Elsa strolls over to a daisy bush, taking care to avoid the cracks in the garden's granite slabs. Her crown glimmers beneath the sunlight streaming through the clouds and beating on her head, but the Ice Queen doesn't perspire in the slightest. Hummingbirds tweet and flutter around when she runs her fingers against the petals. Elsa sighs and takes a step back to admire the neatly arranged mix of red and white daisies, splayed out upon the bush like a kaleidoscope of blood on snow.
A grimace forms on her face when she hears the crunching of boots on gravel; she turns and folds her arms as Kai arrives and bows before her.
"Your Majesty," he announces, holding out a stack of paper, "the Demobilization Committee has reached an agreement."
Elsa takes the document and weighs it in the palm of her hand. It's a hefty stack, but she turns to the last page and scoffs at the dozen signatures filling each line, with one last space awaiting hers.
"That didn't take very long," Elsa sneers, flipping through the pages, "what did they agree upon?"
"The Department of Taxation has recommended demobilization in tranches to minimize the impact of unemployment in the countryside. The Admirals have also suggested that a portion of Arendelle's Navy be turned over to the merchant fleet, in exchange for a retention of command positions," Kai says, before hesitating, "and um…"
Elsa nods, and he continues.
"The general consensus among the military is that they're…er…unsure of how your powers work. The Chiefs of the Armed forces want to conduct field trials with you; I told them it was pointless, but they kept insisting it was for the good of Arendelle and-"
"Actually," Elsa interrupts, "that's a good idea. I don't know how far my powers can go either."
"Very well then, I'll tell them to go ahead with the planning. There isn't enough open space in the Capital's vicinity so they've decided to hold it somewhere else next month. The details are in the last section."
"Reconvene the Committee," Elsa sighs, patting the stack of paper, "I'll read this later and sign it when we meet again."
Kai bows and takes his leave, allowing Elsa the leisure of continuing her stroll amidst the buzzing of honey bees. She seats herself on a stone bench by the daisy bush, keeping her hand poised on the documents. A warm breeze wafting through the beech trees carries the scent of strawberries to Elsa's nose; she freezes the paper against the bench and holds her breath, listening to the rustle of leaves. The sound of a slipper dragging against grass confirms her thoughts, and she bolts up from the bench.
"Anna!" Elsa gasps as her sister staggers in view from behind a tree clutching a cane, "You're not supposed to be out and about! I specifically told you to rest in-"
"Can't keep me locked up forever!" Anna sneers. Despite the aid of her walking stick, she stubs her toe on a tree root and stumbles. Elsa shrieks and leaps to Anna with grass freezing beneath her feet, but the sudden touch of metal to her neck cuts off her approach.
"What-" Elsa stammers, staring at the glinting blade held to her throat. On the other end of the sword, Anna's lips curl into a smirk. Elsa cocks an eyebrow at her sister, and her breath forms a fog on the gray steel.
"I wish you could see your own face," Anna giggles, sheathing the sword back into her cane, "you look hilarious when you're scared."
"Stop fooling around, that's dangerous," Elsa scowls, "where'd you get that from anyway?"
"My fencing instructor made it," Anna says, supporting her weight on the walking stick.
"You're taking fencing? Weren't you doing ballet classes?"
"Oh, please Elsa," Anna says, twirling the stick around between her fingers, "I…um…stopped after mom and dad…y'know. But hey, it's fun – you should join me sometime."
Elsa waits for the spinning stick to collide with Anna's head; she takes advantage of the momentary distraction to remove her gloves and extend a blade of ice from her fingertips.
"I don't need to fence," Elsa smirks, tipping Anna's chin with her ice-sword. Anna gasps and shifts her weight back against the tree. Their eyes meet, and a tinge of pink spreads across Anna's face. Beneath the sunlight filtering through Beech leaves, Elsa notices the tip of her sword melting into a sheen under her sister's chin.
"That's a neat trick," Anna says, running her hand along the blade. Her forearm flexes as she curls her fingers around the mid-point, and the blade snaps with a crunch.
"You're pretty strong," Elsa comments, watching her sister bring the blade to her lips.
"Mm, this icicle sure is delicious," Anna says, keeping her eyes fixed on her sister as she swirls her tongue around the tip.
The gloves slip from Elsa's hands and flutter to the ground; she takes a step closer and breathes in her sister's strawberry-cotton scent. Anna drops the icicle against the ground with a clunk; her gaze travels up the slit of her sister's gown, and it lingers on the pale smoothness of her ungloved hands. The sound of her thumping heart punctuates the distance between them, and Anna's hair flutters amidst the heavy breathing of Elsa's breath.
"There's more where that came from," Elsa whispers, and Anna slips the cool of her fingers into her sister's hands. She skims her lips against each one of Elsa's fingers, taking care to avoid touching her signet ring. The summer heat bearing down on her skin makes concentrating on keeping her dress in one piece immensely difficult; the task made even more insurmountable with Anna taking deliberate pleasure in kissing each one of her fingertips.
Anna notices her sister's face turning red, and her lips curl into a smile. She pulls Elsa into her arms, and brushes her lips along her ears.
"I have something to say," Anna whispers, her voice deepening to a throaty drawl, "I came out just to see you."
Elsa rests a hand upon her sister's chest and smiles against her braids, "you didn't have to."
"I missed you," she slurs, running her lips along the pink hue lining Elsa's warm face.
"Anna…I…I…" Elsa stammers and clutches at Anna's fingers in an attempt to hold onto her own sanity and sense of reason, "please."
"Please what?" Anna answers, taking her time to savor the delicate fragrance of lavender lining her sister's neck. The touch of Anna's lips to her neck drags a throaty moan out from the pit of her stomach, and despite her best attempts at concealing it – another one follows, louder than the last.
Her eyes flutter open at the sound of tweeting hummingbirds. Elsa brushes Anna's braids with trembling hands, and she hesitates before whispering, "Not here." The sensation of Anna pushing her away feels like falling, and her heart breaks when she sees a look of hurt flash across her sister's eyes.
Elsa pulls Anna by the shoulders, "I'm sorry-"
"You're such a tease," Anna hisses, flicking her sister's hand away. She starts hobbling away, but the pain tearing through her leg causes her to stumble, and Elsa grabs her by the hips.
"Oh, no you don't. You're not going anywhere this time," Elsa scowls. Despite the Queen's slim frame, she picks her sister up easily. Anna pretends to resist with a couple of kicks, before relaxing and allowing Elsa to haul her over to the bench with a grin plastered on her face.
"Look, Anna. I'm sorry – it's just that we can't get too comfortable out here. The palace will talk."
"It's ok," Anna replies, looking down and fiddling with the pleats of her dress, "I just thought I…um…y'know…maybe I was getting somewhere with you."
A thought flashes through Elsa's mind, and she grabs the stack of thawed paper by her side.
"Well, you're in luck, because next month, I am going on a political trip to-" Elsa says, flipping through the documents and tracing her fingers down the last section, "Finnmark!"
Anna's eyes widen at the name, "Finnmark? Wow that's…far! It's almost at the edge of Russia!"
"Been studying geography haven't you?" Elsa quips, ruffling her sister's hair. Anna's eyes beam with hope; she bites her lower lip and eagerly awaits her sister's next words.
"…and I want you to come with me," Elsa continues, "it's going to be boring and lonely being so far away with no-one but grumpy old men for company."
Anna shrugs and turns away; it takes all the strength in her face to force a pretend frown onto her face, "There's permafrost in Finnmark, and it's cold, even for this time of the year,"
Elsa studies her sister's expression intently; a sigh escapes her when she sees Anna hiding a smile. She never imagined today could get any brighter, but it just did.
"Keep smiling like that and I'll thaw it for you when we get there," Elsa says, pulling Anna's shoulders close to her and dropping her voice to a whisper, "I'm in love with your smile after all."
"…and I'm in love with you," Anna chimes, leaning over and kissing her sister on the cheek.