Chapter 1: Passionate Affair
Queen Elsa rose an hour or two after dawn, as she did most mornings. Moving to throw back the covers, she winced, a hand flying to her pronounced abdomen. The baby would be due in just about a month. The Queen had to rock a little just to get onto her feet, and she stretched out the cricks in her lower back. The discomfort there, in her ankles, and in most other parts of her body was starting to leave her frustrated. She recalled the royal physician telling her to take it easy, coming into this final stretch. And she would. As soon as she had breakfast with her family and accomplished one tiny errand, Elsa was going straight back to bed.
Elsa found most of her family seated around the breakfast table: her sister, Anna, brother-in-law, Kristoff, niece Joan and nephew Christian. Even Olaf, the family snowman, was present, munching on a snowball and some leaves. A snowman's diet was apparently very limited.
Seeing her sister, Anna rose right away to help. "Don't over-exert..."
"Fine, I'm fine," Elsa waved off, but she allowed Anna to at least pull out her chair for her. Seating heavily, she smiled at the concerned looks her niece and nephew sent her way. "Good morning, my lovelies. Sleep well?"
15-year-old Joan nodded. "What about you, Auntie?"
"I'm fine, sweetheart."
"Is it OK if I say that I don't believe you?" 8-year-old Christian piped up as he reached for a breakfast roll.
Elsa smiled. "You may, my little Prince. I'm touched by your concern."
Joan frowned. "Anyone know where Uncle...?"
The double doors leading to the dining hall swung open right then, and in strode the King. King Lanford, Elsa's husband.
"Morning all," he greeted drolly, dully. "Lovely day."
He circled round the table, bending and kissing Elsa on the mouth as he passed her chair. Elsa blinked in surprise at the affectionate greeting; it was rare for Lanford.
Lanford had come to Arendelle a few years prior as one of several suitors courting the Queen of Arendelle. He loved hunting, and unlike the other potential partners, Elsa had discovered a lusting attraction for him. She selected him, and the couple wed in an arranged marriage so that Elsa could finally have someone with which to produce an heir.
Unfortunately, the lustful attraction had not lasted for either of them, certainly not for Elsa. Beyond their wedding night, no intimacy had been experienced between them. Lanford spent most of his time hunting, leaving the ruling of Arendelle to his wife. Ruling that she had been doing for the past two decades, almost.
"Where were you this morning?" Elsa asked, as gently as she could.
"Early morning constitution," Lanford reported, falling into his chair beside Kristoff and attacking his plate hurriedly. "Can't stay long, I'm afraid; I have to ready the horses in the stable, round up the dogs..."
Elsa resisted the urge to roll her eyes and slump in her seat. "Another hunting trip?"
Lanford nodded, finishing, and rose from his place. "I will write you when I have the spare minute. Ta-ta, love, Anna, Kristoff, kids."
He didn't even kiss Elsa goodbye this time. The doors shut behind him. The entire exchange, from entrance to exit, took less than five minutes.
Christian huffed out a breath. "Hunt, hunt, hunt - that's all he ever does!"
Joan picked at her food. "He never plays with us."
Kristoff leveled a hard stare at his children, his eyes warning them to, Be nice. Though she appreciated it, Elsa felt he didn't have to. It wasn't as though her niece or nephew were saying anything wrong. Lanford had always seemed detached from the royal family, ever since he and Elsa got married.
Her face tight, Elsa finished her meal as delicately as she could, then rose from her place. Kristoff sprang to help even before Anna could, and Elsa accepted the help rather than wave him off. "Well, I'm off to the blacksmith's. I have an important errand."
It was like someone had flipped a switch. Joan and Christian immediately brightened. "To see Robert?"
"Tell him hello from me!" Joan pleaded. She had met Robert in the most unusual of circumstances, when they had both been kidnapped and taken prisoner aboard a docked ship in the Arendelle port. For Robert, it had merely been a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he had made up for it by fighting the captors as he and Joan made a mad dash to freedom.
"I will, darling," Elsa smiled.
Anna's frown made clear that she didn't like the idea of Elsa going out in her condition. But her sister was the Queen, and once she put her mind to something, there was little stopping her. "Be careful," the Princess stressed.
"I will," Elsa grinned. Then, waving goodbye to her family, she headed off into town.
Elsa only allowed two sentries to accompany her as an Honor Guard. The blacksmith's shop wasn't that far into the village, and she did not perceive there to be any danger against her. Elsa's people were overjoyed that there would be a new little princess again soon, and desperately wished for her safety.
When Elsa arrived at the shop, she let herself in. Hearing the banging, she turned a corner in the back and smiling, leaned against the wall to just silently observe.
Robert Hansen had always been skilled with his hands. His eyes flashed steely, matching the steel that he pounded away on as he worked, with a concentration that Elsa found captivating. In the weeks after the kidnapping and rescue, she had visited Robert often in a small cottage on the palace grounds to watch him take up his anvil again.
Robert looked up and blinked, his face breaking into a beam when he saw her. "Your Majesty - Elsa!" He stumbled between both greetings and Elsa's smile broadened, finding it cute. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Elsa smiled, blushing a little. "Hello, Robert," she murmured warmly. Stepping forward, she presented the royal scepter. "This needs to be repaired."
"For the royal ball tomorrow night?"
Elsa blushed. "That won't be necessary."
"Of course," Robert nodded. "May I?"
"Please." Elsa allowed him to take the scepter and examine it. Not a minute went by before he nodded. "I see the problem. Come on back with me, and I'll begin. I should have the whole thing repaired by tomorrow evening."
"Thank you," Elsa grinned. She turned to her sentries. "Leave us, and guard the front door." Her soldiers obeyed, and Elsa followed Robert into the rear workroom. Robert placed the scepter gingerly on a worktable, and began extracting some tools.
"So," he began conversationally. "How are the children?"
"I let it slip at breakfast that I was coming to see you today, and they lit up like Christmas trees. They miss you," Elsa murmured gently.
"As do I, my Queen. Every day." In the two months Robert had stayed at the palace, he had grown quite close to the whole royal family. "And you are expecting?"
Elsa patted her swelling stomach expectantly. "I am anxious."
"If I may be so bold, Elsa..."
"When have you ever not been?" she teased, and they shared a laugh.
"You glow. And you will make a fine mother. The King is happy, I'm sure."
Elsa's face dipped. "Yes... he is." In truth, she didn't know. And she really didn't want to talk about Lanford just now. Glancing around the workroom, she wandered from bench to bench, caressing her baby bump all the while. "The old workroom still looks the same. I remember the last time I was in here."
At her back, she heard Robert barely whisper, "So do I."
FLASHBACK - 8 Months Earlier
Elsa allowed herself to come apart on Robert's shoulder as he held her. His arms felt so warm, warm as the forges he had grown up in all his life, and she did not want to part for the cold of her reality, which would not get any warmer come the dawn.
"I can't do it, Robert! I just can't do it!"
"You have to marry, Elsa! It's the only way!"
The Queen stared up into his face. "I want to marry you!"
"And I would like nothing more than to accept, my love. But the Council would never allow their Queen to wed a commoner. How Anna arm-twisted them into letting her marry Kristoff, I'll never know."
"Oh, these stupid rules! This isn't fair!" Elsa held his eyes, her lip trembling. "I love you." Robert's paw of a hand brushed her cheek, and she turned her lips into his palm. Then, with a strangled gasp, she was kissing his lips desperately, and Robert was kissing her back. The pair staggered back against a workbench, and Elsa felt Robert's hands encircle her waist... then dip lower. She felt his fingers brush the curvy flesh of her rear, and she trembled, the touch stirring her blood. Boldly, she raised her leg to his waist, hitching it around his torso. She wriggled her hips against the clear evidence of his desire for her. Snapping a hand out, she gallingly cupped Robert between his legs, unclasping his trousers to work him free, and she took him tighter in her palm, stroking him madly. It did not take much to guide him to her entrance.
Elsa had never had sexual intercourse with any man, but she knew what to do from the few times Anna had gossiped to her about...sexual matters. And besides, if she was to go to bed with anyone for the first time, she would rather it be with this man, who had saved her precious Joanie, and not the Prince Lanford whom she was being forced to marry come morning.
As soon as he thrust inside her, Robert spun them both around and hoisted Elsa onto a worktable, clambering on top of her. Elsa spread her legs wider eagerly, wanting to accommodate all of him, as Robert began to thrust. He was really kind and gentle, and his movements seemed somewhat uncertain. Elsa arched her back into her lover, her eyes wide. The moans were low and long.
"Oh... Uh... Oh... OHHHHHHH! Yes, Robert! Robert... Robert, please..." Tears pricked at Elsa's eyes, and she felt Robert kiss them away himself. She was begging for release. She had never felt so alive. She had thought she was something of an expert on letting it go, but this was an entirely new kind.
The warmth began building in her core, hotter and hotter. Her own little forge that her handsome blacksmith was stoking. At last, Elsa couldn't stand it any longer, and with a tiny, mewling whimper, she came all around him. Robert dove in for another weak slam, two, and then with a grunt, spilled all he had into her.
Elsa and Robert embraced and kissed one last time, hurriedly redressing, their faces pink. "Goodbye!" Elsa choked out through tears. Then kissing the man she loved gently one final time, Elsa had her feet do the hardest thing they ever had to do, and walked away from him. She returned to the castle and wed Prince Lanford the next morning.
PRESENT
"That was the best and the worst night of my life," Robert admitted to her softly, bringing Elsa back into the real world.
"I'm sorry I couldn't invite you to the wedding," Elsa confessed - a reply that sounded so stupid, even to her own ears.
"I had to watch you kiss that guy on your balcony with everyone cheering. That was awful enough," Robert brushed away. His words were like a burning poker sent straight into Elsa's heart.
Turning her face even more away, Elsa wiped at her eyes. Something was bubbling up in her throat, and she couldn't keep it down any longer. Spinning to face him, she blasted out, "I need to tell you something!" Her hands clutched at her womb covetously. "This baby... it's yours."
Robert blinked in astonishment. "How do you know?" he asked measuredly. "It could just as easily be... the King's. From your wedding night. Unless..."
Yes, it could have been, Elsa thought to herself. She and Lanford had indeed made love in her chambers that night after the wedding, but since that time, had yet to do so again. But Elsa had one way that she knew for sure. "The trolls said my baby's father was not of royal blood."
Robert raised an eyebrow. He had heard the stories from the royal children and Kristoff of how there were trolls in the mountains. "And you believe them?"
Elsa shrugged. "My brother-in-law was raised by trolls. They're family. And they know magic. They were quite certain of what they spoke."
Robert regarded Elsa curiously. For a moment, there was silence. And then -
His large hands cupped her face and tilted her chin upwards. And then he was kissing her, his lips crashing down on hers jubilantly again and again. Elsa let out a startled squeak, but then, closing her eyes, she fisted Robert's shirt in her hands and let out a satisfied, guttural groan. "Mmmmmm..."
Limbs wound about each other in a tight embrace, and Robert was soon lifting Elsa off her feet, staggering her into the wall. His fingers tore at her ice dress, wrenching the bodice free so he could bury his mouth in between the swelling valley of her breasts. Elsa threw her head back, panting, as her more dainty fingers worked to free Robert's trousers. She had not had sex in so long, and she wanted it - wanted him - right this minute.
When Robert slammed his manliness into her, Elsa moaned pathetically. It was like coming home, and she rocked against him insistently.
"Hmmmmm... Mmmmm... Mmmmm! Robert..."
With the last presence of mind she had left, Elsa waved her hand and froze the door handle. She only hoped her sentries wouldn't hear them, never mind any other customers.
"I love you, Elsa..." Robert groaned.
"I. Love. You. Robert. Hansen," Elsa punctuated each word with a frantic kiss.
At last, with plaintive cries, the couple came apart together. Elsa cradled her lover close, refusing to let him pull out for a moment or two. But they finally separated and redressed. Robert dared to steal one last kiss from Elsa and she allowed it.
"I will bring the scepter by myself come tomorrow evening. Be well... Your Majesty."
Elsa nodded. "You as well... Mr. Hansen." And collecting herself, she unfroze the door, exited the shop and summoned her sentries. And the Queen slowly made her way back to the castle.