It was late at night when they left the castle. It was quiet by the stables, but her father was getting the reindeer ready.

"Are you sure about this?" her father asked when he saw them. "When I brought it up, I was thinking maybe tomorrow. I hope Olaf didn't, um…"

"No, no, it's fine," Inga said. "We had been discussing whether everyone was still outside the room, so Olaf answered that question."

Her father shook his head, but she could see a bit of a smile as he walked back over to Frederick and the twins.

Henry and Inga had a private carriage, while Henry's parents joined Inga's parents in the wagon, and Hilde rode Inga's horse following Frederick and his brothers on their reindeer. Even though the law had not recognized troll weddings for years, they had decided to go ahead and visit to get their blessing.

Inga was nervous. Would they already know? That was unclear. The carriage stopped behind the family's wagon, and the driver stood awkwardly with Inga's maid Oline and Henry's valet James while the families plus the reindeer went into the valley.

Samantha nuzzled up to Inga as they walked along. Inga knew she had been neglecting the reindeer, even though she had the company of the other reindeer and plenty of others, Samantha knew that Inga had been absent.

When they arrived, the trolls were sleeping. Henry and his mother looked perplexed, since even though they had both heard stories, neither had ever visited. Henry's father had visited once. His stories had engaged the children in Corona, but no one believed them.

Inga walked over to her father.

"Perhaps another night?" she asked him near a whisper. As if on cue, the boulders began to tremble.

Inga hurried back over to Henry, who was staring almost in disbelief.

"Kristoff!" Bulda shouted as the trolls rushed around them all.

"Hey, it's you!" Cliff said as he noticed Henry's father. "You've aged much better than our Kristoff."

"Did you have to-" Inga's father sighed.

"What are you doing back in Arendelle?" Cliff asked, ignoring the interruption.

"I, um, we-" Henry's father began.

Just then, one of the younger ones quickly noticed Inga's wedding dress, which she had not yet changed out of.

"Inga, you're married?" the young troll gasped.

There was some chatter with everyone asking questions at once, and Inga's mother and father tried to explain the legal and diplomatic need for a wedding by the bishop, and then introducing Henry's mother.

"We heard so much about you when your husband was here before," Bulda told her. "I'm so glad you could visit with him this time."

The chatter continued, making it difficult for anyone to get a word in edgewise. Frederick and the twins mingled with the younger trolls, and Hilde still looked startled, staying with her parents. Suddenly, there was a hush among the trolls, and they cleared the way for Grandpabbie.

Henry was brought forward, and Grandpabbie looked at him curiously.

"You are not the first to pass this way, nor shall you be the last," Grandpabbie told him.

Henry looked at Inga for reassurance.

"What is it, Grandpabbie?" Inga asked.

"There is nothing you need to know now," Grandpabbie declared.

"That doesn't sound very reassuring," Henry mumbled to Inga.

Bulda came forward.

"You will, of course, come back next summer," she declared.

"I'm not sure-" Inga began, squeezing Henry's hand. She glanced over at her parents, and her mother was whispering something to her father.

"Of course you'll come back," Bulda insisted, glancing down, and then looking slyly at her. "And you'll bring her with you."

"What?" Inga asked.

"I think it's obvious," Bulda replied.

"We'll see what we can do," Henry said.

After some further congratulations and introductions, it was decided that this would be a good time for Henry and Inga to continue to the cabin, and they returned to their carriage.

The carriage began moving.

"So…" Inga said.

"So…" Henry repeated back. He was sitting beside her, with a blanket across their laps. They held hands underneath the blanket as the carriage moved along toward the mountains. They would stay alone in the family's cabin in the mountain for a few days, and then once the Yule festivities had ended, they would sail for Corona, along with Henry's sister and Inga's brother Frederick.

"We're… we're married now." Inga realized how obvious it was, but it was only sinking in.

"We can do anything now, you know, and nobody cares," Henry laughed.

Inga took a deep breath, avoiding starting to laugh because she was afraid she might cry. "Yes, that made such a difference before, didn't it?" she said, allowing herself a laugh at her own expense, but she started to cry, just like she had been avoiding.

Henry picked up her hand and brought her in to hug her. "Well, it doesn't matter now. Like you said, we're married, and I love you." He kissed her on the forehead, and she leaned up to kiss him again.

"I love you, Henry," she said between kisses.

They had barely been alone since that summer, at least not anywhere where there would have been a chance of getting caught, and Inga couldn't stand it any longer. The carriage was moving too much to be thinking about doing too much more than they already were, but she could try. She moved her hand down.

"Oh!" Henry yelped, and Inga immediately drew her hand away.

"Sorry, too soon?" she asked.

"It- it's fine… I just wasn't expecting that. And your hands are cold." He began rubbing her hand in his, slowly moving it back down to where it had been. He sat back and closed his eyes. Inga felt some embarrassment realizing that, despite her reputation, as it were, being narrowly saved by being married now, she really had no idea what she was doing. They had fumbled a bit that night of her birthday party, of course, but it was warm, and the clothes had come off very quickly, and, as she now realized, there were things that they just didn't do at all.

"Inga…" Henry moaned as her hand kept moving. His hand reached down and grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away, right as he let out a cry.

"Henry?" she whispered. He nodded blankly, smiling. There was a bump in the road, rousing him out of his stupor.

She wasn't sure how much time passed, but soon enough they had arrived at the cabin. A few servants had been sent up beforehand to set things up, so they only needed to go inside. They would be all alone. Alone except, of course, that there was a nearby cabin where James, Henry's valet, and Oline, who would follow Inga to Corona, were staying, along with a cook and a few locals hired to help them out. But compared to the castle in Arendelle, let alone the palace at Corona, they would be quite alone.

They walked to the door hand in hand, and Henry opened up the door, and without warning, grabbed Inga up into his arms to carry her inside.

"What's this?" Inga exclaimed, giggling as Henry stepped inside with her.

"Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?"

Inga smiled as he set her down. "I suppose so. It seems funny to be here now, though…"

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking around. "This does seem romantic."

"Well, it's just that I've spent so much time here. We would come up here most summers when I was younger. Less so recently, since there are so many of us, and it gets a little cozy. But we still come up here from time to time."

"Oh…" Henry said, thoughtfully. "I hope it won't be too odd for you."

Henry walked over, putting his arm around her waist.

"I think I will be just fine," Inga said, kissing him.

The fire was already going, and Inga could hear some noise from the kitchen.

"Hello?" she called out.

Oline appeared at the kitchen door.

"Welcome, Your Highness! I'm finishing up a few things, but we'll be in the cabin next door when you need us."

"Thank you," Inga replied.

Very soon, she heard the back door by the kitchen close, and everything was very quiet. She and Henry sat on the rug by the fireplace, and Inga pulled a blanket from a nearby chair for them to share.

"Now then…" Henry said, kissing her.

Frederick was meeting his friends Dahl and Jorgensen in the courtyard, when the Crown Princess Rapunzel called over to them.

"Hello," she said. "Frederick, are these your friends who will be starting at Corona's Naval Academy with you?"

"Yes, they are," Frederick replied. "This is Midshipman Dahl and this is Midshipman Jorgensen."

"It's a pleasure," Rapunzel smiled, then glanced expectantly back at Frederick.

"Oh!" Frederick exclaimed, realizing what he had forgotten. "Dahl, Jorgensen, this is the Crown Princess Rapunzel of Corona."

"Your Highness!" both said with a deep bow.

"Since we'll all be here for another week or two, I hope we can get to know you better. Does lunch tomorrow sound good?" she asked.

"Yes, that would be good, I think," Frederick replied, glancing at his friends, who nodded with wide eyes.

Rapunzel thanked them and headed back inside.

"I knew it was the royal academy, but I didn't think that-" Dahl began.

"Dahl!" Jorgensen laughed. "You've met Bjorgman's mother how many times?"

"That's different," Dahl protested. "I mean, this is Arendelle."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Frederick asked.

"Never mind," Dahl said. "Look, are we going into town or not?"

"Of course we are," Frederick said.

"Maybe your friend will be done with school early today," Jorgensen said, gently elbowing him.

"What?" Frederick asked, trying to think of which friends from town the two had met.

"The one who works at Hudson's when school's out. I heard her say that you're giving her piano lessons now?"

"Oh, Meibel, right," Frederick replied. "I'm pretty sure they have school until the day before the Yule Bell."

Even with the fireplace and the many blankets, the cabin was still distinctly chilly. Henry smiled, as this wasn't really a bad thing. Inga was there with him under the covers, her skin up against his. They had no reason to go anywhere, and no need to fear being seen.

Inga rolled over to face him. "Good morning," she said, wrapping herself around him.

"If this were the rest of our lives, I would be perfectly happy," Henry sighed.

"Let's not worry about everything else and just enjoy it, then," Inga chided him. "I don't want to think about everything else for at least a few more hours."

"I wish we were staying here longer, really," Henry said as he traced along Inga's back.

"We do need to be back in time for the Yule Bell, I… I don't know when the next time I'll be in Arendelle while it's happening will be."

Henry kissed her again. "Of course, that's coming soon. Also Frederick's birthday, I didn't forget that."

"Of course!" Inga laughed. Then she sighed. "Poor Mother, she's going to worry about him."

"He's only going to be in Corona."

"She doesn't want to think about him at sea. She tried to act like she wasn't worried last spring, but I could tell."

"I remember my mother saying your grandparents were expected at her wedding," Henry said.

"Were they?" Inga asked. "I know Mattias said he had gone to your grandparents' wedding."

"I mean, sorry, I don't know if I should talk about that," Henry replied.

"Why?"

"Well, it was when they died, wasn't it?"

"They weren't anywhere near Corona when their ship went down," Inga explained.

"Oh? That's just always what I'd heard."

"It's… I guess that's what they told everyone, I forgot that not everyone knows."

"Huh," Henry said, pulling Inga closer. "I suppose I should learn more about this."

Rapunzel stood outside the dining room, waiting for Frederick and his friends to arrive. A moment later the two turned the corner, laughing and talking. Both became silent when they saw that she was already there.

"Welcome!" she said, gesturing to the room. "I'm sure Frederick will be here momentarily."

"Hello," the one said, bowing. His friend quickly joined in with his own bow.

"You'll need to remind me of your names," Rapunzel said.

"I'm Lukas Jorgensen," the first one said, bowing a second time.

"And you?" Rapunzel asked, turning to the other.

"Anders Dahl, Your Highness," he said with another bow.

"Let's sit down inside," Rapunzel suggested. "Tell me a bit about yourselves."

"I… I don't know what there is to tell," Lukas stammered. "I'm from a small island nearby."

"How old are you?" Rapunzel prompted.

"Seventeen," he replied. "I'll be eighteen next June."

"I turned sixteen last February," Anders said. "My father is a captain in the Arendelle navy."

"What is his name?" Rapunzel asked.

"Captain Anders Dahl," he laughed. "I suppose if I get promoted before he retires we'll have a problem."

"Hello, I'm here!" Frederick announced, stepping inside.

"Oh, excellent," Rapunzel smiled. "I'll ring for lunch."

Frederick walked through the market square, unsure of what he wanted to do. The day before he and his friends had joined the Crown Princess for lunch, which was very nice and surprisingly relaxed, but now there was nothing to do. He had no more obligations before leaving for Corona. Inga and Henry were still on their honeymoon, and Jorgensen and Dahl were spending a few days with their families before returning for his birthday party.

Frederick pulled the letter out of his coat pocket.

December 1st, 1865

Boston, Massachusetts

Dear Frederick,

We were very surprised to read of your sister's wedding, but Elizabeth and I send our heartfelt congratulations! I hope they will both be very happy.

Do let me know when you'll be arriving in Corona, because I wouldn't want my letters to go to the wrong place. I'm sure it's a busy time of year for everyone there, so I'll go ahead and wish you a happy birthday.

Sincerely,

Lars Nilsen

Frederick knew he needed to write back, but he would do that later in the evening. He returned the letter to his pocket, still deep in thought.

"Frederick!" Meibel called out as he walked past Hudson's Hearth.

"Hey, Meibel!" he called back, stopping where he was.

"Isn't your birthday next week?" she almost whispered when she was standing next to him.

"Yes, it is," he replied, not wanting to step away, but still feeling a little awkward. "We're having a party. You're invited, of course. All of you are." He gestured behind her.

"Thank you, yes, of course. What kind of party is it?"

"Nothing special," he laughed. "Well, I suppose my mother will try to make it a bit bigger. You know how she is."

"Well, you are going away soon," Meibel reminded him.

"I'll just be gone for a few months, not that long."

"Longer than this spring." She looked out at the harbor, no longer making eye contact with him. "You'll be gone for almost half a year."

"Well, anyway," he hemmed. "Are you busy now? I think Sofia will be done with her tutors soon."

"I'll tell Mama and be right back, wait here!" Meibel said, running inside.

Frederick stood awkwardly outside Hudson's Hearth, but Meibel emerged quickly.

"She wants me home for dinner," Meibel said. "Maybe I can get an extra piano lesson now?"

"What?" Frederick asked.

"Well, I'm going to have to practice on my own once you're gone. I'm not sure if Sofia has a teacher yet."

"Oh," Frederick said. "I mean, sure. My friend Edvard sent me a new manuscript. It's fairly easy, would you like to try playing it? I think I've already got it memorized, so you can keep the music while I'm away."

"Do you think I'm ready for that?" she asked.

"You're a fast learner," Frederick said, starting to walk back to the castle.

"That's not one of those things that's supposed to mean something else, is it?" Meibel said, almost jogging to keep up.

Frederick slowed down his pace. "No, of course not, why would you think that?"

"Your navy friends were saying a few things that sounded perfectly normal to me but your father told them to watch what they were saying."

"At Henry's party?" Frederick laughed. "I thought you slept through that!"

"I'm a light sleeper, I guess," Meibel shrugged.

Soon enough, they were at the castle. Sofia was walking down the hall near the ballroom.

"Sofia, do you want another piano lesson?" Frederick asked.

"Sure!" Sofia said, running into the ballroom. Meibel followed and sat down next to her.

"Who wants to go first?" Frederick asked.

Hilde walked towards the market square from Arendelle Castle. Her parents and grandparents were meeting with some Northuldra leaders during their extended stay, and of course, Henry was on his honeymoon. She was finding everything interesting enough, and people were friendly, but it was getting too close to winter to ride off to explore the wilderness, and she really didn't want to make anyone feel obligated to show her around.

Crossing through the market square to the empty shelter, she stood looking out at the harbor. The wind was whipping up from the ocean beyond the fjord, and she pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness."

She turned around and sighed. "Hello, Mr. Holst."

"That's a lovely shawl, care to tell me about it?"

She smiled. "It's new, I got it just for the wedding. What do you think?"

Holst hummed. "Fascinating. You know, I've got quite the eye for detail. When I see something, I rarely forget it."

"Oh?" Hilde replied.

"Yes," Holst answered, his voice lowered. "For example, you were wearing that shawl at the New Year's festivities in Corona two years ago."

"How silly of me to forget," Hilde giggled nervously.

"Though it would make sense that you wouldn't have time to get a new shawl for a wedding that wasn't officially announced until a few weeks ago," Holst hinted.

"I can't imagine what you're suggesting," Hilde replied. "But I'm sure you'll print whatever stories you like, regardless."

She began walking away, but Holst kept pace with her. They approached a less crowded area.

"It's always interesting what one can learn from people's reactions," he said quietly. "You can say something that may or may not be true, and people will often let you know that you guessed correctly."

"Imagination is an interesting thing, isn't it?" Hilde replied, wondering if he hadn't actually remembered her scarf, and she had just incriminated herself. "You've found me out, I tried to pass off my old shawl as something new."

"I've long suspected that, perhaps, fashion is not your primary interest in the world," Holst said. "I would be curious to know what else interests the sister of the future King of Corona."

"You're not going to get me to blab about my brother, if that's what you're looking for. Or my parents, for that matter, though I know you've already tried to pin something on my father."

"That was my mother," Holst replied quickly. "Don't blame me for that."

Mrs. Nilsen walked through the market, with Karl and Lars following her.

"Good morning, Mrs. Nilsen," a woman called out.

Mrs. Nilsen recognized the fellow Arendellian woman who had arrived in Corona the year prior. She had a boy a very similar age to Lars. Even in that short time, the woman had quickly caught on that Karl and Lars got lots of attention from the crown princess and her husband, and often dropped hints about her thoughts on the matter. Since the Crown Princess and her husband still had no children of their own after five years of marriage, there had been many rumors that one of Mrs. Nilsen's boys would be declared the heir eventually. She knew, however, that some people simply needed more time, and she had never given more than an idle thought to the idea, even with her suspicions about Lars's origins. Besides, Lars and Karl were practically inseparable now, and she thought of Lars as just as much hers as Karl was. Of course, it had never been an official agreement.

"Did you hear the news, Mrs. Nilsen?' Mrs. Holst asked.

"What news?" Mrs. Nilsen replied, knowing very well that the woman liked to feel she was the first to know everything.

"The Crown Princess had twins!"

"Oh, that is so nice to hear!" Mrs. Nilsen replied.

"Yes, they've been married so long and, well-" Mrs. Holst stopped, remembering who she was speaking to.

"Better late than never," Mrs. Nilsen replied. "I am quite happy for them."

"I do hope they continue paying such attention to your boys," Mrs. Holst said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, you know what they say…"

"Indeed, what?"

"Well, it seems like, what with my boy and your youngest so close in age, and both arriving from Arendelle around the same time, it seems like…"

"I didn't ask for the attention," Mrs. Nilsen insisted. "Perhaps I'll put in a word for you?"

Eugene had managed to spare a short amount of time to himself before dinner. Earlier that afternoon there had been a meeting with the Northuldra leaders, with the Northuldra agreeing to allow some trade with Corona. During his stay in Arendelle over twenty years before, Eugene had only heard occasional whispers of the existence of people who lived far to the north, beyond a magical mist. Even in the ensuing decades, there was only irregular contact between the Northuldra and people outside of Arendelle, so the meeting had been an interesting one.

Ahead, at the gate leading to the town, Kristoff was stopping to talk to a guard, followed closely by his reindeer. They hadn't had a chance to speak outside of crowded dinners and formal meetings, and the remainder of their time in Arendelle wouldn't be much different.

"Hello, there!" Eugene called out.

The guard nodded, smiling once he recognized Eugene, and Kristoff looked a bit startled, and Eugene tried not to let himself think he was glaring at him.

"Are you looking for me?" Kristoff asked.

"Not if you're busy," Eugene said. "What are you up to?"

"Captain Olsen was telling me about that reporter of yours," Kristoff said.

"What do you mean?" Eugene asked, suddenly agitated.

"The reporter who is visiting from Corona," the guard explained.

"Oh, him," Eugene sighed, realizing he may have overreacted.

"He tried to interview me," Kristoff laughed. "I think he gave up on learning anything interesting from me."

Eugene smirked. "He's a man who does his research first. I think he needed to keep up appearances and ask you some questions, but unless something has changed-"

"What research?" Kristoff scoffed. "And, besides, I think it's obvious a lot has changed."

"I just mean- I suspect he knows he won't get very much from you, even if he thinks there's something you know that he doesn't."

Kristoff glanced over at the guard and waved as he headed across the bridge. "You can come with me if you like," he told Eugene over his shoulder.

"Thanks," Eugene said, catching up.

"Can you tell me what this newspaperman knows?"

"Holst? Well… he thinks he knows some things." Eugene glanced around. "We're not going to be talking in public, are we?"

Kristoff shrugged. "It's low tide, and they don't collect any crab traps after sunset, so we can go down there."

Eugene followed Kristoff down to the water near the town.

"So, what were you going to tell me?" Kristoff asked.

"Holst tried to blackmail me, because his mother knew that I was in Arendelle at the right time before he was born."

"Was there anything to that?" Kristoff asked.

"Of course not!" Eugene exclaimed. "You saw me."

"You also told me some stories," Kristoff said.

"I told you about things that happened over a decade before then," Eugene sighed. "I'm sorry, I had thought I would loosen you up and hear more from you if I shared first."

"I believe you. But I wasn't with you every hour of every day, especially when everyone else was gone."

"Right, well…" Eugene took a breath. "I ended up paying her off to keep her quiet, and I know it doesn't look good that I did that, but it was necessary to allow the other rumor to keep circulating."

"The other rumor?" Kristoff asked.

"Lars Nilsen. Most people were generous enough to assume that we were simply nice to him and his brother out of sympathy for their widowed mother, but more than a few people whispered that there must have been more to it, and thought the timing seemed odd."

Kristoff looked at him.

"They immediately assumed that it was me, and the funny thing is, nobody really cared. They assumed one of them would be declared the heir, and it was close enough."

"You?" Kristoff scoffed, looking him up and down. "He looks nothing like you."

"Well, neither does Ludvig Holst. At any rate, like I said, we allowed the rumors to circulate."

"Who is Holst's father?" Kristoff asked.

"Maybe nobody," Eugene shrugged. "He's nearly half a year younger than Lars, and I don't remember any nobility visiting Arendelle around the right time."

Kristoff waved him to follow back toward the market square. Just then the guards they had seen a few minutes before were walking towards them following their shift at the castle gate. The two waved to Kristoff and gave Eugene a slight bow.

"Hello, Siggy, hello, Craig," Kristoff said. "Wait-"

The guards stopped.

"Craig, you've been here a while, haven't you?"

"I've been here longer than you," he laughed.

Eugene looked at him.

"Do you remember when I was here before?" Eugene asked.

"Of course I do," he said. "You two were coming and going quite a bit, and if I may say so, you look just about the same as you did then."

Eugene gave a slight cough at the last remark. Kristoff had started looking at him closely, but quickly looked back at the guard.

"How well do you remember other visitors around then, or maybe locals?" Kristoff asked.

"Most of the visitors left by early fall, I remember well. Anyone important who was interested waited for the princesses and Queen Elsa to visit them, of course."

"Do you have any memory of a Mrs. Holst?"

"Mrs. Holst?" Craig mused. "I remember old Mrs. Holst. She had a daughter who left around then. Come to think of it, she was spending a lot of time with the one foreigner who was skulking about after all the excitement, and left with him when he left."

"What do you know about him?" Eugene prodded.

"He was a newspaper man," Craig said. "But I also heard him say he had a plantation in the West Indies."

"Which papers?" Kristoff asked before Eugene had a chance.

"Not any of ours, that's for sure," Craig laughed. "But I think that's when those gossip papers started showing up."

The clock chimed, and Craig looked ahead to the guard house.

"Thanks Craig," Kristoff said. "I know Siggy's waiting for you."

Craig nodded, with a quick salute to Eugene, and headed to the guard house.

"See?" Eugene said. "Nothing to do with me."

Kristoff nodded, then looked at him again.

"So, Oaken would probably like to hear about your skin treatment," he said in a flat tone.

"It's getting a bit cold, I think I'll be heading back," Eugene said, walking quickly back towards the castle.

Inga sat next to Henry as he sketched in his notebook. They had no plans of going out, but the servants would bring over dinner soon, so they were dressed for it.

"Wait," Inga said as the figure he was drawing became more detailed, "is that me?"

Henry paused. "Of course it is. But if you want me to change anything, I can."

Inga looked. She had seen several of his sketches of her before, but somehow this one looked different. But there was nothing she could find fault with.

"I like it. It still never feels like I'm looking at myself," Inga admitted.

Henry added some shading, then leaned over and kissed her. "I think it looks like you, so as long as you're happy with it, that's that."

Inga smiled and sat back. "Very well, then."

She picked up an older sketchbook lying to the side, where he had touched up some of the drawings with watercolors. She saw a series of paintings of his family.

"These are very good likenesses," she commented. Then she paused on one that she initially thought was of his sister, and then realized from the crown and the veil that it was supposed to be his grandmother.

"When did you draw this one?" she asked.

Henry glanced over. "I did all of those about two years ago. I'll show you the finished paintings when we get to Corona. I stayed up all night every night the week before Christmas to finish them."

"It's surprising how young everyone looks," Inga said, remembering the conversation with Kate and Edith the day of their wedding.

Henry looked up. "You think so?"

"Well, I suppose not everyone," Inga added, seeing the drawing of Henry's grandfather. "But if I hadn't just seen them all together, I might have thought you simply were flattering them."

"I do flatter some people a bit when I draw them," Henry remarked.

"Like me?"

"I told you, I draw you as I see you," Henry reminded her, setting down his sketch. He kissed her again.

A knock at the door interrupted them, and their dinner was brought to the table.