A/N: On a roll, this week, so here is the next chapter. There is quick mentions of adult themes, nothing crazy but I thought I would warn you. I am still deciding if this needs to be bumped up to "M." I moved it back to "T" so if you think I need to adjust it to "M" again let me know. As I said before things will move quicker now, with multiple time jumps occurring in the same chapter at times.

Chapter 3 Funeral

July 1843

The death of King Ivar had sent shock waves through all of Scandinavia; it had been so sudden that the people were shaken. Elsa ordered a one week period of mourning in honor of the late king, and it was decided that she and Pieter would leave immediately to attend the funeral. Vakretta was too far away for news to reach their court and send a representative to attend funeral services. Elsa would attend as the official representative of Arendelle and Pieter, though Prince Consort of Arendelle, would go as the official representative of Vakretta.

The funeral was held one week after the king's death. King Harkon was understandably distraught over the loss of his father but was delighted to see his cousin.

He had clasped Pieter's hands tightly when they arrived, the only break in protocol he allowed at the moment. "It is good to see you, cousin, thank you for making the journey to join us."

Pieter nodded his head, "It was the least I could do, to represent our family. He was a great king and an even better man."

"Yes, yes he was." Harkon then turned to Elsa and inclined his head slightly, "Thank you as well, Your Majesty for coming, I was not surprised to hear His Highness was coming, but I will admit I was surprised to learn you would be accompanying him."

Elsa gave him a small smile, "Norway and Arendelle have always enjoyed a special bond, it is my honor to be present to pay my respects to your father. I know he and my father had a strong partnership, one that I hope we may enjoy as well."

"As do I," Harkon responded. He then went to greet other dignitaries who'd arrived at the castle.

It wasn't until later that evening when Pieter and Elsa were invited to have a private meal with Harkon and his uncle, the late king's brother, the new Crown Prince Tarben, that they found out how the king was dealing with his father's sudden death.

"He got separated from the rest of the hunting party, had yelled he saw a deer and took off before anyone could react fast enough to accompany him. He had attempted to jump Odin's Gorge, it's a challenging jump, but nothing an experienced rider like my father couldn't handle." Harkon told them, he stood by the hearth, his young face looking ten years older as it was illuminated by the fire.

"It was suicide." Crown Prince Tarben said flatly. The Crown Prince was a man in his late forties, his hair a honey blonde, his face clean-shaven. He was taller and thinner than his brother had been. His green eyes peered up at his nephew.

"Uncle we don't know that," Harkon replied half-heartedly like he was dismissing the idea not because he believed it to be untrue but out of principle.

"Ivar only recovered from Unn's death because of Magri, with Magri gone he struggled. He was never the same man and you know that." Tarben said firmly but not unkindly. Harkon's shoulders slumped.

"I'm not ready for this." He said simply. Elsa's heart went out to the young king who was three years her senior. It did not matter how old you were or how much you were trained, no one is ready to be a monarch when the time comes. It is the only profession that the death of a loved one is required to ascend to it. Elsa saw him turn to look at her, "How did you do it? You were ten years younger than I when your father died, making you head of state."

Elsa folded her hands in front of her, "One day at a time, I was lucky in a way, the council was regent for my first two and half years as head of state, I led the council at the time, but I needed their approval to act. When I turned twenty-one and became sole sovereign I learned how much they'd been handling for me. I just told myself to face each morning as if it were the first and do my best to make decisions that benefited the most Arendellians as possible. That is all we can do as a monarch, to make sure that our people are taken care of, that most of our decisions do them good rather than harm. It's impossible to please everyone and sometimes you have to do things the people don't like in order for the country to thrive. Just do your best and you'll do well."

Elsa felt Pieter place his arm around her back and pull her closer to him on the couch. Harkon sighed, "Wise words, thank you, Your Majesty."

"Elsa, please, we are all family here," she said kindly. This was not a time to adhere to protocol.

"Thank you, Elsa. I'd like to move onto happier topics, how is marriage treating you both?" Elsa blushed as she looked up at Pieter who was smirking at her, "Very well, dear cousin, very well."

Tarben laughed deeply, "Will we be hearing of a new crown prince or princess soon?" Elsa grew brighter red, resembling a dark cherry at this point.

Harkon laughed along, "leave them be Uncle or karma will come back to bite you. You know that the council insists on both of us marrying soon and producing heirs."

The older man grumbled, "What are they thinking, what woman in her right mind would marry an old bachelor like me. I never married for a reason, I like my career, I like my peace and quiet. An old general like me has no need for a wife or children." Harkon rolled his eyes. It was clear to Elsa that she had heard the same diatribe many times before.

"What of you Harkon, do you have a fair woman in your sights?"

"Hardly," he said as he pushed off the hearth and settled in a seat beside the couch Elsa and Pieter occupied. "You snatched the only prize worth fighting for away from me." The tone of his voice filled with amusement. "The council is pushing the Grand Duchess Karina, apparently the Russians had approached my father about the match a few months ago, he had delayed his response to them. I guess I will invite her to join the court in the summer, the council says she has a significant dowry and the ties to Russia would due us well."

Later that night Elsa lay in bed next to Pieter in the larger guest suite they had been given. It was nearly as larger as their chambers at home, decorated lavishly in red and gold furnishings. "Is it premature to say I am nervous about Harkon marrying a Russian Grand Duchess?" Elsa whispered as she played with Pieter's long fingers.

"No, it is always concerning when Russia goes sniffing around Scandinavia. They've tried invading Finland before and failed, though it cost the Finnish much." Pieter rolled over so that his body covered hers. "We'll just have to hope that either they don't like each other enough to put off the marriage or that the Russian's aren't planning anything nefarious and this is just your run of the mill royal match."

"Your right," she mumbled though her mind couldn't fully pull away from the thought of Norway being in bed with Russia; well that was until Pieter began to kiss her neck gently and ran his large deft fingers up her thighs.

"Forget Norway and Russia, we have our own responsibility to Arendelle, to secure it's future, and believe I it would be a crime to forgo our mandate while in such a large and comfortable bed." Elsa gasped and his fingers found purchase within her.

"You are right as ever, my prince. " she whispered. Pieter pulled back and smiled at her then kissed her deeply.

XXXXXXX

The day of the funeral was warm and sunny, the exact opposite of how the Norwegian family was feeling that day. The king had laid in state for the week and now his coffin draped in a flag with his crest on it was loaded onto an open carriage drawn by four beautify fjord horses, eight members of the royal navy and army walked beside the carriage in two rows of four on either side. Directly behind the carriage walked King Harkon and Crown Prince Tarben, behind them Pieter walked, Elsa had been offered a carriage to ride in just behind him but she had insisted on walking with him. Then came the remaining Norwegian nobility followed by foreign nobility, which is where Elsa would have processed had she not been married to Pieter.

The procession winded through the streets of Oslo, the crowds lined the street three to four deep in some places that allowed for it. The procession was to the Cathedral of Oslo where the funeral would take place, after the funeral ceremony the funeral procession would then proceed to Akershus Castle where the king would be interred in the Royal Mausoleum beside his wife and daughter.

Pieter barely spoke to her throughout the day, and she let him reside within his mind, on some days it was better to let one have their space than to push them to speak. If this day was reminding her of her own parent's funeral which she'd watched from a frosted window high up in Arendelle Castle, then it was most definitely reminding Pieter of his late wife's funeral. Elsa found herself forgetting that Pieter had once been married before, that she did not hold his heart alone, then a moment would happen like today and she would become acutely aware of it again. Elsa was well aware after two months of marriage that Pieter loved her, and she was beginning to realize that perhaps she did too, but something always held her back from expressing it in words; was it fear that she was wrong and he wouldn't express his love to her, was it her respect for his former wife, was it her own issues with commitment and loss, Elsa was unsure but she hoped one day she could fully accept how she felt and let him know. Until that moment; however, she would let her actions do the talking, so as they watched King Ivar's coffin being placed within the sarcophagus she pulled him close to her, brought the back of his hands to her lips kissing it sweetly.

XXXX

September 1843

Unlike her brother, the Princess Renee Idunna Greda Bjorgman of Arendelle came into the world quickly on the exact September day the royal physician predicted. It had been early in the morning, Elsa had been woken by one of her ladies-maids, and by the time she and Pieter reached her sister's suites, Dr. Olsen was standing at the doors waiting for them. He had smiled and ushered them into the rooms. Anna was sitting up her face sparkling with sweat but smiling as she had the day Christopher was born. "Elsa, it's a girl," she exclaimed, turning the babe in her arms for Elsa to see. The new princess was even smaller than her brother had been, 6lbs 4oz. She had bright blue baby eyes and a tuff of red hair upon her crown. She was beautiful to Elsa.

"Anna, she is breathtaking." Elsa praised and eagerly accepted the child into her arms. She seemed to snuggle into her aunt's arms and closed her eyes falling asleep. "Already more mild-mannered than Chris." Pieter joked as he looked over Elsa's shoulder at his niece.

"Let's not jinx her." Kristoff beamed from his spot next to Anna, he held her hand in his and he was clearly proud of his wife. "We only need one mini Anna running around this castle at one time."

"Christopher is a perfectly sweet child. I don't know what you three are referring to." Anna had an indigent look as she glanced at the three.

Elsa scoffed, "First off he looks just like you, same red hair, same dusting of freckles on his face, same teal eyes. Second, he is not even two and he's managed to knock down the suits of armor more times than you had at that age, and for being a boy he is particularly loquacious. He talks nonstop. A mini male version of you my dear sister." As she laid the sleeping princess on her mother's bosom she confessed, "and we wouldn't have him or you any other way." Anna smiled contentedly. "Thank you."

Later that morning when Elsa and Pieter had finally made their way back to bed to get a couple of hours more sleep before their day began and the celebrations for the new princess started, Elsa turned to Pieter. She looked sullen despite the happiness earlier. "What is wrong, My Queen?" he asked with concern, his palm cupping her face. Elsa bit her lip and averted her eyes before speaking, "I want one," she eventually confessed as her hand slid down to her stomach.

"We will, Nysno, we will," Pieter reassured her as he pulled her close, enveloping her body into his hug.

"It's been months and nothing" she lamented, tears coming to her eyes.

"Elsa, these things take time, not everyone is like your sister and becomes pregnant the moment they decide to try. We have nothing to worry about yet." She looked up at him, she knew he was right but it was hard to accept it at that moment. "Who's the doctor here?" he prompted. Elsa rolled her eyes, whenever he wanted to win an argument about health he brought out the big guns.

"You are."

He grinned, "That's right, and doctors are always right." He adjusted himself so that his upper body was hovering over her but his lower body pressed into her letting her feel him. "Now would my beautiful wife like to sleep or would she like to play?" To emphasize his words and desire he pressed his hard length in between her legs. She responded by rolling her hips up to meet him.

"Play."

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