Joan's surviving kidnapper was named Cyrus. They finally found that out when the ice cube Elsa trapped him in thawed – a week after she made it.
Since everyone saw him on the boat, holding Joan hostage and fighting with Robert, his trial and guilt was open and shut. Perhaps that was why they merely let him rot in the dungeons, while they kept wrangling over Devin's fate. But now, two months after the kidnapping, Arendelle would finally have one of its perpetrators go to trial.
When it came to witnesses, dozens of people saw Cyrus at the scene of the crime, as did the entire royal family save for Christian. Elsa could certainly testify to his guilt, as could Joan. Yet since Elsa was the Queen and Joan was a little Princess, no one wanted to make them testify. There was certainly no way Elsa, Anna or Kristoff would let anyone consider questioning Joan.
But there was still one sure fire witness for the prosecution.
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Robert told the royal court the whole story of those two terrible days on the boat, just as he told the royal family. Although the royal family had heard it all before and relieved it in too many dreams – albeit less than last month – they were sitting in attendance through it all anyway.
While Robert answered each question from Cyrus's prosecutor without much hesitation, he still found himself glancing at the royals – either to get strength from them or give them strength. As if they didn't have a big enough reserve already.
But his eye darted to Elsa, Joan and Christian every so often, just to be sure. He almost swore that theirs did too. Well, since he was the center of attention right now, of course they watched him.
He didn't check to see if anyone else in attendance watched him like that, though. It might have been nice, but it still would have meant less.
In any case, he had to stop letting his eyes wander soon enough. Mainly because it was time for Cyrus's lawyer to question him.
He'd already teased in his opening statement that he would use an insanity defense for Cyrus. It wasn't like Robert could argue with that, per se. He almost thought it went without saying. Still, he hoped there wouldn't be more to say beyond that.
"Mr. Hansen, let's go over the events leading up to your….miraculous rescue effort," he started.
"Very well. What else do you want to know?" Robert asked, though he wasn't the one who was supposed to ask questions. He swore he caught Elsa giving a tiny bit of an amused eye roll in the corner of his eye.
"Before he saw the royal family and their guards on the docks, my client had no intention of harming you or the princess, did he?" the lawyer questioned.
"He still had hopes of auctioning off the princess, yes," Robert stated. "When he saw it wasn't possible, he took drastic action."
"To the point of planning to cut off the princess's fingers. Or so you claim," the lawyer recalled. "It was a rather extreme reaction to an unexpected development. Just like your….extreme reaction in kind, would you agree?"
"I don't think you can compare them. Not in a moral sense. Or many others," Robert let himself go a little bit.
"All right, I'll rephrase. My client did something he never would have brought himself to do, if not for an extreme obstacle. Just as you couldn't bring yourself to save the princess, before something extreme happened. You were both pushed to say and do things you otherwise never would have said or done," the lawyer insisted.
Robert bit his tongue not to yell – which was somewhat easier because he was somewhat right. After all, he really didn't have the guts to save Joan, until he absolutely had to.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the disapproval of the royal family. He also saw Elsa with her hands folded – although it looked more like she was squeezing them together. Which he knew helped her keep it together. Which he knew she only did when she absolutely had to anymore.
He knew Elsa was afraid of relieving everything in this trial, even if she didn't say it in those exact words. But the lawyer didn't go through real specifics, since he was too busy comparing Cyrus and Robert's 'insanity.'
So that meant….she had to control herself because he was being forced to doubt himself? She was that concerned about him?
It shouldn't have been so remarkable after two months. This was the most caring person in the world, after all. The extent of it for him, though….and the extent of how that made him feel….
But that made him quiet a bit too long.
"It's all relative," the lawyer took advantage. "One could say you lost your normal mind protecting the princess. As my client lost his normal mind attacking her. And blaming someone else for giving him his idea."
"Objection!" the prosecutor finally said.
"That's all right. I'll move on," the defense lawyer backtracked. He did by asking, "Mr. Hansen, before that last series of events….did my client or his partner say anything about another partner? Anything at all that you heard before those final, stressful moments?"
"That I heard?" Robert repeated. He wanted to say yes right away, but his honest memory betrayed him. "Not before those last moments, no…." he had to admit.
"What about the Princess? Did she hear anything like that before the end?" the lawyer asked.
"I can't speak to what the Princess heard or didn't hear. Not while I wasn't with her," Robert replied.
"But you were around her the entire time she was on the boat. So if they didn't say anything about a partner to you, could that mean she didn't hear anything either?" the lawyer pressed.
"I can't speak to what she heard before she was brought onboard. But while she was with me…." Robert sighed. "No. We both didn't hear them bring up other partners. Not until they found out they had one that sold them out."
"So my client claimed. My client, whom we just established, never would have harmed the Princess if he hadn't felt trapped," the lawyer repeated. "He wasn't in the right mind to know better. Like he wasn't in the right mind to remember he and his partner acted alone. Could that assumption be made?"
"Objection, leading the witness!" the prosecutor said.
"Sustained," the judge agreed. Yet that didn't stop Robert from answering.
"Your client lost his mind the second he wanted to kidnap the prince and princess," Robert said. "He really lost it the second he agreed to let Prince Devin fund it."
"Prince Devin, a man you've never met! A man you never heard confess! A man who only confessed to the Queen and Princess after being tortured! Which you didn't see either, am I right?" the lawyer argued.
"I heard enough," Robert frowned.
"From people who gave you a job so you wouldn't have to ask questions," the lawyer retorted. "And I believe this isn't the first time you were seduced by royalty that way. Am I correct?" The term 'seduced' flustered Robert in a number of ways.
"Objection! This is irrelevant to the actual case against his client!" the prosecutor yelled.
"It speaks to the character of the witness. He didn't ask questions when he made the shackles used against our own Queen! Couldn't that kind of blind allegiance repeat itself? Even when he has nothing to go on but the word of other….emotional people? People who did things they never would have done because of an impossibly stressful time? Like railroad a visiting prince?" the lawyer asked.
"Objection! This badgering and these assumptions have no place in this court!" the prosecutor bellowed.
"I would argue that framing a prince has no place in the royal family. And just because my client got overwhelmed enough to allegedly claim a prince helped him, it doesn't make it more than a coincidence! Neither does a prince's lucky guess about them being on the docks, when he feared for his very life! No matter how much the witness, a sea captain turned royal blacksmith, was bought off to help link them together!" the lawyer said.
"Hey!"
That didn't come from the witness, the judge, the lawyers, or anyone involved in the case. Rather, it came right from the audience.
Right where the royal family was.
Right from its second youngest member.
"He saved my life, mister!" Joan argued. "And Devin hurt my brother! Okay?" She lost some fury at the end once she realized what she was doing.
"Your Highness," the lawyer addressed. "If you have something to say, would you rather say it on the witness stand?"
"No. I don't think she will," Elsa answered for her. "Unless you want to take the stand first. Unless you want to answer how much Devin's people paid you off first. And paid your client to make up his insanity defense," she pointed to Cyrus.
"Your Honor, this is getting well out of hand," the lawyer answered instead. "Shouldn't you have called this to order by now? It's bad enough she had no legally obtained evidence against one person! Or any legal right to kill another one without trial!"
At that, the judge banged his gaval to restore order. At that, Elsa showed a flash of weakness at the memory of her murder. At that, Robert gripped his hands on the witness chair and tried to squeeze his anger out, before he squeezed it out on someone else.
And at that, Robert noticed the clear flash of fear on Cyrus.
At that, a plan formed.
"I'm sorry, Your Honor!" Robert spoke up. "I'll answer any more questions the defendant's lawyer has for me. This should be about the actual case, not the Queen's deadly magic."
Robert glanced at Elsa, trying to wink as discreetly as she could – but not too discreetly for her – before she could object. Hopefully she could then make sure no one else in the family objected.
"I….appreciate your commitment, Mr. Hansen," the lawyer now suddenly went to praise him, of course.
"Thank you, sir. No one wants to see anyone lose control, shoot icicles or freeze people for a week," Robert went on. "That could really leave a mark on someone. Especially when someone's powerful enough to do it again at any time. And all the money in the world couldn't stop it. Not if your actions made someone extra motivated to try anyway."
"Mr. Hansen, I think I've tolerated enough editorializing in my court," the judge said. "Perhaps we can make this something resembling a real trial again."
The judge then looked at Elsa, who seemed like she was having a hard time with control again. A bit of snow came out of her hands, and even a tiny icicle fell to the floor.
"Elsa?" Anna asked with worry. With more anger, she called to Robert, "What did you go and do that to her for?!"
"It's not him!" Elsa briefly got angry. "It's me. It's always me…." she said as she accidentally let another bigger ice spike fall to the ground.
"Okay!"
That sudden plea did come from someone in the trial.
"If I tell you about Devin, will that keep you from freezing me again or killing me?" Cyrus suddenly asked. "I can't go through any of that again!"
"What are you doing?!" his lawyer hissed.
"Oh no, you guys made me forget money can't stop killer ice once!" Cyrus accused. "She'll get to me no matter what you do for me! Not unless I make her calm down! I wasn't calm enough to see it 'cause of the murder and the week in ice, is all!"
"Your Honor, this is absurd!" the lawyer called. "This is more typical intimidation from the rulers of Arendelle!"
"Better to intimidate with money, payoffs and cushy deals, right?" Robert quipped.
"At least we offered something other than ice and death!" was the all too revealing answer to that question.
As the lawyer and everyone else took in what he gave away, the judge banged his gavel harder. "All right, that's it! Clear the courtroom of everyone except the lawyers, the defendant and the Queen!" he ordered.
Robert stepped down as everyone else took their leave, heading over to the royal family. "Nice touch back there. Was that what you meant it to be?" he questioned Elsa.
"Once I understood the wink, yes," Elsa said quietly.
"Wait….those mean things he said, your ice show….and then he….oh!" Anna barely contained herself. "Oh, oh, okay! Sshh!" she maintained her silence for once as she, Robert and the family left the courtroom.
"Robert, did they teach you their secret language or something? Cause you seem to be learning it faster than I did," Kristoff said. "There's still some things I don't get now. Like that, for instance."
"Robert and Elsa both scared him into giving Devin up! She just faked one of her 'I hate myself' spirals to seal the deal," Anna disclosed. "That's the sort of thing you should get after 16 years."
"You've had 34 years with her, and it threw you off at first," Kristoff reminded.
"Ha, I've only had 21 years with her, so….slightly better excuse. Yours is only….five years more excusable. But not 18!" Anna saved.
"Time doesn't matter. Joan's only known me for two months, and she disrupted an entire court case for me," Robert said.
"Am I in trouble?" Joan asked.
"I think if you hadn't yelled at him for Robert, Elsa would have," Kristoff reasoned.
"You could assume that…." Robert replied, looking back at the closed courtroom door. "Couldn't you…."
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Elsa finally got time to herself in the throne room hours later.
After the lawyer finally admitted Devin's kingdom and people gave him his talking points – and gave Cyrus extra incentive to back them up – they both gave up their contacts and Cyrus gave up more specific details about Devin's plans. In return for the added evidence against him, Cryus got a legally binding promise that Elsa would never see him again.
Devin's kingdom would certainly keep protesting. But with this added evidence against him – and evidence of their interference in this trial – it would soon hurt them too much to keep going. With this new evidence and promises of more pressure from Arendelle and her allies, they would have to leave Devin to his fate in Arendelle soon enough, if only for damage control.
This meant Devin's trial would be open and shut, if he even saw the point in a trial. This meant days like this might not have to happen again. This meant the whole ordeal was that much closer to being over. Even if the effects of it weren't.
One of them was making his way into the throne room now. "Oh….I can come back later," Robert offered.
"No, it's all right," Elsa excused. Robert eventually agreed and came forward.
"I heard what happened," Robert said. "It looks like we got some lucky breaks."
"Your little speech was all the luck we needed. That and.…" Elsa actually let a little icicle fall, without getting bad memories from it. At least while the good memories from today were still fresh.
"If you want to give credit, Joan really got the ball rolling," Robert noted. "I know it's not Princess behavior to do that in court."
"Our family doesn't show typical Princess or Queen behavior. After all these decades, I should know it's a lost cause to change that," Elsa stated. "Still….she didn't do it to misbehave. She did it because she loves you."
"She loves quite a lot of things," Robert reminded. "Maybe that doesn't make me stand out too much."
"She never would have done that for the suitors. Even the nice ones," Elsa replied.
"The nice ones never had to save her life. If they'd had the chance…." Robert left hanging.
"They did. They blew it when they showed up at the docks and drove Cyrus 'insane,'" Elsa said. "Then you redeemed their mistakes. You're still doing it."
"Only because some people are foolish enough to let me," Robert kidded perhaps a bit too much. But Elsa had nothing to say about it either way.
When she kept quiet, Robert knelt next to her throne and asked, "Are you all right, Your…." but didn't finish. Saying 'Your Majesty' didn't feel right at the moment.
"You earned everything we gave you," Elsa announced. "You saved Joan, you forgave yourself, and you're the most talented blacksmith Arendelle has. Even after your….sabbatical. You earned all that. You deserved more before we even met….you know that, right?"
"I'm starting to," Robert assured. "You know there are better things to think about than that, right?"
"Only four better things," Elsa said. That was weird math - why four things? Four didn't seem like a significant number. The most significant things to her were her family anyway.
Of which there were four members.
"There aren't many other….things that have come that close," Elsa went on. "I'm not….someone who lets that happen. Not easily. Not for things other than family."
"Kristoff wasn't family at first," Robert said for some reason.
"I had very little to do with bringing him in," Elsa recalled.
"You had nothing to do with how I was brought in here too," Robert replied. "You just kept me here longer than anyone else would. Dealt with me more than anyone ever has, really. If you don't think you have the most open heart in Arendelle….it must be because you're not one to brag. You know that, right?"
He didn't even apologize for overstepping his bounds. He didn't even feel there were that many bounds at this moment.
"I'm starting to. I know I'm stubborn, though. It runs in the family," Elsa deflected. "But thank you, Robert."
"Thank you, Elsa," Robert said informally without a thought. Elsa accepted it without a thought, though.
Then they shared a peck on the lips without a thought.
When they broke off, far too many thoughts went through their heads for them to move.
Robert's eyes were wide open, along with his mouth. He made himself stop looking at Elsa's open mouth, however – and she did the same regarding his.
All they could hear was each other's uneven breathing, and feel each other's awkwardness. When Elsa felt her own, she looked to see just how much ice she was letting out – but there was none.
This had to be one of the most nerve wracking, thoughtless things she ever did. And yet she had complete control of her powers. The only thing that could make her do that at times like this was….
Even when that unbelievable thought went into her head, nothing froze.
Elsa was so amazed by that – enough to ignore how she should know so much better by now. How immensely complicated things would be if she didn't retreat now.
Yet she leaned forward anyway – wanting a few more seconds of ignorant bliss.
Robert helped by closing the rest of the gap himself.
Elsa's first kisses had been with Lanford, and they were rough with pent-up passion that ironically burned out. At least they did for her. But nothing about this first full on kiss with Robert was fast or aggressive. Their heads, lips and bodies were all still.
And Elsa wouldn't have minded being frozen in that moment anyway.
Robert finally moved to put his hand on her cheek, right as their lips parted. They came together again and stayed in place, until they finally had to breathe.
"Aren't you cold?" Elsa couldn't stop herself from asking, once she realized how long his hand and lips had touched her face.
"Not even close…." Robert realized, as the warmth registered through them both. He took a few deep breaths, as it seemed he'd be the one to panic first. It was a weird position for Elsa to be in, even these days.
"Look at me….you'd think I'd never kissed anyone before. I'm almost 40, for Gods sake! I mean, I've done…." Robert still knew better than to finish that train of thought.
"I haven't," Elsa admitted. "You know more about…..this stuff than I do. No matter how much, we're not on the same page."
"That's not new," Robert thought. "I was more….outgoing than you for 13 years. Not just with kissing. Then you got way better at being alive than me for 16 years. Now here we are….and it kind of evens out," he realized. "Doesn't it?"
Elsa merely smiled to answer him. She knew she shouldn't, she should be panicking, and that there were far bigger concerns they had to address right now. She didn't want to force them on this moment, but….
That would kind of defy how this had worked so far.
For almost a year, Elsa had forced herself to try and find love. She even let her whole family help force her along. But over these last two months, nothing had been forced with him.
No one had tried to set them up, he hadn't tried to set himself up with her, and no one forced her to see him so often. She didn't even force herself. And with everything else she, him and her family had been going through, no one brought up the possibility of….this. Not even Anna.
It just….happened on its own. No matter how it got set up.
The sheer novelty of it – to say nothing of the kisses – made Elsa feel as warm as Robert hinted she was.
It didn't mean he was the same now that he could think it over, though.
"Are you okay?" Elsa wondered. "You don't have to….not for my benefit," she stopped before rambling like Anna.
"Maybe I should rest up. It's been a long day," Robert admitted. "I guess….there's going to be a lot of long days for a while. If that's what you want."
"I…." Elsa didn't have enough words to ramble now.
"If it's not, I'll rest up….away from here. If it is…." Robert didn't know how much he should assure Elsa. How much he could. Or whether he could stop if he did.
He couldn't even stop looking at her now. Perhaps in case he never got to admire her like this again.
"You are gorgeous…." He breathed out, as if he never knew that before. He'd admired so much else about her already – inside and out – the most obvious thing hadn't registered until now.
But all those who admired her beauty before – even when at its peak – hadn't acknowledged it quite like that. Not as far as Elsa remembered.
She certainly never thanked those people with another kiss. Or two. Or two more.
At that point, they both realized they needed to rest. Or else they might not be able to for some time. And that…..wouldn't be wise quite yet. If ever.
"Good night, Elsa," Robert said, forgetting formalities again. Even for show.
"Good night…." was all Elsa could say back. She merely sat back on her throne, let Robert get himself up and walk away.
Once he opened the door and looked back, he tried his best to smile and show he was fine – with all of it. In case she came to her senses and wasn't okay by the time he saw her again.
She didn't smile back at first. But when she did, she easily outshone him - as always without even trying. It just came naturally to her.
That made it both easier and harder for him to get to sleep, away from her.
Just as his open admiration made it easier and harder for Elsa to sleep, away from him.
After a week off from this story – and after my recent work on the other one – I figured I owed all of you this one.