xXxXx
"Your Highness, it's unprecedented!"
Anna resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and instead leveled a firm, but not unkind look at the speaker; a short, rotund man with dark hair and eyes who - along with the half-dozen of his fellows with him - wore the sashes of a politician and a royal adviser both.
"I assure you, counselor Stromme; unprecedented does not have to mean foolish," she said, and her tone brokered no argument. "The guilds have already given their consent in both verbal and written form."
It was another in a line of extra sessions she took part in to prepare for the festival that was already known as Thaw's End outside the castle walls; hosted as usual in what had been the queen's study during their parents' time, and had yet to be given a new name since the former king's study was now the queen's and there wasn't a king around to take this one. The unnamed study was a large, professionally appointed room with wide windows on two walls, polished hardwood floors and plenty of seats available aside from the one that Anna was currently in behind a wide, eloquently carved desk.
And she really hated having to argue her way past the counselors almost every single time she met with them, but an exasperated conversation with her sister over breakfast had given Elsa the leave to point out that it wasn't the job of the advisers to be yes-men - at least not unless one wanted a nation run into the ground from royal whims. Their job was to challenge if they felt it was necessary, and this group was at least giving her a lot of practice in debating to mitigate the headache she could feel building behind her eyes.
"The merchants, workers and performers who take part in or help prepare for the festival are to be paid five times the usual amount on completion of the festival itself or their respective jobs," Anna repeated for what felt like the tenth time today. "In return, they will provide a discount on any further work done for or goods sold to the castle or - for those who work outside the walls - the city itself over the next five years." She settled her arms on the surface of the desk, and lowered her head enough to give her a challenging appearance when she cast her gaze across them. "I don't see how that's so hard to accept. The people get a show of goodwill and additional resources after the incidents of the recent past, and overall, the royal coffers will most likely come out ahead."
"Forgive us, Princess," a younger man said; this one tall and fair to the point of being almost stereotypically Nordic. "But it remains a staggering sum of money to lose in a very short time."
"Money that we have," Anna reminded him, and let a slight smile curl her lips. "Or I promise that I wouldn't even be suggesting it."
"Hrmph." Stromme, who was fast becoming a thorn in her side today, grunted and folded his arms. "I assume that you've cleared this with the queen?"
The knock on the door was a timely intervention, because Anna could feel her throat tingling and knew that she was about five heartbeats away from letting the sour, little man have a decidedly un-royal piece of her mind. Instead, she called for the knocker to enter, and smiled when a young page approached her and offered up a small letter with a deep bow.
Perfect timing. "Thank you, Peter." She watched the boy blush, and carefully hid her amusement. "Have the kitchen set out a repast for the counselors - I think we're about done here."
"Highness." The boy bowed again, and then ran off.
Anna was happy to ignore the shifting advisers as she opened the letter and retrieved its contents - a single page with only a few, meticulously written words in a hand that she'd recognize anywhere, with the addition of the queen's seal in the bottom corner. When it came to politics, she knew herself to be nowhere near Elsa's level, but she also wasn't green enough to propose anything as radical as this without her approval.
"Let it be known," she read aloud. "That Her Royal Highness, Princess Anna of Arendelle has our complete trust in her proposed, economical sanctions for the upcoming Thaw's End festival. Our approval of her actions is hereby given in writing, and all who oppose it are invited to seek audience with us that we may discuss the matter further. May the winds blow ever in your favor. Signed, Elsa I; Queen Regnant of Arendelle."
A faint shadow at the bottom of the paper then caught her attention, and while the advisers started talking lowly amongst themselves, Anna deftly folded up the lower inch of the missive and had to smother a grin at the words printed there.
As promised. Now be nice, Anna - I have to meet with them after lunch, remember?
"Yeah, yeah," she murmured under her breath, but let the slight, upwards tug at the corner of her mouth happen. "Ruin my fun."
If the job of the royal advisers was - in essence - to get on her nerves, then Anna felt that the least she could do was return the favor and get on theirs. While Elsa hadn't outright said so when she'd told her as much, there had been a brief flash of amusement in those topaz-blue eyes that let Anna know that in some way, her sister agreed.
She wasn't about to saddle her with a group of pouty politicians, though. At least not if she could help it.
"Gentlemen." Anna carefully folded the letter and settled it back into the unmarked envelope. "I trust that you've come to an agreement?" Silence met her words, and again, she had to shove down the want to roll her eyes, or better yet, stick out her tongue. "No? Then we reconvene on Sunday." She ignored the flinches. "I have quite a bit on my plate to see this festival off the ground, good sirs, and that's the only day it can happen." Anna folded her hands on the table, and cocked her head. "See you Sunday morning, gentlemen. Have a lovely week."
The door closed behind them, and Anna slumped back into her seat with a soft groan.
"I thought I asked you to be nice to them," came a wry voice, and she turned her head to see her sister enter the room through the side door that led to the castle libraries. "Pulling them all out of bed on a Sunday morning hardly counts as that."
"They were being stubborn."
"You'd know, I suppose."
"Pfft." Anna gave in to the desire to blow a raspberry, and let her eyes half-close tiredly as Elsa approached the desk, and then circled it to perch on its edge next to her. The young queen seemed to be growing ever more fond of her own make in garments, and today was apparently no exception, dressed as she was in whitish-blue; a satiny, shoulderless sheath under a partially opaque princess-cut dress with shimmering butterfly sleeves that settled just below her pale shoulders.
The sheath, Anna noticed as her sister crossed her legs at the knees, had an almost dangerously high slit on one side, and she tickled the skin through the cloudy white of the skirt in exchange for a startled, hastily muffled squeak before getting to her feet.
"Those men drive me crazy," she told her, and pulled over a wooden bowl that held a selection of fruits. "I know they're doing their jobs, but do they have to be so..."
"So?" Elsa was giving her an amused look, and Anna threw a bright green grape at her, only to have it swiped out of mid-air by long fingers.
"There's plenty of honey in the kitchen," she warned with a gentle tug at the long braid that hung over Elsa's shoulder, and smiled at the soft laugh that was her reply. " And so... I don't know, obnoxious?" She considered the word, and hoisted herself onto the desk before laying one, bent leg over its surface as she turned. "Is that the right word?" Elsa was nipping at her grape, and Anna set the small bowl in the slight amount of space between them. "Why were you eavesdropping, anyway?"
"Who said I was?" the queen countered with a rise of twin, blonde eyebrows. "Perhaps I was merely on my way here, and just happened to arrive before your meeting was over."
Anna rolled her eyes. "Elsa, you don't 'happen' to do anything," she reminded her sister dryly. "And you know my schedule better than I do."
"Hm." A smile, and an offering of another grape - red this time - and she caught it in her teeth without wondering too much at the sudden increase in color over the queen's cheekbones. "Perhaps I was learning, then."
"Learning what?" she wondered around her chewing, and closed her eyes at the flitting of gentle fingers through her bangs.
Elsa's gentle laughter tickled her hearing in much the same way that cool fingertips were tickling her hairline. "How to be a better diplomat."
Anna cracked an eye open, and studied her curiously. "What, from me?"
"Yes, from you." Elsa only smiled at her frown. "Anna, you do a wonderful job dealing with all these people. You're kind but firm, and it's very, very rare that anyone walks away from you unhappy. Even when they do, they deserve to."
The world quite honestly felt as if it was slowly sliding off of its axis. "You're telling me that I'm better at this than you are."
"By leaps and bounds, little sister." Another smile, and the press of cool lips against her now very warm cheek. "Oh, I know what I'm doing, but I mainly work with others on paper, yes? Letters, trade agreements, contracts and resumes. I have to, since the people I need to communicate with are rarely in the capital city."
"Ah." It was the only reply she could form, since her head was very much spinning.
"You, however..." Elsa went on, and seemed to be caught halfway between amusement and admiration. "You handle almost all of your duties through face-to-face meetings. You think on your feet quicker than anyone I've ever known, Anna. So yes - I was eavesdropping to learn." Pause, and then with a lower tone that sounded like concern. "Anna?"
"I'm here," she assured a touch dumbly. "Sorry; I'm still trying to get over the fact that I'm better than you at something."
"Anna." Now Elsa's voice was halfway scolding. "You're better than me at plenty of things."
"Outdoorsy things, sure," Anna agreed, because between the two of them, that was just taken for granted. "But not..." She caught the hand that was cupping her face and twined its fingers with her own, while her other hand gestured at the space around them. "Not this."
"Hm." The hand squeezed hers gently. "I'm afraid you'll just have to get used to the notion," her sister told her, and chuckled. "Because in many ways, you'd make a far better queen than me."
"Elsa, that's just absolute nonsense. You're a great queen!"
"That doesn't mean you couldn't be a better one," the older woman commented, and then rose without releasing her. "But let's not argue about hypotheticals, hm? Lunch?"
As if on cue, Anna's stomach growled noisily. "Probably a good idea, yeah. Just not-"
"With the counselors, no." Elsa's bare arm slipped around her shoulders, and as they exited the study, a low whisper by her ear sent cool, pleasant tingles over her skin. "I prefer having your sparkling company all to myself, anyway."
"Well." Anna slung an arm around her sister's waist in turn. "Far be it from me to deny you anything, Your Majesty."
"Brat."
"Whaaat?"
They continued down the hall, chuckling.
xXxXx
Anna was bored.
It wasn't the 'oh-rats-the-kitchen-is-closed-for-the-night' variety. It was, in fact, the 'there-are-one-thousand-seven-hundred-and-fifty-eight-floorboards-in-the-western-hallways-when-not-counting-partials' kind, and it was honestly driving her a little crazy. Once dinner was over, she'd taken Thor for a ride, and done the same with Heimdahl afterwards because anything else wouldn't have been fair. Then she'd taken a bath, and when that was done, she'd settled in for a friendly, one-sided conversation with Joan of Arc. She'd been bored after, and so had wandered into the city to visit Kristoff and Sven with a happily chattering Olaf at her side.
She'd been less bored in the company of her friends, but even the easily distracted snowman had noticed her restlessness, and somehow that discussion had evolved into a icecubes-slash-handfuls-of-hay fight that had been a great deal of fun, but had left Kristoff a little annoyed at having to brush Sven down again before their week-long trip the next morning. It also meant that Anna had to take another bath after returning to the castle in the purple light of dusk, and now she was feeling squeaky-clean and still bored.
"Stop being such a baby," she told her scowling reflection as she brushed the remaining tangles out of her damp hair. "Harvest is coming, and you knew that would mean extra work for Elsa."
And that was at the center of Anna's boredom. The queen was tied up with calculations for the prospected harvest nationwide, and had spent the entire day working with a handful of different representatives to ensure that a potential surplus in one town would cover another's deficit so that everyone would be evenly supplied over the coming winter. If there was any overall extra after the generous allowances for Arendelle's own people, it would be marked for trade and sent to the capital city for overseas shipping. It was preparatory work at this stage, since no one knew for sure what the actual numbers would be until the harvest was over and done with, but Elsa had warned her that it would nevertheless be a time-consuming task that she'd rather take care of now, since it would save her the brunt of the work further down the line.
She understood, but understanding didn't stop that annoyingly loud part of her that was squawking in indignation from the fact that she hadn't seen hair nor hide of her sister since dawn. Elsa hadn't even shown for meals, and so Anna had made sure that there were several trays of various foodstuffs carted to her study throughout the day - large portions, because she was sure the advisers needed nourishment too - and delivered by Gerda or Kai, who knew how to handle the at times stubborn young queen from long experience, and would therefore make sure that Elsa actually ate.
Elsa had a tendency to not eat when she was working that almost rivaled her tendency to work too much, and now the moon was high in the sky outside the window as the hour approached midnight.
Almost twenty hours of work today, Anna translated, and worried at her lower lip with her teeth as she set the brush aside. Her respect for what Elsa was doing was having a tooth and nail fight with her need to both take care of and see her sister, and really, how much use could Elsa hope to be tomorrow if she didn't get some rest? Nobody said that everything had to be accomplished in a single session, did they? Aside from Elsa herself, of course.
Sighing, Anna rose from her seat and pulled a cream-colored robe over her knee-length shift - chiefly to preserve her modesty, because the heatwave that had descended on the capital in recent days meant that the castle was comfortably cool, at most. A swiftly-claimed tie settled her hair in a low ponytail at the base of her skull, and she collected a lit candle on her way out of the door because she knew from experience that the lamps lining the hallways would have been doused hours ago.
Even her slippers sounded loud against the wood floor of the halls as she made her way from the westernmost wing of the castle - where the bed- and guest rooms were housed - to the more central area that held the ballroom, the library, the studies, kitchens and all around more populated spaces. She ducked into the massive library that connected her office with Elsa's, since knocking on that particular door would signal more clearly that this was a personal visit rather than a professional one, and would hopefully have the queen herself come to the door instead of a potential minister of the whatever.
Sure enough, when Anna put her ear to the door, she could hear the faint burr of conversation from the other side, and the hoarse tone she could pick up in what she recognized as her sister's voice made her roll her eyes in fond exasperation. She saved her thoughts for when she was actually face to face with Elsa, however, and gave the door three, resounding knocks.
A pause in the buzz from the next room, and Anna took a step back and set the candle on a nearby table when she heard footsteps approaching. Then Elsa was there - halfway through the partly opened door - and while the flickering candlelight was no doubt making things look worse than they were, the shadows of fatigue on her face still made Anna have to bite back a curse.
"Anna?"
She raised a hand to crook her finger, and waited until her sister had fully entered the library and gently closed the door behind her.
"I'm sorry," Elsa began. "I know it's late, but we-"
"Hush." Anna stopped her with the light press of a finger to the queen's lips, and watched the blue eyes widen in surprise. "You have work to do; I know that," she promised softly. "And more than that, I respect it, but you are going to be of no use to anyone if you don't let yourself rest."
"I know," the blonde returned around a sigh, and caught her hand with her own. "But we're so close, Anna. Just a little more, and we'll be done."
"Uh-huh." Absently, Anna let her thumb draw smooth circles on the back of her sister's hand. "And for how long have you been 'so close'?" she questioned. "Two hours? Three?" The downright irritated look that earned her made her smile. "I gotcha, didn't I?"
"Hrmph." Elsa scowled engagingly, and then ran a hand through her bangs. "Hoisted on my own petard, hm?"
"As always," Anna teased, and stuck the tip of her tongue out through a grin when her sister rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Elsa, you need to sleep. Whatever's left can wait until the morning - I'm sure your advisers would like to go home, too."
"That's probably true." The queen's pale lips shaped a wryly amused smile. "Bylund's nodded off four times so far."
"Slavedriver."
"Oh, shush."
Giggling softly, Anna wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Though Elsa was taller by a fraction, she felt her almost slump into her arms from exhaustion, and the face that was pressing familiarly against the side of her throat was uncommonly warm.
"What am I going to do with you?" she murmured into the starlight-colored hair, and was almost tempted to fall asleep herself in all this peace.
"Anything you like," was the fond, if weary reply, accompanied by a gentle squeeze of the arms around her waist.
"Oo, now you're in trouble," she kidded gently, and pressed a kiss to Elsa's temple before turning her around and giving her light push towards the door. "'Cause I'm gonna have you go tell your little friends goodnight. You can play again tomorrow." She grinned at the completely outraged look she got over one pale shoulder - that, and the visible way in which the queen struggled to hide it when Anna pulled the door open and they were no longer alone.
"Majesty!" The eldest man in the next room was the first to notice them, and his greeting set off a chorus of majesties and highnesses from the assembled group and - in one instance - a startled snort and a tumble from the couch to the floor by the man Anna presumed to be Bylund.
"Gentlemen." She gave an appropriately regal incline of her head to the assembled group as she leaned against the doorframe on one shoulder, and tried not to think about how she was standing there in a robe and slippers and looking anything but royal at the moment. The amused look she got from the corner of Elsa's eyes, however, told her that she wasn't entirely successful, but thankfully, the better part of the room's attention was on the bleary-eyed man who was now getting to his feet.
"Well, good sirs." The queen had managed to re-cloak herself in her professional persona, and was now crossing the study in strides so smooth and brisk that one would almost think her to be wide awake. "It seems that I've let our otherwise fruitful session wear on for entirely too long." The blue eyes cut to Anna, who merely quirked an eyebrow. "So I've been requested to ask that we resume our calculations again tomorrow, and let more rested heads prevail at the time."
Not exactly the words she'd used, Anna noted with a faint twitch of her lips, but that was probably for the best. She watched in silence as the relieved advisers started staggering into the hallway where they were met by waiting guards who would escort them out, and then settled her gaze on her sister, who was leaning over the desk with the man who'd first greeted them, and exchanging low murmurs with him as they presumably wrapped up the evening.
The man was tall and leanly muscled, and held himself with an aristocratic air that stood at a distinct counterpoint to the laugh-lines at the edges of his gray eyes. His hair and beard were both neatly trimmed; their color an interesting mix of silver and white that indicated his age and experience, and Anna realized that she'd seen him in her parents' company many a time when she was younger.
Orvik, her mind supplied handily, and just in time for her to meet his eyes as he turned to her.
"Princess." He bowed, and the lines at the corners of his eyes deepened as he smiled. "Forgive me, but this does bring back memories. Your mother would collect your father in much the same manner after a long day; it seems that you are very much cut from the same cloth as her."
"Marquis Orvik," Anna returned with a smile of her own. "I'm glad to see you back in Arendelle - though you'll forgive me for not curtseying, I hope." She waited for him to nod and hold up his hands, and then let her smile become a half-grin. "And thanks for the compliment. I hope my sister hasn't been driving you completely crazy."
"Hey!" Elsa was giving her a definite look, and had even set a fist on one hip as she leaned on the desk.
Orvik's beard was trembling as if he was trying not to laugh. "Not at all," he promised. "Though she is - with your permission, Majesty - clearly as much your father's daughter as you are your mother's. Even your conversation right now takes me back." He chuckled softly then, and his eyes warmed. "I only wish my wife would treat me the way you treat your sister, Princess."
He turned back to Elsa then, which was a good thing, because Anna's mind had ground to a screeching halt at his casual words, and she was dearly hoping that she didn't look as flabbergasted as she suddenly felt.
Wife?
"Anna?" There was suddenly impossibly clear, blue eyes right in front of her, and she blinked once, twice, and then looked around to see that the study was now completely empty except for the two of them. "Are you alright?"
"Huh?" She blinked again, and then finally managed to get a hold of herself and stop gaping like a stunned fish. "Uh, yeah - I'm fine. Just tired."
Elsa chuckled. "Well, you're allowed," she decided, and Anna felt a flush travel up her neck when there was the touch of cool lips to her cheek. "Bedtime, hm?"
Anna nodded mutely, and was quietly glad that Elsa was too exhausted to engage her in even rambling conversation, because her mind was whirling entirely too fast for her to act on anything but autopilot as the two of them returned to the bedroom. Neither of them said a word as Elsa prepared for bed, either - nothing much tonight; just a change of clothes, a brushing of her hair and other essentials - they instead communicated entirely by way of touches and the faintest twitch of each other's facial muscles that they'd both learned to read perfectly over the past weeks.
But Anna was, in an odd, far-off way, looking at their interactions through two pairs of eyes now. One was her own, and the other was that of an outsider; planted there by Orvik's completely innocent comment, because now that she was thinking about it, they were actually acting rather wifely with each other. It was in the warmth of the exchanged glances and the comfortable silences between them that could be seen as totally innocent, in the easy way they moved around each other even when in cramped spaces, in the light touches to areas of the body that - while normal to them - were generally reserved for people with a more intimate connection, and in the way that even Elsa never thought about reaching out a hand, but just did it.
More than that, it was in the frequency of the kisses they shared - cheeks, foreheads and temples only, yes - and in how one or the other of them constantly sought some form of physical connection in ways they rarely or never did with anyone else; be it by way of a hand on an arm or a brush of gentle fingers through hair, or the way they'd started sleeping curled up together in the middle of Elsa's bed. It had never been odd to Anna before, and it still wasn't, but as she felt the subtle motions of her sister's breathing deepen and steady against her own side, she at least allowed for the fact that maybe it should be odd.
Because the only thing really setting her relationship with Elsa apart from the one their parents had shared... was kissing. Well, kissing on the mouth, and now the idea was in her head and she was very thankful to be the only one awake because she was blushing so hard that the tips of her ears were burning. Still, that didn't stop her from curling one arm behind her own head to better see Elsa's face, and she started noticing things that had somehow just... escaped her before. Like how long her eyelashes were, or how her lips formed the slightest pout as she slept, or how the sensation of one bare leg and arm curling across her own body was in no way constricting.
Not just pretty, some corner of her mind reminded her, and she smiled when Elsa murmured softly in response to the gentle touch she was brushing over her back. Beautiful.
Anna turned her gaze to the dark ceiling with a soft breath, and drew slow, light patterns along the length of Elsa's spine with the very tips of her fingers.
And thought.
xXxXx