White Queen

Warmth of Her Heart

She was an early bird, most of the time.

Even the smallest glint of sunlight would have been able to wake her in early mornings, welcoming another day of her life as she turned to face her often still sleeping husband, watching his face and the peace on it, running her frosted fingers along his jaw and through this auburn hair, drinking in the warmth of his body only for her hand to be caught by his, a small sleepy smile growing on his face as he held her hand against his cheek, sometimes bringing it close to his lips so he could kiss her palm. The mere quiet moment where both laid in bed, unwilling to get up just yet, basking in each other's presence until the knock on the door brought them back to reality and the start of their day.

Sometimes, during rare times, she would leave the comfort of her bed instead of interrupting her husband's sleep, tugging on the silk gown over herself as she made her way toward the window, lowering herself to sit by it on the cushioned seat with her knees hugged close to her chest, resting her cheek on them as her eyes watched the fjord, watching how the light reflected on the blue surface, of the early people around the docks, readying themselves for travel or trade.

Lately, however, she had not been her usual self.

The exhaustion and the nausea that still haunted her during her pregnancy had made it difficult for her to find good rest for the night, often too uncomfortable to even shut her eyes as she laid in bed, even Hans' warm and secure arm around her, his hand on the bump that has started to show, could only help so much. This had made her morning not as easy as it usually as, for she would be extremely reluctant to even open her eyes even after her ladies-in-waiting had come to prepare for her bath.

A quiet groan escaped her when the auburn haired Prince had once again shook her shoulders in his attempt to rose her, his breath tickling against her ear as he whispered her name. "Hans, please." She was not one to complain, but after last night's ailment that caused her to curl up and suffer some unexplained raise of her body heat, to finally rest like this was something she deemed deserving. "Just... five more minutes."

There was a sigh that came from him before she felt his hand brushing against her temple as he moved the strands of her platinum blonde hair away, pressing a loving kiss on the spot. "Very well, but the water may get cold."

She wasn't sure if it had been five minutes when one of her ladies-in-waiting, Helen, had come to wake her up, as Hans had probably come down to begin his day. This time, feeling the lack of love of her husband, she had actually bring herself to get up, tossing the covers off her body as she sat up, narrowing her eyes at the amount of light that had come through.

The water did feel a little cold, there was no biting heat against her skin when she had submerged herself into the tub, but she had not blamed anyone over it, not even herself. Besides, the cold never bothered her, so there was no need to fuss over such thing.

Coming down to the Dining Hall for her late breakfast, she was quite surprised to see both Hans and Anna were still sitting around the table, as she had expected to have to eat alone, welcoming her with a collective of warm greetings and smiles as she came to sit at the end of the table.

"No, we just arrived too." Anna had shrugged when questioned on whether they had intentionally waited for her to actually start eating, nibbling on her bread. "What? Would you rather eat alone?"

"Of course not." The Princess' smile widened, and there was a moment where she caught the younger sister glancing at the auburn haired Prince with a wink, which he had returned with an amused smile of his own. That had made her eyebrow raised in question. "What are you two up to now?"

"Anna saw me in the halls and asked where you were," Hans started, "I told her everything and she suggest for us to head to the Dining Hall by rounding the castle, so that we take more time."

Red had spread over her sister's freckled cheeks and the bridge of her nose when she had turned her attention to her, embarrassed for such touching gesture that actually made the Queen's heart swelled with love, it was simple and yet... it was too early in the day for her to cry.

"Hans! You were not supposed to tell her that!"

--

"Stop tormenting yourself."

The strawberry blonde haired Princess had stood in front of the mahogany desk, arms crossed over her chest as her cheeks puffed with air, turquoise eyes watching over as the older sister read over the paperwork she had in hand. "I am not." Eyes flickering to look past the paper, Elsa had only given her a raise of her eyebrow, which made the younger let out a sigh. "Fine, maybe a little bit. I mean, I could not believe that you had to work so much still. Am I not helping?"

Blinking, the Queen had not expected that Anna had come to question that instead of complaining over her work partner, considering that she had come with the reports in hand, perhaps she and Kristoff were already finding themselves on the same thinking level. "Of course you are." She didn't have the heart to admit that she would overview her sister's work in fear that she would feel as if the Queen did not trust her. "But trading and ice harvesting are not the only things I have to work with, there are many others."

"Well, why can't Hans and I help with the 'many others'?" Anna had lowered herself onto her knees, arms crossing over the surface of the desk as she rested her chin on her arms, head tilting then as she looked at her older sister. "We are no experts like you, but we can endure it, I think."

Unable to contain the light chuckle, her fingers had reached over to brush Anna's bangs aside and away from her face with affection. "I appreciate it, really, but you have to slow down there." Both her husband and sister had shared a similar trait of themselves, they were both eager, the difference was that the Princess expressed it more boldly, spoke it out as her way of love. "I can't just dump everything to you both so suddenly." To hand over Arendelle just like that, knowing that neither of the two had properly prepare themselves to rule the kingdom, could turn disastrous. "It takes time and progress, Anna."

"By the time that happened, I think the baby will already being born."

The Princess had pursed her lips then, although knowing very well how the platinum blonde haired Queen had very little of trust when it came to trusting the kingdom to others, she supposed Anna's sulking made sense. At the pace she was in, she probably would have welcomed her babe to the world before she could put a huge responsibility on others.

"Elsa," the silence that had occurred between them had made Anna shifted in her kneeling position –she wondered if that was comfortable at all, perhaps not wanting for their conversation to hang awkwardly. "Can I see the umm... your stomach?"

The younger sister had genuinely sounded shy when she had expressed her apparent curiosity, eyes wide as she waited for the approval, and when the Queen had smiled and nodded, moving her chair back and to a side, straightening up as she watched her sister crawled toward her with furrowed eyebrows. "Anna, don't crawl."

"It's practical." It was her only answer with a roll of her eyes as she come to kneel in front of the Queen, leaning forward to better see the smallest of bump that had shown over her belly, and she made a mental note to remind her to at least only act in such inappropriate nature around her only. Her fingers were cautious as she reached forward, hesitating in the prospect of touching her older sister on such intimate part of her body, and Elsa had taken her hand to press over the lower part of her clothed stomach.

"That's where the baby is, according to the doctor." Not many has the honor of touching the Queen, even less when it came to anything other than her hand, and excluding the professional hands that had checked for the growth of her child, only Hans and now Anna could do the same. The Princess was in awed, marveling the feel of things. "There is where it is currently growing."

"I promise I will be a great aunt, Elsa."

"You better." Her voice was laced with amusement, but she was serious about it. This child deserved to grow in a loving family, one that is warm and would protect it at all cost. And if something was to happen to her, then she would trust no one else but her own sister to care for her child. "I expect no less from you, Anna."

Looking up, the younger sister had scrunched her nose before sticking her tongue out at her direction, unaware of the conflicted feelings that raged within the older, and was rewarded a light bop on her nose.

"You're starting to sound like Mother already."