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, Master Stephen, and anyone else you do not recognize from Frozen.

Chapter 18

Eight-year-old Edmund was looking out his bedroom window on a warm, sunny, late June day. The young prince was smiling at what he saw below. Numerous tents had been erected overnight and multiple carts had arrived. People were milling about buying the various items displayed from this popup market that had appeared. They were all for a festival his father was holding throughout the kingdom to celebrate his thirtieth birthday. While turning thirty was a huge milestone, London held a weeklong festival annually around the king's birthday. King Matthew had invited every kingdom to the festival. Due to the enormous size of the palace, hundreds of guests could stay in the castle at once. With how many kingdoms were coming to the event, Edmund was delighted at getting an opportunity to potentially make some friends with fellow royals. He also looked forward to seeing Jane and Richard.

As the young boy continued to look at the scene before him, he heard a knock on his door.

"Yes?" Edmund called before his father and mentor entered the room.

"Good morning, Edmund. Breakfast is almost ready," Stephen stated.

"Are you ready for the festival, son?" Matthew asked with a smile.

"I am indeed ready for the festival father. However, I would like to have a full stomach before we head out there. With how many things there are to do and see, I will need as much energy as possible," Edmund replied.

"That is the spirit!" the king said with a grin. "Just so you know, we do not have to do everything today. The festival will last an entire week. My birthday is on the second-to-last day of the festival."

"Sounds good father. What should we do first? After we have breakfast?" the young prince wondered.

"Maybe we could just go exploring for a little bit. There will be a lot of contests today starting at noon. Until then, we should see what the festival has to offer," Stephen replied. "I bet there are contests for boys about your age."

"Of course, Master," Edmund stated with an approving nod. "I would like to participate in the contests if that it alright with you."

"You certainly may take part in the contests," the young prince's mentor smiled. "Why don't we head to the Great Hall and have breakfast? Once we are finished, we will go look around the festival."

"As you wish, Master," the young boy responded as the three royals made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Once the three royals entered the city streets, they were greeted by the effervescent atmosphere of the festival. Children were running around in excitement, and their parents were talking with their friends.

Anyone who saw the three royals acknowledged them with bows and curtsies.

Edmund, Matthew, and Stephen soon passed by a cart selling English pasties. Despite having just had breakfast, the three royals decided to get some pasties from the cart.

The merchant smiled as he bowed respectfully. "Good morning, Your Majesties. What kind of pasties would you like today?"

"I would like a vegetable pasty please," Stephen replied.

"You know what? I will have that as well please," King Matthew added.

"Of course!" The merchant then turned his attention to the young prince. "What about for you, Your Highness?"

"The same thing as my father and mentor please. You must eat your vegetables, right?" Edmund said.

"Certainly, Your Highness. I will have those pasties ready in a few moments," the merchant stated.

Soon the pasties were ready to eat. "Here we are! Three vegetable pasties." The merchant handed the pasties to the royals with plates and forks to eat them with.

Upon receiving their pasties and paying for them, the three royals found an area nearby to enjoy the pasties. The merchant wished the king a Happy early Birthday as they went to enjoy their meals.

After the three monarchs had finished their pasties and returned the plates and forks to the merchant for him to clean, they walked around the festival.

One of the tents they walked by had wooden sculptures crafted by the finest woodcarver in England. Deciding to check it out, Edmund, Matthew, and Stephen entered the tent. The woodcarver bowed upon seeing the three royals enter.

Numerous wooden sculptures were scattered about inside the tent. Edmund's attention was caught by some wooden figures. One of them was a warrior clutching his sword and shield. Next to it were numerous other figures such as a knight, rogue, archer, mage, wizard, axe man, and spearman. The young prince admired how much work the woodcarver put into every single wooden sculpture and figure in the tent.

As the young boy continued to look around the tent, he saw wooden weapons such as swords, scimitars, and axes lining the walls. There was a familiar blonde-haired boy also gazing at the weapons.

Edmund immediately recognized him as Richard. "Hello, Richard. Are you enjoying the festival thus far?"

"Hey there, Edmund. I am indeed having a great time. These wooden weapons are pretty cool, aren't they?" Richard asked.

The young prince nodded. "I have to admit the woodcarver does a great job on everything he creates."

Richard nodded in agreement. "He certainly does." Then the nine-year-old thought of something. "Have you heard about any contests today for anyone of our ages?"

"Master Stephen said there will be contests for young boys. However, the contests do not begin until noon," Edmund explained.

"Oh okay. Would you like to hang out with me until then? We could also try to find Jane so she can join us," Richard suggested.

"Yes please. I will ask my father and mentor if that is okay with them," Edmund replied as he went over to King Matthew and Sir Stephen.

"Father? Master? May I hang out with Richard please?" the young boy asked.

"Yes, Richard may come with us, my son. You have done a great job of not doing anything you are not supposed to do today. Please keep it up," Matthew said.

"We do not want any of you to get hurt," Stephen added. "Remember to look with your eyes, not your hands."

"Thank you. I can assure you Richard and I will be just fine," Edmund declared.

"You are welcome, my son. Until the contests commence, we will look around the festival and do as many activities as we are able to. After that, we will return here and see if you would like to get one of the wooden figures," the king said.

"Will do father!" Edmund exclaimed as he went to get Richard to join them.

"They grow up so fast," Stephen remarked.

"You can say that again," Matthew replied with a smile.

OoOoOoOoOoO

The two men and the two boys were strolling through the city streets, admiring the cheerful atmosphere before them.

"Will you be in the archery contest? There is an archery contest being held for boys aged eight through eleven," Richard told the young prince.

"I suppose I could join the contest," Edmund replied before asking his father, "Is that okay with you, father?"

"I think that would be great for you to show how far you have come with your archery skills," Matthew replied. "In only two years since you began using a bow and arrow, you have come a very long way."

"I appreciate it, father," the English prince responded with a smile.

"Certainly, my son," the king stated with a grin of his own.

"I am good at archery. With how much I practice every day, I am sure I will win," Richard stated confidently.

Edmund, staying true to his humbleness, told his friend, "Good luck to you, Richard."

Richard smiled as he and Edmund shook hands. "Good luck to you as well, Edmund. The one who loses must buy a treat of the winner's choice for them."

"You have a deal," Edmund replied.

Matthew and Stephen smiled as they listened to the two young boys making a playful bet with each other. With how well Stephen had trained Edmund, he had no doubt the black-haired prince would come out on top.

"Hey boys?" Stephen said.

"Yes?" the two young boys replied at the same time, turning their attention to Edmund's mentor.

"After the contest for young boys, there will be an archery contest for professionals," the thirty-five-old man replied.

"How old do you have to be in order to participate?" Edmund asked.

"You must be at least sixteen years old to take part in the contest," Stephen responded.

"Ah that is okay. While I still have quite a few years left until I turn sixteen, I look forward to seeing how you perform in the contest," the young prince stated with a beam. Every year since his mentor was sixteen years old, Stephen had won the archery contest. The first time he did it after he and Edmund's father moved to England was when Stephen was twenty-five years old. Prior to that, while living in Ireland, Stephen had already won nine archery contests consecutively. Now he was thirty-five and was attempting to win his twentieth archery championship in a row. With how many times he had won, Stephen was thinking it was about time for him to step down from participating in archery contests. Due to his uncanny ability to use a bow and arrow, Stephen was considering letting someone else take the glory for the sake of being fair.

The four soon arrived at a cart with fresh fruits and vegetables. Edmund, along with everyone else, saw Jane there with her parents. Among them was another young boy with dirty-blonde hair and aurulent eyes. He was also accompanied by his parents.

The young girl spotted the four approaching and got excited at seeing Edmund. "Edmund!" she exclaimed as she ran over and hugged the young prince.

Edmund was surprised for a moment, but nevertheless smiled and returned the hug. "Hello Jane. How are you doing today?"

"Simply wonderful! This festival is a blast!" Jane replied.

"I agree. It has been a fun day today," Edmund said in agreement.

Jane smiled before greeting Richard. "Hello Richard."

The blonde-haired boy smiled as he shook the young girl's hand. "Hi Jane."

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Edmund was now looking at the dirty blonde-haired boy. He appeared to be a little younger than Edmund, as he was a little bit shorter than he was.

"Excuse me, Jane? Who is that over there?" the black-haired boy asked.

"I do not know. He seems nice though," the brown-haired girl responded.

"Is it okay with you guys if I go talk to him?" Edmund asked.

"Of course!" Jane exclaimed.

"Yeah, go ahead, Edmund," Richard encouraged. "Jane and I can talk to each other while you are talking with the other boy."

With their consent, the English prince walked up to the dirty-blonde haired boy. His sparkling golden eyes showed a lot of warmth from within him.

"Good morning. I am Prince Edmund of England. What is your name?" Edmund asked once he was close enough.

The dirty-blonde haired boy smiled as he bowed before Edmund. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Prince Edmund. I am Prince Lucas of Ostenda." The young boys subsequently shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet you, Prince Lucas. Where is Ostenda located?" the English prince asked, interested.

"Ostenda is in Belgium," Lucas replied.

"Cool! What do you think of England thus far?" Edmund asked.

"I really like it. London is a lot bigger than Ostenda. My family and I greatly appreciate you guys inviting us to celebrate King Matthew's thirtieth birthday," the Belgian prince said with a grateful smile.

"Of course! If you are wondering who he is, he is over there," Edmund said, pointing out his father, who was speaking with Jane's parents by the produce cart, along with his mentor.

"Is King Matthew your father?" Lucas asked.

"He is. What are your parents' names?" Edmund wondered.

"My parents are King Arthur and Queen Victoria," Lucas replied.

Edmund looked up at Lucas' parents and bowed. "Pleasure to meet you, King Arthur and Queen Victoria."

"It is an honor to have received your invitation to your father's birthday, Prince Edmund. We are grateful for the opportunity to help him celebrate turning thirty years old," King Arthur greeted.

"It seems you and Lucas are having fun talking to each other," Queen Victoria said, smiling.

"Yes. Prince Lucas is a good kid. We may have just met, but I already enjoy being around him," the young English prince stated.

"As I enjoy being around you, Prince Edmund," Lucas added with a pleased beam, appreciative of the compliment the English prince had given him.

"You guys may just call me Edmund, if you like," Edmund said.

"Then you may call me Lucas," the young Belgian prince responded.

"Certainly," Edmund replied with a grin. "How old are you, Lucas?"

"I am seven years old. What about you?" Lucas wondered.

"I am eight," Edmund replied.

"Wow! You are older than me!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Only by a year," Edmund responded. "When is your birthday?"

"My birthday is in February. The 8th to be precise. When is yours?" Lucas wondered.

"March 14th. That makes you younger than me by less than a year," Edmund said.

"That is nice! What do you like to do for fun?" the Belgian prince asked.

"When I am not training with my mentor, I love to play piano, read books, play chess, and go on adventures outside the city," Edmund replied.

"Sweet! I like to read books as well. What is your mentor's name?" Lucas asked.

"His name is Stephen," the English prince responded.

"That is a good name," the Belgian prince answered with a smile. "If I may ask, what does he train you in?"

"He trains me in every single fighting style there is, along with every weapon as well. However, my main melee weapon is a sword, and my main ranged weapon is a bow and arrow," Edmund explained.

"That sounds like a lot of fun! My weapons of choice are sabers and longbows," Lucas stated.

"Nice! I have heard sabers are like swords but are curved rather than straight. Longbows are basically like bows; except they are roughly the same height as the user," the English prince elaborated.

"You are very smart, Edmund. How are you so smart?" Lucas asked in wonder.

"Just hard work and dedicating yourself to certain tasks," Edmund said modestly.

King Arthur and Queen Victoria were enjoying the conversation going on with Edmund and their young son. They smiled, realizing Lucas had just made friends with a fellow prince. Not only were the two young princes eagerly talking to each other, but they were also being polite and letting each other take their respective turns in speaking. The royals of Ostenda were pleased Prince Edmund was like their own son; humble, modest, friendly, and intelligent.

OoOoOoOoOoO

The archery contest for the young boys was about to start. Edmund and Richard were signing up for the contest at the judge's table, accompanied by King Matthew, Sir Stephen, Richard's parents, Jane, and her parents, along with Lucas and his parents.

"Do you really think I can win the contest?" Edmund asked worriedly.

"Of course, you will, Edmund!" Jane exclaimed.

"Hey," Lucas said, putting a hand on the English prince's shoulder with an encouraging smile. "You got this, Ed."

"Thank you, guys. I appreciate it," Edmund replied gratefully at the encouragement he was receiving.

After the judge had signed Edmund and Richard up, he looked down on Lucas. "Will you be participating as well, young man?"

Lucas shook his head. "I am only seven years old, sir. Thus, I am not old enough to participate this year," the Belgian prince stated honestly. "Am I allowed to at least watch the contest?"

"Of course," the judge replied benevolently. He gestured to Lucas and his parents to follow him. "Here. You and your parents follow me. That way you can have the best view by sitting right up front!"

As the judge and the Belgian royals went to their seats, King Matthew and Sir Stephen were trying to help Edmund keep calm.

"Good luck, son. Just focus on the target and forget about what is going on around you," the king stated.

"Thank you, father," Edmund said. King Matthew nodded approvingly at his young son.

"You win this contest, there will be a surprise for you later," Stephen said with a nod.

"Thank you, Master. I will try my best," the young English prince replied with determination.

The archery contest soon began. Lucas and Jane watched closely as each boy stepped up, lifted their bows, pulled the arrows back, and aimed at their respective targets. Each boy was given three shots to hit the bullseye.

Since the boys were young and did not have nearly as much experience with a bow and arrow as professional archers, none of the contestants before Edmund and Richard hit the bullseye once. Regardless, the audience applauded politely at the boys' attempts.

Lucas and Jane grew excited when Richard and Edmund had their turns. Richard went first. The blonde-haired boy notched an arrow, aimed, and released it. It hit the bullseye dead center. The audience cheered. Firing a second arrow, Richard hit the bullseye once again. More applause from the audience. The third arrow fired was the same result as the two arrows preceding it. Like the previous two bullseyes, the audience erupted with cheers and applause. Richard waved at the crowd with a grin before making his way back to his seat.

The Belgian prince and the young girl were suddenly anxious after the spectacular display Richard put on. Pressure was extremely high for the English prince. Lucas and Jane knew it. Still, they held on to the hope Edmund would answer with a stellar display of his own.

Edmund was the last contestant. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the bow confidently. Lucas and Jane looked around and saw King Matthew and Sir Stephen watching with confidence from the audience.

Lucas and Jane turned their eyes back onto the black-haired boy. He withdrew one of the arrows from the quiver, notched it, and fired. A perfect bullseye. The crowd cheered and clapped. Edmund calmly fired another arrow from the quiver and hit the bullseye again. Another round of applause from the audience. Grabbing the last of the three arrows, the English prince took a little bit longer than the first two arrows to fire the third. When he did, it hit the bullseye like the other arrows. The crowd went delirious. Edmund smiled shyly and waved at the crowd before returning to his seat. While he had hit the bullseye each time, the young English prince knew it was not over yet. He had tied up with Richard.

The judge stood up. "Well, it seems we have a tie. The target will be moved back further."

After the judge moved two targets further back, Richard and Edmund were to only fire one arrow each turn. Even with the targets farther away, the two boys still hit the bullseye with ease. The crowd was getting more and more eager at the display the two young boys were putting on before them.

A winner would not be announced before the target was moved back several times over. The archery contest eventually went to Edmund as Richard got tired and ran out of energy at the end. Edmund, however, was unusually strong for an eight-year-old boy and did not even feel tired after all that shooting.

The judge announced, "We have a winner! Prince Edmund of England!"

Cheers and claps erupted from the audience as the judge began to walk over to the English prince with the winning trophy in his arms.

Before the judge could reach Edmund, however, Richard intercepted his path. "May I give it to him please?"

The judge gave the blonde-haired boy a funny look before softening his expression. With a proud smile, the judge handed the trophy to Richard, patting the young boy on the shoulder.

Richard took the trophy delicately, not taking any time to admire it before he handed it to the young English prince.

"Congratulations, Edmund," Richard said with a smile, clapping Edmund on the shoulder.

"Thank you, Richard. That was some fun contest huh?" Edmund replied.

"Sure was. I cannot wait to do it again next year," Richard said with a grin.

"Me neither," the black-haired boy responded with a smile of his own.

King Matthew and Sir Stephen, along with Jane, Lucas, and their respective parents, went over to congratulate Edmund on emerging victorious.

"You won, Edmund! Yay! You won!" Jane exclaimed.

"Thank you, Jane. It was certainly hard-fought with how well Richard did in the contest," Edmund admitted.

"Yeah. Richard sure gave you a run for your money there," Lucas replied.

"Yes, he did," the English prince stated with a sheepish smile.

Edmund saw his father and mentor approaching to offer their congratulations.

"Well done, Edmund. Marvelous job you did!" Stephen said with a nod of approval.

"It looks like you will be getting that surprise later today, after all," Matthew said with a smile.

"Ah I do not need anything else. This trophy is good enough for me," Edmund replied modestly.

"No really. I insist we give you that surprise later today. You will like it," Stephen stated with a grin.

"Oh okay. Thank you, Master," Edmund said with a beam of his own.

"Of course, Edmund. Anyway, the archery contest for the professionals will commence soon. Let us head over there now, shall we?" Stephen suggested.

"As you wish, Master. I cannot wait to see how you perform in the contest," the young English prince replied as the group made their way to where the archery contest for professionals would be held.

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Stephen signed up for the archery tournament, along with many other professional archers from around the world. Every year since he was sixteen years old, he won the contest every time not only in archery, but in other contests as well such as weightlifting, swimming, and running. Since he was going for twenty archery contest wins in a row, the brown-haired man decided he should step down and let the other men get their chance to shine. While no one resented Stephen's annual victories due to his amazing personality, the thirty-five-year-old man figured it was only a matter of time before they did begin to feel bitter about it.

After every contestant signed up, Stephen approached the judge. The judge noticed him coming towards him and greeted, "Ah, Sir Stephen. Are you ready for the contest?"

"Yes. Before we begin, may I have a word with you please?" Stephen asked.

"Certainly. What can I do for you?" the judge wondered.

"Well, this is my tenth archery contest in England and twentieth overall since it all started back in Ireland," the brown-haired man explained.

The judge raised his eyebrows, sensing what Sir Stephen was about to say. "Are you saying you would like to retire from participating in the archery contest after this one concludes?"

"Precisely," Stephen responded.

"Well, it has been a lot of fun watching you put on a show in front of everyone, Sir Stephen. However, I completely understand you would like to step down and let someone else take all the glory. That is very gracious of you," the judge said with a nod of approval.

Stephen shrugged. "I am just trying to do the right thing, sir."

The archery tournament for the professionals began shortly after. Edmund, Richard, Jane, and Lucas, along with King Matthew, Jane's parents, Richard's parents, and Lucas' parents had sat down in the front row to support Stephen. They all had zero doubt Stephen would emerge victorious with his twentieth archery tournament win in a row.

"This is going to be amazing," Edmund said.

"I agree. Just like how you won the archery contest for young boys, I know Stephen will win this," Lucas replied.

"I have no doubt he will. He is the greatest archer I have ever seen," Richard added.

"Yay, Sir Stephen!" Jane exclaimed.

Unlike the young boys, the professional archers had many years of experience with a bow and arrow. Thus, they were striking the bullseye more frequently than the young boys did.

The audience was cheering, screaming, and whistling loudly for the men firing arrows at their targets. No one received more cheers than Sir Stephen, as he was the favorite to win the tournament. The brown-haired man was hitting the bullseye with no effort. He had his many years of archery training to thank for that.

The archery tournament for experienced archers had six rounds. Sixty-four archers were to begin, with half of them eliminated while the other half advanced to the next round.

Stephen breezed through the first four rounds of the tournament. Now it was the semi-finals. Only four archers remained. All of them were locked in, focusing on their respective targets. The four archers all hit the bullseye, requiring the targets to be moved back. Stephen managed to hit the bullseye, along with another man. Unfortunately for the other two men, they failed to hit the bullseye, and thus were eliminated from the contest.

In the final, Stephen and the only archer standing in the brown-haired man's way of his twentieth archery tournament win in a row both hit the bullseye once more. With how far the targets were moved back, the range of the bows being used for the contest was approaching its maximum. It was only a matter of time before the targets were moved out of range of the bows.

The crowd could only gaze in awe at the performance the two men in the final were putting on. Both men were pushing the upper limits of how far a bow and arrow could shoot.

"You got this, Master!" Edmund cheered.

"Go, Sir Stephen!" Lucas shouted triumphantly.

"Win that trophy, Sir Stephen!" Jane yelled.

"Win this contest!" Richard encouraged.

The parents of Jane, Richard, and Lucas, along with King Matthew, were smiling at the children cheering Edmund's mentor on.

Eventually, the targets were moved back so far it would be next to impossible to get a perfect bullseye.

The man that was still in the tournament along with Stephen fired an arrow. It barely missed the bullseye, and the crowd gasped. While only a perfect bullseye would win the tournament for Stephen, the brown-haired man knew the door had been left open with his opponent failing to strike the bullseye.

Stephen notched an arrow and pulled back, taking a deep breath in concentration. He fired the arrow. It cleanly hit the bullseye. The crowd erupted in cheers and claps for Sir Stephen. It was now twenty archery tournament wins in a row for the brown-haired man.

"We have a winner! Sir Stephen!" the judge announced before he handed the trophy to Stephen.

The judge then announced Stephen would be retiring from participating. Instead of getting upset, the audience instead went delirious, chanting his name and doing their best to give Stephen a proper farewell.

At the insistence of the judge, a retirement ceremony was held in honor of Sir Stephen. Stephen modestly said it was not necessary. Nevertheless, the judge wanted to make sure Stephen's performances every year would never be forgotten.

The judge even decided to name the trophy after Sir Stephen beginning with the next archery contest the following year.

While Stephen was surprised by the applause the audience was giving him in appreciation for what he had done, he was pleased the judge had decided to help him end his participation in archery contests on a high note.

Stephen may not have been in archery tournaments anymore after that, but he still practiced with his bow and arrow every day to keep his skills keen. He also helped train Edmund with his bow and arrow and gave advice to others wondering how Stephen had become so masterful at archery.

The brown-haired man realized it was an unbelievable ride for him. Someday, he hoped Edmund would follow in his footsteps and become just as good an archer as he was.