"Where in the world have you been hiding?"
By the end of the evening, Elsa's stomach hurt.
She had invited the friends she had had as children to spend her evening with. Elsa, Anna, Maria and Heidi - the bride and her bridesmaids - were lying on the floor of Elsa's bedroom, faces red with laughter. The four of them had a flute of what used to be champagne being passed between, the alcohol content so high Elsa figured it should be illegal. Heidi giggled and sat up.
"Ellie, let's play questions for the queeeeen.' she teased, referencing to the game they had played all those years ago. Elsa attempted to roll her eyes but giggled instead, the hot alcohol coursing through her veins and melting the ice that flowed there. The three other girls sat up, crossing their legs like children.
"I'll start." Heidi slurred her words a little, her usual regal charm fading. "Do you love Eirik?" she raised an eyebrow as Elsa threw back her head and laughed, giggles and guffaws becoming one.
"No!" Elsa wiped a tear from her cheek, a laugh still bubbling in her chest. She hiccupped once. "It's for, like, trade or something. I don't -" she laughed as Maria slid down Anna's arm, fast asleep. Elsa's sister fell asleep soon after, her and Maria snoring in harmony. Heidi giggled.
"Sooo..." she twirled a strand of honey blonde hair around her forefinger."Who's the prettiest princess in the wooorld?" Heidi leant closer into Elsa, blowing kisses. Elsa laughed.
"Um... well, Anna is very pretty, and uh, Princes Tasmin? Yasmin? Of the Eastern Isles." Elsa frowned. Heidi was pouting at her, her blue eyes wide and her fingers fluttering over the circlet set, slightly lopsided, in her hair. The queen breathed a laugh and rested a hand on Heidi's cheek.
"You're not a princess, Heids. But if you were I think you would be the prettiest." Elsa gave her friend a small smile, and Heidi pressed her lips to the queen's cheek before sliding down, already asleep, to Elsa's shoulder. Elsa didn't remember falling into the peaceful oblivion of sleep.
-
She did, however, remember the thumping headache that greeted her when she woke.
Her groan roused her sister and Maria, who both hissed at the sunlight peeking through the curtains. Elsa pressed a hand to her forehead, sighing a little in relief as the frost that spread from her fingertips numbing the pain slightly. Thoughts rushed into her mind as the pain diminished.
"Everyone's arriving today!" she shrieked, sitting up quickly and watching Heidi's blonde head hit the floor with a slight /thump/. The pain splashed over her in waves, and she sighed.
"I need a coffee." she pouted, smiling at Maria's reply of simply a grunt.
Almost two hours later, the four girls were sparklingly clean, perfectly dressed and masking the pain with bright smiles. The four of them were waiting at the dock in lilac centred dresses, Maria and Heidi blinking sleep out of their eyes and Anna hastily throwing up into the water of the harbour before the guests arrived. Elsa had a half finished warm chalice of coffee clutched between her fingers. Anna ran back over, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.
"Oh, that's nasty." Maria gagged, and Anna poked her tongue out.
"They're arriving." she told Elsa, grabbing the cup from her sister's hand and pouting the rest of the liquid down her throat. The boat, adorned with the Southern Isles crest, shuddered to a stop.
The four girls pulled themselves into rank - Maria, as technically no more than a village girl came first, followed by Heidi, lieutenant one of Arendelle's hunters, then Princess Anna and Elsa, Her Royal Highness Queen of Arendelle. She hated that title.
Eirik stepped off the boat, and Elsa was not surprised to feel no emotion other than '/Sweet Odin, my head hurts./' Eirik bowed to Maria, who curtseyed back, then kisses Heidi and Anna's hands formally before arriving in front of Elsa.
"Your Majesty." he whispered, leaning down to press his lips to Elsa's cold cheek. When he stepped back, she took both sides of her skirt and curtseyed low.
"My lord." Elsa regarded, smiling at him a little. He smiled back, and Elsa heard another 'Your Majesty' and felt another pair of lips brush her cheek. As she curtseyed to Eirik's brother, she glanced at Anna, who was already miming chopping her own head off. 'This is going to be a long day.' Elsa thought to herself as the boat from the kingdom of Behadch slid into the harbour.
-
Three and a half hours of curtseying and kissing later, Anna slumped against her older sister.
"There can't possibly be anymore." she whined. "My feet hurt." Despite the midday July sun, none of the girls were warm thanks to Elsa's powers, and the queen sighed.
"One more, the Eastern Isles. Princess Carmen and Prince Jeri."
"Yasmin's siblings?" Heidi asked, raising her eyebrows at Elsa. The lighter haired woman narrowed her eyes and glared ever so slightly.
The boat finally pulled up, the dragon crest looming over the stone of the dock. Three people got out, two men and a girl. One of the men was clearly Prince Jeri, the other a servant and the woman Princess Carmen. She was very pretty, possibly more so than her sister, with long red brown hair and big brown eyes. The two men greeted Elsa but her eyes were trained on the princess as she kissed Heidi's hand. When Carmen got to Elsa, she whispered "Your Majesty," in a voice smooth and warm as honey. The princess, only a year or so younger than the queen, curtseyed before realising her mistake. Elsa smiled and offered her cheek, a slight fluttering sensation blossoming in her chest. Princess Carmen leaned in to kiss the queen's cheek, and as their skin touched, a white heat raced through Elsa and she nearly threw back her head at the sensation. It was like a lightning strike and a snow storm colliding, creating burnt ice and frozen flames on her skin, and Elsa wanted to stay with Carmen's lips pressed to her skin forever.
(A/N): Ooh, this is so exciting!
