Chapter Text
Anna raced up the stairs, two at a time. She hadn't meant to take so long with Kristoff - and felt awful for leaving Elsa up there in her room all alone - but with the madness of the coming month, it seemed prudent to get all her ducks in a row so to speak. And the little outing, away from the castle and her parents and her duties had given her a surprising anticipatory joy. They could make a day of it. Stop by the creek. Bring a picnic lunch. Maybe some wine. Like three normal, un-tied-down young people with nothing but freedom and time ahead of them. It'd be sure to bring Elsa out of her shell a little. And Kristoff deserved a break, as well. He never stopped working, that boy.
Anna barely had time to pick her nose these days, what with all the shadowing her father at court, sudden political conferences, treaties, reports and proposals to study, a full military audit coming up and of course, all the preparation for her impending wedding.
Oh, gods. Her wedding was in three weeks. It didn't feel real. She just didn't feel like somebody who was about to become a wife. Hans' wife. she shook the thought from her mind. Time may wait for nobody, but that was no reason to chase behind it.
Anna's stomach was rumbling, mouth watering, as she approached her room and the delicious scent of freshly baked bread and fried fish hit her nostrils. The servants had brought her food straight to her room, which usually meant some other surprise engagement had been crammed into her day and time was scarce.
Great.
Moving further into the delicious aroma, Anna's stomach dropped at the sound of voices. Unmistakeable. Chitter chattering away. Coming from her room! The hot flush of panic rose from her chest into her throat. The servants would never hang around conducting their gossip in Anna's bedroom of all places. No, whoever was in there had found Elsa and that presented an unacceptable level of risk. They hadn't gone over her fake backstory yet!
Anna was running now, nearly slipping on the waxed wooden floors, regaining her balance. It was okay, nobody saw.
Of course, Elsa wasn't exactly the tell everyone everything about yourself as soon as you meet them type, Anna tried to reassure herself. She'd been on the run seemingly for a long time, avoiding magic poachers, slavers, witch hunters, soldiers, mobs with pitchforks and who knows what else. She surely had a well developed sense of discretion to have survived this long.
But then, perhaps she wouldn't have to say anything, to give the wrong idea. The whole drama with Astrid had only just died down. And if, say, Britta or someone, were to walk in and find a beautiful girl - and gods she did look beautiful, all pale and lithe in the morning light with long slender limbs in naught but a prisoner tunic - just standing around awkwardly like a lost pup, well, Anna shuddered to think how it would look. The rumours that would abound! She would have to do serious damage control.
Anna shoved the door open so hard it slammed against the wall and felt a wave of relief as she saw only Gerda sitting at the dresser, tea and saucer held daintily in front of her. Elsa sat opposite her, mirroring the posture with her own teacup and saucer. Both clearly startled by Anna's bombastic entrance, staring at her speechless and wide eyed. That was a bit rich, in all honesty. This was her room, after all.
'Enjoying our tea, ladies?'
Anna was a little puffed. She sat on the end of the bed, taking deep breaths.
'Why yes, we are, your highness. Aren't we, dear?'
Gerda looked over to Elsa who just nodded, an unreadable expression on her face. She was either nervous or deeply amused. Probably both.
'My goodness, you are puffed! Did you run here?'
'Kind of,' Anna had the strange feeling of being caught out. Gerda had that effect. She'd never been great at lying to the woman who had practically raised her. She didn't really understand why they had to keep their most trusted staff out of the loop in the first place, but her father insisted. Something about policy, agreement, keeping the council happy, liabilities. 'Um, Gerda, not to be rude but...what exactly is happening here?'
'Well of course, I was expecting you much earlier.' The old woman took a sip from her teacup, 'But when I came in to bring your lunch, I found Elsa dear, waiting here so patiently. And you know me, old softie that I am. Never could resist a poor little orphan raggamuffin, just trying to get ahead in the world.'
Anna laughed, but it came out awkward and forced, 'You and me both!'
'Although, apparently the orphanages have improved since my day. Excellent etiquette, this one. And very well read!'
The books from the other day, the picnic, Gerda must have figured it out.
Elsa smiled sweetly.
'Yep, well, you know my mother's always been outspoken about the conditions in those places. Papa's been pouring money into the problem for the last five years.' That part was true, actually. Though Anna made a mental note to check later whether there had actually been any significant measured changes. 'I should hope there's been some improvements! Anyway, uh, perhaps you could fetch Elsa some more appropriate attire? You know, I think that's probably the first step to helping her... get ahead in the world.'
'Of course.' Gerda gave the most subtle of curtseys and slipped out the door.
Anna waited for the footsteps to peter out, down the hall, before flopping into the chair previously occupied by Gerda.
She was so close to just dipping some bread into the leek and mushroom soup and taking a huge bite - etiquette be damned! She was starving! And the melted butter mixing with the rising fat at the top of the soup was just the best part of the meal. But she held back. First, there was an experiment to conduct.
She nudged the pot of soup and the tray of bread toward Elsa, 'try some?'
Elsa's mouth opened, and closed again. She peered, eyes slightly narrowed, at the food, and again at Anna.
Anna picked up a fork, sliced off a soft piece of fish, popped it into her mouth. Chewed, swallowed. Spoke. 'It's not a trap. You must be starving. I know I sure am.' She took a piece of bread, as if about to eat, but then spoke again. 'I see you met Gerda, again.'
'Yes.' Elsa took a piece of bread, ripped off a bite-sized chunk, and ate it. No dunking and taking huge bites for her. No, this girl had been taught not only to wait until the person of higher status ate first, but to then eat in the polite way. Back in the dungeon, Anna had assumed her hesitancy was just some kind of concern for poison. She had assumed many things, evidently.
'She sure asks a lot of questions, right?'
'I...uh-' Elsa stumbled over her words, wringing her hands, 'I guess so...Anna, have I done something wrong?'
'No, no, no! Of course not, I should have briefed you. But lucky it was only Gerda. She's alright. Trustworthy. But if any of the other servants ask you questions, you don't have to answer them, alright? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the hard work they do but they're terrible gossips, especially the young ones. I learnt that one the hard way!'
'Do they talk about you?'
Anna winced internally. Yes. Yes, they did talk about her. But that was a story for another day. 'Yeah, people can be, um, really creative with their stories. We've got some potential novelists squandering their talents laundering sheets and waxing floors here in the castle apparently. But you'd know all about being the subject of stories. Wouldn't you?' Anna opened her third drawer down and pulled out the list she'd compiled last night.
'1833, a creek in northern rural Trosgarl froze over in the spring. Some locals said it was a punishment from a regional deity, uh, something to do with a cave spirit not getting enough tributes. Others claimed witchcraft. No scientific explanation was agreed upon. 1835, Southern Trosgarl, a freak snowstorm occurred in the summer, during an Fjalldorian raid of a border town. A dozen invading soldiers were injured and some buildings were damaged. The raid was unsuccessful. Townspeople claimed a little girl from out of town was responsible, but no one could say what her name was, where she was from, or where she had gone, because they'd told her family to leave! Talk about ungrateful! Right? 1836, two young teenagers were seen in Dolbyen stealing bread from a market. The boy resisted arrest, and when the soldiers got rough with him, the girl froze the soldiers' shoes to the ground and both teens escaped. Witness accounts were...numerous and consistent.'
Elsa ripped off another small piece of bread and dipped it in the soup, evidently unphased. 'I suppose it is about time I stood trial for my awful, heinous crimes.'
Anna laughed, awkward and caught off guard by the ready-to-go response. 'Well, sightings since that last incident are...less cohesive.' She read again from the list, 'shooting ice spikes from her fingers, suffocating men with just a look, nine feet tall, six spider-like legs under her dress, glowing black eyes, flies through the sky in a boat made of ice, creates sentient snow golems...it all gets quite hard to believe, I mean, how could you be sighted on the northern border of Arendelle and in western Fjaldlor in the same week? That's just ridiculous, right?'
'Oh my.' Elsa suppressed a light chuckle in the base of her throat. She suppressed it well, but Anna saw it. 'It seems you have access to information about me that even I wasn't aware of.'
'But none of them mentioned your excellent etiquette.'
'It's not every day I keep such esteemed company.'
'Or literary breadth.'
'It's funny, they never actually pause in their running away screaming to ask about my taste in novels. A pity, really. I do love to read some Voltaire, while flying in my ice boat and suffocating good Christian men in their beds. Anna, if I may be so bold as to quote you from earlier...what exactly is happening here?'
Anna barely knew how to answer that question to herself, let alone to Elsa. The timid girl from the dungeon seemed to have morphed into someone with a quiet confidence, and if Anna was honest, it was bordering on defensive, which she hadn't expected. Perhaps reading out the list of rumours wasn't the right approach. It certainly hadn't brought Anna any valuable new insight.
Of course, Elsa's fate still hung in precarious balance. The inner council was still at odds, to put it lightly, about how to address the situation. Most disapproved of the current strategy. Reckless, they said. Risky. Idealistic. Without clear direction. All words they had used to describe Anna herself, in the past. Nothing new, but still mildly concerning. Several of the older council members were still firmly in the kill her camp. And General Hardier, Anna suspected, was cooking up some grandiose ideas regarding military strategy.
Letters of various tone had piled up from Fyaldor, Trosgarl, Dolbyen and even further west where rumours had spread. Warning, threatening, demanding, bluffing, bargaining. All over this young fugitive and sarcastic literary enthusiast, eating soup in Anna's room and cracking jokes about murdering people. Did she even know what a kerfuffle she'd caused?
'Elsa, I'm gonna put it bluntly, there's been quite a lot of commotion over your…'
'Existence?'
'I was going to say location...but your ability, yeah.'
'It bothers people. I'm aware.'
'Common people, sure.' Was Anna going to have to be so blatant? Did Elsa really not understand that her most likely outcomes were death, being sent into battle, or continuing a life on the run? Was she just too jaded to care. 'I think you'll find amongst the ruling class...you're quite sought after. And that can be dangerous. For everyone.'
'Is that so?'
'Come on, Elsa, you read Voltaire. You know how power and politics work. Don't make me spell it out for you.'
'Why not? Does spelling it out make you uncomfortable, princess?'
'Yes!' Anna's own voice was louder than she had anticipated, taking her by surprise, 'It makes me deeply uncomfortable!'
'Why?' Elsa's voice rose to match. 'Why are you so invested in my life? Why have you brought me up here?'
'Because you're a person!' Anna was shouting now. She didn't want to be shouting. She just couldn't seem to stop herself. It wasn't supposed to be like this, they were supposed to be working together. Elsa was supposed to be pleased to be out of the dungeon. She was responding all wrong. 'Because you're a person, and clearly, you want to live. And you want to be free, and it's not right how you've had to live, running and hiding. And I'm trying to help you! Isn't that what you want?'
Elsa stood up abruptly, startling as her chair scraped behind her. Her eyes darted frantically, to the door, to the windows, to Anna, and back again in a cycle. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Anna was no expert in body language but she'd seen enough disasters in open court to recognise when someone was ready to bolt. Only this time, she was really unclear where things had gone wrong. It was like a lever had just flipped out of nowhere. This was bad. This was very bad.
'Elsa, please,' Anna raised her hands, open, in front of her, 'calm down!'
'You have to let me go!'
That stung a little. After all, it was due to Anna's planning and insistence that Elsa was even up here, out of the dungeon, still alive. She wasn't exactly the bad guy here!
'I can't! It's not even up to me. Please, don't try to run. The guards will catch you. Just...stay here and I can help you!'
'No, you can't.' Elsa dropped to the floor, crouched, hugging her knees, just like when they'd first met way down there below the ground, 'Nobody can.'
'Yes, I can! Just...just trust me!'
A sharp knock broke them from their standoff. Both girls jumped. The tension in the room hung heavy, gluggy, rippling with each of their shallow breaths.
'It's me, dear.' Gerda's voice was hesitant behind the door. Had she heard their argument? Had anyone else heard? 'I've brought some clothes.'
The silence hung heavy. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Anna willed her little heart beat to come down and gave her best reassuring smile at Elsa who was still curled up, sullen against the wall.
Anna opened the door just a bit and tried to take the stack of dresses but Gerda wasn't having a bar of it. The old woman poked her head into the room, shaking her head and tut-tutting. 'What's happened here?'
'Nothing!'
'What did you say to her?'
'I-nothing! It's just been a big day.' Anna grabbed the clothes and ushered Gerda back out the door, 'Thank you for these. Bye, now!'
The dresses were plain, but by no means shabby. There were a few options. A dark reddish purple one, a mustard yellow one, and a pale blue one with a grey apron and a few plain white petticoats and underclothes. She held up the purple dress, 'Well, this is nice.'
Elsa looked up at her weakly, apparently worn out from her earlier adrenaline surge.
'But I think you're more of a blue. Mother always said red is for brunettes, blue is for blondes. Apparently that leaves me with green.'
'Okay.' Elsa's voice barely came out as a whisper.
'Hey now,' Anna unfolded the blue dress and laid it out over the chair, placing the extra garments over it, then flopping onto her bed. 'it's not that bad. You'll feel better when you change out of that old thing.'
Wordlessly, Elsa took the clothes and approached the changing screen. Anna laid her head on her hands, humming lightly against the quiet swish of fabric and the faint chime of birds outside in the room.
Calm seemed to have returned between them. But that little moment of panic, that temperamental streak, was a concern. A life on the run, on the outside, lived in fear and isolation had clearly done some damage. Anna had been right to suggest to her father that they build a trust relationship. The council were apparently such smart men, but they struggled sometimes with these human concepts. Concepts like trust, fear and rejection. She could only imagine how Elsa might react to a more forceful or confusing approach. Especially once they got that amulet off - and Anna still intended to at least explore that possibility - things could get quite messy.
'Anna, I think...um…'
'Yeah?'
'I think maybe this isn't worth it.'
'What do you mean?'
'This...getting me all dressed up. It seems unnecessary.'
'What do you mean?' She was taking an extraordinary long time to get dressed. 'What's the matter with the dress? Doesn't it fit?'
'No, I..I just...it just seems like I'm already causing trouble for you.'
Behind the screen, Anna found Elsa with the dress halfway on, awkward and pulled tight, struggling to do it up at the back. Her right arm - her amulet arm - was stuck, not bending as it should, unable to slip into the admittedly quite fitted garment.
'What's wrong with your arm?'
'Old injury. I'm sorry I panicked, Anna. You seem like a good person. I don't know how long you're planning to masquerade me as some kind of handmaiden, or what you're hoping to achieve here, but it's not worth the risk. So why don't you just skip all of this and go back to your council. Make a decision. Kill me now, or sell me to the highest bidder. Or just hand me over to the military. I'll go easy. The amulet will come off, they'll find a way.'
Anna pulled the fabric over the stiff arm, then over the shoulder. Up this close, she could smell the sweet scent of another girl, tangy and mild and so very human. It was a smell she had almost forgotten, being so rarely this close to another human being, and the memories hit her with a dizzying intensity. Fingers traced over velvety warm skin, brushing delicate locks of hair aside. It brought her back, for a moment, to thoughts of Astrid. To the sensations and hopes and desires she had locked away. To the fluttering in her chest and the feeling of soft lips on her own.
It was the sight of bruises that brought Anna back to reality. Handprint shaped, on her upper arm, and some more blunt ones on her upper back. Brown and mottled, probably about a week old. So they must have happened outside of Arendelle, just before she was caught. Anna pretended not to notice.
'Yeeaah, uh, I'm not going to do that.' She buttoned the last button at the back of Elsa's neck, 'All done! Now, come on, it's time for that tour of the castle. I bet our library is the best you've ever seen!'
Elsa looked down at herself, smoothing the dress with her hands. She certainly scrubbed up alright. And the faint flush on her cheeks suggested that she knew it, too. 'But, Anna... why?'
What a silly question. Honestly, sometimes Elsa seemed so worldly and then she came out with this, 'Uh, because we're the royal family? And we get to keep all the old books that are claimed by the state, and we have money to buy special and important books, and staff to go and find more books and-'
'No, I mean, why all this? This kindness?'
Was there ever a sadder question? Did kindness need a reason? Apparently so.
Anna sighed. 'Well...because...I know what it's like to have a secret. A secret that would change everything, if people knew. It would change the way people saw me. And not for the better. And well...if that happened, I'd hope to find some kindness and a safe place in this crazy world.'
Surprisingly satisfied with the answer, Elsa simply nodded, 'very well.' With no further questions, she followed Anna out the door, and they headed for the library.