White Queen

Be Hurt With Me

There was no letter.

She imagined it would be hard for him to write to her, whether as an official report or of how a husband missed his home, yet still she looked up rather hopefully whenever Kai had walked in, carrying a tray of letters, only for her heart to flatter when none of it to bear Hans' seal, but still she smiled at the steward as she thanked him, fingers already taking hold of the silver letter opener that was laid on her desk.

After what happened yesterday, it was quite surprising that she could not hear any more cannon being fired, and as she was highly advised to not be reckless and stay within the castle's walls, she could only rely on the guard's reports of what the lookout had seen. The pirate's ship was driven away from the kingdom, for the safety of everyone else, and the royal fleet had disappeared over the horizon.

Now that no one could see them, how could she even know what happened? Of whether they were winning or somehow a bunch of pirates could overthrow the royal ship? How would she be assured that in order to protect the kingdom, everyone on the ship was safe and sound?

"Elsa," a warm hand placed over hers on the table had taken her out of her own thoughts as she blinked, eyes drifting toward the end until she was met with her sister's concerned look. "You're not eating your food."

The mention made her eyes darted downward, to where she had been doing nothing but poke at her barely eaten food, lips pressing into a thin line as she sighed. She was not feeling particularly hungry, and since her child had grown so much and taken so much space in her, eating a lot would only made her sick.

"Do you remember when I was little and the cook makes me eat artsoppa?" The sudden change of topic had made the Queen looked up with her brows furrowing in confusion, as they were nowhere near discussing their childhood, especially not that detailed. "I hate it, but you always promised me something special each time, so I don't complain." She couldn't exactly see where the Princess was intending to go on with it. "Well, I can't exactly promise you anything, but... the food is way better than artsoppa, that I can promise you."

Her cluelessness over her own choice of topic, and the poor attempt of saving that she did, had actually made the older sister had to stifle her laughter as her hand came to cover her mouth, corners of her lips tugging into a smile as her worries forgotten, even just for a moment such as this. "You know, artsoppa is not that bad."

Turquoise eyes rolling as Anna's nose wrinkled in disgust, she had chosen to stick her tongue out at the platinum blonde haired Queen. "Speak for yourself, health-loving sister of mine." While the younger's love for desserts and sugary treats was unchallenged, the older had much preferred healthy foods ever since she was a child, with only a couple exclusion such as chocolate that she was so fond of, and thus the teasing nickname was no stranger between the two sisters.

"Oh, did Father ever told you that I once sprained a dignitary's wrist?" Taking a bite of the fish from her plate, Elsa could only shook her head, though she was very intrigued in hearing this story. Their parents would tell her of the things her younger sister was involved in, it had both made her smile but saddened her a little for she could not be there to witness it herself, yet it was still better than not knowing at all. "It was the Dignitary of Somewhere, I can't remember since it was so long ago, but really, I was just saying hello."

What a way of greeting it must have been then, both for her and the poor dignitary who must have to sail home with bandaged hand.

A few more childhood stories later and both sisters were pleasantly winding down from their round of laughter. It truly was helping for her to spend time with her sister, to actually know her and to have her tell her of the things she had been missing during their youth from her point of view, for seeing Anna's actual way and reaction to it reminded her of how much she hasn't truly changed from her younger self.