The next morning Elsa was up early to make herself presentable for the prince and all her counsel that would be attending this meeting. She put on a long,silky purple dress and put her hair up in her usual French braid. She slid on some light purple flats and walked down to the dining hall to meet her sister and guests for breakfast. Once she walked up to the large wooden doors leading into the hall she could already see Anna talking to Prince Barren, who was listening with intent and interest. Elsa smiled lightly at this. Whomever showed interest in her sisters' conversations was already making great progress in having a chance to win her heart. Though it would take a lot more to win her over. She was about to walk into the hall when she saw movement to her left and turned to see the tail of a purple coat disappearing around the corner of the hall. She casually walked down the hall and followed the sound of receding footsteps. Eventually she came to a door that led out into the castle's garden, her favorite place to retreat from her responsibilities. She opened the door slowly and looked around. A few yards away she saw the blonde girl sitting on a small bench underneath a big weeping willow tree. She walked up to the soldier and saw she was holding a knife, working at something in her hands. Elsa could see small shavings of wood falling to the grass at their feet. She swallowed and then cleared her throat to try and get their attention from a distance. The guard's shoulders tensed and with unknown speed, spun the knife in their hand and sheathed it as they turned around to face her. Her eyes went from no emotion to a hint of surprise as she realized it was the queen that had found her slacking on her duties and not her prince. Elsa looked into those bluish-grey eyes in curiosity.
"If you don't mind me asking, what were you working on?" She asked softly, glancing down at the girl's sheathed knife. The soldier followed her eyes and then looked back at the queen, a look of uncertainty in her eyes. Elsa was captivated by these eyes. They showed small bits of emotion but this intrigued the queen to see more.
"Don't worry I wont tell Barren that you were here if that is what you're worried about." Elsa smiled lightly, trying to ease the worry in the girls eyes. The soldier visibly swallowed and brought their clenched fist up to the queen. She slowly opened her hand and Elsa stepped closer to look at what was in her hand. In the soldiers' palm was a small wooden carving of a flower. The carving seemed so life-like and well detailed that Elsa's mouth fell open in wonder. She reached for it unconsciously but then froze. She looked up at the girls eyes and only received a nod in return. She lightly reached for the carving and took it from the soldiers hand. As she grabbed it, her fingertips slid across the soldiers palm and she heard the girl swallow. Elsa noticed how warm the girl's hand felt. She retreated her hand and admired the carving.
"This is beautiful." She whispered, running her fingertips along every detail etched into the carving. She looked up at the girl and noticed her looking away. Elsa looked at the side of her face and noticed a long scar along her cheek. Her eyes went down and looked at her tan, toned, muscular arms. Her mind went back to why this girl was the personal guard of the prince. She then noticed a light pink hint to the girl's cheek and grinned lightly. This girl did show more emotion than Barren let on.
"Would you like to accompany me back to the dining hall? Your prince is waiting to have breakfast with my sister and I and you are welcome to join." She offered. She watched as the girl bit her lower lip lightly, not knowing what to do. But then she faced the queen again, looking her in the eyes with no emotion once again and nodded, preceding to follow Elsa back into the castle. Elsa was now more intrigued by this girl than before. She wanted this girl to show more emotion, and those eyes captivated her. She wanted to see them sparkle with joy and she really didn't know why. Once they made it to the hall, she apologized for being late to Barren and Anna and they enjoyed a filling breakfast. Elsa would, every once in a while, glance at the girl standing in attention behind Barren and would notice her looking right back, only to snap back into attention when they would lock eyes. Elsa grinned lightly to herself at the attention she was getting from this somewhat void girl. Once the meal was finished Barren excused himself to prep for the meeting and excited the hall, followed by the Porter. Elsa watched as the girl walked out and noticed her glance behind her to look at Elsa before quickly exiting through the large doors.
"Hmmmm maybe the prince should just leave that Porter girl here and forget about being your suitor." Anna giggled to herself as she watched Elsa turn to face her with a hint of pink on her cheeks.
"No Anna I don't think anything about her, she just shows no emotion and I don't know why but it interests me." Elsa sighed. Anna just raised her eyebrows and shrugged as she walked to leave the hall.
"I'm just saying, that girl just can't take her emotionless eyes off of you." She giggled before she ran and disappeared out of the hall. Elsa sighed and ran her hand through her hair in annoyance. She headed to the meeting hall to talk with her counselors before the meeting, which she wasn't looking forward to. After about an hour the meeting was to start and Elsa sat at the head of a long table, awaiting the arrival of the prince. The large doors to the hall opened and he walked in, being closely followed by Porter, who kept her eyes ahead of her and not looking at Elsa, although even if she'd never admit, Elsa wanted the girl to look at her. They all sat down and Barren was given the chance to speak.
"My Queen and Counselors, thank you for agreeing to hear my intentions and terms. As I said upon my arrival, my kingdom would love to give our aid and alliance to the kingdom of Arendelle and I have presented myself as a suitor to her majesty. My kingdom prides ourselves in the art of war and weaponry. We have taken in orphans and people being sold as slaves and have offered them a place in our army as a place for safety. Even Porter here was only a small girl when we found her being sold as a slave and rescued her to serve as a member of our army. We have the most amazing blacksmiths and would be willing to trade these things for food and provisions to help sustain all the people we are bringing in." Barren finishes and looks around the room at the counselors who are now talking amongst themselves. Elsa looks over at Porter, who is now looking down at the floor. Her shoulders, usually strong and straight, are sagged and she looks weak. Was she really rescued and put into training at such a young age? Elsa then stood up and addressed the prince.
"I have heard your terms and interests and I would like to talk this through with my counselor. Give me a few days and I will give you my decision but you are welcome to stay in the castle until then." Barren bows gracefully and then turns to retreat out of the hall, again followed by Porter, who has now become stiff and tall again, not looking at anyone as they leave. Elsa spends the next two hours hearing the thoughts and opinions of her counsel until she is too tired to listen anymore. She ends the meeting and retreats to the garden where she hopes to clear her head. Barren brings a promising deal to her kingdom, but something in the back of her head tells her to think it over more. She steps out into the garden and sees Porter leaning against the willow tree, her chin tucked in her neck as if she was sleeping. Elsa walks up to her quietly and admires the girl's face. Her face looks like it has seen combat and lots of sun. Her arms are crossed in front of her chest and her chest rises and falls slowly, showing she is sleeping. Elsa giggles lightly at this cute sight. Porter then slowly opens her eyes and blinks a few times and then focuses her eyes on the person who laughed at her. Eyes open wide in surprise at the sight of the beautiful queen standing before her. Her mouth becomes dry and she stands up at attention and then quickly bows to show her respect.
"There is no need for that Porter. You are welcome to visit my garden and sleep if you want." Porter looks up and notices the queen smiling sweetly at her. She rubs the back of her neck nervously before looking into those piercing blue eyes."
"Thank you...your majesty." She speaks out in a smooth, raspy voice. She watches as a small pink color tints the queens cheeks. Her blushes are still the best, she thinks to herself.
"Will you accompany me for a walk?" Elsa asks as she raises an eyebrow at Porter. How could she say no? She offers the queen her arm and they start walking through the garden. If Barren knew what she was doing, she would be in a lot of trouble. But being with the queen now was one thing that brought her...emotion.
"Barren said you were saved by him from slave traders when you were little. Is that true?" Elsa whispered as they kept walking. Porter froze and Elsa looked at her face in worry. Memories started to flow back to her, seeing her father be killed, her running to try and save him, only to be chased by a raider and thrown to the ground. She can remember the fear she felt as she was thrown over a large man's shoulder and carried away. The thing she remembers the most is looking into the tearfilled eyes of the princess of Arendelle as she rode away with her father. She looked down into the same, more mature eyes of the same girl she came to love when she was a little girl. She didn't care what emotion came through, she just wanted Elsa to remember her. Elsa looked into those blueish-grey eyes and saw...sorrow. Deep sorrow and to her surprise, a hint of longing. Those eyes bore through her and memories of her dreams came back to her. Looking into eyes with such sorrow and fear. Porter cleared her throat.
"Yes Barren bought me from a slave trader. I was taken from my village when I was about 8. Our village was burned to the ground and my father was killed." She then took a deep breath and decided it was time.
"Do you remember?" Porter's question startled Elsa and she looked into her eyes, searching in her mind for this memory. Wait….that girl. Those eyes.
"What's your actual name Porter?" Elsa gulped and looked into her eyes. She saw them change from sorrow and saw a glint of life come from them. Porter gave her a little smile and gently brought the queen's cold hands into her own warm ones. Elsa felt butterflies fill her stomach at this contact and looked into this girl's eyes, wanting to remember who she was.
"My name, Elsa of Arendelle, is Emily."