#Agnarr being clueless
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A Woman of Consequence
A new Agduna story from the canon-compliant WAIL series with @the-spastic-fantastic who also helped me brainstorm this piece and wrote all of Henrik’s best lines, remaining the best beta ever! This takes place right before Only in Dreams.
Summary: Iduna attends a garden party hosted by the the king and attended by several eligible young ladies, one of whom is particularly unpleasant.
Agnarr hadn’t even meant to invite her, she didn’t think. He had mentioned the garden party while she was tending to the comfrey shrubs in her medicinal gardens, pruning them a bit so they didn’t take over other sections of the neatly ordered rows. Agnarr had come out after a council meeting focused on international relations and sighed.
“Lady Wollen has invited just as many foreign women to come this time as she did for my birthday ball. I’ll have to speak to them all and at least pretend to consider proposing courtship or a better trade partnership. I’m not even sure which they want.” He rubbed at the back of his neck and then his eyes. Iduna didn’t know if the flare of anger she felt at his words was for him or these nameless women who would come and hold his hand and promise riches from their kingdom in order to secure a good relationship with his.
Her response was a muttered “Mmmmmm,” as she continued her work, careful to keep her attention on the purple blooms of comfrey and not on his eyes. What good would it do to even hope she could be one of the women he considered for a bride? She had lived in Arendelle long enough to learn that kings didn’t marry commoners. Especially orphaned commoners from lands that were at war with their kingdoms. His friendship would have to be enough, even if there were days when sharing what was on their minds - like the need to court and marry a foreign royal - was a thorn deep in her palm, pulsing with every movement.
“Could you come, Iduna?” She moved her hand to the next section of green brush to trim, only then seeing his hand come to rest in the spot where hers had been only a moment before. She paused and looked at him. Had he been about to touch her hand? “I would like to have a friend there. Among the wolves.”
She smiled at him like she would for a customer, not letting him see the longing her heart felt for a different question. “Yes, Your Majesty. Of course I’ll come.”
So now here she was, a month later, pressing her hands along the pleats of her dress, a simple but well-made blue silk borrowed from Maddie. It was not as formal, perhaps, as the dresses on the other women present at the garden party, but it was fancier than the dresses she wore when working at Mr. Visser’s Apothecary. Besides, Greet had insisted she at least change clothes before walking to the castle from her job in Market Square and Greet was very convincing when she wanted to be.
The decorative gardens weren’t a part of the castle grounds that Iduna knew very well. The medicinal gardens felt like her own land and technically they were ever since Agnarr gifted her with the plot upon her graduation from the academy. The council meeting room, the library, the rooms that had been used for classes – all of them felt comfortable to her. She had even spent the night on two occasions – once during the Rock Pox epidemic and once years before when a blizzard kept her and some of the other students from walking home.
Today, though, the castle felt unfamiliar.
Maybe it was the dozens of visiting dignitaries, most of them young women hoping to find a match with the young king. They were dressed in finery that was surely not borrowed from a slightly shorter friend and walked in the graceful, dainty steps of those not used to avoiding cobblestones cracked in the street or darting past an errant cart or the leavings of a horse. She recognized a few of them from the ball on Agnarr’s birthday. Some even wore the crocus pins he had given out that night as gifts from the kingdom.
Her hand went to the necklace hidden beneath the high collar of her dress, a fossil inlaid with gold on a delicate chain. It had been her present from Agnarr that night and, though she normally admired it from its spot hanging on her bedpost instead of wearing it and worrying it might be damaged during her work, today she had worn it to feel its cool weight on her skin. It was a reminder that Agnarr thought of her, of the time they had spent together while still young and unencumbered by the future, and of her hope that they could remain friends even as he drew closer to selecting a bride. A talisman she could draw strength from, a token of his care.
She saw Elias and Captain Calder speaking to a man in the naval uniform of the Southern Isles and Henrik smiling winsomely at a woman in a heavily brocaded gown. Iduna laughed to herself, wondering if she’d soon have to brew one of the remedies that Henrik was so dependent upon for his thriving relationships with women. This woman leaned close to Henrik and whispered something in his ear and Iduna watched as Henrik’s hand disappeared between her shawl and her skirt.
Agnarr, Lady Wollen, and a young woman dressed in a white gown with lace dripping from the sleeves and collar entered the garden from the gate closest to the castle. Agnarr raised a hand in greeting to Iduna and steered his companions over to her. When they were only a few steps away from each other he made introductions.
“Iduna! This is Lady Alexsandra, sister to the Duke of Weselton. I believe-”
“And granddaughter to the Tsarina,” the woman said, eyelashes fluttering at Agnarr. He looked a little confused and Lady Wollen fixed the young woman with the same glare she reserved for councilors who spoke out of turn.
“Um, yes.” Agnarr rallied. “I believe you both met briefly at the ball?”
“Enchanté,” she said to Iduna, looking anything but.
“Nice to see you again.” Iduna nodded to her and was about to ask about her travel when Lady Wollen spoke.
“We were just talking about you, Iduna. Agnarr mentioned that we should be sure to include your medicinal gardens on a tour for the visitors.” Lady Wollen turned to Alexsandra with a smile and added “Iduna is the best of Arendelle, an example of how well foreigners are welcomed and become citizens, how they have helped build our kingdom into the wealthy state that it is.”
Lady Alexsandra pursed her lips, like she’d just noticed her own hem was already soaked in two inches of mud though Iduna didn’t think the tilt of her upturned chin gave her the range to see down that low.
“Yes I’ve been quite shocked by how...permissive Arendelle is in citizenry. In Weselton, only fourth generation families have the right to apply.” She looked over at Elias and Captain Calder, pointing with her pointy chin. “And it’s certainly never granted to those who are more Antilles françaises than français.”
Iduna was so shocked that she could only watch as red crept up from the skin at Agnarr’s collar all the way out to the tips of his ears. “The Calders are a beloved family.”
Alexsandra smiled and put a hand to her chest. “Oh, I’m sure they are! Doubtless they have served the monarchy well to be so close to you. And a strong queen would no doubt steer you even more dependably.”
Iduna wasn’t sure where to look at that particular pronouncement, but hazarded a quick one at Lady Wollen who seemed to be very preoccupied with breathing through her nose and then at Agnarr who was slowly shaking his head and opening his mouth without any sound. Eventually, he stumbled over a goodbye.
“If you’ll excuse me, I must make the rounds to my guests. But Iduna, I will seek you out once that is sorted.” He kissed the back of Lady Alexsandra’s hand, but his eyes were on Iduna and he bowed his head to her and Lady Wollen before walking briskly towards the groups of ladies who were already watching his approach.
“I must leave as well,” Lady Wollen said and Iduna thought she heard a note of apology in her voice. “We weren’t expecting your presence at the close of our council meeting, Lady Alexsandra. There are some details I must discuss with Lord Hannesel before he leaves.”
Iduna watched as she left, wondering what she could possibly say to this woman who had apparently attended a council meeting uninvited and then besmirched the heritage of the Calder children. She watched as Gerda walked nearby with a tray of ice water, offering it to the gathered groups and as Lady Wollen put a hand on Henrik’s arm, drawing him away from his latest lady of interest, and spoke to him. Alexsandra seized upon the silence between them.
“I remember you from the ball. The king started the dancing with you. And then he spoke of you through most of our dance.”
Iduna flushed and nodded, unsure what was expected of her in this conversation that felt more like an accusation.
“His little orphan friend, so brave to start anew after losing her whole family. You know,” she said, as she put a hand on Iduna’s elbow and then took it away quickly, wiping her fingers on the handkerchief that was draped over the beaded reticule on the crook of her own elbow, “Most queens don’t even mind when the king chooses a mistress or continues a romance established prior to the marriage. Especially with a commoner like a shop girl or a servant. A king can seek satisfaction wherever he pleases, but it’s the queen’s chambers he’ll come to every night for an heir and the glory of the kingdom.”
Iduna blinked and took a step back. “Excuse me?”
“I know I wouldn’t be fussed about a mistress. It’s all very inconsequential when one is wearing a crown.” She reached in her reticule for a fan and snapped it open, waving it quickly in front of her face and sighing.
“But not all the women here are as likely to be as open-minded and understanding as me. Now, do be a dear and fetch me some water. This bright sun is bringing on a headache.”
Iduna took a breath as if slapped, too stunned to speak. She thought about telling Alexsandra she would never get her water, or getting a glass and then tossing the contents in her face, but decided appearing to comply with her rude directions gave her the perfect opportunity to just leave. And as her heart was pounding and something was rising in her throat and behind her eyes, leaving quickly was suddenly very important. She gave an exaggerated curtsey and managed to walk several paces away before she felt tears hot and heavy in her eyes and ran into the solid form of Henrik.
“Here, come with me,” he said gently.
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and he put an arm around her waist and guided her into the castle courtyard, walking briskly all the way across the bridge connecting the castle to Market Square and slowing his pace only when they were in a small side street that would eventually lead to Fiske’s. As they walked, Iduna untucked the necklace from her bodice, gripping it tightly.
She had been so stupid.
She was just like the necklace. That's all she could be to him. Hidden. Something beautiful once, but now on a chain, kept out of sight.
“Well, she certainly seemed vile,” said Henrik, his voice light and almost teasing, even though the quickness of his pace and the furrow of his brow indicated a different weight to the interaction he must have witnessed.
“She didn’t say anything untrue. Or nothing much untrue, anyway,” Iduna said softly, straightening a bit so that she wasn’t leaning on Henrik as heavily.
Henrik stopped and dropped his hand from around her waist and looked at her. “If she said that Agnarr doesn’t care for you, or that you don’t have a place here, that was untrue. That was a damn lie.”
Iduna had stopped when he did, but began walking instead of answering him. She didn’t know what to say.
“She was a ridiculous woman in a ridiculous dress, trying to wear white like Queen Victoria on her wedding day. Like she hoped it might give Agnarr a sudden idea and they could head to the bishop instead of the party.” He huffed a bit as he walked, running to catch up to her. “Slow down, Iddy. I’m out of breath.”
Iduna slowed her pace but still didn’t speak. Swallowing down the lump in her throat was taking precedence.
“But listen. Iddy.” Henrik was next to her again, keeping pace and speaking so earnestly it made the lump bigger and she wished he would stop. “If you ever want to leave Arendelle, if you ever want to start anew, you can. My mother is always looking for sound investments and your medical concoctions and skills are sorely needed in England and on the continent.”
Iduna wiped at her eyes and nose, turning her head away from Henrik. He fumbled in his pockets and pulled out a handkerchief, thrusting it into her hands.
“I leave soon for England and I can set you up with a job there. With my mother’s company or as my own personal remedy maker or we set you up with your own shop. Believe me. There is quite the market there."
Iduna used the handkerchief to wipe at her eyes and then nose and then balled it up and clutched it in her hand. "Caused by you?"
Henrik laughed. “There you are,” he said and Iduna didn’t think he was talking about Fiske’s, now just yards from where they stood. He patted her awkwardly on the arm. “But, please, don’t pay any mind to what people like her say. She’s jealous because for all her airs, she knows that you’re better than her.” Iduna rolled her eyes, but Henrik just shook his head. “No, I mean it. You’re the one who saved Arendelle during an outbreak. You’re the one who got invited to the council not because of family connections, but because of who you are. And you’re the one that Agnarr cares about. And someone like her - who looks at him and just sees a crown, it must drive her mad.”
They stood in silence for a few moments until she gave a small shrug and wiped her eyes. “He is a good friend.”
Henrik opened his mouth as though he was going to say something, then sighed and rubbed his face. “Just - Iddy, if you need to leave Arendelle, you’ll have opportunities elsewhere. You have my word. But please don’t consider leaving because of a woman like that.”
She held out her hand, offering the handkerchief back and he took it, squeezing her hand as he did.
“Thank you, “ she said.
“You’re welcome, Iddy. And remind those roommates of yours about my going-away party. I want to have everyone I care about there.”
Iduna nodded and took a shaky breath. “Sounds like I should start a new batch of your most frequently requested treatment in preparation.”
Henrik smiled and waggled his eyebrows. “That would be very wise.”
Iduna turned and walked the rest of the way by herself and before she was all the way up the stairs she had taken off the necklace, vowing to find a new place for that wouldn’t be visible from her bed. She would bury it out of sight and maybe the memory of today would hurt less.
***
Lady Wollen sighed as she undid the buckles on her shoes and rolled down her stockings, then put her feet up on the stool and settled against the down pillow. The large window of her bedroom looked out over Market Square and had a beautiful view of the castle, but tonight she kept her eyes closed.
She needed a break.
The young king was so earnest and so kind and had so many wonderful ideas for advancing the kingdom’s interests as well as those of its citizens. He was more patient than his father had been and more compassionate as well. He understood the gravity of his position and took it seriously, even at the tender age of eighteen. But sometimes he could be a complete idiot.
He hadn’t recognized Alexsandra’s uninvited arrival at the council meeting as the serious problem that it was. He hadn’t perceived the language of manipulation and patronizing tone in her interactions with Iduna. And he apparently didn’t understand the workings of his own heart which were literally painfully obvious to those around him.
Today, it had been painful for Iduna. If Henrik hadn’t gone to rescue her from what was surely a dreadful conversation with Alexsandra, worse things than bee stings and spilled lemonade would have marred the garden party. And perhaps had a permanent international impact if Agnarr had realized what was happening and ordered the Weselton delegation to leave or cut off trade relations to censure the rudeness of its delegates.
She reached for the flask in her pocket and set it down on the side table with a sigh. Empty.
If the king didn’t ask to court Iduna soon, she might have to retire early. Or kidnap them both and lock them in a tower together. Or the dungeon. Or the clock tower. Anywhere that they could remain until he confessed his feelings and Iduna stayed still long enough to hear that no one in Arendelle cared about the bloodline of the king’s bride.
For now, she could ring the servant for a glass of mulled wine and think on her parting words to Alexsandra, reveling in the delightful look of anger and frustration on the young woman’s face as she had told her “Iduna may have left his party early, but she’s the only one out of the two of you who will be invited back.”
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take my scars & make them stars - prologue
Rating: M
Ship: Kristoff/Anna
prologue
Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Sick Fic, Cancer Fic, Chronic Illness, Chemotherapy, Modern AU, Coffee Shop AU, Fluff and Angst, Fluff, Eventual Smut, Angst with a happy ending, Mutual Pining, Mentions of Character Death
Read on Ao3
Next Chapter
Anna Anderson had grown up in a rather… sheltered environment, not that she’d like to admit it. When admitting to a sheltered life, it meant she was implying she was naïve, innocent, and unsure of the world. Which wasn’t true at all.
Mostly.
Being raised in her household meant she was always in Elsa’s shadow. Her elder sister was born premature, and their mother had a lot of complications during delivery. Elsa was labeled a “sickly child” by her parents and family. Anna shouldn’t have even been born as a matter of fact. Her mother, Iduna, was told Elsa would be the one and only child she could ever give birth to.
Clearly, that was wrong. Anna came into this world as a “miracle baby,” but a healthy one. Not one that her parents needed to fret over like Elsa.
Anna couldn’t even count the amount of doctor visits, hospital visits, or nights she was left alone with the housekeepers while her parents rushed Elsa out the door as she coughed wildly in her father’s arms. It was a miracle itself that Elsa survived cases of the flu, bronchitis, and even pneumonia once as much as she had.
“Can Elsa play today?” she had always asked.
Her father shook his head. “No, Anna. Elsa is sick today.”
“When will she get better?”
“I don’t know, Anna, I don’t know.”
When Elsa was seven, Agnarr and Iduna decided it would best to keep Anna away, for fear of her contaminating Elsa in any possible way. Her sister began wearing gloves on the regular. A mask over her face anytime they visited highly populated places. There were no more family vacations, no more sneaking outside to play, no more leaving the house.
Anna was ripped away from her first year of kindergarten as she and Elsa had begun homeschooling instead. Not together, of course. They weren’t allowed to be in the same room hardly, let alone do schoolwork together. Anna was removed from school because of the germs she could contract from other children. The possibility of having friends was suddenly unavailable.
Her parents were often busy with work as well. With Agnarr being the CEO of the family business, and Iduna often shoveling whatever overloaded paperwork he had, they didn’t have time to homeschool their children themselves. They had money for that. So, they hired tutors to teach their children. And for Anna… that meant she rarely saw her parents at all.
Elsa had their undivided attention. Whatever Elsa needed… at any time. No more bedtime stories for Anna… no more play time with Anna… She never wanted for anything. Anyone from the outside looking in would see that Anna had everything. Toys, games, books… but not the attention of her parents.
Not what she knew she deserved.
Anna could recall the lonely nights, curled up in her bed with a Gameboy in her hand. No one would ever pop in and tell her lights out. Sometimes, only sometimes, Anna wished she could be sick too. She wanted her mother and father to check on her. She wanted them to be concerned for her well-being like they were for Elsa’s.
She was special too, wasn’t she? They told her she was a miracle. A child her mother wasn’t even supposed to have. And at times… Anna wished she hadn’t. What was the point of existing when no one cared that you did?
And that’s when Anna found herself nose deep in romantic novels… Hoping to feel something. Anything at all.
She found herself wishing for that romantic moment of a prince coming to toss pebbles at her window. The desire for a man to come save her from this miserable life she’d been living consumed her mind. It was the one thing the prayed for, begged for… though there was no way to meet anyone when she was cooped up at home. Never allowed to leave the mansion for fear of getting her sister sick.
And no matter how tempted she was, Anna could never leave. If something were to happen to Elsa because she broke the rules, the guilt would eat her alive. It was a thought she couldn’t have sitting on her conscious. It was one her parents would never let her live down. She couldn’t imagine what they’d say if she was responsible for making their first born ill.
With that, Anna decided to continue her streak of dubious daughter. She followed the rules, played nice, stayed out of Elsa’s space.
And still sometimes wondered if Prince Charming would show up for her to let her hair down to him.
o~o~o~o
Thankfully, Elsa got better the older the sisters got. She was still a bit OCD, standoffish, and their parents continued to cater to her every whim. But at least they started to sit at the dinner table together every night. It was largely spread out. Elsa sat on the opposite end as to stay away from everyone else. But it was a start. Being able to talk to her parents again thrilled her. Getting to know Elsa again, her sister she’d been so close to before illnesses got the better of her, was so refreshing as well.
Anna had done everything she could to stay close to Elsa: slipping her drawings, toys, and cards under the door when she could. There was never a response, but she could see Elsa’s shadow take the item every time.
The car accident that took their parents from them when Anna was fifteen was completely unexpected. She wasn’t sure how they would make it through. Elsa would be next in line as CEO when she turned twenty-one, which was a lot of pressure to put on someone who had just lost her parents. Especially parents that coddled everything she did.
Gerda, one of their housekeepers, engaged in the lengthy process of becoming Anna’s legal guardian so the sisters could remain together in their home. It was a lot of paperwork. A lot of issues with the courts. But Gerda knew that Elsa couldn’t be Anna’s legal guardian as her health wasn’t up to par. Besides, it would only be three years until Anna was eighteen herself and could move away from home. She held onto that thought through it all. If she could just make it to eighteen, she could move out and find someone to be with.
The thought came to life sooner than Anna had expected. Gerda gave Anna the choice of enrolling in school and, of course, Anna took the opportunity to begin high school.
Which was just as much of a nightmare as television and books made it out to be. There were thankfully girls that were kind to her and took them under their wing. They had all warned her about Hans, but she didn’t take heed them. All she saw was that prince in her fairy tale dream she’d been waiting to come true. He was the first boy to show interest in her, so she’d be damned if she didn’t take the opportunity to fall in love.
She convinced herself Hans was her “true love” like all the stories told her. Elsa didn’t like him when she introduced him, but Anna brushed it off to Elsa really not liking anyone. She should’ve listened to her sister. Listened to everyone, in fact. Anna wanted to deny she was clueless, but she was. She had no idea what love was really like. She’d barely gotten it from her parents. She and Elsa didn’t start getting close until after their parents were gone…
o~o~o~o
Senior Prom was the night that turned her dreams upside down. Hans whispered how “hot” she was in that dress. She was beautiful, he was lucky to have her, he wanted her on his arm to show off because he had the “prettiest girl in school” with him. He said all the right things. All the praises she needed to hear to flatter his way under her dress.
She’d let him. She wanted to get it over with, right? All of her friends weren’t virgins anymore. Anna was in high school, and she’d be in college the next year. It was normal to have sex with your boyfriend. Especially after prom. That’s what books told her. That’s what society told her.
The guilt ate at her afterwards. She wanted to enjoy it. This was her boyfriend, right? It should’ve been magical and great. Then why didn’t it feel that way? They were safe. Used protection. It wasn’t as if they were irresponsible.
But her body no longer felt like her own. He’d suddenly taken that from her. She felt dirty. Maybe, somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew he was no good for her. Knew he was using her. Knew he didn’t love her. The rose-colored glasses seemed to shatter… but would anyone else ever want to be with her? She didn’t think so… She was just some broken girl with dead parents and hardly a home life. The fact that Hans even spared her a glance was lucky, at best. Maybe, her wish came true in some form or fashion.
Thus, she stayed. She desperately wanted someone to care. Hans had given her attention when no one else did. So what if wasn’t the “one true love” ideal relationship she’d always dreamed of? It was still someone to be with her. Someone to kiss, to hug, to cuddle… even if he was kind of a jerk.
And she’d been stupid enough to stay with him through their first two semesters of college, despite how much worse he seemed to get. He got new friends in college… if Hans had been a jerk before, he was a real dipshit after he gathered his knew college posse. Anna had no desire to be around his frat buddies. They were obnoxious at best. They were loud, drank uncontrollable amount of beers, smoked who knows what all the time.
Everything Anna had been conditioned to avoid like the plague. She wouldn’t dare tell Elsa, who had long since taken over the company and had much less time to pay attention to Anna’s relationship woes. Elsa seemed to have given up the idea that Anna would dump the pretentious boy and accepted he was a part of her younger sister’s life.
Despite how miserable he made Anna, she was just so desperate. She’d realize that eventually when she continued to stay even though she’d overheard him say to a frat buddy that he started dating Anna in high school because there would be money to inherit eventually. It broke her heart.
She still said “yes” anyway when he proposed.
o~o~o~o
It was the diagnosis that did her in.
When the doctor informed her, she had stage two breast cancer at the ripe age of twenty-one, a rarity. Anna decided a few things in that moment: if she was going to go through this, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be with Hans, if she was going to die (though a stage two diagnosis was hardly a death sentence especially since she was so young, but just a precaution) she sure as hell wasn’t going to let Hans have her money and profit off her dying, and she took this as her wake-up call, it was time to live her life.
She marched into his home, not even to bother knocking on the door. Only to find her fiancé lip-locking with some dark skinned, bleach blonde, who was obviously trying too hard. Anna barked out a laugh when she saw them.
Hans gaped, eyes wide as he pushed the girl. “H-Honey! Can you believe this bitch!? She just came onto me!”
Anna quickly slipped the ring off her finger before waving at him. “Oh, don’t stop on my account. I’m just here to get my things because we’re through,” she stated boldly before chucking the ring at him. It smacked him in the forehead, and he yelped. “I have cancer, too, by the way,” Anna chimed as cheerily as she could. The girl on the floor just sat stunned at the whole exchange. Hans seemed to be a bit shocked at her admission as well.
“Y-You’re sick?”
“Not that you care, but no. I’m not sick, I have cancer. There’s a difference.” Sick was a word she associated with Elsa. The sickly one. That wasn’t Anna. She wouldn’t be that girl.
Hans quickly stood from the couch. “But, hun, you need someone to be there for you through this.”
She tried not to laugh at the term of endearment. Sweet talking her wasn’t going to convince her to stay, especially not after she just caught him sucking face with a sorority girl on their couch. Anna started up the stairs to get her things, glancing back at him. “Certainly not you. I have my sister.”
“Oh, please, Anna. What has Elsa ever done for you?”
The glare she shot him was deadly enough, she hoped. “Warned me about you, for one. And I’ve put up with your shit long enough, Hans Westergard.”
His feigned concerned expression quickly turned into a smirk, as if he could finally drop the act. “Please, you think your sister will take care of you? What a joke, Anna, you said yourself she couldn’t even take care of herself growing up.”
There it was. That dark tone his voice took when he was talking about her behind her back. The one he tried to hide from her, but she’d heard anyway. He was only trying to keep her because he wanted to use her. He definitely saw dollar signs knowing she was diagnosed with cancer of all things. Hans didn’t know the details, so of course, he would just think she was going to die.
She continued up the stairs to their room, and he followed after her. Anna grabbed her suitcases from the closet. Yanking her clothes from the drawers and closets, she began shoving her garments into the bags. Hans stood in the doorway. If he was going to try to block her in, he had another thing coming.
“Honestly, Anna, this is ridiculous. You need someone to take care of you.”
“Like hell it’ll be you. I’d rather be surrounded by people who love me.”
He chuckled, leaning against the doorway. “Oh, if only someone did.”
Anna felt her fingers quivering. Oh, how badly she wanted to chunk something as his face. But she didn’t. Knocking him out with a snowglobe would be a poor decision. “You said you did,” she hissed. “But I’ve known for so long that it was fake. That is was all a lie. But I still stayed and hoped you would change like a complete fool.” She slammed the suitcases shut and zipped them quickly. “Not anymore, Hans.”
Walking towards him, he did as she suspected and blocked her exit. She gave him a hard stare. “I’ll have a moving truck come to pick up the furniture my sister paid for in a few days.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Her fist collided straight with his jaw. Hans stumbled backwards, falling to his ass on the carpeted floor. Rubbing his jaw, he glared up at her in surprise. Anna fled immediately. The girl was sitting on the couch awkwardly, staring at the engagement ring Hans had sat on the table.
“Good luck with him,” Anna blurted before slamming the front door behind her.
o~o~o~o
As she drove away, the house she’d shared with Hans faded quickly in the background, she shed tears she’d kept in for so, so long. She kept her gaze on the road, driving towards the mansion, and wiped away the dampness on her cheeks.
Anna had led a sheltered life and had had many wishes growing up. She wished to have a prince to come save her from the mansion and take her away. She wished to be sick like her sister, so her parents would pay her the same attention they gave Elsa…
She realized in that moment that she shouldn’t had had such desires in the first place. Wishing on a star in real life was entirely overrated…
#kristanna#kristoff x anna#the queen & her reindeer king#ash writes#frozen fic#anna x kristoff#kristanna fic#tw: cancer#tw: character death#cancer fic#angst#hurt/comfort#mentions of chemotherapy#tms&mts#take my scars & make them stars
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Regarding that post about Iduna possibly knowing about the magical lands and keeping Elsa in the dark: who says that Elsa's parents have to be redeemed? What if the flashbacks we get just prove they really were awful parents? I know it's not pleasant, but it would be groundbreaking to show - in a Disney movie no less - that you can have seemingly normal parents who still fuck things up royally for no good reason. How many kids out there today will relate to that?
That is true. But along with the rumours about Iduna being from the Forest come rumours that the writers are trying to redeem the parents by giving us more of their backstory.
I’m not against them making seemingly good people irredeemable if they also don’t try and make them redeemable. They can’t have it both ways. Either they didn’t know anything about magic and therefore made bad, ill-informed decisions because of the limited knowledge they had, or they knew something - even just a shred of information - that they could have told Elsa that might have helped ease her burden and they didn’t do it. But they can’t say: “Oh they’re still good people they just wanted to protect her” and use that as a means of explaining their motives as good. Not when they watched Elsa suffer for years.
I’ll defend the Agnarr and Iduna to the death. I’m one of those people who truly thinks they should be given the benefit of the doubt. But that’s based entirely on the reasoning that neither of them had any experience with magic and therefore were absolutely clueless as to what could be done to help Elsa. They were influenced by the trolls showing them a mob of people ripping their daughter apart, and they acted accordingly. If it’s revealed that one or both of them actually had an idea of how magic worked, then they can no longer plead ignorance.
I suppose it works out, though. In all my stories featuring the parents, they’re Adgar and Idunn, not Agnarr and Iduna. So if those two are revealed to be bad parents, then I’ll just keep my positive, alternate AU parents to myself.
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Agduna fans! The Dangerous Secrets audiobook comes out January 19th and is narrated by Evan Rachel Wood and Alfred Molina. Which scene are you most excited about hearing each one of them narrate?
I could pick probably a hundred but I’ll go with Chapter 16 for Iduna’s POV when they first say “I love you.” It has all of my favorite things: Agnarr being dumb but then sweet and then so righteously angry he invents sexual harassment legislation on the spot. Iduna feeling relieved at seeing him, then irritated at his cluelessness, then so happy to hear those words. She knows it’s ill-fated but even that can’t take away her joy in the moment.
For Agnarr’s POV it’s Chapter 11 when they visit the mist and he comforts her. So much sweetness and kindness and tension. And I can’t wait to hear, in Agnarr’s voice “You’re such a moron” said to himself and “You are my best friend” said to Iduna.
#agduna#dangerous secrets#I assume they will each read their own POV chapters#as opposed to reading dialogue#and I love the idea of hearing Agnarr say Iduna's lines and vice versa#reblog and add the one you are most excited about!
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All is Found: New Earth (4/4)
Read the first three chapters first:
Genesis by @the-spastic-fantastic
Exodus by me @fericita-s
New Birth by @the-spastic-fantastic
The conclusion to the Agnarr/Iduna roleswap AU, but we plan to expand on this world more with some one-shots. Let us know if there is anything you want to see!
@the-spastic-fantastic I loved writing this with you! Your writing is gorgeous and your editing and revision suggestions are always great. Hooray for giving these two a happy ending (spoiler? sort of? we did promise it was happy).
Captain Mattias did not know why he’d been kicked in the stomach, punched in the face, and tied up. There was a blizzard raging outside; surely Lemek didn’t think he would be stupid enough to stage an uprising in this kind of weather.
Mattias had tried to earn the trust of Yelana, devising new ways of bringing down the mist or attempting to create an opening in it. Once his leg had healed, he’d scaled trees to see how far it spread and walked the perimeter of the forest to plot the boundaries of their confinement, all under the watchful eyes of Northuldra. Other Arendellians were always in different groupings or scouting parties, none of them allowed to interact.
Mattias had suggested and then supervised the building of a catapult to fling willing volunteers into the mist. He had led charging reindeer to the border in an attempt to break it open. He had even started controlled fires aimed at the edge of the boundary, hoping it would create an opening. Nothing had worked.
He supposed it was fair that they didn’t trust him yet despite all of this work. As soon as he found a way through the mist, his plan was to find Agnarr and bring the rightful king of Arendelle home to his kingdom. King Runeard had died committing a despicable act, but Mattias’ allegiance had always been to Agnarr and Arendelle, and he couldn’t give up on either easily.
He had come to respect the Northuldra and their ability to live in the forest and use its resources without exhausting them, unlike the sugar plantations his father had told him about that clear cut trees and used up both men and land. Mattias had come to realize that the dam was not helping the Northuldra in the ways King Runeard had promised. Mattias admitted to himself it could have been another deception. He had not taken Runeard to be a murderer, but he had seen the king kill the Northuldra leader with his own eyes. What else might he have missed?
Despite the heartbreak of being separated from Halima, and not knowing where Agnarr was, he had days where the new skills he was learning were a delight. Catching his own dinner in the river, participating in the village-wide construction of new kotas...it gave him brief reprieves from the twist in his heart and gut at the thought that he had served an unworthy king, that the new king was missing, and that Halima knew nothing of where he was or how he longed to be home with her.
His reverie came to an end with the arrival of Lemek and Yelana, Lemek kicking him again. Mattias shot him a glare, letting him know what he thought of beating a man who was already tied up.
“Why is he back? What are you planning?” Lemek spit the words at him, and Yelana put a firm, restraining hand on his shoulder, not allowing him any further violence against Mattias.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Mattias ran his tongue over his teeth, turned his head and spit some blood onto the dirt floor. “Maybe fill me in a bit before you demand answers. And stop punching me in the face if you want to be able to understand what I say.”
Yelana spoke. “Agnarr has returned with Iduna, who is giving birth. Did you communicate with him? Did you know he was returning?”
Mattias stared at them for a moment, taking in what he was hearing, and then shook his head slowly. “No, I didn’t know. But I’m sure he’s doing it to help his wife. The Arendelle royalty has a sad tradition of losing women in childbirth.” He was sure Agnarr was frantic with worry if he was risking his life to bring Iduna to safety. He wished he could comfort him like he used to when Agnarr was a boy and his father’s sharply worded rebukes had sent Agnarr to the barracks or the stables, looking for Mattias and a round of chess or a ride in the woods.
Lemek and Yelana looked at one another, then departed in silence, leaving him alone. As they opened and closed the flap to the shelter, he saw that the blizzard had stopped and everything looked bright and still outside.
***
They came back in, perhaps twenty minutes later. Mattias’ arms were tingling in their position tied above his head. Yelana took out a knife and cut him down roughly, over Lemek’s protests.
“What are you doing? Keep him tied up! Surely this is part of a plot to hurt us! To kill more of us!”
Yelana answered sharply. “I’ve had enough of your hysterics. Go elsewhere if you want to complain about the blessings of this day.”
Mattias ran his hands along his arms, trying to speed up the process of getting feeling back in them. “Blessings? Did everything go well with Iduna and the baby?”
Yelana looked at him and smiled. It startled him. He had never seen her smile before. “Yes. The baby is born, the blizzard is over, and the mist has lifted. I want you to take your soldiers and be sure.”
Lemek scowled. “You want him to go? He won’t tell us the truth! They’re liars, the lot of them!”
Yelana shot him a look that had Lemek bowing his head contritely. “They want to leave more than any of us want to get out of the mist. Let them look and see. Then we’ll know if it’s safe. This imprisonment might be over for all of us.”
***
Agnarr fell asleep next to Iduna, exhausted from the journey to the winter encampment, the beating, and presumably from the strenuous five minutes he had spent holding baby Elsa. Iduna sighed and kissed Elsa on the top of her head, nestled as she was between her two parents, swaddled in the shawl made by Iduna’s grandmother.
Iduna was exhausted as well but too much emotion was flowing through her for her to calm herself and sleep. In the span of a day, she had been forcibly taken back to her people, given birth, thought her husband would be killed, and then told by Yelana that the spirits had lifted the curse and the mist was gone. And with it, the death sentence on her husband.
“The love you showed to your people’s enemy was seen as betrayal by myself and by your family. But the spirits saw it differently. They have rewarded you with a child whose birth broke the curse and healed our land.”
Lemek shuffled in, the anger on his face no longer in sharp angles and scowls. He seemed more like the brother she remembered from girlhood; the one who caught her when she threw herself out of trees, who carried her on his back as they laughed and raced among reindeer.
He took off his hat and held it, worrying it in his hands. “I came to find you last winter, to be sure he was treating you well. And I saw how well he was treating you. How much you had given yourself to him.”
Iduna looked at him, incredulous. Was this an apology? “You're angry I married him? Do you forget that I was forced to marry him?” She whispered her answer, not wanting to wake Elsa.
His answer was loud and Elsa began to stir. “You betrayed your people by helping a murderer!’
“His father was a murderer! Not him!” Iduna whisper-shouted, turning a bit towards Elsa so she could soothe her with the steady hum of a lullaby in her ear.
“His people are all the same. Greedy and clueless. And with all the power. You should have let us kill him that first day of the battle.” Lemek’s voice was pleading, but Iduna would not let herself be moved. She shook her head.
“Lemek, you're wrong. He is a good man who had a bad father. Leave him alone. You don’t get to impose more punishment than the spirits themselves.” Elsa was now crying, and Iduna felt a shiver of cold. Her desire to cover herself with warm blankets and sleep had the sudden intensity of a contraction. “Now hold this baby so I can sleep. I’m exhausted and you’ve beaten my husband too badly for him to be of much use.”
She lifted Elsa up gently and handed him to Lemek, who took her as carefully as he had his own sons when they were this small. In spite of himself, he smiled.
“The weight of her,” he said. “I remember when you were this small. It seems impossible a whole person can be this tiny. She’s no bigger than a salmon, though she’s a sight more beautiful.” Iduna smiled and thought of a retort about comparing her perfect baby to a fish, but she was too tired. She was so tired she thought she saw snow falling inside, covering Agnarr’s swollen face and Lemek’s surprised one, coating Elsa’s eyelashes and dusting her shawl.
Lemek held Elsa with one hand, his other out catching the flurries surrounding him like a swarm of curious insects. “Iduna, do you see - “ but his words caught in his mouth, and he saw his sister was already asleep, curled into the man who he wanted to hate, but who seemed to love Iduna deeply and without regard for his own safety.
***
“Born with the gift of magic.” Agnarr shook his head and then winced, his face still too bruised and swollen from the beating he received four days ago to be able to move without pain. “All of those fairy tales I’ve read and loved; I never thought I’d get to live in one. But here we are, a lifted curse, a magical snow princess, and me the happiest of men to have you both safe and healthy here with me.”
Iduna smiled and took Elsa from her spot in the blankets, unwrapping her a little to wake her up enough to feed her. She could feel the fullness of her breasts and knew Elsa’s need to eat was probably as great as her need to feed her. She guided Elsa to her, and then sighed in relief as her milk came out. Agnarr raised himself up and sat behind Iduna, pulling her into him and running his hands up and down her shoulders, giving her his warmth.
Iduna relaxed into him, her sigh of content matched by Elsa’s contented suckle. “You were a prince! Surely you always felt like you lived in a fairy tale.”
He tilted his head down to kiss her cheek and cupped his hand over Elsa’s head. “Never, my love, not until I became your husband.”
“And do you want to be king now? We could go to Arendelle. I’m sure they eagerly await your return. “ Iduna kept her words light, trying to make it seem as if staying here among her people or going to live among his was of no consequence to her. As if after coming home to her people after a year of banishment, she wouldn’t be heart-sore to leave them so soon.
Agnarr moved his hand to Elsa’s, splayed on Iduna’s breast. Icicles were forming on the tips of her tiny fingers. He gently pulled the ice from where it touched Iduna’s skin and left his hand between Elsa’s small one and Iduna’s breast, protecting her from the formation of new ice and snow.
“My father killed your uncle because he thought magic was evil. I don’t think it will be safe for a magical child in Arendelle. There is much my father kept from me, and I don’t want to bet our daughter’s life - or your life - on my ability to change a long-held fear.”
Iduna sighed again, relieved. “I’d like to stay here in the forest. The spirits are awake again and I’m sure Elsa’s magic is connected to them.” She nestled her head under his chin and closed her eyes. “My scarf shows the four spirits connected by a fifth. Yelana thinks it could be Elsa, that her birth is more than the lifting of a curse. She thinks her birth is the beginning of something new. A fifth element that binds them all together and to our world.”
Agnarr ran his fingers on Elsa’s cheek, her nose, her closed eyelids, tracing the shape of her and marveling at her features; Iduna in miniature and rendered in white. It wasn’t just the magic that made her miraculous. “Whether or not she is, she is the beginning of something new for us.”
When Elsa was again settled down to sleep, Agnarr curved his body around Iduna. And when she woke in the night, breasts leaking milk and her body aching from the birth, he helped her dry off with the blanket they shared and hugged her tightly to warm her. He thought again of the fairy tales he had read as a child and recently with Iduna in their cave, and didn’t think he had ever read of a happier ending than this.
***
“King Agnarr!” Mattias entered the dwelling and bowed deeply. Agnarr rushed to him and they embraced. “You look awful!”
Agnarr pulled away and clapped his hands on Mattias’ shoulders. “Me? You don’t look so great either.”
Mattias rubbed a hand over his face. “It’s nothing. Got worse from you when you were a bratty child, kicking and screaming because the kitchens were out of chocolate.”
Agnarr laughed and and led Mattias to a place to sit. Lemek and his sons had hurriedly dug them an earthen house in the winter encampment; a peace offering. Agnarr accepted it warily, and Lemek accepted his presence warily. They reminded Iduna of two rock ptarmigans, circling each other and showing their combs. While Lemek was no longer openly hostile, he wasn’t openly joyous about Agnarr’s acceptance into the family.
“Congratulations on the birth!” He bowed towards Iduna “Lady Iduna, Princess Elsa. You can count on my protection.”
Iduna smiled at Mattias. “Thank you.” She looked at Agnarr and saw his nod. It was time. “We think there might be some challenges to keeping this child safe outside of the forest.”
Mattias tilted his head, waiting for her to explain. She said nothing, but pulled the ball Elsa had been gnawing on out of her hands and showed it to him. “She makes ice.”
Mattias looked at the icy ball, and then at the baby’s hands, even now growing tendrils of ice. He shook his head. “Earth Giants that move mountains, wind that answers to your call, water that flows and stops on command. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to see a baby with ice magic.”
Agnarr took Elsa from Iduna and cradled her in one arm against his chest. “Even with your watchful presence, I don’t think leaving this forest is a good idea for a magical child right now. People will be afraid, and you know better than most what happens when people fear magic. My father was wrong in his beliefs but not alone in them.”
��So you’ll stay here. With your family.” Mattias put a finger out for Elsa to grasp and watched as she curled her fingers around it, opening and closing them.
“And you’ll go home to yours,” Agnarr said. “I have the power to create articles of succession to name a ruler in my stead.” Mattias turned his head to look at Agnarr, his mouth opening in surprise. “And you already have the unwavering support of most of the Arendelle Army.”
“Your Majesty - “
“No, not anymore. That’s you now. King Mattias of Arendelle. Long may you reign.” Agnarr bowed to him and Iduna curtsied.
Elsa grabbed his finger once more, coating it in ice, like a scepter, bright as a diamond.
***
“Are you happy here?” Iduna asked quietly. The fires were out, Elsa was asleep and they lay under the furs and blankets, spent. The cool air of spring was turning into the warm air of summer and it had been months since King Mattias and some Arendellian soldiers returned south.
Agnarr covered her body with his, his hands feeling this new shape of hers, one that gave birth and fed a hungry baby and everyday taught him how to love. “I thought I just showed you how happy I was to be here with you. Shall we go again?”
She put her hand on his chest and laughed. “No, that’s not what I mean. Are you happy living here when you could be king a bit further south? Are you happy here when you have given up so much?” She thought of his trying to learn the ways of her people, and how he still struggled to do tasks that most found simple. How he had attempted to prepare lutefisk, an Arendellian treat and tradition, but ended up just making the village reek of fish guts for three days. A man born a prince might grow weary of being a foreigner, of having to learn so much.
He kissed her head and stroked her hair. “I’ve given up nothing. I gained a family who loves me, and that’s more than I ever had before. I don’t need to be king, I just need you to be my queen.”
He buried his face in her neck and kissed her until she believed him.
***
Elsa had already started to use her ice magic purposefully by the time Anna was born three years later. She would sit near the cook fire with Bruni, and they would take turns lighting the fire and putting it out. Iduna stopped hanging strips of cloth nearby, choosing other, more predictable fires to dry her bandages over instead.
Elsa would sit by the river and look for the Nokk just below the surface, stroking its mane with icy fingers that could reach below the surface and not get cold. Agnarr delighted in her love of the water horse and taught her all the terms for riding, hoping she one day would ride her equine companion.
Horses were one of the few things he missed from his life in Arendelle And though a spirit water horse might be different from the Arabian that had been his, he liked to think that Nokk would be as good of a friend to Elsa as Solv had been to him.
When Anna could walk, she and Elsa climbed mountains by making ice stairs, and the Earth Giants liked to race them by building with boulders. Elsa liked to climb up as high as she could, and Anna liked to skate on the surface of the ice, joyous with the feel of continuous motion, the North Wind always rescuing her just before she teetered off the edge.
As the girls grew older, Bruni would follow them around, asking Elsa for a snowball to cool himself down by hopping on her shoulder. Nokk would now come out of the water when Elsa beckoned, and she and Anna were learning to ride, the North Wind pushing them back onto the animal’s back if they slid too far.
Anna was born a month after Anja had died. Iduna named her for her friend and teacher, and hoped she could care for her people as well as Anja had.
Anna did not control ice or fire and no earth or wind bent to her will.
Her power was love.
When injured reindeer were brought to Iduna for healing, Anna was called with an urgency just as great to stroke the beast’s muzzle, whisper in its ear, help if feel safe while its wound was stitched or its leg was set.
When the Earth Giants tore up trees and threw boulders too close to the village, Anna would sing to quiet them or tell them a story holding them rapt and still with attention. She could even make them laugh with deep rumbles that churned the waters of the rivers, driving the fish upstream so the fisherman raced to empty their nets and cast them in again.
And it was Anna who, at the age of four, sat with her mother as she translated in a meeting with Arendellian engineers and Northuldra fishermen, arguing about the best way to dismantle the dam that was strangling the Northuldra river. “You could ask the Giants to do it. They like moving stones.” And so they did with Anna as the lead expert in Earth Giants relations. Anna told the Earth Giants which stones to please move where, and thank you so much for stacking them so neatly, maybe now we can build a house out of them.
“A better diplomat than any ten times her age!” Agnarr exclaimed proudly to Elias, as they introduced their families to each other during the celebration of the newly freed river. Anna saw her father cry as he hugged his friend, and told him that night “He loves you just as much as you love him. I can tell.” Agnarr cried harder at her words, and she knew they were happy tears. She could tell.
When new babies were born, Anna was the favorite to bring the shawl to the mother and babe. Her presence in the kota made tears turn to calm, her joy and charm bringing warmth and love back to the exhausted mother.
Anna asked Lemek if he wanted to make her happy and he said “Of course, my sweet.” She took his hand and said “Uncle Lemek, it hurts my heart that you don't love Papa like you love me." That night Lemek ate with them in their kota, seated between Anna and Agnarr, and the two men clasped hands at the end of the meal, much to her delight.
When the visits with Arendelle began, and King Mattias and Queen Halima brought her father books and her mother dresses so she could do something called a “waltz,” Anna was the one who led her Uncle Lemek by the hand and told him how much she wanted to meet the people who came from the same place as her father. She and Lemek watched the meeting, and as Anna spoke with Lady Wollen afterwards, admiring her dress and the fancy way she talked, Anna introduced her uncle by saying “This is my uncle. His wife died and he needs a new one. Will you be her?”
And like a prophecy, Lady Wollen’s answering blush and Lemek’s surprised stammer turned into a friendship that culminated with Lemek moving to Arendelle, ostensibly for better relations between the two nations, but clearly in order to court the delighted Lady Wollen.
Anna and Elsa played together often, usually with the children of the village, Ryder and Honeymaren especially. They made up games of tag, calling “No Fair!” when the North Wind intervened to push someone just out of reach of the chaser. They raced reindeer down the sides of mountains, the Earth Giants smoothing the way to keep the children from harming themselves or the herd. They made bets about who could ride Nokk the longest before getting too cold to continue and Elsa always won. When Elias and his family came for visits, Anna patiently and gently explained how to play with the spirits to his curious and cautious children.
Bruni would light their fires for nighttime stories by the campfire, the children huddled around it and making each other scared while Agnarr and Iduna sat a few paces back, cuddled under one blanket and watching the stars.
Agnarr never wanted to go back to Arendelle to live, though he thought he might take the girls to visit. Perhaps when they were both of age, they could travel there together and he would show them the castle of his youth, the portraits of their ancestors, and the large, lonely rooms of his childhood. He laughed to think there were so many things they didn’t know about – scepters and crowns, doors and gates - and he laughed to think those things had once seemed important. But watching Anna and Elsa playing with friends, with each other, and with the spirits of the forest, and watching his wife as she smiled at him from her place in their bed, he knew he was already home. He thought of his family like a bridge, linking Northuldra and Arendelle. They made a place where the two nations could be linked through love instead of bound in pain.
And he had found a way of helping his home, his adopted nation. He was teaching his native language and its written form to the Northuldra, and was devising a way for their language to be written instead of only spoken. It was a puzzle he enjoyed, and one Yelana agreed would benefit their nation. Though Iduna smiled to hear him speak her native tongue, loving the way the words sounded slightly garbled in his mouth, their daughters spoke both languages fluently.
Agnarr slowly created a library of sorts for Northuldra, eagerly accepting books from Mattias on each visit, and translating them into the Northuldra language. He read them aloud at night to his family, Iduna curled next to him with his hand on her knee, Anna in his lap with her hand above her head stroking his beard, and Elsa on Iduna’s lap, sometimes making the scenes and characters they were reading about out of ice. Agnarr had always loved stories but he thought he was living in the best one.
Children and adults who wanted to learn to read and write did so easily after lessons with Agnarr. He loved to tease Iduna about what it signified.
"Admit it. Say I'm a better teacher than you! Look at all of my successful students, reading and writing. And me, still unable to walk quietly in the woods or tan a hide." He grinned at her, enjoying the look of amused exasperation on her face.
"You're a better teacher than you are a student, certainly. Or maybe Northuldra are smarter than Arendellians if you're so slow to learn and we are so quick."
We drew closer to her, putting his hands on her cheeks and leaning in for a kiss. Against her mouth, he whispered "Was I so slow at learning this?"
Before he covered his mouth with hers she smiled into him and said "No, but I'm a great teacher."
***
From high on the hill, Anna could see the new herd approach before she could see the people accompanying them.
“They’re here!” She scrambled down the incline, jumping off the ledge and thanking the North Wind for taking her safely the rest of the way. When she was younger she worried she might grow too heavy to travel in this way, but now at eighteen she was fully grown, and still able to fling herself off great heights and feel the rush of the North Wind rushing up to meet her.
Elsa saw the motion and said “Maybe don’t do your crazy trust exercises when they first arrive. I don’t think these people have a wind spirit in their woods; you don’t want to frighten them.”
“Aw, Elsa, that’s no fun! Besides, how exactly would you even hide your powers, at all? You’ll be shooting out ice and snow before you can remember not to!”
Elsa laughed. “Well, I might try to explain it first.”
“From astride your magical water horse? They’ll figure everything out very quickly, or run screaming. And since Ryder says we need to mix up our herd with theirs for a year of good breeding, let’s hope they don’t scare easily.”
Honeymaren joined them, talking hold of Elsa’s hand as they walked towards the visitors.
Yelana was already stationed at the stones, her staff firm in her hand as she raised the other in greeting.
“Welcome to Northuldra. The People of the Sun invite you to enter the forest.”
A young man with light hair and heavy furs walked up to Yelana and extended his hand to shake hers. “Thank you, Yelana of Northuldra. I am Kristoff, and we are the people of the Black Mountain.”
Anna nudged Elsa. “Mine. He’s all mine.”
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