The captain escorted the queen and the princess to the dock, the boatswain's whistle trilling, the snap of her sharp salute to the quarterdeck once she had stepped off the ship adding a small punctuation. She had been chatting with the queen about snow, or the price of tea, or something, and was resuming that conversation when the two burly soldiers stepped to either side of her.

It wasn't surprising that there were people waiting for her when she left the ship, in fact it was surprising that they hadn't just come on board to seize her as soon as the Vigilant docked. She knew that by now the Ambassador would have realized that she had misled him about today, and she could well imagine that this realization did not sit well with him. So when two Avalonian soldiers, men from the 33rd Regiment of Foot, Ledsham's Own, were waiting with bayonets fixed at the end of the gangplank, she was not at all surprised.

"Captain, you'll be coming with us, the Ambassador wants a word with you," the smaller of the two said in a reedy voice.

"In a moment gentlemen, I wish to ..."

"Now," the larger interjected. "You'll come now, unless you want us to drag you there."

Fitzwilliam turned to the queen, prepared to wish her well and a safe journey home, when suddenly she was being dragged backwards on her heels.

"Gentlemen," she grunted, twisting out of their hold. "I will come with you peacefully if you just allow me a moment ..." This sentence was cut off by an arm tight around her throat.

"What are you doing?" It was the queen asking. In the time it had taken the men to grab Fitzwilliam, her guard had surrounded them, their pikes lowered. "Unhand her."

"Begging your pardon, milady, but we gots orders for this one here. Duke Ledsham, the official Ambassador from Avalon needs to see her."

"Let her go, or I guarantee you'll look more like Swiss cheese than escorts." The guards moved their pikes in closer.

"Your Majesty, is there a problem?" the captain of her guard came over.

She looked over at the alarmed faces of the two ruffians who had just realized that this lady was not just a lady. "Arrest these men. I want them held until the Duke himself comes to get him." She turned to the men, "And when he does come to retrieve you, I trust you will convey my extreme displeasure at this incident. You might remind him that if he cannot behave like a gentleman, he really needn't try to see me. It will make any further discussions impossible." The soldiers protested, but they were removed none too gently.

Fitzwilliam bent down and picked up her hat from the street. She dusted it off on her trousers with deliberate slowness to allow her time to consider. "Your Majesty, I find myself again apologizing to you for some very unfortunate circumstances."

"It wasn't you."

The captain gave her a wry smile, and chuckled darkly, "Oh, but I think this time it was. If we are truly honest, it was me."

Elsa looked her up and down. "You didn't tell him were I was, did you? That's what this is all about."

"I didn't think it appropriate for His Grace to come with us, which he would have insisted on if I had informed him of your plans. It seemed to me that the tenor of the day might be lessened if I allowed the work of politics to interfere with your leisure. And leisure seems to be difficult for you to come by. Again, I apologize; it was presumptuous of me."

"Oh please, if you're going to keep that awful little man away from me, presume away." Then she winced, "I'm sorry, he is your Ambassador."

Fitzwilliam shrugged. "He is also an awful little man, Your Majesty." The captain extended her hat in her hand and bowed with a flourish. "Since it seems the bulk of your protection has been put to other use, might I escort you home?"

Anna stuck her head over her sister's shoulder. "That would be great!"

"Yes," Elsa added, a little started by Anna's intrusion, "I think … it would be great."

"Great," Anna repeated with a smile, and then she dashed up ahead with the remaining guards, leaving the queen alone with Fitzwilliam.

"Is she always like that?" Fitzwilliam asked.

"Anna," the queen chuckled. "Yes, that is pretty much her, although sometimes she is … more so."

"More so?" The captain smiled, "You are a patient woman."

Elsa shook her head, "Not always, and Anna's grown. She is truly an amazing person, kind, loyal, loving beyond what most would consider reasonable. Once I came to appreciate that then I found patience wasn't necessary. But I was admiring your patience earlier. You seemed remarkably calm when you handed over your ship to your Midshipman. And she's certainly lively."

"Alice?" The captain chuckled, "Yes, she reminds me of myself at that age, all energy and confidence with no grace or tact. Although we're slowly convincing her of the latter with both the carrot and the stick."

The queen looked at her quizzically.

"Your Majesty, Midshipmen are like rugs; they must be beaten regularly. Of course I am far too lax a mistress … when I was her age I thought thrashings were a part of the routine, rather like dinner, which I was rarely able to sit for."

Elsa giggled nervously, "Really?"

"Yes," she smiled back, "really. You seemed shocked. I guess royalty aren't reared with the same loving care as the rest of us urchins."

Elsa threw her shoulders back in an indignant protest. "I was spanked ..." she frowned in thought, "twice."

"Twice? Well, then..."

"But it wasn't my fault; it was Anna's," she shot an evil look at her sister who was well ahead of them, "both times."

"Why I am not surprised to hear that," Fitzwilliam chuckled. "And the scoundrel blamed you?"

"No, of course not," the queen returned. "Once nanny decided that since I was older, I should have 'known better' - and there might have been some ice involved. The second time," Elsa sighed, "Anna just looked so sad and embarrassed, I said I did it."

"Your Majesty, what a gallant example of sisterly love."

"Yes, indeed it was," Elsa made a face, "she used a wooden spoon. Ow."

Fitzwilliam threw her head back and laughed out loud, a deep full throated laugh, a laugh Elsa found contagious.

"So do you have any sisters or brothers, Captain?"

"No, well – yes. I have four half brothers and two half sisters, but we didn't grow up together. It was just me and my mother, poor woman. Now there is a saint if ever there was one."

"I take if you were not a quiet child?"

"Oh, heavens no. I was horrid. I ran with this pack of boys. More like a gang I guess. They were all just a little older that I was. I remember I had to fight them all at once to be allowed into their fine company. It was their initiation. Oh, I was a mess when I came home that day." The captain shook her head remembering. "I just managed to limp in the door, cuts and bruises everywhere, both eyes blacked, lips swollen, covered in mud, my clothes torn and ruined." Rolling her eyes she continued, "My mother bathed me, patched up my wounds, fed me soup, and then beat me within an inch of my life and kept me in the house for a month. A month of pure misery, for both of us I believe. I couldn't stand being stuck inside."

"Indeed." Elsa let out a puff of air and looked away, her mind clearly wandering.

"Did I offend, Your Majesty?" The captain stopped walking, her face a picture of concern.

"No. No," Elsa tried a laugh but it came out forced. "It's just that I spent a lot of my childhood indoors. In my room. My parents were afraid I was dangerous, with my magic, and actually so was I … afraid. So I isolated myself." Her gaze drifted to the ground.

"I am so sorry." The captain stepped in front of Elsa and took her hand. "I truly am. I can't imagine how that must have felt."

Elsa looked back into her eyes, warmed by the concern she saw there. "Thank you. I'm sorry, too. But it's what happened, and I can't change that." She made another effort at a smile, and this one was more successful. "However my not having gotten out does mean that I am sadly lacking in delightful stories of my childhood." She clasped the captain's hand with both her own. "If you would, you could tell me another."

"As you wish, Your Majesty, I have many … many, many, many examples of what not to do if you wish to be an upstanding citizen." Fitzwilliam put a hand to her head as if in great thought, keeping the other in Elsa's. "Let's see. We terrorized the whole village; no one was safe. We stole pies; we hid all the blacksmith's hammers; we flooded the sheep pen; we tipped cows."

"Tipped cows?" Elsa's personal experience with cows was limited, but she was pretty sure that "tipping" would be something they objected to.

"Exactly what it sounds like, only harder. Turns out they tip back. We spent more time on our backs then the cows did. And once … ah, this was splendid … we hid in a tree in the main square, just outside the market. We snuck out in the middle of the night and stayed up there until morning, so no one would see us, and the next morning when anyone came close enough; we dropped rotten fruit on them. It was such a mess. It was glorious."

"I can only imagine."

"You would be surprised how many people don't find it odd that a pear and an apple fall from the same tree. We got just about everyone, even the mayor. But Dicky fell out of the tree laughing at that, broke his arm I think, and then the jig was up. No wonder the town celebrated a holiday when I went to sea. Sort of a 'thank god, she's gone' festival." Elsa rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Seriously, my mother wrote me about it."

Ahead the gates to the castle were open to the bridge, the guards at their posts. Even with the faintly glowing sky there were torches in the courtyard. Everything had a rosy hue to it. The captain slowed her steps.

Elsa felt a flicker of dismay; she didn't want this walk to end. "Please, come in for dinner." She said, "I'm enjoying your company, and I'm fairly certain whatever we're having is better than what you were planning."

"Your Majesty, I shouldn't. We've been out all day, and while you seem none the worse for it, I am afraid I stink like a sailor."

Elsa sniffed delicately, delighting in the captain's blush."Yes well, we do have baths in the castle. I was actually planning to use one before dinner myself."

"But I have no clothes."

"Again, this is a castle not some ship. We've also have clothing here. I can loan you a dress." The captain's face screwed up in such distaste that Elsa had to laugh. "Or we can find something else. We have options."

"I just don't ..."

"Please. Don't make the Queen of Arendelle beg. My sister will never let me hear the end of it."

"Very well, if you are sure. I am always Her Majesty's servant."

"Wonderful. I'll get Gerda to sort out your bath, and I'll have her bring you something to change into. And I promise it will neither be a dress nor made of ice."

There was the main dining hall, with its long long table of dark wood and incredibly high backed chairs, but there was also a smaller dining room. That was the one used when it was just family, or in this case family plus one. Anna had dashed off to find Kristof and brought him back; he was by this point very much part of the family. Everyone had bathed. Anna had changed into a simple day dress. Kristof wore what Kristof always wore unless someone forced him to wear something else. Elsa had remade her dress, this time in the less encumbering style she preferred. She had spent so long tightly wrapped, hidden in her clothing, that it was positively liberating to wear a lot less. Also she felt … she struggled for a word and couldn't find it … better about herself, about how she looked. As Anna had said, "Different, but a good different."

They waited for the captain to join them, and Kristof asked a few short questions about their day. He was eloquent as always. What did they do? Long silence. What was the ship like? Anna was more than happy to give a full recitation of everything that had happened, which allowed Elsa to sit back, sip on a glass of wine, and just watch. It was fun watching her sister and Kristof, they were unbearably cute together, him long suffering and quiet, her rarely suffering and never quiet.

"So then Elsa and the captain got into a snowball fight."

"Really?" Kristof said giving the queen a disbelieving look.

Elsa took that as her cue. "Yes, really. I won."

"Whoah, big surprise there."

Kai then opened the door to the dining room and announced, "Captain Fitzwilliam." Fitzwilliam walked in, her hat under her arm, her sword at her side. The clothing Gerda had found, and it hadn't been easy to come up with anything in her size and suitable for dinner, was of a different cut than she was used to, but it was quite comfortable, perhaps a tiny bit large. The immaculate cream trousers hung outside her boots, the blue coat, neither short nor long, reached mid-thigh and had a high collar. The coat was designed to be worn closed, with more than a dozen small hooks in the interior that Fitzwilliam had struggled with, since she had no one to dress her. She particularly liked the embroidery. The coat had elegant gold cuffs exquisitely embroidered with a flower she recognized as the Arendelle's crest.

She entered the room, bowed to the queen and to the princess. Then she walked over to Elsa and leaned down. "Is this presentable?"

"Yes," she said with a slight stutter, "it … it is."

Anna exclaimed, "Oh … wow! The two of you. Just … just wow."

Fitzwilliam looked back at her, "Is there a problem, Your Highness?"

Anna answered, "No, no, it's just that … yeah, wow. That coat, that's my father's and … Elsa looks exactly like mother, and … when the two of you were there ... I mean except for the hair color, and you don't have a mustache, which is good, but you looked just like him, them, when you leaned over, but not in a creepy way ... kinda in a good way if you know what I mean... You look good. It's nice to see, really."

"If you are sure that this is acceptable?" The captain was taking in what Anna had said.

"It's fine. It looks good on you," answered Elsa, "and Gerda did ask." She patted the chair next to her, "Sit, I think the cook is anxious to serve. She gets unhappy when we keep the food waiting too long." She shot a look at Anna.

"Hey, it's not always me, you know."

"Exactly when is it not you?"

Anna turned to Kristof, "Help me out here. I'm not always late."

"I don't know, Anna. I think she's got you on that one."

Dinner was good, as the queen had promised. The wine was excellent. Conversation consisted of a discussion of the particulars of ice harvesting, which was mostly narrated by Anna, and an explanation of the traditions and customs of the sea which was entirely provided by Fitzwilliam. Dessert was a chocolate torte, which was delicious but too rich for the captain. After a couple of bites she pushed her plate away, and reached to refill her wine glass.

"Are you going to eat that?" Anna asked, using her fork to indicate the cake.

"No, do you want it?"

Anna nodded enthusiastically.

Fitzwilliam started to push the small plate over to the princess when another fork came down from above and pinned it to the table. The captain pulled her hand back, quickly.

"Not so fast, captain. You can just leave that plate right there."

Fitzwilliam looked over surprised to see the ferocious expression on the queen's face.

"That's chocolate," she said, as if that was enough explanation.

"Oh, come on. I asked first," Anna complained.

"And I'm the queen … and your older sister." Elsa pulled the plate back toward her.

"Hey, that's not fair."

"Monarchy isn't," the queen replied, her eyes twinkling.

"Captain," Anna asked plaintively, "don't you think I should get it?"

Fitzwilliam took a breath. Clearly this was a contentious area, but she was willing to face the danger. "You both have good points," she started. "I would suggest a duel, but I'm afraid, Your Highness, if you were to win there would be an unfortunate taint on your succession. So perhaps a compromise?" She gave Elsa her most beguiling smile. "A division of the cake?"

Elsa pondered this as if it were the declaration of Arendelle's borders. "Very well," she used her fork to break the torte into two sections, one noticeably larger than the other.

"Yeah, right … a division … and guess who gets to divide," Anna grumped.

Elsa reached over, pushed the smaller portion on to her own plate, and then handed it to the captain. "Please deliver this to my ungrateful, suspicious sister, who always thinks the worst of me."

"Now, that's really not fair. I do not think that, usually. I mean if it weren't chocolate, I wouldn't take it, now that you said that," she fairly snatched the plate from Fitzwilliam's hand, "but since it is, 'Thank you, Your Majesty,'" she performed the best curtsy she could from a seated position.

"You're welcome, Your Highness."

As Fitzwilliam retook her seat, Anna continued, her mouth full of torte, "So you dooouuulhl?" She swallowed. "You know how to duel?"

"Yes, of course," the Captain replied without thinking. "It's a necessity for someone … someone like me. But I try to avoid pistols. The small sword is much more elegant, and less messy if used well."

The queen sighed.

"But I have sworn off it … for the foreseeable future."

"You could teach me, though right? You could teach me to you know … use a sword and stuff?"

"I could," Fitzwilliam answered carefully, "but I'm not sure if I may." She looked at the queen.

"Anna, why would you want to learn how to fight? It's not like I'm going to let you."

"Because it sounds cool. It's exercise, and I need the exercise. And what if … what if Huns come in the middle of the night … I'll need to fight then. And … and what do you mean 'let me'?!"

"I mean ..."

"Your Majesty, it never hurts to know how to use a sword, even if you never really plan on it," Fitzwilliam intervened. "And the art of sword play teaches discipline, control, balance, and discipline …."

Elsa's expression changed. She hadn't really thought of it that way. Perhaps it wasn't like such a bad idea after all. "Very well, your arguments have convinced me. You may teach my sister. Will you do it here?"

"Yes, as long as you don't mind if I bring my Midshipmen along on occasion. I'm sure you have a training yard."

"I'm sure I do too," Elsa answered, although she really didn't have any idea where it was, "and that's fine. I'll let the Captain of the Guard know, so there aren't any misunderstandings." She looked up in thought, remembering the Midshipmen and how Fitzwilliam dealt with them. She smiled. "You won't have any problem with her rank? I would want her to get the full benefit of your experience and work ethic."

"Of course not, Your Majesty. There is not much place for rank in the training yard. There are only two that matter there. The master," the captain indicated herself, "and the student," she pointed at the princess.

It was late, but not too late when dinner finished. Anna and Kristof headed off to wherever, to do things that the queen really didn't want to know about just yet. So, Elsa offered a tour of the castle. Fitzwilliam accepted. She didn't want to leave. She supposed it might be that she didn't want to run into the Duke, but in truth that didn't concern her much. She was enjoying herself too much to want to leave.

"And this is the library."

"Impressive."

"Captain, that's the fifth time you've said that in as many rooms. This is a castle. This is the royal castle of Arendelle, the seat of the monarchy. It is supposed to be impressive."

"Yes, well I've been in other castles, and trust me not many of them have as many books as this one does. I'm not actually sure that some nobility know how to read."

"We ..." Elsa corrected herself, "I like to read. I always have."

"Which explains that fascinating mind."

Elsa looked to the captain and found her looking back. Her breath caught for a moment, taken in both by the Captain's smile and her attentive stare, then she spoke, in a softer more intimate tone.

"I wondered if there were something else I might call you, besides Captain Fitzwilliam."

"You could call me 'Fitz,' that's what my friends do."

"Hmmm," the queen mused, "that is not quite what I had in mind." She thought back to the note she had received from the captain. "What does the 'M' stand for?"

"Oh," Fitzwilliam rolled her eyes and sighed, "Millicent."

"Millicent?" The queen chuckled, "You're kidding?"

"Would I kid about something like that?" Fitzwilliam sighed, "I was named for a great aunt. Millicent Carolina."

"So," the queen asked playfully, "does anyone call you Milly?"

"Does anyone call you Elsie?"

"Ah, yes then. I'll take that as a 'no.'" The queen cocked her head, "But I rather like Carolina. Would you mind if I called you that?"

The captain smiled back, "No. I would very much like it if you would call me Carolina."

"So you will call me Elsa. When we are alone."

"Of course, Queen Elsa."

"Elsa." She answered firmly.

The captain took a breath. "Elsa. Very well, Elsa. That may take some getting used to."

"Then, I'll just have to make sure you have opportunities to practice."

Carolina blushed, and then quickly looked around the library, her eyes falling on the painting dominating the room.

"And these are your parents?"

"Yes," Elsa answered, taking a step closer.

"I see the coat. The red sash really does set it off," Carolina felt the blood pounding in her ears. She willed her breathing under control. "And you do ..."

"... look exactly like my mother."

"And that is not exactly an original observation."

"No, but I don't take it as an insult."

"Well if it is any consolation, I hear it as well, too. It seems that I resemble my father. Something about my eyes."

Elsa looked closely into her eyes. They were the warmest brown she had ever seen, with tiny gold flecks. "Handsome man, then."

A pleasant delicate sent wafted around Carolina. Elsa's hair, she mused. With that thought, suddenly she was acutely aware of everything about the woman so close to her, her hair, her dress, her bare shoulders, her eyes ... her lips. She took half a step back. This was the Queen of Arendelle. "He certainly thinks so."

Elsa took Carolina's hand and led her to a plush sofa that had a view of the harbor. She sat and indicated the place next to her. She wasn't going to chase Carolina around the library, and this should keep her close. "You haven't mentioned your father, before …."

"My parents weren't..." Carolina sat and fumbled with a cushion. "They aren't married. I didn't actually meet my father until I was older."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Elsa said, sorry indeed to have brought up such an embarrassing topic.

"Don't be." She shrugged. "My mother wasn't."

Elsa choked.

"My parents' relationship was brief, passionate, and more than a bit scandalous, so I won't bore you with it."

When she could breathe again Elsa said, "That doesn't sound boring."

Caroline just smiled."It is," she looked around the room, her eyes coming to where she saw her ship, lanterns illuminating its outline, "and I'm sure we can find many more interesting things to talk about rather than my parents."

Elsa could accept that. They had only know each other for what? Four days, although it seemed like longer. This did, however, leave the conversational ball in Carolina's court. "So what shall we talk about?"

Carolina thought for a moment. She could feel Elsa's eyes on her. Her presence, close on the small sofa, was like banked coals, some kindling and there would be a fire. She considered her two choices. One, the safer course for sure, would be to make her excuses and leave. The other was … and she really didn't dare follow that thought to where it eventually led, but at its essence it was … not leaving.

"Actually, I am more of a woman of action, and I still owe you a dance."

"Really? How so?"

"At your ball, I was nervous; I was stiff; I was challenging people to duels."

Elsa laughed.

"I was not at my best." She looked into those exquisite blue eyes, "And for you I would wish to be at my best."

Elsa held her gaze a long moment before answering, "Very well then."

Carolina got up. She decided on removing her sword, although she could certainly dance with it. Then she offered her hand to Elsa, who accepted it and rose gracefully. She led her over to the center of the library where there was sufficient clear space to dance. Taking Elsa's left in her right she brought her left into the position she knew to be correct, formal, hand just beneath her left shoulder blade. Elsa brought her right to her shoulder.

"There is just one problem," Elsa observed. "We don't have any music."

"Yes, well, I did think of that. I'll hum."

"Very well then, shall we?"

The captain tapped out a waltz beat the index finger of her left hand. The she started to hum .. badly ...tunelessly. Elsa stopped in her tracks and stared, a giggle bubbled up from somewhere.

"What … what's the matter?" Carolina asked.

"I bet it's the cannon," Elsa muttered. "So, why don't I provide the music? I believe I can remember one or two waltzes."

"That bad?"

"Oh yes."

"Then I cede the position of musician to you."

Carolina moved Elsa back into the standard waltz position. Elsa counted softly, one, two, three, one two, three and she began to hum the very waltz they had danced at her ball, but it seemed entirely different. The captain was still a strong lead, but she was relaxed and smiling. Elsa felt relaxed too, and she had no desire to glance down; she didn't care what her feet were doing as long as she could stay right here. They glided smoothly around the library, twirling in graceful loops. The tempo of the music increased, and Carolina pulled Elsa closer, her left hand gradually making it's way down to the small of Elsa's back. The dress was cool, but not cold. She could feel the tiny crystals that made it, and that they were the only things between her and the woman beneath. And when the waltz tempo slowed, she did not return to their previous position. She stayed close. Her left hand shifted in a slow stroking motion. She could have remained like this forever. Elsa stopped humming.

"Ummm, you are better," Elsa said in a breathy voice.

"And if I told you that I practiced every day since the ball?" Fitzwilliam said as they rocked slowly to an unheard tune, her lips nearly touching Elsa's ear.

"I would say you benefited from the practice."

Carolina shifted slightly to her left to bring them in line with each other. Her right hand moved to Elsa's face gently cupping her jaw, lifting, so that they looked into each other eyes. She could live forever in those eyes.

"Elsa … may I ..."

"Please."

The kiss was slow and tentative, their lips just touching for a long moment. Then they both moved into each other. Carolina began to gently explore, nibbling, licking, using all of her senses to guide her to do that, and not that, but oh, definitely that. Her hand began to roam, too, memorizing the contours of Elsa's back, the way her breath caught when she moved her fingers. But when she looked down, she saw Elsa's eyes open. The queen looked disconcerted. Carolina followed her eye line to the wall, to the painting. With a throaty chuckle she swept the queen off her feet and carried her to the sofa, which faced out over the harbor. Gently lying her down, she knelt near her head, ready to resume.

"Uh," Elsa said still breathing heavily. "Do you think you could take off the coat?"

"As you wish, my queen," she said with a grin and she began to unfasten the long row of hooks. But she was in no hurry, they had plenty of time.

A/N: So thanks to everyone who has stuck with me ... or actually who has found me. I am pleased that someone besides me is reading this because I thought it would be only me. Reviews are lovely gifts to give a writer, but then you know that.