White Queen

Bitter Taste of Truth

"Close the door and sit down."

The Captain of the guard had come earlier, shoulders and back straight as he stood before her with his hands clasped behind him while she sat had sat behind her desk, at ready as she had thrown him the question and the demand for answer right away. She did not wish to waste time on such urgent matters, the faster she had her answers the better, she could think over what to do once she had the explanation of why.

Yet the answer that he had provided her had only made her brows furrowed and her blood had started to boil already, for she did not expect such reveal that had her thanking the Captain before dismissing him.

And she called for Hans instead.

He had entered with a knock, auburn head poking inside through the opening of the door, displaying such lie on his face that she could not resist the bite in her voice as she had invite him in the most unexpected order, and he had furrowed his own brows then, noticing how she had no affection in her tone. He deserved it that much.

"Elsa, what do you-?"

A hand raised to halt him, blue eyes narrowed as she glared at him. She was not in the mood for acts and sweet lies, she was Queen and she took none of it. She would have also scolded him for speaking before she could, but there was no time for that, not when her fingers had curled beneath the table, frost started to itch at the tips of them. "Stop pretending and start explaining."

"Of what, darling?"

Her teeth gritted at his use of a pet name in such situation. Yes, he hasn't quite aware of the troubles that he was now in, but honestly her tone and rigid figure could explain him as much as to not take her in any way but seriousness today. "The pirates, Hans."

When the word had come through her lips, his expression fell, he was caught off-guard. "I don't understand." Wrong choice of path to still pretend, really, for she had to bite her tongue back to keep herself from cursing him. "Elsa-"

"Stop. The Captain of the guard had explained everything, and truly Hans, you are such a great liar." She was foolish enough as it is to not put her mind into the signs that had appeared before her, had should have seen the flags that were raised when things had not gone smoothly, but no she chose to trust her husband instead. And she regretted every single moment of it. "The Spain having to reroute due to them facing some 'minor' problems? Last time I checked, pirate sighting has not been a 'minor problem'."

His mouth opened, perhaps to try and explain himself or to still deny it all, and she didn't want this. She gave him a warning with another raise of her hand, silencing him.

"There were other reports besides that one, Hans, but I received none." Because, according to the Captain, Hans had been the one to order them to report to him, fooling them by saying that he would be the one to give the reports back to her. They had been foolish, yes, but it was understandable for them to believe him, after all he was the Prince Consort, the husband of the Queen, surely he would dedicate himself to Arendelle as much as the rest of them. "You are well aware that I can't take actions when I have been kept in the dark."

"I'm just trying to help you." But she didn't need saving, his help as well as Anna's were supposedly still involve her, and he had taken a step over the boundary she thought she had drawn clear. "Stress is not good for you, especially in your condition now."

"The Spain was way before I even got pregnant, Hans!" Her voice rose, both because he kept trying to make her understand his actions and also because he even dared to use her current condition against her; yet she was quick to compose herself back up, putting back the icy mask she had on her expression. "I'm wrong, Hans, I'm wrong to think that you are different. I thought that you would never treat me like my Council does, belittle me because I am a mere woman with a crown. But no, in your eyes I am also just a helpless damsel that need saving from people such as yourself." He was a man that she truly trusted, the one she was willing to open up to more than anyone else, naïvely thinking that he was truly the one person that would have treated her like equals. "If only you had done what you are supposed to do then perhaps I would have been able to solve this a long time ago!"

"There, did you even hear yourself, Elsa?" There was a change in his tone, as well as in his face –although hard to notice nor to know what it was, voice firm and no longer laced with the attempt to calm her. "It is always about you and you alone. This is one of your most fatal point. You would rather handle things alone, drown yourself trying to be selfless, when truly all you have done is making yourself be selfish by not accepting help from those who loves and cares for you."

His words cut like a blade across her heart, truth that she did not wish to admit to spilling out of his mouth and tasting like a bitter venom, a new taste of anger bubbling like hot fire in her heart as frost began to form at the corners of the windows along with the decreasing of the temperature around them. "Enough." Her voice was merely above a whisper, eyes glaring at his green ones and yet he did not back off.

"You build walls around yourself over and over again no matter how many times people try to break it down because frankly, you would rather be alone, don't you?"

"I said, ENOUGH!" She had shot up to her feet then, hands slamming against the surface of her desk, ice shooting wildly from under her touch with a blast of cold air exploding. Her breath came in a pant, heart pounding against her chest as she had not snapped like this in a long time as she shot ice-cold daggers at him by her mere stare. "Get out."

He spoke no word as he stood up, mist coming from him when he breathed warm breath, and he had turned around and head for the door without much of a nod to her, shutting the door behind him once he had stepped out and left.

Lowering herself back into her seat, she leaned back against it as the rush of adrenaline slowly decreased, and with it, she began to notice the lightheaded sensation that began to overtake her. She had eaten during breakfast, and although it was interrupted but she had finished more than a half of her plate, she was sure of it. Pressing her fingers against her temple –she didn't even bother to dismiss of the ice surrounding her, she began to slowly massaged it, knowing fully well that a migraine would have surfaced anytime now.

Yet it was a sudden shot of pain through her abdomen that came, sending her into sucking in a sharp breath, arms quickly covering her abdomen as her body bowed forward. That was not supposed to happen, and it made her stiffened with a gasp. Looking around, she almost cursed in the fact that she had her ladies-in-waiting dismissed following the meeting. Pushing herself up, she followed in Hans' trail toward the door, though she had headed down the halls to where her bedchamber was.

"Elsa?" Anna's voice was laced with concern, perhaps from seeing how the Queen had slightly hunched forward as she walked, a hand pressed against the wall as she leaned for support, yet she lingered in where she stood. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Anna." She had managed to speak, though barely. "I just need to rest."

"Do you want me to-?"

"No." Cutting in before her sister could even finish her offer, she had shook her head in refusal. "It's alright, please, just... leave me alone, Anna." As ironic as it was, she truly did not want her sister to come and pester her after her earlier clash with her husband, didn't want her to get involved in what had come of their marriage.

The Princess lingered, she could feel turquoise eyes on her, but she spoke no further. The lightheaded sensation came crashing back down on her, blurring her vision and causing her to lose the feel of her limbs, feeling gravity pulling her down onto the wooden flooring as her vision darkened. Though she did feel arms catching her before her body met the floor, or at least slowing and cushioning her fall as Anna was overwhelmed and unable to support the weight of her sister.

"Elsa!"

Hi cliffhanger, long time no see.