Notes:
The titular tea finally makes an appearance, and Elsa tries to explain everyone what on earth has been going on. Hope you enjoy. X
"Hey. No duet today?"
Kristoff looked up in surprise, rag in hand. He'd been bent over one of Sven's hooves, clearly in the process of checking it for damage. He dropped the hoof at the sound of Anna's voice, though, and his free hand leapt up to rub the back of his neck. Sven's tongue lolled out and his tail wagged in greeting.
"Hey. No, no duet today. I'm – I need to think of some new verses."
Anna laughed. She was carrying a delicate little tray – blue, with beautifully painted purple crocuses on it – bearing two china cups, saucers, a teapot, spoons, a little jug of milk, a pot of sugar, sliced lemon and a jar of honey, all of which were sliding, slowly but surely, towards the edge of the tray.
Seeing this, Kristoff leapt forward and steadied it.
"You're a liability. How do you have any cups left in that castle?"
He suddenly realised that in levelling the tray, his fingers had closed over Anna's. He quickly dropped his hand.
"Oh, we have to get new crockery sets every three months or so," Anna said breezily, seeming not to have noticed a thing. She set the tray down on a free grooming stool before rubbing Sven's nose in greeting. "Hi Sven. I'm sure some of the servants have bets on how many cups I manage to break each day. Or things I spill. I brought some tea." She waved her hand at the tray.
"I can see."
"I've got milk, sugar, honey and lemon… I don't know how you take your tea. Do you drink tea?" She added anxiously.
Kristoff nodded.
"Phew. I don't know if we could be friends if you didn't drink tea. Elsa prefers coffee." Anna made a face.
Kristoff smiled. "Just plain tea is good for me."
Anna poured a cup for him. He gingerly took it, the tiny bone china seeming much too small and fragile for his heavy, weathered hands.
Anna did not notice his hesitancy though, and proceeded to generously add milk and sugar to her own cup before transferring the tray to the floor and perching on the stool herself.
"How did you sleep?"
Kristoff carefully took a gulp of tea before answering.
"Good. Actually, more than good. Is it a feather bed in that room?"
Anna looked confused. "Of course."
"I've never slept in a feather bed before."
Anna looked even more confused. "What? What do you normally sleep in?"
Kristoff shrugged and took up the rag again. "Like I said the other day. Anything really. Proper beds aren't commonplace on the ice fields."
"Do you not stay with the Trolls? Though," Anna considered. "I suppose they don't really do feather beds either."
Kristoff shook his head in disbelief. "How you ever managed to survive in the mountains I'll never know. Especially having learnt this morning how long you normally sleep for in your feather bed ."
Anna huffed. "There's nothing wrong with not being a morning person."
Kristoff laughed.
"So what are your new verses going to be about then?"
"Oh, you know," Kristoff changed hooves. "Something about how people aren't all that bad, maybe. Sometimes they bring you tea and give you a feather bed to sleep in."
Anna grinned. "Well, I've never been a muse before. That's a first."
Kristoff straightened and rubbed his back. He gave Sven a pat. "Come on then buddy. Let's get you brushed before Elsa's address."
"Ohh, I'll help!" Anna jumped up, tea still in hand. Kristoff looked apprehensive. He took a gulp of his own tea very mistrustfully.
"I'm not sure about that."
"I'm great at grooming. I brush Sam all the time!"
"Sam's a horse."
"Horse, reindeer – it can't be that different."
Kristoff exchanged a look with Sven. "What do you think?"
Sven snorted.
"Please don't let the clumsy princess brush me," Kristoff murmured in Sven's derpy baritone. "She'll take my eye out! Hmm. I kind of agree, buddy. But maybe we should give her a chance. She means well." All this was said very quietly, and he scratched under Sven's chin before looking up to smile at Anna.
She was looking at him very strangely.
He flushed.
"Oh boy. This is like the Rocks all over again, isn't it?"
That made her laugh.
"It's ok. The Rocks turned out to be not so crazy after all." She grinned. "So Sven says yes, right?"
Twenty minutes later, the tea was finished and Sven's coat was shining.
"We should head back inside. It's nearly eleven."
Kristoff nodded. He dusted down his jerkin, trying to remove as much reindeer hair as possible. He could hear the steadily increasing rumble of voices drifting in from outside. He knew townsfolk would have packed themselves into the courtyard and the surrounding streets to try to hear what their enigmatic queen had to say.
"You stay here, Sven. It's going to be busy out there."
Sven huffed in agreement and nudged a bag hanging off a peg at the side of the stall.
Kristoff rummaged in the bag and produced a carrot. He handed it to Sven. "See you later."
Giving the reindeer a solid pat, and grabbing another carrot for himself, Kristoff turned back to Anna. "You ready?"
She was bouncing on the balls of her feet and didn't seem to hear him.
"Anna?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure. I was born ready." She flashed a grin that didn't quite mask the anxiety underneath.
Leaving Sven munching, they walked round the stables and back into the courtyard. It was, as expected, packed.
Anna grabbed Kristoff's hand and pulled him into the crowd.
"Sorry, excuse me, sorry, coming though–"
The crowd squashed up each other like fish in a catch to create a narrow pathway for the Princess of Arendelle. Kristoff threw them as many apologetic looks as he could as they pushed their way through.
"Anna –"
"Excuse me – oops, sorry –"
"Anna!" He finally shook his hand from her grasp. "I should probably stay here."
She immediately stopped and looked back at him, confused. The throng on either side of them was still packed tighter than sardines and seeing this, Kristoff impatiently steered Anna forward.
They reached a pocket of space by the castle doors and stopped. "I'm going to stay here. Elsa will want you to be with her, but I'll just be in the way."
"But Elsa will want to thank you."
"Elsa has thanked me enough," he said firmly. "Go find her. I'll see you after the address."
Kristoff did feel a twinge of guilt at the slight look of loss on Anna's face, but he had made up his mind: if he went inside, Anna would insist he came up with them to the balcony and Elsa, unable to deny her sister anything after the past few days, would not say no. He'd have to stand up there, in front of all these people, looking as if he was a big part of this story. No doubt he'd be introduced, too.
The three different kinds of spoons from dinner last mind rose vividly to his mind.
"See you in a bit?"
The impulse to hug her, to pull her into his arms, was overwhelming. She looked so worried.
He cleared his throat. "See you in a bit."
Anna slipped away through the front doors. Once inside, she glanced around – where would Elsa be?
Up the stairs, down two corridors – sure enough, her sister stood muttering and pacing up and down behind the balcony doors. Her dress was immaculate and there was not a hair out of place on her head. Anna self-consciously brushed reindeer hair and a few pieces of stable straw off her own skirt.
"Elsa?"
The queen looked up. "Anna."
"Elsa, if you're muttering the word 'conceal' to yourself, I swear – I will – I'm going to –"
"Stutter at me?" Elsa grinned. "Come here."
Anna came towards her and took her hand, squeezing it gently. "You ok?"
"No. But I'm ready." She exhaled. "No Kristoff?"
"He wanted to stay outside and watch. He said he's be in the way up here."
Elsa frowned very slightly; Anna didn't see.
"Your majesty?" It was Kai. "It's almost eleven."
"Thank you Kai. I'm ready."
Kai bowed. Without further ado, he pulled the balcony doors open and stepped into the sunshine.
"Queen Elsa, of Arendelle. Princess Anna, of Arendelle."
Anna wouldn't let Elsa drop her hand as they walked into the lion's den.
"People of Arendelle."
From this distance, Kristoff thought, it was almost impossible to tell that Elsa was shaking like a leaf. Her face hardly betrayed a shadow of the fear she'd confessed over dinner.
"Thank you for coming out to see me today – and in such numbers."
Beside her, Anna squeezed her hand again. Kai handed the queen the roll of paper that held the scribbles and scrawls of her speech.
"I speak to you today to offer both an explanation for the events since my coronation and a sincere apology. It was not until I returned to Arendelle two days ago that I saw the extent of the damage I had caused."
She took a breath. Focused on the warmth of Anna's little hand in hers. It drove back the icy fractals spreading through her veins.
"I can only pray that you hear me today and understand I never meant to hurt anyone – I never meant to curse this beautiful kingdom with an unnatural winter."
The crowd was silent. Kristoff could have sworn that in that moment, no-one dared breathe.
"Since I was a child, I have fought to control the power I possess – the power to control snow and ice. For years, you questioned the closure of the gates – and it is today I must tell you that it was because of me. Upon discovering the extent of my power, my father, King Agdar, felt it would be best for both the kingdom and our family to keep it a secret – at least until I had learnt to control my magic. This is why the gates were closed; this is why for years I did not make public appearances. Though he acted with our best interests at heart, I see now that the years of isolation did nothing but fuel the fear I felt and shut me off from my sister – the beautiful young woman to whom we owe the salvation of Arendelle. Princess Anna."
Anna looked at her sister in surprise and alarm. Kristoff, lost somewhere in the middle of the now-muttering crowd, could not help but smile.
"Princess Anna did not for a second give up on me – not even when, on the night of my coronation, I lost control and plunged you all into the winter which has cursed the past few days. It was Princess Anna who followed me into the mountains, brought me home, and showed me the way to reverse my magic – and thaw Arendelle."
Slowly – so slowly – a ripple of applause began.
The ripple became a flow, the flow a surge and finally, joyfully, a storm of applause broke through the courtyard. Elsa turned to her sister and bowed. The applause of the courtyard grew louder, joined now with cheers and cries of elation.
Kristoff clapped harder than anyone.
Anna turned bright red under her freckles and didn't know what to do with herself. She had not been expecting this.
Looking at Elsa, Kai and then finally the undulating crowd before her, she waved to their people with an inelegant happiness that a princess shouldn't have – but somehow, did nothing but bring out the irrepressible and infectious life she exuded every day.
After a minute or so, Elsa quietened the roar with a raised hand. She took a moment and continued.
"My father did not live see the day I learnt to control my powers. I must confess that for a long time, I did not believe that day would ever come. But I now see that I was wrong – for that day is today. I truly believe, now, that with my sister at my side, I can control the magic that is as much a part of me as this voice with which I speak to you. I believe that, together, we can build a future for Arendelle that is peaceful, prosperous. The gates to Arendelle will never close again."
Elsa paused for a moment. She looked at the faces of the people below her that were so individual, and yet all one in their silent expectation.
"That is, if you – my people – will let me. Arendelle is yours as much as it is mine, and I will not subject you to the sovereignty of a queen you fear. You – you, the people of Arendelle – deserve a monarch that you can trust and, I would hope, love.
"If you wish for me to step down from the throne, abdicate and pass the orb and sceptre to my sister, I shall do so without hesitation – and without resentment. You need not fear retribution of ice and snow."
Anna stepped forward, as if to say something – but Elsa placed a hand on her arm. This speech had been planned, point by point, and she would not have its rhythm broken.
"But if you will have me, Arendelle – if you can find it in your hearts to forgive me – I would be honoured to serve as your queen, though it is an honour I do not deserve. If you will have me, Arendelle, I will rule this kingdom with all the grace and wisdom I possess. If you will have me, Arendelle, I will defend this land to my dying breath. If you will have me, Arendelle, I will, unceasingly, strive to be the queen you deserve."
With that, she bowed her head to the crowd and left the balcony.
Impetuously, Anna rushed forward. "People of Arendelle. I just have a few more things to say. I'm never going to make a speech as good as that, but I just wanted to say – I know that Elsa will be the greatest queen Arendelle has ever seen. And I think you should take this chance. I don't want to lose my sister again – and I don't think you want to lose your queen."
She was leant with both hands on the balustrade, leaning over with emphatic passion to be as close to the people below as she could.
"That's all I have to say really – but – thank you. For coming to listen to us."
She bobbed into an awkward little curtsey and hurried after her sister.
The balcony doors swung shut; the roar of a hundred discussions suddenly swelled from the crowd.