Elsa put on a calm demeanor. She made herself smile. She pushed the inner voice shouting self-recrimination away from the her toner of her speaking voice. She kept up her side the conversation with an occasional word in response to Rapunzel's merry chatter.
Rapunzel exclaimed over the royal bath, as much over the generous size of the tub as over the pump system that brought the water in and heated it for bathing. She pelted Elsa with questions while the big, deep tub filled. Elsa answered them as thoroughly as she was able, though her mind still tumbled over the near disaster.
"You can bathe first," Elsa urged. She had been too selfish already. If she hadn't put her desire to train first, she could have chosen a safe kind of exercise inclusive of Rapunzel. If Elsa hadn't been so self-absorbed, she chided herself, she would have seen Rapunzel mirroring her sword moves sooner.
The ice sword had seemed to be such a good solution as a way to focus and control her magic, but it was dangerous. Of course it was dangerous: she was dangerous. A sword was always a weapon, regardless of its precision, and she was always a monster, regardless of her control. She had been fooling herself because the lie got her through the days.
Rapunzel escaped the borrowed exercise clothes and slithered under the hot water and bubbles shoulder deep. On the previous evening, her bath had been a large metal tub brought in to the room. Elsa, though she had rushed to clean up, dress, and return to the newly found princess, had made use of the royal bath without thinking to offer it to Rapunzel.
"This is the best!" Rapunzel sighed. She lifted her hair mostly up and out of the way while she stretched under the water. "If I had one of these, I would stay in it all day. Get in." She motioned for Elsa to join her. "There's lots of room. We'll both fit!"
Elsa demurred. "I can wait." She picked up Rapunzel's discarded clothes, tidied them, and set them aside.
Rapunzel made a stern face. "I can hear your tummy growling from here. Let's get washed up fast so we can have breakfast."
"I don't mind waiting, really."
"Then I'll hurry," Rapunzel said. She began vigorously scrubbing with a washcloth.
Expressing a small sigh, Elsa undressed, put her clothes with the ones from Rapunzel, and carried two large towels closer to the tub. She hadn't bathed with anyone since she and Anna had both been very young. She hadn't needed to undress in front of anyone else since leaving Arendelle.
She eased into the water, keeping to an end not to crowd Rapunzel. She began her scrubbing her arms and neck with efficiency. "You do have one of these," she said. "This one. This is all yours, Rapunzel."
"I keep forgetting," Rapunzel answered. She closed her eyes, leaning back until her neck rested against the rim. "This is yours, too. You can stretch out." Without opening her eyes, she smiled. She stretched further and poked her big toe into the side of one of Elsa's feet.
Elsa jolted. She stared at Rapunzel, unable to hide her shock at the contact.
"Sorry," Rapunzel said quickly, her playful smile vanishing. She pulled her legs in, bending her knees.
"I don't like being touched," Elsa said. She rinsed herself off in the flow of fresh water and removed herself from the bathtub; she had made good use of the time and was satisfactorily washed. She wrapped herself in a towel. She used one end of the towel to dry off her face and arms. She could feel Rapunzel watching her. "You don't need to apologize," she told Rapunzel. "I know it was harmless." She glanced behind and saw that Rapunzel leaned her arms across the edge of the tub, with her cheek rested against her arm. Rapunzel observed her as if Elsa were a cloud or a sunrise.
Rapunzel said, in soft voice, "Mother has rule about being dressed all the time. She yells at me if I don't have clothes on, even if I'm wrapped in a sheet or towel. I have to wash clothes when Mother isn't home. At home, we don't have a clever system for water like the one." She swished a hand through the bubble foam. "I came up with a way to collect rainwater, but most of the water for cooking and washing has to come up with Mother by bucket."
She rose out of the bath and dried her body with a towel. She didn't bother to cover her body for modesty while she dried. "I'm not going to miss that," she said, a note of iron in her voice.
ooo
Rapunzel genuinely expected to cook breakfast for Elsa and herself. She did not anticipate that by the time she and Elsa washed up and dressed in yet another combination of dresses that there would be nothing more to do than to sit at a long table and be served by castle staff.
Accustomed to the one nice dress she owned being adequate for most things, she found all the changing extravagant. It seemed an indicator of all the ways she was unprepared for the sudden turn her life had taken. She had planned to be home in the tower this morning, anticipating Mother Gothel's return home and a routine changed not at all by the secret of her adventure. Mother Gothel would have been tired from her three days of traveling. More gray would show in her black hair. She would have crow's feet in the corners of her eyes, wrinkles and sagging skin as signs of her exhaustion.
Rapunzel and Elsa arrived in the breakfast room just as King Thomas and Queen Primrose prepared to sit. They had called for Flynn to join in breakfast; he was in conversation with King Thomas when the young women walked in.
When Rapunzel took her seat, she noticed the fine lines around Queen Primrose's eyes. The queen had strands of silver in her hair. The king had gray even in his beard. Neither the queen nor the king wore their crowns or finery. They looked like people, just ordinary, approachable, marvelous people to Rapunzel. "Are you tired?" she asked Queen Primrose, seated beside her.
Her question brightened the queen's eyes, and Primrose smiled before she answered, "A little. Forgive me, if I have seem distracted. How are you this morning, Rapunzel?"
"Oh, I'm great!" she answered. Breakfast arrived. She was relieved to see that the food was normal food, fruit and eggs and potatoes. The bread was not too much different than the breakfast bread she made with rolls of dough left to ferment overnight. They became full of bubbles so that when cut in half, the circles had dips and crannies for the butter to melt into. She emulated King Thomas and topped hers with marmalade. The queen's plate cleared after one serving of poached egg, toast, and fresh fruit. Elsa's breakfast was much the same, and she only ate a few bites. Rapunzel and Flynn took their cues from the king and accepted as much as they could eat.
King Thomas seemed to approve. He ordered more bacon when the first platter emptied, and both Rapunzel and Flynn had extra helpings when more crisp, smoked deliciousness arrived. Rapunzel caught Flynn's eye across the table. She would have liked to sit beside him, but the seating order put him on the other side of the queen. Rapunzel liked the shine she saw in his eyes when he looked at her.
Rapunzel realized that she was the only one still eating. Flynn had slipped some uncut fruit into his pockets when no one else had been looking. He didn't add any more to his plate. Rapunzel chewed her bite of buttery omelet and looked around at everyone else. She looked down at her plate. She really wanted to eat the food that was on it now. It wouldn't be very good later.
"Eugene and I had a fine conversation this morning," King Thomas said. He settled back into his chair, in no rush to leave the table. "Rapunzel, how would you feel about Eugene filling a diplomatic capacity for us? His experience in Stele would be invaluable."
Rapunzel could hear her inclusion in the "us" the king - her father - used. "I think that would be wonderful, if it's something you want to do, Eugene," she said.
"Uh, well, I'm thinking about it," Flynn said. He seemed more confused than uncomfortable.
Queen Primrose noted, "It deserves careful consideration. That in itself is the mark of good diplomacy." She expressed as much ease as the king, and appeared in no hurry to leave the table. Rapunzel made good use of the time and cleaned her plate.
Only Elsa folded her napkin and shifted to rise from her chair. "If you'll excuse me, I would like to have my discussion with Fl...Eugene before too long." She stood up. "Eugene, if you will follow?" Her manner was gracious, but also very reserved.
"Oh, but..." Rapunzel started to question. The thought of being without Elsa made her realize that she had not been without Elsa since the adventure to see the lanterns had transformed into a discovery of herself as the Lost Princess.
"You'll be all right," Elsa said to Rapunzel, but Elsa's mood wasn't the encouraging one it had been. It had become sad, and Elsa's eyes stayed downcast. "You'll be with your family, Rapunzel."
Flynn was more encouraging. "You're due a tour of your castle, Your Highness." A wry twist to his mouth and a shine in his eye gave his words a teasing tone.
"Well, yes, I'd... I'd like to spend more time with you," she said to her parents, remembering her earlier conversation with Elsa. "Do you... have some time?"
Primrose leaned toward Rapunzel. "We would love to spend the morning with you."
"A splendid idea," Thomas agreed.
"Show her the library, if you would, Uncle," Elsa said as she ushered Flynn out of the breakfast room.
ooo
Flynn strode along beside Elsa, letting her lead the way without letting her get ahead of him. It was a little petty of him, he knew, to use his longer stride so that he didn't trail behind her like a stray dog on a string. He expected her to throw a verbal barb or two his way. Instead, she seemed closed off, more introspective than angry.
She was starting to remind him of the girl he found hiding in an empty upstairs room, alone in a party dress and borrowed tiara.
She was probably just tired. A few hours of sleep in a feather bed had done Flynn wonders. He might still want an afternoon nap after lunch, like he used to do when he regularly stayed up all night. But he had been sharp enough to percieve that the king and queen were keen to position him in a good light. He got none of the judgement from them that he had gotten in spades from Elsa.
"I expect you to tell me everything," Elsa said, opening a door and indicating that Flynn needed to pass through ahead of her. She stepped in immediately after him and shut the door. "I want all the details of the night you took the tiara. Sit there." She took a chair behind a desk after he sat down where she pointed.
The room was a study. The furnishings were set up for comfort, so while Elsa's chair was plush and high-backed, it looked like a chair meant for long hours of reading. The desk had a blotter, writing instruments, and a lamp. Flynn's chair was a sturdy armchair. He considered kicking his feet up onto the paired footstool and leaning back. Judging Elsa's mood, he restrained from getting too comfortable. She might decide that the dungeon, after all, made a better interview room.
"There's not much to tell," Flynn said. "Once I had the jewels, I high-tailed it out of the castle. I decided that the boys - the Stabbington Brothers - could take care of themselves. I sure wasn't going to stick my neck out for them."
"Take care of themselves? Did you think that they had a means to escape?"
Elsa was asking the right kind of questions, but she still seemed distracted. Flynn answered, "I had no idea they would escape."
"When did you last see them?"
"Four years ago," Flynn said. "The last time I saw them, they were being marched into your dungeons. You don't seriously think I've had anything to do with them since then, do you?"
"Why don't you try being helpful, Eugene?"
Now Flynn did lean back. He crossed his arms. "I plan to be. You could give me a chance, Princess."
Elsa didn't rise to his bait. Instead, she took paper out from a desk drawer and uncapped an inkwell. Continuing in a spiritless manner, she said, "Why don't you just say what you are going to say? Anything that you think might be helpful in finding them now."
Flynn uncrossed his arms but didn't sit up. "I never knew much about them. They were supposed to have gone off to one of those eastern lands with a sultan that has miracle doctors. It's been a lot of years. I don't remember which one, but it was somewhere that he could get his eye fixed up."
"His eye?" Her eyes flashed upward. They were bright blue and alarmed. The little bit of color in her cheeks fled.
"One of them had a bad eye." Flynn left it at that, sorry he had made any reference to Elsa's explosion of magic when the Stabbington's went after her on road.
"They were on their way to find a surgeon, then," Elsa said, regaining composure but not color. "That means they would have tried again for medical care after their escape. This is good information. I recall now the report that one of them was bandaged. With the border crossing watched, they would have had to go by sea." She frowned. "It would have been good to know this four years ago. We have a record of the foreign ships and their outbound routes. The ships were all searched, but only as much as allowed by the captains." She gave him a measuring look. "It will be a good opportunity for our new diplomat to follow up on the information we have."
"You getting used to the idea?" Flynn asked.
"My aunt and uncle seem to want a place for you. If they see the makings of a diplomat in you, then I accept their experience and judgment of character." Elsa bit her lower lip. "I guess they like you," she said, with a great exhalation. "Rapunzel is their daughter. To be honest, I never considered that you would care to be anyone but Flynn Rider, a swashbuckling blackguard."
"I figured Flynn Rider would retire someday."
"In the lap of luxury, I image," Elsa commented.
"Yes. In the lap of luxury," Flynn replied, preparing to argue. "And before you say it, that's not my goal here. In some ways, Blondie has traded one ivory tower for another. It's not the life I would give her, if I could. We'd have freedom. We'd have time to know each other before deciding the rest of our lives together." He sat up and put both hands on the edge of the desk, leaning forward toward Elsa, who stared at him with a face as bland as a mask. "We'd be happy because we'd be free to be whoever we wanted to be."
Elsa's eyes narrowed slightly. "No one gets to freely be whoever they want, poor or wealthy. Everyone has a role to play. So tell me that you are done being Flynn the scoundrel, so that I can trust Eugene the way this royal family already seems to trust you. Because if you are playing on their good will-"
"You'll have me executed? Banished?" Flynn interrupted. She was never going to trust him. What was the use?
"If you are playing on their good will," Elsa repeated, "you will break their hearts. The hearts of good people who have born a terrible sadness for eighteen years."
Flynn retreated back into his chair, sighed, and rested his arms on his knees. "I can see that they are good folks," he told her. "I think Bl...Rapunzel accepts them already. I know how I would feel in her place. Never knew my father. Barely remember my mother. It would be something, to suddenly get such a great family."
"We've digressed," Elsa said. She shuffled the papers on the desk and fussed with the ledger and the ink blotter.
"Let's get back to it," Flynn agreed.
"I'm going to give you a chance," Elsa said, surprising Flynn. "Nearly everything I know about you has been testimonial. It hasn't been things that put you in a good light. So if I see who you are firsthand, I might find out that I had a wrong image of you." She didn't smile.
"You're protective. I get it," Flynn said. He could meet her halfway. "A real chance is all I'm asking from you. So we're good for now?"
Elsa nodded, and this time something almost like a smile did touch her lips. Her spirits still seemed muted. "For now."
"Get your pen ready," Flynn said. "I think I can remember some more things about the Stabbingtons. They played their cards close to their jerkins when it came to personal information, but recall coming up with theories based on whatever they dropped. Give me a minute to think about it."
"Take the time you need," Elsa answered. "The trail is four years cold, and we have all morning."
ooo
Author's Note:
I will complete this story and post the updates, I promise! You may be wondering what happened to break my update schedule so badly. Welll... :( The simplest of the problems is my decrepit netbook. So I've begun posting the updates in sections on my Dreamwidth (butterflydreaming), which I can do by email from work. And when my tech works, I upload it to here and on AO3 and Wattpad (if I can get on). I'm so sorry for the delay, and so grateful for the encouragement!