This one turned out to be rather long. Oh well... Merry Christmas, my darling readers!
And you are right, Guest, Wilhelm is not two years old just yet, he's 20 months old, if my calculation in my timeline note is correct. So congratulations on guessing that!
Clear blue sky welcomed her in the morning.
Topped with a lingering kiss at the nape of her neck just as she was beginning to stir out of the dream she was having, her husband's arms wrapping her tightly in his warm embrace, she had let out a quiet sigh of satisfaction as she murmured her morning greetings that had only prompted the auburn-haired Prince to nuzzle his face deeper into the locks of her platinum blonde hair.
"We should get up."
"We certainly should."
Yet both of their words had come in a lazy murmur, half-hearted as husband and wife did not wish to leave the comfort of their warm bed and each other's company just yet, eyes still heavy with sleep and limbs unwilling to move and start the day. but she willed herself to turn around while remaining in his embrace until her eyes could meet his, hand coming up to cup his face as her thumb ran across his jaw. She had always loved his eyes, so enchantingly green that they reminded her of the forest that surrounded her kingdom, so sharp and calculating, his eyes had been the first thing that she had noticed of him when they had met face to face with each other for the very first time, all of those years ago.
Wilhelm's eyes were blue, like hers, clear and wide, mirroring the clear sky. Curious and full of wonders as he learned of the world each day, Hans had told her that Wilhelm's eyes were kind, just like hers -no matter how she denied that hers were what he described them to be, compassionate.
A part of her wished that she could have a child with Hans' eyes, beautiful emerald reflecting the dancing flames in dimly lit room. The thought had brought back the brief exchange that she had with one of her ladies-in-waiting, of the possibility that she may have a child again, a younger sibling for her son.
"Hans," her voice had picked up in the matter of volume when she spoke of his name, and he had regarded her with another quiet hum as a form to show her that he was listening and waiting for her to continue. "I was wondering-"
There was a sudden stop in her sentence when the knock on the door was heard, prompting the both of them to turn their attention toward it as they propped themselves up. "Your Majesty, Your Highness, are you awake?"
"Yes, we are, in a minute!" Pushing herself to get up from the bed, bare feet touching the wooden flooring, she would have made her way to unlock the door if only her wrist had not been caught by the Prince's strong grip, stopping her.
"Elsa," he was sitting on the bed when she turned around to see him, to question his intention in not letting her go. "What is it that you were asking me?"
But at this point her courage and curiosity had faded back into the back of her mind, the idea had felt rather silly to be discussed at this time, and so she had shaken her head as she released herself from his hold, giving him a small smile.
"Nothing, do not worry over it."
Autumn felt so peaceful for her.
She loved the smell of the salty breeze blowing through the fjord that brought the season's crisp air, seeing the beautiful sight of the changing leaves that painted Arendelle in such warm colors, of the weather that had started to get chilly and yet not enough to make people bundle up, of the lovely smell of kransekake wafting everywhere -even reaching the Queen who stood at the high balcony of the castle.
The day had brought her into remembering all of the blessings that she was graced with, of the happiness that she found and the family she loved more than anything, of the people that cherished her, of the solid ground she could set her foot on. Arendelle had always been a kingdom of a plenty that stood for the good of the many, her parents had always told her that it was for her to protect and defended, forever and always, as long as she was alive and breathing. The walls had to remain standing tall, the flags flying against the wind, the waters lapping against the rocks had held the castle up.
A smile graced over her face as she let out a small relieved breath.
"Elsa."
Ice shot through her fingertips as her shoulders tensed, spreading over the wooden rail that she had rested her hands on while she leaned forward to enjoy the beautiful sky. She had not heard of the footsteps that approached and had jumped in shock then, magical powers unleashing themselves at her moment of vulnerability.
Feeling her fingers getting stuck in the ice, her attempt of pulling them free had seemed to be futile as she looked over her shoulder at her husband -who stood by the doorway and appeared to barely able to contain his laughter, holding their much expressive son who had laughed joyfully at the sight of his mother's magic. "Hans!"
"They're ready, darling." His lips quivered as he could not hide the amused smile, eyeing his wife curiously as he waited for her. They were supposed to welcome the visiting dignitaries of the nearby kingdoms, to speak of trades and their relations before they were to enjoy the festival, thus why she had been waiting up in the castle instead of joining Anna and Olaf on their picnic in town. "Do you require any help?"
"No, no, I can do it." Tugging again, as she was as headstrong as she may be to free herself, she took a deep breath and gave one last hard tug, successfully breaking her hands free of the ice that shattered from her force, barely stumbling backwards as she turned and cleared her throat as if nothing had happened, offering to take Wilhelm for her to hold instead, which the auburn-haired Prince gladly passed to. "Shall we?"
They had barely taken two steps back into the castle when her ears picked up on a call, loud and clear from behind her, making her turned back around. "Do you hear that?" Her brows furrowed, as of course there was no one there, but she was sure she had heard of something.
"Hear what?"
Wilhelm had too, looked ahead the same direction as she, eyes wide and curious, and she took another moment -staying silent, in case that voice had called again. But there was nothing. She must have imagined it, passing wind blowing against her ears that made her thought that she had heard something, a certain call, and her son had merely admired the sky.
Turning back to her husband, who had a look of confusion across his face, she had shrugged and gave him a shake of her head. "Never mind." She was merely imagining things, nothing else, and today's agenda would surely help her in distracting herself and busied her mind.
Hans had opened his mouth, perhaps to try and acquire further information on what she was referring to no matter how she had dismissed of it herself, but his eyes had glanced downward and his hand had moved just in time in catching Wilhelm's hand -which unknowingly had taken ahold of his mother's necklace, halfway before he could put the jewelry into his mouth. "Wilhelm, that's not food."
Laughing, as she watched her husband trying to pry off their son's fingers from the chain while the young boy had frowned and whined, she could do nothing but press a loving kiss against Wilhelm's temples. She had taken it upon herself not to wear too much jewelries considering her son's nature of grabbing things -earrings were an absolute no as he had once pulled against her ear hard enough that she had stumbled when she had been holding him while talking with her Council, and would have not worn the necklace if only she had not felt like something missing without it. Even her wedding ring, that had never left her finger unless completely necessary, had taken her son's interest, though he had turned his attention away from it once he found it to be so much harder to get.
"You really are your aunt's nephew, aren't you, my curious little Prince?"
Anna's laughter was clear even from here.
Having being done with the political business for the day, she had walked back out to stand at the balcony. Hans had taken Wilhelm down to the town earlier, after the boy had practically protested against their attempts to soothe him, had grown bored of the interaction between the adults and wanted nothing but to actually enjoy the fresh air outside instead of being cooped up inside. It was why she had nodded and have her husband to go ahead, it would be best for her to finish things up herself than having the both of them and a toddler throwing a tantrum in the middle of it.
The Princess could be seen in the middle of town, fingers interlacing with those of the ice harvester. At this point, too much words had spread of the relationship between the royalty and the commoner that trying to keep it a secret and continuously denying it had become rather fruitless. People whispered and gossip, of course, but most had been rather kind and even smile sincerely, liking the change from the strict laws where a royalty was not even supposed to interact so closely with their subjects. The Council had bombarded her with the topic of discussion, she was not even surprised, expressing of their rather displeased opinion about it, which she had argued back to be Anna's choice and that she would not ruin her sister's happiness over ancient laws.
The wind was restless, she could feel the difference against her skin, and she was brought back into thinking if something was coming her way. The air felt different, her heart felt something was off, and yet she didn't want anything to change. She wanted to stay like this, happy and peaceful, surrounded by her loved ones, see them filled with joy and laughter.
This day was so precious for her, to have the lines of royals and subjects blurring until both could become one, and she could not let it slip away through her fingers. She wanted for it to stay like this forever, but she couldn't freeze time, couldn't freeze the moment that will continuously moved with the changing days, but there was one thing that she could do.
Instead of standing around and merely watch from afar, she could go out there and seize the day with her loved ones.
Her family welcomed her once she had come down and join them in town. Anna had practically half-run toward her, big grin plastered on her face, just as she came to look for them. Hans and Kristoff helped with lifting the heavy tables while Wilhelm played with the town's children and Olaf, giggling gleefully as for once he had friends around his age, with Sven keeping an eye on them.
The lovely smell of food surrounded them the moment people came to place them on the long tables, various kind of cooking made from the harvest that the kingdom had, fresh ingredients topping it all.
And even after the festival had ended, the royal family had stayed behind to help cleaning up after, despite the protests from the people that they should not trouble themselves like so, but none of them had been reluctant in the activity anyway, none felt like they should not dirty their hands. Anna had even lost her heels -after complaining that they had only held her back from moving more practically. And she wanted to teach Wilhelm to be humble, and not to distant himself just because he was born as a royal.
At the end of the day, each of them was exhausted but filled to the brim with happiness and warmth in their hearts. Hans carried the half-asleep Wilhelm in his arms, while Anna had tugged her older sister into a tight hug just outside of the gates, and had stayed behind to wait for Kristoff while the Queen went ahead.
"I would say that went rather smoothly." Hans' free hand had been offered up for her to take, letting their fingers interlacing with each other as they walked toward the castle's doors. "Wilhelm is taking the crowd rather well compared to last year."
Last year, when the boy had not yet reached the age of one, the presence of a large crowd coming around him -to coo and to admire the young Prince, had frightened him so much that he had cried so loudly and even she was unable to stop him until she had to retire back to the castle halfway through the festival to soothe him, and had not been able to return back because he did not want to go and she could not leave him alone.
"He's learning." There were still moments where the young Prince had appeared to be close to tears, though one of them had successfully saved the situation by taking him somewhere less crowded until he had calmed back down and willing to join in the fun once more. "He's a smart boy, like his Father."
"Don't you mean like his Mother?" raising their joined hands, he had twirled her around as they walked, and she could not help the roll of her eyes at his direction, ready to argue with him when he had suddenly pulled her close, giving her a sweet kiss on the lips.
"No!" the sudden protest had both of them pulling away from each other, and the Prince that they had once thought to be asleep was glaring at his father with a deep frown on his face before his hand went to hit his shoulder. "No kissing Mama!" his jealousy, which she had found to be rather adorable, had quickly changed into a round of crying that prompted her to step forward and take him away from the bewildered Admiral. "Mama!"
"Alright, alright, Papa is not allowed to kiss Mama, alright." He must have been exhausted, sleepy and in need to nurse, that it had driven him to be fussy. Patting his back as she picked up her pace, she could feel the wetness of tears and slobber against her bare shoulders, though she had not minded much of it. "Only Wilhelm can kiss Mama, I promise."
"I could not believe my son stole my wife from me."