"Elsa! Come, you must see something!"
Elsa ran to the gates and saw Anna standing there. "Look over there!" she said, pointing at the fjords. Well, actually not at the fjords, but the ship going through the fjords. The ship was huge and had a large, royal deck. It had a big banner.
What was on it? A seven-pointed sun, on the purple field. It was a flag of Corona. Queen of Corona used the ship and sailed through rivers all the way to fjords of Arendelle, instead of going on foot.
"Aunt Arianna is coming! And Rapunzel!" Anna said.
"They can't be that soon." Elsa said in unbelief.
"Elsa!" Anna exclaimed. "Rapunzel and Eugene just got a baby! A girl! You know how they named her?"
Elsa became red. "Yes, I do..."
"Elsa! They named her Elsa."
The Snow Queen sighed, with a little hint of shame and shyness, and massaged the bridge of her nose.
"Elsa, we have become..." Anna thought a little. "...first cousins, once removed!"
"Yes, Anna, I know..." Elsa tried to calm her.
"I must meet the little girl!" Anna said joyfully.
"Yes, Anna, we will..."
"Now! Olaf will you come with me down to the port?"
"Absolutely!" Olaf exclaimed, just as happy as the redheaded princess.
"Great! Come on!" and the two run to down the stairs to the port almost immediately, without any word from Elsa. Elsa just smiled and shook her head. And the voice spoke.
"She was always the playful one of you two."
She turned and saw Asmund, who put the hand on her shoulder.
"Every family has one. Mine actually even has two."
And they both chuckled at this last one.
"Brothers and sisters are one of the most holy things one ever has, Elsa." he called her by name. "Only two, among fellow humans, are more important than brothers and sisters: children and a wife or in your case a husband."
Elsa was quite surprised...and irritated at the last one.
"Why did you said that?"
"Well, I thought..."
"Asmund, we already talked about this. I don't know if I will ever marry. Anna can be my heir, I do not need children. Maybe I never will. I don't need a husband or children to be happy." she said, kind of angry.
"I never said that. However, sharing happiness with someone is something different."
"I am already sharing it."
"Do you think your father and mother meant nothing to one another? Or that you and your sister were nothing to them. Elsa, don't throw these things just like that and at least...consider them. You are young and there will be a lot of time for husband and children, but consider them too. Do you promise me that?"
Elsa smiled and sighed. "I will think about that." then she smiled at him and said: "Thank you Asmund. You are a good friend. I don't know what I would do without you. You were there since I was a little child. You consulted me and you treated me so well, even though you knew about my powers. I am rich to have you."
He put hand on her shoulder again.
"You are wise, Elsa. You are maybe the best ruler Arendelle has seen in centuries. You think of others first and yourself last. You have a very good and kind heart. I am proud to be your servant, your majesty." He bowed his head, Elsa smiling at him with her eyes.
When he left, she looked at the ship and saw it was coming really close. She also saw Olaf and happy Anna. Then she counted all things in her head and saw that everything was good and beautiful in this day. She also thought a little about what Joram told her, but it quickly passed. She then emptied her mind and sighed.
"Ah. Alright, let's meet my namesake."
"Don't worry, father." then he presented the blacksmith. "Meet Ragnar Olafson, the best blacksmith I ever met."
"My lords." the huge man bowed his head.
"The best blacksmith?" Ehan asked. "What about Kinnar? He is going to be mad." Jeremiah agreed with him. No one was a better blacksmith than Kinnar, he made weapons for entire armies.
"And now, what did you want to show us?" he asked Isaiah, coming to him.
"This!" Isaiah answered, offering him a sword. The sword was big. It was made of steel with the color of silver and the hilt, although made of wood, seemed as if it was made of grey iron. It was very sharp and it would cut through the wood easily, at first glance. Aramir did not believe his own eyes. This common blacksmith's sword was very good.
"You made this?" Jeremiah asked this Ragnar.
"With my own hands, my lord." the blacksmith bowed his head. Nodding, he kept staring a little longer at the sword.
"And this..." Isaiah said, offering a spear "...is for you, uncle." Ehan approached Isaiah and took the spear. It was wholly made of steel.
"Iron spear?" Ehan asked.
"Well, you always wanted one, didn't you?" Isaiah asked him, smiling.
Jeremiah and Ehan both glanced at the spear for a little. It was shorter than an average would be, but still seemed as a masterwork...even better than Kinnar. It would kill someone by piercing him just once.
"Well, I did, but..." Ehan looked at the sword's blade. "Where do you find this much iron?"
"Well," the blacksmith scratched his hair "besides that I am a blacksmith, I am also a miner, my lord. For one day in the week I go into the mine and mine there with others. I give them a portion that is theirs, but they also give me quite a big one. So I make weapons from it, though it is not like every day highborn lords come to me for me and ask me to make something for them."
"And tools for mining?" Jeremiah asked him. "Where do you get them?"
"Oh, I inherited them from my father's and my mother's side." the blacksmith answered. "They were both from great families of miners. My great-great-great-great-great-great-great and...great-grandfather was ancestor of both, Harlon the Redfaced."
"Harlon the Redfaced?" Ehan asked. "He was the greatest miner and smith in Arendelle in last five hundred years."
"Yes, he really was." the blacksmith Ragnar scratched his mustache proudly.
Jeremiah noticed that these were all too well-made weapons. He wanted to give back the sword, it must have had a great cost.
"Who knows how expensive they are..."
"Don't worry about that, father." Isaiah said and gave a bag of coins to the blacksmith.
"You know that is technically my money?"
"Does it count as your money in the law?" Isaiah smiled, and Jeremiah just shook his head.
"He has a good sense of humor." Ehan said.
"And this..." Isaiah showed a dagger made of iron too. "...is for mother." and he put the dagger into the bag around his neck.
Isaiah also took another, shorter sword.
"And who would this be for?" Jeremiah then looked at lsaiah and at the guard Ethil behind him. Isaiah noticed it, and smiled.
"Ethil!" Isaiah called. "Take this!" and Isaiah threw the sword to him, the young soldier catching it quickly.
"Thank you, my lord, I will keep it forever." the young soldier said.
"This for Bran, this for Mir, this for Arad, this for Ned, and this for mother..." Isaiah said, taking some weapons, placing some of them in the bag and giving some of them to the soldiers with him to keep it.
"My lord..." Ragnar said.
"Oh yes, give me those arrows!" then Ragnar handed over a quiver that was full of arrows to Isaiah. Jeremiah knew what this is and stood in his son's way.
"And for who would that be?" Jeremiah asked him. Isaiah just smiled and then started laughing. Father had a small smile on his face too and shook his head. He waved his hand. "Get out of my sight, boy." and Isaiah walked away, while Jeremiah continued shaking his head.
"Children."
"Especially yours."
"Shut up."
Anna and Rapunzel were chatting together and caring for little baby Elsa. The grown Elsa, however, stared at Rapunzel, still not believing her aunt's story about how Rapunzel got her golden hair back and lost it again.
"...and now we are here." Arianna ended with a sigh.
"A life worthy to be written in a book, your majesties." Asmund said to the two queens with his mouth agape.
"It's worthy of a long, long narrated story with moving pictures and voices heard in it." the snowman said excited.
Then others looked at him confused.
"Where did you get that idea from?" Flynn asked.
"I have no idea." Olaf said with dumbfounded looked. Then he smiled again. "Ah, doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that we are all here now, like big family." And he hugged Flynn, who was uncomfortable, and two queens were laughing, while the priest was smiling.
"He, yes, yes, that's only thing that matters." Flynn said. "Could you now let me go, Snowy?"
"Okay." Olaf said and let go of him.
"Asmund, I forgot to ask you how you are, old friend." queen of Corona said. The priest bowed his head at her question.
"Thank the One, your majesty, all is well. The queen and her sister are now ruling the kingdom together. Peace is everywhere in the realm. If heaven allows it, we will rejoice soon."
"Let it be so." Arianna answered with a smile.
"So, you named her after me." Elsa said to Flynn, pulling him from the others.
"Well, it was actually Rapunzel." Flynn answered, as he scratched his hair. "You know, on the night that you froze Arendelle, we were actually stuck in that resting house for two days. So we didn't have anything to do, so, uh..." Elsa then put her hand on her forehead.
"...we kind of...owe her to you." Flynn smiled, trying to make situation a little more comfortable.
"And what happened in the resting house." Olaf asked childishly. Elsa and Flynn looked at each other dumbfounded, not knowing what to say to him.
"Uh, Olaf." Elsa dropped on one knee. "You are a snowman and you will never understand it, but do you really wanna know it?"
"Yep." Olaf said.
Elsa sighed. "Uh, okay." She tried to make it as simple as possible. "When man and woman love each other, they do something in bed..."
"What, kiss?" Olaf asked.
"Well, yes they do kiss. Very much. And, also do some things more." Flynn started to chuckle. Stop laughing.
"They, um...they are...completely...naked, in the bed. And...baby is conceived from that." Olaf narrowed his eyes. Elsa now thought it was enough.
"Alright, no more about this." she stood up. "I really never expected babies to be named after me."
"Huh, you should see little girls on the streets of Arendelle!" Rapunzel appeared, carrying baby Elsa in her hands.
"What do you mean?" Elsa asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Well." her cousin said. "Lots of girls on the street of Arendelle, though outside of the capital, are named Elsa..." Elsa felt ashamed. "...or Anna, for that matter." she said turning to Anna "Many are also named Rapunzel." she said to herself.
"Yet there is not a single Eugene among them, or Flynn at least. Too bad. That's a great name." then three royal women laughed.
Then some young woman punched Flynn in the shoulder.
"Hey, Cass!" Flynn complained. And Rapunzel laughed and cleared her throat.
"Anna, Elsa, this is my friend Cassandra. Cassandra, these are my cousins, Elsa and Anna."
"Your majesty and your highness." Cassandra said, bowing her head.
"Hi, I am Olaf and I like warm hugs." Olaf said to Cassandra. She looked at Anna and Elsa curious.
"Does he...really want me to hug him?" she asked.
"Oh, no." Olaf said. "That's just my motto."
"Oh! Alright." she said. "Anyway, Rapunzel, there is some lord looking for you, the queen and the princess. He says his name is Asan, is he important to you?"
Elsa couldn't believe what she heard. "Uncle Asan!" Anna and Rapunzel exclaimed.
"Elsa! We must see him too." Anna said surprised.
"Okay, okay!" she said calming her sister with her hands. "You five go there to meet him. I'll stay here."
"Come on now!" Anna said. "Olaf, will you come with us."
"Absolutely!" he said and they went to meet Adan.
Elsa stayed on the docks alone. She watched as the sun was moving a little away from the center of the sky, but still held dominion over it. She smiled to herself that her family is so full. She thought she was the happiest person in the world.
"My niece is deep in thoughts like her father liked to be, is she?" she heard a very familiar and calm voice. She turned around and saw - it was aunt Willow!
"Aunt!" Elsa exclaimed, and Willow hugged her tightly. "How did we not see you the whole day?"
"Oh, you still don't get it." Willow said. ''I am as quite as shadow. And I like to surprise people." she winked. Elsa chuckled. "Now...can you show your aunt something of your power."
Elsa smiled and then made a cloud of snow, and Willow was watching with mouth agape.
"I am the happiest aunt in the world!" Willow said.
She laughed. "I wish they were alive, too."
"We all would, we all would." she noticed something. "Maybe you would want to take a walk alone? I'll handle Anna and Rapunzel."
"Aunt, it would not be appropriate, I am..."
"Dear." she took her hands. "It's okay."
She smiled. "Thank you."
As Willow left, Elsa sat alone by the sea for a while. She was looking at the water, not thinking, just resting her thoughts a little. Herd eyelids became hard to hold up. She felt as she wanted to fall asleep. She then came back to herself. I am not gonna sleep on the docks! She laughed at herself and with closed eyes, walked into opposite direction, and someone was on her way, though they didn't clash.
"Your...your majesty, I am sorry." he said, bowing his head. It was Isaiah, son of lord Jeremiah "I...I haven't noticed you."
"Oh, no, I am sorry, lord Isaiah." she said. "I...I wasn't watching where was I going." Elsa looked into his eyes. They were dark grey, darker than that of his lord father. His hair was short and almost black, so was his small beard. His skin was fair, although less than like of her or anyone from Arendelle. Elsa felt some type of wisdom in him.
"Let's...let's keep formalities aside, lord Isaiah." she said. Elsa didn't like people of her age to talk with her as a queen.
"As you wish." he said, as if she commanded him to. "I am sorry again, your majesty, I am in Arendelle for the first time so, I was exploring it and..."
"No, no, no, it's my mistake lord Isaiah!" she said, but then realized what he said. "You are in Arendelle for the first time?"
"Yes." he said, looking at the sea behind her. "I mean I was in towns and villages of Arendelle, but I never visited the capital, and I must confess..." he looked around himself and back into her. "...Arendelle is a very beautiful city. Although, not in the way I expected."
She was curious at this. "And what did you expect, lord Isaiah?"
"Well..." and they started walking together without noticing. "...as a child I heard of warrior kings of Arendelle and that little child part of me still imagined it like a battle fortress. Not that I am disappointed, it is beautiful."
"Thank you, lord Isaiah." she said. "I guess you and your lord father made some...preparations, since you came to the kingdom of the Ice Queen."
"Not at all, your majesty!" he said, shooking his head. "My father doesn't trust the rumours, but instead yearns to see the truth for himself. That and my uncle, lord Ehan, already visited your kingdom once."
"Yes, I remember." she remembered. "It was after my sister's birthday last year. He came and stayed here two or three days and then left."
"Yes." he said. "And he assured us that nothing people say about you is true, your majesty." he then changed his face from smiling to "Why did I say that?" look.
Elsa knew he didn't want to offend her, but she was curious about what are people saying about her.
"Like, lord Isaiah?" she asked.
"Your majesty, I really think it's unimportant and you...wouldn't want to know it."
"I see. It's that bad?" she said, but to herself. Some people still thought she is a monster. Isaiah just sighed and nodded. Elsa looked down.
"Your majesty, are you a monster?" he asked her, seemingly coldly. She was surprised at how he could say it so directly Her first impression of him was that he had manners.
"What..." Am I? "No! I am not." but then she saw that he smiled.
"Then do not worry about what people who do not even know you say. It does not matter, your majesty, believe me. Those are just stories told by drunkards at the tavern table when they are bored. I just met you, but I probably can trust you..." he leaned a little closer to whisper something to her ear and Elsa listened. "...some people like to say that I am a bastard."
Elsa couldn't believe this. She looked at him and remembered lord Jeremiah. "You?" she asked him. "But, you and your lord father look very similar." the young lord nodded.
"You see, they can make up stories about me being a bastard, they can also make up anything other in the world. Your majesty, it is not important what people would say about you. What is important is if you show them the opposite."
Elsa was surprised by wisdom of this young man. She thought she can trust him. "And what does lord Isaiah think?" she asked.
"Well, I just met you, your majesty, but I think if you were a monster you wouldn't thaw Arendelle back to its initial state." And they both laughed.
"I didn't mean it like that, Sven."
"But you said you want to always eat carrots with me." the reindeer answered.
"Yeah, but I can't...I mean, we live in a castle now, Sven. Maybe we should adopt their manners."
"That's easy for you to say! You're human."
Kristoff sighed. "Aha. Very funny Sven!"
Something hushed behind them. "Shh!" Kristoff ordered him and they both hid behind a stall.
"What is..."
"Shh!"
"I tell you, Akal." a tall man said, with a heavy accent. "This is the best way it will end up. The entire business we have here will find its perfect conclusion here!"
"Yes, boss!" a shorter man answered, with a hoarse voice.
"I thought I would never find such a perfect opportunity." Kristoff tried to peek, to see what the man looked like. "Going through all the lands and finding the perfect foil was always a work of my life, but I never fulfilled it. And then: boom!"
Someone lit the fire and Kristoff retreated his head.
"A winter in Arendelle? What an opportunity!"
Kristoff tried to push Sven away. "Move, idiot!" he whispered.
"Apologies, boss...but what exactly are we to do now?"
"What exactly?"
Kristoff hit him. "Move Sven!"
Sven left out a silent grunt and they got away from there.
Kirun, however, stayed.
"Wait, Akal." he took the pipe again. "Wait. She will not know what is coming for her."