because of your husband's charms.

My next two daughters, Rosaline of 34 and Ida of 30 are lucky to have any men ask for their hands in marriage, and even luckier those men haven't left them. They are each visiting just to meet you and Alyssa.

The twins, 29 going back to 5, the only two of my boys to cause me much grief. Damien has a knack for offending any dignitary or representative he meets. Derek has a knack for making it worse. I'm sure if I didn't cover up all of their blunders we would have started at least ten wars. Luckily I convinced them to marry some nobles in the Isles to keep them out of trouble and in my sight.

Elias, my wonderful Elias, a mature 28. He does me proud, helping Albert and myself in political affairs. I have yet to find a girl I deem worthy for him, but I think he has always secretly had his eye on the married Princess of Corona. Your cousin, I believe.

His younger brother William, 27, is the shy type. Every time I find a suitable match for him, he is too scared to ask for her hand. That coward will never make a suitable Monarch no matter how much training I gave him.

Below William is the even less tolerable Delia at an irritating 26. She has evaded every chance at marriage there has been since she was fourteen. I even tried to marry her off to a prince, third in line! She rejected him too. She's destined to be a lonely old maid with no children.

Michael, 25, is newly married with two gorgeous boys. They're living in the castle until his wife is prepared to return home to the third Isle. He's a kind child, helping where he can but he's not particularly interested in the running of his own country.

Peter, a youthful 24, is our newly appointed representative for the royal family, being unmarried and having little interest in being married. He and his guard though, they get along famously. He's brought very little actual options to his pursuit list.

Hans, my thirteenth in line and a naïve young 23. He thinks he's been even more cheated than Viktor does. You should have seen the fit he threw when Nikolai's wedding announcement came through. Some day he could even match the murderous status his grandmother held.

My youngest girls, the nightmares that are Selene and Celeste. Selene is freshly 21 and her sister not long turned 20. I'm sure Anna is nowhere near the trouble these girls are. They demand everything and do nothing but wait around for the next suitor, play with him for a while, and just when I think maybe they'll accept their offer of marriage, they turn them away. It's hard to sustain four unmarried daughters and it doesn't help matters when they keep shortening the list of possibilities.

My wife, Ayana, bless her heart, I need to warn you, has fallen ill. Since Celeste's birth she has just been too tired to do much of anything. More often than not she is lounging about reading a book. She will be thrilled to meet Alyssa, but she wont be able to hold her for long.

There are years worth of information I could tell you about each of my children, but I think you are smart enough to figure it all out for yourself when you meet them."

I didn't know what to say. He was brief about all of his children and the affection I saw in his face earlier was nowhere to be seen when describing his children. I felt my hatred for the man growing every time he mentioned one of his daughters. He didn't even have the decency to talk about each of them individually. Rosaline and Ida didn't merit separation, nor did Selene and Celeste. He didn't even consider them people; just things he could sell to the highest bidding suitor. I supposed he could have points for not explicitly forcing them into marriage, letting the girls have a say in their future partners. Either way, he was not a man I would have asked for as a father. I took a breath.

"I can't wait to learn more about your lovely family." He nodded and took a plate of cheeses and bread from a serving girl. Waving his hand as he shoved a piece into his mouth he spoke through his food,

"Off you go then, tend to your child and country. Be sure to have everything ready to depart in two days." I curtseyed slightly in respect before leaving the room, thanking the guards as I passed them. I leaned against the doors of the sitting room and let myself breathe. He was still in the dark about Alyssa's father, and from the sounds of things his children would be too occupied with their own business to notice properly. Ayana, however, could be a worry.

"Your Majesty?" My head snapped up and I moved off the wall at the voice.

"Kristoff. Hi." I relaxed at the sight of his towering blonde form. "Anna's upstairs, follow me." He smiled.

"Are you okay? You look like you've had a long day." I caught a glimpse of the sky, noting it was barely past midday and I still haven't eaten anything.

"I'm fine, just the Isles' King getting to me." He was silent on the stairs behind me. I heard him stop on the first landing. "Are you okay?" I saw him look down to his feet and suddenly the tall man built like a castle looked so small.

"You know, I was friends with Jackson too." I stepped back down on the landing. I could hear bitterness in his tone weaved amongst the sadness I knew far too well.

"I remember you said you lived around the corner." He nodded, pulling his cap off his head. He drew in a shaky breath.

"When you weren't there, I was all he had. When you were there, it was like I didn't exist to him. I never met you, he never mentioned me to you. I was just a filler." I put a hand on his shoulder, but he flinched away from the contact.

"Kristoff –" My mouth formed words, but no sound accompanied the movements. I couldn't think of what I could say to him.

"I lost him too. That night, when I brought Anna back here, we left you there so you could finish breaking down. In the space of a few hours I found a little girl I've known since she was born, crying hysterically and shivering, screaming for her mother and her brother. I found out my only friend I managed to hold on to had just drowned. I couldn't leave her like that. I brought her home and then I had to stand over a lake and see the body of my best friend lying at the bottom, and I couldn't even risk going in to recover him for burial; I had to leave him there. I watched you break down, but not once could I join you because I was too busy making sure my family was safe in a rickety house that can be knocked over in a weak snowstorm. I had to make sure Tara would be okay, and then I saw Anna."

He paused and looked up at me. I waited for him to continue, unable to even assemble my thoughts into a coherent sentence. "I talked to her. I thought, how could I hate you so much when there is nothing in her I could ever even dislike. She mentioned how you reacted when you lost your parents. She told me that the castle was surrounded in a summer blizzard that lasted for weeks. I know a thing or two about magic. Your magic; the cold. It makes everything harder for you to bear, no matter how much of a strong face you put to your people. I couldn't hate you for being able to break down when I couldn't. I couldn't hate you because Jackson was in love with you. I forgave you. All because of your sister." He swallowed, nodding the end of his speech. "I thought you should know."

"I don't know what to say." He shook his head,

"Don't say anything. Just remember, no matter what happens, don't ever let her down. I've already promised myself not to either." The look on his face was haunting. I couldn't figure out what was behind it, but I don't think I wanted to find out.