Preview of Chapter 23 at the end
THE MORNING AFTER
The sun was still below the horizon when the guards of the evening shift were relieved by men assigned to succeed them. The changing of the guard was a simple, practiced affair polished by centuries of tradition. Today was no different. Somber but serious men, soldiers sworn to protect and defend the monarchy and people of the realm of Arendelle, took up their positions while the men they replaced assumed a more relaxed posture as they made their way back into the barracks to continue their lives off-duty.
These soldiers have sworn their alligience to the House of Arendelle, as their predecessors before them. Their branch of service has witnessed many changes to the ruling family over the centuries. Deaths, births and marriages have changed the ruling House over time. Wars and famine have also made their contribution. Of all the factors that have molded this monarchy, as well as many other European kingdoms, two have had the most effect.
WAR has always created the most visible and profound effects on any country. If victorious, the parties involved reap the benefits and glory of the conflict, even though their land, people and resources have been all but consumed. They do however get to re-write history as they see fit.
If the parties involved were on the losing end of the confrontation, the best-case scenario would be to exist and survive by an occupying army and endure for many years the will and demands of the conquerer. The worst-case scenario would be annilihation.
Though not as profound but no less history-changing, MARRIAGES of the ruling monarchy affect the country, people and geography of the world that the realm exists in.
As the royal bloodlines of the kingdom changes when two ruling monarchies join in matrimony; alliances, trade and prosperity also evolve for better or worse. Historically, these unions are borne under perceived necessity, real or otherwise.
The necessity currently occupying the family of the Royal House of Arendelle might seem trivial compared to the unions involving major world powers like Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, China and Russia, but these families, as powerful as they may be, revolved around normal humankind. The current monarch of Arendelle is anything but normal. Queen Elsa is the Snow Queen, and today she is about to announce that she is to be married!
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Waking up seemed harder this morning but finally she would announce her future husband to her people and perhaps end the attention regarding any potential male mate. Ending the desire to control or own her power by others was another story, but...
"Mmmh, morning Elsa..." she heard next to her. The red mane of hair began to shuffle and stir. A sun-tanned slender arm speckled with freckles rose and clumsily pawed the pillow next to her where Elsa's head was just resting.
Elsa crossed her arms and regarded her sister with sleepy eyes. Sitting in bed, her paler arms rested over her creamy white breasts, in stark contrast to Anna, whose nude form was sprawled on the bed, half her body exposed from under the sheets. Only Anna's arms, shoulders and face were tanned. Lying on her back, Anna's exposed breasts were as white as Elsa's.
Ignoring her sister's attempts to find and touch her, she recalled the night before retiring.
"You could have at least resisted his groping and pawing!" Elsa said in disbelief when they arrived in the privacy of their bedchamber.
"I can't believe that we're still talking about Count Slimey!?" Anna was irritated at being accused of a situation that she found herself in only because of Rapunzel's quirky sense of humour. "And besides, he only grabbed my butt once!"
"Twice or Thrice!" Elsa exclaimed. "Perhaps you might remember that when you go to sleep tonight."
"What?! You mean we don't get any sexy-time tonight?" she asked dumbfounded.
She watched in disbelief as Elsa put on a modest sleeping gown and hopped up into bed for the first time in forever NOT NUDE!
Turning on her side, Elsa presented her backside to Anna who remained open mouthed as she gawked at her sister. Not only was Elsa indecently clothed, as Anna perceived it, she even wore a bonnet, akin to a nightcap, that completely covered her platinum hair.
Accustomed to seeing and touching the soft fair skin and long blonde hair of her sister, Anna was confronted with her sibling completely covered. "Fine, she wants to be that way? I too can be completely unreasonable!", Anna thought.
Turning on HER side, Anna presented her backside to Elsa. Both girls were now facing away from each other with at least a couple of feet separating them. Never intentionally have they not been touching or sharing while still awake in bed.
As the minutes rolled on, Anna was furiously thinking of what Elsa was doing. Did she turn and peek at Anna over her shoulder? Was she listening intently to any noise Anna made? Was she even thinking about her as much as Anna was thinking about her sister right now?
She couldn't tell, because as always, Elsa never made a sound nor moved an inch while she slept.
As the night rolled on, Anna didn't know if she could keep up the pretence of indifference much longer. However, she was determined to show Elsa that she did nothing wrong. Perhaps she SHOULD have extricated herself sooner from Count Deldares during the dance? Still, she did nothing but ENDURE his obvious violations as to not cause a scene. She replayed the event in her mind and her thoughts slid to revulsion as his hands groped her back and buttocks. So clumsy were his fat hands and so heavy was the pressure, that it was nothing like when another man touched her before. And even Kristoff's kind but awkward movements on her in the past paled in comparison to the soft and gentle ministrations of her beloved sister. Elsa's hands worked magic on her body when they were together. Though Anna was always more aggressive and dominant during their encounters, Elsa could impress her when she was especially amorous. When it came to satisfying her own desires, Elsa knew exactly how to use her hands and fingers to elicit incredible pleasure on her body. And when she used her tongue on Anna's most sensitive parts, she would explode in a series of orgasmic convulsions.
As she lingered on her latest thoughts, Anna's own fingers found there way to her lower entrance that was unsurprisingly becoming wet. A quiet gasp emerged from her throat as two fingers slid past the entrance of her womanhood. Rolling quietly in her back, her legs parted slightly under the covers as her other hand found her engorged clitoris. Slowly and as quietly as she could, she started a slow rhythm she hoped would go unnoticed by her sister sleeping beside her.
The covers were beginning to rustle louder to her ears, so she slid herself free of them, all the while keeping her eyes tightly closed. Concentrating on the loving memories of her sibling, Anna's legs were bent at the knees as she spread her legs farther and farther apart.
"Elsa... Elsa...Elsa..." her lips silently repeated as her body slowly shook with her building desire. She wanted to be silent, or at least very quiet as she built on her self induced orgasm with her fingers. But the soft whimpers and groans of approaching climax were loud in her ears. Her laboured motions causing subtle movements on the bed betraying her masturbation.
"Uhh, uhh, ooohhh!" she heard. Another second later and the sound repeated. WAIT! That wasn't her!
Slowing her breathing while keeping her eyes closed, she strained hard to hear anything other than herself. Now aware of other noises instead of focusing on her own pleasure, she was able to hear faint noises that mirrored her laboured breathing. Feminine whimpers much like her own, but emanating to the pace of another.
Peeking with one eye towards the direction she knew her sister would be, her vision catches the outline of her sister lying above the covers facing her in the semi darkness. One slim leg perched up and exposed. The outline of a woman's head resting on her hand propped up on a pillow. The movement of an arm slowly and methodically plowing the valley where her legs met. The soft breathing of a young woman working with a purpose to bring herself pleasure with her own hands.
"Please... don't stop. Let me look at you while you come. ... Please!" she heard Elsa's hungry whisper.
Anna closed her eyes again, but unlike before she was aroused by a different reason. She was performing a show for her sister. Her goal of reaching climax was now knowing that in doing so she would provide something her sister wanted to see. The orgasm she would enjoy would satiate the hunger she heard in sister's voice. Elsa wanted to see her come by herself! And this new taste for voyeurism was an erotic event she hadn't experienced before.
It felt so wicked! To be watched in a most private moment while hungry eyes devoured her every movement. As she worked her fingers again and again into her pussy, she would gasp! The sound was echoed not two feet away as Elsa watched in fascination and her own desire to reach the same goal as her sister made her mimic the rubbing movements onto her own slick flesh.
"I'm coming Elsa! I'm coming!", her hoarse voice quietly said.
"Yes Anna! Let me see you come! I want to watch you come! You are so beautiful!" Elsa replied.
Smiling lasciviously as she pulled back with one hand the hood partly covering her clitoris, Anna put extra attention with her other hand and furiously massaged raw the engorged bud now fully exposed.
"Oh my God Anna! Oh my God! Uuuggghhh!", Elsa climaxed as she watched the perverse show so unbecoming royalty that her sister provided.
Hearing Elsa's moans of orgasm brought about her own as she lifted her buttocks high above the bed. Her squeals of passion caused Elsa into another round of orgasms that she was unaware her young body could produce.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, both young women slumped back into the bed, exhausted but satisfied at this new form of unexplored love.
Reaching out to her sister, Anna took Elsa's hand and gripped it limply.
"Still friends?" she asked her monarch.
"Always! ...and much more!", came the reply.
Still holding hands, the sisters of Arendelle quickly fell asleep.
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"NO! I will not rush into this debacle just because of your say-so! We already have enough issues with England, and now you say we may also have to confront the Americans?! France will not jeopanordize our colonies overseas while subduing Arendelle on a mission of folly!" the diplomat said to the assembled council.
A motion from the Russian diplomat also concurred his opinion on the matter. "Too little is known about Queen Elsa. Perhaps if we invited her to participate in the upcoming council of Lords, we might be able to discern her state of mind?"
"If we don't act soon, it may already be too late! But enough of these speculatory musings. I am certain Queen Elsa will be voluntarily leaving her protected domain. All we have to do is wait." their host announced.
The gathered representatives seated at the table encompassed delegates from most of Europe's great powers. Ministers from the Middle-East and even Asia were also present. The only glaring exceptions were the countries of Great Britain and the United States. Though many of these same nations sent parties to Queen Elsa's invitation in search of a consort, they also sent delegates by invitation to THIS meeting whose intention was to oppose that same Queen.
"It would seem Queen Victoria and President Van Buren are confident that Witch-Queen poses no threat to them?" he mused. "That mistake may prove fatal... to them!"
A servant quietly came up to him and presented him a letter while the assembled ministers argued loudly amongst themselves. If the combined forces of the nations before him united their strength and directed it at Arendelle, he knew she would fall regardless what unholy powers their queen could bear upon them. If only they would listen to reason!
Clearing his voice, the oldest Prince of the Southern Isles, Crown Prince Josef announced that the Kingdom of Weselton has seceded from the Hanseatic League and joined forces with Denmark!
"I assure you my Lords, with Corona, Arendelle's only reliable ally countered by Denmark and Weselton, the only outcome between us and Queen Elsa is: checkmate!"
The silence lasted perhaps five seconds as the gathered ministers looked at him and each other in shock! And then exploded in shouts and screams!
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The young man looked around him confused as he descended the stairs and found himself in the castle's large laundry room. Dozens of servants were busy performing their normal duties but with the added workload of several hundred guests occupying the castle.
"Uh, excuse me, excuse me? Hello... Can someone direct me to...? Hello... Hello...?" he said to anyone who happened to walk by. He carried a basket with soiled laundry and his head barely peaked over the burden he was carrying.
Everyone ignored the strangely dressed young man, busy as they were with their own duties. Nobody seemed to notice he had the look of a foreigner and spoke in a language they were not familiar with.
Sigrid looked up when she heard him, the basket of clothes she was carrying contained the queen's formal dress and other assorted garments. "English? Down here? Who on earth is speaking it?" she pondered, finally locating the source.
"Can I help you, squire?" she asked the lost young man. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" hoping her English was not as rusty as her French. Since she was required to accompany the Queen in many formal circumstances, both she and Isolde as well as the other notable servants in the castle were privileged in being tutored foreign languages.
"Thank God that somebody down here speaks American! These are the formal clothes and dress uniforms for Viktor and John Samuels. I was instructed to have them cleaned and ready." he said.
Placing her own basket down, Sigrid took the other basket from him. "Give it to me then, I will have them ready for your Lords as soon as I can. My mistress, the Queen has instructed me to take care of John Saymuel's affairs. Tell Lord Samuels that Sigrid, personal handmaiden to Queen Elsa, will bring his clothes directly to his room and assist him in preparing to receive the Queen at court."
"Uh, uh... Sure! Thanks Ingrid!" he turned and quickly left.
"That's Sigrid, you hear me .. SIGRID!" but he was gone, already running up the stairs.
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"This is getting out of hand, my friend! What Josef proposes amounts to a surprise, undeclared war against a nation who has never been belligerent or aggressive in modern history, even when Norway allied with Napolean!" the Spanish minister said to his colleague.
The taller man by his side nodded his head in agreement. "Aye, you're right about that, Sanchez! My people will not agree to this. We don't know what Elsa's intentions are, but I'm sure her response to any attack on her domain would be devastating to any fleet. However dishonourable, a sneak attack on Arendelle would be disastrous to both sides. And confrontation on the mainland with Corona would be worse. Portugal will vote 'nay' on the morrow.".
"I don't plan to even be there, Manuel. We are leaving tonight. Will you act as our proxy and give the Prince our answer? Spain votes NO to this assault on our European neighbours!".
"Certainly Felipe, but don't you want to stay and find out the results?" His counterpart asked.
"No amigo, I want to be as far away from this as I can! As if the ruination caused by Napolean wasn't enough, to plunge the continent into another war is more than I can stomach. Perhaps you can sway more of them away from this folly, but I fear not what the Snow Queen will do to protect her country, but what this megalomaniac and others will unleash if they manage to conquer her! That my friend truly terrorizes me!".
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AUTHOR NOTES:
1) nightcap or bonnet: A nightcap is a warm cloth cap worn while sleeping, often with pajamas or a nightshirt. They are similar to winter "beanies" worn in cold climates. They were common in northern Europe before central heating was available, when homes were cold at night.
2) Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she had the additional title of Empress of India.
3) Martin Van Buren (Dutch: Maarten van Buren; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American politician who served as the eighth President of the United States (1837–41). A member of the Democratic Party, he served in a number of senior roles, including eighth Vice President (1833–37) and tenth Secretary of State (1829–31), both under Andrew Jackson. Van Buren's inability as president to deal with the economic chaos of the Panic of 1837 and with the surging Whig Party led to his defeat in the 1840 election.
4) Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions usually considered to be of a private nature.
5) The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major conflicts pitting the French Empire, led by Napoleon I, against an array of European powers formed into various coalitions. They revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly owing to the application of modern mass conscription. The wars were a continuation of the Revolutionary Wars, which broke out in 1792 during the French Revolution. Initially, French power rose quickly as the armies of Napoleon conquered much of Europe. In his military career, Napoleon fought about 60 battles and lost seven, mostly at the end of his reign.[22] The great French dominion collapsed rapidly after the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. Napoleon was defeated in 1814, and sent into exile on the island of Elba; he then escaped and returned to power, only to be defeated at the Battle of Waterloo, and was exiled again, this time to Saint Helena.
While Norway was officially allied with Denmark and Napolean (France) during this time. Arendelle was one of the Kingdoms that refused to join Napolean. Upon Napoleans defeat. All of Norway was ceded to Sweden after the war of 1814.
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Preview of Chapter 23
AND THE WINNER IS..
Over the years, Sigrid bathed, dressed and aided Elsa during her daily but hidden existence. As personal hand-maiden to the Crown Princess, Sigrid had never had to care for anyone other than Elsa. So it came as a surprise when her liege asked her to aid and assist John Samuels in the daily affairs of nobility in the royal court.
She was instructed by her queen to not only teach the young soldier on the rules and etiquette of European Nobility, but also on the care and grooming standards of members of the royal household.
"But he's a MAN!" Sigrid was thinking to herself, as Elsa asked her in person. Having only known the female form personally, herself and Elsa, Sigrid didn't really expect Elsa meant that she was to wash and bathe this American?
Did she?!