coat. The two of them concentrated on the horse instead of each other. The stables were completely quiet.
“You know, it’s crazy,” Hans said, “but I’ve never met someone who thinks so much…”
“Like you?” Elsa said, looking as surprised as he was.
“Yes.” Hans searched her face. “Maybe you and I were just meant…”
“To be,” Elsa said, finishing his sentence for him again.
They both started to laugh. Maybe an official courting was even closer than he thought.
“The Duke would be thrilled,” Elsa said wryly.
She had the man pegged. “So would Lord Peterssen,” Hans said, brushing Sitron’s side with his hand. “I’ve heard them talking. They think we’re a strong match.” To lead this kingdom. He snuck a glance at her.
Elsa’s face was hard to read. “Do they?”
You know they do, he wanted to say, but he stayed patient. He’d gotten that far. He was much closer than he had been even a week before. “But it doesn’t matter what they think. It matters what we think.” He glanced her way again.
“Exactly. I like how we are right now at this very moment.”
Hans tried not to look disappointed. “Me too.”
The Duke wanted a proposal to come before the coronation, but Hans knew that might be tricky. An engagement didn’t have to come that day. Or the next. Hans knew in his heart that they were going to rule Arendelle together soon enough.
If Elsa was smart, she’d let him take the lead. And if she didn’t…well, accidents happened. All Arendelle would need to survive was their new king.
This was it! It was finally the day!
Anna stared at the big red circle she’d placed on the calendar and tried not to scream with excitement. She grabbed a pillow from her bed and squealed into it quietly instead. She’d been waiting for this day for three years!
Three years of planning, counting down, and dreaming.
Three years to figure out exactly what she was going to say to her parents.
And in three years, she still hadn’t figured out the right words to tell them her plan.
Ma, Papa, I’m eighteen now, Anna rehearsed for the billionth time in her head. I’m all grown up, and it’s time I started my life, which is why I’m…I’m…
This was always the part that gave her pause.
Every time she thought about telling her parents she was leaving Harmon, she got a massive stomachache. These were her parents. They’d taken her in as a baby, loved her, and cared for her. She didn’t want to hurt them.
I wish Freya were here.
That thought popped into her head a lot. Even though it had been three years since Freya had been lost at sea with the king and queen, Anna still thought about her every day. If anyone could have convinced Anna’s mother that Arendelle was a wonderful place to start a life, it was her. And Anna’s mother would have been relieved to know Anna had people like family watching over her nearby.
But Freya was gone. Anna had to do this on her own.
The pink room she had adored for so long felt like a child’s now, but she still loved every inch of the space, especially her window seat, with its view of life at the bottom of the mountain. Arendelle seemed so close and yet so far away. Anna touched one of the wooden castle spires on the model her father had made her long before. Tears sprang to her eyes. Her parents loved her so much. How would she tell them without breaking their hearts?
With food!
Of course!
She’d bake them the most perfect dessert she could. Something they didn’t make in the bakery every day. They’d be so happy with her creation, and their stomachs so satisfied, that they’d have to hear her out about Arendelle. And she knew just the thing to bake: carrot cake!
She’d made carrot cake for Papa once before, and he had loved it so much he had eaten it every day for a week. Ma had complained he was having too much sugar, and he had said, “I own a bakery! Of course I eat too much sugar!” And they all laughed and agreed that carrot cake was the best thing Anna had ever made.
That was the cake she needed to make them agree to her plan.
She looked at the clock. After baking all morning, her parents were likely on their break, relaxing in the parlor. Papa might even be taking a nap. She’d slip out unnoticed and return fast to get to work. The cake would be