If You Only Knew Me

On the Steps of the Palace

Arianna twirled a strand of her brunette hair as she wrote on the paper in front of her, not really all that sure what she was writing down.

She supposed she should be paying more attention to the legislation's finer points, but she really couldn't bring herself to leave her stupor. Nigel had been sure to go over the finer points with her earlier in the day ad nauseum which managed to keep her guilt about it had a minimum, considering she at least had a working knowledge of the ordinance she was drafting. Not that she would completely ignore her job or what she was responsible for, but still, a bit of distance from it had come to be the expectation.

She hadn't meant for it to be this way. Being Queen was an important duty that she had trained for and one that she didn't take lightly. But ever since that day, things hadn't been quite the same. Ever since Rapunzel had been stolen away, the only thing she could think of was her baby girl, lost and alone in a world.

That fear for Rapunzel and the hope that she would return one day was omni-present in her life, and she supposed her husband's as well. It had slowly gotten easier to bear, but it was always there. In the back of their heads, at the forefront of their lives, in the face of every little girl they saw, it was all-consuming and frightening.

Even now as she sat in her study, all her mind could drift back to was her little girl. She had had held her a grand total of three times before some madwoman in the dead of night stuck a claim on her. The way she felt in her arms was forever imprinted on her, the emerald gaze of her daughter seared into her brain.

After an hour of trying and failing to get through this tax revision, she eventually resolved to work on this later. Frederic would wish to see it as well after her returned from his diplomatic trip to Arendalle, so she could always just finish it when he returned. The brunette stood with a sigh and shuffled the papers into the corner of her desk.

A gust of wind blew open the window in the corner, dragging a few flakes of snow. Arianna shivered as the wind crept onto her and she hurried to shut the glass. Arianna rubbed her hands together and considered going to get her coat – it was due to get colder as the night dragged on, and one could never be sure when it came to warmth.

"Your Majesty," came a knock on the door. Arianna turned to see it opening, Nigel and a palace guard entering the room. Arianna smiled at the image of her and Frederic's advisor; although he could far too prim and stuffy for Arianna at times, his insights and understanding over their grief had been invaluable. The transition from his predecessor three years ago had been rocky at first, given that Quirin was their oldest friend and Nigel couldn't be more different from him, but over time her appreciation for the brunet statesman had only grown.

"Nigel," Arianna greeted with a warm smile. Arianna nodded at acknowledgment of the guard; she didn't know his name, but she recognized him as one of the rising stars of the guards. Rumor had it, he would be named Capitan of the Guard with in the next few years. Her brow quirked at the basket in his arms, a small blanket wrapped within the wicker container.

"We hate to interrupt you, I know you're very busy," Nigel said, and Arianna scoffed internally. "But this was found outside with a note."

Arianna pursued her lips in confusion and walked over to the guard and felt her heart stop at the blanket when she saw it move. Her eyes widened as the item inside the basket rolled over, revealing a head poking out of the light blue blanket. Tresses of raven hair and a streak of blue hair lolled over a small face with a button nose and a smattering of freckles.

It was a baby.

"You.... you said there was a note," Arianna eventually said. Nigel nodded. "Let me see it."