Mrs. Lars Nilsen, Boston, Mass.

April 10th, 1865

Dear Elizabeth,

I can't tell you how nice it was to come home to several letters from you, and I'm very glad that everything is going well in America. I'm sorry that I couldn't give you a forwarding address while I was away from Arendelle, but I promise you I had a very nice time. Aunt Elsa insisted I send her best wishes to you and Lars.

Frederick is still on his training trip for at least another week. I suppose he's doing well if they haven't sent him home early. It's really rather quiet here, since the twins are still up north. I know I'm not especially one for large gatherings, but sometimes it can be a little too quiet without my brothers here.

On the bright side, the snow is melting, the crocuses are blooming, and it will be warm again soon enough. I hope all is well there.

With love,

Inga

Sealing up the letter, Inga, seventeen year old princess of Arendelle, stacked it on top of the outgoing mail. She had been back in Arendelle for a few days now. Her brother Frederick had left for his naval training a few weeks before, and Anton and Peder had insisted that, because they were now thirteen, they would be fine staying on their own with the Northuldra for a while this year.

As was often the case when the family was away, General Mattias had been left in charge. He had officially been retired from the army for a year or two now, but he was still, by law, the official regent if anything happened before Frederick turned twenty-one, and he was still only fifteen. It had been over half a year since Inga had heard anything about the succession bill that would have made her the first in line, and she was rather certain by now that the council had no intention of ever going anywhere with it.

When they got home, a small stack of official letters remained that Mattias had been unable to personally answer, but those didn't take very much time for Inga and her mother to answer.

Of course, she had been writing to Henry the entire time she had been with her family up north visiting the Northuldra, not that she had told anyone. She was fairly certain that her aunt had known, but if she did, she hadn't said anything. Inga wasn't quite sure what her aunt's statement about Elizabeth had meant. Aunt Elsa had been at their wedding, so they surely had known that she was happy for them. There had been a few things in Elizabeth's letters the past month that made Inga think there might be something else, but she dismissed the thought until she had any official word.

A rattling at her window startled her out of her state of near trance thinking about all of this. She opened the window, and the air was slightly less chilly than she had expected. A moment later, a letter blew in and landed on her nightstand.

"Thank you, Gale," Inga smiled, closing the window, since it still wasn't warm enough to want fresh air.

She went and sat on the edge of her bed, eager to open up the letter. She knew without looking that it was from Henry, and even though he wrote nearly every day, she still felt a little knot in her stomach before knowing for sure what he was going to tell her.

She unfolded the page. On the top was a sketch of a city, apparently Lisbon. She smiled looking at the date. It had been sent the evening before.

Dear Inga,

We arrived in Lisbon yesterday morning. The weather is absolutely lovely here, but constantly traveling is getting a little tiresome, I'm forced to admit. My sister Hilde told me to send her regards when she saw me writing just now. I'll probably have to write you a second letter to put in the mail with the rest of the letters so she doesn't suspect anything. It will be properly dull and formal and will express just enough fond regard but not too much.

Since I just said I'll write another letter, I'll leave the details of the ball for that. Nothing interesting, trust me. I'm glad to hear your journey home to Arendelle was safely boring, as well.

Yours,

Henry

Inga smiled. She and Henry had decided to write one or two letters a month to keep from appearing overly secret, though there was still no formal agreement between them. Inga's mind changed daily about whether or not she wanted there to be a formal agreement between them. More and more, though, she had stopped thinking of herself as too young for such things. She would daydream about their kisses when he had visited Arendelle the previous fall. Her daydreams would turn to more sometimes, perhaps due to spending time listening to the giggling stories she had heard from Kate and Edith about wedding nights. It wasn't clear how much they had actually heard from Isabel about her own married life. She tried not to let her mind go there. She wasn't ready. Not yet.

Her mother had agreed not to pressure her about it, even if it was officially her business as the Queen, but every few weeks her brother Frederick would make some comment. Thankfully, he was at sea right now, and the one advantage of the situation was that he was clearly too exhausted to tease her in his few letters. Still, she missed talking to her brother.

Now, however, it was time to write to Henry. She grabbed a small sheet of paper and wrote a quick letter. She remembered she still needed to send him an official letter that she was home.

Dear Henry,

I love your drawing of Lisbon. I know very well how tiring traveling is, and I can't imagine traveling as long as you two have been this year. Still, perhaps I'll get to Lisbon sometime. I wouldn't mind escaping the winter at some point. I'd like it if you showed me around the place.

Later today I'll send you my own official letter, since as far as anyone knows, I haven't told you that I've gotten back yet.

Yours,

Inga

She opened the window once more, whispered to Gale, and let the letter go.


"Inga! They told me you'd returned, but I hadn't seen you at all since you got back!" squealed Edith as Inga walked into Hudson's Hearth. Inga had decided that she could eat lunch and catch up with Edith and Kate, the wards of the retired General Mattias and his wife Halima, at the same time. She was slowly becoming more tolerant of their endless chattering, and besides, she had realized that knowing what people were gossiping about was probably prudent for her, though sometimes she wondered if people were too careful about what they said if she was around.

"Good afternoon," Inga smiled at them, sitting down in the nearby booth. "And, thanks, I had a good trip, but it always is a bit tiring."

"Hello, Inga," Halima said walking over. "Are you having lunch with us today?"

"Yes, please, and thank you," Inga replied. "You know what I like, I think."

"Yes, dear, I know," Halima nodded, heading back to the kitchen.

Kate scooted in next to Inga, forcing Edith to sit across from them.

"We've already eaten," Kate informed her, "but I hope you don't mind getting caught up on everything."

"Of course," Inga laughed. "Why do you think I came here?"

"Oh, and we're going to visit Isabel this afternoon," Edith added.

"Wait," Kate failed to whisper, "has Inga heard yet?"

"Well, whatever it is, you need to tell me now," Inga smirked.

Kate giggled, and Edith gently punched her in the arm.

Edith smiled. "I think we'll let Isabel tell her when we go over there."

Inga nodded. She had a good idea what they were getting at by this point. Isabel and her husband, Captain Sigurd Olsen of the castle guards, had been married since September, afterall, so she had the feeling they would be having a baby sooner or later. Before she could hint to the sisters at her guess, Halima brought out her lunch, and being rather hungry, Inga got busy eating as Kate and Edith decided to talk about the weather.

"Isn't the sky so beautifully blue?"

"And yet it rained just yesterday."

After lunch, as promised, Kate and Edith took her over to the nearby house where Isabel and her husband lived. It was more space than the two of them really needed, but it was obvious that it could feel very tight with a few more people living there. Isabel's husband, of course, was busy at the castle during the day. Kate and Edith insisted on helping their sister by serving the tea and making her sit with Inga in the parlor. Inga heard as Isabel attempted to shoo the younger two out of the kitchen, with some discussion Inga couldn't quite catch, and decided she wouldn't try to listen. She looked out the window instead; even just this short distance up the hillside from the center of town, the view down to the fjord was stunning.

As Isabel sat down, Inga decided to cut to the chase and ask herself, without the games Kate and Edtih seemed to be playing with the news. Isabel was often more level headed than the younger girls, with the possible exception of the much younger Meibel.

"Good afternoon, Inga," Isabel greeted her cheerfully.

"Hello, Isabel," Inga greeted back. "You've gotten this place fixed up nicely since the winter."

"Yes, indeed. I was busying myself, and I'm glad I did, since I don't think I'll be able to get quite as much done this summer. Siggy has helped a lot, of course, when I'm not really up to it."

Inga nodded, quite certain of her guess about Isabel's condition now.

"But I suppose Kate and Edith already told you?"

"Not in so many words," Inga chuckled, "I suppose you could say they didn't tell me at all. But I figured it out from the fact that they refused to tell me anything."

"So typical of them," Isabel laughed. "They think everything is a game, don't they?"

Inga smiled and nodded as the two brought in the tea for them to share.

Kate spoke up after she sat down and everyone had their tea. "Isabel, did you tell her?"

"I think so. Inga, did I tell you?"

Inga couldn't help but laugh. "You're the one saying how they think everything is a game, and now that I think about it, you haven't actually told me. I want to hear you say it now that you've protested about nobody just saying what it is."

"Oh, fine," Isabel conceded with a smile, "I suppose it's a royal command then?" Inga bristled at the reminder and scowled, causing Isabel to laugh some more. "Fine, the doctor came last week, and he said I should be having a baby possibly around the end of August, or maybe in September. I was starting to worry that it would never happen, if I can be perfectly blunt. I'm still a little nervous. More than a little, so not a word outside these walls, please?"

"Of course!" Inga exclaimed, very sincerely.

"But now, tell me, how was it up north? Can you believe I've never been there? I grew up hearing the stories, of course, but you know he doesn't really like going back if he doesn't have to…"

"Well, everyone is doing well; you should tell the General that." Inga smiled. "It wasn't quite the same this year with Frederick having to come back to get ready for his naval training. Anton and Peder, you probably heard, decided to stay another month when the rest of us came back here. Aunt Elsa had to promise multiple times to make sure they stayed out of trouble. Mother really didn't really think they were old enough to be there without us, but father pointed out that they're off on their own in Arendelle enough that they're probably safer up there. I certainly wonder that they've never fallen off the cliffs or something worse."

Inga paused to catch her breath, as well as to pour herself some more tea.

Edith noticed that the pot was already empty, and excused herself to go back to the kitchen to prepare another pot of tea. Kate put an extra cube of sugar in her own cup, which she had been fussing over but not drinking very much of.

When Edith returned, Inga continued telling them more about the trip.

A knock at the door startled them, but it turned out to be Meibel, who had gotten home from school and asked to come over to visit Isabel instead of helping at Hudson's Hearth.

"Hello, Inga!" Meibel chirped, "It's nice to see you back! Have you heard from Frederick? It's rather dull here now."

"No, I haven't, Meibel, but Sofia is back, too, so at least there's that."

"Oh, yes. And are Anton and Peder home?" Meibel asked.

"No, they're still up north."

"That's disappointing. They're a little annoying sometimes, but I miss them, too," Meibel sighed.

"That's sweet of you," Inga grinned. "At any rate, Frederick will be back in a week or two, I think, so there's that, at least."

"Oh! Oh! I can't wait."

"Inga," Isabel interrupted innocently, "have you heard from that fellow from Corona recently?"


The weather was exceptionally fine as the naval training ship sailed along the coast that morning in late April. The crew busied themselves to get everything set, since the harbor master could be expected to let them in and through with no hassle, since they were, afterall, part of the Navy.

The boys in training stood at attention as the Captain came on deck.

"Bjorgman?" he called out.

"Sir!" the tall blond boy stepped forward.

"At ease, Bjorgman," the Captain instructed. "I've been very pleased with what I've seen from you. I have to admit I was extremely skeptical when I heard from the Admiral that I would be taking you on these training exercises, since, unfortunately, there is a bit of a reputation for royal families to send their sons into the service merely for show, but you have performed very well, and do some credit to Admiral Sorensen's judgement, and I can only hope you might be interested in continuing."

"Sir?" was all the boy could think to say.

"There's nothing official yet," the Captain told him, "but the Admiral has been in negotiations to allow Arendelle to send a small number of officer candidates to Corona's naval academy for training each year. Now, we don't want you to feel any pressure, but you would be both my choice and the Admiral's first choice to send to the Corona Naval Academy once the arrangements are finalized."

"Really?" the boy gasped, forgetting ship protocol.

The Captain chuckled, then made himself look stern. "Yes, if you don't slip up too much like that."

"Sorry, Sir, excuse me! I was-"

"You were just excited, I understand, and that's a good thing," the Captain smiled, "now, go get yourself ready, we're almost in sight of Arendelle!"

"Yes, Sir!" he said, running off.


Anna stood with the wriggling baby, still too small to set down in the market square, even with as early and quiet as it was and with a dozen eyes to watch over her. She needed something to focus on right now. She knew a naval training mission was as close to risk free as anything sufficiently exciting would be for her son Frederick, but still, he was only fourteen- no, fifteen, he had been fifteen for several months now, since December. She didn't like to think about how old all of them were getting now, especially Inga, who would be eighteen in only a few months, but the baby was still a baby, for now. Little baby Linne would probably remain the baby, she had a feeling.

Some of the children from town started gathering when they saw the ship entering the fjord; they were supposed to be heading to school, but this looked far more interesting. Behind her, she could hear her younger daughters Sophia and Marie running over to greet Meibel. She could assume that Kate and Edith would go straight over to Inga. Anna's eyes were still focused on the fjord, toward the sea. In the corner of her eye, she could see Kristoff lowering little Karl down from his shoulders, since the boy was getting a bit too wiggly, and needed to run around.

A hush washed over the square. Any doubt that this wasn't just another trading ship was washed away when they could see the sailors standing at attention on every piece of rigging, with the rest of the crew lining the top deck. One voice echoed over the fjord starting a sea shanty, with the entire crew singing the response.

As the ship drew near, Anna scanned the rigging to see if Frederick was up there. Somehow, the idea of him climbing up that high on a ship seemed so much more frightening than her own adventures climbing similar heights when she was the same age. This was different. She couldn't think of a good reason why, except that she had been on dry land, but she was sure it was different, somehow.

Anna barely noticed that several of the merchants had stopped what they were doing in order to watch at this point. Kristoff put his arm around her, and only then did Anna realize that she had been trembling a bit. The shanty finally came to an end as the ship neared the dock. Everyone in the market square gave a cheer before returning to their business.

As the gang plank came down, Nanny quietly took the baby so that Anna could be free to go see Frederick when he finally came down.

Admiral Sorensen was the first person to step off, and he nodded and smiled at the crowd that consisted primarily of the royal family. Anna took a breath and stepped forward, greeting him as the monarch, rather than as the nervous mother.

"Admiral Sorensen," she greeted him, "I assume you had a good training trip this month?"

"Excellent, Your Majesty," the admiral replied, "and I'm particularly pleased with one of the trainees in particular. He exceeded expectations."

Anna forced herself to calmly smile at this, but internally she was conflicted. She wanted to be proud of everything her son did, but the idea of his going into the navy never sat well with her, ever since he first brought up the idea as practically settled. But between her son's own desires and interests and the politics of naval development for Arendelle, she had no way of really objecting to any of it.

The Captain soon appeared, standing on top of the deck, and then Frederick could be seen standing at the top of the gang plank.

"Frederick!" Inga shouted, waving. He smiled back, waving with his free hand, the other carrying a heavy pack of everything he had needed in the weeks on board the ship.

Anna could see that he wanted to run off the ship, but instead forced himself to walk down with quiet dignity that he had clearly learned in his time on the ship the last month. She thanked the Admiral and did her best to walk over to her son as calmly as she could. She could see Kristoff out of the corner of her eye following her, as well.

She stopped a foot or two in front of her son. She smiled up at him, doing her best not to start crying.

"Hello, Mother," Frederick smiled, dropping his bag to give her a hug.