Rifiuto: Non Mirena
1908,
The Garden of Linnea Castle,
Arendelle
"Did the doctor ever figure out what made her magic react that way, 'papa?" Thyra asked softly. The others shared glances, and after a moment, he sighed, glancing at each of the women in turn. How exactly did he explain that there was no clear way to truly understand what exactly had happened to the queen that day? That the best the doctor could come up with was that it was related to stress?
"No, not at the time, Thyra."
"Magic sickness." Everyone turned to Magda, who tucked a wayward strand behind her ear. "At least, that's what the doctors call it nowadays."
"But... but there hasn't been another person like the queen, has there?" Amalie asked, turning from her aunt to her grandfather. "Did any of the queen's children have her magic?"
"No, none of the children did. And honestly, the queen was never so relieved. Though her childhood had been one filled with love and acceptance, it could very easily not have been. And even as an adult, she could not always completely control her powers; she wished that none of her children would ever be... burdened with the curse of magic, like she was."
"Did the queen really see her magic as a curse, 'papa?" Magda whispered, nervously wringing her hands. She ignored the pointed look her husband cast her, turning as he reached over and took her hand.
"It's just a story, my Magda." He whispered, meeting her gaze. She nodded, accepting the soft peck he gave her.
Oh my darling, if only you could see how your beauty's lived on- "She did, but she also saw it as a blessing, when needed. It came down more to the stress the queen felt. More stress, meant she saw it more as a burden than a blessing. And the less stress she felt, the more she saw it as a blessing than a burden." He sighed. "There were no visits to Jannicke or Halsten for the royal family for months, as it was better if they stay apart until things calmed down. Of course, the older children insisted on going with their father to the Isles-"
"All of them?" Pia asked softly.
"The Crown Princess and her younger brother, primarily. And to be fair, they had every right to go to the Isles, seeing as they were members of the royal family, and their father's court; by Southern Isles law, a child's debut to court- especially a daughter's debut- takes place at age twelve." He sighed. "And so by right, and by law, the Crown Princess should have been presented to the court of the Southern Isles a year earlier-"
"But she wasn't the Crown Princess of the Isles," Iduna asked, glancing at everyone, before turning back to her grandfather. "Was she?"
"Her Royal Highness, Camilla Helene of the Royal Houses of Westergård and Bekkerdahl, Crown Princess of Arendelle and the Southern Isles." Silence fell, as everyone shared glances; Thyra and Sofia glanced at each other. They knew the name, the distant memory of such a girl knocking at their memories to be acknowledged and remembered, even if they couldn't fully remember her completely. "She was the daughter of the king; his rightful heir to the throne of the Isles. Were something to happen to him, while his wife still sat on the throne of Arendelle, the crown and throne of the Isles would go to his daughter. While he never acknowledged her outright to the court or his council, it was whispered within the walls of the castle that the king intended to make the young princess his heir- she was his carbon copy, after all, regardless of how much she looked like the Arendellian queen."
"But royal children don't make their debut to the court of Arendelle until fourteen." Magda pointed out; her oldest daughter had had her debut to the Arendellian and Southern Isles courts two years earlier, and Pia's own debut had taken place a few short months earlier. "Una and Pia-"
"These are different times we live in, Magda, my dear." Grandfather replied. "The Isles and Arendelle are now considered one, despite remaining separated by the Southern Sea. But back in the king and queen's day, they were two entirely separate monarchies, despite sharing one royal family. But because only a chosen few knew of their monarchs' clandestine marriage, the Crown Princess was denied her debut into proper Southern Isles society- and truth be told, she preferred it that way."
"Why?"
"Because it meant she did not always have to be a proper young lady, no matter how her mother tried to get her to behave like one." He shook his head, remembering the argument that had erupted in the queen's chambers that night; it had been an argument the likes of hadn't been heard in years- and neither the king nor the queen refused to budge on the issue. Both were equally as stubborn as the other, each refusing to give an inch and instead take a mile; voices had been raised, tempers had flared, the temperature had dropped and things had been thrown. Insults had been hurled and low blows dealt, finally coming to a head when the queen had slapped the king, hard, and stopping when the Crown Princess herself had stepped in, proving that her temper was equal parts of both the king and queen, and that she was just as dangerous a force to be reckoned with as the ruling monarchs, despite possessing none of the magic her mother did.
"- you do not rule Arendelle, Johannes! You have no right to tell me what to do with my kingdom, nor my subjects!"
"Camilla is not your subject, Elisabeth! She's your daughter!She's my daughter! She's of Arendellian and Southern Isles blood! She belongs to both royal houses! She will inherit the crown of both kingdoms, should something happen to us! She is a member of the Southern Isles court, whether you like it or want to acknowledge it or not! Camilla is not just yours, she's mine, too, Elisabeth-"
"But I'm her mother! I struggled to bring her into this world! You merely contributed to her existence! You are nothing more to her than a... a stallion is to a brood mare! All I needed was your seeds to bring about that child's existence! You did nothing of importance once that child was found to be growing in my womb-"
"She may have grown within your womb, but she is as much my child as she is yours! And if you insist on speaking of things of that nature, then shall we just call it what it is? A transaction, of sorts! A night of passion on the seas between our countries, that child being the currency exchanged for an evening between a whore and her customer!"
"How dare you-"
"Stop it, stop it, stop it! Both of you! You've done nothing but fight since Papa got here! You're both narcissistic and vain and... and conceited and selfish and... I hate you! I want to go to the Isles, Mama, just to get away from you! I want to go home! I want to go to Halsten! I want you both to stop fighting, because that's all you do anymore! I hate you both! I want nothing to do with either of you ever again! And if you won't let us go to Halsten, Mama, then I will go there myself, without you or Papa!"
"Camilla, get back here!"
"Camilla!"
He shook his head as the memory faded, and he winced, as though the queen had slapped him as opposed to the king that long ago day. "The Crown Princess was both her mother and her father's daughter; a spitfire and a winter squall in her own right, and though she possessed no powers, she could strike fear into the entire castle if she so desired. Because she was the oldest of the children, she held a certain power over the household; no one could refuse the Crown Princess, and she wielded it, as much as she could, when her parents weren't there to stop it."
"She had to have known what was going on between her parents, why they were never together for very long. I can't imagine any of the children didn't know what was going on." Magda spoke up, and he met her gaze.
"Despite their best efforts to protect the children from their... unfortunate situation, all the children knew, in some way or another. The older ones were the only ones to voice it, however. While Camilla was headstrong and stubborn, willing to stand up to their parents, the boys were not. There was a particular melancholy about Annes that no one could remove; the boy worried his father would one day go to the Isles and never return. He feared his mother would go out on a diplomatic visit to some far off country and something would happen; while he loved his aunt, he was particularly close to his parents. He may have been the secondborn, but Annes and Camilla often spent nights in the nursery curled up in bed, exchanging worries and fears about what was really going on. Had the option been available, I'm certain the king and queen would have made Annes Crown Prince, to balance out the uneven strain placed upon their Milla's shoulders."
"But they couldn't-"
"And there is no guarantee it would have made any difference. Vanja and Sof, even as young as she was at seven, were not fully privy to the innocence the king and queen hoped to keep their children in. The four oldest children were exceedingly close, not just in age. They were each others' constant companions, and it was not uncommon to see the four oldest of the royal children running about the halls and getting into trouble. It started as a tease by the king, that their four oldest were pairs- a boy and a girl, each others' waltzing partners when the children were learning to dance- and it grew to be so much more. The four oldest children were always together; if one pair was seen, the other wasn't far behind. If one was somewhere, their 'dance partner' was there too. The king often referred to his oldest children as their pas de quatre- because they were born in just under the first ten years of their marriage. This meant the first four were exceedingly close, and it wasn't uncommon to see them wandering the halls, holding loosely to each others' hands so they wouldn't get left behind."
His gaze searched each face, seeing each of the oldest children in the younger generations around the table. No closer siblings have been seen since; the children's closeness rivalled even that of the queen and princess. "As they got older, they dreaded the days when their parents would start to look at making marriages and betrothals for them, because it meant they would all have to part. And when Camilla died, it not only nearly destroyed the king and queen, but it hit her siblings particularly hard, especially Annes. He was only two years younger than her; she had been his constant companion since before his birth, and he did not see how he could continue on without his dance partner. Camilla often said what he couldn't, and it took him years to muster the courage his beloved older sister seemed to have been born with."
"What about the others? Vanja and Sof?"
"Ah, their... their bond was... well, I suppose you could say it was severed much... much more swiftly. It was not as sharp and jarring, but much longer and drawn out. But we are not quite to the point where the children will suffer their severed bonds. We have a way to go before we reach that painful arc of the story. Now, where was I?"
"Eighteen-fifty-seven, 'papa." Agnar whispered.
"Of course, that's right. The king and queen did not see or speak to each other until about late September, early October, when the queen went to the Isles under another 'diplomatic visit'. The family settled back into Halsten, but not everything was so relaxed. In fact, it took an argument after dinner for the monarchs' tempers to finally peter out, and when they did, it was replaced with a passion that could have set the whole of the Isles on fire."