Chapter 12
The dinner party had dwindled down until it was just Sandvik and the people staying in the castle. Even Mrs. Sandvik had gone home with the Rikes, who had come by carriage.
Reinhardt was trying to save what was left of the evening. The conversation at dinner had left him a lot to think about, but he wasn't quite ready to retire to do that thinking. Perhaps after dinner brandy and cigars would help – and some time amongst men. They might be his competition, or at least Edmund was, but he could count on them to be sensible and not high strung, like women and snowmen.
"Cards, Edmund? After the ladies pass through?" Reinhardt asked.
"They don't," Fitz answered out of habit. It was one of the differences that she truly appreciated here in Arendelle. When "the women" passed through to another room to spend the evening with themselves and not amongst the men, she was invariably left in an awkward position. Not always an unfortunate one, men didn't seem to know what opportunities they were giving up by segregating themselves, but the occasion always seemed to involve some uncertainty and discussion, a discussion she had grown tired of some time ago.
"What did you say, Princess Millicent?"
Either he was being deliberating provocative, or he was obtuse, Fitz didn't really care which, they were both annoying. "I said, 'the ladies don't pass through.' We have a queen and a princess – what point would there be for them to wander off into the drawing room and leave you here to discuss weighty matters and drink their brandy?"
"Oh, do you say?" Reinhardt looked to Edmund for confirmation, which was really the straw after the last for Fitz.
She stuck her head in Reinhardt's face and snarled, "Ask the Queen if you don't believe me."
"We don't generally segregate, that's true. But I do prefer to retire to the drawing room, to the more comfortable seats. I hope that you'll join us there," Elsa cut in before things became more heated.
Edmund joined her in playing interference. "And my sister does like a game of cards, don't you Mil? So that won't stop us from playing."
"Really Edmund, your sister?" The Prince looked like he would rather play cards with a tiger than Fitzwilliam. "I wouldn't want to take advantage of a lady."
"Oh, you won't take advantage of me," Fitz answered. "But we don't have to play if you're afraid. Perhaps your …" Fitz cast her eyes downward at the Prince's lap, "... wallet is too small to take the risk."
Elsa winced and repeated quietly to herself, 'Cards is better than dueling. Cards is better than dueling.'
Reinhardt glared at Fitz, his teeth bared at the challenge. "Cards it is. Who will be the forth?" He turned first to Kristoff who waved him off immediately and then to Sandvik who pulled nervously at his collar.
"Sandvik, do you play Whist?" Edmund asked.
"Yes," the Master replied, his voice wavering with hesitation, "but this company is probably a bit rich for me."
"Nonsense, I'm sure Reinhardt would gladly cover you, wouldn't you Reinhardt?"
"Assuredly," the Prince snarled, "not that I think there will be much to cover." He and Fitz were engaged in a full on staring match now, both puffed up like cobras waiting to strike.
"Wonderful!" Edmund clapped his hands together and then called Moeltke over. "Your Majesty, do you have cards?"
Elsa answered, "Yes, in the drawing room." She wanted to get the little party moving before there was violence.
"Equally wonderful," Edmund said cheerfully. "So we'll all retire there. Shall I have my man fetch cigars as well?"
"Yes, please," Fitz said not taking her eyes off Prince Reinhardt.
"No. I think not." Elsa said firmly. "Not in my drawing room, thank you."
Edmund watched the exchange. Not a word more was said, but something passed between them, a ... conversation of expressions. Clearly the Queen was the victor, Fitz let out a long suffering sigh and her lips curled into a pout. Indeed, Edmund thought, a woman to match Milly. He wanted to clap Elsa on the back and offer congratulations, taming this particular shrew could not have been an easy task. He also wondered how it was that Reinhardt could remain so utterly clueless as to the subtext floating around them. His sister and the Queen had a connection in even the most casual of communications. It was a shared glow, a line that joined them, a force that pulled them into each others' orbit like twin moons.
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"There was nothing I could do, I was short suited in trump." Edmund shrugged apologetically as his sister glared at him.
"You could have better luck," Fitz growled.
"That was the first game," Reinhardt gloated. "What? Five pounds per point and twenty-five for the pony?"
"Indeed," Edmund beckoned Moeltke over, took the portfolio he offered, and started scribbling a letter of credit. "Here you go, Master Sandvik, with Avalon's compliments."
Sandvik stared at his uptick in fortune, and his first smile of the night appeared. "Thank you very much Your Highness. Thank you … and I think I will have to call it a night." There was no way he was going to risk losing this bounty.
"Good night to you then Master, and well done," Edmund called after him cheerfully.
Elsa got up to receive Sandvik's farewells.
The gentlemen and Fitz stood, and then when she realized her mistake she sat abruptly back down again, gazing off, her expression stony.
"Well then, we lost our fourth. I think perhaps we need to call it a night." Reinhardt tucked his thumbs in the waist of his trousers cocking his hips, no doubt refuting Fitz's insult from earlier.
Elsa could see Fitz stewing. She could see the humiliation written on her, humiliation that might easily ignite to anger. And besides she had been watching the play, and it seemed a fascinating game. "I'll play. I can make the fourth."
"Your Majesty?" Reinhardt seemed shocked by her offer.
Elsa walked over to the table and nudged Edmund out of his seat."Girls against the boys, if that's alright with you, Lady Fitzwilliam?"
"Certainly," Fitz's expression turned pleased, and then into a rakish grin. "I can think of nothing finer."
"Shall we keep the stakes the same?" Elsa asked.
"Oh, I think not …" Reinhardt shook his head.
"Indeed, we have a monarch now. How about we double them?" Edmund said. "If we lose, well then taxes go up in Avalon, but that's no concern of yours."
"But sir, if the ladies lose ..."
"I'm good for it." The Queen looked over at Reinhardt from her seat at the table. "Now that Anna's engaged she doesn't need her dowry."
"Hey, hey! Don't gamble away the family fortune now," Anna called out from where she had settled herself with Kristoff on the sofa.
"I promise I'll stop well before that," Elsa chuckled
"And the ladies are in," Edmund winked at Fitz. "Reinhardt, surely you can manage it."
"Of course," Reinhardt said.
"I want a little clarification." Elsa looked at Fitz. "Trumps rotate."
"Yes, hearts, spades, diamond, clubs and then a hand of no trumps. Points count over six tricks to the winner. First team to nine wins."
"You haven't played?" Now Reinhardt was clearly nervous, bordering on chagrined. "Your Majesty ..."
Elsa put her hand on his arm, ignoring the glare from Fitz, and said, "Prince Reinhardt, I assure you no matter what happens, I will not blame you, nor will Arendelle's treasury fall on your watch." She looked around the table. "Now who deals first?"
The first hand was a bit of a disaster for Fitz and Elsa. The point differential wasn't too bad, the men scored nine total for three points toward the match, but it felt like a rout. Still Fitz remained confident, and it was good to be sitting across from Elsa and talking to her, working with her rather than arguing with her. Never mind that she was in a dress and surrounded by men who all could much more easily take her place in the Queen's life. Besides she had seen the light come on in Elsa's eyes when she led the Queen of spades to her Ace pulling the King from Edmund. She had no doubt that the Queen would be a quick study.
The next hand was more evenly matched, the men took it by only one point. That time Fitz had made a valiant attempt to pull all of the trump to set up a run down the diamonds, but Reinhardt proved to have one more spade than she did.
The third hand is when the magic happened. Fitz led with the Jack of spades, Elsa took the trick with the Ace and led spades right back. Fitz trumped, and they were off to the races. The score was tied at four all.
Even losing the next hand didn't dampen their enthusiasm. It quickly became clear they didn't have but two clubs between them, and even so they managed to keep their opponents to two points.
"This is fun," Elsa giggled as the score was now the women's four to the gentlemen's six.
"I told y ..." Fitz started, and then looked around sheepishly. "I told my brother that you would like this game."
"And so I do," Elsa batted her eyelashes at her partner. "Perhaps I'll get a chance to play again soon."
"Oh, and do you have stakes in mind?" Fitz leaned forward over the table, playfully tapping her finger to her lips.
"I do, now that you mention it."
"Your Majesty, Milly," Edmund interjected before things got too out of hand. He wasn't exactly sure how Whist might be made amorous, but he was also sure he didn't want to see it in the present company. "I think it's Milly's deal."
Fitz harrumphed at her brother, but shuffled the cards with quick practiced fingers. The cards felt right now. She felt lucky, and it was no trumps, her favorite. She considered no trumps the purest test of skill and the best use of Elsa's arguably perfect memory.
Play started as Edmund played the Queen of diamonds and damn if Reinhardt didn't have the Ace to take her King. Reinhardt then played a low spade, and Fitz took the trick with the Ace. Her highest card remaining was a Queen of hearts and it was a singleton, so she sent a prayer out that their foe didn't have all the Aces and played it. Elsa took the trick with the Ace, glanced again at her cards, and then put them down on the table.
"I believe I take the remaining tricks," she said happily.
"What?" Reinhardt looked stunned.
"I have the King, Jack and ten, you can't possibly have any hearts after I play those, so my eight, six, five, three and two are good, as will be my Jack and ten of diamonds."
"How did you? How do you know?" Reinhardt sputtered.
"Oh come, now, that's an easy one," Fitz scoffed. "Can't you count? Good heaven's man, we're only three hands in, you'd have to be feeble not to remember the cards to here."
Reinhardt turned on her, "Madam, I do not know what I have done to you, but I do not appreciate your endless jibes and unseemly comments."
"Is it really me? And here I thought you were just a poor loser?" Fitz examined her incredibly short fingernails in the manner she had seen ladies do.
"If you want to play with the big dogs, there is bound to be a little biting." Edmund chimed in. He wanted to drive home the point that he – Edmund of Avalon – was the big dog in this contest, which made Reinhardt the obvious loser.
Reinhardt had had enough. "I think I am done with playing with dogs, big or small, thank you very much." He stood and glared down at Fitz. "And considering that, you madam, very much remind me of … of well, you can imagine!" With a terse nod in Elsa's direction, he then excused himself.
When the door slammed shut behind him, Fitz tilted her head and observed, "I think he called me a bitch."
Elsa sighed, "You were horrible to him, very horrible to him. I don't want to marry him, but I also don't want to find the Austrian Empire sailing into my harbor."
"He … he was just plain horrible. He kept touching you!" Fitz exclaimed. "How was I supposed to be polite with him hanging on you."
"He wasn't hanging." Elsa scowled at Carolina and her sister in turn. "After your little dinner show with Olaf, I think he was afraid to come near me."
Edmund spoke,"Well then you certainly needn't worry about Austria. He'll spread the news that Avalon paid a cordial call, so they will not visit you hostilely. They need us much more than they don't need you. And besides there is that little matter of you destroying our ship. As you noted, that seemed to leave quite an impression on the Prince.
Anna giggled and ran over to hug Edmund. "And you … you were the best. You were wonderful. Perfect. I learned so much about being a Prince just from watching you."
"Me too," Kristoff added.
"But then where is my hug from you, big guy?" Edmund held out his arms in a fair impression of Olaf.
Kristoff cleared his throat and then gave the Prince a brotherly squeeze about the shoulders. "You were fun to watch. And you scared that guy off just like you said you would."
"So this was all planned?" Elsa asked incredulously. "Edmund, you came here to block the Prince of Luneberg."
"Absolutely, madam," Edmund answered. "For as wonderful as you have been I am afraid that I have no more interest in you than my dear sister Milly has in me."
Elsa looked very puzzled, her eyes flitting between Edmund and Carolina. "What?"
Kristoff answered as he returned to his seat on the sofa, "Elsa, we'll tell you all about it later. It was a very ... interesting trip to Sweden."
"It could have been more interesting – for you," Edmund gave Kristoff a sad pout.
Fitz shook her head. "Please, then your man would have killed Kristoff, and Anna would have killed me for losing him. And where would that leave everyone."
Now both Anna and Elsa were confused. Anna hung a little more tightly to Kristoff's arm.
"Be that as it may, my role was to send that rogue packing, and so I have." Edmund was proud of his performance. "My work here is done. I was brilliant as always! Although I'll stay to make sure he gets on that boat he came on, and you know … to give princely pointers to young Kristoff here."
Elsa looked at Carolina. "And you? You came in that getup because...?"
"Penance," she said seriously. "I had wronged you, and I had to see you. I had to let you know how sorry I was. Besides I can't carry a sword in a dress, so everyone thought it was just plain a better idea."
"Penance, really?" Elsa asked.
Carolina nodded, the picture of a remorseful soul. Her repentant gaze struck the queen as absolutely adorable, a term she hadn't exactly associated with her before.
"You know, I don't think I've shown Lady Fitzwilliam the library," Elsa purred in an intimate voice.
Carolina perked up, "You haven't."
"Perhaps she might like to visit it now?"
"She is a great believer in the importance of … oh, books." Carolina nodded eagerly. "She would be delighted."
Elsa smiled and stood, announcing to the rest of the room who stood as well, "So, I am taking Lady Fitzwilliam on a short tour of the castle, and then I think I'm … off to bed."
"Good night, Your Majesty," Edmund said, with a mischievous grin. "Good night, sister."
"Night Elsa, Fitz," Anna and Kristoff chorused together. Anna waving as Elsa and Carolina walked briskly to the door.
Once they had gone, Anna burst out with a shriek of laughter. "That was so perfect!"
"Indeed," Edmund preened. "I am a master of courtly intrigue."
"Yep, you certainly are … although I helped!" Anna tossed herself on the couch. "Now I think we need to celebrate."
"Well, we have some damn fine whiskey here," Edmund held up his bottle of Scotch.
"And you said you have cigars?" Anna asked. She had always pictured herself as one of those wild women of the continent with a cigar clenched between her teeth.
"Yes, I do …."
"But – but – but ..." Kristoff waved his hands trying to slow down the two royal mischief makers, "Elsa said …."
"What Elsa doesn't see won't hurt her. Papa smoked cigars in here on occasion, and this is an occasion."
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The door to the library closed softly and Elsa and Carolina were alone in the room. Moonlight came through large windows, and one lamp was lit on the near wall. The coals were already banked in the fireplace. They glowed a dull orange, not so much warming the room as sending hazy shadows across it. The two women faced each other. Carolina dressed like this, bare shoulders, low neckline, was a singular event, and Elsa wanted to savor it. She reached out her hand, running it across the warm skin at Carolina's neck, then her shoulder and then down the bodice of her dress, Elsa's touch leaving a trail of fire in its wake.
"So this is penance?" She teased. "I thought sackcloth was the traditional garb for penitents?"
Carolina's eyes were locked on her lover's face, and she tried to remember to breathe.
"Uh … not proper attire for a formal dinner. I had to see you, so this seemed the better … um ... choice."
"Really?" Elsa's restless fingers continued to do … things to Carolina's equanimity.
"Well, Edmund thought it … ah …. best, so that … that prince … uh … wouldn't wonder who … oh ... I was."
Elsa was tempted to continue teasing Carolina, but there were things that needed to be said first.
"I am sorry. I was terribly unfair to you," Elsa said.
With Elsa's hands still again, Carolina found she could answer clearly. "No. You don't have to apologize. I was the idiot."
"You were trying so hard, and I didn't see it."
"I got drunk. I acted like a fool." Carolina dropped her head and shifted uneasily.
"You were in pain."
"I ran like a coward too afraid to even talk to you."
"I wasn't being easy to talk to."
"But when you tried, I didn't even listen. I just ran again."
"I let my fears and insecurities get the better of me, and didn't stop to realize you might be frightened too."
Carolina nodded, "I was too ashamed to admit it. I nearly cocked this up completely."
But Elsa wasn't going to let Carolina take the blame for this. "You have given up so much. You gave up everything you were, and I …."
"No." Carolina grabbed Elsa's forearm. "You don't understand. I gave up nothing."
"How can you say that?" Elsa found her tone sharpening without her intending it. She knew Carolina meant well, but she didn't want to be lied to.
"I can say it because it is true." Carolina said it slowly and surely. She knew the fact of her changing life was at the heart of the matter. Yes, her life had changed, but it wasn't for the worse. There had been trades, but they were all in her favor. "What I gave up is nothing compared to what I have gained. You have to believe me. And even if you can't believe me right now, you must accept that I take responsibility for my own fate. It is my life, and I get to choose where to live it, and whom to live it with." Then she sighed and looked back down again. "And I must accept responsibility for my own actions, which were deplorable. You didn't deserve to be treated like that way."
So they were back to this, Elsa thought, a small grin playing on her lips."Are we arguing over whose fault this was?"
"You have enough to worry about. You're running a Kingdom, you shouldn't have to worry about me as well."
"Carolina, the fact is neither one of us likes to lose, so we had better just stop arguing. And there is more than enough fault to go around." Elsa tenderly pushed the hair from her face. "You are right, I have a Kingdom to rule. But if I care about you, if I value you, if I … if I love you, then I have to make the time for you. If I worried only about what I had time for, I wouldn't eat or sleep either."
Somehow, something, quite possibly Elsa's touch on her face, caused Carolina to blurt out,"I would miss it if you didn't sleep -" which was an understatement, but also a summary of everything she had been feeling – "with me."
"I missed you, too. It was too quiet being alone." Elsa felt Carolina's hands move to her waist. She leaned forward, resting her head, running her own hands up Carolina's firm back. They fit together like this. Fit perfectly. "I missed the sound of your heart beat. "
"Missed everything." Carolina murmured into her hair. "It was like losing a part of me."
They stayed there holding each other, listening, feeling, breathing each other in.
But there was at least one more question Elsa needed answered. "So, it is true that you were afraid?"
"Yes. A true coward."
"Afraid … of me?" It was just a little hesitant.
"No, god no." Carolina held her even tighter, her protests delivered in a whisper to Elsa's ear. "Afraid of ah … afraid of how I felt ... afraid of losing you. It was all going to so badly, and everything I did made it worse, and all I could see was you deciding to pack it all in. That I was too much trouble. When I was away, I realized that no matter what the risk, I had to come back and try again. I saw that I had one important irreplaceable thing in my life. One important person who I cannot lose, with whom I cannot live without. And that is you."
Elsa smiled, "And Anna is right again."
"About?"
"We are similar ... about some things."
"How? What?"
"Ummm … well … it's not important. What is important is that …" Elsa took a deep breath, willing herself to be clear and unafraid. "I … I love you."
Carolina's breath stopped; all she could hear was her own heartbeat as she tried to absorb what Elsa had just said. Finally she breathed, "Really, do you …. do you... you love me?"
Elsa nodded yes from where she had snuggled up to Carolina. She hoped Carolina could feel the nod against her breast.
"You love me?" Carolina's voice wavered, caught on a wave of emotion.
"I do."
"Oh." Carolina slowly untangled herself, and then, moving more quickly, pulled Elsa after her to the sofa. Once she had Elsa settled, she slid to the floor as gracefully as she could. Kneeling was impossible in a dress.
"Oh," she repeated, a daze threatening to cloud her every sense. Her eyes misted up as she fumbled her way into the little bag still attached to her wrist and retrieved that small box, the one that enclosed all her hopes. She held it up to Elsa, willing herself to look up into her eyes. "And I love you."
"This is for me?" Elsa asked, even though there was no one else it could be for.
"Yes. If you … if you can bear to be with me."
"Of course I will be with you ... but ..."
"Then take it … please?" It was hard to keep the desperate tone from her voice, for Carolina had never felt this anxious about anything.
Slowly Elsa reached out and took the box, opening it with a click. Her mouth opened as she saw the ring nestled inside. "Oh, Carolina. It's beautiful."
"And I guess what I am supposed to say … now … is will you be mine?" Carolina continued, her voice gaining strength from her surety that this was the right thing to do. "But the truth of it is that I am asking to be yours, to be allowed to be with you, always and forever. Because I know, I cannot be without you."
They stared at each other, the long seconds ticking on as coals sputtered and died in the fireplace. Finally Elsa realized what they were waiting for. "Yes."
Carolina let out the breath she was holding then found herself pitching forward. "Oh …" she grabbed out trying to find something besides Elsa to hang on to, but there was only the floor.
"Here, let me." Elsa righted her. "Small frequent breaths," she instructed, trying not to chuckle.
"So your sister mentioned." Carolina grumbled as she sat back up. "How do you wear these things?
"Carefully, and not when exerting yourself. And you will note I don't wear one unless absolutely forced to."
"I bloody well wish I weren't, that's for sure."
"I can help you with that." Elsa lent an arm so that Carolina might scramble back up on to the sofa. Once she had made it up from the floor, she sat chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. It was, Elsa thought again watching her pant, a very nice chest. "I mean if you wanted to get out of it. I do have some prior experience with corset removal. I mean personal experience ..." Elsa chuckled as she stumbled, "I mean me … me with me."
Carolina wasn't about to respond that she knew how to get one off someone else, just not herself. "Well then, bloody well remove away!"
"Not here! I can't do it here," Elsa laughed.
"Oh, I see. Yes …. then perhaps we should away to the appropriate place."
Elsa stood and then offered her hand down so that Carolina could pull herself up. They found each other face to face again. Carolina leaned in and brushed her hand across Elsa's cheek. "I … meant it with all my heart … I love you." But she needed to make sure that Elsa understood something else, something important. "I also want you to know, I have never said that to anyone before. I have never felt this way about anyone else."
Elsa listened to those words, savored them. And then with a satisfied smile, answered, "Good."
It was not the answer Carolina was expecting. "What do you mean, good?"
"I mean that I am completely, totally, madly in love with you. And I don't want you to have felt this way with anyone but me."
"I see."
"I'm a little jealous, you know."
"I had noted that," Carolina replied dryly.
"And you're not?" Elsa couldn't help but tweak her just a little more.
Carolina snorted. "Elsa, I was going to kill that Prince, and use his manly accouterment as … I don' t know … a really small change purse. I think we can safely say I'm a little jealous.
"Only a little?"
Carolina drew herself up and crossed her arms, a posture that seemed much more commanding in a tailcoat. "Well, perhaps slightly more than a little. But I hide it well."
"You do?"
"And … when confronted with my jealousy, I do something about it," As a sudden demonstration, Carolina pulled Elsa into a kiss, the long passionate kiss she had been dreaming of from the first moment she had started her return.
When they finally broke apart, Elsa breathed, "That is something."
"And just the beginning of my plans for this evening," Carolina whispered in her ear. "Provided there are no objections."
"None from me," Elsa started to pull Carolina toward the door.
"Just let me … there, that's much better." Carolina shucked off the slippers and wiggled her toes in her stockings. "And, this contraption." She reached up to loosen her hair.
"Wait – allow me," Elsa ran her fingers through the loose braid gently plucking out the ribbon that held it up. Carolina's hair was soft and silky, and she rolled her head and sighed in pleasure as Elsa smoothed it back into place. Tossing the ribbon away, Elsa pulled her back into her embrace. Then they walked arm in arm, hand in hand, out the door together.
A/N: Feel better? But it's not over ... still a lot of mopping up to do ... and smut .. probably.