It's four years later and Queen Desideria's demise spread like wildfire throughout Alta. No one knew how the former queen got sick or what illness has caused her death. At Queen Desideria's funeral, all of the citizens and the Royal Maeland family cried their hearts out and Queen Patricia was mostly upset, but she needed to be brave and she had promised to Desideria to always love and protect Princess Hanna, no matter what.
Once the funeral ceremony was commencing, everyone was silent when the Priest began speaking in tongues and said his prayers while putting flowers on Queen Desideria's grave stone. As the Priest closed his Bible and said the Lord's Prayer, everyone bowed their heads down, closed their eyes and silently said their final goodbyes to Queen Desideria as they put flowers and treasures on her grave, like flowers, jewelry, magical artifacts and even the little children put drawings and paintings on her grave as well. Everyone was dressed in their black traditional Norwegian dresses and frocks and hats.
When Hanna was 8 years old, Queen Patricia didn't want her sweet, innocent adoptive daughter bear the fact not knowing her real mother was.
She thought Hanna would just grow up and forget that she had a real, biological mother when she was just a baby.
As everyone began to depart, Queen Patricia looked at her family-friend's grave one last time and put a purple rose on her grave and began to cry quietly.
Particia kneeled down, covers her mouth with her hands and tears were falling down from her wet eyes.
While she was having an emotional moment, Hanna was too busy, chasing after a butterfly. Then, she looked up and saw her adoptive mother crying and feeling sad. Having compassion for her, the kindhearted Princess Hanna walked over to Queen Patricia and wrapped her arms around her tightly, giving her a hug. Patricia hugged her back, kissing her daughter on her forehead softly. "Why are you crying, Mama?" Hanna asked her adoptive mother. "What's wrong?"
Patricia sniffled and then said, "I lost someone nearly dear to my heart."
"Who?" Hanna asked.
"Queen Desideria Kittelsen." Patricia replied. "She was a good friend of mine."
Hanna looked at Queen Desideria's tombstone that reads, "A kind Queen who ruled a kingdom with courage and compassion."
Hanna felt sorry for Queen Desideria's death and for her mother's loss.
She wished she could do something to help her mother, even though she never knew the former queen or has never met her before.
Just then, King Harold walked up to Hanna and picked her up in his arms and gave Hanna a gentle kiss on her forehead. "It's really sad to see your mother like this, honey."
He said to her daughter. Hanna looked at Queen Patricia sadly and said to her father, "It is sad, Papa, and I feel sad for Mama. I wish there was something I could do to help. " King Harold smiled warmly at his daughter and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "You are very kind, Hanna. All you can do to help is pray and ask the Lord for a miracle."
Hanna nodded her head. "Ok."
But, in her heart, Hanna wanted to do more than just pray. She wanted to help uplift Queen Patricia's spirits.
She began to think of some ideas.
After her mourning, Queen Patricia stands up, wipes the tears off her face and began to take a deep breath.
"I'm ok, now." She told her family.
"Still sad, but slowly feeling better."
King Harold smiled. "Good. Now, let's go home."
As the Royal Maeland family started to walk back to Alta Castle, Hanna turns her head to Queen Desideria's grave and waves her hand goodbye...one last time. 'Goodbye, Queen Desideria.' She thought sweetly.
She could imagine Queen Desideria's smile on her face.
*******
Later that night, after dinner, the Royal family were getting ready for bed. Queen Patricia was reading to Hanna her favorite bedtime story, "Hans Christian Andersen's Fairytales". Tonight, she was reading "The Ugly Duckling", and Hanna enjoyed listening to the story.
Once Queen Patricia finished reading, she closed the book and tucks Hanna in bed.
While Hanna yawned, she began to think about her adoptive mother's loss of her family-friend and had so many interesting questions about her. By the time Patricia was about to turn off the light, Hanna asked, "Mama, what happened to Queen Desideria?"
Queen Patricia tried to hold back the tears, not wanting to cry again. She puts on a brave face and answered, "Well, Hanna, she got very sick and she was going to go to Heaven."
"How did she get sick? Did she had the flu?" Hanna asked.
Queen Patricia laughed. She loved her adoptive daughter's sense of humor.
"No, honey. She didn't had the flu; actually, nobody knows why or what illness caused her death. It was...abrupt." she said.
"What was Queen Desideria like?" Hanna asked, now wanting to know more.
Queen Patricia sighed, feeling nostalgic. "Well, she was the most kind, caring and brave queen in the world. She would always make lots of dresses for the subjects and she would play with the little girls and their handmade dolls."
Queen Patricia went over to Hanna's dresser, grabbed an old picture of her and Queen Desideria as little girls as Princesses and gives it to Hanna.
Hanna was surprised.
She's never seen her real mother like this.
Queen Desideria had a beautiful Rosemaling purple dress with floral style, long black hair with two pigtails and a heart shaped locket.
Queen Patricia smiled. "Yes, Dee and I were such good friends." She said, sighing. "She sure was an amazing person." Hanna gives the picture back to Patricia and she puts it back on Hanna's dresser and sits back beside Hanna on her bed. Patricia said to Hanna, holding her hand into hers, "When you were born, Desideria didn't had a lot of time left on this Earth. She was beginning to feel ill and her health was failing."
Hanna could sense that her adoptive mother's heart was broken into pieces as she listened to Patricia's story.
"But," Queen Patricia continued, "Having you was the best thing in the world; you was our ray of sunshine, making us laugh and smile when we were feeling sad."
Hanna blushed and giggled.
Then, she began to yawn again.
Queen Patricia smiled. "Alright, honey, time for bed." She gives Hanna a goodnight kiss on her forehead and Hanna covers herself with the warm blankets and rests her head on the pillow as she said, yawning, "Goodnight, Mama. Love you."
Queen Patricia turns off the light, walks out to the door and said softly, "Goodnight, Hanna, sweet dreams."
After Queen Patricia left, Hanna quietly dozes off to sleep with the Aurora Borealis dancing in the moonlit sky.
*******💗💗💗******
The next morning, the morning sun rose with clear, blue skies and the fjords were peaceful and quiet as Viking ships and vessels were sailing softly through the calm Alta Rivers.
At the Alta Castle, Princess Hanna woke up and was full of excitement!
Today was the first day of summer and she was ready for adventure.
She quickly raced through her bedroom window and opened it; looking at the beautiful summer weather as she smelled the fresh air. It was like perfume. She looked up and saw the panoramic view of the town. Mountains were as high as skyscrapers, sparrows and goldfinches flying, the morning sun shone brightly, and looking down, she saw the townspeople dressed in their traditional Norwegian clothes, going shopping at the bazaars, picking out fresh fruits and veggies from the markets, children running around playing and flying kites.
She sighed dreamily. She wished she could go outside and play with the other children. Then, she had an idea.
Racing towards her giant wardrobe with her summer dresses and shoes, she quickly pulls the rope that was attached with a giant silver bell and as soon as the bell rang, a kindly servant, named, Annette, came in and asked, "Yes, Princess Hanna Maeland, did you need something?"
Hanna nods her head. "Yes, may you please help me choose a dress to wear? I want to go outside and play with the other children."
Annette nods her head and answered, "Yes, I'll help you."
After helping her put on a yellow and green dress with Rosemaling flowers on it and yellow shoes, Hanna politely thanked Annette and raced out her room and roamed through the empty hallways. As she came across the staircase, she thought to herself, 'I need to ask Mama and Papa if I can go outside and play.' Without thinking, she jumped on the banister and slides down like a slide at a playground. Once she made it to the giant living room, she quickly jumps off and runs towards the kitchen. Hanna was running so fast, she quickly dodges through a group of servants holding thousands of dinner plates and saucers. She politely excuses herself as she tries to get through. After that, she clumsily trips and falls into a servant who was holding a bust. The bust suddenly flies into the air. Using her wits and quick-thinking, Hanna runs and catches the bust just in time before it falls.
She holds her balance as she tries to stand up and gives the bust back to the servant, whom was named, Lucille.
"Thank you, Princess Hanna." Lucille said, "You're a real quick-thinker." Lucille bows to her and asked, "Where are you going in such a hurry?"
Hanna answered, "In the kitchen to ask Mama and Papa if I can go outside and play."
Lucille chuckles softly. "Well, the King and Queen are in the dining hall, waiting for you to eat your royal breakfast."
Hanna was already sprinting, heading towards the dining hall. "Thank you, Lucille."
When she saw her adoptive parents in the dining hall, sitting at the long kitchen table, with a royal breakfast of kanelbolle, which are like cinnamon rolls,
wienerbrød, which are Vienna bread and smørsnegl, which is a Danish pastry, in Scandinavia.
She also saw cups of coffee for her parents and a cup of Cocio, which in Scandinavia and Denmark, is like a Danish chocolate milk, for her.
On her plate, she saw her favorite breakfast food: pancakes with her favorite fruit, cloudberries!
Mouth watering, she greets her parents politely. "Good morning, Mama. Good morning, Papa."
She quickly sits down at the table, says a silent prayer and after that, she quickly eats her pancakes.
King Harold puts his newspaper down and said neatly, "Morning honey." And he starts to read his newspaper again while taking a bite of his cinnamon roll.
Queen Patricia neatly cuts her cinnamon roll and said before taking a bite, "Good morning, Hanna. How was your sleep?"
Hanna swallows her pancakes and said, "It was good." Almost coughing, she drinks her chocolate milk and lets it digest in her stomach.
After a moment of silence, she thought to herself, 'Go on, Hanna. Ask them.' Gathering up her courage, she took a deep breath and said, "Mama, Papa, it's a beautiful day outside and I was wondering...may I please go outside and play with the other children?"
Queen Patricia, surprised at Hanna's question, almost chocked from eating her cinnamon roll and quickly drinks her coffee. Relieved and a little embarrassed, she said calmly, "Now Hanna...um...I don't think it's a good idea for you to go outside--by yourself."
Confused, Hanna asked, "Why?"
Queen Patricia tried to give her an honest answer--she said, "Well, I just don't want you to be exposed to any...danger."
Hanna looked puzzled. "Why can't I go outside, Mama? Nothing bad is going to happen to me."
Now Queen Patricia looked a little worried. She cleared her throat.
"You don't know that; there's lots of things out there that could potentially hurt you. Spiders, snakes, evil sorcerers with dark magic."
She added, "Plus, you don't have any supervision or magic to protect yourself."
Hanna sighs sadly, fearing her next answer might make her cry.
Her hazelnut brown eyes began to tear up and she was on the urge to tremble in fear. "So," she said, beginning to cry, "I can't go outside and play?"
Queen Patricia couldn't bear to see her adoptive daughter sad, but she needed to stay strong and put her foot down. She said, gently putting her hands into Hanna's, "No, I'm sorry, Hanna. You can't go outside today."
Suddenly, Hanna took Queen Patricia's hands away and quickly stands up from her chair, angry tears in her eyes and she felt blood rushing through her head. She said angrily, "No! It's not fair! I'm only 8 years old and I'm just a child. I want to have fun and go on adventures...on my own!"
Now, it was Queen Patricia's turn to get angry. She was strict and stern.
"You're not ready yet, Hanna, wait until you're older."
This was what Queen Patricia was so afraid of, letting her adoptive daughter go out in the real world and then what? Have her killed or put under a dark magic spell?
No, she has to protect Hanna, now while she's young.
She closed her eyes tightly, feeling veins beginning to pop, hands turning into fists and she was shaking.
"No, you're staying in your room", she said, shakily, teeth grinding.
Hanna gasped, in horror. Why was Mama being so...mean to her?
Was this a punishment? Did she do something wrong?
King Harold, who stopped reading the newspaper, was now being attentive and listened to the Queen and Princess argue to one another.
Worried, confused and angry, Hanna stood still, frozen like a statue.
"Mama-" she began, but Queen Patricia stopped her and said, "Enough, Hanna. Just please, go to your room."
Hurt and angry, Hanna did as she was told and ran upstairs to her room, feeling heartbroken. When she disappeared, Queen Patricia sat back down, sighing with relief.
King Harold stood there, confused.
"What...just...happened?"
Queen Patricia looked at her husband, with wet tears in her eyes. "Did I do the right thing?" She asked, sadly.
King Harold smiled warmly and said, "You just want to protect Hanna, that's all."
Queen Patricia stood up and took a deep breath and said, "I-I don't know what I was thinking."
She excused herself from the dining hall and decides to go upstairs in her room and think about what she did.
Later on, in the afternoon, Queen Patricia was in her room, contemplating about her "right decision". She could hear Hanna's angry words play in her mind, over and over again. 'I'm only 8 years old and I'm just a child. I want to have fun and go on adventures...on my own.'
Queen Patricia sat on her bed, thinking, 'Did I really do the right thing? Or, was I just overprotective of Hanna?'
Just then, Queen Patricia could hear Hanna crying, in her room, down the hall. It broke her heart to hear her daughter cry.
She covered her ears with her hands and tried to block out the crying, but failed. Queen Patricia couldn't keep quiet.
She walked out of her room and went down the long hallway to Hanna's room. Once she saw Hanna's bedroom door, she turned the knob. It was locked!
She began to knock the door. "Hanna, it's me, Mama. Can I come in?" Hanna stopped crying and suddenly went to her door and unlocked the door from the other side and said quietly, "You may enter." As Queen Patricia enters, Hanna sat back down on her bed, with her legs swinging and playing with her fingers, her head hung low. Queen Patricia could tell that her adoptive daughter was upset for her mother's outburst. She took a deep breath and sat down next to her and wrapped her arms around Hanna, giving her a hug. She began to cry quietly. "Hanna, I'm sorry for what I said earlier," Queen Patricia said, "I was being overprotective." Hanna returned the hug and said, "It's ok, Mama, you just want to keep me safe." Queen Patricia smiles at her adoptive daughter for her understanding. She wipes the tears off her eyes and laughs a little. "You know, Queen Desideria was a little fiesty herself, she and I would always go on incredible adventures, going to deep, dense forests, playing pirates and dragons when we were little girls."
Hanna smiled and chuckles, "That's beautiful, Mama, Queen Desideria must've been a lovely person."
Patricia giggled and held Hanna's hands and looked into her eyes and said, "Hanna, I want to let you know that I'm your new mother and...I want you to explore and see the world on your own, but I also want to ensure that you're safe and sound. Don't be afraid of the world, it's bigger than us and I want you to be cautious and careful." She gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead and said with an agreeable smile, "You have my permission to go outside and play with the other kids until the midnight sun goes down." Hearing that made Hanna jumped into Patricia's arms and said gratefully, "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Mama!" Hanna quickly grabbed her satchel from her wardrobe and raced out the hallways, slid down the staircase banister and scampered out the castle gates and ran towards the town square, escaping the Alta Castle grounds and joined some other royal children from other neighboring kingdoms and they all enjoyed their summer adventures, playing jacks, pretending to be dragons and exploring the woods, until the midnight sun went down.
Back at the Alta Castle, Queen Patricia was in the Alta Castle Library, sitting down on a chair and reading a book while enjoying the peace and quiet.
Just then, King Harold entered holding a red, decorative box with yellow intricate designs and it had a yellow slate that engraved big bold black letters saying, "COURAGE IS THE KEY". Once Queen Patricia saw her husband and the box, she suddenly stopped reading and quickly walks up to him with a worried face. King Harold was the first to speak. "You've let her go outside and play?" Queen Patricia nodded her head, ashamed. "I know I shouldn't have, but what other choice did I had? Shelter her until she's come of age? She's only eight." King Harold said, his voice shaking, "Well, we need to let our guard down, Pat. Prince Lucifer is still out there and God only knows what evil plan He has." Patricia swallowed. "I know, and I want her to be ready, but...I don;t know, it's too early to discuss about this." King Harold nodded. "We both know Hanna was born prematurely, but once she's fully grown up, we need to prepare her for the real world--and for what Lucifer has planned for the entire kingdom."
Once the midnight sun went down and Hanna returned home, she could hear her adoptive parents' voices in the library. She walked towards the library's door and turned the knob. It was locked! 'They must want privacy', she thought to herself. She began to walk away when she heard them talking about her.
Curiosity got the best of her and despite the fact that eavesdropping was always wrong, she decided to listen.
What Hanna heard her parents say next shocked her. Queen Patricia said, "I know Prince Lucifer is going to reign terror soon, but are you sure Hanna's ready for her destiny?" King Harold nodded. "It's risky, but let's just wait until she's older and by the time is right, we'll make sure she's well-prepared for whatever life will take her." Hanna takes a step back and quickly runs upstairs to her bedroom, closes the door behind her, locks it and climbs on her bed, doing her routine when she's nervous or stressed out. She quickly closes her eyes, hugs her knees, and rocks back and forth, trying to calm down.
She began to hyperventilate, her heart beating fast, like a snare drum. Hundreds of questions inundated in her mind. 'Who's Prince Lucifer?'
"What evil plan does He have?' 'What did Mama and Papa mean when they said, they want to prepare her for her destiny?'
It all seemed obscure and mysterious to Hanna, for she was both inquisitive and confused.
Later that night, as the crescent moon shone its bright light and the stars twinked in the night sky, Hanna couldn't sleep a wink. She kept thinking about her parents' conversation earlier in the library. She tossed and turned in her sleep, groaning, resulting from a nightmare.
In her dream, there was darkness and Hanna was in the Quiet Silverbell Forest, roaming around aimlessly, lost and frightened.
"Where am I?" she cried. "Hello?" "Mama, Papa?" Feeling scared, the only thing she did was run. As Hanna ran for her life, she tripped on a log and fell with a thud, and then, she saw a giant black silhouette. The silhouette revealved herself as Queen Patricia. "It's ok, Hanna," she said sweetly. "Don't be scared, I'll protect you." Relieved, Hanna ran towards her and gave her a hug, tears streaming down her cheeks. Once Hanna looked up to see her adoptive mother's face, there was something amiss. Her eyes weren't blue, but black, like a porcelain doll, she had the eeirest smile on her face, like a Cheasear's cat, her ears were pointy and shaped like horns, her flesh was dark and cold, and she grew a red tail and had sharp, long fingernails, almost like kitchen knives. Hanna lets go from the hug and slowly steps back, horrified at her mother's physical appearence.
Gulping hard, she said, "Mama?" The demonic Queen Patricia guffawed evilly and said in a demonic voice, "I'm not Mama; I'm Prince Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness and you, my dear, are my ticket to my evil plan, but first, let me see how fast those tiny legs are."
'Run!' Her instinct told her. Hanna ran as fast as lightning as the demonic creature crawled on all fours as its legs were like a giant tarantula and as He sped up, chasing Hanna, she felt like she needed to scream, but words couldn't come out. Only fear. As she ran, she abruptly stopped when her eyes saw a cliff.
Once Prince Lucifer, the denomic spider, caught up to her, He said, grinning, "Oh no! Looks like you're trapped. Are you well-prepared for this?"
He opens His mouth and a giant tongue that was shaped like a giant hand grabbed her and hovered her in mid-air, causing Hanna to scream and struggle to let loose. "Please," she pleaded. "Let...me...go!" Prince Lucifer chuckled evilly and said, "Sure, I'll let you go...to Hell."
Once Lucifer releases her from his grip, Hanna screams, as she plummets to her death.
Just then, Hanna heard a voice from the outside world. "Hanna. Hanna, wake up!" Hanna suddenly wakes up, screaming in fear and gasping for air.
She finds herself in her room, in her nice, soft bed with Queen Patricia by her side, looking worried. Hanna, still shaking from her nightmare, jumps into Queen Patricia's arms and hugs her, tears of both relief and joy streaming down on her face. Queen Patricia returns the hug and looks into her daughter's scared, light hazel brown eyes and asks her, "Are you ok, honey?" Hanna gulped hard, and said, fearfully, "I had a nightmare." Feeling her heart breaking, Patricia's motherly instincts kicked in and said, "Do you want to talk about it?" Her tone was warm, kind and gentle.
Hanna calmed down and told her mother the events of the dream. Once she was done, Queen Patricia nodded her head and said, "Wow. That is a bad dream. But Hanna, sweetie, it was just a dream and the important thing is that you're safe and sound and nothing can't hurt you."
She gives her a hug and walks out of the room. A few seconds later, she returns with a cup of ice, cold water and gives it to Hanna.
Hanna accepts the cup of water and guzzles it down. Once she was done, she puts it on her nightstand and yawns quietly.
Queen Patricia tucks her in and gives her a goodnight kiss on her forehead.
Hanna was still curious about that conversation her parents had in the library and questions were still in her mind. She starts to sit up and asks her mother, "Mama, can I ask you a question?" Patricia nods her head.
"Yes, honey, what's wrong?"
Hanna gazed into her adoptive mother's blue eyes as she took a deep breath and asked, "Who's Prince Lucifer? And, what are you and Papa trying to prepare me for?"
Queen Patricia gasped in shock. She knew that one day, her adoptive daughter, would find out the truth, about Prince Lucifer and her newfound destiny.
She held Hanna's hands into hers, takes a deep breath and said, "Do you really want to know, Hanna?"
Hanna nods her head.
"We have to tell her the truth, Patricia," King Harold said, entering the room and sitting beside the queen and princess on the bed. "She has to know the truth."
"What's the truth?" Hanna asked, curiously.
Queen Patricia sighed and then what she told Hanna left her both inquisitive and shocked as she listened to her mother's story. "Hanna," she began, "Once upon a time...there was an evil sorcerer named, Prince Lucifer, also known as, the Prince of Darkness..."
As the crescent moon shone it's bright light and the stars twinkled, the kingdom of Alta stood still as the dark sky filled with ominous red clouds, thunder and red lightning, foreshadowing that Prince Lucifer's presence was underway and outside of Hanna's bedroom window, she wasn't fully aware that the Needle Ice Flowers and Frost Flowers were scattered across the Earth, its curse and magic spell taken fully effect.