A/N: Oh, the fun I had writing this chapter. Enjoy.
obeisance
chapter two: even though i'd whisper it inside
6. prowl
The castle was dark, the halls hush as Elsa slipped silently through the shadows. It was a game leftover from childhood when night seemed the only safe time to wander the empty shell of her home uninhibited.
Suddenly, a hand warm against her mouth and the harsh planes of a man's body at her back. "What's all this, then?" The voice was half-drunk with sleep and familiar, but she froze Hans in place regardless of his intentions. This seemed to go a ways toward waking him. "Your majesty! I thought you were a burglar or something!"
"How unfortunate for you."
7. cut
"Really, Gerda, you could have warned me." Even in the relative coolness of the wash-shed Elsa could still feel the burning fever of a blush staining her cheeks and neck.
The older woman had the audacity to cackle merrily. "I take it you found the prince, then? I told you he was helping with the laundry. 'Right down there by the water,' I said."
"You neglected to mention his inappropriate lack of attire." Broad shoulders, pale skin smattered by freckles -
"Oh? Is he going without a shirt again? Why do you think I have him help with the laundry?"
8. compromise
Hans has brought her tea service once again and although the way he lingers seems presumptuous she still asks him to stay. They play chess. He's a good player, aggressive, but Elsa is patient with an eye for the end-game.
"A wager."
"On what?"
"If I win you'll have dinner with me tomorrow - "
"Oh, will I?"
" - and if you win I'll help you write those trade agreements you've been putting off."
"I haven't been putting them off! I've been - " her words die under his smirk, eager and challenging. She holds out her hand. "Deal."
9. impulse
Making the wager had been one thing; losing was another. Hans had still helped her with the trade agreements, much to her dismay and gratitude.
"You're going on a date with Hans?" Anna was flabbergasted, to say to least.
"It's not a date," Elsa smoothed fabric of her self-spun dress nervously, "I lost a bet." It sounded like a weak excuse, even to her ears.
"Then why do you look so nice?"
"Are you saying I don't always look nice?"
Gerda swooped in from the antechamber, "Queen Elsa, your prince is here!" Anna's grin is triumphant.
"It's not a date."
10. hush
It is a date.
They eat on the terrace under the night sky. The food is delicious and halfway through dinner Hans proudly admits he made it himself. He pours her drinks and makes her laugh and it is just awful.
"Hans," Elsa feels like there is a dagger in her heart, "you must know I can't possibly - "
"Look!" He is suddenly excited, almost childlike, "A shooting star!" She turns in time to see the glittering streak. "If I could wish for anything; I'd wish for you forgiveness."
"Yes, but why?"
He doesn't answer her. He just smiles.
end chapter two.