IDUNA
It had been almost three years since Agnarr received that warning on that fateful Spring night, but life since had continued as normal for the most part.
From the way he'd been going on about it the first few days, you'd have thought his life had completely changed, but of course, give it a couple years and everything was fine again.
We'd finally told him about Gustav and the ominous conversations I'd overheard that concerned him. Agnarr had not been pleased we'd kept secrets from him, but he was far more angry with Gustav and wasted no time in letting the Lieutenant go. By the sounds of it, he hadn't put up much of a fight; just whimpered a little bit, but that was all.
Unfortunately, we hadn't been able to tell him anything else, so we had all been on the lookout for any funny business.
Eventually, Arianna caught one of the advisors, Alexamder, getting up to some sneaky midnight shenanigans. He became our culprit and Agnarr was quick to relieve him of his duties too.
So we'd pretty much forgotten about the whole affair by now. Agnarr was certain he'd stopped the potential threat of that horrible future and he was satisfied.
I wasn't so sure, but I trusted him wholeheartedly and never questioned him if the subject happened to be brought up.
He was moulding into a fine King actually. With the help from Halima, Colden, Kai and Arianna, everything seemed to be going well. He never told me otherwise at any rate.
As for me, things were the same as usual. I was adapting well to Arendellian life and my heart ached for the Forest a little less each day. I sincerely hoped it'd never quite fade, because then I'd feel guilty, but I couldn't pretend like I wasn't relieved. There was a strange comfort in the fact I didn't feel reliant on my Northuldran past anymore. I no longer slipped up when talking about myself and I don't think anyone had their doubts about me.
Anymore.
We hadn't been starved of native visits either; Frederic came several times a year which was apparently normal.
It was a great feeling when I looked out the window of our humble little home and saw a ship with the Coronan flag whipping away in the wind.
I'd always run as fast as possible to the docks where Agnarr and Arianna would already be stood waiting, and then Frederic would saunter down the wooden ramp in all his glory and we'd have a reunion so grand you'd think we hadn't seen each other in years.
Nuru-Baako also came to visit a few times, though usually it was only for Birthdays and not for very long. His parents hadn't really loosened at all when it came to travelling and Arendelle, so we treasured his visits, no matter how rare.
In fact, I would be turning sixteen the very next week, and both Nuru-Baako and Frederic had promised they'd be there for it.
I was very excited, but perhaps too excited as Cricket would bound away like mad whenever I brought the subject up.
On one particular morning, with four days to go until my Birthday, Halima and I were busy in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast, and I absently mentioned how turning sixteen would mean I could find a place of employment.
"Oh keep your voice down Iduna." Halima warned, "We don't want that blasted dog coming in here."
"Come now Halima. You know you love him." I smirked at her, wiping dry one of the plates.
Halima frowned as she worked hard at scrubbing the other plate clean, "That doesn't mean I want him bouncing around the place. I quite like my china and I don't want him breaking it."
"He won't break it." I scoffed, placing the plate in the cupboard before reaching for the next one, "He's too civilised."
"Civilised." Halima laughed so hard she had to throw her head back to compensate for it, "That dog is many things, but civilised is not one of them."
"Well, if you were so worried, then you should have aided me in the training process." I said, "I gave you the chance, but you never took it."
Halima gave me a sideways glance, "You promised he'd be your responsibility."
I gave a merry shrug and spun across to the cupboard to put away the second plate.
"Dear me. No wonder he's often away with the fairies. So is his owner!" Halima chuckled when I stopped dancing and frowned at her.
"Anyway." I went on, "I was hoping to join you in your daily visit to the Castle today."
"Visit. That's a nice way of putting it. You know, it'll be good when you have your own job. I might not have to work quite so hard anymore." Halima said, placing the last of the washing up in my hands and walking over to the door to pull on her shoes and straw hat.
I finished drying that last knife and then quickly skipped over to join her, pulling on my own shoes and calling for Cricket.
The glaring sun was beating down on us all the way to the Castle. I'd never been a huge fan of Summer. It was always too hot for me. Everyone called me crazy because I was born in Summer, but I remained adamant.
My favourite season was Autumn. I just loved all the warm colours - the leaves turning different shades of orange and the odd splash of green here and there. It was breathtaking and I liked to walk through a wood of any kind in order to admire it's beauty.
The Castle was always incredibly cool, so I was relieved when we finally made it, and I could tell Halima was too.
"I'm positive that walk gets longer every time we do it." she panted as we entered through the Castle doors.
"Probably." I answered, then kissed her cheek, "I'll see you soon darling."
Halima smiled, "See you in a bit sweetheart."
I gave her a tight hug before skipping down the corridor in search of my friends.
Usually they were in one of the living rooms or Agnarr's office, but today they were in neither. Confused, I tried the next best place: the library. But they weren't there either. Furrowing my brow in thought, I checked a clock.
Nine in the morning. They weren't having breakfast then. Perhaps they were in the kitchens? But what in Arendelle would they be doing down there?
Regardless of the reasoning, I turned back the other way and slowly descended the stairs to the kitchens, in the vain hope that that was were they had taken residence today.
The kitchens were a cosy part of the Castle; they were always very inviting, but also very hot. Steam would often be hanging in the air and you'd have to flap your hands around a few times to get it to disappear. When it did, you could take in the real splendor:
They were rich in colour, flavor and smell and it never failed to make my mouth water; more often than not, I'd have to leave with something to eat, otherwise, what was even the point?
"Good morning Iduna." one of the cooks called to me as she kneaded some dough on a counter. Her name was Beatrice and she was hopelessly optimistic. A smile was always plastered on her chubby face even if her pastry was going wrong. She specialised in pastries, no one let her make anything else.
"Good morning Beatrice." I said to her, leaning against the counter, "What are you making today?"
She gave a shrug, "Not much I'm afraid. Just some raspberry tarts for your birthday ... whoops! I wasn't supposed to tell you that. No no, sorry. I'm not making raspberry tarts. And they're most definitely not for your birthday." her face flushed pink and she ducked her head in shame.
A figure emerged from the adjacent room, and when they spoke I recognised their voice.
"Don't worry Beatrice." Arianna said, "She was going to find out eventually. She always does."
I thought back to the previous times the Royal siblings had tried to surprise me. I'd either accidently found out, or they'd been so blatantly obvious that I'd foreseen the whole thing. They constantly accused me of just knowing, but in my defence that wasn't always the case, this particular day being an example.
"Aww." I cooed, "Were you guys trying to surprise me again?"
"That's generally the idea." another voice said, and Agnarr came into the room, dusting an assortment of various dry ingredients from his shirt.
I grinned, "That's so sweet! Do you want me to disappear for a while and pretend that I didn't know?"
Arianna and Beatrice laughed but Agnarr grunted and said, "There's no point now. Never mind. You can tell us what you'd like. Come on." he grabbed my hand and pulled me into another of the kitchens.
The large, wooden table in the middle of this room was covered with flour, sugar, broken eggs, milk and several wide open cookbooks. It was a very comical sight.
"You two don't know how to bake do you?" I said, trying to stop the laugh tickling my throat.
They both shook their heads, sending clouds of flour everywhere.
"I can see that." I mused, walking over to the table and tracing my finger along a pile of white powder, "It's like a pigsty in here."
Arianna slumped on one of the wooden stools around the edge of the room, "We've never had to cook before have we? I know it doesn't sound very good, but everyone does everything for us."
"I didn't say it smelt bad. Given the circumstances, it smells really nice in here. Did you actually manage to get anything in the oven?"
"Yes." Agnarr nodded, pulling his sleeves up to his elbows and then warily eyeing the mixing bowel.
"You had doubts?" Arianna teased from her perch.
Agnarr let a grin take over his face as he continued, "Your favourites. Ginger cookies. But not much else. And they may be a bit crispy."
Arianna suddenly got up and flew to the stone oven, reaching in with a towel wrapped around her hands and pulling out a tray of ever so slightly burnt cookies. My eyes lit up at the sight of them.
"OK. So perhaps they are a little burnt. But it's our first time, give us a break."
"I think they look wonderful." I bent down and sniffed the cookies, "Oh, they smell simply divine."
A beam stretched across Arianna's face, "You really think so?"
I nodded in earnest, wishing more than anything that I could eat one of those cookies, but unfortunately, coming straight from the oven, they would still be too hot and would scorch my tongue.
"That makes me feel a little better. Here -" she frantically thrust a cookbook at me before hurrying to Agnarr's side, "We'll continue this second batch of ginger cookies while you look through that and tell us what else you want. What a brilliant turn of events!"
Like everything, she was extremely enthusiastic and treating this like a mission rather than a bit of fun, but that was who she was and I could never push her down for it. If anything, it was amusing to watch as she took charge as if this was the kind of thing that needed someone to be in charge.
I sat down on the stool she had just vacated and flicked through the cookbook. It was filled with numerous flamboyant and luxurious cakes, and it was very hard to choose which I fancied the most, so I ended up asking for the majority of them.
Agnarr and Arianna had laughed uneasily at that, before Agnarr ran off to ask the other cooks for some help.
Soon, there was a team of people working hard in the kitchens; there were explosions of ingredients and a carnival of smells. I was told to stay on my stool while everyone baked goodies around me.
We sang songs, we laughed, we danced, we tasted ... it was a very lovely day and I was looking forward to my Birthday even more so than before.
By the time Halima came in that evening to find out what had happened to us (as we hadn't even emerged for meal times) the kitchens were hardly recognisable. They were no longer pristine and glorious, but rather messy and cloudy.
"Good heavens!" she exclaimed, flapping a hand about her face dramatically, "What's been going on in here?"
"The Royals are cooking," I laughed from my 'throne', as they now referred to the stool.
Agnarr and Arianna waved, crumbling the white crust coating their skin. "Hello Halima." they chorused.
The woman looked dumbfounded for a moment, "You two have been cooking? Well, now I've seen everything."
I hopped off my throne and picked up a plate of snacks before offering them to Halima, "Just look at the fruits of their labour. Well, the slightly misshapen ones are Agnarr's, and the burnt ones are Arianna's, while the nicer looking ones are the professionals'. But still - fruits of their labour."
"Nice ones!" Arianna scoffed, "Iduna, I went out of my way for you and this is the thanks I get?" she folded her arms and turned her nose up with mock-disdain.
I rolled my eyes, "And she calls everyone else the drama queen." I grinned, "Anyway. They are all very nice really. The burnt edges create a little crunch and the lopsided ones just give it that charming handmade look." I took another of the ginger cookies, which I'd been feasting on all day, and took a massive bite out of it. The taste melted on my tongue and I gave a pleasured sigh.
"These are so delicious." I said through the cookie crumbs in my mouth, "I could eat them all day."
"Maybe you could, but leave some for your Birthday!" Agnarr said, taking the plate off me.
I pouted at him and he added, "That pout thing may work on Frederic, but it won't work on me."
"Well what does work on you?" I asked, moving closer to him.
He shook his head and, while he was still staring into my eyes, his hand grabbed mine; the one that was sneaking towards the plate of cookies.
"Ah." I groaned, leaning against the table in defeat, "Fine. I'll wait until my Birthday. But you better let me have the most."
"When it's your Birthday you can have as many as you want."