Elsa scoured the entire castle, covering every area possible, questioning every guard posted and even those off duty, asking if any of them saw sightings of an unfamiliar young woman on the castle grounds. All the guards reported that no suspicious persons had been seen within the castle walls and that everything was quiet. They insisted all was well. She then asked the guard captain what were the chances of someone sneaking in unnoticed and he informed her there was zero chance of that happening, that he and his men carefully monitored every body that came through the gates and the perimeter was secure.
The news should have eased her mind, but it didn't because it left the most important question unanswered. If it wasn't an outsider, who could it be? A servant? It was the only viable option she could see. Returning to the icy enclosure that was her study, Elsa thawed the room with a wave of her hand and paced restlessly in front of her desk with her arms folded against her chest, trying to think. Her eyes automatically fell to the letter sitting undisturbed where she left it, saturated in water, and her heart pounded faster at the sight of it. Slipping into the chair, Elsa shakily picked it up and reread it carefully, hoping to find some clue she missed that would lead her to the one responsible for writing it.
Unfortunately, the letter was vague and gave her zero answers. There wasn't anything remotely useful in it to help her identify who the writer was. All she had to go on was that they apparently already knew each other before their masquerade encounter and that was hardly helpful. Elsa rarely ventured outside the castle walls unless it was absolutely necessary, so the majority of her interactions were with those within the walls.
Leaning heavily on the mysterious girl being a servant, Elsa popped open the lowest drawer of her desk and located the files containing the information of all her current workers. After her decision to keep the gates permanently open for good, Elsa hired a surplus of servants in order to keep every inch of the castle clean and tidy, so the stack she removed was rather hefty. Placing the thick files on her desk with a thud, she released a long, drawn sigh and began sorting through them wearily. To help lessen the pile, Elsa removed the ones highly unlikely to be her mystery girl, starting with the men for obvious reasons, filing those papers back into the drawer without giving them a second glance.
Now what? Elsa thought as she woefully looked at the intimidating stack that remained. Drumming the fingers of one hand impatiently against her desk, her chin resting in the palm of her other hand, held up with the aid of her elbow, she thought back to the night of the ball and tried to remember every single little detail about the girl she could. Considering her face had been covered well by a mask and her hair had been obscured by a feathery hairpiece, Elsa couldn't go by the girl's facial features or much of her appearance in general. So Elsa went by what she did know about her physically, which still wasn't much, but at least it was something. Better than nothing…
The girl was obviously young, very slender and oh so confident. Elsa recalled how she extended a welcoming hand to dance and that devious smile she flashed, and her passionate kisses that literally left her breathless… What a kisser she was, Elsa thought with a smirk, and her lips tingled at the memory of those lips against hers. She closed her eyes to better picture the moment in her head, but instead of the night of the ball, she found herself thinking back to the surprising kiss she received from Anna the morning after.
"Oh, no. Don't think about that. Stop thinking about that," she grumbled, balling her hands into fists. Why was she thinking about that? The kiss had been nothing more than an accident. Anna, delirious from her fainting spell, had mistaken her for Kristoff. Still, that didn't change how amazing it felt and how badly Elsa enjoyed it…
Focus and think about the girl, Elsa told herself silently as she irritably swiped her fingers through her bangs and shook her head sharply to shake the memory of Anna's kiss away, trying to steer herself back on track. Remember how smooth, soft and warm her skin felt. Yes, so pleasant to touch, so warm and inviting… and her smell, when she buried her face into her fiery hair…
"And I'm back to Anna again…" Elsa let out a frustrated groan and palmed her forehead before slamming a fist down hard on her desk. "This is not about Anna!" she said angrily. She had to banish Anna from her mind so she could concentrate and get to the bottom of this… mess she created. Blocking Anna from her thoughts was near impossible for her, but luckily the importance of her task and the pain in her hand resulting from her strike on the desk gave her a temporary reprieve.
Head hurting with the beginnings of a headache, Elsa tried fishing her brain for more memories of her time with the girl but could think of nothing else useful. She had all she was going to get on her, so using that limited information, she perused the papers studiously and painstakingly eliminated her choice of suspects going by their age and weight first. It turned out that quite a lot of the female servants were older women or heavyset, cutting her options significantly in half, making things easier for her. "Thank goodness," she breathed. Once that was taken care of, she took into account those she dealt with on a day to day basis, immediately dismissing the servants she did not encounter at least weekly, since the unknown writer had to be someone she was in contact with somewhat often. Servants she hardly saw wouldn't know her so well.
With her process of elimination, Elsa efficiently narrowed her results until there was one single person remaining… Chewing her bottom lip anxiously, she locked on to the name on the paper in front of her.
Laina.
Laina was one of the first servants Elsa had hired immediately after the Great Thaw. She was quiet, polite and overall a splendid worker, and because of that Elsa assigned her personally responsible for cleaning her own room because she knew the job would get done right. She was also one of the only servants Elsa saw literally everyday, though after the oddness with Anna she had seen less of her lately.
Could she be the one? Elsa wondered. Admittedly, she was the most pleasant to be around and by far Elsa's favorite servant out of all of them. But she was terribly shy and hardly ever looked Elsa in the eyes, spending more time staring at her feet with her head bowed as if she were being disciplined. The girl from the ball showed no signs of shyness. It was possible that being in disguise had given the maid confidence. Elsa's own disguise had made her do something she never would have dared to do, after all. Maybe that was Laina's case as well.
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense, especially when she factored in Laina's behavior around her. Elsa had noticed whenever she was in the maid's presence how she always flushed so strongly. The first couple of times she witnessed it, Elsa assumed the girl was afraid of her, particularly of her powers, but then she realized how ridiculous that was because Laina wouldn't have come looking for a job at the castle if that were the case. When the coloring on her face didn't let up, Elsa became greatly concerned for her health and had her examined by a doctor, only to be told the young maid was perfectly healthy.
It never once occurred to her that Laina might have a thing for her…
Putting Laina's file away and closing the drawer, Elsa once again took the letter between her hands and carefully folded the damp, deteriorating paper as she stood, knowing what she had to do next.
She would track down Laina and have a word with her.
Laina was finishing up dusting the candle fixtures on the walls. She had been diligently cleaning all day, nonstop, and the sweat that congregated on her face, causing her bangs to stick to her forehead, along with the annoying stray blonde hairs escaping from her ponytail that tickled her ears and cheeks, was proof of her hard work. She was about ready to collapse from exhaustion, but she was nearly done, having just one set of candles left to be cleaned further down the hallway. Once she finished with that she would be able to retire for the evening. She looked forward to it very much.
She had fallen behind on her cleaning, hence why she was only now just finishing, but that was partly due to the fact she had to cover for another maid, an older woman named Marisol, after Laina had generously given her a fat lip at the start of the day.
Earlier that morning, Laina was quietly working side by side with Marisol in the main hall, scrubbing the windows and removing any evidence of dirt and dust and grimy fingerprints that collected there from the previous day. The whole time they were working together they rarely exchanged two words with one another, so it came to be quite a surprise when the black-haired woman sneered and grumbled out of nowhere, "Look at her."
Laina knew who the "her" Marisol was referring to was and she didn't have to be told to look, the action automatic to the young maid whenever SHE was around. She smiled and her eyes lit up the instant they landed on the Queen, who had stopped to speak with Kai, the head servant of the castle.
"She makes my skin crawl." Marisol shuddered violently as she dipped her wash cloth into the soap bucket and dabbed it against the window glass, grunting with exertion as she scrubbed. "Repulsive witch."
Whipping her head to the older woman, Laina's mouth hung unattractively open, staring in wide-eyed disbelief at her. Certainly the woman wasn't referring to the gracious Queen? She shifted her eyes from the other maid to the Queen and felt her body grow cold when she saw there was no mistake. Marisol's hatred filled gray eyes were definitely fixed on the queen, staring daggers at the monarch across the room, who was blissfully oblivious to the undeserved anger aimed her way.
The woman clearly loathed Elsa for some reason, yet she worked in her household? It boggled Laina's mind. "That is your Queen you're talking about, in case you've forgotten," Laina said icily, standing up stiffly and throwing her rag into the bucket, ignoring the soapy water that sloshed up and spilled out the side, wetting her leg. "And right now, the only witch I see is you!"
"Puh!" Marisol rolled her eyes, lifting her nose and curling her upper lip at the remark. "Of course you wouldn't see it. You're a love sick puppy blinded by her wickedness. But I was here before she- IT- took over. I was here before that revolting thing murdered our rightful king and true queen. Everyone believes it was a freak storm that claimed King Adgar and Queen Idun's lives but I know better. She murdered them with her sorcery," Marisol insisted, jabbing a finger in the Queen's direction. "AND she got away with it! She is an evil witch who nearly destroyed this great kingdom and she will eventually succeed as long as people like you willingly grovel at her feet! She's not my queen and she will never be my-"
The punch came with little warning. The whole time Marisol was yapping away, Laina listened to the words spouting from her mouth, disgusted by what she was hearing, and a surge of energy built up in her body, flowing into her right arm and growing stronger and stronger until she snapped. Her intended target was the bitch's nose, but Laina was shaking with such rage that her aim was way off and her fist crashed full force against her mouth instead, shattering teeth and sending the older woman sprawling backwards, her legs knocking into and upending the bucket, spilling the contents all over the floor.
The commotion created such a racket that every pair of eyes in the hall at that moment turned their way, and Laina froze, cradling her cut and bleeding hand to her chest while Kai rushed over to see what had happened as Elsa looked on curiously.
No one had witnessed the actual punch take place, and Marisol had babbled some stupid excuse about her accident, not willing to tell the truth about what really happened for obvious reasons, so Laina wasn't worried about getting reprimanded. The ugly, old wench was unable to continue her duties for the remainder of the day, so Laina, after wrapping her own right hand haphazardly with a rag, took it upon herself to complete them. She did it for the Queen, of course, because it wouldn't have been right to leave a section of the castle unclean thanks to her actions, even if what she did was well deserved and totally worth it in Laina's mind.
She would do it a million times over if she had to.
Swatting the hairs away from her face and wiping off the sweat from her forehead with the back of her left hand, Laina lugged the stepstool she used to help her reach areas high up and placed it on the ground below the remaining set of candles, stepping onto it. As she raised her feather duster up to swipe the dirt that collected in and around the wax candle sticks, the sleeve of her uniform slipped down her arm, revealing a bracelet around her thin wrist. The sight of the bracelet attracted her attention, demanded it, and she lowered her duster, tucking it under her arm so she could rub her fingers uninhibited against the white-blond silky materiel.
The bracelet was made entirely from loose strands of Queen Elsa's hair. Laina had weaved the bracelet herself using hairs she removed from the Queen's own brush during one of her daily cleanings. She didn't have the heart to discard the precious strands as if they were worthless garbage. It just seemed so… wrong. Her brain gave birth to the brilliant idea of creating a bracelet, and she was so happy she thought of the idea because not only was it a great stress reliever for the maid, but having the bracelet on her person was like having the Queen by her side at all times. It was comforting.
Laina was well aware she had a serious problem. The poor girl had it bad for the Queen, really bad… Loud mouth Marisol had been right about one thing, she truly was a love sick puppy.
From the very moment she set eyes on Queen Elsa, the very day she returned to Arendelle after freezing everything and then thawed the kingdom in her extravagant ice dress, Laina had been utterly and completely infatuated with her. She firmly believed the very special woman was a true goddess. There was no other explanation for why Queen Elsa was gorgeous as hell, and her amazing powers only amplified Laina's belief. More than anything she wanted to get to know the goddess personally, so when she heard the castle was hiring servants she jumped at the chance to become a maid.
It had been one of the best decisions she ever made in her life.
Upon being hired, she worked extra hard, hoping all the energy she put into her job would help her get noticed by the Queen. It was a ridiculous hope considering how many servants she worked alongside, most if not all of them equally as hard working as her. So she was shockingly surprised when she was not only noticed by Her Majesty, but assigned specifically to clean her room! No words could describe the elation she felt at the news. Her first time entering the room had been like walking into heaven, and when she gathered up the previously slept in linens to have them washed, she inhaled heavily to take in Elsa's scent…and that was the moment she fell in love.
The maid wasn't naïve. She knew the love she felt towards the Queen was foolish and not likely to ever be reciprocated. Ever. Realistically she didn't stand a chance with the Queen since she was nothing but a lowly servant, not worthy of her time and certainly not the least bit worthy of her attention. Laina was willing to accept that; she knew her place. Yet sometimes there were little moments that gave her a dash of hope, like when Queen Elsa would smile and compliment her on how good of a job she did, and the one time she touched her arm. The touch had been over her uniform and it was a rather short and simple contact, but the feeling of the touch had imbedded in her arm like she'd been branded, and Laina had been haunted by it, in a good way, for the rest of that day.
She yearned for more of Elsa's touches and it didn't matter to her how brief it was. She would do anything for a mere poke of her finger. Sadly, after the first time, there had been no other physical contact initiated on the Queen's part, which was why any chance or excuse Laina managed to find to touch the Queen, she took it without hesitation, ignoring all the possible risks. That error nearly cost her everything.
She had been too careless and too greedy and her actions had the misfortune of catching the attention of Princess Anna. Laina recalled how frighteningly angry the Princess appeared a few days ago when Laina had helped the Queen after the disastrous collision in the hallway, and if Elsa had the power of ice and snow at her control, Anna certainly had heat and flames on her side. The Princess's heated stare and acid-filled words certainly felt like they would burn her where she stood. Laina actually expected to spontaneously combust and get devoured by flames and had been truly surprised when she escaped the scene unscathed. Next time, if there ever was a next time, she doubted she would be so lucky.
After that unfortunate incident, Laina forced herself to avoid the Queen as best she could to quell any further suspicion from the Princess, though she hadn't run into the Princess since, much to her relief. At least not in the real world. Dreamland, on the other hand, was a very different story. More often than not, Laina's dreams concerning her and the Queen in intimate scenarios were ruined by the red-haired princess lurking in the shadows, usually wielding a pointy knife. They never ended pretty…
At least her fantasies were controlled by her own mind, untouchable and safe from crazy princesses. The fantasies she indulged in usually sprang to mind while cleaning Elsa's room, where the sight and smells of the Queen's personal belongings would drive her imagination wild. They were not limited within the bedroom, though. Often unique scenarios would pop into her head of the oh so wonderful Queen having her way with her, and vice versa, while she was doing mundane things such as laundry or window washing or sweeping.
Taking her duster in hand and delicately swiping the candles in front of her clean of dust, Laina smiled as her overactive brain churned up what would be one of her last fantasies of the day.
The regal Ice Queen sat upon her throne with her shapely legs crossed, allowing the immaculate ice dress that sheathed her body to ride up just enough to expose her mouth watering thighs. Laina, kneeling only a few feet away from her, had a hard time removing her eyes from the sight, barely managing to direct her gaze elsewhere.
"Did I give you permission to look away?"
The hairs on the back of Laina's neck stood at attention at the commanding tone of voice and she quaked with suppressed excitement as she allowed her eyes to tentatively trail up until the breathtaking beauty once again graced her eyeballs.
Having the young maid's full attention focused on her, Queen Elsa leaned back, her hands caressing the arms of the throne with slow, deliberate strokes, and the gesture coupled with the hungry gleam in the Queen's eyes was enough to cause the maid to squirm where she knelt.
"Tell me, Laina," Elsa said, her voice sugary sweet, "what do you see before you?"
"I see the most beautiful creature in all the kingdom," Laina answered truthfully and without hesitation.
Elsa's lips quirked up in amusement. "Is that so?" she said, seduction heavily dripping off her tongue. She rose from the throne exuding elegance and power and stalked towards the servant girl. "Rise," she demanded when she was standing before Laina.
Laina did so shakily. Standing on her two feet brought her within inches of the Queen, inches that disappeared once Elsa curled an arm around her waist and yanked her against her, allowing their clothed breasts to kiss. Dipping her head, Elsa's icy breath tickled her throat before plump lips latched on to skin.
Sucking in her breath, getting lost in her fantasy, Laina closed her eyes as if she were really experiencing the moment. The feather duster fell away, dropping to the ground uselessly, as she brought her wrist and the bracelet she wore around it up to her neck, rubbing the hair of her beloved queen against her now electrified skin as if she were being nuzzled.
Cool fingertips skimmed along her sides, slipping under the fabric of her uniform top and brushing her bare skin, causing goose pimples to sprout all over her body. Laina shivered as the fingers dipped lower and Queen Elsa drowned her in kisses, her hand fluidly, and with no protest from Laina, making its way into the maid's skirt and finding her precious womanhood.
Clutching at the queen in order to remain upright as fingers smoothly stroked her at just the right spot, Laina gasped and writhed at the touch.
"Laina," Elsa breathed her name so thrillingly.
"Laina."
Distractedly, she opened her eyes and swiveled her head to her right, looking down and locking hazel eyes with startling blue ones, and the shock of seeing the source of all her desires right in front of her was so surprisingly unexpected that a gasp flew out of her mouth and her body launched itself upwards, both of her feet abandoning the stepstool. When she landed back down she did so awkwardly, not quite landing the same way, which resulted in her losing her footing and falling off the stepstool.
Queen Elsa swooped forward like a graceful angel, and oh, sweet Mother of Nature, wrapped her arms around Laina's body of her own volition, catching the maid and preventing her from tumbling to the floor and hurting herself.
Laina thought for sure her heart would literally explode in a bloody mess from her chest with the way it was jumping erratically in its cavern, and if she were to die right then and there she wouldn't have minded one bit because THE Queen was actually holding her! It was one thing to touch the Queen, but to have her touch you?
Her head comfortably nestled against the Queen's bosom, Laina could hear the pitter pattering of Elsa's heart. Surrounded by warmth and all that was pleasant, drowning in overwhelming sensations, Laina felt herself relaxing into the embrace, sighing happily, allowing her eyes to fall shut. It was such a nice feeling… "Don't wake me up," she murmured.
Seconds trickled by before reality hit her and she stiffened, her eyes flying open, as she fully grasped her current position.
She was in the Queen's arms!
Laina extracted herself from Elsa jerkily as if she'd been burned and stumbled back, tripping over the stool, her back colliding with the wall behind her with a solid thud. Clutching her hands to her chest, her breaths coming out shallow and harsh, she blurted out quickly, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty! I am so sorry!" She dropped into a heavy curtsy- a little too heavy since she almost toppled over- and fixed her eyes to a spot on the floor.
"It was my fault. I didn't mean to startle you. I thought you heard me coming," Elsa rushed out apologetically.
I would do anything to hear you coming, Laina thought wistfully, as she straightened out of her curtsy. Inwardly she winced, her face burning up as she silently scolded herself for thinking in such a way with Elsa a mere touch away. It was a constant issue she had… Elsa would always speak so sweetly and innocently and Laina would turn her words into sexual innuendos.
"Are you alright?" Elsa asked with concern, placing a steady hand on Laina's shoulder, her eyes scrutinizing the young maid intently.
Laina's lips flapped soundlessly before she managed to croak out, "Yea- Fine. I mean, I'm fine, Your Majesty." Smiling timidly, she remembered Elsa had approached her and figured there must have been a good reason behind her visit because it was pretty late and Elsa should, in theory, be getting ready for bed if not already in it. Keeping her eyes aimed down, she asked, "Is there something I can help you with, My Queen?"
An audible swallow coming from the Queen made her raise her eyes up long enough to notice Elsa's face transform. It was a slight shift of her features, but Laina thought she detected uneasiness on that pretty face and she immediately thought the worst. "Has my work been unsatisfactory?" she asked anxiously.
Elsa frowned and shook her head. "No. Not at all. You never disappoint me."
Happiness swelled within Laina's heart at her words and she bit her tongue to reign down the uncontrollable urge to smile like an overexcited idiot.
"I, well… I wanted to talk to you about something, but it has nothing to do with your work," Elsa continued quietly. She stepped around Laina and moved towards the nearest door, an unoccupied guest's bedroom, and opened it. "In here," she said curtly, gesturing inside and waiting expectantly for Laina to follow.
Confused by the unexpected request, Laina remained motionless. She couldn't understand why Elsa wouldn't speak to her where they stood. The hallway was empty except for the two of them and the likelihood of someone walking by at this time was slim, so it wasn't like they had no privacy.
Elsa cleared her throat impatiently, giving her a pointed look, and Laina decided not to question Her Majesty and obeyed. Her legs took a while to start moving but eventually they propelled her forward, and she walked past the Queen and into the dimly lit room.
The first thing she laid eyes on upon entering was the bed across the room, and her legs almost gave out as she thought of all the possibilities of being alone with the Queen in an empty room with nothing but a single bed. A bed. Her. Queen Elsa. Add all three together and you get what could only be delightfully good things…
Suddenly the top of her uniform felt terribly constricting.
Hearing the door click shut behind her, Laina turned around fast and watched as Elsa placed her back to the door, leaning against it as her eyes inspected her from afar. Having those eyes traveling her body so openly caused the rabbit that was living in her chest to start thumping its foot more rapidly against her heart, and Laina closed her eyes and dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands, practically panting for breath, and waited for her body to be ravished.
"Laina-"
"Yes, please!"
Elsa blinked quizzically. "I didn't say anything yet."
"Oh." Oops. Control yourself, she chided herself. "My apologies, Your Majesty," Laina said, lowering her head as a powerful blush colored her face a bright shade of red. Silence followed the maid's embarrassment, and during that silence the room grew noticeably chilly. She could visibly see the plumes of each exhalation she made as she fiddled with the collar of her uniform before clasping her hands chokingly together in front of her.
Pushing herself off the door, Elsa minimized the distance until they were separated by a few feet. Sternly, she ordered, "Look at me."
Shaking like a leaf, more out of excitement and nervousness rather than the cold that invaded the room, Laina sucked in a lungful of encouraging air before lifting her eyes. She allowed her hazel eyes to crawl up the Queen's length, passing swiftly over heavenly features and ensuring her gaze did not stray too long in one particular area before she met Elsa's blue ones head on. She kept them firmly in place despite the urge to look elsewhere, not that she wanted to look elsewhere... She only ever wanted to gaze upon the Queen if it were possible, but doing so always left her in quite a state, so to avoid making a fool of herself, which usually happened regardless, she tried not to meet those soulful eyes for too long or too much whenever in her presence. The floor was always the safest option.
Surprisingly, it was the Queen who averted her eyes first, and Laina was rewarded with the sight of seeing her nervously biting her lip as her manicured fingers kneaded a folded piece of paper, and Laina couldn't help but think how adorable the action was.
Wait, hold on… the Queen was nervous? Laina raised an eyebrow questioningly, wondering what was causing this intriguing behavior. Elsa was normally always so poised, so seeing this side of her was vastly different.
Her mind running through the many possible causes of Elsa's current state, Laina was caught off guard when Elsa bluntly asked, "Do you have something to tell me?"
The question was met with heavy silence as fear trickled down Laina's spine and the knuckles of her injured hand throbbed with pain, reminding her of her little deed from earlier. Had she underestimated Marisol? She thought for sure Marisol wouldn't have told anyone about the incident considering the reason behind it but she hadn't taken into account her lying about it. With a sinking feeling in her chest, Laina realized she was probably about to lose her job and that scary thought caused hot tears to burn the back of her eyeballs. She had assaulted another worker, after all, and there was zero tolerance for that kind of conduct.
"I'm not sorry," Laina said vehemently. And then the pressure behind Laina's eyes became too much, blurring her vision, and she broke down. "P-please d-don't fire me!"
Alarmed at the sudden bawling girl before her, Elsa paled considerably and guided Laina to the bed, sitting her down and placing herself right beside her. Unsure of what to do to calm the hysterical girl, she hesitantly rubbed the girl's back, which seemed to do the trick as the blubbering lessened and the tears slowed to a crawl.
"I'm not sorry," Laina repeated in a croaked whisper, toying with her bandage. "She said nasty things about you and I couldn't… I couldn't just stand idly and listen to such disrespecting filth spew from that wretched gob!"
That apparently wasn't what the Queen was expecting to hear. The frown that marred her face deepened, her stenciled eyebrows furrowing in puzzlement. "Laina, what are you talking about?"
Laina glanced at her. The Queen seemed genuinely thrown by her words. "I thought… isn't this about Marisol?"
"No," Elsa said tightly, removing her hand from the maid's back and folding both of hers in her lap. "I take it this has something to do with what happened this morning?" Laina nodded. "I was unaware that was a situation that needed my attention, though since you brought it up, I would like to hear more about it in greater detail… at another time."
"Oh… then…" If this meeting wasn't about Marisol, there was only one other thing she could think of that would require the Queen to confront her privately, and it had to be because she knew of the feelings she harbored for her. Princess Anna likely brought the revelation to the Queen's attention after seeing her overtly touching her sister.
Laina's teeth chattered noisily and she hugged herself. The need to confess was so strong that she felt a new wave of imminent tears building behind her eyes and she was so close to spilling everything out, her confession teetering dangerously on the tip of her tongue. She clamped her teeth together and hissed in a mouthful of air, keeping the threatening onslaught of tears at bay and her confession leashed. Laina feigned ignorance, because there was a tiny chance she was wrong and that Elsa didn't know about her attraction towards her. If that was the case, she was not going to embarrass herself by bringing it to light. "I'm… not sure what you mean."
Queen Elsa appeared uncomfortable. "I wanted to know…" she started to say, before stopping and shaking her head. "I mean, did you- Uh… Is this…" Stumbling over her words and unable to form a complete coherent sentence, Elsa flared her nostrils and exhaled irritably, her smoky breath from the cold shooting upwards and disturbing her bangs. She unfolded the paper she was holding and held it up stiffly. "Do you know anything about this?" she tried again, calm, cool, and collected.
Squinting at the badly mangled sheet, Laina leaned forward to get a better view. The bad lighting and beat up condition of the letter made it hard to see clearly, and on closer inspection she discovered that most of the ink was smudged and running, rendering the top and bottom portions of the letter blurry and practically unreadable. She wondered about the sad condition the paper was in before scanning the words she was able to see and making an attempt to read them. Laina never quite mastered reading and noticeably struggled as her lips silently moved, trying to sound out the words to better comprehend them. Slowly, and with much difficulty, Laina started to understand the meaning of what she was reading, her interest and fascination growing with each word that clicked. She was unaware that as she read, Elsa paid extra close attention to her face, waiting for a reaction.
Laina stared at the paper in awe, and the longer she read, the more agitated Elsa got, until finally, after a certain point, Elsa removed the letter from Laina's view. But Laina had deciphered enough to know that Elsa had in her possession what could only be described as a love letter. It was a love letter and it was about Elsa, there was no denying that, and boy was it brilliant.
Stunned by the amazingness, Laina found herself insanely envious of the writer. "Wow."
"Well?" Elsa was stone-faced, waiting for an answer.
Forgetting what the question was, Laina asked, "What do you want to know, My Queen?"
"Did you write this?"
Laina's jaw dropped. The Queen thought the beautifully written words were from her hands? Oh, how she wished they were! But if she thought that, surely that meant she suspected Laina had feelings for her? Or maybe she was making rounds and questioning everyone, though why do it herself and not have help from her staff? Laina was extremely flattered regardless and smiled shyly as she said sadly, "No, I did not, Your Majesty." She swore she saw the Queen's shoulders sag with… disappointment? She felt the need to apologize and explain herself. "I'm sorry. I don't… I don't know how to write," she admitted.
The Queen looked at her peculiarly, like she had two noses. "But you can read," Elsa said, pointing out the obvious, finding it absurd that she could do one and not the other.
"I do the best I can," Laina said simply.
The bed shifted as the weight of the Queen abandoned it. Then a gentle hand rested on her shoulder and Laina quivered, her breath faltering. She heard Elsa sigh and looked up to see compassion in her eyes. "Would you like to learn how to write?" Elsa asked seriously.
Nodding her head eagerly, wanting to leap to her feet with joy, Laina replied, "Yes, very much so, Your Majesty!" It would be a dream come true… or one of them, at least.
Giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze, Elsa turned away and moved towards the door, opening it a crack, getting ready to leave. "I'll talk to Anna. I'm sure she wouldn't mind teaching you."
Laina stood from the bed and went rigid at the mention of the Princess. Eyes wide with fright, she said meekly, "Oh, that's not necessary. I wouldn't want to be a burden and I'm sure the Princess has better things to do!" She laughed nervously. "Besides, I wouldn't have much free time to learn as my job comes first and foremost." Forcing a cheery smile, she curtsied and said politely, "But I greatly appreciate the offer, My Queen."
Elsa watched her with bemused interest as she spoke, and something must have alerted her to Laina's sudden discomfort at the mention of her sister because she shut the door and whirled around to face her. "Is there something going on between you and the Princess?"
"Why do you ask?" Laina said cautiously.
"Anna was quite snippy with you that one day, and it's not like her to act like that for no reason. I can't imagine what could have happened, what you could have done, to get her so worked up." Elsa was clearly bothered by the incident.
"She didn't like me touching you," Laina should have said, but refrained from doing so, knowing it would cost her dearly, so she searched her brain for some small lie that wouldn't blow up in her face too badly if it ever got back to Princess Anna. "It was…uh… krumkake! The Princess requested some and I… was the bearer of bad news," she fibbed. It killed her inside that she was lying to the Queen's face, no matter how harmless the lie seemed. But there was no denying Her Highness had a crazy obsession for the dessert so the lie was perfectly believable and one that seemed to appease the Queen, who mouthed an "Oh" of understanding and flashed an apologizing look for Anna's behavior.
"She can be a handful, that one," Elsa answered with a chuckle, and a small smile graced her lips. It faded almost as fast as it appeared and she looked pained and troubled when she turned her attention to the letter in her hand.
Laina wished she could do something to remove the saddening sight from those lovely features. "Do you need help with something, Your Majesty? Is there anything I can do?" the maid asked worriedly.
Sighing resignedly, Elsa crumpled the paper in her fist and opened the door all the way with her free hand. "No, you can't," she said tersely, and then added gently, "Thank you, Laina. Get some rest." And with those parting words, the Queen was gone.
Laina didn't move for the longest time, making absolutely certain Elsa wouldn't be returning. When she was sure, she flung herself backwards across the guest bed, collapsing against the cushioned bedding, and the breath escaped from her explosively as she rubbed her face vigorously with her hands.
Hands down that was the most intense few minutes she'd ever experienced in her life! Not knowing what to expect was terrifying and exciting. The whirlwind of emotions the Queen put her through without even meaning to was laughable. Her exhaustion from earlier vanished completely, Laina grinned stupidly, thinking of the Queen's last words, and knew there was no way in hell she'd be getting any sleep that night, not with everything so fresh in her head. Frankly, she didn't mind one bit.
Elsa had been so sure, so positive, that Laina was behind it all, and she had been wrong. Now she was back to where she started, which was absolutely nowhere.
After her unsuccessful visit with Laina, which unfortunately only gave her more problems to worry about, Elsa was going to try and locate Olaf to get some information out of him and find out how he got hold of the letter to begin with. But when she took note of the time, she realized her investigating period was up.
It was almost midnight.
Defeated, Elsa had only one solid way of finding out who this mystery girl really was. She had no choice. She had to attend the meeting and put an end to her misery.
AN: Holy heck this chapter is pretty long, or at least the longest I've posted so far. :o I sincerely apologize for the delay of this chapter... I've mentioned before that I've written some of the chapters well in advance so they're usually ready to post but this chapter, or at least the maid's part, wasn't planned and was added a bit last minute. It took a while to write (I literally spent all day on it!) and I hope it turned out okay?