Early March, 1850

The Balcony of Linnea Castle,

Arendelle

Clearly, the people wanted this as much as she dreaded it.

She had listened those first days as the charges against those treasonous members of her council were read out, watched as each was brought upon the scaffold, asked to repent and each refused before being blindfolded and forced to kneel. Anna had covered her eyes as the axe had swung, but she had forced herself to watch, knowing that if she turned away, she would be unable to live with herself. The crowd had cheered with each beheading, each drop of traitorous blood spilled, as they had chanted and cried, 'Long Live Queen Iduna Elisabeth!' and 'God Save the Queen!' showing that they supported her and her decision. The new members of her council had also watched, knowing that this would be their fate if they turned against her.

She let out a soft groan, resting her hands on her lower back; now heavily pregnant, her confinement had begun two months before, but an exception had been made because of the nature of the event. The moment she had stepped onto the balcony, the crowd had cheered and cried their well wishes for her and her child, giving her a sense that she was doing the right thing-

Pain grabbed her around the belly but she ignored it, looking up as Lord Oslo stepped onto the scaffold; he looked up in her direction, and she froze. His words came back to her, when she'd gone down to the dungeons earlier and informed him of his fate; that he could repent his sins and renounce his desire for treason- and he had stopped her, cutting her off.

"You are nothing more than a weak little girl, pretending to lead a country! You carry a bastard within your belly, and have done nothing but pollute the monarchy of Arendelle with filthy blood! You and those bastards you have borne will suffer greatly for the treason you have committed-"

"I have committed no treason, Lord Oslo. I have been Arendelle's faithful servant from the moment of my birth, and I will continue to be until I die. Is it such a crime to wish to keep my family private?"

He had demanded to know the father of her children, and so, just before she left, she had turned back. "In the last four years, since my Camilla's birth, you never once- not once- dared to truly look at her or her brothers. If you had, Lord Oslo, you would recognized exactly who their father is. Hair and eyes of that color is not common among the Arendellian people, but it is common across the Southern Seas. When I said her father was of high blood, I meant the highest- that which sits upon the throne of a batch of islands to the south of Arendelle."

The look of shock that had filled his face had been enough to shut him up, and she had hurried away as fast as her body would allow. Now, she stood watching him, as he stepped up to the scaffold. He seemed to be weighing his words, and she narrowed her gaze. He could expose her secret, but in the minutes before his death, who would the people believe? A disgraced Lord being put to death for treason, or their beloved queen who had done nothing but advance Arendelle and her future?

After a moment, he turned back to face the crowd and knelt before the scaffold. Elsa whimpered, as the pain got worse; right as the executioner swung, severing Lord Oslo's head from his body, she doubled over, letting out a cry as the sac that had been bulging between her legs for the last couple weeks finally ruptured, bursting with a splash.

"Elsa!"

Thank the gods the children were in the Isles with their father- the last thing she needed was for them to be there.

The pain was unbearable- as unbearable as her last three had been. Seated upon the birthing chair, legs spread wide and shift pushed up, she bore down as hard as she could, the distant cheers of the crowd as the last few executions continued barely registering in her mind. A bellow escaped her as she pushed herself up and bore down, straining midst the pain. Despite her waters rupturing and the contractions coming in strong and hard and fast, the babe wasn't exactly eager to leave the comfort of her womb.

After several hours, the midwife checked her over, focusing on the position of the baby. She looked up at the laboring queen. "The babe is not fully turned, Your Majesty,"

"What... does that mean..." Elsa asked between gulps of air, as Anna, who held her hand, gently brushed sweat-soaked locks from her forehead.

"It means your labor will be difficult and long, and it will take a while to turn the babe."

"Can we turn the baby?" Anna asked, as her sister bore down again, eyes shut tight. A bellow escaped her, and she dug her nails into her sister's hand. The midwife didn't say a word, instead, she stood, going to the queen and reaching for her. "What are you doing?"

"Come, Majestet, at times, it is not always best to be in on position when a birth is difficult." Slowly, Elsa allowed the midwife to help her out of the chair. Anna watched in worry and awe as the older woman helped the young queen to her knees, helping her to rest against the edge of the window seat.

"What are you doing?" The older woman turned back to the princess.

"Women birth every day, Deres Høyhet, many of them do not have the benefit of modern medicine. Many still follow the old practices to birth babies; sometimes the old ways are best, especially to turn a babe that has not turned." She turned her attention back to Elsa, helping her onto her hands and knees and gently guiding her on swaying her hips. "Good. Should loosen your hips more and help to turn the babe."

Elsa let out a squeal; the contractions got stronger, but still, she followed the midwife's direction. The woman had witnessed the births of hundreds of children, she knew the ways of pregnancy and childbirth, better than many doctors of the modern age- she had been there when Elsa herself had been born, as well as Anna, and had helped their mother through the difficulty of childbirth.

Anna bit her lip, before slipping from the room. Elsa would kill her, but she feared for her sister more than anything. Quickly, she sent a missive off to the Isles, simply informing Hans that Elsa's labor had begun hours earlier, and he was requested to return home with the children.

The young queen labored for four days- in that time, Anna's letter had arrived in the Isles, and she eagerly awaited both the birth of her sister's fourth child and the return of her brother-in-law, niece and nephews. In the days since her labor had started, the babe had finally turned, and was now on its way out of its mother; Elsa had returned to the chair, focused only on the task at hand.

Quietly, Anna slipped out of the room early on the evening of the fourth day, and looking up at the sound of footsteps. Hans hurried towards her, still in his coat and gloves, worry written over his features, the children not far away, Helena and Marta with them. "How is she?" He asked, pulling out of her hug. "You said the babe refused to come?"

Anna opened her mouth to speak, when she was interrupted. "Baby?" She looked down, smiling softly at Anja who had toddled over to her and reached for her hand as Annes spoke softly. As she moved to speak, a bellow pierced the air from the chamber behind them and she turned back. She turned back, scooping Anja up and handing the boy to his father.

"Help Helena and Marta take them to the nursery. I'll go let Lise know you've returned home." Then, without another word, she hurried back, slipping through the chamber doors and shutting them softly, leaving Hans to do as she requested.

Anna found her sister in the midst of bearing down, one long strand of snow white hair hanging down over her shoulder, the rest plastered to her forehead. She started to speak, but the bellow that escaped her sister drowned her out, as the temperature plummetted and ice dashed over every available surface, crackling as it did so. "Another, Majestet! Dytte! Igjen, Igjen!"

"I am!" Anna jumped, having never heard her sister scream like that before- Elsa was so even tempered it unnerved Anna sometimes- and when she wasn't, she was prone to temper tantrums, but those were rare. "Get it out of me!"

"Only you can push it out, Majesty!" The young apprentice replied, letting the queen tighten her grip on her hand as she strained and pushed, bearing down as hard as she could. The midwife reached up, pressing gently yet firmly against the laboring mother's belly. From where she stood, Anna caught glimpses of what was happening. Another hard push and one shoulder appeared, followed by the second. "Harder, Your Majesty!" Her sister's beautiful features contorted in pain, and she let out another scream that morphed into a bellow. "Push! Harder!"

"Another, Majestet! Push, that's it!" Another bellow rang out through the halls of the castle, followed- finally- by the strong cries of a newborn as the babe finally burst forth from between the queen's legs. The temperature quickly returned to normal as Elsa collapsed back in the chair, chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath. Anna, awestruck, turned only when she heard the door open, to see Hans in the doorway. From where he stood, just past Anna, he watched as the midwife lifted a screaming newborn from between his wife's legs and handed it, still slick from birth, to the queen, who accepted the babe with shaky arms, thanks to the adrenaline still coursing through her body from the birth. Seconds passed, before the midwife spoke again, "It's a princess, Majesty."

Elsa looked up at the older woman, a small smile tugging at her lips. "A princess? A daughter?" The midwife nodded as Elsa turned her attention to the baby, who's cries begun to quiet down once against her mother's chest. "Oh, she's beautiful."

"Despite the difficulty faced, you have birthed another healthy babe from your womb, Majesty. Clearly the gods favour you as the rightful heir of Arendelle," She turned, feeling two sets off eyes on them, and noticed Hans come into the room from where he stood in the doorway, behind Anna. "and the rightful heir of the Southern Isles, to have you grow such strong children within your womb."

Slowly, Elsa looked up, surprised to see her husband standing before her, still in travelling coat and gloves, hair tousled from the wind. She opened her mouth, and quickly closed it again. The midwife glanced between the couple. "Both are strong and healthy, Majestet. Despite her small stature, the queen is strong in constitution, to be able to bear your children. You both have been blessed by the gods to create such healthy children, your union is clearly blessed by the gods themselves."

"It's not the gods which give me such strong children to be borne of my womb, but my husband." The midwife smiled softly at the queen before moving to give them time. Hans slowly dropped to his knees by the birthing chair his wife still sat upon, gaze going to the baby in her arms as Elsa slowly turned her attention towards him. She looked exhausted, but content now that the baby was in her arms.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the Isles-"

"Anna wrote me, explained the situation. I had to return." She now met his gaze, making a point of ignoring her sister as she digested his words. A moment passed, before she nodded.

"We are okay, we are safe, and she is here." She shifted, leaning close to him. "Meet your daughter, Hans."