Around Arendelle

Lars had taken an early morning walk into town. The fishermen were too busy to be bothered, so he wasn't able to ask them anything, and most of the shops weren't open yet, so he simply got a better sense for the layout of the town. He remembered that Frederick, as the oldest prince had insisted he call him, had offered to show him around the countryside if he wanted to go riding. He had also told him to stop by the castle kitchen any time he wanted something to eat, but he didn't feel comfortable with imposing like that.

As he was walking back toward the castle, he noticed a bakery opening up, and he realized he was getting hungry. It looked like a local bakery, and he really wished that his mother had been the sort to do her own baking, because he had absolutely no idea what he should order.

A bell rang as he walked in the door. The woman behind the counter turned around and smiled.

"Good morning," he began, "what would you recommend?"

"You can't go wrong with a kringle," she said, "I assume you're not from around here?"

"No, in fact, I just arrived yesterday," he said, then realizing the chance, "but my parents were from here."

"Really?" she asked, moderately interested, "so, kringle?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Here you go," she said, handing over the kringle and accepting his money, "and, who were your parents, if I may ask?"

"Jan and Margit Nilsen. Jan Nilsen died before I was born, so I never knew him."

"Nilsen is a common name around here," she said, "but I might ask my great aunt when she stops by this afternoon. Are you staying a while?"

"Yes, I'll probably be here for a year," he said, finishing a bite of his kringle.

"Ah, well, I hope you enjoy your time here. How is the kringle?"

"Very tasty," he said after a few more bites, "I'll be sure to come back often, thank you."

"And now, I'll be heading back," he said as he finished the pastry.

"Have a nice day," she said as he left.

He heard boys' voices as he entered the castle gates. Frederick was just running toward the stables from the other side of the courtyard.

"Good morning, Frederick!" Lars called out. "Are you planning to go riding today?"

"I hadn't really thought about what I was going to do," Frederick admitted, "but if you'd like me to show you around like I promised, that would be great."

The two walked to the stables. Two boys popped out of the stable. One looked like a smaller version of Frederick, the other, a little bit taller, had reddish blond hair.

"Oh! Hey, Fred," the blond one called out, "Who's this?"

"Lars," Frederick replied, "He's from Corona."

"I'm Peder," he replied, "and this is Anton," he said, pointing to the other boy.

"Pleased to meet both of you," Lars said, bowing slightly to each boy.

"If Father comes back, tell him I'm taking Lars here out for a ride," Frederick told them.

"You really don't mind?" Lars asked him.

"Of course not!" Frederick said, excitedly slapping Lars on the back enough to make him stumble a bit. Frederic was already as tall as him, which wasn't surprising by itself, since his sister was just as tall, but the boy didn't seem to know his own strength.

He knew the full names and dates of birth of everyone in their family, but he hadn't even been able to recognize their father out of the formal dress of the official portrait that was sent to every kingdom. He wondered what else there was that he was unaware of not knowing.

He followed Frederick into the stables, and as his eyes adjusted to the change in light, he looked around a bit more. He heard less excitement from the horses than the previous morning, but the horses and the reindeer combined were still making enough noise that he couldn't hear what Frederick was saying. He heard another voice behind him.

"Hi there!"

Lars was not prone to startling, but upon turning around, he screamed.

"Oh, sorry, I get that sometimes. Let's try again. Hi there, I'm Olaf!"

Lars stood completely still and just stared. A snowman was apparently talking to him and wanting to shake hands.

"Sorry, Lars," Frederick interrupted, "I should have warned you about Olaf. This is Olaf. Olaf, this is Lars Nilsen, from Corona."

Lars was still just standing and staring. The snowman said something about nice to meet him and going to visit Samantha as he walked away.

"You know," said Fred, "I think I'll just take you around town and maybe up the fjord a bit for a nice view… you probably aren't ready for what I was going to show you…"

"Umm… that's fine," Lars finally stuttered. He now started to remember some of his mother's stories about Arendelle that he had dismissed as fairy tales. He would need to write to her.

They walked their horses out of the stables and mounted them. Lars followed behind him out the gate. The horses walked very slowly through the town toward the hillside. More shops were open, and people were going about their business. It all looked so completely ordinary. He wanted to ask Frederick where he had originally planned on taking him, but he decided if the boy thought he wasn't ready to see those things, then he would wait. He would be here for a while.

"So, Frederick," Lars said before they left the main part of town, "do you know people in the town who might know a lot about someone who left Arendelle twenty years ago?"

"The tavern, they might know," Frederick replied.

"I really don't think my mother would have frequented a place like that," Lars said somewhat defensively, "and the way she talks about my father, I really can't imagine him, either."

"What do you mean? What kind of taverns do you have in Corona?"

"It's a respectable place, then?"

"I hope so. We go there sometimes. I think that makes it respectable."

"I apologize if I implied otherwise."

"Don't worry about it. We can stop there on our way back and you can ask."

They had left the main part of town, and the horses began to trot up the hill. The view of the fjord was spectacular. They slowed down as they approached the top of the cliff. Frederick hopped off his horse, and Lars did likewise. The prince pointed out all the major landmarks they could see, and mentioned the directions of various locations that Lars wasn't familiar with. As they went to get back on their horses, two men on horseback were riding back toward the town, one in royal livery, the other appearing to be some nobleman who was definitely not at the state dinner the night before. They stopped when they saw Lars and Frederick.

"Your Royal Highness!" The men bowed slightly.

"We're just out for a ride," Frederick replied, "what are you two doing?"

"Queen's business," the nobleman said, "it seems I've been called back to the castle. Do you know anything about this?"

"No. Why would I?"

"Oh. Nevermind, then. We'll be on our way. Enjoy your ride, Your Highness."

As the men rode back into town, Lars looked around where they were on the cliff. There were paths going into the woods away from the town, but it seemed that Frederick was taking them along the fjord.

"What's in the woods over there?"

"Trolls."

After this morning, Lars had no idea whether to take him seriously or not. Was the boy teasing him now? He was prepared to believe anything at this point.

"If you're getting hungry, we could just go back into town and I'll introduce you to Halima at the tavern," Frederick suggested.

"I'm fine, really," Lars protested.

"Well, actually, I'm hungry," the boy admitted, "and I do wonder what those men were rushing back to the castle about…"

"Is that normal?"

"Not really," he said, "that is, I don't remember mother having a meeting like this when she's this close to having a baby… maybe Inga remembers better. On the other hand, I never go to meetings, anyway. Inga sometimes does. They tried having me sit in on a meeting once or twice this spring, and I ended up kicking the table and one time even knocking my own chair over, and I couldn't tell you what they were talking about…"

"Oh, sorry…"

"It's fine," he said, but sounded a little angry all the same.

"You wanted lunch, then?"

"Yes, let's do that," Frederick said, cheering up a bit.

They turned around and headed back at as close to a full gallop as they could, only slowing down when there were more people using the road.

"We should probably take the horses back to the castle first," Frederick suggested as they went through the middle of the town, "it's not very far, and we should give them a rest."

Lars nodded, and followed Frederick back. The stables were quiet and nearly empty when they got there. The other horses were eating.

"They've probably gone to the garden," the boy suggested.

After getting their horses settled and fed, the two walked back out into the town. It was almost noon, and Lars had to admit to himself that he was beginning to feel nearly as hungry as young Frederick. The tavern was somewhat crowded, with men and women from the town taking a break for lunch. A freckled girl with brown braids, perhaps ten years old, ran up to Frederick.

"Hello!"

"Oh, hi, Meibel," said Frederick, "is Halima here?"

"She just left, but she'll be back in an hour. Why?"

"My friend here just arrived from Corona, and he's hoping to find out about some people who lived here twenty years ago."

"Are you going to introduce him?"

"Sorry… Lars Nilsen, Meibel Stensland."

"Is he someone I'm supposed to bow to?" Meibel asked, looking at Frederick.

"Lars, I leave that up to you," Frederick said.

"Um, I don't think I'm in that kind of position, certainly not yet," he said, extending his hand to the girl.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Nilsen," she said, shaking his hand vigorously.

"And now," Frederick said, "I think I need lunch. What about you, Lars?"

"I'll have whatever you're having."

"I'll be right back!" Meibel said, running off.

"She looks very young to be working here," said Lars, watching her go into the kitchen.

"She doesn't, not really," said Fred, "she's their ward, but she likes to help out."

"Whose ward?"

"Halima and General Mattias," Frederick explained, "they took her in when she was young."

"The general?"

"Well, he's officially retired now, but yes."

"I suppose that's why she seems so… familiar with you?"

"I'm familiar with a lot of people here," he said, somewhat confused.

The door opened.

"General Mattias," Frederick called out, "I want you to meet someone."

The general blinked as his eyes adjusted, staring at Lars.

"Hello? You are?"

"This is Lars Nilsen, he came with the ambassador from Corona, but his family's originally from here, so we were going to ask Halima if she'd know them."

"I'm sure she will," he said, "there's something familiar about you. Which family?"

"His parents left here twenty years ago," Frederick interrupted, "that's why I suggested Halima."

"Well, my mother left here," Lars corrected, "my father was already dead."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Mattias said, "how old was he? It's possible I might have known his family."

"You know, I don't remember. I have a lot of things to ask my mother in my next letter… I should have thought to get a photograph of them before I came. That would have helped a lot. Mother says that Karl, my brother, that is, looks just like my father when he was younger."

"I suppose you take after your mother, then?" Mattias suggested.

"I've never been told as much," Lars said somewhat sadly, "but I suppose that's one problem with growing up so far from any family, I've never heard about this uncle or that cousin that looks just like me. I'm really not even sure what any of my grandparents looked like."

Meibel brought the food out, and Frederick started eating right away.

"Are either of you eating?" Lars asked the general and his ward.

"I grab a snack every time I'm back in the kitchen," Meibel admitted.

"Don't tell Halima," the general laughed, "and Mr. Nilsen, if you'd rather have a private meal, we can go to another table."

"I think that's up to Frederick," he said, "but I'm not on duty, anyway."

"Oh, please do join us," Frederick told them between bites of food, ��I figure if we learn anything, we'll get some more stories, and I'd like that."

Lars enjoyed the meal, especially since he hadn't had a very substantial breakfast. He was quite full, but Frederick asked for second helpings, which Meibel gladly went to the kitchen to fetch for him. While she was in back, Halima returned, and Mattias waved her over to their table.

"This is Lars Nilsen," he explained, "and he tells us that his parents are from Arendelle, and he's trying to learn more about them."

"Nilsen is a common enough name," she said, "when did they live here?"

"My mother left before I was born, so about 20 years ago, I think it was during the winter. My brother was about a year old, and I was born in April. Her name is Margit Nilsen."

"That sounds familiar," Halima said, "and I think I remember a woman with a baby whose husband died around then… and I didn't see her again, but I figured with the little one she'd probably go live with family if she had some anywhere. I didn't know she was pregnant, but that's certainly easy enough to hide for a while if you want to, I suppose."

"Why would you want to hide that, though?" Frederick asked.

"Never you mind that," Halima told him, "not everyone is in your mother's position."

"I don't think she was hiding anything. She and my father had wanted more children, but I think she wanted a change after… all that…"

"Have you had a good life in Corona, then?" Mattias asked him.

"Oh, very nice," Lars said, "we've been well taken care of. My brother is in the navy, I was telling Frederick a bit about him last night."

Meibel had returned with the second helping of lunch, and Frederick was too busy eating to respond.

"You'd think they never feed you," Halima laughed.