Shoutouts to Ibag18,Lechuzape,kvte,Akira-Hayama for the favorites/follows

Also special shoutout to the guest review on chapter 56. Thank you for saying that I am far from a sh** writer, I appreciate the opinion and that I still have you hooked. I do hope you enjoy this chapter and the many that are to come.

Elsa and Edward had split up earlier at the secret passage exit they generally used to avoid arousing suspicion. The young man then walked into the front gate of the castle where he was greeted by the men on duty and called for the few men in the barracks to round every able body guard in the courtyard for an assembly. He planned on saying something to all the men concerning their recent losses and what they would do going forward. As he waited for them all to assemble, he decided to go visit the infirmary to speak with the Captain, and that's when he noticed.

Along all the staircases were an ice ramp that took up half of each flight of stairs. The ice wasn't slippery and had enough grip to stand on without sliding down despite the angle. Elsa's words saying that there was something she needed to do before the Captain got up and about rang in his mind as he continued to the infirmary. As he walked up to the door, two more guards saluted him and opened it for him allowing him entry.

Anna and Kristoff were there, not sitting by the old man's bed but instead, sitting in two stools off to the side speaking with the Doctor. Hector was standing next to the Captain's bed with a familiar head of platinum blonde hair on his right. Elsa waved her hands and something was created in front of her that was up to her waist in height. Edward walked to the noble's left, getting a stiff nod before he could now see what was in her hands.

An ice wheelchair.

The design was modest, just a simple pair of wheels and a seat that was attached to them. There were handles on the back rest for someone to push while on the handrests there were a pair of levers that was connected to a latch that hovered above each wheel. He guessed that the ice mechanism would function as a way to lock the wheels in case the wheelchair needed to stay in one place and not roll away.

The chair's likely intended host, stared at the contraption with a frown. The young man could see a walking cane next to the old man's bed and could more or less what went on in his head. Stonewell was probably thinking it would be a cold day in Hell where he would use either the chair or cane to get around. He'd rather just hobble on his legs or crawl to get where he needed to go but still didn't want to spurn the Queen's concern for him.

Elsa had an encouraging smile on her face as she presented her creation and was pleased when the Captain sighed before scoring over to the side of the bed and lowering himself into the chair using the cane. After he was seated, he placed the cane horizontally on his lap and tested moving around using the wheels himself. He glided across the floor and could stop without sliding, the ice wheels having the perfect amount of grip to be able to hold onto the floor.

"Not a word, from either of you."

Edward and Bowman knew the Captain was addressing the two of them. Both had nothing to say but guessed that someone as proud as Stonewell hated that he was an invalid, so he'd rather not be reminded of the fact. The old man wouldn't snap at Elsa as she was both his Queen and granddaughter who just wanted to help. Bowman was the one who spoke first breaking the silence.

"As you know, the Royal guard has taken a substantial hit with our last attack and we've made an impromptu outline of patrols and positions to cover the village. Now that it's been two days, we should revisit that outline and come up with a better defense plan. The Prince of Blackdust has been moved to his ship by request of the men he brought with him, he said that he would rest until the Queen was ready to speak concerning Rahim. The effects of Rahim have been given to the Prince as he was the one who originally owned them and has stated he's prepared to back up Arendelle if we claim that the assassin who murdered the Southern Isles' Princes has been dealt with."

Elsa, Stonewell, and Edward all turned what Hector had said in their head a few times. While they were recovering, he had been working and keeping track of the situation. It was fortunate he was around to do so. Edward and Stonewell could deal with the guards and Arendelle's defense while Elsa could tackle the political matters.

The blonde nodded her head at the update before speaking. "Thank you Hector, can you have Prince Ahimoth called to the throne room so we can further discuss our next course of action?" The noble bowed and left the room to carry out her orders.

Edward watched him go before turning to Stonewell who had his fingers interlaced as he too watched the noble leave. "We should get going too, before I got here I told the guards to assemble in the courtyard so we can address the situation. I wanted to see if you were well enough to join me in speaking to them."

The Captain gave a shrug and started to push himself across the room. Edward was about to offer to push the wheelchair himself but had the end of a cane pointed at his throat.

"Don't even think about it."

Compared to the myriad of death threats and expressions he received from the old man, the one he was currently receiving wasn't all too menacing. More tired and annoyed than anything else but it did get his point across. Stonewell put away his cane and continued on his own out the room.

Which left only Elsa and Edward next to the empty bed.

The young man turned to face the blonde and when the two made eye contact, the memories of their shared time earlier this morning came to the surface of their minds. What they said still rang loudly in their minds, belonging to one another. It was a happy thought and they could tell the other wished to act in a way befitting to people who were in the relationship like they were but they knew they weren't alone in the room.

Wounded guards and castle staff were mulling about.

They saw the Queen who put Arendelle first and spent every waking moment ensuring they were all safe; and the guard instructor who worked to improve their guardians and fought for Arendelle himself against overwhelming odds. Without meaning to, the two of them became something more than just two people.

They became symbols.

The guards looked to Edward as he was a hero and were proud to learn under him while the people looked to Elsa as their guardian goddess who with a flick of her fingers could make anything happen. How simple life would be if the two of them could just be a man and woman who belonged to one another and enjoyed the simplicities of a quiet life.

Their reality was plain as day and all they could do was just continue to live in the world they were in.

The young man bowed to the Queen then turned on his heel to follow after the Captain of the Royal guard, as expected of a man whose only job was to train the guards. The Queen of Arendelle said nothing and didn't watch the man walk away. They had just met with the injured Captain of the Royal Guard to discuss the current situation and now they were off to carry out their duties.

Just as expected for the two of them.

Elsa however, could hear his footsteps echo in her mind as he walked further and further away while Edward could still smell the winter peppermint that radiated from her. Both of them acted as they should on the outside but on the inside, they were reaching out to hold one another.

The young man walked through the door and closed it behind him, cutting off the scent that he grew to love. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves and focus his mind, he continued down the hallway to hopefully catch up to the Captain. As he was about to turn the corner to the stairway that led to the main hall of the castle, someone stepped around it first cutting him off. Edward had heard the footsteps as he walked and planned on just sidestepping whoever was in his way but stopped when he got a look at the person in front of him.

Earl Edward hadn't changed one bit and seeing him with that same arrogant scowl still grinded the young man's nerves.

The two of them rarely ever ran into one another, a blessing if anything. The Earl was the young man's least favorite person in Arendelle. The few times they interacted were generally him bowing to the older man showing respect for a council member. This usually led to him being passed by without a second glance by the noble. Truly, the two of them never spoke.

What made him so unlikeable was that the young man could tell the Earl only cared for power.

Hector had informed him about the council's plan to use Elsa as well as what they had done during the aftermath of her coronation. The cloak and dagger methods they used didn't particularly surprise the young man as every kingdom had people who used the same methods for the good of the kingdom. Hell, Rahim was one of those methods, a damn good one when the situation called for it. The only beef that Edward had with the Earl was that he pushed to gain more power from someone who had no desire to grab power for the sake of having it.

The Queen of Arendelle was an army on her own and a terrible weapon if deployed strategically. That was likely what he thought when the Earl considered Elsa. He was the one who came up with the idea to cover up the four deaths she caused and influenced her to give the council half of the power of the throne. Then, backed by the rest of the council who looked out for the stability of Arendelle, made certain calls that would maintain his grip on the government.

Hector's original mission to sleep with Elsa and gain a more solid hold on her in the form of either having a child or spreading rumors that the woman was using her guards as pleasure toys. The thought made the young man sick and honestly made him dislike the Earl with a passion but with the way things have been going for him, he was able to keep a neutral face as he bowed to the man and was about to walk past him but a hand barred his path.

"Edward, I do believe it's time you and I had a talk."

"My lord, I was just on my way to assist the Captain in addressing the current situation concerning the state of our guards. I apologize but we will have to speak on a later date."

The young man really didn't want to speak with this guy. He just wanted to talk to the other guards and pick up Lina so she could see her brother. Unfortunately, when he tried to move past the man, the hand that barred his path did not grant him passage.

"I'm sure the Captain is more than adequate to attend to our military, after all, he is the Captain while you are not part of our guard. You are only a guest who is helping instruct our men, you hold no rank so you have no say in how we use our forces."

The young man finally turned his head to look in the Earl's eyes to see that the man was giving him a very pointed expression. One that all but screamed that they were having this talk whether he liked it or not. Technically speaking, the noble was right. Edward wasn't an official part of the Arendelle guard and his position was only granted to him by the Captain in a non formal setting. The council member was well in his rights to have him removed under suspicion that the young man was a security risk due to being a stranger who knew all their tactics and contingencies that he could easily leak to other kingdoms.

Realizing that there was no way out of this, the young man bowed his head and followed behind the Earl. Instead of going down the staircase, they went across the hall which still gave Edward a view of the Captain who just wheeled down to the bottom. The old man looked up and saw who the young man was walking with and a frown instantly covered his face. It wasn't his usual frown that the young man had grown to expect but one that barely masked concealed disdain. The look in itself had Edward more on his toes as he could tell that it was aimed at the council member who didn't seem to notice.

The two of them walked until the bottom floor was out of sight, only one of them were aware that Stonewell hadn't taken his eyes off them until they were gone.

Grace was walking through the castle toward the east wing, the only section of the castle that had locked doors. When she arrived at the door that allowed entry to the east wing, she fished out a special key given by Her Majesty and went through the door before closing it behind her. The woman had only been to the wing twice, ever since the Queen gave her the assignment of learning all she could from the only occupant in the wing.

Garret had previously been confined to a guest room but with the recent attack, Her Majesty felt that the man needed to be moved to a more secure location. That's what she told the woman who didn't offer any argument or ask for more details. Grace however, knew that was a lie.

Her Majesty moved the man to prevent his existence from being discovered so she put him in the old and structurally damaged part of the castle. That of course wasn't true, the wing was perfectly stable, just abandoned due to there being no need to go in it. Since being confined there, Garret had complete freedom inside the wing since no one but him was inside. She had caught him looking out a few windows to the outside world, well aware of the ice bars that made it quite difficult to break through.

He was cooperative enough, he didn't speak much and preferred to just stay in the room he was assigned to sleep in. Grace was the main one who saw him and compiled everything he said into reports for the Queen to look at when she had time. She was also in charge of going to his home and bringing his research materials.

The trips she made there gave her the opportunity to meet his wife and daughter.

The little girl was a sweet little thing that was quite inquisitive and fired question after question whenever the woman would come by. It was quite endearing and Grace had a hard time maintaining her usually apathetic nature but she regained it when speaking with the mother. The wife knew exactly why the woman was in her house and why her husband was staying at the castle. Haruna didn't have a high opinion of Her Majesty's choice to confine her husband but the man in question stressed the importance that he complied. So she helped Grace find whatever materials that Garret needed and generally sent home cooked meals for her husband to enjoy as well as letters. It was what a wife was expected to do and Grace never paid any mind to it.

She did however think about the suitcases that were always near the door.

Ever since she came around those suitcases have been sitting by the door and the house had no touching belongings inside. It was as if the child and woman were preparing to leave at a moment's notice. Grace never asked about it, she just pretended not to notice and be on her merry way when she got what she needed. She told the guards to pay extra attention to the house and asked for the Queen to put more men patrolling the roads that led from the small farm in case they tried to run.

Her Majesty denied the request with the reasoning that she wasn't trying to imprison her people. She did however put more guards in place at the castle that covered the east wing. The gesture was noble but tactically put them in greater risk of an incident. Regardless Grace continued her duties and studied under the man who had a great deal to say.

Garret had explained to her in fine detail the ability of each Sin except for Pride. He also went over how a human became a Sin and the history of where they came from. According to him, the Seven Deadly Sins were all artificial creatures of a now extinct mythical race. This race had the ability to devour any soul they came in contact with and alter their bodies based on the soul they consumed. As such they had no definite shape as well as set ability. The standard for each of these creatures were the ability to heal their bodies and prolong their life based on how many souls they had eaten.

The Sins being artificially made had more limitations on them than they would if they were fully realized members of this particular race of creatures. For instance, Zavis or Envy who attacked Arendelle some time ago had the ability to create any object he's seen. The object was identical in every way when compared to the real thing but would ultimately fade away as it was only a copy. His limitation was that he could only make a finite amount of objects at the same time and no matter how many souls he had, there was always a set mass and number of objects he could create.

Garret then went on to explain that the Sins also had the ability to push past their limits in exchange for shortening their lifespan and losing their regenerative abilities. In Envy's case, he was able to momentarily exceed his limits to use all of his power to create any object he wished. The downside of doing so and taking on the purest form of his soul burned through remaining souls he had stored in his body. So when he was defeated and killed, he returned to his default body completely exhausted and unable to use his abilities.

Grace absorbed the information as well as those of the other five like a sponge and noticed that despite how powerful they were and had the potential to be, they had their share of weaknesses, almost as if someone wanted them to remain controllable. She expressed that sentiment and Garret was impressed she came to that conclusion. He told her that for the most part, she was right. Each of the Sins were designed to be powerful weapons yet were also installed with failsafes to keep them under control.

Father was no fool, he knew the exact range and scope of all the weapons he had in his arsenal. Garret went on to say while he didn't know everything, he knew enough to make hypotheses and theories with facts supporting him. For instance, when it came to Father's ultimate goal, he had no idea what that entailed, the two of them had long since gone their separate ways.

However, he did know some of Father's personal history.

He knew that Father at one time, had a family that he lost. He never told the story of how he lost them but all he said was that humans were ignorant creatures that couldn't be trusted to leave on their own. That made Garret theorize his family was killed by people who in Father's eyes, weren't smart enough to come up with an alternative that didn't involve killing his family. Following his loss, Father devoted himself to the pursuit of knowledge to help better his understanding of the world in the hopes that he could better his fellow man. It was a noble goal in the beginning, however the measures he'd taken to attain that goal were extreme and considered taboo.

Some time passed before karma caught up to him and he was forced to lose his body. All the planning he had set up for so long was going to be meaningless unless he was there. So to stave off his impending demise, he used the abilities that he paid half his soul for to prolong his life.

That's where Garret stopped.

When Grace asked for more detail in how Father managed to prolong his life, the man would get quiet and just stare off into space. The woman came to learn that whenever she asked about his personal history as well as Father's, Garret would go quiet. His eyes would become haunted and he would stay that way for hours. He would refuse his meals and just sit at his desk staring at absolutely nothing, there wasn't anything that could shake him out of his trance. She prodded him, spoke to him, even lied saying his family had come to see him.

No response.

After realizing that she would get nothing from him on the subject she decided to just drop it and pursue other subjects. Such as the fail safes that Father had put in each Sin.

Garret revealed that a way to recognize someone who was a Sin was simply look at their skin and eyes. The tan skin and red eyes were an unusual combination that was an exceedingly rare trait for normal people. The man explained that their skin tone and eye color weren't due to them being Sins, the color came from the procedure of etching black dust into their skin and eyes to keep them under control.

Grace had asked wouldn't having black dust on their skin give them the ability to use it. Garret shook his head and went on to explain that black dust wasn't just a simple source of power for Sins. To them and the creatures who had died out, black dust was the physical manifestation of a soul. Whether that soul be a live one that dwelled in each being, or a soul echo of one who died and their soul was copied and left behind as their real soul passed on. This further drove home the fact that once someone died, they were never coming back.

Even if one gave that soul echo a body and it retained all its memories of the original soul, it still wouldn't be the same person. They may act the same and look the same but those closest to them could tell that they were different. As such, every grain of black dust had its own soul, ideals, and memories that would fight against whoever or whatever tried to use it. The creatures developed the practice of just consuming every soul completely so as to not be corrupted by the myriad of lives and ideals that came with it. Doing so would ensure absolute dominance over the black dust and allowing them to use it as they saw fit.

So the black dust that was used to blanket all the Sins weren't just random souls, no, the black dust that covered all of them came from Father himself. He used his own soul to make sure that if any turned against him, he could control them almost like puppets by using their own skin to move them. Even their eyes he could control, he could see whatever they saw whenever he wished it.

To remove it was next to impossible. There were methods such as the Sin in question being able to isolate the black dust from their body and then shed it like a skin. Doing so though was impossible given that a Sin could only manipulate their namesake in that soul and not the entire makeup, there was also the stone in their bodies. When Talib explained it was their core, he lied, those stones were all anchoring points for Father's influence and restraints. They only allowed a Sin to use their namesake and nothing else. Their bodies retain the shape set by him and their abilities remained as he wished them to be.

As long as the stone was in their body, there was no way a Sin could remove the black dust that belonged to Father because they would only be able to mess with a small part of it and even then, that small part was completely dominated by Father and only followed his commands. It was a rather impressive system to contain such powerful creatures, beyond just having them fall in line.

Another method to remove the black dust from a Sin was for someone else who had the ability to manipulate souls did it. The problem with that was the black dust was trying to stick to its host and removing it forcibly would be like skinning that person alive. Currently, there were only a few people who still retained the ability, Garret being one and Talib being another besides Father. None of the other versions of him could use this ability.

Grace went on to ask why not but was met once again with that same blank stare.

During the times he would just clam up, she would compile her findings in a report for further study for Her Majesty. Today, she was almost hitting a stopping point when she finally decided to ask one question before leaving.

"Is it possible to turn anyone into an artificial creature or a Sin?"

Garret looked at her with a tired expression before answering. "No, every soul isn't equal. Some are strong enough to survive the process while others are not. The soul inhabits a body made uniquely for it, forcing another foreign soul into a body that was made for a soul that is too rigid to allow the change will cause it to break down."

"What happens when the body breaks down?"

Garret's eyes became covered by his glasses reflecting light as he answered her question.

"When the body breaks down, the soul explodes outward and comes to the physical plane. You then end up with a mass of black dust that is searching for a suitable body, endlessly."

Just like Rahim and Sloth's phantoms…

Grace nodded and excused herself as she walked out of the east wing locking the door behind her. Garret watched her leave and took off his glasses then rubbed his eyes. He let one of his hands fall and looked at the ice bracelet that was still firmly on his wrist. For the most part he ignored it but now that he confirmed his son was alive, he gave it thought.

He was able to contact his wife and had her ready her and their daughter to get ready to leave at a moment's notice. When he made his move to free his son, he would run to his family and flee Arendelle. Queen Elsa would likely not appreciate his plan but with all the information he's given her, she would be a credible threat to Father and would have her hands busy with what he planned to do.

While he didn't know Father's ultimate goal, he did know an important one. Father was focusing on the construction of the three pillars so he could get his body back. The original one that he was forced to abandon for so long, the one where all of his abilities remained. What not many people knew was that while the soul fueled the body and pushed it, the body was the one with the power.

Elementals for example, their abilities were only tied to that specific body. If he removed Elsa's soul and transplanted it to another then she wouldn't be able to use her ice magic. Conversely though if another soul inhabited her body, they couldn't make use of her powers because the body would reject them since Elemental bodies were very rigid and unique. Father had tried many times to replicate Elemental abilities and even tried to make a Sin out of one to control but all attempts ended in failure.

Black dust could not coexist with an Elemental, there was no disputing that fact.

Since Father was born a human and traded half of his soul, he was able to manipulate the remaining half and attain many abilities that essentially made him a god to any who were under the influence of his black dust. The downside being that his body remained human, all that power in a body that was continuously decaying. To escape the possibility of losing all of his powers, he stored his body in a space that would preserve it until he could reclaim it. The problem was, to get there required pillars that would act as a gate to that space from the physical plane.

Father hypothesized that this space was the Great Beyond. The place all souls passed before being sent to the afterlife. He wasn't a religious man, humans worshipped things they could not understand because it brought them comfort and taught them that life had meaning. Yet from a logical standpoint that he idealized, Father believed that life had no point. No one life meant nothing in the grand scheme of the world. Every life was finite and time would wipe away all traces of their effect on the world eventually.

It didn't even have to be time, it could just be people who had a difference of opinion and cutting another's life short. All their struggles and experiences just coming to an end in a blink of an eye. That made life pointless. If it was just going to be cut short by another person before you could contribute to the world or because you made a change in the world then humanity would continue to crawl into the future. So Father desired that everyone be educated, his desire would eliminate all conflict and exchange knowledge so that humans could evolve and every life would have meaning.

Yet to do that, he needed his body. He needed the guarantee that there will be no hiccups like last time where a tribe of trolls and an ice Elemental set him back for years. Forced him to leave Talib and others to carry out his plan while he preserved himself. Garret knew that Father was still not on the physical plane, his soul was in scattered pieces that gave him a small link to influence things in his favor.

Garret did not care if Father completed his goal or not, all he cared about was his family. He found out that it wasn't too late for one of his sons, if he could reclaim Rahim then he would be content. He'd wished for Shahbaz but wasn't very hopeful, Talib had already turned his first born into Pride at the tender age of twelve. Shortly after Rahim had been taken to live with his brother. Too much time had passed and he had little hope that the son he taught to value family was still alive.

Shahbaz…

The man shook his head, he had matters to attend to, if he thought about his first born, he'd get nothing done.

Edward followed the Earl into his office and closed the door behind him with a thundering echo. The young man took a brief moment to look around as the noble took a seat behind his impressive desk. There were pelts of many animals lining the walls as well as some bookshelves and expensive looking ornaments. It was a pompous display in his opinion but the young man said nothing as he took a seat in front of the desk.

"Now that we're here, I'd like to get straight to the point. You've been an instructor for the council guard for some time now without being formally indoctrinated into our service. You helped establish security measures and had access to both the Queen and Princess without supervision. Can you see why this could be seen as a problem?"

The question was innocent enough but the young man knew that the council member was fishing for something. What that was he didn't know, but he had been questioned before and taught how to give nothing away while finding out what the enemy knew. Crossing his arms, he pretended to put on a thoughtful expression to seem that he was a bit slow on the insinuations of the man in front of him, all the while keeping the man's facial expression in view.

"...I guess, if I were a bad guy, I could hurt Her Majesty and Her Highness?"

His answer sounded like a guess and he hoped that the Earl would think that he was indeed slow. Unfortunately, his eyes only narrowed.

"Boy, you can drop the act. We both know that you are far more keen than what you are portraying yourself to be. The fact is, we know nothing about you. The scraps of information on you illustrates that you are from Blackdust and were a part of the Mystic Guard who were all but exterminated. How is it that you managed to escape such a fate during a civil war?"

Edward kept an aloof expression and shrugged.

"I'm very difficult to kill, comes with the job."

The noble laced his fingers and put them in front of his face as he looked over them. "Quite so. Which further proves my point that you are a complete unknown and a danger. Twice we've been attacked by forces that our men were useless against yet you managed to repel them on your own."

That brought a frown to Edward's face as he thought back to the men in the infirmary that had fought Rahim and was able to keep Elsa safe until he got there.

"Your men weren't useless. They did their best against an opponent that just proved too much for them."

"Yet not too much for you?"

The young man's eyes narrowed as well as he was beginning to get an idea of what the noble was looking for. The recent circumstances allowed a stranger to rescue the Queen twice and paint him as some hero that was awarded with the honor of training the guard. However, Edward was still a stranger, there wasn't any record of him anywhere. It sounded completely fabricated, that the young man had engineered events to get where he was now.

It was a logical theory, given the amount of information that the noble possessed. Honestly Edward didn't care if they thought he was some mastermind, it was better than them knowing exactly what he was. If they found out then it would be a nightmare.

"Both times I've had help. His Highness Ahimoth and Prince Consort Kristoff helped repel Zavis the first time in which I was injured. The second time Her Majesty and her personal guard were there to assist me. With a war hero and a woman capable of freezing a kingdom on her own, you can see how I managed to deal with those attacks."

The Earl nodded his head and got out of his chair to look outside the window that was behind him while placing his hands behind his back.

"Yes, both the Prince and Her Majesty were there to assist you. However, one cannot help but think the personal ties you have to the two of them would influence their judgement."

"You can't seriously be suggesting that they're lying."

The noble did not turn around and kept his face away from the young man, letting the accusation remain between them for a few more moments.

"His Highness is also from Blackdust with having the reputation of being the current Commander of the Mystic Guard. Who's to say that position wasn't given to him after the loss of all the other soldiers, maybe there were others who were more qualified for the position. Strange how he survived the massacre and rose in rank, miraculous if say so myself…"

The frown on Edward's face deepended and he was glad the noble was facing away from him. This man had the nerve to insinuate that Ahimoth was only given the position because there were no other candidates. That he actually planned on having all of his comrades slaughtered. The young man clenched his fingers but remained quiet and reined his anger before he spoke.

"There was nothing miraculous about it. His Highness almost died during the civil war and was on his way to rendezvous with the remainder of his comrades but was unfortunately too late."

The Earl then turned around with an intense expression.

"And how would you know that?"

Shit!

Edward wasn't thinking when he came to Ahimoth's defense. The way he said that seemed like he was actually there during that night and knew what happened. While it was no secret that the Mystic Guard of Blackdust had all been wiped out in a single night, no one knew the specifics of what actually happened. He made an emotional response and now he was paying for it. Thankfully, his facial expression didn't shift so he didn't look like he was surprised or startled.

"Both His Highness and His Majesty explained what happened."

"Really now, and pray tell if you weren't there then where were you during their demise."

"Unfortunately, I had confused priorities and chose the wrong side. As such of my actions, I was banished from Blackdust. His Majesty just recently offered me a chance at redemption if I assisted him but I refused as I am still in debt to her Majesty."

The tone he spoke in was the same one he spoke during their talk but his eyes were different. Edward couldn't help it, his eyes were glaring daggers at the noble in front of him but he held his tongue from saying what was really on his mind.

"So...you admit to choosing the wrong side during a civil war and were banished for it? If the rumors are true, the previous King of Blackdust was quite the perverse person, yet you sided with him. Such a choice throws into question your character and if it is wise to keep such an unknown around so close to the Queen."

"Isn't that the reason she has a personal guard, there's also the Captain himself. I'm sure the two of them have considered every threat to Her Majesty and have taken steps to address them."

The Earl strolled over to the side of his desk and sat on it with his fingers interlaced in his hands while looking at the young man still sitting in the chair. "You are correct, the two of them are safeguards to ensure her safety. Yet somehow, more often than not, I see them more when Her Majesty is not around…"

A very pointed look came over the noble's face as he leaned over so the two of them were eye level.

"...the same applies to you."

Edward met his gaze unflinchingly and gave nothing away as he remained silent. Right now, he had to be very deliberate in what he said, one wrong word or gesture could give the noble the evidence that he was looking for.

"As you said, I'm not an official part of Arendelle's military. As such, I'm not employed full time and there are times where I leave the castle to go about my own business when I am not needed. It has never once crossed my mind to consider what Her Majesty does in her free time. So forgive me if I find it dubious that you are suggesting that there's a correlation between her going off on her own and me not staying around the castle when I'm not needed."

The young man made a logical and sound argument. Him just hanging around the castle just doing nothing was more suspicious than him leaving and doing his own thing as everyone does after work. He waited for the noble to frown when he realized that his argument was baseless but instead he spoke again.

"If that's true then why did you and Her Majesty return through the front gate with her wearing the same clothes as she wore the previous day?"

Fuck!

He should've known better. That night when they first kissed, neither of them were thinking. He should've had her go through the secret passage and sneak back into her room instead of walking through the front gate. He was too heartbroken after he denied the idea of them being together because of his fear of Wrath. He was careless and now it was coming back to haunt him.

Edward could see the smugness that swirled in the noble's eyes as he remained silent. He watched the council member straighten up and walk slowly around his desk while trailing a hand on the surface.

"I must admit, it was difficult to find a trail that you left behind. I've had numerous men keep an eye on you which you managed to shake off plenty of times and completely disappear. Honestly, you were a ghost, so I thought it would be better if we just watched the Queen. Despite her many years of preparation, she's still quite new to the world of politics and how even the smallest of gestures or signs can bring about massive repercussions. You two are quite adorable to be honest, pretending to mean nothing to one another and having stolen moments together. That dance at the Gathering was quite the moment."

The young man said nothing as the noble sat back down at his desk and leaned back into his chair with a smug smile. Bastard knew he had him and just wanted to enjoy it. Edward allowed himself to imagine how easy it would be to reach over and shut the man's mouth with hardly any effort. The only reason that Edward didn't lose his shit for this guy making fun of what were some sensitive topics for him was how it could come back to hurt Elsa. The amount of self control it took for him to just sit in that chair and look at this guy was astounding.

"You've grown quite close to the Queen and succeeded where Hector has failed. You've already had a modicum of control over her when she has slowed down her work ethic after our first interaction. If it were to get out that a banished traitor has grown closely to the Queen of Arendelle then our reputation would suffer and I cannot allow that. My first instinct was to send you away as you are still an unknown variable and we cannot risk you being a spy. However that doesn't have to be the case…"

"Just say what you want already."

The noble had a brief scowl cross his face before he wiped it away. "In exchange for allowing you to continue staying here, I would like that you started to...how should I put it...consort with me on how matters should be conducted and assist Her Highness in seeing my point of view."

Edward let that sink while he was aware of Wrath taking an interest in the conversation. "You want me to influence Her Majesty to go along with your wishes?"

"Yes."

With that simple word, Edward wanted to leap over the desk and tear this man into itty bitty pieces. How dare he ask the young man to betray Elsa in such a way. Stonewell would've lost his shit if he were here and honestly, Edward would love to see the old man get out of his wheelchair to kick this guy's ass. Especially after all that the blond confided into him about how she felt about being Queen; no, it would be a very cold day in Hell before this came to pass.

The young man spoke in a very curt tone that left no room for argument. "No. I will not betray the person who has given me aid and a means to provide for myself when I had nothing. Despite whatever ludicrous theories you've devised in that mind of yours, I will continue to do what I'm tasked to until I am dismissed by the Captain or Her Majesty who is the ruler here."

The young man rose from his seat. "Due to my debt to her, I am honor bound to disclose this conversation to her as she is the one I answer to, not you. I regret that I could not be of any assistance to you my lord. Excuse me." He then gave a curt bow and turned on his heel to leave the room. As he placed his hand on the handle and turned it to open the door the noble spoke one final time.

"It's quite odd to see a man who is willing to massacre innocent women and children have so much honor when it comes to a woman he cares about. There's little doubt that you care about your own situation versus her Majesty and would sacrifice for her sake. But from one veteran to the world of politics to a novice, you should be aware of how your actions both in the past and the future can impact the world around you. Especially when someone whose entire image is based on being diplomatic and violence being the absolute last resort, is so close to a man with innocent blood on his hands. Makes you wonder how much of her image is a lie."

Edward said nothing, the coin in his pocket watch appeared in his mind and he remembered what it meant. He didn't hesitate or show any signs that what the noble said bothered him. He just left the room and made his way to the courtyard where Stonewell looked like he just finished speaking to the guards. The old man looked up from his wheelchair at the frown that was plastered on the young man's face and took out the cigar that was in his mouth.

"How bad is it?"

Edward knew what Stonewell was asking. He wanted to know how screwed they were. The moment the Earl wanted to speak with him directly, they both knew that something was wrong. The Captain knew the dangers of Elsa being with Edward and did his best to mitigate them but he knew one day that it would come out. He just wanted to know if today was that day.

"He knows."

Stonewell crushed the cigar in his hand not minding that it was still lit.

"And here I was thinking being stuck in this chair would be my biggest headache."

Yeah! Another chapter after a week, I feel great knowing that I did it. However I still kind of feel that this chapter was a little meh. More informative than anything else. Aww well it got my point across and set things up for later. I really hope I didn't make a discontinuity issue, i did this during a 12 hour shift and Im tired. Anyway please review or pm me if you wish to contact me, I will reply back as soon as possible.