Chapter Thirty-Three: Uncovering Eros

A/N: A bit of warning, this chapter contains very explicit intimate scenes that I'm worried might turn some of you off. In case you don't feel comfortable about some rather descriptive intimate acts between Elsa and Hans (no violence or abuse here, but it does get into very graphic territory), feel free to skip Elsa's POV which comes after the break in the chapter until the end.


Arendelle Castle

May 28, 1813

Hans woke with sunlight streaming on his face and the space on the bed beside him once more empty. Her scent still lingered on his pillow and the rumpled sheets were the only indication that she had been there last night.

It was becoming routine by now. He ought to be used to it, but he couldn't. The feeling of emptiness always struck him each morning, even though each night he resolved that he would expect nothing but physical pleasure and nothing further. Elsa was a truly passionate woman underneath her stiff exterior. Alone in the dark with him, all her inhibitions melted away and she was always willing to touch and be touched, to be taught how to please him, and was open to be pleased herself. She was certainly no prude and proved unhesitant to explore with him ways that could bring them both to satisfaction. However, her condition that everything they did was in complete darkness remained and he never saw her face while they made love.

She's like Cupid who steals into the night to fulfill Psyche's fantasies, then leaves unseen come daylight to become another person altogether.

There was a thrilling aspect to having sex with her in the dark. The blind exploration heightened his other senses more. He savored each intake of her scent, each moan she uttered, and every shiver of her luscious body more readily. Yet still he longed to see her. Their only encounter in daylight in the library always played in his mind when he pleasured her. He could always picture her illustrious blue eyes begging him to continue, the shape of her mouth falling open in ecstasy, her nipples perfectly round and reddening with each swirl of his tongue.

He supposed they had a good enough arrangement: one that had advantages for their public image coupled with his benefit. After she shot Holford down during their wedding breakfast, the subject of their intimate relations was no longer called into question. The entire kingdom knew she visited him in his room nightly and they were "fulfilling their duty" so they were left alone. Three days into their marriage, a local newspaper headlined their wedding as the romance of the year, detailing how they had a very successful union, one that was very optimistic of an heir forthcoming. He sensed Lord Ragnar had something to do with this article for it had his signature of being overly exaggerated and with a few details that complimented the Duke's very warm relations with the newlyweds thrown into the mix. Hans decided the little write-up had some purpose when he received a letter from Caleb the next day, questioning him about his lack of name change. Hans didn't even bother to pen a reply. He simply sent the newspaper clipping back to his brother as a response.

His new role as a part of Elsa's court was shaping up to be quite a challenge and a wonderful learning opportunity. His most relevant long-term experience in governing aside from his brief stint in Arendelle before, had been as secretary to Lars while his older brother was a governor of one of the Southern Isles' provinces. Lars placed him as regent on the occasions he was visiting the Northern Isles to negotiate his marriage to Amelia. Hans learned to step into the governor's role and adapted quickly. Caleb even praised him (one of the few instances he did) when Hans managed to improve on the province's economic status in a few short months and instituted a few laws that benefitted the living conditions of his constituents.

Hans realized even on his first day in the council that governing one small province compared to an entire country were completely different things. It was even more complex considering Arendelle's governing structure vastly differed from the Southern Isles. In the Southern Isles, a well-oiled bureaucracy existed that delegated tasks to more people but their functions and laws ensured checks and balances. A succession plan was in place in case a key person was incapacitated or proved unreliable. In Arendelle, everything was centralized to the crown and a small council. Power was then passed on to provincial governors who because of the isolation policy Elsa's father instituted for years, were left much to their own devices to do as they pleased as long as they provided regular taxes and reports to the capital once a year. Hans suspected as much during the time he took over Arendelle after Elsa's coronation, but it was only now he realized the extent of how cripplingly vulnerable the situation extended on a nationwide scale. On top of all this, the majority of Elsa's council were newly appointed members. Most were very young and were so much in awe of Elsa that they were afraid to openly say anything to contradict her decisions or those of the more senior members. As a result, Elsa relied mostly on herself and just a few council members to do much of the heavy lifting. As efficient as Kai was, Hans could see the poor man was at the end of his rope at times as he tried to manage so much on his plate. It was even more disheartening to see the effect of the situation on Elsa.

Over the last five days, Hans witnessed Elsa work all day with breaks only to take in meals. Except for the day after their wedding, Elsa's breakfast hours were all working ones as she ate in her office while she reviewed and signed off documents. When she wasn't in her office, she was in the courtyard entertaining complaints in the local community or her council. Undoubtedly, the mess of Mjosyndi contributed to the additional problems and there was also the catch-up she had to do during her absence from Arendelle when a lot of the decision-making stopped.

Hans knew things had to change because at the rate Elsa was going through, she would not survive very long on the throne. He decided today he had to speak to her about those changes.

He got up, dressed, and headed to her office. He knocked at the door before going in.

"Thank you, Berge, just put the coffee on the side table as usual," Elsa said to him without looking up from the parchment she was reading on the table. The stack of papers on her desk looked even higher than the last time he had been here five days ago.

"I didn't bring coffee, but there's a pot there right now. Do you want me to bring it over?"

"Hans?" Elsa jumped as she recognized his voice. "Is there something wrong?"

"No," he replied. "I just want to join you for a quick chat before the council meeting this afternoon."

He looked over at her desk, where a cup of coffee stained with dregs sat. A second cup still half full was next to it. "How many cups of coffee do you drink every morning?"

"Two… maybe three. I don't know," Elsa replied. "Berge just keeps me re-filled."

"If you don't know, I am going to tell Berge to stop refilling you. You do know that thing can give you shivers if you have too much."

Elsa scowled and looked about to protest but didn't. "I'm sorry. You did come for something important."

He wanted to tease her and just say he wanted to kiss her good morning, but realized, she probably wasn't in the mood, and he did have a bigger mission today.

"Yes, we need to talk about this." He spread his hands out to indicate her desk.

"About what? My desk?"

"No, all that you are doing right now on that desk. Elsa, you need to delegate some of this paperwork."

"I can't do that. I'm the queen. I need to go through all that," she replied matter-of-factly.

Hans reached out and took the top three pieces of paper from the stack on the side.

"Hans!" she protested but he held up a finger at her as he quickly skimmed over the pages.

He held up the pages one by one. "This one just needs an opinion on whether you should raise the tax to 2.5%, 3.5%, or 5% on lumber. You don't have to decide what that percentage is. You have a finance minister and the person in charge of raising taxes. Let them give their opinion on the best figure, allow them to justify it then you just sign. This next one is a request for a ruling on two neighbors fighting over a pig. Let your minister of justice decide that. Even better, let your minister of justice hire somebody under him to decide that. This third one is just asking if the wool for export is the right shade of green. This shouldn't even be on your desk."

"Hans, I can't just give these tasks away. You don't understand. I need to make these decisions."

Hans moved next to her and sat on the relatively paperless edge of the desk. "No, you don't. Some of these decisions and tasks can be delegated or filtered. You don't have to manage all of them. In the Southern Isles, things like these are not even worth the time of any of Caleb's ministers, let alone Caleb himself."

Elsa stood up and walked away from him with a huff. "I'm not Caleb, Hans, and this isn't the Southern Isles. This is Arendelle. We do things differently here. The crown gives a personal touch to decision-making and a connection to our people. My people."

"How does deciding on the shade of green in wool make it a personal touch?"

"It does because the opinion of the queen on our exports matters to people!"

"Then ask somebody to send the letter on the color decision using your official seal. You don't have to personally write that letter. They wouldn't know the difference."

Elsa didn't answer back immediately and she seemed to be thinking about it for a moment. "Fine, I'll do that for that one request."

"Thank you. However, it's not just these. Elsa, you need to be able to give more power to your people to decide things at their level without needing to involve you all the time. I was thinking of discussing in your council today and giving more responsibilities to your ministers."

Elsa arched an eyebrow at him. "What kind of responsibilities?"

"Well to hire more people under them as a start. Allow them to specify roles to help with the legwork and the minor decision-making. We make new laws to govern those functions to ensure we set the boundaries for each role."

"That's going to be a whole lot of work for my ministers to do," replied Elsa as her nose wrinkled with obvious disagreement. "I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate that when they already have their hands full."

"But I've been talking to your ministers over the last few days and they said it was a good idea as it would help ease their burdens and make things easier for them in the long run—"

"Wait? You're talking to my ministers?" she asked. He noted the hint of accusation in her voice and suddenly the room went cold.

"Yes. Since I'm already one of them."

"For military affairs and security. It's not part of your job to be revamping my council's responsibilities without my permission!"

He felt a snowflake hit his nose but he barely felt the lower temperature. The accusation hit him hard and he couldn't help but retort back. "I'm talking to you right now. I haven't brought it up on the council formally until I have your say."

"But you've been talking to my ministers behind my back."

"I didn't think I needed your permission to talk to the people on the same council I belong to! I wanted to get ideas together with them."

"What ideas have you been getting together with them?" she challenged.

Hans gritted his teeth to avoid muttering back an insult. He decided to just show her. He pulled out the little notebook of the draft he was supposed to present to the council today from his coat pocket and dropped it on her desk.

"Here. The council wanted to present it for the first time this afternoon, but I asked to show it to you first. I told them as your husband, I feel duty-bound to let my wife and queen know about it and get her opinion so we could add your ideas to ours."

"Fine. Leave it there and I'll read it," she said.

Hans felt disappointment at her dismissal. He was hoping to have gone through the council's plans with her, but it seems she was too much in a sour mood to make any productive sharing of ideas. He walked to the door but paused to grab the pot of coffee from the side table.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"You've had enough of this for the morning."

"Bring that back!" she ordered irritably. As angry as she was, Hans couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was, so riled up over a coffee pot.

He held the pot high up in the air. "The only way you're getting this back is if you ice this off my hand!"

Elsa glared daggers at him and for a moment Hans thought she was going to do it. It seemed iced coffee didn't appeal to her and she did nothing but continue to scowl at him. He walked out the door with the pot and slammed the door behind him.

"I'm just going to ring Berge to bring me a refill!" she shouted pathetically from behind the closed door.

Hans heaved a sigh. Anna was right about how stubborn Elsa could be. The councilors he spoke to offered much of the same sentiment about her never letting anyone much of a chance to decide. He sighed as he realized he was probably married to a control freak and that may prove disastrous for his life. He should be worried. And yet, a tiny part of him couldn't help but enjoy getting a rise out of her.

Against his better judgment, he ordered Berge that under no circumstances was he to bring Elsa a refill.


Elsa was seething. Hans had stolen her coffee pot and now Berge had just declined her request for a refill. On Hans' orders.

Five days married and he is already insubordinate! Maybe even treasonous given that I'm queen and he is technically now my subject. That's a ground for execution, isn't it? No, I can't execute him! I am not some insane monarch like Henry VIII who kills spouses to get what he wants. And I am not certainly executing him on the grounds of stealing my coffee pot and preventing me from getting more! Well, maybe he was plotting to overthrow me with my ministers. That's a ground for treason.

She knew of course, that plotting to overthrow her with her ministers was not likely. Some of them may be inclined to go along if Hans ever did have a plan like that, but they were not in the majority. Most of her ministers had been her friends since childhood and were known loyal to the crown.

One of the few positive things that came about with the overthrow of Knudsvig by the Northern Isles coup was that it exposed most of the courtiers within Elsa's council who were disloyal and inclined to betray her. The bomb that killed many of Knudsvig's friends also killed most of those ministers. The few that survived had been exiled away from the capital. She quickly replaced them with newer people, mostly within the same circle of family members from the castle staff that she trusted since childhood. The only problem was, that the newer members of her council were mostly inexperienced. Except for Kai and a few others, most of the council members were still in training and lacked confidence in their posts, which left a lot of the decision-making to her. Just like Anna, Elsa hesitated to give them such a burden that they might not be ready to take in just yet. So when Hans put forward the idea of giving them more responsibility, it sounded like a disaster waiting to happen.

Could the council handle such bigger roles so soon?

That question had been weighing on her mind even before Hans had brought up his idea. It had been her worry since she consented to go on the national tour with Hans. Although she allowed Anna to be declared regent in her absence and assigned her as minister, Elsa was planning on providing instructions to Kai to take over and do most of the work. Even though she knew Kai was more than capable, he was still recovering from his recent gunshot wound and couldn't work late hours. She expected that after the tour, she would have to go through the stack of decisions that would be left over until she returned. The idea that most of those decisions could be made in her absence never entered her mind.

Despite her annoyance with Hans, his idea of delegating intrigued her, and she opened the notes he gave her.

She expected just bulleted scribbles on a few ideas. Instead, within were pages and pages of an entirely well-crafted, solid plan. Hans' outline was carefully made, and his objectives were marked. There were suggestions on how to go about the plan to expand not just her council but her entire governing system down to the local level of the outlying provinces. There was a set timeline and even a rough estimate for the budget needed to implement such changes. She could see from his side notes that he added the names of her council members several times. It took her a while to understand what they meant before she realized he was attributing some of the plans to her council members. Anna's name cropped up fairly often too. That was when it dawned on her: Hans took the time to get people's input and was generous enough to give credit where it was due. Some of the most brilliant points raised even came from her newest council members – the ones that were so shy, that they barely spoke during their regular meetings.

Was it possible they'd been too afraid to speak their minds when I ruled over them and made all the decisions? Have I been treating them unfairly and never letting them contribute? She thought sadly. She recalled Hans' previous argument on how she kept treating Anna like a child and never trusted her to make the decisions. Am I doing the same thing to my council as I've been doing to Anna?

It was such an astounding realization, for a moment she couldn't help but cry and it caused her office to be encased in ice for a full minute. However, somehow that cathartic release made her feel better. Once she recovered, she blew her nose, thawed her office, and resumed reading Hans' plan.

As brilliant as the ideas here were, some things needed refining. She grabbed a fresh parchment and wrote down her ideas as well as a list of questions she wanted to ask specific council members later during the meeting. She was so absorbed by this task that she decided to skip lunch in the dining room and ordered a tray sent up to her.

By an hour past noon, she was ready to meet her council and eager to see Hans again. Somehow, her considerate husband managed to earn another notch of her admiration. When he entered the council chamber in his smart uniform, she had to look away from him so he wouldn't see how much she wanted to just pull him out of the room and kiss him somewhere private for being so brilliant.

He sat next to her as was his usual place on the table, but she avoided meeting his gaze. When he formally requested to present his proposal, she merely nodded her assent. She listened carefully to him but kept her face neutral the entire time, afraid that she could betray how enamored she was in the way he made her realize her shortcomings. He did not disappoint for at every turn of the presentation, he acknowledged the council members that contributed and even allowed them a turn to explain sections of their action items.

When he was done and she expressed her satisfaction with the plan, she encouraged the rest of the council to provide their additional inputs and laid down a few of her questions. To Elsa's surprise, she felt an energy in the room that was never before present in her previous council meetings. There was such an openness in the flow of ideas and even Anna had come up with several highly detailed and brilliant schemes that Elsa never even thought of. By the end of two hours, they had a much more solid plan than Hans' original outline and Elsa suddenly felt a lot more confident that Arendelle could manage better in her absence.

"I can tell you're pleased," Hans whispered to her when they were about to close the meeting.

"I think you may be right about giving the council more responsibility," she conceded but decided she wasn't going to leave him completely off the hook. "But you were still insubordinate about the coffee. Don't ever do that again."

"Or you'll do what?" he challenged.

Order everyone out and engage in intimate congress with you in this very council room, she wanted to say but didn't. Instead, she just looked away and pretended to ignore his question.

She heard something tinkle as it hit the floor. She felt Hans shift as he moved under the table. "Sorry, just let me get my pen," he remarked.

She was glad for a moment's respite away from his gaze and she let herself smile.

Suddenly he felt his finger touch her right ankle. He made a circular motion on it and she felt a jolt from where he touched her to the tips of her fingers. When he emerged from under the table, pen in hand, she had to clasp her fingers together to stop from fidgeting.

"You're shivering," he said innocently. "I thought the cold never bothered you?"

She felt her cheeks flush with warmth as she searched desperately for something to reply. "No, it does not. Errr… too much coffee." She muttered it before she realized what it meant.

He gave her a wolf-like smile. "Try to keep it under two cups a day so I won't need to steal your pot again."

He got up and was out the door with the rest of the ministers before she could even form a reply. There was nothing to do but to follow on to the dining room for supper.

Anna recently started a tradition of inviting the entire council for dinner on Friday evenings. It was meant to foster camaraderie and Anna usually played hostess at these gatherings that were followed by games in castle gardens with the councilmembers' children, Anna's twins, and Olaf. Elsa often enjoyed these less formal gatherings as they gave her a chance to unwind. Tonight, though Elsa was quite distracted with one new council member she imagined kept sending her subtly indecent signals across the table. There was a way he would keep the edge of his fork between his teeth long after he finished delivering food to his mouth. Or the way he over-dipped a piece of meat in gravy before eating it and licking his lips so infinitely slowly. By dessert, he had taken to licking his spoon way too often to be normal.

The man is practically asking for it. In public no less with children present. I'm married to a man who has no sense of shame.

Fortunately, his antics seemed to go over the children's and most of the council members' heads. Anna, Lord Ragnar, and Holford though seemed to be quite aware of what was going on for each one looked at her with encouragement, a slightly amused expression, and a scandalously horrified face, respectively.

Elsa realized she should be angry at Hans, but she could not feel anything but excitement at being with him again. When dinner was nearly over, she stood up, gave her thanks to the council, and bid them good night. One by one the council members gave her formal bows.

To her surprise, Hans did the same. "Goodnight, your majesty. If you need me, I am off to spend the night reading." With one last bow, he followed her exiting councilors out of the room.

Elsa stood there in silence, waiting for him to come back and perhaps escort her to his chamber. Minutes went by but he didn't return and as the rest of the council shuffled to go home to gather their children for the playtime session in the garden, she was left completely alone in the dining room. That was when she realized he had no intention of coming back for her.

That bastard! What the hell is he playing at? And what does he mean when he says he intends to read tonight?!

She picked up her pace to search for him and tried his bedroom. It was empty. Confused, she turned around and thought about what he said as she headed down the corridor. She deduced correctly when she saw his figure walking towards the library.

Was he intending to read all night and leave me alone after toying with me all day?!

Angrily, she shot her powers in his direction, creating a wall of ice on his path toward the library, effectively stopping him from going forward.

He slowly turned around to face her, his wolfish grin back on his face. "I was hoping you and I could get some reading time tonight."

"What?" she asked.

He sauntered towards her in his suave manner that made her knees feel weak. "I was hoping to fulfill a fantasy tonight, if you're willing. But I suppose, I overdid things and now you're a little too impatient for that."

She felt incensed at his teasing. She conjured a wind to push him towards her. When he was within arm's reach, she took his hand and pulled him into the nearest room available. It was one of the guest bedrooms that wasn't used but was always kept tidy for any guests. There was no fire in the grate and the drapes were shut to keep the dust away, which she realized was perfect.

She slammed the door behind her, sending them in complete darkness.

"My, we are impatient—"

"Oh shut up, Hans," she chided before forcing him to stop talking by kissing him.

His arms enveloped her back and she responded by feeling him up his chest while willing her dress to disappear. She heard him gasp as his hands connected to her bare skin.

"Slow down wife, I can't undress as fast as you can," he whispered huskily in her ear.

She let him go to allow him to pull off the upper part of his clothes, which seemed like a long time. By the time his chest was naked, she was on him again, kissing him from his mouth and then down his torso. Her hands then reached out to help him unbuckle his belt and loosen his trousers until she found what she was looking for.

One of the more scandalous books she read told her of one way a man could be pleased. When she read it, she was horrified at the idea. But with Hans, somehow the concept of using her mouth to pleasure him intrigued her. He did it to her on their first night together and realized how generous he had been to offer himself that way. Somehow, with all that he gave her today, she wanted to reciprocate. She knelt in front of him.

"Elsa, you don't have to," he whispered.

"I want to," she replied. She took him into her mouth and felt him shudder as she ministered to him with her mouth, tongue, and fingertips. Soon he was moaning her name over and over again and it sent her reeling with a newly discovered sensation.

He wants me. At this moment he wants only me.

"Elsa, I need you," the way he begged her gave her such confidence she dared to reply: "Then take me now. Take me right here." She led his hand to slide against her core to let him know she was more than ready for him.

His response was to lift her in his arms, propping her against the door, and push inside her. She moved against each of his thrusts and she was reminded of their encounter in the library when he was on her against a bookshelf.

Oh! So that was what he meant when he said he wanted to spend the evening reading! Did he want to do this with me against a bookshelf?

She stopped thinking altogether as his movements intensified faster and harder and she matched his rhythm until they both collapsed in a frenzy of heated lust onto the floor. She didn't know how long they both lay there so close together as they allowed their breaths to slow down to a normal rate. When she could finally think clearly, she realized how uncomfortable the hard floor was and she knew that Hans would probably feel the sting of the cold there even worse than her. She slowly got up.

"Don't go yet," he begged her.

"I'm just looking for a better place to rest. The floor is not exactly cozy."

"And whose fault is that?" he teased.

She chuckled at him but still moved to stand and felt her way in the dark towards what she knew was the bed. She felt him move beside her and she was struck with a sudden idea to tease him. "You'll never find me."

"You want to bet on that?" he challenged.

"If you do, you get to choose where we do this tomorrow night… that includes whatever… surface you want to do it on."

She heard him gasp and she could just picture his face beaming as he imagined the library bookshelf. "You're on," he growled with a dangerous feral undertone to his voice. It made her tingle with excitement.

What ensued next was a game of blind man's bluff with both of them feeling their way into the dark. Elsa had the advantage of using her powers to distract him by sending little gusts of wind coming in from the wrong direction. However, she realized too late that Hans had a keener sense of direction and used her gusts to triangulate her location. When she felt him close to her, she moved away until she finally came near the window where she figured she could use the drapes to hide.

Suddenly he slid a part of the curtain to the side, allowing the faint glow of the northern lights to come streaming in. It was still fairly dark but he could see her and she was suddenly conscious that she was completely naked in front of him.

"Hans! That's cheating!"

"I never said I would play fair," he grinned with a ferocious grin.

Before she could even conjure up something to cover herself, he caught her in his arms and unceremoniously tossed her over his shoulder like an undignified sack.

"Hans! Put me down this—"

She lost all thought as his hand stroked her core until she was shaking in his arms. Just as she was about to climax with his ministrations, he withdrew his hand, walked across the room then dropped her into the bed.

"Not quite yet, wife," he said with an evil laugh.

"Hans, how dare you—"

He pinned her arms with his hands and then moved down to spread her legs. He gave her one last wicked grin before kissing her most intimate part.

"Hans, I…"

Whatever she was about to say disappeared from her mind as his tongue lapped at her hungrily, even as he trained his eyes to watch as her body convulsed into a series of highs. He then moved so his face could meet hers and he kissed her once more, the taste of him mingling with what she knew was her scent. She felt him getting ready to push inside her again. She decided to be bold this time and not let him have his way.

She gently pushed at his chest to move him on his back.

"My turn Hans," she demanded.

He looked a little surprised for a moment before his face took in a submissive expression. "Whatever my queen wants."

She straddled him and guided him inside her. She found an easy rhythm with him and soon she was lost once more in a state of bliss as they moved together and chanted each other's names. He never took his eyes off hers and this new aspect of their lovemaking made her realize the depth of his desire for her.

When it was over, she rested her head on his chest and felt his heartbeat against her ribcage as she listened to the sound of his breath near her temple.

She shut her eyes for a moment to rest. As her mind drifted, she seemed to hear him murmur something faintly but she couldn't discern what it was. All she knew was she was in the most content place in the world and she didn't want it to end.

Suddenly, they were in the library once more kissing passionately in the same way they did on that day she proposed to him. However, this time she was completely naked and so was he. He had her up against the bookshelf and was thrusting into her with wild abandon.

The door burst open and Anna stood, appearing as shocked as she did that day. However, this time Elsa felt no shame or sense of guilt. She felt only annoyance at the interruption.

"Get out Anna. He's mine," she said almost lazily.

"But he's in love with me," Anna pathetically explained.

Elsa pulled Hans' face towards her and kissed him before slamming even harder on him to make a point to her sister. "Not anymore. He's all mine now. Tell her Hans."

"I love only Elsa," he replied without even turning in Anna's direction. He kept his eyes on Elsa as he met her thrusts and continued as if Anna wasn't even there. It went on for seemingly a long time that Anna stood and watched them make love.

Finally, as Elsa felt him near completion, Hans let out a rather impatient growl: "Lock the door when you leave, Anna." It was only then that her sister disappeared completely. Hans then kissed her and whispered in her ear: "Only you forever, my wife, my love, my Elsa."

She gasped awake. From the little light that streamed into the room, she could see the faint outline of Hans' face with his eyes closed. Her head was still pillowed on his chest from the moment she fell asleep. She realized the scandalous scene she witnessed earlier of Anna watching her and Hans have sex was just a dream. However, as she looked up she saw her ice powers forming the same scene right above her head. Horrified, she looked down at Hans and realized he was still asleep. Any moment though, he could wake up and see her selfish possessive desires about him.

She had to get out of there and keep her snow visions away from him.

She moved to get out of bed but was stopped when Hans reached out his hand to grab her arm.

"Elsa…"

Panicked, she sent a blast of ice works to the ceiling, hoping it could dissipate the snow vision. It worked for by the time he opened his eyes, only undiscernible streaks of snowy light were visible.

"Are you alright Elsa?" he asked with concern as he noticed the glittering ceiling.

"I'm fine, it's nothing."

"Hmmm…" he smiled appreciatively at the dissipating sparkles above their heads. "A pretty light show from my adorable snow queen. Why don't you come back here and lie next to me and we can watch it together," he offered.

She wanted to. Oh, how she wanted nothing more than to stay the whole night cuddled next to him. But she couldn't risk her shameful dreams forming into pictures he could see above his head.

"I… I can't." she shook her head.

"Of course you can," he assured her with a teasing grin. "Stay with me until morning. I promise I'll let you have some rest. And tomorrow I'll provide another way to keep you awake better than a bitter hot beverage."

Her mind suddenly formed the image of him sitting at the edge of her office desk just as he had done hours before. But then she began imagining that scene differently with them making love on her desk. The thought of Anna walking in on them popped up and she grew frightened once more.

"I'm sorry… I can't!" She got up from the bed and quickly headed to the door. It broke her to hear Hans calling out to her to stop but she pushed forward. She conjured a dress as she ran out of the room and headed towards her bedroom. Once there, she locked the door and curled up on the floor as ice encased her entire bedchamber.

It was like shutting Anna out again. The terrible memories of ignoring her sister were playing out once more but this time it was her husband behind the door begging her to let him in more than she could allow him to.

She heard footsteps approaching and she waited for him to knock, but seconds passed and the knock never came. The footsteps somehow stopped halfway and were joined by another.

Was it Anna who had come to see what the commotion was about? Or perhaps one of the servants? God forbid if it was Holford. He would be eager to get news about any trouble in their marriage and Elsa couldn't bear for Hans to face that alone. As much as she wanted to hide, she made a vow to stand by him. Even if it was just for public perception, she had to make a diplomatic appearance.

She counted to ten, took deep breaths, and slowly opened the door. At the end of the corridor, Hans stood only in his trousers and a hastily wrapped blanket over his bare shoulders. He seemed to be in deep conversation with Lord Ragnar.

When they finally turned in her direction, the grave expression on their faces told her something was very wrong.

"I'm sorry to bother you this late evening your majesty," Lord Ragnar began. "I didn't mean to intrude on a private moment, but I would not have come if it wasn't urgent."

"What is it?" she asked fretfully.

"My brother, the king of Weselton is dead."

"Dead?" she asked confused. "But how?"

"Assassinated this morning by the very same French allies he aligned with to get rid of me. They will make it appear like a legal execution. Most of my countrymen are not even aware that he's dead. But that can't be kept secret for long and the French marshalls will move quickly before anyone can be any wiser."

"Elsa, Napoleon's marshalls will claim Weselton unless a more legal entity is there to challenge the French outpost," Hans explained. "I need to get Lord Ragnar back there and help him secure his claim."

"I am sorry to have to do this to you," Lord Ragnar said with all sincerity. "I did offer that I would only ask General Jorgenbjorgen to come assist me in Weselton after your royal tour. However, as things stand, urgency is needed. We have to leave tonight with the Swedish forces if I ever have hope of securing Weselton from France. I will try to send your husband back before your royal tour starts."

Elsa nodded and realized with a sinking feeling Hans had to go. They couldn't withdraw support from Lord Ragnar now when he had been so helpful to them over the last few days. "Of course, you have my permission to go and you may take as many supplies as General Jorgenbjorgen needs. My deepest condolences for your loss."

"Thank you, Queen Elsa. My apologies again for the interruption."

Lord Ragnar bowed and took his leave.

"Hans?" she turned to him once they were alone but couldn't find any words to say to him.

"It's just as well," he said sadly. "I understand. You weren't ready and I was wrong to push you. I apologize. We can talk more about this when I get back."

She nodded shyly. Somehow circumstances had given her a way out of explaining to Hans. "You should… you should go. I'm sure there are preparations to be done."

He nodded back and turned to leave, but he stopped and took her in his arms, holding her tightly for a full minute before pulling away slightly. However, he kept his forehead pressed against hers.

"Be careful, Hans," she told him.

"I will," he replied. "I'll be back soon."

He kissed her softly, his lips barely touching hers and then he was gone. That faintest touch gave her all the hope that when he returned, they would somehow make things right between them.


A/N: I was thinking of any flaws that Elsa might have as a queen and I conceived early on even at the time I was writing "Forgiveness" that Elsa is a micro-manager. It's a common trait for a lot of eager young leaders who were suddenly thrust into a situation of power. Given how Elsa is so protective of both her family and her kingdom, I think she tends to take upon huge burdens on herself and not allow others greater responsibilities. This can cause her to burn out and feel even more inadequate. Hans, I think from the way he knows how to delegate tasks even in those brief scenes he has on Frozen 1, probably has a better grasp on how to manage a kingdom better from an administrative standpoint. When I first wrote the first draft of this chapter, I just made note of Hans and Elsa working separately during the day while having passionate encounters at night. I realized when I revised it that a better way to depict their growing relationship is that they grow together at work too. They would clash but eventually learn from each other and become each other's support system just like in any healthy marriage.

I couldn't pass on the chance to write a devious Hans pulling all his charms out to seduce Elsa and get her to the library bookshelf. Well, she has an idea now and even she has a rather dirty mind too. But I think I'm going to put their amorous encounters on hold for now as Hans goes off with Lord Ragnar.

The title of this chapter, as you might have guessed comes from the Eros and Psyche myth of Ovid's Metamorphoses but with a bit of a role reversal. When I first read that myth, I always imagined Eros as having a bit of an insecurity issue brought about by his fear of not being loved and accepted by Psyche should she know his true nature. I decided to reimagine Elsa as having that same fear of showing that she is falling desperately in love with Hans, so she keeps him at a distance. However, he's taking bold steps to uncover her as he also learns little by little to confront his feelings.