After lunch, Ingrid packed the leftovers back into the basket and Elsa and Anna lay back on the blanket to stare at the clouds.
"Everything packed?" asked Elsa.
Ingrid nodded.
Elsa waved a hand nonchalantly, and with a flump the basket was buried in snow. Ingrid giggled in surprise. "That should keep it until we go home. Now lie down with us and watch the clouds."
Elsa watched the soft clouds drift across the sky. On her right, Anna took her hand, fingers interlaced, giving her a reassuring squeeze. On her left Ingrid let the back of her hand press against Elsa's, waiting for her hand to be taken. I know I have to make a decision, and I do care about both of them, and it's been tormenting me. But right now in this field, on this blanket, with the sound of crickets and the smell of grass and the brilliant blue sky, it doesn't feel urgent at all. She sighed contentedly. I love how peaceful this is. It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small. I haven't felt this calm since...well, since I was a snowcloud. It was a huge relief, being detached from my problems. But it wasn't real. Now I can have what I had then and not lose anything, still enjoying the sun on my face and the feeling of being loved.
"Whatcha thinking about, Elsa?" asked Anna.
"Just remembering how nice it was to be a snowcloud."
Ingrid held Elsa's hand firmly as Anna propped herself up and gripped Elsa's arm. "Elsa? Is anything the matter?" asked Anna.
"Oh no, nothing like that." She turned from the stricken look in Anna's eyes to the wounded look in Ingrid's. "It's all right. It was peaceful then, but this is better. This is real. Being here with you. With both of you." Anna and Ingrid both kept their grip on her, as if tethering Elsa to the earth. "It's all right, really. I was just thinking. Honestly, I'm okay."
Anna lay down again. "So, Ingrid," she blurted after an awkward pause, "what do you see in the clouds?"
"Good day for laundry."
Anna let her head hit the blanket with a soft thud and a sigh of dissatisfaction. "Am I the only one who sees a Chinese dragon looking at a pair of socks?" She waited for recognition. "In the clouds? That big one is a dragon facing left, resting his head on his paws."
"Yes," said Elsa. "And that long wisp is his eyebrow."
"Exactly."
"I see Anna's pile of stockings," added Ingrid.
"I bet you do," said Elsa, suppressing a snort of laughter. "In a pile on the floor."
"Now just a second," said Anna, raising her head. "What do you two mean by that?"
"Nothing," said Elsa, smirking.
"Just that I saw the stockings Your Highness saw," said Ingrid, wide-eyed. "In the clouds." She pointed with her free hand.
"See? She didn't mean anything by it," said Elsa. Then quieter, "but she wouldn't be far wrong if she did."
Anna sat up to pull a daisy from the ice vase and smacked Elsa with it in mock-outrage. "Meanie."
As Elsa snickered and pretended to protect her face with her arm, Anna fiddled restlessly with the flowers. "I wish I could make a flower crown out of these."
Elsa and Ingrid sat up to join her. "You'd need more," said Ingrid.
Anna and Ingrid looked at each other in mutual incomprehension. "You know how to make a flower crown?" asked Anna.
You don't? replied Ingrid's puzzled and slightly embarrassed expression.
"The only flowers we saw growing up were in the Royal Garden, or in arrangements," explained Elsa. "We didn't play outside much, or..."
Ingrid looked away, embarrassed at reminding them of the past. "It's okay, Ingy," said Anna. "You can show me how. No time like the present, right?"
Ingrid nodded. "It's just braiding," she muttered, still not quite able to meet Anna's eyes.
"Good, then I'm halfway there." Anna gave a quick beseeching glance at Elsa, looking for advice on How To Train Your Ingrid, but Elsa just gave her a confident smile and stood up.
"I'll gather some more flowers," said Elsa, "and you two can get started." She gave each of them a quick kiss on the top of the head, and went to gather wildflowers.
"How's this?" Elsa heard as she walked away, with Anna braiding and Ingrid stripping the leaves off stems.
"Quite good." A pause. "It would be even better if all the blooms were facing the same way."
"Oh, of course."
"Of course. And..."
"What is it, Ingrid?"
"Nothing...except it may be easier to join up the ends if the first bit of braiding isn't too tight. If you like."
"Ingrid, you can just, y'know, say stuff. Now show me what you mean."
Elsa walked along the perimeter of the meadow, gathering flowers and giving the two girls some space to manage on their own. She smiled fondly at them.
She listened to the birdsong, smelled the fresh-cut grass and earthy undertones of forest floor. The meadow to her right was bright yellow-green in the clear sunlight, the woods to her left dappled in light and shadow. Going out for fresh air had always been a figure of speech to her – for so much of her life "outside" was the castle courtyard – but now she inhaled deep lungfuls of the air, as refreshed by the calm as by the oxygen. She saw a wild rabbit sitting on its hind legs not twenty feet from her. She stood still, not to scare it off. They stood motionless for a long minute, staring at each other. "Hello, rabbit," she said softly. "Hello little rabbit." After a quiet pause, she started to move slowly towards it, but the moment she lifted her foot it dashed for the woods and vanished. She felt disappointed, but blessed.
Elsa picked up an alpine milkvetch. A bee, still perched on one of its purple blossoms, startled her. She chilled it just enough to make it dormant and flicked it off the flower. It warmed in the sun for a minute until it revived, then flew away confusedly. It's okay. Good.
She glanced at Anna and Ingrid again, seeing if they were all right, seeing if they were having fun. She was too far to hear what they said, but they looked like they were working well together; Anna bent over her braiding and Ingrid over her leaf-stripping, each one occasionally offering or asking the other for help. Then Anna straightened up. Even from that distance Elsa could've sworn she saw the glint of mischief in her eye.
Anna picked up the pile of spare leaves and dumped them on Ingrid's head. To Anna's dismay, and Elsa's, Ingrid didn't react. She sat frozen for a moment, then looked up at Anna in paralyzed confusion. Elsa knew that Anna was just playing, but she also knew that, even on a picnic, to Ingrid Anna was royalty and she was a servant, and protocol left her no way to respond. Elsa couldn't hear Anna's desperate apologies, but she could see from Anna's frantic gestures and nervous grinning that's what they were. Anna brushed and plucked the leaves off Ingrid, making the girl flinch with every touch. Elsa headed back to them, wanting to run but not wanting to make the situation any more fraught than it already was. By the time she was halfway to them, they had already returned to their tasks, Anna's shoulders visibly slumped.
Elsa hadn't heard their conversation but she definitely heard the "WHOOOOP!" as Anna suddenly jumped up, flailing her arms frantically and hopping like a rubber ball. Elsa ran to her.
"YOU!" said Anna, pointing accusingly at Elsa. "You two were in on this together!"
"On what?" asked Elsa, genuinely confused.
"Ahhh! Whooo!" Anna grabbed her collar at the back and shook it. "She dumped snow down my back!" Ingrid had the decency to look abashed as Elsa hid her snickers behind her hand. "You just happen to make a pile of snow and you just happen to leave me alone with...her. It's a conspiracy."
Ingrid's expression was unreadable as she kept her eyes on her work. "To be fair," said Elsa, "you did dump a bunch of leaves on her."
"I was just...I mean she was...and I...well...oooh!" Anna sat down again, fuming as her indignation melted under the heat of her embarrassment and guilt.
She turned to Ingrid. "So. I'm sorry for the leaves."
"And I'm very sorry for the snow, ma'am."
"Even?"
Ingrid glanced to Elsa, who nodded her approval. "Even." Anna reached out for a handshake, and Ingrid returned it.
As Elsa sat down, Anna touched her knee to get her attention. "I am sorry, Elsa. I didn't mean anything by it. I was just trying to be funny. And loosen her up a little. I felt terrible when she...you know."
"It's okay. I'm sure she understands. It's just that you're a princess and she's a servant, and she didn't know what to do."
"But you're a queen and she's a servant, and you do all kinds of stuff together." Anna froze, then covered her face with her hands. "I did not mean to say that."
Elsa chuckled and stroked Anna's hair. "I understand. Be patient with her. And with yourself."
"But she's so...Ingrid-y."
Elsa sighed, smiled. "And you're so Anna-y, but I put up with you."
"Hmph. You."
Elsa touched her forehead to Anna's. "You smile a lot for someone who's so upset with me."
"I am not smiling," said Anna, smiling, as she took up her flower braid.
Elsa watched her work for a while, then leaned in to Ingrid until their heads almost touched. "Well?" she murmured, giving Ingrid an admiring smirk. "Anything to say for yourself?"
"After the leaves...?"
"Yes?"
"She felt so guilty. I had to do something."
"You had to dump snow down her back. For her own good."
"To make things even for her."
"I see." Elsa's smirk widened into a self-satisfied smile. "Tell me you didn't enjoy seeing her hop around like that."
Ingrid thought. "I could tell you that. If you like."
Elsa beamed with pride.
With the additional flowers that Elsa brought, in a few minutes Anna was tucking the last stems into the beginning of the braid and the flower crown was complete. A beautiful coronet of petals and colour. "Well," said Elsa, "which of you is going to wear it?"
"One of us?" said Anna. "I wasn't thinking of making it for myself. Not that I could've made it by myself, either."
"It's yours to give," said Ingrid.
"Ours, I think. Which just leaves..." Anna met Ingrid's eyes and tipped her head at Elsa.
Ingrid nodded. "It is a crown. Queens wear crowns."
Together they placed it on her head.
"How do I look?" said Elsa, touching it gently.
"Beautiful," said Anna. "Not that you aren't always beautiful."
"Please," said Elsa, oddly self-conscious.
"More beautiful," said Ingrid.
"Beautifuller," said Anna, and Elsa smiled at their shared joke.
"I wish we had a mirror. You should see how lovely you are," said Ingrid, her eyes memorizing the sight of wildflowers against Elsa's white hair.
"As you wish," said Elsa, and conjured a hand mirror of ice. She had to admit it was a flattering look on her. It softened her. She resolved to wear more flowers, at least when she wasn't queening. It was a side she didn't show enough.
Suddenly the mirror reminded her of another ice mirror. And the conversations she'd had with the other side of it. Uncomfortable, she flicked the mirror into a puff of flakes that fluttered away like a cloud of crystal butterflies. Not today. Not right now. "It's lovely," she said, taking off the floral crown, "but I have a crown already. How about you, Anna?" And she placed it on her sister's head.
Anna stood and modelled her new look with exaggerated la-de-dah postures, to Elsa's laughter and Ingrid's light applause. Elsa sighed happily, her eyes half-lidded with love, admiring Anna's beauty and adorable playfulness.
Anna sat down on the blanket again, taking it off. "I'm glad you like it, but I've wore a crown enough lately and I could use a break. But you know who hasn't worn one..." She held it out to Ingrid, who shied away from it as if it were a snake.
"I couldn't possibly."
"Honestly, Ingy, it's just a flower crown. It's not legally binding. Besides, we both had a turn."
"She's right, it's not an actual coronation," said Elsa, as Ingrid stared at it. Elsa shared a sly look with her sister. "Although, it could be." Are you thinking what I'm thinking? said Elsa's expression. Anna nodded in reply.
"No!" chirped Ingrid. "That is, I...what do you mean?"
"Nothing, exactly," said Anna. She dashed away for a moment.
"If you would be so good to stand up?" said Elsa, standing. "Or 'Arise,' rather." Ingrid stood, swaying.
Anna returned in an instant with a pinecone and a cattail. "Your orb and sceptre, ma'am," she said, offering them to Ingrid with a flourish.
Ingrid took them automatically and looked at them in confusion as Anna curtseyed deeply. "Oh, no." Still holding her royal regalia, Ingrid covered her blushing face with her hands. "I couldn't."
"You'll never be a proper sovereign with an attitude like that," said Elsa, unconsciously echoing her parents' words to herself. "Now, arms down please." Wide-eyed but obedient, Ingrid lowered her hands, holding the cattail and pinecone in front of her as Elsa had done. She looked at Anna, pleading with her eyes, but Anna just grinned and gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Elsa looked over her shoulder at Anna. "Please. This is a solemn occasion." Anna managed to force a super-serious look onto her face for five seconds before bursting out into a grin again. Elsa stood straight and regal in front of the maid, who despite her nervousness and embarrassment (and secret joy) managed to do the same. "For as long as she may live," intoned Elsa, "or until dinnertime, whichever comes first, I affirm and declare Her Righteous Majesty Queen Ingrid Hanna Andersen to be Sovereign of Meadowland and Queen of the Clearing, her dominion extending to the edge of the forest. May she rule wisely and well." She took advantage of Ingrid's frightened paralysis to place the flower crown on her head. In unison, she and Anna curtseyed deeply.
"Long live the Queen!" said Anna, leaping into the air and waving an imaginary flag as Elsa applauded.
Ingrid shuffled backwards, falling into the ice throne that Elsa had silently manifested behind her.
Anna and Elsa sat at her feet. "What does Your Majesty-" began Anna.
"You know better than that, Anna," chided Elsa. "One does not ask a direct question of a ruler." Dizzy with excitement, Ingrid nodded in agreement.
"My most profound apologies, Your Majesty," said Anna, kowtowing. "We eagerly await your directives." Elsa smothered a snicker at Anna's antics.
"I...I don't know," said Ingrid, looking around at her kingdom, Europa's newest and smallest nation. "I... Meadowland." She gazed at Elsa and Anna sitting on their heels before her, their eyes shining, Anna bumping her shoulder against Elsa's. A realization began to form. She waited for it to emerge from the fog. They reminded her of her own sisters. Oh. They're playing princesses. They've been princesses, but they've never played princesses. So much playing together they missed. It made her heart ache for a moment, until she saw that she could help them make up for that now. "Yes. Well. Meadowland. We have to do this properly." What does a nation need? "A census."
"Three!" shouted Anna.
"Excellent. You may be our Councillor of the Exchequer."
Anna smiled at how quickly Ingrid had got in the spirit of the game. So serious.
"A national anthem."
"Dance In A Ring," said Elsa.
Ingrid blinked. "Why that?"
"Yeah, why, Elsa?" added Anna.
"You sing...that is, Your Majesty sings it to oneself sometimes when one is working." Elsa loved hearing the simple tune when Ingrid was lost in her work. Sometimes Elsa would sing it to herself without realizing it, then catch herself at it. It was soothing.
"Excellent," said Ingrid. "You may be our Councillor for Arts and Culture."
"What about a- I mean, and it please Your Majesty, we need a flag," said Anna.
"Very good," said Ingrid, playing at Elsa's regal nod of approval.
"I have an idea," said Elsa. "Give me your apron."
Ingrid's hands were already at her back undoing the knot when she stopped herself. She paused, sitting extra straight, hands on the arms of her throne, looking down at her subject-queen. Ingrid scolded, "Is that how one speaks to one's sovereign?"
Elsa's look of shocked surprise was quickly replaced by embarrassed giggles that made her shoulders shake as she smothered them with her hands. Anna, on the other hand, skipped straight to loudly guffawing and falling over backwards. "She's got you there, Elsa! She's got you there!" she said, rocking on her back.
"I apologize most deeply and profoundly, Your Majesty," said Elsa, bowing gracefully low, "I am mortified at my presumption, and I pray you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
"Of course we forgive you. We are a kind and merciful queen." Something about the utter seriousness of Ingrid's voice made Anna snort with laughter. Ingrid turned to her. "Are we quite done?"
Anna regained her composure at least partway. "Of course, ma'am. I'll be good." She couldn't help but grin, and Ingrid couldn't help but grin back.
"See that you do," said Ingrid. She unfastened her apron and was about to hand it to Elsa. She contemplated it for a moment, thinking about the long, strange, unexpected path her life had taken. And would no doubt continue to take. All she ever wanted to do, all she knew how to do, was to serve. To care for someone. She had found a wonderful woman to care for, and who had grown to care for her. No matter what would come, she would always have that. Looking at her apron, symbol of her service, filled her heart with happiness and pride. With love. No matter what will come, I will always have that.
She handed the maid's apron to Elsa. "The flag of Meadowland."
"Long may she wave," said Elsa and tied it to a branch that Anna had brought.
"Or until dinnertime, whichever comes first," added Anna. The flag reminded her of Baldur's Pass, and as much as there was that disturbed her, she had to admit she liked the excitement. "Army! What about the Meadowland Armed Forces?"
Ingrid frowned at the suggestion. She hadn't liked the army games her older brothers had played.
Elsa spoke up. "On behalf of the nation of Arendelle, I propose a treaty of mutual non-agression." She saw the frown fade as Ingrid offered her hand. Elsa took it gently, by the fingers, and shook it once with dignity.
"Done," said Ingrid. "However, Prin- However, Anna, you may be my honour guard."
Anna stood proudly beside the throne, at attention, eyes forward. She held the pose for ten seconds, then said, "Well, that's enough of that. What next? Er, I mean, I look forward to hearing Your Majesty's thoughts on what's next."
Ingrid looked to Elsa for inspiration, but Elsa only gave her the patient half-smile of a teacher waiting for an answer she knows will come. Diplomacy, economy... "Ah. Imports and exports," said Ingrid. "Councillor for the Exchequer?"
Anna barked her answer. "Imports: lunch. Exports: leftovers. And flower crowns."
"And happiness," added Elsa, touching Anna's arm on one side and Ingrid's hand on the other.
"Yes," said Ingrid, and Anna nodded.
Anna raised her hand. "Treasury. The Meadowland treasury."
Ingrid patted her pocket-belt through her dress. "I'm sorry, but I hadn't thought to bring money."
Elsa gave her an encouraging look.
"That is, we do not carry money. Exchequer?"
Anna shrugged. Elsa shook her head, then said, "Well, Meadowland should have its own currency, I suppose."
"Yeah, but what?" asked Anna. "What's valuable here? Flowers? Shiny rocks?"
"Kisses," said Ingrid, surprising herself as much as them.
"Ingrid!" said Anna, with a wicked look in her eyes. "I suppose you have someone in mind to collect taxes?"
"For one thing, it'd solve the problem of inflation," said Elsa. "No matter how many you produce, they're always precious." Hearing herself, Elsa dipped her head and smiled shyly, unintentionally tugging at Anna's and Ingrid's hearts.
"I don't think forgery would be an issue," said Ingrid. I know your kisses are true, Elsa.
Anna tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she thought. "Uh oh. I don't think it's going to work."
"What do you mean?" asked Elsa.
"You can't pay for anything. If you give a kiss, you get kissed back. They cancel each other out."
"Or both sides profit," replied Elsa.
"But how do you deal with the balance of payments?"
"Volume."
Anna snickered, then Ingrid, then Elsa.
Ingrid's expression turned grave. "I'm sorry, but it won't do."
"What?" asked Elsa.
"It's a, um, foreign exchange problem. You can't exchange Arendelle money for kisses. It's not nice."
"True," said Anna, as Elsa nodded.
"Still," pondered Elsa, "I imagine the internal economy would be fine."
They spent the rest of the afternoon playing queen and princesses, setting up their play-kingdom of Meadowland, laughing at their parodies of royal life. Sooner than they expected the sunlight lost its lustre and slanted at an angle as evening approached.
"Welp," said Anna, "dinnertime's coming. So much for the reign of Queen Ingrid of Meadowland. Hey, don't look at me, I didn't make the sun go down. Be pretty impressive if I could, though."
"Yes, but who'd get it up again the next morning?" teased Elsa.
Ingrid stood up from the throne. "It was a good kingdom. No wars, no crime."
"A contented populace," said Elsa.
"And the history textbooks would be one page long," added Anna. "That's my kind of country."
Elsa dissolved the throne, and began to untie the apron-flag from its branch-flagpole. She paused, turned to the other two, not quite ready to let go of their pocket kingdom. "Before we lower the flag, perhaps..."
"Perhaps what?" asked Anna, as Ingrid watched intently.
"Perhaps we should sing the national anthem."
Ingrid blinked, puzzled. "Sons Of Arendelle?"
"Dance In A Ring."
"Oh," said Ingrid. Anna shrugged her agreement, and they sang.
Dance in a ring, dance in a ring
Dance in a ring, dance in a ring
Dance, all dance, all dance in a ring.
Elsa took Anna's hands as Queen Ingrid looked on, and they danced in a circle.
Dance two by two, dance two by two
Dance two by two, dance two by two
Dance, all dance, all dance in a ring.
Elsa and Anna opened the circle, holding their hands out to Ingrid.
Dance three by three, dance three by three
Dance three by three, dance three by three
Dance, all dance, all dance in a ring.
The dance ended. Each one looking thoughtful in her own way, they parted hands and curtseyed to each other. Quietly they packed up the picnic, Elsa and Anna folding the blanket, Ingrid brushing the last of the snow off the basket.
Ingrid took the flower crown off her head and offered it to Elsa, then to Anna. "Keep it," said Anna.
"In case we need to make you queen again."
"Queen Ingrid In Exile," said Anna. "Sounds like an exciting story."
"I suppose it is," said Ingrid, as they walked back to their carriage.
As they boarded the carriage and Anna took the reins, Ingrid leaned in to Elsa. "I wasn't really a queen, was I? Not for real?"
"What do you mean?"
"You are queen. Your word is law. And you said I was queen of...there."
"I wouldn't worry about it." Elsa patted Ingrid's knee.
Ingrid sat back, half-mollified.
"If it's any comfort, you were a lot better ruler than some I've met. You were a wise and merciful queen."
"Like you," said Ingrid.
I wish. "Thank you, Ingrid." Elsa took Ingrid's hand as they rode back to the queen's true home.