Chapter 1
Queen
If anyone had asked me when I was young what I wished to spend my life doing, my answer would have been immediate: I want to be a mother. It has always come very naturally to me. Even as a child, I was tending to my younger playmates and keeping the older ones in order. I knew that a family, happy and thriving, was the goal I was striving towards. The lofty idea of royalty never would have flitted through my mind. I wonder how shocked I would have been at the notion of being Queen of Arendelle. Many of my friends questioned me, interrogated me really, as to how I managed to capture Prince Alexander's affection. My answer never satisfied them. I suppose true love is a difficult concept to those who have never experienced it. Some things are just meant to be, just like my childhood ambitions. My family sits around the dining table now, my husband and I across from each other, my daughters together on my right.
I doubt that I'll ever tire of seeing the pair of girls together. Whether they are gallivanting around the stables or stealing chocolate from under the chef's nose, watching the pair of troublemakers warms my heart. Especially now with their heads ducked together, surely conspiring on some devious plan or another, I feel content. So different is this feeling from the miserable atmosphere of a few seasons ago. My journey to achieved goal has not been without hurdles, ones that I stumbled over like a newborn calf trying to stand. Sadness had plagued my brood for many years prior, a seemingly unending famine of joy. Thankfully it all has been ended by some merciful bounty of Gods. So much generosity cannot be attributed to good fortune alone, can it? I think not. Good fortune does not bestow a horrible accident at sea and a child bereft of home, belongings and family. So, one broken and alone found a few lost and torn; together they mended all.
A few chuckles erupt from the dining table, dragging me from my poetic thoughts. The younger of the two girls, a fiery redhead born of me, clasps her hands over her mouth, eyes wide and alight in mirth. She exchanges a glance with her comrade, her sister, my daughter as far as I am concerned although no blood is involved, and dissolves into giggles again. A pleased sigh escapes me; it is probably time to temper this before my youngest is rolling about the floor in hysterics as she did last week.
"Anna, dear?" Her copper hair shines in the light as her head snaps up. "Might I query as to what is so amusing?" Her teal eyes find mine, a shade of pink rising in her cheeks. It's a sure sign of guilt if I ever saw one.
"Oh, it's uh, nothing mama!" The maintained devilish grin and only partially subdued glee gives my daughter away. My brow rises, a reiteration of the question. The girls shift slightly in their seats but remain silent.
"I'm going to surmise that it has to do with the disaster that was made of the portrait room today, hmm?" If I could have a painting made of the mutual look that crossed over their faces, I would commission it at once. Mouths drop and eyes bug as it strikes them that their mother does, in fact, inquire to the servants as to their adventures, especially if those adventures include dismounting half of the historical paintings that reside here. Anna recovers first.
"Wait, WHAT? You heard about that!? It wasn't that bad, I mean it was really fun! Elsa and I were seeing how high we could bounce on the couch cushions and we were going so high but then it was too high and I got scared so I tried to grab a corner of the painting but I was too heavy and it sort of came off and knocked a bunch of others down and made a big mess but that's not what was funny. I was thinking about how one of the paintings had smeared and I thought it looked like Kai afterwards-"
"Anna!" Elsa hisses, cutting the redhead off. The younger girl starts at the interruption before turning to her sister, resentment coloring her face.
"What?! You thought it did too! It even had his silly tailcoat thing!" Another set of giggles bubbles up in Anna's throat, her hand raises to try to smother the grin that follows. I glance towards our Head of Staff Kai, but it appears no offence has been taken. Most of the staff are just as amused by the girls' antics as I am.
"Enough, Anna." Elsa insists. "That's very disrespectful." An incredulous look had flashed across the blondes' features as she chided the younger girl but now, as her eyes come back to me, they swim with trepidation. It pains me to see her face clouded in fear, albeit it is not an uncommon occurrence. The fair-haired girl came to us after a horrifying experience, condition and temperament speaking of a terrifying ordeal that she has never verbalized. Her countenance hardens. "It was my error your Highness. I shouldn't have allowed it. Please do not punish Anna for my mistake." Her shoulders are squared; her jaw is set. She is ready to take any reprimand I deem appropriate. The formal title she fits me with stings but I know that is not her intent. A quarter year the girl has resided here and while great strides have been made, she is still very much the scared child that had been angled from the ocean.
My mind wanders to the weak soul that was hauled home by Arendalle's navy. Hollow cheeks and ribs that strained against pale sickly flesh had lain in our infirmary for several days with no indication as to whether her injuries were too much for the girl to overcome. The men of the Bastillion, Arendalle's prize vessel, had described a horrendous scene. Debris and bodies had littered the ocean's waves, the leftover waste of a ship that had fallen prey to one of the sea's more vicious storms. The crew would have left, would have bowed their heads in mourning for the loss and sailed on, when a sailor high on the bow spotted a shine of gold amongst the azure and crimson. One of the more poetic men had said that it looked like an angels' halo floating amongst the remains. What an optimistic heart that can even bring angels into their thoughts at such a sight. A small rowboat had been lowered and the child drawn out of the waves. No other survivors were found, the crew having stated that the rest of the occupants were found each in several… pieces. But such thoughts are far too disturbing to entertain for long and certainly not over supper of all times.
"Elsa, dearheart, there will be no punishment." Anna lets out a breath, relief evident on her face. Bless my youngest but she has never had the knack for concealing anything, certainly not her emotions. Elsa remains firm, obviously expecting a rebuttal, or exception. I have no hesitation that Elsa would willingly take any and all punishments, even when her involvement in the predicament is doubtful. Regardless of what the elder had declared, the irritable war pony that ended up on the second floor balcony had Anna's mischievous scrawl all over it. Oh how their father had towered up then, bellowing over ruined tapestries, looking every bit like an enraged bull. Yet, the blonde had stood unyielding, claiming all responsibly and penalties. My rest is wonderfully peaceful knowing how protective Elsa is of Anna. I know for certain that she would never allow any harm to come to her. I do wish I could convince others of this fact.
I spare a glance at my husband. His eyes are narrowed, studying the two girls. That's incorrect; his glare remains focused solely on blonde. My king pauses in his meal, silverware clinking lightly onto his plate.
"There will be no punishment for this occurrence but do not let it transpire again." There is no room for argument in his warning. It is only the presence of the servants however, that keeps my mouth from snapping a remark about undermining my dealings with my children. I find my teeth gritted and I am mildly perturbed at my own un-queenly behavior. Too uncouth, as well, it would be if I flung this fork right across the table at him. Perhaps if my luck was preferable I would hit him directly between the eyes, wipe that unattractive glower right off his face! He looks at Elsa pointedly as he continues.
"I'm very glad that this grievous lack of foresight on your part Elsa somehow managed to leave Anna unharmed." My temper flares hotter at his discourteous treatment of the elder girl. His distaste is gratuitous, and to direct it at a child no less! If such a barb stings Elsa's hide, she makes no show of it. In fact, the girl's face shows no change, as if someone replaced her breath and flesh with marble to withstand all friction.
"My apologies, Your Majesty." Elsa's voice is clear, any emotion stays hidden. A forlorn look of guilt captures Anna, eyes skipping between her father and Elsa. My heart lurches as suddenly the miserable shell that was our youngest is before my eyes. She had been a cheerful babe in the beginning, content to toddle about and amuse herself, but as she grew loneliness clawed at her. After a few years, it became apparent that no more children would be forthcoming, a personal failure that I will never surmount. It churned my insides to watch a five year old Anna as she wandered the castle alone, often despondently conversing with portraits or fancies of her imagination. My sweet-hearted daughter had endured five more long years with no company other than what her mind could conjure up before Elsa was delivered to our gates. Gods above how we tried in vain to hide the presence of another child from Anna, especially when the poor dears chance of survival waned with each day she remained unconscious. But Anna is nothing if not horribly stubborn, a trait she comes by honestly. It truly was no shock to pass the infirmary one morning and discover Anna setting beside the ailing blondes' bedside, reading to her as if it was the most normal thing in the kingdom. I dare not think of the utter devastation that would have buried my daughter if Elsa had succumbed to her injuries. Wonderfully on the contrary the blessing of the Gods remained in our favor and Elsa woke not long after Anna started visiting her. As I watched the two of them bond like hot ore bound for the straight edge of a sword, I could feel it filling a hole that had been festering in my heart. Finally, my dear sweet Anna had a friend and we had a new soul to give love to, best of all, neither of them would ever have to be alone again.
"May we please be excused?" Anna's light voice breaks the tense silence, her glances still darting between her father and Elsa. Her eyes skip to me when no answer arrives. I soften my gaze, moving to reassuring instead of the annoyance that had been directed at my husband.
"If you're both finished, of course dear." A small chorus of "thank you" and "good night" sounds as the girls pad off to their bedrooms. My husband's narrowed glare follows the trailing blonde as they leave. King or not, I will be having a few choice words with his insufferable majesty tonight.
A/N: Hi everybody! This is the first fic I'm uploading, I hope you like it! Constructive Criticism is always welcome, no flames please. Feel free to PM me any questions or suggestions! Thanks! Oh and I do not own Frozen, Disney does.
