Taxes. When the council was arguing, you could safely assume it was about taxes. It was the case ninety percent of the time, and this morning was no different. They had gathered at eight in the morning for a short meeting. Or so Elsa had assumed. After all, there were only two points on the agenda, and it really didn't have to take a long as it was now. It was nearing ten o'clock.
Elsa had her elbows resting on the mahogany table, her head resting on her hands. Anyone looking at her would see an interested but quiet listener. Only those that actually knew Elsa would recognize the glassy look in her eyes. Truthfully, she was only listening with half an ear. After all, it was just a discussion on taxes. Nothing the council couldn't handle without her. And her mind was too preoccupied with the dinner last night.
Elsa was certain of two things. The first being that it had been a disaster. Then again, who could blame her? Her mind had shut itself down the moment Anna walked through that door. The dress was perfect. Her hair was loose, cascading down to her shoulders. She looked like a veritable princess. More so than Elsa herself, she thought. She had half a mind to reprimand Gerda for being too good at her job. She wouldn't, of course. That'd be silly. But she was tempted. She could have handled Anna in her regular dress, with her hair in the regular twin braids. She had been wholly unprepared for Gerda's handiwork. In fact, she wasn't even sure how the woman knew about the dress...
But it didn't matter. After all, the second thing she was certain of was the fact that she'd probably never see Anna again. By now, she and her brother would be on their way back to Hellmark. The idea filled Elsa with both relief and sadness. She really didn't have her head on straight when it came to this girl. She'd been thinking about her – more than would be deemed reasonable – since she left Hellmark. For some odd reason, she had even commissioned a dress in her sizes, reminiscent of the one she had worn when Elsa had seen her. I never really expected her to wear it, though. I never even expected to see her again.
The councilmen had finally reached an agreement, and they all fell silent again. Elsa sat up straight, calling herself back to attention.
"Good, now that we have that out of the way, I'd like to propose an innovation to our way of governing the kingdom," she started, ignoring the furtive glances the noblemen were shooting at each other. "Currently, the kingdom is ruled solely from the capital. But we're incredibly out of touch with most of the communities of Arendelle. Basically, I propose that we form a new council, consisting of one member from every village and city, which we can call for a gathering when we need to decide something that is of importance for the entire kingdom."
"Your Majesty, all due respect, but all the major cities have a mayor..."
"I am well aware of that. But none of the villages have any input in our process of decision-making. And the only thing that mayors can do is petition the annulment of a decision after it has already been made."
"But, Your Majesty, your proposal would make the entire process incredibly slow."
One of the other councilman responded before Elsa could. She recognized the man as an old friend of her father. "I think the Queen is right. The people have the right to be involved, and speed is not an issue for most decisions. For those rare few decisions that do need to be made urgently, we can make an exception."
The council debated for a while longer, but eventually the majority seemed in favour of Elsa's plans. "I'm glad we are in agreement. We'll send out riders to all the cities and villages, informing them of this development. If we work quickly, we can have elections – yes, elections – in every community within two months. The capital city is the only exception. I will take my place on the new council as representative, and my heir after me, agreed?"
All the men nodded. Elsa smiled as she looked at the clock. Not even noon yet, it's a miracle. She was just about to end the meeting when one of the men cleared his throat.
"Your Majesty, one more thing..."
Elsa merely nodded, trying not to show her annoyance.
"While we are on the subject of your heir, we feel the need to discuss potential suitors. After all, as the Queen, it is your responsibility to-"
Elsa raised her hand, immediately silencing the man.
"Arendelle is flourishing, yes?"
A nod from the council.
"The people are content with me as their Queen, are they not?"
Another nod.
"Then I would say there is no urgent need for me to marry, correct?"
"Your Majesty, not to be disrespectful, but marriage is necessary for allies and trade-"
The room got eerily chilly all of a sudden, and the councilmen immediately linked it to the furrowing of their Queen's eyebrows and the darkening of her eyes.
"Correct me if I'm mistaken, councilman, but last time I checked, we were allies with Corona, DunBroch, France, and several other powerful nations. Right?"
A weak nod from the councilman in question was the only given reply.
"And unless things have changed drastically overnight, we have very profitable trade agreements with our allies and surrounding kingdoms. Have things changed drastically overnight?"
A hesitant shake of their heads.
"Then, please, do explain why it is necessary for me to sell myself to the noble family of another kingdom?" The acid in her voice must have been obvious, since all the men in the room shirked back slightly.
"Your Majesty, tradition dictates that-"
Elsa wanted to interrupt him, but a cynical laugh from behind her did so first. Once the short laugh ceased, Hans' familiar voice echoed through the hall. "Tradition... You really don't want to go there, councilman," he said, still chuckling. "I think the Queen has made it clear that she is not interested in a suitor at this point in time. Now, you'll have to excuse me for stealing her away from this meeting. The Queen and I have guests to attend to."
Elsa nodded to the councilmen, giving them permission to leave. "We'll continue our discussion another time, gentlemen," she muttered absentmindedly. Once they were alone, she turned towards Hans.
"Thanks for that," she muttered dryly.
"You're welcome. After all, we both know you're not interested in a husband."
Elsa narrowed her eyes slightly. "So, Weselton or the Emerald Isles?"
Hans didn't seem fazed by the sudden change in subject. He kept his smile firmly in place as he raised his eyebrows. "What are we talking about now?"
"The guests? Is it the Duke of Weselton or the delegation from the Emerald Isles?"
She hadn't thought it possible, but Hans' smile widened even further, causing his expression to border on manic. "Neither of them will be here before next week, I think? No, no. Ms. Oaken has asked to spend the afternoon with you."
"Anna? Weren't they supposed to leave earlier this morning?"
"Well..."
"Hans... what did you do?"
Hans' look turned into one of mock apology. "I'm going riding with a few friends, and I might accidentally have asked young Mr. Oaken along. They've decided to return to Hellmark this evening, instead. And, as I said, Ms. Oaken has requested your company to pass the time."
Elsa brought her hand to her face, groaning slightly.
"Something wrong, sister?"
"How often do I have to tell you that I'm not actually your sister?" she deflected.
"Close enough," Hans waved her question away. "But you didn't answer me."
"No, everything is just fine. Leave it to you to go and muck up my only free afternoon..." She wasn't really angry – and Hans knew it. This was just the way most of their conversations went down.
"I'm sure you and Ms. Oaken will get along swimmingly," Hans smiled, before turning on his heels and walking off.
That's exactly the point...
Anna was sitting in her room. She had slept well into the morning – a hard habit to break, especially when facilitated by the softest bed ever – and had been preparing to leave when Kristoff had come by to ask whether she was alright with staying until the afternoon. Apparently, he was going out riding with Prince Hans, although she had no idea how that suddenly came to be.
Mere minutes later, Gerda had come by her room and let her know that the Queen had requested her to spend the afternoon together. Anna wouldn't have been able to refuse the offer even if she wanted to, and Gerda had helped her prepare. She wore the same dress as yesterday – a miracle it didn't sport any food stains – and Gerda had been very insistent on Anna keeping her hair down again.
She sat staring out of the window, waiting for the Queen's meeting to end, and used her time to go over last night's dinner. There were a few things that seemed a little off.
She left incredibly suddenly after Hans – pardon, Prince Hans – had made his appearance. She assured us we didn't do anything wrong, but what else could have caused her to act so... well... odd. What were she and the Prince talking about again?
Anna tried her very best to remember, but her mind wouldn't cooperate. As far as she could recall, they had only engaged in some banal chatter. But then again, she wasn't familiar with royalty. Maybe there had been some kind of hidden meaning somewhere that she just didn't pick up on.
She was momentarily distracted by a sound in the courtyard below her window, and she stared with amazement as a small army of riders in the royal colours thundered out of the gates. I wonder what that's all about. She didn't get much time to think about, as she was distracted – again – by three short knocks on her door.
"Um. Yes? I mean – Yes, come in!"
The door opened to reveal the Queen, wearing a different but similar blue dress, this one also sparkling as the light hit it. She slowly walked into the room.
"Ms. Oaken," she nodded. "You had asked to spend the afternoon with me?"
Anna's brow furrowed in confusion. "No I didn't. Oh, gosh, I didn't mean it to sound like that. I would have asked – but you're the Queen, and – Well... I just assumed you'd be busy... And I didn't even know we'd be here today because we were supposed to go home earlier but Kristoff... Well, never mind that... I was told you had requested my presence..."
The Queen seemed taken aback by Anna's final statement, her eyes darkening somewhat, before she mustered up a small smile. "Well, I suppose it's all just a big misunderstanding. Prince Hans... isn't really known for his eloquence. Or thinking in advance..."
Anna couldn't resist a giggle.
"Or thinking at all, for that matter," the Queen muttered silently, more to herself than to Anna. "But since we're both here, and you won't be able to return home until your brother has returned, we might as well make the best of it. Don't you agree?"
Yes! Yes! Oh, god yes!
"Umm, sure..." Anna replied shyly.
The Queen presented one of her polite, somewhat distant smiles. "Very well. Have you had lunch yet?"
Anna shook her head, following the Queen as she motioned. In the hallway, they found Gerda waiting. "Gerda, please make sure there's lunch for two in the library in half an hour."
Gerda nodded with an enthusiastic smile. "Of course, Your Majesty. Anything specific?"
The Queen turned to Anna. "Ms. Oaken, any preferences?"
"Chocolate." Oh god, they must think I'm a child. I didn't mean to say that out loud...
"Anything chocolaty would be fine, Gerda," the Queen smiled. "I'm taking Ms. Oaken for a walk in the gardens first."
The servant smiled again and nodded, before scurrying off – Anna assumed towards the kitchens – to see to the preparations. "If that's alright with you, of course?"
Anna whipped her head back to the Queen. "What? Shit! No... Fu- I mean. What were you saying, Your Majesty?" God, could she mess this up any worse than this? Of course you can, Anna thought to herself bitterly. It's your greatest talent.
"A walk in the gardens... I was asking whether that was alright with you."
"Oh, yes, of course!"
They walked through the corridors in silence for a few minutes, Anna always making sure to remain behind the Queen ever so slightly. She stopped before a large double door, flanked by two guards. "Ms. Oaken, you're allowed to walk beside me, you know."
Anna blinked a few times. "I- I am?"
"You are," the Queen smirked. The Queen smirks. Queens smirk? "Okay..."
The Queen nodded to the two guardsmen, who reached out and opened the large door. A chilly gust blew into the hallway to greet them, and Anna followed the Queen outside. The doors were immediately closed after them, and Anna took care to stand exactly next to the Queen this time. "Anna."
"What?"
"Please, call me Anna. Not Ms. Oaken."
The Queen smiled – not the usual distant and polite smile, but a more sincere, radiant smile. "Of course."
They took a few more steps into the garden, and Anna finally took the time to take in her surroundings. Despite the time of year, it was still green, and several flowers were still blooming. Anna reached out to a beautiful yellow flower , popping up from a thin layer of snow.
"It's so pretty..."
"It is," the Queen replied. "The groundskeeper makes sure that there are always flowers here, any time of the year."
"Snow's early this year, is it not, Your Majesty?" Anna asked, realizing it was only early autumn. Normally, snow wouldn't fall for at least two months.
"Really, Anna, there's no need to be so formal. You can call me Elsa, just for today," the Queen sighed. "As for the snow... yes, I suppose it is..."
Call her Elsa? Just like that? Why would I do that?
"Because being called 'Your Majesty' all the time is really tiring. And it doesn't really allow one to make friends."
"Oh dear, did I think out loud again? I thought out loud again. Sorry, bad habit. I'll just call you Elsa then, Your Majesty. I mean Elsa. I'll just call you Elsa then, Elsa. Wait, what? I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore. I should shut up. Definitely. Wait, you said you wanted to be friends?" Anna was forced to stop talking by her lungs screaming for a new intake of breath. "Sorry."
To her surprise, the Queen – no, Elsa – actually laughed. Not a forced smile. Not a hidden giggle. No, an actual, full-blown laugh. Anna thought it sounded like ringing bells, singing birds, and a dozen other beautiful and melodic sounds.
"Yes, Anna, I did express the wish to become friends."
They halted in front of a large evergreen, looking at the birds flitting around its branches. "Why would the Queen want to befriend a simple farming girl?" Anna asked skeptically.
"Being the Queen doesn't make it easy to find friends," Elsa sighed. "People are always polite, yes. But they are also subservient. They tell me what they think I want to hear. They try to show as much decorum as they can when they are around me. Really, your honesty, your mannerisms, even your rambling, are remarkably refreshing. Besides, I don't know many women who would go and sleep outside voluntarily just to make me comfortable."
Anna was actually mute for a while, pondering over Elsa's words in her head. "I suppose..." More silence. "I suppose that makes sense," Anna finally said. Elsa smiled at her – again the honest and true smile, not the politically correct one – as they slowly sauntered through the garden. After a while, they reached a field without plants – yet more beautiful than the rest of the garden put together.
Anna marveled at the collection of ice sculptures in front of her. There were small ones on stone pedestals – birds, flowers, busts, butterflies and an assortment of other small animals – and there were large ones, depicting humans, large animals, and even a few creatures that seemed to come straight out of a fairy tale. Completely forgetting her companion, Anna rushed from sculpture to sculpture, studying as many of them as possible. Eventually, she stopped near a large sculpture, depicting a fable beast, half lion and half bird, standing on a cliff.
The details are remarkable... I can see every feather and hair on its body. And its eyes look so real. Almost as if it could fly off at any given moment.
"It's so pretty," Anna sighed when she heard Elsa walking up to her. "What is it?"
"A Griffin," came Elsa's reply. "It's one of the latest additions to this collection."
Anna reached out to touch its beak. Once her hand came into contact with the ice, she felt an intense cold running through her body, but unlike usual cold it didn't feel unpleasant, and she didn't draw her hand back. After the initial surprise at the cold had ceased, she felt something else. Something she couldn't describe with words. A feeling of... comfort? Safety?
God, I really have no clue...
"Careful," Elsa smiled. "Wouldn't want your hand to get stuck there. Most people wouldn't even touch it in the first place, let alone keep their hand on it." Her voice actually sounded somewhat surprised. As Anna pulled her hand back, another gust of chilly wind wafted around them, causing her to shiver.
Really? I can practically hug an ice sculpture but the wind is making me cold?
Elsa's brow furrowed. "I'm sorry, Anna. I hadn't thought about the temperature. I suppose this isn't the best time of the year for walking out here. Let's go have lunch?" she shot her an apologetic smile – which made Anna's insides melt – and held out her arm, which merely confused her.
"Don't worry about it. I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on these sculptures. And yes, lunch sounds good about now." They'd been in the gardens for over forty minutes already...
Elsa, apparently realizing Anna wasn't certain what to do, took Anna's arm and hooked it through her own, before setting a brisk pace towards the palace entrance again.
Holy...! Is this really happening? Her arm is so cold! Why are we even walking like this? Is this normal for her? Why are the guards looking at us like that? Why isn't she talking? Is she expecting me to talk? She looks content just walking. Maybe silence isn't that bad... Where are we even going? Oh, right, library! Lunch at the library, that's what she told Gerda. Chocolate! Oh, lord, I hope there's going to be a lot of chocolate!
Anna was vaguely aware of the fact that her mind was in overdrive, and she was actually surprised when they came to a halt in front of a richly decorated door. Well, this must be the library...
When Elsa opened the door and walked her inside the large room, Anna felt her mouth falling open. She'd enjoyed reading since she was small and had spent many days on her mother's lap working through storybooks and fairy tales. When she was ten, and her mother passed away, she had clung to her books in an attempt to remember those good times. After reading them too many times, however, they had fallen apart, leaving her with nothing at all. Reading wasn't something people did in Hellmark, usually people were busy with either work or sleep, and it was hard to find new books. She only had three, all fairy tales, from which she occasionally read to the children of the village.
She had never seen this many books gathered in one place. The library was not just large – it was massive. Case after case filled with books – story books, fairy tales, encyclopedias, folders filled with maps and drawings. To their right, there was a small round table, accompanied by two comfortable chairs, and a large oaken cabinet near a grand fireplace.
Gerda already stood waiting for them, a patient smile around her lips and a slight twinkle in her eyes. Her hands rested on a trolley, filled with silver platters that – unfortunately- were still covered. "Your Majesty, Ms. Oaken. I hope you enjoyed your afternoon stroll."
"Yes!" Anna almost bellowed, before clasping her hand over her mouth.
Elsa smiled, giving a slight squeeze in Anna's hand. "Very much so, Gerda."
"I've taken the liberty of lighting the fireplace for you two. And I took everything 'chocolaty' that I could find in the kitchens. There's chocolate milk, chocolate cake, chocolate muffins, chocolate pudding, chocolate- Ah, well, you get the gist."
"Thank you Gerda," Elsa smiled, indicating that she could leave. Elsa walked over to the table, motioning for Anna to sit in one of the easy chairs as she took a chessboard from the table and placed it into the cabinet lined against the wall. For a while, the silence was only broken by the crackling of the fire and the clatter of plates as Elsa moved them from the trolley to the table.
"Don't you have servants to do that for you?" Anna asked bemusedly.
"I do. But I also have two perfectly capable hands," Elsa smiled in return.
Anna looked at all the chocolate goodness in front of her, and realised that she must have died and landed in heaven. The heat from the fire was making her comfortably lazy as she indulged herself. She was so busy, it took her a while to notice that Elsa – the Queen – was consuming as much chocolate as she herself. An achievement Anna had thought impossible up to now.
Once all of the chocolate was gone – either consumed or molten – Anna laid back in her chair. Elsa moved the plates back to the trolley before looking at her. "What would you like to do now?"
"Could you read to me?" Anna asked. As soon as the words had left her, she felt somewhat ashamed. "My mother and I used to read," she continued to explain. "But there aren't many books in Hellmark. Only three, actually, I think. And... it'd be nice to hear some new tales."
Elsa merely smiled, holding up one finger to indicate Anna to wait a moment, and walked off. She disappeared between the bookcases, and returned with a large, red tome after a minute or so. "I think you might like this one," she smiled, sitting down again and opening the large book.
"After having been away from his kingdom for a great many years," Elsa started, "the prince returned to the capital. There, he found nothing but chaos, destruction, and death. In his palace, he found his fiancée, Princess Isabelle, tending to many injured soldiers. Rejoiced to see him again, she explained to the prince how the demonic werewolf had come and attacked a year after he had left..."
Anna listened to the story with childlike wonder as Elsa read on and told her how the Prince, a great warrior, and the Princess, a powerful sorceress, fought the threat together, and persevered through the strength of their love. When she closed her eyes, she could see it vividly, and after some time, she became aware of the fact that she was actually dreaming, though still hearing Elsa's gentle voice telling the story.
Elsa looked up from her book and smiled as Anna stretched and yawned, her eyes finally fluttering open again. She had been sleeping in her chair for nearly three hours. Elsa had continued reading the tale for a while, but eventually she had put the book down and retrieved the book she had been reading for herself from the cabinet, reading it in silence.
Anna, finally aware of her surroundings again, smiled at her bashfully. "I guess I was more tired than I thought," she muttered. "Sorry about falling asleep like that."
"Quite alright," Elsa smiled back. "It's hard to fight sleep when listening to a tale in front of a warm fire. I have some experience in that department."
"How long was I out?"
"Three hours or so. Your brother returned half an hour ago. You'll be heading back to Hellmark in two hours."
Elsa liked to think of herself as an expert in reading people. If she was not misreading Anna's countenance, she perceived both happiness and sadness. The latter, however, seemed to be more prominent. "Are you not happy to return home?"
"Oh, I am... It's just that... I really enjoyed today, you know? I know we hardly know each other, but for some reason it just feels like we've been friends for ages... No, forget I said that. We're hardly even friends and I'm just being weird."
"I'd like to think of us as friends," Elsa responded softly, causing Anna's face to split into a smile that almost looked painful. "And I really enjoyed our day as well. So, how do you suggest we spend our remaining time?"
"Well," Anna started. "I didn't really catch what happened to the werewolf..."
Elsa smiled and picked the heavy tome up again, opening it where she had left off. As she read, she was painfully aware of the silly smile on her own face, as well as Anna's.
Elsa sat in front of the fire again. Anna and Kristoff had left a few hours ago, and she and Hans had seen them off at the main gate of the castle. She had assured Anna that this would not be the last time they'd see each other – and one way or another she would make sure to keep that promise. Anna was growing very dear to her, short as their acquaintance had been so far. Right now, however, she had more pressing matters to set her mind to.
She had felt it as soon as Anna had touched her ice sculpture. It had... changed something. Elsa had been experimenting with her powers for some time – since the death of her parents, to be perfectly honest – and was making good progress. She could craft anything she wanted in mere minutes if she tried hard enough. She could even bring her creations to life. That was exactly where things went wrong, though.
A few months back, she had been practicing that very thing on a large, sloppily made ice golem. It had come to life. Very much so, in fact. It had taken its large fist and slammed a hole in the wall of the courtyard where she had been practicing. Obviously, that had not been her intention, but the golem didn't seem to care. At all. Next thing she knew, it went straight for the three guards that kept her company. The only reason they were still alive was Elsa's reflex of disintegrating the golem. All experiments following that one had resulted in more or less the same.
She heard the door open and close behind her, but didn't look round. She didn't have to. The only one who would disturb her in the library at this time was Hans. And, surely enough, he lowered himself into the vacant seat next to her.
"So..." he started after a while. "Guess what. I just took a walk in the garden to clear my head, and noticed one of your sculptures was gone..."
"The Griffin," Elsa replied. It wasn't a question. Merely a statement.
Hans nodded, but didn't say anything.
"It's at the North Mountain," Elsa continued. "Flying around in the blizzard."
The only indicators of his surprise was the slight raising of eyebrows. "Is it...?"
"It's obedient, yes."
"How?"
"I'm... not entirely certain."
Hans was silent still, knowing that Elsa would continue talking after gathering her thoughts. "Anna touched it. Something changed. Then it listened."
They shared another moment of silence. It was a comfortable silence, and they both enjoyed it while they could, knowing that it would be broken soon enough. After a while, Hans sighed.
"The scouts have returned."
Elsa nodded, as practiced in the role of listener as Hans had just been.
"It doesn't look good, Elsa. Shadowacre, Estershade, Greybell, Shadehall and Fogmount have rallied under the witch. According to my scouts they're raising armies. Arendelle won't be their first target, but with such numbers, it's only a matter of time..."
"You know I don't like the word 'witch,' Hans." A deep sigh. "What about Foxcliff, Freybank and Goldlake?"
"Neutral for now, it seems. The rest of the scouts are scheduled to come back in a few days."
Elsa nodded again as Hans raised himself from the chair. "I'll write to Rapunzel and Merida tomorrow. They need to know too. What about the Southern Isles?"
Hans wavered for a moment. "Father and I haven't exactly been on good terms since I decided to remain here, but I'll ask for his support nonetheless."
Hans nodded, half to Elsa and half to himself, and then walked off. Before he opened the door, though, he turned around. "Elsa... I'm sorry for ending today on such a macabre note. I didn't mean to ruin a good day."
Elsa raised her eyebrows with an unasked question. As usual, she didn't need to phrase it for Hans to understand.
"You were happier today than I've seen you in years. Well, except for the goodbye at the gates, that is."
Hans took his leave, closing the door behind him.
Yes. I suppose I was.