1908
The Garden of Linnea Castle
Arendelle
Glances were cast among the listeners, knowing glances among the women, curious glances among the men, confusion among the children. After several minutes, Agnar spoke up, turning back to his grandfather. "I don't understand, Grandpapa. Why was the queen upset by what she saw in the mirror?"
"The queen was, in her day, considered a great beauty within Arendelle- in all of Scandinavia, in fact- much like Elisabeth of Austria. She, in fact, was another contemporary of the queen, and when they met in the early summer of fifty-three, the newspapers dubbed them the Queens of Spring and Winter, for they were very much opposites."
"She met Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary?" Pia asked. The wonder in her voice rang loud and clear- was there anything this fabled queen couldn't do?
"So what was Queen Victoria?" Ludi asked wistfully.
"I guess, that you could say Victoria was the Queen of Summer." He sighed. "Empress Elisabeth was renowned for her beauty in Europe, but especially her waistline. When the two women first met, they did not exactly get along; because the queen had born five children, and therefore put on a little weight after each, Empress Elisabeth found her to be," He cleared his throat. "As she so aptly put it, zsír."
The children exchanged glances. "What does that mean, Grandpapa?" Alexander asked.
"Quite frankly, Sasha, she called the queen fat." Looks of horror crossed every face at the table.
"But she wasn't, was she?"
"You tell me, Duna. The queen's waist, when she met the Empress, was fourteen inches- and it was natural, despite the five children she'd borne. For though the queen had gained weight with each pregnancy, she lost the weight almost immediately after. She was naturally slender and slim, the weight left behind was caused by the stresses of motherhood after each new babe came into the world, and the small pouch that was her tummy vanished with good diet, exercise and rest. She returned to riding, going out with the princess every day for an hour or two, as she'd allotted it into her schedule, and of course, caring for five rambunctious children helped. But she still had her insecurities as every woman does after motherhood has befallen her, and they often weighed heavily on her mind. But the king made certain to remind her that she was still as beautiful as the day they'd met. He loved her before their children, and would love them long after the last babe they ever had left her womb.
"He loved her for her."
"He did. Her beauty was merely a part of her, like her powers. It was her personality that had captured the king's heart all those years ago on the balcony of during the Tercentenary ball, and it was her personality that kept him returning to her side, despite their opposing thrones. It was her personality that her people loved and adored, that the people of the Isles adored, that Victoria and Albert- but especially Victoria- fell in love with when they met her, and it was her personality that would win over the Sultan in fifty-five and the young Empress in fifty-three. She was a light in the darkness, 'the shimmer of moonlight cast upon the waters of the Southern Seas,' as the Captain of the Southern Isles Navy called her once, the purity of freshly fallen snow during an Arendellian winter, as the people of Arendelle believed. She could turn men's heads and make them bend to her will with one glance of her big blue eyes, and without using an ounce of her powers. The Habsburgs fell in love with her as much as the other courts she'd graced on royal visits had. She had captured their attention with her almost unearthly beauty, and perhaps that was why the young Empress detested her so much."
"She was jealous." Pia concluded. "She was used to being the most beautiful woman in the room until the queen came to meet her."
"Perhaps. It is not entirely certain, but what is known is that the Emperor was besotted with the queen- something that did not make the king happy, for the visit was to form an alliance between their three countries. It is rumored that at one point during the ball to welcome the Scandinavian royals, the Emperor asked the queen during a dance if perhaps the king wished for there to be more than just an alliance and trade agreements between them. It is said that the queen merely raised an eyebrow and chuckled at the suggestion."
"Was the queen really as beautiful as she was believed to be, 'papa?" Sofia asked, sipping her coffee. "Or was it just overexaggerated?"
He met her gaze, studying her briefly. "If you only had a description of your mother in her youth, Sofia, would you believe her to be as beautiful as described or overexaggerated?"
The Danish-wed princess froze, uncertain of how to answer. "I... I don't know, 'papa. I... don't remember my mother." She glanced at Thyra and Magda. "Our mother." She amended.
"Long blonde hair, striking blue eyes, soft porcelain skin, a natural, slender, tiny waist. And a heart of gold."
"That was her?" Sofia breathed as he shrugged.
"Perhaps. It describes a great many women, both of the past and the present day. A woman may be beautiful on the outside, but it's her heart and personality that are the true beauty. If she's not beautiful in spirit and heart, then her beauty is only skin deep." He thought a moment. "That's not to say the empress was ugly, but she focused so greatly on her outer appearance, that she tended to neglect her inner appearance. Because the queen had always put others first, had loved her people from the time she was a child, and did so much for them, she tended to neglect her outer beauty. So when she looked in the mirror, she didn't recognize the woman staring back at her, because she did not see the beauty everyone else saw.
