A/N: This story takes place within the "When All Is Lost" series. It's a collaborative, mostly canon-compliant project that follows Agnarr and Iduna throughout their lives. The stories are not written in sequence and are not listed chronologically on FFN. My collaborator is not on FFN, therefore her stories are not here. Apparently, I am unable to link them. There are two places to find the series in its current entirety (it is ongoing) and in chronological order. You can find it on Archive of Our Own. My collaborator's user name is Fericita and mine is TheSpasticFantastic. . You can also find it on Tumblr. My collaborator is fericita-s and my username is the-spastic-fantastic.

"Is that all you brought, Iddy?" Maddie peered down at her from the top bunk.

Iduna looked at her two dresses hanging from a nail on the wall, the six pairs of thick, heavily darned socks stacked on a tiny shelf, one pair of well-mended and re-soled boots tucked under the narrow wood frame of the bed, her winter cloak and coat draped from a hook with a knit cap stuffed in the pocket and patched oilskin jacket that hardly let any water in. On the tiny shelf above the wash basin, two books she had borrowed from the castle before leaving the orphanage and the small, silver bell that Agnarr had given to her just after her she arrived in Arendelle. She looked over at Greet's cot which had a trunk underneath and at Maddie's designated corner which also had a chest, this one adorned with rosemailing.

"Yes, I'm so sorry for the mess. I had a small chest at Eir's, but I couldn't bring it with me. One of the younger children will take it now." She smiled apologetically. Iduna didn't know Maddie very well despite their time at the academy. She was rather reserved. But Greet lived on the same street as her and promised it was worth it to have a third roommate at Fiske's Boarding House to keep the price of the room affordable. "As soon as I can afford one, I'll buy a chest too so my things aren't always out."

"Oh, no!" Maddie pushed herself up on her elbows. "I didn't mean it like that. I just – I wasn't trying to be rude. I just meant it's not much. Not that it's messy."

Iduna ducked her head and blushed. It was strange. She usually wasn't embarrassed about it. She wasn't embarrassed now, not exactly, but she had spent the day in her nicest outfit among the townsfolk of Arendelle and had felt rather plain and ratty. Even though it was the outfit she had worn when she had talked Mr. Visser into hiring her as an assistant.

Back home, when she was young, she hadn't known anyone who needed more than two sets of clothes. And no one thought twice if her mother had to mend a large hole in her trousers or if she wore one of her older brothers' hand-me-downs. The children at Eir's all wore donated clothes that were always old and never fashionable. They simply borrowed them from a communal closet and returned them when they grew too large. Some of those shirts were more patch than original material. She hadn't really noticed that until she bid everyone goodbye that morning.

"I'm sorry." Maddie smacked her forehead and dropped down from her bunk. "I'm not very good with – with people. That's why I'm friends with Greet. She does the talking for me. I never know what to say." She gave Iduna a weak smile and a little shrug. "What I mean is that if you ever need something else to wear, just let me know. I don't have things as nice as Greet does, but they'll be fine for an apothecary. That's where you're working, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Visser's Apothecary."

"Right." Maddie bit her lip and gave another small shrug. "Well, they're thick and well-mended and they're durable. They need to be, with the deliveries I do."

"Thank you." Iduna smiled. "That's very kind of you." Maddie bobbed her head nervously. There was a rapping at the door. Iduna turned to fold one of her remaining shifts as Maddie answered the door. It was Fiske, the middle-aged proprietor with the perpetual wheeze and watery eyes. She, Maddie and Greet had just finished signing a contract with him before carrying her belongings up to the room.

"There's, ah, there's a guest to see one of you." He pointed at Iduna. "You, girl from the orphanage."

"Iduna," she said cooly as Maddie frowned at the man.

"You'll announce our visitors all the time like this?" Maddie asked, crossing her arms.

"No." He puffed his cheeks out. "No, I won't. I don't expect you girls to have men over. And if there's any at night, I'll turn you three out in the street. But this, ah, this is the King."

"King Agnarr is here?" She smiled. He had visited her at the orphanage just a few days earlier, offering to help her get ready for her move, but as she didn't have much to pack she had instead suggested a walk. As was his custom, he had brought food and gifts for most of the children. Afterwards, under the watchful eye of an armed escort, they had spent the afternoon roaming the woods in search of ingredients she could use in her new role at Mr. Visser's Apothecary.

"So you know him, then?" Fiske sounded uncertain.

"Of course. We were all in the first class at the academy he founded. He stopped by almost every day to check in on us." She said brightly. "And he'd eat lunch with us once a week or so."

"Ah. So. Then. He asked me to ask you if he could come up with his escort."

"Of course he can come up." She turned to Maddie. "If that's alright with you, I mean. It's your room too."

"Yes, of course His Majesty can come up. I'm sure he wants to see you."

"I'm sure he wants to see all of us!" Maddie looked as though she wanted to say something, but just shrugged again and seemed to be suppressing a smile. Fiske took one final wheezing breath and departed, leaving the door open.

"Besides," Iduna continued. "Almost everyone from our class is taking lodgings this summer and he told me he was excited to see what we would all contribute to Arendelle. He's hoping that we'll all be wild successes so that the Council will support his plan for the Academy to have its own building. Then it could enroll more students. Younger ones too."

"That would be wonderful. To be honest, I wasn't sure what he was going to do with it. My parents just wanted me to get an education. They didn't have any schooling they didn't pick up in their army days."

"Hello?" Agnarr knocked on the door frame as he poked his head around the corner.

"Your Majesty." Iduna and Maddie curtsied. "Come on in."

"Good afternoon, Iduna. Maddie. How are you both settling in?"

"Very well, Your Majesty," Maddie said quickly. Dipping into another curtsey. "If you'll please excuse me, though, Greet asked me for help carrying a few more of her things from her mother and sisters' new lodgings. I should go." Agnarr looked rather nonplussed as she slipped past him and Lt. Durnin, but shrugged and smiled at Iduna again.

"Would you like to come in? It's rather cozy."

"Thank you." He took a few steps into the room, but remained near the wall with his hands folded neatly behind his back. Lt. Durnin leaned against the doorframe, picking his teeth as Agnarr looked around the room. "It certainly seems cozy."

"Greet says we should try to decorate it a bit once we have the time. Mr. Fiske already said nothing that will mark the walls, so we were thinking chains of dried flowers or something like that."

"You're the perfect person to do that. I'd just wind up decking the walls in nettles." He grinned and bounced on his toes before stopping and staring at something behind her. She turned. "Is that the little Yule Bell I gave you?"

"It is."

"I can't believe you still have that!" He said in wonder.

"Of course I still have it." She picked it up and turned it over in her hands. "It was the first thing that ever belonged to me after I came to Arendelle." She smiled, recalling how she had slept with it clutched against her chest for a month. "Iggy and Stig broke theirs and used to take it from time to time." She rang it gently and it chimed. "They liked the sound. But they always brought it back to me." She looked up and saw Agnarr smiling at her.

"Besides, it was a gift from you – from the king. Did you think I'd throw it away?" She teased. He shook his head.

"No, I just thought Iggy and Stig would have broke it long ago." She laughed and put it down. That was a fair guess. "They must be missing you."

"Well, I'm hoping to go and visit next month. After she's, you know, not as cross with me for leaving." She bit her lip. "If I come with money and some gifts for the children, I think that will help. I owe her a lot, I know I owe her a lot. But staying there . . ." She shook her head. "I'm grateful for everything she's done for me, but I'll be able to help her and the children by sending part of my wages and donating remedies instead of just chasing after the little ones."

"Iduna," Agnarr said slowly.

"What?" She tilted her head. He was staring at her now.

"Nothing. You're just – one of the most generous people I've ever met."

"Coming from the king who's paid to educate a hundred pupils, founded a food bank and visits the orphanage once a month with a huge feast and lots of gifts?" She laughed. "You must not look in the mirror too often."

Agnarr laughed, rubbed his neck and shrugged. The tips of his ears were red. "So you'll be starting at Mr. Visser's Apothecary soon?"

"Tomorrow. I'm getting excited."

"Your Majesty?" Lt. Durnin was examining his pocket watch. "Sorry to disturb you both, but we should leave now or we'll be late for your meeting with Lady Wollen."

"Right, of course." Agnarr frowned then flashed her a smile. "Well, I guess we're off. But I wanted to welcome you to Arendelle officially. The town proper, I mean. If you need anything, or if Maddie or Greet need anything, please let me know."

She grinned and dropped into a dramatic curtsey. Agnarr laughed and rolled his eyes. "Of course, Your Majesty. Enjoy your afternoon."