The Young Diplomat [Frozen II post-canon]

Fair Winds

The announcements were sent out first thing in the morning: "Her Majesty, Queen Anna of Arendelle was safely delivered of a princess. Her Majesty and the infant princess are both doing well."

Lars sat at the desk in his room, looking at his stack of correspondence, including his copy of the official announcement. He was thankful that he still had a week or so before he would need to be on duty, though he suspected Mr. Meyer would want to meet with him soon to review anything important. His brother's ship was to arrive in the next day or two.

He had received a letter from Elizabeth excitedly telling him of her earlier arrival, and she mentioned that her father had been most mysterious about their itinerary.

There was also a letter from his mother. He saw the date, and it looked likely that his mother had received his last letter. He read further.

Dearest Lars,

I'm so happy to hear that you are being well treated there. The current queen was always quite friendly, though I understand that you haven't personally met her. The children sound delightful. I never realized that you didn't believe my stories, though I never saw the trolls myself. I do remember the snowman. He was quite kind and friendly, once you got used to him...

Lars supposed there might not be much more that she would know about the snowman, as she called him. The rest of her letter was talking about the upcoming coronations of the young prince and princess in Corona, all of which was information he knew through official sources.

Of course, now he had so many more questions for his mother. Perhaps the former queen was being polite, and simply had a good memory for names. Could she have actually known his mother? He couldn't figure out how that could be. His mother had never worked in the castle, as far as he knew. She had told him that very few people could even enter the castle in her younger days, let alone work there.

He stared blankly out the window. Outside he could see some of the fjord and the path he had taken rides on the previous week, and realized that an advantage of the ambassador's room with the view of the town was that he could see the ships coming into the harbor. As lovely as the fjord and the mountains were, Lars now wished he could keep watch for the Corona naval ship from the privacy of his own room.

It was nearly lunchtime. Lars decided to walk into town. Perhaps Halima would be able to tell him more, but at least he would have a better view of the harbor. The castle was mostly quiet, though he thought he could hear the new baby from the direction of the royal family's rooms. He would do his best to leave them alone today.

The townspeople were happily bustling. It seemed that all the gossip focused on the new baby. Names were discussed, but there seemed to be no consensus. Most of the family names had been used up on the older children, he heard one shopkeeper say. A young man suggested forming a betting pool, which several men and women in the vicinity agreed to. Lars decided to move along quickly.

He decided to walk along the harbor before sitting down for lunch, admitting to himself he enjoyed picking up bits and pieces of the day's gossip. He hadn't bothered looking closely at any of the ships. Suddenly, he felt a shove from behind. He turned around to see a young man in a Corona naval uniform laughing at him.

"Karl!" Lars exclaimed. "I hardly recognized you! What are you doing here so soon?"

"We had favorable winds," his brother informed him, giving a forceful hug. "We could hardly believe it ourselves, but here we are!"

"And everyone is well?" Lars asked, his hands on his brother's shoulders, looking up at him. He had always hoped he would have caught up in height by now, but at the age of twenty, he was resigned to forever being a few inches shorter.