Anna kept looking at her knights.
The chess pieces were finely carved and imported from Italy. She knew because Uncle Alexander had given it to Elsa as a birthday present and Anna had been present for the occasion. She remembered Elsa's surprise at the beautiful gift and how her face had lit as Elsa touched each piece reverently as though they were already family heirlooms. Elsa had just turned eleven and Anna had been eight.
It wasn't until later, when Uncle Alexander had set up the board to play a match with Elsa in a corner, that Anna had quietly asked her father, King Frederick, why Elsa would want another chess set. After all, Elsa already had a set made of mahogany and it was just as nice. Her father had said that that set was getting worn; Elsa still sometimes froze the pieces by accident and the damp was damaging the wood finish. Marble, while heavy, could tolerate the frost without complaint.
Elsa had never used the wooden set again; every subsequent chess game had been played with the marble set. Anna was quite familiar with it, but she still felt vaguely stupid for not realizing earlier that Elsa never took her knights. At the start, probably before Elsa had taken up her sweet, mad quest to not steal the pretty horses that Anna liked so much, Anna had considered it a triumph if she survived a game without losing her knights—she wouldn't even try to save both. Just one would have been enough. Anna had known she couldn't beat Elsa; the very notion of actually winning was rather quixotic. So she'd focused on what she could achieve, which was preserving her favorite piece.
And then Elsa had decided not to take them at all, simply because Anna had looked sad. Anna wished she'd known, though she wasn't sure what she'd have done with the knowledge. And Elsa had always won so fast, butchering Anna's side with the swiftness of an executioner; but at the time, a young Anna would have just been relieved that it was over with and eager for Elsa to be released from her lessons for the day to play.
It was so romantic. So stupidly romantic. Who needed a dragon to slay when one had a princess—well, queen now—making such gestures? And it couldn't have been meant to be romantic because Elsa had done it as a child and probably only did it as a small mercy.
Still, Anna felt very touched, so she did not begrudge Elsa for letting her win the current game. They both knew Anna was terrible at chess and she finally confronted Elsa about it.
Elsa offered to end the game within just a few moves.
"Show me," Anna said, extending her hand to meet Elsa's.
Elsa's hand covered hers. A cloth-covered palm slid over the back of Anna's hand, scraping her knuckles. Certainly not a child's hand anymore; Elsa's fingers were just a bit longer than Anna's, but still slender. Elsa's hand cradled the back of Anna's, guiding her to a chess piece and, with the lightest touch, their fingers just barely tangling, urged Anna to grasp her white bishop. The younger woman could feel Elsa's warmth and presence seeping into her bones like the reverb of waltz music.
Anna tried to focus on Elsa's voice as the queen explained her strategy. Anna preferred the tangible and the present, like the feel of a saddle beneath her and the sun on her face; she'd never been one to ponder abstract strategies or anticipate an opponent's tactics, but she could admire Elsa's ability to think like that and how Elsa's mind was always working and adapting to Uncle Alexander's lessons.
Elsa's voice was almost clinical in the way she explained each move, but there was an undercurrent of fondness when she considered how Anna would most likely move. And Elsa was right in all her predictions, but Anna wasn't surprised at her own transparency; Elsa simply knew these things like the way she knew what chocolates Anna liked. And the fact that Elsa knew Anna so well endeared the queen to Anna in ways she had difficulty articulating.
And then Elsa's hand curved around her wrist before Anna realized what she was doing. Her thumb swept up to fit neatly under the bump of Anna's wrist bone and around to meet her opposing middle finger that had slipped under the joint. Anna's pulse fluttered beneath Elsa's delicate hold like a caught bird, right against the queen's fingertips.
The feel of Elsa holding her like this, touching the vulnerable skin underneath and knowing the cadence of her heart made Anna swallow. The touch was shockingly sensual and intimate. Anna had never felt anything like it before. She had to grip the edge of the table with her free hand to find some respite from what she was feeling and bite her lip to keep from groaning out loud. She was entirely warm, almost burning, and the fact that Elsa's coat was covering her, immersing her in Elsa's scent, only made her ache all the more with want. It might as well have been Elsa herself embracing her, but only Elsa's hand was on her, her grasp innocent, but it didn't feel that way.
And Anna knew, she knew, that she would be undone if she looked at Elsa's face and saw any signs of reciprocation. She would crawl over that damn board, uncaring of her spared knights and pawns and bishops, right into Elsa's lap and kiss her until Anna could fill that growing void that gnawed inside her. She fixed her eyes on the board and hoped she looked attentive, trying to measure her breaths to not turn into outright gasps.
Elsa drew her hand forward with the lightest touch, like a skilled rider's tug upon reins, and Anna followed with the obedience of a well-trained mount. Was Elsa going to…? Oh, god. Anna managed to contain her swallow when she saw that Elsa was not going to drag their joined hands anywhere on the queen's person, stopping just above Elsa's remaining black bishop.
Right, they were still on the subject of chess. Chess had never been this scintillating before. She doubted Elsa was doing it on purpose and it made it even more intense that Elsa could have such a profound effect on her without trying. God. She was probably going to go to hell for having these thoughts. And all the other thoughts she'd been entertaining throughout the day.
On that cheerful note, Anna followed Elsa's cue and took the bishop. Elsa guided it back to Anna's entrapped white king.
"And that is checkmate." Elsa's voice broke through Anna's dazed state.
Yes, it was checkmate. Anna had just been thoroughly thrashed and did not care in the least. Not that she had before either, but still, it was a small comfort to know that at least the difference of chess proficiency hadn't changed in the past few years.
Infinitely more importantly, though, Elsa had not let her go. Her hand was still cupped around Anna's wrist as though it was made of glass. Anna bit her lip again, trying to make herself breathe, but all she could smell was Elsa. Winter's scents, she thought, and the barest trace of lavender. Her other hand was shaking with the force of her grip on the table and it was so tenuous already. The longer Elsa held her, the more Anna wanted.
But words were not coming to her. Her mind felt sluggish, unable to conjure up a single coherent thought, but she was feeling so much. She didn't even know if she wanted to tell Elsa because imagining what Elsa might do…
With her almost unaware of it, Anna's captive hand found her defeated, but still standing, white king. She finally looked up and saw Elsa watching her intently.
Elsa looked so elegant in her white shirt and black cravat, her pale hair like spun gold in the fire's light. Their eyes met and Anna's throat closed, speech fleeing her. What words could she offer to Elsa? Anything Anna could come up with seemed wholly inadequate for her. She wasn't a poet nor an artist; she was simply Anna and that had never felt so sharply lacking before than it did in the current moment. But Elsa still had not released her wrist and that had to mean something. It had to. She hoped Elsa would understand.
Anna moved her king to Elsa, placing it next to her black king. An offering.
Elsa's eyes were steady, not breaking away until the queen finally shut her lids and sighed. She freed Anna, her gloved hand retreating.
The memory of Elsa's hand on hers burned like an iron brand just lifted away from flesh, the heat—or the absence of it— lingering further like an old wound reminding its owner of her error.
Anna saw Elsa's black king topple over and careen into the presented white king. She looked back at Elsa. The queen looked so tired and defeated, like she had been the one who'd just lost the match, but nobody looked that sad over a chess game.
Anna's heart clenched.
Elsa looked so human. What had she been thinking, comparing her to such lofty inanimate things like paintings? Elsa was flesh and blood, albeit exceptionally beautiful, but a person, and one who hurt.
Before she could think about it, before she could over-complicate it with doubt, Anna grabbed Elsa's dominant hand and rose off her armchair, Elsa's coat sliding off her shoulders. Anna splayed her other hand on the board to lean over it, knocking pieces askew and sending them tumbling to the floor. Anna didn't care, they were just game pieces, not tiny messengers. Standing stock still, eyes locked to Elsa's wide, surprised ones, Anna dragged Elsa's hand to her cheek, making Elsa touch the younger woman's face.
Elsa's breath rushed out as her lips parted. Her jaw hung open in abject shock and confusion.
As a grand gesture, it failed on a few points, especially since the person it was meant for was staring at Anna like she'd just gone stark raving mad. What Anna had meant to do was show Elsa that she wasn't alone, that her pain could be shared. Anna had seen the same gesture in a production of Romeo and Juliet some years ago during a part where the lovers were going on about their forbidden love. There'd also been a great deal of melodramatics that had made her father roll his eyes and her mother dab at hers, and for some reason, that particular scene with the face touching had stayed with Anna.
The failing, though, was exactly because Anna had not thought it through (Elsa had not been present for the play and clearly had no idea what Anna was up to), but it was the thought (or lack of it) that counted. So, Anna completed it by gripping Elsa's wrist, drawing the queen's hand downward, and beginning to peel Elsa's glove off.
Elsa almost lurched back, her shock was so great. Her jaw worked, struggling to speak, but no words came out. Anna wanted to crow—she'd rendered Elsa entirely speechless. Her hand started to tremble in Anna's, but Anna continued on her mission, suddenly brimming with confident purpose.
Anna started by tugging at each clothed fingertip, grasping the cloth deftly between her own fingers. She wasn't a stranger to gloves at all; she'd often ridden with leather gloves. But taking off someone else's gloves—well, that was an entirely new experience for the younger woman.
She'd made it to three fingers before Elsa managed to collect her wits.
"Anna, what are you—what are you doing?" Elsa demanded in a furious whisper, her voice reed-thin, like she couldn't get enough air.
Anna gripped Elsa's wrist in a firmer hold to keep the queen in place. "Taking off your glove," she replied in an unexpectedly steady voice, enjoying the blush that spread over Elsa's cheeks. She knew, somewhat vaguely anyway, that what she was doing was not really appropriate and, for Elsa, Anna could have just said "stripping you nude" and it wouldn't have been any more startling.
Elsa looked like she might faint, so it was a good thing she was still sitting. "Why?"
Anna didn't answer, merely tugging the cloth free of Elsa's thumb. "Am I not allowed to?" She countered.
The blonde opened her mouth, then shut it. Elsa simply sat there, quivering and wordless.
Anna pulled the glove off completely and sent it flying carelessly over her shoulder.
Elsa drew in a sharp breath. Anna glanced at her, but Elsa's face was just stunned, though probably not for long, so Anna pressed home her advantage. Elsa's bare hand was pale like the rest of her, which then occurred to Anna that she didn't know how pale Elsa's body was. But she would find out. Yes, going to hell. Nobody should be this happy about it, though.
The thought was heady and Anna had to breathe in and out a few times herself to keep from swooning for real. She focused back on Elsa's hand. Her fingers were long and tapered, like a pianist's. There were no signs of callouses as Anna knew that Elsa almost never took the gloves off. Perhaps that had changed in the past four years, but going by how unblemished her hand was without even the slightest traces of ink stains or scars…
Anna was likely the first person who'd had the privilege of touching Elsa's bare hand in a very long time. That thought was just as heady as the image of a naked Elsa. Elsa's hand was practically virginal.
The thought was unexpectedly, and painfully, erotic. Anna tingled with the knowledge. And she knew what she wanted to do about that.
Anna bent her head down and pressed a kiss to Elsa's palm. The skin was soft as a feather and silky smooth, and the queen trembled. Anna thought she heard Elsa groaning softly. She flicked her eyes up and saw Elsa's eyes closed tight and her throat bobbing.
Emboldened, Anna turned Elsa's hand over and brushed her lips over each knuckle. In a way, she was returning the kiss Elsa had given to Anna's hand on the stairs in apology before Anna, greedy as she had been, asked for more. The queen's hand quivered again and there was another sound that was part gasp and part groan that left a pleasant coiling sensation in Anna's belly. With each kiss, she lingered just a little, letting her warm exhales wash over pale skin. Elsa's hand flexed every time—her hands may have been pampered, but the strength in them was undeniable.
When she was done, Anna lowered Elsa's hand, her own breaths quickening. Anna's skin was on fire, but Elsa looked… god, Elsa looked ruined.The queen's other hand was digging into the arm of her chair and her face was blushing heavily, eyes closed and mouth panting. Her blonde hair somehow looked slightly mussed even though it was still tied back.
Anna wanted to groan herself. God. She'd never seen anything so provocative. Lady Charlotte had nothing on Elsa. Nothing at all.
Then Elsa's eyes opened and she looked at Anna for a moment, blue pupils dilated, and said in the lowest, roughest tone Anna had ever heard from her, the kind that forbade defiance, "Come here."
An electric shock went down her spine and Anna obeyed without question. She released Elsa's hand, skirted around the table, and then she was in Elsa's arms, legs straddling either side of the queen's lap, and their lips crashing together.
Anna cupped both sides of Elsa's jaw and feasted on her mouth. It was as though she was starving and all she could do was kiss Elsa to keep from dying. And Elsa tasted like the chocolates they'd shared, a surprise that made Anna hum.
Their kisses were rough, much rougher than their previous ones. They were clumsy despite the practice, finesse forgotten in the face of raw hunger. Teeth were bumped together and lips bruised, but neither cared and continued to press fervently against each other.
Anna nipped Elsa's lower lip experimentally, shivering when Elsa moaned at the tiny hurt. And then Anna felt arms wrapping around her waist, trying to fit her into a better position without breaking their kiss. The younger woman tried to help and shifted gracelessly about, her beautiful green dress tangling and getting in the way, until Elsa made a noise that sounded like utter frustration and actually cupped Anna's bottom with her hands to ease her into place. Anna gave a shocked whimper, but slid forward obligingly, her hips nestled against Elsa's abdomen.
Elsa felt hot even through the layers of clothes. Anna could feel Elsa's breasts against her own, wonderfully soft, and Anna was surprised at how much she wanted to just slide her hands down past Elsa's shoulders and sternum and touch—
And then Elsa interrupted that thought by ghosting her naked hand up the back of Anna's dress, fingers gliding up past the stays where the dress ended just below Anna's shoulder blades and onto bare skin, making her brain just fizzle like a dying candle. Elsa's hand was on her bare skin. On her bare skin.
Anna moaned into Elsa's mouth. Elsa's palm was hot on her back, sliding up and disappearing briefly until Anna felt a tug—Elsa had a hold of the green ribbon woven into her hair.
Elsa broke the kiss, her breathing puffing against Anna's lips, and said in guttural voice, "Your hair, Anna, I want your hair down now—"
Again, Anna obeyed without thinking. She sat back on Elsa's thighs and immediately began pulling the pins and ribbon out. Anna didn't make a show of it—she simply dragged her fingers through her tresses to pull them free of the bun and plait. She could feel Elsa's eyes burning on her skin and, for the first time, felt truly desired and wanted.
Finally, copper locks fell down past her shoulders and upper back. Elsa wasted no time—she pulled Anna back, tilting Anna's head back with her other gloved hand on her jaw and the queen pressed her lips to Anna's vulnerable neck. Anna bit down on her lip to stifle what would have been an embarrassingly loud cry, arching into Elsa. God, Elsa's hand was at her back again, fingers tangled in her loose auburn hair and holding Anna in place.
Anna felt as though every nerve in her was shivering alive. She was mindless with enjoyment, trying to contain her whimpers while Elsa did delicious things to her throat that—and, oh, Jesus, Elsa actually trailed her tongue along the tendon in Anna's neck. Her knees turned to jelly and she unconsciously lifted her hips, releasing a strangled sound of pure pleasure. Shaking, Anna shoved at Elsa's shoulders until the blonde's back was flat against the armchair.
"Not fair," Anna whispered, her eyes staring down into Elsa's, their foreheads touching. Her long hair curtained their faces in, shielding them from the outside world.
"What isn't?" Elsa asked, head leaning back to watch Anna. Her voice was a low purr that slid over Anna's skin like a caress. That voice was going to kill her, Anna was sure of it. Elsa's wrists were pinned under Anna's hands on the chair's arms, but the queen didn't look the least bit perturbed that she was being restrained.
"That you can… do these things," Anna said back. Her eyes flicked to the side, past Elsa's face. "Don't move."
Elsa nodded once, but her eyes heated in the way that meant her obedience was only temporary.
Anna reached for the blue ribbon end that peeked over Elsa's shoulder and pulled it free; the knot was simple and gave way easily. And now they were even, Anna thought with satisfaction. Elsa shook her head slightly to spread the previously tied hair.
Then Anna raised her hands to Elsa's cravat and sat back to examine the knot. Much more complicated than the hair ribbon had been, the younger woman decided. She snuck a peek at the queen—Elsa was watching her beneath hooded lids, hands still limp, but she exuded a dangerously unpredictable air, like the snow leopard Anna had compared her to.
Anna squirmed. She found it so arousing that it had to be plain as day. Her fingers shook as she held the silk and started to undo it.
"Someone told me it's usually the valet or my wife who is supposed to do this," Elsa said softly.
"I did offer my services earlier," Anna said, her words just as soft.
"Yes, but I think that's for putting it on."
"Oh, should I leave the removing to you, then?" Anna asked coyly. "I'm just about… done." She slid the cravat off and tossed it somewhere, probably wherever the blue ribbon had ended up. She smirked challengingly at Elsa. "It's gone now. Unless you want me to get it and put it back on you. I'd be quite happy to—" She had no intention of leaving, but she made to lift herself off Elsa, just to see what she would do.
Elsa's response was immediate and gratifying—she seized Anna by the hips and yanked her back down. Blue eyes glared up at Anna in ill temper.
"No." Elsa sounded exceptionally cross. "Leave it."
Anna settled back into Elsa's lap and boldly draped her arms around the blonde's shoulders. She kissed Elsa lightly in apology. "Your other glove's still on," Anna murmured.
"Mm. I'm sure you'll find some way to take care of that. You did with the first one."
Anna giggled and drew back, smiling. The atmosphere had calmed and turned playful. At least they weren't frantically clawing at each other in a craze of lust. And Elsa's lap was remarkably comfortable. "Do you want me to?"
Wordlessly, Elsa held up her gloved hand between their faces. "By all means," she said dryly. "It seems like I have no choice in the matter."
Well. "By all means" was certainly leaving it up for interpretation. Anna half-considered pulling the glove off with her teeth, just to watch Elsa eat her words, but decided to just tug it off in the most pedestrian and least provocative manner possible—she was enjoying the playful freedom. Elsa's remaining glove joined the cravat and ribbon, or Anna assumed it did; she really had no interest in things that kept Elsa covered up.
Elsa settled her hands back on Anna's hips and glanced at the younger woman. "Whatever just happened," she started.
Anna tensed. She didn't have a good feeling about whatever Elsa had to say.
Elsa frowned, noticing Anna's reaction. "I was going to say that it wasn't my fault this time," she finished neutrally. "Unless you think otherwise."
Anna stared at her. "Why does it need to be anybody's fault?"
Elsa stared back. "Anna, we almost consummated our marriage in the library."
Well. When Elsa put it that way… "But you didn't even get under my skirt," Anna said with a cheeky grin. "Even I know that to consummate a marriage, you need to—"
Elsa closed her eyes in apparent mortification and covered her face with a hand as Anna started laughing. "No! Stop that train of thought at once. Good god, Anna." The queen peeked through her fingers at the younger woman. "I don't think I will ask you how you know how marriages are consummated."
"I've seen horses being bred, Elsa," Anna giggled. "I know how the… mechanics work. I presumed marital relations are similar," she finished, affecting an airily knowledgeable tone.
Elsa groaned, but didn't deny it. "No details, please. Especially not about horses."
"What, have you never seen animals breeding? Not even a barn cat or stray dog somewhere?"
Elsa glared at her, cheeks pink. "Why would there be a stray animal of any kind wandering the castle? Much less multiple of the same to procreate?" She asked icily.
Anna laughed again. Oh, goodness, but Elsa was sheltered. It was both sweetly endearing and empowering—Anna was used to thinking that Elsa knew, well, just about everything. Clearly she would need to adjust her expectations. The younger woman fingered Elsa's collar and smiled down at her fondly. "You need to get out more."
"To see how more cats are made?" Elsa said with a faint curl of her lip and looking very snobby indeed.
Anna was not offended in the least. She knew how to fix that—she leaned in and kissed Elsa very softly on the lips. "It'll be good for you," Anna whispered against her mouth, pleased when Elsa shuddered. "I think I know what's best for you anyway."
"Do you?" Elsa answered, her breath hitching. She looked distracted.
"I'm your wife. It's my job."
Elsa's brows lifted at that pronouncement. "Where on earth did you get that idea?" She inquired, with faint amusement.
"Elsa, have you seen my parents? My mother bullies my father relentlessly and he just goes along with it, probably because the alternative is too horrifying to consider. And they seem to be happy as clams with this arrangement. It'll work for us, too, I'm sure," Anna said with that same hammy tone that made Elsa's lips twitch.
"I'm not sure I want our marriage to be compared to my in-laws'." Elsa frowned. "Wait, am I the man in this scenario of yours?"
"Well, you're not in a skirt," Anna said patiently. "You were pretty clear on that earlier if you'll recall."
Elsa reddened. "Well, I hadn't meant it that way—"
"Uh-huh." And because Elsa looked so adorably flustered, Anna leaned in for another long kiss. Now that they were well and truly alone with little chance of interruption, it seemed Elsa was more open to kisses and Anna had every intention of taking advantage of that. Or maybe she'd just softened Elsa up enough earlier and the queen was too addled to resist. Either way, Anna wasn't one to pass up opportunity.
After a minute of luxurious kissing that had Anna squirming in Elsa's lap again, Elsa broke away with a gasp. "Anna, wait. I think we need to talk."
Elsa could still think? Anna wondered dazedly. Maybe she was doing the whole kissing thing wrong because Anna was fairly certain her brain had vacated her skull several kisses ago. She blinked owlishly down at Elsa, wondering what was more important than kisses. "What about?"
"About—about consummating."
"I said you didn't, you hadn't even gotten up my skirt—"
"Not like that!"
Anna examined Elsa's serious, though very red, face, then sighed and leaned her forehead against Elsa's, their noses brushing. Whatever it was, Elsa clearly thought it was more important than kisses and Anna would have to gather her wits. She took a deep, marginally calming breath. "Okay. Not about skirts."
"No, not about them, though you seem to like to fixate on them," Elsa muttered. "We need to talk about the wedding night."
"What about it?"
"Anna, I'm not entirely sure what you're expecting for it. It's not...exactly like horses." She nearly choked on the "horses" part.
"Well, of course not, unless you happen to be a very cleverly disguised boy." Anna smiled. "It would explain the wardrobe choices you've made today."
Elsa glared at her. "No, I am certainly not. Please take this seriously."
"I am!" Anna sat back and looked at Elsa with attentive eyes, arms still loosely linked around her neck.
Elsa shut her eyes briefly. "Perhaps we should conduct this conversation with you in a chair."
"Why?"
"Because rational thought is impossible when you are sitting on my lap," Elsa growled like a poked bear.
"Well, this was your idea," Anna shot back, miffed at Elsa's tone. "Me in your lap, that is."
The queen stared at Anna incredulously. "I cannot believe I'm having this conversation."
"Neither can I, but here we are." But Anna climbed off Elsa with a tinge of regret and nearly tripped on a fallen chess piece on her way back to her armchair. The younger woman thought she heard stifled laughter from behind her and glared over her shoulder, but Elsa's placid face looked back with nary a hint of mirth.
"Your idea," Anna repeated pointedly, and plopped back in her seat, folding her arms petulantly like a child.
They glowered at each other like two boxers waiting for the bell to sound.
"We don't have to," Elsa finally said.
"Oh, now you change your mind about talking—"
"I meant we don't have to consummate the marriage," Elsa interrupted tightly.
Anna clamped her mouth shut.
"As you pointed out earlier, I am not a man. Consummation, in the strictest sense, is between a man and a woman for the purpose of progeny. The point is moot as it pertains to our marriage." Elsa's voice was detached and clinical, like she was reciting a script.
It was more rejection, every word of it, even the delivery. Only Elsa hadn't really rejected Anna, exactly, which Anna realized only after enduring several moments of breathless hurt. So the younger woman forced herself to examine what Elsa wasn't saying. The queen was sitting there, looking deliciously mussed—tousled hair, rumpled shirt, swollen lips. And Anna had recently just crawled out of her lap—again. Elsa had enjoyed their kisses, that point was irrefutable, and she had liked having Anna pressed against her. And growing up with an older brother and many stable hands had taught Anna that the natural progression from kissing and groping in closets and dark corners was usually to trysts in stable stalls and unused bedrooms. Though, as Elsa had helpfully pointed out, the queen wasn't a man, but surely those feelings were similar in women—the need to, well, finish, as Anna had once overheard a groom say. She was certainly feeling quite...urgent.
And then Anna finally saw it. Elsa's breathing was slightly uneven, though she was trying to hide it, and her eyes were unfocused and a little glazed, aimed deliberately over Anna's shoulder. The realization made Anna's own breath catch. Elsa heard it and her eyes flicked to meet Anna's, then immediately cut away again.
"We don't need to consummate our marriage," Anna began slowly.
Elsa flinched.
"But I see no reason not to."
Elsa's eyes whipped back to Anna's. The blue in Elsa's eyes was so intense that Anna half-expected them to start glowing.
"No," Elsa said.
"Don't I get a say in the matter?" Anna said, starting to feel just a bit irritated with her new wife. Yes, 'wife.' She'd settled on 'wife' because no matter how she looked at Elsa, she was definitely a woman and 'husband' just felt strange on her tongue now, even if she had spent a few years expecting to get one.
"You don't know what you want," Elsa said curtly. It was so superior and patronizing, Anna nearly snatched up the hefty king piece off the board and hurled it at Elsa's head. It was almost as bad as when Kristoff did that to her and Anna had no qualms about exacting physical discipline on her big brother for being an insufferable prat.
"And what, you do?" And then it occurred to Anna that Elsa really might, with experience to back it up. "Wait, have you ever—you know!"
Elsa crossed her arms and scowled at Anna. "No, I do not know. What are you talking about?"
Oh, god, how obtuse could Elsa be? Was it on purpose? She was going to make Anna say it and, well, she actually knew quite a few ways to phrase it (courtesy of the Corona royal stables staff again), but the thought of bringing those kinds of words to this particular discussion seemed truly uncouth. She settled on the most socially acceptable one. "Intimate relations."
Elsa blinked at her, then went scarlet as the words sank in, her composure cracking. "What—no! I have—no! Anna, really, intimate rela—no. No. Good grief," she said in a mortified, fragmented rush.
"Oh, well, good," Anna said, feeling awkward and relieved. "I haven't either," she added, because it only seemed fair.
Elsa looked away. "I know. That you... wouldn't have," she said softly.
"Well, then we're on even keel, aren't we? Neither of us have and we're married, Elsa, I know even if we don't need to, I want to—"
"Anna, I'm not sure if it's right for us to," Elsa cut her off, turning back to face her. She seemed to struggle with herself, then sighed. "I will be honest if you will."
"Of course." Which was all Anna wanted, really. This back and forth between she and Elsa was tiring and confusing.
"We haven't spoken to each other in four years. We've—we've changed, Anna. God, you were only thirteen when we were betrothed, and to another female, no less. It's so rarely done these days, for monarchs, I mean, that I don't really know what to expect," Elsa confessed. "There's just… so many things that have changed with the marriage."
"But Elsa, it hasn't changed all that much," Anna started, trying to sound reasonable and wondering what was prompting Elsa's sudden reluctance. "Both of us always expected to marry at some point, maybe not to each other, but someone. How is it any different with us than between a man and a woman? We'll still be living in Arendelle and I'll be the princess-consort instead of, well, I guess if you'd married a man, he'd be the prince-consort. I'm still afforded the same privileges, you're still queen."
"There are other differences, Anna." Elsa's expression went carefully blank. "We can't have children."
That fact was something Anna had known, of course. She knew it was a wife's duty to produce heirs, but, again, a moot point if Elsa was her spouse. It was just a little surprising to hear it said out loud.
"We'll adopt," Anna said, smiling faintly. "We'll have a half dozen heirs and I won't have to turn into the size of a cow nine months out of as many years to have them."
Elsa's expression didn't change. "A half dozen?" She inquired softly.
"The nursery is as big as the rest of the castle. We ought to fill it up." Anna smiled again. "I like kids. But that's for a bit farther down the road, right?" Her eyes went wide. "Because I don't want them, you know, this very instant—"
Elsa gave her a distant smile. "Yes. For later." There was a discordant note in there, so faint that it might have been mistaken as an issue with the listener's ears, but it was enough to have Anna studying her with a frown. Elsa revealed nothing; it was something Anna filed away for later because if Elsa wasn't going to tell her now during this impromptu candid talk, Anna would probably never get it out of her.
"Was that all of your most salient points, your majesty?" Anna asked imperiously. "I find myself unimpressed."
Elsa rolled her eyes. "Well, given that this is probably the first actual conversation we've had in years, I find that it speaks for itself, your highness." Elsa sneered a little bit. Anna even found that light touch of snobbery attractive. There was obviously something wrong with her.
"What, that we don't know each other anymore?"
"Among other things, but that is probably the most glaring, yes."
Anna smirked and leered at Elsa. She'd never leered at anyone before, so she hoped she didn't look stupid. "What better place to learn than in the bedroom?"
"Stop. Stop that right now," Elsa ordered. "That look would frighten small children, my god, wipe it off your face this instant."
Anna let out an indelicate snort and started laughing. "Would it really?" She tried it again and went cross-eyed on the attempt.
Elsa groaned amidst Anna's laughter and closed her eyes. "That is one way to put anyone off 'intimate relations,'" she muttered. "Well done."
"Oh, you liked it," Anna said. "Just like we were kids, right? Oh, see! We still know each other."
"As nice as it is that you're so eager to commence the consummation," Elsa started, ignoring the way Anna giggled at the alliteration. "There really is no rush. We have… all the time in the world."
There was that discordant note again, but Anna didn't pay it much mind this time. "So, you want to take it slow?"
Elsa nodded. "I don't see why not." She leaned forward and began to right the scattered chess pieces, her voice a study of collected calm. "The first time should be… memorable, shouldn't it?"
Anna started to help pick up the pieces, a grin dancing on her lips. "I'll never think of the library as boring and drafty again."
Elsa managed to not blush at that. "You know what I mean," she admonished. "What I am saying is that the circumstances warrant flexibility. There is nothing that we need to do, and there is no one that we need to answer to. It's a rare opportunity."
The younger woman's eyebrows lifted. "What you're saying sounds an awful lot like a courtship, Elsa. Only we've already reached the finish line and you're suggesting we start over."
Elsa appeared to ponder Anna's words, then smiled ruefully. "Yes, I suppose that's appropriate. We have four years to make up for."
"And you think we should do this while remaining… chaste?" Anna said, dubious.
"Not entirely," Elsa amended. "It can… lead to more. But maybe not on the very first day. Clearly we are… compatible," she said with a faint pink tinge in her cheeks. "But there's no harm in waiting, and we can ease into it rather than jumping in with no thought to, well, anything."
Elsa wanted them to be chaste. How on earth could they manage that when even innocuous contact could turn them into cats in heat? And did that include no kissing as well? Because if it did, Anna had objections to this courtship idea.
Anna opened her mouth to ask but Elsa added before she could start, "I don't want either of us to regret anything."
"Oh," Anna breathed out after a beat. Now she felt shallow for being so eager.
Elsa bent down to pick up a knight and set it on the board. Her long hair slid over her back and fell over her shoulder in a soft wave of platinum. "The stakes are a little higher than a courtship," Elsa continued, her naked hands arranging the chess pieces into neat rows. "A courtship is supposed to lead to marriage, but it is by no means binding. And as you already iterated, we have already crossed the finish line. I think… I think it's even more important that we try, at least, to do things in a way that we won't regret later. To do it properly, as it were. What do you think?"
As an argument, the logic was sound. Damn it, it made sense, even if Anna wanted to do more and Elsa clearly wanted to as well, but Elsa was obviously the only one who had a working brain between the two of them at the moment as Anna couldn't formulate any kind of counter argument without sounding like a child. Anna sighed in defeat.
"All right. We can take it slow."
Elsa sighed as well, but she looked relieved. "Good. I'm glad that—no, just… it's good. Slow is good." She paused. "That leads to the subject of accommodations."
"Accommodations?"
"Beds," Elsa clarified. She paused again. "We'll to need to sleep in separate ones if this is going to work."
Well, apparently slow didn't mean easy.
A/N: A surprise update! I had planned to post this on Valentine's Day, but a surprise snowstorm has me trapped at home with work and school closed, and I finished editing the chapter and couldn't really justify not putting it up. Also, wow, first chapter where I did not have to add any line breaks. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.
Also, forgot to mention, but the hand kissing Anna did to Elsa was very much inspired by some fanart of Anna basically making out with Elsa's hand. It's a longer strip and I've linked the artist's pixiv page on my profile for anyone interested.
PS-Chapter has now been beta'd and updated!