Heins- Reception and Revelry
Heins was in a daze of happiness. He and Elsa were seated at the Head Table, hands still bound tight together, receiving their many guests. The rest of the wedding party had long since abandoned their plates at the Head Table, heading off to mingle amongst the merriment. The day had passed into evening, and lamps were strung along wires high above their heads, bathing the courtyard in a warm, yellow glow. The courtyard was packed with the sights and sounds of hundreds of people enjoying themselves, and yet, up at the Head Table, the beleaguered couple spared them no thought, as noble after dignitary after knight passed, all paying tribute to their hosts. Quite frankly, Heins didn't care. He was fully aware of only one thing- the feel of Elsa's hand in his, everything else was just so much noise. For the first time in a while, Elsa's hand was quite a lot colder than his own. Elsa had learned how to regulate her body temperature a long time ago; in fact, it was the first night they spent together. That night… so long ago, and yet no time at all. It hadn't started out well. Even though Heins was dumbstruck by Elsa's beauty (as always), she mistook his cartoonish expression of amazement as one of hesitance, and thought he was put off by her scars. It took a while to sort out, but they got through it before too long. Then, once they had actually gotten into bed together, Elsa was just a shade colder than most icicles Heins had come into contact with. After that, Elsa insisted that Heins help her. They stayed up late into the night, helping Elsa learn to warm herself up. It turned out, she could control her own temperature very well, getting the hang of it with just a few hours of concentrated practice. Guess it doesn't work if she's too emotional. She's freezing right now!
Heins returned to the present, just as the something or other from some country he didn't care about right now was leaving. There would be time for diplomacy later. The royal pompous Archsomething from Someplace was in front of him now, and Heins found his eyes drifting around the party as Elsa played the responsible Queen next to him, thanking the Archsomething graciously for his attendance. His gaze wound up resting on the members of the Queensguard.
All the members who weren't actually in the wedding had spread out around the perimeter of the wedding. To the casual eye, they were smiling, talking, and laughing just as much as anyone else, but Heins noticed the way their eyes never quite stopped moving, and how their hands were never very far from their weapons, or how none of them were seated, even for a moment. The Queensguard had begun to take on quite the fearsome reputation, and it gave Heins more than a little pleasure to see the wide berth some of the dignitaries gave them. The mere threat of sending just one Queensguard somewhere troublesome was usually enough to quell most problems. Even Baldur, who Heins always thought was a little immature, had become quite the warrior, able to hold his own against even the most experienced swordsman among them, Alarik, the Captain of the Queensguard. Heins himself was technically a member, even if he didn't get up to much Queensguarding these days- then again, as of a few hours ago, he was probably taken off the official roster, at least on paper. He made a mental note to look into that later, for the sake of curiosity. Elsa's not going to be pleased they're all on duty. She wanted them to relax for once today. But Elsa didn't seem to notice, at the moment, she was fending off the dignitaries from Germany, Egypt, and Spain at once. She was saved by the arrival of a teenage girl with coal black hair.
"Oh, Martha!" Elsa exclaimed. "How nice to see you! We thought you and your… friends… weren't coming out today!"
The girl curtsied, then said, "They aren't, although they wish they were. I just couldn't not show up, your friendship has meant more than you can imagine, and we are all eternally grateful." Lowering her voice, she continued, "Saying more than that here would be unwise, I think."
"You are very right, Martha," said Heins. "I cannot deny, it's excellent to see you." She curtsied again, and Heins raised an apologetic hand. "That said, I must recommend you leave soon. It would not do well to have your talents discovered out of hand."
Elsa shot a dirty look at her husband, but Martha only nodded, her expression unchanged. "Of course, Your Majesty. I understand. We'll talk later?" Heins nodded. "Very well. Then with your permission, I shall take my leave, Your Majesty."
"Of course." With that, Martha turned and disappeared among the crowd. Leaning over to Elsa, he whispered in her ear, "I'm not going to apologize. What if she bumps into someone? You know what she does to people when she touches them, you better than most. They should have sent Shana or Gareth, or Jakob."
"But you didn't have to be so rude!" Elsa hissed. "She's our friend!"
"That she is," Heins replied. "It's not for us that I worry, it's for her. It was brave enough to come forward to you, and you're a magician as well. Can you imagine her reaction if the whole world knew about her gifts?"
"I'm still right," Elsa huffed, but her tone let Heins know she wasn't angry. "I have had enough sitting. This is supposed to be our day, and yet we haven't done anything but sit here and trade meaningless pleasantries. Let's go mingle!" Rising to her feet, she made her apologies to the Egyptian ambassador, then pulled Heins off to go see what the party held.
They worked their way through the party, greeting many of the common townsfolk. They were all starstruck by their presence, although that had more to do with his wife than himself, Heins was sure. He may be their King now, and he was positive that if he gave an order, it would be followed, but it was Elsa and Anna who held the people's hearts. They soon ended up over by Baldur. The young knight bowed low when they approached, and Elsa gave a reproachful look.
"So, how's the party so far, Baldur?" asked Elsa. "You know, it's so funny, Heins. I could have sworn I told the Queensguard to relax, take a day off, but old Baldur here doesn't seem too relaxed, does he?"
"No, he doesn't. Baldur? Anything to say?" The young knight dropped his eyes and said nothing. Turning back to Elsa, Heins continued, saying, "I'm pretty sure that you gave him a direct order, dear. And he has since disobeyed that direct order. What should his punishment be?"
Elsa's eyes lit up, and she whispered in Heins's ear her plan. This will be interesting, Heins thought. They faced Baldur, who at this point was fidgeting under the scrutiny.
"What are you going to do?" he asked, glancing from one to the other. "You're joking around, right?"
Elsa gave no indication that she had heard him. "Sir Baldur, I have given you a direct order, which you have disobeyed. It is my right to lay down a punishment, no matter what it may be." She paused for effect, then said, "You're punishment is thus. You must ask for a dance, from-"
"Oh, gosh, Your Majesty, don't scare me like that!" Baldur cried. "I thought I was in serious trouble! I'm sorry, it's just that, you know, we in the Guard were worried, and, well, we all decided to just stay on watch. I'm sorry. I'll-" Elsa raised her hand, cutting off his long-winded explanation.
"You didn't let me finish. You must go ask for a dance, from Leila."
Baldur turned white as snow. "Oh, no, Your Majesty. I couldn't, I-"
"We don't particularly care for your protests, Baldur," said Heins. "This is your punishment. Take it or be stripped of your title and rank."
"But you can't do that!" cried Baldur.
"I am the Queen. This is your King. We can do whatever we wish. And if we feel your insubordination is grounds to remove you from my Queensguard, then I shall."
Baldur was silent, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to come up with a retort. "Fine!" he said at last. "Where is she?" Heins gestured across the party, to where Leila stood watching them with curiosity, having noticed the repeated glances and gestures in her direction. "I should have just taken the demotion…" Baldur muttered as he stomped towards her. He seized a glass of champagne off a passing servant's tray, downed it in one go, then threw the empty glass behind him, which was caught by the bemused servant. Elsa and Heins burst into laughter. Poor Baldur looked like a man taking his last steps to the gallows as he approached Leila, weaving this way and that to prolong the time before he had to face her. He finally stopped in front of her and muttered something that Heins could not hear, but the black haired woman giggled (for the very first time in her life, so far as Heins was aware) at him, a pink glow spreading across her cheeks before she nodded and offered her arm, which the young man took with a shaky hand. Stunned, Elsa and Heins looked at one another, surprise reflected in both pairs of eyes.
"Did… did you expect that?" asked Heins.
"Nope. You?"
"Nope. I'm not sure if that's better or worse than what I had in mind." They both shook their heads and chuckled, then Anna sidled up alongside, dragging Kristoff by the hand.
"Ooooh! He finally said something?" Anna squealed, looking across at the pair now dancing with surprising intimacy on the dance floor as the band played a slow and beautiful waltz.
Heins was the first to answer. "He did, but it took the threat of being removed from the Queensguard!"
"What?" Kristoff asked. "You-"
"Oh, I would never have actually done it," said Elsa. "But he didn't have to know that!"