● Elliott ●

The next morning, after a night of fretful sleep, Elliott joined Andy in one of the small breakfast chambers. The dining hall was far more elegant, but it seated many people and there was only two of them, so they used the smaller room instead. Back when Elliott was trying to protect Andy, they sat in that long dining table, Elliott on one side and Andy on the other, and they ate in dull silence. In this small space though, they talked nonstop.

By the time he arrived Andy was halfway done with his breakfast of eggs and bacon, but he still wasn't dressed. Elliott asked for a coffee before joining his brother with his aggressive eating habits. The prince's face was decorated with more than one food.

"Should I ask for a bib?" Elliott teased, stealing some buttered toast from his brother's plate. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly, he barely got any sleep after his little adventure last night. Instead of giving him peace of mind, the princess' words had made him restless. It just added to his already eternal list of worries.

Andy wiped at his face with the sleeve of his pajamas before snatching the toast back, "Very funny. Ha-ha."

His coffee arrived, and Elliott braced himself before taking a sip. He didn't even like the stuff. But it kept him awake, and he'd sort of become addicted to it. "You didn't wake me," Elliott said. His coffee was bitter. He poured an obscene amount of sugar and milk in an attempt to make it a little less bad.

"Figured you could use the beauty sleep," Andy said, piling even more breakfast onto his plate. Elliott smiled into his mug before trying the hot beverage again. "So how was your little midnight stroll?"

Elliott almost choked on his coffee. He was caught, Andy knew. How to explain? But when the king looked over at his brother, the latter hadn't even looked up, he was still busy cutting his eggs. No suspicion, no accusation flashed across Andy's face, and it made him feel a little guilty that it didn't even cross Andy's mind that he'd gone to see Helena.

Helena...

Now Elliott could see how his brother had fell for her. When he'd first met the princess in the ballroom a million years ago he'd been less than impressed. The moment she let her guard down and stopped being stubborn and arrogant, she was actually sort of nice- but he couldn't let five seconds of civil talk cloud his judgment. She was a great actress, after all.

'Your brother is dead. Because of you.'

Those chilling words made him squirm even now. He casually brushed Andy's elbow, a little reminder for himself that Andy was here and well and alive. Just that little reassuring touch gave him comfort. "I couldn't sleep," he half-lied.

He'd mulled over exactly why he'd gone- and he'd figured it out. He really didn't want anyone to die in account of him, like he'd almost killed the man back on the North Mountain. Helena had stopped him from doing that terrible thing. He probably wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he'd actually killed that man. He wondered, had his powers not snapped that very day, would things have been different? Would the princess have still acted the way she had? But Helena was not innocent. The princess had made choices, bad ones, and now she was going to have to face the consequences of those choices. She probably deserved everything she got. Probably. Right?

Andy rolled his eyes and as he shoveled another spoonful of eggs into his mouth, "If you don't wanna tell me the truth, fine. But we still have to do the next thing on the list."

"Fair enough," Elliott agreed quickly, eager to change the subject before Andy pressed him for details. "What is it?"

Andy opened his mouth to reply, giving Elliott an amazing view of chewed up eggs, but before he could, Kai came in and cut him off. "Your Grace, I'm sorry for interrupting," he said to Elliott. Then he addressed Andy, "My lord, Lady Krista is here to see you."

"I'm no Lady," Krista stepped into view, her face beet red at Kai's words. She was wearing a green summer dress, her blonde hair in twin braids. If possible, her face got even redder when she saw the two boys. Elliott looked down to the strip of chest that could be seen from the bathrobe he'd pulled on, and with his messy hair he probably didn't look very royal. Andy didn't look any better, in fact he probably looked worse. The mountain girl stepped back with clear mortification, "I could always come back later-"

"Oh, dang, I forgot!" Andy sprang to his feet, almost flipping over his plate of food in the process. "I forgot I told you to come early, sorry, sorry. I'll get dressed and we'll go," he glanced at Elliott with an apologetic smile, "I- I'd already made plans with Krista. We'll get on with the list later, yeah?"

Elliott nodded and leaned back on his chair, taking another hearty gulp of his coffee. How he hated the taste. "That's fine. I still have a load of paperwork to do. Yay." Paperwork and monitor every ship leaving and arriving to Arendelle. He didn't want any shady characters to try anything while it was so vulnerable.

Andy smirked at his brother's dry tone and went around the table towards Krista, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "You stay right here, okay? I'll be quick as a bunny-" and he was gone, already stripping off his night shirt before he was even through the door.

Krista had smiled briefly at Andy's affectionate gesture, but now that they were alone, the girl was back to her shyness. Elliott felt a little anxious too, he wasn't used to just having visitors. It was easy with Andy, the love was there, they just had to get to know each other again. But strangers were different. He wanted to know Krista, she seemed like a nice girl, and Andy spoke very highly of her. He studied her silently over his mug of coffee, while her eyes were forever fixed on some spot on the ground.

She stood there awkwardly, Elliott still probably made her nervous. It occurred to him then how to ease some of the tension. Andy had told him what a big fan Krista had been of his ice palace back on the North Mountain. Oh, his ice palace... he wondered if it was still standing.

"Hey, Krista," he said, and immediately the girl's head lifted up. He flicked his wrist and a small flurry of snow shot out, which quickly changed shape into a reindeer, no bigger than his hand. He knew she was quite fond of those.

"Holy gods!" Krista looked delighted, a new spark of excitement in her eyes. The little snow reindeer galloped in the air and did a lap around the room before landing in front of the girl's feet. Krista's head followed it all the way, her face one of awe. Elliott smirked and, knowing what an ice harvester probably preferred over snow, he froze the reindeer into a little sculpture. Krista reached for it, but then she stopped and drew her hand back, as if she'd been scolded.

"It's fine, you can take it," Elliott assured her. "It's for you."

Her face lit up again as she picked up the little sculpture in her hands, handling it like it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. "Thank you, Your Grace. It's amazing."

He still felt uncomfortable when people complimented his curse- magic. When they complimented his magic. But at the same time he also felt incredibly flattered. "Thank you. You may call me Elliott, by the way."

"Okay, Your Gr- Elliott. Elliott," she amended quickly, testing out the words. He smiled in what he hoped was a friendly way, but he was so tired after last night it probably came out looking like a serial killer's smile. He rubbed at his eyes, the words of the Princess of the Southern Isles still bounded around in his thoughts. He cared way more than he should.

"I'm ready!" Andy burst in before things could get awkward again. He buttoned the last uneven button on his vest and looked between his brother and his... lady friend, with a confused smile. "You two getting along? Oh- Elliott, it looks like Suri!" he gushed at the little sculpture in Krista's hand. The ice was so fine it almost looked like glass.

"Just bonding over arts and crafts," Elliott smiled tiredly at the two. He didn't want Andy to have his heart broken- again- and so soon, but by looking at them, Elliott couldn't imagine how that could be possible. Andy still looked bedraggled and his hair was a mess, but the look on Krista's face when she looked at him radiated nothing but fondness. If they did in fact officially become a couple, Elliott wished them nothing but the best- just as long as Andy was a little more careful this time around.

Elliott picked at his breakfast, dreading the long and tedious day that awaited him. "Where are you two going, anyway?"

Krista blushed, "It's... um... we're just-"

"It's a date!" Andy said happily, he clasped her hand that wasn't holding the ice reindeer in his own before smiling at her, "We'll look at the preparations for the summer festival."

Elliott almost winced at the mention of the festival. There was no way they could afford those expenses. The king's meltdown had been an expensive one- he was still paying for all the crops that had died, all the ships that had been damaged- all the buildings. Arendelle was sturdy when it came to cold weather, but Elliott's magic had been pretty brutal on it. He didn't want to cancel it either, the summer festival was always a fun time for everyone and gods knew his people needed it after his coronation disaster. He'd need to figure something out before the solstice. "Don't get into too much trouble," Elliott said dismissively, and he went back to sipping his coffee. Gods, the drink was so disgusting. The things he endured to keep things running as smoothly as possible.

Andy rolled his eyes at his brother. "You woke up packing all the jokes, didn't ya?" he tugged at Krista's hand, "Shall we go, my Lady?"

The sound of their bickering back and forth followed them out until Elliott was alone, alone with the murky brown substance sloshing inside his mug.

And he thought of his ice palace.

● Gibbs ●

"Your-Your m-majesty, we have received an urgent me-message from-from Arendelle!"

Queen Astrid slammed her cup of tea down so forcefully the fine china threatened to shatter with the impact. The flustered steward immediately clicked his heels to attention, a fine layer of sweat had already gathered on his brow. He probably was, as they said, too old for this shit. He doubled the queen in age, and yet here he was, her Majesty's faithful servant.

"Gibbs, how do I feel about stammering?" for a second he was paralyzed, too afraid to breathe, let alone answer. He'd dealt with this woman his whole life, and yet years later he was just as terrified of her as he'd been on day one. Maybe it was her harsh manner of speaking, or the piercing blue eyes, gods if he knew, but something about her always unnerved him. Maybe that's why she kept him around. After all, sometimes fear was better for loyalty than love.

"Stammering is rude and for the illiterate," he quoted her own words obediently, proud that he kept his voice didn't shake, his eyes never leaving hers. Her Majesty liked being looked in the eye, unlike some royals he knew. Maybe she thought it was a sign of respect, maybe a challenge- all that mattered was, don't advert your eyes unless she does.

Lady Madeleine, or Maddy, how she preferred to be called, snickered. She was second in line to the Southern Isles, younger than the queen herself by barely a year. They'd always been close, with a bit of a rivalry between them. They could have been twins, but where Astrid had a mane of blonde hair, her younger sister had inherited their mother's dark auburn color. That and... Maddy had a facial scar, a big distinctive one. It was thin but deep, no amount of makeup could hide it, it runs from the bottom of her eye all the way to her chin. She'd never said how she got it, and none of the staff knew. Obviously no one dared to ask. It was almost taboo to talk about. Just like you must always look Astrid in the eye when you spoke to her, an important thing to do in the presence of Lady Madeleine: do not look at the scar. Look at her eyes, her lips, even her chest- but keep your eyes away from the left side of the Lady's face. As far as Gibbs knew, only Maddy and Astrid knew the story behind the ugly mark.

Lady Maddy had always been the sneakier of the two, every time something bad happened to Astrid heads always turned to look at the second daughter. And why not? Without Astrid, Maddy would be the next queen. Astrid kept her sister on a close leash- maybe they had an unspoken agreement, if you kill me, you'll wish it was you who'd died instead. Astrid was capable of those kinds of threats. He often wondered if she had anything to do with her sister's scarred face. Of course there were rumors, but nothing he believed. The butcher claimed that such a mark could only have been caused by a knife. The stableboy swore a dragon had done it. Again, nothing but rumors.

The Westergard family made him uneasy in general, from the eldest to the youngest, it had always been a very troubled family. But he'd been there from the start, he'd served their Lady Mother and he'd serve her children until he died. Or until they got rid of him. Staff changed all the time around here, especially the men.

"Good, good. Now, what's that you were mumbling?" she raised the cup to her lips, and shifted her eyes away to stare out the window at the sea. Gibbs relaxed ever so slightly, having those cold eyes on him made his skin crawl. She'd looked away first, so it was safe to talk.

"A message. From Arendelle," his words were strained, trying to keep the stammer in check. The bird that had delivered it was a fine, sleek creature made for speed, the kind bred for urgent messages. Ninety percent of the time these types of birds died making the journey. Their hearts often gave up, the poor dears. But they always delivered the message as fast as possible. The snowy bird that had arrived bearing the Arendelle colors died shortly after delivering. He didn't trust himself to read the message without stammering, so he simply offered the scroll with his sweaty hand.

Lady Maddy took it from him, a lazy smirk on her lips that many of her siblings shared. That signature smirk that made you think they knew a secret that you didn't. The thirteen were so similar, yet so different it was amazing how they'd come out of the same parents- well...

Except for the bastards.

Gibbs still remembered their late king legitimizing his two bastard daughters just to spite his queen. Girls number six and twelve did not share the same mother as the rest, but they still got all the titles and privileges, were raised in the same household. Sometimes their votes weren't as valid when the Council of Thirteen gathered, but that was about the only difference between them and the 'pureborn.' Gibbs remembered almost too clearly the sheer fury on the late queen's face after her husband claimed those two girls.

Their fool king didn't live very long after that. His wife was suspected, but of course nothing could be proved on who poisoned the king's wine. Same as when she died and Astrid took the throne, the mysterious death was left that: a mystery. She died too soon, Gibbs thought. Helena had still been a little girl when her mother had died, and it had affected her a lot. Many of her sisters were proper grown ladies by then, some even married, and they did not need their mother anymore- but Helena had. Luckily Lady Katherine sort of took her little sister under her wing for some time after the death. But a few sisters and a lot of servants didn't equal a parent.

Lady Maddy broke the seal of wax with her thumb, her eyes moved left and right quite fast as she read the message. Gibbs tried not to stare at her moving eyes, in fear that she'd think he was actually looking at the scar. Her usually laidback face changed gradually, from mild interest to shock and back to neutral. Queen Astrid's eyes were still focused on the window, but when she spoke it was her sister she addressed, "Well?"

The princess laid the paper on the table between them, her face was back into a mask. "Little Lena's got herself into some trouble." Gibbs felt like it had been years since someone had called the youngest princess Lena. Only Maddy and a couple others still did that.

"Helena?" Queen Astrid snapped out of her trance of looking out the window. She often did that, get lost in her own thoughts and forget she was with company. "Our Helena?"

"No, the gardener's daughter," Lady Maddy shot back sarcastically. Gibbs was familiar with the cruel 'joke' the girls had played on their youngest sibling for years. Pretending she was the gardener's child, handing her shears and throwing mud at her clothes. He'd heard the young princess crying in her room more than once. It made his heart ache, but what could fat little Gibbs do to stop it? The very few times a servant had tried to intervene in the personal business of these girls it was the last time they were seen.

She had the queen's attention, Gibbs could tell. He stood awkwardly, not sure if he was dismissed or if he was meant to stay. If they wanted him gone they could just say so, but it seemed they had both forgotten he was standing right there. He decided to stay and listen, if it was all the same to them. The Westergard sisters weren't easy to love, but Helena had been kind to him in general- sure, her sisters had corrupted her, but she wasn't the worst of them. No, the spot for the worst was a constant dispute between Lady Cristina and Lady Rowena. Gods, those girls came straight from hell.

Astrid regarded the paper with the same bored expression she always had on when reading any sort of document put in front of her. This time though- this time her face changed. The queen's jaw clenched and she crumpled the paper in her hand- Gibbs jumped a little when said paper was shoved at his chest. Not completely forgotten, then. "Leave us," the queen all but snarled.

"Y-Yes Your Majesty," Gibbs hesitated at the door, "What shall I do with the message?"

"Burn it," Queen Astrid's eyes were livid. "Burn it to hell."


+++ i rly want elliott and krista to be ice bros is that obvious

++ Anyone else get the Mufasa/Scar vibe with these two? i didnt notice until my friend read it and told me lol not intentional i promise. I decided to go with the servant 'Gibbs' perspective before you get into one of their heads, just to get a superficial/view from the outside. the next chapter you'll get to see the train of thought of one of them.

+ if there's any confusion, you can look at the first 'chapter' and see the chart, it's been updated. i'm probably gonna post on saturdays, but i posted this one a lil early as a huge THANK YOU to all the reviews the last chapter got. they make me very happy :)

thank u for reading!