Chapter 9: Heir to the Throne

The brief debate over the fate of the Princess's offspring was not the last question concerning children in the royal family. Though Elsa did not go so far as to adopt her sister's little ones, the placement of them in her care did leave some in Arendelle confused. With the devastating loss of the Princess, was little Elsabeth next in line to succeed her aunt to the throne? Of course not, many said. Unless...

Thus, the pestering regarding Elsa having her own child began anew. Never mind that the clamoring was quieter now - with the Queen's sexuality and her choice of marriage partner clear, most of Arendelle's subjects had given up hope that the Queen would fall pregnant with a child. How could it be done?

That didn't mean the question did not create pressure on the monarchy. For years, Ilya had dreamed off having her own baby. And she wanted to have one with Elsa, the love of her life.

"But how can we?" Elsa asked what everyone else was thinking, one night as the couple was preparing for bed.

"Take a lover. Lie down with a man," Ilya shrugged.

Elsa gawped at this cavalier answer. "And dishonor my wedding vows? Dishonor you?"

"If this is what has to be done, it doesn't bother me!" Ilya insisted.

"It bothers me," Elsa made clear.

"Well, what do you propose we do, then? Adopt?"

"For a child to be my heir, they have to share my blood. Royal blood. Directly descended from me," Elsa stipulated. "And I'm not going to amend the law so that Elsabeth or Vladimir might one day rule. I refuse to burden them with that."

There was a sudden knock on the door. Elsa's manservant, Levi, poked his head in. He was the Queen's age, had served her since she was a child, starting as a page boy.

"I have Your Majesty's nightly dessert here," he reported.

Elsa waved a hand. "Bring it forth, Levi."

Levi bowed. "As you wish." That was all Levi ever said when given a direct order. It was a phrase uttered with abject devotion, murmured almost like a prayer. By now, Elsa was too accustomed to Levi's ways to notice. But Ilya did notice, especially how Levi seemed to blush as he bowed to his Queen and exited the room.

Ilya turned to her wife, a glint in her eye. "That poor boy is in love with you," she proclaimed.

Elsa's first instinct was to laugh. "In love? With me? Surely you jest!"

Ilya shrugged, jerking her thumb to the door. "Why don't you sleep with him? I bet you dollars to donuts his boys are fresh. You take him to bed, maybe he could give us a baby."

Elsa nearly choked on her treacle tart. "You want me to sleep with my manservant?"

Again, Ilya shrugged, as if she had just suggested they go horseback-riding on Sven. "It's just an idea. At least he's pleasant enough to look at, and I'm gay as hell!"

Elsa scoffed, and moved to lie down beside her wife. But even as she tried to go to sleep, the idea could not be completely banished from her mind. Enough so that she was possessed to blurt out into the darkness.

"One time. And if I don't conceive, we think of something else."

Several nights later, Elsa sent Ilya to sleep in the children's nursery. Like clockwork, well after dark, Levi appeared with Elsa's dessert tray. Elsa admitted him gratefully, only to then place the dessert aside.

"May I ask what bothers Her Majesty?" Levi asked. "You've not touched your dessert."

Elsa pursed her lips nervously, then patted the bedspread beside her. Curious, Levi sat down next to her.

"Levi... if I ask you something, will you answer me honestly?"

"Of course," Levi replied readily, his brow furrowed.

Elsa fixed him with her most knowing stare. "How long have you been in love with me?"

Levi tellingly flushed bright red and stammered out, "W-Wherever did Your Majesty get that idea?"

"Many things," Elsa replied, not bothering to enumerate them. If Ilya's hunch was correct, she didn't have to, though she could nonetheless think of a few reasons. Levi's loyalty for years on end being just one of them. Elsa sighed. "People are... expecting me to produce an heir. And I can't do so with my wife." Elsa forced her eyes to his again. "I feel I might need to... take a lover. And so... I choose you." Elsa dared to lightly frame his face, her fingers drumming along his jawline contemplatively. "Would that be all right?"

Levi was gaping, though if Elsa looked down, she could clearly see that he was... excited. "I... I only live to serve my Queen."

"Then make love to me. Please," Elsa commanded softly.

Elsa felt Levi caress her cheek, his features tempted. "As you wish." That last whisper came before his lips sealed over hers.

Elsa gasped into the kiss. Levi tasted nice and soft, but she did not feel the stirring, the fluttering in her chest, the way she did when Ilya kissed her. Poor boy. How long had "As you wish" meant the same as "I love you"? Had she been blind? Well, let it be. If she became impregnated, great with child, Levi was a worthy father. Though to spare him, she would never reveal his identity, should their union produce an heir.

The Queen and her manservant fell back onto the bed, still kissing. Levi undressed Elsa tenderly, and Elsa imagined she was kissing her wife, the wife who now slept only doors away with their charges. Spreading her legs, Elsa guided Levi so that he straddled her, lining him up with her womanliness. As Levi gained entry past the petals of her sex, Elsa threw back her head from the pain. Levi's movements were uncertain, and for someone as aroused as he surely was, he was really kind and gentle. The pair's bodies slapped together as they unified faster and faster, their skin quickly becoming slick with sweat, Elsa groaning with pleasure in spite of herself. The Queen's bed creaked and swayed.

"Harder... faster... please," Elsa panted. Levi gave nothing in reply, but at last, with a shudder, he collapsed on top of her and split all he had inside of her. Elsa did not reach her climax, but she had not expected to. She only hoped that the deed was done, and done well.

Elsa kept her lover in her bed until dawn. Then, she dismissed with a fumbled thanks and a gentle kiss goodbye. "You've done well, my good and faithful servant."

A baby did not result from the union between the Queen and her manservant. Elsa didn't know whether she should have been surprised or not. Ilya certainly was disappointed, as Elsa would not entertain making love to her manservant ever again.

"So now what do we do?" Ilya pondered one night, long after the little ones had drifted off to sleep.

Elsa was quiet for a moment. And then...

She sat right up in bed. "I have a brilliant, beyond brilliant idea!"

"Huh?"

"The trolls. The trolls can use magic to give us a baby."

Ilya frowned. "You mean the trolls that crashed our first wedding?"

"They didn't crash it; they're Kristoff's family. He was raised by trolls. And they loved him and Anna. They would do this for us."

"So what do we do - take Sven and the sleigh for a joyride?" Ilya meant for it to be a joke. But from the way her wife's eyes gleamed, she should have known that was exactly what they would be doing.

The Queens departed for the North Mountain that very night, leaving guards posted outside the nursery. When they arrived at the hot springs home of Kristoff's troll family, Elsa called out, "Grand Pabbie! Come on out! I have a request!"

The boulders rolled and unfurled to reveal the trolls. Bulda, Kristoff's mother, stepped forward. "Your Majesty! How do my grandbabies fare?"

"They sleep soundly, just like their father," Elsa soothed with a smile. "But where's Grand Pabbie?"

The head troll now stepped forward. "What can we do for Your Majesties?"

"Grand Pabbie, if I asked you to give Ilya and I a baby and place it inside me, could you do it?"

Grand Pabbie considered the question for a moment. "I feel quite certain of it," he concluded. His eyes narrowed knowingly. "The Queen of Arendelle must have an heir." And with that, he waved his hands. Energy seemed to fill the space from everywhere, the green and mossy plain warming as Elsa was suddenly lifted off her feet and into the air. Moments later, the bright lights around her faded and she floated back down to Earth, swooning into Ilya's arms.

"Take her home," Grand Pabbie commanded the Queen Consort. "The magic should not fail."

And so Ilya raced her hopefully pregnant wife back to the palace.

Nine months later, Ilya found herself anxiously waiting outside her and Elsa's chambers with three equally anxious children, all under the age of 10. The door to the Queens' private residence would occasionally open and shut to let midwives in or out. Kai and Gerda did most of the supervising where the childbirth was concerned. Occasionally, behind the doors, Ilya could hear her beloved wife wailing in agony as she attempted to bring Arendelle's heir into the world.

At last, many hours later, and with Anna's children asleep in her arms, Kai came out to report to the Queen Consort.

"The Queen has given birth. It is a bouncing baby boy."

Ilya felt tears spring to her eyes in relief, and with Kai's help, she managed to bring both of her nieces and her nephew in tow, sleeping as they were. Elsa was propped up in their bed with pillows, looking tired but happy. A blue bundle was just being nestled into her arms, and as Ilya bent to kiss her wife, she could clearly see that their son was the most beautiful blend of both of its mothers.

"It's you..." Elsa breathed in wonder, feeling as though she was emerging from a dream. "You're gorgeous. And I... I made you?" A single tear rolled down her cheek, as here was living, breathing proof that she had done something right in her life. Besides, of course, having Anna for a sister.

Anna... if only she could see this...

"Anakin," Elsa crooned out the name of her child. She had always wanted to honor her sister with any child of hers, just as Anna had done with Elsabeth oh so long ago. When the Queen had first come to be with child, and had learned that it was a boy she carried, she had needed to get creative. Elsa had secretly wished for the baby to be a girl, but now, gazing into her son's eyes, that didn't seem to matter. She was a mother, at last.

And Arendelle had its heir. The future King. Somewhere up above, Elsa's parents, Anna and Kristoff were smiling.