Seducing a Queen
By: Itachi Black
Chapter 6
QUEEN Elsa's first instinct after seeing the paper was to retreat to her private chamber, crawl back into the safety of her bed, and pull the thick covers over her head. Perhaps by the time she re-emerged the whole sorry episode would be ancient news and someone would have murdered his poor aging grandmother or married his scullery maid or ridden horseback naked while singing throughout the streets or done something equally startling with which to distract the fickle attention of the ton.
The ton could not be seriously interested, surely, in the fact that a dull, aging, independent Queen had lied to a young prince who had once spurned her love by telling him she was betrothed to a villainous, wife-stealing rake- who also happened to be a prince.
But, oh, dear, when put that way, the fact really did sound intriguing, even to her. She groaned against the mattress.
Creeping off back to bed would obviously solve nothing, she decided. She would go out instead. She would call on Vanessa, and perhaps together they would go to Rachel's, and the three of them would share a good laugh over last evening and the silly story in the paper this morning.
It was a good thing they all had a good sense of humor.
But was any of this funny?
Of course not.
She would dearly like to have a word with Prince Hans, Elsa thought. More than a word, in fact. She would more than like to give him a good tongue-lashing about now. It was true that it was she who had told a ridiculous and foolish lie, but why on earth had he spread the story about when she had also told him no one else knew yet, even her family? Had it been done out of sheer spite? But why?
He was a royal like her, was he not? He would well know the proper order for a betrothal. And this was not the way to do it in the least. He ought to know better.
But it was as if her wish conjured him. A footman came into the breakfast parlor at that moment to inform the butler, who informed Elsa, that Prince Hans had asked to see Queen Elsa and had been shown into the visitors' parlor.
Elsa followed the stoic butler there and swept past him after he had opened the door for her.
Hans, in his native uniform, was standing before the empty fireplace, looking smart and imposing and decidedly uncomfortable- as well he might. He bowed to her and stayed in that position for a few more seconds.
"Els-", he began.
"I want an explanation," she demanded, glaring coldly at him. "Do you hate me so much, Hans? But the better question would be, why do you hate me? What have I ever done to deserve it? What wrong have I done upon you?"
"My God, Elsa," he said, taking a step toward her and looking at her, aghast, "I do not hate you. I have always adored you. You must know that."
Her head snapped back as if he had struck her.
"Adored me?" she asked, her voice full of scorn. "Have you?"
"You are thinking of my late-wife, Teresa," he said. "I can explain that, Elsa. I swear."
"So can I," she said. "An imbecile could explain it. But I am not interested in hearing your explanation about the events from long ago. However, why did you betray me last evening?"
"Betray?" he said, stunned. "That is a very harsh judgment, Elsa. You are betrothed to Prince Jack, are you not? You told me so yourself- both at the park and at the ball."
"And on both occasions," she said, "I have told you that no announcement had yet been made, that even my family had not been told. It did not occur to me to swear you to secrecy. I trusted to your discretion and your honour. I clearly miscalculated my judgement."
He winced visibly.
"I was only concerned about you, my dearest Elsa," he said. "I was talking with Vanessa and her husband, Duke Edmond, when you left the dance floor to sit in that alcove with Prince Jack. Edmond explained who he was and wondered who had dared to introduce him to you. You could not possibly know that he was not a suitable acquaintance, he said. That worried your friend, and she would have undoubtedly gone and fetch you herself if her husband had not advised against it. Thus, I went instead. I hoped to draw you away from him without creating any sort of scene- I thought perhaps you would welcome the chance to escape if you already knew about him or at least, be grateful once you learned the truth. But instead you told me you were berothed to the man! What was I to do then?"
"Obviously," she said, "there was only one thing to do, and you did it. You told everyone in the ballroom."
"I merely confided in two of my fellow officers," he admitted. "They are my friends and I trust them. I asked for their opinion on whether a man who had known you all his life as a childhood friend had the right to interfere in your life to the extent of trying to persuade you to break off your engagement."
"You have not known me all my life," she said. "For example, you have not known me at all for the last nine years, Hans."
He cringed once more while Elsa thought pensively. ... as a childhood friend... somehow those words had stung. Had there been nothing else between them as far as he was concerned?
"Elsa," he said, "Jack Frost Overland is a scoundrel of the first order. He ought not even been there last night. I seriously doubt he had been sent an invitation. You cannot be possibly be serious about marrying him. Break off the engagement and marry me instead."
"What?" Her blue eyes widened.
"No one will blame you," he said. "Indeed, everyone will applaud your good sense."
"In choosing to marry you?" she said, with an arched brow.
He flushed.
"You would have married me once upon a time," he pointed out. "If your parents had lived, we probably would have married long ago, blissfully, in fact. Nothing much has changed since then except that we are both a little older. And except that you are lovelier now than you were then." He smiled very charmingly.
"And that you have been married in the meanwhile," she said. "And that you have a daughter."
"Who needs a mother," he spoke softly. "Elsa-"
But she held up a hand and he stopped.
He was asking her to marry him. After all this time, after all that had happened, he now expected her to marry him? After the terrible embarrassment he had caused her last evening?
But she would not allow her attention to be diverted from the main issue.
"It was one of the other officers who spread the news of my betrothal, then?" she asked. "Is that what you are saying, Hans?"
"It was not intentional and it was certainly not malicious," he said. "I was ready to rip him apart this morning after hearing all the gossip last evening and reading the papers this morning. But he was as concerned as I. He only mentioned what I had told him to his cousin when he spoke with her after leaving me- in strictest confidence, of course. He had wanted a woman's opinion in the matter."
And so the stories, rumours, gossip spread as surely as a wildfire did after a single spark had caught alight. The cousin had told someone else in confidence, and that someone else spoke to another person and so forth.
Well.
"I am so very, very sorry, Elsa," he apologized. "I realize it must be distressing to you to have your betrothal made public before you had even a chance to break the news to your family- and presumably before Prince Jack could apply formally to your brother-in-law, Kristoff- was it and your sister, Anna, for your hand. But there would have been gossip sooner or later, you know, if your own friends had been unable to talk you out of such an ineligible connection. It was not to be avoided. Jack is a social pariah and justifiably so. I really do not understand how you can have listened to an offer from the likes of him, let alone accepted one. Elsa-"
"Your long apology has been made," she said, interrupting him. "I assume that was your reason for coming here this morning, Hans. You will excuse me now. I was on my way to call upon Nessie when you arrived."
"Elsa," he spoke in a firm tone while taking another step toward her, "don't marry the wretched man. I beg you. You will be miserable. Marry me instead."
"And live happily ever after?" she nearly scoffed.
He had the grace to flush his face again.
"Sometimes," he said, "we need time in which to gain wisdom and make up for past mistakes."
Elsa frowned and said, "I truly hope you are not calling your late wife a mistake, Hans. Or your daughter. And perhaps Prince Jack ought to be granted the same opportunity to demonstrate that he is a wiser man now than he was five years ago and is willing and able to recover from past errors."
He signed audibly and then made her another bow.
"Your family and friends will all have something to say about this betrothal, I promise you," he said. "Listen to them, Elsa. Don't go against them just out of stubbornness. You always were the most stubborn person I knew, I remember. If you will not listen to me, then please listen to them. Promise me?"
She merely raised her eyebrows and stared at him for a while and he was simply obliged to bid her an abrupt good morning and march past her to let himself out of the room.
Meanwhile, Elsa stood where she was, listening to his boot heels ringing on the clean, marble floor of the hall and to the sounds of the outer door opening for him and then closing behind him.
He had asked her to marry him.
The last time he asked she had wanted quite literally to die because she had loved him so very dearly but had been unable to accept his proposal, because he was going away to war in order to serve his country and people and she had to stay home to bring up her younger sister, educate herself, and be coronated as the new ruler.
And now?
Could a love of that magnitude die? If it was true love, could it ever die? Was there such a thing as true love? Life was very sad and meek if there were not- and unbearably so if one's experience with romantic love turned one into an incurable cynic.
But she did not love Hans any longer. She did not want to love him again. Thing could never be the same between them. Was love conditional, then? Was she determined not to love him because he had been faithless once and caused her years of heartache and grief?
Then whoever could possibly deserve love if it was conditional upon perfect behavior? After all, no human being was perfect.
Did he love her? He had said he adored her. But did he also love her? Had he ever? But if he had, how could he have married someone else?
Had he loved his wife- Teresa?
Oh, she was horribly upset again. She had thought Hans could never again have this kind of power over her.
Elsa sighed and shook her head weakly and turned determinedly to the door. She would go and make that call on Vanessa. She would see the children and restore her spirits. Never mind that silly gossip last evening or the even sillier paragraph in this morning's paper. And never mind Hans. Or Prince Jack of Switzerland, who had to marry within the next two weeks or lose everything until after his grandfather died. Why should she care about his problems? And never mind the Prince of Denmark and his pretty future wife.
Life could be unutterably depressing at times, but it went on. There was no point in giving in to depression.
There was a tap on the door and it opened before she could reach it.
"There is an Archduchess Overland to see you, Your Highness," the butler informed her. "Will you receive her, Queen Elsa?"
Duchess Overland? Elsa's brows furrowed, trying to think who the lady could be. The title was very unfamiliar, but the name sounded familiar. But why on earth would she be calling in the morning when most social calls were made in the afternoon? Especially when they did not know each other.
Duchess Overland. Her eyes widened slightly. Had not Crown Prince Jack introduced himself as Jack Frost Overland? Who was this lady? His mother?
Was this whole foolish business never to end?
"Show her in, by all means," she said.
Duchess Overland was probably younger than she was, Elsa decided as soon as the lady stepped into the room. She was fashionably clad in a pale emerald carriage dress with a poke bonnet to match and the young lady was small and slender and blond and exquisitely lovely in a fragile sort of way.
Not his mother, then, Elsa thought. His sister? But she wore a small golden ring on her left, fourth finger which meant she was a married woman.
"Queen Elsa?" The elegant duchess curtsied and regarded Elsa with slightly slanted eyes, which were as green as her dress.
Elsa inclined her head.
"We have not met," the lady started, her voice sweet and breathless, "but I felt compelled to call upon you as soon as I heard. Your Highness, you must not marry Prince Jack. You really must not. He is the very devil and will bring you nothing but misery and ostracism from society. Do please forgive this impertinence from a complete stranger, but I had to take the risk of coming and warning you."
Elsa rejected her first impulse, which was to offer the lady a seat. She clasped her delicate hands at her waist and raised her eyebrows. Yes, this was indeed an impertinence.
"Duchess Overland?" she said. "You are a relative of Prince Jack?"
"It pains me to have to admit it," the lady said, flushing, "though fortunately he is a relative only by marriage. He is my dear husband's second cousin."
Elsa kept her eyebrows raised. She did not know what to say.
"You may known of me," Duchess Overland said. "My maiden name was Milford. I came within a few hours of making the most dreadful mistake of my life. I almost married the Crown Prince myself five years ago. Instead, I married my dear Nathan Overland shortly after and have been blissfully content with him ever since."
Oh, goodness. This was the abandoned bride, the sister-in-law of the infamous Angelica Milford, who had run off with the prince.
"Yes," Elsa said, "I have heard of you, of course. But-"
But this was none of her business. She had no wish to listen to the whole sordid story- or any part of it, for that matter.
"Your Highness, I am aware that I do not have an acquaintance with you," the Duchess said. Clearly she had come to talk, not to listen. "But I do know you by reputation. You are very well respected and a remarkable woman and a wonderful older sister of Princess Anna. I daresay it is irksome to you still to be unmarried when your younger sister have made such a brilliant match, but believe me, Queen Elsa, the answer does not lie in marrying Prince Jack. My dear brother was the happiest of men before Angelica was seduced away by that monster. He would have taken her back and forgiven her transgression at any time after she left. He would not divorce her, as everyone who knew him advised. He never lost hope that she would return home and beg his forgiveness- which he would freely have given. He was devastated by the news of her death. That man, Queen Elsa, has ruined my brother's life and shamed our great country and he would have ruined mine too if my dear husband had not been kind and honourable enough to marry me himself."
Elsa gazed at her in pure astonishment.
"I must thank you for your visit and your concern," she said. "Will you forgive me if I do not offer you refreshments? I am about to go out. My friend is expecting me."
She had decided very recently, she remembered, that she would never tell a lie again.
"Of course," the lady said. "I will not delay your appointment. And I do beg you to forgive me, Your Highness. It has been almost unbearably painful, you must understand, to know that man has had the effrontery to return to Bern. My brother suffers dreadfully from the knowledge, as do I. My dear Duke Overland is chagrined beyond words, since he must bear the shame of sharing a name with Prince Overland. It has been our fervent hope that we would neither see nor hear from him until we leave town at the end of the Season. We certainly had no desire to be embroiled in his business. But when I learned this morning that he had snared yet another innocent, respectable lady such as yourself into his net, I found the knowledge truly unbearable. I knew I had no choice but to come to warn you, to beg you to break off the betrothal before it is too late. Promise me that you will, Your Highness."
"I appreciate your concern for my happiness," Elsa said, crossing the room with firm steps to open the door. "And I thank you for coming. You will excuse me now?"
"Of course," Duchess Overland replied, still waiting until Elsa held the door open for her. "I felt it my duty to come and warn you as another royal member."
The Queen inclined her head and stood in the doorway to watch her visitor leave.
She was still all astonishment What had that been about? It was perfectly understandable, of course, that the lady would hate the Crown Prince, both on her account and on that of her brother. But why would she feel it necessary to call upon the woman who was supposedly betrothed to the prince? It could not possibly be jealously, could it? Did the woman still love Prince Jack Overland?
That was surely impossible.
This, Elsa thought, was all very bewildering indeed. For the sake of a moment's triumphant satisfaction in telling Hans that she was betrothed to someone else, she had set in motion all these ridiculous consequences.
Perhaps instead of going to call upon Vanessa, she should remain here and give orders for her bags be packed. She suddenly longed for the peace and sanity of her secluded room within her castle. Away from all this drama.
Actually, that was what she would do, in fact.
But before she could leave the doorway of the visitors' parlor, there was yet another knock at the outer door and a footman opened it to admit Princess Vanessa and Crown Princess Rachel, come together to call upon her.
"Oh, well," Elsa said without even attempting to disguise the irritability from her voice, "you had better come in here, the both of you, and join your voices to the choir."
"The choir?" Rachel said after they had stepped into the parlor and the footman had closed the door from the outside.
"Of those urging me to put an end to a nonexistent betrothal," Elsa said. "First it was Hans, then Duchess Overland, and now presumably you two. Whoever will be next, I wonder?"
It was an obvious rhetorical question. However, it was answered almost immediately. There was another tap at the parlor door even before the three ladies had the chance to sit down, and it opened to admit Kyle.
"Ah!" Elsa exclaimed, throwing both hands in the air.
"I will politely not ask if that gesture demonstrates delight at seeing me or displeasure," he said cheerfully as he crossed the room toward her and took one of her hands in both his own before releasing it again. "But I hope it is the former, my beloved cousin. I have just come from a vigorous sparring bout at Jeremey's and am hoping you will offer me tea or coffee."
King Conner and Edmond then arrived together before the tea tray and bite-sized snacks were brought in by the butler.
Simon followed them in before Elsa had finished pour the tea for everybody.
Elsa wondered if she had ever felt more foolish in her life and decided that it was not possible.
And talk about storms in teacups!
She was also angry but had not decided with whom she was most annoyed. Herself, perhaps?
Hans had told her she was stubborn and always had been. The accusation itself irritated her. But he must have been correct, she concluded after a few minutes.
The choir sang in perfect unison. There was not one dissenting voice. Her friends, Rachel and Vanessa, were incredulous and aghast that she would even think of marrying a man she had met for the first time last evening- without even a formal introduction. Normally their reason would have been that she could not possibly know a thing about him on such short acquaintance. But on this special occasion just the opposite was the case. She knew everything about him- he had even confessed it all himself- and none of it was good. And that was a massive understatement.
King Conner, with Edmond's concurrence, had agreed to allow the Crown Prince of Switzerland to pay a formal call at their estate during the afternoon. He could hardly have refused, though he truly wanted to, when Elsa had introduced him to Prince Hans last evening as her betrothed. Both men agreed, though, he should be allowed to proceed no father into the house than the library and see no one there but King Conner. Elsa must give him leave to inform the prince that she would not receive him, today or any other day.
"After all," King Conner growled, "you are not embroiled in any real scandal, Elsa, only a great deal of silly and mindless gossip. If you are never seen with the man again and if nothing more is said about any betrothal between you, it will be concluded soon enough that there never was any truth in the story- as in the case with most dumb rumours."
"Very true, Father," Rachel said.
"And very sensible," Vanessa agreed.
"And everyone knows you as the soul of propriety, Elsa," Simon added.
Which was perhaps a bit of a mistake on his part. Being the soul of propriety sounded to Elsa like a very dull thing to be. Did she want that written on her epitaph?
"Jack was a friend of mine at one time," Kyle said. "He still is, I suppose. We sparred with each other at Jeremey's this morning and then walked to White's together. But it would be extremely unwise to ally yourself to him, Elsa. He has an undeniably wicked past and you would not want a deservedly spotless reputation sullied by association with him."
A deservedly spotless reputation. That would look just as good on her headstone. Future generations would yawn as they read.
"Rakes would be doomed to eternal infamy if some decent lady did not fall in love with them and take a great chance on them," Simon said, grinning at Elsa which threatened the choir's harmony for the moment. He ought to know the truth of what he said. He had once been one of Weselton's own notorious and infamous rakes when Rachel had taken a chance on him- nudged on her way, it was true, by the eruption of scandal. "However, Jack is not exactly a rake, is he? Justly or otherwise, he is seen as the blackest-hearted of villains- a dark prince. Certainly no one can deny that he did something pretty villainous five years ago- two things, actually. You would not be able to handle him, Elsa- or he you, for that matter. You have lived a righteous life and deserve much better."
"Oh, that is exactly what we have all been trying to say," Rachel said, laying a hand on his white sleeve. "We want someone perfect for you, Elsa. We want you to be happy. You only deserve the very best life has to offer."
You would not be able to handle him...
You have lived a righteous life...
These were the people who loved her so tenderly, like a family, and it was obvious that they only wanted the very best for her that life had to offer. To them she was the soul of propriety, a woman with a clean, snow-white reputation who had lived a virtuous, righteous, and honourable life. They wanted someone perfect for her- someone equally proper, blameless, virtuous, righteous, honourable... A very dull man, in fact.
He sounded a little like Prince Christian. Was that why she had hesitated so long about accepting his marriage offers? It seemed disloyal. He was all those things and she had always liked him. She had always considered him a friend.
Friend, not lover.
And Prince Jack had boldly called him a dull dog.
She had been horribly disconcerted by the Danish prince's announcement at the ball. But had she also been upset? Did she feel so heartbroken today? In the light of everything else that had occurred, she had spared him scarcely a thought.
These people wanted her to be happy. But how did they know what would make happy?
Did she know?
Once upon a time she had thought happiness and Prince Hans were synonymous terms. But today he had offered her marriage again and she had refused because... Oh, there was a host of reasons.
But she realized something as her friends and family all looked at her in love and concern and waited for her to say something.
She was ripe for rebellion.
Or else she was just ridiculously stubborn as a mule.
She had such a short acquaintance with Prince Jack that she could not even recall clearly what he looked like. She knew he was very tall, well built, light-haired, but dark-complexioned, with angular features and mysterious blue eyes. She knew that her first impression of him was that he was almost ugly. She remembered too that her eyes had nevertheless been drawn to that face while they talked without being able to cast her eyes away from it. There had been an intensity there, in his eyes like a lurking storm, in the tautness of him almost morose features, that had somehow fascinated her.
He had fascinated her.
She had never held a conversation with any other man that even remotely resembled her conversation with him. His honesty had fairly taken her breath away. He had urged her to marry him in almost the same breath as he admitted to being a wife-stealer and a man who had abandoned his bride on their wedding day. And he had not pretended to any sudden infatuation for her, Elsa. He had told her exactly why he wished her to marry him. He needed a wife before two more weeks had passed.
Surely any other man in the same circumstances would have gone out of his way to charm the Queen with sweet, alluring words and lies, and to keep the truth about himself from her for as long as possible- until after their marriage if he could.
He was- different. She was quite certain that if she met him again in the cold light of day and listened to his marriage proposal, she would reject him in a heartbeat. Today she would see the man for the unattractive, ill-tempered villain that he was. She would see the desperation in him and be repulsed by it. What man, after all, would be prepared to marry a stranger- any stranger- merely in order to keep the house and property from which he drew an income until his grandfather passed away and left him a vast fortune and throne?
And she was the random stranger he had chosen.
It was really quite insulting.
But he had fascinated her and still did. He was captivating without a doubt.
And she was evidently stubborn. Her family and friends were united in urging her against even seeing the future king of Switzerland again. Hans had urged her to change her mind and marry him instead. Duchess Overland had begged her to put an end to her betrothal.
The silence had become quite lengthy- and very tense.
"Prince Jack is coming here this afternoon," she said, "to speak with me- after he has spoken with Your Majesty, Conner. It would be very uncivil of me to refuse to receive him, especially when I was the one who caused all the ruckus by introducing him to Hans as my betrothed last night. It was not he who said it, remember."
"You were upset," Vanessa interjected, "at seeing Hans again so unexpectedly, Elsa. It is understandable for any lady that-"
But Elsa held up a hand to stop her from continuing and silence loomed over them again. Now they were no longer addressing her simply as a friend, but to a regal Queen who still had dignity. "It is neither understandable nor excusable. It is a fact," she stated, "that I would use one gentleman merely to spite another. Which, if I am to be perfectly honest with you and myself, is exactly what I did. I will speak with the prince this afternoon. I will apologize for involving him in all of this foolish gossip when I daresay he hoped to slip quietly back into society after so many years as a castaway. What has happened was all my fault and I owe it to His Highness, Prince Jack to tell him so in person."
"It is just like you to take all the burden of blame on your own shoulders," King Conner said softly, looking troubled. "It is something you always did. Let me do something for you now in return. Allow me to send the fellow on his way. I vowed at your father's funeral that I would protect you like I would with my daughters."
"Your Majesty, I do love you, but he is not the fellow," she calmly replied, getting to her feet. "He is the Crown Prince of Switzerland, a nation we are esteemed guests of and a man who still holds status equal to our own. And I will speak with him myself."
Archduke Simon and Duke Edmond smirked and said, "Bravo, Elsa. This is exactly why we admire you."
Princess Rachel and Princess Vanessa hurried toward her to hug her and said, "Oh, Elsa, you are always so noble. But we are just afraid that you will see him to apologize to him and end up betrothing yourself to him."
"Trust me," Elsa said as they all got up.
Trust her to do what, though?
Would she really be seeing Prince Jack only to express her sincere regrets over the consequences of her impulsive words at the ball? Which he had urged upon her, by the way.
Or would she be seeing him because she wanted to bring his face into focus again?
Or because she was fascinated by her memories of him?
Or because she was twenty-five years old and had just come face to face with a faithless lover from her past and with the fiancée of the man she had expected to marry herself this particular year?
Or because she had just been called righteous and the soul of propriety and a woman of spotless virtue?
"Oh, we do trust you, Elsa," Rachel said, hugging her after Vanessa had stepped back. "Of course we do."
Yes, of course they did. She had always been eminently trustworthy and dependable and predictable, had she not?
And absolutely dull.
AN: Quick note to my readers. My updates will be much slower because my courses will be officially resuming tomorrow. Thank you for always reading and please leave a review! Cheers :)
And here are a few replies back to my constant reviewers:
Sowelo: Human beings are fickle beings and often tested by life. Thank you for always reviewing!
Miki Fubuki: You will find out in later chapters! Thanks for always reviewing!
Cookienet: Aww, thank you! Yes, good friends always sweetens your life and come to aid when you need it! Thank you for always reviewing!
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