November 1st, 1875

Dear Rapunzel,

Please let me know immediately if you've heard news from Henry or Inga recently. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I have reason to worry.

Elsa

Rapunzel looked up from the letter she had just received from Elsa, quickly handing it over to Eugene, who looked over it quickly.

"Well," Eugene said, "when was the last you heard from them?"

"It's been several weeks," she replied. "And the telegraph has been down the whole time."

"I hadn't noticed that."

"It's working everywhere except between Corona and the Southern Isles," Rapunzel explained. "That seems odd, don't you think?"

"Very odd. I hadn't even heard anything about it."

"I was already worried, but Elsa's note makes me think there's really something going on."

Eugene put his hand on hers.

"Has Hilde heard anything?"

"No, though she's been busy, of course."

"Still, maybe you should ask her?"

"Of course I should, obviously." Rapunzel sighed. "I should write back to Elsa, first."

"Good idea. I can send a note to Hilde, if you'd like."

"Please do," Rapunzel said as she sat down and scribbled out a quick reply to Elsa, folding it up, and calling up the wind spirit, the way Elsa had taught her over a decade before.

Anna and Kristoff sat in the library silently. Their younger children were all noisily enjoying themselves, and they didn't want any curious attention. Elsa was talking with Linne about something unrelated.

Sofia and Marie were talking amongst themselves.

"If the weather allows, we should go visit Isabella tomorrow," Marie said. "Siggy has been away visiting his family, after all."

"How long has Siggy been away?" Anna asked.

"Oh! Mother! We didn't know you were listening!" Sofia exclaimed.

"Sorry, I couldn't help overhearing."

"Siggy went to visit a cousin in Bergen," Sofia said.

"He didn't come back right after Inga went to the spa?"

"You didn't know?" Marie asked, glancing at Sofia.

Anna glanced at Kristoff, who raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps, Kristoff, we should visit Inga tomorrow."

Henry stood in the back of the cathedral in Corona. Everything was draped in black, and a somber hymn was coming from the organ. Everyone was dressed in full mourning, and he could just make out his family near the front, standing silently with their heads bowed. He hurried forward, but nobody seemed to pay any attention to him. He reached the front. His sister's face was covered with a veil, but he could see hints of tears streaking her cheeks, and their grandmother was holding her. He looked at his parents, and his mother in particular looked silently inconsolable, and his father was focusing on her, not looking up.

"Mother, I'm here!" he announced, reaching for her hand, but it was like touching a statue, and no one seemed to see him.

He realized that Inga wasn't there. Looking around, he saw Aggie to the side, with an unfamiliar governess holding his hand.

"I want to go home," his son whimpered.

"You're next in line now," the governess whispered. "You need to stay here for your education."

Henry gasped for air, and looking around, realized that he was in Arendelle, sitting in a meadow overlooking the fjord. Some people walked past, in the direction of the town below.

"Very sad, isn't it?" the one said.

"Yes, and both so young. Senseless, if you ask me."

Henry stood up and chased after them. "What happened? Who are you talking about?" he asked.

They ignored him.

"Splitting up the children like that, too. Everyone says that the Queen in Corona will never die, anyway, so why do they have to take the boy away from his family here?"

Henry felt a pit in his stomach. Was he dead? And what did they mean by both of them?

"Please, stop!" he shouted, trying in vain to pull at the two.

Henry woke up to the sound of someone walking in the corridor. It was the dreary room he had been in for what had to be at least a month now. He had forgotten to keep track. He stared at the window up above. It was sunny again, that much he could see. He hadn't seen any people walking by, so he supposed he wasn't in a basement room, but of course he couldn't be certain.

The dreams lingered in his mind. He wondered what they thought about him being gone so long. But why would Inga be in any danger? It was just a dream, though. Inga was safe at home. He was sure of it.

Just then he was startled by a knock at the door.

"Yes?" he asked.

The door opened and a man walked in. Henry didn't recognize him, but something about his appearance made him think that he might be related to the royal family.

"Your Highness," he intoned, "someone of your station deserves much better accommodation than this."

The man gestured at the room.

"Who are you?"

"I am someone interested in your well-being," he replied mysteriously.

Henry rolled his eyes at the man's vague reply.

"Well, anyway, the accommodation isn't what bothers me," Henry replied. "Can you tell me why I'm here?"

"We will determine that later. The important thing is that we come to an understanding."

"Excuse me, but I think I deserve to know why I'm here. If you don't have a reason for holding me-"

"We haven't yet told anyone where you are. There are some people staying at your embassy who seem to be old friends, but our sources can't tell us much more. Depending on your cooperation here, before we reveal where you are, we can come up with an unfortunate accident, during which some kind soul was unaware of your identity, or we have the power to turn it into a scandal. The choice is yours."

"What are you even talking about? What kind of choice are you talking about?"

"My sources tell me that you know something of use to us."

"Once again," Henry asked, increasingly agitated, "can you please tell me what this is about? If it's about marrying off one of my wife's sisters, that's out of the question."

"Oh, no," the man laughed. "Some of them might be interested in that, but I'm more interested in the instability that will come when the line of succession goes to some distant duchy."

"I don't see how that's in anyone's interest," Henry scoffed. "Besides, we all know that the Duke of Bielko is in line for practically every throne, however distantly. He was even third in line for Arendelle for a while."

"I believe your own wife knocked him off of that position when she was born," he chuckled.

"That is true," Henry acknowledged. "And we all hope that Arendelle's line of succession will remain secure. I mean no disrespect to the Duke of Bielko, of course."

"The Duke of Bielko has a very nice life," the man smirked. "One you yourself might find enviable. His duties extend little beyond that of running a large estate, and I've been told he is quite content with his lot. He gets to spend most of his time on his hobbies and relaxing with his family."

"Yes, that does sound quite nice," Henry agreed. "From what I've heard, I don't believe he has any interest in taking on the leadership of a vast colonial empire like the Southern Isles. So explain what you're thinking."

"You were very young in 1848, of course, but there are those who were left disappointed."

"Yes, of course," Henry nodded, not needing a history lesson. "So a succession crisis would be quite useful. I think I understand now. What does this have to do with me?"

"Does the name Ludvig Holst ring a bell?" the man asked him.

"I remember Prince Ludvig mentioning someone by that name before I found myself here," Henry answered. "But that's just about the only thing I can tell you. I know he's in newspapers."

"Yes, well, he was in newspapers."

"Was?"

"He came to an unfortunate end earlier this week."

"Oh!" Henry gasped. As much as the name had sounded almost sinister when he was contemplating meeting with the proprietor of cheap papers focused on royal gossip, he wished nobody ill.

"You may have guessed his relation to Prince Ludvig," the man hinted.

Henry thought for a moment. "Indeed, I hadn't thought about that. Ludvig is a common enough name. But I assume you'll tell me that he was more than simply a business associate?"

"Indeed, Ludvig had acknowledged as much, legally, though being in the position of controlling the press, he had managed to keep this quiet for the time being."

"I see," Henry said. "That is indeed unfortunate, but as you may be aware, I never met Ludvig Holst. I still fail to understand what role I have in all of this."

"Your position, or rather, your close connection to Arendelle, is what we're interested in. You see, we have reason to believe that there is another potential heir, yet to be publicly acknowledged, living in Arendelle."

"This would be news to me," Henry said, remaining technically honest. "I am aware of no such person in Arendelle. Do you care to tell me what you do know?"

"I only know what has been rumored," he said, handing Henry one of the more notorious gossip papers from Corona. "For example, there are rumors of your wife's activities since you've been gone."

Henry looked at the paper. Assuming the paper was real, it seemed that October had already passed. For all the promises he had made Inga for when he would return at the end of the summer, he never thought he would still be away after this much time.

He skimmed the front page, which spoke of Inga running off to Bergen with the captain of the Arendelle guard. He knew her friendliness with Siggy was something people whispered and speculated about, though why they would think she was going all the way to Bergen with him, he didn't know.

"This is nonsense," Henry declared. "And I can only assume this supposed heir you've heard about is nonsense as well."

"And yet, that is the same captain of the guard who has been rumored to be your wife's lover since before you were married. Some even suspect-"

"I'm familiar with these rumors," Henry retorted. "There's nothing to them."

"Are you saying there was nothing irregular about your wedding, then?"

"That's not what I said," Henry replied bluntly. "But bringing in people who had nothing to do with it doesn't help anything."

It was a dark, windy morning, and Arianna woke up in the nursery to see everyone else still asleep, and the nanny presumably gone to take care of their breakfast. She left quietly, but her brothers were fast asleep, so it probably didn't matter. She wanted to see her grandmother, because something had seemed not quite right.

She gently knocked at the door of the study, which swung open to reveal an empty room. Walking to the window, no one was outside, but that wasn't much of a surprise given the weather. She heard some commotion coming from the library, and found Sofia and Marie on the sofa, looking over a stack of newspapers.

"Good morning," she said. "Where is everyone else?"

"Oh, good morning, Arianna," Sofia said. "Everyone else is asleep, except Mother and Father and Aunt Elsa, but they left late last night."

"Left?" Arianna asked. "Where?"

"They wouldn't say," Marie said. "Mother said she wanted to see about some business matters in Bergen."

"I think we know the real reason," Sofia smirked. "They could have just sent Father if it was a trade guild matter."

"What do you mean?" Arianna asked.

"Sofia, she doesn't need to hear about that," Marie whispered.

Sofia blushed, and started gathering up the papers. Arianna noticed that they were from Corona, not Arendelle. Her parents never let her read the papers from Corona.

"You're right, Marie," Sofia sighed. "Ariana, you probably don't want to read any of the newspapers right now."

"Oh! What's this?" Olaf had entered the room without anyone noticing, and was reaching for one of the newspapers still on the floor. "That looks like it's about Inga!"

Sofia and Marie were shaking their heads.

"Nothing interesting," Sofia insisted, grabbing the paper from Olaf. "Just some gossip from one of the Corona papers."

The road toward Bergen was well-maintained, but the wind and drizzle made the journey miserable. Kristoff drove them silently, while Anna rode in back with her sister. Sleep was a good excuse not to voice her thoughts of what they might find. Part of her almost hoped to find out that Inga was having some kind of affair. They could figure something out. People did that, didn't they? But the Southern Isles, she didn't want to think about that. Corona had taken care of dealings with the Southern Isles for thirty years now on behalf of Arendelle, and it seemed to be working.

The wind had died down and the drizzle subsided when they pulled up at the end of the path leading to the spa. The establishment showed all the signature details of an Oaken establishment, except a sign outside told passers by that they were closed for a private party.

"Elsa?" she said as they pulled to a stop.

"I think I'll stay here for now," her sister replied.

Anna nodded, glancing at Kristoff, who gave a quick nod in return to go ahead.

She walked up to the door and knocked.

"Your Majesty!" Renata gasped as she opened the door.

"Hello, Renata, I hope I'm not troubling you too much," Anna apologized, "but I need to speak with my daughter, and I understand that she's reserved your entire resort for the past month."

"That's true," Renata replied nervously, "Her Highness has reserved the place. We haven't taken any other guests since her arrival."

"Thank you," Anna said cautiously, realizing that the family were probably following Inga's own orders. She would save any possible anger for her own daughter, not Renata or anyone working here. "Wait here a moment, please?"

Anna walked to the main road where the wagon had stopped.

"Is she here?" Kristoff asked as he came down from the wagon.

"I don't think so," Anna replied. "I don't want to go charging in making them think they're going to be arrested for treason or something."

"No, of course not," he nodded.

Elsa stepped down from the back. "I told you I was fairly certain she's not here."

"Yes, but we need to find out where she actually is," Anna insisted, "And maybe find out why she felt compelled to just leave like that."

Kristoff took Anna's hand. "We'll wait here."

Anna took a deep breath and walked back to the door. "Can you tell me if Inga is here now?"

Renata looked uncomfortable, glancing back inside. "Your Majesty, please, I don't want any scandal. Nobody has spoken to anyone."

"I… I hadn't thought there would be a scandal," Anna replied. "I promise you won't be in any trouble with me. May I come in?"

Renata nervously opened the door wide, and Anna stepped inside. Several members of the extended Oaken family had gathered in the kitchen, and Anna felt the strong urge to apologize for her interruption, but then reminded herself that they were covering up Inga's whereabouts.

She stopped right behind Renata, anxious to find out what they had to say. There was some commotion by the main stairway in the front hall, and she saw Inga's maid being led downstairs, looking terrified.

"Your Majesty," she said with a deep curtsey.

"Oline?" Anna asked. "Where is Inga?"

"Your Majesty," the maid replied, sounding like she was ready to cry, "Her Highness left me here. I was ordered not to say anything."

"Did she tell you where she was going?"

"She was going on to Bergen, but she didn't say if they were staying there."

"They?"

"Oh…" Oline sighed. "She didn't want him to get in trouble. It was all her idea."

"What? What was her idea? And who is going to be in trouble?"

"Can you promise that you won't get anyone in trouble?"

"I promise to be fair," Anna told her.

The maid looked around nervously, and took a deep breath. "Captain Olsen took her on to Bergen, but I swear I wasn't the one who told the papers."

"Which papers?"

"One of the papers from Corona. The family here gets several of them each week."

Eugene stood alone on the terrace, pacing nervously.

"Father?" Hilde asked. "I came as soon as I got your letter. What's going on?"

"Has Henry written to you recently? Or maybe Inga?"

"No. Inga hardly ever writes to me. Henry hasn't written since the summer, but he sometimes forgets, you know."

"Have you heard from anyone in the Southern Isles?" Eugene asked her.

"No, but the Dowager has mentioned some gossip that never makes it into the newspapers."

"I haven't seen her since your wedding, how's she doing?"

"Quite well, but she's very worried for her daughter, the one married to the Duke of Bielko. It seems that anyone with a connection to the Southern Isles family is starting to worry."

"I hadn't heard about that."

"I'm surprised. Henry has been complaining about the succession crisis in his letters to me."

"Really?" Eugene asked. "He doesn't bring up politics in his letters to us."

"He knows I like some good gossip, I guess. Some of the princes are trying to get married again, and they think Henry could connect them to the young single princesses of Arendelle."

"Well, they do have a few of those," Eugene laughed in spite of himself. He was not feeling any less nervous, but at least it almost made sense now. Almost.

"Hilde, do you have any of those letters with you?"

"Not with me here, but they're at the cottage," she said.

"If you don't mind sharing them, they might be helpful."

Eugene found Rapunzel in their room.

"I just talked to Hilde," he announced. "She has letters from the dowager Princess of Glowerhaven with information that might be of interest, and she left to get them. None of this is showing up in any of the newspapers, but the Duke of Bielko seems to be worried that he'll actually be in line for succession."

"I know they're having a bit of a succession crisis

"Is there anything we can do right now?" she asked him.

He stood silently for a moment.

"Has anyone been in their room?" he asked.

"Just the cleaning staff once a week, I think," Rapunzel said. "It seems invasive."

Eugene sighed. "They might both be in trouble, we need to go."

Rapunzel was relieved that her spare key still opened the door to their son's room, but of course the servants would have a working key, as well, but she didn't want the questions that would come from asking them.

The place was obviously not lived in. Henry had visited briefly during one of his diplomatic trips during the past year, but Inga had been in Arendelle for over two years now with their children. Rapunzel knew it wasn't personal, but she wished she could see them more often.

She and Eugene stood at the door, looking around. In one corner were several of Henry's paintings, partially finished, simply leaning against the wall behind an easel. Inga had left very few things besides a closet full of dresses that were obviously only worn in Corona. Rapunzel walked over to the small bookshelf by the bed, next to Inga's writing desk. The top of the desk was completely empty, except for a small portrait of her, obviously Henry's work, and from the look of Inga's hair, possibly painted soon after the two had met.

"Should we look in the drawers?" Eugene asked.

"Oh, of course!" Rapunzel said, wondering why she hadn't started with that. The first drawer contained a single sheet of paper, carefully folded. She opened it up, quickly folding it back.

"What was that?" Eugene asked.

"It's from Henry. It's- I think they had a sort of game of leaving notes for each other… here."

She felt like she was invading their son's privacy, but perhaps Eugene would notice something in it that she hadn't.

November 2nd, 1869

Dear Inga,

I'm going to be traveling again. I'll see if you can find this note. I already miss you. I've left a surprise for Ariana in the nursery, and I'll get something for both her and Aggie while I'm in the Southern Isles.

Much love,

Yours,

Henry

"This was five years ago," Eugene observed, setting the letter back into the drawer.

"Six years ago," Rapunzel corrected, then shook her head. "Not that it matters…"

"What about the other drawer?" Eugene asked.

Rapunzel felt a small frame, and pulled out a miniature painting, about the size of a book. She turned it over and held it up to reveal a painting of a mermaid resting on a half dressed young man.

"We weren't meant to see that, put it back," Eugene said quickly.

"Why?" Rapunzel asked, then looked closer, realizing that the faces were those of Henry and Inga. "Yes, that's going back where it came from."

She closed the drawer as quietly as she could, as Henry or Inga might walk in at that moment.

"Is there anything on the shelves?"

Rapunzel squatted down and looked at the shelves underneath. There were novels in various languages, and a Portuguese phrasebook. Then she saw a book at the back with nothing written on the spine. She pulled it out from the shelf, carefully opening it to the first page.

"I'm pretty sure this is Inga's writing," she sighed. "I can't read this, though. Now I wish I'd put in some effort to learn the language…"

"Let me take a look," Eugene said, taking the book. "This is from nine years ago. Nothing too astounding, pretty much the usual stuff someone would say starting out a diary."

Inga sat in the Embassy dining room with Lars. John had just returned from the staff outing, and most of them were heading to their rooms to sleep the rest of the day, as the rain had meant that most of their revelries involved the beer hall rather than outdoor amusements.

John walked in with a bowl of soup.

"Here, Inga, I know that you haven't had much appetite lately, but I think this will help. You should eat more."

"Wait, carrot soup?" Inga asked, smelling the familiar odor.

"Yes, I remembered Halima telling me it's what you usually eat if you don't have a good appetite. She said it was a family favorite."

"Well, thank you, John," she said. Inga never remembered actually ordering it from Halima, but it did always seem to be on hand when she claimed she had no appetite.

"Some food would do you some good," Lars said. "By the way, John, did you see this?"

Lars showed him a card.

"Bielsko is hosting a party tonight?" John asked. "You want me to find out who's going to be there, don't you?"

"Of course."

"The Duke of Bielsko is next in line for the throne of the Southern Isles after the royal family, isn't he?" Inga mused between bites of soup.

"And for Arendelle's after your family," Lars said. "They're married into nearly every family. I wonder if Glowerhaven will be there. Have you met the Princess of Glowerhaven?"

"No," Inga said. "Only her younger daughter, once, in Corona. She was interested in Frederick, of course."

"Of course," John laughed. "But who wasn't?"

Lars took back the invitation, and rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "Wait… Maldonia… Inga, which ones have you met?"

Inga hesitated, remembering exactly what Lars was referring to. "The older brother… oh, and his sister."

"Which one is the older brother?" John asked.

"Tarkan is the older one," Lars replied. "Good thing, too, since we know he's not in town."

Inga relaxed a bit. "Still, I suppose I'd be recognized by someone if I went."

"Not necessarily," Lars said. "You have a reputation for not being seen at foreign events, you know."

"Do I?" Inga asked.

"Honesty may be the perfect disguise, as you learned when you arrived here," Lars said.

"What do you mean?"

"You will go as my half sister Ingeborg. You will dress up, of course, that much is expected."

"Are you sure about this?" John asked.

"Yes, quite sure," Lars said. "That is, if you agree."

Inga thought about it. It was tempting. "It might be interesting," she admitted.

"Good," Lars said, standing up. "Even though we didn't learn very much at the opera, I think that you will hear things that neither John nor I would be able to learn."

"When should I be ready?" Inga asked.

Lars looked at the card, then the clock. "We should probably be ready to go in an hour. John, why don't you get the carriage ready, and I'll let the maid know. You should finish that soup."