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The sun had long since risen when Anna's eyelids first started to twitch, though since it was summer, at least it wasn't anywhere near as high in the sky as it had been on several, previous occasions. It was, however, still strong and clear as it streamed through the large, glass windows, and the princess let loose a low groan as she turned limply onto her other side and yawned, followed by a long stretch and a deep inhalation.
Teal eyes blinked open in blurry recognition, and she pressed her face deeper into the mattress to inhale again.
Also today, that same faint, yet identifiable perfume reached her nostrils, and Anna rolled onto her back and peered up at the intricately painted ceiling while she attempted to kickstart her brain.
This was the fifth day in a row that she had detected the subtle scent of Elsa's skin in the material near the edge of her bed. Before that had come a pause of three days, preceded by an additional eight days where she'd also woken to register her older sister's already vacated presence in her room, and now, as on many of the previous mornings, she puzzled over the notion as she let herself slowly rise from a deep sleep.
Why was Elsa coming here when Anna herself was sound asleep? She'd already tried outright asking the queen if she'd been there on the first day that the - for her own room - unfamiliar scent her caught her attention, but Elsa had waved her off with a smile and said something about her overactive imagination.
Riiight. Anna rolled her eyes at the innocent ceiling. She might have bought that if it had been a single day, but at this point, even her imagination wasn't this vivid.
Ah well. She pushed off with one arm and found a seat on the edge of the bed before hopping off of it and setting her feet against the thick, round carpet with a muted thud. A robe - smooth, soft pink - was yanked from its haphazard place over one of the few, padded chairs in the room, and she settled it over her shoulders; holding the front closed with one hand as she padded across the cool stone to the door, and tugged it open by just a crack.
It didn't take a minute before a servant was passing by.
"Alek?" She waited for the young man to stop, and smiled at him. "Find Ingrid for me?"
"O' course, Your Highness." Alek scurried off with a bow, and soon after, the door to Anna's chambers fell shut again.
Well, she decided as she crossed onto a rug by her vanity that let her feet warm up again, enough is enough. She's been sneaking in here in the middle of the night for weeks, and I am going to find out why if I have to pin her down and tickle it out of her.
Looking into her own, determined eyes in the mirror, Anna sat down and started to carefully brush the tangles out of her hair as she waited for her handmaiden.
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Elsa, she determined much later in the day, was entirely too good at hiding when one took into account the fact that she'd spent the better part of her life in her own room, and not out exploring and causing the occasional havoc that Anna had. The queen had long since left the breakfast table by the time Anna had made it downstairs - which was understandable - but even after that, she hadn't seen hair nor hide of her sister and by now, dinnertime was rapidly approaching.
Granted, a good deal of Anna's day had been spent immersed in her own tasks; going over the monthly budget and inventory of the kitchens (she'd accidentally sent a china pitcher crashing to the floor when the head chef had gotten stubborn and her own gestures had grown larger in response), a frightfully extended session concerning what the capital received from and sent to other parts of Arendelle, as well as a long meeting with the heads of castle staff that centered on which members of the staff as a whole were nearing retirement, the ones that might take their spots, and any new - or soon to be vacant - positions that needed filling.
Arendelle as a whole was almost exclusively Elsa's responsibility. The managing authority of the castle, the capital city and everything connected, however, fell to Anna. The idea, when she thought about it, honestly amused her just a little; well aware as she was that their tasks were divided exactly as they had been among their parents. Elsa was filling the king's job, and Anna was, for all intents and purposes, performing as the queen would.
Had Anna been in front of someone she felt she could speak freely to, she would have admitted that as much as she enjoyed seeing the results of her steadily more experienced decisions up close, the tasks tended to give her a headache. That was why she tended to spend a little over an hour of her afternoons with the children that lived in the servant's quarters with their employed parents; playing, telling stories, and just overall letting the tiny, utterly enchanted faces wash away her fatigue like the spring storms did the winter debris.
She tried not to complain, though; even to herself. If she was getting headaches, what was Elsa's undoubtedly heavier burden doing to her sister?
Perhaps, she considered as she lifted her skirt in one hand and started up the steps to the main floor, she'd be able to lure some answers out of her at dinner.
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To Anna's slight surprise, Elsa did actually join her for dinner. The meal consisted of a perfectly cooked piece of mutton with greens and herbs that sent an enticing scent into the air, and was shared by the two of them at the same table.
She did, however, note that here, they didn't act like their parents had. Anna distinctly remembered her mother and father sitting side by side by a small table. In stark contrast to that, sometime in the past few weeks the table she and Elsa had previously eaten at had been replaced, and they were currently at opposite ends of eight feet of stained oak.
"So," Anna spoke up, and cleared her throat when her sister met her gaze. There were dark, tired circles under Elsa's eyes that only stood out more in the flickering light of the candles that had been lit as the sun sank. "I spoke to a few of the head townsmen today, and apparently the majority of the citizens are expecting us to host some sort of ball soon. Well.. more of a town fair, I guess, or maybe a fete of some kind."
She watched Elsa's blonde head - spun gold in the firelight - tilt in consideration before her brow furrowed; fork held in one raised hand. "Why?" the queen then asked, confusedly. "There are no holidays coming up."
"No, you're right," Anna agreed, and felt the corner of her mouth twitch upwards as she speared a hapless vegetable. "Apparently it's supposed to be on the anniversary of the Thaw."
"Which anniversary?"
"The two month one."
Elsa just stared at her. "You must be joking," she then said. "That would be better suited after a full year, or perhaps six months."
Anna shrugged, and chewed a slice of the fragrant meat.
Her sister exhaled, and lifted her goblet as she leaned back in her seat. "Well, it would give everyone a break from the everyday," she mused, and then met the redhead's eyes. "Except for you."
She lifted one hand in a dismissive wave. "I'm fine," she offered. "I'd rather plan a huge party than argue with the trade representatives."
"And."
"Hm?"
"You'd rather plan a huge party and argue."
True. Anna took a sip from her own goblet. "Still," she then considered, "it's something different."
Elsa nodded. "Have at it, then. Just no more surprise engagements, please; one was bad enough. I'm surprised you've taken so long in bringing Kristoff to me for that purpose."
"Kristoff?" She blinked, and cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
"Anna..." The blue eyes were gazing at her tiredly. "You meet with him every day. I'm surprised that he hasn't taken up residence in the royal wing."
"That Kr-" Anna's cheeks reddened noticeably as she drew in a deep breath, and tried to rein in the sudden flaring of her temper without much success. "Elsa, can you even hear yourself right now?" she demanded, her palms slapping against the surface of the table as she watched her sister shrink back in surprise. "I told you there's nothing like that between him and me! What are you suggesting, that I'm sneaking him into my chambers at night?"
A breath, four heartbeats, and a long glance that really was more of a glare into the clear, widened eyes at the other end of the table.
"Is that why you've been in there so often these past weeks?" Anna then asked a touch more softly, neck bending enough that she was studying the lacquered wood, and not Elsa's face. "To check up on me because... because you don't trust me?"
"No, I-" The queen briefly touched two fingers to her forehead and closed her eyes, then drew in a slow breath as she rose and approached. "Of course not, Anna," was the low assurance as she stopped just by her chair, and a gentle, cool hand cupped her face and brought her eyes up. "I'm sorry."
Elsa bent then, just a little, and when their eyes met, her thumb drew slow, caressing circles on the side of Anna's chin, brushing just the barest hint of her lower lip each time.
"I trust you beyond all good sense," her sister whispered, and her warm breath smelled faintly of the sweet, light wine in her goblet when it brushed against Anna's face. "Please don't ever doubt that."
It was enough to send goosebumps shooting down the side of her throat, and Anna let her eyes fall shut as she shivered in reaction. Then, in the blink of an eye, the touch was gone.
"I should go," Elsa decided as she drew back and folded her arms over her stomach; smiling in a way that didn't reach her eyes at all. "Plenty to do, as always."
"Elsa..." Her hand was halfway from the table; reaching, and her heart locked so tightly in the center of her throat that she couldn't speak any further, even if she knew what she could to say to stop her from leaving.
Slender, pale fingers curled against the edge of the door as Elsa halted - briefly - before sending a strangely tremulous smile her way. Her eyes were so blue and so oddly apologetic while she paused just at the exit to the hall.
"Goodnight, Anna."
Then she was gone, and Anna's forehead fell against the tabletop as her insides churned in disappointment and aggravation.
That, she decided as she raised her head enough to glower weakly into the plate, had been utterly fruitless. While Anna certainly felt the need to examine exactly why she'd reacted to Elsa's thoroughly innocent touch in that particular way, she had learned absolutely nothing about the cause for the queen's late-night visits.
Well, fine. Then she would just have to be awake for the next one.
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