Note:

THIRTY TWO IS HERE! Thanks for sticking by! Me and my team have mulled it over and we have decided to just make an epilogue instead of a sequel for this fic. We created a great universe for these little babies to exist, but we had another idea that we wanted to explore. If people ask for it, we may be persuaded to do a sequel, but right now, we will not be. Anyhow, reviews and critiques are welcome. Please be kind and enjoy the second last chapter!

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Icelandic Phrases Used:

1. Elsku litli minn – "My darling little one"

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Disclaimer:

The only thing I own is the plot of this fanfiction and its' original characters.

Happy Reading!

-JQ

Chapter Thirty-Two: Trials, Tribulations and...Something Else That Starts With A "T"

[Arendelle, Norway]

In her youth, Anna recalled that dinner used to feel like a dim affair. Her earliest memories consisted of herself, her mama, her papa, and the various servants coming in and out of the kitchen like clockwork. Her mama and papa would converse, as adults would do. To their credit, they would try to include her – extending the common conversational olive branches that were age appropriate for young children:

"How were your lessons?"

"What did you learn?"

"What game did you invent today?"

"What did you do today?"

While Anna had always been known to be a pathological conversationalist, she hated having all eyes on her during dinner. Beneath the conversations that humoured, one question always plagued her thoughts: why isn't Elsa coming down for dinner?

Until she was eighteen, Anna had no clue why Elsa never joined them for dinner. She never knew about the ice powers and she never knew about how her father was basically stowing the blonde away from the world. Until Anna knew about the tragic story of her sister's isolation, dinner had been properly boring. Needless to say, dinners were historically not Anna's favourite thing. Now, however, Anna found herself enjoying dinners. Six years ago, Elsa finally rejoined everyone at dinner and life seemed complete. And recently, the queen had Kristoff, Sven, Olaf, Nolan, and Stella.

After dinner was served and the children retreated to play with Olaf, Queen Anna filled King Hallgrimur in on everything that he hadn't been privy to. Anna had to admit that she felt like the bearer of bad news. Watching the king's face contort into sadness after it first developed from shock, disbelief, and anger. Although her experience was much different than Hallgrimur's, Anna truly felt for him as a parent. She once harboured a deep sense of anger for the person who would put Tina and her sisters through so much turmoil, but looking at him now – face to face – Anna knew that he was probably just as blindsided by Vennesvurg's actions as any of his children.

Anna hesitantly laid her hand over top of his on the dining room table. "Are you alright, Your Majesty?" the redhead asked him hesitantly. When he didn't respond to her right away, she tried again. "I-I know this must be difficult to hear, for the first time." He looked at her, his own light brown eyes pleading with hers for answers.

"It...it is frustrating to say the absolute least," he said softly, barely above a whisper, "I...I don't even know where to start."

Kristoff nodded and patted the king on his shoulder. "It's so much to process, but we'll be here to help out." even though he never considered himself a royal, he knew he couldn't let Anna help the king on her own. They both cared about Tina which meant that they both cared about Hallgrimur.

The king was silent for a long time. Honestly, it was probably for less than a few minutes, but it certainly felt like a hefty bout of silence. Anna and Kristoff just looked at one another, each hoping that King Hallgrimur wasn't at a loss for words because he was cross with them. Fortunately, the king began to respond. "I just...I wonder where I could have gone about things differently." he said, his eyes squeezed shut. It was almost as if he was trying to hold back tears.

"You were under intense pressure from another large kingdom, Your Majesty," Anna told him in a firm but gentle tone. After seeing how this news affected him, the redheaded queen truly believed that he had no clue what was happening in Vennesvurg. Mirroring her husband's actions, Anna placed her hand on the king's shoulder. "I don't know what else you could have done. You acted as you needed to for your kingdom." Before Hallgrimur could respond, the three adults were interrupted by an urgent call.

"Daddy!" came Prince Nolan's voice from down the hall. They heard the distinct pitter patter of a child's stride before hearing his call for Kristoff. The Arendellian prince bounded through the doorway of the dining room, panting as if he had just performed a series of military drills. His face was just as grave and urgent. "Daddy," Nolan said, his voice coming out in huffs, "...come and help us with our fort!"

"Yeah, Daddy," Stella echoed her brother's serious tone as she waddled into the dining room. She stomped her foot indignantly and said, "Sven and Olaf can't do the roof like you." at her seriousness, Anna and Kristoff couldn't help but laugh. Leave it to children to cut through the tension of the drama unfolding without their knowledge.

Kristoff chuckled and looked at the king apologetically. "I'm sorry for my escape, but the prince and princess are requesting me." the king nodded his approval while Anna promised to help him with their children later.

Once the prince consort and the children disappeared from view, Anna and Hallgrimur listened to the sound of their footsteps fading into the distance. When the footsteps completely subsided, Anna noticed Hallgrimur's expression falter even further. He let out a thundering sigh and placed his face in his hands. Before Anna could ask him if he was alright, he began to speak.

"That's what I mean." the Botarskalic king sighed in exasperation and malaise. It took a little while for Anna to clue into what he meant, but he gestured loosely to the seat that Kristoff had just occupied. "Parenting. Being a father." king Hallgrimur sounded defeated more than anything else, almost as if seeing Kristoff being needed by the kids for something as nominal as 'fort building' broke his spirit. "If my girls trusted me a little more...maybe Arnkatla would have told me about her suspicions." he told Anna, "They must think I have had something to do with this."

The queen shook her head, "They don't, Hallgrimur." she told him definitively, squeezing his shoulder a little more to emphasize her point. "They haven't once told me that they thought you were behind this. Katla knew that you were being deceived. She knew that your entire kingdom was more than likely being deceived."

The king wasn't hearing her, "You don't understand," he said, "my relationship with my daughters is tumultuous at its' best. As they aged, I felt as though they're respect for me grew, but out of fear and not out of the love my wife wished to instill."

Anna didn't know if she could quell the king's doubts completely, but she knew she needed to try. "Sir, I've lived with Tina for a month and your other daughters stopped by for a few days." she made sure to make eye contact with him to convey everything that she needed to for this message. The king appeared reluctant, but he stared back in an attempt to mirror her efforts. Although he hadn't known the Arendellian queen for that long, he wanted to believe she was sincere.

The queen placed her hands carefully atop the king's and continued her plight. "Please believe me when I say that those young women are filled with nothing but love for one another. As a mother myself, I can wholeheartedly say that I hope my children love one another as much as your girls do."

The king chuckled sadly, "I assure you that any good qualities my daughters attained had nothing to do with my influence and was entirely due to my absence."

"With all due respect, there are significant issues that still need to be patched up," Anna replied with a firm yet soft tone, "but I assure you, your daughters will hear you out as long as you explain yourself." the queen said as she squeezed Hallgrimur's hand gently. "Again, they are full of nothing but love and I know they will work with you to rebuild what you have lost."

The king took his time to study the redheaded queen's facial expressions. He wanted to continue to wallow in his self-pity but he knew that his pity would be no use to his girls. He took a deep breath and did his best to channel what little dignity he had left. He placed his other hand over top of Anna's and gave them a firm squeeze. "You are wise beyond your years, Queen Anna."

"Thank you," she told him. She briefly thought back to Elsa and smiled widely to herself. I learned from the best.

"Now then," Hallgrimur said, sitting a little straighter in his seat, "let's figure out a plan for our visit to Vennesvurg."

"Yes," Anna replied with a smile, "we have a royal wedding to disrupt."

...

[Vennesvurg, Sweden]

A few days later, in the Northern region of Sweden, the young king and his new band of friends were enjoying some breakfast. Although, the word 'enjoying' was being used very loosely in this instance. Tensions were running higher than they had ever been. The wedding was tomorrow and so was the trial of Gunn-Britt and Elsa.

The new plan was simple – win the trial and convince the judge to arrest Malkvist using the information found in the documents they uncovered. It was a relatively simple and straightforward mission, but 'simple' and 'straightforward' was usually very difficult for this group of people. This fact was why the tension among the group was running higher than it had ever been before. So much was riding on how they tackled the next twenty-four hours. They really had to make it count.

As the conversation among the young adults around the table began to subside, Tina spoke up. "Are they ready?" she asked Lindahl, without looking up from her plate.

"For trial?" he asked, stuffing his face with food. As regular as his tone appeared to be, his response triggered the wrong thing in the princess.

Tina slammed her free hand down on the table, garnering everyone else's attention. "What else could I possibly mean?"

Katla reached out and placed her hand over her sister's. "Let's not get at one another's throats, please." she advised in a soft tone, her eyes pleading with Tina to calm down. The younger of the two brunette's sighed and tried to refocus on her breakfast."

"Arnold," Hinrikka said, "can you answer my sister's question?"

"Oh, uh, yes." Arnold answered before clearing his throat, "Gunn-Britt and 'Kjellfrid' are ready for their trial."

"Good." Hinrikka nodded and went back to her breakfast.

"Will it be by bench or jury?" Karl suddenly inquired, now curious as to what was going down.

"Bench." Lindahl told him, "We think Malkvist fears we have information that will not be great for him."

"Bastard." Finn muttered under her breath as she stabbed some porridge with her spoon.

Karl then contemplated this new information. He nodded, thinking that a judge hearing the pleadings of his friends would be a lot easier than arguing to a jury. "Our judges are not members of council, so we have that going for us."

Even though it sounded like good news, Tina couldn't stomach this conversation any further. She suddenly regretted ever asking the question that sparked this whole thing. "I think I'm going to be sick." she placed her cutlery down and pushed her seat away from the table. "Excuse me." she said, just before rising from the table and darting out of the dining room.

"Tina!" multiple people cried from the table at once. Although many of them, such as Honeymaren, Ingrid, Katla, and Arnold got up to follow her, Gilly stood and motioned for all of them to take their seats again.

"I'll go," Gilly told them before rising from the table as delicately as a princess should. She appeared to exude a stillness even though she was moving. She followed the path Tina had taken, but in a calm enough stride that misrepresented her sense of urgency. Once she was out of view, the dining room grew eerily quite. It was as though everyone was trying to ignore the gnawing sensations in their stomachs that worried for Tina's and Karl's respective well-beings.

Eventually, Honeymaren tried to spur conversation to the best of her ability, "What about you, Karl?"

The young king looked up from his tea and gave her a quizzical glance. "What about me?"

Honeymaren didn't want to offend him or anything, so she just shrugged and loosely gestured to her own ring finger. "Are you – you know – ready for your..."

Karl inhaled sharply once he realized what she was asking. Honestly, thinking about marrying Tina made his heart race in a way that was not pleasant – she was a friend, almost like a sister – he didn't want to be wed to her in any sort of way. Although the thought made him viscerally uncomfortable, he pushed down his reaction and gripped the fabric of his trousers a little tighter. "No." he answered firmly, "And I don't want to speak for Tina, but she obviously isn't either."

Lindahl rolled his eyes and gestured to her now empty seat. "We gathered that much, Karl."

As the conversation continued to fizzle out, the group began to disperse gradually. Katla, Ingrid, and Honeymaren left to take a walk in the gardens. Hinrikka, Finn, and Ryder bolted out of their seats to see if they could find some critters in the garden to chase. The only remaining people at the dining room table were Karl, Lindahl, and Arnold. The three of them were quite used to one another by this point, but something about today seemed eerily different than their other meetings. In a way, it felt as though this was going to be one of the last times they would be together before their fates would be sealed.

"So..." Arnold said, fiddling with his empty teacup, "In the event that we win our case...will there be enough time to stall the wedding?"

Karl nodded solemnly. "I made sure that we set the ceremony for after the clock strikes noon," he told the Botarskalic advisor, "the trial is supposed to be heard at ten o'clock. There should be enough time for you lot to crash the wedding."

"Unless there's procedural delays." Lindahl scoffed and took a swig of his drink.

"I doubt Malkvist thought that much ahead." Karl noted to his friend, "He seemed pretty out of sorts when we first got arrested. He may not have calculated that we are all working together yet."

"Good." Arnold sighed as happily as he could manage, "We'll do well to have the element of surprise in at least one aspect of our plan."

...

Two floors above the dining room, Princess Gilly had finally made it to Tina's guest chambers. To be quite honest, she would have made it there a little earlier but she initially took a wrong turn in the opposite direction and got a little lost. The Vennesvurg castle was vast – its' halls like a maze, winding around every which way. The Botarskalic castle was also large, but it only had two floors and a basement that ran the entire expanse of the castle's dimensions. Although, Gilly and her sisters grew up in that monstrously sized building, so it was unlikely that they'd ever get lost in it.

Taking a deep breath, Gilly knocked on the door thrice. "Tina?" she said, pressing her cheek right up against the door, "Tina, please open the door. It's me, Gilly." she stepped back and waited for her sister to open the door. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long.

When the door to Tina's guest chambers opened, Gilly immediately felt her heart drop. Tina's eyes were redder than she had ever seen them (and trust – Tina was a crier as a teenager). Gilly also noticed that her breaths were erratic, as if she had been running for long distances at a time.

"Oh, Hrafntinna..." the tall redhead sighed, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. Once the door clicked shut, she opened her arms and Tina didn't have to be told twice. The brunette immediately tucked herself under her sister's chin and hugged her closely around the waist. Gilly shushed her gently while running her fingers through her hair. "Elsku litli minn." Gilly's heart broke as Tina's small frame shook with the intensity of her sobs. "It's going to be okay." she told her, hoping for the best.

Tina just scoffed, "I just don't know anymore, Gilly." she told her as she sobbed into her sister's black dress, "I'm so tired of hoping."

"I know," Gilly said sadly. She couldn't even imagine the pain her sister was going through – her freedom about to be ripped away while her heart belonged somewhere else. Even though she couldn't imagine the pain, just seeing it displayed on her sister's face was enough to illustrate the point. "It's awful just seeing how it affects you." Gilly admitted softly.

Tina let out a hoarse laugh that sounded dry, "Before you launch into your little 'buildups', I-I know I'm strong, and brave, and all that other crap." the brunette poked her older sister in her chest with an accusatory finger, "But I'm tired Gills. I'm exhausted." Tina said, planting her forehead against the taller woman's shoulder, "I just want to be rid of this marriage and all of this pain. I just need it to be over with."

Gilly pulled herself away from her sister just enough so that she could lead her to the bed. She helped Tina lay down and then cuddled up next to her. This was something that they often did whenever Tina was having a rough go about with her father or Katla. Gilly would wordlessly follow her into her room and just cuddle her until she started speaking. Usually, that was all that was needed to soothe the younger woman – Tina just needed the space and the safety that followed Gilly wherever she went.

Throughout Tina's, Hinrikka's, and Finn's tumultuous teenage years, Gilly was the elder sibling tasked with 'emotional support'. While Katla was loving at times, she was still the hardened future royal that her father had carved out of stone on his own. Gilly had seen all of the stress that was put onto Katla from the tender age of twelve, so she resigned herself to the role of 'support parent' whenever the situation called for it. Hell, she was even the shoulder for Katla when the future queen had too much on her shoulders.

After a long while of just laying beside one another, Gilly decided that she'd try her hand at getting her little sister to open up a little more. "Have you thought about what you will do when you're free?" she asked.

"No," Tina mumbled, "why would I entertain such things?"

"Because it's what you do when you have hope," was Gilly's simple reply, "you dream of the future. The better one, that is."

Tina scoffed for the hundredth time that day, "Well I must have had little hope because I haven't thought much about an 'after' since coming here." Tina shifted and turned around so that she was now face to face with Gilly. She sometimes hated looking at Gilly during these moments. If Katla and Gilly switched eye colours, Gilly would be the spitting image of their mother.

"What have you been thinking about then?" Gilly asked as innocently as she could.

Tina blushed and hoped that her older sister didn't take notice of it, "...I...I don't know how to answer that without making things strange."

The redheaded princess let out a low chuckle at her sister's admission, "You're thinking a lot about your ice queen then, hmm?"

Tina looked away and busied herself with the ends of Gilly's copper hair, "Perhaps..." was her simple reply.

Gilly decided to take her sister down another conversational route, "So...if you were to be free tomorrow...what would you want to do?"

Tina let out a breath, in an effort to maintain her flair for the dramatic. She closed her eyes and let herself imagine what she would do if she could leave Vennesvurg tomorrow. "Just...escape." Tina said with a sigh, "I want to see the world. I want to travel. I want to experience everything." Gilly knew all of this. Her sister always expressed how much she wanted to travel and explore other kingdoms but because of their father's strict lifestyle (and now, with the knowledge of the 'agreement'), they were never allowed to travel to allied countries. Tina was a bright young woman and Gilly knew that she would benefit exponentially from travelling outside of Iceland.

After another beat of silence, Tina blushed and admitted something else. "And...I'd maybe...I'd like to come home to Elsa and share all my new stories with her."

Gilly smirked knowingly. "Home, huh?" she then poked Tina's nose teasingly, "You'd stay in Norway then?"

The younger princess blushed harder and bit her lip to keep from smiling. "I think so."

"That sounds nice." Gilly told her honestly. She hadn't spoken to Elsa much, but she could tell that they shared some sort of connection with one another. She figured that if Tina was happy, then Elsa would be worth it in the end. "Isn't it nice to hope?"

"It is when you're not alone."

Gilly leaned in and gave Tina a kiss on her forehead, "You never really are."

Tina sighed and allowed herself to start drifting off to sleep, "I guess not."

...

Later than night, when most of the castle was sound asleep, Princess Tina tiptoed down into the dungeons. Although she knew that she needed to rest, she needed to see Elsa before their respective 'big days' tomorrow. With Elsa having to be before a court while Tina was expected to prepare for a sham marriage, the princess thought it would do them both some good to wish one another luck.

When she entered the dungeon, she accidentally bumped into a crate which created a louder than expected scratching sound along the stone floor.

"Who ventures here?" came Gunn-Britt's booming voice, her tone easily piercing through the darkness.

"It's me, Gunnie." Tina greeted, making her way into the small lit area where the cells were.

"Tina?" Elsa said in a groggy voice, as if she was almost asleep. She quickly stumbled out of her cot and made her way over to the bars of her cell. "You should be asleep," she advised with the utmost concern lacing her tone, "we all have a big day ahead tomorrow."

"In a few hours, actually." Gunn-Britt corrected.

"Thanks, Gunn-Britt." Elsa deadpanned before she returned her attention to the princess, "I'm serious, you should be resting."

Tina's eyes welled up with unshed tears and she reached for Elsa's hands between the bars of the cell. "I needed to see you."

Elsa's eyes softened at the revelation. She sighed and took Tina's hand in hers. "Okay." the ice wielder said, as she held the princess' hands in hers. She used her thumbs to gently massage Tina's fingers in a soothing motion. "Thank you for coming to see me." was the only thing Elsa could think to say – she knew that Tina had an awful amount of anxiety about tomorrow and she didn't wish to make anything worse. Tina seemed to accept it and she pressed her forehead against Elsa's, through the cell bars. They couldn't have absolute contact right now so this would have to suffice.

"How are you feeling?" the princess eventually asked.

Elsa just let out a dry laugh. "I should be asking you that."

Tina just huffed indignantly, "I feel like we are both entitled to this question."

Relenting, Elsa just smiled at the princess, "I'm feeling alright," she told her, "just tired of being in here. What about you?"

"Awful," Tina scoffed, "which is why I needed to see you."

Elsa smiled sadly and made an effort to hold Tina a little closer. The bars of the cell, still limiting their contact, felt cold against their skin. They desired to be closer and just hoped that it would all work out soon enough. "It'll be alright." Elsa told her as confidently as she could.

After they shared a brief kiss, Tina sighed and said, "I sure hope so." they continued to just hold hands as they revelled in one another's company. They just truly hoped that this would not be the last time they could do this.

...

The next day was a flurry of activity for Vennesvurg castle. A parade of esteemed guests began to make their way into the gardens, which was the designated area for the wedding ceremony. Even Queen Anna and King Hallgrimur had made it and were being corralled with the rest of the guests. While the wedding day was being executed to the best of the castle's abilities, another event was being initiated just a mile away at the kingdom's courthouse.

A group of royal guards had just transported Elsa and Gunn-Britt to the courthouse. Arnold and Lindahl were ready and waiting to receive them as they arrived.

"Are you ready, Your Highness?" Lindahl asked as he helped Elsa into her seat in the courtroom. She couldn't do much for herself, being contained in shackles and what not.

"Please," Elsa scoffed as she got into her seat, "I'm a criminal now. Just my name will suffice."

"House rules will be what they are, Your Highness." Lindahl reiterated with a roll of his eyes. They both still didn't like one another much, but their interactions were definitely better than what they were a week ago.

"These shackles are too small," Gunn-Britt complained from her spot beside Elsa, "my hands feel nothing. I think my blood has stopped moving."

"It'll all be over soon, Gunn-Britt," Arnold told her while patting her on the arm, "we will get you both out of here."

"So, let me run things by you again, Lindahl." Elsa said, trying to get herself into the mood for formal court, "We will argue our case, get released, and then crash the wedding?"

"If all goes to plan, yes." the advisor stated.

She nodded. "What is our fallback strategy?"

Lindahl took a moment to respond and think through the most logical answer. After a minute, he looked between the former queen and personal guard before he asked, "How fast can either of you run?"

Elsa rolled her eyes but Gunn-Britt considered it and responded with, "How fast is it when you outrun yak?"

Before anyone could respond, an officer came in to give Lindahl and Arnold the signal that the hearing was about to start. Both advisors nodded at him and turned to Elsa and Gunn-Britt.

"Okay, gang," Arnold said, more to himself than to anyone else, "It is time."

The former queen nodded and said, "We've got this."

"Have we?" Lindahl asked with a hint of concern.

Arnold just scoffed and said, "What other choice do we have?"

...

"All rise in the presence of the High Chancellor Dahlström." stated a royal guard, from the front of the room. Immediately, Lindahl, Arnold, Gunn-Britt and Elsa stood as a sign of respect. Their eyes fixated on the old man, coming into view. The judge was draped in a red robe over his black one. He stared at each of the young women before him, almost as if already judging them for the crimes they were being charged of.

Innocent until proven guilty, my ass, Elsa thought to herself.

Once Chancellor Dahlström approached his podium, he bowed to them and sat down. The four young adults before him reciprocated his actions. Once they were all seated, the chancellor began to speak, "Today, we are to assess the fate of two Icelandic foreigners charged with infidelity and..." he made some sort of disgusted face, "...incest." Elsa sighed and shook her head in shame.

"Mr. Varinsson?" Dahlström said, addressing Arnold, "Who are you representing, this morning?"

Arnold stood. "I will be representing Miss Gunn-Britt Hæfnirdottir, Your Honour." he stated in a firm tone.

"Thank you." said Chancellor Dahlström, "What say you then, Miss Hæfnirdottir? How do you plead?"

The personal guard stood tall and said in her characteristic booming voice, "Not guilty."

"Mr. Lindahl? Who are you for?" Chancellor Dahlström asked.

Lindahl stood carefully, never taking his eyes off of the old man. "I will be representing Miss Kjellfrid Skardidottir, sir."

"What say you, Kjellfrid Skardidottir?"

Elsa huffed and stated, "Not guilty."

"Very well." Chancellor Dahlström then nodded towards his court clerk before addressing the court again. "You may start your openings, Mr. Varinsson."

"Your honour, if I may?" Arnold said, trying to keep his voice from shaking, "Uh, we actually rely on Mr. Lindahl's arguments for our case. May he go first?"

Dahlström narrowed his eyes at Arnold before addressing Lindahl. "Is this accurate Lindahl?"

"It is, yes." Lindahl responded.

While the chancellor was still a little befuddled at this procedural switch, so early in the proceeding, he was too worn out to really contest it. "Very well." he told them, writing something down on his parchment, "You have the floor, Mr. Lindahl."

"Thank you, Chancellor." Lindahl said. He started to arrange his papers and Elsa just shook her head – he really didn't need to make a show of things, but he insisted he needed to do it for his own benefit. Once he was standing, he began to make his opening address to the chancellor, "These lot are not guilty because those they have...uh..." he struggled to find an appropriate word to say, "...um...'been with' are not actually betrothed."

"What?" The chancellor asked, clearly very offended by such an argument before him, "How can you insinuate such nonsense? The royal couple is to be wed this afternoon."

"But it's all a sham, Your Honour." Lindahl pleaded, holding up the nullifying agreement in his grasp. He waved the papers in the air, almost as if he was trying to get the attention of the Gods as well, "I'd like to present the bench with these documents."

"Guardsmen," the chancellor instructed, "collect those documents from Lindahl and bring them to me." one of the officers walked over to Lindahl and collected the documents to give to the chancellor. Once the documents were in the chancellor's grasp, Lindahl began to explain them.

"The documents that you are being presented with are detailing the original agreement between the royal houses of Botarskal and Vennesvurg." he said, "I'd like to enter these in as exhibits A through C, Your Honour." Lindahl then looked over at Arnold and signalled for him to speak.

Arnold nodded and stood before addressing the court, "Exhibit A highlights that the original agreement was for Prince Tobias and Princess Arnkatla." he explained, "However, because Princess Arnkatla was already married when Prince Tobias became of age, a nullity was formed and meant to be executed. That nullity is Exhibit B, before you." Arnold waited for the chancellor to finish reading through a few pages before continuing his statement, "As you can deduce yourself, the nullity is incomplete as it does not have the requisite consideration from Botarskal to be fully executed."

"Thus, this marriage has been created without consideration of Botarskal." Lindahl stated, "Subsequently, our clients are seemingly not guilty of the charges laid out before them."

"What about the charge of incest for Miss Skardidottir?" the chancellor asked. Everyone's eyes then drifted to Lindahl.

"U-Uh...h-hold on," Lindahl stuttered, searching through his papers. He nearly forgot that was one of the arguments against Elsa for a second, "...s-she is not actually related to Princess Hrafntinna, sir." he then picked up a loose sheet of paper and presented it dramatically before the chancellor again, "I have a sworn statement from Crown Princess Arnkatla attesting to that fact."

Once more, the chancellor issued for the document to be brought to him by one of the guards. Once he looked over the document, he said, "I see." he thought over something once more before asking, "Where did you even get these documents from, Lindahl?"

Lindahl took a deep breath. "I was helping Councilman Arthur Nilsen organize his office, the night of the celebration for the late king and queen. I-I noticed these documents and decided that they would be better stored in the King's study." The chancellor nodded and considered Lindahl's statement.

After a few brief moments, the chancellor stood and said, "I'll need a few moments to go over these in my chambers." everyone rose from their seats and waited for the chancellor to exit the courtroom. Once he was gone, they sat down again with big smiles on their faces.

"How are we doing thus far, Elsa?" Arnold asked.

"Excellent." Elsa told him, "After he let's us go, we'll show him the source documents for council affairs and the king's will."

Lindahl nodded happily, "That will definitely warrant Malkvist's arrest."

Gunn-Britt groaned, "I cannot wait for that leech to be inside these shackles instead."

"Me too, Gunnie." Elsa said, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears of relief, "Me too."

...

"High Chancellor Dahlström returns. All rise." the guardsman said, opening the door for the chancellor. Everyone stood once more, eagerly waiting for what Dahlström was going to say.

He took his place at the podium and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "After reviewing the exhibits before me, this day, I have reasons to resolve this hearing and seek the immediate release of the foreigners."

"Yes!" Arnold shouted.

"Decorum please, Varinsson." Elsa said through her teeth.

"Sorry."

Before the chancellor could leave the room, Lindahl gathered up the other documents and ran up to the podium. "Your Lordship, if I may?"

"Yes, Mr. Lindahl?" the chancellor appeared a little annoyed but he could tell that the advisor had something serious to tell him.

"Before you go, can you look at this?" Lindahl handed the king's will and the governing council document to Dahlström.

"What is it that I am looking at then?" Dahlström asked, clearly a little impatient.

"This is the source document for council affairs." Lindahl explained, "Go to page thirty five." once the chancellor was finished reading what Lindahl wanted him to read, he then pointed at the other document. "Now read this – it's Oswald's original will. I also saw this in Nilsen's office, when I was – uh – helping him organize it."

"I don't understand..." Dahlström said, sounding a little more concerned than earlier, "Why hasn't this been brought up before?"

"We have reason to believe that Malkvist is trying to circumvent the entire process by gaining power through influencing the council." Lindahl told him.

The chancellor sighed and shook his head. "Guardsmen," he ordered suddenly, "bring the king and Malkvist to me." he instructed, "We must settle this before the wedding commences."

"Yes!" Elsa and Gunn-Britt cried out in celebration.

"Decorum, Kjellfrid." Arnold said, laughing to himself.