1908

The Garden of Linnea Castle

Arendelle

"Why was the birth so difficult for the queen, Grandpapa? She'd had babies before, what was so different about this one?"

"Just because the queen had had children before doesn't mean childbirth was easy, Nari." Magda replied, as her son turned to her. "It's difficult, whether it's your first child or your last. And the size of the babe doesn't help matters. I understand what the queen was struggling with; you were ten and a half pounds as well at birth." The boy swallowed, ducking his head in embarrassment. "By the time you were finally born, I was about ready to give up completely."

"And each successive child puts a strain on the woman's body." Thyra added; she'd had six children from eighteen-seventy-three to eighteen-ninety-two, just with more years in between them than the queen in the story had. "Especially if they're born that close together, and it sounds as though the queen was pregnant and giving birth every other year or so."

"Every two." Grandpapa spoke up. "Eighteen-forty-four, forty-six, forty-eight, fifty and fifty-two."

"So similar to Maga," Nicholai said, glancing at his wife. "Four children, one every two years."

His wife nodded; she'd suffered her fair share of difficult births; Agnarr particularly, but she knew it was nothing compared to her sister. "At least I did not bear twins." All eyes shifted to the princess, who lifted her chin. "That scared all of us, Sofia."

The older woman glanced at her younger sister, before tuning to glance at the twins in question- at twenty-one, both girls possessed the same beauty as their mother, though Annalise, her oldest, possessed her father's grey eyes, while Elisabeth possessed her mother's blue ones. Elisabeth, or Bess as the family called her, had married the Crown Prince of Romania after the family had gone to Romania on holiday; the pair had a whirlwind romance, and married in spring of oh-six, being crowned King and Queen three months later. Two years into their marriage, and the pair were expecting their first child. The young queen- who looked so like the fabled queen of Arendelle- had remained mostly quiet throughout the story, one hand absentmindedly rubbing back and forth across her belly.

"But we've advanced since then, right, Grandpapa?" She finally asked, meeting his gaze. "I... I won't... struggle like she did, will I? I... I have four months left before the baby arrives..." He reached over, gently taking her hand and squeezing.

"You will be fine, Bess. You're strong, like she was."

"If she was so strong, then why did she struggle so? Regardless of the size of the babe?"

Her grandfather seemed to think over her question, watching as the young Romanian king gently kissed his wife, whispering that she would be all right, and that she had nothing to fear. "You have to understand, Bess, that the queen had had four children in rapid succession before her fifth was born. That many children that close together can put strain on a woman's body. She was also older than you are by the time her fifth child came along; the queen had turned thirty in January of that year. She was not the young sapling she had once been, though that didn't diminish from her strength. But the king was concerned; not just about the size of the babe at birth, but the strain it had put on her body, and for the first time a while, he refused to lie with her in that way."

"He put his foot down."

"In a matter of speaking, yes. And for a while, they only had five children to raise. When the princess was christened, Victoria and Albert arrived to attend the ceremony, becoming the baby's godparents. She was a beautiful little girl, and as she grew, it became evident that she would possess her father's fiery auburn curls and striking green eyes; she was also the unintended favorite of the king- perhaps it was because of the difficulty of her birth or the fact that she was the baby of the family, but for whatever reason, Liesel became the king's favorite child."

"Did the other children get jealous?"

"Not anymore than most siblings; they had arguments and small rivalries, but never anything major, because their mother would not allow for arguments to fester. Since the argument with the king that day, the queen had been trying her hardest to keep her temper in check. She also made sure to set aside time in her schedule to get away from court and meetings and politics and just be a mother. And the king did the same; their visits became more frequent, and whispers continued to swirl- for a time.

"What about Lord Bismarck and the princess, Grandpapa?" Bess asked, stroking her belly. "Did he court her?"

"He couldn't have courted her, Bessie. The queen didn't give him permission." Her sister spoke up, and the young queen met her gaze. "Did she?"

"She discussed it with the king, weighed the pros and cons, and eventually, after several months, she gave Lord Bismarck permission to court her sister- but only on the condition that, if a political match came about and went well, that he would step aside and allow the match to take place, and Bismarck agreed."

"Why would he agree to that?"

"Because he loved her, right? He was in love with the princess, and that's why he agreed?"

A soft nod. "When it comes down to it, this story is very much a love story- mainly between the king and queen, but also between the queen and the princess and the princess and Lord Bismarck. The king and queen are the protagonists of our tale, but everything they did impacted the lives and loves of their family."

"It's a love story wrapped in a love story." Ludi whispered, awed. Grandpapa met her gaze00

"It is, but it's not over yet. We have a while to go before we get to 'The End.'"