The Young Diplomat [Frozen II post-canon]

Weddings and Birthdays

Thursday morning was the highly anticipated wedding of the summer, which everyone in town was looking forward to: that of Captain Olsen of the Castle Guard and Isabel, the ward of General Mattias and Halima. Captain Olsen had lived in Arendelle his entire life. His father had also served in the Castle Guard, and Isabel had lived in Arendelle since General Mattias and Halima had taken her in as a young child, so the newlyweds knew nearly everyone. Following the wedding, there was a large party taking up all of Hudson's Hearth and spilling out into most of the surrounding square. Captain Olsen had been given two weeks leave for his honeymoon, and the General had arranged for a vacation cottage on one of the nearby islands belonging to one of his old colleagues for the couple to stay at during their honeymoon.

People asked Inga about her supposed upcoming wedding, which everyone seemed to be certain about except for herself. She had to assure her father multiple times that she had no plans of getting married anytime soon, and there wasn't actually any reason for people to think she was getting married, and she promised him that she'd tell him right away if there were any plans of that sort. Her aunt had assured her mother of just as much, even if Inga had the feeling that both of them thought that she was protesting a bit too much. Inga was at a loss of how much she could protest, anyway, and she was starting to realize she would never have any privacy on the issue, no matter what she decided.

"Hey, Inga," Frederick called over to her, "why is everyone saying you're getting married?"

She glared. "Because, I guess, nothing interesting actually happened this summer, either here or in Corona."

"But..." he began, then she saw a spark of understanding. "Oh..."

"Exactly," she laughed bitterly.

"So, when do I get to be a source of gossip?" he smiled, sitting down next to her.

"If you're lucky, never," she replied, scruffing his hair as she sat down.

At the first light of dawn on Friday morning, the newlywed Captain and Mrs. Olsen sailed to the island where they would be spending their honeymoon. Inga wished them well, and then did her best to avoid the questions she knew that Kate and Edith would be asking her after talking some more with Elizabeth's sisters.

Inga walked toward the Castle gardens, hoping she would be alone. Her brothers were out somewhere with her father, and her mother was especially busy since she had cleared her Saturday schedule entirely. Inga had offered to help, but her mother insisted she should rest, since travel was tiring. She would try.

"Oh, there you are, Inga!" Elizabeth exclaimed in hushed tones, grabbing her arm.

"Elizabeth? Why aren't you with your sisters?" Inga asked, somewhat startled.

"I'm..." she took a moment to think. "Inga, I'm really sorry they started spreading all those rumors!"

"It's... I know it's not your fault," Inga sighed and sat down on the nearby bench.

"I know my sisters sometimes get a little bit too... I don't know." Elizabeth seemed to be holding back what she wanted to say, but sat down next to Inga.

"Don't worry about it," Inga insisted. "I don't think it would even bother me if my aunt didn't seem to think there's something to it."

"Well, I can't blame people for jumping to conclusions," Elizabeth confessed, then blushed. "I know, there's nothing to it. Really, believe me!"

"What do you mean?" Inga asked skeptically.

"Just... Oh, nevermind. Don't worry about it," Elizabeth smiled at her like she knew something.