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Enjoy!

Chap. 3: The Other Princess

"The... the one... what?" he asked, confused, and took a step back into the small alcove, so his calves bumped against his chair.

"The one my sister has been talking to. I heard the maids, you know. I knew she had someone she was talking to at night. It's you, right?"

Shit... what do I say? Elsa didn't say I can't talk about us... talking, but... "I... yes, Your Highness," he admitted, forgetting for the moment that she had asked him to be less formal. Somehow, he didn't think she would mind in this moment. Anna did not seem angry, not really, and she was a good foot shorter than he, at least a hundred pounds lighter for she was rather slender, but suddenly she seemed terrifying.

Anna took a long, slow breath, then finally seemed to relax back into a more normal posture rather than the vaguely threatening one she had been in before, and took a few steps back herself, then pulled her hands demurely behind her back and clasped them there. For a brief moment, Dominic was distracted by the way that action pushed her chest toward him. She was not overly-endowed, not as large as her sister by any means, but Anna was hardly flat-chested, and he couldn't help but notice. Elsa's having a bad influence on me.

"Very well. Then yes, you can help me. What does she talk to you about at night?"

He blinked, confused, "I... well, several things. It doesn't happen all the time. But we talk about politics on occasion, or what she's learned in her books that day. She... she has me helping to solve a dispute between a couple of farmers on the upper end of the valley."

"I see," Anna said coolly, "and anything else?"

He shrugged, "Most of the time my, uh, visits are fairly brief. We discuss an issue, she might ask a few questions, or I will, and she comes to a conclusion. That's it. Once she has decided, or I've given her all the information I can, she asks me to leave."

"But she... trusts you? She listens to what you say?"

This time, Dominic could only agree with a nod, "She seems to."

"Convince her to talk to me. At least through the door."

He sighed. That's what I was afraid of... "I don't know if I can do that, Your Highness," he admitted softly, "she... is rather adamant that her contact with anyone is minimal. Especially you, for some reason I don't know."

Even that little lie, for he did at least know a little of the why now, made him quail inside. Watching Anna's face fall into dejection once more had him adding, "But I'll try. I... I don't know if it will help, but I will try."

"You... you promise?"

He nodded, "I promise, Princess."

"Thank you."

The heartfelt words, just two of them, made Dominic's heart swell in his chest and beat loud and strong. As she turned and walked away, he hissed, "Come back tomorrow night. If I nod, then her answer is yes. If I shake my head, try the next night. She... she might need some time to come around. If I can convince her at all."

Anna didn't turn, but nodded once, setting her hair swaying in a hypnotic way along with her hips while she continued walking away.

A little less than an hour later, he was unsurprised to see the door open, but didn't see Elsa. Instead, he surmised that it was an invitation, so he stepped inside, scanning the room for threats even while he closed the door behind him and set the glaive aside.

By then, Elsa was back in her favorite position on the couch, clad only in her thin night-dress and underthings, her bare feet aimed toward the fire but clearly unaffected by the otherwise chilly air. "What did she want?"

Normally, that question might have caught him off-guard, but Dominic had expected something of the sort to be her first question. Clearly, Elsa did care about her sister, for their separation was torturing them both. There had to be a reason, if he could figure out what it was. "I don't know the specifics," he replied, not bothering to pretend ignorance. He doubted Anna would care that he told Elsa everything. In fact, she would probably encourage it.

"Sit," Elsa prompted, gesturing not to his usual place across from her, but the far end of the couch. Once he did, finding it quite as comfortable as the chair, Elsa daintily lifted both feet and lay them across his lap. It was a gesture both intimate and comfortable, and it more than anything else surprised him, though the princess didn't seem to think much of it. Instead, she set her horticulture book on the coffee table and closed her hands together in her lap, then turned her full attention to him eagerly. "Well?"

He cleared his throat, finding it hard to focus suddenly as he realized that the princess' house-coat was not entirely tight either on the top or bottom, for he could see hints of those underthings in both places. "I, uh... well, like I said, I don't know what problem she wanted to talk to you about, but she was quite upset as she left. Crying, even. She looked like she wanted to hit me after I offered help... accused me of, I don't know, something. She knew we talk sometimes."

Elsa nodded, "Not surprising, given the gossip-hounds. That's why we have to be discrete."

He agreed whole-heartedly, "Absolutely, Your Highness. I admitted that we talked, and I gave her some vague answers as to what we talk about. Mentioned occasional politics, trade, and the farmers up the valley without giving names. She... she asked me to convince you to talk to her, at least through the door."

"Absolutely not," Elsa said at once, not angrily but quite firmly. "I can't talk to her."

"Why not?" he asked, before remembering who he was talking to.

Ice suddenly appeared on the panes of the windows as Elsa's brows closed and her lips thinned along with her eyes. "Because. I. Can. Not. That's the end of it."

He suddenly found his teeth chattering, but Dominic, perhaps foolishly, also found himself dangerously stubborn, "No. You miss her, I know you do, and I know she misses you. Talk to her, or at least tell me why you won't!"

Elsa flinched as his voice raised at the end, and the ice, the cold, intensified until it was suddenly truly frigid in the room, but when he did nothing else, didn't shout or make a physical move, Elsa pulled her feet back from his lap and withdrew to sit against the arm-rest of the couch more firmly, higher. "I... I don't want to explain it," she whispered, looking scared.

"I can't help if I don't know the history of the problem," he reminded her more gently, "And I do want to help. Both of you."

Elsa sniffled, and for a moment, more than when he had been scared she would kill him with her magic, he was worried he had gone to far. But she wiped the tears away quickly, tossing them aside as snowflakes that rested against the back of the couch and the floor, not melting thanks to the cold temperature in the room. "I... I'm afraid of... what you'll think of me if I tell you."

He swallowed. Fuck... it must be bad, then. But... dead is dead, and I really get the feeling Elsa doesn't want me dead. "I'm still waiting. I'll wait for a long time, but Anna won't wait forever. She still wants you in her life, but sooner or later she'll give up. Give up on you. I don't want that to happen. I think you're too amazing to give up on, but she doesn't know you anymore. I think she deserves that chance."

"You'll hate me... and so will she," Elsa whispered, and the air dropped a few more degrees as Elsa began to shiver. Not, he suspected, from the cold.

Her hands, even clasped together, were pale, more than usual, and trembling.

I'm so dead for this...

He leaned over, twisting in the couch to face her directly with one leg up on it as well, mirroring the princess' position, and took her hands up in his. They were ice-cold, colder even, enough that even with his gloves on they began to sting his fingers at once. "I am still here," he said as calmly as possible, even while the chill rapidly spread up his arms, "I'm listening. I trust you. I believe in you. I'm... scared as hell, but I'm here."

"You... are scared?" Elsa whispered, her eyes far away.

Suddenly, she blinked, and the temperature began to warm. Not all at once, but slowly, as if from the fire. She shook, her whole body shaking violently, for a few seconds, then she pulled her hands away and wrapped her arms beneath her breasts, much like Anna had in the hall before. "Put- put more wood on the fire, please. I don't need you to freeze."

He nodded, standing quickly to do as she asked, then returned to the couch and sat as he had before.

"I really am afraid you'll hate me if you know what I did," Elsa said quietly, not looking at him but staring past him at the fire, which danced in her wide, brilliant blue eyes.

"Unless you murdered my whole family, I doubt that, Elsa," he replied quietly. "Even then, there's a few I wouldn't mind seeing go. Some of my cousins and one of my brothers is an outright arse."

The blonde snorted in a most unladylike fashion, then pushed out with one of her feet to sort-of kick his shin. But she smiled afterward, and suddenly the fire seemed to be doing an even better job of warming the room. "I... you know about my powers now."

He nodded.

"I've... always had them, from birth. No one really knows why- most suspect it's a curse. I do, too. My parents knew something, I know they did, but they always said they would tell me when I was older. I'd finally convinced them to tell me when I turned eighteen, tell me all they knew about it, but then..."

"The shipwreck."

She nodded. "They were to be gone for three months. I would be eighteen the day they were due to be back, and if they were late I would find out when they returned. We had a party prepared... I never did know. Even their old journals told me nothing, and the one that might have mentioned anything went with them. It's at the bottom of the sea, now."

He nodded, "What's this got to do with Anna, though?"

"I might've caused that storm," she whispered.

He paled, "Surely not? How could you know?"

Elsa only shrugged, "They say it happened on July third. I... I had a nightmare that night, it was very bad. When I get scared... well... it's worse. I don't know, I can't control it. Sometimes I can, but when I'm frightened or angry, it just... happens. I had more control when I was a child, but it was weaker then."

"Okay, so... there's a chance that you're right," he agreed, "but it seems unlikely. A storm, hundreds and hundreds of miles away? You couldn't have known exactly where they were on the sea."

"But if the storm was large enough... and that's what my nightmare was about. I was afraid they'd be lost at sea, and they were."

"This still doesn't explain what happened between you and Anna, if it's true. I think it's more likely it was a coincidence. Storms happen."

Elsa sighed, looking away from the fire at him, an almost petulant expression gracing her for a moment, as if she were annoyed at him for using logic against her fears, then back toward the flames. "I suppose we'll never know, not really. But my point is, my powers are... dangerous. I truly do think it's a curse. If I could control it it would be one thing, but if I'd been more angry, you would be dead. I was just scared- just scared- and the glass in the windows would have shattered, it was so cold."

"You didn't seem bothered," he pointed out, "And I actually do enjoy the cold myself. It's- well, my hands are freezing still, but I don't mind the cold. I prefer the climate here to my home."

"Wait until I'm upset in winter," Elsa said with a frown, "but that's not the point. The point is it's dangerous. I'm dangerous."

"I know you are," he acknowledged, and was surprised to find he meant it, "sometimes I find myself wondering why you even need a guard, until I remember you sleep too. Makes my position a bit pointless, but..."

Elsa giggled this time, and her foot nudged his leg again, but this time in a more teasing fashion. "I suppose we can let you go, then. It looks like you'll be out of work soon."

"Still... Anna?"

She sobered quickly at hearing her sister's name. "Anna... when we were little, we played all the time. We had lessons of course, both of us princesses. And she was a better student than I. I loved to learn, but I liked to go read instead of listen, she paid attention and always wanted to experience things. But at night, once our parents were asleep, she would come wake me up... all the time."

"Doesn't sound like her," he teased, "the maids gossip she sleeps fifteen hours a day."

"Not back then," Elsa snorted, "maybe five, and she was just a little girl. When she was five... she woke me up, as usual, and we played. I made it snow in the ballroom, filled the place a few inches... made a slide for her. She loved it, rode on it again and again."

While she talked, Elsa's voice grew more and more quiet until he had to strain to listen, "then she went down it standing up, and started jumping into the air. I made platforms of ice for her, one, two, three... but she was going too fast, and I couldn't keep up. She fell, and I tried to catch her, but... but my magic caught her. It... knocked her out. I screamed, called for our parents. They came quickly, but she was so cold already... and the hair. It was already changing."

"The... white streak?"

She nodded. "Her hair was more brown than mine, the red is more recent, but the white streak showed up that night. It's where my magic hit her. We... my parents tried everything they could, but the healers and physicians had no idea what had happened- no one knew about the magic outside of the castle. So my father took us, my mother and both of us, up into the mountains to the north. To some 'friends'."

"Friends?"

"Trolls," she whispered, "rock trolls. One of them- father called him Pabbie- did something to Anna. Changed her... memories, somehow. We watched some of them play out in the air. He took away the magic... made them seem... mundane, in her memories. Playing in the ballroom became playing outside in the winter. The snowmen I made stopped moving, and became... normal. She remembers all the fun we had, but it's all wrong. It was so the... the magic wouldn't reach her heart. It stopped in her mind, we got to her in time, but... Pabbie said if it was ever to get that far, it would be too late."

"Okay," Dominic prompted, "then what?"

Elsa shrugged, clutched herself tightly for a moment, then looked back into the fire, "Nothing. My father and mother talked to Pabbie for a while, and a couple other trolls looked after me and Anna, then they took us home. Anna woke up the next morning fine... but her hair never went back. She doesn't know about the magic. If she finds out, it... it would be bad. All the memories would come back."

"And you're afraid she would... what? Hate you because of what you did to her?"

Elsa nodded once, but said nothing. She only continued staring into the now bright flames.

"I think that's bullshit," Dominic said quietly, "She loves you too much for that. You were a kid. Kids make mistakes. Adults do too, if you haven't learned that yet. I'm not telling you what to do, Elsa, but I think you should talk to her. I think you should tell her everything you just told me, about the magic, all of it. She won't hate you. She might be furious- I know I would be if my sister lied to me about something like that then stopped talking to me for years- but I wouldn't be mad about getting hurt."

The air grew colder once more, but Dominic held up a finger, "No. You don't get to be upset or mad yet. I need you to listen, Elsa. I'm telling you this as your friend. You said we are. If we're friends, then you can trust me, just like I'm trusting you not to stop my heart in my chest right now. I am on your side. I'm also on Anna's. It might seem like those are different things, but they aren't. You both want to be happy. So I have a plan. Sort of, anyway."

"And what's this 'plan', then," Elsa asked coldly, "how're you going to fix something I did thirteen years ago?"

"I'm going to help you figure out how to control it," he started, holding up a finger, then added another, "And I'm going to find out what your parents knew. Third, I'm going to get you and your sister talking again. Even if it's through the door."

"Really? Because I've been trying to do that for thirteen years, remember? I've gotten nowhere. If anything, it's worse, as I said!"

"But now you have help," Dominic reminded her gently, "You aren't alone, Elsa. I'm not going anywhere- not unless you make me."

For the second time that night, he watched the lip of one of Arendelle's princesses tremble. Then she sniffled, and threw herself across the couch at him, pulling him into a tight embrace. She was still cold, painfully so, but holding her...

Dominic sighed, relaxing into the embrace fully. As he did, her temperature warmed rapidly, until she was only cool rather than cold, as if she had just stepped out of a cold bath. After a few moments, Elsa pulled away, wiped away a few more tears that came away as liquid, then scooted back so her position was as it was when he'd entered, and even put her feet back up onto his lap. "So... how, then? I'm open to suggestions."

"I've no idea yet," he admitted, "but I know where to start looking. Kind of."

"Do tell."

"The trolls."

Elsa blinked. Then frowned. Then smiled, a grin that grew wider and wider, "I can't believe I never thought of asking them what my father talked to them about! I think I remember where they are... I'm sure I can find it in a day or two on the maps. Do you really think they'll be able to help?"

"I don't know, but if this Pabbie fellow did stop whatever was affecting Anna, then it's at least a place to start looking. His successor might be able to help."

"Trolls."

"Huh?"

"Rock trolls," Elsa said, rolling her eyes, "are extremely long-lived. Pabbie is almost certainly still the elder. I doubt they've had a single birth in thirteen years. They can live thousands of years."

"O- Oh."

"They're Fey, you know," she reminded him, "at least the tribe to the north is said to be of the Summer Court, and generally friendly. They seemed to react well with Father, and were quite friendly with us. Yes... if we can find them and talk to them, I'm sure at least some of them will remember me. Yes..."

"I'm going alone," he said.

"You most certainly are not," Elsa scoffed, "how will you find them?"
"You are a reclusive princess who doesn't leave her rooms, much less the castle, or her city! How are you going to explain a sudden trip across your lands to visit creatures who may or may not consider themselves your subjects, for all they apparently live within your borders?"

Elsa's mouth clapped shut and she shot him a glare. Eventually, she muttered, "I hate it when you're right. Still... if it takes me a while to find them, we could roll things together. It's tradition before being crowned for the new sovereign to tour the land. Recluse or not, I could use that excuse."

"But your Coronation is still months away."

"And it might take a while. I'm just saying it's possible, I know it's not perfect."

"I still don't think you should go. It could be dangerous."

"Which is why I don't want you going alone," Elsa pointed out, "and I'm the one they'll be dealing with. They know me- they don't know you. Why would they trust you?"

"Well, I do have information that only you could tell me, but I do see your point. Fine... say we both go. We'll need an escort, and-"

"No. Absolutely, positively, not. No way. You, me, and maybe two others. A... a porter and a serving maid at most."

Dominic frowned, but nodded, "I don't like it, but that's the minimum for propriety I suppose. But can we add one more guardsman? I can't be on the lookout the entire day for a few days straight. Not and be any use at all if something happened."

"Find someone you trust."

He nodded, "I can think of a few. When?"

"Within the week. I'll start issuing orders when I rise tomorrow. Be ready."

"Alright, Your Highness."

She rolled her eyes again, "Really, Dominic? You've now seen me orgasm, masturbate, I've masturbated you, you've seen me cry multiple times, and you're still calling me that?"

"It is the proper title... Your Highness."

This time, her kick against his shin was almost painful, and he laughed.

A few minutes later, as he was about to open the door, she pulled him into another hug. This one was more gentle, tranquil, and Dominic couldn't help but notice (along with her figure as it pressed against him) that Elsa was noticeably more relaxed, less tense, softer than he had ever felt her before. Almost like a long-wound spring in a child's clockwork toy that had either broken or been released most of the way.

"I'm glad we're friends," she whispered into his ear a moment before releasing him and giving Dominic a gentle shrug toward the door.

Even if he'd almost died that night, he had to agree, "Me, too. Good night, Elsa."

Dominic was largely unaware of the chaos that enveloped the castle over the next couple of days. Most of the action happened while he was asleep, after all. It had begun with the elder princess sending a flurry of letters out through her regular method: sliding one or two at a time underneath her door with a set of instructions on how to deliver each. Only this time, as the daytime guard, Marlene DuShalle, bent to retrieve the first two, more kept coming. For almost five minutes, the princess pushed another and another small envelope or slightly-squashed scroll or folded page with instructions on it beneath the small gap. Marlene, confused and surprised by the sheer volume of sheets, which must have been more than fifty all-told, worked up the courage to ask, "Y- Your Highness? Is everything alright?"

Behind the door, his Queen paused before she stepped away and, knowing she had to start somewhere in building relationships, thanks to Dominic's input, swallowed. She could do this... it was just a guard's question, through the door. There was nothing to be scared of. "I'm fine. Everything's fine. Just a busy day ahead. The process to start the Coronation will begin soon, so I'm trying to- to be ready for it."

That was a terrifying thought. A cursed woman, a witch or sorceress or whatever she was, a queen? Her hands shook, though not from the cold, as that old, familiar fear swept through her again. She was educated, reasonably intelligent, and genuinely cared for her people. Elsa thought that those were admirable qualities in a sovereign. But that was not all she was.

Dangerous, uncontrollable magic surrounded her, sometimes striking without warning. What if she lost control- always a danger- when she was holding court? People would know, and as Queen, she couldn't just... not hold court. It wasn't done. It was a sovereign's responsibility to care for their subjects, and part of that was listening to their problems, helping where she could. That had been drilled into her since she could talk.
But how could she do that if she would drive everyone away in fear of her? She did not want to be a queen who ruled through fear, whose subjects were afraid of her. That thought was, itself, repugnant. Imaginary scenes flashed through Elsa's mind, a dozen or more in an instant. Most of them centered around her dominating, enslaving, and torturing her people- her people- with fear and her frosty, icy magic.

"No," she whispered to herself, "I... I won't let that happen. I have to have... some faith that Dominic's plan will work. The Trolls know something, at least. Maybe- maybe they can help. I have to believe that."

The cold took a long time to recede from the windows and floors, but eventually Elsa was able to distract herself from her worries with the thought of more work. After the guard had sent the letters on to the in-house messenger for delivery, she returned not to her desk, but the large window through which she could see most of Arendelle's capitol city. Her family's kingdom was beautiful, she had always thought so. From the steep-roofed houses with winding, smooth streets of flag- or cobble-stones, to the almost Gothic architecture of the ancient, twin-steepled church in the town square, and of course the high walls of the Aurora and Umbra ranges that guided the river down to Aren Fjord.

She could just make out people in the town square, many taking advantage of the warm weather to get a bit of shopping, work, or socializing done. Brightly colored dresses, robes, and even some younger girls wearing pants (how scandalous!), though she had to admit that, at least from a distance, it suited them well. It wasn't like Elsa didn't occasionally wear them herself as a child, when she was learning to ride. Side-saddle was embarrassing and uncomfortable enough, but being forced to do it with long skirts and dresses? No, her mother and father had both put their feet down, and the riding instructor had capitulated.

Still, she was most comfortable herself in dresses or skirts, or even just her house-robe. It wasn't like most people even saw her these days. Even if that would have to change in the foreseeable future. She could not be a shut-in queen, after all. Even as a princess, she knew people talked. Before her mind could spiral into that dark pit of fear at having to be around people, of having them find out, Elsa tore her eyes away from her happy populace and sat down at her well-used desk once more. She had gotten most of the process for her eventual coronation started with the last set of letters.

This one would have to do with the tour itself, her excuse for finally leaving the castle after all these years.

One letter to the Captain of the Royal Guard, Roderick Farthson, to inform him that a small detail of just two soldiers (one of which she had hand-picked, and the other which Dominic would select) and one hand-maiden (also of her choosing) for the first part of her national tour. She had also instructed him that the tour itself would start, unless plans changed, on the upcoming Mánadagr, which she knew Dominic's people called Monday, or Moon Day if they were more traditional. That would give the castle staff four days to prepare.

Frankly, Elsa thought that was three days too many, but preferred to err on the side of being over prepared rather than under. The Aurora Mountains were treacherous at the best of times, and spring was among the most dangerous. Summer itself was safest, but if Dominic was right, if the Trolls could help, then Elsa wanted to meet with them as soon as possible. Even a month or two of waiting would not due. She was not so foolish as to travel there in winter. She might be immune to the cold, but she was not immune to avalanches crushing her against trees, and her entourage (as much as she wished to go alone) would not be so lucky. Autumn might be safer in some ways, but unbidden and unforeseen mountain storms were deadly, too, especially if they brought several feet of snow with them. No... it would have to be soon, if only to get it over and done with. There weren't many villages in the north anyway, and none of significant size. They could visit them briefly over the space of a couple of weeks, and return to Arendelle's more civilized areas for a break before visiting the towns in the Umbra range during summer.

Yes, that would work out nicely, the woman decided, and continued writing instructions.

A second letter went to Captain Farthson, this one with a more specific set of instructions for Dominic in particular. It would not take effect yet, in fact Elsa included instructions to the messenger to deliver it after she returned from seeing the Trolls, but she did not want to forget it later. It was too important.

Then her hand-maiden's selection: Emma, who had never served as her actual hand-maiden before. It was hardly needed, after all, since she was perfectly capable of dressing herself (most of the time) and never really left her rooms anyway. On the road, that would be different. She not only would occasionally need help in removing or donning some of the more complicated pieces of clothing she would have to wear, but the discrete armor her father had insisted she wear whenever the family made public trips since they were small girls.

One assassination attempt by a political rival had been enough to convince him of the necessity, and Elsa remembered that day well. It wasn't much, and in fact she would have to write another letter for another set to be commissioned on a rush job, too. Her body had changed over the last three and more years, after all. So has Anna's. I'll have to have Hilda get her measurements again and send them to the armorer for him to get her a set, too.

That took another three letters, and a fourth to be delivered to Emma herself with a short summary of her expected duties as hand-maiden, especially while on the road. Maintaining the future queen's apparent virtue, for example, but also assisting her with bathing, dressing, and otherwise maintaining decorum as the future sovereign.

One each to both Hilda, the head of housekeeping and the maids, and another to her brother, Handel, who was the head butler, to arrange for suitable clothing, foodstuffs, horses, and other supplies for the journey, which was expected to take at least a few weeks.

The list was endless, and by the time the day ended, Elsa was exhausted. For once, she didn't even pull out a book for a bit of leisurely reading before stripping off her night-clothes and heading to bed. At least her sleep was pleasant and uninterrupted.

Dominic Alders could not say the same thing, however. While Elsa slept, and he was grateful that she had gotten to sleep before he even arrived on-post for once, he was still doing his duty. Both of them, of course. Acting as a spy, and guarding the future queen.

That Elsa knew full well of his secondary mission didn't matter: He would still report, as he always did, what he knew. Or at least, what he thought Elsa wanted him to know. It wasn't that she was above intrigue. No, if anything Dominic felt the highly intelligent woman would excel at Spycraft if she ever took a notion to. But one of the things that had won him over in their short discussions was her forthright directness. Elsa acted as if she simply didn't care to waste time, and he appreciated that.
No beating around the bush, no double-talk, and for the most part she didn't even hide the truth. At least, as far as his practiced eyes could tell. It wasn't that she couldn't, her expressions were as schooled as any elder statesman or stateswoman he'd ever met. But with him, at least, she had started to let down some of her stoic demeanor.

Still, he was glad she was getting a good night's sleep, even if he found himself missing her company more than he would have expected.

In surprisingly short order, they had gone from awkward pseudo-intimacy to something like actual friends, and now the guardsman was in a most unfortunate position. Loyalty to his family, his king... or loyalty to the kingdom he had fallen in love with and its sad, lonely, deadly-terrifying princess.

He didn't think he was falling for Elsa. Not really, anyway. He was certainly a bit infatuated with her, and desired her physically. Her beauty, after all, was unparalleled in his experience except, possibly, by her younger sister. Her kind affection, however hidden behind closed doors, for her people and her family, her servants included, was obvious to him.

But he wasn't falling in love. No, that would be ridiculous. She was just a friend he found beautiful. Like Lieutenant Polgara, for example, though for entirely different reasons. The daytime watch Lieutenant was a soldier through and through, and took both her training and her men's very seriously... but she was also a highly attractive woman. Or Emma, Charlene, or Bitta, who were each at least pretty in their own right. It didn't mean he'd just go hop in the sheets with them (though he certainly dreamed about at least the youngest of the three once or twice since Elsa had shown him how to spy on them bathing). He wasn't in love, either. Attraction didn't mean he loved any of them... at least, as more than the general sort of love one felt for a charge, someone to protect.

... Or maybe he was just a horny young man who wanted to bed everything with two legs instead of three. That could also be true.

The bell had rung midnight at least two hours previous, and Dominic had eaten his mid-shift meal an hour earlier. There were still a few of the cleaning staff and, of course, patrolling guards up at this hour, but by and large the castle was quiet. At full staff, there might have been fifty or more people still awake within the protective walls, but he guessed that on this evening, the number was closer to five or six not counting the guards at the gate itself, which were technically outside anyway.

With his ears constantly attuned to hearing the slightest bit of noise at night, it wasn't hard for him to pick out the leisurely walk of the food-cart as the night-service maid picked up the dishes from the guard's meals. What he had not expected was the maid that came. As the youngest maid on staff, normally Emma worked in the evening and night shift, so he had expected her.

Anna was an entirely different story.

The two were walking together, talking in low tones as the normally extremely diurnal younger princess rubbed one sleepy eye. She was dressed in a similar night-robe to what he'd spotted her in last time she had wandered the castle late at night, though this time it was pine green and a little looser around the top. Emma herself was still in uniform, the black dress, stockings, and white apron and head-wrap what he almost always saw her in, not that he minded. It hugged her slender form rather well.

Even his sensitive ears couldn't pick up what they were talking about, because the girls both fell silent the moment they spotted him, and Emma blushed deeply while Anna's eyebrows, the same coppery red as her hair, rose in curiosity. The princess quickened her stride, leaving the maid, who was pushing her cart of course, to struggle to keep up. Anna only hissed one thing at him, almost under her breath but still plain, before Emma arrived in earshot herself: "Be nice to her."

"What?" he muttered back, but it was too late. Anna stepped back, a devious little grin that seemed both strange and entirely fitting on her heart-shaped face and put her hands behind her back. "Lieutenant Alders, Emma here would like a word with you."

This time, it was the petite maid's turn to step back, actually leaving her cart behind as her face turned an even deeper shade of red. "Wh- What? Your Highness, I- I didn't say I wanted to tell- and tonight! Tonight? Now? That's too- I couldn't possibly-"

"I think you can," Anna interrupted, her voice cool but still definitely conniving as she sent the younger girl a quick glance out of the corner of her eyes, "because we aren't leaving until you do."

"Are you torturing the maid-staff, Your Highness?" Dominic asked, genuinely confused by both girls' behavior. Given what he had overheard Bitta, Charlene, and Emma had been discussing when Elsa showed him the peep-holes into the maid's baths, it seemed likely that it concerned him. The blush and the girl's behavior only corroborated that.

"Not torturing," Anna replied haughtily, "helping. Though I suppose if it comes down to it- my dear sister wouldn't bother countermanding an order anyway, so if that's what it takes to get the girl to talk... nothing's off the table just yet."

Dominic had to hand it to her. For all Anna had been an emotional wreck the last time he'd seen her, even dead-tired in the early morning hours her stone-cold demeanor as she discussed torturing the closest thing she had to a friend was... disturbing. At least, he thought they were friends. It was the only real explanation for how the two were often seen together, even when Anna was usually asleep.
The thought made him wonder. Was Emma the younger princess' confidant, in the way he was becoming the older sister's? There was no way to know, but if so, then he was grateful for the maid's work in that regard, friendship aside. Both young royals needed someone to talk to desperately, after all. It was the only way they could work through the trauma of losing their parents far too early, of having to run a mid-sized kingdom from the shadows (more or less, at least in a practical sense), and all the other things they had to deal with.

"Princess," Emma whined, a quiet noise that made Dominic want to hear it again, even if he still felt more gratitude than anything else toward the small girl. If nothing else, it was amusing watching her struggle to play off whatever it was they had been talking about. "I said that in confidence!"

Anna only shrugged, "And I'm helping you un-confidence it. It's only embarrassing because you're hiding it. It's perfectly normal, you know. Even I know that much, and I really only ever talk to you."

Then the princess turned her attention back to the guard, "I suppose I'll get us on the subject. You see, Mr. Alders, what Emma here was talking about was a certain bit of gossip she'd heard a week or two ago. About you, specifically. It- well, intrigued her. Now she's curious to know something about you."

"Your Highness," Emma squeaked, and turned darker still as she took another step back, bouncing softly off the wall of Elsa's drawing room.

Anna herself only shrugged, "She heard you're a good kisser, that's all, and was interested to find out for herself. I don't see what the big deal is- everyone does it."

"Even you?" he asked, and grinned himself as he saw Anna's face turn red too.

"I- Impertinent," she muttered, "I'll have you know I don't- I haven't-"

"Forgive me if that was too forward, Your Highness," Dominic replied with a chuckle, "I was under the impression- given the subject matter- we were speaking frankly."

"We would be, if Emma wasn't such a Shy Violet," Anna grumbled, "I don't have anything to be worried about, but apparently she is too embarrassed to admit she's been thinking about... kissing you."

Dominic blinked twice, then looked down at the shorter girl, "Is that it? People really do kiss all the time, you know."

"But- but I'm not your g-girlfriend," Emma murmured softly. At least her face maintained its near-puce color, rather than worsening, "Isn't that... bad? I don't want to be like the- the other maids, who spread- um- things- for just anyone..."

He couldn't help but laugh, though it seemed to embarrass the girl more. Anna looked triumphant at first, though her face fell a bit as she saw just how red Emma had become. It still took him more than half a minute to quiet himself. When he did, Dominic spoke with a quiet surety, trying to convey to the girl- hopefully both of them- that he meant what he said. "Look, I'm not passing judgment on the maids who do that- sort of thing. I don't participate, myself, but that's for more personal reasons. It isn't that I'm not interested, I just don't... like to share. At least, not with other men."

Anna actually snorted and reached over the cart to give her friend's shoulder a little shove, "See? I told you he wasn't the type. Just because most guards do it, doesn't mean he does."

"But I'm the one who- oh, never mind," Emma protested, then went quiet. She looked up at Dominic next, and stared for several seconds while he saw her slender neck work up and down as if she was trying to swallow past a lump in her throat. "Mr.- Lieutenant, I... I was wondering if- if maybe you'd like to... um... k-k-k- oh, I can't, Princess, I just can-mmph!"

Dominic was just as taken by surprise as Emma herself when, without apparent effort, the taller girl reached over the cart and shoved her friend toward him with a hand on her back. He wondered if she was trying to push Emma into kissing him. If so, she had forgotten their height difference, because the maid only crashed against his sternum, as the hand not holding onto his weapon reflexively closed around the girl's narrow waist. "You alright, Emma?"

"I'm fnn," she replied, and started squirming in his grasp.

Dominic released her and she stepped back, this time carefully out of Anna's reach, as she looked down to the floor, "Sorry about that... I'm so clumsy."

He snorted, "Seems to me your 'clumsiness' was an over-enthusiastic princess trying to make you do something you weren't ready for, and she's the one who should be apologizing."

"Sorry," Anna shot back, grinning absolutely unapologetically. "Desperate times, you know how it is. Anyway, I'll leave you two to it- I should get back to bed. Busy day walking around the halls doing nothing, as usual, tomorrow."

Both he and Emma watched as the princess walked back the way they had come, adjusting her over-coat with a flick of her wrists a moment before she disappear around the corridor. He looked back at Emma, who was thankfully a little less red-faced now. "Sorry about that," he apologized as well, "I didn't expect her to push you like that. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable."

"N- No," Emma protested, and surprised him again by stepping closer, almost where she had been before. This time, though, she shuffled a little closer, actually molding her body against his much taller one. He could feel her small, firm breasts flatten against his ceremonial armor, but unfortunately the leather and cloth were too thick to get much out of it. Emma's breath was warm against his neck and cheek as she whispered, "I wasn't uncomfortable. Are you, Lieutenant?"

"Not exactly," he admitted, the hand going around the girl's waist again, "But I am supposed to be keeping guard, and not getting... distracted."

"Sorry," she murmured again, "I'll... I'll be quick then. If you don't mind."

"Don't mind what?"

He expected the kiss, even though the girl had to almost jump to reach his lips, but the feel of her soft, moist lips against his dryer ones was better than he expected. It sent a thrill through his body, almost like seeing her naked as she climbed into the bath days earlier. He did not expect her body grinding against his much larger one, or the hand that slipped down between his legs, up and underneath his tunic to grab his swiftly-growing erection. "That," she whispered as she pulled away, letting her hand fall after only one squeeze too.

Dominic blinked, dazed, and shook his head. "N- No. No, I didn't mind that at all."

"Good. I know you aren't one of the guards who sleeps with the maids a lot," Emma whispered, her soft blue eyes searching his with a great deal of energy despite the red face she still sported, "and that's why I wanted you to be my first. Um, kiss. I'm not a maid who sleeps with all the guards, either."

"Alright," he acknowledged, not sure what else he could say. He liked Emma just fine, she was kind to everyone, unfailingly polite, and did her duties with enthusiasm despite being the lowest on the proverbial totem pole for two years and counting. She was, of course, beautiful. But the kiss, the whole conversation, was still confusing.
What was it about him she was interested in? He just didn't understand. Why had she groped him, too? His own hands hadn't wandered anywhere but around her thin waist.

While he was thinking about it, Emma gave a little nod, backed away, and took hold of the cart once more. "I'll see you around, Lieutenant. Sorry for distracting you."

He wanted to protest again that he hadn't minded, but if he were honest with himself, he did. Not the kiss, or even spending time with Emma. But what would he have done if something had happened to Elsa while they talked? Likely be put to the sword as an accomplice, at best. Not that he thought anything had happened, of course.

Maybe he should go check on the future queen, just to be sure...?

No, that would be highly inappropriate, not to mention it could cost him his life too, if someone thought he was snooping or trying to take liberties.

More than he already had, anyway.

He went back and forth between the two, check or not, for several minutes before, from the same direction Emma had gone, Anna appeared again, looking less tired, not more. And quite proud of herself, to boot. "Your Highness," he acknowledged with a nod, doing his best to keep his own expression neutral despite what she had just arranged.

"That wasn't as nice as I'd hoped," Anna told him by way of greeting as she stopped in front of him with her hands on her hips, "but at least you didn't reject her. She really likes you, you know. All the maids talk about it, how silly she is. Most of them think you're into other men."

The first comment only made him more confused, but the second actually made Dominic blush, and he sputtered indignantly, "Wh-what? I'm not- I mean, I like women!"

Anna only shrugged, unconcerned, "It's not a problem if you are. I know it's frowned on in Lansington, but here? No one really cares. At least, not that I've ever heard of. I wondered if that's why you migrated here, actually."
"No, I- I came for work. I can assure you that I prefer the, er, company of women. There's no doubt in my mind."

Anna's eyebrows rose again. It seemed she hadn't quite mastered the one-eyebrow lift her sister had. In fact, she was as poor at it, he thought, as he himself was. "Is that so? So... no reaction to Emma, then? Or is she just not your type? I won't have you stringing her on."

He was entirely honest when he said, "I hadn't planned on it. I didn't know she was even interested until just now. It... took me by surprise."

"So, you're saying she's not your type? You wouldn't consider her, then?"

"What? No," Dominic protested, "It's not that at all."

"So she is your type," the princess pressed, leaning in a little, "What is it about her you like?"

Dominic rolled his eyes. Anna was clearly very invested in making her friend happy, and Elsa had flat-out told him to enjoy the maids if he wanted to, just like the other guards did, but her methods were not exactly subtle. "There's plenty to like about her appearance," he finally answered, keeping his voice low, "but describing what would be embarrassing to her, and I think you've done that plenty tonight already. As for her personality, I barely know her. I only know everyone here adores her because she's always kind and happy."

"And...?"

"And what?"

Anna leaned in again, "Aaaaaannnd?"

"I'm not sure what you want me to say, Princess," he admitted, leaning back a little. She was entirely too close.

Anna actually stomped her foot childishly. Clearly, she was not getting enough sleep. "Tell me what you think! Was it a good kiss? Did you like it? Do you like her?"

He ran a hand over his face and sighed, "Your Highness, is this really appropriate? My duty is to keep your sister and yourself safe. Not to- to fraternize with the staff of the castle, or engage in gossip."

"You're still a man, though," Anna reminded him, then her eyes narrowed. "Unless... you aren't? Are you a eunuch?"

"What? No!"

"Prove it," she pronounced.

"Absolutely not. That would definitely be inappropriate!"

"Who cares? There's no one here but us," Anna shot back, "Everyone's asleep. No one would know."

"I would know, and I'd rather not be hanged for taking liberties with a royal heir!"

"Fine, if you won't give me proof, I'll take it," Anna growled, then lunged. Again, her speed took him by surprise as she closed the foot and a half between them with a single step and half a second of time. Then her body settled against him too, in a slightly taller, more energetic version of Emma's earlier actions. Her mouth was more energetic on his too, her lips smashing and grinding against his. Anna's chest, a little larger than Emma's though not yet at their full adult size by any means, was enough for him to feel it faintly through the breastplate and ornamented armor. But her hand... her hand was even more daring than the young maid's had been.

Emma had just cupped his groin for a moment, but Anna actually gripped his shaft, and gave it a few awkward pumps, following along in his trousers as it stiffened from half-awake to full in record time.

Dominic felt himself lost in bliss for a moment, and his tongue licked against Anna's all-too-soft lips too, before she let it into her mouth, and... and then she stopped with a sigh. The princess withdrew a full step, pink-faced, breathing rapidly, and with a certain haze in her eyes. "That... okay, that was more than I expected," she admitted, glancing down at where her hand still wrapped around the long bulge in his lower uniform, "and that's a lot more than I expected. Alright, Mr. Alders... you'd better treat Emma well. I'm serious, I will not allow you to string her on just to make a conquest."

"I wouldn't, um, dream of it, Your Highness," he murmured, his eyes locked on hers.

Anna nodded, then turned and walked quickly up the hall toward her own bedroom without looking back.
As she went, Dominic lifted a hand to his lips, unable to believe that he'd just gotten two girls' first kisses (or so he presumed) within a few minutes of each other... and that one had been the youngest princess of Arendelle.

That strange, confused happiness vanished a moment later, as he realized something he had missed earlier.

Elsa, Anna's older sister, was standing in her open doorway, her eyes narrowed.