Note:
Hey everyone! JQ here, and happy to be back. Last year, Jennifer Lee and her co-directors confirmed that there was going to be a Frozen 3. As tradition, I made my own rendition of what I think may happen (or should happen *WINK, WINK*). This is purely a thing for myself, as I picked up writing again as I am taking a break from work for a little. BUT THAT BEING SAID: I am excited to share this new story with you. Most of these chapters have been written and I am consulting other people for mistakes/edits/etc. Reviews are always welcome!
Additionally, for a bit of fun: I wrote this with song inspirations, so whenever you see this symbol, [x], there will be a corresponding song. The placement of the symbol is important as it signifies where I think the song fits best. Idina Menzel legitimately sings, so these songs are basically what I think the characters could sing if this was actually a musical. The name of the song will be in the beginning notes so find it if you want. You don't HAVE to listen to the song, it's just there for fun. I just didn't wanna do the thing where you copy and paste the lyrics in - I usually skip those in fics. Not every chapter has a song, but I am down for recommendations.
Disclaimer:
I do not own anything that Disney owns. I only claim my original characters and my plot.
Happy reading folks! :)
Chapter One: A Special Visitor
"Ugh!" Kristoff groaned as he tugged on the neck tie Anna insisted he wear for the evening. The Queen of Arendelle was expecting a visit from a Princess from Iceland. The King of Botarskal had written to Anna stating that one of his daughters was to be travelling to a kingdom in Sweden and was making a pit stop at Arendelle's port, as it was the first point of land contact from Iceland. The redhead was incredibly excited for the Princess' visit, as she hadn't seen anyone from the royal family of Botarskal in a long time – never, actually. Despite Anna's excitement, her husband continued to whine about his outfit. "Why do I have to be dressed up for this?"
Anna just rolled her eyes and turned to yank at the offending material around Kristoff's neck. "I already told you, honey – Botarskal hardly ever sends a member of their royal family over." she explained, "If they ever send anyone anywhere, it's an ambassador or a minister. They never, ever, send a royal over. This is a special occasion!"
"Whatever, I guess." Kristoff said, still mildly confused at this new information. Even though he has been an official royal family member for about six years now, he still didn't quite understand all the uppity things that royals and dignitaries got themselves all worked up for. Either way, Kristoff thought that if a King – who never sends his family members anywhere – suddenly sends one of his daughters somewhere...it was more strange than wonderful in his view. "Did the King say why he was sending his daughter, in his letter?"
The Queen shook her head. "No, actually. I wrote him to ask about the occasion but never got anything back."
"Hmm. Weird."
"Well, I don't want to speculate on it if we get to find out tonight." she said, patting him on his chest. "Now, speaking of royal family members – where are Nolan and Stella?" In the six years that Anna has been Queen, she and Kristoff had been fortunate enough to become parents of two healthy and rambunctious children. Her son, Nolan, was five years old while her daughter, Stella, was three. They both sported Kristoff's blonde hair but Nolan had Anna's ice blue eyes.
Kristoff shrugged. "I think they were in the family room with Olaf and Sven, the last time I saw them."
"When did you see them last?"
"About ten minutes before I came down here." he said.
Anna smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll go check and see if they're ready for dinner. If I'm not back in time, can you be down here to receive the guests, with Kai?" Kristoff groaned and rolled his eyes. He knew he had to say yes, but he was still going to complain about it.
"Fine," he told her, "but you owe me!" he cried after her. Anna just stuck her tongue out at her husband before leaving the dining hall.
...
A few moments later, the Queen finally reached the hallway that led to the family room. This was usually where the royal family of Arendelle would host game nights. As she approached the room, she could hear her son's booming voice over her daughter's musical laughter. The Queen adored the relationship that her children had with one another. Although they were young, she could sense that they'd be lifelong friends – just like her and Elsa were. Although, she believed that they'd have a much better start on their relationship, considering they were never going to be kept from one another.
As the Queen got closer to the door, she crept slowly towards it so that she could peak in without disturbing the moment. Inside, she saw Olaf and Stella sitting on the couch with Sven towering over them from behind it. From her angle, she couldn't see her son's form. She then nudged the door ever so slightly. When she finally saw him, she started to giggle. He was telling them his favourite story: the story of when she and Elsa saved Arendelle and freed the Enchanted Forest.
"...and then the waves came crashing down! Ker-SPLOOOOOSH!" Nolan was flailing his arms around, as if he was a mighty tidal wave himself.
"Oh nooo!" Olaf wailed, grasping onto Sven's face. Even though he was there for this story, the little snowman always loved hearing how the young prince retold it. "What happened next?"
Sven just huffed and rolled his eyes.
"Well, before the wave could destroy the kingdom, Auntie Elsie came riding in on the Nokk!" Nolan cried before making a mixture of 'water' and 'horse' sounds. "The wave was fast, but she was way faster!" the little prince then ran around the room to demonstrate. Stella clapped her hands while Olaf screamed in delight. "Then," the little boy continued, "she used her magic to make a GINORMOUS water wall – saving everyone in the world!" Anna giggled at that last exaggeration.
"My GOODNESS!" Olaf exclaimed.
"The end!" Nolan said proudly, taking a bow. Sven grunted happily and Olaf clapped some more.
"Wait, Nolan," Stella said, "you forgot the best part! When daddy asked mommy to marry him, and mommy became Queen!"
The snowman nodded in agreement. "Right – that does sound pretty important." Instead of agreeing with them, Nolan's face contorted in disgust.
"Eeeew!" Nolan whined, "That's not the best part!"
Stella huffed and descended from her place on the couch to stand in front of her brother. She looked up at him and crossed her little arms over her chest in defiance. "It is too!"
"Is not!" Nolan argued back.
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
Stella stomped as hard as her tiny foot could. "IS TOO!"
"Ohhhh-kay, my little storytellers!" Anna said, deciding that this was a good time to interrupt. She walked over to her daughter and placed a calming hand on her little shoulder. She walked Stella through some deep breathing to calm her down. Once Stella was feeling a little better, Anna looked to her son and gave him a warm smile. "It's okay for everyone to have different parts of a story that they think is the best, Nolan. Stella just likes romance, don't you?" The tiny blonde just nodded with a wide smile.
The young prince groaned. "But there's so many other better parts!"
Anna just smiled and shook her head. "Nolan...you and Stella have your own brains full of your own ideas and experiences." she then knelt down so she could look him in the eyes. "Whatever things that you like are up to you and only you. The same applies for your sister. Do you understand?"
Nolan sighed and nodded. "I think so."
"Good." Anna then kissed him on his forehead and stood up. "So – I don't see anyone in their dinner clothes." this time, both of her children groaned.
"But mooooommy," Stella whined, "I don't like dressing up for dinner!"
Nolan nodded in agreement. "Yeah – the collar of my shirt is always so itchy."
Anna just rolled her eyes. They were definitely Kristoff's children. She tried not to make a habit of it, but she figured that she could use bribery tonight. "Please go get dressed and I promise we can have chocolate cake at lunch tomorrow." immediately, both the prince and princess squealed in delight and ran to find Gerda to help them get dressed. Anna laughed – they were definitely her children too.
"Are you excited about meeting the Princess of Boat-skull?" Olaf asked Anna as he and Sven approached the Queen.
Anna laughed out loud and patted Olaf on his head. "Botarskal, Olaf – we will be hosting the Princess of Botarskal tonight."
"Okay, okay! Botarskal...where is that place anyway? I've never heard of it." the little snowman then climbed up Sven and sat on his back while he spoke to Anna.
"It's on the southern coast of Iceland." Anna explained as they all exited the room, "It's a relatively large kingdom, as it has ports to receive many ships from the Norwegian sea and even the North Sea."
Olaf nodded along while scratching Sven's head. "Hmm. Interesting. So why are they visiting us?"
The Queen sighed. She wished she knew. "No idea, Olaf. King Hallgrimur didn't explain it, but all I know is that the Princess will be travelling to Sweden. So they will be staying here, to restock their supplies, and leave before the end of the week."
The little snowman then squealed in delight. "YAY! A ROYAL SLEEPOVER!"
Anna just smiled at his excitement. "Yes, Olaf. A royal sleepover!"
...
Kristoff and Kai stood awkwardly in front of Arendelle's castle. They both weren't much for discussion, so waiting for their guests was a little awkward to say the least. Despite how awkward he was, Kristoff tried his best at conversing with the butler.
"So..." tried the ice harvester, "...Anna says that Botarskal is pretty reclusive. Any idea why that is, on your end? All I know is that she's headed to Sweden before the end of the week." Kai just looked at the blonde man with a dead expression. Kristoff was worried he had overstepped, but the castle butler cleared his throat.
"Well, Your Highness –!"
"Kristoff, please."
"– it is very complicated." the butler then began to delve into his own memories. "I remember when I first started out at this job, as a footman for King Agnarr. He was about 15, at the time, and I was 17. He was scheduled to meet with King Hallgrimur, who was 20 or so. Botarskal was doing it's bi-annual tour to every allied kingdom, sending it's king." Kai shook his head. "Everyone thought that since they were both relatively young rulers, they'd get along swimmingly. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. King Hallgrimur was stoic the entire visit and only conversed when he was required to. It was strange – all other kingdoms grew very wary of the silent king and simply left him be. He operates the way he always does – in silence and without much conversation. I suppose that's why no one sees or hears from Botarskal, except when they send over delegates and such."
Kristoff whistled, taking in all of the information. King Hallgrimur seemed to keep his motivations and plans to himself. It made sense why Anna wanted to make sure everything was perfect tonight – it seemed as though no one knew if they were going to be on Botarskal's good or bad side. "Gee...I wonder what his problem is."
"Beats me, Master Kristoff."
"J-Just Kristoff – but much better, thank you."
"Anywho," Kai continued, "we must maintain ourselves for this guest. We have never hosted a Princess from Botarskal – hardly anyone has." the butler then let out a small laugh. "I can just imagine the gossip all of this will start."
"Oh yeah," Kristoff agreed, "Arendelle castle will surely be the talk of the town with this mysterious Princess visit."
"OPEN THE GATES!" Shouted one of the guards. More guards saluted and began to open the gates to Arendelle castle's courtyard.
Once the gates opened, a large black metallic carriage came into view. Three more smaller black carriages followed in tow. The largest carriage was being pulled by four white Icelandic horses. While they weren't as large as Arendelle's fjord horses, they were quite a sight to see, since they were not common anywhere on the mainland. Kristoff wondered why there were so many carriages – in his nine years living with the Arendelle Royal family, he had never seen a visiting royal caravan that was larger than three carriages. This sight only made him question what was going to go down when they got to Sweden.
The largest carriage came to a halt in front of Kai and Kristoff, who were waiting by the steps. Two Arendellian guards and four footmen quickly arrived to receive the Princess.
"Showtime, Master Kristoff." Kai said, standing straighter.
Kristoff mimicked Kai's posture and waited for what was to come. One of the smaller carriages pulled in front of the largest one and Kristoff watched as the driver of said carriage came down to open the door. It revealed a small man, probably just about four inches taller than Anna would be. He had a tanned complexion and long-ish dark brown hair that was slicked back. He quickly came to approach Kai and Kristoff.
"Good evening, sirs." he greeted, "I am Arnold and I am the royal advisor, appointed to accompany the Princess on her voyage." he bowed and Kai reciprocated it. Kristoff made a move to also bow, but one of the guards stopped him.
"Don't bow," the guard said, "he's doing it out of respect for you." Kristoff blushed and laughed nervously, out of mild embarrassment.
"Hehe...oh."
Kai just rolled his eyes. He knew that Kristoff wasn't going to have anything to say, so he took the liberty of introducing the house of Arendelle. "On behalf of Prince Kristoff, Queen Anna, and the Kingdom of Arendelle, we humbly welcome you and your Princess."
Arnold bowed again and ran to the door of the larger carriage. He cleared his throat and placed his hand on the door. "Presenting Princess Hrafntinna of Botarskal." he then opened the door to reveal a beautiful young Princess. She had dark brown wavy hair, that was done up in a low bun. She was wearing a dark blue gown, with a dark grey vest. The vest was adorned in white embroidery with floral designs. Before Kristoff could introduce himself, the princess shoved Arnold with her shoulder.
"Arnold," she sighed, "What did I say about my introduction?"
"Oof – sorry, Your Highness." he apologized, "I-I got nervous."
The princess rolled her eyes and made her way down the steps of the carriage with the help of Arnold. Once she was in front of Kai and Kristoff she bowed. The guard from earlier nudged Kristoff in his arm before saying:
"Now you bow – she's royalty too."
The ice harvester immediately did as he was told and bowed before Princess Hrafntinna.
Kai then said, "Princess Hr...Her...Hraf-tee – Raft –!"
The Princess sighed and held up a hand to the butler. "Please, sir," she said, "Address me as Tina from now on." she giggled and patted him on the shoulder, "It's my first time outside of Botarskal and I'd like to be accessible to people."
Kai sighed, silently thanking the princess for saving him the embarrassment. "Thank you, Princess Tina." he then gestured to Kristoff. "Prince Kristoff will show you to your guest quarters. Dinner will be at seven o'clock, and you and your entourage will have access to the staff 24/7 throughout your stay." Kai then took Princess Tina's hand and placed it on Kristoff's arm. The blonde man nodded at Kai and began to lead the Princess through the castle.
...
This part, Kristoff knew. Throughout the past week, Anna expressly warned him that he might have to show the Princess to her guest room on his own, as she suspected that the children would not be ready for dinner. He felt very proud of himself as he and Princess Tina ascended the stairs to the east wing of the castle, where guests usually stayed. He observed her cautiously, still confused as to why she was travelling so far from home.
"You have a very lovely home, Prince Kristoff." she said, once they got to the top of the stairs.
Kristoff just laughed nervously. "I mean – uh – thank you. I-uh, I only married into royalty, so all of the decorating is courtesy of my wife and her family."
"It's still your home," the princess said with a smile, "you should feel proud of it, when given a compliment."
Kristoff just shrugged, "I guess. I mean...not to sound ungrateful, but this whole 'married to royalty thing' is just such a different thing for me." the princess stopped walking to look at him.
"You are a commoner?"
"Yes – er – kinda?" he didn't really know how to explain where he came from. "I-uh-grew up in the forest, just on the outskirts of the kingdom's borders. Arendelle was the closest town and I did business here as an ice harvester."
"Huh..." the princess said to herself, "I wasn't aware that Arendelle allowed that kind of thing."
"Yeah," Kristoff said with a jovial chuckle, "Arendelle's certainly one of a kind." he then looked at Tina, who had some kind of distant expression on her face. It didn't look sad, nor did it look angry – Kristoff assumed it was mild shock.
"Certainly sounds like it." shaking herself out of her trance, she looked back at the ice harvester turned prince.
Clearing his throat, Kristoff continued to lead the princess to the guest room that was a few steps away. "Ha, so, anyway – here's your room for the next few days." he said, pointing at the door. "Please make yourself at home and I'll see you for dinner, in about an hour." the princess nodded and bowed at him.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Kristoff then shook his head.
"Just call me Kristoff, Your Highness." the princess laughed and shook her head as well.
"In that case, Tina is just fine."
"Works for me." Kristoff agreed before leaving the princess to make herself comfortable for dinner.
Kristoff walked away, reflecting on his conversation with the princess. He knew something big was happening in Sweden, judging by her distant look earlier. He hoped that he and Anna would find out soon enough.
