"Attack! Parry! Attack! Parry!" Stick's voice carried across the training yard as dozens of feet beat to the time of his calls. He walked through the lines and drilling guards. "Widen your stance Overland!"
Jack groaned and fixed his stance. In front of him Sanderson smirked, attacking again. "Having trouble Jack? Need more guidance?"
"I'm fine." Jack was proud to hear that he no longer panted after minor exertion.
Sanderson raised an eyebrow, "Come on Jack. You're never going to learn this way. Let's make this more interesting."
Jack gave no answer. He was too busy trying to simultaneously widen his stance and put more power into his attacks.
Sanderson took that as consent and pressed forward. In seconds Jack and Sanderson's rhythm was off from that of the other guards. Jack was slowly pushed backward. It was no longer a rotation of thrusts and parries, but Sanderson attacking Jack, while Jack made fatigued attempts to block. The attacks came faster and faster.
Jack laughed nervously, "Okay Sanderson, that's enough."
Sanderson smirked, only speeding up. "What's wrong Jack? Can't keep up?"
Sanderson now shifted his attack pattern, striking in any opening. Jack had learned the defenses, but he'd never had to use them outside of drill. He twirled the wooden sword, meeting each attack just before they hit. Stick was starting towards Jack and Sanderson, a thunderous expression on his face.
"Seriously Sanderson, stop." Jack took another step backwards, his back hitting the wall.
Sanderson stepped forward, still wearing the same joking smile. He raised the sword and swung it at Jack.
Jack flinched, but Sanderson's sword hit right above his head. Dust and stone chards rained into Jack's hair.
Sanderson laughed, the same joking smile Jack was familiar with had returned to his face. "You looked terrified. Did you think I was actually going to hurt you?"
Behind Sanderson, Erika was running from the other side of the yard. Her expression was even more thunderous than Stick's.
Sanderson followed Jack's gaze and turned to face Erika, "Hey. I never thought I'd see you stop in the midd-"
Erika's fist snapped out and caught Sanderson in the nose. His head cracked back and he stumbled into the wall next to Jack. He brought a quaking hand to his hand, brining it away to find it dripping in red.
Erika was trembling, "You….you asshole!"
Stick had caught up and matched Erika's expression. "Sanderson go to the pharmacy. Make sure you go to my office immediately after they release you." Sanderson scowled and slumped away.
"Now Erika what you did was unacceptable, but I'll let you off with a warning." Jack thought he saw an almost approving smile. "You two can sit out for a few minutes, but make sure to join back in a few minutes." Stick returned to the rows of guards and the air filled with the familiar beat.
Erika turned to Jack, "are you okay?"
"What the fuck was that?"
Erika rubbed her head wearily. "I don't know. When I first came Sanderson was so much nicer, so much friendlier. But in the past year something's changed. He became so much more of a…a…"
"Smartass?"
Erika nodded, "but he's never done anything like this."
Jack' laughter was bitter, "I guess I bring out the worse in people."
"Don't give up on him." Erika looked towards the guards. "Yeah, he takes the joke too far, but he's still a good guy at heart."
Jack watched the drills as they grew slowly more intricate. "I don't think I'm ever going to be able to sword fight."
"I wasn't able to at first," seeing Jack's doubtful expression, Erika laughed. "When I first came here I was incredibly clumsy. I couldn't make it up the stairs, much less complete these training drills.
"What happened?"
"I took dance lessons with Baard."
"What!?" Despite leaning against the wall, Jack still stumbled.
Erika looked defensive. "Dancing's very good for stamina and balance. It's how Stick got to be so good. He used to be a dance teacher."
Jack shook his head. "My god. I never would've taken him as a dancer, he's so…so hard."
Erika laughed. "That doesn't mean he isn't good. You should ask him to teach you." She stood up and prepared to walk back into the yard. "He'd might let you during your detentions."
…..
"Are there any other issues?" Around the table there were collective nays and head shakes, "then this meeting is concluded. Thank you for your time."
The old men filed out of the room with the occasional parting comment to Elsa. She responded remarking on the beautiful weather, agreeing that the rye would do well this year and laughing at anecdotes of odd trade deals. The last advisor paused next to Elsa.
"Yes Samuel?" She tried to force a smile. Samuel meant well, but he was just so opinionated.
"Your majesty some of the other advisors and I were talking. We've decided that it just isn't right for you to continue in this state."
"Beg pardon?" Sure she hadn't given a lot of attention to her appearance this morning, but she hadn't thought it was terrible.
"You must get yourself a handmaiden."
Oh, "I'll see to hiring someone." She walked away leaving the advisor behind.
This one of the things she'd always hated about being royal. She never liked the idea of having someone constantly prodding her. Her business was hers alone. She'd pretend to look at applications So if the advisors asked her, she was 'working on it.'
She brushed political thoughts aside and focused on pleasanter things. She had finished most of the invitations the night before, shipping out those destined for the furthest countries along with the one to the Southern Isles. Because lost invitations were common, Elsa would start writing doubles and sending those out as well. She wouldn't allow anything to go wrong with Anna's wedding.
You have to stop trying to make up for abandoning your sister. It wasn't your fault; your parents made you stay away.
Until, of course, your parents died. Your sister needed you and you ignored her.
"I was upset!" Elsa slapped her hand over her mouth, looking around to make sure no one had seen her outburst.
You had no excuse. Not only was Anna in an incredibly vulnerable state, but your parents were no longer around to forbid you from talking to her.
Elsa had wanted to talk to Anna. She had just been too weak. If she'd gone to see Anna Elsa could've lost control of her powers. Triggering Anna's memories had been far too large a risk to take.
Yet when you froze the entire kingdom, her memories were never at risk. Why would that be?
Of course Elsa had thought about it. If Anna wasn't hurt during Elsa's winter, could Elsa have told her earlier? Had all those years of loneliness and solitude been for nothing? Elsa sped up.
Do you want to know what I think?
No.
I think the trolls were afraid of you. I think they wanted you to shun your powers.
The trolls had only wanted to help. Even though they'd made her parents lock her in her room, they'd truly believe Elsa was…
A threat.
Elsa glared at the figure she couldn't see. The trolls hadn't thought she was threat, not before and not now.
What about since your little winter? How many times have they tri-
Elsa ran into someone, falling into a tangle of limbs.
"Shit!" The guard from the evening before scrambled away. "I'm so sorry your majesty, I didn't see you there."
Elsa stood, slowly straightening her dress. "Its fine, my mind was elsewhere. I should have been paying attention." Where had the shadow gone?
The guard gave a small bow, "This way your majesty." He flourished towards the corridor that led to the library. Behind him Baard rolled his eyes, causing Elsa to smile.
Jack smirked, thinking the smile had been for him. He offered his arm, which she ignored, setting down the corridor by herself. He followed her at a light jog.
"Why do all the people here walk so fast? Haven't you ever heard of taking a leisurely stroll?"
"I'm a queen." Elsa raised an eyebrow, "I don't have time for leisurely strolls."
"That's very sad," the guard shook his head. "Do you even know what roses smell like?"
"Of course I know what roses smell like." Elsa smiled sadly. "I wasn't always a queen."
The guard shook his head; he seemed more upset by Elsa's words than Elsa herself. "You really need some fun."
"Excuse me?" He certainly didn't have much decorum.
Baard stepped forward, "remember what I told you Jack."
Elsa raised an eyebrow. Would it be rude to ask what Baard had told the younger guard? Technically she was his queen, so she'd just be learning about the people she ruled. It's a queen's duty to stay knowledgeable on her subjects. She sighed; it would be rude to use her nobility to trick confessions out of people.
They had finally reached the library. The guard jumped forward to grab the door for her with another elaborate bow, "Please your majesty, you shouldn't sully your hands on a lowly door." His smirk earned him another glare from Baard.
Elsa chose to ignore his insolence, though she was beginning to suspect what had gotten him detention. She swept into the library and went immediately to the desk. She took a moment to brush the familiar wood, letting the musty wooden scent washing over her. No matter what the guard said, she did take time to enjoy the little things.
She sat down and began to scrawl the first invitation, but something tickled the back of her neck. The wind traced the intricate twirls of her bun, before inspecting the parchments before her. She shooed it away. It would wreak havoc on the invitations, potentially delaying the entire process by several hours.
The wind ignored her and blew a few invitations off the desk. When she bent to collect them, she offered an alternative, pulling the wind back toward her hair. She didn't let down her braid, she was in company after all, but she did let it pull strands of her hair out of the bun. She returned to the invitations.
After a few minutes, she realized that the guard had yet to complete a single. She would like to think that he had cracked down and was giving each invitation the attention it deserved, but from their brief acquaintance she knew that was too much to expect.
She looked at him. "Early when you spoke of wasting time smelling flowers, I assumed you only did so when the metaphorical flowers were present. However your current speed is forcing me to conclude that there are flowers in this room that I somehow cannot see."
The guard shook himself, "It's not that. It's your," he brought his hand to his head, "hair."
Elsa felt her bun. The wind had been liberal with her instructions and created a veritable halo. "There's weird ventilation in the castle; someone must have left a window open." No matter how embarrassing it was, it was better the wind messed with her hair than the paper.
"Right, weird ventilation." He gave Elsa a sneaky smile, "the air almost seems sentient."
Her breath caught and she gave a nervous laugh, "I suppose you could say that." Did he know something? Not even Anna knew about the wind.
The guard offered no answers, only returning to his invitation with a smug look on his face. He made a few exaggerated strokes than passed it to her. It took her seconds to see that his handwriting hadn't improved since yesterday. She crumbled it and threw it into the trashcan. He snorted indignantly, but knew better than to protest and returned to the parchments in front of him.
They spent the next few hours in silence, but Elsa could see the guard's frustration growing every time she threw one of his invitations into the basket. The next time he passed her an invitation, he refused to let go when she tried to grab it.
"You have to tell me what's so wrong about this one. I honestly can't see the difference between this one and the example you gave me."
Elsa took it, examined the intricacies of the ink, "It's acceptable," the guard leaned back in triumph. "But acceptable isn't good enough. I need these invitations to be perfect."
"Why not!?" The guard leaned across the table. "There's nothing wrong with that invitation."
"It looks lazy," Elsa leaned forward slightly, pointing to the parchment. "The letters are slightly too faint, and their angled too much. I can tell you were bored when you wrote this."
The guard squinted at the paper. "Now I'm sure you're making things up. I don't see anything."
Elsa fought a tiny smile, "you're just not looking close enough."
"No, I see that." He pointed at her, "You may have a tiny smile, but it's there." He put on a self-pitying expression. "You take joy in crushing my hopes and rejecting my perfect invitations."
Elsa almost laughed. "If your invitations were perfect, perhaps you would have reason to complain of my supposed sadism. But as it stands, you're just lazy and don't want to admit that you need to improve." Baard snorted and Elsa shot him a smile.
Jack huffed and watched with pathetic eyes as Elsa tossed the invitation into the basket. He dipped the quill and stared at the new parchment with determination. Elsa traced the familiar strokes of the letter addressing important dignitaries and foreign religious leaders. She fell into the rhythm of swirls and twists losing herself in a maze of ink.
It wasn't until her paper was illuminated by the orange glow of dusk that she realized it was far later than she had intended to work. She stood up giving a small stretch, "that's all for tonight."
The guard finished the last flourish on his invitation, the same invitation he'd been working on since their conversation. He held it out with a challenging gaze.
Elsa took it gently, blowing on the still wet ink. She inspected every detail, analyzing the paper for the slightest smudge or sign of neglect.
She found none.
Without a word she placed it in the pile of finished invitations.
The guard pumped his fist in the air and gave a holler of excitement. "I knew it!" He started doing a little jig around his chair. His face glowed with the joy from even this minor victory.
Elsa raised an eyebrow, trying not to laugh, "don't get above yourself. You wrote an invitation."
"I'm honored by your majesty's approval of my craftsmanship."
"You don't have to call me that." Your majesty sounded so stuffy. She tried to discourage her servants from using titles. Of course, very few felt comfortable addressing her in any other way. She tried not to glance at Baard.
He smiled, "what should I call you?"
She paused, "Elsa's fine."
"Well Elsa, may I escort you out?"
Elsa ignored his arm, turning her back on him as she left the library.