AN: I'm back, my lovelies. 3 Did you all miss me? I'd like to thank my reviewers, and just say I love you all. It's fantastic that you like my story, especially when I wasn't sure if anyone would. Also, more Russian. Translations at the bottom.
Disclaimer: I don't own a word of Frozen, don't work at Disney, and this is a not for profit fanwork. Thank you for reading.
The night came and went, and Elsa did not sleep a wink. Facing the sunrise with a groan, she sat up from where she had been lying, tossing and turning, thoughts running like a steam engine. Realizing she was still wearing the clothing she had gone riding in the night before, the Queen began to dress for the day, shivering as her thoughts turned to the night before, and especially Hans.
In the opposite side of the castle, the youngest Prince of the Southern Isles was pacing in the darkness of his guests' quarters. The curtains had been drawn, blocking out the sun, but it didn't matter because he had not slept anyway. A cold pot of tea sat at his fireside table, the cup beside it sat untouched. He didn't need anything to keep him awake anyway. He was too busy thinking, primarily about a certain Queen.
When Elsa had finished dressing, she inadvertently met Hans in the hall. Dressed in new garments, he looked the same as she, but still somehow handsome through it. She knew she must have looked ragged beside him.
Hans offered his arm, and Elsa took it. It was best to keep up appearances, no matter the cost.
When they breached the doors to the dining room where the stewards were serving breakfast to the royal household and their guests, every head turned, and Elsa imagined their tongues were wagging with new rumors and the like. Everyone could see the red mark on her throat, the one she herself only noticed when she looked in her mirror to brush and style her hair. The fact that she was arm in arm with her betrothed, as they walked in together, made it all the worse. But at the same time it didn't seem so bad. So what if they thought she and Hans had spent the night together. It wouldn't have been as much of a scandal as she was afraid it would be.
Hans pulled out Elsa's chair for her, and slid the seat in for her when she had sat down, before he sat beside her. The Dowager was seated across from her, a proud smile on her face.
"Good morning, девочка. I take it you slept well?"
Elsa's face burned and she grasped for a glass of water, sipping it gingerly so she didn't have to speak.
Hans answered for his bride. "I can attest she slept well."
She choked on the water, face turning a pale pink. "Hans!"
"Yes, Elsa, darling?" He turned to face her, smirking like he had just won the imaginary game they had going, whose rules were unknown and foreign to her.
"Perhaps you should let her speak for herself." Meinhard spoke into his cup of wine from down the table nearest to Anna and Kristoff. The rest of the brothers had sailed home with the bodies of their fallen siblings, beside Hjalmerr and his family who decided to stay in Arendelle, however, far away from the rest of the royal family, without Jekaterina's knowledge.
"Perhaps our guest could hold his tongue." Jekaterina added, smooth as a mountain right before an avalanche. "Before I have my men cut it out for him."
Meinhard turned to stare at the Dowager, seething. Everyone else at the table could see it in the way he gripped the glass in his fist, except Jekaterina.
Elsa managed to recover at long last, setting down her now empty glass. The servants quickly refilled it, but she did not touch it again.
"Bjorgman may speak, it does not bother me."
"It bothers me." Hans ground out through his teeth quietly from beside her. Elsa gripped his wrist as if to hush him. It seemed to work, until he shifted, sliding his hand onto hers and entwining their fingers. His hand felt foreign against hers without his customary gloves.
"Of course." Jekaterina's immediate response was catty. "I had forgotten I have no power here. As you will, my queen."
Elsa knew the Dowager was mocking her, but she didn't care. She knew Jekaterina had no power over her. The Queen and the State, maybe. But not herself.
Hans squeezed her hand almost reassuringly. It was a comfort to know he was there. Elsa wondered if she would have thought that under any other circumstances. He had become an ally in this all out battle against the Dowager, albeit one that was still attached to his mother. The Dowager held something over his head, to keep him loyal to her, Elsa was sure of it.
Anna held Gunter close, smoothing his dark hair down. It had grown longer in the time that had passed. Kristoff, of course, was distracted and inundated by the sight of his wife and young son.
"Since our loving queen has taken her betrothed to her bed, I have wondered long about this. Shall we move up the date for the wedding?" Elsa turned to look at the Dowager, horrified at her words.
"To when?"
"The first day of fall. It will be beautiful." Jekaterina fixed Elsa with a pointed stare as she spoke.
"That's less than a month away. Could we really accomplish that?" Hans turned to look at his mother.
"The servants will work doubly hard but I have no doubt they could do it, мой дорогой." The Dowager patted her son's hand.
On the other side, Elsa squeezed his hand even tighter.
Hans fought the urge to wince, and looked to his bride. "I think that sounds like a great idea, don't you agree?."
Elsa narrowed her eyes at him. You traitor. "Of course." What else could she say? No? That was silly.
"Shall I be expecting grandchildren soon enough?" The Dowager's arched brow was elegant, as she questioned them.
This time Hans' face burned redder than Elsa had ever seen it. It would have been funny if she hadn't sympathized with him.
"Mother, is this really a conversation to be having at breakfast? Especially with our guest here?"
That shut Jekaterina up for a moment. "Sir Bjorgman does not mind, does he? The man's half in his cups by now."
She fixed him with an alluring gaze, and all Meinhard did was scoff softly, and reply with a terse "Yes, I do mind. Actually. My queen." It sounded as if it pained him to respectfully refer to her as her title. "I'm trying to enjoy my food." And by food, he meant wine. The man had gone through two bottles of their finest in a quarter of an hour and was still stone cold sober.
Anna spoke up next. "I think it'd be nice for Elsa to have a baby. Gunter would have someone to play with." Kristoff agreed, starting to stare at Meinhard again. He was still unsure who the man was or why he was so familiar, but he guessed it was something about his own childhood.
Hans cleared his throat loudly. "Elsa and I are not expecting any children, I'm loathe to tell you."
The queen looked at her fiancé, forgiving him just a little for perpetuating the idea that they had spent the night together.
"Perhaps when we have been married, we will, but not now."
"I believe you should start as soon as possible, hm? My son will want many children, I'd think."
Elsa scowled and gestured to a servant to pour her some strong wine. She was going to need it if she was going to deal with the Dowager like this.
девочка (devochka - girl, lass)
мой дорогой (moy dorogoy - my darling)
