A/N: This is an old Frozen Jewel fic that I started writing quite some time ago, before depression and writer's block forced me to go on hiatus for a while. When I first started writing them in my fic, Until I Met You, Liam and Elsa were a couple that I put together on a whim. But then as I wrote it, I started to really like it. And two of my readers, Clockadile and ActualSwanPrincess, over on Tumblr, also really enjoyed it. Eventually, some other people, such as my friend Anja started to write it into their fics, too, and then suddenly Liam X Elsa was its own fanon ship and we needed a name! Eventually, through a bunch of Tumblr discussion, we arrived at "Frozen Jewel," and it's been a joy to see them pop up together as a couple in some of the fics ever since!

Prologue

Elsa watched her last supplicant of the afternoon leave the throne room, and slowly released a soft sigh of relief. It wasn't that she minded hearing the petitions of her people, per se...she just hadn't ever been prepared for how monotonous it could be sometimes. Subjects such as crop rotation and updating the tax code, while necessary to the successful day-to-day running of Arendelle, made her want to yawn and throw someone in the dungeon. In that order.

"Your Majesty?" the voice of her elderly chief-advisor inquired as she rose from the throne and prepared to remove her crown. "Just a moment, if you please. There's one more matter to discuss. It's of a rather personal nature."

"If you want some time off to go visit with your grandchildren, Leif, all you have to do is ask, not petition me in court."

"Your Majesty misunderstands. I meant a personal matter regarding herself."

Elsa blinked. "Me?"

"Yes, ah, you see...there's a matter I've been meaning to bring to your attention, and it simply cannot wait any longer." He produced a small scroll from within his overcoat. "Your parents prepared this document shortly before their journey to Corona." He hesitated before holding it out to her. "They would have discussed it with you themselves, I'm certain, after they returned, but..." He trailed off, his expression sad and apologetic.

She accepted the scroll with reluctance, uncertain what she might feel when she perused this document, penned by her parents prior to their deaths. The isolation they had forced upon her for most of her life, though perhaps well-meaning, had only perpetuated Elsa's fears about her magic, making it more difficult to control, and nearly damaged her relationship with Anna beyond the ability to repair. She had been a prisoner, not just in the palace, or to the expectation that she would take the throne in spite of her magic, but of herself. Every feeling she had ever longed to express was instead quelled and chained inside her heart, where it screamed to be free; resentment mingled with the desire to please her parents, until they snarled together past the point of unraveling. And it was this conflict of emotions, the love mixed with resentment, that haunted her even now, years after their death.

Unrolling the scroll, Elsa scanned the document with weary eyes, her mind preoccupied with thoughts of all the time she had lost with her sister; time she would never get back. "Wait a minute," she said sharply as the word "betrothed" caught her eye. She read further, focusing all of her attention on the document, "My parents arranged a marriage for me?"

"Yes, they-"

"Next month!" Elsa dropped the scroll in shock. It hit the tiled floor and rolled closed with a soft snap of paper. "Leif! I am not marrying a complete stranger, and I am certainly not doing it next month!"

"Your Majesty, the document bears the signatures and seal of your parents; legally, that's binding-"

"Well legally, I can change it, can't I?" she argued. "I'm the Queen."

"Yes, but-"

"Good! Problem solved, then," she said with a rush of relief. "Honestly, Leif, I could have fixed this ages ago, if you had brought it to my attention sooner."

"It's not that simple, Your Majesty," Leif said unhappily. "One cannot simply break the betrothal contract without the aid of diplomats and lawyers; they could charge us with breach of contract."

"So we'll send the diplomats and lawyers."

"Even so, negotiations will take time, Your Majesty."

She watched him through narrowed eyes. "What are you saying? We won't be able to get out of the contract in time?"

"I'm saying that the Frosts are undoubtedly sailing here as we speak. We'll have to receive them."

Elsa sat down hard on the edge of her throne. She swallowed with effort. "You're telling me that they are on their way to Arendelle for a wedding, and I have to break the news to them when they arrive that the wedding is off?"

"Err, yes, Your Majesty."

Clenching her fists together, she banged one of them down on the armrest of her throne. "And you couldn't see fit to bring this to my attention sooner, so that a diplomatic disaster couldn't be avoided?" she seethed. "What, are trying to trap me into this, Leif?"

"No, no, Your Majesty!" he squeaked. "Of course not! I would never!"

"Then why didn't you bring it up sooner?"

"There never seemed to be a good time," he spluttered helplessly. "There was the funeral, your coronation, the incident where you set a blizzard on the kingdom, the adjustment to being queen, Anna's wedding-" He ticked the items off on his fingers.

"Yes, yes, but this is the sort of thing you make time for, Leif!" she exclaimed. "It's my life, do you understand? Mine! I didn't get it back, only to surrender it to someone else again!"

"Your Majesty-"

"I'll meet with the Frosts, Leif, and I'll be as polite as humanly possible, but I am not getting married, do you understand me?"

"But your heir-"

"Will be one of Anna and Kristoff's children. And if they don't produce any, Rapunzel and Flynn's younger daughter will do. End of discussion." Leif's shoulders stooped in weary defeat. "Oh, and one more thing," she spoke up. "You're dismissed from your post." He blanched visibly at her words, and Elsa felt a stab of guilt. "For a month," she amended. "It seems a fitting punishment, considering."

"Yes, Your Majesty." He bowed meekly and left the throne room, a relieved expression on his face.

Elsa drummed her fingers on the arm of the throne. She would speak with her lawyers first thing in the morning. Let the Frosts come if they must. There had to be a way to extricate herself from the marriage without causing a diplomatic disaster. And if there wasn't...she would simply have to make herself the most impossible, undesirable mate for their son until they demanded release from the contract themselves.

Elsa stood up from her throne and retrieved the forgotten scroll from the floor, then flicked her hand toward the doors at the opposite end of the room. An icy wind swept through the chamber, pushing the doors open with a bang. She smiled to herself.

And she had the perfect means at her disposal to do so.