Another mistake.
Anna was slipping. It was their third checker game since the Knight's return to the world, but Elsa recognized little of the passion and enjoyment her lover had exhibited during their previous matches.
In the Queen's mind, everything was right with the world… if only for a short while. She was sitting alone with her fiancé in their little space in the library, playing on a table that had once been destroyed. Despite all the tragedy that had befallen their lives, these moments of peace still remained to them.
Of course, she wasn't only sitting in the library. Part of her essence was in Corona, discussing trade policies for the next year with her uncle. Another remained in her study, painstakingly going over reports from all corners of the kingdom.
But most of her focus was here, enjoying a quiet moment with her fiancé.
Unfortunately, the moment had turned out to be too quiet. Anna had barely spoken during the hour they spent at the checkerboard. Even losing two matches in a row had barely gotten a rise out of the Knight, and Anna was nothing if not competitive when it came to their games of checkers.
"Are you alright, love?" Elsa asked gently.
Anna shook her head, keeping her gaze fixed on the board. "I'm fine. Just a little tired, I guess."
The Queen frowned. "Well, maybe this will help." She snapped her fingers, and a steaming mug of tea appeared on Anna's side of the table.
At this, a small smile broke through on Anna's face. "Even as a Goddess, you still enjoy showing off," the Knight observed.
Elsa brought a hand to her lips, stifling a giggle. "Well, what's the point in possessing divine power if you can't display it now and again?" she questioned. ' And as I can't demonstrate my full abilities to the wider world, I have to show them off when I'm alone with one of the few who know the secret', she noted, sending the words into her lover's mind.
"Uh huh," Anna replied skeptically, nevertheless picking up the mug and taking a first sip.
It wasn't about showing off. Even after all they had been through, Anna still possessed a fascination for all things magical. Although the Queen had been initially weary of making her fiancé feel inferior with her new abilities, each display of power brought nothing except a smile to Anna's face and a torrent of questions to her lips. Queries that Elsa was only too happy to answer.
Perhaps she did enjoy showing off, just a little bit.
To Elsa's dismay, it wasn't long before the mirth on Anna's lips vanished, leaving behind a gloomy, distracted Knight. Every instinct the Queen possessed begged her to intervene. Seeing Anna in such a state, even for a short time, was more difficult than she would ever admit.
"Anna, please," Elsa implored, reaching out and lacing her fingers with the other woman's hand. "I know something is bothering you. I won't read your mind unless you ask me to, but I wish you would talk to me."
With visible effort, the Knight met her Queen's eyes. "I… I guess I'm not so good at hiding things," Anna admitted. "The truth is, there's something I've been thinking of ever since I came back. I'm not ready yet, and I didn't want to come to you without everything being thought out…"
"Anna, we're a team," Elsa said firmly. "We work together, and we don't judge each other. If there's something that you need help with, no matter how ludicrous it might seem, I'll help you without complaint."
If anything, the nervousness in Anna's eyes only grew. "It's not something I need, not exactly. And it doesn't feel right asking you. Of course, you're the only one who can, and I can't ignore the situation…"
With but a thought from Elsa, Anna was no longer sitting in a chair across the table. Instead, the Knight was settled on her fiancé's lap and wrapped in Elsa's arms. "Anna, you know I wouldn't refuse you anything. If someone needs help, I'll provide it. I promise."
The Knight leaned forward, capturing Elsa's lips in a brief kiss. "I'm not sure you understand… okay, just let me explain before you ask any questions, okay?"
" Okay, Anna."
The Knight extracted herself from Elsa's lap and stood up from the table, suddenly looking everything like a petitioner asking for a favor from the throne.
"Elsa, the only reason the two of us are here now is because so many people sacrificed everything to give humanity a chance to survive. They took amazing risks for a cause that seemed completely hopeless. They knew that just because something seemed impossible didn't mean it wasn't worth trying."
For a moment, Elsa couldn't help but admire how her lover's nervousness had melted away, replaced by a calm determination.
"What I'm asking for might not be easy. It poses risks and there's no telling how long it might take. But compared to the challenge Kale, Kristoff, and the trolls faced, it's nothing in comparison. With your powers the way they are now, nothing is impossible. I can't do it myself, or I gladly would. But it's your turn to save the world this time."
Confused, the Queen frowned up at Anna. "The world needs saving again?" she asked, half-jokingly. "Is there another evil Goddess out there?"
Anna shook her head. "Of course not, but that doesn't mean the world is safe. Yes, Arendelle is fine. So are Corona and a lot of other countries. They're governed by people who mean well, even if they make mistakes. But there are more than a few places ruled by the selfish and the cruel… people who are nearly as bad as the Winter Goddess. They don't have the power to threaten the entire world, but within their own countries, they can do whatever they want. The Southern Isles, Albion, Tronia, Elga, others I can't even remember… they've all been at the mercy of tyrants for decades."
Cold understanding flooded through Elsa. "And you want me to stop it," she replied, keeping her voice neutral. "How?"
Anna lifted her hands in frustration. " I don't know ! Not exactly. I told you I wasn't ready! Besides, you're the one with the brains, remember? I'm just the ignorant peasant in way over her head."
"Don't put words in my mouth, Anna," the Queen interrupted, her voice cold. "I'm not dismissing this out of hand; I'm asking for clarification. When someone wants to alter the very foundation of global society, it's best to think it through."
It was only after the words left her mouth that Elsa realized what she had truly said. Part of her was already thinking of how to follow through with Anna's idea. It was madness. Wasn't it?
The royals of Corona would say it was insanity. So would Elsa's parents, if they were alive. But the oppressed in the nations of tyrants, those who knew how it felt to be truly powerless, might have a different opinion.
Yet if things went wrong…
"I'm not saying you should conquer other countries, or use any violence at all," Anna continued. "Just sit every tyrant down and let them know that if they don't change their ways, they'll lose their thrones for good. Threaten to exile them, or imprison them, and secretly help a more just ruler come into power."
Elsa would never let herself fall into the Goddess's line of thinking. Might didn't make right, no matter what the Faithful had said. Anna's proposal seemed far too close to their philosophy for the Queen's comfort.
Or did it? Elsa knew that her fiancé would never allow herself to fall into that line of thinking. Yet Anna had always championed the idea of using might for right. Was this really anything other than that?
Elsa's eyes traveled to Anna's cheek. "I remember we once had a similar conversation," she noted. "And I ignored my uncle and listened to your advice. We- you- suffered the consequences."
"I did," Anna agreed, tracing her fingers along her scar. Through all of the divine magic the Knight had passed through, the reminder of her time in King David's prison had never completely faded. "And I would again. We stopped a war. Lucrania went through a hard time before a new ruler took over, but millions didn't die in the process. And now, everything is different."
The Queen sighed, doing her best to repress the memory of Anna's time at David's mercy. "How?"
"You!" Anna gestured wildly, pointing her fingers at Elsa. "Thanks to your new powers, none of us can be hurt. And no one, even the cleverest King in the world, could hatch a plot that you wouldn't know about instantly. Do you think David's scheme to ambush us would have worked if you had been able to read his mind? Do you think any of them could hope to retaliate against you now?"
Elsa sighed, bringing a hand to her temple. "Yes, I see your point. Please, Anna, sit down. I need to think…"
Scowling slightly, Anna did so, returning to her chair and drinking another large sip of tea.
Her fiancé's plan put Arendelle at risk; of that, there was no doubt. Though even the rest of the world's armies combined could not hope to threaten her new power, there were other ways foreign rulers could punish her nation. They could end trade agreements, cease exporting their goods, or even cancel their exchanges of technology. Elsa would never be able to justify removing them from their thrones for such actions.
But worst of all, to follow through with Anna's suggestion would shift a world order that had been in place for hundreds of years- a world order that had made Arendelle the most powerful nation on earth even without the Queen's powers. There was no telling how an end to slavery and exploitation would change the flow of goods throughout the world, potentially even threatening her nation's necessary imports of raw materials.
Arendelle came first. Elsa's parents had instilled that belief into her mind since the day she was born. Other realms, foreigners, and even her own happiness were unimportant in comparison. The powers and privileges that came with being a member of the royal family also bestowed an obligation to place the kingdom and its people above all else.
It was a line of thinking that had kept Arendelle out of war and prosperous for centuries. It was also a philosophy that the woman she respected most had always argued against.
Elsa's mind flashed back to that cold stormy night, now more than two years past. Anna may have been born in Arendelle, but by committing her crimes she had forfeited all rights as a citizen and any protection from the crown. Either of Elsa's parents would have arrested her on the spot in order to eliminate a threat to the kingdom's well-being, no matter how minuscule.
Elsa had not. And now, here they were.
"Anna, why did you save me?"
The Knight's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. "Um, because I love you, remember? And because not doing so would have practically ended the world."
Elsa waved a hand dismissively. "I'm not talking about that. I'm referring to the first time we met each other when you attacked the guards who had captured me. Did you feel you owed me something?"
Anna flinched, and a wave of guilt swept through Elsa. Her lover was never fond of revisiting the memory of her first kills.
"It crossed my mind," Anna admitted. "I also thought about the fact that I had a duty to save my country's ruler. But… I don't think that was why I did it. I just knew you were a good person who didn't deserve whatever they were going to do to you. Not that I had any idea of what they were really up to, of course. I mean, it was worse than I could have imagined… I just assumed you would be tortured or executed or-"
" Yes, Anna. I understand," she cut off the rambling Knight. There were certain things that she didn't like to be reminded of as well.
The Queen pursed her lips thoughtfully. Her parents would have never approved, but it was Elsa who ruled Arendelle now. And perhaps forever. It was her duty to discern what was right and act upon it.
Her eyes drifted to Anna's fingers. They were clean and unblemished, all but indistinguishable from those of a woman who had lived in a Castle all her life. Yet Elsa had once seen a different ending to their story.
The Queen would never forget the most vivid nightmare that had ever visited her- a vision she now knew to have been granted by her dormant divine powers. It had shown Elsa nothing more or less than what Anna's fate would have been had the Faithful never existed.
A dead body rested in the open cart. A young woman, clearly not even yet thirty, was strewn atop the wooden boards. The signs of a difficult life were all too apparent. More than half of the thief's fingers and toes were red and swollen… remnants of poorly healed frostbite. Her cheeks were so hollow that Elsa could easily see the bones protruding from her jaw. Worst of all was the girl's stomach… she was so thin that the Queen could actually perceive the locations of the thief's ribs from under her cloak.
Drying blood matted the girl's clothes, but it was clear that it would be only one of many stains on her thin, ripped garments. Elsa had seen prisoners with far superior attire.
Perhaps most striking of all was the hair. It had probably been flaming red once, but the effects of malnourishment had drained it of much of its color. It was dull, dry, and fitted in nothing but two uneven pigtails.
Had the Faithful not attacked, that would have been Anna's future. Elsa had let her go after their first meeting, but that was all she had done. The Queen hadn't considered taking the all-but-innocent girl back to her Castle, or found her a job, or even handed her more than three coins. To do so might have embarrassed the crown, and Elsa had refused to risk weakening her standing amongst the nobility.
Because Arendelle was all that mattered.
Elsa remembered the crushing guilt that had descended after she had woken up from that nightmare. The Queen had attempted to reassure herself that she had learned from that mistake… that if given the same choice again, she would save an innocent soul from a slow and painful death.
But had she? If Elsa only aided the citizens of Arendelle while leaving the rest of the world to fend for itself, could she truly say that she had learned anything from her mistake? If she continued to sit comfortably in her Castle while millions across the world were imprisoned and exploited by cruel rulers, could she claim to be a woman worthy of Anna's love?
Elsa took a deep breath, meeting Anna's eyes with her own. "My uncle will never approve. Nor would anyone in this Castle."
Through the dimming candlelight surrounding their table, Elsa could see her fiancé's eyes glinting with hope.
The Queen offered her a small smile. "But you're right. Arendelle isn't the only thing I have a duty to. With the power at my fingertips, I can't allow Kings or Queens to brutalize their own people."
A gasp erupted from Anna's lips. "You're… you're really going to-"
"Put the needs of the world before my duty to Arendelle? Go against a way of thinking that has been passed down through my family for generations?" Elsa confirmed, hearing none of the reluctance in her voice that she had expected. "Yes."
At that, Anna frowned. "I… I'm not trying to blame everything on your ancestors, Elsa. They were better than most rulers- most people- really, when you think about it. They didn't obsess over their power or see their subjects as nothing but tools."
"I know," Elsa replied gently. "And it's hard to condemn them for not forcing other monarchs to meet their standards- they didn't have anything like the power I now possess. Still… I know they would have disapproved."
This time, Anna simply stepped forward and crossed the physical distance between them before sitting down in Elsa's lap once again.
"We're really going to do this," Anna breathed. "How? I told you I didn't have this all thought out yet."
Elsa smiled at her lover, making no attempt to disguise the pride in her voice. "Thinking things through… I'm not the only one who's learned from my mistakes, am I Anna?"
The Knight blushed. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she murmured.
"Of course not," Elsa replied, bringing a hand to her lips. "Still, I think that I'm the one who should finalize the details of your little proposal. Politics is never going to be your strong suit."
Anna laughed, placing a gentle kiss on Elsa's forehead. "I know that," she agreed. Then the Knight's smile faded.
With the moment of silence that followed, both women began to process the enormity of their coming actions. Elsa's lips dipped into a frown as she realized that, divine powers or not, all her moves would have to be planned perfectly. And she was still uneasy with the implications.
"We're going to do this, Anna," the Queen promised. "But I need to move carefully. I… I don't want to be a dictator. I'll force the monarchs of the world to treat their people humanely, that's all."
Anna held her tightly. "You'll never be her, Elsa. You have her magic, and that's it. You won't become a power-hungry Goddess. Ever. "
The Queen lightly cupped Anna's cheek, turning her lover's face before placing a powerful kiss on her lips.
' I know,' Elsa responded through their telepathic link. 'Because I have you to make sure that will never happen.'