Chapter 7

The weather over the sea had gotten worse, frustrating Alfida, who had the wheels on her hands. The crew sat inside the cabin playing cards with each other with the exception of Rollan and Kai, which were out of the team. Kai was drawing on an empty page of a book the playing pirates while Rollan beside him napped with a book in front of his face. Kai sighed bored from being in there alone, then got up to look through the window to see Alfida steering the ship without any company. Kai smiled a little, then left the cabin to meet his girlfriend on deck, which noticed his arrival.

"I'll be here with you," Offered Kai. "You don't need to be alone here,"

Alfida smiled at her boyfriend's offer, then watched him place one of his hands over Alfida's and both gazed enamored into each other's eyes. Alfida returned her eyes to the sea, while Kai looked aside to see the waves bring their ship higher making him feel a little nauseous.

"How can you not get sick from the way the waves shake our ship?" Questioned Kai watching Alfida shrug her shoulders.

"You get used to it with the time," Commented Alfida, then the wind blow harder against them, making Kai frown bothered by the wind making Alfida chuckle and watch her boyfriend hold himself on the wheel. "You better place your hands somewhere else. I might need to act harsher," Warned Alfida earning a nod from Kai, which moved to the railing in front of the wheel to see the pirates inside the cabin laugh. The wind whistled, blowing harsher towards the ship making the sail begin to shake with the force of it, and from the one side of the ship the rope loosened itself and got thrown up in the air followed by the one attached part of the sail.

"Oh no the sail," Warned Kai, then Alfida pointed at the cabin, where the pirates were.

"Call them, we need to tie it back," Ordered Alfida watching Kai run down to the door, smashing it back earning the pirate's attention and Rollan woke up glimpsing in the boy's direction while having the book over his head. The wind blew into the cabin, causing the cards to fly around the room and Rollan jumped up to leave the cabin among the pirates to spot Alfida pointing at the loose sail.

"Razorbeard, help me up!" Ordered Alec jumping at the back of the pirate, then tried to catch the rope and on top of the cabin Redhorn got up as well and jumped managing to grab the rope, afterward got packed by the duo, which helped the man with the red headband to hold it down. Kulekonge stood by the side waiting for the group, then they reached him the rope, which he tried to tie, while the others held the rope from the middle. On the other side, the rope had loosened itself as well, shrieking Kai, which jumped in the air to catch it and flew up in the air, screaming due to the wind blowing on the sail.

"Kai!" Shouted Alfida in panic, followed by Rollan biting his lips at seeing the young man in danger. Rollan jumped at the cabin to watch Kai fly above Rollan's head and the Spaniard stretched his arms, then lost his balance due to the waves of the ocean giving Alfida a hard time.

"Kai! Try to jump into the ship. I'm sure one of us is going to catch you," Alfida warned her boyfriend, which during the swing saw Rollan hold up his arms and jumped to catch the young man by the legs, swinging against Alfida, which gasped and ducked. Alfida turned around, moments later Inkbeard showed up to grab Rollan by one leg to stop the two from moving, then pulled Kai by his jacket down at the ground and both walked by holding themselves on the side of the ship to get to the pole, where the rope was attached before.

"Inkbeard, we need a hand!" Asked Kulekonge, then Rollan ran at the team to help them hold the rope closer to the pole, so Kulekong could along with Hawk tie the rope on the pole together.

"It's going well," Mentioned Alec, then Rollan looked back at Kai along with Inkbeard trying to tie it together and Rollan returned to the duo, followed by tripping on the ground upon a hasty movement of the ship.

Alfida looked at the waves, which were growing bigger, and looked down at the crew trying to fix the ship and she returned to look at the trio to see Rollan immediately take the rope of Kai's hands to fix it around the pole.

"Guys! Leave the sail! It's too dangerous now!" Warned Alfida, then Kai looked back at his girlfriend.

"Rollan almost has it!" Warned Kai seeing Rollan tie it around and he looks up at a large wave forming up in front of them slightly closer than before. Rollan dropped his chin in shock about seeing the size of the wave, which caused him to stop using the rope. "Rollan! The rope!" Warned Kai, while Rollan kept his eyes at the wave full of respect, then Kai tries to do the job for the Spaniard and heard all pirates scream as the wave was going to hit the front of their ship and Alfida ran off her position to embrace Kai and Rollan. "NO!" Yelled Kai as the ship was hit by the wave, which broke the ship in large pieces and all disappeared under the water.

Later into the night, Gerda arrived along with Orm, Irma and the Snow Queen at a harbor and Irma noticed a red flag waving at the side of the lighthouse of the place.

"Does it mean danger for ships?" Questioned Irma making Orm nod.

"Red means danger on the sea. Departing at this time is dangerous. Whoever is still out there at this time needs to have big luck to make it through," Answered Orm making Irma nod. Gerda sank her eyebrows saddened by hearing it and walked past the door of the lighthouse to spot the guard sitting on the chair reading a book with help of a candle. Gerda knocked on the door shrieking the guard, which jumped off the chair, then sighed relieved to see it was Gerda.

"Oh, it's you, Gerda," The man spoke. "You want to know where Alfida and Rollan are, right?"

"They departed a few days ago with their airship. I recently noticed the weather change and I wanted to know if you knew about anything,"

"So far their ship hasn't returned yet. Hers, two fishing fleets and one of the Larsson clan….oh no, I think that's the King's family from Halmstad," Commented the guard.

"Are you sure, they haven't returned yet? There could be a chance," Gerda foretold the man, which got up and let Gerda enter the room to show her a map with ten different planks of wood pieces, four were placed on the line with the sketch of the water, while the rest hung on the line with the symbol of the lighthouse. "You see, there's this list here as well, your friend tagged Rollan, Kai and the rest of the men on the list and on the plank 7. My previous colleague analyzed these ships here, that you see at the harbor that has returned. They're all here on the lane with the lighthouse sketch. Your friends so far haven't returned," The guard explained. "The one good thing I can tell you is, that when the weather improves a rescue group will leave and look for everyone including your friends. I can't promise you, that things will have a good end. Storms with ships on the sea don't always have a good end," The guard said watching Gerda feel sad about it, then looked at the trio, which saw her facial expression.

"Okay, I kind of feel odd for having sent that one message bird through this weather," Commented Orm scratching his head upon seeing Gerda's face. "But you know…..eventually, the bird can make it through and find them," Orm said trying to be positive, while Gerda stood there still saddened by the situation.

Snow Queen thought about the current situation and approached Gerda as well, then placed her hand over the girl's head.

"You know, just because there's a storm at the sea and your friends are there it doesn't mean, they're going to die. Perhaps your little brother has found for them a way out of there with his magical ability like…...I don't know, draw a castle….,"

"He would need paper for that. Alfida and mostly her pirate crew do not have that kind of stuff on the ship. If they do, it's probably somewhere unlikely to be found. Their team is one of the most chaotic ones I know,"

"Perhaps there's a different way. A non-magical one. Your friend Alfida, is an expert at the sea and your boyfriend Rollan, when he really, really needs to get through something. He will use his mind to get out of there, mostly when he knows it's about your well-being," The Snow Queen said watching Gerda look at her hands, then noticed the ring with the cushion-formed lapisazuli. "Oh you have other worries for the boy," Commented the queen watching Gerda hold the hand tight to her chest.

"He just proposed me a few days ago," Mentioned Gerda slowly beginning to get emotional. "My brother Kai went on this trip as well to get to know him better. Rollan's been trying his best to get along with Kai and now just because both wanted the best for me, I might end up losing them on the sea….." Gerda began to sob and cover her face, while the Snow Queen rolled her eyes aside unsure, of what she was meant to do at that moment.

"Uh what would anyone do in such kind of a situation?" Asked the Snow Queen watching Orm shrug his shoulders. "You've been her friend for years and you don't know?"

"I knew, what to say, when Rollan betrayed her, not when he's out there on the sea, probably dying," Orm commented crossing his arms watching the Snow Queen roll her eyes at the troll's strange answer.

Irma watched Gerda sit down on the ground with her face covered, then Irma got down beside the blonde and placed her hand on Gerda's leg, then got eye contact with the blonde.

"Don't cry, Gerda. They will come back someday," Irma said watching Gerda clean her eyes.

"Irma's right. You can't tell someone's dead without seeing their bodies first," Mentioned the Snow Queen making Irma move her head confused at the Snow Queen's comment. "What? Dead or alive, you'll see their bodies first, don't you?"

"Yes…...I think," Orm responded unsure, then got down on his knees to cheer Gerda up. "Come, Rollan and Kai would want you to focus on the task. What do you think? Would they?"

"Yes," Whispered Gerda, then Orm held out his hands, so the woman would let the troll help her get up. "Perhaps I'm too early to judge. They could have stopped somewhere and wait for the weather to change. They could even be by that one island, they were heading to," Counted Gerda making Orm nod, seconds later he shrugged his shoulders not knowing if it could be possible at that time.

Kai lied inside a hammock covered with a wool blanket in a room among several other persons. Most of the present people were from the same ship as Kai and were covered by blankets as well.

Kai shut his eyes up in shock, while sitting up on the hammock and glimpsed around the room, then got confused about the unfamiliar surrounding.

"This isn't our ship," Mumbled Kai, then saw beside him on the other hammock Alfida sleeping peacefully and Kai jumped off the hammock, getting his foot stuck on the rope and wrapping himself inside the hammock. "Whoa!" Complained Kai, then tried to shove the rope off his foot and got up to see Alfida on the hammock. "Alfida, are you alive?" Asked Kai placing his hands on her shoulders to shake her off gently, then watched her open her eyes to gaze at her boyfriend.

"Kai…...where are we?" Questioned Alfida, then Kai helped her sit up on the hammock. "This isn't our ship,"

"I know, but we're all lying in here. Someone must have saved us, but….how?" Questioned Kai. "I don't remember anything. I just know the wave crashed on our boat and Rollan was doing a…..wait a second, where's Rollan?" Asked Kai and Alfida got up as well to take a look at the available persons, which were the pirates.

"He's not around, not even in one of those five empty beds," Mentioned Alfida pointing at the last hammocks before the exit of the place. "What do you think? Shall we go out and check out, where we are?" Asked Alfida, then Kai held out his hand at the girl, which looked down and chuckled about the offer. Alfida grabbed his hand, then walked along with the young man out of the cabin to see they were inside a larger vehicle. The duo looked around, then Kai pointed at the top of the ship, where they spotted the flag of Sweden and exchanged looks.

"I think we're in good hands," Commented Kai, then followed Alfida to the side of the cabin to head to the other side of the ship to encounter a large, man with long blonde hair standing by a fire they had made with a large pot overheating there. Behind the pot stood a younger man, well-dressed as well, and the third person, that was stirring the pot wore a simple sailor's outfit. "The tall guy seems important," Commented Kai, then watched Alfida fake a cough to obtain the attention of the tall man, which revealed his face to the duo.

"Good morning," Greeted Alfida. "Are you responsible for the rescue of my teammates?" Questioned the raven-haired woman making the man nod.

"Well, mostly my crew did help your friends out of the water. We've found all of you trying to hold yourselves up over water on broken wood pieces of your ship. The storm from last night was quite an experience," Commented the man, then held out his hand. "I'm King Erik Larsson and that's my son Peter Larsson," The man introduced moving his arm at the prince, which observed the sailor move the spoon.

"I'm Alfida and this is my boyfriend Kai," Alfida introduced, while Kai bowed down at the king politely. "We're really grateful for what you have done to us. Without you, we would probably not even know we would be down with the fishes," Alfida commented earning a nod from Kai. The Prince got around his father nudging him on arm to obtain his attention.

"Hey dad. Where did that guy go, that woke up first?" Questioned Prince Peter, then the father pointed upstairs at the driving deck of the ship. Kai widened his eyes and moved up his hand to call the attention of the men.

"Is that guy you're talking about called Rollan?" Questioned Kai watching the prince shrug his shoulders.

"I'm not sure. I saw this guy for a few seconds only. His hair is about slightly longer than yours, around a head taller and he was dressed in brown clothing," Peter described making Kai nod, which made his way towards the stairs. Peter observed along with Alfida Kai leaving, then Alfida remembered something and looked up at the prince.

"How did you guys find us? How did we not die inside the sea? I don't remember a single thing, upon our shipwreck," The woman asked, then Peter looked at his father, which shrugged his shoulders and walked past the side of the ship, while Peter led Alfida to follow the king. The king moved his hand to show Alfida how he could use magic to form with the water a large wave blowing it away from their ship.

"You guys are magicians as well?" Questioned Alfida surprising the prince.

"You guys are magicians?" Questioned Peter curious.

"Okay, not me, but my boyfriend Kai is one," Commented the pirate woman. "So you can control water?"

"Yes," Responded Erik. "I used it on your crew to take the water out of your lungs. While you were unconscious it was easier to do it,"

"Sounds kind of uncomfortable," Confessed Alfida making the king nod.

"None of you didn't seem to be feeling anything. When in conscious, it's worse," Stated the king, then Alfida made her way towards the stairs.

Up on deck, Rollan was writing down on a sheet a text, then noticed someone's shadow on the ground and he looked back to see Kai was there.

"Kai! You're good?" Questioned Rollan glad to see Gerda's brother awake, then got up from the floor, while Kai stamped towards the Spaniard and punched him on the chest. "Woah!"
"What was that last night? Why did it take you so long to tie a damn knot? It's so easy to do that,"

"I don't have a good explanation for that. It somehow happened,"

"That can't just somehow happen. You did let yourself distract and that could have cost our lives,"

"The wave would have taken us down anyway. When I saw the size of the wave I got scared, I…...I…"

"You're with pirates. You're supposed to be brave. Since when did you fear the water? You've been around Alfida's team for months. How you're scared of this?"

"What do you want me to say? I was scared about my life!"

"No, why the heck you're scared? That's what I want to know,"
"I thought my dad was there! I don't know!" Responded Rollan loud while Alfida had appeared along with the prince and hearing the word dad caught her attention.

"The only thing you find there are fishes and our bodies if we didn't get rescued by these people," Kai commented, then Alfida packed Kai by the shoulders and placed her index finger on his lips to shut him down.

"Kai, wait," Asked Alfida, then looked at Rollan, which had a hurt facial expression on his face due to the talk with Kai as she approached him. "Sit down. I won't yell at you, I promise," Offered Alfida, then Rollan sat down with his legs crossed followed by Alfida.

"What happened to your dad?" Questioned Alfida. "Did he die on the sea?" The raven-haired woman questioned earning a nod from the Spaniard. "Why did you never tell me about it?"

"Didn't seem necessary," Commented Rollan moving his knees up and adjusting his arms above them, so he could lie his head above.

"At least the part about dying on the sea could have been good to know. At least your block of acting would have been understandable for the rest of us," Mentioned Alfida watching Rollan look away from the captain. "Gerda doesn't know that, right?"

"She knows, she knows," Answered Rollan. "She's the only person I know, that wouldn't judge me for this fear,"

"I wouldn't have judged you, if you said anything about it," Kai mentioned sitting down beside Rollan on the other side. "I admit, I overreacted now. I was annoyed, things didn't go so well, and I took my frustration out on you. Perhaps I would have remembered it if I had known this from you. I'm sorry, I acted wrong towards you,"

"I know this won't make you feel better, but most of the pirates here lost their parents on the sea as well. Taken by waves, crossing a storm, both variants. I lost my dad as well. I do not remember anything, cause I was still a baby. I just know mom mentioned, that he left with a few of our crew to head to the South of Denmark and never returned. The only thing she knows, was, that the storm had come a few days later and…...well, we never had heard anything from him," Alfida told Rollan, which glimpsed at his boss a little confused.

"I thought your father was one of the pirates, but you didn't know," Mentioned Rollan watching Alfida shake her head.

"None of the pirates had the guts to handle my mother besides our dad. As I said to Kai, he's only lucky because he was similar to my dad. At least according to my mom," Alfida said looking at Kai, which shrugged his shoulders.

"Yes," Responded the boyfriend unsure. "My mom and dad say Gerda and I are very different from them. Still, there's nothing, that would change their mind about us,"

"They must be worried about you now. If they know about the weather conditions we have experienced. I'm pretty sure they're thinking we're dead," Commented Rollan making Kai nod.

"Gerda too. Rollan, I can imagine after your proposal from days ago, she's going to be really devastated," Mentioned Kai watching Rollan nod with a sad facial expression.

"I know…...About you she's going to feel the same. You're her brother and best friend. You're irreplaceable for her,"

"And you're her best friend too. You're the love of her life. You…..you gave her the light, she couldn't get from any other of us," Kai stated making Rollan feel slightly embarrassed by the younger man.

"Boys, fate has brought you two to Gerda two times. Kai, so that Gerda would have a reason to move on in life without her parents you returned and upon defeating the Snow Queen you both stuck together for the entire time until you got reunited with your parents years later. And you, Rollan. Your troubled heart had been hurt by the pirates and the school bullies of your town. That had been engraved in your mind in a way, that made you feel bitter. When you met Gerda you had forgotten the world around you and the less you expected, the curse had taken over your head, ruin your life in front of your eyes, break the girl's heart, that loved you for who you really were,"

"I don't remember anything that happened during my time with the curse. I sometimes wonder how it would have been if I would remember all the things I've done under the Fire King's influence. I heard bad things and I just can't imagine how I have let it go this far" Mentioned the Spaniard. "Things have changed for the best for all of us. Rollan, what happened in the past now will stay in the past. What matters is what we will do in the present. You said you wanted to provide Gerda a good future. That's a positive point," Assured Alfida making Rollan nod. "We all will," Added Kai making Alfida nod and Prince Peter appeared behind the trio to see they were in good terms.

"The soup is almost done. Please join us," Offered the prince earning a nod from the adults. "Which of you is the fiancé?" Questioned Peter watching Rollan raise his arm up. "By honest love?"

"Yes," Responded Rollan a little bewildered but watched the prince show him a ring on his finger.

"I and a princess have an arrangement. I thought I could have someone to talk about with," Commented Peter watching Rollan nod.

"I can if you want. I just know how it feels when it's a real engagement out of love," Commented Rollan making the prince nod.