Late November, 1844
Linnea Castle,
Arendelle
Hans was forced to return to the Isles at the end of his visit; he kept in regular contact with Elsa, writing her daily, as the days passed and the end of her pregnancy arrived. The young queen was forced into confinement, no longer allowed out of her chambers and confined to her bed as the weeks passed and the impending arrival of her heir grew shorter.
Confined to her chambers, Elsa took to working on paperwork from her bed, getting up to stretch her legs occasionally, the great swell of her belly making it more difficult for her to get out of bed, that she needed assistance. She often spent time staring out the window at the sky outside the castle walls, dreaming of Hans and their child.
"Soon you will be making your way out of your Mama, and then you will be walking and running and speaking, and then you will be grown into a fine young man or woman, and I will not know where my little heart has gone. You and Mama are the most precious things in the world to me, and I cannot wait until the day you choose to enter the world; you have already changed our lives in so many ways, and they will only get better once you arrive in the world, mitt lille hjerte."
So caught up in her day dreams, she did not notice the first pains, and it was not until she pushed herself up to return to bed that the pains became even more evident. She pressed a hand to either side of her belly, looking up at the start of the familiar knock on her door. "Anna... Anna!"
The door opened, and her sister hurried into the room, hearing the desperation in her sister's voice. "Lise, what's-" She stumbled to a halt, before hurrying to join her sister on the window seat.
"Annalei, fetch... have Gerda fetch the..."
"The? The midwife?" The queen nodded, but didn't let go as the princess stood.
"Tell her that it's coming," Elsa released a breath. "Anna, my baby's coming."
Searing pain, absolute searing pain- it grabbed her around the belly in an iron grip and squeezed, twisting her insides and setting every nerve on highest alert. Once Anna rushed off to get Gerda, Elsa staggered to her feet, grabbing onto the blankets of her bed just as a contraction brought her to her knees with a scream. She didn't register the voices nor the hands helping her to her feet; she barely registered them helping her undress until she was only in her shift, and had climbed back into bed, sitting back among the multitude of pillows meant to help prop her into a sitting position.
Through the haze of pain, she heard the midwife's voice, along with that of several of her council and the court- had they all come to witness her birth her child? They would not all fit in her chambers, nor was the most important person she wanted here. Oh, why- why- did he have to be across the Southern Sea, upon its throne now? While his child was in the process of being born?
Somehow, she ended up in the bed, heard the voice of the midwife and the buzz of the council-
"Why are they all here?" Her sister's angry voice cut through the haze she found herself in, and she briefly looked up, catching a glance of several council and courtiers gathered near the door.
"To make sure the queen has indeed borne her child, Your Highness, and that there was no trickery afoot."
She let out a squeal, tugging her spread legs back, but to her, nothing seemed to be happening, except for the growing pain. The sheets beneath her quickly became stained with blood, and she tangled her fingers in the sheets beneath her, snapping her eyes shut and pushing once more, letting out a shriek.
"What?"
The young midwifery apprentice nodded, mistaking the princess's horrified outrage for confusion and misunderstanding. "They're to make sure the babe entering the world has come from the queen's womb, and not the womb of another woman. An imposter, if you will."
"An imposter? Forgive me, but did my sister not look pregnant these last nine months?" Her screams set Anna's teeth on edge, though not as much as the sight of several council members- arrogant old men, really- there to watch the young monarch at her most vulnerable. Anna shook her head, face darkening. "No. Get them out. All of them. This is not their affair-"
"Your Highness-"
"She is birthing her child, can you all not see that? She does not need you gawking like dead-eyed fish waiting to be sold in the market square anymore! My sister, the Queen of this country, is birthing her heir, now go! All of you!" Minutes passed, before slowly, the courtiers who had come to witness the birth slowly backed out of the room, and after several minutes, the council followed. Lord Bismarck, the only one to remain silent, nodded before following the others, but the princess's voice stopped him. "No, Lord Bismarck, please, stay." The younger man turned back to her. "You have become a good friend to both Elsa and I, and we know that you will get word to Hans once the baby arrives, as you have been these last three months- it is only right that you stay so that you can report back to him the news of his child having been born."
The man nodded, quiet. Not a single protest came from anyone else at the young councilman's being there to bear witness, and Elsa didn't notice- if she did, she was in too much pain to care. Anna hurried to the bed, climbing up beside her sister and taking her shoulders, giving Elsa her strength. "It's okay, Elsa, I'm here. You're safe. You can birth in peace now."
The queen let out a squeal, reaching up to grope for her sister's hand, which Anna willingly gave. She choked on a sob. "I want my husband... Bring my husband..."
"I know, Elsa. I know you do." Anna pressed a kiss to her sister's sweat-soaked hair, tasting the ice crystals settled within the locks; her skin both burned with fever and shook with cold, as the two warring temperatures fought for dominance within the young queen.
"She has to keep-" She turned her attention to the midwife at her sister's feet, paling at the blood staining her sleeves as she reached out and gently pressed against the top of her sister's rounded belly as the young apprentice wrung out a cloth and moved to try and stem the blood.
"Dytte! Igjen, Deres Majestet! Igjen!"
"I'm trying! It's not coming!" Anna jumped, the scream that had escaped her sister was unlike anything the princess had ever heard before. Minutes passed, as the midwife and her apprentice conversed amongst themselves, before finally, the older woman moved around the bed to the side.
"What are you doing?" Anna asked, and the woman held out her hands to the queen.
"Come, Majestet, perhaps sitting upon a birthing chair will help to bring the babe out." After several minutes, Elsa was able to stand; Anna scrambled off the other side of the bed, hurrying to help her sister, but the midwife and her apprentice were helping her. The princess watched as the women led her towards what appeared to be a chair with a high back, but very little seat. Once her sister was seated, the midwife checked her progress, softly clucking her tongue. "Her pains are regular, but this babe will not come just yet. It will be a while before the babe begins to appear."
All of Linnea Castle- as well as all of Arendelle- was on edge, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the queen's heir. Unable to control her powers thanks to the condition she was in, the country knew to stay indoors, for winds raged as a storm broke over the country, as the seas of the fjord became rough and dangerous. Enough crops had been collected to sustain the country through this uncertain period, and man, woman and child, old and young alike, eagerly awaited for the storm to abate, which would signal the arrival of their beloved monarch's child.
Back in the queen's chambers, Elsa remained upon the birthing chair, legs spread wide, trying to let herself work with her body as she birthed. Anna stayed by the bed, Lord Bismarck not far from her side, watching as her sister pushed. Fear filled the princess's countenance as she watched her beloved older sister struggle and strain to birth her baby- she knew the stories of royal women who had died pushing their babies into the world, and feared her sister would be among them-
"Igjen, Majestet! Vanskeligere! Dytte!"
Elsa shook her head. "I... can't... I want Mama!" Hearing her sister's pleas for their mother, Anna hurried towards her, kneeling beside the chair and taking her hand.
"I'm right here, Lise! I've got you, and so does Mama... even if you can't see her!" Her sister lolled her head to meet her gaze, and Anna saw the unbridled pain and fear in her eyes. "Keep pushing, Lise." She pressed a kiss to her sister's hand. "Remember, you're pushing Hans' baby out- he'll be so proud of you when he hears how good and strong you've been-" Her words were drowned out as Elsa let out a cry, sitting up slightly, bearing down again harder.
The young queen let out a scream as she felt something big push its way out of her. She heard the midwife's exclamation of, "Endelig, hodet!" followed by her sister's urging her to continue pushing. Frost and ice coated every available surface, the temperature wavered between normal and dropping to below freezing, and every inch of her skin and shift was coated in frost, her hair heavy with ice crystals. The fire that Lord Bismarck was checking roared to life, even as the temperature struggled to drop further.
"Push, Lise! Come on, that's it! The baby's coming!"
Moments passed, moments that became seconds, and seconds that became minutes, which stretched into hours, and hours to days. Finally, after three long, intense days of difficult labor, an unfamiliar wail cut through the frigid air of the queen's chamber as Elsa collapsed back against the wood of the chair. The temperature began to rise back to a normal, warm level, and the ice retract and melt; the wail soon became the screams of a newborn, and Elsa greedily gulped in air as she watched the midwife lift a squirming form from between her spread legs.
"You did it, Lise! You birthed your baby!" The queen, too exhausted from her ordeal to reprimand her little sister over her coarse language, squeezed her hand instead and nodded. As the apprentice worked on cleaning everything up, the midwife held the baby out to the monarch.
"Majestet, en datter."
Elsa's blue eyes widened as she glanced from the baby being laid in her arms to the midwife. "A... a daughter...?" The woman nodded. A soft gasp escaped the royal, as she turned her attention back to the baby in her arms, now quiet upon being laid against her mother's skin. "Oh..."
Anna popped up, face alight with awe at the sight of her newly born niece against her sister's breast. "Oh, Lise, she's beautiful."
The queen could only nod, unable to tear her gaze from the babe fresh from her womb. Minutes passed, before, "Lord Bismarck?"
"Yes, Majesty?" Anna glanced up as the young blonde councilman stepped towards them, but still kept a respectable distance from the queen, hands folded behind his back. Despite his respectful distance, he couldn't help the smile at the sight of his monarch cradling her newly born heir.
"... fetch a pen and inkwell from the meeting room; there should be parchment as well, and then return."
The young councilman was away and returned in a matter of moments. Once returned, he sat on the window seat by the bed, where the Queen and her new daughter now resided.
"I need you to craft an announcement for me."
"Of course, Your Majesty. To be sent out to all of Arendelle?"
Slowly, she pulled her gaze away from the babe she now nursed at her breast- unlike other royal women, Elsa had refused a wet nurse. "... no. I will craft that one in a couple days; this one is to be sent to the King, to... formerly announce the arrival of the heir to the thrones of Arendelle and the Southern Isles. I will write a... much more personal letter to him once I've recovered enough from the birth. For now," She bit her lip, never taking her eyes off the babe in her arms. "For now, simply write-"