Author Note: This story contains themes that may make some readers uncomfortable. If femslash or the thought of two consenting adults engaging in a relationship that is considered taboo in the real world offends you, then this story is not for you. I welcome reviews and critiques, but the world already has enough hate, so please keep your flames to yourself. There are many other wonderful stories on this site, and I won't be offended if you choose one of them instead.

Chapter 2

Astrid Nordsdötur stood beside Princess Anna's bed, wondering how much trouble she'd get in for pouring a pitcher of cold water over the sleeping form of her mistress. She'd been trying to wake Anna for fifteen minutes, and all she'd succeeded in doing was getting her to pull a pillow over her head. Of all the difficulties she'd had since starting as handmaiden to the younger of Arendelle's royal sisters, waking the Princess was definitely the hardest to overcome.

As the youngest of five children, Astrid had resigned herself to working in her father's shop for the rest of her life. Applying as temporary help at the castle during the coronation was a half-hearted whim, on the off chance she might get a short break from rearranging displays and dusting products and answering the same questions ten times a day. Being hired was surprising, even if it was only as a kitchen drudge, but being asked to remain after the new Queen decreed the castle gates would remain open was like a gift from the gods. Working in the kitchen was about as tedious as tending the shop, but at least at the castle there was hope for promotion.

That promotion came far sooner than she could ever have dreamed, although when chosen as Princess Anna's handmaiden — the first one she'd ever had apparently – Astrid thought for a moment the Master Butler had lost his mind. There were other girls closer in age to the Princess, and with experience in serving a noble house; none of them really understood the choice either – though given the Princess's behavior, there was far more relief than jealousy among them.

Princess Anna was not what one would normally consider proper nobility. From sliding through the ballroom in her stockings, to climbing onto the roof with a pocket full of sweets stolen from the kitchen, the redhead showed that she was anything but. It was generally held that Astrid, as the person now responsible for wrangling the Princess into some semblance of the royalty she was, had possibly the most difficult job in the castle. At times, Astrid agreed with them.

After a rocky start, she was finally getting the hang of her new position. Once or twice, she'd wished she could just go back to the kitchen and peel potatoes all day, but overall the adjustment went smoothly. She'd found a few ways to rein her charge in, but right now, she was at loss. The Queen's handmaiden had left a few minutes earlier, after the second conversation in the last forty-five minutes about the Princess making a timely appearance at dinner. It left her anxious to avoid the older woman's wrath, but at the moment she was failing spectacularly. As she debated climbing onto the bed herself and jumping on it until her mistress woke up, Anna rolled over and groaned.

"Astrid? Wh' time 'st?"

"Five forty, Your Highness. Her Majesty has sent two requests that you be on time for dinner and Miss Bridgette sounded quite angry just now." Astrid shifted nervously. She was almost more afraid of the Queen's handmaiden than she was of the Queen herself. Bridgette held one of the highest positions on the staff, despite being only thirty. She was certainly the most exacting, which had thus far led to more reprimands than Astrid cared to count.

It wasn't that Bridgette disliked her — as far as she knew — but it seemed she expected her to know exactly what a handmaiden did and how to do it, even if she'd never been told or shown. Unfortunately, this was precisely the sort of situation she would be unhappy to hear about, which left Astrid thanking several gods for her charge finally waking up.

Anna rubbed her eyes and looked up at the girl who now assisted her in her daily duties. Astrid was young and skittish, though Anna supposed she would be too, if thrust into such a position with no warning. She didn't make it any easier on the poor girl sometimes and she felt guilty about it, but learning to act like a proper Princess was challenging and often annoying — especially when it meant being separated from Elsa for what she considered no good reason. She resolved once again to try to make Astrid's life less difficult.

"I'm sorry." She smiled and tried to shake the last of the sleep from her head. "Elsa really does have a thing about being on time."

"It's generally considered polite," Astrid replied quietly. Bridgette would have her head if she was to hear the comment, but Astrid couldn't help herself. Sometimes it seemed that her mistress had not received any training in etiquette—which was rather vital to being a princess—and occasionally she forgot whom she was speaking to and made the correction anyway.

Anna stared at her. She knew the reason the girl said what she did, but it was still a little startling to hear it. Astrid came from a merchant family and had more schooling than would normally be expected of a servant, but she was still only sixteen and her position did not include teaching her mistress manners — even when she deserved it.

When Anna failed to make any comment, Astrid grew concerned that she had overstepped her place a little too far. She dropped her gaze and coughed. "My apologies, Your Highness; I'll remember to keep my thoughts to myself from now on."

"You don't have to do that," Anna responded, finally fully awake. "And you have my permission to jump on me, that's what it takes to wake me up." When Astrid's expression turned to one of complete shock she added, "That's what I would've done."

"I… I had thought of jumping on the bed," Astrid stammered, wondering how her mistress could possibly have known she was even considering something like that. "But I wouldn't dream of jumping directly on you."

Anna laughed. "I suppose that's a relief, since the last time someone jumped on me, it was Elsa, and she was seven. You probably weigh a great deal more than she did." She fell silent; the memory was clear, but for some reason, the sense that she should be remembering more lingered around the edges.

Astrid watched her mistress's focus waiver and then return to her. "Do you want a bath before you get dressed?" Anna almost never bathed in the afternoon, but given the mistake of a few minutes ago, she didn't want to chance not asking and have this be one of the times she did.

"No, that's fine." Anna swung her legs over the side and stretched. The reason she'd decided to take a nap in the first place suddenly came to mind. "On second thought, I think I do. Blech."

Wondering where the exclamation of disgust came from, Astrid went to fill the tub, moving to select an appropriate outfit while the water ran. Despite being second in line to the throne of Arendelle, Anna had remarkably few clothes, and several of the fancier outfits hadn't ever been worn. Even so, Astrid took her time in selecting one, both to ensure that her mistress looked her best, and that Bridgette wouldn't take her to task yet again for not doing her job properly.

Anna watched her movements and wondered if she would ever get used to someone doing such simple things for her. She wasn't kept from interacting with the staff during the years that the gates were closed, but her nanny had taken care of her only until she was old enough to dress herself and fill the tub without flooding the floor below. After that, she was largely on her own, other than Bridgette approving her choice of clothing.

"It's ready, My Lady." Astrid draped a dress over the chair next to the bathroom door and smiled. "I hope this will be acceptable. Miss Bridgette told me twice this was a formal dinner, so I'm not sure if there's something specific you should be wearing."

"There isn't." Anna stood up and stretched again. "Bridgette only told you that so that you would remind me. And I'm fairly certain Elsa told her to tell you, so all it really means is that Elsa wants to make sure I get it together before I come downstairs."

Astrid cocked her head. "Get what together?" She stepped aside to allow her mistress into the bathroom, following after to take Anna's nightgown.

"I was having a less than pleasant afternoon," Anna replied, slipping into the tub with a sigh. "Elsa startled me and I must've babbled too much for her."

"Why was your afternoon unpleasant?"

Anna started to blush, but caught herself and splashed water into her face instead. "Kristoff, and let's leave it at that."

"Master Kristoff? Didn't he like his new sleigh?" Astrid was perplexed; usually her mistress couldn't speak his name without starting to giggle. Her expression now was anything but happy.

"He loved it." Anna tried not to remember what came next and failed. "Urgh, what was I thinking?" A noise from Astrid told her she hadn't mumbled the last as quietly as she thought, so she forced a laugh. "I was just feeling a bit ignored, that's all," she said as brightly as she could. "He kept going on and on about how much he liked it and not paying any attention to me, and I'm the one who gave him the damned thing. I was a little cross. That's all."

Astrid could tell her mistress was lying, but it wasn't her place to say so. Instead, she reached for the soap. "Do you want me to wash your hair?"

"No, just give me a chance to splash around a bit and I'll be ready." Anna held out her hand and Astrid obediently gave her the bar. "I'll be done in ten minutes, tops."

"Yes, My Lady." Astrid curtsied slightly before leaving the Princess to her own devices, and went to take care of the clothes Anna had been wearing earlier. It was unusual – extremely unusual – for her mistress to be unhappy about Kristoff, though Astrid couldn't think for the life of her what could've happened. "It can't have been much," she murmured. "She adores him and he adores her. I'm just wondering when he'll propose."

She wasn't the only one in Arendelle pondering the question; the two were almost always together, and appeared to be ridiculously happy with each other. In fact, they had become so close that the Queen seemed to be growing jealous of him. Astrid didn't see her often, but she could tell that the Queen's fondness for the Royal Ice Cutter was quickly fading, and had even heard her muttering about the amount of time Anna spent with him. It wasn't her place to say anything, however, so for the time being she kept her observations to herself.

"I'll bet Her Majesty won't be terribly upset to hear they're having a fight," she murmured, more to get the words out than to be heard. "Maybe she'll start having tea with Her Highness again. That would make my evenings much easier."

Speaking the words made her pause; even though she was certain that the Queen was jealous of Kristoff, that jealousy had become obvious at the same time she started avoiding Anna. It seemed the more obvious the jealously, the more obvious the Queen was in avoiding her sister. The longer Astrid thought about it the less sense it made, so she gave up and turned her attention to preparing for her mistress to get out of the bath. Anna said ten minutes, which she knew meant half an hour. Once she got out, the more quickly Astrid could get her dressed, the more likely it was that she would get downstairs on time. Wondering about relationships and disagreements could wait for later.

Meanwhile, Anna was sunk in the bath is far she could get, hoping the hot water would ease some of the tension in her shoulders and confusion in her mind. Taking a nap didn't undo what had been done, but she felt a little better equipped to face Elsa and a bunch of diplomats she'd only met in passing.

"I hate formal dinners," she grumbled, "and we had to have one tonight, of all times." It suddenly occurred to her that perhaps the reason her sister had been so short with everyone lately had something to do with the envoys from Farson and Grottony.

Anna didn't generally involve herself in matters of the court, much preferring to roam the countryside becoming acquainted with the various farmers and merchants who kept Arendelle's economy growing. She left diplomats and envoys, treaties and trade agreements, and all that complicated stuff to Elsa, who had received at least some training in handling. From what she'd been able to gather, the current diplomats her sister was dealing with were particularly difficult, and particularly important, so it would make sense that she would be in a bad mood about it — though Anna couldn't figure out why Elsa would be avoiding her, if that were the only reason.

She splashed at the water absently. She'd been roaming the countryside with Kristoff, and thinking about it brought the issue she had been trying to puzzle out to the forefront of her mind again. Why did that kiss feel so wrong? Even if she wasn't in love with him, she couldn't find a reason why his lips against hers made her feel so uncomfortable.

"Yeah, it wasn't the greatest first kiss in the world," she muttered, staring at the ceiling, "but it still shouldn't have felt so creepy." There was nothing about Kristoff she found creepy, so it confused her as to why she'd wanted to push him away; but she had, and would've if he hadn't stepped back so quickly. From the embarrassment on his face, it was obvious he didn't know what to do next, allowing her to escape with a few words about needing to return to the castle for a reason she couldn't even remember now. Hopefully, he wouldn't remember it either.

Maybe it's the way he smells. Anna chuckled weakly, the words of the trolls providing a little lift to her spirits. "Or the way he tastes," she added aloud, as her mind focused in on the kiss itself. He didn't taste bad, but something about it, combined with the roughness of both his lips and how they pressed against hers, made her shudder. If only he could kiss like Elsa. Her lips melt like butter.

It wasn't that she'd ever kissed Elsa on the mouth, but the feeling of her sister's lips against her forehead or her cheek always made her a little weak in the knees. They were soft kisses, but she could feel the love behind them, and somehow they always left her wanting more. If Kristoff's kiss couldn't make her blush and tremble more than her sister's did, then he was definitely not her True Love.

Something in the back of Anna's mind flashed a warning signal about comparing the two, but she dismissed it as silly. A kiss of fondness and a kiss of love were two completely different things, and comparing how she felt when Elsa's lips touched her and how she felt when Kristoff's did was senseless. Given a choice between the two, I would always choose Elsa, though.

Thinking about Elsa reminded her that her sister expected her to be on time and that she was wasting precious minutes worrying about why Kristoff's kiss made her slightly nauseous. The discomfort and confusion would simply have to wait until after dinner. If anything could lift Elsa's mood, it would be for Anna to be on time for something, and if Elsa's mood improved, there was a greater chance that she would keep her promise about tea.

In fact, if she was to be early… Anna sat upright and grinned. I can be early! Elsa will be so shocked she'll have to agree to tea tonight.

"Astrid, I'm finished," she called as she reached for the towel sitting on the chair her handmaiden usually occupied. By the time the girl came in, she had already pulled the plug on the tub and was sitting down drying her legs.

Astrid was startled to hear her mistress's voice, as she had only just finished making the bed, but she moved quickly to the bathroom. Usually the Princess took her time getting out of the bath, but now she was nearly dry less than two minutes after calling for her.

"I didn't expect you to be done so quickly," she said, a little confused about the unusual speed. "I do have your clothes ready though."

"Well, when Bridgette is angry, it's best to do what she says," Anna replied with a slight smile. "Besides, I like to shake things up every now and then, and being early will certainly throw Elsa for a loop."

Astrid blinked several times. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? The Queen's mood hasn't been the greatest of late, and it tends to start snowing when she's particularly annoyed. It makes the floor slippery, too."

For a moment, Anna wasn't certain whether to laugh or be annoyed herself. The staff seemed to have grown accustomed to the occasional indoor flurry, but this was the first time anyone had mentioned them specifically and she wasn't sure how to respond. Finally, she settled on a combination of both and chuckled. "Well, if anyone can make her happier, I would hope it was me. A little snow is worth seeing her smile again, don't you think?" She then gave Astrid a slightly stern look. "And since she's my sister, it's kind of my right to mess with her."

"Oh. Yes, of course you're right," Astrid blushed. "You know her best, after all." She realized a moment too late those probably weren't the best words to use. Anna was still sensitive to the fact that she and her sister had been separated for all those years, and comments like Astrid's were likely to be painful. This was confirmed when Anna suddenly went stiff and stared at the floor. "Your Highness… I'm so sorry… I didn't mean —"

Anna drew in a deep breath and fought the emotions that Astrid's words brought to the surface. She should be the one to know Elsa best, but she wasn't and nothing could change the past. "It's okay, Astrid," she managed in a semi-calm voice. "Our relationship is far from normal; I know that."

"Still, I apologize for being insensitive."

"If anyone knows Elsa best, it would be Bridgette," Anna replied, calm enough now to lift her head and manage a slight smile. "She practically raised us, you know — at least, until the accident. Then, it was Elsa alone."

"So she's always been Her Majesty's handmaiden?"

Anna shook her head. "No, she was my mother's. Mother was pregnant with me when Bridgette started, but she was only twelve, so in the beginning she mostly looked after Elsa. After that, she looked after both of us, though we did have a nanny. She was just always there, almost like an older sister, but she was probably reporting to Mother about our behavior. I was a bit of a handful even as a child, but it might surprise you to know that Elsa was too."

It was very hard to picture the Queen has anything but the calm, cool and collected woman she was now, and Astrid didn't think it her place to ask more about it, so she just filed it away as an interesting tidbit about the sisters' past. What was even more interesting was that Bridgette had been so involved in their lives from such a young age. Perhaps that was why she was so strict; it sounded like she was very protective, so she would certainly want to make sure Anna was being taking proper care of.

"Has she always been so … intense?" She felt safe asking the question, since it seemed talking about it was lifting her mistress's mood.

"Bridgette can be a bit terrifying, I do admit," Anna said with an honest grin. "If she wasn't, Elsa would probably have refused to do anything growing up." When Astrid looked completely confused, she went on. "I don't really understand all of it, but I guess by the time Elsa was eleven she refused to see anyone, even our parents. She would still speak to Bridgette face-to-face though, so Mother asked her to step in and make sure Elsa did her studies and took care of herself. That's the only reason she stayed behind when they left on that trip…." she trailed off and looked down again. "At least there was someone she'd let comfort her."

Astrid closed her eyes, realizing she'd opened another wound. "You're together now," she said quietly, "and Her Majesty always seems much happier when she's with you. I'd say she's even gotten jealous of Kristoff —" she cut herself off, cursing her inability to know when to stop talking. It was one thing she had in common with her mistress, though not one she would have picked.

Anna jerked her head up in disbelief. "She's jealous of Kristoff? I don't spend that much time with him, do I?" When Astrid nodded, she passed her hand over her face. "Well, that explains a lot. She won't have to worry about it now."

"Has something happened with Master Kristoff?"

Realizing she'd said something she didn't intend to, Anna rushed to find an excuse for her words. "Well, we had a little fight, but nothing… It wasn't so much a fight as a disagreement, really. I mean, I'm not sure he knows that it was a disagreement; it wasn't about something you'd usually disagree over. He probably thinks it's a great thing actually, at least for now. Oh! How am I going to tell him; he's going to be crushed. Wait, what?"

It took Astrid several long seconds to translate Anna's ramble; all she really learned was that they'd fought about something, but not what it was. She hovered at responding before deciding the best course of action was to pretend that nothing had happened; when her mistress started to babble, it was time to distract her and get things back on course. "If you get dressed now, My Lady, you can be downstairs twenty minutes early."

"Oh, right." Anna refocused on her original plan. "Let's get at it then; the earlier I am the better." Kristoff still lingered in the edge of her consciousness, but she managed to push him back enough to start planning the best way to surprise Elsa. With luck, it would convince her sister to join her for bedtime tea. With greater luck, that tea could once again be nightly.

All Anna knew was that she desperately missed her sister's company and would do almost anything to curl up next to her once again. For some reason, thinking about how soft Elsa's lips were made her even lonelier than she already was, too. Being early had to work, but if nothing else, she would get to be in the same room for a few minutes longer. Even that was better than being ignored completely by the woman she'd come to realize she needed almost as much as breathing.

Thanks to Astrid's deft fingers and remarkable speed in brushing out and re-braiding her mistress's hair, it was only six thirty when Anna passed through the double doors of the royal wing. With a bright smile to the guard, she started down the stairs to surprise her sister.

Author's Footnote: I'm trying to keep chapters to around 4,000 words so I can fit writing/editing into my schedule with enough time to polish and still release in fairly short intervals. Characters tend to reveal themselves as the story progresses, and some interesting things have come up in this chapter. I'd planned on a 10-12 chapter story, but I think it will go longer. We'll just have to see what Elsa and Bridgette have to say in the next chapter!