Frozen Creed Requiem
Chapter 8
August 20
1773
The next few weeks went by peacefully with Elsa and Anna performing their usual tasks. Ironically while Elsa dealt with most of the governing Anna dealt with many of the public aspects that she was best at, being "princess meet and greet." This also Ironically included Anna as princess meet and greet smoothing over the rest of the unrest of Ulga's mob by personally listening to many of the requests given by those who had lost loved ones to the frost. Some of them of course were those trying to defraud the crown and were dealt with accordingly, but most were true according to the guard's reports and her own investigation as an Assassin and from Berne.
"I swear it's like we reinstituted the old wergild system from when we were Vikings" Anna told Elsa after handing her the forms of restitution.
"Actually, that law is still on the books" Elsa said handing a law book to her. Anna read it and her eyes widened.
"Huh" was all she said. Anna had also found herself saddled more and more with the domestic disposition of the castle, in other words directing the servants in keeping the castle clean and setting the menus and entertainments that were to be displayed for visiting royalty. For a people person like Anna who knew most of the servants like they were old friends (which they were) and had quickly made friends with the new staff this was the easiest part of her duties, making sure the staff wasn't overworked or weren't shirking. She also knew as much as possible about the other visiting nobles both because it was required of her, her own curious nature and her training as an assassin to know everything about potential targets.
"If I'd investigated Rocco more" She thought but shook the thought away. She had investigated him when she was still the dumb princess. Now she was being much more thorough about the remaining nobles and suitors. Her most important job by far was making sure that Elsa was taken care of, that she ate regularly and didn't overwork and as her emotional anchor, giving her space when needed and being a shoulder to cry or sleep on as needed. Anna visited Elsa's study one afternoon to check in on her before a visit to town with Kristoff and Olaf and stopped and knocked on Elsa's door waiting for her invitation to come in and when Anna opened the door immediately noticed the chill in the air.
"Elsa is everything okay?" Anna asked noticing the room was frosted over. It wasn't sealed in ice, so Anna knew her sister hadn't lost control, but the slight dusting of snow still concerned her.
"Oh, Anna look at this" Elsa said excited holding up an ice sculpture and Anna's heart missed a beat as she struggled to keep her hand from going to her wrist where one of her hidden blades was strapped. After the Ulga business she had taken to wearing them at all times again, always making sure to take them off and hide them before going to bed in case Elsa was looking to share a bed with her and even if it was a bit of a hassle it was one she wouldn't change for the world. Her mind came back to Elsa who was proudly holding up a hidden blade and gauntlet of her own made completely of ice.
"Wh... what is it?" Anna asked trying to swallow the lump in her throat and keep a straight face.
"I'm sure it's the weapon the assassin uses" Elsa said and Anna noticed piles of ancient texts that wouldn't be out of place in her sanctuary.
"I've been researching as many old texts as I could get my hands on, and I think I finally found out how this thing works" Elsa said as she fitted the gauntlet over her hand and looped a string of gossamer ice over her finger.
"Elsa what are you doing?" Anna asked a weight settling in the pit of her stomach.
"Don't worry It's perfectly safe" Elsa said clenching her fist.
"Now if I just pull the string" Elsa said not unclenching her fist but extending her ring finger.
"Elsa don't!" Anna said putting her hands over Elsa's and pushing her finger down.
"I don't think you should be messing with this. I mean you might lose a finger or something and your hands are way to pretty to be missing one, and your other fingers would be sad and lonely, and who knows how a missing finger might affect your magic? Do you want your spells misfiring and veering off course because you're missing a finger?" Anna rambled at her and Elsa froze up and gently removed the gauntlet.
"Maybe your right. Perhaps this is a little more dangerous than I thought it was" Elsa said gently setting the death dealer on her desk.
"Good, now let's get going. You have a council meeting and I have a date with Kristoff" Anna said pulling Elsa up from her desk and shooing her out of her study, casting a glance back at the ice gauntlet sitting on the desk.
"Oh right, your date" Elsa said, and Anna thought she heard a strange note of irritation in her voice.
"Now, now, this is the first time in months that the two of us have had free time in our schedules. I think you can survive without me underfoot for a few hours" Anna said lightly as she stopped Elsa in front of the door to the council room and hurrying on her way. Elsa smiled at her retreating back before taking a deep breath and opening the door.
"Kristoff" Anna cried as she leapt into the man's arms, with him easily catching her.
"Hey, you" Kristoff said as they kissed.
Ah, so cute" Olaf said sighing. Anna only rolled her eyes as she took her boyfriend's arm.
"so, what do you want to do?" Anna asked.
"Whatever" Kristoff said.
"You always say that" Anna groaned.
"Really, relaxing and spending time with you is all I really want" Kristoff said.
"Okay, but you asked for it" Anna said and taking his hand drug him into town. What followed was a long exciting and exhausting day of fun and adventure with her boyfriend and Olaf. She visited her favorite shops, bought them both gifts, visited and played with the children and just had fun and forgot about her troubles for the day, until they came across the large crowed with a regiment of guardsmen trying to control them.
"What's going on?" Anna asked one.
"Princess Anna", a group of children called running up.
"Please help, Willa's in trouble" A little girl said, and Anna looked up to where the little girl was pointing to see another little girl dangling from one of the minarets of the church.
"How did she get up there. No never mind" Anna said and found herself moving weaving through the crowed, shoving where she needed and walked straight passed the guards who moved aside to let her pass until she was at the wall of the church and was climbing up the wall, grabbing stone, then a window sill quickly ascending as she heard the crowed grow quiet, holding its breath. Anna reached the roof and quickly moved to the minaret where the girl was clinging for dear life.
"Willa!" Anna called down and the girl looked up, terror in her eyes.
"Do you know who I am?" Anna asked, and the girl nodded.
"Can you reach up to me sweetie?" Anna asked extending her hand down to the little girl. Willa nodded and gulping took one of her hands from around the minaret and grabbed Anna's fingers and the princess wrapped her hand around the girl's arm and drew the child up into her arms as the crowd cheered. Anna looked down at the courtyard below and saw a hay pile.
"Okay sweetie, I need you to close your eyes and hold on tight to me." Anna told the girl who nodded and closed her eyes. Anna stepped to the edge of the roof and leapt, the girl in her arms in a leap of faith and landed in the hay on her back. She rolled quickly out of the hay pile and set the child down who was immediately scooped up by her mother as the crowd cheered.
"Thank you, your highness, thank you" The woman gushed happily.
"Three cheers for princess Anna" Someone said.
"Thank you everyone, I'm just glad no one was hurt" Anna said blushing.
"Okay hero, let's go" Kristoff said and dragged her away.
"Thanks, I'm not used to the hero treatment" Anna said.
"I'd ask if you were crazy, but stunts like that are the usual with you" Kristoff said.
"Hey!" Anna said.
"Not that that's a bad thing" Kristoff said, and they laughed all the way back to the castle.
"You two look like you had fun" Elsa said meeting them.
"Oh, Elsa you should have seen it. This little girl got stuck on the top of the church, and Anna climbed up like a squirrel all the way up and taking the girl in her arms dove off the top of the church to a haystack on the ground, it was awesome!" Olaf said, and the temperature dropped ten degrees.
"Now Elsa, lets calm down. I'm alright, nothing bad happened" Anna said reaching out and gently taking her sisters hands.
"Do you always have to be so reckless?" Elsa asked. All Anna could do was shrug.
"That's just who I am" Anna said.
"Yes it is" Elsa responded sighing.
"But did you have to dive of the building?" Elsa asked.
"Probably not" Anna said rubbing the back of her head.
"Well, no harm done" Elsa said, and Anna blinked.
"She reacted better than I thought. Maybe she's finally realized I'm not made of spun glass" Anna wondered.
"By the way, I got you a gift" Anna said and took the package she had bought out of a pouch in her dress where it had miraculously stayed safe from her exertions.
"You shouldn't have" Elsa said opening the box and drooling slightly when she saw what lay within, her favorite chocolates with a mint filling.
"I manage to snag the last box" Anna said wiping the drool from the corner of her sisters mouth.
"Not as composed and elegant when it comes to chocolate, are you big sister" Anna thought giggling slightly.
"Yes, these will make a fine desert" Elsa said pulling herself together and closing the box.
"Now, we have business to discuss" Elsa said and Anna sighed.
"Day off's over. See you guys later" Anna said waved goodbye to Olaf and Kristoff as she followed her sister. They entered Elsa's study and her sister set down the box. Getting a sneaking suspicion Anna walked over and opened the box to find one of the chocolates gone.
"Desert huh?" Anna asked noticing how her sisters cheeks were slightly distended. Elsa blushed and took a drink of wine from the glass on her desk causing Anna to laugh.
"you can be such a dork sometimes" Anna said causing Elsa to blush.
"I can't be perfect all the time" Elsa pouted.
"You are perfect, even in your dorkiness" Anna told her causing her sister's blush to deepen, turning her snow white skin a pretty shade of pink and causing Anna to laugh even harder which was silenced as it was filled with chocolate, leaving Anna with a choice of either swallowing it or spitting it out. With a grimace she chewed and swallowed.
"Uh, Elsa you know I hate the mint flavor" Anna said reaching for the wine bottle and taking a giant swig from it to wash the taste out of her mouth.
"And how you can wash it down with wine I'll never know" Anna said wiping her mouth with her sleeve as Elsa stared at her. Anna looked at he bottle in her hand and blushed as she realized what she had done, not because of what she had done, but because of how ill mannered it was.
"Can you go for two minutes without acting like a barbarian?" She scolded herself as she carefully put the bottle down.
"Um, you said we had business to discuss?" Anna asked trying to change the subject.
"Yes, I wanted your opinion on a possible suitor" Elsa said.
"Elsa, I'm not in the business for a suitor, not after last time, and not as long as I'm with Kristoff" Anna said indignantly trying not to flip her blade in irritation.
"I know, I was talking about me" Elsa said and Anna stared at her.
"Okay, who are you and what have you done with my asexual sister?" Anna asked half joking.
"I am not asexual, It's just with my powers and everything else" Elsa said.
"Right" Anna said feeling guilty.
"Of course she wants closeness and affection idiot" Anna scolded herself.
"So, who's the lucky guy?" Anna asked.
"It's not a man" Elsa said averting her eyes half in shame as Anna blinked in surprise. Due to her Assassin's training and belief in the creed, along with her own personal belief in love she had no problem with homosexuality. It just surprised her that her sister was homosexual.
"Wow, I had no idea, not that there's anything wrong with that, at least I don't have a problem with that" Anna said.
"But everyone else does. I'm supposed to marry a man to breed an heir. The church, the people will never allow me to wed a woman, or even share power with her as a consort." Elsa said as tears leaked down her cheeks.
"Hey, we'll figure it out. Why don't you tell me about this mystery woman?" Anna asked intrigued. Elsa looked up at her, a troubled look on her face.
"Her name is Elizabeth Richard, a duchess from England. We have been pen pals since we were children" Elsa said and Anna felt a surge of anger tear through her.
"Elsa was talking to some stranger across the ocean when I was right next door?" Anna thought taking a deep breath to steady herself.
"Anna?" Elsa asked and she raised her hand.
"I understand. It makes me mad, but I get it. You had to talk to someone" Anna said trying to reign in her anger.
"Did you tell her about?" Anna asked making a gesture to indicate Elsa's magic.
"No, of course not!" Elsa said shocked.
"Next to you she is my closest friend, and I've been in love with her for years. I couldn't dare tell her" Elsa said. That made Anna feel a little better, that her sister had not told someone else her secret while she had kept it from Anna.
"Wait you've been in love with her for how long?" Anna asked surprised. Elsa just blushed.
"And you didn't invite her to the coronation why?" Anna asked.
"You know why!" Elsa snapped.
"I'm sorry" Elsa apologized instantly and Anna sighed.
"Alright, tell me about her. I would like to know more about the woman who stole my sisters heart" Anna said.