Seated at one of the nearest available reading desks, Anna chewed her lower lip, only half listening to Kai's instructions as she glanced over the unfamiliar, official looking document he had just thrust into her hands. She comprehended "Writ of Slavery" scrawled across the top. There were names and dates, and several neat paragraphs written in a precise hand. A large embossed seal with the golden crocus of Arendelle filled the bottom right corner, and there were a cluster of signatures next to it. Her eyes scanned over it all with open curiosity, eager to look anywhere except at the young woman with platinum blond hair who was still standing quietly just inside the room.
... Captive taken at Sea on the 3rd Day of May during the legal search and seizure of merchant vessel "Selkie's Fortune" in sovereign waters, bound north from the Southern Isles… ship suspected to be carrying Northuldran soldiers disguised as passengers… loyal Sailors did bravely give their lives in service to the Crown, killing all who raised up arms against… This young Northuldran Woman, fair of face and pale of skin, blond of hair and blue of eyes, is hereby declared a legal conquest of war and Bound in servitude for Life as a Slave in His Majesty's service…
Anna felt her heart racing again. Taken at sea? Northuldran soldiers disguised as passengers? And apparently there had been some sort of battle. It all sounded rather frightening and horrible, like something from one of the stories she read. All of this had happened a mere ten days ago, if she understood the dates correctly. Her father's earlier words echoed in her mind.
New slaves, especially wild caught ones like her, often need a firmer hand to start with…
The description given for the young Northuldran woman was certainly accurate enough. Fair of face and pale of skin… Anna remembered that face looking at her just a minute earlier, with those chilling eyes framed by soft skin, those high cheekbones, and those lips that were a perfect cupid's bow of palest pink.
Her face isn't just fair… She is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.
Kai cleared his throat.
She looked up at him with a guilty start.
"As I was saying, if you would just sign here, next to your father's signature at the bottom?"
He was offering her a feather quill, and after a brief hesitation she took it and penned her name as instructed, hoping that neither of them could tell just how anxious and unsettled she still was. The words "New Owner" were already printed above the space she signed. The neat, looping swirls of her careful signature, every letter readable and clear, looked somehow childish on that sinister page. Aside from some personal letters now and then, she had rarely been called upon to sign anything before, and certainly nothing as official as this.
Oh God, I'm really doing this. I own a slave now. A beautiful, foreign slave who certainly doesn't want to be here and probably hates me already.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she finished her signature and handed the pen back to Kai. He took both it and the document, tucking them back into his leather folio and under his arm. Anna wondered what he was going to do with it. She wouldn't have minded a chance to read it more carefully in private, when she couldn't feel the eyes of the other girl watching her so distractingly from across the room.
"Is that really it?" she asked.
That's all it takes? Just a silly little piece of paper with some signatures and fancy words on it and… and… Bob's your uncle, you're a slave now and there is nothing you can do about it?!
"That is it, Your Highness. I'll see that this is properly filed and kept safe for you in the royal records." He turned to the silent girl and beckoned her impatiently forward. "Come here girl, and greet her Highness properly."
The young woman crossed the space between them in an unhurried and graceful step, her face blank of all emotion. Anna hastily stood from her seat to meet her, nearly upending her chair. She caught it with one hand as it started to topple backwards and righted it, cringing at her own awkwardness. Kai give a resigned sigh at her lack of dignity. The slave merely paused one step, her cool expression melting slightly as one of her perfect eyebrows lifted up into an amused, sardonic lilt.
The steward cleared his throat meaningfully once again – really, that man cleared his throat the way other men swung their swords in battle, and as often and with as much variations of tone and meaning as could fill a book – and the other girl's face went blank once more as she dropped into a shallow curtsey.
"Mistress," she murmured.
Her voice was pleasingly feminine, with just the hint of a raspy undertone that at once made her sound more mysterious and more grown up than Anna had ever sounded in her life.
No one had ever called her "mistress" before either. It made her toes curl and heat spread throughout her chest, though she wasn't sure if it was simple embarrassment, or shock, or something else entirely.
Kai was stiffening next to her, his prodigious chest and belly beginning to puff out even more as he ground his teeth. The slave didn't even look at him, her eyes remaining on Anna. Belatedly, the princess knew why he was displeased. Although the other girl's curtsey had been technically correct – her fingers perfectly placed on her skirts and her movements as smooth and graceful as any Anna had ever seen – the bow itself had been brief and shallow, a merest lowering of her head, as though she were a member of the royal court or a visiting duchess, rather than a lowly slave. Even the regular castle servants and guardsmen gave deeper obeisance to the princess when they greeted her in the halls each day.
"If you keep testing my patience, girl, you will regret it greatly. Do you understand me?" Kai growled in a tone of voice that Anna had never heard from him before. His outrage seemed to grow as the young woman merely glanced at him without a word, seemingly unmoved. Kai took a step forward, his lip curling with menace.
"You will greet Princess Anna with the appropriate level of courtesy and give her nothing but absolute obedience and respect, or I will see you removed from this household and horse whipped with the other slaves in the fields. Do not let the King's earlier kind words about your usefulness fill your head, girl. You are not special. There is no room in this castle for a Northuldran savage who does not know her place. Do you understand? Well, speak up!"
Anna gasped, and before she knew what she was doing, she had stomped forward and placed herself directly in front of her father's steward, her fists clenched at her sides as she glared up at the taller man.
"Master Kai! That is quite enough!" she shouted, her face flushed with righteous anger. He took a half step back in surprise.
"That is no way to speak to someone! How dare you threaten to… to whip her as though she were an animal! What a terrible thing to say! And just because someone is Northuldran, doesn't give you the right to call them names and belittle them like that. Or do you think my mother, the Queen, is a savage as well?"
The man's face paled at her mention of the Queen's own heritage. Anna's breath was heaving in her chest as she practically yelled her words, and she could feel her throat beginning to tighten. She couldn't ever remember being this angry before. It was shocking! Certainly she had never before raised her voice like this at one of her father's men.
"Your Highness! I would never… Of course the Queen is not… I… I was merely trying to…."
She cut him off, no longer shouting, but commanding and stern.
"You will apologize, Master Kai, at once."
The man's eyes glanced over Anna's shoulder and his brows furrowed as his lips pressed together in distaste. He looked back at the princess, however, and bowed deeply to her.
"My humblest and most sincere apologies, Your Highness, for speaking in such a way in your presence and for the offense I caused you. I am ashamed to have distressed you so, and I beg your forgiveness."
His words appeared sincere, and yet Princess Anna found her anger returning and she had to resist the urge to yell at him again.
"Apologize to her, not me. I'm not the one you threatened and insulted. You owe her an apology."
Kai straightened quickly and his face flushed nearly purple, his eyes shooting daggers over her shoulder. Anna was not a vindictive person, but she found herself strangely pleased at his obvious distress. She could feel the other girl standing just behind her, a cool presence at her back that sent pleasant little chills and gooseflesh all along the length of her spine. She stepped to the side and looked between the two of them, gesturing with her hands.
"Well, go on then," she urged.
The steward's glare could have melted ice it was so hot. He did not bow this time, but instead growled out his apology, teeth gritted around the words.
"Do forgive me for any insult you may have perceived to your great Northuldran honor. In the future, I shall not speak to you so in front of Her Royal Highness. Accept my apology."
It sounded a bit more like an order than a true apology, but Anna realized it was probably the best she could hope for. Also, the way he had said "great Northuldran honor" was in the same tone of voice one might say "great pile of horseshit", but she supposed it would have to suffice.
For her part, the slave smiled sweetly, that perfect eyebrow lilting up again. Kai twitched and went even more rigid, and Anna had to bite her lip to keep from intervening once more.
"Apology accepted," the girl answered simply after a long, drawn out moment, with no little amount of satisfaction.
"There now!" Anna said, nervously interposing herself once again and clapping her hands together awkwardly. "Gosh, sorry, that was a bit tense, wasn't it? Anyways, thank you Kai. That will be all, I think. I… I can take it from here!"
Could she take it from here? She had no idea what to do next and had rather assumed the steward was meant to give her more insight into what exactly her father expected her to do with her new slave, but one look at the man's face told her she really didn't want him sticking around any longer. Besides, despite his apologies, she was still kind of angry with him. Honestly, she never knew Kai was capable of speaking to another person in so beastly a way. He had always been unfailing proper and polite to her and her parents. She wondered if all the people in the castle spoke to slaves similarly.
Kai bowed even more deeply and formally to the princess, wishing her a pleasant afternoon before stalking out of the room, apparently as ready to leave as she was to have him gone. That left just her and her new… slave… alone together for the first time. Anna took a steadying breath and turned to her, giving her a wan smile and locking her hands out of sight behind her back so as to keep them from visibly trembling.
"I'm… really sorry about him. I swear he's not normally like that. Everyone in the castle is usually very kind and… and nice. This is a good place, and I'm sure you'll like it here. I mean, I know you didn't…er… want to come here, and you're probably kind of… uh… not happy about the whole slavery thing… Which is totally understandable! I mean… if you… um…"
She was rambling, damn it. Her slave was looking at her with a touch of surprise, but otherwise she seemed calm and totally self-possessed, despite the confrontation which had just occurred. She listened to Anna babble on with polite interest.
Anna forced herself to take a breath and start over.
"What I meant to say is… Hello, my name is Anna. It's really, really nice to properly meet you!"
Not knowing what else to do (her social etiquette training had never included what to do when meeting one's own slave for the first time) she stuck out her hand, offering it to the other girl. Her slave glanced at it, that expressive eyebrow lifting once again, then took the princess' hand in her own in a firm, cool grip, shaking it briefly.
She seemed amused as she peered back at Anna over their clasped hands. Or perhaps bewildered was more accurate. She was only a bit taller than herself, Anna realized, but something in the quiet dignity of her posture made her seem even taller.
"What's your name?" Anna asked, completely enchanted… and still holding the other girl's hand. Her palm was soft and dry, and there was something thrilling in the contact which made her reluctant to let go.
She seemed to consider her answer for a moment and then shrugged.
"My name is Elsa," she replied, and then after a slight, reluctant pause, added a polite, "…Mistress."
Anna couldn't blame her reluctance. Just hearing the word "mistress" on the other girl's lips made her want to shudder like ants were crawling on her skin. It just felt… wrong.
Elsa…. Elsa…. A very pretty name. A fitting name for a girl as refined and beautiful as this. It occurred to her that she was staring at the same moment she realized she hadn't let go of Elsa's hand, and she released her grasp quickly.
"That's a really beautiful name," she told her honestly. Then she hurried to add, "And please, you really mustn't call me… er… your Mistress, or whatever other silly things they told you. Please, just call me Anna."
Elsa gave her a mildly disbelieving look.
"Are you sure that's wise? I don't think your father or his steward would be very happy with that, were they to hear me."
"Oh… well… No, I mean, that's a good point, I suppose they wouldn't. You can use the usual royal honorifics when they're around, of course. No one can fault you for using those… But please, please, please don't call me your Mistress… ugh… I hate that word. It just feels so demeaning. When it's just the two of us, then I'm just Anna, okay?"
She smiled brightly, her nerves starting to recede now that she knew the girl's name and they were finally talking normally. It was such a relief not to have to keep thinking of her as simply "the slave". Or even more embarrassingly, as "my slave". Plus, Elsa's voice was exceptionally soothing, almost an elegant purr of a voice. She found she wanted to keep her talking. Anything, just to hear more of that voice.
"Very well then, Anna," Elsa finally said, smiling a soft, warm smile.
Oh gosh, she's even prettier when she smiles!
"See! That's so much better."
"Indeed," the other girl agreed.
"So, Elsa, do you have a last name?" Anna asked, and when she saw her hesitate to answer, she hastened to add reassuringly, "I mean, it's okay if you don't have one. Lots of common folk in Arendelle don't have surnames, so it's okay if you don't… Not that you seem common, or anything! Not that there's anything wrong with being common, of course… I just… you know…"
Anna forced herself to stop talking again.
"Just Elsa will do for now," the other girl replied, not seeming upset, or even very interested. Her eyes had resumed peering around the room, taking in the neat shelves of books, the plush furniture, the desks with their various supplies of ink and parchment. Her gaze lingered for a moment on the staged circle of portraits in the center of the room and Anna again cursed herself for being caught in the midst of her imaginary reading circle. Of all the worst times… She drew breath to prepare to explain the strange display but was thankfully interrupted.
"This is an impressive library," Elsa said, "I'd always heard that the library in Castle Arendelle was large and well maintained, but I never thought I would see it for myself. Is that the entire collection of The Adventures of Jonathan Swifthand I see over there?"
Without even needing to look to confirm, Anna nodded excitedly.
"Oh yes! It's an original edition too. All five volumes are in excellent condition… Well, I mean, almost in excellent condition. Volume two and I had a little accident with some hot chocolate and… you know what? Never mind. Have you read them?"
"Mmmm," the other girl hummed in affirmative, still turning to look thoughtfully around the room. The large, sun filled window at the far end seemed to hold her attention, with its clear view of the gate keep and castle grounds, as did the second story banisters that could only be reached via the iron and bronze spiral staircase in the corner. After a moment, she finished her visual survey of the room and returned her gaze to Anna.
"I read them when I was a little girl. All but the last volume, that is. Never could find a complete set. The series is not as popular in Northuldra as it is elsewhere, but I enjoyed them."
Anna couldn't help her excitement now. So Elsa liked to read too! Perhaps they really would become friends after all, if they had at least this much in common. Anna didn't know much about what life was like in Northuldra, but she had never met anyone who had read all of The Adventures of Jonathon Swifthand before, not even here in Arendelle. The books were almost two hundred years old and were not necessarily light reading. Anna herself had only finished them the previous year. Elsa must have been a precocious reader, if she had tackled those thick volumes as a child. There were words in there that Anna still didn't know the proper meaning of, and she dared not say them out loud for fear of mispronouncing them.
Her mind was already conjuring up images of the two of them snuggled together in front of the fire in her study, cozily reading together and engaging in heated debates about various books they had read. She went over to the shelf and pulled out the last volume in the series, then hurried back to Elsa.
"You really should finish the series! The last book is one of the best, truly. Here, we can bring this one back to my rooms. That way you can read it and borrow it whenever you like."
She clutched the book to her chest and smiled, delighted to be able to do something to prove to the other girl that life here in the castle with her could actually be pleasant. Even if she was here against her will, Anna hoped that Elsa might come to love the castle as much as she did someday.
Elsa simply smiled softly at her again, shaking her head.
"You really don't know how to act with a slave, do you?"
It wasn't said accusingly, but rather with a tone of wonder. Anna shook her head forlornly and dropped her gaze to the carpets, still clutching the book.
"I really don't… I'm sorry. I'm not very good at this. I told my father I didn't want a slave! But, well…. You heard him. I must really be messing this up, huh?"
"Oh no, don't say that!" Elsa said, surprising her. "Not knowing how to treat a slave isn't something you should be ashamed of, Anna. It's rather the opposite, actually."
Anna brightened. That had felt almost like a compliment!
"Oh, okay! Well that's good then," she said, relieved. "Do you know much about slaves? I suppose you have them where you're from too. Someone clever and educated like you, you're probably used to dealing with slaves all the time."
She assumed that had to be the case. Everyone seemed to know more about slaves than she did, and she didn't know a great deal about the kingdom to the north beyond that it was cold, fiercely independent, and had been at war with her own home for over a decade now.
"Actually," she continued, "nobody here really talks about what it's like in Northuldra. I would love to hear more about your home! If you want to share, that is. My mother's family was from Northuldra, but she moved here with them when she was pretty young, and she doesn't talk about it much. I don't think she remembers a whole lot about it."
Elsa's expression had sharpened, and her ocean blue eyes glinted.
"Well, I can tell you that we don't have slaves in Northuldra, for one," she said, frostily. "Despite what your steward might think, we are not savages. We don't enslave even our worst enemies."
"Gosh, he really shouldn't have said that. It was a horrible thing to say," Anna said, still feeling awful about earlier. "I'm sorry."
"Again she apologizes," the other girl muttered to herself, mostly under her breath. Her tone softened somewhat as she continued, "That was kind of you, earlier. Standing up for a slave you just met. There aren't many who would do what you did. Ordering the King's own steward to apologize to a simple slave girl! That was a sight to behold… and a bit foolish, I might add."
Any swelling of pride Anna had begun to feel at the other woman's words was swiftly dashed.
"Foolish? How was that foolish? He was wrong to say those things!"
"Princess Anna," Elsa said, gentle but stern, and in the tone of one giving a lecture, "We may not have slaves where I am from, but in the past week I have received a very… thorough education in what it means to be a slave in Arendelle. As a slave here, I have no rights. I am the lowest of the low, and that man is a close advisor to your King. Furthermore, he is the appointed Overseer of slaves in this castle. It is well within his rights to say anything he wishes to me, no matter how horrible it may be. I appreciate what you did… Truly, I do! I will cherish that moment in my memory for as long as I live, believe me, but you shamed a powerful man today. He will not soon forget it, and he won't soon forget that I was the cause of it either."
She felt a little sick. Was that all true? Elsa spoke with such authority and confidence, she must know what she was talking about. Anna didn't like to think that she had so deeply wounded her relationship with a man she had known her whole life, but then again, she wouldn't take back anything she had done. Whatever society might think, she knew in her gut that it was wrong to treat people like they were somehow lesser, just because they were foreign, or different… or even a slave.
"You might be right. I guess I hadn't really thought about it like that. I don't normally yell at people, you know. He just made me so mad! I'm not sorry for doing what I did. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I don't care if he is upset with me or even if he resents me for it forever. He should feel shame for how he acted… and… and it's my job to protect you now, and I will, even if it's from important people like him!"
The unexpected passion in her words surprised even her, and she saw Elsa blink in surprise.
"And I thought I told you to call me Anna!" she added sternly, but she smiled so the other girl would know she wasn't truly angry with her.
Elsa sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Anna."
Were slaves supposed to roll their eyes at their owners? Anna thought, warmth filling her.
For someone who had just declared herself to be "the lowest of the low", she sure didn't act like it. For all her talk about what was proper for a slave, the other girl didn't seem very good at actually acting like one. Anna wouldn't tell anybody about the eye rolling, she decided, smiling to herself.
"You're really not what I was expecting," Elsa said after a pause, that bewildered look entering her eyes again.
Anna fidgeted with the book she still held, running her fingers along the raised ridges of the binding.
"What were you expecting?"
"I'm not sure," Elsa mused, "A mean, spoiled little princess, perhaps? A pampered child who would treat her new slave like a pet, and command me to do all sorts of demeaning tasks for her. There are all kinds of strange rumors about you, you know, amongst the common folk in the city. We even hear some of them in Northuldra."
"What? Really?" Anna was both fascinated and alarmed by this information. She was also glad that Elsa didn't find her to be at all like the princess she had just described.
"What kind of rumors?"
"Well, they are all a bit different, of course, but most speculate that King Agnarr closed up the castle and keeps you hidden away out of sight here because you had some kind of accident as a child that horribly disfigured you, or that made you… mentally incompetent. Or both."
She gasped audibly. Really? She had never heard a word of such rumors before! Then again, she hadn't been allowed off the castle grounds since she was a small child. Did the people in Arendelle proper really believe she was some kind of… hideous monster princess?!
"But that's… That's just ridiculous!"
"Yes, well, thus is the nature of a mystery," her slave opined thoughtfully, unmoved by Anna's despair.
"When people feel something is being purposefully hidden from them, it always results in distrust and ugly rumors. I wouldn't worry about it, Anna. Once you come of age and enter public life, the rumors will disappear like melting frost in the spring. One look at you, and your people will see you for what you are; a beautiful and kind young princess who is eager to help her kingdom."
Now Anna was really blushing. Beautiful? Had Elsa really just called her beautiful? Coming from the other girl, this was a true compliment indeed. Despite the simple servant's clothes she wore, the Northuldran girl possessed an almost ethereal beauty that defied her humble outfit and current station in life. The way she spoke, and the way she held herself – her presence commanded the room as though she were an empress, and it made Anna feel like a frumpy, awkward teenager in comparison. That Anna was the princess and the other was the slave hardly seemed to matter.
"I came of age a few months ago," Anna felt the irresistible urge to clarify. Now that she was eighteen, she was technically of age to enter society and take on official duties as a royal family member. Her father just… hadn't let her yet.
Elsa seemed surprised and looked about to say something, when suddenly her stomach gave a loud, gurgling growl. Both girls froze, and a look of chagrin flashed across the blond girl's face.
"I am dreadfully sorry," she stammered, losing a tiny bit of her significant composure and seeming closer to Anna's age for the first time since she had met her.
"It's been quite a while since I've eaten last, and it wasn't much of a meal," she admitted, pressing a pale, delicate hand to her flat stomach.
Anna couldn't help but giggle. It was oddly reassuring to see her new friend do something so human. It made her just a bit less intimidating.
"It's okay! It's almost twelve thirty after all… Usually by now my stomach is rumbling louder than a family of rock trolls too. Here, if you help me put these chairs and paintings back quick, I can take you up to see my rooms and we can have a real lunch delivered to my sitting room for us!"
She started grabbing chairs and paintings, hurrying around the room to place them back where they belonged. Elsa watched her at first, then with a small shrug that seemed to say "why not?", she began to help the princess. In short order they had everything back in its proper place, and Anna grabbed the other girl by the hand and led her out of the library and down the hallway.
They had already turned down several corridors before Anna realized how improper it was of her to be pulling her along by the hand like a child, and how Elsa was looking down at their joined hands in quiet bemusement.
Not the princess I was expecting at all, Elsa thought to herself, as she let herself be dragged away.
