Author's Note: The last sentence at the end of the previous chapter was changed to "my eyes turned toward the window and landed on a white-tailed eagle staring at me" while "you'll die on the inside" was removed from Eugene's speech.

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Page 4

My heart stopped as I stared back, feeling smaller than a grain of salt under that eagle's gaze. He kept looking directly into my eyes―daring me to walk to the window and see his world―but I was unable to move. He flapped his mighty wings and flew into the unknown beyond Arendelle, where I couldn't go. I swallowed hard and looked at Eugene, watching him give the children high-fives. My eyes locked on a portrait of Arendelle Castle hanging on the wall behind him; the weight of "you weren't born to live in a cage someone else made for you―even if that someone is yourself" pressed down on my heart like a brick as his speech echoed in my mind.

"Your Majesty," whispered Mrs. Larsen, pulling me out of my head.

"Yes?" I said quickly, my small voice wavering before I could catch it.

Mrs. Larsen acted like she didn't hear the quiver in my pitch. "Would you like to see the garden?"

My heart was so heavy that I could only force a smile. "Yes, I would like that very much. Thank you."

"You're more than welcome," she said, grinning for the first time all day. Mrs. Larsen waited for Eugene to finish teaching the children easy Italian words with a slow tongue before taking his place in the center of the study hall. She thanked him for lighting up the orphanage with his soul and asked the children to do the same, which they did in a heartbeat.

Eugene thanked them for being such a great crowd as he sat next to Anna. I unconsciously tugged on my fingertips like I used to do when I wore gloves; it wasn't until Anna noticed what I was doing that I stopped. She asked me what was wrong and I lied, telling her that I was worried about not having enough time to make toys for the children. She believed my answer and tried to cheer me up by saying we could come back after Eugene's tour was over. I nodded and smiled, only frowning when she looked away.

"Are we ready to show Her Majesty and Their Highnesses our garden?" Mrs. Larsen exclaimed.

"Yes!" the children cheered.

Mrs. Larsen, the caregivers, and the children took Eugene, Anna, and me to the courtyard while I suppressed the tightness in my chest. At the end of the yard was a small garden with cabbage, collard greens, and summer squash. The caregivers gifted us with baskets of all three so that we could enjoy them for future dinners. They insisted on holding the baskets for us, but we objected, saying we could hold them ourselves. A little hand tugged on my dress during my conversation with Skadi about squash, redirecting my attention from the zucchini in my palm to the puppy eyes looking up at me.

The boy gestured for me to meet him at his level with his thumb in his mouth. I put down my basket, sat on my haunches, and lent him my ear, listening to his whispered question. Once I understood what he wanted, I smiled softly and twirled my hand above my palm, creating a horse out of ice. The other children gasped when they saw it and quickly surrounded me, begging for similar gifts. They all lined up when I asked, each unable to contain their excitement as they waited for their turn.

Maximus and Pascal were the most popular requests. Thankfully, I had Rapunzel's Tangled illustrations to draw inspiration from. I overheard Eugene telling Anna he was genuinely impressed by what I could make. Creating toys for the children lifted my spirit, but a commotion in the background stopped me from making a fully-formed Eugene doll for little Nora. A boy whose name I couldn't place had stolen Alosia's Maximus, forcing Mrs. Larsen to take him away from the garden and lecture him in the middle of the courtyard.

She was so loud that we could all hear her telling him to stand against the building's wall. I frowned at what I had heard, believing that isolation wouldn't actually teach him the lesson he needed to learn. The caregivers around me whispered about how frequently he stole from children and adults alike. The boy jogged over to the building and flattened his back against one of its walls, glaring at the children with toys. His hatred was almost palpable.

"Well, that definitely won't help," Eugene muttered beside me.

I kept my eyes on the angry little boy, thinking about Eugene's ideas for troubled youth. I didn't assume that the child would become a future criminal, but his actions made me think about older law-breaking children and adults who had started out with smaller problems. "How would you handle the situation?" I asked Eugene without looking at him.

"Ironically, I'd handle it by working a little bit of magic," he said confidently.

"What do you mean by 'magic'?" I asked. When I turned my head, Eugene was already walking over to Mrs. Larsen.

Anna came to my side as we both watched him speak with her. He took the horse from Mrs. Larsen's hands and went to the boy, talking to him at his eye level for quite some time.

I glanced at Skadi, who was still standing nearby. "Skadi, that boy over there―what's his name? I didn't see him at the entrance with everyone else when we first arrived."

"That's because he was only let out of his room when His Highness began reading Tangled, Your Majesty," Skadi informed me.

"Why's that?" Anna inquired, equally as shocked as I was.

"Because he stole from Mrs. Larsen, Your Highness," Skadi divulged. "His name is Theodor, but he goes by Slick. He was abandoned on the doorstep of Home for Little Feet when he was just nine months old."

The information filled me with sadness. I looked back at Eugene, who was bringing Theodor to the garden with Maximus in his hands. He calmly told Theodor to return the toy to Aloisa like a gentle father. The boy obeyed him with a sad look on his little face. Aloisa snatched my creation out of his hands and held it tightly against her chest, glaring him down.

"Now apologize," Eugene said without a milligram of harshness in his voice. "She won't forgive you if you don't apologize."

"Sorry," Theodor said to the grass underneath his feet.

"For...?" Eugene urged, placing his hand on his back. "Look her in the eye."

"For stealing Maximus from you," Theodor added.

Aloisa softened her expression as she gazed at Theodor's sorry one. "Just ask me if you wanna play with him next time. We can take turns, okay?"

"Or..." I walked up behind them, making another horse for Theodor. "You can both have Maximus."

Theodor's eyes lit up at the sight of the toy in my hand.

I sat on my haunches again and presented him with his gift. "This is for being kind enough to do what was right, Theodor."

Eugene kneeled beside me. "See? I told you you get more in return when you stop stealing," he chimed in, poking Theodor's chest.

Theodor took the toy with a shy smile as I glanced at Eugene with a warm heart. Then Theodor actually started playing with lonely Aloisa like a happy little boy who didn't know a thing about rage. I sat on a bench while Eugene stood up with his arms crossed, evidently proud of his good work. Mrs. Larsen was as moved as I was by what she saw, nearly falling over herself to thank Eugene for counseling a child who normally refused to apologize for his behavior. I shared her gratitude because he had done something wonderful by helping Theodor get out of his own way, but I was curious about his method.

Right when I opened my mouth to ask Eugene about his initial conversation with Theodor, the bell tower beside the orphanage rang in our ears. He held up the pocket watch dangling from his gold fob and told me it was almost time for our scheduled dinner. I anxiously stood up and apologized to Mrs. Larsen for having to leave, letting her know how much we had enjoyed her company and her children. She thanked us for our time and clapped her hands, telling the scattered children to see us off. Eugene spoke to Theodor one last time in the study hall, murmuring something in his ear that made him nod.

I asked Mrs. Larsen if I could take a drawing of Anna, Olaf, and me along with a beautiful paper snowflake. She pushed the artists to the front of the hall, who nodded bashfully in approval. I thanked them for their sweetness and wished them lives full of love. A beaming Theodor gave Anna, Eugene, and me cardboard crowns in the foyer. We held onto them to keep the wind from blowing them off our heads as we walked outside with our vegetable baskets, thanking everyone for everything.

The military band, still performing musical pieces for the crowd of Arendellians, ended its last segment when we boarded the carriage. Mrs. Larsen, the children, and their caregivers waved goodbye to us from the entrance of Home for Little Feet. Eugene bittersweetly said farewell in Italian while we rode away, motivating the children to do the same. We left behind sad faces and broken hearts as we waved―most of those hearts being ones that had skipped a beat for Eugene upon our arrival.

On our way back to the castle, I finally asked him, "What did you say to Theodor when you two were alone?"

"I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he said, 'someone like Flynn Rider,'" Eugene unveiled.

His answer blew my mind. "And what did you tell him?"

"Well..." Eugene hesitated, "I let him in on a little secret about who 'Flynn Rider' really was at the end of the day, and he practically balked at the answer."

"And who was he?" Anna asked gently.

"Someone undeserving of a little boy's heart," Eugene said with shame and a hint of self-resentment, avoiding her question.

Anna didn't ask him anything else. I stayed quiet as I contemplated his response. He looked rightfully disturbed by the idea of "Flynn Rider" having more influence than "Eugene Fitzherbert" on a child's mind, but whatever he had said to Theodor reached his heart, and that deserved acknowledgment.

"What 'Eugene Fitzherbert' did today for Theodor and all of the children will impact them for the rest of their lives because you stepped inside their hearts," I told Eugene.

Eugene looked up at me with the eyes of a little boy who had needed to hear something nice about himself. I smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"You totally did," Anna commented. "And as a reward, you get to try Chef Fosberg's famous zucchini pie tomorrow!"

Eugene made a face. "I'm sorry, but zucchini what?"

"Zucchini pie! It's good for you!" Anna went on a tangent about all the things our chef could do with zucchini.

She made me hungrier by the second; fortunately, Kasper got us past the castle's gates before my stomach could start growling. The military band members stood in the courtyard like unbreathing sentinels as Aksel helped us out of the carriage. We took off our cardboard crowns and gave them to Gerda at the entrance. Kai welcomed us back before stepping aside to give us a view of the grand dining table in the entrance hall, which had already been set with bone china, sparkling flute glasses, and gleaming silverware. The Coronan and Arendellian banners covering the walls created a picture of the unity Håkon had toasted to during lunch.

Anna, Eugene, and I went upstairs to spiff ourselves up for dinner. Gerda helped me into a cyan dress with a long train and a low-cut back I adored. Dresses that allowed my skin to breathe also allowed me to feel the breeze against it whenever I walked into the open air. Anna decided to wear another unworn dress I had made for her in June, one with a deep emerald tone, beads of frost, and off-the-shoulder straps. She looked stunning in every way.

We both wore our royal sashes to represent Arendelle at the dining table. Our guests―ranging from Eugene's entourage to my councilors and their wives―were dressed to the hilt. Eugene practically embodied the sun in his golden attire and brooch-adorned sash. Each person held separate conversations with the guests closest to them as we all ate Arendelle's national Fårikål beneath the rose-festooned chandeliers. Arendellians traditionally eat braised lamb and peppered cabbage during the fall, but Kai and Gerda had convinced me that a national dish would make a good impression on my Coronan guests that evening.

I'm glad to say that Eugene and his men gave it shining reviews. They called the lamb perfectly cooked, the cabbage wonderfully seasoned, and the potatoes delightfully fluffy. Eugene said feeling the broth fill his stomach was like being wrapped in a warm blanket. He liked that the meal was simple and balanced. I would have regarded their compliments as mere flattery if I hadn't seen them savor the Farikal.

My councilors and their wives studied Eugene's every movement as he dined. The latter whispered to their neighbors while they stared at him, but their faces weren't pink with infatuation. On the contrary, they were sharp with judgment. No matter how polite they were in front of his eyes, their own held an unmistakable coldness whenever he looked away. Lady Dullum, who had been the most constant whisperer out of the wives, stopped her nattering when I gave her a look for being rude toward my guest.

All eyes went to the dessert that Aksel brought out of the kitchen. We were served Kransekaka, Berlinerkranser, and avocado mousse with unsweetened cocoa powder. Everyone except Eugene devoured the Kransekaka slices and Berlinerkranser butter cookies before I could finish mine. According to him, he had been born without a sweet tooth, which thoroughly explained his avoidance of my pastries during our meeting. He didn't hesitate to compliment my chef on the creaminess of the avocado mousse; I tried it out of curiosity after watching him enjoy it so fully, but it did nothing for my taste buds.

Not one man said a word to me about trade agreements, pirates, or death penalties during dinner or dessert. Eugene's advisors spoke only of Arendellian children and orphanages, a conversation Eugene contributed to by talking about how smart and imaginative our little ones were. He never touched his own childhood despite Anna's interest in it. He spoke around it, deeming it "a real bore." Anna, not catching the cue to change the subject, disagreed with him. He insisted that she'd end up snoring before he could finish his story.

I called Anna's name, sounding more like a mother than a sister, and gestured for her to leave the topic alone by nudging my head in Eugene's direction. Anna sheepishly bit the tip of her spoon before dipping it into her avocado mousse. One bite made her wrinkle her nose and furrow her brow. She didn't beat around the bush about how much she disliked the unsweetened course. I felt awful for Chef Fosberg because his experiment was only popular with Eugene.

After dessert, Anna, our guests, and I moved to the royal garden for entertainment. We welcomed a famous Coronan violinist named Ryker Schäfer, who performed "Corona, My Mother" with Arendelle's finest pianist, Jonas Hagen, in honor of Prince Eugene. The piece was more beautiful than I ever imagined, reaching parts of me that clung to every note. I saw myself dancing to the music all alone underneath the weeping willow tree with the stars as my only audience. I curled my fingers into my palms as I disappeared into my imagination, watching myself spin and raise my arms above my head in the moonlight.

I opened my eyes to everyone rising to their feet and clapping for Mr. Schäfer and Mr. Hagen, who bowed to us. I joined my guests in their standing ovation with a yearning for more. Mr. Schäfer and Mr. Hagen gave us more by performing "Sky, Where Art Thou?" and "Swan Tears," two pieces that told a story about a swan trapped in a snow globe who longed for freedom. As soon as their performances ended, I discussed the beauty of the violin and the piano with Mr. Schäfer and Mr. Hagen. I've been madly in love with both instruments since I was twelve, so having highly accomplished musicians in my midst was as thrilling as it was enchanting.

I glanced at Anna several times to ensure she was still sober. She was talking to Lord and Lady Dullum with Eugene a few feet away from me, but the minute she parted from them to most likely use the lavatory inside the castle, I noticed that their body language changed. Lord Dullum's lips fixed into a hard line while his wife spoke to Eugene with narrowed eyes. Eugene stretched his collar, looking awkward and uncomfortable throughout the conversation. Then she said something that made a look of hurt come over his face.

Lord and Lady Dullum bowed to him before walking away with their noses in the air. Eugene stood alone, staring into space. Aksel, who had been standing near him with a tray of champagne glasses, approached Eugene to offer him one. He thanked him for it without meeting his eyes and walked over to the weeping willow tree.

Wanting to know what had taken place between my trade partner's representative and members of my court, I politely ended my conversation with Mr. Schäfer and Mr. Hagen to take a champagne glass off Aksel's tray and ask him frankly, "What was said during Prince Eugene's conversation with Lord and Lady Dullum?"

"They..." Aksel nervously tugged on his white cravat. "They subtly reminded the prince that, no matter how far he's come in the Coronan court, his past will always stalk him like a shadow he can't escape in the eyes of the world."

My heart sank like a rock sinking to the bottom of a lake.