"And that, you're Majesty, is why I request your hand in marriage." The pale haired man announced, kneeling slightly. Like men did for regular engagements.
Elsa shared a look with her sister, before turning forward to face the suitor.
The man, Prince Lind the Third of Lockworks, arrived earlier that morning with his father to discuss a new trade agreement and, apparently, marriage. It was sudden, surprising, and took both the Queen and the Princess by surprise.
So, that was how they came to be standing in front of the throne- Anna and Elsa on the raised platform, Prince Lind kneeling on the lower step, and King Lind the Second standing off to the side, observing.
Elsa opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. What do you say when asked something like that? He was attractive, sure. He had pale hair, almost as pale as Elsa's, and dark green eyes. But he was so . . . well, Elsa couldn't put her finger on it, but she wasn't attracted to him.
"Well, um, thank you." Elsa laughed weakly, clasping her hands in front of her. "I am flattered by your proposal, but it is all so sudden, I . . ." She looked over at her sister once again, but she just shrugged. Thanks, she glared. Anna smiled, and turned back to face the prince.
"I don't think I can commit to accepting at this point in time." Elsa decided to say. It was what she had written once when she denied a trade agreement via letter a few months back. She thought it was appropriate.
Lind faltered a little, and straightened his back. He looked them up and down, as if trying to decide something. He even wrinkled his nose in distaste when his eyes scanned the ice decal in Elsa's braid. They stood for a moment, awkwardly, not really knowing how to proceed. The King decided he needed to assist them, so he rushed forward a put a hand on his son's shoulder.
"Son, if you don't mind, I would like to speak to the Queen and Princess in private." He said in a hushed voice, smiling apologetically at Elsa. Lind nodded and quickly fled from the room. Elsa sighed in relief, her shoulders relaxing as soon as the door closed behind him.
"Queen Elsa," The King bowed, for the third time since he arrived. "I would like to thank you again for having us in your Kingdom."
Elsa nodded her head once, and gestured to her sister. "It's our pleasure."
The King straightened, and smiled sweetly at the girls. From what Elsa could tell, he was very different from his son. While the Prince seemed very decisive and judgemental, the King seemed warm and friendly. Physically, they were very different as well. They had the same pale hair, and the same eyes, though the King's were a bit lighter. Ironically, Prince Lind seemed very light- skinnier than Anna, Even, but taller. Lanky. The King, though, had a round middle and face, and was short.
"So," The King began soberly. "about my son. Lind is . . . well, you already heard the reasons he thinks this engagement is a swell idea. I happen to agree with him. You'd make a lovely daughter in law- in fact, you would too." He nodded at Anna, whom blushed, before he shook his head and tried to recover. "Anyway, I feel like you were startled- you were expecting a trade meeting, not a proposal. I understand. But I think that, if you give him a chance, you'll see Lind is a fine choice of husband."
Elsa shook her head, and held her hand for a handshake. "I'm flattered, honest, but I just don't-"
"I don't expect you to run off and get married to him," The King assured, taking Elsa's hand in two of his own. "I would appreciate it, though, if you'd just consider courting him. If it doesn't work out, we'll completely understand, but . . ." He shrugged, but his face looked hopeful.
Elsa opened her mouth to reply, but Anna stepped in first. She grabbed Elsa's arm and brushed her strawberry-blonde bangs out of her face. "Thank you for the offer, uh- Sir, but my sister's not interested-"
"Perhaps one outing . . . wouldn't be too bad . . ." Elsa responded sheepishly, looking at Anna sideways. The younger girl's jaw dropped open- the simple thought of Elsa actually with anyone was a shock. The King didn't seem to think so; he laughed happily, and moved up the steps. He wrapped Elsa- and Anna, considering she was so close- in a big hug, as if they were already family.
"Ah, thank you." He laughed, pulling away. Elsa and Anna blinked, trying to recover from the hug. The King offered his arm out for Elsa. "Come- you and Lind should meet immediately."
He pulled Elsa to his side and started talking to her like they were old friends, much to the Queen's surprise. She looked over her shoulder at Anna, who had been left alone on the platform. Sorry, Elsa mouthed. Anna lifted a hand and weakly waved after them.
"Who are we spying on again?" Kristoff asked, brushing a leaf out of his hair.
"This 'Prince Lind the Third of Whatever-it-was' guy." Anna reminded, peeking above the bushes quickly. She sighed in annoyance when she found the coast was clear, and ducked her head back down to the ground.
Anna and Kristoff were hiding behind a small patch of shrubbery, laying down army-crawl style so they wouldn't be seen. Anna had requested many odd dates throughout the year he's known her, but he was pretty sure this one took the cake.
""Whatever-it-was?"" Kristoff repeated, raising an eyebrow. Anna rolled her eyes at him, and he chuckled.
"Can you believe it? I mean, they only just met! And he proposed!" Anna was trying to yell in a whisper, and was actually succeeding. "I mean who proposes after one day?"
Kristoff raised both his eyebrows this time, and his voice was pulled taunt as he tried to hold in his laughter. ""Who proposes after one day?" Did you really just ask that?"
Anna swatted him, and lifted her head over the bush once more. Kristoff snickered, before Anna swatted and shushed him again.
"Their coming!" Anna hissed, lowering her head again. "Hide!"
Elsa, meanwhile, felt like throwing herself off a cliff. Lind was arrogant, to say the least. He hadn't stopped talking about himself, and whenever she'd offer the smallest detail about herself, he'd scoff in distaste.
"Of course, I wanted the gold frame for my portrait, but my father gave it to my sister- oh, what a pest she is." Lind said, continuing some story that Elsa hadn't bothered listening to.
He was so . . . ugh. Self centered? Yes. Annoying? Yep. Arrogant? Of course-
". . . think of her?" Lind finished a question Elsa, once again, wasn't listening to.
"Pardon?" She asked, blinking her eyes to focus. Lind glanced at her in annoyance.
"Not very focused, are you?" Lind wrinkled his nose. Elsa straightened her shoulders. She didn't appreciate a complete stranger making fun of her. Clasping her hands in front of her, she waited for Lind to repeat his question. She knew he would.
"You have a younger sister too. What do you think of her?"
"Oh." Elsa said, surprised. She brightened. "Anna's amazing," she started. "We spent time apart for . . . more than half our lives. It was horrible; I was scared to see her. But she's the best, honest. She's kind of childish, but she has a big heart. I couldn't have asked for a better sister. She-"
"So how long have you been Queen?" Lind interrupted. Elsa's voice faltered. He'd interrupted her almost every time she had actually spoken. It was getting insanely irritating.
"About a year." She grumbled. "Four, if you count the years between my parent's death and my coronation."
"Ah," Lind muttered, though he didn't seem to be listening.
They fell into an awkward silence for a moment, before Lind went into another one of his stories- something about how his horse and its official rider won all its races back home. Elsa nodded when she was supposed to, so he'd think she was listening.
How on earth did this man think they'd ever had made a good couple?
Elsa and Lind entered the courtyard, and the Queen sighed in relief when she saw the castle doors. Their courtship could end as soon as they stepped foot inside. She wanted to sprint towards it- but, of course, that wouldn't have been very regal of her.
A sudden sight caught Elsa's eye- a flash of red amidst the greenery. She glanced over at Lind, whom was still blabbering on. Maybe, just maybe, he'd show some type of interest in Elsa. Real interest, and not just her title. She quickly swooped down and lifted one of the red roses, just recently planted, and carefully held it so the thrones wouldn't poke her.
Lind stopped talking, and furrowed brow. "What are you-"
Elsa didn't give him a chance to finish. She held up the rose between them, as if she were offering it to him. Then she let her powers blast up the stem, coating it in a pretty layer of fern frost.
And, because she wanted to show off a little, Elsa brought her foot down on the cobblestone path. Ice immediately began spreading away from her, and froze the ground beneath Lind's feet. He yelped and almost slipped, though quickly regained his balance, and the two turned to watch Elsa's magic spread throughout the courtyard.
They didn't say anything for a moment. Elsa wanted him to say something- but he remained silent for a change. She wanted another beat: nothing. Eager for admiration, the Queen finally spoke.
"So, what do you think?" Elsa looked up, hoping to see joy, or amazement, or anything positive in Lind's expression. Her own was hopeful- at least until she saw his face.
"Why did you do this?" Lind sneered, trying to back away in disgust. Elsa faltered, pulling the iced rose close to her chest. She hadn't expected him to be angry . . . she had thought that maybe he'd see beauty in her power, or give him something to talk about other than himself.
She curled in on herself a little, and tapped her heel against the ice she had created. "I was just-"
"It's odd enough that you have those awful . . . powers," Lind tried stepping towards the door, but his foot slipped away from him. "you don't have to be flaunting them around, too." He hissed. He reached forward and plucked the rose from Elsa's fingers- making an obvious attempt not to come into contact with her skin- and tossed it away from them.
"You little son of-" A high-pitched voice came from nearby, before it was quickly muffled, and followed by a loud shush. Elsa and Lind both looked over, but the Prince quickly huffed and started shuffling towards the door. The Queen could hear him grumbling as he went.
Disappointed, Elsa tapped the frozen ground- the ice immediately returned to her, clearing the ground beneath Lind's feet. He stumbled as the ice disappeared, and glowered. He disappeared back into the castle a moment later.
Elsa hadn't expected them to really make it as a couple, not really. At least, not a loving one. Lind and her were both so different- she could never imagine herself loving him, or he her. But Lind had actually made a wonderful point about why their marriage would have been a wonderful thing for both countries. Elsa would have to marry eventually- she'd need to provide a heir one day. Why not with a powerful ally?
And even though she had known they likely wouldn't have made a good couple, Elsa had still hoped they wouldn't walk away hating each other.
Elsa kicked at the froze rose, now laying sadly on the ground, and stalked back towards the castle.
I'msorrydon'tkillmefornotupdatingifeelbadaboutitandyesi'vebeatenmyselfupaboutitsoyoudon'thavetosorrysorrysorry.
I've been writing this chapter for months but I just. Can't. Get. It. Right. I promise, I really promise, that I'll rewrite it closer to something decent later. I just needed to update and this was all I had written.
TheArtificem, for winning the fanfic contest, requested a chapter about a suitor pursuing Elsa even though the later has no interest in him, with Anna and Kristoff spying on them. I am so sorry, because I feel like this wasn't what you wanted, but we talked about it, like, two months ago and I felt like you deserved to have the chapter up. I WILL REWRITE IT BETTER I PROMISE AND I'M SORRY.
I promise. I'm going to rewrite this.
(PS: For any Frozen Heart readers, I'm sorry the review thing got messed up. I deleted some AN chapters, and it screwed stuff up. I deleted AN chapters off of this story as well, so the reviewing might be messed up here too.)
(PPS: Sorry, again, and sorry for the long AN)
(PPPS: It ends lamely because I really just wanted to get this posted.)
(PPPPS: Bye for now!)