A/N: Okay so this is the story everyone voted on for me to write next. obviously that sort of went out the window, since I've started posting my werewolf!au and am working on my psychic!au, but hopefully I'll get to this one. Now it was between this and the last thing I posted here, so I might sort of redo the poll on here for what you guys would prefer to see more? It was oddly really hard to write this one and I'm not sure why. But let me know what you think!
Edit - Apologies for the error, guys! I don't know how that got mixed up, but thank you for pointing it out. All the formatting should be fine now.
Try as she might, she couldn't say what had put the idea in her head to visit the surrounding farms in Arendelle. It had been a difficult year, she knew, and she tried to consider herself a fair ruler. She wanted to assure herself that nobody was going hungry, all was well despite the lean year. Farming was difficult enough in their poor soil, a year without much rain could leave people hungry and wanting.
That being said, she couldn't deny that it was a relief to be out of the castle. The place had become oppressive in the last few years. Anna refused to pick a suitor, still claiming that Elsa had ruined her on love after chasing off Kristoff. And as no man would consider even touching a woman that could freeze his heart with a flick of her wrist, Elsa had few prospects to choose from, leaving Arendelle without heirs or any light in the future. The country was prosperous, for the time being. Yet there was no telling what the future would hold.
Escape, though she would never quite put it that way, was a welcome relief. She had a feeling Anna felt the same, since her sister hadn't even bothered to bid her goodbye when she left the castle early that morning. Unfortunately, the easiness of their relationship after the thaw had faded quickly. Now it was full of tense silences and occasional yelling matches that sent the staff scurrying to the furthest parts of the castle, away from the flurries of snow that surrounded Elsa in such fits.
She loathed such a wedge being between her and Anna. It was worse than the door that had separated them for so many years, but she could think of no way to destroy it. Only to stay away as much as she could and pray to the gods that she might be granted wisdom in the situation. Some way to finds words, to be a sister and a queen at the same time.
Yet such thoughts had to be banished as her carriage rolled to a slow stop, and the door was opened by one of her soldiers. Elsa accepted his hand with her glove-clad one and stepped out. The farmhouse didn't look much different from any of the others, built into a triangle shape and made with thick planks of wood, thatched together with a mixture of mud and straw. She felt as though she ought to pity them for the bitterly cold winters and the wind that had to whistle through the cracks, but she knew little of what it meant to be cold.
As her feet touched the cracked dirt, a middle aged woman came bustling out the from door of the farmhouse, wiping her hands on her apron and casting worried glances about.
"Queen Elsa." She said respectfully, bowing low and fussing with her hair.
"You may rise." Elsa said, ever uncomfortable with such displays. She rubbed her gloved hands together, willing herself to put off some cold to offset the heat of the summer. The woman stood up straight again, eyes darting about in a nervous manner still.
"If I had known you'd be coming to our little home, I would have fixed the place up, made something special for you. I just put some bread in the oven, but it won't be done for some time now." She explained, still refusing to meet Elsa's eyes. It was typical, yet it felt as though there was something off about the woman. She was not the same sort of nervous most of the others had been. Elsa tried to brush it off as a silly, heat-induced notion, offering a small smile.
"That will be fine. If I could just trouble you for a cup of water, that's all I need in this heat." She said softly. The woman curtsied once, then beckoned them inside, picking things up here and there and straightening things. To Elsa, she felt little more than an intruder, despite how she knew it was a common practice.
Moments later, a cup of water was held out to her in a clay mug. She took a sip of it, but the gritty taste did little to quench her thirst and she found herself merely holding it in her lap.
"I hope I didn't come at a poor time. I've been stopping by many of the outlying farms to see if anything is needed, after such a difficult summer. I want to know that my people are doing well." Elsa told her, hoping to put the woman at ease. But she just grabbed the girl of about eleven in the kitchen by the arm and whispered something in her ear. The child nodded solemnly, then took off through the front door.
"I sent her off to fetch the rest of the family. John's just outside and my husband is out in the fields. Inger's somewhere about here, and I just sent off Ferdi." She said, her hands moving restlessly as she picked up and moved different items through the kitchen. She was over explaining, and Elsa didn't understand what was making her so nervous. "But we're doing just fine. Course the farm didn't do so well, what with the lack of rain this year, but we pulled through. We always do." Her voice had taken on a harder edge, making Elsa stiffen.
"Well I do hope if anything is needed, you'll tell us. I know the royals have been rather distant in the past, but in these last five years, I've tried to be more involved. I won't have any of my people left wanting if I can stop it." She said, hoping to smooth things over more. The woman hardly relaxed.
"As you can see, our farm is just fine. I wouldn't want to hold you up, I'm sure you've many more farms you must see to before the day is out. I'll send one of my boy's to town if we need anything." She assured. As if on cue, the door opened and Elsa twisted to see a slim boy of about twenty slipping in. Odd to be thinking of him as a boy, but she felt far older that she really was.
"This here is John, he's my second oldest son. The eldest is...out." She said, her head immediately going down with the word. John regarded her with the same wary look as his mother, walking to her side and merely watching. It made Elsa feel increasingly uncomfortable, until she made the decision that it would be best to just leave. She would send a few provisions in hopes of repairing whatever ill-word must have been spoken about her. Yet as she opened her mouth to announce her intentions, a shout came from outside.
"No, Barend!" A girl's voice yelled. "You can't go inside, please." Elsa turned to look at the door, then back at the two in the kitchen who had paled several shades. She stood, ready to demand an explanation. Then the door opened. First in came the same little girl from earlier, and second in came an all too familiar face.
He was taller, his shoulders much wider and with the same weathered look the other farmers had. But that didn't disguise him. His hair alone was red enough that she could never forget it, and his eyes were unmistakable. She stared in shock, dimly hearing the first woman introducing him as her oldest son. Barend. He said nothing himself, only meeting her eyes with a calm sort of look that he'd never had before.
She sat back down, her legs not fit to hold her anymore. The clay mug slipped from her fingers, shattering on the floor. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought she ought to apologize or offer to buy a new one, but she was too distracted. Speechless, staring at the man that had caused so much trouble and was never supposed to bother anyone again.
"Y-you're supposed to be dead." She stammered out, her hands still shaking. He gave the first hint of a reaction, smiling ruefully at her.
"I've never been much for meeting expectations, Queen Elsa." He told her, his voice sounding different as well. It was deeper. But it still held too many memories for her to handle, too much pain for her think around. She swallowed and desperately tried to clear her mind. He stepped forward and she leaned back.
"John pulled me from the shipwreck five years ago. None of them know who I am. Leave them be and I'll come peacefully." He urged, the same tone she recognized from before. It sent her head reeling, fighting against the past to stay in the present.
"Daft child!" The woman who called herself his mother swatted him in the arm. "We all knew perfectly well who you were, Prince Hans. Just chose not to bother with it because you're a hard worker and a good man. I'll hardly have a Queen that hasn't ever done a day's hard work coming into my house and taking my son away." She turned on Elsa, marching up to her and wagging a finger in her face. "You've no right!"
Elsa drew further back, feeling a cold wind blow about her. She had to fight it. Conceal the storm in her bones. Don't feel the rising panic at her old enemy. The face of her countless nightmares. This woman would dare defend him?
Hans followed her up, taking her by the shoulders and moving her away. "Not now, Ma." He told her softly. It was all kinds of disturbing, seeing Hans handle someone gently, hearing him call anyone Ma. It had to be an act. He had charmed them all.
"Your Majesty?" One of her guards stepped forward, looking at her with concern. "Shall I arrest him?" He asked. Elsa struggled for a moment to find words. Yes, Hans. Arrested. Locked away where he couldn't hurt anybody anymore.
"Y-yes." She stuttered.
"Wait!" Hans insisted, his hands out. The guard paused and Elsa tensed, ready for him to try something. He just gave a pleading look. "Allow me to say goodbye to my family, first." The request came almost as unexpectedly as his presence had. Elsa glanced around once at the dirty house and the people that inhabited it. They weren't really his family. He was, by all rights, still a prince. It had to be an act to garner sympathy, but she raised her hand to the guard anyway.
"Be quick." She said, finding her voice once more and pleased with how steadily it came out. She was curious to see how this act played out. He turned first to the woman, reaching down and taking her hands.
"You don't have to go." She insisted. Elsa thought she spotted a smile on his face at the words, as he shook his head at her.
"Greetje. Ma. I won't run from this." He told her, kissing her once on the forehead before turning away. Before he could take a step, the little girl had wrapped herself around him, crying into his waist.
"Please don't leave, Barend. I don't care what you did, don't leave us." She wept, her words thick and muffled through his shirt. It tugged on Elsa's heartstrings, but she reminded herself of what this man was. He leaned down to hug the girl properly, whispering something in her ear that Elsa couldn't make out. She only started to cry harder, though she did release Hans and let him slip away. He went to the young man in the corner next, grasping his hand before pulling him into a short hug.
"You're a good man, John. Take care of the family." He said, moving away. Elsa could have sworn she saw him clenching his jaw as though he were fighting off tears, and she pressed her lips together. Such an act put on, for who? For the family that apparently believed him good, or for her? Was he foolish enough to think he could lessen his sentence by drawing out sentimentality in her? She wasn't the naive queen she had been the first time they had met and she wouldn't be fooled so easily.
A child came from behind Greetje's skirts, one that Elsa hadn't even noticed. It was a toddler, barely old enough to walk and wearing a simple little dress that had obviously been passed down from each child. Hans swept her up, holding the child up to his face.
"Bar!" She shrieked, chubby fingers reaching out and grabbing at his hair. He kissed her on the cheek and smiled, really smiled, for the first time. Elsa's breath caught in her throat. He was entirely different man when he smiled like that, hardly any traces of the man in her nightmares. A foolish speculation, but she couldn't remove the picture from her head even once the smile faded and he set the child back down. He nodded at his 'mother' and the guard took him by his arm.
"W-we should return to the c-castle." The quiver was back in her voice and she cursed herself for it. She could feel the hateful looks trained on her, for taking a part of their family away. It was a struggle not to feel guilty over it. She forced herself to hold her head high and head for the exit, pausing only to let the unoccupied guard pull the door open for her.
"Thank you for your hospitality." She said, striding outside.
