I would like to thank roxygoth, BurningFox6, krystal lazuli, and LukeJames for beta reading and helping me improve!

Feedback is always appreciated!

Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen. Frozen is owned by Disney. I only lay claim to Prince Edmund, Prince Lucas, and Master Stephen.

Chapter 12

Elsa and Edmund were soon back inside the castle in order for the English prince to warm up and dry off.

"I had a good time today, Elsa. Thank you," Edmund said with a beam.

"You are welcome. It was a great time, indeed," Elsa replied with a grin of her own.

"Would you like to do it again sometime? Since all we did was play in the snow today, I was thinking we could look around the shops and get gifts for everyone," Edmund suggested.

"Yes. I would like that," the Ice Queen replied.

"Sounds like a plan. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to dry off and change into some fresh clothes. I will see you later, Elsa," the English prince smiled and waved as he left to go to his guestroom. Elsa in return waved back with a beam.

The Snow Queen smiled fondly at how gracious and chivalrous the English prince was. She really enjoyed having his company. Elsa looked forward to spending more time with the English prince. However, she also reminded herself they had not even known each other for a week yet. Elsa did not know whether they would remain friends or if their friendship would eventually blossom into romance. Thus, she resolved the situation by reminding herself that one outing meant nothing. They really needed some time before they could officially make it romantic.

Anna eventually made her way through the hallway and upon seeing her sister, skipped over to her, smiling.

"Hey Elsa!" the princess greeted. "What have you been up to today?"

"I was just spending some time in the town with Edmund," Elsa replied.

"Oh! Did you have a good time with him?" Anna wondered.

"Yes, I had a wonderful time with him," Elsa said. She then added, "Nevertheless, we are just friends, Anna. Edmund and I have nothing romantic between us whatsoever."

"Come on, Elsa! Edmund is such a good man. He's very polite and breathtakingly handsome!" the princess teased with a wide grin.

The Snow Queen sighed. "Anna, listen to me. Edmund and I only went into town as friends. He made it clear we were only going as friends. There is no way I can fall in love with a man I have known for less than a week."

"At least you like him, right?" Anna teased.

Now the Snow Queen was beginning to become stern. "Look, Edmund and I are just friends, okay Anna? While he is a good man, we still barely even know each other. Please do not say it is true love, because it is way too early to make that assumption."

Anna groaned but knew her big sister was right. The princess knew Hans for only one day, and while he may have seemed polite at first, he turned out to be a rancorous monster who did not care about anyone but himself. Anna was confident, however, that Edmund was nothing like Hans. The good news is they have known Edmund, Lucas, and Stephen for more than one day. In addition to that, the guests have not shown any signs of malicious intentions either.

"I will admit that Edmund is indeed a wonderful man and very handsome. It is just that I am in no hurry to find a man to rule beside me," Elsa said.

Anna nodded in understanding. "I just want you to be happy, Elsa. Your happiness means more to me than anything."

The Snow Queen could not help but smile at that. "I really appreciate that, Anna. Seriously, I do. Nevertheless, I am not sure now if Edmund is the right man for me. Maybe he will be in the future, but I will be patient and find out if he truly is in love with me."

"Okay! What did you and Edmund do while spending time in the town?" Anna wondered.

Elsa grinned as she began to tell her little sister what she and the English prince did.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Upon entering his guestroom, Edmund saw his master training his best friend. The black-haired man smiled warmly at the sight.

Lucas was the first to notice the English prince. "Hey there, Edmund! How was your time with Elsa?"

Edmund beamed. "Elsa and I had a great time. We walked through town and had an intense snowball fight after that."

Lucas chuckled. "I can see that. Your clothes are all wet. Are you going to take a hot bath and get into some fresh clothes or something?"

"You read my mind there. I was about to do just that," Edmund replied. The English prince then turned his attention to his master. "How did it go with training Luc, Master?"

Stephen nodded in approval. "Lucas did quite well if I may say so. He has that same sky-high potential you have."

"I am delighted to hear Lucas did a great job. How was it being instructed by Master Stephen, Luc?" Edmund asked.

"Master Stephen is a great instructor. Not to say anything against the Captain of the Guards in Ostenda, but I think Master Stephen is the best teacher I have ever had," the Belgian prince stated.

Stephen smiled at the compliment. "I am pleased I was able to provide you with a teaching style that you could follow easily. Everyone has their unique method of teaching, and while some may follow it easily, others may not. I have a feeling there are people out there that would not exactly be able to follow my ways of teaching."

Lucas nodded in agreement. "That is true. You were easy to follow though. I appreciate how you explained everything in detail. Everything made sense because of that."

"It makes me happy Master Stephen was a great teacher for you, Luc," the English prince stated with a grin. "Now if you gentlemen will excuse me, I am going to take a hot bath and change into some fresh clothes."

"Take all the time you need, Edmund. Lucas and I will play chess while we wait," Stephen said.

"You two have fun then," Edmund replied as he went into the bathroom and closed the door, locking it as he did.

Stephen and Lucas then made their way to the chessboard in the corner of the suite.

"You play chess, right Lucas?" the brown-haired man asked.

The dirty-blonde haired man nodded. "I do. Although I am sure I will not be able to beat you as you seem to have a lot of experience playing chess."

"I suppose there is only one way to find out," Stephen replied.

"That is true," Lucas stated as the two men began their chess match.

The chess game would last a lot shorter than Lucas thought. Apparently, he had underestimated how skilled at chess Stephen was. Despite getting defeated so quickly, Lucas admitted defeat with grace.

"Holy smokes! I guess I miscalculated how proficient you are at chess," Lucas praised.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Stephen merely shrugged. "Chess is a game of strategy. Because of that, I think playing chess has helped me not only train under Master Noah, but to become the mentor I am today. The game has reminded me since I began training that it is always wise to have a strategy when fighting."

The Belgian prince nodded in agreement. "I recall the Captain of the Guards in Ostenda telling me you must consider any potential obstacles that might get thrown at you. Whenever a barrier takes place, you must be able to overcome it somehow."

"That is correct," the brown-haired man confirmed.

Lucas then got curious, wondering if anyone had ever beaten Master Stephen in a game of chess. "Have you ever lost in a chess match before?"

"I have not. However, Edmund has come close to defeating me on several occasions as I taught him how to play chess. When he was a kid, he could easily overwhelm anyone else he played against, even those who were much older than him. Eventually, when he was fifteen years old, London held a chess tournament consisting only of the best two hundred fifty-six chess players in the world. Edmund breezed through every round until he was faced with a true test in the finals. Although his last opponent was a tough one, he was able to emerge victorious. I apologize in advance if I am bragging, but I felt I would have breezed through the entire tournament if I had participated. Edmund himself said that even if he really tried, he did not think he could defeat me," Stephen explained.

"I do not think you are bragging at all. Since you taught him about chess, I figured you would know all his tactics and strategies." The Belgian prince then thought of something. "Are you and Edmund both chess grandmasters?"

Stephen nodded. "We are. Outside of myself, no one has managed to defeat Edmund in a game of chess. I was named a chess grandmaster shortly after I completed my training with Noah. At the time, the best chess player in the world was Prince Hugo of Kingsham in Sweden. When I was set to face him in the final round, I was nervous. Considering I was only twenty years old at the time, I did not think I could beat him. Despite how jittery I felt, Noah reassured me I would do great, and no matter what, win or lose, he would be proud of me for making it as far as I did."

"How did the match with Prince Hugo turn out?" Lucas asked, intrigued.

"It was tense, to say the least. Everyone in Dublin, Ireland gathered around us to watch the game unfold before them. No matter what Prince Hugo and I did, we always seemed to anticipate each other's moves. Both of us could not come up with a strategy to try to get a checkmate. The match lasted for several hours as we tried to come up with something neither of us would see coming," Stephen elaborated.

"You won in the end, right?" the Belgian prince wondered.

"I did. Everyone, myself included, were stunned I had managed to defeat the best chess player on the planet. Hugo was speechless, unable to say anything at first upon witnessing his first defeat," Stephen elaborated.

"At least he was a good sport about it, right?" Lucas asked.

"Fortunately, he was. Hugo stated I was officially a chess grandmaster for managing to beat him. The thing that surprised me the most, however, was what he said afterwards. He said I was the future of the game of chess, and he hoped that if anyone were to ever defeat me someday, he would be a great guy like me for showing good sportsmanship. Even though I was now the best chess player in the world after defeating Hugo, I never bragged about it, nor did I care about the title whatsoever. Having the grandmaster title is great, but I learned something very important from the experience. Noah told me that while winning awards and being bestowed titles were amazing, it was all about doing your best, no matter what. He also said you must give it your best effort while simultaneously doing it the correct way," Stephen explained.

Lucas nodded with a grin. "I would like to thank you for taking your time to share this with me. While I am glad there are amazing people out there, it pains me to know that not everyone will turn out that way."

"You are welcome, Luc," Stephen said. "What would you like to do now?"

"Maybe after Edmund gets dressed, I could watch you and he play a chess match? I would like to see what strategies you guys use in chess," Lucas suggested.

"Certainly," the brown-haired man nodded with a thumbs up.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Kristoff was in the castle stables, spending time with Sven.

"How is everything going?" Kristoff spoke for Sven.

"Everything is great, Sven. The three guests are fantastic guys. I've managed to get along with them quite well," the ice harvester replied.

"That's good to hear! Are you maybe going to do something with them again?" the ice harvester spoke for his reindeer pal.

Kristoff chuckled. "Most likely. I was thinking we could possibly do something together like we did with Edmund and Lucas. Hopefully, we can have Stephen join us this time."

The ice harvester was thinking about when the two princes had gone with him to harvest ice. It was a great opportunity to know more about the two men. This made Kristoff realize there were many great people in the world just like Anna and her sister. He wished everyone could be a great person, but Kristoff knew that not all people were bound to be good. Take Hans for example.

"Were you planning on harvesting ice with the guests again?" the ice harvester spoke for Sven.

"Since we already have enough ice to make it until next winter, it is highly unlikely we'll need to do it again while they're here. Maybe next time they visit Arendelle we can go ice harvesting again. It's a shame only three people can fit in the sled including me," Kristoff said, thinking about how Stephen was unable to join them because of that.

"Are there any unique qualities about the guests?" Kristoff spoke for Sven.

"Well, they're all wonderful guys in their own ways. Edmund, Lucas, and Stephen are all humble, smart, and polite. The guests are also incredibly strong. I'm sure they are significantly stronger than I am. Some differences between them are Steph seems to be the most serious of the three. He doesn't smile as much as Ed or Luc, but he's still a good guy. I suppose it could have something to do with him taking his mentorship with Edmund very seriously. Another thing was probably the influence his own master, Noah, had on him during his childhood. Noah did not tolerate failure, and I'm sure that might've turned Stephen into a more solemn individual," Kristoff explained.

"What about the other guests?" Kristoff spoke for Sven.

"Edmund and Lucas have been best friends since they were children. They were elated to see each other again after having not seen each other in over a decade. Both men seem to have very good self-confidence, as Lucas is a very cheerful man who usually talks pretty fast. I'm not saying he's smarter than Edmund because of that. It's just that it is who Lucas is and I have no doubt Edmund is perfectly fine with it. Ed seems to be the kind of guy who only acts aggressively whenever the situation calls for it. It was only after the hooded figure Stephen was talking about invading the castle I saw any of the guests upset. Other than that, I haven't seen any of them angry or having a temper whatsoever," Kristoff elaborated.

"I'm happy the guests are nice," the ice harvester spoke for Sven.

Kristoff chuckled. "Yeah, me too, Sven. I guess I should be glad Elsa invited them over for Christmas this year."

OoOoOoOoOoO

After Edmund had his bath and got into some fresh clothes, he exited the bathroom.

"Edmund, Lucas would like to see you and I play a chess match and see what we usually do when playing," Stephen said.

"Of course! We still have plenty of time until dinner, so why not?" Edmund replied with a beam.

Stephen nodded with approval as he and his student made their way to the chess board. As they did their chess match, Lucas watched closely to learn any potential strategies that might help him improve his chess skills.

What the Belgian prince noticed was Edmund and Stephen tried to take control of the center of the chessboard. He realized it made a lot of sense to try to seize the middle of the board. Pieces in the center had much more maneuverability than pieces that were stuck in a corner.

The game between Edmund and Stephen went on for much longer than the match between Lucas and Stephen. As the match went on, the dirty-blonde haired man watched carefully; he was inspecting each move the two chess grandmasters made.

Stephen eventually won the match. "Checkmate," he replied.

"I have never seen a checkmate like this before. Seems we are learning new things every day, right Master?" Edmund asked.

"Of course, Edmund," Stephen replied. "Now that our match has concluded, would you like us to show you some strategies, Luc?"

"Yes please," Lucas stated.

"Since Edmund and I basically use the same tactics and strategies, I will let him teach you," the brown-haired man said.

"Sounds good," Lucas responded with a beam.

Edmund then got ready to instruct his best friend about chess.

"As you may have noticed, Master Stephen and I were attempting to seize the center of the chessboard." He grabbed the white knight pieces and placed one in a corner, the other toward the center of the board. "For example, when a knight is in a corner, you only have two options to where you can move it. When it is near the center, however, you have up to eight different squares you can move the knight to."

"Having pieces like that near the center allows for more flexibility, based on what my father told me," Lucas said.

"Exactly. That way you have a greater chance at capturing a key piece of your opponent," Edmund explained. "A key first move is to move one of the pawns closest to the center of the board. This opens pathways for the more powerful pieces to get into battle for the central portion of the board."

Lucas nodded in understanding as he listened to his best friend.

"Good chess strategy is playing each piece once to its best square, developing them all in turn, and moving your chess pieces off from where they begin. You want to get your pieces into the game as rapidly as possible and get them to where they can accomplish something, whether it is aiding your attack or defense of the center. Seldom will you move the same piece more than once in the chess opening," Edmund explained.

"Makes sense," Lucas said.

"Another important strategy is keeping your king safe, so castle early and get him behind your wing pawns. Castling is a great way to safeguard your king from any sudden chess tactics and even checkmate. It gets the king away from the center and develops one of your rooks at the same time. This is a top-level chess strategy," Edmund elaborated.

"When it comes to the pawns, it is wise to only advance one or two pawns. Moving too many pawns can weaken your defense and result in losing many key pieces early," the English prince continued.

Lucas nodded.

"One last thing that is a great strategy in chess is to make threats when developing pieces and try to limit your opponent's freedom of choice," Edmund finished.

The Belgian prince nodded. "I thank you for taking the time to help me understand chess better Edmund."

"Of course, Lucas," Edmund replied before noticing the sky outside. "It looks like it is almost dinner time now."

"Maybe we should head to the Great Hall now," Stephen suggested.

"Yeah, let's do it," Edmund replied as the three guests made their way to the Great Hall for dinner.