Laughter rang out through the woods surrounding Jannicke; she leapt over the log, her hair tumbling out of the simple twist she'd put it in that morning. The riding hat she wore fell, and he nearly tripped over it chasing after her. He kept his eyes upon her, this little winter nymph who had chosen him to be her beloved; she stumbled, crying out, and he rushed towards her.
He planned to stop before her; he misjudged the distance between them, and stumbled, slamming into her as she turned. "Oh!" They collided, slamming into the ground and rolling. He groaned as he slammed into the ground with her on top of him, and briefly saw stars when he opened his eyes, but the pain was soon gone when he saw the tears coursing down her cheeks as she pushed herself up. "Eliza!"
She looked up at him, and it was then that he saw she was holding her ankle. "Are... you okay?"
"You are asking me? Eliza-" He shifted; she slid off him, landing on the ground, whimpering as she hit the ground and the movement jarred her ankle. "Let me see." She let him, watched as he gently removed her riding boot, and heard him hiss. After several minutes, he spoke, voice soft. "I don't think it's broken, darling. I think you strained it." He looked up at her. "Shh, shh, it's okay. It'll be okay, Eliza. Come on." He stood, ignoring the ache in his back from the fall, and reached down to help her up. She staggered, wincing in pain. "Can you put weight on it?" She nodded, taking a couple hesitant steps, before she stumbled, and he scooped her up. "I've got you. Sitron!" He nickered, summoning the horse; after a few moments, the jet black stallion came back to his owner, standing patiently as Hans put Elsa onto the saddle first and then hurried back to grab her hat before climbing up behind her.
The ride back to Jannicke was gentle, and Hans held gently to Elsa, who curled into his chest. "I'm sorry, darling, I should have stopped when I realized you'd stopped; we could have avoided this." She shook her head.
"Not your fault, dearest. I stepped in an animal's hole." He chuckled softly, kissing her head. They fell into silence before Elsa looked up at him. "Hans? Is Annalei acting... strange to you?"
He met her gaze. "What do you mean?" He shrugged. "Your sister is not entirely normal, Eliza. She spends her day having conversations with the paintings on the walls in the gallery of Linnea."
She shoved him gently. "I'm serious, Hans. She's starting to worry me."
"What brought this on?"
A sigh, as she settled her head against his chest. "She asked me what I thought about Lord Bismarck today-"
"What did you say?"
"That I think he's a fine young man, not just in his looks but in his loyalty to me and our family. I asked her why and she was just about to answer when-"
"I returned from my ride." He finished softly, putting the pieces together. "I had a feeling that I had interrupted something between you, but I didn't want to ask and then discover that I had been wrong. I'm sorry, Eliza-"
She shrugged. "It's not your fault. Even if you hadn't shown up, I don't know that Annalei would have said anymore anyway. She's... being very... particular lately, and I can't figure her out. It's bothering me."
Hans didn't say anymore as they finally returned to Jannicke, and the back entrance opened. The young princess in question came rushing out with several of the household, and after stopping Sitron, Hans got down, before helping his wife off the horse. She slid her arms around his neck, and as they passed by, Hans issued soft orders for warm water and compresses for the queen. Anna furrowed a brow until she saw that Elsa's right boot was unlaced. Without a word, she hurried after her sister and brother-in-law.
"How are you feeling, Lise?"
The queen looked up from her seat upon the chaise in the family room; having changed out of her riding habit into a loose, light gown of pale pink, the monarch sat with her right ankle propped upon the ottoman, wrapped in warm compresses. She had refused to allow Marta and Helena to redo her hair, and it tumbled down her back in wild curls. "Better." She turned her gaze from the newspaper she had snatched from her husband when he left to check on the children. "Annalei, what is going on?"
"Nothing." One slender eyebrow rose.
"You're starting to worry me. And I'm not the only one, Hans has noticed too."
"Of course the king would notice. You discuss everything together, after all."
Blue eyes narrowed, and after a moment, Anna jolted back thanks to the snowball to face she'd received. "Watch your tone, Annalise." The princess brushed the snow from her face, as her sister nodded to the seat beside her. "Come. Sit."
Silence fell between the sisters, as Anna glanced at the space beside her sister and then her sister and back again; Elsa had returned to her newspaper. Younger than the queen she may be, but the princess had grown up with her; she knew Elsa's moods, knew her tones, knew her tempers better than anyone else, even Hans. The king knew her body, knew what pleased and displeased her in so many ways, was witness to her moods and tones and looks, but he didn't know Elsa, not really. Not like Anna.
Anna- and by extension the rest of Linnea's household- knew of the queen's perpetual moods, of the raging tantrums she would throw as a young girl when someone displeased her or she didn't get her way, of the screaming fits and slamming doors and raging storms that often accompanied the young queen's most violent outbursts. It was the one thing Agnarr and Iduna had been unable to break Elsa of- for even well into her teens, the young Crown Princess would have fits. At first, they tried to stop her, to appease her, to soothe her, but nothing worked, before finally they resorted to locking her in her room and letting her wear herself out- the only thing that really worked.
No one was sure if it was because Elsa, as the Crown Princess, had been used to being waited on- when their parents weren't around, or if she had been too spoiled as a child- but then Anna had been spoiled just the same, but never was prone to tantrums as often as her sister, or if perhaps Elsa, at such a young age, had known the heavy burden she would bear once queen, and this was her way of rebelling against the decorum she would have to face. Either way, Anna dreaded the day her dear brother-in-law stumbled into one of her sister's temper tantrums.
Elsa looked up at her through her lashes, before lowering the newspaper with a sigh and a look of exasperation. "I merely asked you to sit, since you seem to have something on your mind you wish to talk about, and instead you choose to stand there like a pile of stones. Either sit or don't, Annalise, it is your choice."
Anna watched her sister return to her newspaper, and after worrying her lip, she finally took a tentative seat beside her sister. Silence fell between them, only being broken by one of the maids bringing in tea; Elsa barely acknowledged the girl, but Anna whispered a soft thank you. Once gone, the silence returned. The younger woman glanced at her sister, giving herself a few minutes to study her.
She had grown up with this woman, shared a bedroom with her, sat across from her at dinner, shared the same lessons as her, been her sister's right hand for years, and while she had looked at her, she'd never truly looked. Not in the way she probably should have. Her sister's beauty was unrivaled only by that of her daughter, and she turned heads wherever she went; she knew Elsa, but didn't know her.
Hans knew her, perhaps better than Anna did, but he knew her in different ways; how she liked to be kissed and touched and what turned her on in that way- the way of husbands and wives, in the privacy of their bedchambers, on the nights when they made love- and in the ways of parenthood- the trails of bearing and raising children, how she struggled to find a balance between what was good for her family and what was good for her people, and the weight of the crown and the strain of the monarchy. He knew how to make her laugh and how to stem her tears, how to get her to smile and what made her angry, and how best to calm her down... he knew Elsa in a way Anna would never know, and in that sense, he didn't really know her sister at all.
Elsa showed only what she wished to people; the price to be paid for being the heir to the Arendellian throne. Were Anna in her shoes, she would probably act the same.
"I did not offer you to sit for you to sit in silence."
Anna looked up, pulled from her thoughts, to find her sister watching her over the top of the newspaper. "Sorry?"
An annoyed sigh escaped her sister, and she tossed the newspaper onto the table, leaning forward to reach for the teapot, when Anna got it for her. She nodded softly in thanks, and the two settled back into silence. "What is it, Anna?"
"I don't know what you mean."
Elsa raised an eyebrow. "I'm not the only one who's noticed how you've been acting lately; Hans has noticed too. He's worried; we both are."
Anna swallowed thickly, cup at her lips. Should she tell her? How would the queen take it? No, she isn't the queen at this moment, she's your sister- "I... I'm sorry, Lise. I don't mean to be so distant I just... I think... I think I'm jealous."
"Of what?"
"Of you." Elsa lowered her cup with a clatter.
"Anna, I would not wish the crown upon your head for all the tea within the Chinese empire. I can barely handle the strain such responsibility causes me, you would not survive it."
"No, I... I don't mean the crown, Lise, I mean... I mean you and... and Hans." The queen's brows knit together. "I want what you have... true love."
Elsa sighed. "Oh, Anna, what Hans and I have is not true love-"
"But you love each other?"
She thought a moment. "We do, deeply, dearly. He holds half of my heart and I hold half of his. Were something to happen to him, I do not think I could bear to go on. He has... made my life... infinitely richer from the moment he walked into it... and the family he has given me... I could not have asked for a more darling man to be the father of my children... he is brilliant in so many ways, strong and brave... he has shown me a love I only dreamed of..."
"You are equal to Mama and Papa, Lise." She reached for her sister's hand. "I want what you have. I want to be as happy as you are with Hans. I... want a family, children... and I..." She stopped, biting her lip.
"What is it?"
Anna scooted closer to her sister, bringing her hand to her cheek. "Do not be angry with me, Lise, please! I could not bear it if you were angry with me!"
"I have nothing to be angry with you over, Annalei." The girl took a deep breath.
"I... I find Lord Bismarck... absolutely dear, Lise. I would like to get to know him more. Not courting, Lise!" She added, at her sister's hesitation. "Merely as... friends... please?"
The queen thought a moment before turning to her. "Why did you come to me? Annalei, you have never asked my permission for something like this before-"
"Because you're my sister, and I love you with all my heart and your opinion matters greatly to me."