Elsa sat in her nightgown at the unfamiliar vanity as Ingrid stood behind her, unbraiding and brushing out her hair. "Thank you, Ingrid. That's very soothing."

"My pleasure." In the mirror, Elsa saw Ingrid's serene smile as she gently stroked and brushed Elsa's thick blonde hair.

Elsa saw her own face, the furrow between her brows, the flat line of her mouth. "Maybe it's the brandy, maybe I'm just tired, but I'm actually considering King Frederik's offer."

Ingrid paused, but didn't say anything.

"It'd be good for Arendelle."

Ingrid went back to brushing Elsa's hair, but her smile was gone.

"It wouldn't be so bad, all things considered."

Nothing.

"I could…get used to it."

Nothing.

"It would put an end to the…uncomfortable speculation."

Nothing.

"Of course, I'm sure he wants my resources more than he wants my company."

Ingrid shook her head to herself.

"Ingrid?"

"You're very intelligent and very beautiful. Anyone would be honoured to share your company."

Once again, Ingrid's serious expression stopped Elsa from saying something flippant. "Thank you. But what do you think?"

"It's not my place to say."

"It is if I ask you."

"I think…Arendelle would miss you."

"Well, you wouldn't have to miss me. He said I could have any lovers I want, as long as I was discreet."

Ingrid's mouth worked silently for a moment. She finally said, "I would be joyful beyond words. But only if you were happy. And I believe you wouldn't be. Not without Anna."

The light dimmed in Elsa's eyes. "Anna. I'd miss her."

"She'd miss you, too. Very much."

Elsa sighed. "And I can't leave her carrying my burden."

Ingrid brushed silently for a while. "If I might make an observation."

Elsa looked up at her in the mirror. "Yes?"

"Begging your pardon, but perhaps King Frederik would be more forthcoming if I told Commander Lund you were considering using your…rare talents."

"I don't think 'considering' would convince him."

"Then, perhaps, a demonstration?"

"Freeze one of his ports?"

"Briefly."

"That's not who I am, Ingrid. That's not who I want to be. It's bad enough people look at me like some sort of parlor conjuror. I don't want to be an unexploded bomb. You know what happens to unexploded bombs."

Ingrid shook her head.

"They get defused."

"Oh. Of course. I apologize. I was only trying to help."

"It's all right, Ingrid. It's not as if I hadn't thought about it myself."

Ingrid smoothed Elsa's hair one last time, and put the brush on the vanity. She stood, hands folded in front of her, head down. She worked up her courage and quietly said, "Mm, Elsa?"

Elsa turned to face her. "What is it?"

"I, um. It seems to me that tonight…that is, there's nothing you can do about these issues until the morning. And dwelling on them will…um… You need your rest. And I think it would be good for you if you were relaxed and happy tonight. And, by your leave, if you were willing, I thought I might…help…"

Elsa smiled proudly and wickedly at her. For Ingrid, this was incredibly bold. She stood, and stepped towards her. "Ingrid! Did you have something in mind?"

Ingrid blushed, and covered her face in her hands. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm being much too forward."

Elsa smirked. "Good." She gently pulled Ingrid's hands away from her face, and tenderly kissed her. "I like it. It makes me feel desired." Ingrid gasped and sputtered. Elsa put a finger to Ingrid's lips. "You know I can't kiss you if you keep doing that." She held Ingrid close and kissed her again, more firmly. She's so soft and thin. She feels like a kitten.

Wordlessly, Ingrid undressed Elsa and led her to the bed. She laid her down, undressed herself down to a silk slip, then slid in beside her, propped up on one elbow. "I'd…" She wants me to be forward. "I'd like you to close your eyes, please." Elsa did. "Now I'd like you to think of Anna."

Elsa opened her eyes and looked at her. "Please," said Ingrid, and stroked her hair.

Elsa nodded, and closed her eyes.

"Now say her name."

Elsa's eyes opened again. "Ingrid, it's…awkward. I don't know if I can do that. Not deliberately."

"Please. For tonight. For me. Please." Ingrid was terrified and thrilled at her own boldness.

"Very well." Elsa lay back, closed her eyes, and said, "Anna," as if she was reading it off a chart. She looked at Ingrid again. "I know what you have in mind, but…" She smiled sheepishly.

"I'd like to try an experiment, if I may." Ingrid made a blindfold out of two handkerchiefs, comfortable but opaque.

"Are you sure?" asked Elsa.

"Yes. By your leave, of course. It'll help you be…" She searched for the word. "…unselfconscious."

Elsa consented to be blindfolded, and laid back against the pillows. She felt gentle stroking, and heard a soft voice saying, "Now think of Anna. How beautiful she is, how much you love her. How much she loves you."

Unable to look around, hidden by the curtain across her eyes, Elsa pictured her sister's warm smile, her luminous blue-green eyes, her soft skin with its blessing of freckles.

"Now say her name."

"Anna." This time Elsa said it sweetly and reverently.

Elsa felt something brush against her face. "Now inhale."

Elsa took a deep breath, and her mind was filled with the scent and presence of Anna. "How did you—"

"Sh sh sh. That's not important. Inhale again, please."

Elsa breathed deeply through her nose, then exhaled with a soft moan. The musk of Anna filled her senses, her mind. Her head swam with images and impressions, memories of the sight, the touch, the presence of Anna. Even images from when Anna tried to seduce her, now divorced from the pain, now pure beauty, glowed behind her eyes.

"Say her name."

Elsa didn't need any coaching. "Anna," she moaned. Soft warm hands stroked her, smoothing her arms, breasts, belly, thighs, stroking her like a cat. "Mmmm." Fingertips teased one of her nipples, then slid tantalizingly away. She grasped the hand and brought it back to her breast. She felt lips and gentle teeth close on her other breast as the hand escaped again, only to find a home between her thighs, cupping her gently, pressing rhythmically.

"I want you to think back to the time on the balcony, the first time you kissed Anna."

"No, I can't do that."

"I'm sorry. It was a hot summer's night."

"No, I can't."

"She was lying on the chaise, wearing a silk slip."

"Please, no."

"Inhale."

Without thinking Elsa inhaled, and was drugged by Anna's scent. Suddenly the scene was vivid in front of her. The sweat evaporating from Anna's forehead, the silk-draped landscape of her body, the goosebumps on her arms. "No," she mewed.

"You are my queen, and I shall do as you command. But before I do, please tell me. Do you really want me to stop now?"

Her traitorous thighs closed on the hand between them. "…no…"

"Very well. If you command me to stop, I will. Otherwise I'll carry on. Do you agree?"

"Yes." Thank God I'm not negotiating a treaty right now, I'd be helpless. The stray thought made her giggle.

"Now tell me what happened." If there was the least bit of pressure in that voice Elsa could have pushed against it. If there had been pleading Elsa could've denied it. But it was the gentle voice of nurseries and sickbeds, comforting and caring. She couldn't help but obey.

"She was lying next to me, the way we used to cuddle when we were children." Elsa felt the soft pressure of a body pressed against hers. "I watched her sink halfway into sleep, and I thought — I remember this as clearly as yesterday — I thought, 'I could slip the straps off her shoulders, slide down her slip, and take her breast in my mouth. As easily as that.' It was so vivid."

"Show me what you mean."

Elsa found the strap by touch, slid it down, and in a gracefully casual movement bent her head and took the exposed nipple between her lips. She drew it into her mouth, sucked at it, and heard a moan. She answered in kind.

She freed her mouth and said, "I didn't do that, of course."

"Show me what you did."

Elsa cuddled closer, her thigh crossing hips, her hand resting below breasts. "I said, 'Do you love me, Anna?' "

"I love you."

"…with all my heart…" whispered Elsa.

"I love you with all my heart."

" 'Will you stay with me, no matter what?' "

"No matter what."

" 'Will you never leave me?' "

"Never." A pause. "Never ever."

"And then…" Elsa began to tense up.

"It's all right. Everything's all right. Show me what happened."

"I said, 'I love you, Anna. I love you with all my heart.' And then…" Elsa took a breath, let it go in a shuddering exhale. " 'I love you with all my heart.' " She dotted soft kisses on forehead, chin, cheek, nose-tip, and lips. She paused, then returned to the lips, kissing with tentative passion. Her tongue was welcomed by softly yielding lips, and she explored the tastes and textures of that mouth. She was met with equal passion. A hand laid gently on her hair and cradled her head, holding her in the kiss. A moan purred in Elsa's throat, and behind the blindfold her eyes rolled back for a moment.

She pulled back to breathe and heard a whispery voice. "I love you, Elsa. I love you very much."

"I love you, Anna." She returned to the kiss, gently stroked the cheek and curled around to cup the nape of the neck. She moaned again, more like a growl, and pressed herself against the body beneath her. She kissed shoulders, neck, and worked her way down, as if she was starving and could feed herself with kisses. She lay her head between breasts, held her close. "I love you, Anna. You are my world, my everything."

"I love you, Elsa. You are my universe. All I want is to be with you. I love you with all my heart, with every part of me. I would stay with you no matter what, and never ever leave you. I think I've loved you since before I met you."

Lost in her reverie, Elsa was confused. "Met me?"

"Since…since ever. I can't think of a time I haven't loved you."

One arm held Elsa close, the other stroked her back. Under those comforting arms Elsa moved her kisses steadily downwards.

Much later, Ingrid returned with washcloths and towels. "Welcome back," said Elsa. She cast a chill breeze across them both to dry their sweat. As Ingrid began cleaning her, she said, "Never mind that for now. Just lie here a while. I don't know about you, but I need to get my breath back."

"Thank you." She cuddled next to her queen.

"Well. That was…" Elsa smirked at her. "…interesting. And out of character for you."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it was good."

"You did say you wanted me to be forward."

Elsa pecked her cheek. "You certainly were." She paused. "You did wash that hand, of course."

"Of course. Thoroughly."

"When you put that finger…there…where I wasn't expecting…and then…"

"I hope that was all right. You did seem…receptive."

"After being startled, yes, I was." She grinned at Ingrid, and at herself. "And you're all right with that?"

"I've never been put off by that sort of thing. I've never had a chance to. And if there's anything else unusual or unorthodox that you'd like to try, I would be eager to help." The innocent smile on Ingrid's face clashed with the images in Elsa's mind.

"We can discuss that later." Elsa lay back and rested her eyes. "And I want to thank you for all the things you said as Anna. It was very moving, even if it wasn't real."

Ingrid's voice was quieter and flatter than usual. "As Anna, yes. Not real."

"Had you been planning this all along? Wrapping Anna's pantalettes in oilcloth and bringing them with you?"

"It was a possibility I had been entertaining."

"It was very thoughtful. In an 'unusual and unorthodox' way."

"Thank you."

Elsa squeezed Ingrid to her side for a moment, and sighed contentedly. "Is there anything I can do for you, Ingrid? After you did that for me?"

"With respect, it wasn't entirely for you."

"Still. Is there any wish of yours I could try to grant? To say thank you?"

"I try not to wish."

Elsa opened her eyes to look at the girl. "What do you mean?"

"To wish is to long for something that I don't have. And if I never get it, that can hurt. To dream is to imagine I have it already, and that can be pleasant. I prefer to dream, rather than wish, when I can."

Elsa thought about her love for her sister, unreciprocated, and the joys and pain it had brought her. I suppose tonight was dreaming, not wishing. She thought it over, then shook it off. "But if you did have a wish, what would it be?"

"If it's all the same, I'd rather not say."

"Not something 'unorthodox', is it? Or too big for me to grant?"

"It, um, no. Not as such."

Elsa felt that there was something Ingrid was afraid to tell her. "It's all right, Ingrid. I wouldn't tell a soul. And I'm in no position to judge." Silence. She remembered the silences when she'd first had Ingrid come to keep her company. "It's all right. You don't have to talk if you don't want to. But if you want to talk out loud to yourself, that'd be all right, too."

Ingrid sighed and relaxed against Elsa's side. Eventually she said, softly, "I couldn't ask her. Just bringing it up would be…awkward." Elsa waited for her, tempted to stroke her hair, afraid to break the spell. "There are things I like to dream, and it's easier when I have something from reality to think of. And that's why I still have a wish. I wish she could say to me, 'I love you, Ingrid.' She wouldn't have to mean it. It would be bad if she did. She loves Anna. And I'm a servant. And it would be a scandal. And she has so many, many things to deal with, I couldn't bear to add to that. Even knowing that I'd want to hear it, even if she didn't have to mean it, would put her in a position… I wouldn't want to do that to her. It wouldn't be kind. I mustn't." Elsa felt Ingrid's chest rise and fall as she sighed deeply. "I hope she could understand."

They lay in sombre silence for a while. Finally, Elsa said, "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening." It was a lie, but they both pretended it wasn't.

"It's all right," said Ingrid, her voice barely rising off the pillow. "It wasn't anything important."

And that was, too.