Trust Runs Deep

Chapter 12

Two and a half days later, during the late afternoon, Elsa was notified of the ship of the royal family of Hjallanes coming into dock. She told Kai to go greet them and she would meet them in the front hall. As Kai left to do as told, Elsa went to Conrad's room to tell him his family was here. She found him reading a book, sitting propped up against the pillows.

"Conrad?" She said opening the door. He turned and smiled at her.

"What is it?"

"Your family's ship is pulling into the harbor as we speak. I've sent Kai to go greet them and bring them here." Conrad nodded.

"Thanks..." She noticed the change in his voice and she came to his side.

"Is everything alright?" He frowned.

"I just- how am I going to explain the whole situation about Edvard? My father trusted him, and so did I." Elsa pursed her lips.

"Try not to worry about it too much right now, we'll worry about it later. I'll be back shortly."

She left and made her way downstairs to greet Conrad's family. Like she had been about meeting him, she was a little anxious about meeting his family. She felt terrible that she was keeping their son in Arendelle, but that wasn't her fault...

"I apologize for keeping you waiting," Elsa said. Conrad's family all turned to face her. The king and queen's faces were plastered with worry. The queen held the most resemblance to her son, save for her eyes, which were a stormy gray. Her dark brown hair was streaked with gray, and her age certainly showed. Her husband had slightly lighter hair, but with Conrad's eyes. His beard and hair all very nearly gray.

Elsa looked to Conrad's siblings, Oliver and Tobias, and Signe. They all had ranging shades of dark brown hair, oddly enough, Tobias stood out for his light hazel eyes, but he and Conrad had the same smile. Signe looked to be a little spitfire herself, her short hair tied half-up, braids running along the side of her head.

"Oh, no you didn't. Not at all." The queen said, approaching Elsa, "I'm Magda, Conrad's mother." Elsa smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you, though I'd wish it was under better circumstances." Conrad's father introduced himself as Gerhard. Oliver, Tobias, and Signe all did the same.

"Where is my son?" Magda asked. Elsa gestured up the stairs.

"He's upstairs. He's doing well, but the doctor said to not over-excite him."

"What is the state of his injury?" Gerhard asked.

"Clean cut, through the front and out the back. The doctor said he was lucky, the sword didn't hit any major organs. But it's going to scar quite badly." Elsa led them upstairs and to Conrad's room, she opened the door for them and allowed his family to reunite and discuss the situation and how things were going to be handled.

While Elsa let them do that, she went to the meeting room and took a seat, thinking to herself mostly. Anna came in shortly after.

"Anna?" The princess took a seat next to her.

"You okay, sis?" Elsa tapped her lip with her finger.

"Just... thinking. So much has happened the past couple of weeks, it's a lot to process, and now Conrad's family is here, trying to work out what they're going to do." Anna sighed and rubbed Elsa's shoulder.

"We'll all work this out."

***

Maybe an hour or so later, Magda and Gerhard met with Elsa, Kai, and Anna in the meeting room. The king and queen seemed to have relaxed a little bit knowing their eldest was going to be okay. Magda had a bit of a smile on her face though, and Elsa was curious to what she had to say.

"He told me that you've been wonderful hosting him here, despite the complications. He seems to be quite smitten with you as well." The queen chuckled. Elsa blushed and Anna playfully elbowed her.

"Yes, we uh, we agreed to wait until he was healed before moving forward with anything."

"It would be an alliance between our kingdoms, and it would do us both well." Gerhard commented.

"Yes it would. If I may asked, what are you going to do with Edvard?" The warmth from Gerhard and Magda's faces faded away upon his mention.

"We will be discussing that back in Hjallanes, he will face punishment for his crime against our family and the kingdom."

"Edvard said you executed his mother when you discovered she was spying against you." Gerhard nodded.

"We... had an alliance with the Southern Isles for generations... but after we found out what Edvard's parents had been doing in between our kingdoms, we took action, and it made our alliance and trades with the Isles fragile. But, after we heard what Hans had done against your crown, we officially severed ties with the Westergaard's. And with this new development, we have a lot to take care of ourselves." Elsa nodded.

"Of course. And please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you need help." Magda smiled.

"We certainly will."

"How long do you wish to stay?"

"As long as Conrad needs us here. We want what is best for him, and we want to help you both as much as possible." Magda replied.

After their meeting, Elsa went to go see Conrad again, who looked much better.

"How are you feeling?" She asked. He groaned a little bit as he managed to carefully sit up.

"Better, I don't feel as woozy as before, and sitting up isn't as painful either." Elsa smiled.

"That's good to hear. Your mother and father said they'll stay here as long as you want them to be." Conrad let that sink in as he thought about it.

"I think them staying for the next week would be best. They will eventually have to take Edvard back home and deal with him, we don't want to delay that any longer than we have to."

"That's perfectly reasonable. And... heh, your mother mentioned how smitten you are with me." Conrad rolled his eyes but laughed a little bit.

"She's always been quite blunt about those kinds of things, but she seems to like you, same for my father." Elsa kissed his forehead.

"I'm very happy to hear that." Elsa decided to stay with him a little longer, entertaining the both of them with her magic which glittered and sparkled above them. Conrad grinned up at the magic before him.

"All my life, you're the first I've ever seen with such abilities." Elsa nodded.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one."

"Well, your powers had to have come from somewhere, right? I know you were born with them, but they had to have come from another source." Elsa paused. He definitely had a point, but she couldn't imagine where her powers could've come from. She knew her mother didn't have powers, then again, she didn't know too much about her mother' history that well anyway, so... maybe her mother knew something about her powers? Even a little bit?

She doubted it. But then again, there was that distinct possibility there were others like her out there. Though she wasn't sure she was ready to confront that challenge yet.

"You're not alone in that possibility." She replied.