Chapter 4: Left Behind

It was hard to read the words on the page, and she had to turn her face away so that her furious tears did not smudge the ink on the parchment.

The Captain of the Guard had reported to her bedchambers one morning, about six weeks after Elsa and Joseph made love together in the private's tent. He had delivered a letter to her, addressed in handwriting that Elsa did not recognize. But then, the Captain said these words:

"Private Swanson asked that this be delivered to you, ma'am. Receive it so." Elsa accepted it nervously, finding no hint in the Captain's eyes regarding her secret lover's fate. His expression was blank, but there seemed to be just the faintest hint of... struggle.

Locking herself in her chambers, Elsa opened the envelope with shaking hands. Her eyes swept over the first line, then the second, before she collapsed to the floor with a wail, the floodgates opening for her tears to stream freely down her cheeks.

Joseph had written her a farewell love letter, to be sent to the Queen in the event of his death on the front lines. He would be forever grateful for the night they had shared, he wrote, for he considered it an honor to be made love to by a Queen. And he promised that they still would see each other again... in heaven.

Elsa went into mourning, wearing all black over the next several days. Except for taking her meals, she shut herself up in her room and asked to be left in peace. She refused to see anyone, with the exception of Anna, who at least knew the situation.

It had started a week or two before Elsa had received Joseph's posthumous letter.

At first, the Queen had blamed it on something she ate. Then, an illness. Elsa usually didn't get colds, but stomach bugs had happened before. Except Elsa had never had a stomach bug that refused to abate like this one.

It was only when she felt herself become more and more fatigued, often in the middle of work, that she began to suspect. And when she felt the changes taking over her body - her breasts swelling as they became laden with a nursing mother's milk - that she became all but certain.

One morning, about a month after Joseph's death, Elsa requested that she receive Anna in her study alone. Upon entering, her baby sister lacked her usual verve, not bouncing on her toes they way she often did whenever she went... well, anywhere. Now, the Princess appeared more subdued, wary. Almost as if she knew what was coming.

Still, that didn't stop Anna from looking stunned when Elsa's solemn gaze met hers and she announced, "There is life with me. I am with child."

Anna collapsed into an easy chair by the fireplace, mind reeling. After a long minute or two, she glanced up to her sister.

"It's his, isn't it?"

Elsa gulped, her eyes watering. "Yes," she whispered. As if it was anyone else's!

Just then, the study door banged open, and a familiar mop of blonde hair poked his head through the door.

"Anna, there you are! I've been looking..."

"Get in here!" Anna hissed, eyes wide with panic as she all but dragged Kristoff into the study, glancing about furtively as she locked the door behind her. "And what are you doing here?" She was annoyed that the Queen had in any way been disturbed.

But behind her, Elsa's voice was gentle. "It's all right, Anna - he's the uncle, he has the right to know."

Kristoff's brow furrowed as he frowned deeply. "What? I'm not following..."

Anna ignored him, staring at Elsa carefully. "You trust him?"

Elsa sent an affectionate smile Kristoff's way. "With my life, sister."

Kristoff looked as though he had been struck between the eyes. In any event, he appeared deeply moved by Elsa's fond trust. "Will someone please tell me what this is all about?"

Elsa smirked weakly. "Congratulations, reindeer man. You're going to be an uncle."

Kristoff gaped. "How... who...?"

Anna interrupted him. "He was a soldier in Elsa's Honor Guard several months back. He was sent to the front lines against Weselton the month before last."

Kristoff picked up on the use of the past tense. "Was...?"

Elsa bowed her head forlornly. "We died on the battlefield. About a month ago."

Kristoff's face fell. "Oh, Elsa..." he sighed. "I'm so sorry..." He didn't ask how the passionate love affair had started, or when Elsa and Joseph came together. Elsa appreciated that her brother-in-law reserved judgment. But all Kristoff could think about was what came next, his mind whirring. He frowned again. "This is going to get out eventually," he warned his sister-in-law. "Your Council is going to start asking questions, never mind the people. What do we say when they do?"

"You let me worry about that," Elsa told him briskly. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Besides, they'll have their heir, won't they? Who the little one's father is won't matter."

"It'll matter to some," Anna pointed out. "Like the Council. Kristoff's right, they will be suspicious."

"As I said, I will handle it," Elsa repeated flatly. "Meanwhile, I want both of you to help me when I need it. Otherwise, don't worry your heads over me or my baby. But Kristoff -" and she fixed the Ice Master with a hard stare. "You can't tell anybody what you know."

Kristoff gawped. "You think I would betray my family?" And he actually sounded affronted. "What kind of man do you take me for?"

Elsa smiled. "A man who is more than worthy to be my sister's husband." She kissed him on the cheek, and then glided out into the hall towards her chambers, humming as she went, almost subconsciously clutching her as-yet unpronounced abdomen.

Kristoff stared after her, then glanced back to his wife, only to find her tackling him and planting a wild kiss on his lips. "What was that for?" he breathed when they finally broke apart.

Anna grinned softly. "For nothing. Everything," she rambled. "This baby is going to be very lucky... Uncle Kristoff."

Kristoff beamed with love. "Only because it will be doted on by Auntie Anna."

"Hmm," Anna mused with a smile. "I like the sound of that."