[https://i.postimg.cc/nL1D9Dk9/TTB-FF-Head-1-page-0001.jpg]

Years passed, and the gates still remained closed. Alex gave company to the sisters separately in his spare time. After completing his training, he served his duties as the royal sergeant—a personal guard to the royal family. The ‘dinner nights’ were Elsa’s most cherished times, when Alex ceremonially served dinner in her room and later read her a story from one of the books his friends from the Exploration Corps gave him. Anna seemed to enjoy the unique board games. She also played with Alex for most of the day; when he was not preoccupied with duties. Both of them also shared a taste for adventure.

As days turned months, and months turned years, both Elsa and Anna grew up to become beautiful young ladies. Alex, too, was by then a strong, appreciated, and knowledgeable man. What’s more, is that he knew every nook and corner of the castle.

One odd day, the king and queen wished to set sail for the Southern Sea urgently. They promised to be back in two weeks. The same evening, Elsa and Anna gathered in the main hall to bid them farewell. Alex stood by the sisters in full dress uniform. Kai, who helped with the luggage, wore a worried look on his face. Elsa curtsied and asked her parents, “Do you have to go?”

Her expression was ominous. King Agnarr reassured, “You’ll be fine, Elsa.”

The king and queen then moved over to Anna. Unlike her sister, she was optimistic.

“See you in two weeks,” she said with absolute confidence and hugged them tightly.

After a moment, they moved to Alex. On their arrival, he came to attention and saluted.

“Wish you a safe journey, Your Majesties.”

King Agnarr informed with gravity, “At ease Alex, I am leaving Princess Elsa in charge indeed, but you know your responsibilities to Arendelle.”

Alex looked the king in the eyes and absorbed every word he said.

“Yes, my King.”

Queen Iduna smiled and gently poked his nose, due to which his cap fell off.

“What a little boy he was! See how he has grown up.” teased the queen as she jovially ruffled his neatly combed hair.

She smiled at him the same way she would smile at her daughters when they were little. Alex smiled back with a sigh as though something went wrong, but he didn’t mind it anyway. Both the sisters giggled, covering their mouths. Queen Iduna grew concerned.

“What is the matter, Anna?” she asked.

When her laughter subsided, Anna confessed,

“He spent an entire hour to set that cap ‘properly’ on his head!”

The queen looked worried now.

“I told him it looked fine, but he kept saying: ‘It has to be perfect for the king and queen’!” Anna declared in a no-laughing-matter voice.

King Agnarr and Elsa could not hold back their laughter, but the queen grew regretful. She picked up his cap from the floor. Alex immediately insisted, “There’s no need for that, Your Majesty.”

Even so, she placed it on his head and adjusted it.

“Thank you,” he replied.

“Does it look alright now, Alex?” asked Queen Iduna.

“My Queen, does it look alright to you?” he asked her.

“It always does, Alex.” the queen said.

“Then I am satisfied.”

“But your hair…?” she began.

With an intent to butter her, he started,

“Have not a worry, my Queen. Today, I can go around all of Arendelle without the bother of how my hair looks because it is the Queen of Arendelle who set it for me!”

The queen shortly looked amused and let out a soft, soothing chuckle.

Elsa laughed and complained jokingly, “Stop it, you’re flattering her!”

Queen Iduna smiled and expressed, “Oh, go on!”

King Agnarr accepted, “You brighten the mood within these closed gates sometimes, Alex.”

As they proceeded outside with Kai, Alex bowed low. Kai accompanied the king and queen, along with a porter to the harbor. Before boarding the ship, the king verified, “Is all the required luggage on board?”

Kai confirmed, “Yes, Your Majesty. Everything, save the royal sword.”

With a grave tone, King Agnarr directed, “Now listen carefully, Kai. If anything should happen to us, I want you to entrust the Royal Sergeant of Arendelle with the sword, understand?”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Kai was worried the moment he heard of the urgent trip, and this instruction sent a sinister feeling down his spine. But who was he to object in the king’s endeavors?

“I understand, Your Majesty.” he concurred.

However, things didn’t go according to plan. Two weeks passed, and so did the third, yet there was no sign of the king and the queen. Kai and other ministers discussed among themselves and prepared for the worst.

On the fourth day of the fourth week, they divulged to the sisters what had happened to their parents. At first, the princesses did not want to believe something this grave had occurred. But when the realization hit, the entire air around the castle shifted. Elsa was overwhelmed with sorrow and fear. Her powers got out of hand, and her chamber was covered in a thick layer of ice. She didn’t even want to talk to anyone. Anna locked herself in her room and cried for hours. However, Alex was kept unaware until he met a worried Kai the same evening.

“What is the matter, Kai?” he asked him, confused.

“Well, Alex…” he hesitated to finish.

Alex took his hand and asked him once more, “What is it?”

Kai mustered up the courage and declared, “The king and queen are no more.”

Alex was shaken. His body was rigid with disbelief, as his eyes showed slight awareness. Slowly, he stumbled up to the wall and got down on his knees. His eyes were brimming with tears, but he fought hard to keep them under control. Kai helped him up from the ground and implored, “Please don’t shut yourself out, Alex. The princesses have not been seen ever since we told them!”

Alex cleared his watery eyes. “Poor things must be devastated.”

Kai spoke immediately, “What has happened, has happened. But Arendelle needs direction. What must we do, royal sergeant?”

In his saddened state, Alex told Kai softly, but with slight frustration,

“Shouldn’t you be asking that to Princess Elsa?”

Kai sighed, “As I said, the princess has locked herself away and refuses to speak with anyone.”

The sergeant took a deep breath and directed, “Then declare a state of mourning, of course! The flag of Arendelle will fly at half-staff for the next three days.”

Kai complied, “Yes. However, there is one more problem, the rites for the king and the queen must be performed within two weeks of their expiry.”

Alex lifted his gaze and asked, “So, what’s the matter with that, Kai?”

Kai began, “It takes three days to sail to the place where the monoliths must rest. And, our law says that after performing the rites for the king and queen, a ruler must be appointed within four days.”

Alex responded immediately, “And so, we must abide by those laws.”

Alex began to walk, and Kai followed.

“I am assuming that we will finish the rites in the next three days, and we will take another three to sail back. The day after we return: the fourth day after finishing the rites, we can have Princess Elsa’s coronation.” Alex planned.

Kai nodded, “Yes, that seems fine.” He then urgently added, “But we must hurry; this month ends in three days.”

Alex turned to him, “You are right. I didn’t think of that.” Turning away, he continued earnestly, “Therefore, we leave right away. Kai, I need you to accompany me too. Tell the staff to take good care of the princesses.”

Kai acknowledged, “Yes, royal sergeant. I will do that. Let us leave now.”

Over the next three days, Alex and Kai set sail for the island where the monoliths had to rest. A crew naturally accompanied them. The rites were performed. The men and women of the crew, along with Alex and Kai, boarded the vessel again. Besides the damp and dismal air of the makeshift harbor on the island, the sky was growing dark, and there were signs of heavy rain coming. After boarding the ship, Kai decided to fulfill the king’s last wish. Holding the royal sword before Alex, he cleared his throat and phrased,

“By order of King Agnarr, you are entrusted with the royal sword of Arendelle.”

Alex accepted the sword with the utmost respect. He attached the scabbard to his belt and drew the blade out. Keeping the sword close to his face, he muttered to himself, “Your Majesty, I promise…”

After a while, he sheathed it. Bad weather delayed their journey back to Arendelle by an entire day; fortunately, neither was there a storm nor heavy rain. Before sunup the following morning, the lights of Arendelle were seen in the distance—today was Elsa’s coronation day.

It was a crisp morning aboard the vessel, and besides the creaking sounds of the ship and the lapping water, silence prevailed. Alex spoke to Kai as they witnessed the glinting, distant lights of Arendelle,

“I’m not extremely concerned about Anna, as she gets over things quickly. But Elsa must be heartbroken and, most of all, nervous. I will have to talk to her as soon as we reach.”

Kai urgently informed, “Alex, our law directs that from sunrise to sunset on the coronation day, only members of the royal family are allowed to meet the heir to the throne.”

Alex asked, “And do you think we can make it before sunrise, Kai?”

Kai observed the speed of the ship for a moment. It was moving quick enough for him to say, “I do think so.”

After about an hour, the port was nearer. Twilight was closing in, and everything seemed perfect: not until a sailor noticed a small hole in the ship's mainsail. The ‘favorable’ wind very soon punctured through it, and they saw a massive gash on the canvas. Alex and Kai watched in utter shock as the mainsail was ripped in half. The ship was drastically slowed down.

“Now, this is not good.”

Shortly after Kai said so, the storm jib was hoisted. The captain reported, “I’m sorry, but we will not be able to make it before sunrise.”

Alex inquired, “How much delay are we expecting, captain?”

“As the mainsail has been damaged, we have to rely on the storm jib to make sail. We will be delayed by no less than four hours, royal sergeant.”

Alex was dejected. He could only hope that Elsa would be able to control her powers. The wind also became slower, to make matters worse. At the crack of dawn, the crewmates could make out the other ships—ships of guests from near and far who were to attend Elsa’s coronation.

Hours later, the sun had risen higher up, but the ship made little progress. The vessels of invited guests were now much closer to the port, as the majority of them came in from another direction. Only one came from the same direction as the Arendellian one.

“Sail on the larboard stern!” cautioned the lookout on the watchtower. That ship was sailing faster, and it was apparent that it would overtake theirs in a matter of minutes. Heeding to the man on watch, the captain ordered,

“All hands, man the sails! Section leader, parade your troops!”

Crewmates and sailors made haste. Arendellian soldiers fanned out from the hold and hoisted the royal colors. Kai drew out his naval telescope and observed a similar tussle on the adjacent vessel coming in from behind. When the two ships were close, some thirty-forty mean faces in red uniforms looked onto the Arendellian ship.

“This one is from Weselton.” Kai verified.

“Let me have a look.” insisted Alex, as he took the telescope.

He studied the ship’s main deck. The men on board certainly did not look welcoming. As he browsed through the field of sight, he came across a Lilliputian old man who shot awkward expressions and danced, celebrating the fact that he had overtaken their ship. Alex turned to Kai and asked,

“And who is this monkey over here?” He handed him the telescope.

“That is the Duke of Weselton. He is a trade partner, not entirely friendly,” he confirmed with much wrinkling of his brow.

“Well, then we must keep a watchful eye on what he does.” Alex warned. Kai nodded. Even though the duke refused to touch the chilly water around his ship with a ten-foot pole, something did seem ‘fishy’ about him.