"Where are we going?" Oliver asked, as he jogged alongside Queen Emma who was marching her way through the halls of Kensington Palace.

"I know the perfect place to shoot your video," she told him, offering the little boy a sly smile. "But don't tell anyone else I've shown it to you."

She turned down a few more long corridors, throwing the occasional look back at Elsa to make sure the other woman was keeping up before she finally stopped in front of a set of grand double doors.

"This is the Presence Chamber. Back during the reign of King George the Second, the King would sit in here to receive guests. It's pretty empty but we do keep a chair on the Dias where a throne would have previously sat. So how do you feel about sitting there to make your video?"

"That would be sooo cool," Oliver gushed, turning towards his aunt, almost as if to check that she had heard what Queen Emma was offering.

Emma gave the door a solid push to get it open and then flicked on the lights inside the room. It took a moment for them to brighten to their full strength, but the instant they did she stepped aside to incline her head. While Oliver and Elsa took in the new part of the Palace they were being shown, Emma called out to one of the security guards that had followed them down the hall.

"Can you bring chairs for myself and Elsa please, Chris?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Chris offered his Queen a small bow before he turned away to speak into the small communications device he always wore. While he was distracted, Emma slipped into the room to watch the young boy and his aunt examine the bare space.

"It's so empty," Ollie murmured.

"Well, during King George's reign, it would have been too full of people to have any furniture inside of it," she explained.

"Is your throne room empty too?"

"Yes," Emma chuckled. "But there are lots of functions we hold inside of it where we can fill it with seats for people to use."

"That's good. It's rude to make people stand," he commented.

Elsa's eyes widened in surprise as she gasped out a horrified, "Oliver!"

"It's okay. He's absolutely right," the Queen agreed. "That's why we have removable chairs for it now. But I'll be sure to keep that in mind whenever I'm entertaining guests again."

A sharp rap on the door startled everyone inside the room and Oliver shifted closer to his aunt as another big scary man made his way inside. This one had a plush looking chair dangling from each of his arms, and he set them down facing the one arranged on the Dias before he bowed to his Queen and left the room.

"Right, let's get started, shall we?" Emma asked, ushering Oliver over to his spot. She had to lift the little boy to help him into his seat, but once he was in place, she dragged one of the chairs a little close and nodded for Elsa to do the same.

Emma busied herself with pulling out her phone and unlocking the device as she heard Elsa ask if Oliver knew what he wanted to say. When the little boy nodded his head emphatically, Emma raised her phone to centre him in the frame and continued fiddling with the position of her chair until she was satisfied with how he looked on her screen.

"Okay, Oliver. We'll count down from three. Ready?"

"Ready," he agreed eagerly.

"Three, two, one, go," she commanded, hitting the button to begin recording.

"Hi, Daddy." Oliver waved for the camera as he swung his little legs back and forth with his excitement. "Merry Christmas! I'm at Kenton… Kennin…"

"Kensington Palace," Emma supplied for him, as she watched his face screw up with his confusion over the name.

"Yeah. There! Aunt Elsa said the Queen invited us to a party. Jack said it was a lie but he was wrong cuz she's really here, Daddy. And she's really pretty." Oliver's eyes moved away from the small camera lenses for a moment to meet Emma's as he added, "You should say hi to my dad. I know he'd like you."

Emma and Elsa both chuckled a little at the boy's tangent but he quickly pushed on with the rest of his message for his father.

"I gots all sad cuz we made cards and gifts for you at the party, and I knew you wouldn't get them for Christmas. So Queen Emma said we could make videos for you and she'd bring them to Cyprus and give them to you. I told you she was nice, Daddy. She's the bestest Queen ever!"

For a moment, the boy smiled widely at the camera, and Emma wasn't sure she'd ever seen anything so sweet before in her life. But Ollie's smile fell suddenly as his eyes began to water, and her heart lurched at the sight of the clearly distraught child.

"I miss you, Daddy. I asked Santa for you to come home for Christmas but he said you were doing important work and couldn't. I wish you would, though."

Sensing that her nephew was on the verge of a meltdown, Elsa stepped in to remind him of what else he wanted to say, and Oliver sniffed loudly as he wiped the back of his hand over his nose. "I love you, Daddy. Come home soon."

At the sharp bob of the other woman's head, Emma stopped the video just in time for the little boy to throw himself into his aunt's arms and sob loudly.

"What if he forgets me?" he mumbled into her dress.

Emma slipped from her seat to crouch down beside them both and hesitated only briefly before she raised her hand to brush the young boy's hair back from his face. "Your daddy won't ever forget you," she promised. "And he'll be home before you know it. You've been such a brave, strong little man, Oliver. He's going to be really proud of you when I show him this video."

"You think?" he asked, pulling back to wipe his other hand over his wet eyes.

"I know he will be."

Oliver leaned out of his aunt's embrace to hug the Queen's neck tightly while she ran a soothing hand up and down his back until his sobs quietened completely. Emma gave the little boy a moment longer just to get his composure back as she hugged him to her chest, before she attempted to lighten the mood.

"Did you hear that?"

Oliver shook his head, but Emma could tell that she had his full attention.

"I think I just head bells on the roof."

"Santa?" All hint of his earlier tears dried instantly as a look of wonder filled the little boy's eyes.

"I dunno. Shall we go and see?" Emma pushed herself up to her feet but instead of leading the way back to the party, she held out a hand in silent invitation. Oliver didn't hesitate to slide his into her grasp, and the three of them made their way back to the ballroom walking side-by-side.

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