It all went by in a blur, from Robert's perspective. Right after agreeing to stand by Elsa's side that morning, in front of the royal council, the complaints, objections and downright insults about their courtship just blended together.
In truth, they barely said anything that Robert didn't expect. It was the expected objections to a commoner and a blacksmith courting a Queen, the fact they already let one royal marry outside of royalty, the belief Elsa was doing this out of spite against them, and general suspicion over Robert's motives.
But they surprised him by wondering out loud if he helped set up Joan's kidnapping, just to play the hero and get close to Elsa. At that point, Elsa officially reached her wit's end.
"Gentlemen," Elsa said with barely hidden sarcasm. "Whatever you may think of my….decisions, I would advise you not to say things you can't take back."
"And we would advise Your Majesty not to doom Arendelle with decisions you won't take back," one of the councilmen stated.
"How would Arendelle be doomed by me dating him?" Elsa challenged. "Other than him being a kidnapping traitor, which he isn't….what danger does he pose to Arendelle with me?" she asked as if Robert wasn't in the room.
"Your Majesty, you've already allowed one royal to marry….out of her class," a second councilman answered. "You are the last hope to keep the purity of the monarchy intact. If you and this man….provide an heir….your line will be sullied forever."
Before Elsa or Robert could object, a third councilman added, "You still liked some of the old suitors, Your Majesty! Why not marry one of them, conceive a child, and then do whatever you….need to do with Mr. Hansen? In secret, for as long as you want? That's a fair compromise!"
"You want her to hide behind another closed door and conceal her true feelings? Again?!" Robert had to speak up. "At least now we'll know who to blame when the next eternal winter hits."
"Don't forget your place more than you already have, sir," the councilman shot back.
"I will warn you to follow your own advice. That will be your only warning, sir," Elsa said dangerously.
"I apologize on his behalf," the first councilman saved face. "But you must understand. We're already weak enough after the kidnapping, the stalled economy and the….uncommon delays in securing Arendelle's future. If you're willing to settle for a blacksmith, what will that tell the world?"
"I am not settling for him," Elsa frowned. "Besides, all we're doing thus far is dating, nothing more. There's no guarantee it will go further, we both know that."
"Then don't put off the inevitable. End it now," the second councilman urged. "The weeks and months of uncertainty and scandal will not be worth it. If it goes….further, there's no chance it will be worth it!"
"If it goes further, you'll have your heir. You'll have the only thing you seem to think your Queen is good for," Robert spat out. "So what's the problem?"
"The problem is Her Majesty!" the third councilman spoke up again. "She's put this country at risk too many times to count! To do this on top of it….to destroy what little dignity remains of this monarchy…."
"Well, what choice do you have?" Robert quickly answered before Elsa could. "It's not like you hold any higher regard for Princess Anna. Or her husband and children. I'd say the Queen's all you can stand to live with."
"Then maybe the monarchy needs to die a noble death now. While it still can," the councilman offered.
A chill went through the room before the temperature even dropped.
"I have every right to charge you with treason for that," Elsa warned. "I have every right to punish the council if they agree with you. Nothing they've said so far suggests they don't. After everything I've put up with from them, about my love life and my womb….I should just go ahead and fire you all."
"If I may….that would be unwise, too," the second councilman tried a more civil approach. "Dismantling the entire council, for one man's ill-advised remarks, would come across as…tyrannical. Especially when the rest of us have more….reasonable objections to an….ill-advised choice of suitor. There are many outside this room who would agree."
"I'm afraid that's right, Your Majesty," the first councilman backed up. "Punish our colleague for treason, if you must. But that won't change our more measured objections. It won't change the consequences to Arendelle on the world stage. It won't change the….irreversible damage to your own blood line if this goes further. Either way, there's nothing that can be done, except the obvious choice!"
"I'm sure a suitable prince would need you to….be with him just once," the second councilman said. "Mr. Hansen can do anything else he wants, on any other night! Provided all the activities are secret!"
"You think that's all I want from Elsa? Activities?" Robert hissed.
"At least then you wouldn't be poisoning the monarchy on behalf of another kingdom," the third councilman spoke again.
"Whatever you may think of me….do not say another word against this man," Elsa spoke up, very quietly. "He is still the same man who brought Princess Joan back to us."
The councilman's reply wasn't meant to be said out loud. But it was said just loud enough.
"Then we'd be better off if she never came back."
If Robert could have ducked behind the council table, he would have. Part of him didn't want to, if only because it'd give that man an advanced warning.
But no warning could save him.
Elsa had more supernatural patience than any being on Earth. More ability to handle scars, insults and accusations than anyone alive. Because no one ever said any cruel thing to her, or about her, that she didn't say and believe about herself for over 13 years. Even now, it served her well to endure anything – at least in front of other people.
It was the only reason she didn't truly lash out in this entire meeting. It was the only reason she could take those comments about herself, the supposed damage to her bloodline, and Robert.
The implication that Arendelle would be better off if Joan was dead, on the other hand….
Elsa was NOT prepared to let that go.
Robert knew it the split second he realized Elsa heard that comment too. Everyone else figured it out a second later, when the temperature dipped to ice palace level conditions.
The councilmen got up from their seats, preparing to take their leave while they could.
The offending councilman didn't have such freedom.
The second he got on his feet, they were promptly frozen to the ground.
And the ice only rose up his body from there.
He could barely scream and object before it covered the rest of him.
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The next blur for Robert went like this.
In one mill-second, he saw the unfrozen council's panic. In the next, he envisioned them running out of chambers in case they were next. In the next, they'd tell all of Arendelle what Elsa had done, and discredited her and Robert to the point of….getting them to think the monarchy should die a noble death.
In the next, Robert ran for his life to the doors – getting there just before the first councilman could get out.
"You all have to stay here!" Robert demanded. "Let Elsa unfreeze him, and we'll talk this out peacefully!"
"Get out of our way, usurper!" the second councilman urged.
"Guards! Guards, help me keep them in!" Robert called out, but even if they came to his aid, they wouldn't be enough. Only one thing would do it. "Elsa! Elsa, freeze the doors! Please!"
Fortunately, ice covered the door right before Robert was pushed against it. When it did, the councilmen turned their attention back to Elsa.
She wasn't on an autopilot of rage and fury by then.
At that point, she was back on her default position of fear and shame.
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From the time Elsa overheard that wish about Joan…..never coming back, to the time Robert blocked the doors, she saw nothing but red.
After she froze the doors, she wished she could only see colors.
Instead, she saw her first murder. She saw visions of what would probably be her second murder, if she didn't unfreeze the councilman. But between visions of an angry council, an angry Arendelle, citizens burning effigies of their murderous impure witch queen, and the whole family being run out of the castle….the fear was too great.
It was like it was 16 years ago all over again. Like she'd learned nothing.
Like she'd thrown it all away in one second.
Elsa turned her back on Robert and the council, unable to hear anything they were saying. She only heard the voices in her head, condemning her for losing control and dooming her entire family. Dooming her kingdom.
All because she was foolish enough to think she still had control. Foolish enough to think a murderer still had a place on the throne. Foolish enough to think what she wanted meant anything.
At least she killed the first time for Joan. Now all this was over…..a man she only knew for two months. A man who could have been a spy or traitor, for all she knew. A commoner who could have seduced his way to the top in perfect secret, like….a less common man tried to do.
What was Elsa thinking? Why did she think she could be with someone and not pay the price? Look how it turned out – how it always turns out!
Everything ruined, because of a blacksmith.
Elsa turned her head, resigned to her fate. She still couldn't make out what everyone was screaming, though. Not over the shame and self-loathing in her head.
But she could see Robert yelling at the entire council.
And she could easily tell why.
Even with Elsa incapacitated and/or dangerous, Robert was still fighting on her behalf. Even against an entire collection of lawmakers and advisors, who'd fought Elsa tooth and nail on everything, Robert was going toe-to-toe with them all by himself.
He would have blocked the unfrozen doors all by himself if he could have.
Elsa encased a man in ice, could have done even worse to everyone else – and Robert was still fighting for her. Even by himself, against people superior to him by title alone. Even in what was really a losing battle.
Even with what she was.
All this for someone he only knew for two months.
After he saved Joan, nearly died for Joan, overcame years of self-loathing for...
And became the first man who wanted to kiss her and be with her…..just to kiss her and be with her.
If he went through all that for a scam, he had to be the most suicidal person who ever lived. To do all that, he had to know if he was unmasked, he would….do more than get frozen
No sane scheming man alive would risk that kind of a fate. If Robert was that insane, he would have shown at least one sign of it by now.
It was technically insane to keep standing up to an entire royal council like this. But he didn't look crazy. He looked….
As fueled by love as Anna did whenever she defended Elsa.
But she knew Anna never looked like that.
She knew no ordinary commoner could be like this. No aspiring usurper could – even Hans didn't.
This was someone other than a family member – and someone who wasn't bound by oath or law to serve the Queen – fighting for her. Against all odds and logic. Even after seeing how deadly she could be, for a second time.
Elsa was still too overcome by emotions to hear his words. But the emotions flooding her now….were far from fearful.
And when Elsa's emotions were far from fearful, there was only one logical outcome.
An outside even some of the councilmen started to notice, as they saw Elsa look at Robert.
But Robert didn't notice anything unusual, until he saw the ice on the door melting.
Then when he turned to notice Elsa, he noticed something else melting as well.
Within moments, the frozen councilman was completely free from the ice. Being free of the cold and trauma from his brief imprisonment….would probably take more time.
But as he shivered on the floor, the first councilman noticed another key detail. Elsa finally looked away from Robert, having just now seen what she'd done.
"Your Majesty….you weren't even trying to unfreeze him, were you?" the councilman asked. "It just came out of you. I haven't seen anything like that since the Great Thaw. And that was fueled by…."
He'd seen that Elsa had looked at Robert the whole time. He and everyone else knew what Elsa had to think of – had to feel – to thaw anything like that. Put it all together and it equaled….
"My God….Your Majesty is in love," the second councilman voiced. "The thaw doesn't lie."
Love?
Elsa was taking it slow with Robert. She didn't fall….into things as quickly as Anna. Even with all the love in her heart now, she didn't give it freely. Especially when she was just starting to have a love life.
But no matter how slow they were going and planning….the thaw didn't lie.
And everyone – from Robert down to the shivering councilman – knew it.
"There's no reasoning with her when she's in love," the second councilman admitted quietly. Once again, it wasn't quiet enough.
Elsa was nowhere near ready to confirm or deny any of that. If not to herself, then certainly not to these people. These people who still treated her, Robert and her family with such disrespect, even before today.
But now Elsa was thinking clearly. Whatever made her thaw, it got her head on straight. And she knew just how to handle these 'advisors' of hers now.
"I know this changes nothing for most of you," Elsa started. "You can oppose my choice of a suitor, and accuse me of being unfit for the throne, if you must." She gestured to her former frozen victim and continued, "As long as you know that this is the face of your opposition. Or he will be, after everyone knows what he said today."
Robert frowned, but began to piece it together as Elsa went on, "Maybe the people won't approve of me and Robert either. But I know they won't approve of someone who wished Princess Joan had died. When that man becomes the symbol of your resistance, what do you think that will do to the cause? However reasonable you make it? What will it do to your legacies? Your very job security?"
The implications sent another chill through the council as Elsa drove the point home. "None of you will be let go. As much as you should be. But I will forgive your words and keep all of them a secret, provided you speak no more words about my love life ever again. If not….I won't freeze or fire you. But when I finish, you'll spend every minute of the rest of your lives wishing I had."
Even if the offending councilman had stopped shivering, he wouldn't have been able to fight back against that. No one would have been willing to help anyway.
As much as they professed to defend the 'purity' of the royal bloodline, and protect Arendelle from 'common suitors' – there were other things they wanted to protect more. Like their livelihood and will to live.
Once Elsa knew they wouldn't risk it on this matter again, she announced, "Then I believe we should adjourn for today. If there's no more business."
There wasn't, and it didn't matter to these shaken councilmen if there was. A few spares bothered to pick their colleague up, while the others filed out after giving a bow. Before long, only Robert remained with Elsa.
Before long, when Robert's immense pride and Elsa's immense relief wore off….there was only one more issue hanging over them.
An issue they thought they wouldn't have to deal with, for at least several more dates. But, as usual, Elsa's powers waylaid the best laid plans.
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Elsa loved him.
Robert knew she cared for him a great deal, obviously. He thought he'd need a few more months of successful dating to deal with….being cared for that much. If he was lucky.
But here it was. The Queen of Arendelle, who only loved four specific people, one snowman and a bunch of reindeer in more than a general way…..was in love with him.
Whether she was ready to admit it by doing more than unfreezing a mouthy councilman or not.
Whether he was ready to accept it or not.
After what he tried to do for her, Robert briefly thought he should get to hear it. After what Elsa had been through, though, Robert thought better than to press her.
Besides, they both knew even if they couldn't talk about it or say the words yet….the actions spoke quite loud enough.
Enough that they could afford to block it out for at least a few months.
"It's already been a long morning," Elsa said. "Whatever else we need to….get into? I do want to. Eventually. I promise I do. This isn't me shutting you out. Please know that."
"I know everything I need to know," Robert shared. "And I trust you. With my life. And any other important things."
The briefest smile went onto Elsa's lips - which Robert knew would automatically make him smile. In turn, that made Elsa smile just a little bigger. It was a vicious cycle.
"I think I need some time with my family now," Elsa settled.
"I think I should make things with hammers and sharp objects now. And pretend I'm using them to crush….other things," Robert alluded to. That was perhaps too crude a thing to say, for someone courting the Queen.
But he might as well get such things out of the way, while his judges still feared for their lives. A wise….whatever he might be took advantage of such opportunities. Or so he presumed without any evidence.
"I might like to hear about that. Whenever you have time later on to….share," Elsa admitted. "I promise I'll make myself available to listen."
"You don't need to promise me anything," Robert said. "Just….give Joan and Christian an extra hug for me. First and foremost."
"Once I finish all of mine, I'll try to fit yours in. I….will try," Elsa stopped shy of promising.
With that settled, there was nothing left to say. They didn't think there was anything left to do either. Not until they stepped forward for a kiss that lasted….a few seconds longer than expected. Then they fit in another brief one, before making themselves leave in opposite directions.
Somehow, they left before it got too hot for both of them in that room.
Eventually, Joan and Christian will be back in a story presumably about Elsa being an Aunt, so you know.
