Treasure

Chapter 60

As Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and Sven escorted Emma and Killian to the castle they were greeted by many of Arendelle's kind people who offered welcoming words and even a few gifts for the Princess of Misthaven. Killian found himself in the back of the group, not enjoying the attention as much as everyone else. He knew these people could care less about his status as well as his crew's status. Once their queen allowed him and his men to stay, that was enough for them. 

Every once and in a while he would glance up to find Emma looking at him, probably wondering why he had become so quiet... In all honesty, he was never one for being doted over and treated like royalty. No matter how many times a servant called him 'sir' or he was treated in any form of hierarchy, it still felt odd. Courting a princess felt odd the more he thought of Emma's status. Nonetheless, it wasn't a bad life compared to his past...

Deciding to ignore his self-loathing thoughts, he took a good look around the kingdom. It was far nicer than any kingdom he had been to, maybe even nicer than Misthaven... The walkways were made of grey stone and black iron bars with chains to protect people from the waters. Everyone in the kingdom had a smile on their face and the children laughed with happiness. In fact, many of the kingdom's people had a good size belly, indicating food was never a problem. The markets had food on display which he found very rare. Elsa must have great trust in her people not to steal. As they walked through more of the marketplace he noticed everyone had fine clothing on. From leather to cotton, no holes in their clothing, and certainly no clothing that looked like it had been worn more than once. He wasn't sure how wealthy Arendelle was, but it was clear this kingdom was not suffering in any way and that the young queen certainly did care about her people and they cared about her in return.

    "What do you think, Killian?" Emma asked, interrupting his thoughts.

    The captain cleared his throat, "My apologies, love, I didn't hear what you said."

    His love let out a memorizing laugh as they entered the palace courtyard, "Anna said that their people have prepared a large feast for our arrival-"

    "I was thinking we could set up some tables throughout the kingdom and everyone could bring out a meal and we could all eat together, like how we usually do for special occasions." Anna added.

    "Maybe we should let them settle in first." Elsa suggested as they entered the castle.

Killian took in the sight of the large castle, it was very spacious and welcoming. He hated to admit it, but it was much nicer than Emma's castle. In fact, everything about this kingdom seemed completely out of the norms he was used to. He took another quick glance at his princess and found her in awe too.

    "Your castle is even more amazing than my father said." Emma said looking around.

    "Well, your castle is practically surrounded by dirt and trees- not that there's anything wrong with dirt or trees." Anna began to ramble, "Our kingdom has always had great wealth- not that your kingdom isn't wealthy, we just haven't gone into debt as much as other kingdoms. I think it's because we've always had few allies-"

    "Anna, why don't you come with Sven and me to the stables?" Kristoff asked after seeing Killian give a sour face.

    "What for- oh are you trying to get me to clean out Sven's stall again?" She asked weary, "I told you we have servants for that." She said as she, Kristoff, and Sven left the room.

    "Excuse my sister, she means no disrespect." Elsa apologized. "Misthaven is such a beautiful place..." She commented to Emma, "I remember when I used to visit you and I would spend hours in the forest hiding from... what's his name... August?"