"Sure, I'm on it. You can count on me. That's what a right hand is for, right?" Anna said seriously.
"Thanks, Anna" I said stroking her cheek once "Kristoff" he snapped his head back to me "Are you free tomorrow?" he looked at me raising an eyebrow.
"I have to work, tomorrow" he said uncertainly.
"No, you have the queen's permission to take a day off. So are you free?" I said eyeing him. He looked at Anna with a smirk.
"Kristoff…" Anna warned hiding a smile, then he turned back to me.
"I could be free, tomorrow… why?" he smirked.
"Would you like to have lunch at the parliament's dining hall? My treat. You'll have to dress up as an Honorable and have lunch there, then bring me the check, I need it for this Friday. Make sure they don't recognize you" He nodded his head, then his smirk got wider. Anna face-palmed the moment she saw his mischievous look. My sister already knew he was about to put on another annoying Don Juan show just to aggravate me, but I was still hoping he would restrain himself at the moment.
"Oh, Elsa I'm flattered. There is no need for you to put up all this 'secret mission' show" he began "But as you can see, I'm an engaged man who's fiancée is none other than your little sister" he said putting an arm around Anna's shoulders, as she shook her head hiding her face with a hand.
"Here he goes again…" she muttered apologetically towards me.
"So I'm sorry but I have to decline your date invitation" he went on.
"What?! No! I'm not asking you out!" I said immediately, my eyes darting from him to Anna.
"Elsa, really it's fine. I know I'm an attractive guy and if you weren't into me I'd probably be pretty offended. Your attention is really flattering, though" he leaned forward holding back a smile. I glared at him as he once again succeeded in annoying me.
"Kristoff, I'm serious. Would you please do me this favor?" I asked seriously.
"Don't worry I'm on it" he said getting out of character for a moment, then his smirk came back and he was in character once more"Still, if you were to ask me out again, why don't you ask me later when we're alone?" he added in fake whispering with a theatrical flirty wink.
"Kristoff!" Anna said smacking him the chest with the back of her hand.
"What? It's not my fault I am so irresistible that even the Ice Queen melts at my charms" he said with a smirk. Anna glared playfully at him, but he just smiled jokingly. I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, Kristoff" I sighed "Especially since you are as utterly charming as you are irritating"
"Ouch…you wound me" he said feign hurt. I rolled my eyes as Anna shook her head.
"Remind me why you agreed on marrying him, again?" I asked my sister.
"I'm asking myself that too, actually" Anna replied "Why did I agree on marrying you?" she said turning to Kristoff.
"I'm pretty sure it's because I love you and you love me back" he replied with a loving look. Anna blushed smiling back, and turned back to me.
"There's our answer" she said in playful resignation. I shook my head smiling.
"Bye" I said turning around and walking towards the door, deciding it was time to leave them to their couple reading time.
"My offer is still up, though!" Kristoff said. Next thing he knew was the snowball I created hit him square in the face as Anna burst out laughing "I'll take that as a 'no'…" he mumbled wiping away the snow from his face not even trying to hide a smile.
"Nice shot, Elsa" Anna said laughing. I turned around and gave her a small curtsy.
"Thank you" and with that I walked out of the room and back into the corridors. The rest of the day went by normally. In the evening while I was on my way to meeting Storm, before King Theodore's departure, I had met Skylynn on the way. She had changed out of her cut and blood-stained uniform into more casual clothes… a white V-neck shirt, dark green trousers and black boots, her belt with the sword nowhere to be seen. As we met in the corridor, I asked her how was her arm and just as I thought, she only needed a few stitches and had it bandaged. We didn't say anything after that, only that we'll see each other at dinner. After that short encounter, I went to my meeting with Storm. As I entered the east wing living room, Storm was already there, looking at some of the few portraits on the wall.
"I hope I haven't kept you waiting for too long" I said walking towards him. He turned around smiling and walked towards me.
"As long as I get to see you, you can keep me waiting for as much as you want" he said taking my hand and planting a kiss on the back of it. I blushed at his answer trying to hide my smile. Geez… 13 years of solitude did do a lot of damage. What do you answer to a guy who is flirting with you?... Because he is flirting, right?
"Shall we take a seat?" I answered… Geez I'm so formal! He nodded with a smile and waited for me to seat on the couch first, folding my hands on my lap, then he sat down next to me "So" I started "Before you tell me why you wanted to see me, I need to inform you of a few things" I said seriously he nodded "Earlier today, Skylynn was assaulted by Prince Herbert and Prince Gordon"
"What?" Storm said immediately concerned "Is she okay? What happened?" he asked. To tell the truth, it kind of surprised me how concerned Storm immediately looked. They must have been good friends before their fight.
"She's fine. She just got a few stitches on her arm, but she's okay. Too bad I can't say the same for her half-brothers. She managed to send both of them to the ground, Herbert probably has a broken nose, too" I said.
"How was she fighting?" he suddenly asked. He might have his reasons but to me it sounded an odd question.
"Normal, I guess. She didn't seem to be putting too much effort in it until…"
"Until?"
"Gordon made a comment that hit a soft spot. She was furious. For a moment, I thought she was going to kill them, but she didn't in the end" I explained.
"Well, that's good" he commented.
"Why do you ask?"
"I saw Skylynn fight during the war. We were a team. It was always Skylynn, Landon and I together. I saw that the anger she had inside and the hell she was living along with the feelings she had bottled up for so long just… exploded in a merciless warrior. When in battle, she's someone else, especially when she's angry "" he paused for a moment "There's this thing about Skylynn, she may have not received the drakorian military training for as long as the rest of the soldiers have, but she is a war machine herself. Landon gave us a goal and she would just go for it until she obtained it. Her mind is so logical and analytical that it's like there is a battle strategy book in it and once she has a plan to reach her goal, she would stop at nothing until she gets it and when I say that 'she will stop at nothing' I mean it. You have no idea how many times she disobeyed Landon's orders, but every time she did, we were another step ahead of Hugh. In summary, if you get into a duel with an angry Skylynn you might as well write your will, because you're not going to make it out alive" he said. Personally, I have no idea what my face was like, I just knew that after a second of silence Storm immediately spoke up worried he had said the wrong thing. "No, don't think bad! She's good, she's an amazing woman! I'm talking about when we were at war. I mean- it's not like that if you argue she's not going to kill you- I mean- she isn't going to kill you- I'm just saying- I mean- she has moral values" I smiled and place a hand on his arm catching his attention.
"Storm, I get it. Don't worry… but she is confusing and I don't know if after today things are going to change" I said. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow "Let's just say that I may have... sort of… maybe… saved her life today. Gordon was about to attack her from behind when she was walking away after sparing them and put her sword away, and I… may have gotten both him and Herbert stuck with their feet in an ice block" I said. Storm chuckled.
"Nice shot, then" he complimented.
"Thank you" I said.
"No, thank you" he said. That left me puzzled for a moment as I looked at him, but Storm had found a certain interest in the floor. What did he mean by that? We remai
ned silent for a moment until we both cleared our throats.
"So, anyway" I said breaking the awkward tension between us "King Theodore is going to depart soon and bring his brothers back to the isles and punish them"
"Oh…" he said kind of disappointed "Then I guess, I'll be leaving too"
"Actually you aren't. King Theodore wants you to stay here until Hans has paid his debt with both Anna and I and Arendelle. He told me to consider you an ambassador of the Southern Isles" I smiled at him "So, are you willing to accept this mission, General?" Storm smiled back.
"I'd be honored, your Majesty" he answered "Plus" he began, using his hand to place a strand of my hair behind my ear. I had to force myself not to move back, not because of him, but because this touching thing is still kind of new to me. It's hard to kill old habits. Apart from Anna the only person I freely allowed to touch me (only if alone… sometimes… very rarely… extremely rarely) was Kristoff, since he's practically family, now. Olaf is a snowman, so he doesn't count. "Accepting this mission means I'll be able to see you more often and hopefully spend more time getting to know you… I look forward to it" Storm said looking at me in the eyes. I couldn't help but blush.
"Me too" I said staring back at him. He then was about to say something else, and placed his hand on mine, but before he could speak I pulled my hand away.
"I'd rather not" I said as he took his hand away.
"I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"-No, Storm, it's not you. It's me. I'm trying not to wear gloves anymore and control my powers. I only allow Anna to touch my hands. Last time, you kind of caught me off guard. I thought it was going to be a formal goodbye" I explained. Yes, I was trying to get used to this touching thing, but my hands were the only thing I was really careful with since most of my power came out from there.
"I understand, no hands" he said, then he smiled and held out his index finger "Is this okay?" he asked. I smiled holding back a giggle and laced my index finger with his.
"It is" I said smiling widely.
"Will I ever see your powers in action?" Storm asked somehow hopeful.
"Maybe… one day" I answered "Will I ever know why you left the Drakorian army for the Southern Isles?"
"Yes… one day, I promise" he answered. We looked at each other in the eyes and smiled to one another. Then I looked at the clock on the wall behind him.
"King Theodore will be departing in a few minutes" I said "I need to go" I said letting go of his finger and standing up.
"So do I" he said as he stood as well "I'll accompany you to the docks" he said and offered me his arm which I gladly accepted and together we went to the docks to say our goodbyes to the King of the Southern Isles.
Four days have passed since the 'Skylynn attempted regicide incident', and everything was fine at the moment. Kristoff successfully brought me the parliament's dining hall check, Anna managed to get the representatives and judging from the papers she brought me, she did some more research herself and she did a great job, and Skylynn didn't do anything she wasn't supposed to… for now, but she had also never left her place outside of Hans' door, except for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I could see she really didn't want to stay away from that door, she came down to dine with us because she was just being polite. Anna sometimes tried to go cheer her up, but when she came back she said she had little results. Obviously Anna had noticed her cut and blood stained uniform when we were going to the royal doctor's study, and she immediately went on alarm-mode, but Skylynn had politely sent her away telling her what happened, including the part of me saving her (I couldn't help but smile timidly at Anna's proud look towards me) without explaining the topic of the argument, and that she was fine. In these days, I've been checking on Hans. The wounds were probably still bad, but the fever was luckily fading away. When I would visit, to keep his temperature in check, I would usually dust his forehead with a thin layer of snow. He seemed to enjoy it, since his expression relaxed a bit every time I did.
I was on my way to his room once more, and as usual, Skylynn was there fiddling with her necklace. As I stepped closer, I noticed her necklace was exactly like the one Hans had, but instead of gold with a silver dot, it was silver with a golden dot. She had the other half of Hans' necklace, hers meaning 'you can be good but not completely'.
"So, you have the other half of the necklace" I stated. Skylynn looked up at me and nodded. I placed a hand on her shoulder and sat down next to her. She didn't say anything but just kept fiddling with it.
"Hans gave it to me when I was ten, he was fifteen at the time" she began "As usual, he showed up in the late morning and that morning he had a small package. It wasn't my birthday, but he said he just felt like giving me a present. When I opened the box I found the necklaces together. He told me what they meant separately and that when together they mean 'the perfect union of opposites'. The perfect union of opposites isn't necessarily the bond between two lovers. It could be the one between two friends, two siblings, parent and child... these necklaces represent our bond, even though we're anything but opposites. Before going to Drakora, other than my mother, Hans was the only real family I had. He has always been there for me" she paused for a moment, took a deep breath and went on
"When I was little" she continued "I had this bad habit of getting into fights, at first it was usually with the other kids in the small village outside the town's walls, where my mother and I went to live. I wasn't usually the one who started them, though… they taunted me and when I exploded, I reacted. Hans would always protect me and get me out of trouble. The same went whenever I met the rest of my half-siblings. Usually it would end up with them beating me up and Hans would always stand up for me and get the rest. 'If you're going to the doctor, I'm going to the doctor' he would say. He taught me how to swordfight, you know? He taught me archery, horseback riding, hand combat, survival essential basics… dancing. When I got older I tried to take it a step forward and self-taught me some tricks like backflips and stuff, but Hans would help, just to make sure I didn't break my neck doing them" she said letting out a chuckle.
"Backflips? Really?" I said amused.
"You are allowed not to believe me, but I can actually do them" she replied. I lightly smiled and let her go on talking "Training started when I was six and went on until I was fifteen and left the Isles for Drakora" Skylynn continued "When he was old enough that his parents would allow him to go out according to his own will, training would start early in the morning and finish at early sunset. My mother was glad he would come by, because she had no one to leave me with and she had found a new job. Our weekends were spent at my house. In the morning, mom would homeschool me with the basics, in the afternoon, Hans would come teach me how to run royal business. Of course, this started when he was around my age, now, and I was like… twelve? Thirteen? Hans taught me everything. Everything I am… I owe it to his teachings…" she paused once more
"When everything felt like it was crushing me" she continued "Hans was always there to help me through… do you know why I also have my father's last name? It was Hans who convinced Albert into giving me his last name, because he knew what was the treatment for the 'children of sin', as they call us in the isles. He knew that for those like me, having their father's last name means that you have a family behind your back and that you're not alone. Mostly it told people that even if a bastard I was still a Westerguard, so bounded to the royal family. The only people I had to be on the lookout for, then, were my half-brothers. Hans would support me in everything I did, he got me into music and taught me how to play a few instruments. Conceal. Don't feel. Don't let it show, Hans taught me that when it comes to emotions. He taught me to hide my true feelings to prevent certain reactions to touchy topics, because people could use those topics to break my mind. He was the one who told me to block out my half-brothers' words and not care about what they thought. But he also taught me to let it go and be who I am without caring what other people thought about me, because no matter what I do, everyone wi
ll always find a flaw in it" Skylynn paused "I know I have probably bored you and you might think I'm actually trying to get you to pity me, but what I'm trying to say is that… Hans was there when I needed a father. Even when I lived in the palace, I have never once talked to Albert and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I'm not even sure he knew my name before I became queen. Hans is not just my big brother… he is… the dad I never had" Skylynn sighed and leaned back on the couch "If only I had realized sooner what they were doing to him…" she said
"Skylynn don't blame yourself" I said realizing where she was going.
"If he came here to steal your throne because he felt the need to prove himself to those buttheads, part of it is my fault. He stood next to me for the whole time, but where was I when he needed me? I am positive that even if he hasn't rationally thought about it, in his sub-consciousness he must have thought: 'How come did Skylynn make it I didn't? How come she's sixteen, found love, got married to a king and became queen while I can't even get out of my siblings' grasp? How come I haven't made it yet even though I taught her everything she knows?' I'm sure of it. Even if he kept up that strong demeanor, he was hurting inside, badly… and then he just cracked because that's what happens when your head is under such a psychological pressure made up of years of humiliation with people ignoring you, telling you you're worthless, a waste of space, not believing in you and pretending you don't exist along with physical pain, that you reach a point when you just crack! A-And when that happens you don't lose just track of what's right and wrong, but more importantly of who you are because you start believing that if who you are doesn't take you anywhere, then acting like who others want you to be will solve everything… and that's what Hans did…" Skylynn paused, gulping hard "He was the anchor that didn't allow me to lose myself, no matter how many times I was tempted to give in into the darkness… and when it was my turn I wasn't there. I failed him. He must have given me some signs, silently communicating his distress, but… how come I never saw them?"
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