Three weeks had passed since the dinner, Edward had gone with Kristoff every day since working with him ice harvesting. Sven's leg had healed and he led the two horses they stole from the bandits while pulling the sleigh. Kristoff even bought a trailer to attach to his sled to haul even more ice. It took some time but with time, the young man had become a capable ice harvester who could keep with an average harvester. Kristoff, of course, was far more than an average ice harvester and pulled in the most blocks a day, but with the extra help, he was able to get in bigger hauls before they rode back to Arendelle to avoid the bandits.
After they deliver their order, Kristoff would go to the castle for the day to be with Anna. after the dinner, Elsa had offered a room at the castle for the young man but was refused. Edward stated he'd find accommodations in the village with ease and used the money of his first day to do just that.
Not that Edward rarely used the room he got at a local inn. He managed to get two extra jobs on alternating days, one day he'd be unloading cargo and the other he'd be working on maintaining the Arendelle guards' arms. The jobs would usually go on until late at night where he goes to his room to sleep for a few hours and be at the stables getting ready to harvest ice. Due to this schedule he rarely got to see Elsa and Anna, he'd always tell the mountain man to give them his regards but secretly he couldn't help but miss them both.
At the castle, the Queen and staff were all preparing for the Prince's arrival. Elsa had dived into work and tried getting into future matters ahead of time so she could play hostess for the Prince. Anna wanted to help and being bored from Kristoff leaving, she volunteered to be trained by politicians handpicked by Elsa to turn her into a diplomat. At first, the lessons weren't going well with the boundless energy that radiated from the princess but when they offered to teach her how to use a sword if she did well...drastic improvement took place.
With everyone running around busy it was quite rare for them to spend time with each other outside of family dinners. Edward hadn't attended another dinner since the first one due to his other jobs, at first, the royal sisters thought they'd offended him somehow but he shot that down when they asked him a week later when he was in the stables.
"I'm just usually working at that time, and I don't wanna ask for a day off when I get one every other day to work at my other job. The only reason I can keep both is that I work late nights and I accomplish enough work for two days in just one. I truly enjoyed dinner with all of you and would love to do it again but I just don't have the time." Elsa accepted with a sad smile but of course, Anna wouldn't be dissuaded.
"So what about before work, you could have breakfast with us?" While it was true that Kristoff had breakfast with the sisters the young man was always gone except when they were about to go up the mountain. Edward chuckled before answering.
"I don't eat breakfast, I just sleep until it's almost time to go." Anna would have suggested that he sleep less but she remembered that her tutors suggested the same and blushed in embarrassment.
"That can't be very healthy…" Taking her small comment as a sign of acceptance on the idea that he wouldn't be seeing them very often, Edward continued loading the sleigh with supplies. The two men left shortly after that and spent the next two weeks busting their rumps to fill out ice orders. This led to the present with the two men riding back down the mountain to deliver one of their final orders for the season. Between working three jobs and the numerous orders Edward had begun well on his way to getting all the money he needed.
The room and board at the inn as well as food and clothes had been strictly budgeted when he first started, but now he was in good financial standing. When the mountain man gave him his pay, the blonde would put the other 70% in a trunk hidden in the stables. Edward might've peeked once or twice and lowly whistled at the small fortune. From what he understood, Kristoff could very well live in the castle if he so chooses, instead, he generally slept in the stables with Sven. Food was provided for him whenever he'd join the sisters and he generally would wear the same clothes he already had and whatever suit the castle staff gave him.
There honestly wasn't much he needed money for with the way his life was yet after hiring the brown-haired man, Kristoff had gone order after order. The young man didn't mind of course since he got paid almost daily with the work they'd put in but with silence between them as they rode he couldn't help but ask.
"What you saving up for?" The blonde's eyes slid over to his companion and he shrugged in a noncommittal fashion.
"What makes you think I'm saving up for something?"
"The small fortune I saw you stash away in the stables. With that much money, you could easily expand your ice business. Buy another sleigh, get more tools, pay more people, etc." Edward knew that wasn't the reason if it was the ice harvester wouldn't have been in such a rush to fulfill all these orders before winter really hits. Plus there was the fact he hid the chest in the place he slept in all the time, he could've kept it in the castle but instead chose to keep it to himself away from everyone. The way Kristoff kept glancing at him and the road rapidly confirmed he was on the right track.
"Maybe I just want to have a rainy day stash just in case?" Edward laughed, if he had that small fortune he could get by till spring not having to lift a finger
"Or maybe you don't want anyone to find out about it because there's something you want before winter really hits." Kristoff sighed in defeat before slightly turning his head.
"Can you keep a secret?"
More than you'll ever know.
Edward nodded his head and waited for the man to speak.
"I'm planning on ordering a ring." At first, Edward immediately thought of a ring for some part of the sleigh but when he considered the fortune he quickly dismissed that theory. Then another one appeared in his mind and he mentally slapped himself for not realizing sooner what he meant when he said ring. Kristoff was going to get an engagement ring. He knew it wasn't a birthday gift since the redhead had told him she was born on the summer solstice. It could've been just a gift for an anniversary but with the amount of money he saw, it was more likely an engagement ring.
"You planning to pop the question?" The blonde nodded and was jostled when he received a hard slap on his back. He almost lost grip of the reins as he turned to see his companion with a large smile on his face.
"Well don't look so down, I know Anna's going to say yes. You two are going to be so happy together." Kristoff didn't seem to share the enthusiasm as he turned back towards the road.
"It's not her I'm worried about saying yes…"
That put a more serious expression on Edward's face as he understood what the man meant. It wasn't Anna that he was worried about asking, he worried about asking for Elsa's blessing to ask for her sister's hand. The two of them seemed cordial enough and were joined over the bond of loving the redhead immensely, however, Anna was still a princess. Generally, monarchs would use their line of royalty to marry into alliances with neighboring kingdoms. It happened very often but Edward could not see Elsa using her sister in such a capacity. The fact still remains she was a princess and he was a simple ice harvester.
Ordinarily, he'd have no chance.
However Edward recalled the story on how the two of them met and saved Arendelle, he couldn't help but root for the man.
"Come on you love Anna, Elsa knows that. I'm sure she'll give you her blessing regardless if you're an ice harvester or a trench digger."
"I appreciate the vote of confidence but me and her are worlds apart. Have you seen me at a dining table, I'm so worried about making a mistake I barely eat, I don't know the first thing about royalty, and I was raised by trolls for crying out loud…"
Trolls huh, definitely need to pay them a visit.
"...there are suitors lining up for her every time they throw a ball and all of them look at me like I'm a speck of dirt. I try not to let it bother me but sometimes I think that I have nothing to offer that could top what they could offer her." The ice harvester honestly looked extremely subdued and down when he finished speaking. It was odd for Edward to be in this situation, trying to encourage someone concerning their love life.
Growing up, he could count the number of relationships he had on one hand and none of them was anything close to love. They only lasted a night, a distraction that would honestly leave him worse than when he started.
Heh Heh, none of them could handle it.
He shook his thoughts as he focused on his friend, he may have only known Kristoff for a month but he had genuinely grown to enjoy his company. Seeing him down in dumps made him want to pull him out of it almost immediately.
"So you say they offer her so much more than what you could? Then let me ask you this if that Hans guy came her offering her a mountain of riches and all the alliances in the world, do you really think she'd say yes?" A flash of rare anger appeared in the man's face at the mention of the prince's name. When Kristoff told him about Hans, he did so with no effort to hide how angry the man made him when he tried to take over Arendelle.
The question got its desired result as the ice harvester whirled in his direction. "No way! She'd send that asshat back to the pile of shit he crawled from. And if I ever see that guy again I won't let Anna hold me back this time, I don't care if he's king of the entire world, I'll kick his ass!" Kristoff was red-faced after his outburst, Sven looked back for a moment before turning forward. Edward only smiled at the angry expression on the man's face before patting his back.
"And that, Kristoff, is what you have more than any suitor could offer, you love Anna enough to protect her from anything. I know it, Elsa knows it, and most importantly, she knows it. The only thing standing in your way to walking down the aisle is you man, so I suggest you man up and pop the question before more suitors come asking for her hand." The anger on his face evaporated before turning into a smile and he faced the road again.
"Yeah, I wanted to ask her before the Winter Solstice gathering so she could tell those guys she was already engaged. I just hope that Ahimoth guy doesn't try to make a move on her."
"Nah Ahimoth would rather fight the royal guard instead of making a move on her, besides he already found the love of his life."
Edward's eyes widened at what he just said and desperately hoped the ice harvester would realize the gravity of his words. That hope was crushed when Kristoff turned his way again with a raised eyebrow.
"You know Prince Ahimoth?"
Today's the day.
Elsa was standing at the harbor with Anna waiting to see the ship from Blackdust, both eager to see the Prince of the secretive kingdom. As she waited she thought back to a few weeks ago when she had the chance to ask Edward about Blackdust but chose to have a jovial conversation instead. She wouldn't describe the feeling she had as regret but part of her lamented it would've been better if she had asked about at least the Prince.
"What do you think he's like?" Elsa turned to her sister who was rocking on her heels as she searched the horizon. Her lessons as a diplomat had been going really well as of late, while she was not ready to travel to foreign kingdoms, she was intuitive when she sat in council meetings.
"I don't know Anna, the only thing I could learn about him was that he was in the military."
"Aren't most of them in the military?"
Elsa chuckled, that little tidbit of information was a stereotype from everyone that came from Blackdust. King Frederick's warning about their warriors bounced around in the back of her head as well as Baron Rudolf's concern about the prince. When she sent her letter to Blackdust, King Alrick responded immediately with gracious words, he didn't seem at all offended by the letter.
The two of them then noticed a ship with Blackdust's flag coming in the distance, they were accompanied by two slightly smaller ships that seemed to act as an escort. The two royal sisters prepared themselves for anything as the ship came close to the port and the walkway was dropped. A man walked down the plank of wood and before stopping in front of the two women.
The first thing they noticed was how large he was, he easily towered over them, possibly being Oaken's height. He was not fat by any stretch of the word, the suit jacket he wore barely concealed a well-proportioned mass of muscle that rivaled the large trader. He had short blonde hair that reached the base of his neck and touched his eyebrows. His pale face had short sideburns with a goatee at the point of his chin, the only other distinguishing feature about him was his green eyes and the scar he had on the side of his left eyebrow. It went diagonally up under the small curtain of hair and ended halfway down the side of his cheek.
For a moment the monster of a man said nothing but continued to stare down the two women who were trying their hardest not to look uncomfortable. Anna fought the urge to look away or squeak as Elsa kept telling herself that royalty didn't shrink in anyone's presence. Before the Queen could give her greetings, the man's face split into a massive grin then spoke with excitement dancing in his eyes.
"I can't believe I finally get to meet the Snow Queen! Ever since I heard about your coronation I've been trying for months to get the King to agree to me coming here, when he finally said yes I couldn't help but jump on the first ship here! Are you really an Elemental, please show me something." Seeing the large man act as excited as a little child threw off Elsa completely. She expected he'd be some stern battle-hardened warrior looking to exploit her in some way but her first impression of him was that he also reminded her of Anna.
Speaking of her sister, the redhead couldn't help her jaw hitting the floor as she continued to stare at the large man with an unbelievable expression. Fortunately, he hadn't noticed and Elsa was able to pinch her arm to get her to close her mouth as she addressed the man.
"Welcome to Arendelle and yes I am the Snow Queen but I don't believe I've had the pleasure of knowing your name."
The man's expression didn't change in the slightest as he stared at her like an expectant child about to receive a reward. It was as if he hadn't heard or completely ignored what she said before she could repeat herself a voice from the ship interrupted her.
"This is Prince Ahimoth of Blackdust, please forgive his manners. When he gets really excited about something, it's extremely hard to get him to focus on something else, I promise he meant no offense." The two sisters turned to see a slender brunette woman wearing a yellow elegant summer gown walking towards them. She was roughly their height with hair that pulled back and braided into a low ponytail. Her soft brown eyes stood out on her porcelain skin that was slightly duller than Elsa's. The two sisters could only describe her as beautiful as she stood next to the large man and bowed her head to them.
"My name is Lilian, I am Prince Ahimoth's fiancee." That brought a small sigh of relief from the Queen since she wouldn't have to reject a proposal for her sister's hand. Anna snapped out of her trance before bouncing over to the woman with star twinkling in her eyes.
"You two are getting married?! Congratulations, I am SO jealous!" Elsa knew her sister enough to know that while she did want to get married she didn't fault Kristoff for not popping the question, he was always there for her and was attentive when he was. She felt loved by him and knew he felt the same, it would just be nice to say she was already married when someone would ask for her hand.
Lilian laughed before turning to Ahimoth who still hadn't moved and she reached up and pinched his ear, earning a hiss of pain from the man. He turned to her with a scowl on his face only for her to raise a fine eyebrow which made him shrink back before bowing to Elsa.
"Please forgive my overzealous behavior, I was extremely curious to see what kind of magic you had compared to the other Elementals I've seen." That made Elsa stop and stare up at the large man.
He had met other Elementals also?
Anna didn't have the decorum to stay quiet and voiced the exact same thoughts her sister had. "You've met other Elementals, what was that like?" Ahimoth shrugged before answering as bluntly as Edward had done when they first met him.
"Pretty bad was almost burned to death the first time and got electrocuted then sent through a building another time." The way he answered as if he was commenting about the weather surprised the royal sisters, perhaps he was more battle-hardened than the two gave him credit for. Before Anna could ask another question, Lilian cut in and addressed Elsa.
"Perhaps Ahimoth could regale you with tales of his military exploits at a later time your Majesty. it's been a bit of a journey and I wish to find sleeping arrangements before it gets dark out." The large man eyes' slid over to the woman with a meaningful stare that she would not meet but he knew she could feel it was directed at her. He put a hand on her shoulder and stood a bit closer to her with a bright smile.
"Yes, there isn't really a lot of room on our ships so the first thing I wanted to do was get a room at an inn as soon as we got here." Lilian looked up at him with a small smile before putting a hand on the one on her shoulder and rubbing his knuckles tenderly. The two sisters didn't miss the interaction and could tell that Lilian wanted to avoid the topic and Ahimoth supported her. It served to stroke Elsa's suspicions but both sisters couldn't help but smile at the small tender moment the two of them just witnessed. The Queen cleared her throat as she gestured towards a carriage she had ready for their arrival.
"Don't be absurd, we wouldn't let our guest stay in an inn we've already prepared rooms for you in the castle."
"So you know this guy?"
Edward considered lying but he knew he was caught so he decided to come clean. "Yeah me and him were comrades a few years ago after I parted ways with my brother I guess you could say me and him became brothers. We've been through a lot together, there's no one I'd rather have by my side."
"So you two are pretty close huh?"
That brought a grimace to the young man's face as he remembered the last time he saw his best friend. After everything they've been through, all the battles they've fought together and the near-death experiences were all for nothing when Edward betrayed him.
There were bodies all over, blood flowed down the castle walls like rain. Soldiers warred against each other, fighting with everything on the line, ignoring the bodies of their comrades that were on the floor. Ahimoth fought with all he had, pushing through scores of enemy soldiers all trying to get to the throne room. His father was there waiting for him and he'd be there to support him, even if he had to go through every soldier in the castle to do it.
He should've been more careful of what he wished for.
Sitting before the doors of the throne room was his brother, the man who fought and bled for him more than any other. His short brown hair and collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up was easy to spot with all the armored bodies at his feet. In his hand was a curved sword that Ahimoth knew to be called a katana from a foreign land. On his waist was its sheath, neatly tucked into a belt loop so it wouldn't get in the way of his movement.
Ahimoth should've known better to let his guard down, there were dead bodies of men who were on his side surrounding his brother. That should've stopped him but he couldn't help calling him happy to see he survived the war that was going on. He blinked and the man disappeared before materializing in what seemed to be barely visible black dust right in front of him. When he looked into his eyes, the blue ones he was so accustomed to seeing were blood red with no shred of emotion underneath them. That's not what made him stop though…
It was the sword sticking into his chest and out his back that made Ahimoth stop.
Confusion made its way on to the man's face as he tried whispering his name only for his brother to swiftly remove the blade and watch the Prince fall. Before darkness could overtake him completely, Ahimoth managed to hear his brother speak with cold indifference.
"Father ordered no one to interfere with the King and his challenge."
Edward would never forget the look in his friend's eyes as he fell that day, for years he hated himself so intensely at the thought he killed his friend. He thought about killing himself to pay the Prince back but circumstances made that impossible so he decided to be alone. When he found out that he was alive, joy true joy blossomed in his veins and he ran in the direction of Blackdust. It was then he remembered what happened and revised his plans, he still needed to travel to Blackdust but as far as Ahimoth was concerned, his best friend died that day.
"We were close but some things happened between us and it's better if we never see each other again. Which is why I'm asking you to not mention the fact that I know this guy to anyone." Kristoff opened his mouth to begin to protest but Edward cut him off.
"I'm serious Kristoff, this guy will likely try to kill me if I see him and I'm not going to be here long, when you close up I'm getting another job and will be gone before the Winter Solstice Gathering. Please just give me until then." This raised alarm bells in the ice harvesters head and he looked at his friend with a scrutinizing expression.
He thought back to when they first met, the way he effortless charged into the bandits with only his hands as weapons. He knew that Edward was military but he had heard a lot of rumors about the type of soldiers Blackdust had. The bloodthirsty, vicious, and ruthless men who would kill women and children did not fit his friend's personality. He remembered one of the few times they went out to a bar and someone tried starting a fight with him. The drunk patron went so far as spitting on Edward's face but the young man walked away saying that there was no reason to fight. He was kind, intellectual, supporting, and just a nice guy to be around. There were times he'd get a faraway expression on his face but he'd laugh it off after a moment
"What did you do to him that was so bad?"
"I betrayed him when he needed me most."
Kristoff couldn't help but narrow his eyes before asking his final question.
"Then what's stopping you from betraying us?"
"The fact that I want to get out of here as soon and as quietly as possible, landing myself on Arendelle's shit list is something I'd like to avoid."
Ahimoth and Lilian had settled into the room they were given and were now sitting in front of a fireplace. After they left the two sisters, Lilian barely said a word as she stared intensely at the fire. The large man watched her for a moment before getting up and kneeling in front of her and taking one of her hands in his large ones.
"Massage for your thoughts?"
Lilian couldn't help but chuckle a bit before turning her gaze to the beautiful emerald eyes she fell in love with. Ever since their meeting at the harbor with the sisters she knew that he knew something was up with her. He gave her space to think it through herself while being next to her supporting her.
"You and I both know you don't need to offer a massage to know my thoughts."
"Yeah, but I know you like them so I like giving them to you."
The blonde walked behind the woman and began rubbing her shoulders which rewarded him with the sweet sound of her moaning. He loved hearing her and would've loved taking her to their bed but right now she needs comfort.
"You were thinking about your father weren't you?"
Lilian remained quiet until she whispered. "I know you didn't mean it but I still can't forget that night."
Ahimoth hugged her and kissed the side of her head and looked into the fire.
"None of us can forget the night that started it all."
Up in the North Mountain, the bandits were amassing their gear as they slowly began to descend the mountain just staying out of sight of the patrols. Back at the hideout, the leader of the bandits was looking over a rough sketch of a layout of what seemed to be the castle in Arendelle.
"We're finally ready, it was a great idea on your part to have my men infiltrate the castle using those uniforms we acquired from those guards. If everything goes well, then we'll be able to overrun the castle and settle your score against the Snow Queen and her sister. Then Arendelle will be ripe for the taking."
Across from him sat none other than Prince Hans of the Southern Isle. He was wearing a grey winter coat that looked strikingly similar to the one he wore when he was last in Arendelle. He looked exactly the same down to the smug envious green eyes.
"Just remember to beware the Snow Queen, she is very powerful yet also very weak. She fears hurting people with her power unless she's provoked, stick with the plan and we won't have to worry about her."
The bandit leader nodded as he went over the last details of the plan while Hans looked out of the cave toward the village at the bottom of the mountain.
Soon Arendelle will be all mine.
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